There's a monster author's note, but I moved it to the end instead. Be prepared!

Dedicated too four lovely reviewers: , Deamonslayer576, Aymeliea and Lexa. Thank you so much guys! x

Chapter Thirteen

"Saph?"

A hand shakes my shoulder, pulling me out of my tangled web of dreams.

"Conor?" I open my eyes sleepily.

"Tired? He sits down on the end of my bed, reaching out a hand to stroke my hair back off of my face.

I nod. "A bit. I feel better now though."

"What time did you get home from school?"

"Urm…about four?" the minute I say this, I know it must be wrong. The sun was setting when I got home, even though I'd left school at three. I must have slipped into Ingo time when I was with Faro…

"Lucky you; I've only just got back. Sixth period lesson, and then a study session, and then I got talking with Mr Boyd and you know how he goes on…and on…anyway, sorry about being late back."

"S'okay." I sit up, stretching.

"Were you okay, walking home by yourself?"

"Conor, I'm sixteen; I was fine…"

"You know what I mean…I'm not talking about…normal threats. Did you have any…any trouble with Ingo?"

For a moment, a stab or irritation goes through me. It's none of his business…whispers a small voice inside of my head, which sound rather too much like Faro for comfort. None of his business what you do or where you go. He's treating you like a child.

"No." the lie slips out without my permission. "No, it was fine."

He blinks, before letting out a relived smile. "Good." He says in a more relaxed voice. "Maybe it's given up?"

"Maybe…" I mumble.

"Saph…" Conor lets out a soft sigh, and when I look up I can see that his eyes are troubled. "I'm not doing this to make you miserable I'm doing this for your safety."

"I'm not a baby; I can look after myself!"

"Maybe there's some truth in that. But Saph, I'm your big brother. I've been hardwired to protect you; I'm permanently set on 'Look After Sapphire' mode. And don't think… this isn't only…look, please believe me when I say that this is for your own good."

I stare at him in confusion before the realisation hits me. Conor misses Ingo too. As I study his expression, I realise something else I've been blind too as well. I realise why Conor hasn't truly been back to Ingo since we returned from the crossing.

Blood swirling around the wound, drifting through the water. Ervys's dead eyes stare up at Conor, unseeing, unknowing, all life extinguished…

Ingo is where Conor's nightmares reside; Ingo is where Conor killed a man. Ingo is where he became a man. And, for the moment, Conor just wants to be a normal boy. A normal, eighteen year old boy who's getting ready to go to university, who likes surfing on Porthmeor beach, who might drink a sneaky beer or two with friends now and again (which he thinks I don't know about, but I do). He doesn't want to be a killer. And I bet that he also doesn't want to remember the look on Dad's face as he died.

"Saph?"

I blink, snapping out of my moment of insight.

"What?"

He rolls him eyes. "You're such a daydreamer. No wonder your teachers despair…"

"Oi!"

"'Sapphire has an intelligent mind,'" Conor says, adopting a thick, plumy voice. "'When she bothers to use it for purposes other than staring out of the window…"

"Hey!"

Conor ducks, chuckling, as a pillow is thrown at his head.

"Just because you're being eyed up by Exeter…"

He winks.

"What do you need to get in again?"

"Three A's…" he sighs. "No pressure there then…"

I roll my eyes. Considering that Conor swept through his GCSE's and emerged on the other side with seven A*'s and six A's, and in addition to the three A's and two B's that he get at AS-Level, I don't think he has a problem. Especially compared to the two A's, eight B's, two C's and a D that I got in my mocks last year…

Mum's over the moon with Conor of course; he has offers from both Exeter and Plymouth to study Maths, and both of them are close to Cornwall…

And then there's me, who's struggling to get a B in most of my subjects, let alone any A*'s…

"Dinner soon." Conor says, his stomach audibly rumbling. "God, I hope it's sausages…you're missing out, Saph."

