A/N: Thanks to my tendency to get swept up into my multi-chapter projects, it has been too long since I've gone back to the number one pairing in my heart, the amazing Ike and Soren! I just recently replayed both Path of Radiance and Radiant Dawn, and promised to write a story for each when I finished. This is my PoR one-shot, and though it's been awhile since I've returned to my fanfic FE roots, so to speak, I hope you will enjoy! I'm not sure how long it will take me to work out the story for RD, but please stay tuned!

Timeline/Spoilers: After Chapter 8: Despair and Hope, following the party meeting Lethe and Mordecai. Spoilers implying Soren's past (as it is revealed to Ike in both PoR and RD) are rampant

Disclaimer: The FE-verse still doesn't belong to me, but the writing is mine, mine, mine.

"Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule."

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Hatred and Love

Soren cursed under his breath as he tore through the stock of medicine and other first aid materials the mercenary group had taken with them from the fort in Crimea they had left behind. He could have sworn he'd asked Gatrie to resupply them with salves and bandages before they'd left for Gallia, but knowing Gatrie, he'd probably been distracted by some beauty or another in a skirt and forgotten all about it. And worst of all, he wasn't even there to scream at for disobeying orders at such an inopportune time. Soren was already annoyed with him for abandoning Ike alongside Shinon, but with the Gallian fort half-destroyed from the Daein invasion and Ike bleeding from the wound given to him by Mordecai, Soren's fury was reaching new heights.

"Calm down, Soren," Ike said, watching the mage's frenzy from where he was leaning against the door-frame. "A scratch like this isn't going to kill me. Just wait for Rhys to finish healing up everyone else's wounds from the fight, and then we can take care of it."

"This is my fault," Soren snapped, abandoning the empty medicine boxes and instead rummaging through their packs for a heal staff. "I'll fix it. If I had kept my mouth shut, that sub-human-"

"Laguz."

Soren scowled. Even for Ike, he wouldn't call them by their proper name. Ike had somehow managed to make it through his time in Gallia with fuzzy feelings for the beasts, probably assuming they were all handsome charmers like Ranulf, but Soren couldn't call himself even half so understanding. As much as he disliked humans for their abusive callousness, at least they would address the people around them rather than treat them with the cool disdain of someone who considered the existence of anyone else below their notice. All the same, that didn't excuse him losing his temper with Mordecai and Lethe and forcing Ike to step in to diffuse the situation. There was no denying that the gash on Ike's abdomen was entirely his fault and should have been his wound to bear.

Soren at last found a heal staff scattered among their last minute purchases, and quickly pulled it out and concentrated his magic into it. He wasn't talented in the healing arts like Rhys was, but he knew enough from his studies to produce a faint blue light from the staff, which encircled Ike and knit his torn skin back together.

"A bruise still may develop," he said when he was certain Ike's bleeding had been staunched and no more than a small cut existed where the wound had opened. "If it does, tell me right away. I'll make sure I have a salve available to ease the swelling."

"Don't worry about it so much," Ike said, shaking his head. "And don't feel guilty. If this had been you, I'm pretty sure you would have ended up with a broken rib."

"If I hadn't said anything in the first place..." He trailed off with grimace. "But it was wrong of her. I won't take that back. She shouldn't have said those things about you."

"Lethe? There's no need to take it personally. She may have been speaking to me, but it was her past with other beorc which upset her. I'm sure she would have said the exact same thing had it been Mist or Oscar talking to her." Ike smiled gently. "Besides, I thought you believed that fighting for someone else's honor was insulting."

"I wasn't!" Soren insisted, his face flaming. "I just lost my temper because she was a dirty su... cat!"

"I remember when you used to feed the stray cats around the fort," Ike teased. "You said they reminded you of someone you used to know."

Soren bit his lip. Strays did tend to remind him of himself, or of the child he had once been before Ike had entered into his world. It wasn't so much that he had enjoyed feeding the cats, but that he felt a kinship with their arrogant distance and guarded stance. To deny them food would be to deny them the compassion which had saved his own life through the hand of Ike.

"Why don't you like them?" Ike asked.

"Who? Cats?"

"The laguz. Why don't you like them?"

Soren was at a loss for a moment. Saying because they ignored me and denied my existence seemed like such a feeble answer. Shinon did that on a regular basis, but that had never prompted Soren to attack him with magic or call him offensive names to his face. Besides, he couldn't even articulate the reasons why the laguz had denied him in the first place. He'd seen them around other beorc, and while they'd still made a show of their disgust, they'd at least look their foe in the eyes while mocking him. Ike was too noble a soul to accept such half-hearted complaints, especially since he seemed fond of the laguz they had met so far, even the one who caused his injury.

"The beorc have a bloody history with the beasts," Soren said at length. "We have enslaved them, and they have enslaved us, and throughout the generations there has only been bad blood between us."

"I understand that," Ike said. "But that really has nothing to do with you, does it? There was bad blood between us and Daein, but that didn't stop you from initially choosing to side with them. I'm not asking why the beorc dislike the laguz. I'm asking why you do."

Every night, Soren confessed in the comfort of his head, after I found you again, I would have nightmares that you would look at me and turn away from me the same way they did. Who was to say you wouldn't find the exact same reason to hate me that they had found? Who's to say you still won't?

Ike reached out to ruffle Soren's hair. "There's an ugliness in hating someone. I'm not judging you, especially since I feel that same ugliness towards the knight who killed my father. But if you don't confront the reason and purpose for it, it will just keep distorting until you can't recognize yourself anymore. That's why if you ever need to talk about it, you know you can always talk to me."

