The story is set after a timeskip that follows the conclusion of the Second Fire Bringer War in Suikoden III. It will be a multi-chapter story, told from the perspectives od the members of the 12th Unit (my favorite party^^). There will be several pairings, out of which the emphasis will be on Geddoe/Queen and Jacques/Aila. I plan to have many more characters appear, even some from the previous games.

Hopefully, you'll find it to your liking. I kind of enjoyed writing it.

Ah, also, I own nothing.

xxx

Five years after the Second Fire Bringer War, the 12th unit still had quite the reputation, even in countries further away. Aila was probably the most amazed of them all, seeing the foreign places and reactions to their group. After the aftermath of the final battle, Geddoe was unsure of their next course of action, though he was certain that it would be wiser to steer clear of Harmonia for a while. That is how the unit ended up traveling the Dunan, and taking on missions for whomever needed help there. It wasn't dull, to be fair, as there were many cases of bandit attacks in the backwater villages of Dunan. Aila even heard Lucia mentioned in the villages near Greenhill, particularily in the small place called the Forest Village. These little excursions kept them mostly occupied, but their reputation seemed to precede them anywhere they went, and in the end they decided that it was time to go back to Caleria.

Caleria was hardly different in any respect to the Caleria they left almost half a decade ago, and when they finally returned, they felt relieved that people still reacted to them the same way they did before the war. It was comforting. Suddenly, it was like they were never away, apart from the fact that Le Buque clearly no longer suffered under Harmonian occupation, rather, as Geddoe mentioned once, lord Sasarai was working on the idea that Le Buque should get its independance.

Upon arrival, Ace went to the headquarters to see if he could do anything to get them a job, and Geddoe and Queen took a little walk to the market in search of Geddoe's favorite "merchandise". No one quite understood what his deal was, and why he enjoyed buying exotic fruit so much, but no one questioned the Captain either. It was simply his thing. No one even questioned his newfound closeness to Queen, or at least they dared not comment on that. Joker once said that it was inevitable, but Aila just shrugged it off, figuring that if she had something like that going on she wouldn't want anyone sticking their noses in it anyway. As Jacques had said once, when they first noticed that there was something there, "...if it works for them, I'm glad." And she was glad, especially for Queen.

Three days after their return, and Ace still hasn't gotten a clear response to their formal enlistment request, which was evident in his nervousness and silent manner in which he sat and drank his wine. Aila picked up on it when Joker threw in a dirty comment about his drinking, and the forementioned man just stared at him for a brief second, and then turned away. The Captain was also away, mentioning how he needed to figure out a way for Sasarai to help them get back on track again. It was a reasonable request, she figured, after everything they had done five years ago.

Aila took a long walk, visited the bujutsu teacher, and after a while she headed back to the inn to look for Queen. Upon entering their room, however, she found a sleeping Queen and decided against waking her up. She headed out again, and exited the town gates, climbing the nearest hillock there, and sat under an olive tree.

"I know you're there," she said with a wry smile, but other than that she stayed seated in the same position. She heard rustling, and a familiar blue-clad man appeared behind her.

"Sorry. Just a habit."

She smiled once again as the blond man took a seat close to her, but keeping a little bit of distance between them. His expression remained stoic, but the laconic man had something on his mind, and she knew that asking him about it would be fruitless. So she waited.

Finally she spoke. "Queen is asleep. I was bored."

"...I see."

"How is the crossbow going?" she asked, knowing that he was probably trying to perfect his new gigantic weapon in the shades. There was really no danger for them here, and if he wasn't hiding in the covers and aiming his weapon at a potential threat, he was most likely working on something or the other. She knew him. She knew what his little quirks meant, and that made her feel just a little smug. Nobody else even bothered with this guy.

"...I wasn't working on it." He turned slightly in her direction, and looked at her with slightly pensive eyes.

"...oh." That was all she said, as she shuffled just a slight bit in his direction too. He did not avert his gaze.

"...I needed to think about something."

