I don't own Skies of Arcadia

===

"What are you talking about they chose to die," Vyse cried. "The prophecy said--"

"The prophecy is BS, Vyse. It's just a load of BS," Dyne interrupted as he stared at his son squarely in the eye. "Aika's parents knew what they were doing when they made their decisions, could have been spared if they chose to." Dyne shook his head at the memory.

"I don't understand."

"How could you!" Dyne's voice flared with anger. At the emotionally filled silence, Dyne took a few steadying breaths before he said, "It wasn't a prophecy that was fulfilled. It was a promise that the four of us, Lake, Raven, your mother and I, made a long time ago."

---

Aika jumped off of the counter and stared squarely into Rain's eyes. "What the hell are you talking about?" she demanded, loosing every ounce of humor and grace that she normally carried. It scared Rain to hear Aika talking like that. Throughout all the years that she had known the little red head, Aika had never talked in a voice that sounded…sounded so dead.

Rain took a deep breath, finally realizing that it was time to tell Aika everything. Before, however, Rain took Aika by the wrist and led the younger woman into her bedroom. There, she made Aika sit on one of the beds while Rain rummaged through old boxes that she kept hidden underneath her bed. Finding a small frame, she plucked it out and handed it to Aika. In the picture, she could see four people about her age, each smiling at one another with a bottle of loqua in each of their hands.

Rain sat next to Aika and said, "That's a picture of Dyne, Raven, Lake, and I before we ventured into the skies for the first time by ourselves…without our parents. It was so amazing. It was like being more than free and independent. It was like finding ourselves." Rain hesitated a moment and smiled down at the picture. She carefully plucked it from Aika's hands and opened the back. Removing several brownish papers, she revealed several scrawls written on the back of the picture. Promises are made and will forever be carried out, it read. Underneath were Rain, Dyne, Raven, and Lake's signatures.

"We each made a promise that day, that no matter what, we'd always be there for each other, protecting each other, and loving one another. It did, however, take a bit of coercion on Dyne's part to force your mother to sign it. She and Raven had a small feud between them during that time."

"Why is this important?" Aika asked impatiently. She knew she was being rude, but the shock of finding out her parents chose to die was gnawing at the pit of her stomach. It made her sick, sad, and alone all at once.

Rain looked at Aika thoughtfully, but her stern eyes told Aika to be quiet while she related the entire tale. "Well, with Raven, Lake, and Dyne's personalities, trouble seemed to follow them wherever they went. They angered many people during their adventures including a small tribe of Black Pirates.

"These weren't any normal Black Pirates, though. Certain clans carry just a bit more power than the others, you see. Some of them control the black markets and are essentially kings in there own circles. When Dyne, Raven, and Lake's parents were captured--did you ever really find out why they were targeted?"

Aika bit her lip. She never really thought about that. She just thought they were off finding treasure and were caught. "Not really," she admitted gingerly.

"Well, they were investigating the black markets and got a little too close to finding out a conspiracy. At this point, the Armada had completely ignored the black markets on the outside even though they had the power to stop them because the Armada was getting some kick backs from the black market trades on weaponry.

"But, what Lake and Raven's parents found wouldn't let those pirates get away with this trade anymore and the Armada couldn't ignore them, if they wanted public opinion to be alright."

Aika looked baffled and asked, "Why would they care what other people thought. They didn't strike me as people who cared."

Rain nodded. "Yes, but before they had settlements to fund their city, they used rich nobles. These nobles would help finance the Armada so they could get weapons. If they found out that the government wasn't using their money to get the weapons for full price, they would figure out that their money wasn't going into the economy but into the pockets of the monarchs. They wouldn't look upon that favorably and would stop their funding--and the king and queen needed money with their more than extravagant spending."

Rain paused a moment as she looked upon Aika. "I know it sounds off topic, but this ties in to the story of your parents."

Aika didn't say anything.

"If you recall, your grandfather and grandmother were captured and Dyne, Raven, and Lake went to help free them. However, their parents were held by the most notorious of the Black Pirates. They were known as the clan of Gloom."

"Gloom?" Aika scoffed. "What a horrible name! That just curses your entire life on how your future's going to be!"

