Chapter 1: Road to Anywhere

Riou had expected that he'd have trouble sleeping in the first few days following the war, re-adjusting from the recent familiarity of his plush bed at the Dunan Army headquarters to the almost-forgotten familiarity of his thinner, more worn-down bed back home in Kyaro. On top of that, there'd been the concurrent re-adjustment from a brutal war to impending peace, and all the ups and downs that came with it. But even after the exhilaration of reuniting with Jowy and Nanami, even after letting a week slip by as he'd tried to settle himself back down, it just wasn't happening. Part of him was almost certain that he didn't even want to sleep - troubling dreams still skimmed the surface of his subconscious on occasion, leaving him unrested even when he did manage to drift off.

Or maybe he was just wound up and impatient for whatever lay ahead of them. Nanami's constant state of restlessness could be downright contagious when you were exposed to it for extended periods of time.

And while Jowy and Nanami had become prone to crashing hard in the short time following their reunion - the inevitable result of their exhausted minds and bodies finally catching up with them in the wake of the war - Riou found himself eagerly staying up with them as late as they could handle and well beyond the point where the other two had dropped off, just enjoying their presence and making up for lost time. They all were cherishing the second chances they'd been given when it had seemed almost certain that the war would tear them apart forever.

It was on a cool spring night that he once again padded through the moonlit shadows of Grandpa Genkaku's humble dojo, his best friend and his big sister snoozing in their bedrolls in the training hall. Tonight was their last night in Kyaro for a good, long while. Perhaps forever, depending on where their travels took them - they had no place left in the dwindling and soon-to-be-annexed remnants of Highland, as it was. The accusing, fearful stares and bitter whispers they'd received in Kyaro alone since their return had been more than enough proof of that.

The more things change, huh, he mused wryly, casting a thoughtful glance towards the front windows. Kyaro lay dark and asleep, yet Riou couldn't help but wonder if anyone else in the small, cozy town was awake as well, head spinning with a chaotic swirl of thoughts much like his own was - like his mind had been embedded with a Wind Rune that was just casting The Shredding over and over again.

On the other hand, a return to the City-State - Dunan, he reminded himself almost automatically, it'll all be Dunan soon - was far too stifling a prospect for him, with his name revered across the newborn nation to a degree that just made him extremely uncomfortable. The pressure he'd undoubtedly face to accept an unwanted leadership was only helping to keep him at bay. If they passed through there on their way to wherever they were going, so be it - he just wasn't going to make a show of it, and hoped they'd be long-gone by time word got around.

And all of that suited them just fine, Nanami in particular. They'd all spent far too much time already feeling trapped during the war, wondering as each day slipped by if they'd live to see the next. They had the rest of the world open before them now, as far as they were concerned. It was a chance to start over wherever their feet took them. Bury the old, painful memories under newer and happier ones.

Grinning broadly, Riou knelt down where their backpacks and weapons were set, and scanned over the contents of his own pack first - almost more out of compulsion at that point than out of any real worry that they'd possibly forgotten something. Even if any detail had slipped his or Jowy's minds, Nanami had taken it upon herself to be startlingly anal about the whole ordeal.

Fresh clothes, soap, non-perishable food, and a canteen filled each pack, along with their own personal items and the things for which they were each responsible. Riou had their tents, rune scrolls, flint, and a small knife he'd kept from his time in the youth brigade; Jowy was in charge of the map and their potch; and Nanami carried the medicine, antitoxins, and compass. Their bedrolls would be packed up as well, come the morning.

Everything was perfect, so long as they could manage to rouse Jowy at a halfway-decent hour. No matter how long he slept, the blond would probably lapse into full-on hibernation mode if left to his own devices - something Riou had learned all too well during their time spent training in Highland's youth brigade. Somehow, Jowy had consistently managed to sleep through the sound of the bugle calling them to attention each morning, and had thus consistently managed to barely avoid being late for inspection each time. Captain Rowd, who had been consistently pissed off by this, once mused to Jowy that he was damn lucky that Rowd considered him such a diligent worker and a talented fighter.

