Disky: ……

Eliwood: Saaay it…….

GF: But I don' wanna!!!! ;o;

Hector: pulls out Wolf Beil

GF: AAAADONTOWNFIREEMBLEMTHEREISAIDIT!!!!!!!! screams and runs away from evil nassssty Wolf Beil

Eliwood: ………..

GF: pops up out of bottom of screen BUT!!! I do own Bethany (tactician), Amlekaraku Rielakuna, and Ithilia. I also donna own Aisha of the Dark, based off of my bestest-best friend Aisha with Issues. READ HER YGO STORIES!!!!!!!

Summary: "Ninian…I love you. I never want to make you sad." Now, after two years of separation, evil

brews once again in those who hunt dragons; and when the group is called together after years of bitter separation, will a single binding point help bring the broken hearts back together? And…will a promise and oath made years ago still shine in the eyes and memory of her beloved?

Genre: Angst, Drama. Ummm…wooden fence!!!

Rating: Prolly PG-13. Bein safe.

Notes/Warnings: Some mild violence, language, and suggestive comments ahead. Nothin' too bad, but…sometimes folks can seem really puritanical (coughparentscough). So if you're one of these people…high-tail out of here. Flamers shall be prosecuted by Evanflaed. Oh, the name of the tactician is Bethany.

Fire Emblem Fellowship cowers

Gone Though not Forgotten

By Graymalkin "Obey Evanflaed!!" Firstwitch

Prologue: From Tears to Ice

This was all my fault….

"My…my Lord Eliwood…I'm…relieved…you're not hurt…."

"N-Ninian…." One tear, then two, on the pale skin of the dragon, or what was a dragon but now took the guise of a harmless girl, a dancer. Bethany watched in shock. Why did she consent…why did she not hold him back….

She had prodded them, poked…and evoked a passion within the two she had been proud of. For once, her strategy had played more a part than her luck; her keen sense of pairings more an ally than her dimwitted studies on war.

And now…now she was proven wrong.

"This land…..pro…te…………………………….."

"Nini…Ninian!! Speak to me, Ninian!!! Please!!!"

I should have known.

"NINIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!" Eliwood's agonized howl cut through the air, echoed of the sandstone walls, and reverted into a foreboding and quiet silence, broken only by Lyndis' agonized sobs, and the painful beating of Eliwood's heart…..

"….She is dead, Eliwood!!! And it was not by my hand, but yours that she met her fateful demise!!!!"

Bethany had to cover her ears as Nergal's wretched laughing sliced through the air, right into her very heart. And it said the same thing over, this is your fault, Bethany of Arcadia, all your fault….

All your fault….

All the signs were right in front of me….

Eliwood's eyes bored right into Nergal's, with what Bethany could see only as hatred, and contempt, and utter acidity towards the one he had fought from the beginning. And Nergal just smiled.

"Painful, isn't it? But my dear lord, why the long face?

"I know a way to spare her from death…."

Bethany uncovered her ears, staring at him with a look of repulsion and amazement. "B-but—"

"Quiet!!!"

The command was so sternly given, so cruelly delivered, that the other lords could only stare at its deliverer.

But the command had not been given by Nergal…but Eliwood….

But I couldn't understand them, as usual.

"Speak, Nergal." Eliwood had set Ninian gently on the ground, his eyes were icy as he looked at the lord of Darkness. But they were not tearful, nor contemptuous. They were merely listening. "Speak, and if I do not like your answer I will cut you down where you stand right now."

A cruel-sounding chuckle echoed through the canyon, and the gray eye narrowed cunningly. "My, quite the slash-happy swordsman, aren't we, Eliwood?

"But I will make you a deal…I will return the girl to life, and I will give up hunting dragons and meddling in the affair of others—"

"Liar!!!!" Lyndis rushed forward, the Mani Katti in her hand.

SLAP!!!

Lyndis fell to the ground, clutching her cheek where Eliwood had smacked it. He looked commanding, though not angry.

Almost…cruel….

I should have known that that was not Eliwood…

"Name your price." Eliwood did not remove his penetrating glare from Lyn, who only looked up with infinite sadness. Behind her, Bethany could hear Hector straining against Matthew and Guy, trying to reach her….

Nergal smiled. "You come with me."

Eliwood stood there, no change or twitch evident in his face. It was cold, more like marble than Eliwood….

Bethany found her voice.

I should have had the courage to grab him away…

"E-Eliwood, n-no…you…can't…."

Eliwood took one look back at the group. There was sorrow in his eyes, and regret…an "I'm sorry," more felt than spoken.

But his eyes also betrayed something terrifying and unreadable as well.

"Restore her now…and you have a deal."

The wordless cry that echoed through the camp would haunt Bethany ever after.

But I didn't…and now we're all paying for it….

