THIS FIC CONTAINS SPOILERS UP TO AND INCLUDING ZAUDE, AS WELL AS THE GAUCHE AND DROITE SIDEQUEST.

Well, here it is; my ToV fic is finally up. I'm so sorry it took this long; I wish I had good reasons, but unfortunately, most of it was a combo of Writer's Block and pure laziness. Ah, but enough of that, on with the story :)

DISCLAIMER: I do not own Tales copyright or the characters; I am merely a fan who enjoys writing about them. All rights belong to Namco; character designs (c) Kosuke Fujishima.

Serendipity

-Chapter 1: Nor House-

"…And this is where you will sleep."

"Thank you, ma'am," was the quiet response.

Two little girls – one a turquoise-eyed blonde, her hair having a sort of lime sheen to it; the other, a redheaded, pink-irised lass - looked around slowly, sadly, at the room. It was not exactly an encouraging sight to behold: several bunk beds and some dressers, plain white walls covered in childrens' drawings. In the left wall were two square windows, fading curtains adorning either side. Children were seated on the floors or the bunks, coloring or chatting or otherwise entertaining themselves. Except now they had all turned and were staring at the newcomers. The girls' cheeks burned.

Ms. Ferris - for that was the name of the lady - introduced the girls to the other children, saying that the girls would be living there from now on. She led them to an empty bunk near the far corner of the room.

"If you need anything else - anything at all - please, do not hesitate to ask. You needn't be shy."

"...Thank you." A quieter response. The good woman nodded sadly, before leaving the room. The two sat down on the lower bunk, the blonde moving to hug the other. The younger girl slumped against her, tears forming once more in the pink eyes.

"So...so this is where we stay now?" the voice came out in a whisper. "Why? What was so important that they had to leave in the first place? They knew the war made travel dangerous!

"They're gone, all of them!" a whisper softer, and sadder, than the first. "They're gone and we are never going to see them again!"

The little blonde - though she had tried to keep a strong face for her friend - found she could no longer hold back her tears. The two clung tightly to each other, sorrow coming over them once more.

Sadness was much too common these days.

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The orphanage was called Nor House, located in a little white-brick building up on the north part of town . It was nothing fancy; as a matter of fact, it was rather rundown and a far cry from what used to be. But it was a place to stay, with a roof over their heads and a bed to sleep in.

True to its name, the establishment had originally been in Capua Nor; however, several years ago the previous governess - growing more and more discontent with where things were going in the Empire - had relocated the House to the brighter (and guild-run) sister harbor of Torim. The move had been very hard, but she had sincerely believed the children would fare better in this environment.

However, every road has its mountains to climb. Capua Nor, while being part of the empire she didn't like, with a magistrate she didn't trust, nonetheless had its advantages: plenty of nobles passed through Nor while traveling, many of them eager to show off their wealth via donating to charity. It was a shallow sort of thing on both ends, but nonetheless necessary for it allowed the House to survive. But nobles did not pass so often through Torim and those that did usually shunned the orphanage for "turning its back" on the Empire. Occasionally someone would donate, but not nearly often enough.

The previous governess had sadly died from illness sometime ago, leaving the orphanage's care to her daughter, the current headmistress, Ms. Ferris. Though she had supported her mother whole-heartedly in the move – and indeed, she could see that Mrs. Ferris' belief that Torim Harbor was an altogether healthier environment was correct – she couldn't help but worry about money. Many of the older children worked, and gave back what they could, but she certainly didn't want them tied to this place all of their lives; they needed to move on with their own. It hadn't been quite so difficult before the war, but the fighting had made so many more orphans – as was the story with the newest additions to their home (and of course, she would never turn away a child in need).

Most of the children knew nothing of these details, of course; they knew that Nanny had "money problems" sometimes, but otherwise went about as they always did, safe within childhood's blissful ignorance.

Well, there it is (corny title, I think, but it kinda stuck ;).

Anyway, I meant to lengthen this - even almost finished writing that part - but when I really examined it, I realized the chapter was much better just leaving it where it was. Yeager will appear in the next chapter (hopefully it's longer and comes easier than this one!)

As with last time, remember that much of this is pure speculation on my part; there is not a lot of info about Leviathan's Claw out there. Gauche and Droite's ages, when they came to the orphanage, etc. - all fan conjecture from moi.

In any case, thank you all for reading - I hope you enjoyed it!

~MoonlightTyger