The Most Important Thing [FFVI, Fic, Chocobo Down, Locke + Celes + Setzer]
Title: The Most Important Thing
Medium: Fic
Request(s): Locke/Celes/Setzer: ANYTHING! Angst, smut, gen, fluff, all ratings appreciated! (Round 2 List)
Fandom(s): Final Fantasy VI
Characters/Pairings: Setzer, Locke, Celes
Rating/Warnings: PG
Feedback: Yes, please. Concrit's fine too.
Spoilers: Through the ending.
Word Count: 3440
Summary: Setzer makes a proposal to Locke and Celes, one that surprises all three of them.
Notes: I've wanted to write something like this for a long time, and this request finally solidified it in my mind, so thank you for that. :D Definitely falls on the gen side of things, although there are implications of various pairings and such.
---
It was the middle of the night on the Falcon, which was currently off in the middle of nowhere, and Setzer was making coffee out of sheer habit.
It had made sense when he'd started grinding the coffee beans. He'd always made coffee for the others, after they'd all gathered on the Falcon and as they flew under the ruined sky; they'd needed to stay alert, and the strong brews he favored had helped, they'd said. He hadn't had any company on the Falcon in ages, and he was unsure of what he should be doing, truth be told. He'd started to second-guess himself, anyway. His guests were both fast asleep in the largest guest cabin on the Falcon, and if they had any sense at all they'd stay there; they had both looked exhausted. Still, if nothing else he'd have a cup himself.
He'd found them both in Tzen; the town had been all but abandoned for months after Kefka had burned it, with many of the survivors eventually walking to Mobliz or Albrook to help there. It had fallen into ruin for a long time, and only recently had any attempts at restoration been made. He'd found that surprising, but then, maybe starting from such a state had seemed too daunting for residents who had lost so much, and so they had needed time to nerve themselves for it. Setzer could understand that feeling, far too well.
Locke and Celes had been surprised to see him, and Setzer could understand why. It had been far too long. Still, he'd arrived in the evening, and the two of them had been utterly exhausted. It had been easy enough to convince them to stop for the night, and to invite them onto his ship to rest. Surely his cabins were more comfortable than wherever they'd been sleeping in Tzen.
They'd spoken little before, which was odd; he had expected more of a reunion than that. But it seemed that they were too surprised, too exhausted or both for words, and he had not pushed. He knew something about pressure, knew when it was best to press and when it was better to back away. Besides, he was just grateful to have them back under his roof again, so to speak. He had been worried about them.
"Setzer?"
Setzer, startled, nearly scattered the ground coffee on the counter. "Forgive me," he said, mostly referring to his surprise. "I had thought you would be asleep."
"I was for a while," his visitor admitted. "Just woke up for a while. I sleep better during the day anyway, when I can." Locke smiled - he had the same easy smile that he'd always had. At least the hard work hadn't deprived him of it.
"Well, if you can't sleep, come sit with me for a while. Are you feeling better, Locke?"
"Much." Locke smiled a bit. He certainly looked more alert, at least. Setzer had been ready to swear that he'd been about to crash and fall asleep as he stood on the streets of Tzen. "Thank you."
"Think nothing of it." He patted his old friend on the back. "You should take better care of yourself," he chided gently. "You're no good to anyone if you can't stand."
"Yeah, well." He sighed a bit, still smiling, but the smile wasn't coming close to reaching his eyes. "It's just that... well, Celes never seems to get tired, you know? I want to be able to keep up with her."
"I can understand," Setzer said softly, walking away from Locke, to the other side of the little table so that he could look the thief in the face. He remembered working himself until he was ready to drop, only to leave the Blackjack and discover that Daryl was still in the engine room of the Falcon, still working tirelessly. No wonder she'd won their contests every time. "Still, I think that Celes would rather have you alive and a step behind."
"I know. She gets angry about this sort of thing all the time. I just..." He shook his head. "I know it's stupid. It's pride, I guess."
"A vice that I know very well," he said, nodding. "But come, let's talk of other things for the moment. Tell me, do you like coffee?"
