Breakaway

Author's notes: A oneshot/drabble, a bit of spoilers if you haven't gotten far into Suikoden V.

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He often dreams of all of them breaking away. He knows that it is an impossible dream and that's why he hardly dares to speak out it. Still, it is a dream that he often finds himself thinking about and wishes for.

Once he whispered the dream into her ear, as they lay unable to sleep at night. She had listened, smiled and though she also knew that it was impossible, afterwards he could see the dream reflected in her eyes. Ever since then it was not his alone, but their dream, their dream to share and keep secret.

The dream was nothing spectacular yet there was nothing else in the world that could be compared to it.

The dream was a small house, on a small island surrounded by water as far as the eye could see. It was built under the shades of palm trees and merely footsteps away from the beach. The house itself was built by wood, held together with sturdy rope and nails. No metal, no marble. There was not even glass covering the windows, which were little more than square openings in the walls, for there would be no storms or cold winds.

They would live there, the four of them.

Each time the sun rose in the morning would mark a new day for them, a new and exciting day. Their daughter would run around the kitchen, following one family member after another and while talking quickly about whatever was on her mind. They would laugh at her, comfort her, reasssure her and get rid of the worries she had. At breakfast, their son would announce his plans for the day, that he was off to explore yet another place of interest.

She would protest, a sign of motherly concern. He would assure her of their son's own ability to take care of himself. It was a neverending routine, yet in the end she would be convinced. After all, there would be nothing to fear.

He would spend the day with his daughter if she happened to be left behind by her brother and his friends. It would always take an hour or two to make that sour look on her face go away, but all would be forgotten when she caught the first fish of the day or found a pretty shell to make a necklace off. His daughter, this pretty little girl, would never have any worries, never be left alone.

The fish that they caught would be cooked for dinner. They would always do it together, she because cooking had never been a part of her upbringing and he because he wanted to help. The whole family would be gathered at dinner and their son would share his adventures with them.

At the end of the day, when both children lay asleep in their beds, he would find her standing on the beach. The wind, always gentle and soothing, would catch her hair. Sometimes he would stand quietly and watch her, thinking how beautiful she was when her hair was not restrained by a heavy crown and gold ornaments.

She would know that he was watching and turn around and smile at him. It would be a smile, a genuine smile which was no marked down by fatigue or worry. When he put his arms around her waist and buried his face in the back of her neck, he would close his eyes for a moment just to take everything in. The sound of the ocean and the wind, the sand against his bare feet, holding her warm body, hearing his children pretending to be asleep but bickering because his daughter insisted not being left behind on the next adventure.

That is his dream, his simple dream.

Though days, weeks, months and even years pass, he always keeps it with him.

He still dreams of it, even during the moment when immense heat and pain strikes him at once. Everything becomes gold around him and all he can see is her standing before her, eyes watering with tears and her face struck with horror of what she has done. He feels no shock, no anger. All he does is smile at her and whisper words that he knows that she can't hear.

"I'll be waiting for you."

A moment passes and his last thought and feeling is that she knows where she'll be able to find him.