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Forever With You

Chapter Three

*****

"Ike!" Mist's shrill voice echoed as she ran outside, shouting for her brother as he approached. Ike was mounted on Titania’s white horse, right arm in a sling. The aforementioned deputy commander was leading the horse along, slowly, while Soren was perched on the black mare he had stolen the night before. Sothe and Micaiah were walking on the other side of Ike's horse, the silver haired girl making sure she was as far away from Ike as she could get.

"Goddess! What am I going to do with you?" Mist said, skipping alongside the horse and looking up at her brother. Ike grinned a little triumphantly and patted his chest with his good hand.

"I'm still alive, so you don't need to worry." He replied. Soren rolled his eyes and pulled his horse from the group before dismounting.

"Yeah, alive. Barely." He whispered, avoiding eye contact with everyone, which wasn’t hard, as they rarely gave him more than a second glance. The sage watched with distaste as Titania helped Ike dismount. Ike grunted in pain as he reached the ground. Rhys rushed over, mend staff in hand.

"Praise Ashera you're well," he said with a smile to his commander. The bluenette nodded and smiled in return. He stood still as Rhys used the staff and mended the rest of his injuries. Ike was relieved to be able to stand on both legs again. He rubbed his arm as he removed it from the sling.

"We have a problem," Soren announced suddenly. Mist rolled her eyes, having expected as much to come out of the spell caster's mouth. "We have a strategy to discuss... as well as what to do about our... guests." he explained, motioning to Sothe and Micaiah, who had been keeping their distance.

Titania sighed, "Which we will do inside, Soren. Be patient." Ike agreed and with a simple wave of the hand, ushered for everyone to enter the fort.

Ike sat where the commander always sat, stretching out his newly mended limbs. He was still slightly sore, but he could at least stand and walk on his own. He kept his eyes down as his lover spread out maps in front of him.

"So, Begnion gettin' too big for their britches, eh?" Shinon spoke up, taking his usual seat at the table.

"So it seems," Titania said absentmindedly, once again dressed in her normal armor and her hair in the same freakishly gigantic braid. She looked at Micaiah, whom Ike had offered a seat right next to him. The girl sat silently, a small scowl on her face. "Why don't you explain a few things, Micaiah?" Sothe was on the other side of the room, arms crossed, and eyes fixed placidly on Ike.

Sighing softly, Micaiah spoke up. Her voice was low and the room eased into silence so she could be heard. "My name is Micaiah,” she introduced. “And Sothe and I are in charge of a rebel army in Daein. Begnion soldiers heard of our proposed rebellion and decided to end it before it could fully begin. Sensing trouble, I convinced Sothe to flee with me… and we ended up here." She all but growled the last word and avoided looking Ike in the eye.

"From what I can tell, Micaiah is a spell caster, similar to myself," Soren explained. He shot Sothe a fiery glance, though the thief didn’t see it. "Also, she possesses a rare magical talent that makes her especially dangerous in Begnion's eyes. Inviting them to our fort has put all of us at risk."

Titania sighed loudly. "Soren, you said the same thing about Princess Elincia."

"And I was right. Bringing her to the fort nearly got us killed. It is my advice for us to leave here before any Begnion soldiers come running.”

Mist pouted. "We have to leave again?" she whispered sadly, turning to her brother.

Ike looked at Mist, speaking for the first time. "If we have to leave because of military reasons, then we will. We are to do whatever we can for Queen Elincia. Anything could drag Crimea into this." He said with the authority of a commander. To ease the tension, he then turned to Sothe, which set Soren seething. "Sothe, it's been a while. Did you ever find who you were looking for?" All eyes turned to the emeralde.

Sothe's cheeks picked up a pink tint and he stood away from the wall, even wobbling a bit as he uncrossed his arms. He found himself slightly lost in Ike's eyes and after finding that everyone was staring at him, he stood straight. "Y-yes. It was Micaiah." he nodded at the silver-haired mage.

Micaiah's golden eyes narrowed in the smallest degree and her face set into a small pout when she saw Sothe's reactions to Ike. When all eyes turned to from him to her, she perked up and replied confidently, "Yes, Sothe and I were separated, but..." she turned her loving gaze towards him, "he found me. And we've vowed to never leave each other again."

