The Call of Anemos

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Here we go, I'm writing a one-shot, with Windshipping (Ivan/Sheba) in. Don't like, don't read. I was originally going to make a chaptered story, but in the end I just settled for a one-shot. So much simpler.

Camelot owns Golden Sun!

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Sheba awoke suddenly, sitting up in bed, her pulse racing. Normally, somebody would think she had just had a nightmare, but that was not the case. Sheba simply felt as if someone had shaken her awake without warning and she had been caught off guard. Breathing rapidly, Sheba leaned over to reach the glass of water which sat on her nightstand and she shakily put the cup to her lips, sipping at the clear water until she had managed to calm down. Then she placed the glass back down with a soft clunk and lay back on her pillow.

However hard she tried, Sheba could not go back to sleep. She tossed and turned fretfully, her duvet becoming wound around her as she rolled over. At last, she had fully decided that she would simply not be able to drop back off to slumber that night and crossly sat up, kicking off her tangled duvet so that it fell to the floor in a heap.

Sheba slipped off the bed, the wooden floor smooth and cold against the bare soles of her feet. She padded over to a corner of the room where she had kicked off her slippers last night and she pulled them on, the fluffy lining feeling snug and warm against her feet. Then Sheba approached the door and she quietly pushed it open, poking her head out and looking both ways before stepping entirely out of the room and carefully closing the door behind her, the soft click making her jump for it was so eerily quiet in the house.

Quietly, the young Jupiter Adept snuck past the room where Ivan slept, making her way towards the door which would led out of the house, outside into the crisp darkness of the night. Sheba was not entirely sure why she was going out tonight of all nights, but she felt that there was a reason why she had woken up so suddenly and had been unable to get back to sleep, she felt as if someone was calling her.

As Sheba slipped out into the darkness that shadowed the village of Contigo, she paused and looked back at the house that belonged to Ivan and Hama. They had taken her in for a while so that Hama could coach her and Ivan in Jupiter aligned Psynergy, and any other Psynergy she knew that was important, together and Sheba appreciated it. Earlier, Hama had even started the first stage of teaching them about teleportation and she was feeling quite excited to learn how to teleport, it would be very useful. Now as Sheba glanced at that house where she had been living for the past two months, she felt a pang of sadness in her heart, but Sheba simply could not explain why she felt it.

She was beginning to feel much like a magnet in that she could feel a very strong attraction, yet Sheba did not know why she was being attracted or where to. Sheba simply decided that there was little harm that could come to her in the night and she willed herself to go with the flow, her feet solidly pacing in front of each other as she marched towards her unknown destination.

Little did Sheba know that Ivan had been awake, but he had not awoken at the same time as Sheba, but rather, a short while after. He had lain awake in bed, feeling that something was wrong, but he had felt that it would be rather foolish to make a fuss about it this late at night when nobody seemed to be up, so Ivan had simply waited for something to happen. The soft footsteps past his door had been the confirmation he needed to tell him that he should get up, so he had waited a short while before getting up. Even now as Sheba crossed the perimeters of the village, Ivan was exiting his house.

Ivan gulped in a lungful of air and was taken aback by how cold it was. It did not faze him though for it was his element and he could handle it, no matter what the temperature was. Still, he wondered why Sheba had gone outside when it was this chilly and he knew that he had to find out, before it was too late.

'Too late for what?' Ivan wondered, pacing through Contigo at a steady rate, only just able to see the small figure of Sheba disappearing into the darkness. He quickened his pace before he lost her, a slight anxiety rising in him as he broke into a steady jog. Ivan had not really expected Sheba to leave the town so it was quite a surprise when he did. 'I've got to catch up, what if something happens to Sheba?'

Sheba came to a sudden stop and looked down, feeling somewhat surprised with herself. She now stood in an expanse of grass, dotted with a few trees which actually looked threatening in the silent stillness of the darkness. Her heart started to flutter with panic and Sheba quickly took some deep breaths, placing her hand over her heart and willing it to slow down.

'Come on, Sheba, you're too young for a heart attack,' she rebuked herself sternly, grimacing as she saw a light mud stain on the side of one of her slippers, but she consoled herself by the fact that she could always wash it later. 'You're the one who got yourself into this silly situation, now you can get yourself out. Go back to Contigo and get into bed, you shouldn't be out here at this time of night.'

Sheba... Look up...

