golden sun; ivan/sheba
Fandom: Golden Sun
Characters/Pairings: Windshipping ~ Ivan/Sheba
Title: Such Great Heights
Rating: PG-13 ish?
Notes: Deathfic. A lil' bloody maybe, I kind of forget. Sad. Songfic, if that bothers you at all ("Such Great Heights" by Postal Service originally, but Iron and Wine's cover fits the mood better).
Posted: gsfanfic
The biting wind blew savagely across the tundra, as if trying to devour everything on it with its frost. The Adepts, bundled under layers of cloaks and scarves, huddled nearer to the fire.
Felix reached out to pile more wood onto the flames. "How far do you think we are from Prox now?"
"Maybe about a day's walk," Isaac replied. He shifted his yellow scarf so that it sheltered the side of his face from the wind. "We'll probably get there by nightfall tomorrow."
Jenna watched as the fresh wood caught the flames and the fire flared up. The snow around the base of the flames shrank away even further. She looked up. "Where have Ivan and Sheba gone off to?"
Picard turned away from the fire and pointed at the sky. Jenna looked up, shielding her eyes, and saw two figures perched on the branch of a tree a short distance away. Their cloaks were flapping in the wind.
She sighed, smiling, and turned back to the warmth of the fire. "Those two... They do love heights, don't they?"
--
Sheba pulled her cloak closer around her shoulders and gazed out at the landscape below. "Everything's so white," she said. "It's like an ocean."
Ivan shifted slightly next to her on the branch. "I don't think I could live in a place like this," he said. "I'd start going crazy from the lack of color."
"I wonder if it was always like this," Sheba murmured. Ivan looked over at her, and she continued. "Maybe when the lighthouses were still lit, when Alchemy was still thriving, this place wasn't completely frozen. Maybe there was a spring once in a while. Maybe there were flowers."
Ivan smiled sadly. "I guess we'll find out once this quest is over."
There was silence for a minute as both of them looked out over the snow. The wind bit at their faces, but to them it was like the reassuring touch of an old friend.
Ivan shook some hair out of his face and squinted into the distance. "We've come so far," he mused. "I remember when I first met Isaac and Garet and learned what our quest was. Back then, the Mercury Lighthouse seemed so far away. And now..."
"And now we're at Mars," Sheba finished. She paused. "I sort of feel like I haven't gone through as much as you have. When you were traveling, I was still sitting in a tower at Babi's palace. You guys were working so hard, and I was just sitting on my butt, looking out the window."
Ivan was silent for a moment before replying. "Well," he said slowly, "in a way, I think what you were going through was harder. You were shut away in a palace full of strangers, with no friends or family around you. We might have been fighting already at that point, but at least we had each other. You were all alone."
Sheba didn't answer. She huddled further down in her cloak.
"Sorry," Ivan said quickly. "I didn't mean to bring up anything painful." He turned toward her. "I do know how you felt, though," he added, more softly. "I was miserable when I found out that Hammet had been kidnapped and I couldn't get back to Layana in Kalay. I felt like there was no one in the world who understood me. Even Hammet was never as close to me as a true father would have been." He smiled. "That's when Isaac and Garet came in. I don't know where I'd be now if I hadn't met them."
"It would have been a lot easier for me," Sheba said slowly, staring out at the sky, "If I'd had someone like you to talk to. Someone who understood me like you do."
"I know what you mean," Ivan answered. "Even with Isaac and Garet, no one ever fully understood me. Both of them knew their families. Neither of them had ever been inside someone else's head. Until I met you, a part of me was always alone."
Sheba turned away from the landscape to meet his eyes. "I feel the same way. We're so much alike." She looked down, suddenly embarrassed. "It's not just that, though. You're... Well, you always understand how I'm feeling. You can always make me feel better. No one else can do that." Her cheeks were hot. They burned under the icy fingers of the air.
Ivan looked at her for a moment. "I know exactly what you mean," he said softly. They were silent. The air between them was heavy - full of unspoken thoughts.
After a minute, he spoke again. "Sheba... When all of this is over, there's something I need to tell you."
Sheba swallowed and found her voice. "When all of this is over, Ivan... I'm not sure we'll all still be alive."
"All right," he answered simply. "Then I'll have to tell you now."
He moved closer on the branch. Sheba held her breath. She could feel his body heat spreading towards her through the frigid air. Their hands were almost touching.