Riou also couldn't help but wonder, sometimes, how or if Jowy had been able to get away with such behavior during the war. From what Riou could tell, it was almost as if the blond boy's subconscious just hadn't given a shit about the concept of military protocol if it interfered with his slumber.

Despite his small smile at the memories, a small pang struck his heart as well as he remembered how he and Keine - one of their many friends from the youth brigade who had been killed during the ambush at Tenzan Pass - would grab Jowy's limbs some mornings and drag him bodily out of bed so they wouldn't be late, startling him half-awake and making him squirm in a panic before he'd realized what was going on. Nonetheless, the thought made Riou chuckle quietly as he got to his feet and dusted off his knees with a satisfied nod.

"Riou, it... it's far too late for you to be so amused," a thick voice called through a yawn, startling him out of his reverie. Looking over with a bemused expression, Riou caught his best friend's sleepy face poking around the corner of the wall, bleary eyes blinking at him in confusion. "I figured you'd be asleep by now," Jowy continued huskily, scratching at the back of his head and grunting in a way that reminded Riou entirely too much of Viktor for his own comfort. "You do still sleep, right?"

"Don't you?" Riou countered with a smirk, getting a shrug in response. He shook his head in good-humored exasperation. "No wonder you keep crashing all the time, if you're getting up at all these weird hours. We have a hard enough time waking you up as it is!"

"Pfff. You sound like Nanami." Jowy scoffed and waved off the accusation, getting a light shove on the chest as Riou approached him. "And look who's talking about weird hours!" He shoved Riou back playfully as they turned and headed back to the training hall, settling down on their adjacent bedrolls and facing each other. Stifling another yawn into his wrist, he futilely shook his pajama sleeve back and stretched, keeping his voice low so as to not wake Nanami: "Mmm... to tell you the truth, I just woke up and couldn't fall back asleep. I mean," he clarified with a little shrug, "I was falling back asleep, but then I heard you shuffling around, and I got a little curious."

With only a faint, apologetic blush heating his face in the shadows of the dojo, Riou shook his head and laughed quietly at the irony of it all. "Really? So all those times we had to drag you out of bed, or shake you so hard your head was about to fall off, we could've just woken you up by walking around? Wow, Jowy. Way to be an ass."

Jowy just rolled his eyes and returned Riou's smile wearily, looking only a little bit more awake now. "Yes, Riou. I've really been a morning person all this time. I just didn't tell you because I-" Another yawn was muffled against his forearm, and he hummed and gave his head a little shake. "I decided it would be more fun to be difficult instead."

Planting his hands flat on the bedroll and arching his back with a satisfied grunt, Riou cracked his neck and let out a happy sigh. "Yeah, I can see that," he agreed readily, ducking his head when Jowy made to swat at it. "Too slow. I bet you were just pretending to be asleep all this time!"

"I don't have to answer that." Jowy shot him a sly grin - and this time, he was the one dodging Riou's swatting. "Too slow," he echoed, his gray eyes dancing.

Riou mimicked his words in a high-pitched mumble, huffing indignantly. "You're too slow."

"Well, that settles it, then," Jowy quipped, stifling a laugh. Sometimes, he couldn't help but wonder if any of Riou's speeches to the Dunan Army had ever gone like this. "I just can't compete with that kind of wit."

"Such an ass," Riou repeated in a grumble, though he couldn't quite keep the smile completely off his face.

It was nice to finally get back to some semblance of normalcy most of the time, pretend nothing had changed in the past couple of months - to finally watch Jowy let down the stoic, cold walls he'd built up over the course of the war, relaxing and joking with Riou for what seemed like the first time in ages. To see Nanami's eyes shine with joy instead of tears, hear her humming to herself as she read, or trained, or even just walked around - though her injury from the battle at Rockaxe hadn't healed quite enough yet to let her train as hard as she'd have liked.

And, Riou had to admit, it felt great to finally get away from the obligations to be a proper leader and effective mascot for the Dunan Army at all times, to just be himself again. No more meetings, no more awkward decorum, no more pretending he had any real say in the military strategies, the delegations...