Startled, Sheba looked up as the voice had instructed. Nobody had spoken to her, the voice had been in her mind, it was as if somebody was using telepathy to communicate to her, but wherever they were using it from, she had no clue. It could be Hama, but for some reason Sheba just did not think that it could be Ivan's older sister communicating to her through her mind.

She looked up into the deep midnight blue sky, a stretching expanse that seemed to go on forever without end. It was dotted with stars, gleaming brightly like white jewels upon the firmament, millions of them all clustered together, more than she could even see, that went on forever just like the sky and she often marvelled at these wonders.

There was also the moon, the shining grey orb that hung in the sky at night, and for some reason, Sheba was most attracted to this. It was the moon that transformed the people of Garoh into werewolves, reflecting the light that shone from the sun onto them so that they changed every night if they ventured into the moonlight. It was also supposed to be Anemos... the reason for the deep crater located next to Contigo... the City of the Anemos of which Ivan and Hama were descendants... Sheba took a sharp breath as she fancied that she was being contacted from Anemos.

It was then that something amazing happened, something which Sheba had never imagined would happen, which nobody had ever even thought about. A glistening staircase appeared in the sky, shining with the bright white aura of the stars, protruding directly from the moon and coming to rest directly on the ground just a metre away from Sheba.

"I'm dreaming..." Sheba whispered, staring in rapture at the heavenly staircase that she simply could not believe that she was seeing with her own eyes. Instinctively she reached up and rubbed them with her fists, blinking rapidly, but however hard she blinked, the steps remained. Frustratedly, Sheba pinched her own arm and was surprised at the prick of pain that she felt. It felt so real, the slippers on her feet felt real, and so did the chilling night air, so this really was real, she was seeing a staircase leading to the moon... no, to Anemos. "It's... real?"

At last we have found you, Sheba... the Chosen One... you were the child we picked to send down to Weyard, to fulfil a prophecy to save that very world. Now your task is done and this is your opportunity to return home to your birthplace...

"M-my birthplace?" Sheba squeaked, stepping forwards and placing a hesitant foot on the first step. It certainly felt solid enough. She stared up at the moon, shaking her head. "No way... Anemos... they are calling me... it's where I come from... it can't be... I never imagined... but... it does explain how I fell from the skies into Lalivero and I could not find where I came from upon the surface of Weyard. But..." Despite having found her birthplace, Sheba still had some misgivings about leaving Weyard. She would be leaving her friends if she went to Anemos, could she possibly do that?

You can choose if you like... we have watched you through your life and we have waited for this moment, when we are to make you choose... you can forsake your birthplace... or the place where you grew up.

Sheba was lost for words as she struggled to make her choice, a fierce battle beginning to rage inside her. A battle of emotions, turbulent voices rushing over and over in her head, some of which were her own Djinn as well.

'What should I do?' Sheba wondered desolately, glancing worriedly up at the staircase then at the distant village of Contigo. She did not notice the small figure coming towards her in the darkness, simply glancing back at the moon that was her birthplace, the City of the Anemos.

Ivan came to a sudden stop and he did much the same as Sheba had done, fiercely rubbing his eyes, blinking and even pinching himself. It was then that he had to admit that he was going crazy and he was seeing things. Either that or it really was real.

"Djinn," said Ivan suddenly. "Do you see what I see?"

"I see a sky," Zephyr declared from atop his mop of blonde hair. "It is quite a nice sky, don't you agree?"

"Well, I see Ivan's head," Squall told his fellow Djinni. "What about the others? What do YOU see? Tell us quick!"

"I do declare that I see a NOSE!" Breeze appeared on Ivan's nose, and Ivan briskly pulled the offending Djinni off his face and placed her on his shoulder instead. "It is quite a nice nose, Ivan."

"This is not the time to be kidding around," Ivan said sternly, his stare fixed on Sheba, the staircase and the moon. "Do you happen to see anything strange? Particularly a staircase leading from the moon?"

"Now that you mention it." Gust nodded. "I do believe that I see a staircase leading from the moon. That's unusual, isn't it?"

"So what are you going to do about it, Ivan?" challenged Luff. "Go up to the moon?"

"You're kidding, right?" Ivan shot the Djinni a sceptical look. "Like I'd want to go up there. It might be the City of the Anemos, but I'd rather not. But what about Sheba? She wouldn't...!"

Ivan instinctively broke into a run, hurtling towards Sheba, who was already shakily placing her second foot onto the bottom step and feeling like she was a second away from making the decision. It would be painful, but she had to make her choice, and if her family was up there, then surely they would expect her to come home to them?

