Re-written, biznatch.

If GS was mine then this story would be fact, and this pairing would SO happen. You know it would, don't tell yourself it wouldn't because it would.

Unfortunately, in keeping with FF's new rule against Lyrics, I have removed said excerpts from Toni Braxton's Unbreak My Heart. I would however advise readers to down-load the track while reading past the first segment, cause it's just better if you do. And if you're lucky like me, just jack it off your parents.

Chapter 3


Fires

"Hang on, can you explain that again? I don't quite get it." Sheba complained; lifting one hand up in a confused manor, violet eyes looking around the group from below the line of her short blonde hair. They were all sitting around the main cabin; the boys had just finished explaining their plan. Garet sighed in defeat, running one large hand back across the line of his sharply spiking red hair and explained it again.

"Felix has a thing for one of the girls in Prox, so we shoved him, and all of you, down below-decks until we get there." The Mars-Adept said bluntly, Isaac shifting from foot-to-foot behind him, an odd expression across his face as blue eyes watched his friend explain things again. His yellow scarf swaying back and forth with the subtle movements.

"We know it sounds cruel," he said, speaking up even though the subject wasn't one he was entirely comfortable with, "but with how he acts around girls, he'll be old and grey before he even thinks about coming up here on his own."

"Think of it as, a push in the right direction." Ivan said with a weak smile, thistle eyes looking almost pleadingly with the girls, the fifteen year old none to quick to forget their earlier encounter. "We only have Felix's best interests at heart." Jenna blinked a few times, closing her eyes, the Mars adept smirked dangerously

"We understand all that you guys." Jenna said with a shrug, "At the rate Felix talks, I'll be a granny before an aunt." Sheba looked at each of them in turn, her eyes resting on Piers.

"What I'm having a hard time grasping, is that this was all Piers' idea!" She exclaimed in disbelief, the Mercury-Adept falling from of his chair at the comment.

"What? I'm not allowed to be mean to my friends?" the Mariner asked, straightening the decorative head-dress he wore as he got up and brushed himself off. Sheba shook her head slightly, her bowl-cut hair swaying with the motion and cupping her face slightly.

"That's what these guys are for, you're the older one who's supposed to be all mature and set the standards." She explained, everything about her screaming innocence, even though her pale eyes danced merrily. Mia huffed and crossed her arms disapprovingly from where she sat.

"Any of us could have told you Felix needs a, 'push in the right direction' as Ivan put it, we are girls after all." Mia said in a snippy way, "So why weren't we in on all this?" she asked, eyes boring into Piers' as the Master-mind behind this whole thing reclaimed his seat.

"We thought you'd get mad at us, and tell Felix." Garet admitted, shrugging his thick shoulders slightly before reaching up to scratch an itch under his short sleeve.

"We are mad." Sheba said; the girls each sitting up straight, arms crossed, the same disapproving look on all three faces.

"He's my brother, as such; I have a right to be in on all plans devoted to making him uncomfortable." Jenna said in a dangerous tone. The elderly man Kraden coughing into the large book on the table.

"That's not what you were saying back on Idijema." The old Scholar muttered under his breath, lifting one robed hand up as he spoke into it. Mia's blue eyes sparked and she rounded on Piers.

"What kind of excuse is us getting mad, when you even had Kraden in on it?" she said, voice icy. Piers gulped and backed up a bit, the back legs of his chair running into an uneven board, causing him to bite off a curse as it sent him backwards.

"Because, being the good man, and horrible liar he is, Piers asked me if it was an appropriate gesture." Kraden answered standing for a moment to adjust his monkish attire of thick brown robes, adjusting his thin eye-glasses as Piers righted his chair and sat down again, seemingly annoyed with how many times he'd fallen. "And I thought, given the situation, that it was."

"Situation?" Sheba echoed, looking back at Piers she quirked one fair eyebrow. "Hey, does this have anything to do with you telling Felix you liked Mia, then he told Jenna, then Jenna told me, then Ivan read my mind, then Ivan spilled to Garet, then Garet told all the Djinn?" she asked, naming off the chain of events without digging very deep.

"Uh…" Piers replied, Mia stifled a giggle as she walked over to his chair and gingerly placed herself in his lap.

"Well, that worked out for the better though, didn't it?" she asked as he wrapped his arms around her. Mia reached up and gave him a kiss on the cheek,

"Aaaawww," Jenna cooed, laughing at the dark look Mia shot her.

