Hai, there. I'm back. MUAHAHA. YOU THOUGHT YOU'D GOTTEN RID OF ME? NOPE! :3

Okay, I have here a GameBrine oneshot that takes place during the time before and after Sky was born. It was suggested by RuskaC, which is why the chapter is dedicated to her.

FIRST, THOUGH, UH, THANK YOU FOR 30k READS AND A CRAPTON OF VOTES AND COMMENTS. 3

Okay. Moving on.

Prepare your feels. I tried my best to make this at least slightly feels-breaking.

Something explodes in the distance.

With a startled yelp, I jump to my feet, immediately sprinting down the nether brick hallways of the Nether Fortress. This is how every morning starts out, not that I mind it. This is life for me, and I love it, I truly do.

The first time I made the run from my bedroom in the fortress to His special area, I ended it with a nice show of me falling to my knees and gasping for breath. By now, though, I've gotten used to the physical exertion (it isn't even physical exertion anymore), so I don't have to pause for even one second before crossing the line of glowstone that surrounds the special area. "Out, out, out!" I say softly, immediately turning back around to guide a baby magma cube towards the fortress. I place my left hand on the back of a terrified wither skeleton as I go, leading him as well. "Come on, you guys know what time this starts. One of you needs to buy a watch or something."

Another explosion sounds, but I don't even flinch as the noise makes my ears ring and a few pieces of debris hit my chest plate. I mean, I wear the chest plate for a reason.

The mobs, on the other hand, screech wildly and flail their limbs as they run in circles. One small ghast (a child, so I can't really blame him for his actions) even prepares to launch a fireball at the one causing the explosions.

"Ah, ah, ah," I scold him, tugging on one of his tentacles and pulling him away from the special area. "It's your fault for choosing to sleep here when you know this is where He lets off steam. Now, run along. Go entertain that group of pigwomen, okay? They look scared. I think this is the first time they've seen Him do this."

The ghast glares at me for a moment, but then he lets out a squeak of assent before heading toward the zombie pigwomen in the near distance. Several magma cubes of different ages jump frantically after him, and a mother blaze leads her small son in the same direction, uttering a noise that I've learned means "Thank you."

I nod in acknowledgment before turning to scan the area. Good, no more mobs. After taking a deep breath, I head towards the lone man that's standing with His back to me in the middle of the area.

"Hey," I breathe, placing my hand gently on His right shoulder. "You okay?"

Breathing heavily, He nods. "Y-Yeah. Sorry."

I smile and grab His hand, pulling Him down so we can sit next to each other on the ground. "It's okay, you know that. You're under a lot of stress as king of the Nether."

He groans and tugs on His hair. "I just- Will, what am I gonna do?" He whimpers. "Half of my lives are gone. And, yeah, that means I still have quite a few left, but it's just- the time is coming! What am I gonna do when I die for the last time? I don't have anyone to be my heir!"

I shrug, leaning onto His shoulder. "'Sokay, HB. You'll just be trapped down here when you lose your last life – it's not like you'll be trapped in nonexistence or anything."

He glares at me, and I laugh and throw up my hands in a defensive position. "Hey, don't look at me like that! Honestly, we both know you're not going to the Aether."

He's quite clearly trying to keep an unamused face, but the twitch of His lips gives Him away. Still, He sighs as he puts an arm around me. "I know, Will. I'll still be down here, but I won't have my powers, and how can one rule a dimension without some form of powers?"

"Mm, I dunno. Maybe if you get a bunch of the mobs down here to respect you as a friend, they'll still listen to you once you become powerless."

He raises an eyebrow. "Seriously? None of them are ever going to 'respect me as a friend.'"

"You don't know that!"

"I just blew up half the Nether," He exaggerates, splaying out a hand towards the large craters in the netherrack in front of us. "Sure, of course they'll want to be besties."

I huff and roll my eyes. "That's not what I meant."

He smiles a little and pulls me closer to Him. "I know, honey. And I know you're only trying to help, too, but- well, I just don't think the whole Brine legacy is going to last much longer."

For a few moments, there is only silence.

"You know," I start quietly, "I read a book once on Nether mythology..."

"That stuff can't be trusted," HB replies immediately. "The writers of those crappy books usually haven't visited this place even once."

"Yeah, but... Well, I read about how you have a house on the bedrock on top of the Nether, and-"

"I don't. No one can get up there."

"Shut up, I'm talking," I snap, glaring at Him. He chuckles a bit and hugs me more tightly. "Okay, so what if we grew a jungle tree, or a dark oak tree or something, at the top of the Nether? It would grow through the bedrock, and then you could fly us up there."