She raised her head - she looked into his eyes. It was like looking into a mirror. In his eyes she saw the same feelings that she was sure she held in her own - the same fear, the same fragile determination... the same love.
I'm thinking it's a sign
that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and...
Ivan closed his hand over hers. Sheba's heart swelled in her chest. She didn't move; never moved her gaze from the terrifying, wonderful mirrors that were his eyes. Their breath froze in the air and hung between them.
Her heart rose in her throat. "Are you sure?" she whispered; even though she knew he was, knew that neither of them had ever been more sure of anything in their entire lives. Ivan only smiled and leaned closer.
Sheba trembled as they touched.
...when we kiss they're perfectly aligned
All of her fears dissolved as their lips met. An amazing warmth spread through her, starting at the points where their bodies touched and expanding to fill her completely. She felt as if she had stepped out of the cold winter landscape and into a steaming bath. Or as if she had just woken up, wonderfully warm and comfortable beneath the bedsheets, and burrowed back down into her pillow to let the dawn cradle her in blissful half-slumber.
When it was over, he didn't have to speak. The feeling was all around them, drifting in the frosty air and riding the wind.
I love you.
They drew apart, but now it felt so cold and lonely to sit side-by-side on the branch, with inches of empty air between them. So Sheba eased herself gently back into his embrace and closed her eyes. They stayed like that, a single silhouette against the pale winter sky. They shared their warmth.
Sheba didn't ever want to forget this feeling. She wanted to bottle it and keep it around her neck - keep this perfect warmth. It was so new, being together with someone like this - and yet she fit into Ivan's arms as perfectly as if she had been there all her life.
And I have to speculate
that God himself did make us into corresponding
shapes like puzzle pieces from the clay
She pressed the side of her face to his chest, savoring the warm pressure on her cold skin, and drew in a deep breath. Ivan smelled like a dish of honey that had been left out in the rain all night, so that it had absorbed the scent of the stormy sky.
What had life been like before Ivan? Sheba tried to think back to her days in Lalivero, but instead found herself remembering the first time they had met; the long days sitting by the window in Babi's palace, and the strange group of four that had suddenly interrupted her subdued routine. Sheba had ignored them for the most part, used to the travelers that occasionally visited her tower. That is, until she felt a power enter her mind - a power that she had thought only she possessed.
Sheba still remembered what it had felt like. The presence that entered her mind had been strong and gentle all at once. It had probed through her thoughts gently, leaving her feeling strangely comforted. There was no malice in this force; at its center were feelings of curiosity and compassion.
She hadn't felt invaded; she had felt filled. She had felt complete.
That was how Ivan made her feel. He could always see through her, always tell when she was hiding something from him. He knew how she really felt, even when she put up a facade of false emotion. But this didn't make Sheba uncomfortable; on the contrary, it was extremely comforting to know that someone understood her and was looking out for her. He could sympathize with all she felt, and reassured her that it was all right to feel scared or angry or helpless. Ivan made her feel at peace with herself and with the the world around her. He made her feel safe.
She always tried to give something back to him. She supported Ivan in any way she could; helping him during battles, keeping night watch with him, or even just sitting beside him in silence when he was feeling sad. One of her greatest joys in life was to know that she could bring happiness to the person that had done so much for her.
If Ivan was ever taken away from her... She tried to shut out the thought, but it came anyway. If Ivan was taken away from her, what would she do? She shut her eyes and tightened her arms around his waist.
Ivan rested his cheek against her hair in response. "What are you thinking about?" he murmured.
Sheba smiled softly before replying. "Just you."
And true, it may seem like a stretch
but it's thoughts like this that catch my heavy
head when you're away
when I am missing you to death
Garet looked up from the fire and smirked. He nudged Isaac, who looked up at him with curious blue eyes. Garet's grin widened, and he pointed to Ivan and Sheba's tree, where the forms of the two Jupiter Adepts had melted together into a single shape against the sky.
A slow smile spread across Isaac's face. "Well, well..."
"What I don't get is why they're up there in the first place," Garet said, after a pause. "Sure, it's romantic and all, but it can't exactly be comfortable."
Isaac kept his eyes fixed on the distant couple. "Maybe they're listening to the wind," he suggested. Seeing Garet's inquisitive look, he elaborated. "Ivan once told me that when he listened to the wind blow, he could hear a song." He smiled again. "He also said that Sheba was the only other person he knew who could hear it."
"That's so sweet," Mia murmured. Isaac finally turned his eyes away from the landscape to look at her. "I'm glad they have each other," she continued, her expression sobering. "Since, you know, neither one of them really has a home to return to..."