And he could speak more freely and casually without fear of someone - other than Nanami, who at least meant well with her nagging - reprimanding him for not watching his tongue around this person or that person. The doe-eyed beacon of hope for the City-State just wasn't supposed to call people asses. At least he could have pinned that last part on the bad influence of people like Viktor or Chaco, if it had ever come down to it. Or Nina, when she was riled up enough.

He could also have blamed Nanami - not that she'd have ever admitted it.

"And just to satisfy your curiosity, I do sleep," Riou went on. He stuck his tongue out briefly at Jowy, who snorted at the immature reaction. "I did sleep, I'm just... not sleeping. Err, right now."

Eyebrows going up, Jowy tilted his head in concern. "When you say 'right now,' do you mean..."

"Right this second." Riou sighed, brow furrowing. "I was asleep, but... you know. Just woke up, same as you, and I wasn't getting back to it anytime soon, so... I dunno. I guess I'm just..."

He paused, leaving the descriptor hanging in the dimly-lit air between them. Jowy made a few swipes at it: "Excited? Nervous? Scared?"

After a moment, Riou simply nodded, shooting him a wordless, questioning look that was returned by an understanding nod. Shoulders slumping in relief, he unfolded his legs from underneath him as he felt them beginning to tingle, readjusting himself so he was matching Jowy's cross-legged position and leaning forward a bit. "I think more excited than anything, but..." He exhaled softly. "I keep expecting to just suddenly wake back up at the castle - to get pulled into more meetings, and missions, and battles, and..."

As he trailed off again, the two of them turned their eyes to Nanami, still sleeping soundly with her back to them. Comfortably curled up on her bedroll - not shivering uncontrollably and bleeding out on the stone floors of Gorudo's castle, weak voice begging Riou to call her 'Big Sister,' and-

"...Yeah," Riou finished quietly, feeling his throat close up momentarily. He didn't miss Jowy's shaky exhale, or the sympathetic mutter of his name as the memories played back through both of their minds.

While they enjoyed having the good times back within their grasp, sometimes, the cracks nonetheless made themselves known. Whether in the dark of the night or even in the harsh glare of the sun, smiles would hitch and words would falter, doubts would rise back up, and wounds that were still too fresh would sting as the memories surfaced. All they could do was remind each other, and themselves, that it was all over. They'd made it out alive - maybe not quite unscathed, but they all had each other again despite the seemingly-impossible odds. Things would someday go all the way back to how they used to be... somehow. Maybe.

Hopefully.

After a quiet moment, Riou turned back to Jowy with a wry smile. "Not that I'm asking you to crack me on the head with your staff to make sure I'm not dreaming, or anything."

Jowy returned the smile, silently relieved that Riou seemed to have pulled his own spirits back up just a little bit, for the moment. "Well, no, I was hoping not. But it'd certainly get you back to sleep if I did it hard enough, now wouldn't it?"

Groaning, Riou plopped down onto his back with a soft grunt. "Alright, alright... now who's sounding like Nanami?" Rolling over onto his side to face Jowy again for a moment, he propped himself up on one elbow. "So, in that case - you'd better not gripe when we have to rattle you awake tomorrow morning."

"...Goodnight, Riou," Jowy replied after a slight pause to untie his long ponytail and slip the leather strap around his wrist, rolling over to lay down as well and facing away so Riou couldn't see him chuckling.

"Yeah, yeah," Riou grumbled good-naturedly, laying back down on his back and staring up at the darkened rafters. He struggled to force the countless, harrowing memories from his racing mind, focus on the present. "'Night, Jowy."

"Alright, alright, alright! Up and at 'em, guys! The sun's awake, so we should all be awake, too! C'mon!"

Brisk clapping punctuated Nanami's commands, highlighting the ridiculously inappropriate levels of enthusiasm she was displaying at such early hours. The rising sun bled gold-tinted light into the dojo, and Riou squinted up at his sister with a scratchy whine. He knew she could drop off like a brick if she was exhausted enough and still spring up with the sunrise, because she was undoubtedly the biggest morning person in the damn universe, but didn't she have any humanity? He felt like he was waking back up in some twisted version of the Unicorn Brigade.

Putting her hands on her hips with an amused smirk, Nanami planted her feet on either side of Riou's bedroll and looked down at him. Far easier to wake him than Jowy, at any rate. "C'mon, Riou! Move your grumpy butt! They didn't let you sleep in when you were in the brigade, right?"

