Well, here we go, my third IkeXSanaki. I know, i'm on an updating spree today. It makes me happy. I had nothing else to do ALL DAY but write. It's so nice. :D Well, I don't own anything! On with the show!

She's blood, flesh and bone
no tucks or silicone.
She's touch, smell, sight, taste and sound.

He clasped her hand in a friendly handshake, not noticing the shocked looks on the faces of her guard. She looked right at him, meeting his eyes with a smile.

"Well done," she told him. "That was some of the best fighting I've ever seen."

"Thank you," he said.

but somehow I can't believe
that anything should happen

She held herself regally, not at all intimidated by the tall man before her. "May I ask you something?" she said, slightly sarcastic.

"What?" The man said.

"What rock have you been living under for the past, oh, twenty years, to not know that Laguz slavery is illegal? No, you can't plead ignorance to this. You knew very well it was illegal and morally wrong, but you did it anyway, didn't you? I sometimes wonder at the stupidity shown by those who think their money will protect them."

Ike silently cheered for her. Saying things like that took guts, especially when the person you were saying it to was taller than you.

I know where I belong
and nothing's gonna happen, yeah.

She stood in front of him. She had been stripped of her title, of her office, driven out of Begnion, and here she was, an empress still. Still she stood tall, and still, she was regal and beautiful. But there was something different about her. True courage allowed her to stand up to those who opposed her now, instead of the confidence of being of a rank higher than them. She had grown, it seemed, from a slightly spoiled child to a woman, a strong one.

Cause she's so high,
high above me, she's so lovely.
She's so high,
like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc or Aphrodite
She's so high, high above me.

Her robes billowed as she summoned the magic necessary for the spell. She cried an unintelligible word, and power glowed around the creature. It cried out and lashed at her. Suddenly, her slim frame looked so incredibly small. But she stood strong, dodging the hit and attacking again. Ike watched from off to the side, smiling, proud of her.

first class and fancy free,
she's high society,
she's got the best of everything.

He remembered how she had been, when she was still Empress, but after they had first met. 'How dare you speak to the Apostle that way!' they would say. But Sanaki would interrupt, saying, 'I like it when he talks that way. To the point and easy to understand, with no annoying nonsense. And Ike is my friend, and you will not speak to him that way.'

What could a guy like me ever really offer?
She's perfect as she can be,
why should I even bother?

Sanaki gazed at the rain.

"Are you alright?" Ike asked her, worried, knowing from Elincia how strange it was to be a royal one second, then common the next.

"I'm fine," said Sanaki. "... It's what I deserve, I suppose. I really was a spoiled brat when I was Apostle, wasn't I?"

Ike sat down on the chair next to her. "Sanaki," he said, "You were a brilliant empress. You led your people with a flair, you did what you hand to for them. You were a bit... forbidding, but it was useful when you needed it. You always had courage and the right instincts, and that's what matters most."

Cause she's so high,
high above me, she's so lovely.
She's so high,
like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc or Aphrodite
She's so high, high above me.

She smiled sadly at him. "Thank you," she said. "I was so... rude, so snobby to you at first, but you became my friend, and you still tell me I was good. I was so... pigheaded! You're amazing, Ike. How do you forgive like that?"

"Like what?" said Ike. "I'm a terrible forgiver! But you deserved forgiveness, if indeed you'd ever said anything to me I hadn't deserved. Think about it. I was rude myself, and I was probably rather prejudiced against you from the start. I was the pigheaded one. You forgave me."

She comes to speak to me,
I freeze immediately,
cause what she says sounds so unreal.

Sanaki laughed out loud. She fell back slightly, and Ike steadied her with an arm. "Careful," he said.

"Ike, how did this happen?" she laughed. "There we were, both stubborn as heck, and dead set against each other, and now look at us!"

"Maybe it was fate," Ike laughed.

"The will of the goddess," Sanaki agreed. "She changed the heart of a proud idiot."

"Two proud idiots," Ike corrected.

"Two proud idiots, then. She changed our minds and made us allies and closest friends." Sanaki took a deep breath. "And maybe more," she blurted.

Somehow I can't believe,
that anything should happen
I know where I belong
and nothing's gonna happen, yeah.

Ike looked at her, shocked. "Maybe more..." he said. It sounded right. "Sanaki, are you sure?"

Sanaki stared straight at him. "Ike, I'm not sure about anything anymore. My whole life is topsy-turvy and confusing. All I am sure of now is this. If you'll have Sanaki the girl instead of Sanaki the empress, Sanaki the girl will consider herself the luckiest girl alive."

"Sanaki," said Ike, "Do you think whether you were Empress or not ever mattered to me? When you're raised as a common mercenary, rank is nothing. It's who you are, not what you are, that matters, and you are Sanaki, crown or no." Then he laughed. "Think of what those idiots would have said if this had happened before."

"Oh," Sanaki laughed. "Now that would have been a sight to see."

Ike, still laughing, imitated the voice of one of the Senators. "Oh, empress," he said. "how could you possibly think highly of that upstart commoner? He has no lineage! NO LINEAGE!" He choked with laughter.

Sanaki imitated the quivery voice of one of the ladies who had so disapproved of the way she spoke to Ike. "Yes, Sanaki, he is a nice young man. But you mustn't fall for him, or it will chase away that lovely prince you'll find some day!" Then in her normal voice, "little did she know it was already too late." Then she collapsed from laughter, leaning against Ike.

Ike put his arms around her, and they shook with laughter together.

They calmed down a little, and Ike could tell by the way Sanaki sagged against him that she was worn out. "Are you tired?" he said. "I can find you a bed to sleep in."

"Completely exhausted," Sanaki said.

Ike took her to his own room. "You can sleep here until I find you a permanent bed," he said.

Sanaki lay down, tucking the blankets gratefully around her. "Ike?" she said.

"Yes?"

"Thank you so much for helping me." She sat up, put her arms around his neck, and kissed him. Then she lay down and closed her eyes. Almost immediately, her breathing slowed.

Ike stared at her, filled with a kind of delirious happiness for a moment. Then he drew down the curtains to give her some darkness, pulled the blanket over her, and left her, the beautiful, strong girl, the one who loved him, to sleep.

Cause she's so high,
high above me, she's so lovely.
She's so high,
like Cleopatra, Joan of Arc or Aphrodite
She's so high, high above me.