Soren smirked, giving Sothe a confident glare. "Well, it would be wrong to separate the two of you. I hope you two don't mind sharing a tent, since supplies are limited and we only have one spare."

Micaiah beamed. "That would be fine, actually. We don't mind, right Sothe?" The emeralde nodded curtly, leaning back against the wall. Ike nodded to himself and stood to begin giving orders to start preparations. Micaiah, glad that she could stop speaking to the group, stood quickly and hurried outside.

"Micaiah?" Sothe said quietly, his eyes finally pulling away from Ike. Soren noted this with great comfort.

"Oh no, does she feel sick?” Mist asked, standing and heading for the door.

"I'll handle her," Sothe said quickly before hurrying outside. Soren felt relieved for the first time since returning and he began to look over the maps of the area that were on the table.

"When are we gonna get to the actual strategy stuff? Begnion is hot on our asses, shouldn't we be doing something instead of worrying about some strange little girl?” Shinon said irritably. Soren fought back a grin, but continued to answer the red-head’s question.

"The smartest thing to do would be to at least make it to Gallia's border," Soren said, his strict, tactical voice filling the room. He rubbed a finger on a specific part on the map and Ike leaned forward to look, his neck muscles flexing as he did so. It took effort for Soren to pull his eyes away. "We should send a small party ahead to inform King Caineghis of our arrival. If we stay here," Soren tapped another area, "We'll be close enough to Crimea should Elincia need us and also in Laguz territory, where I'm sure Begnion will have trouble getting to."

“Good idea.” Ike praised, nodding once.

Soren smiled fondly once he saw that his commander was pleased with his plan. "And we should leave as soon as possible. The longer we stay in one spot, the easier they will be able to track or follow us."

Ike nodded. "Rhys, help Soren collect our important documents. Boyd, Oscar, get the horses prepped. Titania, gather supplies. Mist, Rolf, help Titania. Shinon, Gatrie, Mia, go stand guard and keep an eye out for Begnion spies. We leave before sunset."

Each person nodded as they received their orders and departed in separate directions. Soren brushed against Ike's arm as he passed by; a tiny gesture that went unnoticed by everyone except the bluenette. Their eyes met and they exchanged a look of mutual concern for one another.

Night couldn't come soon enough, as far as Soren was concerned. He needed his lover's touch and the security of his love now more than ever.

--

Micaiah had made her way outside in a huff. She sat down on a nearby bench and hugged her light tome tightly. Sothe was right behind her.

"What's going on?" He asked, coming to a stand beside her. "Why did you just storm off like that? It isn't like you."

"The way you stare at Ike isn't like you," She retaliated, averting her golden gaze to the ground. "What's going on, Sothe? What is Ike to you?" Sothe's eyes widened, but he crossed his arms and tried to sound casual. "W-what do you mean? Ike is nothing but my superior. I have the utmost respect for him, nothing more."

Micaiah stood and scowled at him. "Why did we have to come to him of all people? It's his fault that Daein fell—“

"Do not speak of him that way.” Sothe didn’t let her finish. “He's a good person, Micaiah. Don't go judging people you've never even met." Sothe glared at her for a long moment, then turned on his heel and left Micaiah with her mouth hanging open.

--

"Mia and Shinon will be all right, won't they, Ike?" Mist asked, looking up at her brother as they walked side by side. The group of mercenaries had left their fort over an hour ago and the commander was walking a tad slower than the rest of them, his body still achy from his injuries.

"They'll be fine. They're quick and tough as nails. King Caineghis will be happy to see them." he smiled at his sister, who smiled fondly in response. Mist hopped ahead and began to speak with Micaiah, who was traveling closely with Titania.

Soren had been walking quietly behind Ike, admiring his lover's features and fighting the urge to pull him to the side and have his way with him. He stepped forward, arm outstretched for Ike, when Sothe appeared at his lover’s side. The emeralde youth began to chat idly with the bluenette, who obliviously babbled back at him. Soren tightened his grip on his tome in jealousy.

