~Chapter Twenty-Four
January 6th, 649.
"Well, I guess this is goodbye." Marth said, a faint smile on his face.
"Are you going back to Daein?" Ike asked.
"Yes. I received a message from Lady Almedha that Pelleas was recovering. I hope to assist him in rebuilding Daein."
"Hopefully this will be the last time," Sothe muttered.
"No," Ike told him firmly. "Don't say 'hopefully'. Make it the last time. If anyone can do it, you two can."
"Well, thanks for the vote of confidence."
"Sothe!"
The green-haired rogue turned at the sound of Stefan's voice. "Oh, hey Stefan." he said.
"I just wanted to wish you luck." the trueblade said. "And to return a few things." He offered Sothe a silver dagger and a steel knife. "They're yours. I didn't think you needed them before, but, well, you never know what might happen on the road."
The rogue took them and slipped them into his pockets. "Thanks."
"Queen Nailah told me to tell you that she'd be coming along shortly, too," Stefan added. "After Volug's recovered, they're going to cross the desert back to Hatari."
"Will they come back?" Marth asked.
Stefan nodded. "Oh, yeah, probably. She said she's hoping to migrate her people across the desert."
"So we're going to have a whole country of wolves moving into Daein?" Sothe laughed slightly. "That'll be a sight."
"Hey, don't complain. Daein kinda needs the extra population, if you know what I mean."
"What about you, Stefan?" Ike interceded. "Are you going back to the desert?"
The trueblade nodded. "Yeah, maybe. Me and Li-cae were thinking of starting a Branded settlement somewhere near the river...she'd like to live somewhere not quite so dusty, she says. We're going to ask the Apostle if she'd cede us some land up there."
"Well, good luck with that."
"Thanks."
Marth and Sothe walked down the bridge out of the city. Marth paused at the end and turned back to the mercenary commander. "Thank you, Ike." he called. "I won't ever forget you."
January 7th, 649.
"Hey, Ike!" Ranulf said cheerfully. "Did you come to see us off?"
"You're leaving, then?"
"Yeah. Most of the army left with Skrimir already; me and the others are gonna have to run hard to catch up to them, so I guess we'd better get started pretty soon."
"Ah, we aren't that far behind." Ducessa said. "We're leaving ahead of schedule as it is!"
"Well, we have to!" Ranulf said, turning back to her. "We'll lose too much time if we go at the pace we planned before, with your leg slowing you down."
"My leg is fine!" she muttered. "You're all making a big deal out of nothing."
"Well, then I suppose leaving early means we'll get to take it easy!" Alyxaidra said cheerfully. "More time for baths!"
"Mo-om!" Ranulf complained. "I told you already; no baths!"
"I'll get you in a tub eventually," his mother grumbled.
Ike laughed. "Well, with the beorc that are going along with you, having an early start for them couldn't hurt either."
"Yeah." Ducessa agreed. "At least Kester and Dustin have horses, so the twins won't have to walk the whole way."
"Ducesssssaaaaa!"
The Cat spun to meet the blue-haired girl as she charged into her and hugged her. "I'm going to miss you!" Elena cried.
Ducessa hugged the girl back and laughed. "I'll miss you too, Elena. Be sure to visit sometimes, okay?"
"I will! I promise!" she said.
The Cat stepped back, wiping a tear gently from Elena's face. "No crying, now." she said sternly. "This isn't the end of the world, and we'll definitely see each other again."
The young girl nodded. "Okay." She stepped back to Ike's side; he put an arm around her and smiled.
"Come on, guys!" Elwyn shouted. She was sitting in front of Kester on his horse, waiting at the end of the bridge; Luna, riding with Dustin, was a little further down the road already. "Let's go!"
"Coming!" Ranulf turned back to the two mercenaries. "Goodbye, Ike! I'll be sure to visit you!"
"Bye!" Ike called.
"Goodbye!" Elena shouted after them, waving as they jogged away.
January 8th, 649.
"How's all the paperwork going?" Ike asked teasingly.
Apostle Sanaki groaned, tossing a sheaf of papers over her shoulder. "Don't even make jokes about that!" she complained. "Sigrun must've been doing most of it for me before, but now there's so much of it...it's going to take me years to sort this all out!"
"Not that long, my lady," William said, faithfully picking up the papers that Sanaki had scattered on the floor. "Maybe a month or two." She groaned again.
"Well, could you at least be sure to pay the Greil Mercenaries first?" Ike asked, half-jokingly. "We'd sort of like to be going home soon."
"That's already been taken care of," Sephiran interceded. "In fact, we have part of the payment here already. Though it's sort of a return..."
