A/N: just shot-gunning these things as i was posting them over on AO3 as i was writing them...

this is just my crazy Yuri-fangirl response to the end of Chapter 7! it can eat a dick...

DON'T TRY TO CONVINCE ME OTHERWISE GAME! WE PLAYED THIS TUG OF WAR BACK IN THE FIRST ONE WITH MELIA! I WILL NOT LOSE THIS TIME! -cough-

enjoy~


Feelings

After what happened in Elpys, Rex adamantly turned around, heading out and intent to tell the others what he had discovered. After so many reveals and discoveries it was understandable that the mood was somewhat muted as they walked along the long bridge out of the Hero's chamber.

Zeke had part of Pandoria's core crystal inserted into his heart to save his life.

Tora and Poppi were more useful than any of them realized, as Poppi's ether furnace proved more and more useful, especially here where everyone else was either hampered by the ether draining particles or exhausted.

Nia was a Blade, and not just any kind of Blade but a Flesh-Eater, one that had been infused with mortal cells, somehow bound to them, making her something between a Gormotti and a Blade. From her story it sounded like she didn't even have a Driver, both her 'sister' and 'father' dead, and they would have been the only ones that might have been it. It must have been a unique feature to Flesh-Eaters they hadn't previously known about.

-So much about them is unknown- Ran through Morag's thoughts, as she idly walked at the back of the part, keeping up the rear supposedly while Tora and Rex covered the front. Zeke was in a weakened state but Nia looked completely drained, the sooner they left the better.

Light brown eyes stared at the Gormotti woman, now in her 'Driver' form as she lightly explained, a state she and the other Flesh-Eaters from Torna showed to take when they weren't using their own Blade abilities but channeling other Blades. So much about them didn't make sense or turned general conventions on their heads. Normal Blades couldn't, or just didn't, have the capacity to have other Blades. At least, that was what was thought…

The infused mortal cells apparently allowed for autonomy and other mortal abilities… but damaged the Blade's in their capacity to function as perfect Immortal weapons? Morag wasn't sure what the true definitions were about them, just that they were an ancient and now forbidden practice attempted by Judicium to make a 'stronger Blade', likely with hopes of copying or recreating the Aegis.

Failed experiments all around.

But Nia was a relatively recently made one…

Morag could assume, guess really, what may have happened by what she told them about her 'family'. She didn't want to, her mind was just used to filling in the gaps people didn't openly say, and no matter which way she looked at it, it was tragic.

It explained a lot, her defensiveness, her fear, her general tendency to not approach and distance herself from others… even her selflessness. It all stemmed from her fear of what she was and being discovered battling with a Blade's innate nature to help its Driver, even if there really was no Driver.

-What a perilous existence…- Morag ignored how her hands tightened behind her back, or that her eyes lingered a bit longer on their Gormotti teammate.

It explained how she saved Niall, no normal person, even channeling a Blade's power, could have brought him back from the dead. Nia was strong, that was no doubt, even using her abilities on her own… but…

Light brown eyes trailed to the boy in blue leading their party.

Through a Driver her abilities were even stronger. One she trusted… loved… was even better…

Her eyes trailed the ground, it was a foolish notion, they had more important things to worry about…

"Lady Morag?" the ever calm voice of her Blade, Brighid, spoke at her side. Despite always seeming to have her eyes closed, the blue flame Blade was always perceptive, particularly with her Driver.

"Hmm?" it wasn't worth hiding anything from the keen eyed Blade, Morag had learned that years ago, not that she had to openly admit anything either.

Brighid paused, bringing one indigo gloved hand up to her chin, supporting it with the other and tilting her head, "You've got that look on your face…"

"Oh?" Morag paused as well, half turning to her Blade, showing the respect of paying attention to her while also keeping an eye on the others walking ahead, "And what look would that be?"

A kind of gentle smile passed on the tall demure woman's face. If anyone else saw it, they'd say it was sweet.

Morag knew from experience the kind of trouble that smile could cause, "Now-Wait, don't you-?!"

"Oh Dromarch, I have something I wish to speak with you about!" despite its lack of broad outward sound, in the quiet of the caves Brighid's seemingly innocent voice was easy to pick up on.

Most of the party at the very least turned to acknowledge it happened.

Rex, Tora and Poppi gave it a glance and brushed it off. Pandoria and Zeke at least shrugged.

Nia and Dromarch stopped and fully turned around.

Morag couldn't help but pause stiffly, having her hand out in a poor attempt to halt her Blade's action, but Brighid just moved along like nothing happened, sliding up to the large white tiger Blade easily.

