Spice and Wolf: Solutions

So this is my first fanfiction story. I plan to finish this but i will admit to having a hard time of where to go with it (I have more written than what i put up here.) A fair note will be that i am only basing this off of the anime and where it left off and that i am sorry that Lawrence is not quite as economic as Isuna Hasekura made him, but he understands all that way more than i do. Any constructive criticism will be appreciated, thanks and enjoy.

Lawrence woke up to the crack of light in his window. He sat up, putting his feet on the floor, and looked at his traveling companion. She was still asleep but he could see her tail twitching underneath the covers which were about her waist. Lawrence could see that her eyes were squinted shut. He stood up and put the covers back on her, allowing her face to relax. Seeing her face like that, Lawrence thought to his own dream.

He was looking at a crying Holo, knelt over a patch of dirt. As his gaze focused over the end of the patch, there was a stone. Lawrence moved himself forward but something was off, he didn't feel like he was walking, but was instead floating. As he got closer he saw the name on the stone, it was his, with the age fifty-five underneath it.

Lawrence came back to reality. He hadn't told her why they were staying in Kumerson for a time longer than necessary but he knew she would find out sooner or later. He left a note on the desk for her, saying he would be back with breakfast. Lawrence put on his coat and headed out. The worry of the time being too early set in on him as he entered the alchemist's district. The smell of sulfur permeated his nose but he walked convicted. Knocking on the wooden door, he was welcomed to a very tired, "Who is it?" Lawrence sighed, at least she was awake.

"It's Kraft Lawrence, I have come for some stories in hope."

"My stories do not come for free, as you are well aware." The door was unlocked and Diana let him in.

"I have no idea what the cost will be for the story or stories I ask for, but I will do my best to pay them," Lawrence said in his persuasive business tone.

"Well then what are you looking for?" Diana asked him.

"I was wondering if you had any stories on becoming immortal, or at least on prolonging life?" Diana grew a small smile on her face and then a slight frown.

"I do, but not off the top of my head, give me a day to find it. In that time you should get some of your own." Diana led Lawrence to the door but before she shut it Lawrence thanked her for her time.

As Lawrence exited the district he began to think to himself. Wonder what I should get Holo for breakfast. She probably won't care but I should at least try a little bit in case she woke up. When looking around the shops, he decided to go with a loaf of baked apple, cinnamon bread.

Back at the hotel Lawrence stopped at the door before knocking. He heard nothing but decided to knock anyway. As he entered a loud, "Idiot!" was heard before a pillow was thrown into his face. After the initial shock the pillow dropped, revealing a cross armed, tail swishing Holo with glaring red eyes.

"What took you so long?!" Lawrence smiled,

"Sorry, but I didn't know what to get you for breakfast."

"It better be good."

"Baked apple, cinnamon bread."

Holo said nothing but quickly grabbed the bread and the pillow before sitting down on her bed and munching away. Lawrence walked over and flopped onto his own bed, his mind full of thoughts on how to write some stories. After sometime Lawrence noticed Holo had stopped eating.

"Why do you smell of another woman's perfume?" Lawrence sat up, Holo's eyes were focused on the bit of bread still in her hands and her ears were low.

"Holo, don't worry, I went to Diana's for a story." Lawrence told her.

"A story on what?" She asked.

Lawrence couldn't come clean, he knew she would think such pursuits pointless, not to mention a distraction from his dream of owning his own shop.

"I wanted to see if there was a more direct story on the Moon Hunting Bear," he told her. Holo's face grew angry at this,

"Why would you want to know more about the creature that destroyed my home?" she said, glaringly. Lawrence sighed,

"Because I don't want to believe that your home is destroyed, that's all. I wanted to try and find a sliver of proof to rejuvenate my hope, and in turn give you some." Holo stood over him,

"You are stupid, my home is gone so do not go about giving me false hope!" Lawrence looked away from Holo, regretting the lie he told already.

"Holo, please remember the only proof you have of Yoitsu's destruction is a story." Lawrence's voice was subtle and it calmed Holo back down.

"Even so, is it not better for me to be wrong then, than to be wrong now?" She asked. Lawrence didn't answer.

