Yep. The second of the many updates/new fics that I've been promising. :cough: Go R/R "To Commune With a Spirit" if you haven't already :cough: XD

Had to get this one out before I start writing FE:SS stuff, though I'm going to be sorely swamped by things to write. XD I guess this would be semi-AU, though "future fic" fits it better. :D I won't reveal the setting just yet, it'll be more fun to guess from this prologue of sorts. Haha. But main pairing is Heath/Priscilla, and believe me when I say this fic will be pretty fun. For me, at least. XD I'm also going to still try to keep all of the characters... mostly in character, because it'd be weird if they weren't, though they WILL be "adapted" somewhat to the new setting so tell me if I mess up, per usual. :D And I apologize if the writing style in this first chapter isn't up-to-date with my style of late... I wrote this... last year I think. Just haven't posted it 'til now, and I'm really not in the mood to rewrite it. XD

Remember, italics are always either thoughts or flashbacks. If it's a block of italics, then that means flashback, and thoughts, if present in those, will be in normal font! But I'm sure you all knew that! XD I probably won't be separating flashbacks from the "present" 'cause I don't think it would be as effective but... if it's really annoying or confusing, tell me and I'll see what I can do!

So... I now bring you the first chapter of Believe in Me!

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Disclaimer: This will be in effect throughout the entire fic! I don't own Fire Emblem, but I DO own the weird and random names of places and people I'll be throwing into this! XD

Chapter 1: Unfulfilled Promise

"This is Anna Wilde of ENN bringing you the latest in local news from the grounds of Castle Caerleon. This old ruin is set to be demolished to make room for a brand new housing complex. Though historians have protested this move, public opinion is in favor of the change, as it is commonly rumored that the castle is haunted. Deconstruction is scheduled for next week."

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For years, she had waited... alone. Raymond, no, Raven... he was gone. He had left her alone to wait. Her adoptive mother, her adoptive father... Lucius, Erk, Serra, Guy, Lord Pent, Lady Louise, and everyone else she had met on the journey... They had all abandoned her. But still, she waited. She had watched children mature into adults, had watched those same adults fade from her life. She had seen countless numbers of leaves fall from their trees, had seen new buds springing from the branches... and had seen those same leaves cover the earth in a lovely blanket of red, orange, and gold, a lovely blanket of... death. She had watched the small villages and towns change, had watched new monsters of iron erupting from their ruins. She had watched her old home wither away from age, had watched its former glory turn to ruin. She had waited... for years, for five hundred years... for him to return.

She sighed as she took one final glance at the strange bright lights beneath her, one final look beyond the cliff overhanging the bustling city. She sighed, but no hot breath disturbed the brisk crispness of the summer night. There was only a faint, cool breeze, which was gone as quickly as it had come. She turned and walked to the crumbling stone behind her... a routine she was far too familiar with now, a routine that was more habit than necessity. After all, why would one walk if one could merely drift to wherever one wanted to go? But it did not matter to her, did not even occur to her as she stepped through the walls of Castle Caerleon, to her old room... to her old bed.

"You promised," she said, her mouth unmoving. "You promised you would return... someday..."

"Are you someone who so easily breaks a promise?" she questioned, tears beginning to gather in her eyes.

He shifted closer, worry etched into his face. "...Don't cry. I-I didn't mean it like that. Priscilla... I... can call you that, can't I? If it's so much that you are moved to tears, I will stay by your side. Even... for just this battle. ...I'll be here."

"You promised..."

She looked up toward the long-collapsed ceiling, looked up at the stars just beginning to twinkle in the night sky. A single fall leaf floated gently through the hole, and she extended her arm to reach it... to touch it. But the leaf merely passed through her arm. She scooted away from it sadly, but she did not cry. She could not cry.

"They say that ghosts are merely people who have not fulfilled their greatest hopes and desires in life," she whispered quietly, her voice only a passing breeze. Holding her hand up toward the sky, she stared at it unhappily, watching the moonlight shine through to the floor.

"Then is this why? Is this why time has not stopped?"

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A/N: Should be pretty easy to guess who the person is! XD Hehe. Anyone want to say what "ENN" stands for? Shouldn't be TOO hard... XD Heath and his "buddies" are coming next chapter! And can you say... Heath + sports car equals hot? XD