Author's Note: Thank you so much to my wonderful reviewers: Black Lotus Flower, gamefreek321, neville 2.0, Iceskatecraze, Winged Dancer, superultramario, and Chef Colette. I can't even tell you how much I appreciate the feedback, and I promise to get to many of your suggestions in time. Anyway, I know no one requested this pair, but I already had it written before I started receiving recommendations. It would be a complete waste not to post it. Regardless, I hope you enjoy it. These two together seemed incredibly bizarre to me, but I figured I'd give it a shot.

Titania – Dedication

Titania had seen a lot of things in her lifetime, many that she would have preferred not to have seen. Still, she had witnessed remarkable feats that the average person would barely even dream of. She'd seen a boy with a burden grow into a man with a responsibility. She'd seen a young woman rise against a tyrant to claim what was rightfully hers. But … it wasn't all triumphs.

The wind gently played with her long braid as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest, examining the sight before them. Clouds loomed overhead, threatening their somber gathering with rain. But not much could make the day more miserable.

An almost inaudible sniff was heard from her right, and she glanced over at Mist. The girl looked extremely weak and frail at that moment, leaning against Boyd for comfort. He looked baffled and shocked, obviously still taken aback by their situation. Nonetheless, he wrapped a tentative arm around Mist's shoulder as she began to cry.

"What … what's going to happen to the mercenaries …?" Her voice cracked, and she buried her face in Boyd's shoulder.

He awkwardly patted her back. "Now, now … I'm sure everything will be fine."

Titania was still having trouble taking in the events of the night. Everything happened so fast, she still didn't understand … How had it come to this? The war was over, and everything was supposed to be fine …

Ike was away for a few days. Elincia had summoned him to receive payment for their tremendous aid, and once again, he was offered noble status. The commander had refused, insisting that the life of a mercenary was the only one he planned on living. Titania approved of this notion, believing Ike would be very out of place in such a sophisticated setting. He had many talents, but holding his tongue in the presence of royalty was not one of them.

The company had been left in the hands of both Soren and herself. It was only for a few days, and they could manage fine without their commander in that period of time. Soren handled most of the work even when Ike was present, so there would hardly be a major change.

Her mind returned to the conversation she'd had with the tactician the previous evening. Once again, he was seated at the head of the table, rustling through papers, taking inventories, balancing the budget, and everything of the like. This was hardly unusual, but he was always the first to rise in the morning and the last to finally rest. Titania actually wondered if he got any sleep at all, considering he was always right where he was in the morning when she left him at night.

"Soren …" she began, pulling up a chair beside him. "You need to sleep."

He didn't even bother looking up from his papers. "I need to finish this paperwork."

"No, you need to sleep. Your eyes are so bloodshot …"

"My eyes are red, Titania. They always have been."

"That's not what I mean! When was the last time you had a good night of sleep?"

Soren actually seemed to have to ponder the question. "I would assume it was sometime before the Mad King's War."

"Well, we're not at war now." She pointed out. "Soren, you need to be well-rested if you're going to take care of this company. Without Ike here, all of the responsibility falls on us. You won't be able to think rationally if you keep getting two hours of sleep every night."

"My lack of rest is what keeps the mercenaries functioning." he told her dryly. "You don't need to worry about me. I'm quite used to this by now."

Titania let out an exasperated sigh, examining the sage for any signs of weakness. He stared back at her with unwavering discontent, and she knew arguing with him was only a waste of breath.

Dedication.

Even if it was for the good of the company, it was hardly for the good of his health. "Try to get some sleep, please. You never know when we'll have to battle. You know as well as I do that bandits have been on the prowl lately."

"I am hardly concerned with bandits. The Greil Mercenaries have seen far worse."

That much she knew was true, but ignorance invited death. Titania considered pointing this out to him, but his aggravated frown showed that he was in no mood to be pushed. Instead, she simply sighed again and patted him on the shoulder.

"Good-night, Soren."

"I doubt it."

She rolled her eyes but restrained herself from saying anything else. She lightly walked down the hall to her quarters, being careful not to disturb any of the sleeping mercenaries.

