A gift for my girlfriend. This will be three chapters long!

The stars twinkled, blinking in conversation with their brightly-lit friends up in the night sky. A cool breeze blew through the grassy plains, playing a silent song to the dancing flame on the campfire's wooden stage. Over the horizon, a city could be seen, its lights outshining even the stars themselves.

Colette gazed at the city, her mind lost in thought. Lloyd kept busy near the fire with a piece of wood, working it into a figure surely meant as a gift. Noishe refused to sleep near the campgrounds, even if there was no sign of monsters for miles.

A thought crossed the Chosen's mind. A thought that's come and go many times, but one she didn't make vocal. She knew his answer would be yes, but still, she felt so silly. With the city just a day away however, those thoughts were becoming louder and louder, until…

"Lloyd?" her mouth blurted out. Oops. That would be all it took. Her thoughts would have to be vocalized now whether she liked it or not.

He didn't take his eyes off his wood working. "Hmm?"

Here was the problem. She didn't want to ask! It was silly, it was unnecessary! "Ah, um, never mind!" But her words were futile as they always are when she tried this.

Lloyd put down his figure, turned to face Colette. "What is it?" he asked, his voice filled with too much knowing.

She smiled prettily. Maybe this time she'd actually fool him. "Oh, no, it was nothing important, really!"

He raised an eyebrow. "You've got something on your mind," he said. "Tell me what it is, Colette."

Oh, darn it! Why did he always have to know? He'd never let it be either. "It was just a dumb thought, really it was nothing!"

Lloyd frowned, having played this game way too many times in the past. "I'm gonna get you to tell me what it is, so we might as well skip to that."

She sighed, defeated again. Colette was like an open book to him, but she was glad he could read her so well, still. "Well, it's stupid, but…"

Lloyd shook his head. "It's not stupid, and you're not stupid," he said sternly.

The night hid her cheeks well. "I, um, well, you know how you're always kind of the leader?"

His frown disappeared and suddenly he was the one feeling abashed. "Oh. I mean, I guess I am?"

That was something she always loved about Lloyd. One moment he was a serious adventurer, but say a simple thing like that, and he's basically a fish out of water.

She didn't want to make things weird! But, it was too late for that, now wasn't it? "No, no! It's fine that you are! I," her voice softened, and she smiled. "I like it."

Lloyd scratched his face absent-mindedly, noting that he was sitting too close to the campfire, and that's why his cheeks were red. "Thanks, but uh… there's more to it than that, isn't there?"

Just blurt it out!

"I want to be the leader!" she yelled a bit too loudly. "Uh, um, just maybe one time, I mean."

Lloyd smiled cheerfully. "Is that all? Of course, you can be the leader!"

"I want to go on a quest for someone!" Colette continued, feeling stronger and more powerful than she used to. "Help someone in need!"

Lloyd nodded happily, enjoying her spunky determination. "Sure! What's the plan, leader?"

The word 'leader' empowered her. Her chest felt warmer, fingertips tingled. "I, um, figure we should find someone in Meltokio and help them! We could even set up a stand!"

His eyes lit up like the stars in the night. "Like a lemonade stand? Except we sell…" he stumbled over his words. "Our adventures?"

That wasn't quite right, but Colette laughed anyway. "Yeah! People will come to us seeking help for their problems! Instead of us having to talk to every single person on the street and hoping they give us something to do!"

The realization washed over Lloyd in waves. He was astonished. "Wow, that's a great idea, Colette!"

Her cheeks hurt from smiling so much. "You really think so?"

"Of course!" he nodded. "What should we do first, leader?"

Colette didn't expect to feel so different, but her heart pounded with excitement. Even though she knew Lloyd was just playing along, she felt more open, more comfortable. More powerful? "Well, it's still a long way to go! We need our rest! We should, um, sleep!"

"Aye aye, captain!" Lloyd said, mock-saluting her. He put out the fire, slipped out into his boxers, and hopped into a sleeping bag. He clearly was not going to be sleeping that quickly.