"Cut that out you two." Garet said with a dopey grin. He was glad his friends were happy, but they didn't have to act all in love around everyone, his stomach couldn't take all that mushy stuff. "You didn't answer Sheba y'know." he added as Mia made herself comfortable against the other Mercury-Adept. Piers looked up at Garet.

"You guys went to bed way to early that night of the celebration in Prox." The Lemurain explained, "Spending the past three years in that frozen village sure gave Felix an iron head when it comes to drinks, but by the end I wasn't the only one with a loose tongue." The Mariner smiled mischievously, "And, unlike Felix, I didn't forget over half of the conversation we had. He didn't go out and say her name or anything, but the next morning I was able to piece it together." Piers leaned back in the chair, careful not to fall over again. Mia gave him a quizzing glance,

"Tell me Piers," She said, elbowing him in the gut. "Was that before or after you stopped calling Garet your uncle?" They all burst out laughing at this, Piers going red and laughing with them, burnished eyes speaking of revenge though.

"At least I didn't mistake a chicken for the Sol-blade." He said in his defense, taking on a stately calm as he shared the embarrassing bit of information. The laughing continued along with a bit more banter, not only about one drinking contest in Prox, the conversation straying to a Sake event in Izumo, and various other celebrations. Thankfully though, with some intervention from Kraden the conversation steered itself back to the matter at hand, and Isaac repeated the question.

"Yes, that is the main reason, but the fact that this might help him is a nice bonus as well." Piers replied lightly, still chuckling a bit.

"I take it you're not about to tell us who it is, are you?" Jenna asked; a bit disheartened as Piers shook his head no.

"And if it turns out that he decides to go on a rampage because of this?" Sheba asked him, Piers' eyes opened slightly as if fearing the idea, before masking his concern and just shrugging.

"Just tell him the truth; that it was my idea."

"Karst." Agatio droned in a bored voice. "Come on, you haven't been acting the same, you should have tried to flame my ass at least ten minutes ago. Something's been bugging you, and I wanna know what." He paused to drain away the last of his ale, looking down into the empty tankard he sighed.

"You've been acting like this since he left." He mumbled, more in to the dank interior of the mug than to her.

"Without saying good-bye." She snapped, her anger finally sparking, "Without saying two words to me, or you, to give us a damn chance to explain!" she smacked her hand on the table, and suddenly her temper began to spark.

"And what would you have said Karst?" Agatio asked, not at all alarmed by her sudden anger. "We tried to kill him when he was still on our side, what the hell kind of apology can you make about that?"

"We weren't thinking straight!" She shouted, getting to her feet and attempting to loom over Agaito, it was a tactic which worked most of the time, but not now it seemed...

"That's not a reason, it's an excuse!" he said loudly, rising as well to look her in the eyes. She could feel livid furry building inside of her, but in Agaito's gaze there was a stark cold frustration. It was easy to tell which was the more dangerouse.

"He was doing what he was supposed to, and for no reason we turned against him! At Madra, at Jupiter Lighthouse, and let's not forget about Champa either!" he snapped, Karst knew he wasn't mad at just her I particular, but at both of them as a whole. "We turned on our friend, our friend! And he still didn't leave us for dead in the end! Unless some catastrophe strikes and we get a chance to repay the favor, there's no way in hell that we can make this up to him!"

Karst just looked down and bit her bottom lip; she closed her eyes as tears welled up and wrapped her arms around herself. She was submitting, which was something she never did, and she could almost see the concern in her friend's eyes at her strange behavior. Mars, she just did not feel like herself.

"I know." She said quietly, backing away slightly she gripped her shoulder to keep them from shaking. The first rule of combat was to never let emotion get in the way. It took all of her training to keep the pain away now; she delved deep into herself to hide from the feelings running through her. "Go Agatio." She said softly, her voice level as she forced herself to hide away.

"Karst." Agatio blinked a few times and took a step towards her; she only backed up more as he did so. He didn't try again, remembering that this subject was more volatile for Karst than him.

"Just go." She repeated. Agatio nodded and went to fetch his cloak from the bench, it was still damp in places, but he swung it over his shoulders without a word. Striding towards the thick door, he looked over at her, concern replaced with sympathy.

"There's always a room at the Inn for you, Karst." He said grimly, "If you ever need it, my family is here for you, you're always welcome with us." Karst nodded in acknowledgement, turning her back to him as she kept her eyes down, tears becoming a real threat despite her training.

"Thank you, friend." She muttered, Agatio nodded and pulled open the door, closing it with a loud bang behind him and allowing only a few wind-propelled flakes into the warm house.