"And why would we want to be up there in the first place..?"

"Because I've read this mythology about how there's a secret book up there that can be used to break the laws of Minecraft! If we find it, we can spawn a kid with the secret spell, and our kid can be your heir!"

HB's eyes widen slightly. "Will, that's... That's not a bad idea. I mean, we might as well try it."

"Of course we should try it! All my ideas end brilliantly, anyways," I giggle, crawling into His lap and snuggling into His chest.

He smiles and puts His arms around me. "I don't doubt it," He says quietly. Then He sighs again, but this time it's a happy sigh, and then he whispers the words "I love you," and I just close my eyes and soak it in because He's not usually this emotional. (Yes. For Him, this is emotional.)

"I love you, too," I mumble.

I stumble through the Nether Fortress, repeatedly running into things due to my unfortunate lack of sight. It's okay, it'll probably go away soon. It usually only hurts for about ten minutes, and then I'm partially blind for half an hour, and then I'm back to relative normality.

"Ugh, why is that kid so obsessed with Peek-A-Boo?" I ask the air as I let my hands guide me down the hall. Honestly, Sky never wants to play anything else. But I can't say "no," no matter how much it hurts to play that game, because Sky's disappointed baby face is too much to bear. I love that kid so, so much, and losing most of my sight is definitely worth the blurry vision of his smiling face.

"William!"

Oh, crap. He never calls me that.

"Over here, HB!" I shout, since I'm too blind to actually figure out where in the fortress I am.

"Oh. Why are you outside?"

I'm outside? Well, this is news. Thankfully, it seems my vision is beginning to come back, because I can just make out the outline of my boyfriend's glowing eyes as he walks toward me.

"Ah, I just needed some fresh air, I guess."

HB snorts. "Fresh air? We don't have any of that down here." His tone softens slightly. "In fact, I'm thinking you should head up to the surface for a while."

I frown despite the slight happiness that comes with fully regaining my vision. "Why?"

"Just- well, I just don't think- I don't really think you can handle it down here."

My eyes widen. "What? Of course I can handle it, I've handled it for eight years!"

"Yeah, but during the last four years... I don't know. I feel like Skybrine is just a bit too much for you..."

"He's not too much for me!" I protest, stomping my foot and furrowing my eyebrows. "We play games and I teach him things and he teaches me things and-"

HB butts in. "And you play Peek-A-Boo, and you go blind, and-"

"No, I don't!" I insist, stepping towards Him. "Come on, I'm fine down here! I love it down here!"

He presses His lips together for a moment. Then, "Will... You're going to get hurt."

"No, I'm not! I promise!"

"Will-"

"I'm not leaving. You can't make me leave."

Realization seems to flit across His features, and then, not a second later, His expression and tone turn to something that terrifies me. "Yes, I can," He growls. "Listen, William, I tried to pretend this was for your own good, but it's not for your own good, it's for mine. I don't want to have to deal with you anymore, okay?"

Tears begin to form in my wide eyes, but I quickly blink them away because this can't be happening, this must be a dream. A sick, twisted dream. "No, HB-"

"No, HB," he mimics me. "Stop your whining. And don't call me 'HB,' either. My name is Herobrine. And, as king of the Nether, I am semi-kindly asking you to leave my dimension forever."

"No, I- Why? What did I do? I thought we were fine!" I argue, and, half-way through, my voice cracks as I realize this might not be a dream.

"It's not something you did, it's who you are," Herobrine snarls, taking a threatening step towards me. "You're a mortal, and I can't be with a mortal. I'm above you, William. And until you can prove otherwise, I don't want to see your ugly face or hear your stupid voice."

I shake my head frantically, taking a scared step back. "You don't mean that, HB! It's never mattered before, so- so why does it matter now?"

"Because it just does!" He roars. "I can't stand to spend one more moment with a simple human, a being so trivial that one day he won't even be remembered! And, William, I hate you! I hate your stupid, shockingly white, spiky hair – what socially-challenged part of you makes you think that's cool? It was a genetic mistake! - and I hate your ridiculous red contacts – they don't make you look any more threatening than a red-eyed, adorable puppy! - and I hate how you always try to comfort me or cheer me up when I'm feeling down, because you know? I am Herobrine! You can't change my mood, you can't change my heritage, you can't change me! Now, for Notch's sake, leave!"

If the Nether wasn't hot enough to evaporate water as soon as it was made, I would have left a river of tears in my wake.