Colette followed suit with a happy smile, managing to work herself out of her heavy outfit as well, leaving her in some cozy pajamas. The time to be ashamed of their bodies had long since passed, especially for Lloyd. She snuggled into the sleeping bag with him, his body warm from sitting so close to the fire. It felt delightful compared to her chill touch.

Luckily, Noishe has proven time and again to be a somewhat effective guard dog. If any sign of trouble came within miles of their position, the strange animal would be howling and whining, waking them before any harm could be done.

"Man, what adventures do you think people will have for us?" Lloyd asked, his eyes wide open, staring up at the stars.

Colette watched the way his eyes moved, seeing invisible adventures unfold. "Who knows!"

"Oh, oh, what if they want us to find some kind of secret weapon!" Lloyd said. "And it's, like, two swords and they shoot energy beams out the tips! Then the person will say," he put on a cliché old man voice for this. "You two have done so well! But I have no use for such a trinket anymore! For all your hard work, you should keep it."

Colette laughed with him. "But, what would you do with swords like that? Do we really need it anymore?"

He let out a huff. "Well! Maybe not! But imagine how cool it would be! I could use it to point stuff out from really far away, or maybe scare Zelos."

"That's if I let you equip it!" Colette reminded, teasing him gently. "Maybe, as the leader, I'll want to sell it for some extra Gald."

Lloyd turned over to face her in their cramped little bag, showing off a worried frown. "Aw, c'mon! You wouldn't do that, would you?" He was genuinely upset over the fact that she might not let him use these imaginary swords he just made up.

"As a leader, I need to show strength and resolution! I can't always bend to the will of my subordinates," she giggled.

Lloyd was practically begging her now. "Aw, Colette, pleaaaaaase?"

That was enough teasing for now. "Oh, ok, fine, I'll let you equip them," she finally conceded with a smile.

"Yes! Thanks! You won't regret it when you see how good I am with those swords!" Lloyd kicked inside the sleeping bag excitedly, already practicing his next moves.

While it was mostly nothing, Colette felt this power to be almost intoxicating. "But, we really should sleep," she reminded him. "No one will want to hire adventurers with bags under their eyes."

He tossed and turned actively, trying to find a relaxing comfortable position. "I don't know if I can sleep, now," he admitted.

"Here," Colette said softly, turning his body so his back was facing her. "Let me draw something on your back. As a leader, I have to know how to get my team sleeping."

She couldn't see his face, but she knew he was smiling happily at that. "That'd be perfect!"

Ever since Colette had lost her voice and resorted to writing her words in Lloyd's hands to speak, the two found themselves falling back on those habits from time to time. It was a reminder of a sadder time, but also a different time, when they first began truly understanding their feelings for one another.

Her cool finger tips ran over his warm back gently, creating shapes and lines that certainly could never be interpreted as anything.

"It's a cat!" Lloyd called out before she had even finished. "Aw, c'mon, that's too easy."

Colette laughed, rubbing her palm over his back in a mock-erase fashion. This time she intended to draw a house with a tree in front and a sun shining down on top of it.

"It's uh… I dunno? Do it again," he asked, yawning.

She repeated it. Every time she finished her drawing, Lloyd took longer and longer to respond, until eventually he didn't at all. A loud snore left his nostrils, and Colette knew she had done a good job as the leader. She put her arms around him in a tight hug, and quickly fell asleep to his rhythmic breathing.

"Wow, Lloyd, this is perfect!" Colette shouted excitedly.

The adventurer in red grinned, rubbing the back of his head, but loving the praise anyway. "You think so?"

In the center of a rather bustling plaza, the two stood a bit off to the side. A wooden stand sat near the stairs leading up to more shops. It was masterfully created! Probably the best lemonade stand a kid could ever ask for! The wood was smooth to the touch, and the stand itself was sturdy enough to survive even Colette's strongest trips and falls!

