Ok, this is a Krystal and OC fic. Don't worry about when it happens, because it will just be confusing. Ok? A'ight here goes...
Xandre Benevol looked out over the icy tundra of Fichina. The bluish-white glaciers glowed pink under the setting sun, as if they belonged in a young girl's room. This oxymoronic notion was lost on Xandre as he continued to stare out on the bleak, desolate landscape, the dry, freezing air biting at his eyes. Blinking, he felt the tears begin to freeze at the corner of his eyes. Avoiding all common sense he refused to blink, feeling the burning sensation of crystals forming on his eyes, and going deeper, as if straight to his soul. He blinked. Immediately, fresh tears spewed forth, passing out of his eyes, and solidifying on his frostbitten cheeks. The pain never left, his eyes burned constantly, but somehow, the pain didn't seem like much at all.
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Krystal smiled gently as she reached out and caressed Xandre's face, drawing him in for a quick kiss. "You know I love you." She said reassuringly.
"Yes, I know." Xandre replied with a brief smile. "And I will never doubt it."
Krystal snuggled up to him, wedging her head in between his shoulder and head. "You seem tired." She said generically, hoping for a response.
"I try not to." Xandre replied, "I really want to be happy and energetic in life but..."
"What?" Krystal questioned, sitting up and looking Xandre in the eyes with a deep look of concern.
"Oh, it's just everything." Xandre replied with a sigh. "Work is terrible, I'm quite sure that I'll be fired any day now, my car is dying quickly, I'm losing money to who knows where, and really, the only good thing in my life is you." He sighed and gave Krystal a quick bittersweet smile. "Why does life have to be so hard?"
Krystal sighed; she really did know how he felt. So many times before had she seen nothing to live for except one person, one tiny living organism. She knew how it hurt to look at someone and say 'I'm fine' when she knew she wasn't. She knew the heartache in being away from the one and only person that she ever thought she could love, even if it was for only a minute.
Emotion began to swell in Krystal's chest, and she quickly swallowed the growing lump, banishing it to oblivion. With a well feigned sweet smile, she replied, "At least we have each other."
Xandre grunted a half-hearted, "Right."
Krystal sat up again. She knew the pain and hatred in self pity; she loathed the fact that she could hate herself so much. She knew Xandre felt it now. She knew she had to stop it, before it went too far, before he became like her.
"Xandre?" Krystal asked quietly. "What do you love?"
"Other than you?" Xandre replied, covering all the bases.
"Yes."
"Peace, quiet, loud music," he laughed, "Flying..." Krystal winced. "And going on adventures." Krystal winced again.
Xandre looked at her quizzically, "Adventures, like rock climbing and mountaineering. Safe adventures."
Krystal breathed deeply, hiding the storm which now boiled deep within her. Slowly it calmed and she spoke. "I think that we should go on an-" her voice caught, "An adventure. I have always wanted to scale the peak of the glaciers on Fichina."
Xandre looked at her incredulously. "It's not going to solve my not-so-mid-life-crisis, but I'm not going to turn down an opportunity like that for no reason like that."
"Really?" Krystal asked, not believing that some one finally wanted what she wanted for once.
"Of course, it'll be good for both of us." Xandre consoled, then added, laughing, "C'mon Krys, I'm the one here with the crisis, not you."
A brief spasm of anger shook Krystal, and then subsided before Xandre noticed. "You're right, let's go."
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The trip to Fichina was rather uneventful; cruiser after cruiser took them from spaceport to spaceport before they arrived at the only civilization on the planet Fichina, the weather control center. Unloading gear didn't take long, and before either of them could think they were on the base of the glacier, beginning a trek.
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The sharp cold air of the arctic planet bit Krystal's lungs as she breathed. As she exhaled, she watched the fog of her breath catch on the edge of her parka and solidify into miniscule balls of ice. Her eyes followed the rim of the hood on her parka until it met the contrast of a red rope on white snow. She gazed along the rope until it looped in a knot around Xandre's waist. Bound to him.
Xandre turned around momentarily, and spoke, "You alright back there Krystal?"
Krystal winced as she replied, "Yes, just fine."
"Do you want to walk up front honey? The view is much better."
