Author's Notes: The End. This was a bit of a mission as I said before I'm not very confident at writing speech for these guys. Though I am relatively pleased with this chapter's outcome even though it does get a bit cheesy.
Come on guys, please review it's quite dishearten when I've gone to so much work and not gotten any feedback.
EDIT: Re-uploaded, because parts were incorrect and I'd got muddled with the Crimson spheres.
After a long three-hour walk they were finally advancing on Guadosalam. The soft, squelch of Logos' boots on the damp ground was the only sound that filled the ominous silence. Leblanc lay gloomily in Logos' arms, holding his helmet over her head to protect her hair from the downpour. Logos was receiving the main wrath of the weather; he was soaked to the bone. His eyes were barely visible through his mop of wet, black hair but Leblanc knew his expression was solemn and concentrated. Leblanc assumed this concentration was due to the fact that he needed all his strength to focus on getting home and ignoring the obvious searing pain in his side.
As they approached the front door of the Mansion the goons began to whisper furiously, both in shock and relief at the sight of them both. One hurriedly opened the door and stood aside so Logos could enter, he gave a comforting smile towards Leblanc before returning to his post. Logos breathed a sigh and gave his head a light shake in order to dispose of some of the water that had latched itself to his hair. He climbed the stairs wearily, he seemed to have let down his guard, and Leblanc saw a noticeable change in his posture she hadn't realised just how mauled he was.
Leblanc was extremely thankful when they entered her room. It was wonderful to feel the warmth and safety of home once more especially after the events that had unfolded. It was very calming to hear the gentle trickle of water from the fountain on the far right of her bedroom, as well as see the hard yet somewhat welcoming eyes of her Nooj statue. Though after a moment she had to look away from it knowing it was not reality and Nooj was still missing. The most inviting vision though, was that of her bed. As Logos laid her down her head sunk into the fluffy pillows and the soft blanket swallowed her body so she was incarcerated in a cocoon of warmth and pure comfort.
Logos squeezed what he could grab of his short hair to remove some more pesky droplets.
"There's a towel in the bathroom if you want to use it, love." Leblanc said sitting up slightly.
"Thanks, boss."
"And while you're at it, fetch me my nightgown."
"Yes, boss." It wasn't till after he said it he realise that their had been a little too much zeal in his voice than deemed necessary
He wandered into the huge, limestone room and nabbed the towel that hung on the rack beside the massive bath. Forget about bathing, you could do a decent twenty laps in that tub, and Leblanc had a habit of spending up to an exclusive two hours in it's depths. He draped the towel over his head and ruffled his hair fiercely finally discarding all the excess water. He replaced the towel but not before considering wrapping it round his wounded chest, best not, likelihood is that it would stain the cotton and Leblanc would not be pleased.
He crossed the room to a carved, wooden door that depicted images of delicate angels. He opened it to reveal a long corridor with all kinds of majestic garments hanging on either side. The majority of which blazed a bright pink. Logos' eyes widened. God, it was like being a kid in a candy store. He stepped into the wardrobe and gazed round at all the fascinating clothes. This was quite exciting if anything, Logos had never seen Leblanc in much else other then her magenta dress however he had seen her in one of (what he assumed) many nightgowns. He continued down the corridor until he reached her nightwear (occasionally stopping to gawk at a particular outfit and at one point he did edge open a draw to be met by a lovely pair of silk knickers). His eyes glanced over the silky fabric, when did Leblanc wear half of these? Was it when Nooj was here? Logos had certainly never seen them. He shuddered slightly, the thought of Leblanc doing it with a 'cyborg' made him feel slightly ill.
He flicked through the gowns, his smile grower bigger with each passing attire. Finally he came to that familiar dress. It was a long, pink (obviously), satin gown with a low back and three slits cut into it. Two on either side that would come up to about her thigh and one down the chest that terminated just above her hips with pink thread woven in a zigzagged fashion across it. Leblanc always seemed to have a desire to show off her fabulous cleavage and toned mid drift, she certainly wasn't modest. Logos had always found it rather alluring and personally quite enjoyed it (hey if you've got it, flaunt it) although he had to admit at times he found it difficult not to stare.
