Lloyd adjusted his bag over his shoulder as he walked along towards the exit of Palmacosta. It'd been three months since his adventure with the "Chosen's group" had ended and the two worlds had combined together. Lloyd had set off almost instantly to obtain all the exsperes around the new world and, well, progress was slow, although Lloyd didn't mind; he had already predicted it wouldn't be the easiest task or journey. However, he hadn't realised one of the reasons for that would be his inability to deny anyone who needed help, which leads to why he'd been at Palmacota to begin with.

He'd heard of the reconstruction that was beginning for Palmacosta since it'd been devastatingly wiped away and decided to head over to see if they had needed any help. Turns out, it did...And a lot at that. Neil was head of the project and despite having a great way of things, he was low on volunteers and the funding was near to nothing. This seemed like it'd be a harder job than Luin.

But Lloyd didn't have the time to stay until it was complete; it'd take years and his priority was still collecting all the exsperes. He had another idea though; he told Neil he'd try to send volunteers from every town and he'd speak to the rest of the "Chosen's group" for help, but it'd have to be as he goes along his own journey. Neil was more than appreciative and insisted Lloyd stay to rest for the night which Lloyd agreed to gratefully. Before he left the next day though, he made sure to add to the donation box with every gald he had.

As he approached the gate that led back onto the field, Lloyd saw a young woman, appearing around his own age, looking thoughtfully out onto the grassy lands. She had shoulder length, wavy, brown hair and wore a simple, worn, cream dress with a pair of dark brown leggings followed by winter, cream, ankle boots and a khaki green cloak. Although, the first thing Lloyd noticed was her right arm that was hung in a sling and her troubled expression.

"Are you alright?" Lloyd started before he knew he had even opened his mouth.

She turned to Lloyd slightly startled, "O-oh, no, I'm fine…"

"…Are you sure?" He couldn't help but feel unconvinced as she struggled to pick up her umbrella which had been leaning against a fence.

She hesitated before she answered, "Well…I need to head to Altamira to meet with my sister…but my arm…I don't know how well I'll be able to defend myself against the monsters, so, I'm trying to think of a way I can get there…"

Lloyd stood there for a moment, also thinking of a solution.

"Oh, don't worry! You don't have to-"

"Why don't I take you?" Lloyd said suddenly, before realising how creepy that sounded without context, "Wait! I mean I've got to head that way anyway, so…if you don't mind me accompanying you then…" He eventually trailed of losing confidence in his suggestion.

"…Are you sure? You don't have to, I can wait for a caravan to pass through," She assured.

"You could, but there's no telling when one'll come by. It's really up to you though," Lloyd didn't want to come off creepier than he might already have, so left her with the choice.

She stood there for a moment and looked out towards the field again thoughtfully biting her lip before saying, "Well…if you're okay with me, I promise not to slow you down!"

"Haha, don't worry about things like that. I'm Lloyd by the way," He introduced cheerfully.

"I'm Reimi," She replied in a small voice but smiled back sweetly, which caused Lloyd to falter for a moment.

"W-well, are you ready to leave straight away or do you need some time?"

After claiming she was ready and set, they left on their journey.

"Does your sister need you there on a certain day?" Lloyd asked as they strolled along the traveller's foot path towards Luin.

"O-oh, um, we said to meet during the last quarter of the moon this lunar month, so I should get there before her," She explained unsurely.

"Okay, good," Lloyd simply replied.

Reimi seemed quite a shy girl from what Lloyd could tell. She only spoke up when addressed and would answer nervously, as if he'd put her on the spot. She was incredibly nice though, and Lloyd enjoyed speaking to her. It would take about three days to reach Altamira, and he hoped she'd get more comfortable with him along the way.

As they carried on, Lloyd asked Reimi things about herself and she would ask the same back; where they'd travelled to, fighting techniques, nothing too personal. He didn't know how much Reimi was comfortable with sharing, but he was curious about her.

They'd had a few battles here and there, obviously Lloyd did most of the fighting, but even with a busted arm, Reimi pulled her weight even when Lloyd insisted she didn't have to. She'd heal him and cast stat boosting spells, and when she'd have a good chance, she'd even do an offensive spell. She was amazing, and Lloyd told her as much after one of their fights which lead to Reimi blushing and stammering all over the place. Lloyd had fondly laughed at her reaction, and for a moment he thought he saw her smile under her panicked mannerisms.

