Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with the Eragon world. I won't even claim to own the plot, even though I am the one typing it. The idea of a human Saphira and Thorn was borrowed from Sussiekitten.

Notes: My first dip into the Eragon fan-base. Don't shoot me. It's an AU, which means alternate universe. That means no dragons and dragon riders.

Dedication: Dedicated to the lovely and wonderful Sussiekitten, the best Eragon fanfictioner. Hope you like it SK.

All I've Ever Wanted

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday

It's wasn't time for lights out yet, but the door was shut, the lights off, and the heavy, dark curtains drawn shut to block out the fading sun. The effect shrouded the small room in nearly complete darkness. The alarm clock on the dresser was the only real source of light as it glowed a subtle red. The room's currently only occupant lay sprawled out on the bottom bunk of the beds near the window.

The room was on the small side, but every room was much the same. There was a long dresser that shared the wall with the door out of the room and the one to the small closet. Opposite of the front wall was a pair of bunk beds, set end to end. They stretched nearly the whole length of the wall. The one on the right shared the corner with the single window in the room. That bottom bunk beside the window was the favorite among those who had shared the room in the years before. It was the older boys' room. Once a boy reached the age of sixteen, he was moved into that room on the top floor to stay his last two years. Not many remained to reach this stay and when Eragon was given a bunk nearly two years ago he shared the room with one boy. A few others came and went during his stay but it wasn't until recently that the room became lonelier.

Two months ago, the oldest boy left the day after his eighteenth birthday. Eragon was the oldest boy now. His successor just celebrated his fourteenth birthday, so Eragon knew his last days spent living in the room would be quiet. He wouldn't have to fight for closet space or bathroom time. He didn't have to settle with the top bunk when he preferred the bottom. He was the last boy rooming on the top floor and that made him the boss.

The brunette didn't know how he felt about this fact. On one hand, he had the room to himself. On the other, he was alone at night when he was used to the comforting sounds of the other sleeping boys. He was almost eighteen and soon would get to leave this place forever. But still being there at eighteen when he was dropped off at three meant fifteen years of being passed up for adoption. Fifteen years of not having a family. Fifteen years of being an orphan surrounded by other orphans, living their meager existences.

It wasn't that he wasn't nice, because he was nice and pleasant to all the other kids and most of the time to everyone else. He also wasn't bad to look at. Messy brown hair, dark brown eyes, and a slim build. He was on the short side, but no one was perfect. In fact, many had called the boy down right adorable, much to his disdain.

He had been adopted once, a few weeks after first being brought to the Surda School for Orphaned Children. Eragon didn't remember this, but he was told time and time again that the adoption didn't go over too well and he was returned within a month. He was marked as a trouble maker then. And his constant standoffish and cold nature labeled him as a loner to potential adopters.

What he really wanted was a family. A real family. One that couldn't send you back if you misbehaved.

There was a knock at the door. The brunette groaned and turned his eyes to the door. The dark didn't bother him much. His eyes got used to the dark rather quickly. "Who goes there?" He called out loudly.

"Princess Seraphina Delepan of Engleton requesting an audience with sir Rider Drake of Varden." There was a pause followed by a soft laugh. "Who do you think?"

Eragon smiled as he recognized the sarcastic tone of his best friend's voice. "Come on in Saph."

"You're not doing anything sticky, right?"

"Saphira! Get in here before someone catches you!" He rolled over and sat up, shaking his head slowly. He could just imagine the lecture he's get from the two counselors who had rooms on the top floor.

The door knob turned and the door opened slowly. A slender, elegant beauty stood in the doorway, squinting in the darkness. "And don't worry." She said with a smile, apparently reading his wandering mind. "All the counts are down stairs. Count meeting. So they won't be bothering the princess and her knight anytime soon."

Saphira. The love interest of nearly every older boy that had come and gone in the past few years. Saphira, with her high cheek bones, light complexion, radiant ice-blue eyes, and her ash-blonde long, silky hair. When she spoke, people listened to her soft voice. When she laughed, it was musical. Everything about her was captivating.

She was a month Eragon's junior and one of three girls that shared the room down the hall. She was brought to the orphanage when she was six and despite the cooties the little kids seem to have, Saphira and Eragon latched onto each other instantly and became fast friends.

She had been fostered out a few times, but everyone wanted to drag her away from Surda. New schools, new towns, new friends. Saphira fought them all the way and if they wouldn't send her back, she'd run away. She wanted to stay right where she was.

Some thought her crazy, the rest thought her in love with Eragon. Both were as far from the truth as they were close.

