Another Chapter for you to read :Þ

Chapter 3: Fish out of water.

Noah found the music Ash had given him to be very emotional, he would have to ask her about it when they came to visit later. The rain pelted the windows, not that he noticed, the only rhythmic sound he was worried about was the music, which he liked very much. He could not help thinking of her, she had given him the music and that kiss on his cheek with an open promise that stirred his imagination. Yes, it disturbed him that she was identical to the princess, but she was so different, she felt more passionate some how. He sighed, hoping that she would be here soon, with his brother and charge in tow as the hospital was quite a lonely place in a single room. He grown bored with the bed controls, finding every combination possible before he put it back in its holster.

Maybe she would bring him something else to occupy his time when she arrived, a book perhaps, or another piece of this amazing technology they had here, and all without magecite! He found himself studying the small monolithic device many time before giving up on how it worked, again, he would ask Ash how it worked.

"Would you like a cuppa, dear?" A woman asked from the door, she looked to be in her early sixties with a friendly round face and curly greying hair.

"Uh," he pulled the ear buds from him, "Sorry, could you please repeat the question?" he had heard her, only he did not understand what a 'cuppa' was.

"Would you like a cup of tea or coffee?" she asked more slowly and then giggled, "You youngsters with your IPod thingies." She trotted in pushing a trolley with two stainless-steel pots, a smaller jug and a bowl with sugar.

"Um, coffee please," he answered with the respect he had shown his parents, "Thank you."

In a white ceramic mug, she poured the brown liquid, "Milk?"

"Please."

"Sugar?"

"Two."

She stirred the coffee and handed him his beverage, "Who ever she is, I hope she realises she has a gentleman." Noah looked up at her, confused, "I see that faint smile you have, I may be old, but I am not blind, young man."

He blushed, "You are quite observant, ma'am," he sipped his coffee, "Thank you."

Ash closed the door behind her, after showing Fran her wonderful contraption and explaining to Balthier how to use it, she left them and returned to the lounge room. Everybody seemed to have left. She turned, walking up the stairs to Basch's room, she knocked, "You had better get dresses; your brother is expecting you!" she called through the door.

As she was about to walk away, the door opened, Basch stood there still in his towel, "I would, but I have no clean clothing."

Ash giggled, "We'll grab something from Vossy again; then we'll buy you some clothes after the visit to your brother." Basch looked nervous, gripping the towel closer to his body, "You alright?"

"I'm fine," he shifted from side to side, the silence becoming more awkward by the second. Finally, he broke it, "I thought you would be spending with Fran and Balthier."

She turned away, "I … changed my mind, and," her eyes dancing around the hallway, "for some stupid reason, love at a thousand RPM wasn't as appealing as it sounds." He stared at her blankly, "Never mind, Vossler's three doors down." She continued down the hall towards Larsa's room. The boy was fortunate that spare clothing from Ash's nephew was at hand; he had found the clothing waiting for him on his bed, no doubt from Alex.

Larsa greeted by Ash at his bedroom door, "So we can still see Gabranth?"

"You know, he wants to be called Noah now," she informed him, "anyway, you ready to go?"

He nodded and ran to the living room. Ash returned to the lounge room to rummage through the bags to retrieve a few things and packed them into the car, Larsa followed her out and sat in the car, "When do we leave?" he asked politely.

"As soon as Basch gets here and we're off."

Basch knocked on Vossler's door, still holding his towel with an iron grip. Vossler answered the door, "I was wondering when you would remember we were the same size," he smiled. "Come, I have already pulled out something suitable."

"Thank you," Basch walked towards his friend's bed, sitting down on the corner. He picked up the black, cotton t-shirt and slipped it over his head, followed by a pair of blue jeans.

"Ah," Vossler screwed his nose up, "you can keep those."

"Thank you," Basch missed the displeasure on Vossler's face.

"I hope you remember to pick up underwear when you're out," the disgruntled knight sighed as he turned towards his desk.

"Oh, right," he looked down at his lap, "Sorry."

Vossler laughed, "Will Ashelia be going with you?"

"No, she had a head ache," Basch replied casually, "She's gone to lay down." He pulled a pair of socks on then headed for the door.

"Wait, you will need a jacket," Vossler threw a black, silk lined, leather jacket, "it's cold out there."

Ash waited at the door, holding another of those music devices that everyone of her age group had. She saw Basch race down the stairs and make a b-line for the patio, where his boots were drying. Slipping them on, he sighed, feeling the tell tale chill of cold, damp leather boots. He walked back to the door where Ash waited, "Ready."

