By Moonlight

Summary: Sheba fears what will happen to her after their adventure is over. After leaving Lemuria she confides in Piers. Light ShebaxPiers.

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun: The Lost Age! I bow down before the game! Which has, after I defeated that damn Aqua Hydra, managed to suitably distract me from time that should have been spent on coursework…

…I usually like writing summaries…but this one seemed to evade any attempts I had to make it sound better…I'm sorry!

This idea's been in my head for a while…and was thought of after I'd left Lemuria in the actual game…I started it about a month ago, and got stuck after I'd written the basic point…the actual discussion…I got hit by inspiration for the rest last night and I managed to finish this in time for Christmas! Woo!

Merry Christmas to you all!

One of the things Piers didn't like about travelling, apart from the random and almost constant monster attacks, was sitting up in the dead of night as watchman. The blue-haired Lemurian sat upon the deck of his ship, his world lit by moon and candlelight, as he stared upwards at the stars.

The group – Felix, Jenna, Kraden, Sheba and Piers – had left Lemuria as soon as the sun had risen and had travelled on Piers' boat at near-to-full speed throughout the entire day. They'd stopped as soon as the sun had set, about a mile away from the tiny N Osenia Islet, and had started their customary night watches. Piers, as always, had gone first. He didn't particularly like standing guard at night, as he was tired and sleeping generally made him feel better, but he knew it had to be done. If no one was standing guard then they ran a risk of getting attacked by some of the monsters that dwelt in the Eastern Sea whilst they were all sleeping. It wasn't a pleasant way to wake up.

Piers shivered slightly as the wind picked up. In an attempt to stay awake he'd removed his jacket, leaving him in a short-sleeved shirt, because despite the nights not being that cold the few breezes that stirred up were crisp and the Mercury Adept had decided that being cold and irritated were suitable ways in keeping him awake. He'd also removed his headband and had tied it around his waist.

He stood up, carefully picking up the candle and its holder, and moved towards the small table near the helm. He set the candle upon the table and picked up a large roll of parchment and a feathered quill before he sat down on the deck. He unrolled the parchment carefully to reveal a map.

The map was an extensively detailed map of Weyard, with the 7 continents outlined in detail with mostly all the various areas and settlements labelled. The obvious exclusion being the settlements only assessable by sailing on the Western Sea, but Piers knew that that would soon change.

To him the map was amazing. His companions had obviously gone to a lot of trouble to meticulously record every place they'd been to, and Piers could see everyone's contribution. He chuckled as his eyes rested upon Felix's chicken-scratch that marked 'Daila', as well as a similar scribble that marked the location of 'The Shrine of the Sea God' that Piers knew belonged to Jenna. Obviously after those two records Sheba had appointed herself their scribe, as the rest of the locations were written in her neat, legible hand, with a little of Kraden's archaic writing thrown in here and there.

His finger brushed the surface of the parchment lightly, coming to a stop next to 'The Sea of Time'. He sighed and poised the quill, toying with the notion of adding his own contribution to the map.

Piers knew that the map hadn't been updated since they'd left Lemuria, and as of yet nobody had bothered to record its location. He chuckled bitterly. As a show of politeness his travelling companions, his friends, were probably waiting for his permission. Lemuria was hidden from the outside world by the protective maze that was 'The Sea of Time'. His friends, along with himself, had managed to navigate the maze and defeat Poseidon to gain entry to the ancient society – something that, even without Poseidon's interference, was basically impossible. Piers ran a hand through his hair. If it weren't for him they probably wouldn't have been allowed to leave Lemuria, especially if Lord Conservato had had his way. A particularly large gust of wind blew out the candle he was using and Piers stared at it, debating half-heartedly whether or not to re-light it. He decided against it and rested his head on his knees.

"It's amazing isn't it,"

Piers jumped and raised his startled golden eyes to meet the soft periwinkle of Sheba's. The younger girl smiled at him, dressed in one of Felix's old shirts as a night-dress and with sleep tousled hair, and slowly dropped to her knees so that she was sitting down on the deck opposite him. She placed her right index finger onto the corner of the map he was studying.

"Eh?" He replied, inwardly cringing at how stupid he sounded. Sheba chuckled and dropped her gaze to the moon-bathed map.

"The world, it's massive," She whispered. "It's really much bigger than I'd ever thought,"

Piers nodded. "Yeah..."

Sheba looked back up at him, tilting her head. "It must be really strange for you,"

"How?" Piers asked, running the fingers of his left hand through the feather part of his quill.

Sheba chuckled and leant over the map to prod his forehead. "The world! I bet you couldn't have imaged how big the world was outside of Lemuria!"