A bleary blink, and Riou grunted once in affirmation, before rolling over onto his stomach and burying his face in his pillow without a word. He hadn't woken back up in the brigade, had he? He'd already lived through the stupid war once, and he wasn't sure that his sanity could handle any sort of encore performance.

His stubbornness didn't stop Nanami's slipper-clad foot from poking lightly at his head. "Uh-uh. No you don't, buddy! We've got to get some breakfast in us before we head out, and we've got a long road ahead of us! Now scoot your ass out of there and help me wake Jowy!"

"God, what are you?" Riou mumbled tiredly into his pillow, before another poke to his head finally broke his resolve. He rolled over onto his back, sitting up and rubbing his eyes. "Alright! Alright... if it'll get you to torture Jowy instead..."

Both of them looked over at the softly-snoring lump to Riou's right, undisturbed by Nanami's clarion call. Jowy was covered head-to-toe, as though he'd been hoping the sun would just skip over pulling him out of his slumber and let him lay there, sleeping the day away.

"Hmm." Nanami folded her arms and tilted her head, face screwed up in thought. They really needed to do something about his habits. "How are we gonna do this, though, huh? Too bad we don't have a bugle."

"Wouldn't work," Riou informed her after stifling a heavy yawn into his arm, and missing her bemused look. "I wish I could sleep that well, do you have any idea how much Feather's damn screeching kept me up sometimes?" Face darkening at the memory - why in the world that lousy griffon opted to perch right outside Riou's room, anyway? - he ran his hands through his already-messy brown hair and shook his head. "Just throw some water on him like we always do..."

"Ehhh..." Nanami crinkled her nose and sighed, squatting down beside Jowy and poking at him. Nothing. Of course not. "But that gets old! We need to start getting creative!"

Standing up and stretching with another long, shuddering yawn, Riou rolled his shoulders, giving his head a good, hard shake to clear it. Creative? What exactly did that mean, and was she being serious, and really - what? "Why, exactly?"

Nanami was already grabbing her own bedroll from the other side of Riou's when she responded in a flippant tone: "Don't talk back to your big sister, Riou." And, with the bedroll sloppily folded in half, she uttered a battle cry and unceremoniously spun around, giving Jowy a few hard whacks with it. The snoozing lump snorted in confusion and gave a start after the second impact, before starting to squirm around. "C'mon, Jowy! Get up, get up, get up!"

"What the hell, Nanami?!" Riou's voice cracked in mid-admonishment, snatching the bedroll away from her. The action sent Nanami stumbling off-balance for a moment, though she righted herself quickly. "Shit, you don't need to flog him! Calm down!"

Nonetheless, he realized - freezing in place as the cover shifted and Jowy glared up at him from underneath it, like an irritated hermit crab - Nanami's method had worked all too well. As if in celebration of this, she folded her arms and gestured proudly, making a satisfied little noise and flashing a smug grin at Riou. She hadn't needed a bugle after all. "Ha!"

"Riou what the hell?" Jowy echoed huskily, squinting against the intruding sunlight and smoothing back his rumpled, untied hair. Idly, Riou couldn't help but notice how much his best friend resembled Teresa Wisemail - albeit an uncharacteristically grouchy version of Teresa - in that moment, with his fair hair loose. "Really?"

Riou grinned weakly at him and uttered a feeble laugh before thrusting the bedroll back into Nanami's hands and jabbing his index finger in her direction. "Her," he stated simply, causing the chipper brunette to roll her eyes and sigh. "I was just going to wake you the usual way, honest!"

Jowy looked back-and-forth between them, blinking his bleary gray eyes slowly, before uttering a defeated groan and clambering unsteadily to his feet as he adjusted his crooked pajamas and tied his hair back. The 'usual way' was hardly any better, in his opinion. "Fine. I'm awake. Don't do that again," he mumbled, shuffling past Nanami and giving her a hard flick on the forehead that made her wince.

"It woke you up, didn't it?" she shot back indignantly, blowing a loud raspberry at him as he muttered something in response and padded off to wash himself up for breakfast.

