A/N: I know this game's older than dirt and I'll probably get, at best, 3 views for this story per month (lol), but I was playing it again recently (it still holds up well as one of the best sprite-based RPGs ever made IMO) and I couldn't recall ever seeing a, ehem, naughty version of that fanservice-y scene in the hotspring early in the game. So here goes.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

As I bathe alone in a massive bathouse which is strangely located in a large forest, I can't help but wonder who would build such an impressive and extravagant structure in the middle of nowhere like this. Aren't these things usually built close to towns? It's like this one was made just to be a plot device or something...

My diminutive dragon friend, Ruby, had insisted on guarding the entrance to the hot spring, "just in case someone tries to sneak a peek at my beloved Hiro," as she had declared in her own words. Although, to be honest, the only one I'm worried about trying to sneak a peek at me is Ruby herself.

I let out a sigh of contentment. Bathing in these incredibly warm springs is better than consuming a thousand herbs and is a welcome relief to me after exhausting myself in a seemingly endless string of battles recently. I never thought a guy from such humble origins as me would ever see so much action and adventure in his life, but I'm sure stranger things have happened.

I while away the time splashing water around and submerging myself in order to clean my face. After surfacing, I exhale deeply and shake the water from my short brown hair. The place is so foggy that I can't even see the other end of this gargantuan bath, but I could swear that some faintly visible figure is approaching me. I lean forward and strain my eyes to see if I can make out what it is. The figure is tall, slender, and...most certainly a woman by the look of those curves. She's walking along the side of the bath toward me. When the blue hair comes into focus, it's unmistakable...Lucia!

For several long moments, my mind is racing. I can't hold down a single coherent thought. My heart is pumping so fast that it feels like it will burst from my chest. Her beauty is simply stunning...I can't break my gaze no matter how much I know I should out of common decency. I'm drowning in the sight of her unblemished, porcelain figure, but calling for help is the last thing on my mind.

Lucia enters the bath and sits next to me on one of the submerged steps, looking straight ahead toward the other side of the bath. Despite the extreme awkwardness of her presence with me in this males-only bath, she seems completely unfazed, as if nothing at all is out of the ordinary. I finally manage to gather my scattered thoughts well enough to remember that she's not native to my home world of Lunar. Instead, she hails from the Blue Star that dots the sky. Thus, she must be unaware of many Lunarian customs.

Eventually, I find the nerve to speak, although my heart is still pounding like never before. "Lucia...wha...what are y-you doing here?" I stutter so many times over just these few words that I'm afraid she'll think I'm an idiot or having a seizure...or worse yet, both.

"Taking a bath, of course." There is not even the slightest hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"I know that, b-but...why in here?"

"Because I don't wish to bathe alone."

She turns to look at me at that moment, which is when my body starts to go haywire again, my mind deserting me to someplace far off in the clouds.

"What's wrong, Hiro? Your face looks so red. Are you ill?" She leans over to examine my face, clearly concerned that something is wrong with me. Oh, goddess. Could she be toying with me? Does she somehow know how much I've been crushing on her since the first time I laid eyes on her atop the Blue Spire? Now that she's mere inches in front of me, my instincts demand one thing, and one thing only.

Before I know what I'm doing, I close in the small distance between us, shut my eyes, and kiss her. My mind barely registers her lack of reciprocation of my kiss, but that could easily be attributed to the suddenness of my move on her. Even so, it doesn't stop me from tasting her cheek, neck, and everywhere else above water...

"Hiro...what are you doing? Are you hungry? I'm not food."

Something about her absolute confusion in everything sexual urges me onward, even though I know I should stop. Continuing my advances on her just isn't right...yet I can't hold myself back. At the very least, though, I owe her an explanation for why I'm touching her body in such intimate ways. "This is how people on Lunar show their love for each other," I say breathlessly between kisses.

"Love?" she inquires.

"Yes. You do know what love is...right, Lucia?" Once again, my voice is muffled since my mouth is constantly pressed somewhere against her soft, moist skin.

She pauses for several seconds in contemplation. "Yes. I've heard of love...but it's something I've never experienced before."

"Would you like to experience it?" I question hopefully.

"With you?" she asks, deadpan.

I can't help but laugh at that. "Of course with me!" I brace myself for the worst, expecting a girl of her stunning beauty to know she could do better.

"Yes," she replies nonchalantly.

Her answer leaves me euphoric. My hormones drive me to venture things I had only dreamed of doing with Lucia before this moment...in addition to planting kisses all over her upper body, I begin making use of my hands to stimulate the parts of her body underneath the water. She begins moaning, softly at times, rapidly and loudly at other times. Her moans drive me closer to the edge than I've ever been...I'm constantly swallowing the saliva which is quickly accumulating in my mouth.