He carefully removed it from its hanger and carried it back to the bedroom, making sure none of the dainty clothe dragged upon the floor. It seemed Leblanc had reverted to her original stat: her expression was melancholy and disconnected. She didn't even notice that Logos had returned until he gave a light cough.
"Oh, there you are, well you took your time."
Logos rolled his eyes but still gave a small smirk, yes definitely back into her original stat, the lashings out and harsh phrases had started already. She took the dress from him and removed her gloves. She was about to detach herself from her patterned dress when she turned to Logos. She paused and gave him a hellish scowl,
"Do you mind?"
"No." He couldn't help it. It just spilled out. He hadn't even realised he was staring. He had to recover and quick. "Oh, oh, sorry, of course."
He turned around and slapped himself hard in the forehead (perhaps a little too hard because it made an embarrassingly loud 'smack'). This sort of thing had happened many times before but for some reason it always seemed to just get more and more humiliating. This must be the tremendous downfall of having testosterone as high as a bull.
"Could you help me with this, love?" Came a voice after a few minutes.
Logos hoped it would be a stuck zip but unfortunately Leblanc was referring to her left boot. Logos had almost forgotten about her serious injury and it seemed she was really struggling to get the footwear off without causing herself harm. He knelt by the edge of the bed and inspected the boot trying to figure out a way of removing it without hurting her. He could cut the fabric away and then slip it off; the boot was shredded to pieces anyway. However the material was quite taught around her leg and he feared that he might cut away more skin if he did attempt such a plan.
"I think," he said slowly, "we're just going to have to brace ourselves and pull it off."
Leblanc bit her lip nervously. She re-adjusted herself and gave an anxious cough.
"Erm, ok, on three?"
"If you wish?"
Leblanc inhaled, Logos raised an eyebrow in concern and gripped the boot.
"Short and sweet," he said trying to calm her, "quick like a bandage."
She nodded and began.
"One…two…" she paused, "three."
Logos tugged hard on the boot and eased it off as fast as he could. It turned out to be a lot more challenging then it at first seemed. The blood had dried round the cut seems of the fabric causing it to hook onto the skin in some areas. Leblanc winced and actually gave quite an unnerving whimper once she was free of the boot. Logos placed the boot on the floor and looked back to Leblanc's ankle. It seemed the wound had now been re-opened and fresh blood was beginning to seep out.
Logos took the final potion from his supplies. Leblanc was lucky he had one spare, he'd used the rest up while fighting fiends prior to finding her and unknown to her he had quickly used one to up his strength before starting back on their journey to Guadosalam. He poured it over the cut and allowed it to soak in, Leblanc gritted her teeth and clenched the bed sheets as the liquid made contact, causing a sharp sting in her leg.
"Ow." She said in an annoyed tone.
"Yes, quite, but that should help. Hopefully most of it will heal up over night. Though chances are it'll probably scar, it's already looking rather scabby."
Leblanc stared at Logos for a moment a little confused and nauseated.
"Oh, sorry." Logos replied when he noticed her expression. "What I meant is, it'll take time but it will get better."
"Right." She relaxed a little and began recline into her mountain of pillows.
"You wouldn't happen to have any bandages in here, would you?" Logos inquired.
"Oh, for your side?" She responded, sitting up again as she remember his injury.
Logos was somewhat taken aback. He didn't think she would have that reaction to such a simply question. Neither did he think she'd even recall his own wound or even to actually acknowledge it.
"Actually," he answered, "I was going to use it to bandage your shin."
Leblanc blinked. He was being surprisingly selfless, wasn't he?
"Oh, well, there should be a small roll in the bottom draw of my dresser."