Sothe would be lucky to come out of this trip alive.

--

The hours pressed on, and as they reached their stopping place for the night and the tents were pitched, Soren's smug satisfaction returned. Sothe and Micaiah had agreed to share a tent and she insisted that their tent be as far from Ike's as possible.

Soren couldn't have been happier, although Sothe's insistent presence throughout the night was wearing his patience thin. The boy practically clung to Ike through dinner and it took all of Soren's willpower not to summon a strong wind and knock the boy into the fire. The only thing that gave him any comfort was the equally angry expression on Micaiah's face.

Night finally fell, much to Soren’s liking, and she all but dragged the thief to their shared tent while the dark mage joined Ike in theirs.

Once the flap was shut, the Branded allowed his guard to fall, and he wrapped his thin arms around his lover, as he had wished to do since the day before. "How are you?" he whispered into the bluenette's ear, kissing him softly on the back of the neck. Ike had been lighting candles when the sage entered. He raised a brow, looked down and smiled at how close Soren's robes were. It had been too long since he smelled Soren and had been around him that just the sight of his robes swelled his chest.

"Doing fine..." he murmured, patting Soren's arm. He turned his body slightly and Soren walked around and invited himself into Ike's waiting arms. The commander's muscular arms wound around Soren's slight body and the sage straddled him. "But I’ve missed you. When I got hurt and I woke up, and you were there... I was so happy."

His strong fingers brushed up through the spell caster’s hair and he looked into his eyes. "But then you and Sothe kept fighting and kinda ruined it."

Soren's gaze went downcast, which startled the mercenary. It was usually impossible for the sage to tear his eyes away from his commander once they were so close to each other. In less than a heartbeat, the youth had retreated into his emotional shell.

"Sothe criticized me first. As your employee and lover, I see it as my right to stay by your side, and I find it offensive to be told to leave by some boy thief. What's worse is that Titania took his side… but I expect as much. She dislikes me; it's obvious. She thinks you can do better..." he didn't mean to say that, because the statement held no water, but it was his own personal fear that his relationship with Ike would be rejected by the rest of the group. That they would convince Ike that he was too good for the likes of a Branded.

He clenched his fists, eyes still down, wanting to disappear into Ike; just melt into his arms and be a part of him that no one could remove. Not Titania, not Sothe, not anyone.

"He looks at you like he owns you, and I’ve become rather jealous in a short amount of time. He's always with you, and... and..."

Ike's eyes softened as he listened to the sage. He didn't know that so much had been bothering the spell caster, but he had noticed that Sothe had been particularly clingy. He cradled Soren’s face and tilted his face up.

"Soren, listen to me." Ike whispered. "There's absolutely no reason to be jealous. Of anyone. I love you." the bluenette commander made his point by pecking Soren on the lips. Ike smiled when Soren let his head fall forward onto his chest. He allowed himself to chuckle and he lifted Soren by the shoulders to lay him down. Once he was on his back, Ike stopped to admire him and the candlelight dancing shadows across his features. "I wouldn't mind telling everyone that I love you and we're together..." he rested his body lightly on Soren's, his elbows on either side of the boy underneath him to hold him up.

Soren smiled, his crimson eyes shining like fresh blood in the candle light. He intertwined his left leg with Ike's right and wrapped his arms around the commander's neck. "You don't have to do that, Ike... Your life is tough enough as it is... Just having you here and now, knowing how committed you are, is enough for me." he stated in a low voice, as he tugged at the stray strands of hair on the bluenette's neck.

Ike responded with a hum and he nuzzled Soren’s throat, kissing it lightly.

"I love you so much, Ike. You say the word, and I would give my life for you." He moved his slender hands to grasp Ike’s face and their lips met in a surreal, gentle lip lock. The kiss wasn’t long, and soon Ike pulled away and kissed Soren's brand.

"You're easy to please, Soren." he disentangled himself from the sage and rolled over so he was on his side. He brushed the youth's black robes up in a movement to remove them. "Think you can be quiet?" he asked seductively.

The bluenette commander was answered with another bout of intense kissing, followed by muffled moans and quiet mantras of "I love you".

