Broken Window

Elie did not sigh. She did not tuck the stray wisp of hair behind her ear. She did not breathe, she did not see.

'What are you staring at?' Sieg asked, his coat billowing dramatically in the crisp evening wind. Elie ignored it.

'I'm not staring,' she said, shrugging her shoulders.

'What are you thinking about?' he asked instead.

'I'm not thinking,' she replied.

'You must be thinking. Even if you are thinking of nothing,' he reasoned, following her gaze across the barren wasteland of Symphonia.

Elie shook her head, trying to dislodge his words. She wasn't thinking. She wasn't. Why would she be? What was the point when her thoughts hated her so much. Hated her and kept secrets from her.

'I don't know what to do,' she admitted finally, hugging her bare arms in the cool air.

'You don't do anything,' Sieg said, turning towards her, his face expressionless.

Elie turned to him, her eyes wide. 'How can I not do anything? I have to do something!'

Sieg smiled, a strange sight indeed. 'Of course you do. So just do what you have to do.'

Elie turned her eyes to the ground. 'You don't make any sense,' she said.

'Time gets to you after a while.'

The wind blew harder now, becoming cold as the sky grew dark. Elie shivered, and almost at once tears began to fill her eyes. She tried to blink them away, hoping Sieg wouldn't notice.

'You're crying,' he stated, noticing immediately.

'Yeah.'

'It's not fair, is it?'

'It's...' Elie started, wiping furiously at her eyes, the cold wind stinging her face. 'It's just something I have to do, isn't it...' she said quietly.

'I want to protect you, Elie,' Sieg said, turning back to her with grim determination.

Elie tried to smile. 'You do? You want to protect me? Or do you want to protect my power?'

Sieg did not reply.

'Sometimes,' she continued, 'sometimes it feels like I'm not really me at all. Like I'm watching someone else's life through a window. And it's a broken window. It's old and cracked and covered in dust and soot. I've had my hand on that window, and now my hand print won't come off. I've stained my only vision. The vision that shows me light and laughter and darkness and death...' she felt the tears coming again.

The was a flurry of movement beside her, and suddenly there was warmth.

'What are you-'

'I'm protecting you,' Sieg said, his arms wrapping tightly around her.

'From what?' she asked, looking up at him.

'From the cold. The window is broken, right? You'll get cold.'

Elie laughed weakly into his chest, his hand gently caressing her hair. Tentatively she put her arms around him, letting him embrace her fully.

He was so warm. She was so glad she could feel that warmth. The warmth of generations, of a body that had existed since the beginning of Time. A body with a heartbeat. A heartbeat that sounded just like hers. A soft human heartbeat...

'Hey Elie, we're going!'

Sieg pulled his arms away as Haru ran to them, but Elie clung to him.

'Just a little longer...' she mumbled. Sieg returned his arms and hugged her tightly before letting go.

'Go now, Elie,' he said, smiling ever so slightly.

Elie pulled away and smiled broadly. 'Thanks!' she said brightly and turned to Haru. 'Let's go, Haru!'

'Yeah...' the blond boy said, frowning slightly.

'Goodbye, Elie.'

'Bye bye!' she waved, following the Rave Master back to the ship.

It won't be long now. It won't be long until that window opens. And with it all that light and laughter will finally be free.

I'll protect you, Elie.