By Your Side//Ems {JB Thread}

It happened. Time stops moving. His heart stopped beating for only a second. It's racing faster than he could ever imagine. Faster than a speeding horse flying through a race, or a bird flying through the sky, and it shattered like a mirror falling against the ground sending shards in every direction. The pain lurking inside his chest was far more than he could ever imagine as he watched the peacekeepers push his twin through the justice building. He's seen it before. Many times over the years, yet with every step Ikaia can't bring himself to think about what's going on inside. Deep inside every string holding him to reality begged for this just to be some nightmare, but it wasn't. It was a nightmare, but one he wouldn't ever wake up from.

Wrapping his hands around the rose pendant his brother gave him for Christmas this past year, Ikaia moved forward. Tears sitting in the corner of his eyes threatening to spill down his face at any given second. His lips quivered. The young boy wanted to remain strong for his brother. For his twin. For his lover, but nothing mattered right now because he was going away. Fighting for his life. Kirito wasn't a fighter. He stayed home and healed people. He did everything he could to help one another. To make them feel right. To feel safe. He couldn't kill a fly let alone another person. His heart hammered inside his chest as he stopped in front of the doors. Peacekeepers stared at him trying to push the hobbling kid away, but Ikaia wouldn't let them stop him.

Opening the door to the room where his brother rested was far more impossible. All he could see was the back of his head. His lungs screamed for air as one of his hands flew in front of his mouth. Ikaia couldn't break down crying. Not now. Not when Kirito needed him to be strong, but it was impossible. His chin kept quivering as a single line of tears streamed down his face. Every word caught in the back of his throat. What could one say to someone who was being sentenced to death? What could one do? Nothing. Nothing would change what happen. Nothing would make it better.

Then he turned around, and he started bawling his eyes out. Ikaia stood there for a moment as tears spewed from his eyes. Listening to his brother sob shattered his heart even more, and all he could do was wrap his arms around him and hold him tight. He never wanted to let go. He wanted this one second to remain forever, but in a few moments the door would fly open again, and they would jerk him away. His heart was heavy, and he couldn't move and couldn't think, but he had to do something before the room turned into a lake. "Kirito, listen to me. I know it's not easy, and I know we didn't want this to happen, and I know that I can't change it, and that nothing I'll do will make it better or go away."

Ikaia paused for a moment sniffling trying to get rid of the thoughts forming in the back of his mind. "You have to promise me you'll fight. That you'll do the best you can. You have to be strong and brave, but don't let them change you. Don't let the games change you. Stay true to yourself." Slowly he removed the rose pendant from his neck, removed the small sheet of paper from his pocket, and shoved it deep into the rose pedals before placing it around his brother's neck. "I want you to have this."

It hurt. Every breath. Every second. Ikaia wanted to freeze time. Throughout his entire life, he had never left his brother's side for more than a moment of work, and that night they always returned home together. And this was different. Kirito wouldn't return home with him tonight. Tears spewed from his eyes rapidly as he tried to remain strong, but every ounce of strength he had inside of him shattered the moment Snow called his name. It felt like someone took a knife and jabbed it into his heart over and over before carving it from his chest.

A smile filled with grief crept across his face as his brother slowly thanked him. The memories of it. Everything. Getting it. How happy he was the moment Kirito handed it to him. He wanted that moment back. The moment of happiness. Yet it was all gone. All the happiness was replaced with hopelessness. Katelyn returned last games. She won. She made it home, and Ikaia prayed she would return home with his twin because without him he was nothing. Just a mess of words strung together. All of it shattering through his entire life. A fragile glass prepared to break at any given second. Pieces barely held together.

"Ya contradicted yaself, I am a healer not a fighter. Yet to win I got ta fight." Ikaia's heart melted the moment Kirito's lips touched his. And once again shrieks flew from his body. It was a horrible feeling. Knowing that nothing was going to change what was about to happen. Nothing in the world because the stupid president demands this to happen. He hated Snow more than anything in the world, and wanted to wrap a noose around his neck and hang him, yet he wouldn't dare speak that to anyone around him since big brother is always watching. "I don know how much time we have but I wanna let ya know I love ya."

Slowly, he raised a hand to wipe the tears away once more, and slowly moved his hands over to Kirito's face and wiped the tears from his eyes. "I love ya, Kirito. Ya gotta fight, but don't let them take away the person ya are. Don't let them change ya personalty 'cause ya gotta remain yaself." Taking a deep breath he turned his gaze away for a moment trying to regain his composure. "I gonna take care of ma. Might not be good at it like ya are, but I gotta try."

It was quiet for a moment, and the world spun faster and faster throwing a storm around through the life of twins who haven't been separated before. It tossed the emotions through Ikaia's body like waves crashing down on a beach, but in all reality, the one emotion he never dreamed of showing lingered the longest. It carried far throughout his entire body. Bouncing from bone to bone as tears continued rolling steadily from his eyes. The games weren't right. They weren't supposed to happen. Kirito's name was never supposed to be called, and Ikaia wasn't supposed to let his brother go from his site.

Stumbling around his eyes fixed back on his brother's. Fear crept through his body as he wondered what to do. What to say. All he wanted was for his brother to remain with him. To cuddle him during the night. To make him feel safe because it's all he knew. Maybe they could even share a story, but it wasn't one that he would find. One that he wouldn't explain if his life was taken away. His legs were shaking like an earthquake vibrating through the ground destroying everything in its path, and all Ikaia could do was stand there.

Maybe he could fight. Maybe he could return home, but with all the careers standing in the arena, his chances of winning are slim to none. His chances of returning home to Ikaia and their Ma wasn't likely. He'd return one way or another, and the thought of staring at his twin brother in a box ready for burial slammed into him, and once against violent sobs tore from his throat, yet it quickly went away. Strength was needed. A fight. Something to give to his brother. Something to make it right. To give him a reason to fight. Something to keep him going during the hell he's about to be placed in.

"I can do that. E'ery mornin' and night. Got it. I keep Ma goin' until ya get home. I make sure she ain't fallin' through like she done before. Is there anythin' else I need ta know 'bout caring for her?" Ikaia wasn't sure how much longer he had with Kirito. He wasn't sure when the doors would open. Or what would happen now. Or where to go. Or anything, but he knew that taking care of a very ill mother was extremely important. Especially since it'll all be up to him.