A/N: So yeah… my first fanfiction evar. Hopefully I haven't ruined your favorite characters, or butchered some unknown protocol by not being a part of the highly exclusive Fanfiction Writers Club. I also apologize for any crimes against the English language or Golden Sun mythos, as this was written at 3 in the morning in the wake of midterm-induced insomnia, a large Speedway coffee, and a bag of leftover Easter candy. If you notice any glaring mistakes, send me a message, and I'll try to fix them.

Anyways, plz reed nd rvw guize kthnx.

I do not own Golden Sun in any way, shape or form. But I like to think if I close my eyes and wish hard enough, one day, I might just wake up and be Camelot. And yes, I do mean the entire company.

Home

"Where do you come from Alex?"

The question caught him off guard, and he turned to face Veriti where she sat on the steps of the Alchemy Well, chin resting in open palms as she watched him inspect the recently restored Well. It was the first time she'd spoken since they'd arrived – unusual for her. She always seemed to have something to say, babbling on about the Alchemy Well, Ayuthay, or even just a book she'd read or an interesting creature she'd seen. It was somewhat disconcerting – almost concerning – for her to say absolutely nothing. Now, however, Alex now found himself wishing she'd remained quiet, rather than bring up this subject again.

He was tempted to divert her question and admonish her for addressing him by his actual name in public, but they both knew that there was no one nearby to hear her slip-up. Ayuthay's core was all but deserted during times of peace. Besides, commenting on it would only draw attention to the subject, and he'd already had to dodge more than his share of questions regarding his desire for anonymity from both princess and king. So instead, he chose to answer honestly. Or at least honestly for him.

"North," he said simply, walking past her to inspect the imprint where the Luna mask hung, grinning lopsidedly at him.

The glare she shot him was positively withering. "I know that. That's what you told me last time I asked. And the time before that. And the time before that."

"Then why do you continue to ask?" he smirked. "It seems to me that you already have your answer." Apparently the princess didn't appreciate repetition, but was willing to ask the same question four times, and expect a different response.

"I was hoping for a little more detail," she said with a sigh, her viridian eyes drifting towards the ceiling. "Honestly, we've been sharing a bed for nearly two weeks, yet I know nothing about you besides your name, and that you're from 'The North.'"

And who do you think your talking to? Alex mused to himself. He had always held a certain amount of pride in being able to remain sufficiently mysterious in both motive and history, but now it was just annoying. Veriti was relentless in her questioning, and while he doubted that she knew the significance of the name "Imil," he'd rather not take the risk. He really would prefer her to have an incomplete opinion of him, rather than a negative one…

"Well if you're not going to tell me, I'll just guess until I get it right. You'll at least tell me that much, won't you?" Veriti gazed hopefully at him.

His lack of response was resounding. Rather than acknowledge her question, Alex turned his attention to the obsidian slab to the left of the machine, inspecting the glyphs as if he could decipher them from memory alone.

"Tolbi?"

Alex remained silent, sincerely hoping that she would just drop both the childish guessing game, and the subject altogether.

"Bilibin?"

Apparently she couldn't take a hint.

"Lemuria?"

Lemuria? Did he look 900 years old? Besides, it wasn't even north of Ayuthay…

"…Prox?"

Alex wrinkled his nose. He might have spent almost three years in Prox, but he didn't consider himself Proxian any more than he considered himself Imilian. Proxians, while peerless soldiers, were still no more than bumbling brutes, always lunging headfirst into every situation with brazen (though perhaps justified) overconfidence, never pausing to see if perhaps, they were poised to charge straight off a precipice. This carelessness was how the village's four greatest warriors had lost their lives, and if nothing else it showed the Proxians' greatest flaw: absolute arrogance in their abilities. Arrogance so great, that they saw no need for caution or planning. They simply couldn't be bothered with it, and instead had left all the details and research to him. In the end, Alex couldn't decide what was worse: the sniveling cowardess of Imil, or the blind temerity of Prox. So he associated himself with neither.

"Then it's Vale, isn't it?" Veriti said with renewed exuberance, a triumphant smile spreading across her face. "Everyone says that Vale was a town full of powerful adepts, so it only makes sense that someone as strong as you would be from such a place."

He couldn't stop himself from grimacing. Even after ten years, the Golden Sun Event and the humiliation he had suffered at its hand was still very fresh in his mind. The burns from Mount Aleph's destruction that covered the right side of his face and back might have scarred over long ago, but his wounded pride was far slower to heal. He avoided thinking of The Incident, or anything related to it, if at all possible, unless he deemed recalling it necessary for his planning. As such, he didn't exactly appreciate her bringing it up, even though he knew she'd meant no ill will.

Veriti fell silent, realizing that he was not going to respond to her pestering, and had only succeeded in darkening his mood. She suddenly seemed very intent on inspecting the gold rings that adorned her toes, fiddling nervously with the hem of her dress. A heavy silence swelled between the two of them, as Alex continued to gaze at the obelisk, and her at her feet.

