Author's Notes

So, the poll is now closed, and the winner is surprisingly... Nah!

I never knew you voters would be Lolicons. This was actually the intended ship to be honest, but yeah, even with that, let's get going.

Speaking of which, I might pull the poll up again and see who YOU, my fans, really wanted.

Also, this will be in 3rd person view for the viewer's pleasure.

C Support

*Cue But Frederick, it's nearly dark.*

Nate, also known as Morpheus, or the Silbern Drakon by enemies. He's a mellow and cheerful man in contrast to Gerome's aloof and silent persona; both hate being compared to each other, mostly the latter.

The wyvern rider had finished polishing and shining Cugar's fangs and scales near a wyvern care store, resulting in the wyvern to playfully cuddle his master.

Nate saw him as a companion rather than a mount and when his parents disappeared, Cugar acted as an adoptive father. Through high times and the low, the pair were the best of friends, but would he be with a friend forever? He loved Cugar dearly, but the man felt something missing in his heart, yet he can't capture what it is.

He playfully walked back to camp, humming a tune that he heard through his father's headphones.

"We've got each other and that's enough for us ~ ."

That wasn't his voice, but he just continued to sing. A feminine voice sang that, but he didn't care as he looked up into the afternoon sky.

"We'll give it a shot!"

"Whoa~ "

"We're halfway there."

Nate's eyes widened and he looked behind him.

"Whoa Ho~!"

The little manakete with purple hair was the one singing. But what's weird was that she knew the song when his family only knew of that song.

"Livin' on a prayer ~ ," she sung with her cute voice. What he realized was that he wore those headphones.

"Nah, what are you-"

"Ahh, Nate?!" she quickly ran away from the taller adult male, though her short legs wouldn't get her far.

With a sigh, Nate sprinted toward the little girl, but all of a sudden...

"Gwah!" the little girl tripped on a root. Nate realized that his dad's headphones might get damaged from the fall.

"Nah, hold on!" he shot himself forward to grab Nah, and through somewhat quick reflex, he spun around until his back was pointing to the ground and he soon found the little girl mounting on her. Nah's face showed clear crimson, while Nate showed immediate surprise.

"Kyaaaa!" Nah screamed from the position she was currently in, backing away the instant she screamed.

"Nah, not in the village," Nate had an embarrassed expression, "People are giving us weird looks."

People gasped from Nate's response, adding more to his humiliated feeling.

"We should bounce, Nah."

"All right."

Nate panted from the massive sprinting. The Shepherds camped at Breakneck Pass after saving a merchant from Risen. The village was way below, and Nate had to climb and hop through massive terrain to get away from the local villagers who would hunt him down for supposed pedophilia.

"Whew, we made it back in camp," Nate wiped his brow from all that sprinting, "Also, I had to carry you back after you sprained your ankle."

"...Sorry," Nah pouted and said the latter in a snarky tone.

"Besides, you took my dad's headphones without even asking him," the wyvern rider said with a stern glare.

When they entered Nah's tent, he put down the cute purple-haired miss on her bed. Nate grabbed his dad's headphones from the thief and Nah was clearly not amused.

"Hey, I-I did ask him!" she was blushing madly for some reason. Nate was merely focused on seeing the culprit confess.

"You're stuttering, and learning from my dad's bad lying, stuttering is usually a sign of lying," Nate raised a brow, "Also, you're lips are kinda pursed."

"I-I'm just really nervous because I-"

With a sigh, Nate knew he had gone too far. He put up a casual smile after a small chuckle.

"Look, I can see that you like music, right?"

"Huh?"

"Well, you see, I've been wanting to start a band," Nate said, "The pair my dad gave me were wrecked during the war, and dad always lets me listen to his music whenever I'm down or alone."

"So, who's in it?" Nah asked with an inquisitive look.

"Well... no one at the moment," he chuckled nervously while scratching the back of his head.

