Dear Eiko,

Her feet hit the floor, and she was off. Today was a new day, full of new possibilities. Today was also a lucky day, she figured, as she had a great friend somewhere out there looking out for her and cheering her on to be the best that she could be. Today was going to be the start of a new adventure with or without the others. Today, her new life began! She was going to see the world! She was going to try new things!

You are, without a doubt, the smartest, most courageous six year old I think I'll ever meet.

But, first, she would visit Cid. He was a new exciting feature to her very dull days cooped up in the grand castle. Always a new adventure, always a new story, Cid was full of surprises. Eiko pushed through the guards preceding the Regent's chamber, "Miss Eiko, the regent is asleep"

She continued to push through, "S'okay, we're pals, 'scuse me." But a lady doesn't just barge through a gentleman's chamber so early in the morn.

One day, you're going to meet a very handsome guy,…

She pounded on the massive doors before immediately entering. A lady knocks first. "Good morning Cid!" She nodded to the other lump in the bed, "… And you as well, Lady Hilda!" She scurried over to the windows pulling back the drapes. "Eiko!" A protest came from the now upright Hilda, "You cannot just barge into another person's chamber without permission… we could have been indecent."

"But you must wake up! Today is a new day! Full of adventure and new destinies! We have to make haste!" She protested in return.

Cid, now standing clad in a robe, snatched the young summoner into his arms and scuffled her odd colored locks, "Did you hear that, dear? New adventures and destiny! It's as if she's physic!"

…and he's going to sweep you off your feet….

"Physic?" Eiko combed through her hair with her fingers as Cid placed her to the ground, "What? Did you have an adventure planned? How exciting!"

"Well, not exactly an adventure, sweetie…" Hilda withdrew from the bed and grabbed her robe as well.

"Oh… well then what?" Eiko's voice dropped slightly disappointed.

Cid sat lightly on the end of the bed and patted a spot next to him for her to sit, "Should we ask her now, dearest?"

"Ask me what?" Eiko blinked

And treat you like a princess.

Hilda crouched beside the bed and held out her hands for Eiko, "Sweetie, Cid and I have grown very fond of you… almost as if you were our own."

Cid placed his hand to Eiko's shoulder, "…and we'd hate to see you go back to Madain Sari all by yourself."

Hilda now holding Eiko's small war-tattered hands in her soft delicate ones, "What we're trying to say is, we would love for you to stay here with us, and…"

Eiko lunged into Hilda's arms without even hearing the rest, "Of course, yes!"

He's going to treat you like gold. You know how I know?

"We can even arrange for the moogles to visit as much as you would like." Cid said from the bed patting Eiko's back.

She released Hilda and looked to Cid, "Really? I'd love that."

"Of course, sweetie. Now, you can take some time to think we don't want to pressure you." Hilda smiled.

…because you refuse to accept any less.

Eiko scanned the large chamber and amongst the various treasures, she only saw two things she cared for… and they weren't even that shiny.

…and one day you're going to be a very strong independent young lady.

She hiccupped and jumped into Cid's arms this time, "What is there to think about? Thank you thank you thank you!"

Yep, the bastard that gets a hold of you is gonna be one lucky guy.

Cid just wrapped his arms around his nearly-adopted daughter and felt the cold tears trickle down from her face rested onto his neck… and soon he felt a few of his own tears on his cheek.

I'm just sorry that guy can't be me.

Sniffed and looked to the doorway of cheering onlookers. A few of her friends had seemed to squeeze through the crowd, Garnet in the middle, her hand wiping away a few tears of her own.

Hey, you know it couldn't have been me anyways…

Eiko released her grip on Cid with and smiled towards him. She walked to Garnet and grabbed her hands, "Dagger, I hope those are tears of happiness on my accord and not sad ones."

Dagger smiled, "I couldn't dream of being selfish at a time like this. I'm so very happy for you."

…I mean, as long as I'm being honest I think it's safe to confide in you that I had my eyes on another girl.

Eiko smiled to Dagger, "You know, Dagger, Zidane couldn't teach us everything… especially what to do when we're lonely. There are just some things we have to figure out for ourselves."

Take care of yourself, kid. You're really going places,

Zidane

"What to do when I felt lonely… That was the only thing you couldn't teach me. But we need to figure out the answer for ourselves…"


Sorry for the long wait. If you haven't noticed I took a pretty long hiatus. I will finish this fic before starting any other chapter fics, promise. I'm making a slow comeback, so please don't rush me. Anyways, Thank you all for reading, please review on your way out, and I'll be sure to update faster this time around. Also, tell me if the format I wrote it in is hard to read... I played with a million different ways to write this, I liked this best.