Night fell and the two set up their camp in a small secluded area in one of the forests they'd been passing. Reimi assisted where she could; pulling out the sleeping bags and supplies they needed while Lloyd got to cooking. He was strangely nervous about Reimi's opinion of his cooking and tried extra hard to prepare it well.

Luckily, Reimi seemed to genuinely enjoy the food and Lloyd rubbed his nose in happy embarrassment. They spoke quietly as they ate, and Lloyd found out Reimi had been volunteering at Palmacosta, which was when she'd hurt her arm after she fell from a roof she was trying to fix. She said she was planning on returning after meeting with her sister, and Lloyd, in turn, mentioned he'd become something of a recruiter for Neil. Lloyd couldn't help but think that volunteering really suited Reimi.

Once they finished eating and put out the fire, they set up for bed. Reimi couldn't quite zip up her sleeping bag as her dominant arm was indisposed at the time, so Lloyd had to help her. As he zipped her up and adjusted the hooded part around her head comfortably, he laughed, "I feel as if I'm tucking you in, haha."

Reimi just blushed and gave a small frown which only made him laugh harder, and in turn made Reimi blush harder.

The second day of their journey, Lloyd dipped his toes into more personal territory and was ecstatic when Reimi responded well, she even asked him some questions too.

"What were you doing before Palmacosta?" Reimi asked as they walked through Luin.

"Collecting exspheres. That's what I'm doing now too," Lloyd told her.

"I thought you were a recruiter for Palmacosta?"

"I'm doing both, but my priority is the exspheres, that's why I couldn't stay in Palmacosta," Lloyd explained.

"Oh, I see. …Why are you collecting exspheres?" Reimi seemed scared to ask, as if she was crossing some line, so Lloyd smiled to reassure her.

"Hmm, it's a long story but, the short version is...well, because of how exspheres are created…I think it's wrong to use them for our own convenience," His smile turned sad as he looked at his own exsphere.

Most of the world now knew of exspheres' tragic origins, so he didn't feel he'd have to explain them to Reimi, who seemed to understand what he was referring to as her expression turned sombre.

Reimi followed Lloyd's eyes to his exsphere.

"Haha, I know, I'm a hypocrite, but until the day I no longer need her strength, I have to borrow it to do what I have to," Lloyd confessed sadly.

"…Her?" Reimi all but squeaked.

"My mother's life was used to create this one…" Lloyd elaborated unable to look at Reimi.

"..I-I'm so sorry…" Reimi's voice seemed to tremble slightly and Lloyd quickly turned back to her to see tears in her eyes.

"Hey, hey, don't worry! I didn't mean to make you upset!" Lloyd became frantic, he was so surprised by her reaction, all he could do was stand in front her, wildly holding his hands up in front of himself as if he was preparing for Reimi to fall.

Reimi laughed at his bazar behaviour, as her watery eyes slowly returned to normal.

"Your mum must be so proud of you," She said smiling at him.

"Hah, thanks. I hope she is," Lloyd beamed at her.

They returned to walking side-by-side, and not long after Lloyd sprung up conversation again hoping to cheer Reimi up more.

"What about you? What were you doing before you became a volunteer?"

"O-oh, um, my sister and I were going around the ruins of the human ranches," She stuttered.

Lloyd's eyes grew wide at that, and couldn't help but ask, "Why…are you interested in the human ranches?"

"Well, we are also quite passionate about the situation with exspheres. We heard that there was odd activity happening at some of the old ranches and we were worried…so," She trailed off for a moment before starting again, "We've searched half of them so far and we have some leads, but we're no closer to finding out what's going on," She almost seemed to be apologising for a reason Lloyd wasn't quite sure of.

"I'm just glad you're worried enough to go look… Although, people now know about exspheres…there's some conflict in retiring their use for technology," Lloyd sighed.

"That's what hurts the most…" Reimi said with a tone that almost seemed uncharacteristically bitter, as if it was personal.

Lloyd wanted to ask more but her tone seemed like a warning not to.

"Ughhhhhhhhh, you can tell when you're near Triet Desert when the humidity starts sparking up like this. It's too hoooot," Lloyd whined childishly as his shoulders sagged while he walked.