Rain couldn't help but smile at that. "Yes, well, that's what your mother thought as well…er…anyway…" Rain tried to remember, but it felt long ago. She shut her eyes, seeing the ghosts of the past emerge out of the darkness. She could see her friends, smiling and waving as they came back from their victory. She, however, noticed the solemn look that crossed Lake's face for only a second before she cracked a smile at her.

"Er…Rain?" Aika whispered causing Rain to jump out of her reverie.

Rain blushed. "Sorry, just trying to remember. I'm an old person now…" She put the picture frame she had been holding on to on the bed next to her and pulled out the paper that had been cushioning the picture. Rain unwrapped it, revealing pages from the journal, the writing belonging to Lake. Rain passed her eyes over them before she said, "When they came back with their parents, something within the trio had changed, like they knew more than what they were saying. I don't even think they wrote it into the book--they never even told me what happened, not entirely, at least."

---

Dyne sighed as he stared at his son. Recalling the torturous tale was something he didn't want to do. "The shortest thing I can say is that I killed Lorenzo's father and he wanted revenge. But that's not the only thing, though. When we were escaping, Raven held back for a bit, holding off several people as Lake and I were making our escape. Raven shot Lorenzo in the eye and leg to stop the young man from attacking all of us. Lorenzo never forgot the both of us…Thoughts of revenge consumed him to the point where he could no longer see reason. He wanted us both dead for causing him so much pain.

"As I was telling you, the Armada had lost their black market sponsors and had to put on a front to show that they were after the Black Pirates. In actuality, they were helping fund the Black Pirates so they could search us out and silence us once and for all for causing them so much. Like Lorenzo, they hated us as well because we were the ones to ruin their little scheme.

"So, we essentially made two powerful enemies. One with the knowledge to beat us and one with the money to finance this revenge. When the Black Pirates came that day, they were more armed than the likes of anyone had ever seen. Our island, with the limited weapons of before, could have done nothing if we didn't send distractions nor use Lake's ability at sabotage. I remember it, although it was long ago…"

===

Lake stared at him with tired eyes. She had been rummaging through her house, searching for small gadgets that she could use to incapacitate the damned ship. Her eyes wavered for a split second as thoughts consumed her. Dyne could read her like a book, ever since they were young children. He could see that thoughts of Aika were plaguing her.

"What is it?" he asked. Raven had already embarked on his expedition. It was Dyne's job to get Lake as close as possible to the pirate ship without getting detected. So far, they hid behind a large island, laying in wait until the slow, hulking pirate ship would fly by.

"Nothing," Lake snapped and crossed her arms. "Just do your job and I'll do mine."

"Ouch," Dyne muttered and made a fake grab at his heart. "Think you hurt me with that one," he joked.

Lake didn't even crack a smile. Instead, she turned on her heel and leaned against the side of the small ship. Her hair, long and red, were done into twin braids that flew gracefully in the wind. It was almost romantic. Her voice was hollow, causing Dyne to shiver slightly, as she remarked, "What do you think dreams are?"

"Dreams?" Dyne asked a bit startled. This was certainly not the time to discuss such arbitrary terms. But, seeing as how Lake looked a bit nauseous, he decided to humor her. "I always thought dreams were nothing more than our thoughts sorting themselves out in an interesting manner. Like the dream of when I was naked and had to run around the island with Raven prodding me with a--"

Lake blanched and Dyne stopped talking. "You dream of my husband? I'm jealous! You do know that he is mine!"

Dyne sighed. "Yes. I'm aware of the fact." Dyne glanced at the location Raven said he would be at. "And your husband seems to be late with his diversion."

Lake grinned. "Seriously, Dyne, sometimes you're way too uptight. I hope your son doesn't have to deal with this anal quality of yours." Lake shook her head and returned to her initial topic. "I always thought that dreams were passages to the mind--I mean, what you really think and feel without all the BS of the day covering it up…I dreamed of Aika, Dyne…and I was dead."

Dyne nearly guffawed at this. Lake dead? Was she serious? He was about to say something but stopped when he saw her face. "Remember the promise we made?" she asked suddenly. Dyne could only nod dumbly. "I want you to honor it. If anything happens to me, or Raven, I want you to watch over my child."