Things were definitely getting back to normal, Riou mused with a hopeful smile, hurriedly walking off to get breakfast ready. He didn't want to risk Nanami deciding to handle the cooking herself and sending him off to wash up, too. While he'd gotten used to Nanami's cooking through years of constant exposure - though he definitely missed Hai Yo's cooking - Jowy had already suffered enough that morning.

After they ate - each of them wondering aloud what their travels would hold, even without a destination in mind yet - the trio found themselves in the small backyard of the dojo. They were dressed for their journey and staring down thoughtfully at the gravestone marking the resting place of Nanami and Riou's adoptive guardian, Genkaku. The mood was far more solemn than it had been only a half-hour or so back.

The wind rustled the branches and the birds chirped Kyaro awake, but no sound otherwise carried between the three of them for a few somber moments. Jowy looked over and noticed that Riou in particular seemed to have a swirl of unidentifiable emotions storming behind his bright brown eyes, lips thinned as if he was trying to keep something in check. What exactly that was, Jowy wasn't sure - but when Nanami got to her knees and bowed her head in prayer, Riou quickly followed, his expression quickly hidden.

Jowy hung back for a moment in awkward uncertainty before Nanami spoke up, her voice quiet, and her words more plea than suggestion:

"You can, too, if you want. He wouldn't mind."

"Alright... sure." With a little nod, Jowy joined them in their kneeling, hands clasped in his lap as he, too, bowed his head and closed his eyes. While Genkaku hadn't quite raised Jowy like he had Nanami and Riou, he had nonetheless treated Jowy as family just the same - and that was more than Jowy could have ever said for his own stepfather. Finding his own thoughts becoming rather conflicted with the memories of the past few months starting to clamor about in his head, he cleared his throat softly and let out a shaky breath, not seeing Riou's eyes open slightly to glance over at him.

Nanami cleared her own throat as well, and began speaking aloud: "Thank you so much for watching over us, Grandpa. You've done more for us than we ever could've imagined. Sometimes... I wasn't sure we'd ever all make it back together-" Here, her voice hitched with a soft quaver that almost seemed like it may have been guilt, "-but you... you helped us come home, didn't you? Still... even though we've been back home for a little while, we're... we're going away again. For a long time."

Biting at her lip for a moment, she steeled herself. "Maybe forever. To make a new beginning... find our place in the world. And, so... so... this might be our last time here with you." Her voice cracked slightly, but she steadied it after a moment, opening her eyes and planting a hand lovingly on the gravestone. "I hope you'll continue to watch over all of us. Thank you for bringing us back together."

"Thank you, Grandpa," Riou echoed, his voice hoarse and barely audible. Swallowing hard in hopes of loosening his tightened throat, he was the first to rise after they'd finished praying. Once Jowy and Nanami had done the same, he motioned for them to follow him back inside.

Nanami quickly headed in after him, eyebrows knitting in concern. Jowy made to start back as well, but looked back over his shoulder one last time at Genkaku's gravestone. The memories and emotions swelled up inside of him again, and he heaved a deep breath, shaking his head firmly. He had a second chance. They all had a second chance - whoever, whatever had granted it to them - and it wouldn't be wasted. With a small smile, he nodded at the gravestone. "Thank you, Master Genkaku," he murmured gratefully, heading inside to finish the final preparations with his friends.

The archway marking the northern entrance to Kyaro cast its shadow behind the trio as they stood and observed their hometown with a mixture of regret, anticipation, and relief. A few early risers strolled about the cobblestone streets, sparing them little more than passing glances - somewhat curious, but mostly dark.

With a shaky little laugh, Nanami tilted her head. "Well, Kyaro... I guess it's goodbye again, huh?"

"But that means it's hello to the rest of the world." Riou shifted the straps of his pack slightly so the weight settled a little more evenly on his back. When Jowy and Nanami turned their amused gazes his way, he shrugged and grinned at them, all traces of his earlier pensive mood pushed away for the time being. "Hey, so what're we waiting for? We're not going to get anywhere just standing around looking at each other, are we? C'mon, let's hit the road!"

