Happiness, Hugs & Home

The first part in the Bound trilogy

By Shade

Disclaimer: I own nothing of the game, Taito does. I do own this story, though, so hands off!

The small shop was quiet, as it always was at noon, but not because of lunch. Tia, shopkeeper and former adventurer by the side of Maxim, slept until well past two. She knew there was no real need for her any more, now that the adventurous spirit of the people in Elcid had died. Together with Maxim. It hurt her to realise that that day, a week ago, had been such a sad one because…

Because what? Because he saved the world? Because he saved Parcelyte? Because he became a hero? Tia turned around in her bed and closed her eyes again. No, she knew why it had been a sad day.

It was the day he died. He died far away from her, yet so close. She could have sworn she had heard his voice on that fated day, on that fated hour.

Tia, my friend… It was sad to have you leave that day… I did this for you, too… Be happy, Tia. Weep now, but only now.

And she had wept. She had stumbled into her shop after having burst into tears in front of it. She dragged herself to her bed and cried until sheets and blanket were soaked in the salty water. But after that, not one tear had touched her cheeks. She had smiled, for Maxim's sake. It was for the better…

A small rock being thrown against her window caused her to blink.

"Tia! There's two gentlemen here to see you! Something about a party…", Angelina, her best friend yelled. Tia didn't move. A second voice rang, a deep and sonorous one at that, and awfully familiar to her ears:

"Tia! Come on down, girl, we're having a victory party in Tanbel!" Guy. The blonde fighting instructor that she had met in Tanbel, his home town. Oh, how they had gotten themselves out of tight corners together. She would cover his back with magic, and he hers with his omnipresent axe or sword. She softly smiled, but still wouldn't budge. Angelina yelled again, and still she didn't stir.

The third voice, however, made her sit up and gasp. Because it made her think of the day she left Maxim. Because she could all too well remember who it belonged to, and what kind of person he was: even now, concern and carefully voiced friendship sounded in that voice, as it had more than a year ago.

"Tia? Please, Tia, come down and join us! I've travelled all the way from Bound Kingdom to see you!" A pause, and he continued. "Aww… at least let us in for some lunch. I'm starving!" Dekar. He had come all the way from Bound Kingdom, she suddenly thought, that's a journey of four entire days!

"I'll be right down, just let me get dressed!", she shouted after having opened the window. Quickly, she put on her light pink dress, hurried down and unlocked the door. Guy was first to step in. Behind him followed Dekar, his blue hair standing out from his head skywards, the one red wisp in it hanging down however.

"Fine shop you have here… I think the messenger bird we sent to inform you got lost - or shot - so we came in person. You see, I and Artea, another of Maxim's companions, got the brilliant idea to invite everyone we met to a party. So far, I've informed Selan's aunt, Prince Alex…"

"Yeah, but he didn't want to come…", Dekar interjected as he looked at Tia working at the stove to cook herself and the two men a good meal. "It was hard enough to get permission to come myself! Let alone convince him to join me…" He chuckled. Guy, however, had just continued, paying the taller man no heed.

"…And of course we invited Dr. Kirmo, the man who has made our ship into a submarine and an airship. Oh, and Lexis said he'd bring his family along." He then took a look at Tia. He had thought his invitation to her over many times. She HAD been in love with Maxim. She HAD been his best friend for a long time. But something told him to come and get her. Something told him that she would both comfort and be comforted there.

"Tia, I was thinking…", Dekar said as soon as their lunch was ready. "I really would like you to come, if only to meet Lexis and Artea. They're both very nice men, and they're also magic users, like you. Lexis is probably most like you, a very clever guy…"

"So you think I'm clever, huh?" Tia's sad eyes were illuminated with a twinkle of joy for one brief moment as she looked at Dekar, before returning to their usual sad state. "You're a real charmer, Dekar… but I'm still not sure…"

"Oh, but you have no choice!", the tall fighter said as he rose from his chair, swept her off her feet and carried her outside. "I'll kidnap you if need be!"

"Dekar! Aaah, put me down!", she shouted, her voice not filled with anger or fear, but with glee. She blushed. "I'll go with you! But first, tell me: how long will you be whisking me away for?", she asked, serious again, when Dekar put her back on solid ground.

