Author's Note: Moving right along, I'm enjoying this fic and I'm pleasantly surprised by how everything seems to be piecing itself together without much effort on my part. Nice when that happens.

All characters and places in this work are owned by Nintendo.

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Saving You, Saving Myself
Chapter Three: The Value of a Hat

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Ness stood awkwardly with his mouth agape. Lucas had slipped through his fingers by inches, and plummeted what must have been twenty feet into the water below. He didn't even know how deep that water was, and yet his friend had dived, head first. By some miracle, Lucas had gained enough momentum when he pushed himself off the face of the cliff that he missed the rocks immediately below but... he wasn't coming up. As each moment passed, Ness began to worry more.

"Lucas?!... Lucas!!" He called frantically, eyes roving for a glimpse of the blonde breaking the surface.

Gritting his teeth, his first instinct was to play hero, and dive in after him. His common sense, however, chastized him. Just because Lucas hadn't dashed himself on the rocks, did not mean the slightly taller and heavier Ness would be able to avoid them as well. Biting his lip, Ness racked his brain. He needed to do something, now.

All that was forgotten, though, because a moment later Lucas burst up, gasping, from the water. Ness' eyes lit up at the sight of his friend, obviously still alive and seemingly unhurt. His clothes were soaked, his hair, saturated, fell limp... but he was okay.

"Lucas, that was crazy!" The dark-haired boy's voice was thick with emotion. "...You could've gotten seriously hurt!"

Lucas, looking up at Ness, could only smile sheepishly. Then, looking as though he suddenly remembered something, he lifted his arm in the air.

"It was stuck on some coral... I had to spend a bit of time down there getting it out."

Thrusting his hand up for Ness to see, he showed that he was holding the hat.

Some minutes later, Ness was standing on the beach where the two boys had first met. As Lucas had jumped off the cliff there was no way to go back whence he came, and had to swim around. It wasn't far, and the blonde boy soon emerged from the water, shivering a bit as the breeze touched him. His wet clothing clung to him, his hair hung in damp tendrils over his forehead, and he was walking just a little bit strangely as wet sand squished between his toes. When his eyes fell upon Ness, however, he was all smiles.

"I brought your hat," the blonde said obviously, holding out the cap to its owner. "Sorry it's wet..."

Ness stared at Lucas. He strode slowly over to the blonde, and his fingers closed around the bill of the hat. His expression was unreadable, and Lucas was surprised as the other boy dropped the cap onto the ground as soon as he had it in his possession. Looking up at his friend in confusion, the blonde's breath suddenly rushed out of his lungs as he was pressed against the taller boy in a crushing hug.

"Of course it's wet," Ness said softly, embracing him even tighter. "But you don't have to risk hurting yourself to get a stupid hat!"

The quiet boy's initial surprise quickly gave way to realizing he was being held by the person he was completely infatuated with. Ness was holding him. Tightly.

"Too tight," the blonde whispered breathlessly.

"Sorry..." Ness sighed, his hold relaxing enough for Lucas to breathe easier.

His face felt warm, however, as he noticed that Ness was not letting him go.

"Ness..?" he said uncertainly, hiding his face against his friend's shoulder.

"...Mm?"

He hadn't really been paying attention.

"I-I'm getting you all wet, too," he stammered, becoming increasingly flustered.

Ness did not say anything, but eventually released Lucas from his arms. Taking a step backwards from the boy who was now flushed bright pink, he folded his arms and regarded his friend for a moment.

"You know, Lucas... I don't get it."

Lucas tilted his head questioningly. He clearly didn't get it, either.

"I don't get why you seem to think I care about dumb stuff. Like this," he looked down, toe nudging the cap. "I don't care about a hat so much that I'd ever ask you to do something so... insane... to get it back. What do I care if you got me a little damp, either?"

He threw up his arms, at a loss.

"..It means a lot to you, so... I wanted to help," the blonde offered meekly, looking down at the sand.

Ness extended an arm and reached out for Lucas, but did not pull him into another hug. Instead, he put a hand on his shoulder.

"Listen, Lucas... I-- look at me," Ness punctuated his command by using his free hand to tilt the blonde's chin up to face him. "I love my hat, it does mean a lot to me, and I appreciate the thought. If I ever lost it though... I wouldn't die. But if I lost a friend like you, I just might."

