I've really got nothing better to do, so… I have no idea why I keep writing Golden Sun fiction these days. I can't really manage anything else. Whatever…

Oh, and by the way, there's going to be Steamshipping, but it's mostly just necessary for the story. And there might be vague Valeshipping, and one-sided Windshipping (for a while), but that's all. Maybe Proxshipping…maybe.

Inspiration from Torn by Renoa Heartilly. It's such a knock-off of it. Um, it's probably a pairing you wouldn't like, though, so don't go read it. -.-

Oh, and by the way, this is a really clichéd fic. So like…don't expect much. –twitch-

Thanks to Xylacorabi for the swivel chair thing. XD

( 0. Duty )

It was raining.

The relentless pour of droplets fit in with the gloominess that settled unnaturally around Vale, village of Adepts. At that time of night it was hard to tell where the ground began and the sky ended, the line between the two melting into dismal grayness as the rain pattered down. Sheba stood for a moment in the threshold of the High Paladin's office, sighed, and opened an umbrella.

Even the angels were crying for her.

( dorm rooms, female side, room 1679 )

Kushinada finished off her letter to Uzume with a flourish and looked up when the door creaked open. Sheba stumbled in, still dripping umbrella in hand, eyes rimmed with red. She threw the umbrella without any regards for the cleanliness of the room – unusual for her – and threw herself, headfirst, into her bed. Kushinada blinked.

"What happened?" she inquired, brushing her brown hair out of her face. "You okay?"

"Just jazzy," grumbled Sheba from under her pillow.

Kushinada didn't catch the sarcasm and continued happily. "Good! I was thinking, maybe we could go out with Okuni and see some of the boys?…"

Sheba winced. She came up from under the pillow and smiled apologetically to her roommate. "Sorry, Kushinada, I can't."

The Izumo-lander wrinkled her eyebrows in confusion. "Why not?"

The storm thundered overhead and lightning flashed in the window, lighting the room up so that Kushinada could see the whiteness of her roommate's skin and the lines of sadness that had appeared on her face.

Sheba sighed and buried her face in the sheets again. "I'm married…"

( earlier that day )

"I'm late! I'm late I'm late I'M LATE!" the cries of a certain blonde-haired girl rang through the tiled hallways of the academy, causing everyone walking by to stop and stare in interest at her. To see someone tardy running for his or her class was no unusual sight, but to have Sheba - the epitome of punctuality, the veritable poster child of promptness - running for a class was no normal thing.

So maybe she shouldn't have had that chocolate marshmallow frappe at Maijuso's café…

It was just her luck that the object of her affections, the cutest thing on campus (in her opinion), her crush, beloved, the one she'd been infatuated with for ages –

Felix?

No, not yet.

- Ivan Sagesse, High Paladin's assistant, just happened to walk by.

"Hi, Sheba!" the flaxen-haired boy greeted her cheerfully. The female paladin felt her cheeks heat up and smiled nervously back. "Um, um, hi, Ivan!"

Why did she always have to act like SUCH an idiot around him?

She skidded to a stop in front of him and almost banged into Felix, who was strolling past. The cold-mannered paladin regarded her coolly, then pushed her away and moved on. Sheba gulped before Ivan called after him.

"Wait, Felix! I have something to tell you…and you too, Sheba."

The young man sighed and headed back. "Argent," he acknowledged her quietly, then looked to Ivan. "Sagesse. What do you want?"

Sheba wrinkled her nose. She didn't want to tell Ivan to hurry up, but she was really going to be late. Luckily Felix solved her problem. "I have a class to go to," he added. "Make it quick, Sagesse."

Ivan did not seem affected by Felix's blunt disrespect; he was probably used to it by now. "I need you two to come to the High Paladin's office now. It would be better if you didn't ask any questions," he continued, seeing Felix open his mouth. "You'll be excused from your classes."

He turned, and headed for the office, not even bothering to see if they followed him or not. Sheba looked at Felix, saw annoyance darken his face, and hurried after Ivan. She heard the paladin's footsteps ring behind her.

By now everyone was already in class, so the halls were empty and silent and Sheba began to feel uncomfortable. Glancing back, her eyes widened when she met Felix's steely black ones.

