(A/N: So I just finished playing Zestiria a few weeks ago and I promised someone I'd write a Sorey and Mikleo fic, so here it is! I actually love Mikleo and the game quite a fair bit, so I hope I did everyone justice! Much thanks to Daidairo for being my beta, and I hope that said someone who wanted me to write this fic will enjoy it~)

For Your Sake

.

.

.

Sorey had wandered off during the night.

No, that wasn't exactly right, or else Mikleo would have sensed it. But he had wakened suddenly, eyes groggy and body heavy, and when he looked to his side- where his friend should be; where he always was- he had found an empty bed with the covers tossed aside, and Sorey nowhere to be seen. The Shepherd's cloak and his pack still lay where he had left them, so he couldn't have wandered too far- and certainly not beyond Lastonbell, or else Lailah would have them all in a panic by now.

The water seraph sighed in exasperation. This wasn't the first time his best friend had wandered off in the middle of the night, but it was certainly worrying. The trend had started somewhere around the time they reached Marlind, and Mikleo was well-aware that the Shepherd needed some time to sort out his own thoughts. But recently, his friend had snuck out more and more, without alerting any of his seraphs.

To call it reckless was an understatement- Mikleo frowned in dissatisfaction as he considered all the things that Sorey could have possibly ran into without him to help him out. Malevolence still blanketed Lastonbell like a faint smog, and with the recent spate of murders, Mikleo was ill-inclined to let his best friend wander around alone for long.

Moving quietly, he picked up his staff from where it lay, taking care not to disturb Dezel, who Mikleo was sure would care little even if he realized both his companions had disappeared in the night. Slipping out of the inn was easy enough when you were invisible, but the real challenge lay in finding Sorey.

Luckily, Mikleo knew him better than anyone- sometimes, even better than the Shepherd knew himself. Without hesitation, he set course for the park overlooking the city- distant enough from civilization for a possibly introspective Shepherd to think, yet close enough for him to not feel isolated. Because he knew that was what his friend must have felt; must have feared.

He wasn't surprised to see the Shepherd, savior of all man-and-seraphkind, leaning against the rail as he stared out into the sky. But he was surprised by the uncharacteristically somber and wistful look upon that all-too-familiar face.

"Mikleo." Sorey glanced at him over his shoulder, seemingly unable to find the energy to greet him with his usual enthusiasm. "Sorry, did I worry you?"

"Considering that you slipped out without telling me when there could be hellions lurking about, is that any surprise?" Despite how down his friend seemed, Mikleo couldn't stop the words from rushing out of his mouth. "Couldn't you have chosen another spot?"

Sorey's shoulders hunched tighter and he mumbled something on a breath that Mikleo couldn't hear. For some reason, his best friend couldn't seem to meet his eyes.

He had seen Sorey sad before, when they were children- but not since he had became the Shepherd, when he had the fate of the world thrust upon his shoulders; not till now.

Mikleo frowned. "Sorey?" He found himself resting the staff against the rail as he lay his arms around his friend's broad shoulders. Somehow, it felt as though the Shepherd had become a turtle, warding himself against the world. But Sorey was more than just the Shepherd- and Mikleo was more than just his sub-lord.

"I'm... fine," Sorey said at last, even though his gaze stared straight ahead, where there was nothing more than a city shrouded by malevolence.

And Mikleo was all too aware by the ragged breath that sounded in his ears, of the subdued shaking under his arms.

And looking at his friend- at the Shepherd's- clouded green eyes, Mikleo knew.

"You're not fine," he whispered, a furious anger bubbling up beneath his breastbone.

Startled, Sorey turned to look at him- really look, to meet his gaze with his own; to see what it was that angered his dearest friend so.

Mikleo shook his head, pushed himself away so that his tightening grip wouldn't hurt the man before him. "I should have realized," he said. "I should have known."

Then Sorey smiled- that fake smile that had so often hid the scared, trembling youth that Mikleo knew and loved. He had used it so many times- when he had been going blind, when he had seen the fear in Lucas's eyes, when he had been afraid that he had lost everyone- and Mikleo had enough of it.

Because Sorey was trying his best to be the Shepherd, to not feel despair or sadness that would unwittingly bring on malevolence and corruption. Because he didn't want his companions to know about the heartache that he had been through in such a short amount of time; didn't want them to worry.

But Mikleo knew him best, and he could see everything beneath Sorey's façade.

"Aren't you tired of being the Shepherd?" he yelled then. "Aren't you tired of people being scared of you, of people using you? Everywhere we go, everything we do- this life will break you and hurt you until there's nothing left and you would still sacrifice everything you are to save the world!"

That smile faltered. "Mikleo-"

The water seraph stood up straight, fixed Sorey's gaze with his own. "If you don't want to give in to malevolence, that's fine. But I can't stand that you'd suffer and tell me nothing, Sorey. It's hurting you and- and if you can't rely on me, I'm not sure what I'm here for."