At a nod from Sanaki, Will set down the papers on the desk again, then went and picked up an oblong bundle that was leaning against the wall, offering it to Ike. "This is rightfully yours, I think," he said quietly.
Ike took it and pulled the covering off; then he gasped slightly when he saw the golden blade. "Ragnell?"
"Tanith and I returned to the battlefield a few days ago," Will explained. "We didn't find Dark Link's pouch, but we did find this. It must have fallen out when the pouch fell down the cliff."
"I know it's already yours, but consider it a down payment until I sort the rest of this out." Sanaki said.
"Thanks," Ike replied. "Hopefully I won't ever have need to use it, but if there is a time, I'd be happy to wield it again."
"You're leaving now, then?" Elice Caeda asked.
Jak slung his pack over his shoulder and nodded. "Sothe and Volug have already gone, so it's safe for us to leave too. We figure we'll settle down somewhere far away, where neither of them will ever go... Persis or Asmin, perhaps."
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" she queried softly. "You're truly ready to spend the rest of your life in an obscure place, away from everybody else, just so nobody will know you're alive...?"
"It's really more about them thinking that Levail is dead, but... yes." He smiled, walking towards the door. "I've never thought I had much purpose before, princess. But now...I've finally found it. My purpose... is to protect him. To be with him. It's my choice, and I'm ready for it."
"...Very well." She walked forward and patted his shoulder. "As long as you're sure."
"I am sure." He opened the door.
The sentinel was waiting for him; hearing the door open, he quickly got to his feet. "Jak!"
"Levail," the rogue said happily, walking over to the sentinel and pulling his head down to kiss him. "Ready to go?"
Levail nodded, a cheerful smile on his face. "All set."
"Great!" Jak reached to take Levail's hand and turned back to Elice Caeda. "Good luck, princess. May we meet again!"
"Best of luck to you, my friend." she replied with a smile. "And may you both find happiness in your new lives."
The pair walked off together, talking about whether it would be nicer to have a house near a beach or a lake. Elice Caeda smiled, glad in knowing that the Ogma boy had finally found happiness.
January 9th, 649.
"Are you going back to Gallia first?" Ike asked.
"We'll stop by there, then wing straight on to Serenes." Tibarn replied.
"Serenes? Why?"
"Empress Sanaki has kept her promise." Reyson said, genuinely cheerful—one of the few times Ike had seen him that way. "Serenes will be formally ceded back to us. She said we may return immediately."
Ike smiled faintly. "That's good to hear."
"Sometimes birds change their feathers." Tibarn commented. "The hawks, the herons, even the ravens. We're thinking we'll all settle down together."
Reyson nodded. "All this time, we've sorted ourselves by our ways of thinking and seeing and living." he said. "If we can respect each other's opinions and we learn to compromise, we can learn to live together without strife."
"I don't think it will be that easy, but it still ought to be simpler than getting beorc and laguz to treat each other decently." Ike said cheerfully. "You'll set a good example, Reyson."
"All the major issues look like they'll be handled soon." Tibarn said. "The only thing we can't agree on is hunting and eating meat."
"(The forest creatures are off-limits!)" Leanne insisted. "(Needless displays of violence as well. You know we won't budge on that!)"
"Tell me..." Tibarn said sarcastically. "Have you ever heard of a vegetarian hawk? Or a raptor that doesn't scream victoriously at the skies after a kill?"
"Well, actually, going vegetarian might be interesting..." Naesala said thoughtfully.
"It doesn't even matter for you!" the Hawk said in frustration. "You're not even going to live there with us!"
Ike frowned. "He isn't? Why not?"
"Because he's going to Crimea with his girlfriend!"
Naesala reddened slightly. "She is not my girlfri—we're just friends!" he insisted quickly. "I just agreed to help her fix up Crimea, since it could be considered partially my fault that it got occupied, plus I have to apologize for all that kidnapping and such, you know, that sort of thing..."
Reyson rolled his eyes. "So you say, but we've all seen the eyes you and the queen's soon-to-be sister-in-law make at each other..."
Ike blinked. "Wait—Lucia? Naesala likes Lucia?"
"We're just friends!" the Raven insisted again, louder.
"(Oh, don't be so embarrassed!)" Leanne teased. "(And don't bother denying it, because I saw you making out last night on the roof again. You two are cute together!)"
That comment, of course, made him redden even further. Reyson laughed. Ike didn't even know what Leanne had said, and he was very confused.
"Hey, jerkass!" a cheerful voice called.
"Oh, hey Elena." Tibarn said, turning to the small girl as she hurried to join them.
She smirked. "What? No insult today?"
"We really could just drop it with those," he suggested. "We're confusing your dad."
"If you insist," she grumbled.