Karst counted to thirty under her breath for a moment, her shoulders shaking un-controllably now. She turned on her heel, knees weak, and walked to the back of the house and down the lone hall. She opened one of the rough wooden doors and stared inside the room.

Another small fire burned in the corner, and Karst moved numbly to place a few extra pieces of wood in it to keep it going. The room's main feature was the large bed in the center, big enough for three people to sleep side-by-side. Karst moved towards the bed numbly, not caring to remove her boots as she climbed up onto the thick, brown, woolen quilt.

Tears spilt down her cheeks as she buried her face into the rough fabric, shame, guilt, and regret pouring though her as she sobbed into the covers. Reaching up, she pulled down one of the large pillows, the fabric wearing through in some places from when it had been used every night. She wrapped her arms around it and wept against the soft wool, using it to smother her cries.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." She whispered against the cozy material, not caring that it made no difference. "Come back to me, please. I miss you so much; I need you here with me. Please, I'm so sorry… Felix…" Karst let herself lie there for a while more, not feeling sleep until it caught her and pulled her into a deep slumber. Pulled her back to one of the last times she had wept in this very bed.

--Flashback--

It was warm, uncomfortably so in fact it was almost hot. I tried to move my arms around, not opening my eyes but found both limbs pinned to my sides. Fear didn't come though, before I had a chance to panic my senses picked up a familiar, re-assuring sound: a heartbeat.

Not my own, I wouldn't be marveling at what was already mine, it was somebody else's. I forced one eye open lazily, only able to keep it open for a brief instant before I had to close it again. A moment was enough though for me to make out a flash of gold hair.

Whoever was next to me shifted on the bed, that woke me up a bit more as well. I'd spent the past two months with Agatio's family at the Inn, but all those beds were kept empty for guests. So as a result I had slept on the floor in the same room as Agatio's sisters, Maria and Jamie.

I forced both eyes all the way open, half-dreading to see an unknown face next to mine, although I wasn't quite sure where that thought came from. The first thing I saw was the golden glow of someone's hair; I looked over their sleeping face a moment, my mouth half-open, as I lay there stunned. The events out in the storm coming back all too quickly: one red eye cracking open as I felt tears forming.

"Hey runt." My sister muttered sleepily.

"Menardi!" I shouted, not knowing where my sudden energy came from, and un-willing to dwell on it as I threw my arms around my sister and buried my face against her shoulder.

"Hey, I missed you to." Menardi said gruffly, returning the embrace, her voice sounded scratchy, like her throat was sore, but I didn't care.

"You said you'd come back when the moon was full!" I cried, tears spilling onto Menardi's shoulder. I rarely cried, but I couldn't feel ashamed at the moment, I'd thought I'd left been all alone. "You took so long! What happened? Everyone thought you were all dead! I thought you weren't going to come back Menardi! I thought you were going to disappear and leave like mom and dad did! I thought--"

"Hey! Hold on a minute there, Karst!" Menardi interrupted, pushing me away for a moment and holding me at arms-length. My sister's gaze was intense and I shrank away from her hard red eyes. Menardi's look softened though, as did her grip on my arms, the two of us sat on the bed looking at each other. Then Menardi reached over and wiped away the tear-tracks running down my cheeks.

"Hey, I'm your sister, remember?" She said, a small smile made its way up, "I'll never leave you, Karst. And mom and dad didn't want to leave either, I know that. And I never will, no matter what." I bit my lip and looked up at the older woman,

"Promise?" I asked; Menardi's expression softened far more than it ever would in public, and she pulled me back to her and held me gently.

"Promise: never in a million years, I won't ever leave you, Karst." The two of us remained like that for a few minutes, Menardi gently rocking me. Slowly though, I perked up as I realized where we were.

"Hey!" I said excited, "We're home!" Menardi blinked a few times at the statement, and then realized what I meant and smiled nonchalantly.

"Yeah, the minute that old guy in the Sanctum said you'd be okay, so I bundled you up and brought you home. No way I'd let you spend a moment more than strictly necessary in one of those smelly places. They reek of illness." Menardi's posh expression faded though as she looked at me through her bangs,

"But don't get up just yet, Karst;" She said, "I want you to take it easy, stay in bed. You gave me a real scare kid, the Healer didn't think you'd pull through." I looked up at her, confused for a moment before remembering the feeling of being trapped in ice.

"You said one month, Menardi, one month." I said, holding one hand up with a single finger to emphasis my point, "What was I supposed to do when you didn't come back after two?" Menardi sighed and helped me back under the covers. When she finished arranging them, my sister took my hand, but didn't say anything.

