Age Makes No Difference

Chapter 1: The Despressed Wild-Boy

Gau woke up to another bright and sunny day, the third one in a row. It was the day he turned nineteen. Today should have been a happy day for him, but it wasn't. It was his birthday! He should've been happy. However, this was just a day of gloom and depression. He felt that now he was nineteen, the lady he cared so much about seemed so much younger, too young for him. After all, she was only fifteen and he was an adult. It was bad enough when he was eighteen. Strago often complained that they spent more time together than he thought was appropriate.

The funny thing is that she never mentioned it to me. I wonder why, Gau thought to himself as he remembered the time he overheard one of the conversations from a few months ago.

Gau walked down the stairs to see what was taking Relm so long. She was supposed to have gone to get something to drink for them. About halfway down, he heard Strago's voice in a raised tone. It was unusual to hear it like this, but thinking it was none of his business and wasn't much of an eavesdropper, he decided to go back to the room. When he was halfway back to the room, he heard his name. He then decided that maybe he should listen.

"Gau is a whole lot older than you. I hear many of the townspeople speaking about you two spending so much time together. Even some of my friends have spoke to me about it. I think it would be best if you two spent less time together. Gau is an adult now. He should be out looking for girls his own age and getting a job, not spending time with a child."

"I am NOT a child! I AM fifteen years old!" Relm screamed at Strago. "I can make my own decisions on who I spend my time with. And Gau is old enough to do the same. We are just friends, nothing else. That's all we are and always will be. You can't change it."

After hearing what Relm had said, he felt saddened, but he continued listening.

"I've noticed things when I pass by your room or when I knock to come in. It sounds like a bunch or scurrying ants in there, like you have something to hide. It's making me nervous and suspicious that there's more than you're telling me. If this keeps up, I may be forced to separate both of you," Strago explained.

"You CANNOT do that. He's my best friend and he's the ONLY friend that I can trust to talk to about anything. If you took him away from me, I'd be lost. I'd have nothing left to brighten up these dull days," Relm said, getting upset. She paused long enough to catch her breath and calm down. "It'd be like taking the sunshine away from the grass. We wouldn't have much of a world left, would we?"

"I didn't say that I was gonna separate you for good. I meant that if this keeps up, I may have to take some action."

"ARGH! There's no getting through your head, old man. We are just friends! When are you gonna understand it?" Relm yelled at Strago before storming off into the kitchen to get the drinks.

In the meantime, Gau went back into the room to wait Relm's return.

"After she came back, she had on her usual smile and I soon forgot about the incident. It's amazing how she hid stuff like that with her smile," Gau said to himself.

Gau looked out the window of his room. It seemed all bright and cheery. The day was pretty much the opposite of how he felt today. He watched as a few kids decided to come out onto the Veldt to play. They seemed to enjoy the sun. All he hoped was that they were aware that there was an occasional monster roaming around.

He looked up at the blue sky. It somehow reminded him of Relm. Maybe it was her eyes, maybe it wasn't. He then pictured her smile in his mind. Her beautiful smile. It was a smile that was even too good for a goddess. Her smile could brighten anyone's mood. Well, maybe not his at the moment.

"Guess I should get a start on my day," Gau said as he headed for the kitchen.

Can't let the small detail of being nineteen get me depressed. There are plenty of other things besides being closer to Relm that I want to do, like learning more about designing buildings. Anyway, we are really good friends. That's all that really matters. It don't seem like she is interested anyway so what's the use worrying about it, Gau thought as he was deciding what to get for breakfast before starting his morning training workout.

The day passed slowly as he thought about his birthday, Relm, and that argument. He tried to concentrate more on happier things. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't work so well. Eventually it'd go back to Relm again, just to have his thoughts start over again.

At supper, Sabin noticed his roommate in a blue mood. "Is there anything wrong, little buddy?"

"Just hasn't been a good day. Mostly because I'm nineteen now and I feel old," Gau explained.

"It's your birthday?! Heh, I totally forgot about it. So sorry. Well, happy birthday, Gau. A little late, but it's the thought that counts."

"No need to be sorry. I don't care 'bout this birthday. I would've preferred that it didn't come."

"You wanna talk about it?" a concerned Sabin asked.

"Nah. It's nothing much. It'll pass. I'm gonna go to my room," Gau said, getting up from his half-eaten supper.

"Um ... OK. I'm here if you do wanna talk," Sabin managed to say before Gau disappeared.

~ * ~

"Come on, Gau. We're going out," Sabin insisted.

It was a couple hours later and Gau wasn't in the mood to go anywhere. "No, Sabin. I don't feel like going anywhere."

"You are coming, whether you like it or not. The air will help you feel better. I wonder what's bothering you, but if you don't wanna talk about it, that's OK." Sabin took Gau's hand and pulled him up into somewhat of a standing position. "Come on now, or I'll pick you up and carry you out."

Gau, not in the mood to struggle, decided it'd be better if he walked himself and followed Sabin in the cool evening air for what seemed like a long walk. Eventually they came upon Garbonzia, a new city that had grew originally from a bunch of bodybuilders wanting to live on the Veldt. Now there are a wide variety of people, businesses, schools, events, and such for the growing population.

Sabin and Gau didn't want to live in the crowded area and eventually moved out three years before. Sabin now lived close to the Veldt Cave, several miles away from Garbonzia, but Gau didn't want to pursue the intense training that Sabin was concentrating on. He wanted to do his schooling so he could learn to be an architect and get a good job. Therefore, he moved into a small house near Thamasa a few months later. It was about the same size as Sabin's. It had two small bedrooms, a kitchen, and a den with some comfortable furniture to lie around on.

Sabin had convinced Edgar to build it, noting that once Gau gets a good job, he can get a good deal on getting some new additions designed for the castle in the future. That's where he would be now, but he didn't want to completely abandon the hard training he put in over the years. So, he returned to the Veldt every now and then for a week at a time to catch up on his training.

"What are we doing here?" Gau asked, suspiciously.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. I had to come in to get some supplies and I need to drop into a friend's before I leave," Sabin explained.

"Oh, I see," Gau said.

Sabin went to the weapon shop to check on the new claw that he had ordered. It turned out that it wouldn't be in for another week. Next, he went to the item store to pick up some elixirs for his full days out. Then they went to get some groceries. Gau didn't pay much attention to what he got, but he did see some sweets. Gau put it out of his mind, thinking Sabin had a sweet tooth or just wanted a lot of sugar to give him plenty of energy.

"OK, I'm finally done. Just got to drop in on a friend and then we're off back to the house for the night. How are you feeling now?"

"Still pretty much the same. I don't think it's gonna work."

"Oh well. I tried," Sabin grinned.

They walked for several minutes until Sabin stopped in front of a modest little house. It didn't seem like there was anyone home, but Sabin walked in around a corner to knock on the door anyway. About a minute later, Sabin came out with a little frown on his face. "He's gone to a party over on Dale Street. Come on, let's go," Sabin said, getting excited.

Sabin ran to the building where he said that his friend would be and practically dragged Gau behind him. Suddenly, Sabin stopped again and Gau ran into Sabin's back. "Oof!" Sabin said, getting hit from behind.

"You should've told me you were stopping," Gau said as he rubbed his head.

"Come on, we'll go in together," Sabin said, dragging Gau into the building. To Gau, it seemed too quiet. Something wasn't right.