Ottsie: Hello everyone. This is my second fanfic. I sort of got carried away, but I hope you like it anyways. It's sort of a prequel to my other story, Better Left Forgotten.

Disclaimer: Torn and co. are the sole property of Naughty Dog. I do own Hikari and the 'child'.

The forest was his favourite place, besides the Hideout, of course.

Icy blue eyes dragged their gaze along the tree line. It was nearly twilight, and the sun's last rays were casting a soft red light, making the air appear almost magical. Sighing, he laid down in the soft grass and watched as the day slowly turned to night. It was nice to have some down time; the last few days had been hectic. Slipping his eyes close, he rolled onto his side, opening them once more to look at the inscription carved into the aged tree. His eyes traced the trunk down to the ground where he had first made the carving, and back up, mind in a gentle awe at the distance between the two. Wow, has it really been that long?

The attack on the oldest part of Haven came as a shock to everyone. It was the furthest place from any known Metal Head nest, and it was fairly well guarded. A lot of the Krimzon Guards wandered there, because the Old Haven was quite a magnificent place to be, whether it was during the day or the night. There was even a base built there, for ease of protection, as the Baron said. He snorted; what a heck load of help that was. All of the recruits get stuck there, and when it comes down to it, there was really nothing they could have done to stop the surprise attack. He knew, the other Commander knew it, all of the Guard knew it, hell; even the Baron probably knew it.

They lost a lot of lives in that attack.

After getting wind of a sneak attack, both of the Krimzon guards finest Commanders sprung into action, trying to save as many lives as possible, while trying to push the Metal Head back into the ocean. The tactic was both a success and a failure. While securing the safety of the rest of the city, by shutting the main gate, the Baron had left a lot of his men, and quite a few of the citizens, trapped in between a rock and a hard place. It had taken a lot of effort to calm the remaining citizens. It took the guards even more to gentle placate them to climb over the wall. Some had to be carried over.

Then the Metal heads had found them.

It was a long and bloody war, but both Commanders made it across the wall, kicking down the ladders in the process. Both had lost almost all their men, the few that survived merely did so because they were the fortunate ones that had to ferry the weak or the young over the wall. The shock of losing so many fine young men was great, but not as great as what awaited his friend when they got back to base.

His wife had been found, severely injured. Apparently, she had been helping on the other end of the town, helping people escape through a tiny gap. The Metals saw her and pounced, just as she got the last of the people through. The witnesses said she fought valiantly, as expected of a Commander's wife, but sustained fatal wounds all over her body. She was almost gone when they got back.

He shivered as he recalled her last words.

"Please… t..take care… of him… both…of…them…"

And Hikari died with a peaceful smile on her face.

Torn jolted awake. Yawning, he rubbed his tired eyes and looked at the sky.

"Damn." He cursed. He had, once again, fallen asleep in Haven Forest. The Underground Leader shook his head to clear it and looked at the tree once more, the carving near invisible in the dim light. Just then, a tiny dot of light flew by lazily, shortly joined by more, until the air around him was alight with fireflies.

Standing up, he shivered as he began to walk down the grassy hill, back towards the city. Torn felt for his now deceased friend, and poor child he left alone in the world, wherever he was. Erol had lost his sanity the day he lost his wife in the attack of Dead Town. Torn shook his head once more, and looked back to the tree, before stepping onto the Precursor Platform that took him back to the Warp Gate.

Fireflies were Hikari's favourite, and every year, on the anniversary of her death, he'd come to her spot and read the quote, watch the fireflies and remember.

Keep the Faith.

"Faith kept." And he stepped through the Warp.

Ottsie: Short yes, but I hope you liked it.

Jazen: Please Review!