The minute Titania rested her head on her pillow, she felt uneasy. The darkness seemed darker, and the shadows seemed more sinister. After years of battle and suspense, her intuition was keener and her awareness was much sharper than it once was. Anxious thoughts clouded her mind, and sleep refused to come. She wondered if she was becoming paranoid after years of combat.

Through the thin walls, she could hear Gatrie happily snoring away, oblivious to whatever apprehensive thoughts drifted through her head. Vague muffling noises followed as she assumed Shinon smacked his roommate with a pillow to shut him up. Nothing had changed, and yet …

An abrupt crash sounded through the building, and Titania rocketed up in her bed. Gatrie's snoring came to an immediate halt as the sound of shattering glass reverberated through the building.

Her door swung open, and a trembling Mist stood in the threshold.

"Titania, what's going on?" she asked fearfully.

Titania leapt to her feet, quickly snatching her axe from its place against the wall. "I don't know, Mist … Do you know where the noise is coming from?"

She pointed a shaking finger down the hall. "The mess hall … I heard men yelling … B-but I don't recognize their voices."

"Soren was in the mess hall …" Titania muttered nervously. "Mist, you should stay here. Don't let anyone find you."

"But what if something happens to you? Do you think Soren's okay?"

"That's what I'm going to find out." Axe over her shoulder, she sprinted from the room, leaving the terrified girl behind her.

The door to Shinon and Gatrie's room was ajar, and neither were inside. Titania assumed they'd taken it upon themselves to discover the problem, but she was hardly worried about them. Rolf's scared voice was heard inside the room he shared with Boyd, and neither of them had yet to leave for the mess hall.

She skidded to a halt as she flew through the doorway into the mess hall, trying to comprehend what exactly was going on.

Shinon and Gatrie were off to her left, weapons on the ground. The sniper was letting out a vile slew of curse words, and Gatrie simply stood in dead silence. He apparently didn't share the vast vocabulary of is companion.

Her eyes shifted to five unfamiliar men roaming the room. Each was armed with some sort of weapon as they monitored the mercenaries. One had an arm around Shinon's neck and a dagger at his throat while another had a sword aimed at Gatrie's forehead right between the eyes. Soren was being restrained by two men, each with a hold on one of his arms. The sage had apparently put up quite the struggle against the intruders, but he had no tome with him to properly defend himself.

"What's going on here?" Titania asked forcefully, directing her question at the only bandit without a captive.

He sauntered over to her and laughed, a considerable sway in his step. Titania winced away from the stench of alcohol on his breath. His freakish beady eyes frightened her as they never strayed away from her face.

"Where's yer commander?" he questioned harshly. "And put that there axe down!"

"Commander Ike is not here." She stepped back, refusing to loosen the grip on her weapon. "Do you have business for us?"

"What kind of business does it look like? We look like customers to you?" She eyed the large unshaven man with disgust, cringing from his stink.

"Make her put down that axe!" This yell came from one of Soren's captors, and the sage glared up ferociously at him.

"Titania, kill these men and stop this idiocy. We do not have time to deal with drunken low-life bandits."

Soren's remark promptly earned him a hard slap in the face, and the lead bandit turned his attention away from Titania back to the tactician.

"We don't have time for a mouthy little whelp like you, kid!" he snarled, unsheathing his sword. "Who do you think you are anyway?"

"I'm the tactician for this group. I help eliminate scum like you all the time." Soren retorted.

"Soren." Titania warned. "We should give them what they want and let them leave … nothing needs to get out of hand here."

"The lady speaks the truth!" barked the man restraining Shinon. "Let's get what we came here for and scram!"

"I refuse to submit to the likes of these criminals! This is madness!" Soren attempted to jerk his arm free from one of the bandits, but he simply received another blow to the face. If nothing else, this fueled his struggle. Sadly, physical strength was never Soren's strong point.

"Is it money you want?" Titania called over the ruckus. "I'll hand over the entire treasury if that's what it takes for you to leave! Granted, it's not much, but …"

"We are not giving felons our hard earned money! We are mercenaries!" the sage yelled.

For the good of the company Titania watched Soren try to wrestle himself free from the bandits. And, for the good of the company, Titania watched Soren die.

