Looking down on them was probably the best, and worst, part of my current situation. It was so nice to see them living their lives happily…but at the same time it was really hard. To know I had no place among them was the part that hurt.

At the same time, my role having passed, I am glad to see that the others have been able to move on with their lives after Melbu Frahma's defeat.

Be it Dart and Shana's relationship (that even I had seen coming) blossoming, Kongol meditating with Haschel, or even checking up on Albert and his bride, I still had things to do. I still was able to be their guardian angel.

What currently caught my interest was this new occurrence…why it was not quite possible.

Lloyd was alive and being taken care of by my friends. Personal feelings aside, I could not believe it when I found out.

If I had any idea as to what could have made this happen, it would have to be Soa's will. For it is through Soa that I still linger on in this world in an ethereal form.

But for what purpose does Soa have for him? Frahma is defeated, humanity is beginning to bond with the Winglies (slowly, but surely at the moment) through Albert's diplomacy, and there is currently no threat that I know of that would call for his help…

Best to sit back and watch things unfold…what happens now is Soa's will. Besides, it's not like I have any influence over the actions that will take place now. My role is complete, but I still linger on.

At the moment the only things worth watching were the events revolved around Lloyd…why not take a look at the anti-social Wingly?

I awoke again to loud sounds, this time only one person was shouting though. The other noises were all crashes and thuds occurring in another room in this place.

When I heard the Wingly girl growl in frustration when I heard another loud thud, I decided trying to sleep would be kind of troublesome and got up. Stretching my arms and legs, I could feel an intense ache in them. Apparently Meru's spells had worn off on my body…for that matter, why did my muscles hurt in the first place? Sure, I had died apparently, but why did every ounce of my being hurt?

Shrugging my shoulders with some minor discomfort, I decided some pain was worth another life. Casting my glance at the pardon Albert had given me, still placed on the stand near my bed, I saw how easy I had it at the moment. It was almost if these people truly did forgive me for what I did…fools, how did they know I wouldn't turn on them when I found some other way of creating a Utopia? Looking up again, I scowled. The placed to much faith in a former foe…seeing as how they accepted Kongol with open arms, I guess my own acceptance isn't that much of a leap of faith.

Yes…I was remembering more now. I remember more of what it meant to be Lloyd now that I remember my previous ambitions. I would work towards a Utopia, for in that case the end definitely justifies the means.

Focusing on the paper again, I let my frown shrink into my normal neutral expression. They may be trusting fools, but they were giving me a means to achieve my goal. By working alongside Albert, who was apparently promoting Wingly-Human relations through creating refuges like this, I could bring about a world where all species were treated equal…

But would someone like me be a good champion for such a cause? Now that the world knew of me and my sins, could anyone truly look at me as a paragon of what is good and right? Such things are better placed in the hands of people like Albert whose political prowess most likely dwarfed my own, even with my previous manipulations.

Another crash occurred and I decided to leave 'my' room and check on what was causing the ruckus. As soon as I left through the door a kid brushed past me, heading in the direction of Meru's growls of anger in a room a couple down from my own. I followed the child and entered the room, my brow furrowing as I saw the chaos in the room.

Bookcases were upturned, their books strewn across the floor, tables flipped over, and amidst all of it, a petite Wingly struggling to wrestle something to the ground. My guess was that this room was a library, and taking a look at how large it was, a pretty complete one at that. The kid that ran past me before went up to Meru and poked her shoulder.

"Miss Meru, I saw that weird light again!"

Meru looked up from the ground to look at the kid before shaking her head. Taking a look I could see that underneath Meru was a blue animal the size of a puppy, wiggling as it tried to free itself from her grasp, "Sorry Bertam, but I'm kind of busy here!" Reacting violently to a bite on her forearm, she yelled, "Regolas! No biting! Bad Dragon!

The child left the room with a look of dejection as I thought to myself…Regolas, where had I heard that name before? Sounded familiar…when she growled in pain again, I decided to step in. I had handled things much bigger than this without any issue, so simply knocking it out would be no problem.