Over the top of it, written in red ink, their sign read: "Adventerers For Hire!" Well, Lloyd didn't spell that right, and his handwriting was pretty bad, but that's okay! It looked so authentic! Who would be able to pass it up?

"I love it!" Colette giggled, her fingertips tingling again. To think, all she had to do was ask, and he jumped to do the task so quickly!

First things first! Colette made her way behind the stand and sat on the comfy stool, placing her hands delicately on the wood in a professional manner. "Open for business!" Lloyd shouted, startling a few passersby.

The angel's hand absentmindedly ran over the smooth surface of the stand, noting it was missing something. "Lloyd?" she called gently.

"Yeah?"

"Do you, um, think you could get some paper and a pencil or two?"

Lloyd blinked. "What for?"

"So we can write down the customer's request, of course!" she smiled.

His eyes went wide again, nodding eagerly. "Oh yeah! That's important! I'll be right back!"

And with that, he sprinted away to run yet another errand for her. Colette felt that heat in her chest again, that tingle in her fingertips, a strange sudden urge to laugh? Why did it feel so good be the leader? Is this how Lloyd always feels?

Only a few minutes had passed, and the dual-swordsman had returned, panting and out of breath. "I got… got it! I went to the weapons shop first before realizing they probably don't sell this stuff." He placed the goods on the stand a bit haphazardly.

"Thank you, Lloyd!" Colette smiled, fixing up the papers to look a bit more organized. "You're the best sidekick."

Anyone else would get upset with a comment like that, but Lloyd took it in stride. He grinned back at her. "Anything else, captain?"

Colette had to think about this one. Being the leader certainly was a big responsibility. The streets of Meltokio were busy enough, sure, but people kept passing by their stand! Maybe they weren't sure it was open for business? Hmm…

That's when inspiration hit her. "Lloyd go out in front of the stand and look heroic!"

"Eh? Why me?"

"So we can show we're professional adventurers!"

"But you're just as strong as me. Maybe stronger actually."

"Yeah, but you look the part more than I do!"

"True, true," he nodded. "How's this?" Lloyd put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest towards the crowd of people.

"That's good, but, could you, um, hold out your swords?" Colette felt tingly again.

"Oh! Okay. Like this?" With a satisfying shink! He unsheathed his weapons, holding one forward, its edge pointed at the crowd, while the other sword rested on his shoulder. A few people nearby saw the metal glinting under the sun dangerously and slinked away to the other side of the road.

Colette could barely contain her excitement. "Yeah, you look so cool!"

Heavy emerald armor clanked towards their stand. "Are you kids threatening people?!" the city guard roared, gauntlet gripping his poleax tightly.

"P-put the swords away!" Colette stammered.

"Sorry!" Lloyd stuttered, fumbling his swords in shock, causing them to clatter on the concrete noisily. He scrambled for the dangerous things, sheathing them as quickly as possible.

At the very least, they were getting quite a lot of attention now! Although, it was mostly stares of fear and bewilderment. But any attention is good attention for a small business, right?

Hours must have gone by, and not a single customer came over for quest help! Well, they did get a few customers but for all the wrong reasons…

"Yeah, can I get two apple gels, an orange gel, and a life bottle?"

"U-um, I'm sorry, sir, but we're not selling items…"

"Oh, actually, make it two life bottles."

Colette had been too afraid to repeat herself. She made Lloyd reach into their pack of supplies and give the man what he wanted.

"Thanks, here's 500 Gald for your trouble."

"T-that's not actually enough…"

But he had already left. She was going to have to send Lloyd on a shopping trip after this, too. Her heart sank then, and Colette was ready to give up on her foolish quest stand idea.

"Hey, hey, don't worry about it!" Lloyd said with a smile. "I'm sure someone will come."

"But our items…"

Lloyd did that finger gun thing that always made her laugh. "We'll just beat up some monsters to get our Gald back, it's no trouble." He shrugged. "Or just ask Zelos."