Smiling at his enthusiasm, Jowy and Nanami followed him as he started off at a light jog down the path leading away from Kyaro. While they hadn't officially settled on where exactly to go yet, they seemed almost to have gravitated in the direction of Tenzan Pass nonetheless - and beyond that, they would either be able to head north to Harmonia, west to the Grasslands, or south to Muse. Riou found his steps slowing down as the thought occurred to him, allowing Nanami and Jowy to catch up with him. "...Well... I guess we're heading this way, then."

"Ah, shoot! We never actually did decide on that, did we?" Nanami pointed out, though she giggled awkwardly at the realization. Of all the things to overlook. With Jowy in tow, going through Muse didn't seem like the best possible idea - and while she'd heard Lucia had backed off from her pursuit of Riou, the thought of chancing across her in the Grasslands again didn't hold much appeal, either. "And after all that preparation, too!"

Jowy shrugged, though the implications weren't lost on him, either. Suppressing a small shudder at the memories, he shook his head. "It's kind of overwhelming, though," he reasoned, garnering an agreeing nod from Riou. "Maybe we should flip a coin first? Tenzan Pass or North Sparrow Pass... and if it lands on North Sparrow, we can just double back and then go from there." Not that he didn't have a specific destination in mind first, making the path through Tenzan a much more convenient choice - just a detour on their road to anywhere, a quick stop to close a particular chapter of his life - but he didn't want to voice it out of fear of sounding selfish.

Either way, the idea of passing through either former Highland territory or former City-State territory made his skin prickle - who knew who would recognize him, and what their reaction would be? Kyaro alone had been proof enough that there was still some lingering resentment and bitterness to be expected. But whichever way you go, you'll have to pass through one or the other anyway, he reminded himself, rubbing the back of his neck where the fine hairs were standing up. You'll be out of there soon enough. You knew your choices would have consequences. The thought didn't comfort him much.

Tapping his foot for a moment and folding his arms, Riou rubbed his chin, before giving a firm nod and once again motioning for the other two to follow him. "Well... how about we just keep on the way we're heading? Once we're out of Tenzan Pass, we can just keep going north, and stay to the eastern edge until we reach the border."

"So, you're sure you want to go to Harmonia?" Nanami wondered aloud, eyebrows jumping up in surprise when Riou nodded, turning back to shoot her a teasing smile. To her, something about the Holy Kingdom had always seemed almost untouchable. Like it couldn't truly exist beyond the border, despite her knowing better and growing up barely a stone's throw from it. They'd faced Harmonians during the war, after all. "Really?!"

"Yeah, what's the big deal? What, are you intimidated?" he prodded, causing her to snort and kick at the back of his boot.

"No way!" Maybe a little. "I just didn't realize you wanted to start so big!" Maybe a lot.

Riou shrugged. While Harmonia had bordered Highland to the north since well before any of them had been born - and the country itself had once stretched its borders as far south as the Toran Republic - he was more than a little wary about heading there, too. Undoubtedly intrigued, but wary.

Of course, given the suspicious things he'd heard about it from the army members who had grown up there, and after they'd aided Highland's side in the war, he supposed he had good reason to be wary - not that he'd like to admit it out loud, either. He wasn't sure if it was just his pride, or some sort of holdover from having to constantly put on a brave face for the City-State during the war.

"No, it's just..." Riou met Jowy's eyes for a moment. The older boy gave a little start at the sudden attention, but smiled back gratefully as he realized what Riou was getting at.

After a moment, Nanami caught it too, and her expression softened a bit. "Oh, that's right... Lady Jillia and Pilika... "

Rubbing the back of his neck again as they reached the mouth of Tenzan Pass, Jowy's smile turned sheepish. "Thank you, Riou. I know it's selfish of me, just... it'd give me peace of mind to know that they made it there alright."

"Are you kidding?" Nanami responded, giving him a playful shove on the arm to lighten the mood again. "I'd love to see Pilika again! Wow, I bet she's gotten so big!"

"She certainly has," Jowy agreed, his fond smile soon becoming mischievous. "And she was a surprisingly good girl, despite all that time she spent with you and Riou." He snickered when Nanami opted to respond with a rude hand gesture. "Oh? Did you try to teach her how to do that?"