Meru saw me approaching and gave an embarrassed laugh, "Hey Lloyd, um, this is Regolas. Regolas, meet Lloy-stop biting!" This time the Dragon managed to get free and sped towards the nearest available exit, namely the one open right five feet behind me.

I got ready to lunge at it as it charged at the door, as Meru got up and her eyes lit up, "Lloyd! Don't-"

Before she could finish her warning, the little bugger smashed into my leg and knocked me off my feet, sprinting right through the door as if I hadn't been there. I fell forward and my face landed in an open book on the floor.

Embarrassed, I slowly sat up while noticing an odd pain in my leg. Thinking it to just be another pain related to my rebirth, I ignored it and rubbed my head. For some reason that little creature was able to smash into me before I could react. Wasn't I the one who called others slow?

Meru clumsily stumbled over some books as she walked over to me. Offering me a hand, she smiled, her apologetic look clear on her face, "Sorry, that was my bad. I let him out every day for some exercise and sometimes he can get a bit rowdy."

She held her hand out to help me off, but I first dusted myself off before I accepted her hand. For some reason the books in here had much dust on them, as if they hadn't been touched in centuries and that dust had rubbed off on my black clothing.

I looked towards the doorway the dragon had left through and tried not to sound indignant as I spoke, "Yes, a bit."

Meru frowned, making it apparent I had failed at veiling my sarcasm, "Hey, he's just a baby you jerk. He doesn't know that he's being bad."

I nodded and turned to face her, "I apologize for my manners, but may I ask for what purpose is a Dragon here?"

Meru swept some dust off of herself and looked down, "Well, he was a side effect of my Dragoon Spirit. Since we had slain the previous Blue Eye Dragon, this one was created by my spirit to fill in that void."

I nodded in understanding, "Since he is your partner you took it upon yourself to look after him. For some reason however his name seems a bit uncreative. Did you name it after someone?"

Meru crossed her arms and pouted, "I named him after the previous Water Dragon. Boy, I was kind of hoping you might have become a little nicer after everything you've been through, especially towards someone whose helping you out."

I held my hands up in defense, "I did not mean it like that. I just meant the name sounded familiar. I apologize again if I sounded rude."

Looking me in the eye, Meru remained silent. I kept eye contact, but was confused as to what she was doing. After a few moments she laughed and bent down to pick up the book I had fallen face first onto, "You're forgiven. I could see that you didn't mean to be a stuck up jerk."

I bit my tongue and kept my thoughts to myself. She was, after all, taking care of me. But still…for what reason did a Dragoon spirit choose this host? I was thankful that it chose a Wingly, but at the same time, I had to question its judgment. Such a powerful artifact in the hands of someone so childish and peppy…as if I didn't feel left out enough at the fact I could not call upon the Divine Dragon's spirit, this child was chosen…forget it.

Meru finished picking up the book as well as a couple nearby and looked up at me, "Well? Are you just going to stand there and look at me, or are you going to help me pick up these books?"

Look at her, why what was she insinuating by that? Kindness aside-

"I was joking Lloyd, no need to get all serious. Besides, don't you have a thing for Dart or something?" Meru smirked at me

Mild discomfort could not begin to explain the headache I had right now…If I only had my sword, I could-I would, oh forget it…I let out a deep sigh before shaking my head, "No, I do not have a thing for Dart. I have no idea where you got that from, but I ask that you refrain from mentioning it in the future."

Meru giggled, "It's funny when you get embarrassed."

I felt a slight amount of blood rush to my cheeks, so in order to not show my embarrassment further, I turned to the door and began to walk, eyes clenched shut in petty anger, "I'm going to go find that Dragon and-"

I did not expect to bump into a figure slightly shorter than my own, "Hey Lloyd, slow down. I already caught it!"

I opened my eyes to see Dart holding the creature by the ears, Regolas currently unconscious as well as charred. Dart let out a laugh, "Tough little fella. Hey Meru, what was that about Lloyd-"

Dart yelped in pain as Meru punched him in the gut just as quickly as she had approached him, releasing Regolas and the knocked out pet dropping to the ground, "You jerk! I told you last time to not use dragoon magic to catch him! He hates fire and look at him!"

