Hi guys! I'm baaaaaaaack! Sorry it took so long. But dang. I spent most of the time thinking about what Agnés was going to give Tiz. And I am still not satisfied. This chapter is set in chapter 4 after the final crystal has been awakened.
Warning: The fluff is suffocating.
Soon after Agnés's Birthday, they had awakened the Crystal. On their way to the holy pillar however, they hit a massive storm. The ship got flooded and they lost precious belongings and provisions in the flood. They were forced to move to the nearest town and had to take cover in Caldisla for a week. Grandship was wrecked by the storm and it took two weeks for Grandship to get fixed. Airy spent the whole time fuming. When Grandship was finally fixed, Edea realised something.
"It's Tiz's Birthday next week!" She yelled one morning, whilst the party were having breakfast.
Tiz turned bright red and looked down at his plate.
"Is this true, Tiz?" Ringabel asked, smiling. "Well why didn't you mention it?"
Tiz nodded slowly and grinned shakily.
"Well... I. You don't need to do anything for it. We've got to head to the holy pillar anyways." Tiz said.
"Yes! He's right!" Airy burst into the conversation. "We need to head to the holy pillar, now!"
"Well, Airy it will take at least a week to get to the holy pillar anyways. We don't want to be stranded in the middle of the water for Tiz's Birthday!" Ringabel exclaimed.
That was a lie. Ringabel had calculated that if the holy pillar was where Airy said it was, then it would probably take five days at the most to get there. But still, Airy wouldn't know that.
"We don't know what will be at the holy pillar anyways." Edea pointed out, through a mouthful of food. "We haven't actually been really preparing the whole time we were stranded."
That was true. Ringabel had been busy with repairs. He didn't know what Edea, Agnés and Tiz had been doing however.
Airy huffed in her annoyance and crossed her skinny arms.
"Stupid storm."
"That it is." Ringabel agreed.
"I think if I got a birthday party then Tiz surely needs one as well." Agnés said calmly.
"A-Agnés... You don't..." Tiz was flushing furiously.
Ringabel smirked at their awkward love.
"So it's settled!" Edea cheered. "I love Birthdays!"
Agnés smiled and then looked at Tiz.
"T-Tiz... Once you're done with your meal. Can I talk to you? Alone?" She asked seriously.
Ringabel almost spat out his coffee at that but the others were too focused on Tiz and Agnés to notice.
Tiz was already red faced, but now his eyes were wide with shock.
"S-sure." He stammered.
Agnés smiled at him.
"Thank you, Tiz."
Tiz rubbed his neck awkwardly as the conversation died. Ringabel downed his coffee and left the table, eager to leave the two lovebirds to their... 'Romantic Conversation'
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
"Agnés? D-Did you want to talk to me?" Tiz asked, once everyone had left.
Agnés nodded.
"T-Tiz." She murmured. "I think... I think our journey is coming to a close."
Tiz blinked, confused.
"For if what Airy says is true, then when we enter the holy pillar, the world will be swept free of the darkness that threatens to engulf it!" Agnés cried.
Tiz bit his lip. That was true, none of them had really thought about it before, about the fact that the end was so near after all they had been through. But surely this was a good thing? Why did Agnés look so solemn?
"Y-Yes. At least I hope so." Tiz replied.
Agnés nodded again, hair swishing back and forth.
"And the end of our journey is also the end of the time the four of us will spend together." Agnés said. "But what will we do in a new peaceful world? I may return to the solitude of the wind temple, but you, Edea and Ringabel will have nowhere to go! Nowhere to call home! If I could-"
"Agnés." Tiz said, interrupting the poor girl, who was tearing up. "Please don't worry about us."
"But it's all my fault you have no home!" Agnés cried. "I dragged you into this. I-I"
"None of this is your fault Agnés." Tiz said softly. "I was the one who decided to accompany you and I don't regret my decision! I will stay with you to the very end!"
Agnés looked down at the ground.
"T-Tiz..."
"Let's not think too far ahead right now. The Holy Pillar is not far away. It wouldn't hurt us to prepare in case monsters have invaded it. Let's think about that now. We can decide what to do once we finally win." Tiz said.