"No, I'm fine back here, just keep leading, this is your adventure, remember? You're the one with the crisis."
Xandre laughed, "Slightly delayed, but 'touché' anyways." He guffawed loudly, his mirth echoing for eternity across the snow swept oblivion.
Krystal gave in and laughed as well, feeling her pent up emotion begin to release, but for once, positively. Suddenly the air didn't seem so much sharp as it did crisp, the ice not so much bleak as beautiful, and the silence not so much ominous as serene. For once, Krystal began to feel truly happy. Smiling she walked up beside Xandre, "Why not walk together?"
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The summit of the Fichina glacier was a spectacle to behold. Never to any eye was so much white witnessed as not just a color, but as an emotion. Pure peace beyond any measure seemed to emanate from the summit. The neighboring, and light providing star shone pure white, as if a handful of diamonds had been thrown into a pure porcelain bowl. Krystal turned slowly, watching the horizon rise and fall gradually through her goggles. As she turned her back to the sun, she dared herself a peek without her goggles. A brilliant flash of bluish white nearly blinded her, never before had the entire spectrum of colors been so radiantly displayed. She stumbled back slightly, bumping into Xandre. She smiled to herself as she felt his arms wrap around her waist as they both looked out over the desolate land. Not a word was spoken, nothing was necessary.
They left the summit, mutually rejuvenated by the heavenly vision. A slight spring in either step could be detected as they began to trek down the mountain.
As they rounded a sharp corner on one of the numerous switchbacks, the path gave way beneath Krystal. Her heart jumped into her throat as she felt the drop. Immediately she began to accelerate down the mountain. Xandre watched in horror as Krystal plummeted down towards the massive crevasse waiting at the bottom of the slide. Then the horror struck home as the safety line which bound his fate to Krystal's tugged him over the edge of the path.
The couple slid at a breakneck speed down the open glacier, clawing at anything to stop the slide. The ominous opening in the snow grew closer by the second. Xandre grasped for his ice pick, scrambling. He pulled it out, and jammed it into the packed snow. He let out a cry of pain as the pick was wrenched from his grasp, nearly snapping his wrist. Krystal screamed as her ice pick was torn from her hands as well. They were nearly at the edge of oblivion. Turning, Xandre reached for his second axe, looped the safety restraint around his wrist and jammed the pick into the snow. He gasped in pain as he felt the extreme strain on his muscles. Acting without thinking, he reached up with his free hand and grabbed the top of the ice pick blade and held on. The ice axe plowed through the hard packed snow, throwing shards of ice into Xandre's face. "YAAAAAAAUGH!" he screamed in pain, the ice shards cutting his face and the tension tearing away at his forearms.
Krystal screamed again as her feet slid over the edge of the cliff. The pair had slowed drastically but was still moving. Clawing at the safety line, Krystal desperately tried to keep herself from falling, but to no avail. An eerie sense of weightlessness grasped her as she began to plummet into the darkness.
Time began to move in slow motion. She closed her eyes and thought. We are going to die. I am going to die. "Fox." she mouthed his name silently.
As quickly as it had begun, Krystal snapped back into reality. A jerk which nearly broke her neck welcomed her. Looking up, she saw Xandre's feet dangling over the edge of the chasm, but nothing more. I still love Fox.
She watched in desperate hope as he began to squirm back up onto the safety of the glacier, slowly dragging her with him. I don't belong here.
After what seemed like hours, Xandre gave the last heave and Krystal fell breathless on the snow, and began to writhe away from the edge. Xandre picked her up and held her close to him.
"Krystal," he started
"Xandre," she said quickly,
"This has taken too long-"
"As I was falling-"
"Will you-"
"I realized that-"
"Please marry me?"
"I don't really love you."
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Taking a deep breath, his eyes nearly frozen once again, Xandre looked at Krystal one last time. "There is something wrong here."
He began to take slow deliberate steps towards the crevasse.
"No, Xandre, you don't have to-"
"It doesn't matter Krystal."
"No, come back, I-"
"No you don't. Goodbye."
With one swift motion Xandre cut the safety line, dropped the knife on the ground, and fell backwards into the yawning chasm.
I love you, Krystal. And I hate myself for it.