"Did you get the people of Vale to consider?" I asked, Menardi's expression darkened,

"No; not in the slightest." She admitted sadly, her fingers drawing circles on the back of my palm. "I can't blame them really; you can't feel the void down that far south, even if you know what you're looking for. None of us could sense it." Menardi looked away, almost like she was hiding something.

"Then… what happened, Menardi?" I asked cautiously, my sister turned away from me even more so, looking back at the small brick fire place in the corner, the only source of light in the room.

"There…We… We tried to break into the Sanctum…" she murmured, I blinked a few times at the regret in my sister's voice. It didn't sound like something she was proud of, in fact, she almost looked… sad…

"And?" I pressed, sitting back up and bringing my knees against me. I wrapped my free arm around them and turned my hand over in Menardi's grasp, making it a mutual gesture.

"The… The Wise One, some guardian of the Elemental Stars, we, and probably the people of Vale, knew nothing of, it stopped us." My sister glanced down at where our hands were clasped.

"It… it killed the others… trying to protect the Sanctum." My breath caught at the news, and I instantly looked away as tears welled up. Those who had gone, all of them had been like family, they had been where Menardi and I fit in the community. Faces I had seen my whole life, and that I would never see again flashed by my eyes: gone…?

"How?" I asked; my tongue feeling thick as my voice came out almost like a whimper, "Why?" Menardi just shook her head though.

"It was created to protect the Elemental Stars; it sees everything as either a threat to them or, nothing… We were a threat, so… it attacked us…" My vision blurred as tears slid down my cheeks, I could feel my chin shaking like a child's but was this really the time to worry about pride?

"But, but you survived, didn't you?" I whimpered, gripping her hand tightly, "You made it out." Menardi nodded,

"Saturos and I escaped, narrowly, from the sanctum, but the Wise One then summoned a storm out of nowhere." I felt my brows knit together in confusion, tears still pouring down my cheeks as more smiling, laughing faces faded to darkness in my mind.

"But I saw you with a group of people, Menardi." I said; but she just bent her head deeply, not meeting my eyes. "Who, who were those people with you?" I asked, my voice hushed as I knew her answer to be something very important.

"People from, they're from…" My eyes widened as Menardi stood and began to pace erratically, "It-it wasn't our fault though," she stuttered in her defense, "We broke into the Sanctum yes. But-but then the Wise One summoned the storm. We-we were already weak, he didn't need a storm, at least not one that huge!" she said in a rush, ringing her hands together as she stopped walking and stood there.

"Menardi, what are you--?" I tried to say, before I saw the distress painted across my sister's face, and fell silent.

"The storm, it-it loosened a bolder on top of the mountain, I swear, there wasn't anything we could do! We, we were already out of the village, all we heard was, was the crash… and, and then the… the screams… We- there wasn't anything we could have done!" My mouth hung open, tears, not only for our friends now dead far from home, but, also for the people who had suffered without cause, pouring from my eyes with no end in sight.

"We… we saw a few of them." Menardi whispered. "Four, that's as many as we could pick out of the waters. We-we couldn't see any more, if we had, I-I swear, Saturos or I would have gone in to try and help. But, we only found the four…" Menardi backed up and fell into the small chair near the fire; she placed her head in her hands.

"A-a family; mother, father and son, the boy he-he can't be a month or two older than you, Karst." She whimpered "We-we saw them and managed to get them all out, a-another man as well." I just sat their stunned, everything being driven home all the more as I noticed the tears seeping past my sister's fingers. "The man he… he doesn't know if his own son and wife survived, and the family, there was a daughter too. They… they're almost positive she was pulled out before the son was washed away, but-but they don't know. And-and that's not the best part either." She said, looking up at me, guilt pouring from her eyes in waves.

"The open road makes you do crazy, horrible things Karst, remember that, it makes you do things you'll spend the rest of your life regretting…" I swallowed the bile rising in my throat as Menardi sounded almost insane with guilt and regret. I just couldn't take in everything she was telling me, right now all I wanted was to wake up, not to be alone again, but just to escape what she was telling me!

"What-what did you and Saturos...?" I whispered, feeling myself shaking as I spoke,

"You… you can't feel the void that far away, Karst." Menardi explained softly, her crimson eyes looking lost through her tears, "As far as anyone there could tell, we were just off spreading rumors, no chance that they'd believe us about the world ending. But-but to hear it from one of there own, or, a group…" Menardi gritted her teeth for a moment,

"What the hell were we thinking?" She shouted at herself suddenly, and I jumped at the sound. "That man has a fourteen-year-old son too raise, and a wife to take care of! That-that family has a daughter who, if she isn't dead, is going to spend Mars knows how long thinking her parents and brother are gone!" Menardi completely broke down then, weeping openly as she wrapped her arms around herself.

