Another new cycle. And the last hadn't ended in Cosmos' favor. Hardly any of them did anymore. Not that Cecil knew just how many cycles he'd been through. He just knew he'd survived there long enough to see several cycles, and reclaim most of what he'd lost; the pieced memories slowly connected into the almost complete puzzle of his recollection.

He stood with the Warrior of Light in the Lunar Subterraine. Remaining there sometimes pulled a last memory or two out of hiding, and Warrior was always nice enough to extend their patrol, giving him some extra time there. But nothing came to light this time. Just as he moved to go, the whole place seemed to brighten. The air thickened and shimmered with the coming of the wretched Shinryu, marking the beginning of a new war. Neither spoke as they watched the glittering scene. The sky emitted one last bright flash of gold as the Dragon returned with the restored fallen, then it was gone, as suddenly as it came. Finally, Warrior broke their morbidly awed silence.

"Come. Let us return to Cosmos. Our patrol is over . . . " Anticipation crept into his normally controlled tone. A new cycle was always met with anxiousness; were there any new warriors? Who survived Purification? Who hadn't? For the 'seasoned' ones, as they were called, it was as easy as looking around. Who was there before, that wasn't there now? Who had memories; who did not? And who were the new warriors, freshly plucked from their probably wonderful lives?

Cecil cared deeply for his companions' states at the turn of a cycle. Each time someone woke with no memories of themselves or their comrades, it wrenched his heart, and pity panged in his gut like a sword blow. He always did what he could to help those who had forgotten. Their apparent relief at the thought of a friend warmed him, and typically replaced the sadness with a feeling of obligation; that he had to help his comrades. That was usually enough to take his mind off of all he had remembered, all that he had left behind due to Cosmos' need of him.

Warrior cast a worried glance to Cecil. The Paladin was at it again.

At first, Cecil had been elated over the return of buried memories. He refused to stop talking about it. "I remember now!" he would cry, or, "Edge! Edge was that ninja's name!" "My brother, he helped us at the end of our battle." "Rosa, she was . . . my wife . . . I loved her very, very much . . . " The pleased knight's tones became more and more somber with each memory.

Until he stopped telling them completely.

He would be fine one moment, laughing with them, sharing moments and creating new memories with them, then his mood would shift rapidly. The bright eyes would glaze slightly, and the proud gait of a self-assured man would slump into the downcast trudge of an empty person. He would lose himself in bouts of reverie that left him oblivious to the world around him.

And he was doing it again.

On more than one occasion he walked straight into a manikin ambush, and didn't hear his companions' shouts for him until he took a blow or two from the manikins. He walked with that same defeated amble, his blank stare fixated on the ground in front of him.

Yes, he was at it again.

His eyebrows furrowed, no doubt in recollection of something that once again troubled him.

"Sometimes," thought the Warrior as he stared at his tormented comrade, "it is simply better to have forgotten."

Rosa. There, standing in his room. He stared out the window to the turrets and ramparts of the castle below, mad and upset with himself.

"Cecil of the Red Wings is many things," she said, "but he is no coward. Not the Cecil who I love . . . "

"Cecil!" Warrior's deep, deliberate voice broke through the fog of the fresh memory. He blinked, and shook his head. The memory of her, his wife, his Rose, his everything, still swam before his eyes.

Rosa.

Just the mention of her name set his heart aflame with the passion they had once shared before he was called. Her beauty was unparalleled in Baron, in the entire Overworld. Unmatched by Aphrodite; Venus did not compare. Inanna, Freyja, all of them trumped by the love of his life.

"Cecil," repeated Warrior, once again cutting through his thoughts. "We are here."

He hadn't even realized they reached Sanctuary.

Cosmos was seated at her usual position on the throne, but beside Cosmos stood a tall woman with golden-blonde hair done half up in a bun atop her head. Her cape had two layers; the bottom was of sheer white cloth with gold embroidery hemming the bottom. The top layer was waist-length, thick, gold cloth, secured by white pauldrons with gold spikes. Her hair cascaded gently between the spikes as she brushed a piece behind her ear. From under the sheer cape was purple and grey shin-length heeled boots. A knife was strapped to her belt, a staff and quiver of arrows across her back, and a bow in her hands.

"A new warrior?" Cecil asked, still in a bit of a daze from thinking of Rosa. "Just one?"

Warrior frowned, understanding Cecil's implications. He tactfully ignored them. "Come, let us meet her." Warrior said confidently, striding forward with Cecil in tow. He stood before the goddess and dropped to a knee. "Cosmos," He bowed his head to her. "Ma'am," he added to the unknown soldier. He looked up into her face and faltered momentarily, then hastily stood.

Cecil stepped up to do the same when the woman spun, her green eyes locking directly with his blue.

His breath caught in his lungs. His jaw fell open as he choked on his polite introduction. His eyes captured every inch of her; her tights running up her legs, the purple patterned strip that covered her loins, the sheer gold skirt pulled to one side, the patterned white halter top that laid fitted against her perfect, slim figure. He staggered back several steps as his eyes reconnected with hers. His lips mouthed her name but no sound escaped, and he melted beneath her powerfully beautiful and perfect features, just as the first time they saw each other, when she stole his affections.

"R-Rosa!"

A/N: Hey readers! This is a fic I've been working on for almost two years now! I've been waiting to post it until it was fully completed - it's fully written and typed up so updates will come VERY quickly, which makes me happy and hopefully you too! If you have time, make sure you leave a review, good or bad! One last thing: the HORIZONTAL page break represents either a time skip or someone else's p.o.v. It's really not that hard to discern the difference, I don't think. Let me know if it is, and I'll find some way to fix that. Thanks so much!

-Keyblader41996