"Just wait until we're eighteen Eragon." She had said many times. "We'll leave here together. We'll find jobs and an apartment. And go to school. We'll meet people and get married and have kids. And our kids will grow up together as best friends like us. And go to the same school. And never have the worry of being rejected. We'll have families Eragon! You'll see. Everything will be perfect."

As for the "counts" she spoke of, that was the term she and Eragon had adapted for the counselors. When Eragon was younger and he first met Saphira, he had a slight lisp. He couldn't quite say counselors. Instead, he would call them counters. Saphira soon adopted the term and even when Eragon lost his boyish lisp, the nickname stuck. Old habits were hard to break.

She smiled before closing the door softly behind her. With a laugh, she ran towards Eragon and jumped up beside him on the bed inviting creaks and making the frame sway. "Where were you today? I feel like I've hardly seen you at all!"

Eragon shrugged and moved backwards on the bed to lean against the wall. "Hung out in here mostly." He replied almost sourly.

"Doing what?" Saphira moved back to lean beside him, her eyes slowly becoming adjusted to the lack of light.

"Reading, drawing…" He mused. "Daydreaming mostly."

"Daydreaming?" Saphira repeated in a suddenly dreamy voice. "About who? Anyone I know? The new girl, perhaps?" She elbowed him softly and giggled.

"New girl?"

"Arya."

Eragon laughed loudly as he throught about the energetic, black haired girl. "Arya? New?"

Saphira smiled. "Well… newer." She stuck her tongue out. "A couple months is still new. And she's nice. And pretty enough."

He laughed and bumped against her shoulder. "Sounds like you like her."

Saphira's mouth dropped open and she slapped his arm. "I do not!" She said grumpily. "And if not Arya, then who?"

"No one, Saph."

"Then about what?" She persisted, turning her penetrating gaze on him.

Eragon sighed softly and pulled his knees to his chest. "I turn eighteen tomorrow, in case you have forgotten."

Saphira laughed and pushed against his shoulder. "No, you dunce. I haven't forgotten. But why are you worried about it?"

"Who said I was worried?" He snapped rather defensively.

"Call it women's intuition." She said sarcastically. "Or I just know you better than you know yourself." She leaned over him and pulled the curtains open. The room was flooded with the soft moonlight.

"Sorry." He muttered softly, by way of apologizing. He took a deep, slow breath before continuing. "Tomorrow's my birthday, right? My eighteenth. That means I'm leaving." He said sulkily. "And they've gone and sold me to a work farm."

"Sold?" She eyed him with a smirk. "That's a bit drastic, don't you think?"

Eragon shrugged. "Might have well had."

"Eragon! You get to leave here! And you'll get to go to college and have a place to stay." Her eyes were wide when she said this.

"And all I have to do is work their farm for four years. I'll be a glorified slave, Saph."

"Think of it as chores, Ere. We have them here. And normal kids out there do too." Saphira laughed. "It could be worse Eragon. College is expensive if you have to pay for it yourself. Free board and school…"

"It's the same here!" He interrupted.

She sighed slightly. "What's really wrong, Eragon? You wanted to go to the work farm. Last week you were hyped about leaving this place behind forever. What was it you said? 'Leave and never look back.' What happened?"

Eragon hugged his knees to his chest tightly and dipped his chin. "I was." He admitted softly. "Until it hit me."

"What hit you?" She asked softly, scooting closer.

"Saph… don't you get it? This is it! The end. We aren't little kids anymore. Tomorrow I am an adult. And I will be on my own. My whole life, I wanted to be an adult, right? Like that would solve everything. But it solves nothing. It only makes matters worse. Saph, I'll be all alone! I'll have no one!" He blurted out.

"What about me?" There was a hurt tone to her voice.

"In a month you'll be leaving too."

Saphira screwed her nose up in distaste. "That whole thing's a joke."

"A joke? You'll have a family Saph."

She laughed softly and shook her head. "It's not really an adoption Eragon. They are a childless family with money to spare. They are just looking to boost their image and karma. They want the smug satisfaction of knowing they helped a poor orphaned girl get a step up in life." She yawned widely and shook her head again. "Why else would they want to adopt a kid so old? You and I both know only the younger, cuter ones get a chance." She winked.

Eragon smiled warmly and drew an arm around his friend. "What am I going to do without you?"

Saphira smiled as she leaned against him. "There's this new invention, maybe you've heard of it. It's called a telephone." There was a sarcastic tone to her voice. "And we could always write to each other. We'd make the best pen pals." She yawned again.

"But you won't be down the hall anymore."

