Author's Note: "Wow, Herald is making one-shots now? Is it time to Old Yeller him?"

That was probably your reaction to what you saw in your inbox. Well, fear not, I am not that desperate… yet. The story behind this one shot is one of happiness, sorrow, conflict and grief. Okay, I'm making this way too dramatic. In layman terms, Jade went onto a massive author's block in what is not only my favorite fic of his, but my favorite fic on the entire site, The Moonless Child. So, I did what any fan would do, I tried to help him through it. By writing. It… kinda worked.

This one-shot was a scene I showed Jade. We entertained the idea of making it an actual part of the story, however, it really does not fit the story's tone right now, especially with what is coming, however, it does bring some very needed closure onto the Celes mini-arc, so… I just decided to dedicate this one-shot to him and publish it in here, for all you guys to see. And hopefully convince to give it a read!

So, with all that said, just enjoy this little friendship fluff.

The Moonless Child

Interlude

The Snow Princess

Waking up in a stranger's bed with no recollection of what had led her there. This was, despite of how it may sound, something not foreign to Terra. Many were the times local hunters or guards had found her sleeping in the forests near a town and taken her in, thinking her to be lost. After a slow, groggy wakeup, she recalled what had happened previously. She had simply gone to sleep the moment they had been cleared of danger, resting her head on the soft fur of Zack's horse. As she sat up on the bed, she looked around. The room she was in was quaint, but not overly decorated or grandiose. Just what she'd expect out of Celes. Money never meant much to her.

What she did notice is that the bed she was on was not made for one person. It was clearly meant for two. While she was the only one there, an inward chuckle came out when she remembered that Celes did mention a boyfriend. It was so foreign of her to think Celes had one of all people, but at the same time, fitting.

Speaking of the devil summoned it to come. Just in time for the end of the chuckle, Celes slowly peaked her head through the door, clearly not wanting to disturb her if she was still asleep. Seeing she was sitting, she let herself in.

"Feeling better?" Celes asked her while she took a seat beside her friend. This lead Terra to finally check if she was, indeed, feeling better. A small scan over her mana clearly told her she was as good as new. It was something that always estranged her. How, after life and death situations, she would always get most of her energy back in too little a time. Still, you can't look a gift horse in the mouth, she just took it.

"As light as a feather!" she replied, hopping off the bed if only to prove her point. Then, a question assaulted her mind that cut down on the good mood Celes had put her instantly. "Celes… how are the others? Did Shin wake up?" she questioned, smiling once Celes nodded.

"Yes. They are all alright. In fact, they wanted you to wake up before talking what just happened over. I'll go round them up in the living room, you make yourself at home," Celes told her, leaving Terra to her own desires. Deciding to explore Celes' house, maybe even discover more about her, Terra made her way to the door and down the stairs to the entrance hall. As expected of Celes' family, the house was closer to mansion than anything else. That just contrasted how most of what Terra saw was more for the practicality of it than for the glamour.

From the opened door to the right, Terra spotted Kaiser talking to the duo of Zack and Cissnei, deducing it to be the living room Celes had mentioned. While she did want to talk with Kaiser, if anything to thank him for the save, she was more interested in the rest of the house. In particular, there was quite the large door to her side, one that was riddled with locks, even if apparently it had been left open. Normally, Terra wouldn't dare enter a room without the owner's permission but… Celes had told her to make herself at home, hadn't she?

What she saw inside nearly blew her mind. The room was… a sewing workshop. Various tables filled with material, from thread to stuffing, buttons and accessories lay in front of her eyes. She started to walk in deeper into the unknown environment, drawn to know who this belonged to and what it produced. She couldn't see Celes as someone interested in sewing.

Unfortunately, none of the tables showed a finished product, just bits and pieces, so the girl had no idea what was being produced there. That is, until she found an armoire, and a large one at that. It was as wide as the entire room and quite thick too.

"This must be where everything is kept…" Terra whispered, her curiosity completely overpowering her usual shyness.

"Not exactly nice to just spy on other people's rooms like that, is it?" the sound of a female voice said from the corner of a room. Terra squeaked as she turned to meet the voice. "I know I told you to make yourself at home, but you may be pushing a bit too much Terra,"

"I… I was just curious, I didn't mean any harm," Terra stuttered, her shyness causing the Celes to be slightly taken aback.