"...of course."

"And, well... I know you're not confident with staves yet, but you did a great job. You don't have to keep double checking your handiwork. It's fine."

Soren flushed again, glad for once that Ike was as slow as he was. Even if it was Ike, Soren wouldn't find his eyes stuck on such a thin, barely noticeable cut if it was simply out of concern. It was the fact of it being on Ike's abdomen that drew his eyes. Even in only the past few weeks, he had grown stronger, his body working to catch up with the amount of physical stress it had endured during their recent conflicts. Ike had always had a sturdier build than Soren and the gap was only continuing to widen as time went by, and though Soren was bothered by the fact that he contrasted with Ike so glaringly, he couldn't help but appreciate the more aesthetically pleasing results.

"Here," Soren said, fastening the bottom of Ike's shirt. "Don't forget to tell Mist that you need this mended."

"Later. We have more pressing concerns to deal with at the moment. If we're going to get Princess Elincia aid from Gallia, we're going to have to prepare to be on our best behavior in front of this king of lions guy." He looked pointedly at Soren.

"I... of course."

"Good. If it's acceptable, I'd like for you and Titania to be present when we meet him. I can handle immediate concerns, but I would be grateful if you could help me think through any longer term considerations. Even if we can guarantee the princess' safety in Gallia, there's still the matter of what's going to become of Crimea."

"Are you sure you want to have me around?"

"You said you'd behave yourself, so you will. I trust you." Ike smiled. "Besides, if there are any plans to launch an attack against Daein, we'll need you around to strategize. Or tell us we're being brazen idiots, as the case may be."

"Indeed. I doubt any of us are prepared to deal with the occupational forces at the moment, although if we give them too much time, they'll stabilize their position and be much more difficult to deal with."

"See? The gears in your head are turning already." Ike's grin increased. "You know, if it comes down to working with the laguz to achieve our mission, I believe you'll be able to do it just fine. The hatred in your heart isn't meant to last forever. I wouldn't be surprised if it melted away before you know it."

"It may be more deeply rooted than you think," Soren muttered.

"Too deep for me to reach?" Ike asked, lifting an eyebrow. "You probably remember this, but my father always used to say the darkness within us meets one of two ends. It either holds us back, or helps us become stronger. And since I don't want either of us held back by anything, the obvious choice is to become stronger together, right?"

"Easy for you to say."

"Hey, I wouldn't say it if I didn't believe we could do it. No matter what happens with the situations regarding Princess Elincia and Crimea, what happens to you is still a number one priority to me."

"Ike..."

"And thanks by the way."

"Thanks?"

"Even if you weren't fighting for my honor or something like that, I'm still flattered that you would be offended on my behalf. I know everyone thinks you're indifferent to anything that doesn't concern you, but that you at least care a little about me means a lot."

"A little," Soren repeated flatly. He wondered what would happen if Ike realized the full extent of that "little" bit of affection. Ike clearly couldn't remember meeting him back in Gallia, but surely he could at least recognize that the devotion and respect Soren denied every other person had been given entirely to him. Whatever world Soren had claimed for himself in Crimea had been formed with Ike at its center.

"Anyways, I doubt this is going to be resolved easily," Ike continued, latching his shirt the rest of closed much to Soren's relief and dismay. "If Daein keeps invading Gallia for the princess, we'll have a war on our hands. Our services will most likely be needed in some form or another."

"Preferably for someone who can offer us some decent coin."

"Yeah, we're pretty poor at the moment. And homeless. Some money to burn wouldn't hurt." Ike tapped his fingers against the hilt of his sword. "I'm glad you decided to stay with me. I don't know if I could face what's ahead if you weren't here."

"The only place for me is at your side," Soren said, lowering his eyes. "You know that."

"Still, I know you would much rather work with someone with a little more tactical knowledge than what I have. I intend to work on it, but I'm still grateful to you for being willing to wait for me to sort this all out."

To Soren's surprise, Ike stepped forward to wrap his arms around his shoulders, cradling him against his chest for a moment before letting him go. It only lasted for a brief moment, but it was just long enough for Soren to process a few of the sensations that assaulted him, the smell of steel, and the warmth of Ike's chest, as sultry as the jungle surrounding them.

"I-Ike," he stammered.

"I've known you for years now, and you still don't like being touched," Ike mused. "It was just my way of saying 'Thank you'."

"It's not that I don't like it... it's just..." Because it's you, Soren finished in his head. "It's not something I grew up doing," he said instead.

"Well, it's a good thing to do every now and then. It makes you feel better, to have someone who cares about you so close."

Soren pressed a hand over his heart. Does it really? He still felt filled with darkness inside, the pain of his past and the unknown nature of his future keeping him from actively seeking the happiness to dispel it. There was still so much in question, and still so much he had no idea how to express to Ike. Why had he been hated all those years? Why did he not grow to become a stronger person, one worthy of standing beside Ike? Why could Ike not remember meeting him for the very first time when all Soren could think of for years and years was that warm hand, that smile that had graced him without fear or disgust?

But still, there was a spot of warmth in him that hadn't been there before. Perhaps the hatred festering in him really wasn't meant to stay there his whole life, and the slight feeling of love, surely there because Ike brought it to him, would grow more and more over the years and quell everything else. Perhaps he would, as Ike hoped, grow stronger.

Together, Ike reminded him, taking the heal staff from Soren's hands and setting it back in their packs. There was only a slight cut now where a wound had been opened with claws and run red with blood, but once again, Soren was the one of the two of them who had truly been healed.

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