"Lake…"

===

"Seeing how important it was to her, I told her that she didn't have to ask. Minutes later, we heard and explosion and we knew that Raven had set his trap. We flew quickly to the tale end of the Black Pirate Ship and Lake jumped off the ship and landed catlike onto the deck. She slipped behind everyone and went to work." Dyne rubbed his jaw with his hand. He felt suddenly old at retelling this tale. "I had to go back to the island and get on board the Albatross and command that crew, so I left Lake to herself.

"The plan was simple. After she was done sending the Black Pirates into a tale spin, Raven would come and she would board his ship. They would then go back to Pirate Isle as we fought the Black Pirates."

Vyse, in the meantime, had found a seat and sat listening with his head down. "Let me guess, it didn't go as planned."

"Does anything ever go as planned?" Dyne questioned.

"No. No, it doesn't."

---

"So, what happened," Aika asked Rain. "What didn't go to plan? Why are my parents dead?"

Rain squeezed Aika's shoulder, bringing comfort into the younger girl's body. Aika glanced down at her hands, but by the way her eyes grew misty, Rain knew that she wasn't really staring at them.

"The Black Pirate ship was sent into a tale spin and Dyne and his crew went after her with all the fire power that they had. Lake was safely aboard with Raven and they were sailing toward Pirate Isle as quickly as possible when the unexpected happened."

===

Rain managed to tear her way out of the underground after hearing an explosion. She grinned gleefully as she saw pieces of the Black Pirate ship fall away into the clouds below. This indeed was a joyful occasion.

Soon, children and other women and men emerged from the underground after hearing the sound. Aika and Vyse were in the lead, running as fast as they could to the center of the island so they could see their parents in action.

The Albatross was already underway, cannons and torpedoes at the ready. It dove toward the pirates with such agility that Rain knew nothing could happen to it. Swooping down, they fired quickly and effortlessly. They passed the pirate ship, which was at a standstill, turned and readied another round. Even though the pirate boat tried to put up feeble shields, it was nothing compared to the power of the Albatross and her crew.

"There's Mom and Dad!" Aika cried out as she pointed at a figure jumping off the side and landing in a small vessel that Raven piloted. It sailed away quickly, coming toward the island as fast as it could.

Aika jumped up and down, tugging on Vyse's sleeve and pointing. "Look! Look!"

"Yeah, yeah, I see it, alright?" Vyse muttered back.

Then the unbelievable happened.

From what Rain could see, the hull of the pirate boat was falling back, revealing a powerful weapon that she had never seen before. It looked almost like a the point of a screw--the technology had to have come from the Armada. It began to glow a brilliant white color, energy being powered up in there, then, with a snap, it released and blasted away at the Albatross. The Albatross was squarely hit and it faltered in it's movements.

Rain stopped breathing as realization hit her. The Albatross was going down.

Rain could almost hear Dyne working a plan through his mind, trying to get his crew to calm down, and to find a way to get through a crash landing with minimal injuries. She could almost picture him, running throughout his ship, calling out orders to raise the sails on one side or lower some on another to get the ship far away from Pirate Isle so it wouldn't crash land on it and destroy over half of the houses and people that stood outside and watched.

The Black Pirate boat had another idea. It seemed…it seemed to be heading straight for them. Rain realized too late. Her eyes had been on the Albatross the whole time. It was only when she heard the whistle of the falling craft and the sound of Vyse's curious voice saying, "It's coming too close, isn't it?" that Rain noticed it.

"Everyone!" she screamed as loud as she could, "get to the underground quickly! Everyone get back!"

People began to run toward the underground entrance as fast as they could. Children, women and men of all ages tried to help the elderly or the way too young. Together, they were heading into the underground as quickly as possible.

But, not fast enough.

The whistling was getting louder and the cries of the people were getting more and more frenzied. Rain bit her lip and turned to look at the vessel that was hurtling it's way toward them, but caught sight of a young red head, standing in the center of the town with her best friend at her side. Both of the children were staring up into the sky, frozen in place.