"I didn't mean to sound abrasive back there. I don't mind, to have you here, it would had just been better if you had asked. I even went to get my sword in case it was a thief… or my boyfriend. One of the two," She said, eerily calm for someone who had just unsheathed a sword and swung it wildly, as if she was hungering for a fight. Still, Terra was more interested in this fascinating room now than in Celes' unusual thirst for blood and bemoaning of her boyfriend.

"I'm sorry… is this your room?" she asked him, Celes chuckling at the response"My room? Of course not! Does this look like a place where I'd sleep?" she asked, amused at how Terra had stayed the same in her obliviousness at times.

"Well, it's better than most of the places I sleep on so… yes?" she replied, a bit ashamed of that fact, Celes not really having an answer to that.

"Well, if it makes you feel better, I make my boyfriend sleep here when he goes back to old habits," Celes replied, trying to lighten the atmosphere.

"What does your boyfriend do anyway Celes? You seem far more abrasive to him than you did to me," Terra pointed out, Celes rolling her eyes and massaging her elbow.

"He… let's just say he often goes back to his "treasure hunting" habits," she explained, thinking Terra would get the picture and stop

"Really? What kind of treasures does he look for?" The prospect of there still being treasures in this land being something quite fetching for a wanderer like her. It'd break the monotony of her life for sure.

"Well… the ones nobles have mostly," Celes admitted without making eye-contact, scratching the back of her head as she said it. "He borrows them without their permission,"

"So he's a thi-"Terra began.

"Was! Besides, he only did it to those snotty nobles. Not my fault someone as numb headed as him can trick them to illegally pass them their treasures," Locke explained, convincing no one.

"I'm pretty sure that still classifies him as a rob-"

"Robin Hood character. Yes, that's what I'd put him at," It was both amusing and a bit annoying to Terra how Celes had for some reason turned defensive of her boyfriend. At least there was a some proof of the relationship between of mutual affection.

"Celes, I am not trying to judge him, but you do know that stealing things isn't exactly morally correct, no matter the target, right?" she directly asked, for once in a blue moon staring someone right in the eyes.

"You speak as if half the people that were born into nobility actually earned their wealth. What's morally correct about doing nothing yet being rewarded with riches?" Celes sneered, her past and present both still grinding on her.

"Let's just say he's an adventurer," Terra said, mostly equating the adventures he surely got in his escapades.

"I'll compromise," Celes said with a nod, admonishing herself for having let her inner demons have the better of her. With that out of the way, Terra realized that her first question still remained.

"If this room is not yours… then who is it for?" she questioned her best, and honestly only childhood friend, who smiled back at her before answering with a question of her own.

"Have you ever heard of the "Snow Princess"?" Celes questioned, sending some very telling signs down Terra's brain.

"She's been the talk of the town in many of the towns I traveled to for the last couple of years! It's that mysterious seamstress that just creates those wonderful stuffed animals… I only saw a real one once, but that Moogle made my heart skip a beat…" she said, the fond memories of one of the most peaceful towns she had visited being soon burned the way by the visage of it in ashes.

"Well, why don't you open that armoire now?" Celes somewhat hesitantly suggested. Terra wondered what he meant by that. While the normal association would be easy to guess, there would be no reason for the mysterious seamstress to live in this house, would there be?

Her eyes proved her wrong. Five rows of dolls of majestic detail and proportions now graced her eyes. All of them of various creatures found across the world in the most adorable shape and form possible. From the classic Moogles to deceiving Tonberries, the spiky Cactuar and never forgetting the feathery Chocobos. The dolls even made beasts like the Behemoth and even the Dragon King Bahamut look positively adorable. It did not end there, as the three mascots of adorableness had various variations to them. The Chocobo and Moogle dressed in the clothing of various jobs, such as the Warrior, the Color Mages and the Paladin, with the added bonus of there being a Chocobo Rider Moogle doll. The Tonberries and Cactuars did have their own, smaller lines, such as the fabulous Tonberry King or the Fiesta-Loving, Sombrero-Wearing El-Gigantuar.