"We've been travelling for so long..." Agnés murmured, her gaze meeting Tiz's. "I can't believe it's the end at last."
Tiz shook his head.
"Nor can I."
"Tiz. Can I ask you something?" Agnés said.
Tiz nodded.
"Can you forgive me?"
Tiz recoiled in shock.
"F-For what?" He asked.
"For all this." She replied, making hand gestures.
"I told you." Tiz said firmly. "It was my decision to follow you and I will stand by you."
Agnés smiled and looked up at the ceiling.
"The world keeps changing and so does everyone. Except you. You haven't changed one bit. Not once since that time we met on the brink of the great chasm."
"We fought off the sky knights together." Tiz agreed, mirroring her smile. "Then weathered the burning of Caldisla."
A door opened and noiselessly Ringabel walked over to the two of them.
"I asked you to take me with you." He said with a smile, before looking over his shoulder. "Then we met, Edea."
From the shadows Edea emerged and moved towards the group.
"We stole the Eschalot and awakened the wind Crystal in Anchiem."
"Then to Florem." Agnés continued. "And the sacred flower festival. W-we lost Olivia but awakened the water Crystal."
"We worked together to save Egil in Eisenberg. Remember how Agnés's face got all covered in soot?" Tiz laughed.
"I hardly see how that detail is relevant!" Agnés said, appalled.
"But it was hilarious!" Edea smirked.
"We fought off Chaugmar and awakened the fire Crystal." Ringabel said, continuing their string of memories.
Edea nodded.
"We went down into the engine room and stopped Grandship from sinking."
"We flew past the Eternian mountains and hiked through frost peak passage." Agnés went on.
"We fought Victor and Victoria. Then Lord De Rosso showed up." Tiz murmured thoughtfully.
"Remember how I had to break you guys out of jail?" Edea asked, grinning furiously.
"I'm very grateful." Agnés nodded.
"Yes. After our own beautiful angel freed us we went to confront your father, Edea." Ringabel said with a wide smile on his face.
"We defeated him in battle." Agnés said, looking around at her smiling friends.
"Then it was Agnés's Birthday!" Edea cheered.
Agnés looked shocked.
"Huh? That's not really relevant..."
"But it was fun!" Edea exclaimed. "And it's part of our journey!"
"That's true." Tiz said with a smile.
The others nodded in agreement and Agnés blushed.
"What do you want for your Birthday, Tiz?" Edea asked.
It was Tiz's turn to flush red.
"E-Edea, you don't have to go to all the trouble." He said. "I-"
"Nonsense!" Edea cheered. "This is going to be great!"
And with that, she skipped out of the room. Ringabel grinned and followed her out. Tiz looked up at Agnés, who still had a dreamy look on her face.
"Don't worry Agnés." Tiz reassured her.
"Tiz. Thank you."
Tiz didn't even have time to ask why she was thanking him before he was wrapped into a hug from the vestal.
"Agnés!" Tiz gasped, hoping that nobody was nearby.
Agnés recoiled and flushed.
"Oh. I'm sorry Tiz. I wasn't thinking straight." Agnés looked horribly embarrassed and mad at herself.
"It's okay." Tiz said quickly. "It's going to be okay."
He was more reassuring himself than Agnés.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Tiz's own tortured scream woke him up on the morning of his Birthday.
His first birthday without his family. The bed across the room was empty, Ringabel obviously gone to help with the party. Tiz calmed himself down best he could, trying to think as positively as possible. He got dressed, muttering to himself as he changed.
"It'll be okay. I won't freak out. Happy occasion." Tiz muttered to himself, trying to stop the tears that threatened to fall at the mere mention of his family.
"You're up early."
Tiz's head whipped around to see Ringabel leaning against the doorframe.
"So are you." Tiz mumbled.
"Ah, well I've been awake since dawn getting ready for the big day." Ringabel said with a smirk.
"Oh..." Tiz replied.
"What's wrong Tiz" Ringabel asked suddenly.
Tiz looked away. Was he that easy to read, did he truly look so sad?
"I just..."
Ringabel swept one hand through his hair and sighed, his smirk falling.
"It's your birthday. You don't even need to come down. Although we all worked on it. Especially Agnés."
