Hello, and welcome to Tiny Wings, my own Baten Kaitos Origins fanfiction. This is my first fiction in a long while, so I hope you all like it.

Yes, I know that many of you will look at this and think, "What The heck? Marno, that guy from the dream-things? Doesn't every one know all about him?" The truth is that that is the reason I wrote this fanfiction. You don't know what Marno is really like, even after finishing Origins. It is left up to the player to decide. The other reason I wrote this was a personal speculation about the meaning of Sacrifice, and what it means to have nothing to lose. Thus the subtitle of this fanfiction, Sweet Sacrifice.

A final word of caution to my readers; this story is not a happy one. There is no alternate version of that events in which I encode a "happily ever after". This fanfiction will follow the history set down by Origins, only expanding on it.

And with that I wish you all happy reading. Oh, and:

Disclaimer: I don't own Baten Kaitos; or any of the characters. I never claimed I did, so don't sue me.

Sweet Sacrifice,

Or

Tiny Wings and the Last God

It is said that true love lasts forever…

The yellow walls and cavernous cliffs of the Sandfeeder's Nest were not an unfamiliar sight to the young girl who crept carefully along the path. Despite all the terror that the idea of a sandfeeder nest brought to most people, very few Sandfeeders actually chose to live in the same place. No one ever bothered to actually think about what they saw here. Perhaps it was for the best.

Something green slipped through a cave behind her. She froze… waiting until it passed; not daring even to breathe. Eventually the rumbling stopped, and the red eyed face showed only relief. Curse Balm Sand and its inability to maintain its smell! She moved on, as quickly as she could without making any excess of noise.

As she reached the source of the smelly pink balm sand, she peered around the corner only to see some one else rapidly stuffing it into his hip-bag. He was tall, a little older than she; he was just as focused as always. She waited a few seconds, no vibrations it should be safe. Her smile morphed into a wicked grin of childlike glee. And then she pounced.

"Marno!" Her elated shout caused the boy to stiffen instinctively, and reach toward his magnus. She jumped up behind him and her arms snaked around his shoulders, thrusting him into a one way embrace. Her head popped up over his shoulder, his cheek touched hers and they both blushed.

"Hi, Kyr," he said, madly trying to hide his face and unpeel her arms from his shoulders at the same time. When he finally succeeded, his surprise was replaced with a bit of anger and an almost-smile. "You shouldn't do that, you know. You almost gave me a heart attack!"

They were both on their knees now, hopelessly covered in pink dust. Kyr feigned horror at such an idea. "Oh no, I could never bring myself to give me teacher a… a… heart attack!" She peeked through one eye to see the grin invade Marno's face. "Well," She crawled closer to him on the pile, "If I can't greet you like that, then how can I?"

"Like this," He grabbed the back of her head and bent forward into a kiss. They soon parted, with red blossoming back into their cheeks.

His smile was ungraceful, almost sheepish looking; happy and slightly ashamed at the same time. It was not often Marno looked like this. She returned a still sillier expression. "Yeah, I'd like that."

They both began to laugh, when a sudden surge of balm sand left them both spitting and scraping their tongues. Marno made a face. "Bleck! If only Balm sand tasted as good as it smells," he said, using some water he brought with him to get the rest of it out. He thrust the flask into her face. "Here."

"Thanks," She took a swig and spit, dispelling the rest of the sand. She made a final face; the powerful taste lingered.

They sat there for a while, just staring out at the landscape. Their view of the outside was limited but beautiful: the road to Naos, Marno's hometown and, far off, the ocean. They spent what seemed like an eternity without talking. Finally Marno sighed and stood up. "Well, time for what we came here to do."

"What, we can't just meet because you like my company?" Kyr replied sarcastically, trying to hide her anxiety. Marno only laughed; he knew her too well not to see through the remark.

"Come on, don't you trust me yet?" He smiled, and held out his hand, offering her help up. "You'll get it eventually, I know you will."

She frowned, some inner struggle surfacing for a moment. Then she took his hand and let him pull to her feet. "Yes, I trust you, Marno."

---

"Okay, first you have to pull them out… okay?" Marno put his hand on Kyr's shoulder. She nodded as he gestured at his own heart. "You have to feel them here, and then…" He close his eyes almost meditatively, there was a shine on his back as his beautiful, tawny, falcon-esque wings unfurled from nowhere. "There, you got it?"

Kyr nodded, despite that being one of the worst descriptions she'd ever heard of what happened when you unfurled your wings of the heart, as they were called now. She didn't have a problem with this part. She felt inside, reached her heart and touched it. She could almost hear music when her own wings appeared. They were tiny, severely dwarfed by Marno's, and fragile and weak. She could tell he noticed this, even if he didn't say anything.