"I don't have any interest, besides, I don't even know how to play an instrument."

"Did I say you should?" Nate's tone was a bit angry.

"Well... my point is, I don't even know how to play music."

"Use your voice," Nate smiled with a goofy grin.

"... Huh?"

*Mute background music*

"You're quite the singer, Nah, in fact, you sing way better than Lucina..."

*Cue Agh! Won goph in mah mouph! Blech! Ptooey!*

"DID I HEAR SOMETHING, NATE!?" Lucina shouted with a tyrannical voice from the background. This reduced Nate's smile to a scared frown.

"Um... uh no," the man was reduced to a nervous wreck, but then shifted back into an angry man, "By the way, why are you stalking me!"

"Why are you in-"

Nate ignored her question and put up his index finger in a gesture to wait.

"One minute please," Nate said.

Nate got out of her tent and the little manakete heard the sounds of a girl screaming in fear as well as a woman's rage unleashed.

"Oh, he left them here," she put them back on and continued to listen to the song. She sung along to the lyrics, unaware of her own voice being heard. She just sang. A smile was on her face. Listening to music with this proximity was a first for her, and boy did it feel good.

"Maybe I should give them back later," she said with a smile.

B Support

Nah, the daughter of Donnel and Nowi; one of the two most potent fighters in the Shepherds. Despite being the daughter to an immature pre-pubescent looking girl, her personality is a foil to her mothers. She inherited her father's hair, but she also gained his powerful aptitude.

Nah was currently bored in her tent. She had just finished studying about dragons and finished half of her copy of "The Path of Verdure" by Steven Kaiser. She felt a bit depressed that someone stuck in a hopeless period would be calm and kind. She still wondered if Jack Cafey is truly innocent.

"She was a small town girl~ ," she started to sing, playing the instruments in her head, "Livin' in a lonely world~ "

She was about to sing the next lyric, but she suddenly forgot it.

"Huh? What came after again?"

The song was good according to her, and she needed to find Alec's headphones quick. Nah took action and walked outside. All of a sudden, she bumped into a certain man who accidentally got her to mount on him in a suggestive fashion. She had a serious look as she stared at Nate, who wore his father's headphones.

"Nate?"

Nate took off his headphones and looked at Nah.

"Sorry for bumping into you, Nah," he apologized, "You look like something's bothering you."

"Well, I was looking for the headphones that I accidentally took from yo-er I mean your dad."

"... Okay. Go ahead," he grabbed the music player from his pocket and gave it to Nah.

"Really?"

"Well, you asked, right?" he said, "Plus, you look very bored."

"Come on, don't delay me," she said, "Gimme gimme gimme!"

Nate laughed from her immaturity showing. It's like she inherited Ricken's immaturity, though, Nowi's childish instinct may have been transferred to her.

"Alright, fine," he said in a playful tone, "But, I have to put it on you."

Nah's eyebrows arched, showing disapproval of such action.

"I'm not a kid!"

"Beggars can't be choosers~," Nate chuckled, "Also, I have to measure your three sizes."

With an annoyed groan, she agreed to it. Nate crouched down and put it on her. Nate beamed at Nah with a friendly and optimistic smile. Clearly, Nah was annoyed and embarrassed, pushing the tease lightly away from her.

"Hey, I'm just kidding about the three sizes," he said while laughing to himself.

"It's. Not. Funny," she said angrily, "Tease me again, and I'll eat you!"

Nate shook his head and fumbled with the handle of his blade.

"I don't want to hurt an ally, you know," he said simply, "I'll stop teasing you, but I'll give one more request."

"What?" she grumbled silently.

"When we go back to Ylisstol, I want you to come to my mom and dad's house so I can play piano while you sing," Nate said.

"Come on, you already let me listen to the headphones," Nah said with an angry pout and her hands on her hips.

"It isn't about that anymore," Nate said, his voice sounding a bit more serious, "Can you, please?"