And when you are out there on the road
for several weeks of shows and when you
scan the radio
I hope this song will guide you home
Ivan stirred, turning to look behind him, and Sheba opened her eyes. "What is it?" she murmured sleepily.
"Jenna," he replied. Sheba sat up, relinquishing her place in Ivan's arms, and turned to look also. Jenna was trudging through the snow towards them, bundled in several layers of clothing and scarves.
Sheba waved. "Hi, Jenna!" she called, her voice slightly muffled by the snow that carpeted the ground. Jenna looked up and gave them a small smile.
"Don't you two think maybe you should come down now?" she called up to them, looking slightly worried. "You've been up there for almost an hour; you could catch a cold. And it's so high," she continued, craning her neck to squint up at her friends. "What if you fall?"
Ivan laughed. "We'll be all right, Jenna, don't worry about it," he assured her.
Sheba nodded in agreement. "We do this all the time, we won't fall." Seeing Jenna's unconvinced look, she smiled teasingly. "Jenna, you worry too much! We're fine. We'll come down soon, I promise, just... not yet."
Jenna opened her mouth to protest, but sighed and gave a resigned chuckle instead. "All right, all right. Just don't blame me if you get sick!" With a smile and a wave, the Mars Adept turned and started making her way back to the fire and its much-needed warmth.
Alone once again, Ivan and Sheba turned back to the landscape in front of them. "Weyard looks so beautiful," Sheba sighed, after a pause.
Ivan smiled sadly. "It does, doesn't it? From up here, you'd never guess that it was dying."
They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now," they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now"
But we'll stay
--
The dragon was weakening.
The Adepts had been battling the huge creature for nearly an hour. Two of its three gargantuan heads had been severed and lay to the side, slicked with sticky coatings of oddly-colored blood that was quickly icing over in the frigid wind that battered the aerie. But the single remaining head seemed to be the fiercest of the three, continuously lunging and biting, and periodically ravaging the party of eight with a rain of blinding energy beams.
Mia was racing back and forth between her friends, using her most powerful healing spells left and right and consuming a steady supply of their precious psynergy crystals in the process. Blood from the wounds of her and her friends alike stained her robes, and her hair had escaped from its usual neat ponytail. Jenna was also making liberal use of her wide-range healing Psynergy, as her attacking spells, being Mars-based, were almost completely ineffective against the dragon.
Picard and Isaac had assumed the most aggressive attacking positions, Isaac repeatedly piercing the dragon's thick hide with Odyssey spells and his blade, and Picard causing massive damage with his Mercury spells. Ivan and Sheba had taken up positions to the sides of the beast, supporting the others as best they could with their most powerful Jupiter techniques. Garet attacked the monster with his sheer strength alone, as none of his Psynergy could put a scratch on the dragon, and Felix alternated between attacking the dragon and giving Mia much-needed help with the party's healing.
All eight were exhausted. Battered and weary, the Adepts felt more drained with every blow they delivered - but they had to go on.
Sheba had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she prepared what felt like the millionth Spark Plasma spell she had cast in the last hour. She had been even more on edge than usual during this fight, and past experience had told her that she shouldn't ignore this feeling. She stayed alert for some sudden twist in the battle, a sudden surprise that could cost them everything.
And the surprise did come.
It happened at the worst possible time. Picard had taken a hard hit from the dragon's immense claws, and it was taking the efforts of both Felix and Isaac to keep him conscious and stem the flow of blood from the wound. The combined Psynergy of Mia and Jenna was just sufficient to keep the dragon away from the fallen Lemurian and his healers. Garet was hesitant to approach the dragon with melee attacks, as it would be all too easy to be injured while the healers were otherwise occupied. Sheba and Ivan were doing their best to fight the dragon as well, but they were already so drained that their efforts made little difference.
Then the dragon did something it had never done before. It singled one of them out.
Withdrawing from its assault on the main bulk of the party, the dragon turned to its right, and without warning, brought sharp claws down towards the lone Jupiter mage standing there.
Ivan, caught mid-spell and completely off-guard, let out a strangled cry and twisted to the side. The claws went slightly off their mark, cutting a deep line down Ivan's side instead of piercing his vital organs. A crimson stain began to blossom through his shirt. He tried to dodge past the dragon and make it back to where Mia and Jenna stood, shocked into paralysis, but a huge, clawed foot slammed down in front of him. He staggered backwards, dangerously close to the lighthouse edge.