"Nah... not really," Locke said, shrugging. "Celes does, but I don't know if she'd even want to take any this late at night. She has enough trouble sleeping as it is."
"Ah, understandable. But I myself have miles to fly before I sleep, after all." He got up, checked the kettle on the stove. It was piping hot, and he took it and poured it into a glass canister filled with the ground brown beans. "You are, of course, welcome to anything else I may have to offer. A nightcap, perhaps, to help you sleep."
"Thanks... um, maybe later." He stretched in his chair, and Setzer could see the marks of hard, honest work, the bruises on his newly-muscled arms. "So, mind if I ask where we are?"
"A small island north of the Veldt. It's a quiet, remote place. I know a number of such places." He poured himself a glass of water from a crystal decanter on the table and took a sip. "There will be no moon tonight, and the sunlight has almost faded completely. You must come up with me and look at the stars, if you are still awake in an hour. Celes too, if she should join us."
"I appreciate the offer, but I really hope she's sleeping. She needs it as bad as I did."
"No surprise." Setzer sat down, placing the coffee press and the glass of water to his side. It would take a few minutes before the coffee would be ready, and he needed the rest. He was tired too, his legs exhausted from standing at the wheel for most of the day and evening, and he needed a chance to rest before he went mad. At least here, at the furthest reaches of the world, he would have something resembling privacy. And beauty, once the sun went down completely; the sunsets were nice enough, but the stars were to die for... although perhaps that was not the best turn of praise -
"Hey, Setzer? You okay?"
"Hm?" He blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Just a look... sorry, I didn't mean to -"
Setzer smiled wistfully. "No, no. It's all right. I was only thinking about the stars, and... well, my thoughts wandered a bit, as you may imagine. I was just remembering that I was hardly the only one who admired them so much."
"Huh?" Locke's brow furrowed. "Who do you mean?"
"Celes never told you?" Setzer raised an eyebrow. "She never mentioned the woman who built this ship?"
"Um, maybe. I don't know," Locke admitted. "So much had happened by the time we could really speak to each other again, so... I just don't know."
"Ah, well... I would not be surprised if she hadn't. I suppose she thought that the story would have hit too close to home for you." The coffee was probably ready now. He pressed the grounds now and poured it into a plain white ceramic mug. "She was very dear to me, you know. Lovely Daryl, so full of life. We would race among the clouds for hours... when we were first starting out we would both dream of flying among the stars one day. Funny, how the dream lost its savor after I lost her."
"Oh," Locke said softly. "No, she never told me that. I'm sorry."
"Thank you." From most people, that statement would not have warranted such a response, but from Locke... he had heard the tales of the woman he'd lost. It meant more from a man who had experienced such things, who would truly understand.
They sat in silence for a short while, listening to the sounds of nightbirds and crickets from outside. When the silence had almost become too awkward to bear, and Setzer had been just about to say something - anything - to break it, Locke spoke up again. "Rachel and I... we used to talk about exploring every cave in the world, when we were rich enough that I wouldn't have to work in the mines anymore. We dreamed about that. I... I guess the same thing happened to me when she died."
Maybe he'd been too hasty in changing the subject, Setzer thought. Perhaps it would be wiser to speak of this, at least for a short time. "It's a pity, isn't it? When a dream dies..." He sighed slightly. "But don't you and Celes have a dream as well? That seems to be the way of things - when one dream dies another rises to take it's place..."
Locke smiled weakly, staring down at the table. "I guess that some day we will," he answered. "Not yet, though. I guess that right now there's just too much to do. There's not much time for dreams when you're trying to put the whole world back together."
"I don't know about that, Locke." He looked at the thief in some surprise, shifting a bit in the upholstered chair. "Isn't there always supposed to be time for dreams?"
Locke didn't look up or answer at first, just kept staring down at his gloved fingers tapping the table in time with the singing of the birds. Finally he forced another smile. "I used to think so, but I haven't had many of 'em lately."
"I'm sorry." Setzer sighed to himself. "It must be difficult for you, right now."
"Yeah. I hate to complain, what we're doing is important, but it's hard sometimes." He shook his head. "But you... I guess you must be one of the lucky ones, right? You get to live out your dreams every day."
