Stave Three: The Ghost of Christmas Now

The clock struck one in the morning. Ike stirred in his sleep as he awoke suddenly. He sat up, looking around him. The room was dark, and he was back to his normal size. It was just a dream then…Father. He cast his eyes down on the covers. What a torturous dream that had been. It had all felt so real. He had actually felt as if he had gone back to his early childhood on Gallia and that day one year ago when he had been welcomed by Pit and later defeated by him. The memories were fresh, but there was no way he had really gone back in time with his father. The mercenary shook his head and pushed away the covers to climb out of bed for a cup of water—and stopped suddenly. He wasn't wearing any pants.

He stared down at the garment lying on the floor, the one he remembered had slipped off before his father had tucked him into bed. It hadn't been a dream, then. It had all been real, and his father had been-

"Are you just going to stare at them, or are you actually going to put them back on?" a voice asked, startling him.

Ike nearly jumped an inch off the bed as he noticed the figure standing by his bed for the first time. Instinctively, his hands fell down to his lap. Looking back, he tried to identify this new ghost. Its shadow looked smaller than his father's had been, and it was a different shape due to long flowing clothes. A dress?

"Honestly, Ike, can't you pull yourself together long enough to stop gaping at me for one moment?" the voice sighed, bending down to pick up the pants and hand them to Ike.

The mercenary stared at the ghost and took his pants back with a trembling hand. He knew this voice! But it couldn't be…No…

"S-soren?"

"Yes?"

"No! Soren, why?" Ike cried out, dropping the pants on his lap and burying his face in the palms of his hands. "How could I let this happen? I never should have left home!"

"Ike, what-?"

"Who did it?" the blue-haired man demanded, biting back his grief. "Tell me who!"

"Who did what?" the other man asked, confused.

"Who killed you, Soren?! They'll pay!"

"Ike!" the mage gasped. "No one killed me. I'm very much alive and safe at home in Crimea."

The mercenary stared at him, dumbfounded.

"W-what? Then…why are you here? If you're not a ghost, is it really you?"

The dark-haired man sighed.

"I'm only here in spirit, Ike. I'm representing the Ghost of Christmas Now."

"Huh?"

"The Ghost of Christmas Now! I'm going to show you the present Christmas, the one that started only an hour ago. Well, we'll move forward into the daylight hours, so you'll be able to see what the day will bring when everyone wakes up."

Ike gazed through the darkness at his friend, still stunned into disbelief.

"What are you waiting for?" Soren snapped at him. "Put your pants on and let's go!"

"Oh, right," Ike coughed, clearing his throat.

He slipped his pants on embarrassedly and got out of bed to stand by the other man. Soren took his hand and held out a warp staff. The two of them vanished from the room, transporting themselves downstairs to the common room of the residential area. Light poured in through the large window panes as night turned to day, and Ike watched as people drifted in and out of the brightly decorated room, some stopping to sit by the fireplace on one of the comfy chairs, others walking across the room to stare out the window or sit at one of the tables to chat or read. Finally, time flowed normally, and he saw a small group of Brawlers sitting on the group of red armchairs. Their attention was all drawn on one small figure sitting in the middle of the red loveseat near the fire. Ike and Soren walked over to get a closer look.

"Come on, Pit!" Link said, nudging his friend with an elbow. "Just tell us what's wrong."

"I already said it's nothing," the green-clad angel mumbled miserably, pushing the Hylian away. "I'm fine."

Ike could see that his eyes were puffy and tired, as if he hadn't slept well the night before.

"Fine?" Ness asked from his place on the footstool in front of the angel, his back to the fire. "You've been losing feathers all morning!"

He pointed down to the rug to make his point. Sure enough, the area was littered with white feathers ruffled from stress. Pit sighed.

"I can't help it if I molt once in a while," he muttered.

"Something's bothering you isn't it?" Link asked gently. "I haven't seen you this upset since Roy ate all your angel food muffins thinking they would help him fly."

Pit laughed a bit at the memory, echoed loudly by the redhead himself, but his expression fell back into a sad frown as he looked down at the feathers by his feet again. Zelda, who was sitting on the other side of him on the couch, put a hand on his shoulder reassuringly.

