"Hurry up, slowpoke!" Six-year-old Kain Highwind called anxiously down the stairs. "He's gonna start without us!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Rosa Farrell shouted up to her best friend, far behind him. Why did Kain always have to be so impatient?

As the pair hurried up the large staircase, they were suddenly interrupted by the yells of two swiftly moving blurs zooming down the banister.

"Look out!" One of them shouted. Rosa was nearly knocked aside as they went past. "Sorry!" The boys called. Without so much as a glance to see if Rosa was alright, they hurried off down the hallway out of sight.

"Rosa! You okay?" Kain inquired, at her side instantly. Rosa just laughed.

"I'm fine Kain, they barely hit me!" Rosa said, taking the hand Kain offered. Kain glared back at the direction of the obnoxious boys.

"Stupid bards. They act like they own the place! I mean, Father would kill me if I-" Kain cut himself off as he noticed Rosa staring at him confused.

"I think you mean ward Kain…" The four-year-old corrected.

"Whatever. Same thing. Either way, they're still jerks. And mean, in Marvin's case. And what kind of name is Marvin anyway- seriously, he's dead if he even touches your hair again. And Sean, he's just creep-"Rosa put a hand over Kain's mouth, stopping him from going off on one of his never-ending tangents again.

"Kain, I thought you wanted to go see Cid? Besides, I think that was Derek and Cecil anyway…let's get going!" She grabbed his hand before he could start talking about the other two princes. Kain grinned, completely unfazed.

"Race 'ya!" He exclaimed. Kain bounded up the stairs two at a time, Rosa right on his heels. Still, he couldn't help but keep his mind on the ba-..wards. Especially that jerk Marvin. He was a really good fighter, and his father seemed to really like him. More than he did Kain. Still, he was creepy. All the other grown-ups said he was a…sa…sad…Kain paused. He couldn't for the life of him remember the term they always used. Oh well. He'd probably remember some other time. He didn't really like any of the four princes anyway. Marvin was obvious; cold, intelligent Sean made everyone uncomfortable; Derek was loud and annoying; while Cecil was sickeningly sweet. He wondered briefly who would even be king from that group. Probably one of the older ones like Marvin or Sean, but…there was no way he'd live under THEIR rule. Maybe he'd start a reb-

"Kain…?" Rosa was waving a hand in front of his face. "You still there…?"

Kain snapped out of his reverie to realize they were already in the eastern courtyard.

"Sorry, Rosa!" Kain said sheepishly. As she shook her head at him, they ran inside.

"CID!" The children shouted in unison. The eccentric fleetmaster ambled over to them at the sound of his name.

"Took you two long enough! Ragnarok and I were getting bored for you!"

"Can we see her now?" Kain pressed eagerly.

"Sure, sure! Just be careful, my baby's still fragile!" Grinning, Cid led the excited children over to his newest airship.