Disclaimer: I do not own any characters/places/etc. from Tales of Zestiria. Everything belongs to their respective owners.

Realization

Mikleo should have known that – when Sorey started comparing Seraphs to birds – there was going to be some sort of consequence. Of course, his eight year old brain had yet to realize how much trouble his brother could actually get into.

"Hey Mikleo, birds can fly, right?" the brown-haired boy beside him asked the simple question. Sorey had his green eyes partially closed as he half-dozed in the afternoon sun. The other boy knew better though; Sorey was really half-sleeping and half-thinking.

The seemingly obvious answer to the question made Mikleo think that it was due to the drowsiness that his brother was asking such a question. "Of course they can. They have wings."

"Huh," Sorey let a small noise slip from his mouth as his eyes opened fully, staring intently at the sky above them. The next question that his brother asked caught him fully off-guard. "Then, since we're Seraphs, does that mean we can fly?"

The other unexpected question caused Mikleo to sit up. Sorey seemed very much awake now and his eight year old attention was focused solely on the idea of flying. Still, Mikleo was unsure of the answer. They had both been taught by their grandfather about their ways of living, but the young Seraph didn't know everything.

"I'm… not sure." He answered truthfully, seeing no point in lying. Gramps would have been mad if he had lied either way. "I don't think so though. If we had wings, wouldn't we physically have them like the birds do?"

"But maybe we grow wings, sort of like butterflies?" Sorey's alternate suggestion seemed also possible, but…

"Why don't Gramps and the other Seraphs have wings then?" At the light-haired boy's question, Sorey seemed to pause, stumped for a moment. His face then lit up in excitement.

"Maybe the wings are invisible? Or maybe they're underneath the clothing?"

"I think you might just be making things up now," Mikleo answered truthfully again, lying back down on the grass. Sorey pouted beside him for a few seconds before doing the same. Good, now hopefully he won't both Gramps for an answer.

Mikleo's train of thought had only been partially correct. This was why – hours later – when he found Sorey ready to jump off a cliff to try and 'fly' that he was genuinely surprised.

"Sorey, what are you doing?!" he shouted at his brother as he ran closer, taking in the scene fully. Yes, it did seem like Sorey was going to jump off the cliff's side in order to 'fly.' He took some comfort in the rope that was tied around the boy's waist, most likely to act as an anchor, but it didn't reassure him.

Sorey, on the other hand, saw nothing wrong with the situation. "I'm going to prove that we can fly, Mikleo!" The eight year old shouted confidently. He looked overly excited and happy with the prospect, but something still caused a lump of worry in Mikleo's stomach.

"Sorey, I don't think this is such a good idea…" Mikleo moved closer to his brother slowly, not wanting to cause any sudden irrationality on the other boy's part.

Sure, the brown-haired boy had tied the rope around his waist and attached it to a wooden stake in the ground. That didn't seem to make the idea any safer and, to make things worse; they were still in the village limits. If Gramps caught on to what Sorey was doing… He's going to be angry if Sorey goes through with this.

"Don't worry; it'll be fine. Once I can figure this out, then we won't need to use those grapples anymore." Sorey gave him a big smile before doing what Mikleo had feared most: he ran full speed towards the cliff and jumped off.

Mikleo sped towards the rope that his brother was attached to with astounding speed, somehow already knowing that the rope wouldn't hold up. The thin strands were already starting to snap when he got to it, holding on tightly.

Sorey had seemed weightless for a few moments after he jumped into the air, but gravity soon took its toll, pulling the eight year old downwards. The rope followed a similar path, burning in the light-haired Seraph's hands, but he refused to let go. His brother let out a shout of triumph, which quickly changed to an exclamation of pain when he hit the cliff's side below. "OW!"

"Sorey, are you alright?!" Mikleo shouted down at his brother, who was hopefully still conscious after hitting the cliff wall. The young Seraph hadn't felt any real change in weight – it would have been worse if Sorey had been unconscious since it would have added 'dead weight' to the problem.

"I'm – ow – fine!" His brother was conscious, but seemed to be struggling a bit below. Or, by the way the rope moved slightly from side to side, he was trying to fix his position but couldn't.

"Can you climb up?" The light-haired boy asked, looking around for anything that could help. The cliff should have had ridges in it that the other boy could use to climb up, but if he was stuck in a position that didn't allow that…

"One minute!" Sorey shouted up, sounding slightly panicked as the movement of the rope continued. Several more exclamations of pain followed. When his brother did speak again, it sounded like he understood the direness of the situation they were in. "I don't think I can!"