"SHEBA!" Ivan howled at the top of his voice, stopping Sheba just before she was about to start her ascent up the staircase. "Don't do it!"

"What?" Sheba was stunned out of the reverie she had been experiencing as she allowed herself to feel joy at going to see her family at long last, trying to mask the grief she felt at departing from the world where she grew up in and journeyed around, even saving, and leaving her friends behind. "Ivan!" She exclaimed as she saw her frantic fellow Jupiter Adept standing just below her, for she was still on the first step.

"Sheba." Ivan panted, leaning over and placing his hands on his knees until he caught his breath. His Djinn clung onto his shoulders and head, mercifully keeping quiet for once. "Wait. Please wait." Sheba patiently waited until he had composed himself and then he cleared his throat, looking directly at Sheba. "What do you think you are doing? What's going on?"

"That's my home." Sheba pointed up at the moon. "The Anemos told me in my mind... they lured me out here and invited me up the staircase to my birthplace, to my family who live there in the City of the Anemos. See, Ivan? It explains why I fell from the sky... I've been searching so hard... but I never imagined that the secrets to my past might be up there..."

"Oh, Sheba." Ivan stared at the raptured expression on Sheba's face, feeling mild dismay. Sure, he was happy that now Sheba knew who she really was, someone from Anemos, but something was just not right. "You mean that the Anemos want you to come up there, to leave Weyard? Are you sure?"

"Ivan, my family is up there," said Sheba briskly, trying not to let the quaver of emotion creep into her voice as she looked at the stricken face of Ivan, the sadness that was suddenly appearing in his deep amethyst eyes. "I have got to go up there, my family is calling."

"Did they say you have to go up there?" Ivan demanded, hands on hips and giving her a defiant look. He simply did not believe that the Anemos could drop her down as a baby, simply to force her to come back almost fifteen years later. It did not make sense that they would try to do that, it was unfair, it was playing with her emotions and Ivan simply thought it was cruel. He also knew he would be upset if Sheba left, everybody who knew her would. "If you go up, can you even come back?"

"I..." Sheba bit her lip and glanced worriedly up at the moon, trying not to look at Ivan, so that she would not have to see the pain clearly reflected in his expression. "They said I could go there or I could stay... but I don't think I would be able to come back... and I might not have a second chance to do this. Please, Ivan, try and understand that I have been searching for my family for my whole life and this could be the only chance that I will ever get."

"What about us?" Ivan demanded, anger creeping into his voice. He was not directly angry with Sheba, how could he possibly be, he was angry with the Anemos for what they were doing. "Aren't we like family, all of us?"

"You?" Sheba frowned, still not looking at him. Ivan was not yet finished though, he continued with his tirade, trying valiantly to make Sheba see sense before she made the choice that would change her entire life.

"How about Faran?" Ivan asked. "Sure, he may not have been your biological father, but he was just as good as a father as you could have got, I'll bet, and you had a mother and a little brother too. They were your family, even if they were not related by blood... they still are, even if you're not with them. They took you in as a baby, loved you and cared for you, treated you as one of their own!"

"I was suffocating in Lalivero." Sheba was unable to disguise the tremor in her voice now, but she still did not turn, still standing on that step which began the journey to the moon. "Everybody treated me like I was a child of the gods, but I always knew that it was not really me, they were treating me like some precious artifact. I just couldn't be myself, not even with all the love and care that I was given. I don't think I can ever go back to Lalivero, they would only hold me prisoner against my will for the rest of my life."

"What about Felix? He jumped off a lighthouse for you, to save your life!" Ivan exclaimed. "And Jenna and Piers? The three of them whom you travelled with, oh, and Kraden too... could you really leave them behind, just like that? Could you leave me, Isaac, Garet, and Mia behind? Weyard? The world that you saved, the people that you met on your journey?"

"Ivan..." Sheba was lost for words now. Inside, she was in agony as she fought a losing battle. One side was winning, fighting to vanquish the other, and there was nothing that she could do about it, about the emotions fighting, almost tearing apart her heart. "I... don't know what to do..."

"You can't go back there," Ivan said fiercely, and Sheba turned around sharply, staring at him with a shocked expression and he noted some pain in those emerald eyes of hers but regardless he continued, he had to make her see sense. "Those are the people who discarded you as a baby without even a clue, they could have enclosed a note as well saying who you were or something but they did not, they left you to seek the answers of your past for so long! And then they just appear like that and they give you an ultimatium out of nowhere. You can't go up there, Sheba, you'll be even more of a prisoner than you were in Lalivero."

