Part II: Tidal Wave

Pit woke to the sound of lively birds chirping outside his window. He gradually opened his eyes and stretched his tiny wings while taking in the crisp morning air. He exhaled with a satisfied sigh before getting out of bed. He glanced out his window and noticed that the sky was still quite dark, and the heavenly city was still very much asleep. He questioned why he was even up at such an hour. That's right, he thought as realization dawned upon him, today we're going to watch the sunrise with Soren.

The angel's thoughts drifted to the stoic young captain. Pit thought love and romance was all pretty gross, I mean, girls were just so weird. (Except Astrid, of course) And although Pit didn't know, and didn't really want to know, much about love, he was almost certain that it had something to do with the way Astrid and Soren looked at each other.

Pit's thoughts were interrupted when a rambunctious voice echoed through the halls. "PIT! Where are you? If we don't hurry, the sun will rise without us! Not to mention Soren will chew us out for sure if we're late!" Pit smiled as he turned and walked towards the voice of his guardian. When he reached the entryway of the house he found Astrid standing near the door with a red scarf in her hand. Although the house was dark, due to the early hour, Astrid's very being seemed to illuminate the entire house. In Pit's opinion, Astrid could light up the entire world with her smile without even breaking a sweat.

"You might want to wear a scarf. It's pretty chilly outside, you can just borrow mine for now." Astrid said with a brilliant smile. She reached her arms around Pit's fragile neck to ensconce it in downy comfort. The tiny angel glanced out the window as the fire-haired angel button up his coat. He saw several tiny birds being lead by their mother to the nest's edge. Pit's face lit up as he realized that this would be the little bird's first time flying.

One by one, the fledglings lept off of their perch and took to the sky. The mother bird seemed proud as her children soared through the air on their new wings. Pit's eyes filled with bliss and well as determination. Some day, with a little help from Astrid, he'd be able to fly just like them. Pit was pulled out of his contemplation by a knock at the door. Astrid turned her head to look at the homey wooden structure.

"Weird," she remarked with a frown, "I thought I remembered telling Soren to meet us up at the hill." The esteemed captain shrugged it off and donned her signature smile before turning to look at Pit, giving him am assuring wink and strutting towards the door. She was about halfway to the threshold before the door opened on its own. Soren was not standing there.

~x~

Soren looked at his watch impatiently. Honestly, where were those two? If they didn't hurry, they'd miss the sunset all together! The raven-haired captain looked pensively from his position on the hill at the quiet city below him. He knew within the next hour or so, it would be bustling and filled with life. But now, Soren could truly appreciate the serenity and calm beauty of the city that stretched out all around him.

The captain huffed impatiently before deciding to go look for the dynamic duo. He estimated that if he left now, he'd probably have time to drag them back to this spot before the sun was scheduled to peak over the horizon. 'Although,' Soren thought to himself as he allowed a rare smile to grace his features, 'I suppose I wouldn't mind grabbing her by the hand and dragging her.'

For the first time in his life, Soren felt as though he was perfectly centered. He was completely aware of the world around him. He could feel every spirit and every drop of energy around him. He looked straight in front of him proudly as he pondered upon what his future could hold. A future with Astrid. Soon afterwards, his body was overcome with a sudden wave of warmth as the sun peaked over the horizon just behind him. He shielded his eyes and squinted towards the horizon while the beautiful sunrise that commenced before him. He exhaled in both awe and defeat, as he realized that Astrid had been right... For once.

His genuine surprise of Astrid knowing something that he did not quickly dissipated, though, as he realized that she and her sidekick hadn't even showed up this morning.

Honestly, I'm not really sure what I expected, he thought with a knowing smile, looks like I'll have to march over there and demand some answers. Without any warning, Soren's ears were assaulted by a blaring siren coming from the town.

"That's… the raid alarm. But why..?" Soren remarked aloud as he stumbled over his whirling thoughts. Upon further inspection, he was able to detect a few columns of smoke coming from the city. An unfriendly gust of wind filled his eyes and nose with acrid smoke as he recoiled in disgust. As he squeezed his eyes shut in an attempt to rid himself of the unpleasant assailant, he felt the ground shake as two explosions sounded in the direction of the densely populated heavenly city. When he opened his stormy eyes, he watched in horror as Skyworld burned, massive pillars of black smoke coiling off of the divine city like serpents.

Soren darted towards the chaos at full speed with only one goal in mind. In any other situation, Soren would have followed his duties as a captain to the tee, concerning himself with evacuating the citizens and Lady Palutena's safety, but love has a way of changing people in drastic ways, and there was only a single word that screamed at him and demanded to be heard:

Astrid..!