This is a one-chapter story, which means no waiting for updates! It's kinda short, but I think it gets the point across. Basically, this is Sheba's thoughts as she hangs from the lighthouse at the end of GS 1. She's going to kill me for this, I know it...

Disclaimer: I don't own Golden Sun.

by Griffinkhan

It is the end.

I can feel it in my fingers, grasping desperately for a hold against the slippery stone. I can feel it in the void beneath my dangling feet, beckoning me, calling for me to come. I can feel it in my heart. I can feel it in my soul.

It will be gone, soon, that precious thing we foolish mortals call Life. The gift we all have, that we take for granted until we are about to lose it. A thing that some would all too gladly give up, and others would do anything to hold onto. Yes, that is life, cherished and degraded, lusted for and hated. Many times I had contemplated giving up mine, many times... during the long captivity in Tolbi, in the trackless Suhalla desert, when Saturos and Menardi first captured me. Before, life seemed empty to me. I thought I had nothing to live for. But now... that all changed, when I met him. Now, I would do anything to keep this gift I had so often wanted to throw away.

I should have foreseen this, should have noticed the lighthouse shaking. I should have stayed away from the edge. But I didn't. I stood still, far too close to the precipice, to the end of solid floor and beginning of empty air, too preoccupied with the battle going on to notice. The battle for the salvation of the world, for my salvation, fought between the dragon and the brave heroes trying to slay it. It was like something out of a fairy tale- the Dragon endangers the world, and the knight sets out to defeat it and save the day. Only this time, there were four knights, not one, and the battle was on a lighthouse, not in a secret cave somewhere in the mountains. Still, the spirit was there, and I stood, entranced. Perhaps this was what kept me from noticing my impending peril. Perhaps not.

It is too late, now, either way. I am hanging by a thread, clinging to life with the strength of my trembling fingers alone. A jut of rock is all that saves me from the abyss of death. It hung from the side, beckoning with the chance of hope, the chance to stop myself from falling. I grabbed it as I fell through the air when the lighthouse split in two. I thought it offered the chance of life, but all it gives is torment, a few last moments to contemplate my stupidity. So now I hang, reflecting over my life, over my approaching death, over him...

He, the one who wanted to save me, to protect me. He, who was willing to give up his most precious gift if only to save my life. He, who is up there, right now, safely grounded on the lighthouse roof while I dangle over death...

As I think about him, about his eyes, his smile, how he risked his life for me, I wish I could have told him. Told him... that I love him.

It is my only regret, now, as I hang. There is nothing else for me in this world, anyway. Only him...

Still, even if it is my destiny to die, one thought comforts me. I know that once I fall, I will be dead, but he, he will still be alive. Alive to carry on, to find a new life. A new someone to love him.

"Hang on, Sheba! Take my hand!" Felix is shouting at me from up above. Can't he see? I am dying. It's no use struggling, it's all over.

"I...can't..." I say, trying to keep my grip on the cold stone. So cold... As cold as death...

"You must try! If you don't, you'll fall!" Felix says, desperation in his voice.

My fingers tire. I know I cannot hold on much longer. Looking down, towards the ground far below me that is to be my doom, I gasp in surprise. The Lighthouse is shaking, shaking to pieces. And the sea is rising up to meet it.

"Look down!" I tell Felix. "The foundations of the lighthouse are crumbling!"

Felix does so, and also looks surprised. "Why is this happening? Is it to protect Venus Lighthouse?"

No... I think. It is to torture me... But I know what he says is true. The lighthouse is not crumbling to kill me. What does it care, about a pathetic human girl's life? It does not know that I am dangling... does not care I am going to die...

"I'm slipping... I can't hold on any longer..." I am hanging by one hand now. Only a moment left. I want to cry out, to shout out to him... to tell him in my final breath that I love him... But I do not. It would only cause him pain, to learn of my feelings moments before I fall to my death. Better to let him live his life without knowing.

"No! Don't let go! You can't! You'll..." Felix tries to grab my arm, to stop the inevitable. But it is too late.

"Good-bye, Felix, and thank you..."

I fall.

Cold... so cold... The air rushing past is like the breath of Boreas himself. I shut my eyes, not wanting to see the ground rapidly approaching beneath me, the waters of the sea licking the lighthouse's foot hungrily, waiting to devour human flesh. As I fall, I reach out silently in my mind to him...

"Sheba! No! I won't let you die!"

I open my eyes. Felix has jumped off the edge of the lighthouse after me. He plummets downwards, reaching out for my hand.

What are you doing? I call to him. Are you insane?

Probably. He answers. A golden light surrounds him and his fall speeds up. He is catching up to me. How, I do not know. Some forgotten power of the Venus clan, I expect. Closer and closer he draws, reaching for me. I stretch my arm out towards him and he catches me, grabs my hand and pulls me in close to him. Together we fall, two unfortunate Adepts, plunging towards the white foam of the sea below.

"Why, Felix? Why are you throwing your life away for me?" I ask, my voice barely penetrating the wind whistling around us. But he hears me.

"Because, Sheba... I love you."

The world spins around me, as if it could get more confusing than it already is. For a moment, I forget that we are falling, forget that we are dying, forget everything but those three little words that just reached my ears.

The ground is coming nearer. He is staring at me, waiting. Waiting for my answer. I take a deep breath, perhaps my last on this earth, and tell him.

"I love you, too..."

Everything melts away. The sea, the falling, the roaring wind, all is gone. All that maters is that we are together, in the end. He wraps his arms around my waist, even as we are about to die, and pulls me into a passionate kiss. My first kiss... and my last. It is ironic that the one moment in my life when I have the most to live for is the one moment I am going to die.

As soon as that thought occurs, it is gone. I am resigned to my fate now. As long as we are together... I will look death in the face unflinching. It no longer has power over me, or over him.

Only a few more seconds are left of our lives. Felix tightens his grip on me, and I on him. We are determined not to let the waves separate us, even in death. Twenty feet to go...

The blue waters mock us as we fall.

Ten...

I wonder if it will hurt much? ...I hope not.

Five...

One last second of life. I take a deep breath, preparing to descend beneath the water's surface. I cling to Felix with all my might, my heart pounding in my chest. I can feel his doing the same.

One...

I strike the surface. Cold... so cold... Even colder than the air, if that is possible. Water is all around me, I cannot breathe, cannot see... Every inch of my body is screaming in pain, but I keep my hold on Felix to the last. Now numbness seizes me. The pain recedes, and blackness obscures my vision. Barely, I can feel his arms around me, my only link with the real world... Deeper we plunge, still locked together in a final embrace. I cannot stay awake, the darkness is pressing in on me. I fight it but it is irresistible. It closes in, a hungry animal waiting for the kill. As my consciousness slips away, my last thoughts are of him...

Of Felix.

-

Yes, it's strange. It's meant to be. Now, I'd better get out of here before Sheba finds out I've written this...

Sheba: [typing] WHAT was THAT? I do NOT love Felix!

Too late.

Sheba: [typing] HOW could you think that I like that... person!

Oh, look at the time! It's getting late, I'd better leave! [takes off running]

Sheba: [typing and looking rather murderous] You get back here RIGHT NOW, Griffin! You have some explaining to do!

Eep! [shouts over shoulder] Please review!