"And what do you suppose that my dreams are?" he asked carefully.
"Well... it's obvious, isn't it? This ship. Flying through the sky, going where you please. I mean... you're happy up here, right?"
And what was he supposed to say to that? Was he happy, really? Yes, he should be happy - he'd made peace with his ghosts, or at least with what ghosts he had. He might've lost everything at one point in time, but he had it all back again now. What reason did he have not to be happier than he'd ever been? "Isn't that the last unanswerable question," he muttered to himself, smiling sardonically.
"Setzer, you sure you're okay?"
"Hm?" He looked up, slightly startled. For a moment he'd almost forgotten that Locke was there.
"You seem, I mean..." Locke looked a bit worried, a bit flustered. "I didn't mean to offend you. Sorry about that -"
"No, no, think nothing of it. No offense taken whatsoever." He picked up his coffee, started to take a sip, then abruptly put it down and leaned forward in his chair, looking the scruffy thief full in the face. He knew that he was about to say something; he had no idea what until the words were tumbling out of his mouth. "Stay here with me, Locke. You and Celes, on the Falcon. Please."
"Huh?" Locke blinked. Usually he was so quick with a comeback, but at that moment he looked utterly taken aback. "Say again?"
"Stay here. Live on my airship. Travel with me - we can all go wherever we want." He kept talking, even though he could see the surprise on his old companion's face. If he'd stopped, he would have lost his nerve; now that he'd started to talk, he knew how badly he'd wanted to say this.
"I, uh, well...." Locke stood up, looked around as if to find an escape, then sat back down, as if he'd given up on the idea. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Very."
"I... yeah, well, I figured. I mean, I've seen you on whims before. Hell, I met you when you were kidnapping a woman on a whim, and it didn't look like this..." he trailed off, seemed to rally himself and start over. "It's just a surprise, that's all."
"I know, and I'm not going to press you into it. But I want you to know that you're both welcome, and that I'd be a happy man if you chose to stay with me."
"Well... okay, look, I like the idea. You know? But, you should know that I really can't speak for Celes -"
"You've never had to speak for me, Locke," said her voice from outside of the room, quiet and without inflection. "I can speak for myself."
Both men turned at once. Celes was standing at the door, her body wrapped in one of Setzer's old dressing gowns, her feet bare against the wood. Her long blonde hair fell tangled on her shoulders, and her sleepy eyes were wide.
"I apologize," she added, before either man could react. "I did not mean to eavesdrop. I woke up and could not fall asleep again, and thought that a walk would help. Then I heard you both speaking...."
Judging from the look on Locke's face, insomnia was a common occurence for Celes. Setzer decided not to pry. "If I had seen or heard you there, m'dear, I gladly would have invited you in," he said gently. "Please, come and sit down."
She nodded. "Thank you."
Locke jumped up and took her arm as she walked, steadying her. She cast him a look that was something between exasperation and gratitude and muttered something in his ear that made him smile. She still seemed somewhat wobbly. Why she would have wanted to take a walk in her state, Setzer didn't understand. He busied himself with fetching another water glass and pouring another cup, this one with ice.
"Here," he said, offering it to her once she'd taken her seat. "Drink this."
"Thanks," she said, before taking a long sip. For a while she held the glass up after she finished drinking, staring at it curiously. "I'd never thought about it," she said, "but it's nice to be able to drink whenever I want to have a drink. You don't appreciate things like that until after you lose them for a while. Don't you agree?"
"Completely," Setzer answered, smiling as he thought back to his first flight as the pilot of the Falcon. "I know exactly what you mean." He turned to Locke, meaning to ask him something along those lines, but his old friend was still looking at Celes with concern on his face. He'd seen it before, when Celes had been wounded on that cursed tower - she had kept going, but Locke had always worried.
"I thought that you might," she said smoothly, fixing him with a level, calm gaze even as she took Locke's hand and squeezed it very lightly. "How long has it been, Setzer?"
"Too long," he answered honestly.
"Almost a year," Locke added unnecessarily. "Just a few weeks from now it would've been."