"Right," he said after a second's wistful glance at her scarlet-and-blue wings. He shook his head and plunged right in. "Now, flight is instinctual. That means the best way to learn is to just let is happen." Kyr didn't think she liked where this was going. "So…." Marno tried not to smile as he gestured to the edge of the cliff.

Kyr's eyes widened, any trace of a smile vanished. She almost fell over from shock, bracing herself on the wait at the last second. She glanced between Marno and the cliff, and back to Marno. Her pleading eyes met his sure ones. She finally mustered up the will to speak. "I-I thought we were going to be doing the bridge exercise again…"

"Nope, not this time," he answered. "It's too short a distance; I can't tell if your wings are actually doing anything." He smiled sincerely. "Besides, if you believe you can do it, I know your wings will kick in." He looked up at the sky, with a mildly calculating look on his face, "There's a good wind today too, so you should be able to glide over to the other side, no problem."

"And if I can't?" Kyr countered, focusing less on the cliff now and almost entirely on his reaction. Marno, who noticed the attention, but pretended not to, replied with his most reassuring and sweetest smile.

"Why, I'll catch you, of course." He offered his hand, the silent question reiterated. "Don't you trust me?"

She took it and gave her silent answer, "Yes, I do." She sighed and tried to calm down. "So, what exactly do you want me to do?" Marno's expression could have made a stone man laugh. His eyebrow was raised just so, and his smile shifted to the side. He never could manage to look like something was obvious.

Then he just gave up trying. "I want you to jump." He picked his words carefully from here. "And if you fall, I'll catch you."

Kyr still wasn't convinced. "Do you promise you'll catch me?"

Marno laughed softly and pulled Kyr into an embrace. Then he held her out at arms length and looked her straight in the eye. "Kyr, I would never let you fall."

He believed he could--no, he knew that he could catch her. His eyes showed it: no one could lie with eyes like that. Kyr felt embarrassed for doubting him. "All right, I'll try," she answered, smiling tentatively.

She stepped forward and hesitated. The ledge was solid, but just standing on the edge of the precipice began to take its toll on Kyr's confidence. It was a long way down. She took a deep breath, and jumped.

The wind in her hair, her wings outspread… Kyr felt a mixture of emotions. She opened her eyes as her descent continued. She was doing it! She was… she was…

The realization hit her so fast that she could not even gasp before she tried to yelp. She wasn't flying—she was falling fast. Her wings weren't even letting her glide. She would hit the canyon floor any second, and she would not survive. She struggled in the air. Marno, why wasn't he here? She was going to die. She began to panic. "Help me! Marno!" She shouted, trying to twist around mid air. The wind ripped the words away from her mouth before she could even hear them.

Kyr's breathing picked up, her heart rate increased. She called, again and again as she fell faster and faster. She could no longer breathe, she was so scared. She began to black out and the world faded into a smudge of color. Her thoughts blurred together into one idea. You promised, Marno…you promised…

Then, when all hope was lost and she was about to lose consciousness, Kyr felt a pair of strong arms grasp her body and her fall slowed. The beating of her savior's heart comforted her as he hugged her close to his chest.

The wings and heart beat as one, and Kyr felt her shoulders begin to shake as she wept. She held her arms closer to her body, only barely aware that they had landed. Her chest heaved with heavy, ragged sobs as Marno spoke, only setting down her feet so that he could hug her closer to his chest. "You okay?"

She nodded, wiping away her tears with one fist and sniffing a bit. She looked up at Marno. He looked as scared as she'd felt, and yet he looked relieved. There were signs of panic as well, his hair disheveled from how fast he'd been flying, he'd dropped his canteen and, most prominently, his wide and sorrowful eyes.

He hugged her close, putting his head on her shoulder, while still supporting her weight. He didn't say it, but what he was thinking was all to clear. "I thought I'd lost you. I thought I wouldn't be able to catch you."

They embraced for what seemed like a long time, tears sliding down Kyr's cheeks. Until slowly coming out of the shock, she managed to whisper, "Marno… Please promise me… promise…"

He waited for the end of the sentence but none came. "What is it? What do you want me to promise?" he prompted her.

She wasn't crying anymore. But her voice still shook as she finished her sentence. She never wanted to fall again. She tried to swallow, but something large and impassable blocked her throat. She couldn't keep it up and the tears flowed again. "Please promise me… Promise you'll always be there to catch me…"

She couldn't see his face, but in his voice she knew he was crying too. "I swear…I promise I'll never let you fall. Not ever again." He pulled her out of the hug so she could see his smile. "After all, true love is supposed to be forever, isn't it?"