And it turns out old habits die hard. Forgive me... but several ideas for this fic came at me at 4 AM, I couldn't sleep, and so I decided to write.

Oh, don't act like you've never had the same problem!

Anyway, I noticed there aren't many NNK fics that center around Swaine and Oliver. So far I've only seen one... and so I decided to write a drabble series about them. :D

Basically, it'll be about events that happen during the plot (after they meet Swaine) to post-game- not in that order. Spoilers can be promised (forgive me). I also felt that Oliver would be thought of as another little brother to Swaine, which pretty much encourages him to stick with him through the entire quest...

Okay, enough rambling. On to the first drabble!

Disclaimer: I don't own Ni No Kuni... haven't even played the game... but someday I shall!

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I must be crazy doing this, Swaine thought as he stood on the boat, The Sea Cow, looking out at the horizon. The sun was beginning to set, and there were some dark clouds forming far off. Normally, he never got himself involved in other people's affairs- unless he needed information to use against them later on, otherwise he kept to himself, shutting the doors to his own life and keeping everyone else locked out.

...That is, until he met Oliver and Esther.

A majority of the past 15 years were a blur. All he could remember was stealing objects without a care- even if they were worth nothing to him, such as that cauldron he swiped, what would he want with that? No, the most important thing he could remember stealing was a permission slip to use Queen Lowlah's boat and a picture of a young sage the two kids were looking for. Alright, should be easy, he thought at first, tracking them from Castaway Cove to Al Mamoon, and back. They're just a couple pesky kids, swiping from them should be easy.

And easy it was... but it was getting on the boat that was hard. Sindbah, the captain, didn't trust the thief at all. Then Oliver and Esther returned, demanding their things back. All he felt at first was rage, then everything went dark...

But the darkness faded, his Nightmare gone... all because of those kids- one of them being a wizard. He couldn't believe his ears, hearing how they managed to help Rashaad, one of the Great Sages, and how the young wizard was intent on taking down the Dark Djinn, Shadar. And now they were looking for another Sage in Hamelin...

And Swaine had offered to take them to him.

He didn't exactly know what got into him. Maybe it was Oliver's determination, or the fact that the kid had mended his broken-heart, but something led the thief to go along with them on this little quest. Of course, he would just claim he was just using them to get to Hamelin to solve his own matters with the Sage, but deep down he knew there was something else.

No matter. Swaine thought, pushing such thoughts aside. Once we're in Hamelin, I'll get my own matters solved and ditch these kids.

Suddenly the sky grew dark. The thief paused, looking around, feeling an eerie change in the air. He looked over at Esther and Oliver- clearly, they felt it too.

Then the storm came in... followed by the Dark Djinn himself.

The rest went by fast- all Swaine could remember was using his Pickpocket's Pistol to do as much damage to Shadar as he could, even breaking out Gunthur, his familiar, to fight against him. But the Dark Djinn only laughed at their efforts and disappeared...

But not before unleashing the Eye of the Storm upon them.

Bloody hell! Swaine thought, feeling scared, angry, and regretting coming on this voyage, as the storm practically threw the ship around, until it hit a reef.

"Man overboard!" a sailor shouted.

"Oliver!" Esther cried, looking over the railing while hanging on for dear life.

Swaine looked over, seeing Oliver had fallen overboard. The young wizard could barely keep his head up over the crashing waves, and he started to go under.

"Hang on!" Swaine heard a shout... not realizing it came from him, until he found himself tying a rope around his waist and diving off the ship and into the frigid water. He went under, seeing the young wizard had somehow fallen unconcious and was sinking. Dammit! For a wizard, he sure sucks at swimming... he thought, but swam over, managing to grab Oliver's hand before he was yanked back by the ship.

He held on to Oliver, breaking surface, and hanging on to the rope, seeing Sindbah and his crew were pulling them in, Esther and Mr. Drippy watching from the railing with concern.

"It's okay, I gotcha," Swaine whispered to Oliver. "It'll be alright..."

The storms calmed just then, as the ship ran onto an island. Swaine's feet touched land, and he ran onto the beach, untying his lifeline with one hand while supporting Oliver with the other. He lied him down on the beach, as Esther and a few sailors came running over. "Is he alright?" Esther asked, breathing heavily.

"Y-yeah, I think so. He's still breathing," Swaine replied, taking in a few breaths. He looked back out at the sea. "So... that was Shadar, huh? That bastard is going to regret that..."

"Couldn't've said it better myself, mun," Mr. Drippy agreed, hopping over by Oliver. "Pickin' on us like that, an' nearly takin' Ollie-boy from us!"

"Oh, thank you for saving him!" Esther suddenly cried, hugging Swaine's arm before kneeling beside the young wizard. "Look, he's coming to!"

Swaine blinked, standing there, watching them for a moment, once again wondering what had gotten into him. Did he really just dive into a stormy ocean just to save some kid? Something didn't make sense to him about the effect Oliver was having on him. The only thing that ran through his mind was that he wanted to help him, make sure nothing bad was going to happen to him...

...the same reason he was going to go see his brother in Hamelin.

No, all you were doing was keeping the kid from drowning, he told himself. Not that big of deal. You are NOT going to get attached!

He sat down on the sand by Esther, watching as Oliver came to... and couldn't help but feel relieved.

Deep down, he knew not getting attached to this kid was going to be impossible, if he didn't try.

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A/N: I always wondered what exactly happened during the storm in the game. Sorry for the spoilers that were featured, I'll try to keep the rest low.

If anyone has any requests for a drabble, I'd like to hear it!

Reviews are welcome. Flamers will be shoved off a cliff.