A/N: And here we stand, with what is... definitely not an update to Other Side of the Woods. I'm getting around to it I swear. For now, allow me to litter you with one-shots instead. And for once, not an AU! Kind of. I guess. Depends on what counts as AU and what doesn't, but I'm going to count this as a small victory.

Shout out to May my husband for giving me the prompt. By all means, send me more. Anything to set back Other Side more- I mean, uh,

Fun fact, this isn't even the shortest thing here. The first chapter of Other Side was a hundred or so less than this. So, have my shortest one-shot yet; your reviews are always appreciated, and make me smile without fail!

One-Shot: Feels Like Forever

"Sorry I'm late."

His words and footsteps both echoed in the wide room; it almost felt wrong to disturb the peace that hung in the air, but he pressed on anyways. Everything was still, including the figure seated on one of the benches near the center of the room. He was poised carefully, one leg folded over the other as he cradled a book in his hand. It was worn with age and use; it was probably one of his favorites, and he'd probably read it ten, twenty times, so he knew the touch of every page and the weight of every word. It just made him enjoy it more.

At the sound of the voice, however, he glanced up from the book and set it down beside him, forgotten in an instant. "It's not a problem. I can occupy myself just fine."

Ike smiled a little bit, moving to one of the windows not five paces from where the other man sat. He should have moved directly to him and wrapped him in his arms, but somehow, the distance felt better. After a moment, he replied, "I figured you would, but you're also quite the worrier."

"I'm the worrier?" He didn't have to turn to see the quirked eyebrow, the teasing smile. "I suppose I can be, sometimes. What kept you?"

"Nothing in particular," Ike murmured in response, leaning his weight into the window frame. "I know I said I would come at noon, but something slowed me down a bit."

"You shouldn't try and be mystical." He heard soft laughter, and the other man crossed the distance between them, setting his hand gently against Ike's shoulder. "You're really bad at it. After all, nothing could make you slower than you usually are. Did you just oversleep?" There was a pause, and then another laugh. "Don't answer that question, I already know the answer."

"Hey, hey, easy. Maybe a bit, but I think I have every right to. Altea's a long way from Tellius, you know; you can't blame me," he replied, rolling his eyes but smiling despite himself.

"Mmm, if they were right next to each other, you probably would've still overslept. But..." The words trailed off hesitantly for a moment before they picked back up. "It's been a while since I've seen you, you know. I thought you might have... hurried a bit more."

The words were just barely laced with undertones of hurt, and Ike flinched a little bit. It was true – they'd been separated for a long time, now. He should have been thrilled at the chance to see him again, and yet...

"I just..." He trailed off and frowned to himself, running a hand down his face as he tried to find the right words. "I think I was... afraid."

There was a long pause as the other man tilted his head, and he could feel the burn of blue eyes against the back of his head. "Afraid of what? It's been a while, but it hasn't been that long, Ike."

"Feels like forever," he replied with slight weariness. A lot could change in the time between the tournament and now. A lot could change in forever.

There was another long silence, and he heard a soft sigh, the fingers trailing lightly down his back before withdrawing entirely. "I guess you're right." He turned, moving back to his seat and sitting down with a soft rustle of fabric. "I'm glad to see that some things will never change, though."

Ike blinked a few times, glancing back over his shoulder at the man sitting there. He raised an eyebrow slowly, tilting his head a bit. "Such as?" he coaxed, blinking at the teasing smile he received.

"You're just as slow as ever, so I can't blame you."

"Pft, whatever," Ike replied, smiling despite himself as he looked ahead once more. "We can't all be as wonderfully graceful as you."

"Very true." He heard soft laughter from behind him once more, and he at least was able to relax knowing that he'd been forgiven. At least partially. "Especially not you. I remember you thudding about the mansion in the middle of the night, sometimes, probably looking for food. How many times did you almost fall down the stairs, again? Ten, twenty, fifty?"

"Not as many as you," he replied just as teasingly, raising his eyebrow and resting his cheek against his palm. "Let me think... I can remember several times I had to catch you because you were too worried about talking to Peach to pay attention to where you were walking. And a few untied laces here and there, or pesky puffballs, pranking rugs..."

"Shh! Those were all very unfortunate coincidences that have nothing to do with my ability to walk!" He sounded sharper now, but in a joking kind of way, and Ike chuckled softly in response.

"Surely not. I'm sure you're completely capable, especially in the few weeks before you told me that you'd fallen head over heels for me. Literally."

Their first meeting had been one of his favorite memories, really. He had been skeptical about the whole thing in the first place, quite frankly – Soren's typical pessimism didn't really help – but upon Mist's encouragement, he'd decided that there was no harm in it. It was simultaneously the worst and best decision of his entire life.

He remembered stepping out of the portal for the first time vividly, the feeling of disorientation and dizziness, similar to when he'd first stepped off of the ship after a few months at sea... but more as if he'd been spun around fifty or so times before they pushed him on land. He'd almost fallen as he stepped out, tripping over his own feet, the ground itself, and he saw a flash of blue out of the corner of his eye. The other man had rushed forward to try and steady the newcomer, but he had tripped, falling directly into Ike and thereby pushing him back enough that he stayed on his feet... plus an admittedly attractive man in his arms. So that was a plus.

They'd been good friends after that, since they were at least of the same kind, from the same world. It was impossible to share that kind of connection to anyone else, where they were. But that had somehow built, and the other eventually got so flustered around the mercenary that he ended up tripping all over the place. Including into him, again.

"Shhh! Besides, that was more face-into-chest." Ike glanced over his shoulder again, smiling once more to see the other man pouting childishly, his legs crossed again. The expression wasn't too out of place for his face, oddly enough. Not to say he was childish looking – far from it. Perhaps he was just used to it, or maybe it was because of how at ease he seemed. "Still not as bad as that time Lucas was kind enough to get you a bundle of flowers, and you had such a violent sneezing fit that he cried."

