Muse: Has anyone else been having trouble uploading new documents? We had to write this in an older one.

Siren: Yay for more drunken stories!

Muse: Disclaimer!

(poof) Mokuba Kiaba: Sirens & Muses don't own ToS! Can I be in the story?

Muse/Siren: Shut up, Mokuba.

Mokuba: Aw. (poof)

Siren: Review, please!


Kratos had been all around the world. He'd gone places many people fear to tread, and yes, he'd spent his fair share of time in bars. But nothing prepared him for this one.

He and Anna were staying in Palmacosta for a few days. While Kratos attempted to barter passage across the ocean, Anna took it upon herself to explore the largest city she'd ever been to. She went shopping in the market place, visited the lighthouse and ships, and finally, discovered the bar.

Anna had never been to bar before. She'd grown up in Luin, then in the Asgard Ranch. She was fascinated with the atmosphere and the people who were inside it. She was fond of the liquor, too.

When Kratos got into the hotel room and saw Anna's note saying that she had gone for a drink, he knew he'd have to go collect her. And so he did.

The bar stunk of smoke and stale alcohol. There was loud music booming, giving him a headache. A few drunk couples were swaying out of time to the music, but the majority of bar patrons were sitting on stools, quietly sipping their drinks. Anna wasn't one of them.

"Heeey, Kratty!" She rushed up and threw her arms around him before he could stop her. "Why are you here? You look really…upto-uptin-uptit…You look like you've got a stick up your ass!" She snorted and giggled before retreating back to the crowd of drunken men who were calling her name.

"Anna, come back here," he grumbled, reaching for her sleeve. "You've had too much to drink."

"I have not!" she said indignantly, slapping his hand away. "I'm perfectly-well, maybe a little buzzed, but not drunk-ed."

"Annnna!" one of the men called out. "Come over here, babe." The man stumbled over and gripped her leg tightly. Then he saw Kratos. "Who the hell are you?"

"He's nobody," Anna slurred. "Com'n, Leo, let's dance."

She disappeared, leaving Kratos standing there, annoyed. With a grimace, he turned and left.

What did he care if she went off to become a drunken bar floozy for some guy named Leo? She was on her own; he wasn't her babysitter.

But, if that guy did try something with her, she was in no condition to fend him off. As angry as she made him, Kratos couldn't condone taking advantage of a woman, or allowing it to happen. Halfway to the inn, he turned back for the bar.

Inside, he didn't see Anna anywhere. He started questioning people about Anna's wherebouts: most people recalled seeing her, but lost track of her. One person said she had gone out the back door with Leroy. Kratos assumed his name was lost in translation.

He debated going out after them. On one hand, Anna might be angry. And, really, it was no business what she did or who she did it with. But on the other, if she was in trouble, Leroy or Leo or whatever he was called certainly wasn't going to stop what he was doing.

He attempted to listen for her, but with no avail; the bar was simply too loud. He finally decided to find her. When Kratos stepped out the back door, he heard them both right away. He shut the door behind him and listened closer.

"Shh. Don't talk," Leo/Leroy whispered.

"St-stop it," Anna mumbled. "I chan-changed my mind."

"No, you didn't, honey. Just be quiet, it'll be okay," he answered.

"Don't," she shuddered. Kratos slid along the wall, towards them. He was frozen in anxiety; he could only watch as two sillhouettes shifted about one hundred feet away from him. She was pushed up against the wall, while he leaned against her. He couldn't stop touching her: stroking her face, running his fingers through her hair, sliding his hands up her back...

"Get-get off of me!" Anna shoved Leo/Leroy away, but he lashed back and hit her. With a grunt of pain, she slid down the wall. "Oww!"

Kratos jolted awake. "Anna!"

They both turned to look at him as he ran to her. Leo/Leroy attempted a drunken punch at Kratos, but he dodged it and hit back, sending the man spiraling down to the ground. Anna crawled over as Kratos leaned down. She was bleeding from a cut on her forehead where he'd stuck her, and the alcohol seemed to have come back to bite her. Kratos picked her up and carried her to the door while Leo/Leroy tried to stand up.

"Kratos..." Anna clutched at him, burying her head in his chest as her eyes closed. "Th-thank you."

He carried her to the inn and tucked her into bed with care before collapsing into his own across the room. It had been a long day.

Kratos opened his eyes the next morning when he heard Anna walking over to his bed. The first thing he saw was her face break into a wide grin.

"You're awake!" She reached down and gave him a hug. "I want to thank you, Kratos, so much. Really, you saved me. You're, well, my hero." She blushed. "I owe you. Anything. Really. I'll even make you breakfast."

She stood up and walked to the kitchen without waiting for an answer. Kratos stood up and followed her.

"There's just one thing I've been wondering, though," she said, cracking eggs into a bowl.

"What?" Kratos asked wearily.

"Why'd you do it?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean," she said, pouring the eggs into a pan, "That all you do is complain about me and what a hassle I am to travel with, how you always have to protect me. So, why'd you do it?"

Kratos turned away slightly, but she still saw him get a tiny smile on his face. "You're not as bad as I thought, Anna. I'm starting to warm up to you."