Standard Disclaimer: Xenogears characters and settings belong to Squaresoft.
Epilogue: Settling the Dust
"She what?" Bart asked, blinking incredulously at Sigurd as the words tumbled forth. "She's refusing to marry me?"
"Yes..." Sigurd trailed off, averting his gaze in a way that only made the king that much more suspicious.
Bart leaned back in his chair, slouching in a manner unbefitting a King, but at the moment he didn't really care. In the two weeks since his father was finally laid to rest, permanently, he'd been far too busy catching up with business in Aveh and hadn't even spoken to Margie face to face since the memorial to the refugees. She wasn't angry with him then, just a little sad. They together decided to postpone wedding plans to allow her recovery time. Though she had been unharmed while in that crypt, psychologically she needed to spend her time in Nisan, refusing to become afraid of the cathedral she'd grown up in. She might never be able to go into the mausoleum again, but that was perfectly understandable.
Steepling his fingers, the king glanced briefly at Billy, who was also averting his gaze, staring at the floor. "Ok, who told her about me and Billy?"
"It wasn't me," Sigurd said immediately, holding his hands up in a gesture of innocence, "I don't even really know -what- is going on between you two. Neither of you have been very forthcoming about it, you know."
"It was me," Billy admitted quietly. "She's not upset with you, Bart. She just wants you to be happy and she doesn't think you will be if you have to marry her and you don't want to."
Bart frowned, folding his arms over his chest. This was a bit disconcerting to him. Did he want to marry Margie? Not really, not when they were forcing him too, but now that she was refusing, it changed everything.
"Bart... you can't have your cake and eat it too, you know," Billy chided, which only made Bart glare at him.
"I didn't say I wanted you both... just... what did you tell her anyway?"
"That I'm in love with you."
"Nothing else?"
Billy blushed a bit, giving himself away without saying a word. "Well... I told her you kissed me. There's not much else to tell her, really."
"That's all I need to know, too, if you both will excuse me," Sigurd said, sidling toward the door to escape before he heard anything else. His brother's sex life wasn't on the top of his list of things to know anything about. But, before actually getting out the door he paused, turning back toward Bart, "Think of it this way, Bart. You've earned a brief reprieve from marrying anyone."
Billy hung his head as soon as the doors shut again, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said anything to her. But she asked me why I wanted to stay in Aveh rather than Nisan and I couldn't lie to her."
Bart got up from the chair then, crossing the room to stand in front of the other teen, lifting his chin with a finger, "Billy, don't be sorry. She would have found out eventually anyway. It's not like I love her that way. We're old childhood friends, she's family. I don't think it would have worked anyway, even if you weren't in the picture. Besides..."
"Besides what?"
"I forgot to tell you I love you."
(The end)
Special thanks to DeepWaters (who actually provided me with the basis for the scene where Billy confesses his feelings for Bart, thanks dearie!), LaughingBear, and Lost from Endless Dream MUX, who listened to me babble on about this endlessly and read my chapters as they came up. Also, a thank you to Kuja from Final Fantasy MUX, who showed me that adorable pic of a very young Bart and adolescent Sigurd, as well as snuggles and smooches to everyone else on Endless Dream MUX and Final Fantasy MUX who've been reading this as I wrote it and encouraged me to continue writing. You guys spoil me to death.
Soundtrack! Yes, this is what I was listening to primarily while writing this. Either that or the lyrics inspired the chapter.
"Mama Said" by Metallica
"Staring at the Sun" by Offspring
"Duvet" by BoA
"Ashes" by Danzig
"Free Through Eternity" by Indigo Girls
"World Coming Down" By Type O Negative
"Here is My Heart" by Pat Benetar
"All Murder, All Guts, All Fun" by Danzig
"I'll Be There" by Megadeth