Nate's face expressed pleading. Nah really didn't like Nate's teasing; it was worse than Inigo's way before Grima killed the world. In fact, he's been teasing her for most of the time. Pushing aside those thoughts, she decided to take it easy on Nate. She was about to lose control, and Nate was saying this sincerely.

"All right," she had a gentle smile.

"Thanks, Nah," his smile was genuine. He turned away and walked toward his tent.

"Wait!"

"You can keep it for now," he said with a smile, "Return it after your done."

"Thanks," she said with a grin.

A Support

They managed to come back to Ylisstol after a tough battle. The Shepherds needed to restock some weapons and have a War Council there.

Well, War Council was done long ago, so Nah and Nate were at his mom and dad's home. Nate played the piano flawlessly while Nah sung the lyrics written by Nate. The man was also a gifted musician, earning the envy of Alec, who also dreamed of being musical. Nate was taught by her mother to play the piano.

"Don't stop."

The last lyric was said, ending alongside Nate's final note. The man applauded to her singing, earning him a smile from her face.

"Wow, you're amazing," Nate complimented, "It was very fun singing with you."

"Yeah, plus your talent in piano was awesome," she said with a mutual smile.

"Thank you," he said sincerely, "I'll be right back, I'll cook something for you."

With that said, the man walked into his kitchen and started to cook food. Nah sat down by the piano bench and tried playing the piano. She just pressed a random note as an experiment. This instrument was completely alien to her, and she had absolutely no idea what to do. All of a sudden, Nate came out of the kitchen and called the little miss.

"Oh, Nah, is there anything you'd like to eat specifically? I'm gonna cook some of my mom's spaghetti."

"Spaghetti?" Nah said with a curious tone, "What's that?"

"Well, it's like stringed dough that is seasoned with tomato sauce and some meats," he said, "It's the family dish."

"Oh, sure," she said, "Can I help?"

"You're the guest, I should be a good host and do the work, while you make yourself comfortable."

"I appreciate the humility, Nate, but can I help, please?"

"Oh you're a persistent one," Nate said with a smile, "Come on, I'll give you instructions. Maybe some lessons on the piano sometime after."

"Well, I'll think about the piano lessons, so where do I start?"

"First you..."

The two then continued to start cooking. Nate gave her instructions which she followed without question or hesitation. Nah realized that her trust in Nate grew after the events; enough for her to not question Nate's orders on cooking the spaghetti. Nah really didn't know why, but a warm feeling started to grow... though she didn't know when it started or developed. When the product was done, they ate their accomplished dish with satisfied smiles on their faces.

"Hey, Nate?" she said as she wiped her mouth.

"Yeah?"

"You didn't learn all that flirting from Inigo, didn't you?"

Truth to be told, Nate was one of his best friends. Though, Nate's approach to woman was different than Inigo's. Nate treated them as equals as to not show mercy in the heat of battle. Inigo could kill Risen Pegasus Knights, but not without saying a word of compliment to their zombied faces.

"Nope. The way I approach you is not as an object that will be thrown after one night, but a friend."

"Really, now."

"Yep," Nate said, "Though, I kinda did it for a selfish reason..."

"Selfish?"

"You see, I don't think I'm the greatest friend. In the past, I was one of the biggest losers, and even if I made "friends" with some of the people, they would later betray me because I couldn't do anything to help them. I've noticed that people only like you if they did something to you, and I couldn't do anything, so I had no friends. Even when I was raised to cook, play music, ride a wyvern, and fight, people still bullied me, so I tortured the bullies by putting them in crucifixes..."

Nah was scared of what she heard. This was a side of Nate she never knew before. Despite this, she listened intently.

