Suikoden - Harmonians: #31 - Sunrise
Title: Relentless Sun
Fandom: Suikoden/Suikogaiden
Characters: Sasarai, Lena (Claim: Harmonians)
Prompt: #31 - Sunrise
Word Count: 1,017
Rating: PG
Summary: Sasarai gets an unexpected visitor while watching a sunrise one morning. He then finds out that sometimes the best advice comes from those unexpected.
There was absolutely nothing spectacular about a Harmonian sunrise. In Sasarai’s opinion that was true, anyway. Many others said differently, but when you live forever, every sunrise seems the same. Even though Sasarai had been alive only as long as a normal human, he realized that he would be witnessing many sunrises to come. Already they were dull. Despite that, however, he was sitting on a hill just outside the city, watching the sunrise.
The colors were rather unusual, but the uncanny sight had become so familiar that they were not really strange any longer. If one said the sky was orange in the middle of the day, most people would think the world was ending, but the sunrise had the exception. What was strange was watching the people around him age with every sunrise, yet he never did. He would look in the mirror, actually hoping to see a new wrinkle, or maybe a gray hair. He was disappointed every morning. Thus, he would walk to the hill to watch the sunrise, the only thing that remained constant along with his appearance.
Ever since the war, he’d felt older. There was a certain weight on his chest from the moment he returned to Harmonia. He’d felt so alive at Budehuc Castle, but he was needed in his home country. The things Luc had said were continuously running through his mind. He never mentioned them, lest he worry someone like Dios, who was now prone to panic attacks every so often when the bishop wasn’t feeling well. Something about his old ‘war injuries’ acting up. Sasarai was always annoyed, but he knew the man meant well.
As he was lost in his thoughts, Sasarai didn’t seem to notice as someone approached him. Normally, he was rather alert, but watching the sunrise was his only chance to really think. Perhaps it was hazardous to lose himself in his own problems outside the city, but it was the only place he could go without being bothered. Well, usually anyhow. At the last moment, he heard the person’s shoes shuffle against the wet grass quite nearby. He turned his head to stare up into the face of one of his army members.
“I figured you would be here,” Lena said, sitting down next to him on the dew soaked grass. Sasarai frowned slightly and tilted his head.
“How did you know I would be here?” he asked her, more out of curiosity than annoyance. Had she seem him come this way before?
“Nash spotted you leaving the city. He said you do it every morning,” she glanced up at the sky. “And I just assumed, since this is the best place to watch a sunrise from.”
“I see…” he followed her gaze back toward the sunrise. “It’s nothing special.”
“Why do you say that?” Sasarai wasn’t expecting that really. He was used to his word just being accepted by subordinates. She and her whole family, however, were exceptions to that rule most of the time anyway. He knew that she could be almost as stubborn as Nash. Perhaps more.
“They’re all the same,” he told her, leaning back.
“You think so?” she inquired, lifting an eyebrow and glancing over at him. “I think I’m going to have to disagree with you.” Sasarai looked over at her, frowning. True, this wasn’t anything about the military, but it was rare that an army member would disagree with him on a point. Usually they just accepted that he was right.
“To you, perhaps not,” he shook his head. “But things start to look the same when you know you’re going to live forever.”
“Well, if you let yourself think that way, sure,” she countered, glancing over at him. “Try thinking of it as another beginning. Since you live forever you get the infinite chance to fix your mistakes. A day’s mistakes are all right when you realize that with each new sunrise brings you another day that’s going to be totally different from the last, but only if you make it that way by learning from mistakes and moving on and growing. Think about where you’ll be in the next hundred years if you do things that way.”
Sasarai paused, thinking her words over. They made sense, but it was difficult to accept that. Then again, he could look at this conversation as another mistake he should learn from. Had he thought of that before, they wouldn’t even be there. He sighed softly.
“I suppose you’re right,” he admitted, almost grudgingly. He hated being wrong. Lena, however, smiled at him.
“Now was that so hard to accept?” she asked.
“What?” he frowned, giving her a look.
“The fact that I’m right,” she told him, actually reaching over to punch him lightly on the shoulder. “You don’t always have to be right.”
“Yes, I do,” he told her. She shook her head and even laughed softly.
“There’s where you’re wrong. You might be immortal, but you’re still made like a person, therefore, you make mistakes,” she told him. “In fact, sometimes it’s refreshing to be wrong.”
“I… suppose you’re right,” he admitted. It wasn’t as difficult as he thought it would be. Besides, the rest of the army wasn’t around to hear him admit that he was wrong, nor were his enemies. They were who needed to think that he was always right.
“Good.” She looked back toward the horizon and smiled. “Do you do this every morning?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah, I do,” he told her, following her gaze in the direction of the rising sun. “I find it refreshing.”
“Do you mind if I start to join you?” Sasarai hesitated for a moment before turning to her and smiling.
