He checked the price posted outside the baker's again.

80 gil? he thought frantically. The price went up again! Now I can only get one loaf... And I promised Saki she would be able to go to sleep full tonight... Let's see... He thought for a while, trying to divy up half a loaf among six small children and two preteens, including himself as the olderof the preteens.

"Ah, Gukko, you're back again," the baker said. "Two loaves again?"

The boy shook his head. "Only one."

"One? You always get two, though."

Gukko shook his head. "Price went up."

Pity crossed the man's face. "Well, I guess I can sell you a bit of the stale bread for a discount..."

"Really? That would be wonderful, sir!" he exclaimed.

"Okay. They're kinda hard though," the baker warned. "Enjoy. Your sister might like the roses the florist got. They're 5 gil each."

Yes, he thought. Hejaat would have loved the roses... But 5 gil is a tad bit... "Sorry, no. But thank you sir," Gukko said politely, restraining his urges to nab the bag of gil sitting on the counter. Those were the baker's tips from his customers. They were enough to feed the whole family for two whole days... But stealing right under someone's nose wasn't his type. He left the bakery.

-

"Big bro's back,"Sabina annouced, nibbling the hem of the threadbare robes. They were actually a clan's Hempen Robe, the robe that had been passed down from a pitying White Mage to Hejaat to Messarato Sakiand finally to Sabina. By now, it wasn't much of a robe, just a patch of cloth with sleeves patched one too many times on. But Sabina had never worn anything comparable to the robes ever since the day... He tried not to remember it.

He could recall his mother Rochelle clearly, but the part that he remembered most was her warmth and her love. He was convinced that his mother was the loveliest creature alive. She was constantly flirted with when she, Father, and the clan went to pubs, until Gukko proudly proclaimed her title as "Mother."Unlike many mothers, no matter how many children came, even with the eighth baby Sunny, she always had time for him. No nannies, no help from servants- she always cared for everyone.

Now, Gukko had only seen his mother fight once. But that once was enough to know why Mother was the World Class Champion six times in a row, and would have been sixteen probably too if Saki and Hejaat had not been born.

Father was a strong, tall man with a melancholy, handsome face. To Ivalice, he was the Fighter from the Ether, to Rochelle, he was her beloved husband, but to Gukko, he was Father and his hero. Often times he was dispatched, being the trusted enforcer. The times his head was bashed in, or the times he was captured or lost in the middle of nowhere, his best Paladin friend Eagle always boughtin news. Eagle was a good loyalfriend, a bit too chauvanistic, but always true to friends.

They had a house back then. The most Gukko needed to worry about was hisnext term at school, and the least they needed to think about was what to do when Sunny decided to wear her fake fairy wings.

Their clan was topping off the charts big time, and was still doing so by the time Gukko, their first child, was born unexpectedly. He had came as an accident, a result of a long Happy Hour. But as child of the two most promising clanners...

His mother'sunusual crystal blue eyes sparkled to him as he told her his fears.

"Mommy, why do you and Daddy have to go? And why did Eagle say that it was dangerous?"

"Gukko, sweetie, there are bad men out there. The bad men have to be sent to prison, Gukko. And Mommy and Daddy and Friends are going to go beat them up and give them to the Judges. Then, we'll be back."

"But why's it dangerous?" Gukko persisted.

Mother sighed and jiggled him on her knee gently, her sword gleaming softly in the lamplight of their home. "Mommy and Daddy will not be safe there. Mommy and Daddy will not be protected there by the Judges. Many people have never returned. But Mommy and Daddy and Friends will come back safe and sound, don't worry." She pressed her cheek to his gently. "We'll come back."

"Promise?" he had asked.

She laughed gently. Now he knew that the soft expression her face shifted momentarily to was regret. "Promise. We'll come back."

Two nights later, Eagle had came to their door, his handsome face torn off and practically half his body ripped apart.With him was a strange boy. "Gukko, you will go join Mother and Father someday. Someday, I promise. But I want you to meet my son Raven. Can he stay for a while?"

Gukko nodded, but all he could think was How am I supposed to feed everyone?

"You don't know how much this means to me. I thank you greatly," Eagle had said and fell backwards with a groan. He spased, his sword twitching too, and stopped moving.

-

"Big Brother, do we eat today?" Saki asked eagerly. "We didn't eat yesterday, and I'm kinda hungry... And there's something wrong with Sunny."

Gukko handed her the loaves of bread, one edible, the other stale with a touch of mold. "Don't eat the fuzzy part. It can make you sick," he told her.