Ike blinked a bit at this rebuttal, rolling his eyes a little bit with a scoff. "Don't try and turn this back on me. My allergies to very attractive flowers have nothing to do with your unprincely grace," he replied, grinning a little now. "That's all you."

"Should I just believe that your manliness makes you too sensitive to anything too pretty?"

"I think that's a rather reasonable explanation, yes," he laughed softly, shaking his head. "Although you're very pretty, and I can stand being around you."

He heard a mock gasp behind him, and he could imagine the other man raising his hand to his chest, as if offended. "I am not pretty!"

"Oh, of course. You're handsome, excuse me. Even though that's basically just pretty but supposed to spare your masculinity."

"Yes, yes it is. And it does a very good job of it, thank you."

"Are you implying that you need help with that?"

"Well, my ever-improving grace isn't really helping that fact, I wouldn't think."

"Men can't be graceful, then?" Ike grinned a little bit, tilting his head as he thought this over. "I dunno, have you ever seen Captain Falcon walking around? He seems pretty graceful to me."

There was another soft laugh, and he knew the other was shaking his head. "Yes, and if that's your definition of grace, then it certainly explains why you believe you have any at all. Which you don't, by the way. Not in the slightest."

"I suppose I can cope with that," the mercenary finally conceded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully and smiling once more. "You'll just have to cover me for it, then."

"So does that mean that you concede that I'm more graceful than you?" He glanced back at the other's slightly teasing grin, the tilt of his head.

"Hmm... I suppose I'll give you this victory for now, but don't expect it to come so easily, next time," Ike replied, shaking his head and looking forward once again. "You have many more qualities that I can easily tease you about."

"Do tell."

"Never. Not until the right time comes, or else you'll try and hide them, and then you'll pretend that you have no clue what I'm talking about. And then I won't be able to come up with any recent examples to prove it to you, and then you'd laugh and make fun of me about something, and I'd have no clever remarks to make back. And that would be a tragedy."

There was the soft lilt of laughter, again. "Spoken like a true war strategy, hmm? Though I suppose you were a general, so it makes sense."

"Begrudgingly, but yes. Though I was no tactician by any means."

"I don't know if I quite believe you, honestly. This all seems a bit too planned out to be unbased."

"I did have a little sister, you know," he replied, drumming his fingers against his cheek. "Plenty of practice, there."

"Ohh, that's right. I should ask Mist for some pointers, next time." He laughed a little in response to Ike's mock glance of alarm.

"Heynow, I'm rather certain that's counted as cheating."

"All's fair in love and war. And apparently this is war."

"Only because you dubbed it that."

"Only because it's true."

They both laughed softly, and the sound echoed for a few moments before a peaceful, comfortable silence fell between them. Ike smiled for a few moments more as he looked out of the clear glass, content... before he frowned slowly.

"I miss being able to do this with you," he murmured softly, letting out a sigh. It was a simple comment, but the gravity of it seemed to give it much more substance. The other man was quiet for a few moments, and he felt gentle, concerned eyes on his back again.

"I did, too... but you'll come by sometimes, right? So we can do it again...?"

"I can try," he mumbled, dropping his hands back onto the window frame and staring at them instead. "But... I just..."

He heard movement as the other man stood again, turning and beginning to step towards him.

"There's still something bothering you."

"Yes," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders.

"What is it, Ike? You can tell or ask me anything, you know." The voice was gentle, and Ike closed his eyes for a few moments, shaking his head slowly. The footsteps paused just behind him, and he felt the silence grow heavy before he finally broke it.

"Why did you have to leave me like this?" he whispered softly, and the words echoed briefly before he received silence in return. For long, aching moments.

"... Marth?"

Slowly, he turned around again, opening his eyes and studying the room that seemed deafeningly silent, painfully empty. He frowned, turning to the stained glass window to the front of it. Slowly, he walked forward, taking in the piece of art. Its brilliant colors, its depiction an ancient prince with his head bowed, eyes closed peacefully as he stood clasping his sword between his hands.

Below was an inscription, written in a language that was long out of use. He ran his fingers slowly over the cool carvings, his fingers trailing over each and every symbol. He couldn't read it, nor the more modern translation below it, but he could make a good enough guess.

It would say something about a hero king, he was sure. Something about the battles he fought, the lives he touched, the friends he made so long ago, his bravery, his kindness, and those great acts that would be remembered by everyone. Even now.

But it would leave out so much more. It would leave out how human he was, his flesh and bone and soul. The little acts, too, the small traces of goodness. The softness of his touch, the bounce in his step, the curve of his smile, the way his eyes lit up and his hair fell just so.

He had it all memorized. The memory was all he had left.

"... I guess you wouldn't have an answer to that," he breathed out, shaking his head and turning away. The sight was suddenly too much to bear, the presence he ached for too heavy to lift. He stepped back to the entrance, more slowly than before, and paused at the entryway.

"... I'll try and be brave tomorrow."

As he stepped out of the temple, he could have sworn he felt gentle eyes and a sad smile directed at his back.

A/N Extended: So before now, the only thing I've had on this account is cute, fluffy things. This is unacceptable. I am notorious for writing things that are anything but happy, and how this account has remained untainted for so long mystifies me. Therefore, May helped me fix this. Because she loves me. And hates herself. And I have to make sure to keep my throne as Starmy queen of tragedy, or at the very least whip something up to pretend that I still hold that title. Or ever did.

I saved this note for the end so that I could save the surprise. Or something? Maybe I'm just mean. Something like that.

Expect some more emotional turmoil in the future, for certain. As for how soon that might be, I'll never tell.