6Disclaimer: Skies of Arcadia is the property of Overworks and Sega. No profit is being made from this fanfiction. It is for entertainment purposes only.
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He rested his hand on her head. If another had done the same, Fina would have said it was an affectionate gesture. More than anything, Fina wanted it to be an affectionate gesture. From him she would expect nothing less.
And yet she knew it wasn't. His touch had no familiarity, no fond rememberance. It was cold and impersonal; as though, seeing her, he thought she might not exist, and by touching her he confirmed her presence.
His hand lingered only a moment before pulling away. Fina shivered, though she was not sure why; of all the people she could be with right now, Ramirez should be the one who she felt safest around.
But he wasn't.
Something's gone wrong, she thought. It's not supposed to be like this.
-
Fina leaned back in her chair. On her desk was an open book, with Cupil lying flat on its back next to it. Bored, Fina poked lightly at Cupil's "stomach", idly watching as the creature's half-solid, half-liquid body rippled at her touch.
The young silvite glanced down at the book. Normally, Fina adored reading, but the enforced reading the Elders gave both her and Ramirez was dry and unexciting in the extreme. She sighed and closed her book, knowing she wouldn't be able to finish it on her own. Many times, when Fina had been given a particularly dull assignment, Ramirez would offer to read it to her aloud. She loved listening to Ramirez read to her; in between the long and boring passages of Arcadian history, he would share with her what he thought Arcadia was like. His ideas were bright with lush and detailed imagery; sometimes, he would even draw rough sketches of his thoughts for her. Fina kept all of the sketches in her desk, and when she was alone she made up stories about each one, peopling the areas with creations of all kinds.
But today, Ramirez was with the Elders. This happened every few days with both of them, but lately Ramirez would be taken up into the chamber almost daily, for very long periods of time. She had questioned him once about what he was doing, but he said he couldn't tell her.
Fina streched languidly, slowly getting out of her seat. Ramirez might be back, although with the way things had been going lately, it wasn't very likely. But anything was better than staring at her book for hours on end.
She walked out of her room, gazing down the long, white-lit corridors of her home. Some of the doors to the private rooms were open, but from long experience Fina knew that no one was in them. There had been a few older Silvites around when Fina was much, much younger, but they had all left. Neither she nor Ramirez had been told where they had gone.
The transportation pad in the middle of the complex began to glow faintly. What luck-Ramirez was coming back early! Fina rushed over to the pad as the silvery glow brightened. The light brightened to an almost blinding intensity as the form of her friend took shape in the center of the glow. Fina squinted, shading her eyes with one hand. She waved to the figure in the light.
"Ramirez!" she yelled, running up to him. "You came back early today."
Her friend smiled at her, but something was not quite right. Ramirez seemed preoccupied. "Yeah..." he said distantly, not looking at her. "Hey..." he turned his gaze to her. "...can you come to my room? There's some stuff I want to show you."
"What is it?" Fina asked excitedly. Whenever Ramirez said he had something to show her, it was always bound to be interesting. Recently he had started making things like bracelets and necklaces, and he would always let her keep the jewelery. Maybe this was her lucky day. Fina took Ramirez's hand, and the two began to walk down to Ramirez's room.
"...Rammie?"
"Mm-hm?"
"Can you tell me why you were with the Elders yet? You said you'd be able to tell me soon."
The two walked in silence for a moment. Fina looked up at Ramirez. His eyes looked unfocused, almost as if he was looking at something far away. "Um...Rammie...did you hear me?"
Ramirez blinked, looking at her in surprise. "Oh...I'm sorry. I, I was thinking of something...what did you say?"
"I asked if you could tell me what you've been doing up there. Because you said you would soon. But I understand if you can't yet." Fina looked up at Ramirez questioningly.
"Oh. That...well, that's part of what I want to show you..."
Fina nodded. "Ok. Is it another model ship? Those are neat."
Ramirez shook his head. "No, it's something a lot more important. But," he continued, his expression darkening slightly, "it's also kind of sad." The pair reached Ramirez's room. He held the door open for the younger Silvite.
"Sad...?" Fina asked, wondering what could have happened up in the Shrine that would be sad. Maybe one of the Elders was very sick. Ramirez closed the door behind him.
"Fina..." Ramirez paused, wondering how to phrase his thoughts. "I've been sent on a mission."
Fina's eyes widened. "A mission...does that mean you're...you know..." She stopped. She didn't want to say it.
Ramirez nodded. "Yes, I'll be leaving. It's very important that I do this. It's for the good of everyone."
Fina fixed her gaze on one of the model ships in the room, blinking back the sudden tears stinging her eyes. "I'm sure it's important. The Elders wouldn't send you away for something little, would they?" She swallowed hard, knowing that tears would be both selfish and useless. She turned to her friend, forcing a smile onto her face. "So, um, I guess you must be excited. Where are you going?"
"Down to Arcadia." Despite his even tone, his voice held an almost uncontainable excitement.
"A-Ar-Arcadia, of course. There aren't really a whole lot of other places to go, right?" Her voice only trembled a little bit. She bit down on her lip.
Ramirez looked down at her. Walking over, he rested his hand on her forehead, pushing back her long hair. "I know it's sudden, and that it's hard for you. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault," Fina murmured. She took a deep, shuddering breath. "Um...when are you leaving?"
"When I'm ready. But it has to be soon."
"Where in Arcadia are you going?"
Ramirez lit up, grinning. "Everywhere. The Elders-they need the Moon Crystals. So I need to go to all of the civilizations. It'll be just like we've talked about-sailing the vast skies of the world, exploring all of those lands...finding things no one else has even seen before..." His gaze grew distant again, and he turned his gaze to the window, his voice dying away as his dreams took him to places far away.