Meru scooped the pitiful excuse for a dragon up in her arms and I shook my head. Looking at it I could see that its dark blue scales were now a charcoal color. Dart frowned, rolling his shoulders, "Well, the kids like seeing some magic now and then and I thought-"

Meru kicked him in the shin and walked around him out of the door, eyes closed in anger, "Wrong. You didn't think. You were to busy showing off," without even turning, she addressed me, "Lloyd, we're going back to your room. You need to get some more rest and Regolas needs some healing. Dart, you can clean up in here."

Dart was about to speak up when she added, "Oh, and remember that everything here is alphabetical. Have fun!"

I looked at him, looked at the books on a nearby table, looked at Dart again, and knocked the books over. I sped after Meru , quickly entering my old room and closing the door behind me, ignoring Dart's muffled complaints.

Meru placed Regolas on a large table near my bed, petting him softly as he lay unconscious. As she did this I walked over to my bed and decided to get comfortable. Maybe if I kept quiet and didn't insult her, she might just cast the magic on me that lessened the pain. After the little dragon incident, I was all the more welcome to her treatment.

Minutes went by as Meru cast magic on her pet, first a spell to heal his wounds and burns, then a spell to lessen his pain, and finally one that restored his natural color. After she finished healing him, she pulled a chair up and began to pet him.

I patiently waited for her attention, being in pain myself. When she spent the next ten minutes adoring her pet, I decided maybe a reminder of my existence might speed things along.

"So, would it be impudent to ask where we are?"

Meru continued to look at Regolas, "We're in a place near Serdio's capital, Bale. This place used to just be a plains with some mountains and a waterfall, but now many Winglies who don't have a place to call home live here. We've built our own kind of community here, and I'm proud to help run it."

I nodded silently, waiting for her to turn her attention to my wounds. When this did not again happen, I decided another dialogue might help, "So you're the one in charge here?"

She turned her head to face me and I saw another frown on it. What? Was it something I said again? "And what do you mean by that?"

I noticed my mistake and apologized (something that I seemed to be doing a lot of), "Nothing, nothing at all. I was just surprised that someone so young was in charge of running a refugee camp."

Meru crossed her arms and turned in her chair to fully face me, "Hmmph. Shows what you know. I'm not some little girl."

Again, I had to bite my tongue to not remind her I was at least three quarters of a foot taller than her and she was extremely immature. I let her go on as I kept silent.

"By human standards I'm already an adult! I'm 20 now mister. So whose to say I can't run a refuge like this?"

Sensing some latent hostility, I decided to respond, "Want to talk about it?"

Meru rose an eyebrow, "Talk about what?"

I sighed. She truly was a stupid, foolish girl, "You seem to feel strongly about the topic of your age. I take it I'm not the first to mention it to you."

Meru got up and moved her chair so that she was sitting next to my bed, "No, I'm fine. Besides, I'm not the one with the problem."

This confused me, "Wait a moment, problem? What problem?"

Meru laughed as she drew an imaginary heart in the air, "Remember? You like Dart, but Dart's taken! You're the one that needs to talk about inner problems-"

Unable to bite my tongue, I lashed out, "What the hell are you prattling on about! I barely remember half of my encounters with you, nonetheless Dart! Would you mind explaining this ridiculous idea to me?"

Meru rubbed the back of her head, "Well, you might not remember, but after we fought you and beat you up, we camped out in a cavern near the snow fields of Gloriano. Remember?"

Thinking about it, I had a bit of a hard time remembering what this snow was before it struck me. White. Powdery. If balled together and thrown hard enough it could knock an annoying Wingly girl off her feet…only for her to slide down a hill of the stuff.

I nodded, "Yes. I remember some of what happened. Nice fall by the way."

Meru frowned but continued on, "Yeah, thanks a lot. Anyways, when I was on guard duty I left you alone for a moment, but when I came back you had moved from one side to the cavern to the other and were reaching for Dart. At first I didn't want to interrupt, cuz hey, I'm not one to judge, but he already had Shana and-"

The more she spoke the more the little episode sounded familiar. The more she spoke, the more I noticed was wrong with what she spoke.