"And what about us?" asked Blitz, appearing on Sheba's shoulder. "What if there aren't any monsters on Anemos or anything? And we'll be stranded from the other Djinn as well."

"You... could stay here..." Sheba said shakily, her voice filled with emotion. "You could stay on Weyard... maybe Hama would take you or something..."

"And leave you?" Aroma appeared on Sheba's other shoulder and Sheba fancied that Aroma was glaring at her. "I don't think so, Sheba! You're the one who's looked after us and we've looked after you for so long, you simply have to stay with us."

"Please, Sheba?" Ivan ventured. Sheba sighed and turned to stare forlornly up at the moon. She heard a soft sob from behind her and turned yet again in surprise to see Ivan breaking down. A tear was rolling down his cheek, but he did not bother to brush it away. "I... I would miss you so much, Sheba, you know I would, please don't do this to me. What about Hama? She's coaching us... teaching us Jupiter Psynergy... I thought you wanted to learn to Teleport..."

"Oh..." Sheba exhaled softly. She knew that Ivan could be very sentimental at times, but seeing him actually in tears was bad enough. And her Djinn were less than happy about it too, and she knew that she could not really just leave them behind on Weyard too, neither could she leave Felix, Jenna, Sheba, Piers, Isaac, Garet, Ivan, Mia, Hama... even Kraden... despite his faults. They were all like a big family to her, and she didn't need anything else, just them. Her decision now made, Sheba swallowed the lump in her throat and stepped back down on the grass. Ivan stared awestruck at her, his mouth open and a radiant happiness in his eyes. "I'm sorry," Sheba said, looking at the moon. "But my life is down here on Weyard, this is where I will stay until my dying day..."

If that is your choice, chosen child, then very well. Farewell, Sheba, we will always be watching you however, and if you are ever feeling lonely and down, just look up at the moon and think of your family.

Then the staircase dissipated into thin air and there was no longer anything linking the moon to the ground, now it would not be possible to get there anymore. Sheba stared at the moon for a few moments then turned away, trying not to cry. She was happy to stay down here with her friends, but sad because she would never get to see her family now.

"I'm sorry, Sheba," Ivan offered as he saw the mixed feelings reflected on her face, some sadness in her expression. "I just didn't want to lose you to some strangers that you have never really known."

"It's all right, Ivan." Sheba smiled weakly at her companion. "Thank you... if it wasn't for you, I might be up there now, and I'd have to spend my whole life up there, in an alien environment I don't even know. I've made the better choice after all, thanks to you."

"There's... there's another reason why I wanted you to stay as well," Ivan ventured nervously, stepping closely to Sheba.

"Another reason?" Sheba raised an eyebrow in wonder. "What is that reason, Ivan? If I recall, you went over a lot of very good reasons why I should stay down here, and that's good enough, isn't it? I'm here..."

"This," said Ivan simply, pressing his warm, moist lips against Sheba's. Sheba froze as she felt the unexpected feeling of his lips on hers, and she shivered as she felt a surge of excitement rush through her. Ivan pulled away and he was satisfied to see a joyful smile on Sheba's face. "After almost losing you like that, I've realised that you might be more than just a best friend... but if it's still too early, we could wait..." His face was going red, Sheba noted.

"That was lovely, Ivan, thank you." Sheba took his hand in hers and clenched it tightly, their warm palms pressed together. "I'll never forget this night, will you?"

"You've got to be kidding." Ivan chuckled lightly. "I think it took about ten years off my life. It was the most frightening night of my life as well as the most surprising and the most beautiful, I suppose."

"Hey, that was some great action there!" cheered Smog raucously from atop Ivan's head, bouncing up and down energetically. "You've got the girl, Ivan!"

"Ah, be quiet, Smog." Ivan was smiling however.

"Never thought you had that in you," Whorl commented besides Sheba's head. "To get Ivan to kiss you like that... hey, why don't you do it again?"

The two Jupiter Adepts simply walked back to Contigo hand in hand, ignoring the comments flying from their Djinn. They felt as if they were floating on air, both of them feeling a strange kind of happiness inside them, the happiness that came from love. Sheba had forsaken her family by blood for the only family she had ever known, for her friends and love too, and she would never look back at that night and think 'What if' for her future lay on Weyard. She had fought to save it, and she wanted to be properly there to see how the world changed after the unleash of Alchemy. Otherwise, what would have been the point of helping to save it?