"Cool," she turned, "Hop in." She sat in the driver's seat and plugged the device into the car stereo. The music erupted around the car as she began to drive off. She began singing to the song that played.

Basch was taken aback, she had told him she could not sing at all, but her voice was perfect, matching both the pitch and timbre. Larsa watched her with his eyes wide, he liked the song, and it was very different to the music he grew up with in Archadia, this sounded Happy. "What is this?" Larsa finally asked after the fifth song.

"You mean 'who' is this," she corrected, "its Queen, this is my brother's IPod; so we get his music." She gradually returned to singing along with the song.

Basch and Larsa remained silent as the listened to her and were disappointed when the pulled into the car park.

Penelo danced around her room with her new clothes, they were unlike the clothing available to her in Ivalice; these were, well, practical. She no longer had to undress to duck behind a bush; she did not have to duck behind bushes any more either, the convenience of indoor plumbing made her feel like royalty.

"Whatchya doin'?" Vaan asked, opening the door.

"Come have a look at what I Got!" she cried, not looking at him as she tipped the contents of her shopping bags on the bed, "I have new everything! Even stuff that I don't know what it is!" she looked up to see her friend wearing a towel still, "Clothes still wet?"

"Yeah, and I don't have any spare," he sat down, sifting through her new belongings, "Hey what's this?"

Penelo shrugged, "Beats me, but Ash, ah the new one, told me that it's suppose to be underwear."

Vaan looked over the small triangular piece of material, "No way, this would cover nothing! Why bother wearing something if it does nothing?"

"New world, new customs I guess," She giggled, picking up another item that confused her, "This is supposed to clean your teeth." The Electric toothbrush remained trapped in the impenetrable casing that Penelo tried to break through earlier, "I can't see how we can use it, if you can't get it out from its packaging."

"Will I need to get one?" He asked, looking through more of the many items on the bed.

"Yeah, Ash said that we should brush our teeth twice a day!" Penelo threw the toothbrush back on the bed, "I don't think I've done it since that time we stayed in Archades, you know, at that hotel where Balthier ripped off those Seeqs in the card game."

"Oh yeah, and we had to leave before they awoke and realised we had all their gil," Vaan laughed hard, "I never ran so fast in my life!"

Penelo began to sort her new clothing and fold it up, "I'm gonna miss those days," she murmured quietly, "No more fighting the Empire, going on hunts or Magicks, it's all gone now, what do we do here?"

"I know what you mean," Vaan sighed, "you know Pirates here are nasty! Killing people and demanding huge ransoms for boats they capture."

"That's awful!" she shrieked, "We can't be Sky-Pirates now, not if they are like that!"

"No, they are not what we want to be," Vaan lay back, "so what do we do now?"

"I could dance!" She smiled, "Ash dances you know."

"And what do I do?" He asked, folding his hands on his stomach, "I don't know anything other than stealing, and that's really hard here."

"Not to mention that it's illegal," she giggled, "I bet Balthier's having the same crisis." She began to place her clothing into the draws, "Anyway, poor Fran has to wear a ridiculously large hat to go out of the house."

"I know, because Viera don't exist here," he sat up again, "hey you want something to eat? I found some left over pizza in the kitchen."

"Okay," She closed the draw, "race ya!" she sprinted past Vaan, taking his towel with her.

"Hey!"

Noah heard Larsa running towards his room and braced himself for the attack that would hen would endure soon. "Gabranth!" he called, skidding as he turned the corner, "You'll never guess!"

The boy collided with him, giving the judge a bear hug that knocked the wind out of him, "you're right, I'll never guess," he coughed, "So what has my tiny Lord so excited?"

"There is a girl here in the hospital and she is a genetic match for Vayne, what ever that means," he spilled out, rapidly, "anyway, Vayne survived and now she can't have his kidney, so I've decided to see if she can have one of mine!"

Noah tried to let the information his young charge had spurted out absorb when Basch and Ash entered the room, "Don't think they'll let you, kid," Ash said as she sat in the chair next to the bed, "they prefer adults for organ donation."

"Oh," the young emperor's mood darkened with the news he that could not help, "Will the girl be alright?"

"She's being looked after by the best doctors in the area," Ash informed him, "they'll find another donor." She gave the boy a reassuring smile, one which he reluctantly returned.

She turned her gaze to Basch, who simply laughed. Noah felt a jolt of something he did not like, Why is she looking at him? He growled inwardly, but he noticed that she had, in turn, settled her eyes on his without him knowing. She had a smile on her face, a beautiful, flawless smile that imbedded itself in his mind. "What has you so happy this evening?" he asked finally.