End Chapter 3

Description
Forever With You

Chapter Three

*****

"Ike!" Mist's shrill voice echoed as she ran outside, shouting for her brother as he approached. Ike was mounted on Titania’s white horse, right arm in a sling. The aforementioned deputy commander was leading the horse along, slowly, while Soren was perched on the black mare he had stolen the night before. Sothe and Micaiah were walking on the other side of Ike's horse, the silver haired girl making sure she was as far away from Ike as she could get.

"Goddess! What am I going to do with you?" Mist said, skipping alongside the horse and looking up at her brother. Ike grinned a little triumphantly and patted his chest with his good hand.

"I'm still alive, so you don't need to worry." He replied. Soren rolled his eyes and pulled his horse from the group before dismounting.

"Yeah, alive. Barely." He whispered, avoiding eye contact with everyone, which wasn’t hard, as they rarely gave him more than a second glance. The sage watched with distaste as Titania helped Ike dismount. Ike grunted in pain as he reached the ground. Rhys rushed over, mend staff in hand.

"Praise Ashera you're well," he said with a smile to his commander. The bluenette nodded and smiled in return. He stood still as Rhys used the staff and mended the rest of his injuries. Ike was relieved to be able to stand on both legs again. He rubbed his arm as he removed it from the sling.

"We have a problem," Soren announced suddenly. Mist rolled her eyes, having expected as much to come out of the spell caster's mouth. "We have a strategy to discuss... as well as what to do about our... guests." he explained, motioning to Sothe and Micaiah, who had been keeping their distance.

Titania sighed, "Which we will do inside, Soren. Be patient." Ike agreed and with a simple wave of the hand, ushered for everyone to enter the fort.

Ike sat where the commander always sat, stretching out his newly mended limbs. He was still slightly sore, but he could at least stand and walk on his own. He kept his eyes down as his lover spread out maps in front of him.

"So, Begnion gettin' too big for their britches, eh?" Shinon spoke up, taking his usual seat at the table.

"So it seems," Titania said absentmindedly, once again dressed in her normal armor and her hair in the same freakishly gigantic braid. She looked at Micaiah, whom Ike had offered a seat right next to him. The girl sat silently, a small scowl on her face. "Why don't you explain a few things, Micaiah?" Sothe was on the other side of the room, arms crossed, and eyes fixed placidly on Ike.

Sighing softly, Micaiah spoke up. Her voice was low and the room eased into silence so she could be heard. "My name is Micaiah,” she introduced. “And Sothe and I are in charge of a rebel army in Daein. Begnion soldiers heard of our proposed rebellion and decided to end it before it could fully begin. Sensing trouble, I convinced Sothe to flee with me… and we ended up here." She all but growled the last word and avoided looking Ike in the eye.

"From what I can tell, Micaiah is a spell caster, similar to myself," Soren explained. He shot Sothe a fiery glance, though the thief didn’t see it. "Also, she possesses a rare magical talent that makes her especially dangerous in Begnion's eyes. Inviting them to our fort has put all of us at risk."

Titania sighed loudly. "Soren, you said the same thing about Princess Elincia."

"And I was right. Bringing her to the fort nearly got us killed. It is my advice for us to leave here before any Begnion soldiers come running.”

Mist pouted. "We have to leave again?" she whispered sadly, turning to her brother.

Ike looked at Mist, speaking for the first time. "If we have to leave because of military reasons, then we will. We are to do whatever we can for Queen Elincia. Anything could drag Crimea into this." He said with the authority of a commander. To ease the tension, he then turned to Sothe, which set Soren seething. "Sothe, it's been a while. Did you ever find who you were looking for?" All eyes turned to the emeralde.

Sothe's cheeks picked up a pink tint and he stood away from the wall, even wobbling a bit as he uncrossed his arms. He found himself slightly lost in Ike's eyes and after finding that everyone was staring at him, he stood straight. "Y-yes. It was Micaiah." he nodded at the silver-haired mage.

Micaiah's golden eyes narrowed in the smallest degree and her face set into a small pout when she saw Sothe's reactions to Ike. When all eyes turned to from him to her, she perked up and replied confidently, "Yes, Sothe and I were separated, but..." she turned her loving gaze towards him, "he found me. And we've vowed to never leave each other again."

