No One's POV
The sound of snapping electricity in the small space did nothing to drown out the turmoil in Shu's head and heart. He stared at Valt's beautiful sleeping face, taking into account all of the changes that had marred it since he had last seen the smaller boy. His dark teal hair had gotten long enough to drop below his shoulders when it used to just curl cutely behind his ears. His cheeks had thinned, the baby fat gone, losing his toddler appearance, which made Shu a little sad. His skin had tanned slightly from more exposure to the Sun, though it had paled almost to his original skin tone in the light from his supernatural tears. His eyes, though closed and tight with discomfort, seemed larger with the lack of fat. The last time Shu had seen his eyes, they had lost their former sparkle and were so full of pain that he had snapped out of his horrific fantasy.

They had once been full of such life and light that he could either brighten someone's day or scare them into submission with a single glance. Valt's eyes could not mask his emotions - one look at them and you could tell exactly what he was feeling: happy, sad, content, angry, hungry. Even after his appearance and attitude had changed drastically, his eyes had not changed in that sense. Shu could see exactly how he felt; he was broken. How he wished to see those eyes when they were not clouded with torture.

The only thing that hadn't changed about Valt's appearance was the red wing-shaped mark under his left eye, though it was currently obscured by the blue tears.

How was I blind to these beautiful features before? Shu thought remorsefully. I've wasted so much time...

Valt's arms and legs were hard against Shu's body - he had also lost baby fat in the rest of his body. Blushing slightly, he glanced around to see if the android had hung back, then ran his fingers along the smaller boy's arm, squeezing softly in a few places. He grinned slyly. The muscles were nearly as hard as Xander's, and compared to him, Valt used to be a marshmallow.

Xander. His grin dropped. Another friend he had hurt by following Theodore Glass.

Ashamed of his past actions, Shu hung his head over that of his love, letting his white hair mix with the glowing tears. "Oh, Valt," He whispered, his throat starting to thicken. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry... I didn't go to America with the intention to hurt you. I had gone because I had wanted to make it up to you for not being able to battle you at the National Tournament. I had wanted to get stronger for you - for us. But Glass had different plans for me."

He took a shaky breath, slightly amazed at the sight of his hair floating on top of the tears instead of sinking into them. "I should have had my guard up. I knew something was up when he approached me about getting stronger, then brought me to that underground training center. His mask and the one he offered me should have set me off, but like a fool, I listened to his words. I really believed that he could make me stronger, and then I could give you the battle you deserved."

Tears began to escape from his eyes and land gently on Valt's thin cheeks. "I took up the mask and persona of Red Eye with you in mind; I had planned to return to you once I was deemed strong enough. But the longer I stayed in the Snake Pit, the more Glass's teachings got to me. I started to lose sight of my original goal; I believed that my own strength was the most important thing, and everything else was unworthy of my attention. I started to forget about my past ideals, and those that had helped me shape those ideals. But what I'm most ashamed of is the fact that I started to forget you."

He hugged Valt's sleeping body closer to his chest, burying his face in the smaller boy's neck. "I started to forget your laugh, which could either jubilate or startle someone. I started to forget your eyes, which revealed the deepest depths of your mind, no matter how much you tried to mask your feelings. I started to forget your hands, which would never stop twitching, itching for a bey and launcher to use in a battle." He gently fiddled with said hands. "I started to forget your voice, which varies between spouting laughable nonsense and making perfect sense. I started to forget your outlook on life, which could make the stormiest problems look like a day at the beach."

His tears soaked Valt's clothing more than the blue tears - mostly because those didn't soak in for some reason. "Valt... I'm sorry for forgetting you. For forgetting us. For taking so long to realize that... I love you. I love your laugh, your eyes, your hands, your voice, your view on life, everything about you. I don't know if you can forgive me, Valt, but..." He dissolved into quiet sobbing, unable to give a reason for his blue haired love to forgive him.

"Don't stop now," A raspy voice broke through his thoughts. "You were just getting to the good part."

Eyes flying open with shock, Shu pulled back. Valt's eyes were open; although the whites and irises were hidden by the glow from the tears, Shu could tell he was gazing at him with compassion that could rival the eyes of a puppy. A gentle smile graced his lips, and his albino lover felt the sudden urge to capture his mouth with his own. "How long have you been awake?" He asked, his own lips lined with tears.

"Since you examined my arm," Valt replied simply, his voice hoarse from crying. Shu blushed - he had thought he was being discreet. As he fumbled to come up with an excuse, Valt reached up to cup his cheek. "You're so cute when you blush..." He murmured. "As to the fact that you love me, you'll be glad to learn that the feelings are mutual." His changed features clenched in discomfort, as if crying those horrid tears pained him. "I realized it when I left the building. You were my best friend since kindergarten, Shu, but I don't feel the way I do with you with the others. Even when others doubted me, you were always there to push me forward, encouraging me every step of the way. When you left for America, I honestly felt betrayed..."

Shu tried to protest, but Valt transitioned his finger to the pale lips to silence him. "I'm not finished," He whispered. Stunned, Shu nodded against his finger.