"I have some presents for you," she picked up a bag he did not know she had and tossed it towards him, "Just a few essentials, couldn't have you stuck in that hospital gown during your entire stay."

Noah caught the bag and emptied the contents in front of him, she was right, only essentials, nightwear, toothbrush and paste, a bar of soap with a cloth and a book written by someone called Oscar Wilde. "Thank you," he said picking up the pyjamas, they were clearly too big for him, but she was correct, the small white cloth that he had to suffer with did nothing to protect his privacy when vanishing to the restroom. "I think these are a little big."

"Sorry," She blushed, "I guess I remembered you being bigger."

He could not help smiling at this, "I should change," he tore the tags off the black satin nightwear and pulled the horrid white cloth over his head. Basch chuckled as Ash averted her eyes, this caught Noah's attention, and Ash's obvious attempt to avoid looking at a half-naked Noah made him laugh. At he buttoned the shirt up; his gaze remained on her as she peeked at his chest, this gave him an unexpected feeling, one of joy. "I am sure I am not too alien for you, Ash," he smiled, "I do, however, hope that my pale body is to your liking."

She boldly turned back, "As we are White Caucasians, my dear Noah, it is preferable to remain as white as possible as tanning ages us rapidly, not to mention the occurrence of that nasty thing known as skin cancer and I would like to appreciate the fine example of masculinity before me for some time," she quipped rapidly. Basch laughed again, the girl was intelligent and had dumbfounded his brother, who prided himself on his witty remarks.

The Judge had paused; he was impressed with her intelligence, even though he did not understand exactly what she meant. His mind raced to find an equally cleaver response, but her smug grin pulverised every thought in his head.

Ash watched as Noah blushed at her words, "Did I say something to embarrass you?" she asked mischievously.

"Quite the opposite," he almost whispered, now watching her face flush a faint pink.

She averted her eyes again, "You should finish changing," she said calmly, "or it could get embarrassing for you."

Penelo ran into the kitchen, giggling and waving Vaan's towel like a victory flag. "Give it back!" Vaan called, covering his groin with one hand while trying to snatch the towel back with the other.

"Nah-ah," the mischievous young blond dancer laughed, "not until I want to!"

"Penelo!" Vaan whined, his face contorting in perceived agony.

"Penelo, give him his towel back," Vossler said as he cut up pieces of chicken at the bench, "seeing Vaan naked was never on my list of things to do today, or ever for that matter."

"Huh! Even Vossler's on my side!" Vaan cheered, taking his towel back and wrapping it around his waist again, "I heard there was pizza left?"

Vossler pointed to the refrigerator, "There's two whole pizzas left; help yourselves."

Penelo grabbed the boxes and moved to the dining room with Vaan following closely behind. Vossler shook his head, focusing on the evening meal once more, he was grateful that with the others now here, he would not have to cook so often and with it being an egalitarian household, even the Princess would have to do her part.

"Son-of-a …" Vossler cursed, the 'stay-sharp' knife slicing his finger, "Damnit!" he pinched the cut closed and moved to the sink to clean his wound. In all his time as a knight, not once had he reacted to injuries, why was it an axe wound in the back did not hurt as much as a small nick from his favourite knife?

Pulling a plastic bandage from the draw, where the first-aid kit was kept, he dressed the wound and cleaned up the small amount of blood that hit the cutting board and the knife, he continued his task, shaking his head at the inane giggles from Penelo in the next room and the frustrated cries from Vaan.

Ashe laid back on the bed, her fake headache now becoming real in the solitude of the deafeningly quiet room. She had heard Ashling talking to Basch and wished it were she talking to him while he was wearing just a towel. She sighed deeply, I should have gone with them, she thought idly, her fingers twirling her hair.

She was pulled from her wandering thoughts by a light knocking at the door, "Come in," she answered, not really caring who it was.

"Good Evening Princess," a suave, Archadian voice greeted her.

"I though you were entertaining Fran this evening?" she asked cheekily.

The Pirate huffed, "The Device she is using can make one feel redundant," he grumbled, sitting on the edge of the bed, "Is your head ache genuine?"

"No," she admitted, "I just wanted some time to think."

"About what?"

"I do not know," she sighed, "Maybe I'm still coming to terms with this new life."

Balthier smiled, "indeed, if I knew we would end up here, I would never have tried to break into the Palace treasury."

Ashe laughed, her shoulders jiggling, "but we had fun," she added finally, "And this place is not too bad, though I'm still getting use to being friendly with Ghis."

"When I was at the Akademy," the pirate chuckled, "Ghis was considered the 'fun' Magister, before all the nethicite nonsense, anyway."

"You liked him then? As a mentor, that is."