He glared.

She winced and turned back.

They came out of the D-building and started heading across campus past the gardens to the High Paladin's office. Once at the door, Ivan glanced at them separately. "Be polite to the High Paladin, refer to him always as 'sir', and do not contradict him," he said monotonously, as if he had already said these words many times – and he already had, most likely. "That means you, D'Honneur."

Felix put his hands in his pockets and smiled a rare, sedate smile.

It showed all his teeth.

Maybe it was just Sheba's imagination, but they seemed pointy.

She winced again.

Ivan decided to ignore the blatant symbolism of this smile and opened the door, gesturing for them to enter but not following them in himself.

The High Paladin's office was cool, dark, and surprisingly small. It was undecorated except for the desk at which the High Paladin, Piers Dauphin, sat. Sheba glanced around, looking for him, before she realized he was in the high-backed leather chair that was turned away from them behind the desk. Felix looked annoyed and cleared his throat to get his attention.

"Oi, Piers," he said sternly. "What do you want?"

The chair swiveled around, revealing the head of the academy in all his blue-haired, golden-eyed glory. He was playing with a Rubix cube and had solved…nothing, actually. Well, he'd gotten two greens lined up, but that was all. He wasn't wearing any armor, except for his usual funny headdress and Lemurian clothing. "Paladin Argent and Paladin D'Honneur," he greeted pleasantly. "You're here so I can brief you on the mission I'm sending you to on. Oh, and that's Sir Piers to you, D'Honneur."

"Together?" cut in Felix, not even bothering to correct his slip. Sheba couldn't help but be offended by his incredulous tone. Piers sighed, and frowned as he clicked the Rubix cube around a few times. "Please save your questions until the end. As I was saying…this mission will be outside of Angara. It'll be in Prox. Enemy territory. There will be people watching your every move so you'll have to act your part."

"And what's our part?" interrupted Felix, despite Piers' order not to. The High Paladin gave him a look but otherwise did not go further on his breach of the rules. "You two are going to act as a married couple."

For the first time, Sheba and Felix were thinking the exact same thing. "Excuse me?" they chorused, Sheba shocked and Felix annoyed. Piers sighed again.

"Just keep listening. We have heard rumors that Prox may initiate a war upon us, and I'd like to be prepared for it. I'm going to have you infiltrate Prox and pose as husband and wife so you can befriend another married couple that has strong ties to the military. The husband is Garet Lavande, a Fire Adept. The wife is Mia Lavande, a cleric and Water Adept. If you can make friends with them so they eventually trust you and let you into the military force, that would be great…or you could just enlist in the military and work your way up. Either way will allow you some sort of access to military files and people who can inform you of what you need to know. It's your choice. You are not to return until you have acquired the information of whether there will be a war or not. Any questions?"

"Why me?" asked Felix abruptly. Piers smiled wryly. "You should be honored. It's because you're the best paladin in the academy besides Isaac, and, well…with Jenna gone, Sheba, you're the only female. It'd be sort of awkward if you went with a guy, Felix, wouldn't you think?" He grinned. "Unless you're gay, of course."

Felix ignored the stab and inquired again. "So is that where Jenna and Isaac have gone? To Prox, too?"

Piers raised an eyebrow. "Yes. That's a secret though, so hush up about it. You probably won't recognize them. And don't go around asking for them, either, or else you'll definitely get found out."

Felix asked another question, but Sheba didn't hear it. She was in a daze of bewilderment and despair. Married?…at eighteen? And not to Ivan? How could this be?…No…

"I won't," she found herself bursting out. Piers looked surprised. Felix, merely amused. And only in his eyes.

"And why is that, Paladin Argent?"

Sheba faltered. She began to blush. "I…um…I…"

"Many females would consider themselves blessed to be married to Paladin D'Honneur," remarked Piers, smiling. "How are you any different?"