"I'm coming." Tiz said quickly.
There was no way he was putting his friends through their paces and then not even showing up. He was embarrassed about how he had acted. He hadn't even really worried about his birthday at all until the day.
Normally Til would be right there when he woke up, wishing him a happy birthday. Til would drag Tiz down the stairs where their parents would be waiting with big smiles on their faces...
He shook the images out of his mind and followed Ringabel down to the tavern.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
"There he is!" Datz hooted.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" Everyone chorused.
The tavern was decked out with balloons, streamers and of course, plate after plate of sweet treats, courtesy of Edea Lee.
It was all a bit... Over the top, yet Tiz couldn't help but smile.
This was his family.
These were his favourite people in the world.
There was a birthday cake too, chocolate. Tiz always had chocolate birthday cake every year. They got actual cacao beans and...
No. He had to stop comparing. He had to focus, focus on now. Focus on the smiles, the decorations, Edea eyeing the cake hungrily, Datz, Zatz and the proprietress chatting, Ringabel making witty remarks and Agnés, standing out amongst it all, a sheepish smile on her face. He had to focus on them.
Tiz walked over to Agnés.
"This is just... Wow." He said.
It was so lively. It was... Perfect.
"Do you like it?" Agnés asked nervously.
Tiz's face broke out into a cheesy grin.
"I love it. Thank you."
Agnés relaxed and the group came together, reminiscing.
"Hey, thief!"
The sound of Edea Lee's voice made everyone look at her.
She was pointing at... Airy.
Airy was floating in the air, holding a tiny fairy sized fairy cake (Pun intended)
and seemed to be trying to escape detection.
She let out a gasp and sped off.
"After her!" Edea yelled and took off running after Airy.
Ringebel shrugged and followed her. Tiz looked at Agnés and the two of them made chase.
-/-/-/-/-/-/
When Tiz and Agnés caught up to the rest of the group, Airy was cornered in the girls' room, mouth full of cupcake.
Edea looked furious and Ringabel was just laughing.
"Sorry, Edea." Airy said once she had swallowed.
"It's okay. But just this once." Edea said, sounding deadly serious.
Airy peeked over her shoulder and saw Tiz and Agnés.
"Good morning Agnés! Happy Birthday, Tiz!" She said chirpily, appearing to be a good mood.
"Hello Airy." Tiz and Agnés said in unison and both blushed. Edea didn't seem to notice but Ringabel sent the pair a knowing smirk.
"Well now that that's sorted... Present time!" Edea squealed and dashed off again.
Tiz suddenly felt numb. Presents... That was happy right? But the word just brought up memories of a simpler life that Tiz used to lead. I shouldn't have joined Agnés, he thought bitterly and instantly regretted it. Tiz glanced around, wondering if he had said it aloud. Clearly not, as Edea was disappearing around the corner and Agnés was still smiling next to Tiz. Ringabel raised an eyebrow, obviously guessing what he was thinking as Ringabel sort of had a skill for reading minds.
"Are the two of you just going to spend the rest of this wonderful day staring into each other eyes? Not that I'm complaining or anything. Just thinking maybe you should advance this relationship further." He said slyly.
Tiz glared at Ringabel, but he wasn't very good at glaring.
"What are you suggesting?" Agnés asked, horrified. "Unacceptable!"
"Are we going or not?" Airy whined, not seeming to understand the... "Argument" at hand.
Tiz had forgotten she was even there, Agnés immediately wiped the blush off her cheeks and Tiz just stood awkwardly.
"Of course." Ringabel purred. "I was just-"
"Yeah, yeah we don't need to talk about it." Tiz mumbled hurriedly.
Ringabel grinned in response.
"Let's go! There are probably more cupcakes there!" Airy groaned.
The four of them walked down, where the party was waiting for them.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
The first present was from Ringabel.
It was flat and rectangular shaped. A picture maybe? A painting? But of what? Tiz swallowed nervously as he started to tear at the neatly wrapped paper with his fingernails.
The first tear revealed bright blue sky, painted with extreme care. The second tear revealed an oak tree. Even though it was a still image, one got the idea that the tree was gently swaying in the wind. Red and orange leaves littered the ground at its feet. Tiz tore on, slowly now to catch every single detail as it came.