"As I was saying, I felt betrayed that you would leave me and everything we'd worked for in Japan behind like that, but I understood why you had to do it. You wanted to get stronger, I get that. It drove me to also push my limits. Though when I tried to appear strong in a moment of weakness, I didn't just push my limits - I shattered them."

He laughed hollowly. "I tapped into a strength I didn't know I had. It nearly destroyed me and those around me. I was lucky that PIXAL found me when she did. If she hadn't, I would have killed myself or the military would have stuffed me in a cage and cut me open for science. She told me about my heritage and started to teach me how to control what I had. The whole time she was teaching me, though, all I could think about was you. How you would view me now. So I tried to tune out the teachings, tried to hold onto my old life, because I thought that I could return to you and the others if I retained some of my previous ideals. But then I learned about your alternate ego, and something in me broke. I thought that I had no other life to go back to; all of my friends thought I was a monster and one actually was a monster. So I pushed my old life away and fully embraced my new one."

To emphasize his conclusion, he held up his hand and let sparks fly between his fingers. "The life of a Master of Lightning." He let his hand fall and sighed. The whole time, his flow of blue tears didn't stop. "Some life it's been."

Shu went over Valt's story. All of his faults and mistakes matched up. In a sense, he was responsible for Valt's terrifying new life. Feeling even worse, he hugged the smaller boy closer to his chest. "I'm sorry, Valt," He told him softly. "I'm sorry for breaking my promise about facing you in the Finals. I'm sorry about leaving you and making you feel betrayed. I'm sorry for making you feel pressured to break every limit in order to catch up to me. I'm sorry for forcing you into this new life. I'm sorry for-"

"And I'm going to stop you right there," Valt told him with a giggle in his tone, replacing his finger on the albino's lips. "This has got to be the worst apology attempt I've ever heard!"

Shu scoffed, leaning away from the tan finger to get his words out, "Hey, you can't blame a guy for trying!"

The light in Valt's eyes shifted, almost as if he was rolling them. "An apology is supposed to make someone feel better, right?" At Shu's reluctant nod, he continued, "So don't say sorry; that just brings down the mood. Instead say thank you."

Shu tilted his head. "Thank you?" He inquired.

Valt nodded; his smile almost matched his old toddler-grin. "Thank you makes it a lot more personal, which makes the apology that much more satisfying!" He explained. "I'll start: thank you for being one of the most supportive friends a guy could ask for! Thank you for always agreeing to battle me at a moment's notice! Thank you for always pushing me and Valtryek to become stronger! Thank you for making such delicious spaghetti whenever I'm hungry or sad! Thank you for having the courage to find me and apologize!"

He paused for a second. Shu thought he had run out of things to be thankful for, but then the smaller boy sat up slightly and kissed the corner of his mouth. The albino stiffened at the tender movement. "And Shu...thank you for being in my life," He whispered against the pale skin.

Red eyes blinked in rapid succession, wearing off the shock. Then his own mouth smiled warmly. "Point taken," He relented. "But you interrupted me before I could say the thing that I'm most sorry for." He pushed aside the blue hair with his nose and kissed Valt's forehead gently. "I'm sorry for taking for so long to realize that I love you," He told his blue haired lover.

Taken aback, Valt swallowed and then asked tentatively, "And your thank you?"

Shu's smile widened. "That one's also a no-brainer. Thank you for being you." He leaned forward again, this time to capture the smaller boy's lips in a soft kiss.

The Master of Lightning stiffened in shock at the sudden intimate contact, but he soon softened and kissed back. Putting Tears and pain aside, he fully embraced his friend-now-lover. Months of heartbreak, torture, and emotional trauma melted away as the two kissed, hands pressed against hands, making it hard to tell where one boy ended and the other began.

Oxygen became a necessity, though, and the two soon pulled apart. "Oh, I almost forgot," Shu whispered breathlessly against the other boy's cheek. "Happy birthday, Valt."

The blue haired boy gasped in delight. "You remembered!" He exclaimed joyfully, his Tears faltering the tiniest bit. "No one else I visited today even brought it up."

"Well, then your day is about to get even sadder," A familiarly loud voice broke in. "Because I completely forgot, so I didn't get you anything."

Shocked at the fact that the two hadn't heard anyone come in, Shu whipped around while Valt peered over his shoulder. Smiling down at them with one arm braced against the sculpted tree was Xander, their red headed giant friend - or his hair USED to be red. Now it was sticking out all over and dulled to a muddy brick color. His clothes had undergone the same abuse and were sporting possibly permanent stains around his neck and armpits. Clouds of dirt and splinters covered his skin, but his smile was as bright as ever.

Honestly, if it weren't for his signature smile, the two wouldn't have recognized him.

"XANDER!!" Valt yelled in excitement, clambering off of Shu's lap, much to the latter's disappointment. The glowing Tears changed direction as the point of gravity switched. "You're here!! Also..." He stared at the red giant's disfigured clothing. "What happened to you?"

