I don't own skylanders or any of these characters, but you all know this by now. This contains another reference to skylanders: giants (although there are actually no giant skylanders) but the reference is kind of obscure. If you've played the game and you know what I'm talking about, then good for you :3. This is going to be the last chapter of Stratosphere because Stratosphere was, in all honesty, just a random idea that had no actual structure or direction. Nonetheless, I hope you guys don't hate it.
Stratosphere
By Illumination
III
If there was one thing Fleur truly wanted to say in her letters, it was to explain how her memory of home was slipping. She wanted Flavius to remind her of every beauty that could be found there and to tell her about the things happening now; how Solstice was keeping with her training and how he was fairing as the new king of Dragons Peak.
Flavius had written a letter to Fleur two months ago, informing Fleur of Ramses' passing. He asked her if she would like to come home, but she refused, not wanting to see the place without Ramses being there. It wouldn't be the same, and even though she barely even knew what the "same" even looked like anymore, Fleur knew that if she returned now she wouldn't be able to block out his absence and her very understanding of the word "home" would be shattered completely.
So Fleur only wanted to have Flavius tell her about the home she left behind, because he would only let her know of the good things, like her sister. But Fleur did not actually want to tell Flavius how she had forgotten Dragons Peak almost completely, because then she would be truly abandoning him fully from her life. It was bad enough that she had left her family, off to live without them as though they were not good enough for her. Fleur wasn't even there when Ramses had died, as if his very life had meant nothing to her.
It seemed like Fleur would never be normal to them.
She always had to be "special".
And so Fleur did not tell Flavius that she was forgetting her home, because she wanted them to live in peace without constantly having to keep themselves tagged as her memory. Fleur knew they deserved better, so instead, Fleur let Flavius know what heaven was like.
Fleur told Flavius that you didn't have to die to find heaven; that you simply had to open your eyes and look for it. Fleur told him that she was able to see heaven in the clouds and the rocks and the sunlight reflected off of the leaves of trees. Fleur told Flavius how she had met a ghost that had come from an old abandoned machine, and that she had found heaven in him too. Fleur saw the heaven in his eyes when he gazed upon her in fascination as she laughed and flew next to him and the ice below her reflected aurora light onto her wings.
To find heaven, Fleur didn't have to die. But Fleur would not have found it if she hadn't made the choice to leave. When she made the choice, she didn't truthfully know what she was doing or looking for, and perhaps all she had wanted at that time was a change in her life. But when Fleur took those steps and leapt aboard the skylander's ship, there were two things she had not realized: The first thing was that she would find something beautiful that made her life worth living for; The second thing Fleur had not realized was that she already had something worth living for. Fleur had Flavius, Solstice and Ramses, and though the other's secluded her from their own society, she had a very special few that loved her in despite of what the others thought, and she took them for granted and left them.
Nowadays Fleur wonders if she regrets her decision, and she finds herself wondering for extended periods of time. After days of working it over in her mind, Fleur had finally come to what could be the start of a conclusion: No, she does not regret her decision, but she does wish that she had been able to stay in Dragons Peak a bit longer before leaving; She had wanted to stay so she could have stayed at Ramses side while he was dying; so she could have spent more time with Flavius and Solstice; and maybe even spent more time exploring each and every beautifully subtle detail of Dragons Peak. But most of all, Fleur wished she had spent more time growing up, spent more time playing and being carefree in her childhood world filled with light and colour.
There it is. Suck it in. Mm-hm.
If you actually liked this, you can find my other story, Feigned Simplicity, Here (If you really want to follow that just copy and paste the link because I can't post actual links) s/8864217/1/Feigned-Simplicity
This is actually a fanfic written for Fossil Fighters: Champions (which I also do not own) and whether you're into that game or not, I suggest you give it a read, it's better than this one. BUT BEFORE YOU CLICK THAT LINK let me warn you here and now: THAT STORY IS RATED M AND CONTAINS VIOLENCE AND LANGUAGE NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDEREN.
If you're looking for more skylanders fanfics, then might I suggest:
Blood of the Innocents by Simon's house
s/8864338/1/Blood-of-the-Innocents
Broken Hearts
s/8841913/1/Broken-Hearts
And
The Living Confusion (Warning, this one is also rated M)
s/8661410/1/The-Living-Confusion