Sheba witnessed this with utter shock and panic. From her position on the opposite side of the lighthouse, there was no way she would be able to reach him in time. She began to sprint, making full use of her Jupiter speed, completely focused on the nightmarish sight of Ivan, Ivan, cornered and bleeding by the lighthouse edge.
Mia and Garet, closest to the dragon, cried out and began to run toward their friend. They had almost reached him when the dragon's spiked tail descended, slamming down inches in front of their faces and cutting several deep gashes down Garet's front. A splash of red spattered the aerie floor, and Garet crashed to the ground. Mia hesitated, torn between the bleeding Mars Adept lying at her feet and Ivan cornered by the dragon.
She hesitated a moment too long.
Even as Sheba ran, even as she drew ever closer, the dragon was raising a clawed hand. Ivan was trapped, surrounded on all sides by claws and scales and fire.
Sheba's thoughts were a frenzied hurricane of emotion. Ivan couldn't go now... She couldn't lose him... There were so many things she hadn't told him yet, so many things he would never know. An image flashed through her mind - she knelt in front of his gravestone, telling him everything, spilling tears and all the love in her heart until she had nothing left. That could never be the same. She had to tell him herself, had to see his face as she conveyed every little nuance of her love for him - how much she loved to see him smile, how she adored that one lock of hair at the back of his head that would never lie flat, how she had always dreamt of sitting up into the eternal night with him until even the stars went out.
She kept running, even as those claws descended, as Ivan's eyes widened in the final moment of panic, as he was thrown mercilessly over the edge and into empty air.
Sheba reached the edge, saw Ivan dropping away from her and into the cold, beautiful winter landscape, and didn't hesitate. Her feet had left the ground before she had even made the conscious decision.
Sheba dove.
This time, there would be no sea to catch her.
There would be no coming back.
I tried my best to leave
this all on your machine but the persistent beat it
sounded thin upon listening
And that frankly will not fly
you will hear the shrillest highs and lowest lows
with the windows down
when this is guiding you home
Throwing her arms wide, Sheba met Ivan in midair with enough force to knock her breath away. Gasping and sobbing, she held to him as tightly as she could as they both plummeted downward, toward the snow that was not nearly soft enough.
"Sheba..." Ivan's voice was so weak that she could barely hear it over the wind rushing in her ears. His arms encircled her, and she cried even harder. Their tears were ripped from their cheeks and mingled in the air above them.
Even as she sobbed, even as she was drenched in fear and sorrow and regret, Sheba was complete. She held to Ivan for all she was worth, because she knew that as long as she was with him, she was in the only place where she truly belonged. A painful beauty swelled in her chest and threatened to engulf her.
"I love you," she sobbed into his ear. "I love you, I love you, I love you, I lo-"
For the first and last time in her life, Sheba was going home.
--
The six Adepts stood in front of the gravestones, none speaking a word. The wind blew across the plain, wailing mournfully, as if it, too, shared their loss.
It had been a month since the Mars Lighthouse, but the sorrow was still as fresh and cutting as it had been on the day that it happened. Jenna and Felix's parents and Kyle felt incredibly guilty for unknowingly robbing the world of the two young Jupiter Adepts, but their guilt was nothing when compared with the sorrow of the Adepts that had been their friends.
Isaac sat in front of the twin gravestones, but he was not looking at them - he was watching the sky.
Mia walked over to him, and gently resting a hand on his shoulder, said softly, "There's nothing you can do now. There's nothing any of us can do."
Isaac ducked his head and said in a broken voice, "I know. But... But now that they're up there-" He gestured weakly toward the clear sky, "I just wish that they would... come down."
Garet spoke up cheerfully, although the sadness in his eyes belied the light tone of his voice. "Don't think of it like that, Isaac." He paused and looked up. "They're probably sitting on a cloud somewhere up there, waving at us."
"Weyard must look beautiful from that height," Felix added quietly.
There was a brief silence as the six Adepts looked to the sky, each remembering a different moment of the happiness that had been so abruptly torn from them.
"I just hope they're happy up there," Picard murmured after a moment.
Jenna smiled and blinked back tears. "I'm sure they are," she said, only the slightest tremble entering her voice. "They always loved heights."
They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now," they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now"
But we'll stay...
-End-
Golden Sun gets no ♥, so if you like either the game or the fic please shout. :3
Characters/Pairings: Windshipping ~ Ivan/Sheba
Title: Such Great Heights
Rating: PG-13 ish?
