Work Text:
It was the middle of the night, and the four reunited friends were resting in Kohlingen Inn, saving their energy for retrieving the airship Setzer said was hidden in Daryl’s tomb. Well, most of them were sleeping. Sabin was lying awake, staring at the ceiling, worried thoughts of his friends keeping him awake. Eventually he sighed, giving up on sleep and leaving the inn. He coughed, the air burning his throat. He glanced at the patches full of dead flowers, it wasn’t a surprise they weren’t able to survive after the world fell apart. The sun would rarely show itself, hidden behind thick clouds, and the air was hard to breathe, painful to inhale.
He found his mind wandering back to Terra, taking care of all the children in Mobliz while fending off the attacks of the demon Phunbaba. Though Sabin wished she had joined them, he understood how she felt. With the only other adults in the town being Duane and Katarin, if she left, it would be even more difficult for the dozens of children to survive.
Thinking of Terra made Sabin think about the others. Did children like Gau and Relm survive the past year? What about Locke? Or Cyan? He didn’t want to even think about how high the possibility of their death was. It was a miracle that he and the other four had survived. As much as everyone hoped that the fighting was over, it wasn’t. The only difference is instead of fighting against the Gestahlian Empire, they were fighting against the world itself to survive, as well as the vicious beasts unleashed when the world broke apart.
The worst part is that Sabin had ended up growing quite fond of some of their party members, specifically Cyan, Gau, and Relm. Cyan and he had spent a while traveling together after he’d been thrown from the Lete River, Gau joining them halfway through, and their bond strengthened the longer they traveled. After saving Relm from the burning building, Sabin had ended up growing quite fond of her as well, her harsh comments towards his brother always making him laugh. Sabin couldn’t help but let out a small chuckle as he thought of her, but his smile quickly disappeared as he remembered the situation the world was in. The situation those he cared about were in.
He didn’t even notice the tears that had begun rolling down his cheeks until a few fell onto his hands. He just stared at the few drops in surprise for a moment. It was the first time that he’d cried since the day he had left Figaro Castle. He hadn’t really had a reason to cry until now, except for the horrible guilt of leaving his brother to rule Figaro alone and missing him terribly. He still hadn’t cried then though. After all, what would everyone think if they saw a strong martial artist weeping over being homesick? Instead of trying to stop the tears, he just let it all out, all the tears he’d held back since the day he left Figaro, all the tears he’d held back since the world had fallen to ruin.
Sabin decided that it would be okay to let this happen. It was the middle of the night, and people barely spent time outside anymore due to the polluted air, much less in the middle of the night. The diseased air made Sabin cough between sobs, having to squeeze his eyes shut as a strong gust of wind blew by to avoid the usual stinging sensation that he felt when the wind blew. While his eyes were shut he heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and then someone sitting beside him on the long-dead grass. When the wind stopped, he opened his eyes and saw his brother, Edgar, sitting beside him, staring at the dead flowers that Sabin had been staring at earlier.
Sabin attempted to quickly wipe away his tears before Edgar could notice, but he had a feeling that he had already seen that he’d been crying. The two of them sat in silence for a while, the only noise being the occasional coughing. Finally, Edgar spoke.
“Couldn’t sleep?”
The question was so ridiculous, the answer was obvious. Sabin almost chuckled because of how painfully bad Edgar was at starting conversations that weren’t about people he finds attractive.
“No, I just wanted to take a walk in the middle of the night and make my throat feel like I just ate a cactus,” Sabin said in an obviously sarcastic tone of voice, rolling his eyes at his brother teasingly.
Edgar chuckled. “I’m sure you have a lot on your mind, it has been a year since we last saw each other and we’ve only recently been reunited,” he said, a somber tone in his voice.
“I spent most of my time in Tzen, helping out townspeople. Celes found me right after Kefka used his infamous Light of Judgement to torch the northern part of town. I was holding up a house so that the kid inside wouldn’t get crushed” That made Edgar chuckle once more. It was just so Sabin of his brother to put himself in danger to protect people he didn’t even know. “Celes went in and saved the child. Just in time too, my arms gave out moments after they ran out,” Sabin finished explaining what little had happened to him in the time since they last saw each other.
“Well, I ended up in Nikeah after the world fell apart. Once I heard that Figaro Castle’s system had malfunctioned and trapped it beneath the dunes, I made it my mission to save them. After all, what kind of king would I be if I abandoned my people?” Edgar said, his voice wavering a bit at the last part of his statement. Sabin didn’t need to ask to know it was because of him. “I disguised myself as Gerad and somehow became the leader of the gang of thieves I imprisoned a few years ago. They said they knew how to get to the castle so of course I got them to lead me there, and then you helped me rescue the castle, as well as its inhabitants,”
Sabin couldn’t tell if he was just hearing things, but he could’ve sworn his brother mutter something like “that was the most you’ve ever done for Figaro since that day,”
Just the thought that his brother still resented him a bit for him leaving was enough to make Sabin nearly start crying again. If he could go back in time to change it, he would. He knew how much Edgar needed his support, needed him after their father died. He sighed, inhaling deeply but instantly regretted it, the sting in his lungs reminding him of the condition the world was in. Sabin still wasn’t sure if he should blame Kefka, or blame himself for not being able to stop him.
After a bit more of the two brothers sitting in an uncomfortable silence, Edgar stood up. “Goodnight, brother.” is all he said before returning to the inn to rest. Sabin felt the tears come as soon as the inn’s door was shut.
Neither Edgar nor Sabin got any sleep that night.