"All made by the Snow Princess herself," Celes guaranteed as Terra was left there speechless. "You don't have to hold back," Suddenly, something broke mentally and she squealed like a five year old before pulling down the Moogle Rider and the massive El-Gigantuar doll and cuddling them, a Don Tonberry falling neatly on her head somehow. Celes just smiled and waited for the rare sheer happiness outburst given by the younger girl as she blissfully indulged herself in the cute things she adored so much. It took a few minutes before Terra spoke again.

"Celes… you collect dolls?!" she asked Celes, who just couldn't take it anymore. Her usual demeanor broke into a flurry of laughter. "Celes?" Terra called, wondering why Celes had that unreadable expression on her face, sending Terra's mind into haywire. This…made no sense. Celes was such a strong, determined, admittedly hardheaded and tomboyish young woman. There was no way she could…

"Celes, are you really…" Terra asked her friend, best friend even. Celes didn't nod, she simply talked.

"Ice Queen would have made it too simple for when Locke sold the dolls to the vendors," she began, walking up to her sewing machine and giving it a twirl, her hands gaining a surprising subtlety as she weaved the thread. "I started doing this at the time of the fire. My family did not truly need the money from it, but I wanted to gain some of my own money to be as independent as I could. I created an alias, Snow Princess and slowly made some samples. Locke offered to slide them into some friends he knew from his… dealings. Surprisingly enough, they were insanely surprised and impressed with them and commissioned as much of them as possible. This, of course, after getting Locke to swear he wasn't just 'stealthily acquiring' them. Before I knew it, I was an overnight sensation. Various nobles commission one of these a month, often custom made, at any price they can pay. Locke is my eyes and ears for this, as I do my best to stay incognito. I don't know how he does it, but he has never let anyone get through in my identity,"

"Why don't you want anyone to know though?" Terra asked Celes, who stared back at her with the same cold look she gave everyone. The same eyes that made Terra think this impossible.

"I will never abandon my dream of being a knight. For all those bastards say, I know that someday someone with a brain will get to a commanding position. Then, I'll finally enter. Until then… I can't reveal this. I don't want the popularity that comes from it, but most of all, I don't want the stigma. Humans are dumb animals. They need to associate something with another. If I am the "dollmaker" I will never be "the solider" in the eyes of anyone. I love sewing but… I want to be something more than just the Snow Princess," Terra was taken aback by Celes' soft tone, the defrosting of the ice in her eyes, the insecure hand movements. Celes was opening up to her, that she was sure of. Enclosing her arms around Celes, she supported her with a low:

"I'm sure you'll be able to. If I can help in anyway, just say," Terra told Celes, shook her head immediately in response. Terra could swear she saw a glitter, one like a tear, fly into the ground. She made no mention of it. A few minutes passed before they broke the embrace. And in those moments, Terra found a new question. "How did you discover your talent Celes?" she asked the Snow Princess. Celes, again, didn't answer straight. She turned her back and headed to the armoire. She brushed off four dolls and reached out inside, opening up a secret containing room in there.

"It was because a friend's birthday was coming up…" she told Terra, freezing her in place. In Celes' hands was a Moogle. A classic Moogle, white, small bat wings, red pompom. There was nothing more to it. Yet it was almost glimmering with perfection. Every thread, every fur, every detail on it was absolutely perfect. Simple? Maybe. But in its simplicity lay its perfection. To make something so simple so… beautiful. "I saved this… and kept this all these years. This is Mog. My first ever doll. My best doll. Happy belated Birthday Terra,"

There was no need for words there. Better, no one in there had any to spare. The feeling Terra felt in that moment towards Celes was one of the most precious memories she'd keep for her life. The feeling of being wanted, of belonging.

-o-O-o-

"That doll you have there, where did you get it Terra?" Shin asked as Terra sat down beside him on one of the couches of the living room.

"I… I lost it in Jidoor five years ago," she answered, shooting a smile towards Celes as it went.

To be Continued in: The Legend of the Dragoon: The Moonless Child

Post-Author's Note: Soooo… yeah, not much to say here that wasn't said before. Can only hope you enjoyed reading through this and got the not-so-suble message of "go read TMC. It's amazing!". Got it? Good. I'll see you there!