Soren smirked, giving Sothe a confident glare. "Well, it would be wrong to separate the two of you. I hope you two don't mind sharing a tent, since supplies are limited and we only have one spare."

Micaiah beamed. "That would be fine, actually. We don't mind, right Sothe?" The emeralde nodded curtly, leaning back against the wall. Ike nodded to himself and stood to begin giving orders to start preparations. Micaiah, glad that she could stop speaking to the group, stood quickly and hurried outside.

"Micaiah?" Sothe said quietly, his eyes finally pulling away from Ike. Soren noted this with great comfort.

"Oh no, does she feel sick?” Mist asked, standing and heading for the door.

"I'll handle her," Sothe said quickly before hurrying outside. Soren felt relieved for the first time since returning and he began to look over the maps of the area that were on the table.

"When are we gonna get to the actual strategy stuff? Begnion is hot on our asses, shouldn't we be doing something instead of worrying about some strange little girl?” Shinon said irritably. Soren fought back a grin, but continued to answer the red-head’s question.

"The smartest thing to do would be to at least make it to Gallia's border," Soren said, his strict, tactical voice filling the room. He rubbed a finger on a specific part on the map and Ike leaned forward to look, his neck muscles flexing as he did so. It took effort for Soren to pull his eyes away. "We should send a small party ahead to inform King Caineghis of our arrival. If we stay here," Soren tapped another area, "We'll be close enough to Crimea should Elincia need us and also in Laguz territory, where I'm sure Begnion will have trouble getting to."

“Good idea.” Ike praised, nodding once.

Soren smiled fondly once he saw that his commander was pleased with his plan. "And we should leave as soon as possible. The longer we stay in one spot, the easier they will be able to track or follow us."

Ike nodded. "Rhys, help Soren collect our important documents. Boyd, Oscar, get the horses prepped. Titania, gather supplies. Mist, Rolf, help Titania. Shinon, Gatrie, Mia, go stand guard and keep an eye out for Begnion spies. We leave before sunset."

Each person nodded as they received their orders and departed in separate directions. Soren brushed against Ike's arm as he passed by; a tiny gesture that went unnoticed by everyone except the bluenette. Their eyes met and they exchanged a look of mutual concern for one another.

Night couldn't come soon enough, as far as Soren was concerned. He needed his lover's touch and the security of his love now more than ever.

--

Micaiah had made her way outside in a huff. She sat down on a nearby bench and hugged her light tome tightly. Sothe was right behind her.

"What's going on?" He asked, coming to a stand beside her. "Why did you just storm off like that? It isn't like you."

"The way you stare at Ike isn't like you," She retaliated, averting her golden gaze to the ground. "What's going on, Sothe? What is Ike to you?" Sothe's eyes widened, but he crossed his arms and tried to sound casual. "W-what do you mean? Ike is nothing but my superior. I have the utmost respect for him, nothing more."

Micaiah stood and scowled at him. "Why did we have to come to him of all people? It's his fault that Daein fell—“

"Do not speak of him that way.” Sothe didn’t let her finish. “He's a good person, Micaiah. Don't go judging people you've never even met." Sothe glared at her for a long moment, then turned on his heel and left Micaiah with her mouth hanging open.

--

"Mia and Shinon will be all right, won't they, Ike?" Mist asked, looking up at her brother as they walked side by side. The group of mercenaries had left their fort over an hour ago and the commander was walking a tad slower than the rest of them, his body still achy from his injuries.

"They'll be fine. They're quick and tough as nails. King Caineghis will be happy to see them." he smiled at his sister, who smiled fondly in response. Mist hopped ahead and began to speak with Micaiah, who was traveling closely with Titania.

Soren had been walking quietly behind Ike, admiring his lover's features and fighting the urge to pull him to the side and have his way with him. He stepped forward, arm outstretched for Ike, when Sothe appeared at his lover’s side. The emeralde youth began to chat idly with the bluenette, who obliviously babbled back at him. Soren tightened his grip on his tome in jealousy.