Surely enough there was, and indeed it was a small roll but enough to suffice for her wound. The room was silent while Logos began to wrap the material round her elegant ankle. Leblanc was staring blankly at the fountain ahead of her. She was obviously in deep thought and her eyes seemed to be screaming to cry. Every now and again Logos would hit a tender spot and she'd quail slightly but otherwise she was completely motionless. Her hostile silence was getting a bit too much for Logos.
"So why did you run off without telling us?" It had to be asked sooner or later, best to hit the nail on the head from the word 'go'.
Leblanc looked rather astounded by the question but realised that she would have to explain her actions.
"I wanted to go by myself." She answered.
Logos gave her a serious look; it was rather alarming. She sighed.
"I got a signal on my map of a sphere. It had very clear waves and I wondered if it was important. At first I didn't take much notice but the waves just kept growing stronger and it made me think, what if it was," she had made herself rather emotional. She gave her eye a light wipe and re-collected herself, "about Nooj? About why he disappeared. Where to find him."
"But why didn't you tell us? Why by yourself? Look what happened to you, God forbid if I hadn't found you. If anything had happened to you, I would never have been able to for-." He stopped; he'd gone too far. He cleared his throat and made a signal with his eyes for her to reply.
"I wanted to do it on my own. It was between Nooj and me, personal. Besides you two always come with me and I wanted to prove to myself that I can do without." She looked down at her hands guiltily. "Obviously I can't."
"No," Logos intervened, "I've seen you do plenty of missions on your own and let me say you never cease to amaze me or Ormi. You're a fine fighter." He gave her an encouraging smile. She smiled back. "Perhaps being locked up in here for the past few days made you forget your skills, maybe gave you less confidence." She nodded gently. "And perhaps not eating properly for a while caused you to be weaker in battle." He raised an eyebrow; she looked a little ashamed.
"I-." She began but that was all she could say.
"We've been very concerned. Needless to say it's been very tense and played hard on my nerves running the syndicate without you. I wonder whether you know how much we all worry about you sometimes. How much we admire and respect you. How much we care."
She twiddled her fingers awkwardly. There came the same inhospitable silence once more. However it did not last anywhere near as long as the first time, as Leblanc spoke up.
"I'm sorry. It was foolishly of me to run off like that, you're right it was dangerous." Logos was stunned by her apology. She looked up from her hands and made absolute eye contact with him. "And I'm sorry for causing you, all of you, so much anxiety. I'd didn't realise I'd affected you so."
Something about her gaze, it was hypnotising. She was telling him something but he dare not define what it was in case he turned out to be wrong. For some reason it caused his insides to melt and he could feel his face getting hot. He smiled shyly and had to look away for a moment.
"It's alright." He finally said. "You had your reasons and I can't deny you your humanity. No one's perfect, we all slip up at one time or another." Did he just say 'I' instead of 'we'? Ah shit. But she didn't notice in fact it seemed she was quite relieved and grateful.
Logos wrapped up the last of the wound and made sure it was secure before arising to his feet.
"So did you find the sphere?"
"Hmm?" Leblanc replied dreamily. "Oh, yes, as matter a fact I did, love."
She pulled out a red-pigmented sphere from the folds of her magenta dress, which now lay in disarray next to her. Logos was quite curious as to exactly where she had extracted it from, that dress wasn't very practical for carrying supplies and what not.
"I found it a little closer to home fortunately. The waves on the map displayed it being in Luca not too far from the stadium. I found this odd dome shaped thing that I thought might be it but it made some funny noises and after a while and I realised it was filming me! Or filming everything around me, I'm not sure I think I was holding it backwards. So anyway I couldn't find it so I used the sphere detector. I was running all over Spira's south for hours and it didn't communicate much at all till I reached the highroad. A group of travellers told me they had seen something red flashing earlier on one of the valley's ledges. I managed to get to it but when I descended I was greeted by that pack of brutes, and then you showed up." She gave a small shrug then gazed intently into the sphere. "I haven't had the chance to watch it though."
"Well let's watch it now then."