"Good thing too, with as much trouble as our little sleepovers seem to get us into." She laughed and when he didn't join her, she sighed. "You make it sound like we'll never see each other again. Once we're through with college, we can get our own place. Remember the plan?"

"But… I always thought we'd be leaving together."

"Well… things don't always go exactly as planned." She laughed softly. "Besides, the plan did have its flaws, like the fact that you're older than me. So we could never have left at the same time." She yawned again for the third time. "Oh!" She shifted slightly and dug around in her pocket. "I almost forgot." She pulled out something long and dangled it in front of the brunette. "Happy birthday Eragon."

"Oh wow!" He breathed out, looking at the necklace. Three strands of string weaved together in a tight braid and tied at the top created the chain. But what caught Eragon's attention was the clay dragon pendant. The neck was long and curved over, as if watching all those around her. The wings were extended upwards, half spread, and the tail curled around a small blue-green stone. The dim light of the moon made it glow.

"That rock I found in the woods out back. Rather pretty, I thought. It's not much, I know. But it took be forever to make."

Eragon sucked in a sharp breath as he took the necklace in his palm and fingered the tiny mother dragon. "It's perfect Saph. I love it." He slipped it over his head with his free hand and squeezed her shoulder with the other.

Saphira yawned yet again after a few silent minuets. "I should be getting back to my room now." She said sleepily and made to get up.

"No! Don't go yet!" Eragon said, this time it was his turn to yawn.

It wasn't five minuets later before the two had fallen asleep.

The next day went by rather loudly and rowdily for the brunette. It all started when he was wrenched out of his bed at dawn and had been vigorously shaken awake.

"What the hell do you think you two are doing?"

Eragon blinked the sleep from his eyes and focused on the face of Brom, one of the male counselors. He glanced over to see Saphira being pulled off the bed as well by Angela, one of the female counselors. Eragon shook his head and wrenched his arm out of Brom's grip. "We were just sleeping. Nothing happened." He practically sneered at the older man.

"You know the rules." Brom said sternly. "No girls allowed in the boys' room." He lifted a finger and pointed it at Eragon. "Tomorrow isn't soon enough. I'll be glad to be rid of you." He mumbled this last part.

"But we didn't do anything. We just fell asleep!" Saphira pleaded as she was ushered out the door.

"Thanks for the present Saphira!" Eragon called after her.

"That's real subtle Eragon." Brom glared at him and moved towards the door.

"Saphira is my best friend."

Brom turned around at the door and cleared his throat for emphasis. "You are to remain in this room until I return. You are not to see Saphira for the remainder of the day."

"That's not fair!" Eragon protested loudly.

"You know the rules Eragon. And you neglect to follow them. Need I remind you this is the third time this week we've caught you two together, alone in this room?"

Eragon bit back his retort. Anything he said would only get him in further trouble. Besides, he cold always just slip away later and find Saphira.

Brom hovered in the doorway. "One more day. Just one more day and your ass is gone." With a glare on his face, he slammed the door behind him.

True to his word, Brom made sure Eragon stayed far away from Saphira.

A small party was thrown for Eragon in the cafeteria. He had hoped Saphira would show up before it was over, but he was disappointed when Brom smugly told him that Angela had taken her out. Eragon had asked to where, but he wasn't given an answer.

The rest of his afternoon was spent mostly in his room. He wasn't packing exactly. He didn't have many physical possessions. Everything he owned fit nicely in a tattered backpack.

What he was really doing was packing away the life he had led thus far. All the pain and loneliness. All the trouble he'd caused and the fun he had. The friend he'd made and the ones he'd lost.

"Fuck!" He had breathed out, laying on top of his made bed and looking about the empty room. Saphira still was no where to be seen. He had even snuck off to her room but Arya, a feisty seventeen year old redhead had turned him away.

"Sorry Eragon. I haven't seen her since early this morning." She gave him a squeeze. "It's not fair!" She whispered in his ear before backing up. "We all shouldn't be punished because of what happened last year. One girl ends up pregnant and that means now we're all going to get pregnant. Because boys and girls just can't possibly be friends."

They had laughed it off and chatted for a bit before Eragon snuck back to his room.

And when the tears came to Eragon's dark eyes, he didn't wipe them away. He sighed deeply and fingered the dragon necklace. Saphira's words echoed in his head over and over again.

"Once we're through with college, we can get our own place."

"Four more years." He whispered as sleep touched his mind. "Four more years."

Author's Notes: End of chapter one. Leave a message after the beep. Taggy will appear in the next chapter, I promise. And Arya. And Brom has a reason for being a jerk. Swear.Hhhhhh