Reimi giggled, "You're not good with the heat, Lloyd?"

"It's not that I'm not good with it, it's just not good with me."

Reimi laughed again, "What does that even mean?"

"….I don't know," Lloyd shrugged tiredly.

"I only just realised you have the same name as Lloyd from the Chosen's group," Reimi smiled thoughtfully.

"Oh, I am that Lloyd," he said casually.

"W-what?" Reimi said smiling as if it was a joke.

"Lloyd Irving, that's me," he said with a confused look at Reimi's shock.

"Y-you're….the Lloyd who combined the worlds?"

"Well, me and everyone else in the group, yeah," he smiled but still with confused eyes.

"Oh, I'm s-sorry-I mean thank you! Thank you for everything you all did and freeing everyone from the ranches!" She finished breathlessly, her face panicked and frantic.

"A-ah, um, yeah, you're welcome?…Reimi, are you okay?"

"No-I mean yes, I'm sorry, it's just you did a lot for me and my sister, I've always wanted to thank you all, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to freak out," She laughed awkwardly, but seemed extremely serious with her gratitude.

"It's okay…haha, you're all red," Lloyd teased, trying to calm her.

She gave a small, cute frown again, like she did every time he teased her.

"Why aren't you with the rest of the group? I would have thought at least one of them would have come along," She asked furrowing her brow.

"Well, after everything that happened, we all had somethings we needed to do- Our own priorities we needed to take care of, but we're still a group. We'll always be there to help each other," Lloyd assured.

"…Don't you get lonely?"

"…I guess. I do get bored by myself, but I'm happy to know that I have people I can go to if I really need them, and they can come to me too," He smiled at the thought of his friends and saw Reimi smiling with him.

Lloyd was really happy spending time with Reimi. She had come out of her shell a little and was finally being less cautious with when and what she says, although she was still too nervous to tease Lloyd back when he teased her, she'd just do the cute, small frown that was almost a pout. Lloyd found himself teasing Reimi quite a bit just to see it.

They had just finished their dinner and were about to head to bed when they heard a low growl behind them. Suddenly, before Lloyd could comprehend what was happening, Reimi jumped in front of him as a wolf tried to strike at him.

"Reimi!" Lloyd cried out worriedly.

He managed to catch Reimi mid-fall before she hit the ground and swiftly dealt two demon fangs (one-handedly no less) to the beast, killing it instantly.

"Reimi, Reimi, are you hurt?" Lloyd asked desperately as he lowered them both so he could cradle her better as well as manoeuvre her upright. Once he'd turned her over, he saw she had her umbrella (weapon of choice) across her body.

"I blocked it," She stated simply.

"O-oh, haha," Lloyd laughed at her casual statement, "G-good job, Reimi. And thanks."

Lloyd had tried to smile as he said so, but it didn't quite reach his eyes, and Reimi could tell.

"I-I'm sorry…did you get hurt after all?" She asked in concern, scanning his body for injuries.

"What? No, no, you saved me completely," He struggled to smile fully again, making Reimi even more perplexed and worried.

"Did…I upset you?" She tried again.

"No, of course not," Lloyd quickly replied before sighing, "Sorry, Reimi, I'm being a jerk…I was just…When you jumped in front of me, my heart stopped. Haha, I was so scared that you'd gotten hurt or worse. But you were really cool, I shouldn't be acting like this," Lloyd admitted shamefully.

"Don't apologise…I'm the same. That's why I couldn't stop myself from protecting you," Reimi said in her quiet tone of voice, looking down at her umbrella as she spoke.

"Aren't you just too nice, Reimi?" Lloyd smiled, ignoring the squeeze of his heart and warming cheeks.

"N-no, not at all… I'm not nice at all," Reimi stammered.

"Well, whatever you want to call it, I like that side of you," He paused before quickly adding, "Well, not that there's been a part of you I haven't liked," He sheepishly scratched his head awkwardly but smiled brightly.

"S-same," Reimi laughed bashfully.

The two stood there awkwardly (the good kind of awkward though) smiling at each other before Reimi suggested they go to sleep which Lloyd clumsily agreed to.