Lucas swallowed hard. He found himself staring helplessly into Ness' eyes, unable to look away from their blue depths. Yet he heard his friend's words, and felt remorse for making him worry.

"I'm sorry, Ness..."

"I try to be strong so I can protect people I care about from bad things, even though right now I can't really remember who all of those people are... I know that sounds stupid. Things happen that you can't control," he looked meaningfully at Lucas. "Today, when I watched you dive in there, I felt so helpless. I don't like feeling helpless..."

The black-haired teen looked away then, turning from his friend and wrapping his arms about himself.

"I don't know how you've done it," Ness continued, staring off into space. "You've experienced a lot of loss and you can still smile sometimes. You're a better man than I am... to have kept moving forward. I couldn't do that."

Lucas didn't know what to say. Ness was speaking from the heart, possibly touching upon memories that he was still not fully aware of... or maybe truths about himself that he realized when all he had to go on was his own name. Whatever the case, the blonde's heart ached for him. Lucas didn't know how to feel about Ness coming down on himself like this. The blonde tentatively reached out and touched the other boy's arm.

As though waking from some kind of trance, Ness seemed slightly startled by the contact, but soon relaxed and smiled apologetically at his friend.

"Sorry for rambling. Let's get you home and into some dry clothes," he said cheerfully, slinging an arm around the blonde's shoulders.

It was quite a sight to the other villagers as the two of them made their way. Lucas was drenched... and barefoot. He was staring at the path ahead of him, not making eye contact with anyone. Ness was walking next to him, juggling what must have been the missing shoes, a baseball bat, and a hat in one arm. His other arm was wrapped protectively about the blonde, and he returned the villagers' stares with mild annoyance.

"What're you lookin' at?"

When they reached the fenced in front yard, Boney, who had returned to snooze in his dog house, only opened one eye in acknowledgement. The sight of his owner dripping wet didn't really surprise him. After all the two of them had seen together, he'd pretty much seen it all. Entering the house, they discovered that Flint, as usual, was not home. He had a tendency to leave early in the morning and stay out all day.

"At least we won't have to come up with a story for your dad," Ness mused, noticing that Lucas was shivering in his wet garments. "First things first, though. Clothes."

Ness' hand clamped around his shoulder, and nudged along behind him as though steering. Lucas did not complain, and obediently climbed the stairs in front of him. He felt tired, for some reason, and when Ness parked him in the center of his bedroom, he stood there like a lump. He barely noticed Ness hovering over him, until the black-haired boy started lifting his damp shirt up over his head.

Now completely alert, he gave a small gasp of surprise as he watched Ness fussily beginning to undress him. Blushing furiously, he gulped as the other boy dropped his shirt onto the floor.

"Ness.." He whimpered a little and pulled away, which caused his friend to become more persistent in his efforts.

"If you aren't going to do it, I am. You'll get sick."

By the time Ness was working on the zipper of his shorts, he began to panic. Pushing on Ness' arms, he gave an indignant sound.

"..I-I can undress myself!" Lucas was flustered and looking like he was about to cry.

"Okay, okay," Ness gave in, raising his hands in truce and backing away.

The dark-haired boy now turned his back and busied himself in Lucas' dresser, gathering dry clothes for his friend to put on. He located some clean shorts, and a t-shirt. Further rummaging in the drawers found a pair of boxers with the letters 'D.C.M.C.' on them. Shrugging, Ness added them to the pile.

Gathering his collection in his arms, he turned to hand them to Lucas, but stopped short. Lucas had not finished undressing, but rather stood there awkwardly in the exact position that Ness had left him... shorts unzipped and hanging haphazardly from his hips. At least his shirt was off, which allowed Ness to take note that his friend's blushing was not limited to his face. He arched a brow. The blonde looked like he was in shock, and about to die of embarrassment.

"Aw, come on, Lucas... it's not like you've got anything I haven't seen before... We're both guys."

Lucas only looked miserably at Ness.

"What if I got naked, too? Would that make you feel less embarrassed?" He grinned, dropping the armload of clothing onto the floor and lifting up the hem of his own shirt, exposing his navel. "Sympathetic nudity?"

