8BTFreek: No, I don't own Golden Sun, yes, this is generic, and yes, it's a OneShot.
(Also, I've been taking the requests from Mesoforte's bio since he's kinda stopped the OneShot thingy for now, so that makes four other OneShots that I'll be coming out with! But that's not the fic, so on with the fic)
[{It Has To Be Her}]
He sat, crying silently on the hill. He knew that he loved her, but... She had grown distant. Too distant. And Ivan was worried. {We were in love, before. I hadn't noticed it, but we were! And then... then we returned, and it was perfect. But now, she's changed. I don't like it, I just don't. Who changed her? Why is she like this now?} He turned to watch the scene at the bottom of the hill. Sheba walked down to see him.
"Hello, Ivan," she muttered, sitting next to him. "What are you doing?" He sighed a little.
"It is the evening of the day," he replied. "I sit and watch the children play." He turned to her. "You know that one?"
She nodded slowly. "Smiling faces I can see, but none for me. Why do you say this, though? I mean, it can't be that bad, can it? It's not like she left you like Piers left me, right?" His neck cracked as he spun to look at her. She looked right into his eyes, but there were no tears.
{He left her? Hang on, when did this happen? How did this happen?} "Piers left you?" he asked, a bit of shock in his voice. "But... I thought he loved you! It was painfully obvious to everyone on board, at least. And you love him, or at least, you did." She nodded.
"We still do, it's just... I have to stay here, and he needs to return to Lemuria. It can't be. I just keep telling myself that, and it's okay. But at least you're with Kay, right? I mean, you didn't abandon her, and she didn't abandon you..." She paused as she watched his tears flow down the face. "I sit and watch, as tears go by," she muttered to herself. "What happened?"
"She's grown... distant, Sheba. It's almost like she doesn't want me around any more. I wish I could make her mine again. I mean, look at me!" He stood up. "I've got more riches than some kings, but I lack the one thing I need - her love. I need it, but I can't get it." He slumped to the ground. The children had gone inside, and the sky was dark. Sheba grabbed his arm.
"Come on, Ivan, get inside. It's night. And if things with Kay do... fall through... then just find yourself someone else." He got up, but he shook his head at her comments.
"It has to be her," he said simply. "It can't be anyone else."
{IHtbH}
She sat alone in her room, pondering things. She had loved him, and, for a while, he had loved her. But now... He was different, somehow. Something had changed, and it frightened her. He didn't seem to care about her anymore. Perhaps it was a dream. A nightmare. "I close my eyes," she whispered. "Only for a moment, then the moment's gone. All my dreams pass before my eyes. A curiosity." She sat up. "Dust in the wind," she said, pondering the fate that had been laid before her. "All we are is dust in the wind." She looked out at the room, casting her eyes about. Someone knocked on the door. "Come in," she said.
"Kay? What's wrong?" She bolted up. Standing in the door was a blue-haired man in a sailor's uniform. He walked over to her.
{That's the guy who left Sheba behind. What was his name again... Pierce? Piers? Something like that.} "Nothing," she lied, sitting up. "Why do you ask?" He sat down on the bed next to her.
"Well," he said matter-of-factly, "you were uttering the words of the saddest ballad known in Lemuria. Ankhol in origin, which is probably why you know it... Sorry, I'm getting off-topic. I was wondering why you would choose to speak aloud a ballad mourning the loss of love if there was nothing wrong."
"Hang on, why were you here in the first place?" He shrugged, a semi-apologizing look on his face.
"Well, Garet is still living here, right? This is still his parents' house?" She looked at him.
"No to both. Mom and Dad moved out a year a- oh, wait, you left, that's right. Mom and Dad moved out a year ago, and Garet is living with Mia now. That just left me, because Aaron left with Mom and Dad." She shrugged. "Jenna and Isaac got his parents' house, and they're now living in a house they made themselves-" He stopped her.
"I knew about Isaac and Jenna. I was there to help build the house, remember?" She nodded. "But the news about Garet wasn't unexpected. Well, I'd better get going, yes?" She nodded. "Farewell, Kay, and may your life be pleasant, as it always is, I'm sure." He bowed out of her room, and as the door closed the lay back on the bed, crying silently into her pillow.
{IHtbH}
Ivan sat alone on the hillside again, the third time that week, fifth time in the month. He sighed as he stared out upon the open grass that led down to Vault, remembering the awkward time he'd met Kay there. "My riches can't buy everything..." He sighed as he watched the children going home for the night. "I want to hear the children sing." Tears slid down his face. Sheba came up to him.
"Again with that damned song? Fine, on your own head be it! If you won't try to fix things between yourself and Kay, I will!" She stormed off. Ivan dried his eyes.
{It's not that I haven't tried. I've tried, yes, but every time I've failed. I miss her, but how can I tell her that when she's like ice?} He stood and walked off, heading into the small village to the south. He needed to spend a night away to clear his thoughts. The world seemed to turn on him. Finally, he couldn't help it. Try as he might, he couldn't ward off the tears. "All I hear is the sound of rain falling on the ground." He crept into the inn. "I sit and watch as tears go by..." A room was his for two coins. A small price, compared to some he'd paid.