She smiled then. Lloyd was always there to cheer her up when she needed it. There was no reason to give up yet! With a determined smile, she clasped her hands together to try as look as professional as possible! She told Lloyd to do the same, and puff out his chest as big as he could. Oh, and maybe stand over there where the wind was blowing a bit harder? Perfect!

An orange tint covered the once blue sky. Shadows began to rise over the city ever so slightly. The hustle and bustle of Meltokio streets died down until it was nothing more than a slight simmer. Colette sighed, still sitting by her blank papers. Lloyd appeared to be struggling holding his heroic pose, sweat trickling down his forehead.

"It's okay, Lloyd, you can stop now," Colette finally said.

The powerful poser let out a breath of relief, sitting atop the stand to rest his weary feet. "Don't worry, Colette! There's always tomorrow."

She turned away from his smiling face. The angel loved his confidence, loved how he was always willing to help, but maybe this was one of those times where it was better to give up. If she just didn't look at him, she wouldn't want to keep trying, and that would fix everything for everyone!

"Colette," Lloyd called out gently. "Hey."

Don't look! I have to give up!

"C'mon, Colette!"

Don't look, don't look! She could already feel herself gaining confidence about her silly stand again, oh no!

Lloyd cleared this throat nervously. "B-boss, please, we have a customer," he said in a strained tone.

Eh!?

Colette brought her eyes back forward. She didn't see anyone. Was Lloyd teasing her? That would be too mean!

"Excuse me, you guys are heroes right?" a shy voice said. Colette jumped with a start, noticing it was from a little girl at the front of the stand! She was barely tall enough to even be seen!

Worried that she might have seemed rude, Colette tried to play it off. "O-of course!" she yelled a bit too loudly, slamming a palm on the stand as she stood up. The stand shook and shuddered, but Lloyd's handiwork was too strong.

The little girl had muddy hair and equally muddy clothes. She must have been from the slums. "I need help with something," she said, looking at the ground.

Colette never wanted to help anyone more than now! "We'll do it!" she shouted excitedly. "Is there a monster problem? Maybe an ancient artifact got lost?! An evil wizard locked up your parents?"

"I can't find my doggy," the little girl said.

The Chosen's eyes lit up like fireworks. "Lloyd, write that down, write that down!" The swordsman practically tripped over himself as he stumbled over the stand to get the paper and pencils. Colette turned back to her first customer. "When and where did you last see your doggy?"

"Over by Jack's house," she replied, as if 'Jack's house' was common knowledge. Lloyd wrote it down regardless, and Colette was too nervous to ask for specifics, because, what if it really was common knowledge? She didn't want to look dumb! "I haven't seen him all day."

Colette nodded, watching Lloyd scribble down the information. "What's your doggy's name? What does he look like?"

The little girl blinked. "Pippy. He's a big dog and he's all yellow. He doesn't have any spots. He really likes food and being pet." Well, a lot of dogs fit that description, but that's okay. "Do you think you can find him? I really miss him."

The Chosen nodded again, smiling brightly. "Absolutely! We'll find him, no matter what it takes."

Putting her hands in her pockets and staring at her messy shoes again, the little girl added sadly, "I don't have any money though…"

"That's okay! Lloyd, give me our pack real quick?" she asked. Without question, Lloyd handed over their practically empty backpack meant to keep them alive on long journeys. Scrounging through its contents, Colette said, "Here, take this."

Confused, the little girl looked up, holding out her hand. With a satisfying clinking, she found a rather large sack of Gald there. "Is that for me?"

"Yup!"

Her eyes brightened and she finally looked at her heroes' faces. "Thank you!" She smiled, before quickly running away to her home happily.

Waving, Colette shouted, "Don't worry, we'll get Pippy back safe and sound!"

Once the little girl was out of sight, and Lloyd finished writing down their new quest, he asked, "Was, uh, was that all of our Gald?"

Colette's smile faltered a little. "Yeah."