Author's Note: I do not own any of the characters/locations mentioned; that honor goes to Level 5, Studio Ghibli and Bandai. Just putting that out there in case anybody is hunting the site for copyright infringements...

There were three things I needed to address in a sketch. One was the fact that Swaine obviously got along well with Oliver, so did Esther feel less important to him considering their constant bickering? It is always about Oliver, what about their relationship? I do not ship Swaine x Esther if for no other reason than I am a young high school teacher and that age gap is way too weird. I respect the work that has been done with it, but I definitely think they are more like siblings. The second thing I wanted to do was put Swaine in a place, now that he has worked out a lot of his personal problems, to realize he subconsciously fills a role in the little family as protective big brother looking out for those darn kids. The third and final thing was to address the fact that Esther keeps calling Swaine a coward, which was ironic to me considering that she was the one with her courage stolen from her. It always got on my nerves in the game, like heaven forbid Swaine be a realist, can't you just be nice? So, three birds and one stone, here we go.

(btw Labeled Sketch 8 because I plan on inserting another sketch chronologically when I have time)

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Sketch 8: Subtle Courage

"I don't like the looks of this," Swaine muttered, eyes darting back and forth across the landscape. The sun was setting, casting deep shadows over the rocky hills north of Billy Goat's Bluff. So late already… If he had his way, they would have stopped for the night and waited until morning on the shore. However, the rest of the team was anxious to locate Xanadu and the queen who lived there, Khulan. Marcassin had informed them that she was the only one who might have a solution to their Mornstar dilemma. Apparently one extra night was asking too much time.

Esther, as always, was the first to respond. "For crying out loud, Swaine, don't be such a coward!" She looked back at him impatiently with a look of disapproval. He should have been accustomed to this look by now; he received it a lot. Still, even though it came from an immature, hot-blooded girl, it still stung every time. This was no exception.

Truthfully, his patience was about run out. Every time they went somewhere and he made a flippant comment about the risk of the situation, he was rewarded with the same judgmental word: coward. There were moments when he wondered whether he really WAS a coward. But then again, no, that couldn't be right. If he was a coward he wouldn't go along at all, period. So, what was it? He didn't have an answer, and he didn't need one in order to justify snapping.

"Can you not go three days without saying anything condescending like that?" he barked, stopping in his tracks.

She stopped too and turned to face him. Of course, she was further up the hill, so she had to look down on him a bit. "Can you not go three days without whining about the situation? Grow up!"

"Grow up?! Look who's telling who to grow up! You are so reckless!"

"I'm doing what I have to do to stop Shadar! What about you?"

By this time, Oliver and Drippy had stopped too, sharing an expression that plainly read "Not again…" Taking a deep breath, Oliver held up his hands. "Swaine, Esther, can't this wait? We only have so much daylight…" They fought often, but this seemed to be especially tempestuous. It felt as though someone had hit their breaking point, and it made him nervous.

"We wouldn't be worrying about it if we had stopped for the night like I suggested!" Swaine replied, trying to keep an even tone and not snap at the boy. Still, his foot was tapping furiously, the tell-tale sign that he was agitated.

"You probably only suggested that because you are afraid of the dark," Esther shot back, sneering.

That did it. "Fine! You go ahead and break your neck climbing around in the dark while this "coward" makes camp down here!" he shouted, face flushing. He turned heel and began descending in the direction of the beach. Esther just stuck out her tongue at him. She likewise turned heel and hurried to join Oliver and Drippy.

"What a big baby! He can just stay there for all I care! Let's go, Oliver."

Oliver looked uncertain as she marched past him. "Should we really leave Swaine there, Mr. Drippy?"

Drippy shrugged. "It seems we've landed in a one or the other situation."

"Well…Swaine can take care of himself, and he should be safe by the beach. We'd better follow Esther."

"Sounds like good logic, Ollie-boy. Off we go, then."

They hadn't taken two steps when they heard a female scream from above and the sound of rocks tumbling. "Esther?!" Oliver cried, looking around desperately for his friend. He and Drippy dashed further ahead, but in their haste, Oliver tripped on a stone. With ankle twisted, he went down with a yelp, landing on top of Drippy. The fairy's cry of dismay was muffled by Oliver.

"Oliver, heeeelp!"

As all of that went on, a blur radiating a faint spark dashed past, scaling the rocky hills nimbly. It finally came to rest on top of a cliff, whose sharp drop-off led to nothing but jagged rocks below. There hung Esther, grasping for dear life to the edge of the cliff, and there was revealed the form of Lenny, the Dumbelemur entrusted to Swaine. He chattered loudly and flagged someone downhill.

"Good work, Lenny!" A rough voice called back, its owner moving hurriedly but not frantically towards the hapless group. He stepped over Oliver and Drippy in order to get to the one in most dire trouble, but even then he did so cautiously, checking his footing as best he could in the dusk.

"I'm…slipping…" Esther's voice was filled with uncharacteristic panic.

"Just a little longer Esther, don't you dare let go!" He drew near the cliff where Esther dangled, but before he could grasp her hand and haul her up, the rock she was gripping finally crumbled. She screamed as she fell, and Swaine didn't give a moment's thought before he jumped after her.