Ike glanced back and forth between them. "So, wait—you are friends!"
"No, I still hate—" Their words were almost exactly in unison, except for the last one, which differed between a male and female pronoun. Then they grinned at each other.
Reyson did a facepalm. "Random acts of idiocy and rudeness will also not be tolerated!" he declared.
"What!? Geez, are you herons trying to ban everything!?"
Elena laughed. "Remind me never to visit you in Serenes."
"Oh, like you'll see me visiting you in Crimea!" Tibarn said indignantly.
They laughed together. "I'll be coming by next month!" she declared.
"Yeah, well I'll be coming by your place first!" he replied. "In fact, I'll come by to pick you up every time you want to visit, so you don't have to walk. Every month, even! Count on that!"
"I will!"
"Um, I hate to break up this fascinating conversation," Naesala interceded, "but we really have to be going...?"
"Right, right." Tibarn sighed. "See you, Elena!"
"Bye!" she said cheerfully.
"See you," Ike said, raising his hand to half-heartedly wave as the Bird laguz flew into the air, his mind confused on other matters.
Such as—were Tibarn and Elena friends, or not? And what was with Naesala and Lucia, anyway?
"Well, Sir Zelgius, I suppose this is goodbye." Tiki said, smiling warmly.
"Are you three returning to Goldoa?" Zelgius asked.
Mark nodded. "We're going to see if we can repair Mother's Divinestone, before we go traveling."
"We're considering going to Hatari," Tiki added. "Queen Nailah's stories of the place were quite fascinating.
"We also might try and get a boat," Lucina said. "Go back home, perhaps...or see if there are other continents..."
"Well, I wish you three the best of luck." Zelgius said.
"Thanks. You too." Tiki replied. "If we're ever in the neighborhood, we'll make sure to stop by."
The three manaketes turned and walked away, eventually becoming just specks on the distant road. Zelgius stood where he was for a long time, thinking.
He heard a sigh and turned to face Ike. "I just had the most confusing farewell talk with the Bird laguz," the mercenary commander said.
"Confusing how?" Zelgius asked.
"Oh..." Ike laughed. "I just can't tell if Tibarn and Elena are friends or not, because of how they keep insulting each other and enunciating how much they hate each other, grinning all the while and promising to visit each other. Oh, and did you know that Naesala and Lucia are together?"
Zelgius raised an eyebrow. "Naesala likes Lucia?"
"That was exactly my reaction!" Ike laughed again. "Strange, isn't it? I didn't think they were really each other's type..."
"I suppose everyone changes, love."
"Indeed."
January 10th, 649.
"You're going too, then?" Ike asked quietly.
Elincia nodded. "You'll probably catch up to us when you leave tomorrow anyway, so we might as well get going," she explained. "Crimea isn't going to rebuild itself, after all."
"It's going to take a while, but we'll get Crimea back to its former glory again." Lucia added.
Ike glanced over at her with a slightly apprehensive expression; she noticed and turned to him. "What?"
"...Naesala?" he asked.
She sighed. "Why does everybody keep asking me that?"
"Sorry."
"It's okay. We were a little surprised ourselves, to be honest..." Lucia smiled. "But, well... I suppose... we were the only people we had to talk to, back when I was captured by Hyrule...and then I was one of his only friends in the Apostle's army for a while...and we...we just..."
Ike held up a hand to stop her. "It's okay, Lucia. You don't...I know how hard it can be to explain something like love."
She laughed slightly. "I suppose you really would know, better than anyone..."
"I'm still surprised you swore yourself into Elincia's service," Sharon said to Roy. "You were a prince! Now you're just a lowly knight."
"Hey, we're not that bad!" the former prince insisted. "You're one too, you know."
"But I wanted to be a princess," she griped.
He laughed. "You'll still be one, my princess." he said fondly, wrapping an arm around her waist. "Just not exactly officially, is all."
"Well, what's th' point, then?"
"You are so unromantic!"
"Meh! Mushy romance is for wusses!"
"Ah! I'm shattered that you think me so pathetic!"
Marcia smiled, though she was thinking of something else. "I wonder if my and Sharon's and Queen Elincia's pegasi are still running wild in Crimea somewhere?" she said to herself.
"If they are, then I shall track them down for you!" Kieran declared. "Deserters shall not be tolerated in the Crimean Army if I am to be their Knight Commander!"
The pink-haired pegasus knight laughed. "Oh, give it a break, Kieran." she said cheerfully.
"I will not!" he said grandly. "From now on, I will be doing everything in my power to make sure the Royal Knights are not neglected under my leadership! We will be the best knights on the continent!"