Sothe would be lucky to come out of this trip alive.

--

The hours pressed on, and as they reached their stopping place for the night and the tents were pitched, Soren's smug satisfaction returned. Sothe and Micaiah had agreed to share a tent and she insisted that their tent be as far from Ike's as possible.

Soren couldn't have been happier, although Sothe's insistent presence throughout the night was wearing his patience thin. The boy practically clung to Ike through dinner and it took all of Soren's willpower not to summon a strong wind and knock the boy into the fire. The only thing that gave him any comfort was the equally angry expression on Micaiah's face.

Night finally fell, much to Soren’s liking, and she all but dragged the thief to their shared tent while the dark mage joined Ike in theirs.

Once the flap was shut, the Branded allowed his guard to fall, and he wrapped his thin arms around his lover, as he had wished to do since the day before. "How are you?" he whispered into the bluenette's ear, kissing him softly on the back of the neck. Ike had been lighting candles when the sage entered. He raised a brow, looked down and smiled at how close Soren's robes were. It had been too long since he smelled Soren and had been around him that just the sight of his robes swelled his chest.

"Doing fine..." he murmured, patting Soren's arm. He turned his body slightly and Soren walked around and invited himself into Ike's waiting arms. The commander's muscular arms wound around Soren's slight body and the sage straddled him. "But I’ve missed you. When I got hurt and I woke up, and you were there... I was so happy."

His strong fingers brushed up through the spell caster’s hair and he looked into his eyes. "But then you and Sothe kept fighting and kinda ruined it."

Soren's gaze went downcast, which startled the mercenary. It was usually impossible for the sage to tear his eyes away from his commander once they were so close to each other. In less than a heartbeat, the youth had retreated into his emotional shell.

"Sothe criticized me first. As your employee and lover, I see it as my right to stay by your side, and I find it offensive to be told to leave by some boy thief. What's worse is that Titania took his side… but I expect as much. She dislikes me; it's obvious. She thinks you can do better..." he didn't mean to say that, because the statement held no water, but it was his own personal fear that his relationship with Ike would be rejected by the rest of the group. That they would convince Ike that he was too good for the likes of a Branded.

He clenched his fists, eyes still down, wanting to disappear into Ike; just melt into his arms and be a part of him that no one could remove. Not Titania, not Sothe, not anyone.

"He looks at you like he owns you, and I’ve become rather jealous in a short amount of time. He's always with you, and... and..."

Ike's eyes softened as he listened to the sage. He didn't know that so much had been bothering the spell caster, but he had noticed that Sothe had been particularly clingy. He cradled Soren’s face and tilted his face up.

"Soren, listen to me." Ike whispered. "There's absolutely no reason to be jealous. Of anyone. I love you." the bluenette commander made his point by pecking Soren on the lips. Ike smiled when Soren let his head fall forward onto his chest. He allowed himself to chuckle and he lifted Soren by the shoulders to lay him down. Once he was on his back, Ike stopped to admire him and the candlelight dancing shadows across his features. "I wouldn't mind telling everyone that I love you and we're together..." he rested his body lightly on Soren's, his elbows on either side of the boy underneath him to hold him up.

Soren smiled, his crimson eyes shining like fresh blood in the candle light. He intertwined his left leg with Ike's right and wrapped his arms around the commander's neck. "You don't have to do that, Ike... Your life is tough enough as it is... Just having you here and now, knowing how committed you are, is enough for me." he stated in a low voice, as he tugged at the stray strands of hair on the bluenette's neck.

Ike responded with a hum and he nuzzled Soren’s throat, kissing it lightly.

"I love you so much, Ike. You say the word, and I would give my life for you." He moved his slender hands to grasp Ike’s face and their lips met in a surreal, gentle lip lock. The kiss wasn’t long, and soon Ike pulled away and kissed Soren's brand.

"You're easy to please, Soren." he disentangled himself from the sage and rolled over so he was on his side. He brushed the youth's black robes up in a movement to remove them. "Think you can be quiet?" he asked seductively.

The bluenette commander was answered with another bout of intense kissing, followed by muffled moans and quiet mantras of "I love you".

End Chapter 3