That Rean was a tough customer, no doubt about it. No matter how hard Xeno and Leonidas pressed him after his initial slip-up during their conversation on the Pantagruel, his lips were sealed. All they had gotten from him was that Fie, their little Fie, had a boyfriend now.

"Night-vision goggles?"

"Check."

Unfortunately for Rean, his efforts, though valiant, were pointless. They only served to delay the inevitable. A single thread can take you all the way around the country if you know just how to pull it, and Leonidas and Xeno weren't some of the best jaegers around for nothing. They'd chatted up, bribed, blackmailed, and threatened people all over the eastern half of Erebonia, and in the end they had gotten a name. Elliot Craig.

"Motion sensors?"

"Check."

Son of Olaf Craig the Red. Another member of class VII. And then the pieces fell into place. They'd seen a red-headed boy hanging out around Fie, during their reunion at Garrelia fortress. He was the staff user. They hadn't paid him much attention at the time, focusing more on the swords swinging and bullets flying at them, but he had done a decent job of keeping the rest of the kids fighting.

"Smoke bombs?"

"Check."

But still, much as meatheads liked to say that the best way to get an introduction to someone was on the battlefield, that only showed you what they were like in one specific situation. Fie deserved the very best, and it was the duty of Xeno and Leonidas to make sure that's what she was getting. They had tracked the Thors' students down to Bareahard, not hard to do when they were traveling in the most conspicuous possible way and had stormed Aurochs Fort.

"Spider mines?"

"Check."

"That's everything."

It was time for them to meet this Elliot. And so they set off to Bareahard.

-December 26th-

It was 11am and he still hadn't left the hotel room, a mark against him in Leonidas' eyes though Xeno had a somewhat more charitable view of the situation. But even Xeno was getting ready to second that mark when suddenly their sensors picked up movement. However, it wasn't leaving the room.

Xeno managed to glance through their telescope just in time to see a flash of silver hair before the hotel room door closed.

They had both picked up their weapons and were ready to storm the place when the sensors went off once more. Leonidas stiff-armed Xeno from reaching the telescope first and looked through it to see a pair of softly smiling teenage faces exiting the room together. A slight tilt of the telescope downwards showed the two of them holding hands.

"They're holding hands," reported Leonidas.

"They're holding hands?" parroted Xeno. "Well, who reached out for who?"

"I don't know, they were holding before they left the hotel room."

Xeno grumbled. Much as he liked to think himself the more laid-back of the duo, nothing made him straighten up like matters regarding Sylphid. Especially in these sorts of matters. He and Leonidas both agreed, she was far too young for romantic dalliances.

Xeno conveniently ignored what he himself had gotten up to in his free time at the age of sixteen, as did Leonidas.

"Go to viewpoint two," said Leonidas as he moved the eye of the telescope. "They're heading over to Central Plaza."

Xeno went to the second telescope they had set up, aimed right at the entry point of the Central Plaza from Artisan Street. He watched as the pair went to the east side of the plaza, right into the Sorciere Restaurant. "Kid's got good taste at least," he said. "Not a skinflint either; that place is pricey."

Leonidas grunted his approval and left his post at viewpoint one to stand with Xeno. He wasn't one to verbalize his impatience, but the tapping of his toe might as well have been a child jabbing Xeno between the shoulderblades.

"I can't quite get a good look inside, I think they're talking to the maitre d' but I can't see their lips," said Xeno. "Wait!" Through the spyglass, Xeno saw Elliot put his hands on the shoulders of Fie. With a swift motion, he turned her to face him and kissed her full on the lips. Xeno's shoulders tensed as he pulled away from the scope. Leonidas didn't need his partner to say anything to know it was go time.

Hiding his killing intent while making their way into the restaurant was one of the hardest things Xeno and Leonidas had ever done. It was sorely tempting for them to just burst in and pin Elliot to the wall. But, much as they were here on personal business, they were still currently under contract as members of the Noble Alliance and to attack a civilian establishment would go counter to their employer's goals, no matter how incredibly justified their reasons. So they kept it contained and did their best to walk into the restaurant without causing any fuss.

