Author's Note: this is set some time after the end of Radiant Dawn. This is my first fanfic so here goes nothing… and feel free to review, no need to be gentle but please don't flame it, if you just don't like it go read something else…

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or the place or etc, whatever you recognize from the game is Nintendo's not mine. You know the spiel.

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"Where're you going?" Rolf called, and Rhys waved his hand vaguely.

"I'll be back soon," he promised. "I just have to see something…"

But he could already see her, standing at the end of the path with her sword on and her backpack resting at her feet. He'd known since the world settled down that she would be leaving… but he had also tried to shove the knowledge away, to just enjoy every day with her. And he had — but now it was time.

He joined Mia just past the entrance of the gate, and she drew him off to the side, out of the line of sight from the keep. She smiled, less brightly than normal; and he knew what was coming, and couldn't fault her for it. "So," she began. "Um… everything's gonna be different now… isn't it?"

"Not everything," he denied. She opened her mouth again, giving up on trying to smile, but he cupped her cheek in his hand and she stopped. For a moment they just looked at each other. "Mia," he said quietly, savoring the taste of her name, "one thing that hasn't changed, and won't change, is how I feel."

"I know," she whispered, "and I — it hasn't changed for me, either — Rhys, I love you, but I just…" she hung her head.

Rhys pressed his lips to her forehead. "You know where to find me," he said. She threw her arms around him, burying her face in his shoulder. For all his brave words, he held on to her tightly, never wanting to let her go. She was the only one who had ever held him like this, as if she wasn't afraid to break him. She knew when she had to be gentle, but she also knew that she could be fierce — that he loved her fierceness, and her strength. And it was these things that he loved about her that drove her to leave a place of safety and routine; so how could he ask her to stay, when everything he loved about her was telling her to go?

He wouldn't. He would not ask her to stay. He would only make sure she knew that she could always, always come back to him.

Gently, he disentangled her arms, and they stood looking at each other again. Rhys held her face between his hands. Her dear, beloved face — he'd seen it through so much, through pain and happiness, exhaustion and eagerness, even, once, in tears. She had never let anyone else see her cry, not once since he'd met her. But that one time, she had turned to him… She looked near tears now, but he wouldn't let that happen.

"Don't," he whispered, stroking her cheek softly with his thumb. She had a little scar across her cheekbone, near her temple.

"I'm breaking my promise," she mumbled. "I promised I wouldn't leave you…"

He placed one finger over her lips. "This isn't what you meant. It's not that kind of leaving. It's okay. I'm not here to say goodbye to you, Mia. I'll see you again."

"Of course!" she cried, and her smile this time was brighter. "Of course you will, Rhys, nothing in Tellius could keep me away…"

"Good," he murmured, and kissed her lips. She slid her hands into his hair, holding him close again, and this time Rhys let her. Because even though this wasn't goodbye, it was a parting, and he didn't know how long it would be before he would hold her in his arms again.

When Rhys finally shut the kitchen door behind him, only Mist noticed his return. She got up, and caught up with him before he reached the stairs that led to his room.

"Are you okay?" she whispered, squeezing his hand.

Rhys looked at her, and at the others, laughing and fighting like they always did. There was more than one voice missing, but one that he would miss so much more than the others… but it wasn't gone for good. And in the meantime, there was still so much he could do here…

Rhys smiled a little, trying to reassure his one-time apprentice. He was reasonably pleased with his success. "I'll be fine," he told her. He looked up, although between stone and forest and distance there was no way that he could still glimpse that dark hair or those bright eyes. But he smiled anyway. "Mia will certainly be fine."