Author's Note: A very short oneshot that just wouldn't leave my mind after I finished the game again. My first fanfic in a while. Bear with me.

Rated T to be safe.

Ben Finn strolled through the royal gardens. Exactly one week from now the darkness was suppose to descend upon Albion. They had recruited around six and a half million recruits for their army a month or so ago. It seemed sufficient enough. Today, they had sent out groups of soldiers to each settlement for protection.

He passed the statue for the umpteenth time that night.

Something so horrible seemed unreal. Questions wormed their way into his mind. Just how terrible would the battle be? Had they recruited enough people? Was there enough time to recruit more just in case? Were they prepared? Could this evil Crawler even be slain by their mere weapons?

A glimmer of metal stopped him dead in his tracks. Tossed upon the middle of the steps leading down to Sparrow's tomb - the former Hero and King of Albion, was the royal crown.

What was it doing here?

Casually he waltzed over and scooped it up, examining it closely. One of its fine points was slightly bent and a tiny scratch was on the surface, but it was hardly noticeable. He gazed down towards the tomb doors, looking cracked open. With the crown in one hand, he strode down the steps and pushed open the door. Slumped over one of the golden coffins was the queen herself, Abigail. His heart wrenched. She stood with her face buried in her pillowed arms, body shaking violently with sobs.

He'd never seen her cry before. She'd always tended to remain strong when others were around. He walked towards her, footsteps echoing throughout the chamber. Her fists clenched at the noise.

"Damn it," she cursed, voice broken and hastily moving to stand up. "Can't a woman get one sodding-?"

Her mouth shut immediately when her emerald eyes landed on him. She began trying to wipe away her tears furiously. The corner of his mouth twitched. Another wrench from his heart. She must have been crying for quite a while with a face as red as that.

"S-sorry, Ben," she croaked out, sudden rage melting away. "Can... you just go away, please? I don't wish to be seen like this."

He managed to shoot her a sad smile. "And leave this damsel in distress by herself? Never." Concern etched onto his face. "What's wrong, Abby?"

"N-nothing."

Obviously that wasn't true. He stepped towards her, holding out the crown he was still holding as an offering. With a glare, she snatched it from his hands and aimed towards one of the tomb walls, meaning to hurl it. Instantly he grabbed her wrist. What's gotten into her?

"Hey, don't do that!"

"Why shouldn't I?" she counted.

"It's... your crown?" he offered lamely. "We've been working forever to get you this thing, remember?"

"You're right," she murmured at length. "I'm being stupid. I just... don't want to look at the bloody thing right now."

Wiggling free from his grasp, she stumbled away towards her father's towering statue at the back of the tomb. Ben fell into step behind her, watching as she set it down at the massive stony feet.

At least she wasn't crying anymore.

"Why are you down here anyway?" he asked. "Shouldn't you be sleeping at this time? I'm sure you have lots of queenly things to do tomorrow."

"And that I'm not too excited about," she muttered. She gestured towards one of the tombs."I was asking my father if I was doing the right thing. I know, it sounds silly. But I wasn't exactly expecting to get an answer."

"The right thing about what?"

"Everything." She spun around to face him, wrapping her arms around him, head just tucked under his chin. He returned the embrace after a brief moment of hesitation. "Do you hate me?"

"'Course not," he answered immediately. "You're my favoritest queen in the world." Well, she was the only queen he had really known, but he left that unsaid.

"The rest of Albion doesn't seem to agree with you," she murmured. "I went into Bowerstone Industrial today, you know. I needed to speak to Page about the coming war. Words can't describe how horrified I was at myself while I walked through the town. Dead bodies of both adults and children littered the filthy cobblestone streets, all looking as if they had starved. Those that were living were far too thin, and more beggars than normal were on every street corner. Every single person was so broken, bearing nothing but hatred towards me. I caused this.

"I searched every single day for a miracle before making my decisions at court, but none could be found. I wanted to protect every single person I could from the darkness, but I'm afraid I'm killing them before that time even arrives. Not to mention I've broken all the promises I made during our rebellion. Have I made the right decisions, Ben? Will it all be worth it in the end, or will I regret it?"

She was weeping again. He held her close, rubbing soothing circles into her back. He'd last been out of the castle grounds and into town just a few months ago. Had it really gotten that bad in such a tiny amount of time?

"You've done all you could," he replied seriously at length. "Don't forget that for a moment. Nobody really believed Logan at court when he announced the pending attack, so they don't understand why you're making those decisions. In time, they will. Keep in mind one year may not exactly a good amount of time to raise such a large amount of money to help both the people and fund an army. And who knows? Maybe after the war is over and a little time has passed, you can make some adjustments for the better of the kingdom."

Silence.

"Do you think we'll survive?"

That he wasn't too sure about. He hadn't lived through it like she and Walter had almost a year ago. He hadn't seen how powerful it really was.

"You know," he began, "once a beautiful woman told me that there was always hope. That sometimes it hides and you can't see it." He pulled away from her slightly, cupping her face and wiping away tears with his thumbs. "Maybe you're just blinded a little. That's all."

"Such a pretty speech, Ben. Mind you, I was a bit of a wishful thinker back then. I could have been wrong."

"I know you, and you're never wrong." He leaned down, kissing each of her eyes. "No more tears, Abby."

Success! She was smiling. Small, but an accomplishment nonetheless. Before pulling away from her completely, he placed a final kiss on her forehead. It was getting late.

"Why not allow this handsome scoundrel to escort you back to the castle?"

Author's Note: I've got the horrid feeling that Ben may have been a little OOC.

So, was it okay, or just plain awful? Any review is appreciated! =)