Summary:

The whole time he's traveling, the only thing he thinks about is her. But he never expected anyone to try and pry into his thoughts. "You sure you're head's not in the clouds? Get it? Because we're above that altitude?" Boreas Berenices is, Leon decides, the biggest harmless nuisance he's ever dealt with.

~OoO~

Leon was flipping through one of the guides that travelers were given to climb to the top of Mount Feinthardt, one of the best places to watch the Aurora Borealis. Violet would probably like to see something like that again.

He sat on one of the benches inside of the Visitor's Center in Lisberg, Brehm.

He planned to stay the night in one of the rentable rooms just above the Center and wake up at five AM to take the one hour bus to the bottom of Mount Feinthardt. After that, he would climb the mountain with the group on the bus, which would probably take... a long time.

Leon dropped the guide back into its box and approached the lady at the desk off to the side.

"May I have a room?" He asked her.

She nodded. "Although, I do have to warn you, sir, you may have to bunk with someone. It does happen, and we're very sorry, but-"

"It's alright," he interrupted. "I... can I just have the key?"

"Of course sir, here you are."

Leon then travelled up to the room of his assigned number and peeked open the door, sighing in relief that no one was inside. He would have to pray that no one else would come in.

Dropping his bag beside his bed, he raised his arms up and leaned right. One, two, three, four, five. Left. One, two, three-

Click.

"Heeeeeeey!"

Leon cringed, letting his arms fall to his sides. He glanced to the doorway to see a boy his age with frosty hair and green eyes. "Hello," he greeted politely, his face a neutral mask.

"So, you're the roommate, huh? I'm Boreas Berenices, nice to meet you!" he held out his hand.

He seemed polite enough, if a little too energized. Leon mentally shrugged, taking his hand.

Boreas shook it enthusiastically, a grin covering his face, and Leon let all his muscles relax.

When Boreas finally let go, it hung limply, and he shot a small glare to the oblivious traveller. "You didn't have to shake my hand so hard," he said.

"Oh, sorry about that," Boreas chuckled to himself. "People tell me I'm a little too energetic sometimes."

"Yeah, no kidding..." Leon trailed off. He continued to organize his belongings, sorting them into categories of what he would need most on the Mountain.

"Hey, if you're going up Mt. Feinthardt, you should bring that," Boreas looked over his shoulder. "Oh, and that pile right there is a good thing to have, too, you don't want to freeze."

Boreas continued to give him advice he didn't need and be annoying. Leon's eyebrow twitched, and he wondered if Violet had to deal with clients like this.

"... and in case you want a snack, that's a good case because it's compact and-"

"I get it, okay!" Leon snapped.

Boreas' eyebrows jumped up.

"I know what I'm doing," he said. "I don't need your help!"

"S-Sorry?" Boreas stuttered. "I guess I came on a little too strong, huh?"

Leon frowned, feeling a little guilty, and after a moment remarked, "Where do you get all that energy anyways?"

Boreas shrugged. "I dunno. I guess I never grew out of it," he smiled. "Makes for great mountain climbing, though."

Leon nodded once. "Yeah, I guess."

"So, I was wondering, why is someone like you doing things like this?"

"Huh?" Leon looked up. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," Boreas replied, "you seem like the kind of person who locks themselves up in a study or... something."

Leon raised a brow.

"Not in the insulting way!" he hastily tacked onto the end. "But someone like you seems to be more of a stay and watch guy, you know?"

"Yeah, I get what you mean," Leon said. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't for a friend of mine."

Boreas smiled. "Same."

Maybe they weren't as different as they seemed.

~OoO~

The Aurora Borealis was, Leon decided, one of the most beautiful things he had ever seen. Right up there with Violet Evergarden.

"Hey, you sure your head's not in the clouds?" Boreas waved a hand in front of Leon's face. "Get it? Because we're above that altitude?" He snickered, and Leon rolled his eyes.

"I get it," he said. He continued staring up at the night sky, though. Boreas blinked.

"Want a picture?" he grinned as they sat at the peak of the mountain. "So you can show it to your girl?"

Leon gaped at him, feeling his cheeks heat up. He was lucky it was so cold or his roommate would be able to tell he was blushing. "How did you know about that?"

His acquaintance chuckled. "You have that look in your eye."