Aila started to feel just a tad bit uncomfortable under his gaze, but she shifted toward him completely now, wanting to hear what he had to say. He spoke so little, and when he wanted to speak, she would listen. That was her unconscious decision she made a long time ago.

"What's bothering you?"

His slight rising of the eyebrows told her that he was surprised by her direct question, or maybe by his answer to it, but his face was blank before she could find any other proof of discomfort on it.

"What?" He didn't make any effort to explain himself, so she asked, "Fine, if you don't want to talk."

"...maybe you should go back to Karaya."

"What?" She was dumbstruck. She hadn't even considered that, after all, they were...well, she assumed that there was some logic in his train of thought, but other than that she didn't know what he was getting at. "Why would I go back?"

He turned to look at her, and his eyes held something unfamiliar this time. "I don't want you to, either."

"Then, why do you suggest that I leave? Do I bother you somehow?"

"...no." And she knew he meant it. Jacques stood up, straightened, and looked at her once more before he turned toward Caleria and spoke, "We should probably get back."

"Yeah, I guess." The Karayan replied automatically, standing up, as she saw him slowly retreating, allowing her to catch up if she wanted. He was like that, always waiting for her to catch up, and always letting her choose if she wanted to follow. Sometimes it bothered her a bit - she was hardly a child anymore. Aila hurried to catch up with the man, and they silently walked side by side. "You know Jacques, sometimes you make me wonder."

And at that moment she swore she saw a trace of a smile linger on his face for a second, before he regained his expressionless facade and said, "...huh."

...

Geddoe was calm. Despite the fact that the bishop's attendant made him wait for Sasarai for nearly an hour. After decades of waiting for something to happen, and not even knowing what that something might be, the Captain of the 12th Unit was unfazed by a mere hour's delay. After all, the attendant What's-his-name, Diu, Dios, something, seemed to be making him wait on purpose, and Geddoe was rather amused by that. Really, he was testing the patience of a 117 year-old man. It was very entertaining, of one can find humor in anything at that age.

"The bishop will see you now," the attendant announced and retreated back into the room where Sasarai was standing with his back turned to the one-eyed rune bearer, gazing out through the window. Geddoe followed behind, pretending not to notice the face the old leech made when he seated himself without asking. He didn't even find people like him repulsive anymore, nor did he pay enough attention to think them annoying either. They were just low on his list of people he wasted words on, and that was that.

"Let me guess, Captain. You wish to be reassigned as the leader of the 12th Harmonian Southern Frontier Defense Force Unit."

"Sounds important when you pronounce it that way," Geddoe spoke, his expression unchanged. The bishop turned to him and smiled. Sweetly. The one-eyed man did not appreciate sweet smiles from cursed children.

"What way, Captain?"

"The long title makes it sound pretentious." And to emphasise his point, Geddoe added a little insincere smile of his own.

Sasarai took the seat opposite of him, and leaned over the desk, with his elbows propped against the wooden surface. Inspecting the fellow true rune holder accross from him, the bishop spoke once more, "If you ask me, you were never fired. You can start taking on missions, under one condition."

Geddoe focused his one good eye on him and tried not to show any expression. The bishop was officially grating on his nerves. "And that would be...?"

"I need you to go back to Dunan and deliver a letter to a man named Shu."

"Send a messenger." The Captain stood up and retreated toward the door. Before he could turn the doorhandle, however, the bishop uttered a sentence that rooted him to his spot.

"Captain, the letter is a warning. The Holy Kingdom of Harmonia will declare war on the city-state unless the border clashes cease. You see, a messenger would be killed on the way there."

Intrigued, but without turning to meet the bishop's eyes, the raven haired man turned the knob and took one small step forward. It was for good measure. "We'll do it."

xxx

There it goes, the first chapter. I really hope you like it so far, since this chapter didn't introduce much of an action. Anyway, if you did like it, tell me why, and if you found something wrong with it, do mention it.

If you are interested in reading more, please review, otherwise I don't see much point in continuing. :)

Read and review, I need your opinions to continue!

*crawls to a dark corner, and waits* :D