Rain began to make her way toward them, but the rush of people were holding her back. "Vyse! Aika!" she screamed out, pushing and shoving her way toward them.

"Mom?"

Aika's small voice in the chaos made Rain freeze. She looked up into the sky, seeing papers fly down and scatter towards the island followed by a hard bound journal. It thumped against the ground, near the edge of the small island with a small poof of dirt flying about it. The journal had fallen from the small vessel that Raven piloted.

"No…" Rain murmured as she watched the small ship collide into the side of the pirate ship. It had just enough force to change the trajectory of the Black Pirate boat and the falling chaos managed to miss the island by just a hair.

===

Dyne became quiet and listened to the soft buzz of nothingness in his ear. It had been so long ago when the incident occurred, but it still had enough power to make him tear up. He could feel the burn of tears just behind his eyes and he looked down quickly, covering his face with a well placed hand on his forehead.

Dyne took a moment to collect himself before he continued.

"By the time the Albatross arrived, Rain told me everything. We…we couldn't believe it, they had kept a promise to us…to protect one another…they died because of us."

"No, they didn't," Vyse replied with such conviction that it took Dyne by surprise. "They died because they wanted to save the people, to save the children, and most importantly, because they loved you."

Dyne couldn't help smiling. Sometimes it took the voice of the innocent to bring clarity into the chaotic mind. "Yes…you're…right…" Dyne took a deep, calming breath before he continued. "Well, when I got back, it was late at night. The glow of the moon was shining on our Island and I was down in our underground hideout briefing everyone on our loss. It was then that I noticed that you nor Aika were present.

"I went upstairs with your mother and we looked for the both of you. We knew we had to tell Aika what happened, even if we didn't want to…anyway, we found the both of you sitting in the same place you were when the crash occurred.

===

Aika stared into the night sky, her eyes never wavering from the point in which she stared. She sat on the floor, shivering from the small breeze that blew through the island. With her small pigtails dancing in the wind. Her arms were tight around her knees and she was shivering slightly. She sang an eerie song, full of sadness that called out to Dyne and Rain's hearts.

She already knew.

She was leaning on someone's back, a small boy with brown hair, and her best friend in the whole entire world. It appeared that he had never left her side. Vyse was behind her, quiet for once, listening to the broken tune with his eyes closed and his arms resting on his knees. His hands tapped out the beat of the slow song and his head nodded back and forth.

Suddenly, Aika stopped. "Vyse, are you asleep?"

There was a slight pause before he said, "No."

Aika bit the bottom of her lip and her voice shook as she muttered, "You can go, if you want."

"No. I promised I'd always take you on adventures with me, even if it's a sad adventure. In this case, you're going through one and I'm going to stay by your side until it's dimmed," Vyse whispered. Dyne noted that he had said 'dim' and not 'over.' Vyse realized that Vyse knew how powerful and how sad his best friend felt at the moment and how this event would always plague her. "I'm going to keep that promise, you dolt."

"It's cold out here, you know."

"Yeah, I know."

"You're a pile of looper dung, you know that?"

Vyse gave a lazy grin. "Yeah, I know."

===

Aika listened quietly to the story, letting it all sink in. What she had wanted to know, at first, was how her parents died. She had found out and still felt unease. Then, she wanted to know how to end a curse so she could stay with Vyse. Here, with Rain, she found out the curse was BS…but that's only what Rain said. How could Rain really know that the curse was BS. For all, Aika thought, all that happened was because of the curse.

Aika said what she had been thinking and Rain shook her head. She handed the papers, which had been stuffed in the picture frame, to Aika. "When the journal came, I decided to stick it in the mail, and send it to you like your mom requested with these notes. It came from the journal, loose sheets with Lake's last words. Do you want to read it?"

Aika stared at the paper uneasily. "Um…okay."

Dear Rain and Dyne,

We don't know what to say, loves, but Raven and I decided that we needed to do this.

When I was on the ship, I saw Lorenzo. He was completely consumed with revenge no matter what anyone could do. He didn't care for his crew, nor himself. He had been planning to crush not just Dyne and Raven, but the island and all who lived in it. I saw his plans, and I knew we had to stop him.