They had planned to just do an innocuous sweep of the establishment to find the little punk who had forced himself on Sylphid. That plan went to pot when the maitre d' called out to them as soon as they stepped through the door.

"Ah, you must be Misters Xeno and Leonidas, correct?" he asked them. Shoving down their initial surprise without missing a beat, the two started to deny the accusation but the man kept talking. "Madame Fie informed me you would be coming to join her and Master Elliot at their table. Right this way."

Despite the situation, despite their anger at Elliot, Xeno and Leonidas couldn't stop the small smiles from spreading across their faces. Of course she had realized they were watching her. They followed him to the outside area of the restaurant where they quickly spotted a waving Fie sitting next to a red-head nervously staring into his cup.

"Hey, Fie," Xeno said with a smile as he took his seat. "You've gotten sharper, huh? What gave us away?"

"Last night my ARCUS happened to pick up a signal from those motion trackers you were putting up outside of Elliot's room," said the Sylphid as she took a sip from her drink. "No one else would be good enough to set those up who would have any interest in who was going in and out of there."

"You've gotten sloppy, Xeno," Leonidas said with a smirk.

"Nah, Fie's just gotten that good," responded Xeno.

The compliment made the teenager smile her ghost of a smile. "Not to mention we knew you were going to be coming sooner or later. As soon as we picked up Rean he rushed over to Elliot and apologized for spilling the beans. Did a pretty good job scaring him for you too."

"Heh… yeah," said Elliot, blushing softly and still looking down into his drink.

"Well you can hardly blame us, can you Fie?" said Xeno.

"You're skilled but you're still just a child," said Leonidas. "It's only natural for us to be worried about you, especially when boys get involved. I know how pushy they can be."

Fie rolled her eyes and scoffed. "Well you don't have to worry about Elliot. It took two months before his cheeks would stop matching his hair every time he saw me naked."

"Lalalalalalalalalalalalalala, I can't hear you," said Xeno as he covered his ears, half-joking half serious. Elliot, for his part, demonstrated exactly how close his skin tone could mimic his hair.

"I wasn't the only one blushing," he said by way of defending himself.

Leonidas fixed him with a brief glare before turning his attention back to Fie. "Given his current demeanor, I'm guessing that kiss in the restaurant was your idea?"

"Yeah, I figured it would get you guys to pop up from wherever you were hiding so I could introduce you all to each other without our weapons being drawn," said Fie. She scooched her chair over to be closer to Elliot and took his hand under the table. "Elliot, this is Xeno and Leonidas, they were in Zephyr with me. Xeno, Leonidas, this is Elliot, my boyfriend." On the last two words Fie's voice dropped to just above a happy whisper, like she still couldn't believe she could call him that. Her usually stoic expression became dusted with a light pink as she smiled what was easily the happiest smile that her elders had seen on her since the alleged death of the boss.

In an unmatchable act of bravery, Elliot, in full view of Leonidas and Xeno, leaned over just a little and gave his girlfriend a light kiss on the forehead.

Leonidas and Xeno had to give him their begrudging respect for it. Oh, it sparked a roaring fury in them as well, but somewhere in that inferno was a clump of respect. Unfortunately for Elliot, the fury was what dictated their actions. They fixed their glares onto him and he, predictably, shied away from them. No one could blame him for that, these were two of the scariest men in the country if not the world.

What mattered more than him flinching was that he took a deep breath, met their gaze, and straightened back up. Was the fear gone? Absolutely not, the table vibrated from the force of his quivering, anxious leg. But the fear didn't stop him.

The table was silent. Elliot didn't say anything, doing everything he could to keep his anxiety from erupting and making him blurt something out. Fie held his hand tightly, adding to his strength. Xeno and Leonidas just kept on glaring, waiting to see if he would break.

Seconds ticked by. Xeno was the one to crack first.

"So, if that thing in the restaurant was your idea, Fie, that's not how he usually treats you, right?"

"No, but I'm working on it," said Fie. "I have to thank you two, I've been trying to get him to do that for weeks."