"That's when I ran away to Wyvern Valley where Gerome and Auntie Cherche lived. I've dreamed of riding wyverns, and he told me the best time to get a wyvern was at an early age. I was only 11, and Gerome had already tamed Minerva at 9. All the wyverns looked the same until I found a silver wyvern; a unique mutated wyvern. I fought with it for nearly a day and I managed to tame it. After that, Auntie Cherche told me that I had to tame my fears and not let them control me, just like how I tamed Cugar. After I realized that, I went back home to start anew. I thought my life would be back to normal once I got over my social issues. I befriended and made peace with the bullies... or so I thought. They ended up kidnapping me and attempting to kill me out of vengeance built up. After I begged and pleaded for them to let me out, but then they cut off my right arm..."

"How is your right arm still intact?"

"... They tried to kill me by putting me in a battle between me and all of them. I went berserk and brutally murdered all of them with only one arm. As soon as I escaped alive, I got my arm to a healer and it would take 2 days to be fully re-attached and 2 years to regain full control."

"Is that why you're left handed?" Nah asked.

"Yeah, I was initially right handed, but growing up having to use my left hand most of the time made me much more accustomed to using it as my main hand."

"Nate, I never knew you were the Sinister Slasher!"

"... Yeah, I was, but not only were they bullies, but they were corrupt business men who used their wealth to torture me further..."

Nah was silent, disturbed from hearing Nate's story. Nate shook his head and got up. With nary a noise, he just walked out.

"I need to take a walk. We'll still be strong as companions in battle, but... I don't think I'm your friend."

Nah grabbed the man's arm, preventing him from leaving. A surprised yelp came from the man's mouth.

"Nate... I've listened well, and I feel nothing but pity and concern for you. Friends would tell something like this and accept them. As long as they stay loyal and trustworthy to each other afterward, they can still remain friends."

"Are you saying that just to make me fall under the illusion of friendship?!" Nah slapped him from saying that. He may have took many slashes and stabs, but this stung not only his skin, but his soul.

"I'm your friend, Nate! Friends would never betray them after they tell them about themselves. I don't care if you survived a bunch of people trying to kill you. You're a kind and caring person. You're past may be part of you, but present you and past you aren't exactly the same. Ever since we've started talking, ever since you joined Lucina and the others, you were ready to be friends with anyone including me."

She started to tear up and sniffle from the sadness she had felt. Nah hugged him and the wyvern rider pat her back to comfort her.

"When I was young, I never grew up with my parents. I was in an orphanage and I always worked my hardest to be loved by others, but they hated me because of me being a half-manakete. My foster parents were very unkind and they never acknowledged my attempts at earning their love. I did chores before they asked and defended them from Risen, but they took it all and gave me nothing but anger and disappointment."

Nate's eyes had opened. Boy had he been selfish. But despite all that, Nate saw a wall being broken between them. He remembered his dad telling him a story about a house. If he wanted to know how a friend's lifestyle was like, let him come to your house. The interior of the house resembled their inner self, and if two people allow each other into their house, they would know true companionship and trust. He closed his eyes and smiled to himself. He embraced the young woman and cried his own tears.

"... Thank you for saving me, Nah," Nate responded, "I'm so sorry for being so selfish. Knowing this from you, we've gotten closer."

"Nate... thank you."

S Support

Nate sat in his tent, finishing the book "Love Human". Nate cried uncontrollably after reading the end. He had inherited Alec's sensitivity to touching stories

"... How sad," Nate mumbled to herself, "Can I really stay with Nah? She's a manakete, so she'll live longer than me."

An aura of melancholy surrounded Nate, but he soon discovered the ring he bought from the jewelry store yesterday. He looked at the ring and marveled at its luster. He would be giving this to Nah, one of his closest friends in the army. He gritted his teeth and tossed the ring to the same book he read. The box pushed the book down harshly and unexpectedly flipped to a certain page. It showed a childish drawing of the man and the "love human". He hated calling her that because she was much more human than most humans. Too bad they were only made to comfort people in their last moments. Despite this, the man just enjoyed life with her, enjoyed doing everything with her before dying. In the end, they lived their lives to the fullest and even though reality would say nothing happens in the afterlife, he would soon join her in eternity. Will Nah be that kind of person?