"You weren't this excited when I came in," Shu pointed out dejectedly.

"I was asleep, get over it," Valt told him firmly before immediately turning back to Xander.

"Long story short, I probably broke the long distance record in running," Xander explained with a sigh, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly.

"In Brazil?" Valt asked. "Because that's where I saw you last."

"Possibly the world," Xander implied. "Because I'm not sure where we are on the planet right now."

"Um..." Shu broke in, suddenly shy. "How much of that did you hear?"

Xander grinned devilishly. "Enough to see you two confessing your love and getting hot and heavy under..." He looked up at the carved monstrosity. "Whatever you call this."

Valt's face turned pink in the light from his Tears, and Shu's face wasn't any better. "WE WEREN'T KISSING THAT MUCH!!" He told the red giant furiously, grabbing Valt's shoulders as if he could shield his lover from the devil's accusations. Xander only laughed without remorse.

By the time he had gingerly skirted the outside of the glowing puddle - which had grown in the time the two had been talking - and joined the two lovers on the bench, his expression had turned to grave seriousness. "The truth is, I ran after you when you left the SB Rios training grounds. I made it all the way to the edge of South America before I stopped - mostly because of the ocean. Then I saw PIXAL in her mech, and figured that she'd lead me back to you. So I followed, found this place, and well...here I am!" He did a little jazz hands.

Valt only stared at him as his Tears continued to fall. "You...ran all that way...for me?" He asked slowly. At Xander's affirmative nod, he inquired, "Why?"

Xander bit his lip before continuing, "Well, I figured I owed you an apology, too. In a way, I'm also to blame for your new lifestyle. I said somethings I shouldn't have, which probably pressured you to lash out like that. I feel like I made you think that you needed to turn into a monster were in order to make me or those around you proud of you." He faced Valt fully. "You do not need to change who you are to make me proud. You're my best friend, and I will always support you. Especially now that I know that you're gay." He shot Shu a knowing glance.

Valt continued to stare at him. "Wow," He finally got out.

"Did that hurt?" Shu asked, raising an eyebrow. "Because that looked like it hurt."

Xander's face twisted in hurt, but his eyes still twinkled with merriment. "What? I worked on that speech the whole way over here, and this is how you treat me?"

"Sorry, but as I was telling Shu earlier, an apology isn't a true apology without throwing in a few thank you's!" Valt told him with a loving look towards his boyfriend.

"An apology with thank you's?" Xander asked, one eyebrow raised and head tilted. "That's a thing?"

"That's what I said!" Shu agreed.

"It is too a thing!" Valt said defiantly, glaring between the two of them. It was baffling for his friends how he could look so playful yet still have tears dripping down his face. "Shu already told me thank you, now it's your turn!"

Xander blanched under - or over - his waiting gaze. "But...I don't know how to start," He admitted sheepishly.

"It's okay; I'll go first!" Valt offered. He cleared his throat importantly, then began: "Thank you for being one of my best friends since kindergarten. Thank you for tuning into every one of my battles. Thank you for supporting me anyway you can. Thank you for always being there to cheer me up with that great big laugh of yours. And Xander," He reached up to wrap his arms around the red head's thick neck. "Thank you for being the greatest Laughing Giant in the world!"

"In that case, I hope I'm the only Laughing Giant in the world," Xander remarked, but a faint blush coated his cheeks as he hugged his smaller friend back. Shu just sat at the other end of the bench, looking awkward.

"Now it's your turn!" Valt told him, clambering back over to Shu's side.

"Um... okay," Xander sputtered, suddenly at a loss for words. "Thank you for being one of the best oldest friends a guy could ask for. Thank you for putting up with my size and strength. Thank you for being one of my toughest rivals. And Valt," He ruffled the smaller boy's blue hair affectionately. "Thank you for simply being the Blue Wonder Boy."

At Valt's giggle, Shu glared at Xander. "Now you wouldn't be trying to make a move on my new boyfriend, are you?" He inquired with a growl.

Xander fixed him with a bland expression. "Relax, Prince Charming," He told him defensively. "I view Valt as a brother, nothing more."

"Why does that make me feel cheap?" Valt asked between them.

The three exchanged glances, then busted out laughing deep, guttural laughs. It had been a long time since any of them had truly laughed, so they fully embraced the act, rocking back and forth on the bench while holding onto each other. Each of them had gone so long without the other two - none of them wanted to be without each other again.

Unbeknownst to them, Valt's Tears finally reached their end. As the end of the Tears fell, it turned into glowing blue particles that spread along the the waterfall. It reached the glowing puddle, which turned into an explosion of blue particles. Those particles hung in the air for a minute, then faded into nothing.

The golden orbs that hang from the bottom branches of the tree once again became the main source of light in the room. In the golden light, one brother and two lovers rested, having laughed themselves to sleep. They slept knowing that when they woke, the other two would still be there.

They had found each other. And they were not letting their group disperse again.

—————
3212 words.

Boy, this took longer than I thought it would!

But anyways, Happy 4th of July (or the observable holiday at least)!