A/N - Yay for my first fanfic!
I always wondered what happened between Fable 2 and Fable 3. This is my interpretation of how everything panned out.
Contructive critisism is always welcome!
-This has been edited so that Sparrow can talk. It is incredibly hard to write when the main character is a mute.-

xoA

Sparrow's eyes lingered reflectively from card to card. Each one had its temptations, but each one left him broken. Was it the guilt which made him shatter so? He had not made a decision and his time was slowly ticking away.

No matter how much he wanted the wealth of the third card, a life was priceless and no amount of gold could pay for the hole that had stayed burning in his heart since the night of his sister's death. The people of Albion would look upon him in shame and spite, spitting and hissing at him when he walked through the streets, humiliated by the ever hateful faces that were once his friends.

There were thousands of innocents trapped in the first card. It would only take a nod of a head to free them all and see them run gleefully back to their families who undoubtedly waited with faces that would lit up at the sight of their loved one's return. Faithful followers would trail him as he walked proudly down the alleyways. Albion would forever be in young Sparrow's debt.

His soft hands reached out to the card that rested so peacefully in the center. His wife, his child, his sister's eyes stared longingly through the cracks. "Release me…" They all echoed each other in a chorus so heart breaking, Sparrow could not bear it. He looked to anywhere but the card, shaking his hands, trying not to weep. But, was it worth sacrificing 3 people for thousands? And the people? Would they understand?

Sparrow had made some highly questionable decisions in the past. He was a man with many faults, which he did not cover up with the selflessness of a saint. Sparrow was a Hero, but a man nevertheless. Was it so hard to empathize?

"I choose love." Sparrow's words proved to be much more confident than his cracked and damaged voice sounded to Theresa, the blind seer who had been watching his every move patiently.

"Are you sure this is the path you wish to take?" She raised an eyebrow.

"It is." Sparrow nodded.

"Indeed. A warm welcome awaits you at home. And any who might declare who selfish or callous, and who themselves lost family to this place, will know that given such a place they might well have done the same." Sparrow wasn't reassured, but he did not regret his judgment as he thought he would.

He faded from the pure whiteness and found himself back in the Spire in the dark depths of the spire with the three Heroes. It gave him a strange sensation of warmth with he had never experienced in the spire before. For the ten years which he had suffered, trapped in the spire, he had only felt a resounding coldness and bitterness and nothing more from the tall, ominous building in the distance of Bowerstone Market. An echo of what the past had destroyed when the first wish was made. But, being which people that had become so familiar of him, so fond of him, perhaps with the small exception of Reaver, made him feel comfort which he hadn't since his sister's voice waking him in the mornings despite their poverty.

Sparrow was caught in a daydream whilst Theresa and the Heroes talked amongst themselves. Of what, he wasn't sure. He could only think of his sister and his family and even his loyal dog which had lain down his life for the love of his owner. He had the best family in Albion, no matter what others would say about his wish, he would always choose what he had before Lucien's sick dream could catch them.

"No, I'm done." Hammer's voice smashed through Sparrow's mind. "I know why we got attacked in the cave the day we met. You brought those hollow men in with you." Sparrow was shocked.

"That is quite the accusation." He snarled. "If you wish to be a fool you may think that I simply wanted some training practice, so I indeed endangered both our lives."

Reaver was amused. "The boy speaks the truth." Sparrow rolled his eyes. He had saved the land from a fate with condemned them all to death and yet he was still a 'boy' in Reaver's eyes.

"I meant merely that two monks would have found nothing, but a warrior finds battle always."

"There is some wisdom in your words, but I did not attempt to harm you. You should know better than to assume that." His voice was softer, but still dazed with Hammer's boldness.

As the Heroes left one by one, some part of Sparrow longed for them to stay. They were his friends still and he saved all that was dearest to him by choosing the ones he loved to be saved, and yet they were not saved. Theresa turned to him.

"Now, it is time for you to leave. The world is for you to enjoy. But, the spire is mine." Shivers went down his back. Sparrow didn't know whether to interpret a threat or something else. He nodded lightly, rather intimidated by the woman who he once trusted with his life. Now, he wasn't certain of whether she meant him well. "Begone." And almost as if he had entered a deep sleep to which he had just woken up, Sparrow found himself in the dock of Oakfield.

The sudden light was blinding. Sparrow blinked a few times and squinted. To his delight, when his eyes had adjusted he saw his dog, looking as happy as always, barking and jumping at his owner. It mirrored the time when he was unchained from the spire after what felt like eternal damnation.

Moments like that were most dear to him and would stay forever with him. Always.