Leblanc passed the sphere to Logos and he placed it on a small pedestal next to the fountain Leblanc had been previously staring at. A section of wall behind the water feature opened up to reveal a screen that flashed repeatedly as it tried to register the sphere. The screen buzzed into life.
Logos' heart nearly stopped when he saw the image appear on the screen. It was a recording of none other then that fateful Mi'hen operation and that young girl…oh what was her name? The one with the Gullwings. Ache? Agony? Paine, that was it, she was recording it. Logos had to admit though he was intrigued: he'd never actually seen any of their recordings only those recordings of the report Ormi and him were forced to make.
It was so, irksome. At first it seemed to be a simple recording of Kinoc's plan becoming a complete success: approximately forty odd squadron blowing themselves to pieces. However it soon became much more haunting. It seemed Lords Nooj, Baralai and Gippal had been taken over by some strange invisible force; it was almost like their bodies had been inhabited by the pyreflies that floated all around that ghostly cave. The events that occurred after that were almost unreal, sending a dark shiver up Logos's spine. He couldn't quite explain why it disturbed him so, perhaps because he was partly responsible for them going in that cave in the first place, because he later was sent to kill them or perhaps it was simply because he knew that they were all still alive and still had question left unanswered.
Leblanc was now sitting bolt upright,
"Noojie?"
Logos turned to her. She looked absolutely mortified, her eyes wide and face pale.
"Wha-What was going on?"
Logos bit his lip,
"I can't say, very strange though I must admit."
"Well, where were they? What was going on? And why was that Dullwing girl with them?"
He did not reply, but instead look away idly, trying hard to not attract any more attention to himself. Leblanc was utterly defeated now, falling back into her pile of pillows with an anguished sigh. Logos couldn't help feeling at fault in this situation but he couldn't tell her, it just wouldn't be right. Logos and Ormi had agreed along time ago not to tell Leblanc the truth about their past. It had never been something they were proud of and so they kept it hidden away. Logos looked back at Leblanc slowly, and pondered for a moment.
"Perhaps those Gullwings know something, like you said that one was recording it."
"Yes." She said sitting up gingerly. "Yes, that one's obviously hiding something! Though I don't really want to go running to those Dullwings for help."
"I don't think we have much of a choice."
She sat back in a huff.
"Boss," Logos said in a somewhat patronising tone.
"Oh, alright. We'll see them as soon as their little concert's over."
As she finished her sentence she let out a low yawn. She groaned and rubbed her weary, red-rimmed eyes.
"Perhaps you should get some rest, regain your strength." Logos said observantly. He began towards the door, "good night, boss."
She was about to say the same but a thought struck her. A strange realisation she had yet to take in.
"Logos!" He turned his head, a little surprised. "Come here."
She motioned with her hand for him to come closer. He approached her looking a tad bewildered. He knelt beside her but she continued to signal for him to come closer, now he was really confused. Suddenly there was the feather light touch of her hand on his cheek and her glossy lips against his. It was only a short peck but Logos didn't care, he'd bottle this memory away for a raining day. Leblanc broke away and laughed nervously,
"Thank you."
Logos stared with wide eyes. (Leblanc cocked her head slightly; this was the first time she'd seen his eye colour. A dusky emerald.)
"Pleasure." There was that zeal again.
Logos practically waltzed out her bedroom all the while a stupid grin plastered on his face, but did he care? Not one bit. As he closed the door behind him he pulled back his left arm in a victorious motion.
"Ye-AH!" Well that wasn't smart.
He collapsed onto his knees grabbing his side, however this time he didn't mind the dull pang quite so much.
"Logos? Is that you?"
Ormi came tottering up the stairs, his brow furrowed.
"Are yous alright? Where's Leblanc?"
"Everything's fine now. I tended to Leblanc, she's now in bed and wishes not to be disturbed."
"What happened?"
Logos looked up at Ormi who was now knelt down next to him.
"Ormi, believe me when I say I've had the best night of my life."
"Ah yous not gonna get me this time. Quit with the sarcasm and tell me what happened."
Oh if only he knew.