"That's not it!" Sorey yelped at that- a genuine, Sorey yelp. Of course the idea hadn't occurred to him before Mikleo had said it- because Sorey, despite being so selfless, could also be so self-centered.

"Then what is it, Sorey?" Mikleo folded his arms and glared at him, even as he hid his relief that his friend wasn't so far gone in his depression.

"I just didn't want you to worry, okay?" Sorey bit his lip, hands clenched tight at his sides even as he glanced away. "I didn't want you to think that there would be reason to think that I'd be corrupted."

"And so, once again, you decide to take on everything by yourself." Mikleo snorted. "You really thought that you could hide that from me?"

"If I'm corrupted, then you'd be-" Sorey's eyes darkened, his normally sure voice weak.

With a sigh, Mikleo stepped in close. "If you don't tell me what's going on, and you kept everything inside, then you'd be more inclined to corruption," he said. "Wouldn't it make more sense for you to talk to me?"

"But if by doing so, I corrupted you-"

"You wouldn't." He grabbed hold of his best friend's cheeks, forced Sorey to look at him. "I'm your sub-lord, Sorey. As long as my vessel's pure, I'll be alright."

"But this isn't your-"

"Isn't my what?" Mikleo snapped. "My business? My burden? I told you before, Sorey, this is our dream. Our responsibility. And you being my friend makes it my burden to bear."

For a moment, Mikleo wondered if Sorey had even heard him, with his body stiff and his mouth tight into a straight, unwavering line. But then, Sorey's green eyes softened. And when he smiled, Mikleo saw a look that was totally just Sorey; not the Shepherd, not the unreachable, all-too-perfect figure of legend whose mantle had been thrust upon his dearest friend.

"You're right," Sorey's chuckle was weak and light, but for the first time since Mikleo had found him that night, the human seemed at ease. He clasped his hand over the water seraph's before turning them away from his face. "I'm sorry that I've troubled you so much, Mikleo," he said sheepishly.

"If you feel guilty, then just tell me. Now." Mikleo tugged his hand away gently and folded his arms, waiting. Despite how characteristically gentle Sorey was being, there was no way he was letting his friend change the subject.

The other boy looked pensive, as if unsure where to start. "It's long," he admitted. He paused for a moment, running thoughts through his head. "I think it started at Griflet Bridge. When everyone warned me against using the Shepherd's powers in front of other humans, and I realized that I couldn't just do things any longer.

"Then when the war broke out- and those soldiers, Mikleo- they looked at me with fear." Sorey huffed softly, his head lowered despondently. "And after we fought Heldalf, there was a part of me that was scared. Of what I'm supposed to be- and what I'm supposed to become."

He turned to look over at the darkened houses of Lastonbell, where people slumbered quietly in the night. Mikleo frowned.

"You realized that being the Shepherd meant being more than being Sorey."

Sorey nodded. "Maybe- maybe that's just how it's supposed to be."

"That's ridiculous." Mikleo's voice snapped Sorey's attention away from his musings. The water seraph arched an eyebrow when the boy gave him a startled look. "You feel fear. You feel happiness and sadness. And nothing you do can ever change that. That's your humanity- the part of you that gave you reason to be the Shepherd in the first place."

"But I-"

Mikleo shook his head, even as he sighed. "Being the Shepherd doesn't mean you have to deny who you are or what you feel. You're only human, Sorey. It's only natural for you to feel things like this. Bottling it all up would've been bad for you in the long run."

"I just-" Sorey hesitated, glancing out over Lastonbell, the city still shrouded by malevolence. "I just thought it was what I had to do. For everyone's sake."

"Then, let me help you," Mikleo murmured. "Talk to me from now on. Show me what bothers you or what makes you happy. I told you I'd help, so I'll bear your burden. For your sake."

He took in a deep breath and fixed Sorey with his firmest gaze. "I won't let you forget who you are, Sorey, come what may."

Sorey chuckled then- a helpless little chuckle that Mikleo knew to mean that he had given up trying to outwit his best friend. It was a good sign, the water seraph thought, watching the boy glance up towards the sky, where the malevolence failed to reach.

"Thank you, Mikleo," he whispered, his shoulder sagging from relief- because he finally realized that he no longer had to carry this burden alone. And Mikleo smiled as he saw the darkness fade from Sorey's clear green eyes, saw the friend that was human and his and no longer lost.

He reached out, and Sorey mimicked his movement and touched his fist lightly with his own. The familiarity of the action contrasted with where they were, so far from Elysia, but it carried the same weight as it did then. Because they weren't just the Shepherd and his sub-lord, but a boy and his best friend.

"It's a beautiful world out there, Mikleo," Sorey murmured then.

And as he stood by his side, watching his friend smile- not quite carefree, but not torn down by the world any longer, Mikleo had to agree.