"Yeah? I do?" Leon blinked at Boreas through his goggles.

"Yup," he leaned backward into the heels of his hands and tilted his head back into the sky. "The look that says you want to see that special someone again."

He was quiet for a moment. "You're right," he said. "She's always on my mind. Always there, and I don't know why."

"Know what I think?" Boreas jumped up. "I think you're in love."

Leon said, "I think that's too much."

"Nope. I think it's the perfect amount. What do you like about her? The way she looks? Her dress?"

"No," Leon replied instantly. "That's shallow."

"Ouch," said Boreas. "But you're right. What do you like about her?" he repeated.

Leon looked at his hands, furrowing his brows. "Her hair," he said "the way it looks in the wind. Her eyes, too. They look like water, like an ocean. Like maybe if I looked too long I'd drown. And her compassion. How she stood up for me when no one else did."

"On a roll. Keep going."

"There's something that separates her from other girls. Not like in that romantic, first date kind of way. Like there's really something she's been through that no one else gets. Her voice, too. Sometimes it's mechanical, like she's nothing, but every so often these flickers come through- her voices gains volume or it's wavers, or there's some undertone of emotion behind it.

"And sometimes she gets a far off look in her eyes, like she's waiting for something. Hoping for it. And she'll reach for this brooch around her collar- it's emerald green- and I think it's reminds her of someone. And her smile... I love her smile."

Boreas tried to cut in. "Woah, wait, slow do-"

"She doesn't always show her emotions, and her face is so blank. But when she does, they're genuine. And it's beautiful. I know that she loves someone. I don't know in what way, how they met, or where they are. But- I don't know- I think... I think I'm okay with that, because..." he let out a breath in a misty cloud, watching the Aurora that reminded him of his Violet Evergarden dance across the constellations, "I just want her to be happy."

Boreas lay at his feet, making a snow angel. "Gee. You fell pretty hard, huh?"

"... I did?"

Boreas sat up. "You can't tell?" his amusement shot a spark of annoyance through Leon.

"Well, I've never been in love before. So..."

"Seriously? Not even a teeny little crush?"

"No. Other women are... how do I put this. Not interesting?"

"Yep. You're in love," Boreas confirmed.

Leon shrugged. "Maybe. I don't know, though, if she likes me back. She told me that she couldn't fully understand emotions yet and that she's happy with my confession because she thinks I might have treated her like a... a normal girl. But..." he looked down at the snow.

"What's wrong?" Boreas sat up. "You think she won't return your feelings?"

"No, I'm not worried about that," he replied. "It's that I might not ever even see her again. I mean- what are the chances?"

Boreas hummed. Then, he grabbed Leon's arm and pulled him down next to him.

"What the hell?!" Leon cried, laying splayed out uncomfortably in the cold. "What was that?"

"Look," said Boreas, his arm gesturing upward. "And feel, too."

"I see," Leon frowned, "the Borealis. And I feel... cold!" he tried to stand back up, but Boreas shoved him back down.

"No. We're on Mt. Feinthardt, idiot. This is what the mountain feels like. It's cold, yeah. It's tingly and maybe a little uncomfortable, but it's there, right below us, and it's almost sentient."

Leon didn't interrupt, thinking this might be a side of his energetic acquaintance no one else really knew.

"And look. Up there. You see it?"

Leon frowned. The Borealis? Of course he saw it.

"See how the stars and night sky are helping the Aurora with her dance?"

Leon's eyes glanced away from the spotlight for a moment, realizing that Boreas was right. The stars were just as beautiful as the northern lights- they just shined a little less bright. Like himself and Violet, he thought. He had helped Violet.

"You get it now? Why are you here?"

"Because... of Violet."

"Yeah. Because she was the one who pushed your limits, made you realize what you wanted to do. This," he patted the snow, "this monstrous beast beneath us, and the ceiling above- this is what it's like to be on top. And you're here because of her. If this girl is what you're doing all of this for?" Boreas sat up, "then you're bound to meet again one day!"

Leon blinked. "I... guess so."

Boreas lay back down and grinned, closing his eyes.

Leon's opened wider. He could feel everything around him. And he took it in, all of it. He kept his breathing slow and steady, tuning out the chatter of other groups around him.

So, this is what it was like to be on top of the world. It wasn't all that different, he realized, than being with Violet Evergarden.