Almost the entire day passed without the two saying much. It wasn't until the orange sky was revealed to Lawrence's eyes that it was evening and they had skipped lunch. Lawrence tried using flattery to improve her mood.

"Well, my princess, will you at least forgive me enough for dinner? We missed lunch."

Holo stood up and grabbed her cloak. The problem was she did this without saying a word, then turned around and looked at him impatiently. Her gaze chilled Lawrence to the bone. He put on his own coat, then the two headed downstairs.

Holo was about to take a seat when Lawrence had a quick change.

"Not yet Holo, there is something that needs to be done first. Would you mind taking a walk with me?"

Holo was reluctant but she did let go of the chair she was about to sit in. The two left the tavern and proceeded to walk the streets. Lawrence walked at a fast pace, still looking for one, for a minute or two is all he wanted. The determination on Lawrence's face was beginning to catch Holo's curiosity, though she wouldn't let it show. Soon after this Lawrence got his wish, an empty street. As Lawrence saw this he he walked even faster, quickly losing Holo. Once he reached the center of the street, he stopped and turned around. Holo soon caught up, slightly out of breath.

"What was that for you idiot?!"

Lawrence smiled.

"Do you remember when we were in Ruvenheigen? You told me soldiers and warriors would lay down their arms and shields for their women. You then proceeded to ask me what I would do. Well this is what I'll do."

Lawrence then pulled out his coin purse and took Holo's hand. She noticed his purse was a little heavier than normal.

"Holo, I could give you my knife, but that has no value for me. So here is my money, my weapons, my defense, my life, all summed up in that little pouch. All of it is yours. Yours to play with, to spend, build up, or throw away. I leave it all in your hands."

Holo could sense the sincerity in his voice. She looked at the bag for a second before clutching it tightly and yelling,

"You are stubbornly good natured!"

"Now that I have said what I didn't want anyone else to hear, why don't we get that dinner before they run out?"

As Lawrence started walking Holo took his arm and rested her head on it. Then Lawrence let out a loud sigh of relief.

"What is the matter Lawrence?" Holo asked him.

"Truth be told I didn't know if that would work." His response made Holo Laugh.

"You doubt your own skills a lot don't you?" As the tavern came into sight Lawrence admitted to it.

"If you were to look at what I just did as a business opportunity, I wouldn't have done it. The risk was too high. So yes I doubted my skills and decided to do it anyway, and happened to get lucky."

The tavern had plenty of food and drink to fill their stomachs, especially Holo's. When it came time to pay the bill the barman looked at Lawrence suspiciously when Holo pulled out the coin purse. She opened up the bag and out spilled some of the coins. She would have paid but her understanding of currency was still limited and the coins that appeared were not all of the same make and belonged to different empires.

"This bag is useless in my hands. You are to take good care of it and make sure it grows!" Holo declared while pointing at Lawrence, only furthering the barman's suspicion.

Lawrence took out the necessary coins for the debt and paid the barman but he also paid a little extra.

"Please bring us some of your finer wine." Lawrence told him.

The man took the money and obliged. It wasn't long after Holo had downed six glasses, not including what she had during her meal. After that Lawrence walked her back to their room and put her to bed. By the time he had pulled the blankets on her, she had fallen asleep.

"Well at least I won't be bothered while writing out Diana's stories," he muttered to himself.

Lawrence sat down at the desk and pulled out everything he needed to write. Everything was ready to go.. well everything except what he was going to write about. He looked at the papers for nearly two hours. About to give up he decided to look at Holo. Her tail had slipped out from under the blankets and was draped over the side of the bed. Seeing that tail of hers made Lawrence reflect about everything he had done with her. He now knew what to write. Each adventure flashed through his head until he came to the one where Holo had almost left him with a cart full of apples. More importantly though was what the merchant had said about the boy and the man with the devil. Lawrence had heard his comment quite well, given the distance between them. That comment is what he decided to call his stories. Spice and Wolf. Lawrence smiled,

"A quaint title," he thought to himself.