There may have been a look, Morag swore there was a look, shared between the two.

"Oh, hmm?" Dromarch's tail rose a bit, clearly amused by something, as he started walking, "Yes please, ask anything you wish, Brighid." If there was skip in his step Morag swore she was seeing things, "Ah, yes," then he turned back over his shoulder, "Morag, would you mind attending to my lady? This entire adventure has been taxing on her, to say the least…"

"O-of course," Morag threw together an inspection ready stance, nodding curtly, and looking towards her charge. She could tell by the way the Gormotti woman's ears twitched she was glaring something fierce at her tiger like Blade.

A hand went to cover Brighid's mouth as the tip of Dromarch's tail seemed to twitch this way and that, as the two Blades left their Drivers alone, and virtually abandoned.

Light brown eyes glared through the metal visor of her cap as Morag quickly strode up to Nia's side, the Gormotti woman looking at their Blades just as flatly.

She rubbed her face in that catlike way, "Do those two think they're being subtle or something?"

The Imperial Inquisitor stood stiffly beside her companion, speaking dryly as her eyes were firmly on the smirking face of her Blade, "At this point, I've no idea what goes on in the mind of Blades…"

It was only after she said it that she remembered who she was talking to.

With her arms crossed and ears flat, Nia was looking at the ground.

Immediately, Morag felt the need to backpedal, "That is-that wasn't what-!" with a deep sigh she pressed her fingers to her eyes, "That was insensitive of me, I did not think…"

"Heh," Nia's ear twitched and a funny little smirk appeared on her face, "Now that I clearly doubt…" again with the nervous facerub, "It's… a bit of something to get used to, yea? I'm not expecting you guys to get it immediately… it's… different…" when she looked up at Morag, there was an exhausted acceptance in her gold eyes.

"Nia, I…" the words started before Morag even knew what they were, her hand was out reaching for her cheek before there was even a thought. All it took was Morag to glance, notice the gloves on her hands, the white mark on Nia's cheek close to her hand, for her to stop, closing her hand and withdrawing. Then forced herself to turn, to look away, because she wasn't supposed to…

She missed the surprise in Nia's eyes, how wide they'd gotten and the small blush that formed on her cheeks and how much she was expecting that contact. Then Morag caught herself and pulled away, and Nia's ears dropped, a funny pained smile playing at her lips, "Heh, you always start out so strong and passionate, eh, Morag?" she leaned back, crossing her arms, not sure what to do about this situation.

"I'm sorry, I've overstepped myself," and back went that hand, clutched behind the Inquisitor's back along with the other.

Nia's ears dropped as she looked up to the woman, "Ey? C'mon, I'm the one that should be apologizin'!"

There was only a sharp look from beneath that visor.

It made the Gormotti woman shiver, backing away a step, "Er… right…" unconsciously she rubbed the upper part of her arms, "I'm sorry, Morag… for everything that… for all of it." gold eyes trailed the ground, following the long stone bridge to the backs of the others still walking away.

To Rex.

When she glanced back, she realized Morag had followed her line of sight as well. It made her heart clinch, guilt welling up inside her as she turned to the taller woman, intent to say something that would make this wall right.

"You can't argue with what your heart wants," Morag, the Imperial Inquisitor, of all people said that without batting an eye or even glancing back at Nia. Then started just as clippedly walking forward to catch up with the rest.

It felt like a lance just went through her chest. Heck, if Wulfric was here he'd probably compliment Morag on her Steller aim.

Before she knew what she was doing, Nia marched up to the Ardainian woman, grabbed her arm and pulled her around, "Ey! That's not at all what I meant!" she didn't notice how loud her voice was, or the look on her face, she just kept her gaze on the blank gaze that Morag kept on hers. It was infuriating, "I didn't… we didn't… I just did what I thought was right, and what I said? Yea, its true, and just cause it hurts don't mean you can just shut me out like that!" she held her hand, that strong, warm even through her glove, hand as Nia just shook her head, closing her eyes to stop them from itching so damn much, "I thought I was over it, that I'd accepted that it wasn't gonna… but in that moment I just didn't think and-and-!"

There was something warm on her cheek and Nia opened her eyes. Morag was crouched in front of her, at her eye level and had her non-captive hand out, rubbing along the white marks on Nia's cheek.

There was the look again, that one she walked into her room back on their boat to Tantal, the surprisingly perceptive and emotional look that Nia was surprised to ever find on the likes of Morag.

Without thinking, Nia held the Ardainian woman's captive hand a bit tighter, "How can you still look at me like that, huh?"