Notes: Deathfic. A lil' bloody maybe, I kind of forget. Sad. Songfic, if that bothers you at all ("Such Great Heights" by Postal Service originally, but Iron and Wine's cover fits the mood better).
Posted: gsfanfic
The biting wind blew savagely across the tundra, as if trying to devour everything on it with its frost. The Adepts, bundled under layers of cloaks and scarves, huddled nearer to the fire.
Felix reached out to pile more wood onto the flames. "How far do you think we are from Prox now?"
"Maybe about a day's walk," Isaac replied. He shifted his yellow scarf so that it sheltered the side of his face from the wind. "We'll probably get there by nightfall tomorrow."
Jenna watched as the fresh wood caught the flames and the fire flared up. The snow around the base of the flames shrank away even further. She looked up. "Where have Ivan and Sheba gone off to?"
Picard turned away from the fire and pointed at the sky. Jenna looked up, shielding her eyes, and saw two figures perched on the branch of a tree a short distance away. Their cloaks were flapping in the wind.
She sighed, smiling, and turned back to the warmth of the fire. "Those two... They do love heights, don't they?"
--
Sheba pulled her cloak closer around her shoulders and gazed out at the landscape below. "Everything's so white," she said. "It's like an ocean."
Ivan shifted slightly next to her on the branch. "I don't think I could live in a place like this," he said. "I'd start going crazy from the lack of color."
"I wonder if it was always like this," Sheba murmured. Ivan looked over at her, and she continued. "Maybe when the lighthouses were still lit, when Alchemy was still thriving, this place wasn't completely frozen. Maybe there was a spring once in a while. Maybe there were flowers."
Ivan smiled sadly. "I guess we'll find out once this quest is over."
There was silence for a minute as both of them looked out over the snow. The wind bit at their faces, but to them it was like the reassuring touch of an old friend.
Ivan shook some hair out of his face and squinted into the distance. "We've come so far," he mused. "I remember when I first met Isaac and Garet and learned what our quest was. Back then, the Mercury Lighthouse seemed so far away. And now..."
"And now we're at Mars," Sheba finished. She paused. "I sort of feel like I haven't gone through as much as you have. When you were traveling, I was still sitting in a tower at Babi's palace. You guys were working so hard, and I was just sitting on my butt, looking out the window."
Ivan was silent for a moment before replying. "Well," he said slowly, "in a way, I think what you were going through was harder. You were shut away in a palace full of strangers, with no friends or family around you. We might have been fighting already at that point, but at least we had each other. You were all alone."
Sheba didn't answer. She huddled further down in her cloak.
"Sorry," Ivan said quickly. "I didn't mean to bring up anything painful." He turned toward her. "I do know how you felt, though," he added, more softly. "I was miserable when I found out that Hammet had been kidnapped and I couldn't get back to Layana in Kalay. I felt like there was no one in the world who understood me. Even Hammet was never as close to me as a true father would have been." He smiled. "That's when Isaac and Garet came in. I don't know where I'd be now if I hadn't met them."
"It would have been a lot easier for me," Sheba said slowly, staring out at the sky, "If I'd had someone like you to talk to. Someone who understood me like you do."
"I know what you mean," Ivan answered. "Even with Isaac and Garet, no one ever fully understood me. Both of them knew their families. Neither of them had ever been inside someone else's head. Until I met you, a part of me was always alone."
Sheba turned away from the landscape to meet his eyes. "I feel the same way. We're so much alike." She looked down, suddenly embarrassed. "It's not just that, though. You're... Well, you always understand how I'm feeling. You can always make me feel better. No one else can do that." Her cheeks were hot. They burned under the icy fingers of the air.
Ivan looked at her for a moment. "I know exactly what you mean," he said softly. They were silent. The air between them was heavy - full of unspoken thoughts.
After a minute, he spoke again. "Sheba... When all of this is over, there's something I need to tell you."
Sheba swallowed and found her voice. "When all of this is over, Ivan... I'm not sure we'll all still be alive."
"All right," he answered simply. "Then I'll have to tell you now."
He moved closer on the branch. Sheba held her breath. She could feel his body heat spreading towards her through the frigid air. Their hands were almost touching.
She raised her head - she looked into his eyes. It was like looking into a mirror. In his eyes she saw the same feelings that she was sure she held in her own - the same fear, the same fragile determination... the same love.
