Sungazing
written by jess
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"I really should be doing my homework," Olette muttered absentmindedly, running fingers through her dark hair slowly. "And you should, too."
Hayner shook his head dramatically and pointed to the sky.
"No, we can't. Not now. You know we always watch the sunset up here together," said Hayner, knees drawn up to his body and his arms wrapped around them protectively. "You should have done your homework earlier." There was a bitter tone in his voice.
"Hey, guys, I've got ice cream!" Pence announced, brandishing three light blue ice cream bars virtually out of nowhere. It was really a wonder how neither Hayner nor Olette got fat from all the ice cream they consumed on a daily basis. Pence would always joke that it was some kind of magical ninja ice cream (after all, it was both salty and sweet at the same time. Sounds likes some intense magic, clearly).
Olette offered her dark-haired friend a kind smile as she accepted the proffered treat. Pence had always been the mediator between her and Hayner. He'd always been about keeping the peace in their friendship. But sometimes even he could not stop Hayner when he was on a roll.
Hayner took the ice cream and stared moodily out at the setting sun. He'd been in a funk ever since school had begun. Actually, maybe it had been the day before that, during the festival. Things weren't the same with the three of them anymore, and it concerned Olette greatly. She knew, within the deepest places of her heart, that something was wrong, something she couldn't quite get her mind wrapped around.
She was not the only one who had these worries, though. Pence, who everyone assumed was simply the supplier of ice cream and corny jokes, had his own worries, though he never dared to speak them aloud. It almost hurt him to think about the week before school had started, which was odd, because really, when he thought about it, that entire week had been fuzzy. Vague, almost. He remembered living it, he remembered Hayner and Olette and Seifer and his gang, and the Struggle tournament, but...
What was missing?
Hayner never talked about it, and chose to never think about it. The only way the others knew that something was up was when he had decided one day, out of the blue, that every evening from now on would be spent watching the sunset on Sunset Hill, together. And Olette and Pence didn't have it in themselves to object; they needed each other more than ever.
"How's school going?" Olette asked her two friends, in dire need of petty conversation. She had been gifted with knowledge, meaning she had gotten into all of the 'snotty genius' classes, as Pence put it. The boys hadn't been gifted with that attribute, unfortunately. Hayner was barely scraping by with a D average, Pence doing only slightly better, though he had the excuse of wanting to be an artist when he grew up. Hayner was simply a bum who hibernated into his bat cave playing the latest game produced by Square Enix. They were all the rage right now, apparently.
"Are you seriously asking that question?" Hayner replied, annoyed. "School sucks. Always has. Always will."
"You don't have to be so negative," mumbled Olette, watching her ice cream melt in her hands, "I was only asking."
"Yeah? Well maybe you should just keep your questions to yourself!" Hayner snapped snidely, throwing his entire ice cream over the edge of the hill. "And I'm sick and tired of that damn ice cream!"
Olette sighed. He was doing it again. Getting upset for no reason, causing more problems than solutions...she had gotten used to it by now. She could barely remember what it was like when Hayner was truly happy, back when...
"I can feel him," whispered Pence suddenly. Hayner's face froze and Olette looked at her friend in alarm.
"Pence?" Olette asked, bright eyes growing wide. But the boy shook his head as he stared out over the hill, into the horizon.
"When I come up here, when I think of that time before school...he's there. I—I didn't notice it until now. He's here with us now, even though we can't see him."
Hayner and Olette didn't have to ask what Pence was talking about. They knew. All along, they knew. They just didn't want to think about it. Didn't want to come to terms with the cold, hard truth.
He was never coming back.
No matter how hard they wished, or how many times they thought about him, the blond boy with the blue—oh so blue—eyes would only be a memory, a memory of better days. Where they could laugh genuinely, and Olette could be in love, and Hayner could be jealous, and Pence could be funny. Where Seifer would always have his ass kicked, and Vivi would have someone to defend him, and Setzer would not be Struggle Champion.
Where they would be four instead of three.
"He's always with us," Olette nodded, a single tear resting on her cheek, "And he'll never leave."
"All we have to do is come up here," Hayner gazed up at the darkening sky, "And we'll never be alone."
The three nodded in unison and looked up steadily sinking sun, watching the colors around them shift and darken, awaiting the moon's bright light.
"I'm here guys. I'm always with you. Even though you can't see me."
It wasn't perfect, but it was enough.