In one swift motion, the bandit plunged his sword through Soren's stomach. The metal drove all the way through his body and emerged through his back before the weapon was withdrawn. Soren painfully crumpled to the ground without a sound, the will to fight wiped from his face.

Titania's axe slid from her grasp, and it hit the ground with a loud metallic clank. Gatrie gasped beside her, and his mouth fell open. Even Shinon stumbled backwards, letting out another chain of explicit words. Several words were caught in her throat as she wanted to scream and run to Soren's side, but her legs wouldn't move.

The bandit slung the sword over his shoulder casually and wiped his hands on his filthy pants. "Geez, I thought that kid would never shut up. Now, missy, you were talking about money?"

Her horrified green eyes drifted from Soren's weakening figure to the disgusting man before her. Without a single thought, she lifted her axe from the ground and swung with more ferocity than she'd ever managed in her life. The man's head flew clean off his body before he could even muster a scream. Blood splattered from his stub of a neck all over Titania, but she didn't care. He killed Soren, and she wished she could kill him twenty times over again.

Shinon and Gatrie seemed to take this hint for action as they escaped from the clutches of their captors, dodging the hands that lunged after them. Shinon whacked a man over the head with his bow so hard that the bandit fell to the ground unconscious. The sniper made sure to promptly shoot an arrow through his throat thereafter. Gatrie's lance struck a man in the ribs so hard that an audible crack sounded as he fell to the ground. After an agonizing shriek of pain, Gatrie finished him off.

The remaining two men attempted to flee through the window they'd entered in, but Titania destroyed one with her axe, and the other was so riddled with Shinon's arrow by the time he climbed up that he simply flopped over dead outside the building.

"Get Rhys." Titania ordered to either one that would listen. Gatrie immediately took off running down the hall, yelling as loud as he possibly could.

"It's not going to do any good." Shinon sullenly pointed out. "It's too late."

"Stop it, Shinon. You don't know that." But Titania knew he was right, and the sinking feeling in her stomach could only be ignored for so long.

She crouched down next to Soren, whose heavy breathing and quiet groans of agony were quickly fading. "Soren, hang on. It's going to be okay. Rhys will be here soon … We just need you to hang in there … Everything is going to be—"

"Titania, it's not going to be okay!" Soren yelled, writhing in pain. "I … I'm going to die."

"You can't die … We need you, Soren … Ike needs you … We all need you …" she told him desperately. "Please, don't talk like that …"

"Ike …" he muttered. "Help him, Titania … Don't let anything happen to him … like what happened to me."

Her voice cracked as she attempted to say something, but she lost her train of thought at the draining color from his face.

"I … I didn't finish … taking inventory. You'll do it … right?" His crimson eyes didn't have their hard piercing aura, almost vacant of all emotion except sorrow.

"Yes, I'll finish the inventory." She would have laughed if she hadn't known he was serious.

"Good … someone has to keep this company … alive …" His eyes drifted shut, and the forced heaving of his chest came to a stop. He slumped to the ground, unmoving, and their tactician would never speak again.

Shinon had been stunned to silence behind her, and even he had no sarcastic gist to add to the situation. The mercenaries migrated from their rooms to see the commotion, but not one expected the sight that actually awaited them. A quiet drifted over them unlike one they'd experienced since the death of Greil.

And so Titania looked down at the ground below them where Soren was now buried. The only thing left behind to mark his grave were his favorite book of anima magic and one of Ike's old swords. It was only fitting that a possession of his best friend marked his burial. Soren wouldn't have had it any other way.

The mercenaries huddled around Soren's grave began to depart one by one. Gatrie gave a somber salute before leaving. Shinon spared a curt nod for the boy he often called a superior whelp. Rhys said one final prayer before solemnly leaving the sight. And soon, everyone was gone except Titania. She remained alone, staring at the place where her tactician lay.

She drew in a quivering breath. "Soren ... please get some rest. You've earned it."

Tears slid down her face as she turned and walked away.

Dedication.

Damn his dedication.

For as much time as Soren and Titania spend together, there's really not much interaction solely between the two. This was one of the stranger pairs to write about, but I'm sure I'll have to a few weirder ones. I hope this isn't too morbid … For what it's worth, please review. Again, thank you so much to my loyal readers!