"You can tell us," she said. "Maybe it'll make you feel better."

"I don't want to talk about it," the angel said.

"I notice you're not wearing your Santa hat today," Marth said from the loveseat, where he was sitting next to Roy. "You've been trying to use it to promote Christmas spirit since the start of December, and now, Christmas of all days, you forgot?"

"I…just didn't feel like it," Pit admitted.

"Oh, come on, Pit!" Roy said. "We're going to get it out of you anyway! So you might as well tell us. Christmas can't officially start until everyone's filled with holiday cheer."

The angel just hung his head sullenly, feeling Link's gloved hand pat his back beneath his wings. The Hylian looked at his friend sympathetically.

"You don't have to tell us if you don't want to," he said. "But Roy's right—this is no way to start Christmas. If you can, please let us help you get it off your chest."

There was silence in the room for a few seconds, but the angel still didn't say anything. Finally, Ness spoke again.

"I've got an idea," he said. "Why don't we guess what's bothering you? Let's play twenty questions. All you have to do is answer 'yes' or 'no.' If we can't get it right by then, you can keep it to yourself and laugh at us all for being stupid. Deal?"

Pit blinked at him, but slowly nodded.

"Alright."

"I'll go first," Ness said. "Is it something tangible?"

"Yes."

"Can you eat it?" Roy asked hopefully.

"N-no," Pit coughed, fighting back a snort.

"Is it bigger than a bread box?" another voice asked.

Everyone turned to look at Solid Snake, who was leaning against the side of the fireplace. The man had been silent before now. He returned the incredulous stare he was getting from the other Brawlers and smirked.

"What? I had to ask."

"Yes," the angel answered. "It is."

"Is it an alive?" Zelda asked.

"Yes."

"Is it an animal?" Lucas questioned.

"Uh, well…yeah, I guess?"

"Is it human?" Snake clarified.

"Yes."

All eyes fell on the angel in shock and interest. So it was a person that was making their friend feel this way—and given the mansion's isolation, it was most likely a fellow Brawler. Ike felt a sinking feeling in his stomach as he realized how close they were getting to solving this riddle.

"Does it look scary?" Toon Link asked, sitting on the rug right in front of the fire.

"No," Pit answered. "But…it can," he added more quietly.

"Is it red?" Marth asked, his view blocked by Roy's hair.

"No."

"Is it blue?" Toon Link questioned.

"Yes."

Silence again. Eyes started to wander to one spot in the room. Ike gaped in shock as they looked in his direction.

"I thought they couldn't see us!" he hissed to Soren.

"They can't," his friend replied.

"What?!" Marth burst out suddenly. "It's not me!"

Ike sighed in relief. He had forgotten he had been standing behind the blue-haired prince.

"It's not Marth, is it?" Roy asked suspiciously, only to get a smack from his lover. The redhead covered his head where the other man had hit him. "See—he can be scary!"

"No!" Pit replied, unable to suppress his laughter anymore. "It's not."

The angel wiped away the tears that had resurfaced in his eyes. At least this time they had come from amusement and not sorrow.

"Then," Ness started before trailing off. "It has to be…"

Link frowned at his friend. Ike had a feeling the Hylian had known all along. Since no one else was brave enough to mention the name, he asked the question quietly.

"It's Ike, isn't it?"

Pit nodded sullenly. The other Brawlers murmured to one another, giving the angel sympathetic looks. Roy frowned and burst out angrily.

"What'd he do to you? The bastard!"

Pit's wings twitched slightly, shedding more feathers onto the couch.

"It's nothing, really. I feel stupid talking about it."

"You don't have to feel that way," Zelda said soothingly. "If he wronged you, he should apologize."

"It wasn't him!" Pit burst out, surprising everyone. "It was me. I made a mistake and did something that I shouldn't have."

The Brawlers looked at him, waiting for him to continue. Reluctantly, the angel pressed on.

"I-I asked him to go with me to the Christmas dance…as a date. He said he could never do something like that—and then he just left."

His face flushed red with embarrassment and shame. The room was quiet yet again for another moment before opinions were suddenly voiced.