It was the last day of their journey as they were expected to reach Altamira at sun down and he couldn't shake the horrible weight in his gut of parting with Reimi. He knew it was silly; growing attached to someone he'd only met two days ago but…Reimi was special. He wasn't sure how Reimi felt so he didn't want to say anything that would make her uncomfortable, leaving him to have to accept their separation.

They were crossing very uneven terrain now that they were passing the mountain range, and Reimi was struggling to keep her balance without her dormant arm to hold onto things around her or to keep her from bumping into everything. Lloyd had been watching worriedly and had become somewhat like a spotter for her, but after the third tumble, which he managed to stop from becoming an all-out fall, he'd had enough.

"Reimi," He said her name gently to get her attention. She turned to him to see his hand outstretched towards her, "You should let me support you until we get passed to mountain range."

He had expected to have to fight for it, after all she seemed to have a complex about causing trouble for others, but very surprisingly, she took it after staring at it for a little while.

"Thank you," She had said softly, her head hung low.

Lloyd could only mumble a "You're welcome," unable to focus on anything but their hands and the fast beating of his heart.

He had done this many times for Colette, Sheena (because they're clumsy) and even Genis on occasion (although, he'd end up just carrying him on his back) in the past, but this was the first time it made him feel incredibly nervous, and happy.

After a while, Lloyd finally got the courage to talk normally again and found out more about Reimi. He found out that not only is she going to inspect the destroyed ruins of human ranches, but her and her sister are also going across the world to find refugees who are having trouble returning to normal life after escaping said ranches.

Lloyd knew just from talking to her these past few days that Reimi was an incredibly kind, caring person, however, sometimes…there was a bitterness in her eyes when they'd speak about the human ranches or the desians. Lloyd understood that look. It was the look of someone who'd been directly hurt by them. He knew because he had also worn that look.

He wanted to ask her about it, he wanted to know about her. However, he couldn't bring himself to ask her, especially if it'd make her have to retell sad memories she'd rather not think about. So, instead, he worked on making her laugh; being silly and teasing her here and there just to hear her laugh or see her smile was a much better idea.

"What are you going to do in Altamira when we get there?" Reimi suddenly asked during their first break of the day, eating sandwiches that Lloyd made (successfully!).

"I'm probably going to go visit my friend Regal to see how the excavating is going in Toize Valley Mine. Are you going to carry on your investigation of the ranches?"

Reimi nodded, "Yes, my sister and I had to part ways for a short while, but we plan to continue our search as soon as we meet up again."

Lloyd watched Reimi and noticed how distant she seemed suddenly, she was definitely thinking hard about something but Lloyd didn't know what about.

"Reimi?"

"Oh, sorry! I was just…daydreaming," she smiled, but it was clearly forced.

"Reimi…yesterday you told me you had wanted to thank my friends and me for helping you and your sister. Do you mind…if I ask what you meant by that?"

There was a long pause and Lloyd had worried he might have offended or upset Reimi.

"…We've lived in human ranches for the last twelve years," She said in a voice Lloyd hadn't heard from her before. It was dull, and heavy.

"Twelve years!?" Lloyd exclaimed, he couldn't contain his horror.

A bitter smile crept onto Reimi's face, "Most people don't even last a year…but my sister and I were 'special'. We were used for a project called 'Aida and Eve'. The start of a new exsphere that was supposed to change the entire genetic coding of a person to make them some sort of powerful deity. That was what I was told anyway.

"We were moved around ranches constantly; the Grand Cardinals seemed to be fighting over us, but I'm not sure of the details. We very rarely saw each other, my sister and I. We would constantly think the other was dead until we heard their code name spoken in hushed conversations by scientists and guards."

"…code name?" Lloyd asked in a strangled voice from what he had just heard.

"From the project's name. My sister was 'Aida,' and I was 'Eve.' I had forgotten my real name long ago, however, Beatrix remembered it but also forgot her own, while I remembered her's," She laughed as she spoke, "We forgot our own names, but remembered the other's."

"..W-what did they do to you?" Lloyd felt his anger swelling, just like when he heard what happened to his mother and father. He clenched the dirt floor in an attempt to supress it.

"They made us watch as they murdered our parents, they kept us in isolation a month at a time….A lot of things I'd rather forget but I'll never be able to. It felt as if they were experimenting a practice to create new forms of misery," She laughed again, but it was filled with a quiet, frightening hatred. Lloyd wasn't frightened though.

