+ Category: Fantastic Children

+ Rate: T

+ Genre: Angst / Tragedy

Author's notes: Well, I intended to write this fic a very long time ago, maybe right after finishing the Greecia arc. Now all such wonderful vacations had passed, I managed to put my ideas down on papers, err...not really papers, e-papers alright. ^^"

The complication/coincidence occured in the S-T-S love triangle bugged me a lot, because at first it seemed that Princess Tina was the main cause of Sesu-Soran broken bond, but then... when you were willing to take a closer look, the fault indeed belonged to the men. So, that's why I set to explore deeper into their inner mind/feelings, particularly the young lord and the captain, by setting up this unofficial scenario where the two warriors would be forced to decide their fate after their subject of affection had gone, and if not, to settle the score.

How many more times do I have to say that FC doesn't belong to me? :)

++ Italic words in slashes indicate thoughts ++

~ TRUTH ~

Chapter 1

He heard it. A soft clop. Footsteps against marble. He was at it again. He smiled and stood up. He wouldn't get much rest even if he tried, so what was the use.

Every night it was the same. She would come towards him. Her smile still etched in his subconscious, her long white hair billowing in the imaginary breeze and her blue eyes that could, would forever, penetrate into his soul, eyes that were never denied passage. She would see what he was, all his dreams, all his hopes and all that could have been. And again she would smile as she falls in to his arm and become enveloped in them almost perfectly. As if she was made to fit into his embrace. She would look up into his eyes. Her eyes of deep, so very deep, blue and he would lose himself in it. And she would move closer to him, 'till he could smell her scent of sunlight and boundless ocean. Her lips would move up opposite his, 'till he could almost feel their softness.

Then always, always he would waken before they touched. Always. A love unconsummated.

He smiled, /What was the use?/ He stood awhile thinking about the past, as was his wont. He had nothing but memories now, and for him that was enough.

***
It was almost dawn now and he stared at the blood drying on his sword, and then the open wound on his left arm. He should dress it, he knew, but it did not matter. Since however hard he kept training, every step he took, every move he made, her smile always haunted him.

He stood by the river bank, the autumn rain dripping down his face, hiding his tears, and washing away his pain.

His mind shifted to the time not long ago, of an angel's beautiful blue eyes staring into his own. Of soft arms embraced his scent. Of a sweet voice echoing in his head. /Thank you, for everything./ She whispered those words as if it were that easy to achieve. And as he looked into those ocean-blue eyes he almost believed it was.

Even in death...she was immortally beautiful.

He closed his eyes willing for the darkness to leave his soul. But it would never leave his black soul, it fed on his now frozen heart and smile. Never would it leave him.

To be continued...

***