We now know that that stupid curse is idiotic. It's not some prophecy that can decide our fate, but our own choices. We know that we don't have to do this, but we are. We have to do right to the both of you for all that you've done for us, and for all those who put up with us on Pirate Isle.

We had to save all of you for the sake of love, the future, and our children, and we absolutely know that Aika is left with the best of hands possible. Please take care of her.

Raven says: But if that Vyse of yours hurts my little girl in any way, give him a slap in the head for me, will you? Promise!

Well, we have no more time. I'm sorry that things had to end this way. But, don't feel bad, or sad, or whatever. Just remember the good times in this diary.

Rain, I know this is a bit selfish of me, but can you give this to Aika one day so she could know how her parents were? So she could know us, and whenever she feels lonely, can always turn to this journal and be with us again, in some weird way?

Also, can you tell her that we love her and are proud of her no matter what she chooses in life. Tell her to keep fighting for all that she believes in and to wash behind her ears…she always had a problem with that.

Always and forever,

Lake and Raven

---

Dyne pushed himself off the table and walked around his son. He patted him on the shoulders and said, "I'm sure you know what you need to do." He then let go and gave Vyse a huge slap upside the head.

When Vyse turned around and glared up at his father, Dyne just shrugged and said, "Hey, I was just keeping a promise, wasn't I?"

Epilogue:

Vyse climbed up the huge ladder, all the way to the look out area. He glanced around and saw Aika sitting on the large wooden log at the end of the island. Her back was to him and she was hugging her knees. For once, her hair was undone, flew freely in the wind and caressed her face.

Vyse walked up to the wooden log and fell into it. He leaned against her back and looked up into the sky. One leg, he brought onto the bench, bent his knee, and rested his wrist on the bent knee. The other leg, he left on the ground and put his other hand on the bench. "What are you doing here?"

Aika shook her head. "Just thinking."

They sat in silence for a while longer as Vyse shut his eyes. Finally, he said, "I've been acting stupid, haven't I?"

"It's okay. I'm use to it since you do it all the time." Vyse could hear the laughter in her voice and he physically relaxed. "You do know," Aika continued, "you couldn't force me off of your crew even if you tried."

Vyse grinned. "I know. You're the most stubborn woman I've ever met."

"Ah, but you're the one who made a promise to always be by the side of the most stubborn girl you've ever met. You're stuck with me!" Aika paused. "Do you think that the battle between us and that robot thing…I mean…my parents…the prophecy…" Aika didn't know what she wanted to say and fell back into silence.

Vyse didn't move as he whispered. "It's not a prophecy that can dictate our lives but our choices," Vyse quoted the words his father had told him.

Aika turned her head slightly, seeing Vyse's profile in the dim moonlight. She steadied his face for a few seconds before she whispered, "So, what do we choose to do now?"

Vyse shrugged. "Continue our adventures together…"

"Like the one he just had with all the arguments and weirdness?" Aika sighed and leaned her head back on Vyse's shoulder, feeling him stiffen for a second then relax. "A lot happened this time, didn't it. Do you think anything more will happen between us?"

Vyse sat up and twisted his whole body to stare at Aika fully. Feeling the pressure gone from her back, Aika turned around and looked up into Vyse's eyes.

He hesitated, watching her beautiful face in the dark light. Her hair danced playfully in the wind and for a moment, he wanted to wrap one of the loose strands around his fingers, to thread his hands through her hair and pull her close…What the hell, he thought.

After all the frightened moments on the ship since he found out about the prophecy, after finding out that his closeness might hurt her, and all the pent up tension and the chances to be with Aika that he threw away to try and save her in his own way, he threw caution to the winds and threaded his fingers through her hair. Aika looked surprised as he whispered, "I hope so," and pulled her closer for a soft kiss.

=END=

THANK YOU FOR READING AND REVIEWING OR JUST READING AT ALL! YOU GUYS ARE THE GREATEST! ALSO, THANKS FOR PUTTING UP WITH ME AND MY DAMNED ODD SCHEDULE OF UPDATING! I'M JUST SO HAPPY NOW THAT I'M DONE! YEAHHHHHHHHHH! I ALSO HOPE THAT I TIED UP LOOSE ENDS!