I'm thinking it's a sign
that the freckles in our eyes are mirror images and...
Ivan closed his hand over hers. Sheba's heart swelled in her chest. She didn't move; never moved her gaze from the terrifying, wonderful mirrors that were his eyes. Their breath froze in the air and hung between them.
Her heart rose in her throat. "Are you sure?" she whispered; even though she knew he was, knew that neither of them had ever been more sure of anything in their entire lives. Ivan only smiled and leaned closer.
Sheba trembled as they touched.
...when we kiss they're perfectly aligned
All of her fears dissolved as their lips met. An amazing warmth spread through her, starting at the points where their bodies touched and expanding to fill her completely. She felt as if she had stepped out of the cold winter landscape and into a steaming bath. Or as if she had just woken up, wonderfully warm and comfortable beneath the bedsheets, and burrowed back down into her pillow to let the dawn cradle her in blissful half-slumber.
When it was over, he didn't have to speak. The feeling was all around them, drifting in the frosty air and riding the wind.
I love you.
They drew apart, but now it felt so cold and lonely to sit side-by-side on the branch, with inches of empty air between them. So Sheba eased herself gently back into his embrace and closed her eyes. They stayed like that, a single silhouette against the pale winter sky. They shared their warmth.
Sheba didn't ever want to forget this feeling. She wanted to bottle it and keep it around her neck - keep this perfect warmth. It was so new, being together with someone like this - and yet she fit into Ivan's arms as perfectly as if she had been there all her life.
And I have to speculate
that God himself did make us into corresponding
shapes like puzzle pieces from the clay
She pressed the side of her face to his chest, savoring the warm pressure on her cold skin, and drew in a deep breath. Ivan smelled like a dish of honey that had been left out in the rain all night, so that it had absorbed the scent of the stormy sky.
What had life been like before Ivan? Sheba tried to think back to her days in Lalivero, but instead found herself remembering the first time they had met; the long days sitting by the window in Babi's palace, and the strange group of four that had suddenly interrupted her subdued routine. Sheba had ignored them for the most part, used to the travelers that occasionally visited her tower. That is, until she felt a power enter her mind - a power that she had thought only she possessed.
Sheba still remembered what it had felt like. The presence that entered her mind had been strong and gentle all at once. It had probed through her thoughts gently, leaving her feeling strangely comforted. There was no malice in this force; at its center were feelings of curiosity and compassion.
She hadn't felt invaded; she had felt filled. She had felt complete.
That was how Ivan made her feel. He could always see through her, always tell when she was hiding something from him. He knew how she really felt, even when she put up a facade of false emotion. But this didn't make Sheba uncomfortable; on the contrary, it was extremely comforting to know that someone understood her and was looking out for her. He could sympathize with all she felt, and reassured her that it was all right to feel scared or angry or helpless. Ivan made her feel at peace with herself and with the the world around her. He made her feel safe.
She always tried to give something back to him. She supported Ivan in any way she could; helping him during battles, keeping night watch with him, or even just sitting beside him in silence when he was feeling sad. One of her greatest joys in life was to know that she could bring happiness to the person that had done so much for her.
If Ivan was ever taken away from her... She tried to shut out the thought, but it came anyway. If Ivan was taken away from her, what would she do? She shut her eyes and tightened her arms around his waist.
Ivan rested his cheek against her hair in response. "What are you thinking about?" he murmured.
Sheba smiled softly before replying. "Just you."
And true, it may seem like a stretch
but it's thoughts like this that catch my heavy
head when you're away
when I am missing you to death
Garet looked up from the fire and smirked. He nudged Isaac, who looked up at him with curious blue eyes. Garet's grin widened, and he pointed to Ivan and Sheba's tree, where the forms of the two Jupiter Adepts had melted together into a single shape against the sky.
A slow smile spread across Isaac's face. "Well, well..."
"What I don't get is why they're up there in the first place," Garet said, after a pause. "Sure, it's romantic and all, but it can't exactly be comfortable."
Isaac kept his eyes fixed on the distant couple. "Maybe they're listening to the wind," he suggested. Seeing Garet's inquisitive look, he elaborated. "Ivan once told me that when he listened to the wind blow, he could hear a song." He smiled again. "He also said that Sheba was the only other person he knew who could hear it."
"That's so sweet," Mia murmured. Isaac finally turned his eyes away from the landscape to look at her. "I'm glad they have each other," she continued, her expression sobering. "Since, you know, neither one of them really has a home to return to..."