It was all over in a split-second, and from his vantage point, Oliver could not see any of it. Swaine fell straight down so he could catch up with Esther while simultaneously pulling out his Rogue's Revolver and recalling Lenny. He grabbed her around the waist with one arm. He fired the grappling hook to a rotting tree on top of the cliff. The tree didn't hold their weight, but slowed them down enough that Swaine had time to call out Gunther, who stood at the bottom and caught them as they fell into his strong arms.

No one made a sound, no one moved a muscle as everyone's brains caught up to the current moment. Swaine was the first to react. "Ahem, thanks big guy, I owe you one," he patted his familiar on the back, and Burly Hurly let him and Esther down gently. He then released his grip on her, letting her fall to her knees, then clutched his heart, recalling Gunther. "God, fricking gave me a heart attack… I'm getting to old for this." He stopped when he heard sniffling. "Uh, Esther?"

She couldn't say a word. She held her hands to her mouth as if to stop the sobs, but she was shaking all over, and tears spilled from her eyes. He inhaled sharply. "Esther, are you hurt?!" It was all she could do to shake her head 'no'. He calmed down, understanding. "Shaken up. I get it. Shall I go fetch the crippled wizard, or do you want me to stay a little longer?" His voice had grown quiet, as if to keep from being heard by the others.

"I'm so…sorry Swaine!" she choked, bowed over so she wouldn't have to look at him in the fading light. "You were right…"

It caught her completely off guard when he laid a gentle hand on her back, having squatted down to her level. "Normally I'd rub it in, but this isn't the time." Something about the way he tried to calm her made the whole thing even worse. And…

"After everything…you…came running…"

He sighed. "How bad of a person do you really take me for? You really think I'd leave you when you are in trouble?"

"I…don't know…" She continued to cry simply because he was being so uncharacteristically nice, and he responded by rubbing her back, saying nothing. Heaven knew it was totally awkward, and he looked to the sky for some kind of divine guidance.

A few minutes later, as she began to calm down, he finally spoke again. "Esther, I hate it when you call me a coward." As he said this, he grimaced, as if the word alone had wounded him. "But every time you say that, I always wonder if maybe I am. Every time we are about to do something crazy, I hesitate. I didn't understand it at first, but I think I understand it now. You know what it is?" She shook her head 'no', so he continued. "I've been on my own for a long time, so I know how dangerous the world is. More than just avoiding bad situations to save my own skin though, I…don't want anything to happen to you or Oliver. I'm the adult, and it's my job to look out for you and keep you safe." He paused, contemplating. "Well, at least, safe from non-magical things. Anyways, when I say "I have a bad feeling about this", I'm the voice of reason that wants you to stop and think about what you're doing before rushing in. When I say "Let's make camp for the night", I'm thinking about how dangerous it is to hike around these hills in the dark. Do you understand, Esther? I'll jump off a cliff no sweat, but there are times being cautious is the best bet."

"Since when did you get to be a grown-up?" she murmured. She looked at him through tear-stained eyes. He was endearingly sincere, not the tiniest trace of a mocking smile or a hint of smug satisfaction in his eyes. He just looked tired, like he had been carrying additional burdens besides his own heavy ones.

"The grown up is in there somewhere, he just doesn't come out much," Swaine shrugged. This elicited a sudden hug from Esther. She could feel him tense, as if he would never have seen it coming in a million years, as if he hadn't been hugged in forever. Stumbling, he unsurely returned the gesture.

"You know which piece of my heart was stolen from me?" she asked from inside her embrace. He grunted his denial. "Courage. I was a shell who never left her father's side, never talked to anyone or did anything. When I got that courage back, I felt like I had so much lost time to make up for. I wanted to do everything, see everything. I wanted people to know that the brokenhearted me wasn't the real me. I…get carried away."

"I never would have guessed that ba-uh, bad guy…took your courage," he replied, genuinely surprised. "You are the bravest person I know. Well, you and Oliver. That's why you're such a pain in the arse to keep track of."

"Well, it makes me a hypocrite to say you have no courage when I was the one who didn't have any."

"No, because you had yours taken, it makes sense that you would be hypersensitive when other people don't use the courage they still have."

She let go and looked up, finally smiling. "That's generous of you, but either way I was wrong about calling you a coward. You may whine a LOT, but you've never once abandoned us, not even when we fought a giant wolf, a skeleton pirate, a candle ghost, and definitely that giant snake that I know you loved so much…" At the mention of Aapep, he visibly shuddered, earning a giggle from Esther. "So, I'm sorry, Swaine. I won't ever call you a coward again."

"I appreciate that, Esther." Before he could continue his thought, she interrupted with one more thing.

"You do know I will still make fun of you, even though that topic is officially off the table, right?"

He laughed. "Back at you. Now, I thought Oliver would have come back by now having healed his own twisted ankle, but I guess he's out of magicka. That or he wants me to give him a piggy-back ride down to the beach. What do you think?" He got up and dusted himself off, then helped Esther to her feet.

"Probably both. Let's go check on him."

Truth was, still lying back up the hill, Oliver had simply been too wrapped up in eavesdropping to heal himself. In fact, he would have forgotten about Mr. Drippy underneath him if Drippy hadn't been squirming so much. Hearing them coming, he blushed. Better just pretend he was out of magicka…