A bit of a sad look passed over the taller woman's face, even if she was smiling, "I already told you the answer to that…" she wiped away a tear before letting go, standing up and intent to continue on before her own mask cracked any further.

But Nia didn't let go of her hand, if anything she held the Inquisitor in place, while she stared at the ground, ears flat on her head, "It's not fair, yea," this time her nervous habit helped wipe away the stray tears that she didn't want to fall, "Who I really am, what I really am? It's not right… especially with how I feel…" Nia squeezed Morag's hand tighter, hopping she'd at the very least turn back to her, "Please, I don't want you to feel like I do…"

"I already said, I never intended to let those feelings out."

For what it was worth, if Nia had a tail like Dromarch's it'd be standing straight up and puffed out, the best she could do was whip her head up and glare at the taller woman, "How the bloody hell can you just do that?!"

Morag just stared back at her a bit confused.

There was a growl as Nia stomped her foot and waved her fist that wasn't holding Morag's hand, "That! That right there!" she pointed right at the Inquisitor's face, "How the hell do you manage to do that?! I rightly put my damn foot in my mouth and instead of acting the way you're supposed to, you say the one damn thing that not only agrees with me but turns it all right around that I can't help but-!" suddenly Nia stopped, face flushing as she slowly put her arm down.

A dark brow rose behind the Inquisitor's visor, "But what?"

With a shake of her head, Nia wiped away the stumped look on her face and glared at the Ardainian woman, "I oughta hate you! Despite you! Hell I thought I did when we first met!" each sentence was accented by a point and the further she went, the more frantic Nia seemed to get and the colder Morag did. When Nia saw that, the look in her eye becoming flat and apathetic, the face of the Imperial Inquisitor setting itself right in place as she could see Morag just burying her feelings further, she couldn't help but stop and sigh, "Damnit, you make it so bloody hard…" taking two steps forward she just placed her head on the taller woman's chest, "I should hate you… but you make it bloody impossible not to love you…"

Hesitantly, tentatively, Morag finally raised her free hand and pet Nia's head, stroking along her ears.

"Can't I just… love you both?"

Despite herself a bit of a humorless laugh escaped Morag, "Well, Rex did mention he loved all his friends…"

There was a light punch into the Inquisitor's stomach, "Thas not funny and you know it," she could feel Morag shrug and didn't have the courage to look up at her, "You know what I meant…"

"Indeed, I did," Morag's voice was soft, trying hard to not let loose what hearing that statement felt in the heat of the moment, "Though it seems he did not…" was it alright that part of her was mad about that? Not that Rex accepted Nia's feelings but that he didn't understand at all the depths the Gormotti Blade had meant?

There was a deep sigh as Nia nuzzled further into the woman's chest, "I know I've lost, but some part of me just won't let it go…"

"He is your Driver after all…" it was clinical how she said it, not sarcastic like Nia would have expected.

That revelation forced her to look up, to see the look on Morag's face, only for her to frown, "He's not my Driver…"

Morag's hand slipped down from her ears, cupping the side of her cheek as a wry smile rose on the Ardainian woman's lips, "You let him use your weapon, synced with him fairly quickly, and you trust and care for him fairly deeply, I'd say he's your Driver."

The frown just increased on, as she pushed away in a bit of a huff, "I'm sorry I didn't pick you, it was the heat of the moment! and he was protecting me, and I protected him, and-and-and-!"

There was a light chuckle, causing Nia's ears to perk right up, as she opened her gold eyes and found it was from Morag. She was smiling, something sincere, "I'm glad you chose him to be your Driver," she put her hands back behind her back, looking off to the side a bit, "I'm not exactly the healing and nurturing type, after all."

"Morag, I…" Nia had her hand out, grabbing a piece of fabric from Morag's arm.

Again that oddly sincere look as she turned to the Gormotti Blade, "How could I best protect you, if you were my blade?" facing ahead, "This way you can keep watching my back, using your Driver to improve your Arts, and Brighid and I can do what we do best, protect those we care about."

For a moment Nia was stunned, watching the woman continue forward. In a roundabout way, she was right. Next to Tora, Morag was their tank, she could take more damage than the rest of them thanks to Brighid and her other Blades, and with Ageneon she could dodge right out of any enemy attack. She just wasn't suited to healing like she was, as Blade and as a Driver.

But that wasn't what really got to Nia, it was the damn woman's selflessness. Even now, when she had every right to be selfish and angry… the worst she did was just soak up the damage or dodge it flawlessly.