{IHtbH}
Kay's voice shook as she walked away from the house. Leave, that's what she'd do. She'd go to Vault. There, she could begin life anew. There, she could forget about... Her throat choked as tears filled it. "Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea..." Sheba tried to get her attention about something, but Kay was in no mood to talk to the fellow Adept. Frustrated, the other woman walked away.
Piers tried to follow her as well. "Kay, leaving is madness. I'm sure you can find Ivan and tell him how you feel. I have the distinct feeling that something is wrong. Tell me, please. Tell me." She shut him out, as well, and in the end he too sat down by the side of the road.
But hardest to shake off was her brother. Piers had apparently told him what she'd done and he was going to investigate for himself. "Kay, listen, whatever it is, just tell Ivan. I'm sure he'd help you get through it. After all, despite what he said a couple years ago, he loves you. He was only fifteen then, not even old enough to realize that he was in love. At least, not for a pampered servant boy. Go to him, tell him. He'll understand." Finally, he too left her, an annoyed grunt following him.
"All we do crumbles to the ground, though we refuse to see," she said once he'd left her. Her sadness enveloped her, embracing and crushing her spirit. "Dust in the wind. All we are is dust in the wind." The price of the inn was cheap - only two coins - so she paid for a week and went to her room. To calm herself, she hummed a nonsense tune.
{IHtbH}
Ivan heard her humming, and bolted upright. {Surely, it can't be... Can it?} He walked over to the room next to his and knocked twice.
"Come in," said Kay's voice from inside. Ivan's eyes widened with disbelief. He pushed open the door. "Now then, before we get down to anything, I'd like you to tell me your..." Her voice trailed off as she turned to face him. "Name," she whispered softly. He walked into her room and closed the door. "Ivan," she said, blinking back tears.
"Kay," he said, letting his flow. "Wh-what are you doing here?" he asked, a note of confusion in his voice. "I... I thought you were in Vale." He took another step into the room.
"That's where I thought you were." She was breathing heavily; something had startled her. "But... Hang on! Why did you run?" He looked at her with tears in his eyes.
"Isn't it obvious?" he asked. She shook her head. "I thought you didn't love me. I thought that somehow you had turned into something horrible. You've gotten more distant in the past few days, and it's unnerved me. Please tell me why you did this."
Kay's eyes popped out of her head. "It's not me who's grown distant. You started it. You're the one who frightened me, with your mind reading! I was afraid you'd hate me because... well..." She blushed. "It's just how I envision you. Uh, what I mean is..." She blushed even redder. "I guess I just have a really dirty mind." Ivan raised an eyebrow, then burst out laughing.
"Kay, if that's what you were afraid of... Trust me, if you could read my mind, you would probably see some pretty racy stuff featuring you. I can't help it, but even if I had read your mind and found that, I wouldn't have been angry. I would've thought, 'Gee, she's like me. Hope she never sees any of these images.' Although I must admit, now you've made me curious." She smiled at him.
"And you've made me curious." She smiled at him. "But instead of telling me, why don't you show me? After all, we've got a bed..." The two of them laughed as they settled down for the night.
{IHtbH}
Sheba looked out over the sea of grass. She didn't need to look into the future to see that Ivan would be fine. No, the grin that had been plastered on his face the previous day indicated that just fine. No, it was her own future she was concerned about. She couldn't see anything ahead, and Piers wasn't there to make it right. She sat down, looking out over the hills. "It is the evening of the day," she said, tears running down her face. "I sit and watch the children play." She sighed, putting her head in her hands. "Doing things I used to do, they think are new." Tears streamed down her face.
{IHtbH}
Piers walked up to the tree. "Don't hang on," he whispered. "Nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky..." The rope slid down his head, reaching his neck. He had lost her, lost her forever, all because he had left for Lemuria. And Kay had run away because of Ivan. "It slips away, all your money won't another minute buy..." He tightened it. {Nothing to live for, nothing to gain. It could have been different... Damn the Senate! But I have to continue. I only regret that I couldn't find you, my love...} "Goodbye, you cruel world. And farewell, beautiful Sheba..." He checked the rope once more, and then-
"Piers! Piers! Did you know that Sheba's here?" Piers's head snapped around. Ivan was smiling. "You came back! Hey, would you like to see her again? I mean, I know where she is." Ivan noticed what he was doing. "Get you head out of that thing!" He ran up to Piers and slashed the rope in two. Piers was frozen.
"Wh-where is she?" he asked. Ivan pointed soundlessly to a hill. He ran across town to the hillside, then slowed as he approached her. The rope still hung about his neck. He undid it and tossed it aside. He could hear her softly crying. "I sit and watch as tears go by..."
"That voice... But you left for Lemuria..." She turned and looked at him. He rushed up to her and grabbed her in an embrace. "You came back..." A smile was painted on her face. She sobbed as she hugged him. "You came back." She cried into his chest.
"Life was unbearable without you. I missed you, my love." He held her tight. "I missed you." Slowly, he pulled back just enough to see her face. He raised it to his own, and kissed her lips. The two of them didn't separate for a long time.
{eos}
8BTFreek: Well, there's another OneShot. Hope you like it. I had a hell of a time writing the ending. Please review. Reviews make me happy.