And when you are out there on the road
for several weeks of shows and when you
scan the radio
I hope this song will guide you home
Ivan stirred, turning to look behind him, and Sheba opened her eyes. "What is it?" she murmured sleepily.
"Jenna," he replied. Sheba sat up, relinquishing her place in Ivan's arms, and turned to look also. Jenna was trudging through the snow towards them, bundled in several layers of clothing and scarves.
Sheba waved. "Hi, Jenna!" she called, her voice slightly muffled by the snow that carpeted the ground. Jenna looked up and gave them a small smile.
"Don't you two think maybe you should come down now?" she called up to them, looking slightly worried. "You've been up there for almost an hour; you could catch a cold. And it's so high," she continued, craning her neck to squint up at her friends. "What if you fall?"
Ivan laughed. "We'll be all right, Jenna, don't worry about it," he assured her.
Sheba nodded in agreement. "We do this all the time, we won't fall." Seeing Jenna's unconvinced look, she smiled teasingly. "Jenna, you worry too much! We're fine. We'll come down soon, I promise, just... not yet."
Jenna opened her mouth to protest, but sighed and gave a resigned chuckle instead. "All right, all right. Just don't blame me if you get sick!" With a smile and a wave, the Mars Adept turned and started making her way back to the fire and its much-needed warmth.
Alone once again, Ivan and Sheba turned back to the landscape in front of them. "Weyard looks so beautiful," Sheba sighed, after a pause.
Ivan smiled sadly. "It does, doesn't it? From up here, you'd never guess that it was dying."
They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now," they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now"
But we'll stay
--
The dragon was weakening.
The Adepts had been battling the huge creature for nearly an hour. Two of its three gargantuan heads had been severed and lay to the side, slicked with sticky coatings of oddly-colored blood that was quickly icing over in the frigid wind that battered the aerie. But the single remaining head seemed to be the fiercest of the three, continuously lunging and biting, and periodically ravaging the party of eight with a rain of blinding energy beams.
Mia was racing back and forth between her friends, using her most powerful healing spells left and right and consuming a steady supply of their precious psynergy crystals in the process. Blood from the wounds of her and her friends alike stained her robes, and her hair had escaped from its usual neat ponytail. Jenna was also making liberal use of her wide-range healing Psynergy, as her attacking spells, being Mars-based, were almost completely ineffective against the dragon.
Picard and Isaac had assumed the most aggressive attacking positions, Isaac repeatedly piercing the dragon's thick hide with Odyssey spells and his blade, and Picard causing massive damage with his Mercury spells. Ivan and Sheba had taken up positions to the sides of the beast, supporting the others as best they could with their most powerful Jupiter techniques. Garet attacked the monster with his sheer strength alone, as none of his Psynergy could put a scratch on the dragon, and Felix alternated between attacking the dragon and giving Mia much-needed help with the party's healing.
All eight were exhausted. Battered and weary, the Adepts felt more drained with every blow they delivered - but they had to go on.
Sheba had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as she prepared what felt like the millionth Spark Plasma spell she had cast in the last hour. She had been even more on edge than usual during this fight, and past experience had told her that she shouldn't ignore this feeling. She stayed alert for some sudden twist in the battle, a sudden surprise that could cost them everything.
And the surprise did come.
It happened at the worst possible time. Picard had taken a hard hit from the dragon's immense claws, and it was taking the efforts of both Felix and Isaac to keep him conscious and stem the flow of blood from the wound. The combined Psynergy of Mia and Jenna was just sufficient to keep the dragon away from the fallen Lemurian and his healers. Garet was hesitant to approach the dragon with melee attacks, as it would be all too easy to be injured while the healers were otherwise occupied. Sheba and Ivan were doing their best to fight the dragon as well, but they were already so drained that their efforts made little difference.
Then the dragon did something it had never done before. It singled one of them out.
Withdrawing from its assault on the main bulk of the party, the dragon turned to its right, and without warning, brought sharp claws down towards the lone Jupiter mage standing there.
Ivan, caught mid-spell and completely off-guard, let out a strangled cry and twisted to the side. The claws went slightly off their mark, cutting a deep line down Ivan's side instead of piercing his vital organs. A crimson stain began to blossom through his shirt. He tried to dodge past the dragon and make it back to where Mia and Jenna stood, shocked into paralysis, but a huge, clawed foot slammed down in front of him. He staggered backwards, dangerously close to the lighthouse edge.