Reimi finally stopped her dark thoughts to notice Lloyd looking far beyond calm, "Sorry, there was no need for me to tell you all this…"

PHWAP!

Lloyd couldn't contain his anger any longer and ended up punching the ground they were sat on, but he instantly regretted it when he saw Reimi jump in his peripheral vision.

"L-Lloyd? I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to mak-" She suddenly turned to her nervous self again, and fretted over Lloyd's reaction.

"Don't apologise! You shouldn't be the one to apologise…" He lowered his voice seeing Reimi's tense expression, "Even after everything…they're still able to cause pain. I'm so sorry, Reimi…we should have helped you…"

"You did! I already said, you SAVED me and my sister!" Reimi cried out desperately trying to make Lloyd understand.

"…I'm glad…but-but I just wish we got there sooner…" Lloyd felt wretched…he wanted to go back in time, he wanted to save Reimi before she could even be hurt, but he couldn't.

"Don't think like that, my sister and I are just relieved to have been rescued at all. Don't belittle that," Reimi said gently, smiling.

"You're right…" Lloyd said trying to calm himself down, "My mum was part of a similar project…did you ever hear of the 'Angelus Project'?"

Reimi eyes sparked with recognition, "We did…we overheard she escaped though…"

"She did…but-some stuff happened…and…" Lloyd couldn't get the words out and he hung his head low.

Suddenly, he felt a warm hand over his own. Reimi had awkwardly stretched her left arm over her body to reach Lloyd's hand that was gripping the floor painfully.

"I'm so sorry, Lloyd," Reimi said sincerely as she looked sadly into his eyes.

"No, I'm sorry…you went through so much…those Desians…they only knew how to cause pain," Lloyd said through gritted teeth.

"But you and your friends destroyed every ranch and Cardinal, you fought Mithos and rescued the world."

"The world's still hurting though…you're still hurting," Lloyd heard himself say.

Reimi seemed taken aback before her smile turned warmer than the sun itself (I'm so sorry for that line).

"Lloyd, you can't fix everything…no one can fix everything, but we'll continue to do our best, yeah?"

Lloyd beamed back at her after a pause, "You're right. I still have a lot of plans. I'm not going to stop moving forward!"

"Me too!"

They continued to talk a while; about their plans, the world and their pasts. Lloyd now understood why Reimi was so passionate about the human ranches and refugees who escaped. He knew he'd only heard a small part of a much grander story, and saw only a small fragment of Reimi's feelings towards the desians and what they did to her and her sister. He was amazed how she hadn't lost all hope despite all that had happened to her.

They spoke about their exspheres and how they differed to others. They talked about how Lloyd's looked different and was especially powerful. Reimi said she couldn't show her's as it was behind her right shoulder, she also commented that it looked disgusting, like an organ on show, so Lloyd probably wouldn't want to see it anyway. She'd laughed but Lloyd knew it troubled her a lot, and he quickly told her there was nothing gross about it but the way and reason it was made. Reimi had smiled but was probably unconvinced. Lloyd felt a blow to the stomach when she said she'd most likely die if it was removed at this point, it didn't even have a key-crest, it wasn't made for one.

They'd only known each other for a few days, so he's sure there's still a lot to Reimi than meets the eye, but it didn't change his feelings towards her at all, if anything it just made him want to be with her more.

As they got closer to Altamira, the slower they'd walk. Lloyd had been stressing over how to see Reimi again, and if she'd even want to see him again, but they were only a few miles away and time was running out.

Reimi had also gone quiet, and seemed to have reverted back into her shell which worried Lloyd greatly. Then, as they were passing some beached land, Lloyd got an idea.

"Hey Reimi, want to play over there for a bit?" It was a childish suggestion, but Lloyd was desperate (and he was also a child).

She stared in the direction he gestured to, and blinked owlishly in surprised confusion, before a smile slowly spread on her face, "Yeah!"

Lloyd laughed and said, "Race you there!" before breaking into a jog, although he stayed close to Reimi as her arm was still healing and impaired her balance slightly.

They laughed, kicked water at each other, and ran away from the waves like they were five years old until the sun started setting.

"I guess we should be going…not far now," Lloyd sighed.

Reimi nodded and hummed in response with an unreadable look on her face.