It was such a shock for me to see her like this, she had only openly wept that one time years ago when…Pushing aside the thick blankets, I ignored the odd dizziness that hit me as I walked over to Menardi. Wrapping my arms around her, I buried her face against my sister's golden locks.

"But they're not dead Menardi," I whimpered, my voice muffled by her hair. "Think of how many more will be if you can't show the world what's happening?" I felt still more tears from both of us pouring out as Menardi opened her arms, holding me close.

"And after what just happened, I owe them so much now," She whispered, quieting after a few minutes before finally she raised her head to look at me,

"How come?" I asked, Menardi straightened her hair and brushed a few strands from my face affectionately,

"It's because of them that you're even alive, Karst." She said; I blinked a few times at this, "The snow in that crevasse, it had melted around you, but then it had re-frozen; trapping you. The boy and the two men are not Mars-Adepts, Karst." Her voice was so soft as she spoke to me, her eyes filled with so much worry and relief as she smoothed my hair as if I were a small child.

"Wha…?" Was all I could manage, Menardi just smiled gently though,

"They're Venus-Adepts; they draw their power from Weyard itself." She said; my eyes went wide at the thought. "The men used that power to widen the space you were in, they saved you. I am too deep in debt to know where to start. I want so horribly to take them back, but I know that Prox is doomed if they don't understand the peril it's in, and actually see the need to fire the Lighthouses."

"But, hang on; you said the men helped me out." I said, searching my sister's crimson eyes "Then why are we indebted to all three?" Menardi just smiled again at the question.

"Because, all of us would have walked right past you, if the boy hadn't felt you in the rock. Not even his father knows how he was able to, but he did. It drained him somehow, and he collapsed once they reached the Elder's home, but he still saved you. Even ran towards you when Saturos and I didn't think to listen to him." Menard's eyes looked haunted for a moment as they scanned my face again. I remembered the traveler running up the snow-bank, and how Saturos had caught him… had that been…?

"I would never have been able to live with myself, knowing I'd left you to die like that, Karst. I'm so sorry." She breathed, placing a small kiss on my forehead. I fell back into my sister's embrace; feeling drained again as I felt the warmth coming off her, my own arms coming up and around her almost like I was making sure my sister wouldn't leave me again..

"You said the Elder's house right?" I asked softly as I began to doze, my mind seemed to be grinding to a halt, tears once again coming to life as her news cut away at me deeply.

"Yeah," Menardi stood and ushered me back towards the bed, I stumbled slightly, but climbed up without my sister's help. The two of us crawled under the think blankets again, me moving close to my sister's warmth.

"So, how long do they have to stay?" I asked, Menardi draping one arm around her,

"I don't know really, that's probably up to the Mayor and the Elder to decide. Go to sleep Karst." She said softly,

"What's the woman's Element then?" I asked after a few moments,

"Eh?"

"Her Element, her husband's a Venus-Adept, so is her son, so is she one too?"

"No…" Menardi replied,

"What is she?"

"Fire, just like us. Go to sleep, Karst."

"Dose she look like us? With green, red, or blue skin?"

"Karst."

"Just asking."

"Well stop asking."

"What about the boy?"

"What about the boy?"

"You said he's my age, what's his name?"

"His name?"

"Yeah, you know; his name? What you call some one?"

"I know what a name is."

"Well, what's his?"

"Uh… Good question. Saturos calls him Runt for some reason, I don't know why. He's all skin and bones now, but when he gets older he'll be a match for Saturos in brute strength."

"Do you have any idea what it is?"

"Uh, I think its Felix or something."

"Felix?"

"Yeah, I think. Bed. Sleep. Now."

"…"

"…Stop kicking me…"

"I feel like kicking."

"Well, that's too bad!"

"What are other villages like?"

"By the Elements, Karst: go, to, sleep!

"Love you, Menardi, I'm glad you're back."

"Love you to, brat, glad I'm back to..."

--End Flashback--

"You promised you wouldn't leave me, Menardi," Karst chocked, "But you did, and you took him with you…"

I couldn't decide whether or not to keep the uber-long banter at the end, but frankly I think it's damn funny so it's still there.

…Don't mock my sense of humour…