Nergal smirked at Athos, whose mouth was open in wordless surprise. "Of course," he said. "Any thing for you, my Lord Eliwood…."

He raised a hand above Ninian, murmuring a spell under his breath, in a language that Bethany could not understand but immediately recognized, the words chilling her blood and playing across her mind….

The words of Aisha of the Dark, famed Necromancer of Arcadia.

Nonetheless, the arcane mutterings had their effect; blood rushed to Ninian's soft lips, color in the pale cheeks, and soft breathing.

Eliwood knelt, taking her pulse as the group waited with bated breath. Surely it was an illusion…there was no pulse, she was dead and that was that and they could kill Nergal now….

"She's alive…." Relieved tears sprang from Eliwood's eyes.

Couldn't Eliwood see what Nergal was doing?!?!

A bony hand rested on Eliwood's shoulder. "The life of the girl you loved for yours…."

"…Yes." Eliwood bent his head, took one last drink of Ninian's lips…ones he might never kiss again….

"NO!!!!" Bethany ran forward, blood flowing into her legs. But the mind, they say, works much faster than the body can process.

"Ah, yes…a little "parting gift" for your friends…."

Nergal's hand lifted; a ball of dark energy formed in it, and with a few cryptically spoken words, the ball hit Bethany and she was reeling back in the aftermath of the blast….

No…he was blinded by the love he had for Ninian…the love which I encouraged…a forbidden love.

She heard Lyn's scream, and Nergal's high-pitched crazed laugh. Hector was rushing forward to protect Lyn….

And then she hit her head, and all was lost in the darkness.

This is all my fault…..

();;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;; (=======Hey, lookit, Aisha!!! The partition-thingy!!!!)

"Kent!! You're back!!" Lyn rushed forward, slowing and stopping at the agonized look on Kent's face.

"….I…I'm sorry, Milady Lyndis…."

Bethany stayed riveted on the flames, her short boyish mop of golden hair gleaming gold and red and yellow in it's cleansing light. Her eyes were red, swollen, her mind blank. She could cry no more, the tears would not come but the words did….

"It's okay, Kent…we'll wait for Florina…"

A snort from Hector. "This is RIDICULOUS!!" he roared, standing and throwing his hands up. "Eliwood's missing and what do you send out? A useless cavalier and a crybaby pegasus knight!!!"

"I'd like to see you do better, Hector." Lyn's tone was dangerous, like the edge of the Mani Katti she wielded.

"Touched a nerve, have I? Or can you not stand the truth that your ragtag forces of Caelin are nothing more than a playboy, a pretty face, a coward, and a general who can't even walk in a straight line!?!?" Hector's voice began to rise. Others began to come out, curious at the commotion.

"We work together, Hector of Ostia!!" She sneered, a thought coming to her. "And at least the only family I have cares about me."

"Take that back……."

"Stop it!!" Priscilla tried to play the useless roll of peacemaker, looking from one lord to the other. "Stop—"

She was silenced by an all-around glare.

"I must side with Caelin on this…."

"How could you?!?!!?"

"Hector has a point…."

"Maybe Lyn's right….."

And soon the entire encampment was arguing around Bethany, useless yelling and shouting. Not one was directed her way.

And somehow…somehow, to the young tactician, that was the worst insult.

();;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

The next day, Caelin and Ostia broke camp and went heatedly their separate ways, their tempers fuming. Word would spread around the provinces like wildfire, and skirmishes that neither side wished to quell fueled up and grew worse.

Neither, at the time, saw that it was not the fault of the others that led to the disentegration of trust.

Rather, it was their inablity to forgive themselves….

();;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

"…And that's the story, Milady." Nils bowed his head both in reverence and sympathy to the mother of the one who had saved his sister, despite their cryptic ways. "I…know not what has happened to him."

Lady Pharae fought back tears, trying to smile. "It was…a noble cause," she said, her voice beginning to waver. "And you…and your sister…you've nowhere to go?"

Before Nils could answer, the Lady grabbed him and pulled him to her chest, sobbing. "M-my son…." She stuttered and gasped. "M-m-my ch-children…."

Nils looked sadly up through crimson eyes. "Mother…." He was not sure what else to say.

Away from the two, Ninian was separate, detached, alone. Her eyes glazed, she could only think and say the one word that consumed her heart and soul, now not in flesh but only in mind….

"Lord Eliwood….Lord Eliwood…Lord Eliwood…."

();;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

And Bethany took to the road alone, her green eyes dull, where there had once been a sparkle. Everyday she had to hide as some familiar face passed her way…every day she prayed to Elimine that this agony would cease and she could live in peace. But her conscious was not so merciful, and every night she cried as her dreams were filled with a characteristic cruel laughter…and the sharp, echoing cry of a lover gone….

Ninian's cry….

();;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;

Please R&R!!!!!!