The lights of Altamira's nightlife shone in the not-so-far distance, only symbolising the start of an end to Lloyd.

"Lloyd"

Lloyd was in such deep thought, he hadn't noticed Reimi had stopped walking.

He turned back concerned, "What's wrong, Reimi?"

She seemed especially nervous all of a sudden and Lloyd took a few steps closer to her.

She seemed at a loss for words, "U-um, I, Well, Uh, Do…do you think we can see each other again?"

Lloyd didn't realise more than a moment had passed with him simply stood there which had caused Reimi to misunderstand and panic further.

"Oh, ah, nevermind! I just was wondering-Um we should get going!" Reimi started to power walk in front of Lloyd.

Lloyd suddenly realised what was happening and gently held Reimi's arm as she tried to pass him.

"Sorry, sorry! I was just shocked. Happy-shocked! I-I had been worrying this whole time that we would never see each other again, and that you'd maybe not care, so, I couldn't bring myself to speak up," Lloyd wasn't the type to flounder about his feelings for someone, he was a cheese-ball after all, and constantly talked about how he couldn't do anything without his friends and how they were all special to him. However, he'd never…felt like this about someone before…and it was nerve wracking to say the least.

"Re-really?" Lloyd frantically nodded, "Me too," She said through the most beautiful smile Lloyd had ever seen and he didn't know why but he had the sudden urge to embrace her, albeit gently, her arm was still sprained. He kept his arms high at her shoulders and rested his head on her left one.

When she hugged back, as best she could with one arm, Lloyd smiled and asked, "Is your arm okay?"

She chuckled a bashful, "Yes."

After a moment she asked, "What do we do now?"

"Hmmm," Lloyd tried to think of a solution.

The obvious one was that they simply travel together and take things as they came, however, they both had their priorities they weren't willing to part from. Reimi would lose her lead if they had to stop by every place to find volunteers and exspheres, and now that exspheres were being prohibited from misuse Lloyd couldn't risk letting people finding them before he did.

Reimi seemed to read Lloyds thoughts and said sadly, "We can't really stay together right now…not with our current goals."

Lloyd pulled apart from Reimi and took her hand instead.

"How about we meet on the second full moon from today?"

"Thirty-six days from now…" Reimi calculated.

"Yeah, we can meet up and see how far we've progressed, who knows, maybe we can combined our paths by then," Lloyd explained cheerfully.

Reimi smiled back and asked excitedly, "Where would we meet?"

"Wherever you want," Lloyd happily exclaimed.

Reimi grinned and looked up as she thought over her decision, "Palmacosta!"

"Haha, perfect!" Lloyd cheered.

"36 days," Reimi repeated as she rested her forehead on Lloyd's shoulder.

"36 day," Lloyd repeated before planting a kiss on her head, but as soon as he did, he instantly regretted it, "A-ah, I'm so sorry, I did it without thinking!" and began to back away from her.

However, as soon as he did, Reimi gently pulled him back towards her. She smiled shyly up, then placed a chaste kiss on his cheek.

"Me too," She whispered as she looked down at their joined hands. Lloyd beamed in relief and euphoric happiness, and squeezed Reimi's hand.

"It's not like we have to say goodbye yet, we still have to find your sister in Altamira," Lloyd reminded trying to cheer her up from the thought of parting, despite feeling a strong sense of pending loss himself. Although, he was hopeful and looked forward to the future.

Reimi nodded, "And we won't be saying 'goodbye' anyway, right?"

"No, 'I'll see you soon'," Lloyd smiled gently at her, and Reimi reflected his feelings.

END

THIS IS CHEESY!

A/N:

I was going to make them 'properly' kiss, but I'd already been having reservations about the two of them getting together after only having met three days prior, so I went for something simpler.

And! I know this is super poorly written and doesn't have much detailing at all (I did a lot of indirect speech, I know), and it's incredibly jolty/jumpy, but I hope you somehow managed to enjoy it even a little bit.

I do understand that Reimi would be a lot different than how I wrote her if she had been through everything I mentioned, but as I wanted to keep this short, I couldn't worry about too much character-depth.

ANYWAY, I could go on forever about how this could have been better, and how badly it turned out, but neither of us wants to hear that.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this. I really do appreciate it.