Fina rested her head on Ramirez's chest. "Just like you've said. Only...I...I'll still be here."
Ramirez looked down at her again. "I asked if you could go...but the Elders said you were too young."
"I'm not that young! You're only four years older than me!" Fina glared at him. "And I'm almost as smart as you."
Ramirez smiled. "Fina...you may be very smart, but there is a big difference between someone who's ten and someone who's seventeen."
Fina looked down at her shoes. "I wouldn't be a problem. I could take care of myself."
He patted her head. "I know. But Arcadia is a lot different from the Silver Shrine. It's probably best that I go alone. I might have all I can handle, making sure I'm safe. I don't want to lose you because I couldn't keep you safe."
"But what if you can't take care of yourself? What are you going to do? Nobody is going to be there with you!" Fina looked at Ramirez earnestly. "Please, let me come with you! I want to see Arcadia too, you know."
Ramirez's brow wrinkled in thought. He walked over to his desk, motioning Fina over. A large, detailed map was spread out on the desktop. "Fina...look at how huge Arcadia has to be."
"I already know how big Arcadia is." Fina pouted.
"It might take years to find just one crystal, Fina. Don't you think so?"
Fina glared at Ramirez. "You mean you'll be gone for years, right? So now I can just wait for years and years, thinking 'Gee, I wonder Rammie has even found one crystal!'" Ramirez coughed suddenly, putting his hand to his mouth to hide his smile. "You're being mean. This isn't very funny."
"That wasn't what I meant." Ramirez's voice was light with laughter. "I was thinking, once you're seventeen...I'll probably still be on Arcadia. And I bet the Elders will be getting impatient with me..."
"...and I can go find you, to help you out!" Fina exclaimed.
Ramirez nodded. "That's what I was thinking. So, in four years...we'll see each other again. And we'll be able to see what we've been reading about with our own eyes." He rested his fingers on the map, tracing the edges of one of the continents. "But we need to pick out a place to meet."
Fina looked over the map. "How about here? The one under the yellow moon...Valua. I want to see rain, and storms, and the palace the books keep talking about..."
"Valua, huh? Sounds good to me." Ramirez said. "So, in seven years...I'll go to the capital city of Valua, and wait for you."
"Are you sure it'll work?" Fina asked.
"Maybe not. But it's better than just waiting for me here, wondering what I'm doing, isn't it?"
Fina giggled. "Anything would be better than that."
Ramirez smiled again. "Now," he began, "I need to show you something." He reached into his desk, pulling out two necklaces. They were identical in appearance: a half-circle made of gold, hung on a simple golden chain. Three small depressions had been made near the curved edge of the half- circle, with a small silver moonstone near the straight edge. Fina was puzzled-Ramirez's work with jewelry had always been elegant and finely made, but this looked unfinished and awkward. "Is it finished...?" Fina questioned hesitantly. Ramirez shook his head.
"It's not. See those little depressions? There's one for each of the moons. I want to put one moonstone from the moons in every one." Ramirez took out a polished silver moonstone out of his pocket. "See..." he said softly, placing the stone inside one of the depressions. "Now we only need five more."
"There aren't five more..." Fina paused, then reached out and took both necklaces from Ramirez. She put the two half-circles side by side. "Oh...it looks much better now."
"And when it's all finished, it'll look even better." Ramirez grinned. "You like?"
"Yes, I love it!" Fina said. "Which one are you taking?"
Ramirez took the empty half-circle. "You'll need a head start on yours, so it's better that you have that one." he nodded to the half with two silver stones. "Once you come down to Arcadia...we'll finish the necklace together, alright?"
Fina nodded. "You'll be waiting for me, right? You won't forget?"
"Of course. I'll never forget. Not on my life." He smiled at her reassuringly. "You're my best friend-I could never just forget about you, no matter how wonderful Arcadia is."
Fina wrapped her arms around Ramirez, burying her head in his chest. "Thank you..."
Two days later, Ramirez was gone.
-
Ramirez took his hand away from her forehead. His gaze had never left her face, but in that look Fina found nothing of her beloved friend. There was recognition in his eyes, but it was not that of a friend finding another after years of seperation; it was as if Ramirez had only read her description or seen her picture, once, and realized that she fit that description, that image.
"Fina." His voice was deeper, colder than she remembered it. "I will be leaving. Don't try to escape. I doubt that you are able to defeat those guarding you on your own."
I should not want to escape from my best friend, she thought. Yet that is all I want to do now.
Ramirez turned abruptly, walking with a quick, measured pace to the door. Fina took a step toward him. "Ramirez...!"
He turned, his emotionless eyes boring into her.
A thousand questions crowded into Fina's mind. What happened? Why are you like this? Won't you tell me anything? Don't you care anymore?
All those days I spent thinking of you...did you ever remember me?
Am anything at all to you, now?
Her throat closed up with emotion. Ramirez turned away from her again, tossing something on the table as he left. Fina walked over to it, her vision blurring as she saw what it was.
Picking the unfinished necklace, she held it up, the edges biting into the soft skin of her palms sharply. She squeezed it harder, her eyes watering as the hard metal cut her skin. Blood welled out from the cuts, tarnishing the once-brilliant gold. Her eyes closed, shutting out the sight of a discarded promise.
Slowly, she dropped the necklace to the floor.
-end
Notes, shameless plugs, etc.
Thanks to everyone on the Skies of Arcadia World forums who helped out with the fic, particularly with character ages, and the wonderful reviews. :)
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