"Um, me and Elincia haven't actually gotten married yet..." Geoffrey said cautiously. "I'm still the commander of the Royal Knights..."
"That does not matter! With Marcia at my side, the Knights will be—" He paused. "You will be by my side, right? Or would you rather settle down and be a housewife after we marry?"
"In your dreams, sponge-brain!" she yelped indignantly. "I'm gonna be a Crimean Knight until the day I die!"
"If you insist—so long as you don't do anything stupid! Like going in front of me! Women shouldn't be in the front lines!"
"Oh really!? We'll see who's behind when you're eating my pegasi's dust, chowderhead! I don't even need to fly to outrun you!" She kicked the side of her borrowed pegasus, sending it racing off.
"Hey! Get back here, woman!" he shouted, urging his horse into a run and chasing after her.
"Glad to see they're back to normal," Sharon muttered. "But when did Kieran turn sexist...?"
Elincia laughed slightly. "Well, Ike...I suppose we'd better be going." She paused. "Are you sure you won't reconsider your decision...?"
He nodded. "I'm sorry, Queen Elincia. I'd like to help you rebuild and all, and I will—but I'd rather do it as I am, without becoming a noble to do it. You...you remember how it was for us before, anyway..."
"I understand. I won't press you." She swung up onto her borrowed pegasi and turned it around. "Goodbye, Ike. I'll see you soon."
"Bye."
He stood there for a very long moment, even after the Crimeans had all ridden away. "...It feels kind of sad, really." he murmured, as Zelgius came to join him. "So many goodbyes, all at once..."
"We will see them again." his husband reassured him, taking his hand. "Someday...when we are all at peace."
January 11th, 649.
The Greil Mercenaries were preparing to depart. They were the last non-Begnions to leave Sienne, and Mainal Cathedral felt strangely empty somehow. Ike watched his mercenaries as they packed up to leave the city for probably the last time.
Titania tied a pack onto the back of her stallion's saddle, talking to Rhys as she did so. He said something and she laughed, a bright smile on her face.
Mia slid her sword into its sheath, fastening the belt around her waist, and asked Gatrie(who wasn't really paying attention) to toss her her pack. He absentmindedly tossed her his lance instead, keeping the pack; she laughed and quickly made the switch.
Shinon helped Deirdre pick up arrows that had fallen from a quiver she'd dropped. Every time his hand touched hers, they both lingered for a little longer than necessary. Rolf said something to them that made Deirdre turn pink.
Elena had bought a small horse with a small share of the money the Apostle had given them—in fact, everybody had bought new supplies, and Titania and Mist had both bought horses as well, to replace their old ones(Titania's borrowed horse had to go back to its owner, a member of the Crimean Royal Knights, and they'd decided to let the horses they'd set loose in Daein alone for now). Elena's was dappled gray and very pretty. She was a little small for it, however, and had to get Soren to boost her into the saddle. She said something to him, and after a moment he let her pull him up on the saddle behind her.
Mist climbed up onto her new horse, readjusting the pack tied on behind her. Boyd passed a mend staff she'd dropped up to her; in return, she handed him a hand axe that had somehow gotten in her pack. She seemed to complain and he paused, then dashed off; a moment later he returned with a bag of carrots that he passed up to her. She smiled and thanked him, and added something else, which made him blush.
Ike watched all this and smiled.
My dear friends, he thought. I'm glad I know you. I'm glad I know all of you.
I wouldn't be what I am today...if it weren't for you all. Thank you...so much. I pray that you will all be happy...in this life, and in future ones...I pray that you will all find peace.
The Greil Mercenaries walked down the road to Crimea, away from Sienne. The sun shone brightly overhead against a cloudless blue sky, and the snow already seemed half-melted around them. It would probably snow again soon, burying this false spring in white—and then that would finally melt entirely, and the spring would come anew.
Ike paused for a moment to look back at the city—the city that had seemingly stood unchanged by the wars around it, the place where he'd first set out to save Crimea three years ago, and the place where he'd healed after saving all of Tellius. He had the feeling he wouldn't ever see it again.
He didn't really care. He just wanted to go back. To Crimea.
Zelgius paused, glancing back at his husband. "Ike?"
Ike turned back to him. "Well, my love." he said cheerfully. "Shall we be off?"
Zelgius smiled. "Yes. Let's go home."
A/N:
Gah, I felt incredibly cliche writing this chapter...
And I'm going to give away this weird little reference dealie I came up with as I wrote this...The story began with Ike in the rain. It ends(not counting the epilogue) with Zelgius in the sun. Coincidence? Yes. I'm an idiot, but for some reason, I like those weird little things...^^;
I'll post the epilogue soon. c:
~DarkieDucessa