"What do you think so far?" I ask in a low, sultry voice.

It's a struggle for her to reply because of how hard she's panting, but she manages to utter, "you mean there's more than this?"

"Of course. This is just the beginning." I move my hand down the length of her arm until I can guide her own hand to that most intimate part of myself.

Her eyes become noticeably wider as she looks downward, apparently trying to figure out what this oddly-shaped appendage is that she's touching. Her fingers explore this strange object, the sensation of which clouds my mind once again. I incline my head back out of sheer bliss and begin moaning from pleasure.

"This is...oh..." Lucia stammers, coming to the obvious realization of what sort of body part she must be touching.

"Yes. This is what we use for making love."

"'Making' love?" she says curiously. "Love is something that can be made?"

I laugh once again at her cluelessness. "Many people say that, yes."

"Oh..." she comments, trailing off. "Could you...could you show me how to 'make' love?"

Goddess, does she have any idea how much she turns me on when she says such sweet, innocent things? I waste no time in responding verbally, knowing my actions will speak for themselves. I spread her legs and pull her pelvis forward so I can position myself to enter her. Unexpectedly, however, Lucia's head hits the hard side of the bath and she lets out a mild yelp of pain.

"Oh goddess, Lucia! I'm so sorry! It was an accident!" I cry in panic. I hold the back of her head tenderly after she pulls herself back to an upright position.

"That's all right, Hiro," she assures me without hesitation.

A wave of relief washes over me. She's simply too good to me, forgiving me so quickly and wholeheartedly. I hug her in a rush of emotion. "I hope you know I would never intentionally do anything to hurt you. It's just...I've never done this before with anyone. I'm learning about this too, just like you."

"You've never 'made love' with anyone? What about your grandpa?"

I laugh so hard that I'm nearly crying. "Um...Lucia..." I say, struggling to hold back the laughter. "We don't use the term 'make love' when talking about what we feel for relatives or even friends."

"No?" she asked, puzzled.

"Of course not. We only use that term when talking about the person who we...um..." Wow. I'm drawing a blank here. Defining the difference between platonic and romantic love is harder than I thought it would be. How to describe it in a way she would understand?

Unexpectedly, Lucia offers her assistance. "Who we want to spend the rest of our lives with? Who we would die to protect? Who we love more than anyone in the world?"

I'm stunned at how insightful her answer is. "Um...well, yeah...that sounds about right." I nod in approval.

"And that's why you want to make love with me?" she questions.

I know I must be blushing so hard right now. The heat rising to my cheeks is certainly more intense than anything the hot spring could possibly produce in my body. "Yes," I respond with all my heart.

To my extreme surprise, Lucia begins kissing me, leaving me the stunned one with eyes wide open. Her hands return to their place on my most intimate part as she guides it into her opening.

"Wait," I whisper, looking her directly in the eyes, hardly able to believe I'm saying this considering how much I long for us to become one. "Are you sure you're ready for this? Things are never the same between two people after they make love."

She responds with more certainty and tenderness than I've ever heard from her. "I'm positive, Hiro. I love you."

"Lucia..." I can hardly believe my ears. I see an angel in front of me saying things I never imagined I would hear from someone I was so head over heels in love with. If this is just a dream, I don't ever want to wake up.

What follows next can only be described as pure ecstasy, a real taste of heaven on earth. I've never in all my years met a woman as intriguing and intoxicating as Lucia. I make sure to thoroughly express my love for her over and over again. Lucia's desire for me is ravenous and I would certainly not be the one to leave her hungry.

O.O.O.O.O.O.O

Refreshed and relaxed, Lucia and I leave the hot spring holding hands and exchanging flirty glances with each other.

Unfortunately, it turns out that we forgot one little thing—emphasis on the 'little.'

It only took one brief look at the smiles on our faces combined with the fact that we were leaving the bath together, hand in hand, for Ruby to easily glean that more had happened within that bathhouse than a simple scrub-a-dub-dub.

"HIRO!" she screams. "What the hell were you doing in there?! I was starting to think you'd drowned and would need your beloved Ruby to come give you mouth-to-mouth!" It sounds suspiciously like she added something to herself in a whisper, something akin to "a task that I would accept with much relish."

"Ah...I was...um...well..." I know my face must be turning the same shade as Ruby's fur again. Now that she's caught wind of my new relationship status with Lucia, I'm sure I'll never hear the end of her demands that I come to my senses and realize that Ruby's the only one for me.

But who knows? Maybe one day she'll discover on her own that I belong, one hundred percent, in mind and body, to someone else—a curious woman with hair and eyes of the deepest ocean blue, whose mysteries I can't wait to solve.