"Fiieee," Elliot whined softly, embarrassed. He wasn't the only one, hearing his little sister/niece figure say that put Xeno into a bit of a state too.

Leonidas came to his partner's rescue, getting straight to the heart of the matter. "Elliot Craig," he said in his booming voice that turned all the focus onto him. "What exactly are your intentions with Fie?"

Elliot had been thinking about how to best put his intentions into words ever since Rean had delivered unto him the warning. He knew the question was going to come and, much as Fie said that he wouldn't have to answer it; that she was well aware of the fact they were kids in an absurd situation and any intentions beyond the next day might as well be dust in the wind, it was important for him to be able to answer that question not just for them, but for himself. The thought of what he wanted, in all aspects of his life, had plagued him for over a year. But this wasn't something that just affected him. Fie was too important to him for Elliot to leave the question on the backburner. It took a while, but when the answer came he knew it was right.

He looked into Leonidas's eyes and spoke with conviction. "I want to make her happy, as happy as she makes me, for as long as she wants me to."

Leonidas didn't back down. "Do you think you're the best person to do that?"

"Hey!" Fie cut off Elliot before he could answer. "I decide who's the best person for me. I've met a lot of people over this year. Good people. No one makes me feel like Elliot does. He's a little shy, but he tries. Meeting you like this was his idea." It was true. As soon as Rean had left after giving them the news, Elliot had said to Fie that when Xeno and Leonidas did come to spy on him that he wanted to meet them face to face.

"How could I call myself your boyfriend and hide from your family?" he'd said. "Besides, I want to meet the people who helped raise someone as incredible as you."

With how Fie had felt after that, he could have said he wanted to take her to be sacrificed to the cryptids and she would have agreed.

Leonidas leaned back in his chair and looked at Elliot once more. Some of the fire had died down and the respect was starting to shine through.

"That's a little cocky, huh?" said Xeno. "So sure we would approve of you? Or were you thinking to play the tough guy and say you don't care what we think of you?"

"Honestly… I do care what you think of me," said Elliot. "You're Fie's family, and I know how important family is to her. I don't know if you'll approve of me or not, but you matter too much to her for me to be afraid of finding out the answer to that.

"If you do disapprove of me, I'm sure it would be for good reasons and it's important for me to know what they are. I want to be someone worthy of Fie and knowing where I'm not there yet, so I know where I have to put in the work to get better, is an important part of becoming that person."

Xeno's eyebrow quirked up. "You don't think you're good enough for her?"

Elliot shook his head. "It's not up to me to decide if I'm good enough for her or not, but I want to be more than just good enough. I want to be the type of person who she deserves, and she deserves the very best."

Xeno leaned forward in his chair and propped his chin up on his elbow. It wasn't a half-bad sentiment. Sentiment can only get you so far, but the kid did decide to meet with them so maybe he's not all talk.

Leonidas clearly felt the same, as his posture had become fully relaxed. "I can not say that you have my approval," said Leonidas, making Elliot tense. "But, I can say that you do not have my disapproval."

"Yeah, I'm inclined to agree," said Xeno. "You seem like a good kid, but first impressions can be deceiving. Those are some big promises you gave out; let's see how good you are following through on them."

"You are young, both of you. You still have so much room left to grow and change," said Leonidas. "I look forward to seeing what influence, if any, you have on each other."

Elliot nodded. He didn't relax, but his tension seemed to switch from defensive to more proactive.

"But, Elliot." Leonidas resumed his death glare that he had worn when he first saw Elliot at the table. "If you hurt Fie-"

"I'm sure you're smart enough to figure out what will happen," finished Xeno, giving Elliot a glare of his own.

"If I hurt Fie, I deserve it," Elliot said without hesitation, making Xeno crack a smile.

Fie looked over to her boyfriend and blinked. "Is that why you won't spa-"

Without a word, Leonidas and Xeno mutually agreed to exit the area before they could hear the rest of the sentence and pretend their innocent image of their ward was still intact.

A/N: Yeah, Fie was about to say exactly what you think she was going to say. This story is the sequel to a fanfiction I haven't written yet, but will and hopefully soon. Heavily inspired by the works of Heero de Fanel.