The next part of the painting that was revealed was unmistakably a sheep. Several sheep actually, a flock. All clustered around a small figure who stared at the sky in wonder. Not himself, Tiz realised, but Til.
Feeling tears threatening to spill, he ripped the last of the wrapping paper off and looked at it.
It was a painting of Norende. It was almost identical to the village Tiz knew. The large oak tree, the sheep, the lush green grass and the clear blue skies. In the distance was the village. Tiz stared at the painting of Norende in wonder. Ringabel had never been to Norende before, had he? Then how could he have made it so accurate? Had he been before he had lost his memories? Was painting his way of remembering.
Staring at the barely distinguishable blob (It was basically a skinny short blob) Tiz couldn't help but smile. He placed the picture carefully on the table and wiped away the one tear that had escaped his eye. He then realised that everyone in the room was silent and all eyes were on him (Save for Airy's, who was eating yet another cupcake) and turned around to Ringabel's surprisingly anxious face.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't-" he started.
Before Tiz could stop himself, he flung his arms around Ringabel and hugged him right.
"Thank you."
Ringabel at first seemed startled, which was an unusual expression for him, before relaxing and hugging the younger boy back. After a couple of seconds, he spoke up.
"Careful Tiz, save it for the ladies."
That made Tiz reluctantly let go and turn smiling to the two girls. Edea was beaming right back at him and Agnés was smiling shyly.
Edea offered him her gift.
-/-/-/-/-/-/
It was squishy.
That was the first adjective that came to mind after he had prodded and poked it. It was squishy and... Cuddly...
Tiz had a bad feeling about this.
He ripped the paper off and found himself face to face with a sheep.
A toy sheep. A bright neon blue, of all the colours, sheep. It was quite small, fitting into both of his hands. Tiz looked up at Edea, whose grin had faltered slightly.
Another Norende reference. Was he that easy to read? Did his friends know that he was missing Norende that much?
Tiz carefully placed the toy sheep on the table and smiled, in spite of himself. It brought back memories and it brought back good ones.
"Thank you, Edea." He said.
Edea grinned and hugged him happily.
"Edea, Agnés is glaring daggers at you." Ringabel scolded mockingly.
Agnés, who had been looking sort of mournful and sour, perked up instantly.
"W-What? N-No!" She yelped.
Untangling himself from Edea's iron grip, Tiz's eyes fell on the last member of their party. Agnés blinked.
"Oh. Well..."
"We have to go outside for her present!" Edea finished.
Agnés grabbed Tiz's hand.
"C'mon." She whispered.
The four of them started walking out, Tiz with confusion.
"Heeeeeeeey wait for me!" Airy, her voice muffled by the cupcakes she was eating, sped after the group.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
They passed Caldisla and entered the Norende Ravine. Tiz didn't speak on the whole journey, just focused on batting away he goblins that tried to attack. They had faced far stronger foes since their time in the Norende Ravine. It was hard to believe that the goblins had ever been a nuisance, they were so easy to take down now.
Tiz suddenly realised where they were going to. The chasm.
Where Norende was being "reconstructed"
Tiz looked guilty at the ground. In truth, very few people were working on it. The project was all but abandoned. Tiz sighed as they walked up to the chasm, wondering what Agnés's gift was, whilst staring over the laughable progress that had been made on-
Wait. Hang on a second.
There were people working on Norende. Loads of people. Far more than the amount of people that had been there when he had last seen it.
And... The shops were up and running, roads paved. It wasn't completely finished of course, but it was close. And if they kept this up, in the next couple of weeks they could have the whole village entirely reconstructed.
Tiz turned to Agnés.
"What did you do?" He asked in awe.
"I..." She stuttered. "I went into Caldisla and using my influence as a vestal I asked the people for assistance."
Tiz froze. She did what?
"For me?" Tiz asked, heart thumping in his chest.
"They were more than happy to help once I told them it was for you. They felt they owed you a debt and that this was the least that they could do." Agnés continued, still smiling shyly.
"I know how much you dislike making speeches." Tiz said softly.
"It's worth it." Agnés said firmly and then paused. "Are you pleased?"