"And in all that time, we've heard nothing from you, or even about you. Almost a year, and we've all wondered what happened to you. We'd heard news about the others - even Terra, and I know how busy she must be with her children - but you... we were afraid that you'd gone off and crashed somewhere."
Setzer thought at first that he might have been imagining her accusatory tone, as subtle as it was; she was exhausted, after all, and truth be told so was he. But Locke gave her a sudden, startled glance, and he knew that he hadn't imagined it after all. "I'm sorry," he said. "I've needed time to meditate on things, to work on the Falcon, to get certain business affairs in order. I've often thought about both of you... I even wrote a number of letters. But after everything that's happened..." He shook his head. "My letters were utterly dull, flat as dinner plates. They never felt like they'd be enough."
"And so you turn up in Tzen and whisk us both away, instead."
Setzer chuckled dryly. "That was a whim, I must admit. I'd heard rumors that you were here, rebuilding the city. I only wanted to see you again."
She sighed slightly, taking another sip. "We can't just leave them, you realize that," she said. "We promised them that we'd help rebuild. I don't like leaving things unfinished."
"I wouldn't ask you to. We can go back there tomorrow morning, after we've all rested - we can even stop somewhere for supplies on the way, if you need them. I'll stay and help you however I can, until the work is done."
"If I didn't know you better, I would have said that you were obligating yourself, Setzer. What was it that you once told me about obligations?"
"That was before," he said, smiling. "There are more important things than being free of them. I know that now."
"Like not being alone, I gather."
"That, yes. Like being with my dearest friends again."
"I see... although I have to admit, I didn't expect such a heartfelt request from you." She turned to Locke. "What about you, Locke? What do you think?"
"Well..." He stopped, smiled sheepishly. "if you want to do this, I'm with you. I kind of like the idea. I mean, it'll help us all out with a lot of things, and to be honest... I kind of missed this, you know?"
"So did I." Celes turned back to Setzer. "Well, I'd offer to flip a coin to see whether or not we accept your offer. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that I gave my favorite coin back to its owner."
Setzer laughed. "I remember that coin. And tell me, Celes, which choice would have been heads?"
"The proper one, of course." She stood up. "I assume you'll allow us to have our favorite room?"
"Any room you wish, except possibly for my own. And even that is negotiable." He stopped himself quickly, realizing what he'd just said - but Celes only met it with a raised eyebrow, and it seemed to pass over Locke's head entirely. "Is there anything else I can do? As I told Locke, we can stop for supplies tomorrow before we go back -"
"For now, I think that we should get some sleep. Both of us," she said, smiling slightly at Locke as she said it. "You might not be tired now, but you'll regret it in the morning if we don't try."
"I know, I know," he said, grinning. "I can't help it, I'm a night owl. All good treasure hunters are."
"That's fine, as long as you're doing that sort of work. But for now...."
"I know, Celes. You win." He threw up his hands in mock defeat. "Let's go get some sleep." He stood up along with her. "You don't mind, right, Setzer? I mean, we can talk more in the morning."
"Don't worry about it. You both need your rest. And we'll have as much time as we need to work out the details." He got up, poured himself a cup of coffee, then moved to walk next to both of them. "I'll walk you to your room."
The three of them walked mostly in silence, Locke and Celes leaning slightly on each other, Setzer beside them both holding his largely untouched cup and smiling. He couldn't seem to make himself stop smiling. He would not have made a bet with the odds he'd had of them saying yes, but it had worked anyway. It really seemed too good to be true.
He wished them both good-night as they arrived at the door to their cabin with a smile, not yet feeing quite comfortable enough for anything else - as Celes had said, there would be time to work out details, especially for himself. He had not known what he had wanted at all before, and he had only the vaguest idea of it now, but it was better now. Much better.
Humming happily to himself as he climbed, he went up the ladder - carefully, so as not to spill his cup, the fact that he was able to do so at all being due to a great deal of practice - and sat down on the deck, staring up at the stars. The night sky had not seemed so beautiful, nor so full of promise, in years, and he savored it.
Everything would be different in the morning, and he was looking forward to it immensely.