“I’d be honored.”
END
Fandom: Suikoden/Suikogaiden
Characters: Sasarai, Lena (Claim: Harmonians)
Prompt: #31 - Sunrise
Word Count: 1,017
Rating: PG
Summary: Sasarai gets an unexpected visitor while watching a sunrise one morning. He then finds out that sometimes the best advice comes from those unexpected.
There was absolutely nothing spectacular about a Harmonian sunrise. In Sasarai’s opinion that was true, anyway. Many others said differently, but when you live forever, every sunrise seems the same. Even though Sasarai had been alive only as long as a normal human, he realized that he would be witnessing many sunrises to come. Already they were dull. Despite that, however, he was sitting on a hill just outside the city, watching the sunrise.
The colors were rather unusual, but the uncanny sight had become so familiar that they were not really strange any longer. If one said the sky was orange in the middle of the day, most people would think the world was ending, but the sunrise had the exception. What was strange was watching the people around him age with every sunrise, yet he never did. He would look in the mirror, actually hoping to see a new wrinkle, or maybe a gray hair. He was disappointed every morning. Thus, he would walk to the hill to watch the sunrise, the only thing that remained constant along with his appearance.
Ever since the war, he’d felt older. There was a certain weight on his chest from the moment he returned to Harmonia. He’d felt so alive at Budehuc Castle, but he was needed in his home country. The things Luc had said were continuously running through his mind. He never mentioned them, lest he worry someone like Dios, who was now prone to panic attacks every so often when the bishop wasn’t feeling well. Something about his old ‘war injuries’ acting up. Sasarai was always annoyed, but he knew the man meant well.
As he was lost in his thoughts, Sasarai didn’t seem to notice as someone approached him. Normally, he was rather alert, but watching the sunrise was his only chance to really think. Perhaps it was hazardous to lose himself in his own problems outside the city, but it was the only place he could go without being bothered. Well, usually anyhow. At the last moment, he heard the person’s shoes shuffle against the wet grass quite nearby. He turned his head to stare up into the face of one of his army members.
“I figured you would be here,” Lena said, sitting down next to him on the dew soaked grass. Sasarai frowned slightly and tilted his head.
“How did you know I would be here?” he asked her, more out of curiosity than annoyance. Had she seem him come this way before?
“Nash spotted you leaving the city. He said you do it every morning,” she glanced up at the sky. “And I just assumed, since this is the best place to watch a sunrise from.”
“I see…” he followed her gaze back toward the sunrise. “It’s nothing special.”
“Why do you say that?” Sasarai wasn’t expecting that really. He was used to his word just being accepted by subordinates. She and her whole family, however, were exceptions to that rule most of the time anyway. He knew that she could be almost as stubborn as Nash. Perhaps more.
“They’re all the same,” he told her, leaning back.
“You think so?” she inquired, lifting an eyebrow and glancing over at him. “I think I’m going to have to disagree with you.” Sasarai looked over at her, frowning. True, this wasn’t anything about the military, but it was rare that an army member would disagree with him on a point. Usually they just accepted that he was right.
“To you, perhaps not,” he shook his head. “But things start to look the same when you know you’re going to live forever.”
“Well, if you let yourself think that way, sure,” she countered, glancing over at him. “Try thinking of it as another beginning. Since you live forever you get the infinite chance to fix your mistakes. A day’s mistakes are all right when you realize that with each new sunrise brings you another day that’s going to be totally different from the last, but only if you make it that way by learning from mistakes and moving on and growing. Think about where you’ll be in the next hundred years if you do things that way.”
Sasarai paused, thinking her words over. They made sense, but it was difficult to accept that. Then again, he could look at this conversation as another mistake he should learn from. Had he thought of that before, they wouldn’t even be there. He sighed softly.
“I suppose you’re right,” he admitted, almost grudgingly. He hated being wrong. Lena, however, smiled at him.
“Now was that so hard to accept?” she asked.
“What?” he frowned, giving her a look.
“The fact that I’m right,” she told him, actually reaching over to punch him lightly on the shoulder. “You don’t always have to be right.”
“Yes, I do,” he told her. She shook her head and even laughed softly.
“There’s where you’re wrong. You might be immortal, but you’re still made like a person, therefore, you make mistakes,” she told him. “In fact, sometimes it’s refreshing to be wrong.”
“I… suppose you’re right,” he admitted. It wasn’t as difficult as he thought it would be. Besides, the rest of the army wasn’t around to hear him admit that he was wrong, nor were his enemies. They were who needed to think that he was always right.
“Good.” She looked back toward the horizon and smiled. “Do you do this every morning?”
“Hm? Oh, yeah, I do,” he told her, following her gaze in the direction of the rising sun. “I find it refreshing.”
“Do you mind if I start to join you?” Sasarai hesitated for a moment before turning to her and smiling.
“I’d be honored.”
END