All night Lawrence wrote, of how they met, their adventures, their quarrels, the time he slapped her away, all of it. Lawrence finally stopped when he realized he was out of paper to continue. to add to reasons to quit, the newly pink sky was telling him to. Because of this he put his coat overtop Holo, hoping she would realize it meant he wouldn't be gone long. Again he made the walk to Diana's and overcame the sulfurous stench. As he knocked on the door it popped ajar and Diana was beckoning him in.

"Please, tell yours first. I have been quite intrigued about what stories you would tell me," Diana said calmly.

"I take it that means you have one for me?" Lawrence said in his business tone.

"I do but remember that it is just a story, I promise nothing more than that," Diana said with solemn eyes.

"That's alright. I wrote out my stories as well, add them to your collection if you want." Diana took the papers and read the title.

"Spice and Wolf," she said aloud. She gave a slight smile to this. She felt more relaxed knowing he decieded to write about Holo.

Lawrence told his stories to Diana from memory, adding even more detail than the papers. She cut him off after two of them. "Sorry," he told her, "Guess I got carried away."

"It's quite alright. Now before I tell you the story you're looking for you must answer this question completely and honestly. Are you ready?" Lawrence nodded. "Why? Why for you, is the longevity of life important?"

Lawrence bent his head down and rested his elbows on his knees.

"The simple answer is that I do not want to die, but my answer, I like to believe, is more complex than that. My answer is I don't want to hurt her. I'm too weak to leave her so I want to find something so I won't have to." Lawrence lifted his head when he was done. To his surprise Diana was smiling.

"Good, sorry for the formality but I had to make sure it wasn't life for the sake of life." Diana told her story of a place, a place said to cause the extension or subtraction of life to the moment of the other. The story said it was located somewhere near the far north in the cold, where no one would look for it.

Lawrence was caught on the, "other" part.

"So Holo would have to be with me?"

"I believe that is what it is trying to say, yes."

"Then I'll have to come clean about my intentions?"

"Would this do you any good if she rejected you?"

"No, I suppose you're right." Lawrence said with a sigh.

"To help you along I also took the liberty of writing out a copy for you. Perhaps you should start with letting her read it," Diana said while holding out some papers.

"Thank you, this helps immensely."

Diana smiled then led Lawrence out the door. As she closed the door she said one last thing to herself,

"Yes, I think the waterfall will do well for you."

Holo was sitting on the bed when Lawrence returned.

"Did you get the story you wanted?" Holo asked aggressively.

"I think you should read it," Lawrence told her as he held out the story, "While you do I'll grab some food."

Leaving her with the story, he soon returned with a bowl of porridge. By the time he got back she had finished Diana's tale.

"There is nothing in here about the Moon Hunting Bear. Did you even read the story you were given?"

"I did, and got the story I wanted, it seems my lying has gotten better to slip past you. Now tell me, what was the story about?"

"It is something to do with a place said to make life to the exact moment of another person, but I fail to see what that…" Holo trailed off. "This isn't about the Moon Hunting Bear at all, is it?"

"No, it isn't, I've been having dreams lately, of being dead and leaving you alone." Holo's eyes widened at Lawrence's dream. "So I went to Diana to see if there was a way to prevent that. But it also put holes in my lie because you had to be told and in order for this to work you have to be there, and the only reason I want to do this is to be with you, but that's only if you want it," Lawrence finished.

"Lawrence…" was all Holo could get out before tears started to cloud her vision.

She stood up and buried her head into him. Lawrence gently backed up from her, "Hey now, why the tears?" Lawrence knelt down before Holo like a solider would do to royalty. "My shield belongs to you and your heraldry but I can't do well to protect you in my demise." When Lawrence stopped talking, Holo was no longer crying but was instead in a complete sobbing state. Through her sobs Lawrence heard her ask how he could be so good natured. Lawrence took his chance to get her back. "Probably because this is how you like your men," he told her. "Now come on, and let's clean you up. I think some air will do you good." Lawrence grabbed her hat and cloak and put them on her as she wiped her eyes. The town was bustling as they walked the streets.

"What are you planning to do Lawrence?"

"I thought we would just go around town, buy you some food, maybe you'll see something you like, especially because I think this will be the last day we're here."