Medium: Fic
Request(s): Locke/Celes/Setzer: ANYTHING! Angst, smut, gen, fluff, all ratings appreciated! (Round 2 List)
Fandom(s): Final Fantasy VI
Characters/Pairings: Setzer, Locke, Celes
Rating/Warnings: PG
Feedback: Yes, please. Concrit's fine too.
Spoilers: Through the ending.
Word Count: 3440
Summary: Setzer makes a proposal to Locke and Celes, one that surprises all three of them.
Notes: I've wanted to write something like this for a long time, and this request finally solidified it in my mind, so thank you for that. :D Definitely falls on the gen side of things, although there are implications of various pairings and such.
---
It was the middle of the night on the Falcon, which was currently off in the middle of nowhere, and Setzer was making coffee out of sheer habit.
It had made sense when he'd started grinding the coffee beans. He'd always made coffee for the others, after they'd all gathered on the Falcon and as they flew under the ruined sky; they'd needed to stay alert, and the strong brews he favored had helped, they'd said. He hadn't had any company on the Falcon in ages, and he was unsure of what he should be doing, truth be told. He'd started to second-guess himself, anyway. His guests were both fast asleep in the largest guest cabin on the Falcon, and if they had any sense at all they'd stay there; they had both looked exhausted. Still, if nothing else he'd have a cup himself.
He'd found them both in Tzen; the town had been all but abandoned for months after Kefka had burned it, with many of the survivors eventually walking to Mobliz or Albrook to help there. It had fallen into ruin for a long time, and only recently had any attempts at restoration been made. He'd found that surprising, but then, maybe starting from such a state had seemed too daunting for residents who had lost so much, and so they had needed time to nerve themselves for it. Setzer could understand that feeling, far too well.
Locke and Celes had been surprised to see him, and Setzer could understand why. It had been far too long. Still, he'd arrived in the evening, and the two of them had been utterly exhausted. It had been easy enough to convince them to stop for the night, and to invite them onto his ship to rest. Surely his cabins were more comfortable than wherever they'd been sleeping in Tzen.
They'd spoken little before, which was odd; he had expected more of a reunion than that. But it seemed that they were too surprised, too exhausted or both for words, and he had not pushed. He knew something about pressure, knew when it was best to press and when it was better to back away. Besides, he was just grateful to have them back under his roof again, so to speak. He had been worried about them.
"Setzer?"
Setzer, startled, nearly scattered the ground coffee on the counter. "Forgive me," he said, mostly referring to his surprise. "I had thought you would be asleep."
"I was for a while," his visitor admitted. "Just woke up for a while. I sleep better during the day anyway, when I can." Locke smiled - he had the same easy smile that he'd always had. At least the hard work hadn't deprived him of it.
"Well, if you can't sleep, come sit with me for a while. Are you feeling better, Locke?"
"Much." Locke smiled a bit. He certainly looked more alert, at least. Setzer had been ready to swear that he'd been about to crash and fall asleep as he stood on the streets of Tzen. "Thank you."
"Think nothing of it." He patted his old friend on the back. "You should take better care of yourself," he chided gently. "You're no good to anyone if you can't stand."
"Yeah, well." He sighed a bit, still smiling, but the smile wasn't coming close to reaching his eyes. "It's just that... well, Celes never seems to get tired, you know? I want to be able to keep up with her."
"I can understand," Setzer said softly, walking away from Locke, to the other side of the little table so that he could look the thief in the face. He remembered working himself until he was ready to drop, only to leave the Blackjack and discover that Daryl was still in the engine room of the Falcon, still working tirelessly. No wonder she'd won their contests every time. "Still, I think that Celes would rather have you alive and a step behind."
"I know. She gets angry about this sort of thing all the time. I just..." He shook his head. "I know it's stupid. It's pride, I guess."
"A vice that I know very well," he said, nodding. "But come, let's talk of other things for the moment. Tell me, do you like coffee?"
"Nah... not really," Locke said, shrugging. "Celes does, but I don't know if she'd even want to take any this late at night. She has enough trouble sleeping as it is."
