1. Back-to-back
Those boys were always at each other's sides.
It's funny how sometimes we don't think about things until someone else points them out to us. Like how life on the battlefield is barely worth the pennies of a child's allowance. Or how space is really nothing but silence, and when you go down no one can hear you scream. Little things — details that escape us until we're made aware of them, or until the moment of crisis when we're forced to figure it out for ourselves. Like knowing that you have just ten seconds left, and finding you can't speak, and realizing how fleeting time can be during those precious last moments.
It's times like that when you notice just how god damned lucky you are to have someone like him at your back. And there's nothing in the world like returning the favor.
I couldn't tell you how many instances Yzak has sped to my rescue when I'd thought I'd had it. He's always there, no matter how much I insist that I can handle myself, or how much he complains that he's wasting his time saving me, or how much we both get hurt. There's something amazing about a bond that overrides reason and surpasses logic to compel two forces toward each other.
That's what he is to me. He's an inescapable magnet that keeps me near. And I don't want to leave. I can't explain it. I know that I'm supposed to be at his side.
It isn't just on the battlefield. Life is one hell of a rocky road, and to survive is every soldier's greatest need. Having something to protect and having someone to watch over you is more than an idealistic dream. It's what makes me want to stand up and fight.
It's what keeps he and I both going.
That's why being close to him is something so special. My eyes are open because he was the one to snap me to my senses. Now I can't help but be delighted at every move he makes, the way the lights glint off his shining silver hair. And I know there's a reason why I feel this way, and why he does, too. It's because we've always been there for each other, given each other the opportunity to appreciate the outside source of strength and support.
Maybe it's only a minute detail observed in the mad chaos of battle, but… There's nothing quite like the warm feeling of knowing that Yzak and I will always be on this plane of parallels, always back-to-back.