Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened.

[not_heavens_adam]

Some theoretical five years into the future, the Great Powers That Be have granted characters one (completely optional) chance
to go home. Everyone has a difficult decision to make, perhaps
one of their most trying: will they make the trip back home, now that
the path is open? Or will they remain in Vatheon, to continue
their lives without ever seeing their homes again?





R U L E S
~ Post with your character(s)!
~ In the subject line write either LEAVING or STAYING.
~ Optional: write a little blurb about who your character has become, or their feelings on the situation.
~ Everyone tag each other!
~ ???
~ FUN OR TEARS???

Comments

[fabrecation]

Shut up! You're not just one person!

[It's like he can't let go of Guy's sleeves. As if he knows that when he does, he'll lose him forever.]

You're my best friend, Guy! I love you, dammit! I - [He turns his head away.] I can't do this without you!

[He's sure he can't. Part of the reason he could get this far in Vatheon was because of Guy. Sure, there were other reasons... but it was support and love and patience that helped him through that.

Support? He'll have that. But everything else...? Especially with the one person who believed so much in him gone?]

[relinquishing]

...Yes, you can.

[Did having the person gone suddenly mean the support he'd provided this whole time was meaningless?

No. No it didn't. Guy knew that... and he was pretty sure that Luke knew it, too. Whether Guy was there or not, it didn't change the fact that he had faith in what Luke could do. How Luke could change.

...

Slowly, Guy lifts the hand resting against Luke's hair, only to reach it to the back of his own neck, fiddling against the nape for a moment.]

You made this promise without me there. You were determined to see it through regardless of whether I came through or not. It might be hard... but you can do it. Don't deny what you've already been given.

[A wry smirk.] You can move on without a servant at your side.

[There's the gentle clink of metal against metal. The slide of fabric against skin, and... a rather empty feeling of something being lost. And the collar that had been against Guy's neck - the trinket he had worn for years and years, to symbolize his status to the Fabre household as servant and caretaker - now rested in his fingers. He worries at it for a moment before reaching down to hold it in both hands, within Luke's line of vision, even as his voice slips into a painfully formal tone.]

Luke fon Fabre, from this moment, I will no longer consider you my master, but simply my equal.

[A pause. He swallows dryly, his voice softening once more.]

I'm not going to stop being your best friend, Luke. Here or there or anywhere else. Don't ever think that. Because I trust you, and I trust that you can do this. That's never going to change.

[fabrecation]

[The sight of the collar just makes him squeeze his eyes shut and lean his head forward to press his forehead against Guy's shoulder, and his hands never stop shaking.

Did Guy know...

Did he know just how much abandonment still tore Luke apart? Reminded him of that day on the Tartarus, when everyone walked away from him and left him all alone?

It was happening again, wasn't it? He was going to be left alone again, by his best friend. This time, there was no way he could see Guy come back to him. He'd be stuck here... forever. And Luke would have to go back to Auldrant, to fulfill his promise to the world.

...

He still listens, though. He does his best to gain control of his breathing so that he can hear Guy over the sound of it.

Equals, huh... Funny. Luke always thought of Guy as something like his equal, especially after he cut his hair.

And...

...

How can they be best friends if they're never going to see each other again? Or even if he returns and finds Guy there... How can he be Guy's best friend if he's never going to see the redhead again? The thought made Luke's heart ache.

He can barely even speak; there's a stupid lump in his throat that hurts just trying to swallow around. When he opens his mouth, a choked noise escapes, and his hands move to the fabric against Guy's chest instead.

What... What was he supposed to do?]

I don't... [know what to do.]