It is so obvious who my favorite character is, isn't it?

Leader
By Neko-chan the Mewse
4/27/09

It was a strange sight to anyone who wasn't part of the group.

"Guy, explain," Jade ordered. And Guy did.

"Tear, fourth fonic hymn, now!" And Tear sang without hesitation.

"Natalia, aim to the left!" And Natalia aimed and shot according to Jade's directions.

"Anise, if you would…?" And Anise would squash whatever enemy was left standing. She didn't even need prompting. She always knew exactly what Jade wanted and never failed to deliver.

"Luke, perhaps it would be best if you gathered more supplies before we moved on." And Luke immediately scrambled to restock their supplies with the meager amount of gald they had.

Noelle, new to the group, had hesitantly followed Luke. "Hey, Luke, if you don't mind, could I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, what is it?" Luke's attention was mildly focused on her, but most of it was on the selection of goods in front of him. He frowned and recalculated just how much they could afford to get and how much they actually needed, scowling when he came up with an unsatisfactory answer.

Noelle sighed, knowing that much notice was the most she could hope for. "Why do you listen to Jade?"

Luke's attention instantly trained its entirety on her. "What do you mean?"

"I've noticed that if Jade has something to say, all of you listen to him. Why's that?" She tried hard to get her meaning across without being too rude about it. Luke had been introduced as the leader of the group, so why was Jade doing all the ordering…?

Luke bit his lower lip in thought before going back to sorting supplies, albeit more slowly than before. "Well, you'll have to ask the others, but Jade always has really good advice, you know? Not to mention he's smart and knows what he's doing. I trust him to make the right decision." And then Luke proceeded to continue his quest to replenish their supplies.

Noelle, feeling his answer insufficient, hunted out the others to ask them the same question. "The colonel's scary when he doesn't get his way, but he does know best," Guy said and wouldn't elaborate.

"He's shown good judgment in almost all matters," Tear replied. Beside her, Natalia nodded in agreement.

"Yes, he's never led us astray, has he?" Natalia mused.

"He's the colonel!" Anise giggled. "He's really smart!"

Noelle was confused. She gave the matter some thought before finally hunting out the man in question. "Why aren't you the leader?" she wanted to know.

Jade gave her a momentary look of surprise, which then became amusement. "Why, whatever gave you the idea that I would make a good leader?"

"You're doing it already," Noelle pointed out.

Jade laughed. "I don't lead. I merely suggest. What they choose to do with it is their own."

Of course, everyone in the group knew that when Jade gave 'advice' it was much better to listen. Noelle would understand that in a few more days.