"Ah, understandable. But I myself have miles to fly before I sleep, after all." He got up, checked the kettle on the stove. It was piping hot, and he took it and poured it into a glass canister filled with the ground brown beans. "You are, of course, welcome to anything else I may have to offer. A nightcap, perhaps, to help you sleep."
"Thanks... um, maybe later." He stretched in his chair, and Setzer could see the marks of hard, honest work, the bruises on his newly-muscled arms. "So, mind if I ask where we are?"
"A small island north of the Veldt. It's a quiet, remote place. I know a number of such places." He poured himself a glass of water from a crystal decanter on the table and took a sip. "There will be no moon tonight, and the sunlight has almost faded completely. You must come up with me and look at the stars, if you are still awake in an hour. Celes too, if she should join us."
"I appreciate the offer, but I really hope she's sleeping. She needs it as bad as I did."
"No surprise." Setzer sat down, placing the coffee press and the glass of water to his side. It would take a few minutes before the coffee would be ready, and he needed the rest. He was tired too, his legs exhausted from standing at the wheel for most of the day and evening, and he needed a chance to rest before he went mad. At least here, at the furthest reaches of the world, he would have something resembling privacy. And beauty, once the sun went down completely; the sunsets were nice enough, but the stars were to die for... although perhaps that was not the best turn of praise -
"Hey, Setzer? You okay?"
"Hm?" He blinked. "What do you mean?"
"Just a look... sorry, I didn't mean to -"
Setzer smiled wistfully. "No, no. It's all right. I was only thinking about the stars, and... well, my thoughts wandered a bit, as you may imagine. I was just remembering that I was hardly the only one who admired them so much."
"Huh?" Locke's brow furrowed. "Who do you mean?"
"Celes never told you?" Setzer raised an eyebrow. "She never mentioned the woman who built this ship?"
"Um, maybe. I don't know," Locke admitted. "So much had happened by the time we could really speak to each other again, so... I just don't know."
"Ah, well... I would not be surprised if she hadn't. I suppose she thought that the story would have hit too close to home for you." The coffee was probably ready now. He pressed the grounds now and poured it into a plain white ceramic mug. "She was very dear to me, you know. Lovely Daryl, so full of life. We would race among the clouds for hours... when we were first starting out we would both dream of flying among the stars one day. Funny, how the dream lost its savor after I lost her."
"Oh," Locke said softly. "No, she never told me that. I'm sorry."
"Thank you." From most people, that statement would not have warranted such a response, but from Locke... he had heard the tales of the woman he'd lost. It meant more from a man who had experienced such things, who would truly understand.
They sat in silence for a short while, listening to the sounds of nightbirds and crickets from outside. When the silence had almost become too awkward to bear, and Setzer had been just about to say something - anything - to break it, Locke spoke up again. "Rachel and I... we used to talk about exploring every cave in the world, when we were rich enough that I wouldn't have to work in the mines anymore. We dreamed about that. I... I guess the same thing happened to me when she died."
Maybe he'd been too hasty in changing the subject, Setzer thought. Perhaps it would be wiser to speak of this, at least for a short time. "It's a pity, isn't it? When a dream dies..." He sighed slightly. "But don't you and Celes have a dream as well? That seems to be the way of things - when one dream dies another rises to take it's place..."
Locke smiled weakly, staring down at the table. "I guess that some day we will," he answered. "Not yet, though. I guess that right now there's just too much to do. There's not much time for dreams when you're trying to put the whole world back together."
"I don't know about that, Locke." He looked at the thief in some surprise, shifting a bit in the upholstered chair. "Isn't there always supposed to be time for dreams?"
Locke didn't look up or answer at first, just kept staring down at his gloved fingers tapping the table in time with the singing of the birds. Finally he forced another smile. "I used to think so, but I haven't had many of 'em lately."
"I'm sorry." Setzer sighed to himself. "It must be difficult for you, right now."
"Yeah. I hate to complain, what we're doing is important, but it's hard sometimes." He shook his head. "But you... I guess you must be one of the lucky ones, right? You get to live out your dreams every day."
