TW: Random Alternate Universe

Today was the day. I found myself running down the halls, barely managing to dodge the oncoming stream of people. It didn't matter that they gave me questionable looks because I was too excited to care. Today would be the day that I would meet my Engineer.

Given the choices we were given at a young age, I chose to become a Pilot. It was the highest and most respected one on the list which made it the hardest to pursue as well, but that was why I chose it so easily. For many reasons, I wanted to rise above who I had been and maybe even distance myself from others... Just a little.

I studied harder than anyone else, clawed my way up the ladder, and finally found myself breathing easy as I passed the initiation test with flying colors. Everything was fine. Wonderful actually. For the first time, I would taste the fruits of my success.

Still running, I was thinking about what kind of Engineer I would receive. He or she would be my new partner for the rest of my career as a Pilot. They would have studied almost as hard as me to learn the ins and outs of a spaceship in case of a problem. If anything, they would save my butt if I made a fatal error, and I was going to be sure to appreciate them for that. We were going to be a great team. That much I knew.

Finally, I rounded the corner and stopped dead at the match up board. Here I would find my name beside my new partners. I scanned it quickly, losing my patience as the names passed by without a thought, and then I stopped as my finger landed on my own. My heart raced with excitement before it quickly fell into confusion as I read the name next to mine. "Sjin..."

"Xephos."

My heart dropped at the sound of my name and the voice who uttered it. I was in shock and I was afraid to look because I knew who was there, but I did look. Our eyes met and I felt the past hit me like a brick. It had been forever since I've laid my eyes on him. So long that I had all words taken from me.

He seemed surprised as well, but our surprise was different. He wore a smile that could melt any heart that didn't know better, and he had all his words to say as he pleased. "... It's been a while."

"Yeah..." I managed to say back, grasping to take my words back. "Months... Years... I thought you left for good."

"Well..." He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and seemed to mumble a bit, "I did tell you I would never come back."

"You did." I agreed, trying to understand as I turned to him, "And yet, here you are after all this time."

"Yeah... I ended up lying to you." He said, clearer than before. "And I apologize for that because I'm going to apologize for everything. All this time, I've thought about you and I, Xephos. I've thought about how much of a kid I was compared to you, and just... just how everything was back then. I was stupid, and... I was pushy."

"What are you trying to say?" I said, trying my best not to think about it, "Are you trying to say you've changed or something? I never asked you to. Everything you said and everything we had is all in the past where it belongs. Where you belong, Sjin."

Though my words made him wince, he seemed to chuckle, "I know, and I promise you I tried to rid myself of it, and that I tried desperately to rid myself of you but I couldn't. I kept thinking of the pain I felt when I couldn't follow you anymore... When you purposely made it so I couldn't."

His sad puppy dog pout sent my heart back where it was back then, but I wasn't weak anymore. I could speak without worrying about hurting him. "It only turned out that way. You weren't good enough to follow me... barely anyone was."

"I know that too... Well, I know it now." He said, letting the pout go. "I wasn't like you. I couldn't become elite and in the end, I blamed you. I didn't want you to leave me so I left you first, taking the lowest job on the list. It was a stupid childish mistake, and I did it to myself. You had every right to want to get away. Our relationship was so shaky and unhealthy; a ticking time bomb."

I had forgotten or at least, tried to forget all of this crap and I had for a time, but now I was remembering everything. "We were always off and on, could never agree on anything, and pretty much drove each other crazy. You were so possessive that I felt like I was suffocating but I brought it on myself by being a jerk and ignoring you most of the time. We were young... We were stupid... We were... just being kids."

He sighed, and nodded in agreement, "We were very stupid kids who tried to build something we couldn't keep together, and now we are really stupid adults reminiscing about it. I'm really sorry, Xephos."

I sighed as well,and shook my head, "Don't be. It's all in the past, right?"

His face lit up as he grinned, "Right. We've changed. I've changed. All this time I've been working hard to climb the ladder and become an Engineer just so I could meet you here and become your partner. It wasn't easy. I wanted to give up so many times, but here I am, facing up to you and showing you I can be worth something. I can protect you out there and I will protect you out there, and maybe someday you'll truly forgive me for everything but until then, I will be the best partner you've ever had. Is that okay?"

He held out his hand, and for a split second I wanted to refuse it. Would anything really change? I mean, does anyone really change? He could easily fall back into the person he was, and yet, I believed in him for the first time. I wanted to believe in him. I took his hand and nodded, "Yeah. We're partners now. I'm relying on you, Sjin."

"I won't let you down." He said, smiling wider than ever before.

Credit to BlackrockSoldier on Ao3