AU: Phantasmal Friends

Context: Sabre has lived a lot longer than he should have because of what happened to his soul. At this point, he's seen everything about ten times. Dude's fricking tired, but he's not going to make the Sky People ghosts move on if they're not ready (which, the vast majority of them aren't).

Angst angst angst angst angst >:D

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[3rd Person POV]

Time walked out of the house, the cool spring night being lit by the stars above and the fireflies dancing in the air above the grass. The village was nearly silent.

He walked around the house and looked out towards the clearing behind it, finally seeing Sabre lying down at the lake. He was staring into the sky, his legs dangling off the edge of the wooden dock. A few wisps floated around him, small and appearing like tiny blue fires.

Time walked out to the lake and approached Sabre, who sat up and looked behind him when he heard footsteps on the planks.

"Oh, hey Time." Sabre greets him with his usual smile, tired yet comforting. "Whatcha doing out here?"

"I was looking for you." Time replies, sitting down next to him. "I hadn't seen you in a few hours, and you weren't in your room. Have you really been out here this whole time?"

"Yeah, just... existing, I guess." Sabre mumbles, staring down at the water.

He pulls at the side of his hoodie for a moment, the bandages underneath it feeling a little uncomfortable. He then leans back and lies back down, sighing as he stares into the night sky. There's a few moments of silence before Time's expression shifts, and he looks down at him.

"...Are you alright?" He asks.

"Yeah, I'm good. Just... tired."

"Go rest then, you've been through a lot today. You should be taking care of yourself when you're recovering from that fight with Shadow."

"It's not that..."

Time looks confused.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just... generally tired. Y'know, how I usually am." Sabre says, chuckling for a moment. "You can only live for so long before everything feels like it's less stress and reward, and it just starts feeling more... exhausting. Figured I'd enjoy the bit of peace and quiet before the next thing starts while I can..."

"...Is it because of the soul thing?"

"Yeah... you'd think not being able to die would be pretty cool, until you go through a few centuries with it. Then it all just feels the same at some point... except for the people. No matter how many times I see the same problems and situations over and over again..."

Sabre's smile fades as he focuses on not the stars, but the abyss of space surrounding it.

"...The kind of hurt you feel from another person will never get easier to go through."

Time looks somberly at him, beginning to understand what he's talking about.

"So... you've been through battles like ours before?"

"Oh, hundreds of times. The only thing I didn't see coming was you getting the Leaders to forgive me." Sabre shrugs. "I just figured they hated me too much, but nope. Thanks again for that, by the way."

"Uh, no problem..." Time says quietly. He thinks for a moment. "...Sabre?"

"Yeah?"

"...Can you really only move on when all of the... spirits want to?"

"Well, it's... the only way I could without forcing them to. I don't want to do that to them. If I'm their only shot at living how they never got to... wouldn't you feel guilty for taking that away from them, if you had that choice to make?"

"Anyone would, really, but... how many lifetimes have you lived doing this? It's no wonder you're so tired."

Sabre sighs.

"I... I was supposed to go a long, long time ago. If I can't even remember how long ago that was supposed to be, then what's a few more years? It won't matter."

"It does if you're burning yourself out when you're just living."

There's a long silence, Time staring down at Sabre as he gazes into the stars with a blank expression. They just sit there like that for a while, until Sabre slowly sits up, using a dock support to pull himself upright with his other hand over his injured side.

"Well, it's... getting late. You're right, I should probably go to bed." Sabre says with a shaky grin. "Appreciate you coming to check on me."

"...No problem." Time replies, getting up. "Do you need help with your bandages before you sleep? You seem like you're uncomfortable."

"Nah, just sore. Thanks though."

Sabre turns and starts walking towards the house, while Time glances up at the sky for a moment.

...How long has he been struggling with this?

"Hey, you coming or what?" Sabre calls out from the other end of the dock, Time shifting his gaze to him when he does.

Time just stares for a moment before sighing and walking towards him.

"Yeah, just wait up."

"No problem man, I've got all the time in the world."

"So do I, you know."

"...Oh yeah, that's right... you do."