The High Paladin spoke the truth. Felix D'Honneur had been the top ranking rookie in the page exams, passed with flying colors through the squire tests, tied with Isaac L'Ange for first in the knight assessment, and was now one of the best paladins in the academy. He was good-looking, and had a calm, mysterious demeanor that just made girls (plus some boys) swoon and/or try to glomp him. He was born in a high family, never mind half of them were dead, and he was intelligent. But Sheba preferred Ivan anyway. In fact, she was the only girl (not related to him) in all of Vale that didn't more or less like Felix. She reddened deeper and averted her eyes. "Sir, I just…"

Piers sensed her distress and put the Rubix cube down. "Sheba," he said gently. "You cannot back out of this mission. This is your duty. If you don't do this, I'm sorry, but I'm going to have you expelled from the order, or even worse, killed. I've just given you classified information that could be leaked if you don't take this mission. You're the only one qualified enough to do this…just put your personal feelings aside and go ahead with it."

Sheba bit her lip. She nodded slightly. Piers sighed, not for the first time.

"Anyways…both of you sign here with your blood. It'll show that you are legally bound to each other for life. We have to make it real, or people might suspect things."

For life. Sheba felt dizzy, even thinking of those two words.

Felix produced a knife from his pocket and nicked his thumb, making a shallow cut and letting his blood drip on the parchment. He wordlessly handed the dagger to Sheba, the first kindness she'd ever seen in him.

Though to her it wasn't quite kindness.

It was more like he was helping her up the stairs to get hanged.

She accepted it quietly, and cut her own thumb, watching his and her blood mingle on the blade before letting her blood fall onto the paper. Piers smiled vaguely and took the contract back, picking up the Rubix cube again.

"You two are dismissed back to your dorms. You'll leave tomorrow for your mission so start packing. Oh and…" he grinned. "Dress warm. It's snowing in Prox."

(footnotes)

one. Kushinada is not a paladin, though Sheba is for plot reasons. They're just rooming together because Sheba has no other girl to room with ever since Jenna left. Kushinada is training to be a cleric…but that's not important.

two. Yeah, so maybe you would go and gallivant with boys even if you were married. Oh well. Sheba is Honorable! With a capital H. Especially since she's a paladin.

three. Chocolate marshmallow frappes are good…I would be late for class if I could have one. XD Random plug to Xylacorabi's future café! XD

four. Sheba's enamored with Ivan for plot reasons again…she needed someone to like besides Felix. For now. –evil cackle-

five. Felix is very biotchy in this story, I'm sorry to say. He'll get nicer later, though…just you wait…psssh. Maybe I made him go a little overboard, though. Oh well. XP

six. If you noticed, all their last names are bad rips of French words. If you know what they mean, props to you. If not, you can check out some translator if you really want to know…they're all fairly obvious, however.

seven. Piers allows Felix to be so impolite because he's a really good paladin.

eight. The Rubix cube can be blamed on Jack Lin, who is always fiddling with one and contaminated everyone else with the Cube-loving craze. He flushed pizza down the toilet too so it exploded and made the boys' bathroom flood, but that's not important.

nine. Isaac and Jenna will show up later. Though you might not recognize them.

ten. Garet and Mia are sort of evil…but sort of not. You'll see…

(author's note)

Bad ending. But not my problem.

Just to tell you, this chapter sounded a whole lot better in my head.

There's nothing really else to say.

Except that, Xy is right, I should sort of stop writing Golden Sun fanfiction.

Guess I'll waste my time playing Star Ocean: Till the End of Time. "What?!!!! An attack from behind?!!!" Yeah, what else, Fayt?

Review if you'd like. I get like 500 hits and 8 reviews for each story I write.

(later's author's note)

woohoo! It's 4/10/07, and I started this story June 30, 2006. Lawl. -dies- I must admit, I was quite stuck up at the time! -points to the 500-hits-8-reviews-comment- And I don't even play Star Ocean anymore. But anyways. I didn't really want to post this, because...well...I forgot, so it must not be important. Yahoo for mean Felix! XD The only romance in the whole part was the part of their bloods mingling, and that's not even romance. XDXD And Piers has a funny headdress. I'll...stop now. Reviewwwwwww. v.v Or the angels will cry for me. (XD What was I thinking when I wrote that? Jeez, cheesy much? I know, I bag on my past self a lot...)