He got up and grabbed the box and put it in his cloak. He had to tell her if she wants to be together until death parts them. For once, he had built up his own confidence in what he believes in... social-wise. He'd usually need the help of his family or some of his guy friends to give him confidence, but he knew that this event is between him and Nah.

He got to Nah's tent and called her.

It was night time, and they were camping in Carrion Isle, near the river.

Everyone had free time for now and Nah was reading a book to kill the time.

"Nah, come with me," Nate said, "I want to talk."

"Oh, okay," she got up and followed Nate at the river.

The moon reflected the river water beautifully. The dark blue sky dyed the ground black with hints of dark blue. Nah stared at the river with him and basked in the natural beauty of the moon's reflection.

"Wow, it's so beautiful~" Nah said, starstruck from the nature's beauty.

"This place relaxes me so much," Nate said, "I wanted to share a refreshing moment with you here."

Nah took a deep breath in then out.

"It sure is," she said, "You know, during the times I was with my foster parents, I'd pray to Naga to gain things I want or need."

"Something like..."

"World peace, maternal love, friendship. But, sometimes, my prayers go unanswered."

She stared at Nate with a sad looking smile; a hybrid of sadness (the eyes) and happiness (the smile).

"Have you ever had your prayers answered?"

"Before I started this day, I prayed for something special."

"Special?"

"My special request was to be with someone I love for the rest of my life," Nate said with a smile.

"Congratulations... Um..." she looked anxious, feeling like her love had been unrequited.

"What are you thinking, Nah? Who else do you think I love?"

"W-well, there's Lucina..."

"No, Nah, she's standing in front of me, under the beautiful moonlight," Nate walked toward Nah and held her hands, surprising the flustered Nah, "It's you."

Nah's eyes watered up and she shed tears. Nah pounced on Nate and soon found herself mounted on top of the wyvern rider.

"Nate, my prayer was answered. Do you know what it is?"

Nate pretended to be oblivious and put himself in "deep thought".

"To be loved back by the man you love?"

"Yes! But even before I prayed for true love, you've already proven it to me."

"I'm actually glad we mutually cared for each other," Nate said with a gentle grin, "Why do you think I assisted you in battle? I wanted to keep you alive because I felt like having a future with you would make us happy... unless it's selfish."

"Nate, you showed me that my lineage could have a future. You fed me food that I've never had, stayed by my side in the midst of the war. All these actions make saying "I Love you" useless because doing all that for me exceeds those words."

"So..." Nate was on the verge of crying.

"Yes," Nah hugged him lovingly, and soon, she too started to cry, "I'd be happy to share a future with you. You were a killer in your past, but I believe you'll be a loving boyfriend in present and future."

This was Nate's biggest moment. He grabbed the box in his cloak and presented it to Nah. A mixture of surprise and excitement filled the young manakete. Both of them cried tears of joy from seeing each other react to the proposal.

"Nah, will you marry me? I don't care if you're a manakete, as long as we live together and endure hardships together, that would make me this lifetime worth living."

Nah was filled with emotion from his proposal.

"Oh, Nate, of course I do! I've been in love with you ever since I took your headphones from your tent."

Nate already knew this, and finally came to that conclusion last night. He thought it was just mischief at first, but he realized her feelings during her time at his house.

"I listened to your music to get close to you, and I'm glad it worked..."

With a gentle chuckle, he replied to the manakete.

"I'm glad it happened..." Nate had no anger or disappointment. He simply embraced the child-like Manakete.

A future awaited him and Nah. A future they will face together. The empty feeling in his heart had been replaced with warmth and life from Nah's presence and love.

"You know, I'd actually be alright if I joined your little musician group."

"Really? That's awesome."

"I've been practicing my singing so that I could be worthy to be your partner in life and in music."

"You already are, Honey Bunch. You already are."

"On both?"

"Both."