It was after about two or three steps that something slammed into Morag's back, and if she weren't as sturdy a person as she was, she would have fallen over flat. Looking down she saw clawed hands and the sleeves of Nia's yellow jumper. Glancing over her shoulder she couldn't quite see her but caught that cream colored grey of her ears. Then there was the nuzzling into the small of her back, only Nia would do that.

"You damn selfless Ardanian hothead…" Nia all but growled into the back of her military jacket.

Morag just gave that sincere smile, and placed her hand over Nia's on her stomach. It was the best she could do, probably the best she could hope for right now. –Even if I never expected anything to begin with…-

With a final squeeze, Morag tried to move forward, "We'd best go, the others might get weird ideas seeing us like this…"

"Shut it," Nia just grumbled, "Gimme another moment or two…"


At the other end of the bridge, Brighid and Dromarch were watching the whole moment unfold.

Brighid could only sigh, knowing how fragile her Driver could be at times.

"Lady Morag seems quite adept at handling my Lady's moods," the big white tiger chuckled to himself amused.

"You think?" Brighid smiled at him, "I think she's stumbling on just the same…"

"Hmhm," Dromarch chuckled in his chest, "Considering all that happened, this isn't a bad outcome."

A slight frown picked at the Flamebringer's face, as Brighid crossed her arms, "I think it could turn out better…"

When Brighid turned to Dromarch the big tiger was just smiling like he knew something she didn't, "My Lady has always been the cautious type, so this is quite astounding!"

Brighid just gave him a funny look, but conceded that they may just need more time. After all, everything was still fresh and new, and open wounds hurt worse than ones that had time to heal.

"Hey, are those two still lollygagging behind?" Zeke popped up to the two Blades, hands on his hips and trying to look more confident then he clearly was capable of right now, "I'd expect it from that fuzzy-ears, but not so much Morag!"

Brighid and Dromarch gave him a look, shared one between themselves, and noticed Pandoria face palming behind her Driver.

An indigo gloved hand went through flaming blue hair, "Honestly, some Drivers just never notice a thing…"

The white tiger just licked his paw and wiped his face, "Truly, a paradox for the ages…"

"What?!" Zeke looked from one Blade to the other, confused.

"Oh my Prince," Pandoria shook her head before turning to pass on info to Tora, Poppi and Rex, "You just never learn…"

"Wait! Pandy?!" Zeke went after his Blade, "What's that supposed to mean?! PANDY?!"

Brighid and Dromarch chuckled amongst themselves, only stopping when they turned and saw the very stern looking face of Morag.

"You two look like you've been plotting something," there was a particular glare from the Inquisitor towards her own Blade.

Brighid just smiled, comfortably crossing her arms, "We were having a fascinating discussion about the architecture in this cave…" she waved her hand around them, as if that was what they were truly talking about.

Dromarch just nodded in agreement, "Yes, being a structure that's at least 500 years old, it's held up amazingly well despite-!"

"Save it," Nia popped up behind Morag, flatly glaring at her Blade before finally letting go of Morag and moving to him, climbing on top and just laying out flat, "Take me outta here Dromarch, it's exhausting…"

There was a long-suffering sigh from the white tiger, "Yes my Lady," he nodded to the other two before turning off to join the others.

Once the two felines were gone, Brighid just turned to her Driver with a knowing smile…

"Shut it," Morag said clippedly and moved ahead before her Blade could get a word in.

Not that it stopped Brighid from lightly laughing behind her lady's back, "My, my, already rubbing off on you, I see…"

At best that got a glare from Morag, knowing too well just how much Brighid could dig if she were truly inclined.


A/N: i was NOT a fan of this romantic backtracking bs the game was pulling, if i had one complaint it would be that...

Rex loves Pyra/Mythra... he's an idiot about anything else, and prior to Pyra/Mythra being wisked away by plot convenience, Nia had been steadily building from 'girl with a crush' to 'teasing older sister' and i LIKE THAT DYNAMIC! i like that maturity and growth... then the reveal in Elpys and it just threw that all out the window because 'SOMEONE NEEDS TO CONFESS!' ugh... -rolls eyes- do i like it? no, can i work around it... oh hell the fuck yea i can!

i am the master of angst, and luckily i'm old and wise enough to know the world isn't black and white, only delightfully vicious shades of grey... humans are flawed, our emotions more so, and we say the stupidest things when we're stressed out... -.- i can work with this~

YOU CAN'T CONVINCE ME GAME! -cough-

comments, questions, opposing views?

Till next -salute-waves- Sayounara, Mina!

-Ikasury