"Well, the party is next week, but we thought you'd like to help Hilda out a little… if that's okay with you, of course." The girl's thoughts went out to Guy's sister: a cheery woman about twice her age who had immediately made a good impression on Tia. After leaving Parcelyte, she had stayed with her for a while. Guy's absence left the need for a helping hand, and Tia was glad to oblige at the time. Then, after a while, she had left for Alunze, where she helped some relatives out. It was only one week before that fated day that she had returned to Elcid, when the Sinistrals' island had risen above the lands.

"Well, of course I'd like to help! I'd love to meet Hilda again… been almost a year now, hasn't it?" She went back inside, motioning for the two men to wait outside while she packed.

I can't believe it! Dekar and Guy are suddenly standing in front of me, after more than a year since I left the group… and then they invite me to a party, to meet other friends of theirs… well, this dress will certainly have to be packed - uh oh, I should've asked if it was formal or not… wonder how those two would look like in a suit… Tia's thoughts were speeding faster than her hands, and even those moved in a flurry of dresses, underwear and other stuff. She didn't even notice Angelina come in. Not until the other girl gave her another suitcase.

"Go ahead and pack the rest as well. I know you'll probably not return…", she said, not sounding sad, but not entirely happy either.

"Huh? Why wouldn't I…"

"The adventure. It's in your blood. The moment those two called your name, you were going with them. And I also happen to know that they are friends of Maxim. Which means that they'll probably get you into more adventures… Go ahead and tell me I'm wrong, but by the end of that week you'll even have forgotten about the shop."

"Will you watch it while I'm gone?"

"Sure. I did a great job last time, didn't I?", Angelina said, smiling. "You'll regret it if you have to come back. Stay there, at least for a while if not forever. You've got the skill to fight, even if it isn't by Maxim's side anymore. You've got the magic talent, even if you don't have Selan to compete against anymore. Shame to see that go to waste in this small town…" Tia suddenly grew silent as she walked to the window and looked outside. Elcid was too far from the sea to see the vast blue, but she could see that the grasslands surrounding it were indeed dull. She knew Angelina was right: after having seen the world, returning to one's hometown wasn't easy. She silently wondered if Guy had had those problems as well, or Dekar, or the others who they had talked about. She returned to her closet and packed the rest of her stuff in the other suitcase.

"I'm not going to say goodbye because I'm still not sure. But I am going to say see you later. I'm going to go with some friends! To celebrate the fact that those friends saved the world!"

In the meantime, Dekar and Guy were very uncomfortable outside. They stood six feet apart, Dekar admiring the grasslands, Guy toying with one of his daggers.

"Tia's sure got a nice town to call her home…", Dekar said, not really speaking to anyone in particular. Guy didn't answer - not having heard, or not wanting to have heard.

"Yeah, but now that I've seen the world, it's only a matter of time before I start thinking about choosing another home. Elcid is really a town in a far off corner of the world." Tia appeared behind him, holding her two suitcases. "By the way, isn't Bound Kingdom nicer than this town? I mean, it's next to a beautiful lake…"

"Yeah, but, you see, a desert's not really that nice.", he answered her. Tia smiled apologetically as she suddenly remembered the arid lands surrounding Dekar's home,

"Well, why won't we switch then? You'll get the dreary grasslands of Elcid, and I get Bound's endless sand heaps, and the lake."

"Nah." He took one of her suitcases by the hand and carried it without any problems. "But I'd seriously like living here. Ask me again in a week, then maybe I'll be prepared to switch."

"I wasn't serious!", she said as she looked up at him. "Although I wouldn't mind living in Bound." At that comment, Dekar looked at her, very intently. She could've sworn she saw a hint of contentment gleam in his eyes then, but it was like observing a lightning bolt: it was gone before she could be sure she had seen it.

"I know.", he said, with a tone of voice that showed he really knew why she said it. "I wouldn't mind you living there either." Then, as if to soften the comment, he added: "I'd have a friend living within a five minute walk instead of a week of travelling!"