"I'm sorry," Veriti apologized after a minute. "I know that you don't like to talk about yourself, and I'm sure you have good reason… It's just… I wanted to know more about you. About your home…"

Alex considered her words for a few moments, before turning away from the tablet and seating himself on the stone steps next to Veriti, a little closer than was proper for a princess and a foreigner, and certainly closer than Paithos would have approved, had the man been here. Not that Alex put much stock in the young king's opinion. He was a naive fool, proven first and foremost when he allowed his lovely sister to escort a complete stranger around the city, expecting nothing unseemly to come from it.

"Home…" Alex smirked to himself. The word sounded foreign and unnatural coming from him, as if he'd somehow mispronounced it. "I suppose I no longer have a home."

The words surprised him once they'd left his mouth. He had never really given it much thought before, but it was true: his abandonment and subsequent betrayal of Imil had certainly demolished any chance of him returning. Not that he had even the slightest inclination to do so. In retrospect, he could draw far more comparisons between Imil as a prison, than as a hometown. "Sacred Duty," and "Loyalty to the Clan" were shackles as much as any lock or chain. Even nature itself had rebelled against his departure, ice flows and blizzards locking the town away for nearly seven months a year. No, Imil was certainly not his home anymore, and in all honesty, he wasn't sure if it ever was.

"You… no longer have a home?" Veriti's words drew Alex from his thoughts, and as he turned towards her again, he couldn't help but smile a little at the look on her face. Her expression was both distraught and confused, like a child who had been punished for an offence she didn't understand. The affect of seeing such a look on a grown woman's face was comical, but at the same time, he could sense her distress was very real.

"No, I left many years ago. The elders and I had some… Ah… heated disagreements in regards to the fundamental purpose and duties of our clan," Alex explained. "They were far too close-minded on certain issues of vital importance." Refusing to change, fearing the lighthouse, rather than consider what it's ignition could do for them. Stubborn and unyielding, even if their inaction led to the end of the world.

"I don't suppose you're going to elaborate?" Veriti asked as she raised an eyebrow. "So you disagreed with them, and they kicked you out?"

"No, we disagreed, so I left." He clarified, watching her expression twist with disbelief for a second time.

"You just walked away? Packed your things and left, just like that?"

Not exactly… he thought to himself, though he couldn't really tell her that he'd run off in the dead of night with two Proxian warriors, taking with him irreplaceable texts regarding the lighthouses from the Mercury Clan's library. So instead, he just nodded. Better for her to assume something bad, than know the worst.

"And you've been traveling ever since?"

"Essentially, yes."

Veriti scowled at her toes again, lost in thought. Alex could sense that there was more that she wanted to ask him, but she stayed quiet, and he didn't push her. He'd already said enough – perhaps too much – and in his opinion, the sooner this conversation was over, the better.

A few minutes of uncomfortable silence passed, before Veriti spoke again, her voice soft and pensive. "Do you ever want to go back?"

"No," he replied. "I'm glad to be rid of it." They question struck him as amusing, almost funny in a strange sort of way. There was very little in Imil that was worth missing, and certainly nothing worth returning for. Though he supposed if he was being completely honest with himself, he did miss Mia, regardless of how much his cousin loathed him today. She had been like an infuriating younger sister, asking too many questions and following him everywhere, yet always offering him her sweetest smile and a reassuring squeeze of the hand, even as the other townspeople shot him sideways glances from the corner of the eyes, and whispered about the "problem child" of the Mercury Clan. Yes, he did miss her. Her and the lighthouse. There had been something comforting about growing and learning in the shadow of the towering monument, a testament to Mercury's awesome might. Even before the beacon was lit, he could feel its power radiating, like an unspoken promise: You help me, and I'll help you achieve your goal. Unlimited power…

"I can't imagine it," Veriti said with a shudder, drawing his attention back once more. "Just walking away from everything you've ever known. You're either a very brave, or very tragic man Alex."

"I certainly wouldn't consider it tragic," Alex smirked. Despite what Veriti seemed to think, leaving Imil had by far been the easiest decision he'd made on his quest for the Golden Sun. Like throwing out an old pair of boots that no longer fit, or a threadbare scarf that had outlived its usefulness.

"I wouldn't call it happy either," she replied, crossing her arms and leaning forward until her chin almost rested on her knees.

Neither of them spoke for a while. Alex frowned to himself. He hadn't intended to upset her, but he couldn't fathom why she had reacted the way she did to a simple statement of fact. Perhaps to the beloved princess who rarely left the palace, let alone the city, the idea of leaving home was almost as inconceivable as staying had been to him.

"Really, don't concern yourself with it, Veriti dear," he said, breaking the silence with his sincerest smile, as he reached forward and tilted her chin upwards with his thumb. "I'm not seeking pity or condolences, I was simply relaying fact."

"I know…" she murmured, though she still wouldn't meet his eyes.

"Besides, I would venture to say that I am far better off today than if I had stayed where I was," he said, leaning forward, brushing his lips up against hers in a gentle kiss. "Wouldn't you agree?"