Tiz grinned at her and threw her arms around Agnés. Agnés only let out a squeal of surprise and protest before she melted into the hug.
"Thank you. Tell everyone I said thank you. I feel kind of bad they're doing all this for me." Tiz said.
"They said they were happy to help." Agnés repeated.
"I know." Tiz said.
"Thank you, all of you." Tiz said, reluctantly ending his hug with Agnés.
Edea clapped her hands in excitement, whilst Ringabel executed a formal bow.
"Your welcome, Tiz." Agnés said.
Tiz's hand closed around here and he smiled warmly at her, cutting out the sounds around them.
Agnés stared at their intertwined hands and then looked back at Tiz.
"Happy Birthday." She said, returning his warm smile.
Tiz leaned forward and carefully pecked her on the forehead before he knew what he was doing. Agnés blushed but didn't protest.
Edea and Ringabel turned to leave, the latter smirking at what he would later call their "Romantic Development" and Agnés and Tiz turned to follow them.
When the group passed Caldisla, Tiz paused.
"Wait. Can I do something in Caldisla quickly? Alone?" Tiz asked.
"Tiz? What is it you want to do?" Agnés asked, confused.
Ringabel glanced at Tiz and back at Caldisla. He sighed and drew a hand through his hair. He knew what Tiz wanted to do.
"I-I want to visit the graveyard." Tiz confessed.
Agnés gasped and the happiness drained from Edea's face.
"Tiz... I don't know if..." Edea's voice trailed off.
"We'll wait at the inn." Ringabel said. "You do what you have to do."
"But Ringabel-" Edea protested.
"But nothing, Edea. Anyway, this gives me some time to spend alone with you lovely ladies." Ringabel interrupted, before winking at Tiz.
Edea huffed and punched him in the side. Ringabel let out a yelp.
Tiz mentally thanked him and then turned to Agnés.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" She asked in a small voice.
Tiz nodded and Agnés's sighed.
"Okay, Tiz."
-/-/-/-/-/-/
"Here lies Til Arrior, beloved brother and friend" Tiz read aloud.
He sighed as he looked at the grave.
He had expected to feel a pang of sadness, a wash of emotions, but instead he only felt numb. His brother wasn't in that grave, his body had never been found. Til Arrior was lying broken at the bottom of a chasm, with nobody to fix him.
Tiz's family was gone. It had taken a while, but Tiz had finally come to terms with it.
And... He had a new family now, one that he loved dearly.
All the memories of his old family, the good ones could stay, but the pain of remembering had to be swept away. He had to treasure the memories he had of his old family and then focus on making new ones with his new family.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
To everyone's surprise, Tiz was back quickly from the graveyard. Agnés had expected puffy red eyes and a grim expression, but Tiz was smiling and his eyes were bright. It was then that Agnés realised that Tiz had made the right decision.
He had chosen to let go.
Agnés smiled at him and he smiled back. Tiz walked over to her and wrapped his warm strong arms around her frail body.
"Thank you. For taking me along with you. Thank you." Tiz said.
"Wha-" Agnés hadn't been expecting that.
Tiz released the hug instead of answering and grinned at everyone else.
"All right, cake time!" Edea chirped.
The candles were lit and Tiz stared into the flickering fire.
He only had one wish and he knew what it was.
As his friends' singing died out, he closed his eyes and blew.
Yeah. I know! Anyways I actually have a vague idea of what Edea's chapter is, I just don't know two factors
A. What she's going to get from Agnés of all the people
B. What she's going to spend the day doing
If you have suggestions, please PM me them or leave them in the reviews. So until I can sort out those two things, Edea's chapter may not be for a while.
Dont get me started on Ringabel. Him having amnesia just makes everything difficult. I don't even have a date for his birthday, let alone a structure or his gifts.
please read and review!
End Layer (Guest): Thanks for all of your reviews on my various stories. Yeah Tiz messed up baaaaaaaaad XD but yeah if I'm going the way I think I'm going, all of the wishes will become relevant. Exceptisortofdontknowwhatagnés'sis.
Pokémon Lover (Guest): Thanks for the review. Well, you got your update! Glad to see that you're enjoying the story.