His attempt to make Lucas laugh, or at least crack a smile, seemed to have fallen flat. Ness' own smile dissolved.

"Lucas?"

The blonde said nothing, but sank to his knees, his face conflicted with a million emotions at once. Ness could never know how self-consciousness mingled with curiosity, with a dash of hidden pleasure at the realization that Ness had offered to disrobe, and probably would've really done it, had he asked. Still wide-eyed and red faced, he was startled a bit when Ness knelt down in front of him. A soothing hand was placed on the blonde's shoulder, and Lucas found himself searching Ness' face for some salvation from his current barrage of emotions.

There was no more need to talk. Ness gathered his friend into his arms. Where the first embrace that day had been panicked and desperate, the second one was comforting and tender. Just Ness' arms around him, and gently rubbing his back. Lucas felt a chill down his spine at the touch, and as expected, the usual twinge of energy... although this time, he did not appear to be the only one to feel it. Ness paused.

"..What was that?"

"What was what?" Lucas asked cautiously, wanting to be sure.

"That feeling... it was like... a current of electricity."

"...I didn't know you could feel it too," the blonde murmured softly.

"Only just now... when I did this..."

His fingers again traced gently along Lucas' spine, and he shivered.

"...I feel it all the time," the blonde hid his face against his friend's shoulder. "Everytime we touch."

"What is it?"

"I-I'm not sure," Lucas replied truthfully, "but I have an idea..."

"Shoot."

"...I think we're feeling PSI energy."

"PSI?"

"Psionic. Powers of the mind."

Ness' hand stopped its gentle ministration and came to a rest on the small of the blonde's back as he considered his words.

"That's how you saved me on the beach."

It wasn't a question, but a realization.

"Yeah... it was..."

"So you have... special powers?"

"I guess I do."

Lucas swallowed hard. Was Ness going to laugh? Was he going to say he was making it up? Ness, however, did neither. There was something else weighing on his mind.

"Why do you feel it when you and I touch?"

"I dunno... maybe you have PSI powers too."

"Me? That's..." Ness then trailed off, uncertainly.

Impossible, is what he wanted to say. There was something, though. Something about this talk about PSI that struck a chord deep within. Suddenly, it didn't seem like it was impossible. He knew Lucas was right.

"I can use PSI..." Ness sounded like a fog was dissipating from his mind.

"I think that's why we feel that... thing," the blonde mumbled.

There was silence for a few moments. Lucas became all too aware that Ness was still holding him. His skin felt feverish, like he would burn away at his touch... but in such a good way. His heart was pounding, and he prayed Ness could not feel it. He didn't know what he would say if his friend asked about it. Fortunately, he did not.

Ness, for his part, was completely absorbed in his thoughts. Bits of memory were trickling back to him, involving his experience with using PSI. Not much, but enough to fill his heart with hope of recovering the rest.

"Lucas?" His voice was quivering with excitement, eager to share his discovery with his friend.

"Yeah...?" The blonde looked up with curiosity at the black-haired boy.

"I'm remembering some more... about PSI. I can't believe it," Ness smiled down at Lucas. "You seem to be a key factor to me remembering stuff."

"Not really... you've been remembering this stuff on your own, I think."

"Don't be so modest, you've put forth so much effort to help me remember stuff. What can I do to return the favor? Name it." Ness grinned, "Although I think I will quite literally owe you my life by the time I remember everything."

Lucas could not name it. The one thing he wanted from Ness was something he had promised himself not to talk about... but it was so hard. Here, in the arms of the one he loved. He could feel his resolve weakening, but almost wished it would shatter, so he might pour his heart out. Ness' face was mere inches from his own, now he could see him up close and personal, and he admired all the things he secretly coveted while Ness slept at night. The jet-black hair, that hung so adorably over his forehead. His smile, complete with full lips that he wished he could...

Just one touch. One taste.

Lucas had told himself all this time that he couldn't have it. Now, he couldn't resist it. He wanted to have it. Needed to have it. Needed that one taste.

"Lucas... what...?" Ness breathed in confusion as the timid blonde placed both hands on his cheeks and leaned closer.

Lucas did not answer, and silenced further questions by pressing his lips to Ness'.

A wave of psionic energy.

It was electrifying.