Veriti nodded mutely for a few seconds before closing her eyes, and rested her head on his shoulder in what she no doubt saw as an act of support for his perceived pain. Sweet, if not misguided and a little annoying. He had been completely serious when he'd told her that he did not miss Imil, but if she thought she was comforting him, then he would not shatter the illusion.

Silence fell between them once more, though this time it felt comfortable and natural, marked by the steady flow of her breaths, and the trickling of water as it poured from the well. Nearly half an hour passed in this manner, and he'd thought she'd fallen asleep in the midday heat, until she spoke, murmuring into his arm. "You know… Ayuthay could be your home…"

For the second time that day, Alex was caught off guard. She had been dropping hints ever since he'd retrieved the Luna mask from Barai, but this was the first time Veriti had blatantly asked him to stay.

He'd be lying if he'd said that he hadn't at least entertained the thought. Ayuthay might not be the ideal place, but there had was something comforting about the idea of having somewhere to return to; someone waiting for him to return. He fancied that this was the first time since he'd left Prox that he'd stayed in the same place for more than a few days, and it was certainly the first time he'd been able to relax in a long time. The quest for the Golden Sun had left no time for respite, save his brief rest in Alhalfra, which hadn't been so much relaxation, as recovery from crossing the Yampi desert on foot. Ayuthay, despite its crushing heat and crippling poverty, was a breath of fresh air during an otherwise tedious and seemingly unending journey.

Still, he did not need it. True, he might be enjoying his brief time in Ayuthay, and he might even want to stay with Veriti, but he did not need to. Want came second to need, and right now, he needed to activate the Luna tower. Not to settle down in a backwater desert town, and give in to the weakness of flesh and heart. Home was an overrated concept. After all, he hadn't needed one for thirteen years, and he certainly didn't need one now. It was all just sentimentalism in the end, built on mulled memories viewed through a roe tinted glass; a waste of time.

He had told Veriti from the beginning that under no circumstances would he stay in Ayuthay permanently. Falling in love did not, and would not change that fact. And while it might hurt her to hear him say it, she needed to know that he wouldn't be staying – not even for her. It would do her no good in the end to think otherwise. He had a job to do, and a vendetta to repay, both of which he would carry out.

"Veriti, you –" he paused midsentence, as he realized at some point, she had fallen asleep. Or perhaps she had never been awake in the first place – it certainly wouldn't have been the first time she'd spoken in her sleep. He shut his mouth, the rest of his sentence dying in his throat.

Veriti stirred slightly at his words, before peeking through a curtain of sepia curls. "…did you say something Alex…?" she murmured, sleep still on her breath as she struggled to keep her eyelids from drooping shut again.

Even through sleep-rimmed eyes, the look she gave him was nothing short of absolute adoration. It caught him off guard, even now. He was used to hate filled glares, fearful gawking, even grudgingly respectful scowls, and the occasional thankful glance. But never adoration. It had been so long since anyone had looked at him like that. What had he been planning on saying? He couldn't remember… Well surely it wasn't that important...

Alex paused for a moment, gathering his thoughts again before responding. "No, nothing at all. Go on, go back to sleep," he allowed a small smile to creep onto his face as he swallowed the rest of his words, his carefully considered speech forgotten.

"Mmm…" Veriti sighed softly before curling closer, fingers gripping the sleeve of his tunic. "Don't leave, okay?"

He didn't say anything. He wasn't sure whether she was referring to this moment, or his eventual departure, but then again, he wasn't sure if she knew herself. Not that it mattered: she was asleep once more, before he could have answered.

As Veriti settled into a heavier torpor, Alex allowed his fingertips to trail across her cheek, brushing her hair out of her face, even indulging himself with a gentle kiss on her forehead. She really was beautiful… it would be a shame to leave so soon… almost a waste…

Well, it wasn't like the Luna Tower or the Apollo Lens was going anywhere. He could afford to linger a few days longer than originally planned…

After all, he mused to himself, I may no longer have a home, but at the very least Ayuthay is a nice vacation.

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Alex is a b**** of a character to write. It's just so hard to imagine him as anything other than the Manipulative Bastard we've come to know and love. So sorry if he seems a little off, but I figure that if he really did love Veriti (as I choose to believe) then he had to be genuinely nice at times. I'd say his motives and personality should be less ambiguous, but then he wouldn't be well… himself.

This was originally intended as a stand alone, but the plot bunnies are nibbling, and I'm tempted to make this a series of unrelated one-shots following Alex and Veriti (or maybe Alex, Veriti, and Amiti, depending on how I feel), since I'm strangely enamored with the pairing. So anyways, if you liked this story, and think that's a good idea, leave a review and I'll see if I can churn anything else out. Conversely, if you absolutely hated it, and think I should never write again, leave a review, and I'll delete both my account and all the stories off of my hard drive, and throw my laptop into oncoming traffic. Except don't, because I really don't want to have to go out and buy another computer.