Nanami snorted indignantly. What kind of caretaker did he think she was? She wasn't Viktor, for crying out loud. "No, but maybe I should have."

"Bet she'll be taller than youuuu," Riou sang from in front of them, ducking instinctively when Nanami made to smack him upside the head. He snickered. "Oh, like I don't know when you're going to - OW!" Rubbing the back of his head, he turned and glowered at Nanami, who was stifling a grin.

Looking over to Jowy, he then saw a poor attempt at an innocent expression, accompanied by a little bit of whistling. "You."

"Her," the blond responded simply, pointing at Nanami and shaking his head. He looked utterly insincere.

Nanami pushed his hand down, her tone laced with indignation: "Whaaaat?! No way, buddy! That was all you!"

Riou nodded firmly at his sister's rebuttal, finding it credible enough. "Thought so." Giving Jowy a sarcastically amiable smile, he cracked his knuckles. "You know what, I don't need my tonfa to beat your ass." Despite his words, his eyes had the old playful glint to them that Jowy had sorely missed over the past few months.

"Oh?" Although he was shooting his best friend a teasing smirk now, Jowy's interest had suddenly been piqued at the those words - the idea of going hand-to-hand against Riou sometime in the future could prove fun. "What are you planning to use, then? Your bedroll?"

At this, Riou groaned and rolled his eyes, turning back around and throwing his hands up. "Come on, that actually was Nanami! Did you not see me standing on my bedroll?"

"What is this, Blame Nanami Day?" said girl wondered aloud, huffing when Riou and Jowy chorused a "Yes!" back at her and snickered. "Hey, now! I don't even need my staff to kick both of your asses!"

"No, you just need your cooking," Jowy muttered under his breath, before jumping a little at the sharp stare Nanami had suddenly shot his way. "...Oh! Oh. You... you heard that."

"Heard what?" Nanami cooed sweetly, though her brown eyes flashed with a dangerous spark.

Hmm. There was no easy way out of this. "That, uh. That..." Jowy pointed in a random direction, a cool bead of sweat trickling down his temple. "That... DoReMi Elf... over... in the, uhh..."

"You should really just run, Jowy," Riou suggested from in front of them, grinning broadly and not even bothering to look back at them. "Unless you actually want your ass klcked."

That was all the encouragement Jowy needed, and he sprang into a sprint, Nanami immediately on his trail and yelling at him to slow down as her short brown hair bounced about her face. "Riou!" she called over her shoulder, waving for him to catch up as her voice echoed behind her. "Help me catch this little punk and teach him a lesson!"

He waved the request off, continuing his leisurely pace in spite of the urge to go running after them. Jowy had gone upside his head, after all - but Nanami could avenge that particular transgression for him. He was in too good of a mood right now. "Nahh... you're doing great, Nanami! Get him!"

"Really?!" Jowy squawked back, his voice echoing off the walls of the pass. "Come on, Riou! Help me!"

Smile widening, Riou laughed loudly at the desperation in Jowy's voice and finally broke into a run, cupping his hand over his mouth and calling for them to wait up and not kill each other. "We've barely even left Kyaro!" he pointed out, laughing again when Nanami shouted back that she didn't care.

It was nice to finally have things settling back down to normal again - at least for the time being, at least on the outside. And as they all caught up with each other and horsed around for a bit - their laughter and shouts echoing throughout the morning - they each quietly clung to that sense of normalcy with every fiber of their being, hoping the other two wouldn't notice their own strain in the days ahead.

Author's Notes: Because I just don't have enough multichapters going on at the moment. Oh well. But I've been wanting to do a post-game Suikoden II story for some time now - taking off from the best ending, because I'm an idealistic sap sometimes - and the idea recently hit me for what I could go on and do with it, a plot that should hopefully work over the long run. Hopefully, I can do it well, especially writing Jowy's more casual side, and giving Riou a personality at all. Plus, I've always been a fan of that pairing. And a big fan of Nanami. So... we'll see how this turns out!

Anyway, thanks for reading, and feel free to leave a review, if you'd like! I can't promise how quickly chapter 2 will come along, with the other stuff I have going on (both story-wise and life-wise), but I'll see you there!