"Quorn sausages taste just as good!" I protest, folding my arms.

"Whatever you say…" he smirks.

"Oh shut it…" I scramble out of bed and stand up, heading for the door, kicking something soft out of my way as I do so.

"Saph…"

I come to a halt as Conor calls my name. There's an edge to his voice which fills me with anxiety. I turn. "Yeah?"

The disappointment in his eyes triggers a gut-wrenching sickly feeling in my stomach. It twists with guilt as I turn and see him holding up the soaking wet, sand covered tights between two fingers, a look of disbelief on his face. He stares at me as if he hardly knows me, and I feel my cheeks burn with shame. "I…"

"I know you're good at lying to people, Saph," He says in a low voice. "But I didn't think I was one of them."

"Conor-"

"Just don't Saph!" he says, his voice rising slightly, his own cheeks fiery, but with anger instead of shame. "Just don't!"

I step towards him, but he spins away, climbing up into his room, the one I've been sleeping in recently, and pulling the ladder up behind him.

"Conor!" I stand underneath the trapdoor, the hurt look in his eyes haunting me. "Conor! I'm sorry! Conor!"

There's no reply. He must be really upset. I sigh and sit down on my bed, cursing me tights. An echo of a memory from years before drifts into my mind; Conor and I arguing over Ingo, Conor locking himself away upstairs, and me…and me…being tugged, pulled, the tide rushing out, drawing me after it.

Sapphire…

The voice from the sea is as deliciously temping as ever.

Sapphire…

"Sapphire!" there's a yell from downstairs. I blink, snapping out of my trance. Roger sounds desperate. Surely dinner's not that important? "Conor! Sapphire!"

I frown and head downstairs quickly. I hear Conor emerging from his room behind me as I race down the wooden steps. Sadie is whining and for a moment I panic, thinking something's wrong with her. "Sadie!" I rush to her. "What's wrong, girl?" I look up at Roger. "What's wrong with her?!"

"Nothing." Roger says, and for a moment I relax. "Nothing's wrong with Sadie…"

Conor joins us in the kitchen, brown eyes wide. "What's happening?"

Roger turns to look at him. "It's your mother." He says in a strained voice. "She's gone into labour."

Look who's back? Ea, hi bos va! And I'm speaking (very bad) Cornish! I'm learning out of an online dictionary, so my grammar must be disgusting :S

Anyhoozle, I have reread the first four books and now feel ready to continue! I was initially worried that I might not like them as much as I did when I read them last…however, I soon realised I definitely did. The fact that I sat down intending to read the first few chapters of the first book and then ended up reading continuously until the end of book three testifies this. I would have read four as well, but by that point it was about 1am and it was a school night…:S And now that I've discovered my fangirl side, there was a lot of squealing and desperate handflapping during some of the Saro scenes. EEEEEEEEEEEEEE! SO CUTE! Ahem. And I now feel I'll be able to improve my characterisation. Especially with Rainbow. That little hyper minx!

I'm updating this MUCH later than I originally intended too (it's the thirteenth chapter! Doooom! Doom got in the way I tell you! Ahem.), mainly due to the fact that I sat down to write this and ended up re-writing my first Ingo fic, 'The Songs of Moryow', into a oneshot called 'The Call of Moryow' which is up now, if you're interested in reading that…*hint hint* ;). It's based around Jennie .

EDIT: And so it's now nearly three months after I sat down and wrote this authors note…fail. I meant to update after exams, but life got in the way, like it does. However, I will, seriously begin updating more frequently now, as SCHOOL IS OVER UNTIL SEPTEMBER! Hurraaaaaaaaaaaah! Bring on the Ingo-ness!

Also, I've found a use for my Twitter account (which has been sitting gathering dust…); updates on the progress of fic writing. It's Sapphire_Oceans if you're interested x

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy and thank you so, so, SO much to everyone who reviewed! I don't think I've replied to all of them yet, sorry, but I'll get round to it!