Sheba witnessed this with utter shock and panic. From her position on the opposite side of the lighthouse, there was no way she would be able to reach him in time. She began to sprint, making full use of her Jupiter speed, completely focused on the nightmarish sight of Ivan, Ivan, cornered and bleeding by the lighthouse edge.
Mia and Garet, closest to the dragon, cried out and began to run toward their friend. They had almost reached him when the dragon's spiked tail descended, slamming down inches in front of their faces and cutting several deep gashes down Garet's front. A splash of red spattered the aerie floor, and Garet crashed to the ground. Mia hesitated, torn between the bleeding Mars Adept lying at her feet and Ivan cornered by the dragon.
She hesitated a moment too long.
Even as Sheba ran, even as she drew ever closer, the dragon was raising a clawed hand. Ivan was trapped, surrounded on all sides by claws and scales and fire.
Sheba's thoughts were a frenzied hurricane of emotion. Ivan couldn't go now... She couldn't lose him... There were so many things she hadn't told him yet, so many things he would never know. An image flashed through her mind - she knelt in front of his gravestone, telling him everything, spilling tears and all the love in her heart until she had nothing left. That could never be the same. She had to tell him herself, had to see his face as she conveyed every little nuance of her love for him - how much she loved to see him smile, how she adored that one lock of hair at the back of his head that would never lie flat, how she had always dreamt of sitting up into the eternal night with him until even the stars went out.
She kept running, even as those claws descended, as Ivan's eyes widened in the final moment of panic, as he was thrown mercilessly over the edge and into empty air.
Sheba reached the edge, saw Ivan dropping away from her and into the cold, beautiful winter landscape, and didn't hesitate. Her feet had left the ground before she had even made the conscious decision.
Sheba dove.
This time, there would be no sea to catch her.
There would be no coming back.
I tried my best to leave
this all on your machine but the persistent beat it
sounded thin upon listening
And that frankly will not fly
you will hear the shrillest highs and lowest lows
with the windows down
when this is guiding you home
Throwing her arms wide, Sheba met Ivan in midair with enough force to knock her breath away. Gasping and sobbing, she held to him as tightly as she could as they both plummeted downward, toward the snow that was not nearly soft enough.
"Sheba..." Ivan's voice was so weak that she could barely hear it over the wind rushing in her ears. His arms encircled her, and she cried even harder. Their tears were ripped from their cheeks and mingled in the air above them.
Even as she sobbed, even as she was drenched in fear and sorrow and regret, Sheba was complete. She held to Ivan for all she was worth, because she knew that as long as she was with him, she was in the only place where she truly belonged. A painful beauty swelled in her chest and threatened to engulf her.
"I love you," she sobbed into his ear. "I love you, I love you, I love you, I lo-"
For the first and last time in her life, Sheba was going home.
--
The six Adepts stood in front of the gravestones, none speaking a word. The wind blew across the plain, wailing mournfully, as if it, too, shared their loss.
It had been a month since the Mars Lighthouse, but the sorrow was still as fresh and cutting as it had been on the day that it happened. Jenna and Felix's parents and Kyle felt incredibly guilty for unknowingly robbing the world of the two young Jupiter Adepts, but their guilt was nothing when compared with the sorrow of the Adepts that had been their friends.
Isaac sat in front of the twin gravestones, but he was not looking at them - he was watching the sky.
Mia walked over to him, and gently resting a hand on his shoulder, said softly, "There's nothing you can do now. There's nothing any of us can do."
Isaac ducked his head and said in a broken voice, "I know. But... But now that they're up there-" He gestured weakly toward the clear sky, "I just wish that they would... come down."
Garet spoke up cheerfully, although the sadness in his eyes belied the light tone of his voice. "Don't think of it like that, Isaac." He paused and looked up. "They're probably sitting on a cloud somewhere up there, waving at us."
"Weyard must look beautiful from that height," Felix added quietly.
There was a brief silence as the six Adepts looked to the sky, each remembering a different moment of the happiness that had been so abruptly torn from them.
"I just hope they're happy up there," Picard murmured after a moment.
Jenna smiled and blinked back tears. "I'm sure they are," she said, only the slightest tremble entering her voice. "They always loved heights."
They will see us waving from such great heights
"Come down now," they'll say
But everything looks perfect from far away
"Come down now"
But we'll stay...
-End-
Golden Sun gets no ♥, so if you like either the game or the fic please shout. :3