Cas' Memories

Blue is the first thing she can ever remember. One way or another, the ocean finds its way into her memories, its sparkling cobalt expanse the focus of her gaze or just a backdrop against happier times.

It wasn't all perfect. She could never make her grades as good as Cephias'. The things she created weren't pretty, while everything his claws touched was somehow made beautiful.

It's not that she was jealous. She just wished their parents would look at her the way they looked at him.

But it was okay. Because he never forgot her. No matter what, he would always smile and tell her she did a good job. And that was enough.

She jumped as he plopped down next to her when she had her head turned, spraying up sand as his wing dragged her in for an unexpected hug. "There's my favourite little sister!"

"I'm your only little sister!" she shrieked in protest, struggling and finally managing to free herself.

He was already calm again, stretching out in the golden-white sand as if the explosive greeting had never happened. After a minute she shifted back over beside him, pawing at the ground until it was a comfortably soft bed again.

They would sit together like this often, transfixed by the endless cycle of waves rushing out against the shore and pulling away into the ocean again. Back then, she never thought of it as important. She never thought that it was limited, that there were only so many beaches, so many oceans, so many sunny days left.

"I wanted to tell you."

She looked up at him. His head was angled just to block the sun in the sky, so it looked like a halo had formed around him. It blurred his features, hazed them until his face was indistinct.

He glanced at her. "I'm going to Oxheim in a few days. Just for a trip. I'll be back before you know it."

The way he said it, casual, of course he couldn't have known. If she had, she could have stood up then, begged him not to go. She could have stopped him.

But she didn't know. And she couldn't even remember now why he had gone.