"I knew that guy was a jerk!" Ness growled. "Have you seen the way he fights—ruthless!"

"No kidding," Link said. "He just throws his strength around and bashes everything with that sword of his with no sense of style at all! Makes you wonder where he learned to fight."

Ike gritted his teeth and reminded himself to give Link an extra "bashing" the next time they fought.

"He makes it impossible for me to get back on the ledge," Lucas muttered. "It's already hard enough without a flaming sword of doom ready to K.O. me."

"And his victory phrases!" Roy growled. "You know what he said the last time he left me a bloody crumpled mess?" He yanked the green scarf off from around Marth's neck and proceeded to tie it around his forehead, imitating a headband. "'You'll get no sympathy from me.'"

Half the room burst out laughing at Roy's perfect impersonation. Ike was far from amused. He glared at Soren who was covering his mouth to hide a smirk while keeping the rest of his face as serious as ever. Pit's eyes lit up a bit, knowing his friends were just trying to make him feel better, but his expression was still a sad one. He clenched his fists in his lap, sighing again.

"We're supposed to give it our all, aren't we?" the angel asked quietly. "Ike's a skilled fighter…and I know it might be hard to believe from looking at him, but I sense something really good inside of him, a part of him that really cares about people. I don't expect him to love me; maybe I'm just not the kind of person he wants, but…I wish we could still be friends. Something tells me he really needs one."

Link gave a small nod, and the others sat silently, trying to understand what the angel saw in the man they all assumed to be heartless and brutal thanks to the cold exterior he had displayed since coming to the mansion. Ike looked at Pit with mixed emotions. There was resentment, confusion, regret, and even a bit of gratitude. He turned to look at Soren.

"Why does he defend me? After what I did and the way I treated him…why does he still think he knows me?"

"Maybe he does," Soren replied. "Maybe he sees the side of you you forgot exists."

"No way," Ike said. "Even angel eyes can't see that deep into a person…can they?"

The other man said nothing. The other Brawlers were still comforting Pit, telling him what a fool Ike was and how he didn't know what he was missing. The angel pushed away their comments embarrassedly. He couldn't bring himself to say anything bad about the man he cared about, even if the blue-haired mercenary wanted nothing to do with him. Ike watched Pit rise to his feet and give his wings a good flap to shake off any last loose feathers and grinned at the Brawlers.

"Don't worry about it anymore," the angel told his friends. "I don't want to be responsible for ruining everyone's Christmas. So let's…let's forget about Ike and just have a good time. Okay?"

"Now there's a plan," Ness said happily, sliding off the footstool.

The others also began to stand up and headed for the door of the common room. Only Link stayed behind to murmur something to his friend. Ike had to come a bit closer to them to hear it.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?" the Hylian asked.

"Yeah," Pit replied. "Thanks, Link. I'll be fine."

"If you need me to go knock some sense into that blue-haired blockhead…my sword is yours."

"N-no, that's okay. I think it'd just be better if I tried not to think about him anymore."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. I won't mention him again. Let's go, then."

Pit nodded and followed Link out the door. Ike watched them go, a frown on his face. He didn't understand why he felt so upset. Isn't this what he had wanted? Pit wasn't interested in him anymore. Problem solved. The mercenary should have been happy and relieved.

"What's wrong, Ike?" Soren asked. "Not too pleased with this outcome?"

"It's not that," the blue-haired man grumbled. "This all suits me just fine. The only thing I want to know is…why does everyone hate me so much? I didn't do anything wrong. I did what I was supposed to do. I came here and fought."

"It's not about what you did," Soren replied. "It's about what you didn't. You didn't make any friends. You didn't support anyone. You didn't let them see the side of you the Griel Mercenaries know. The people here don't even know you can be a leader. All they see is your strength, your bluntness, and your sword."

"Well, what else are they supposed to see?" Ike argued. "Am I really supposed to open up to them? Put my heart on a platter and serve it to them? They'd destroy me, Soren."

Just then, the door opened. The black-haired mage's attention was drawn to a small pink thing in the corner of his eye. He and Ike turned to look as Kirby waddled in. The pink blob stopped, tottering on his two big feet, eyes wide and curious. Seeing the room was empty, the small Brawler gave a cute little sigh and turned around to go right back out the door. Soren was silent for a moment as he watched it close.