Piers smiled at her. "I used to dream of the world outside Lemuria..." He replied softly. "I used to dream of places full of prosperous people...of knowledge, and of riches..." He put the tip of the feather quill to his lips, his eyes narrowing in thought. "I just never imagined the state that the world's actually in..."

Sheba nodded slowly. "But we're fixing that!" She cried. "When we light all the lighthouses the world will start to...work again," Piers smiled at her and she returned the smile. The smile then slowly slid off her face and she looked at him sadly. "Where will you go when this is all over?" She asked.

Piers bowed his head. "I'll go…back to Lemuria…I suppose," He said quietly. "I've got to let King Hydros know what I've found...and then I'll just...stay with my people...I didn't expect to be gone for so long...anyway," He trailed off, closing his eyes tightly as he remembered what happened whilst he was away. Sheba sighed.

"It's okay to cry," She whispered. "I want to sometimes,"

Piers looked at her sadly. "I…don't think I can cry," He hesitated. Sheba tilted her head at him questionably. He shook his head. "I mean…of course I'm sad…my mother died and I wasn't there for her! I just…wasn't there! I'm so angry because of that! But…she wouldn't of wanted me to mope around…" He rubbed the back of his neck in exasperation, unable to find the correct words he wanted to say. He then chuckled. "She'd probably be quite angry if I let my sadness drag me down…"

"Mmm…"

Piers raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?" He asked. Sheba sighed and absentmindedly studied the tiny speck of light that came from the N Osenia Islet. Piers leant back, leaning lightly against a crate.

"At least you have people who'd miss you when you're away," She said bitterly. "I don't know where I come from," She lay down on the deck, facing the starry sky above. "When this is all over Felix and Jenna will return to Vale…Kraden will probably beg you to take him back to Lemuria with you…and then I'll just…" She trailed off, her innocent face full of sadness.

Piers cleared his throat slightly. "You could…return to Lemuria…with me…" He coughed, and shyly averted his eyes. "That's if…if you want," Sheba was silent. "Or, if you don't want to go to Lemuria I could stay with you somewhere," He added hastily.

Sheba turned her head to look at him and for a moment Piers was convinced that she was going to scream insults at him and stomp back below deck. Instead, she sat up and launched herself at him. He patted her on the back awkwardly as she hugged him.

"You'd do that? For me?!" She asked as she leant back to stare into Piers' eyes, a look of pure amazement on her face. Piers nodded.

"Yeah," He replied sincerely. Sheba narrowed her eyes at him slightly, as if scanning his face for any hint of deception.

"Why?"

"We've been travelling together for a while…and I've got used to you…and you've become a really good friend…and I'm not sure I'll like…being on my own," Piers was suddenly glad that the moon was their only source of light, Sheba would probably be unable to see him blushing. "You've become…a really good friend…I'd…really miss you,"

Sheba grinned at him, wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him close. She rested her head on his shoulder. "You've become…a really good friend too," She whispered. "Thank you,"

They stayed in their embrace for a while, before Sheba gently extracted herself from him and sat in her previous place on the other side of the map. She tilted her head.

"What were you doing?" She asked, her right index finger toying with the curl in the corner of the parchment. Piers ran his fingers through the quill's feather.

"Just thinking,"

Sheba rolled her eyes and grinned impishly, the moonlight twinkling in her eyes. "About?" She pressed. Piers chuckled.

"The world," He replied. "I was looking at what you've all written," He eyes scanned the moonlit scrawls made by Felix and Jenna. "And…I was thinking about making my own addition…"

Sheba folded her arms. "Oh really?" She asked. She smiled slightly. "Aren't you afraid of what'll happen if strangers get their hands on that map?"

Piers tilted his head and transferred the quill to his left hand. "Maybe it's time Lemuria embraced the rest of the world again," He leant forward and wrote, in a sophisticated cursive, 'Lemuria' upon the map, above Kraden's record of 'The Sea of Time'. He smiled triumphantly before clamping a hand over his mouth to stifle a yawn.

Sheba returned his smile and took his hand as she stood, effectively pulling him to his feet too. "C'mon," She said. "It's time for Jenna's watch. We should try and get some sleep, tomorrow's going to be a long day,"

The combined efforts of the two of them managed to rouse the sleeping Mars Adept, and as he lay on his makeshift bed in the cabin of his ship Piers smiled, vowing to keep his promise to the sandy-haired girl who slept across the room from him. Eventually, somehow, Felix's snores managed to lull him to sleep.

The next day, as the sun was setting, the ship reached the Gondowan Cliffs and Felix stood at the bow with his arms raised as he activated the Grind Psynergy to allow them passage into the Western Sea. Overlooking him, at the helm, stood Piers and Sheba, their fingers intertwined.