"And what do you suppose that my dreams are?" he asked carefully.
"Well... it's obvious, isn't it? This ship. Flying through the sky, going where you please. I mean... you're happy up here, right?"
And what was he supposed to say to that? Was he happy, really? Yes, he should be happy - he'd made peace with his ghosts, or at least with what ghosts he had. He might've lost everything at one point in time, but he had it all back again now. What reason did he have not to be happier than he'd ever been? "Isn't that the last unanswerable question," he muttered to himself, smiling sardonically.
"Setzer, you sure you're okay?"
"Hm?" He looked up, slightly startled. For a moment he'd almost forgotten that Locke was there.
"You seem, I mean..." Locke looked a bit worried, a bit flustered. "I didn't mean to offend you. Sorry about that -"
"No, no, think nothing of it. No offense taken whatsoever." He picked up his coffee, started to take a sip, then abruptly put it down and leaned forward in his chair, looking the scruffy thief full in the face. He knew that he was about to say something; he had no idea what until the words were tumbling out of his mouth. "Stay here with me, Locke. You and Celes, on the Falcon. Please."
"Huh?" Locke blinked. Usually he was so quick with a comeback, but at that moment he looked utterly taken aback. "Say again?"
"Stay here. Live on my airship. Travel with me - we can all go wherever we want." He kept talking, even though he could see the surprise on his old companion's face. If he'd stopped, he would have lost his nerve; now that he'd started to talk, he knew how badly he'd wanted to say this.
"I, uh, well...." Locke stood up, looked around as if to find an escape, then sat back down, as if he'd given up on the idea. "You're serious, aren't you?"
"Very."
"I... yeah, well, I figured. I mean, I've seen you on whims before. Hell, I met you when you were kidnapping a woman on a whim, and it didn't look like this..." he trailed off, seemed to rally himself and start over. "It's just a surprise, that's all."
"I know, and I'm not going to press you into it. But I want you to know that you're both welcome, and that I'd be a happy man if you chose to stay with me."
"Well... okay, look, I like the idea. You know? But, you should know that I really can't speak for Celes -"
"You've never had to speak for me, Locke," said her voice from outside of the room, quiet and without inflection. "I can speak for myself."
Both men turned at once. Celes was standing at the door, her body wrapped in one of Setzer's old dressing gowns, her feet bare against the wood. Her long blonde hair fell tangled on her shoulders, and her sleepy eyes were wide.
"I apologize," she added, before either man could react. "I did not mean to eavesdrop. I woke up and could not fall asleep again, and thought that a walk would help. Then I heard you both speaking...."
Judging from the look on Locke's face, insomnia was a common occurence for Celes. Setzer decided not to pry. "If I had seen or heard you there, m'dear, I gladly would have invited you in," he said gently. "Please, come and sit down."
She nodded. "Thank you."
Locke jumped up and took her arm as she walked, steadying her. She cast him a look that was something between exasperation and gratitude and muttered something in his ear that made him smile. She still seemed somewhat wobbly. Why she would have wanted to take a walk in her state, Setzer didn't understand. He busied himself with fetching another water glass and pouring another cup, this one with ice.
"Here," he said, offering it to her once she'd taken her seat. "Drink this."
"Thanks," she said, before taking a long sip. For a while she held the glass up after she finished drinking, staring at it curiously. "I'd never thought about it," she said, "but it's nice to be able to drink whenever I want to have a drink. You don't appreciate things like that until after you lose them for a while. Don't you agree?"
"Completely," Setzer answered, smiling as he thought back to his first flight as the pilot of the Falcon. "I know exactly what you mean." He turned to Locke, meaning to ask him something along those lines, but his old friend was still looking at Celes with concern on his face. He'd seen it before, when Celes had been wounded on that cursed tower - she had kept going, but Locke had always worried.
"I thought that you might," she said smoothly, fixing him with a level, calm gaze even as she took Locke's hand and squeezed it very lightly. "How long has it been, Setzer?"
"Too long," he answered honestly.
"Almost a year," Locke added unnecessarily. "Just a few weeks from now it would've been."