"Oh yes…I'm sure they would."

"You know what I mean!" the mercenary protested.

"I wish you could understand what I mean," the mage told him. "You don't see how this is all hurting you."

Ike stopped and tried to read his friend's expression. The stern face was as difficult to understand as ever. Only from having known Soren so long could Ike tell that his friend was deeply worried about him.

"Hurting me?" he asked. "I thought it was everyone else who was suffering from lack of bonding with me. Pit'll get over it."

"And what about you?" Soren asked quietly. "Will you be the same when you go home?"

Ike stared at his friend, surprised.

"Well, why shouldn't I be?"

"You're not the same now. What makes you think you will be later?"

"Why does everyone keep insisting I've changed?! First Father, now you. Just because I've put up a shield doesn't mean I'm not the same person standing behind it."

"You're letting that shield become you," Soren said. "Soon you won't remember what you were like at all."

"I…" Ike trailed off. He didn't have an answer. There was no way he could prove he hadn't been taken over by this false front. Maybe he was even starting to believe in it himself. The reality he had been trying to resist for so long was finally sinking in. There was no one at the mansion he really cared about, no one he would trust as an ally when they weren't forced to fight on the same side in team battles, no one he could really trust. He only saw the other Brawlers as competition. They weren't his mercenaries. They weren't his friends.

"I don't understand," the mercenary said. "How am I supposed to stop this? Everyone else seems to have such an easier time fitting in here than I do. How can they fight so hard against their friends?"

"Did you ever think," Soren said, "that maybe you've created your own obstacle? You want to distance yourself so you won't have to hurt anyone you care about, but that distance has ended up hurting someone anyway. And now because you've forgotten how to open up, you're hurting yourself too."

"Right now, the only thing that hurts is my head," Ike told him.

"Ike, there's a reason that I've been sent here," the other man said quietly.

His friend stared at him curiously, but the mage didn't say anything. Instead, he raised his staff and warped them out. Slowly, the surrounding area faded to black as Ike and Soren were transported back to Ike's room and the much earlier morning hours. The two stood in the darkness by the mercenary's bed, Ike still lost deep in his thoughts. Even in the darkness, he could tell that Soren was uneasy about something himself. Wondering what it was, he looked to the other man, waiting for him to say something.

"The reason I'm here," the mage said, breaking the silence, "is because I'm the only one you know who understands. The way you are now—that's the way I've been almost all my life. I could never open up to anyone…and you're still the only one I can be honest with. When I think of what would have happened to me if I had been left alone—I don't think I would have survived."

"Soren…"

Ike knew how much it pained his friend to talk of his past. He put his hand on his friend's shoulder reassuringly. At least I remember how to care about you. If only I could show that to everyone else.

"Ike," the black-haired man said, "don't take Pit's actions lightly. What he did—it was extremely brave. I may not know him, but I admire his courage. He knew the risks, but he didn't hide his feelings from you. He was able to do what I was not."

The swordsman retracted his hand slightly in surprise. What exactly was Soren admitting to him?

"Soren…you-?"

"It's all in the past now," the mage said quickly. "You're like a brother to me, Ike. But please, don't make the same mistake I did. Don't shut people out. All you will gain from it is a withdrawn and miserable life."

The mercenary didn't know what to say. He saw his friend's shadow move closer to him—so close—until he could even feel his warm breath on his skin. The blue-haired man froze as his friend embraced him. Never in his life had he expected Soren to make such a bold move.

"I believe in you," Soren whispered in Ike's ear and pressed his lips softly against his cheek.

Ike closed his eyes and like before, his consciousness left him and everything faded away.

A/N:I love this chapter! I think it may just be my favorite; Soren is awesome and the 20 questions scene was a blast to write . I hope I did alright with everyone's characters. I apologize for making Ike a drama queen. The ending scene wasn't originally going to happen, but IkexSoren's kinda grown on me (and I thought if Greil gets to kiss him, then Soren does too) *shot* Actually, I have this hilarious image I want to draw out eventually...We'll see if I get around to it.