"I was not trying to feel him up! If you don't remember, he was keeping the Divine Moon Objects in a pouch on his belt, objects that would let me create a perfect world if I may add!"

Surprised at my outburst, Meru stopped recounting her side of the story and went silent. After a moment she burst out giggling, "Oh my! And all this time I thought maybe you had a thing for our dopy, spiky haired leader! My mistake!"

It took more willpower than I knew I had in me to resist from reaching over and grabbing her by the neck and strangling her. Instead, I decided to vent my rage through other means.

"Yes, you're mistake. Kind of like dressing in less clothing than some take to the beach and traveling through a blizzard."

Meru looked away from me, "Know what, I'm not going to heal you now."

I sighed. I was desperate to get this pain to go away because sleep would be hard to achieve without first relieving at least some of it now that my shin felt like it was broken in two. What was that Dragon's head made out of anyways?

"I apologize (again)…thank you for patching me up before. While we were in Gloriano. Even if it was out of pity, it was probably the most kind thing someone has done for me…at least as far as I can remember."

Anger evaporating instantly, Meru smiled, "You're welcome! Back then I couldn't cast magic whenever I wanted to, so I'm sorry about the sloppy bandage job. Once I had to patch up everyone after we fought a big Virage and I was the only one not to get hurt, since I'm fast and all," listening to her prattle on was kind of soothing. I had no recollection of ever talking to someone for sheer companies sake, so I let her continue on, "…everyone complained. Dart wanted Shana to patch him up, Albert tried suffering silently while politely turning down my expert medical help, I didn't even try to get near the pervy sage Haschal, Kongol didn't want to be a burden, Rose ignored my existence…"

I cleared my throat and she snapped out of it, "Sorry about that. I have a habit of rattling on if you don't stop me."

If I wasn't a master already, I was now a expert in the art of tongue biting. Instead, I decided to recount the Gloriano experience, for it was the only memory in which I could relate her to, "I asked then if you helped me out of pity…is that the case right now too?"

Meru's eyes softened a bit and she smiled, "It's a mixture of things. First off, you helped us out against Melbu Frahma, so it's the least I can do. I'm sorry I couldn't help you back then, but you died before anyone could fix you up," I responded with a slight nod, trying my best to not think about the circumstances of my death, "Second, as I have said before, you're a Wingly too, so we have to stick together. Besides, what kind of Wingly would I be to turn away another Wingly in need, at a refuge no less!" Her point reminded me of that other Wingly that had visited, the one that had tried to persuade Meru to toss me out, "Third, yes, I pitied you a little. When I found you, you were unconscious in a nearby field. When I checked your condition I noticed that you had bruises all over your body, especially your abdomen. You were so hurt that I felt bad for you," While some may like others taking pity on them, to me it only meant that there was a part of me weak enough to pity…in this case, all of me.

Meru stood up and stretched her arms, "You know, you're not really the bad guy I thought you to be years ago," I rolled my eyes. Oh great. Criticism within a compliment from miss scantily clad, "You may have hurt some people, but hey, you're good now right?" I blinked. She was kidding right? "Now lay on your stomach and stay still. I'm going to relieve you're pain."

Finally I said to myself while verbally thanking her. Hearing my thanks caused her to chuckle as she placed her small hands on my back, "Now was that so hard tough guy?"

What I would give for her to be my opponent on the battlefield once more…if she was I would hurt her in so many ways she would need an entire team of highly trained medics to simply ease the pain. Wait. That didn't seem right. She was after all looking after me through her own kindness. She even stood up for me when someone wanted me thrown out.

I felt my body begin to relax and fall asleep as her magic danced throughout me. My eyes slipped close as my pain was relieved from my muscles and bones.

Maybe I could put up with her more if she would learn to be a little less talkative…and dress properly…and not be a clumsy fool.

Baby steps, Lloyd, baby steps. Remember, she's looking after you.

Conscience, I can see why I repressed you all those years ago. Now go away and let me sleep…

The last things I heard was some humming, some snoring from across the room, and a door closing just as I drifted off.