Mikleo desperately searched his mind for some other solution, finding that his heart was beating much too quickly. A snapping sound, accompanied by a force that made the light-haired Seraph lurch forward, caused his panic to increase. The rope had completely come undone from the wooden stake, causing Mikleo's small amount of weight as the only thing that kept Sorey from falling off the cliff completely.

"Mikleo?!" Sorey was definitely in a panic now as the boy moved around on the other end of the rope. The jerky movements caused the pain in Mikleo's hands to increase, but he refused to let go.

"Quit moving around so much!" he shouted, trying to search – once again – for another solution. For once, my element is completely useless. The thought caused his heart to beat faster as he dug his feet into the ground, desperate to keep his brother from falling. Water wouldn't help in this situation; if anything, it would only make things worse.

Time seemed to tick by slowly as the distance between Mikleo and the cliff's edge got shorter. He was practically at the point at which he could see his brother dangling on the other end of the rope below. Both of them were now struggling to beat gravity's pull on them, but Mikleo could tell that his strength wouldn't last.

He won't survive a fall from this height though, the light-haired boy thought with panic as he tried to dig his feet into the ground more. That tactic didn't want to work anymore as the distance got shorter. The Seraph could practically feel the breeze from the outer winds at this point.

Birds can fly, but we can't do anything to stay floating off the ground; the thought came as his strength began to leave him. Mikleo felt almost faint enough that he would most likely end up plummeting off the edge of the cliff as well.

As his vision faded and the rope slipped from his grasp, Mikleo felt arms steady his faltering form. More hands grasped the rope that held Sorey before it could plummet away from them. The boy below hit the cliff wall again with another exclamation, but Mikleo almost passed out from relief alone.

That's right… we're near the village… the thought became fragmented as he lost consciousness; the last thing he saw was his brother being pulled away from the cliff as well.

The young Seraph woke up several hours later to a familiar ceiling above his head. The darker lighting in the room told him that he was inside and that it must have been evening, maybe even dusk. He sat up from the bed he was in, recognizing instantly that they had been taken back to their grandfather's dwelling. Everything after that was fuzzy.

"What… happened…?" the boy mumbled as he glanced over at the bed a few feet away from him, seeing Sorey sleeping soundly, wrapped up in the pale blankets like nothing had happened.

Maybe I dreamed the whole incident, Mikleo first thought, getting out of his bed and walking over to his brother's. In fact, the light-haired boy would have thought that it had been a dream, except for the burning red marks on his hands and Sorey's now-wrapped arm.

Mikleo didn't need to be told what to do; he sat down on Sorey's bed, a few inches from the other boy's feet. Their grandfather would most likely want to talk to them once Sorey woke up; he knew that much. Still, Mikleo feared the outcome of such a talk.

Sorey had gotten into trouble on multiple other occasions but – when Mikleo now thought about it – he realized that it had never been this bad before. The two of them had almost died. His brown-haired brother's pranks normally didn't even get close to that sort of outcome.

When his brother did wake up, it was definitely dark outside. Mikleo didn't feel much other than relief as Sorey woke from his sleep, obviously sore. His brother gave him a worrying smile, but his eyes clearly showed distress and regret.

"I guess I really did it this time, huh?" the brown-haired boy said as he sat up. The other Seraph didn't have much time to answer; he had barely opened his mouth when the door to their bedroom opened.

In the doorway stood their grandfather, an older man with large eyebrows and stark white hair. His expression was unreadable as he came into the room, but both boys instantly gave at least a small bow to the older man. Sorey struggled a bit more with the action but didn't make any noise.

Both boys remained silent as the elder of their village pulled a chair to face the bed. If he was going to sit down, then Mikleo knew this was already going to be a long talk.

It started out with the two of them apologizing profusely while Mikleo attempted to take the blame. Sorey argued with him for a bit before they were interrupted by their grandfather, who quickly silenced them. As they sat on the bed – almost cursed to not talk – the older man told them a story: one of a child who, many years ago, was found as a baby and raised among Seraphs.

The two sat attentively listening to the story, both trying to find a moral or lesson from it. As more details were filled in on the nameless boy, however, Sorey's green eyes slowly grew wider in shock. Mikleo felt inward shock, but – not wanting to form any conclusions yet – watched his brother.

"Gramps… who is this boy?" Mikleo asked when he felt the story had gone on long enough. The details were sounding starkly familiar, causing another sick feeling to surface in his stomach. Sorey was extremely silent and pale beside him, his eyes staring at the wall behind their grandfather.