"And in all that time, we've heard nothing from you, or even about you. Almost a year, and we've all wondered what happened to you. We'd heard news about the others - even Terra, and I know how busy she must be with her children - but you... we were afraid that you'd gone off and crashed somewhere."
Setzer thought at first that he might have been imagining her accusatory tone, as subtle as it was; she was exhausted, after all, and truth be told so was he. But Locke gave her a sudden, startled glance, and he knew that he hadn't imagined it after all. "I'm sorry," he said. "I've needed time to meditate on things, to work on the Falcon, to get certain business affairs in order. I've often thought about both of you... I even wrote a number of letters. But after everything that's happened..." He shook his head. "My letters were utterly dull, flat as dinner plates. They never felt like they'd be enough."
"And so you turn up in Tzen and whisk us both away, instead."
Setzer chuckled dryly. "That was a whim, I must admit. I'd heard rumors that you were here, rebuilding the city. I only wanted to see you again."
She sighed slightly, taking another sip. "We can't just leave them, you realize that," she said. "We promised them that we'd help rebuild. I don't like leaving things unfinished."
"I wouldn't ask you to. We can go back there tomorrow morning, after we've all rested - we can even stop somewhere for supplies on the way, if you need them. I'll stay and help you however I can, until the work is done."
"If I didn't know you better, I would have said that you were obligating yourself, Setzer. What was it that you once told me about obligations?"
"That was before," he said, smiling. "There are more important things than being free of them. I know that now."
"Like not being alone, I gather."
"That, yes. Like being with my dearest friends again."
"I see... although I have to admit, I didn't expect such a heartfelt request from you." She turned to Locke. "What about you, Locke? What do you think?"
"Well..." He stopped, smiled sheepishly. "if you want to do this, I'm with you. I kind of like the idea. I mean, it'll help us all out with a lot of things, and to be honest... I kind of missed this, you know?"
"So did I." Celes turned back to Setzer. "Well, I'd offer to flip a coin to see whether or not we accept your offer. Unfortunately, I'm afraid that I gave my favorite coin back to its owner."
Setzer laughed. "I remember that coin. And tell me, Celes, which choice would have been heads?"
"The proper one, of course." She stood up. "I assume you'll allow us to have our favorite room?"
"Any room you wish, except possibly for my own. And even that is negotiable." He stopped himself quickly, realizing what he'd just said - but Celes only met it with a raised eyebrow, and it seemed to pass over Locke's head entirely. "Is there anything else I can do? As I told Locke, we can stop for supplies tomorrow before we go back -"
"For now, I think that we should get some sleep. Both of us," she said, smiling slightly at Locke as she said it. "You might not be tired now, but you'll regret it in the morning if we don't try."
"I know, I know," he said, grinning. "I can't help it, I'm a night owl. All good treasure hunters are."
"That's fine, as long as you're doing that sort of work. But for now...."
"I know, Celes. You win." He threw up his hands in mock defeat. "Let's go get some sleep." He stood up along with her. "You don't mind, right, Setzer? I mean, we can talk more in the morning."
"Don't worry about it. You both need your rest. And we'll have as much time as we need to work out the details." He got up, poured himself a cup of coffee, then moved to walk next to both of them. "I'll walk you to your room."
The three of them walked mostly in silence, Locke and Celes leaning slightly on each other, Setzer beside them both holding his largely untouched cup and smiling. He couldn't seem to make himself stop smiling. He would not have made a bet with the odds he'd had of them saying yes, but it had worked anyway. It really seemed too good to be true.
He wished them both good-night as they arrived at the door to their cabin with a smile, not yet feeing quite comfortable enough for anything else - as Celes had said, there would be time to work out details, especially for himself. He had not known what he had wanted at all before, and he had only the vaguest idea of it now, but it was better now. Much better.
Humming happily to himself as he climbed, he went up the ladder - carefully, so as not to spill his cup, the fact that he was able to do so at all being due to a great deal of practice - and sat down on the deck, staring up at the stars. The night sky had not seemed so beautiful, nor so full of promise, in years, and he savored it.
Everything would be different in the morning, and he was looking forward to it immensely.