Their grandfather didn't answer him directly; instead turning to his brother beside him. Sorey's small hands clenched the covers of the bed, but he remained still. "Sorey…" Gramps started, causing the sick feeling to solidify for Mikleo. The older man's words did not waver. "When we found you in the forest eight years ago, it was a miracle that you could even detect our presence. Humans do not normally possess the ability to interact with – let alone see – Seraphs."

"Human…?" the word was uttered softly by his brother, still full of shock. Mikleo had heard the word before; grandfather used to tell them of beings who looked very similar to them living beyond the mountain range. Their grandfather was right; normal humans couldn't see Seraphs, so to anyone else, their village would look empty.

"Gramps…" Mikleo started, his voice sounding full of desperation. Some part of him didn't want to know… some part of him wanted to keep believing that his brother was like them. The damage already seemed to be done; Sorey ran out of the room before anything more could be said.

The light-haired boy looked at his grandfather, almost inaudibly requesting to go after his brother. When he received no answer, he figured it would be alright and ran out of the room after the brown-haired boy. The darkness of the night made it hard to see, but Mikleo continued to search for his brother.

Sorey… is a human? The thought continued to echo in his mind, making little sense to him. Somehow, he couldn't absorb the fact.

When he finally did find his brother, Sorey was leaning against one of the spare houses' sidings, face buried in his knees. The brown-haired boy didn't look up until Mikleo was sitting right next to him. His face was wet with shed tears as he now stared at the ground.

"I can't actually believe it," Sorey mumbled, looking lost and forlorn for once. "We aren't actually related. You're not my brother and I…"

The boy couldn't continue as he struggled not to cry again. Mikleo let him, feeling shocked but probably not as much as the other boy. "This doesn't change anything," the light-haired boy reassured, hoping it would make them both feel better. "I still consider you my brother, even if we aren't related by blood."

"I know." Sorey sounded a bit better once he took a deep breath. "I know and I still don't understand why I'm crying."

"I think anyone would if they were in your situation. It's a lot to take in. At least we know that you can't be blamed for not being able to fly since you're human." This caused the two of them to let out small laughs, careful not to wake the others that may be sleeping.

"Yeah, I guess that was doomed to fail from the start." Sorey seemed to become more downcast at this; his gaze dropped to the ground. The light-haired Seraph was silent for a few moments as he thought, but slightly smiled at the solution that came to him.

"You know, there are actually some levitation spells, I think. They wouldn't work for very long, but it's the closest to flying that there is." He explained, thankful that he listened to the other Seraphs' chatter throughout the day. The other boy's eyes grew wide with excitement as he turned towards Mikleo.

"You mean I could actually try to fly again?" the happiness in his voice couldn't be disguised, causing Mikleo to laugh a bit. Sorey was forgetting some important points, but that was alright. So long as he didn't feel sad anymore.

"It takes lots of practice, but I'm sure you'll get there someday. We can both try together. Someone has to be there to make sure you aren't jumping off cliffs again." The boy then had a thought, one that could have hindered his brother's attempts at flight. "So, this whole cliff experience hasn't ruined your sense of adventure, has it?"

"Nope!" Sorey's answer was so immediate that Mikleo instantly knew he shouldn't have been worried. "Well… maybe for a few days, but I'll be good after that."

"Alright then," Mikleo nodded, but then decided that something had to be done about his brother's behavior. He gently flicked the other boy's forehead as he stood up. "Honestly, what were you thinking? You should have asked me from the beginning to help. Maybe then, you wouldn't have had to use a rope."

Sorey laughed again as he moved to stand as well. "Sorry, sorry. I just knew you would tell me it was a bad idea."

"And it was, wasn't it?"

With that, the two boys made their way back to their grandfather's house. Despite the scare earlier that day – and the new realizations gained that night – Mikleo knew they would stay as close as they were. He also knew that he would have to look out for his friend's strange antics a lot more often, if the other boy's injured arm was any reminder.

Well, this is my first step into the Tales of series (I haven't actually played any of the games, but have pre-ordered and researched Zestiria, and watched my sister play Symphonia, so I'm not completely clueless). Since watching the OVA/Special I also wanted to write a "you're adopted but didn't know it" sort of fanfiction. Sorry if anyone is OOC too; I'm still working out how to write the characters and it's a bit of a challenge when they are younger so far. Either way, I hope you enjoyed this!

-AnimeWolfGirl9