"He hated me," Balthier chuckled, "I was always getting into trouble by him for going to the girls dorms … like his daughter's."

Ashe roared with laughter, "His daughter!" she screamed, "By the Gods! Balthier you're a cad!"

"I was just glad she took after her mother," he shrugged; looking down at the girl next to him, the tight white t-shirt she wore did nothing to quell his lustful thoughts. He had been a good boy, not making any advances on the princess during their travels through Ivalice, but it did not stop him wanting to. He watched the hypnotic rhythm of her chest as she breathed slowly, how he wanted to bury his face in between those plump, round …

"Balthier?" she broke his train of thought, "are you alright?"

He blinked, preying that his body did not betray him, "Perfectly fine, just … zoning out for a moment, I'm a little worried about Vossler's cooking abilities as it is his turn according to Alex."

Ashe laughed, she knew he was looking at her in that way again, she would have said something but his excuses where always entertaining to her, he knew very well that Vossler was good cook, their days in the Sandsea was testament to that. Granted it was not fantastic, but if this world could make cooking less painful for Penelo, than dinner tonight should be quite nice. "He even acts like my brother Alesius," she said, convincing him that she believed his diversion. "You know, Alex?"

Balthier sighed with relief, "I wonder what the others are like," he smiled, putting an arm around her shoulders, "I hope I don't meet any doubles of my family, my eldest brother is now my sister and is a real bitch."

Ashe continued to giggle, "maybe they will be different here … like your double being the girl this time!"

He picked up a pillow and hit her with it, "Princess or not, you deserve a spanking young lady!" he mocked as he pulled her across his lap.

"Go on," Ashe challenged him, "Do it you coward!"

Her crooked grin unnerved him, though the curve of the royal bottom was too tempting to ignore, "I'm sorry Ashe," he said finally, sliding from underneath her, "If I start I won't be able to stop."

Ashe saddened, "Alright," she sighed, sitting at his side, "I guess you still fear what Basch could do."

"And Vossler and your new sister, but most of all I fear what you and I could do," he looked down at her, "Anyway, I would hate to ruin this friendship we have."

"Are you not afraid of what Fran would do to you?" she shot him a devilish grin.

"Only if I don't invite her to join in," he said, returning his own grin.

Larsa took the opportunity that presented itself, Noah, Basch and Ashling were distracted enough for him to slip out of the room to find the girl who needed the kidney. He wandered aimlessly until he found where mostly children stayed, there were about fifty children that he saw, some of them bald with little to no body fat, others were in cast of plaster, and finally a room where only one child lay in bed, looking pale and with a woman who looked like her mother sitting next to her, sleeping. "Excuse me," Larsa introduced himself with all the politeness that he could muster, "I am the brother of the man who could have donated the kidney to you."

The little girl looked to be around eight years old; her light brown hair had just been brushed and pulled back into a ponytail and her washed out blue eyes struggled to focus on him. "Hello," she mumbled, quietly, sitting up, "I'm Katie."

"Hello, Katie," he walked in, trying not to wake the girl's mother, "I'm Larsa, pleased to meet you." He gave a brief bow.

"I just got back from Dialysis," she said suddenly, "I'll have to keep doing that until somebody dies so I can have their kidney."

The boy's dark blue gaze settled on the equipment by her side, just like the equipment that Noah had strapped to him, "does it hurt?"

"A little," she nonchalantly answered, "it makes me feel sick sometimes."

"How long have you been doing it for?" he could not stop his friendly interrogation, he had to know what Katie had gone through.

"I don't know," she shrugged, "as long as I can remember."

Larsa thought for a moment, he could do for her what Basch had done for Gabranth; give her a potion to heal her kidneys. "Um Katie," he began, "If I told you that I could give you a magic potion to heal you, would you keep it a secret?"

The girl's eyes widened, "You know magic?" she asked in a low whisper.

He nodded, putting his hand in his pocked, "this," he revealed a tiny blue rectangular bottle, "will make you better again and you won't have to have an operation."

"Wow," she began to reach for it.

"But you must promise not to tell any one," he reiterated.

"Not even my mummy?"

"Especially you mummy," he waited for her answer.

"Okay," she nodded, "I promise, cross my heart, I will keep this a secret, even from my mummy." Larsa handed her the bottle, once he uncorked it. She sniffed the contents and giggled, "Smells funny." She lifted it to her lips and downed the whole thing. "Thank you," she handed the bottle back to Larsa.

"It should take a little time," he pocketed the bottle once more, "but you will be better than before and it will look like you are just healing."

"Thank you Larsa," she said, tears in her eyes, "I hope it doesn't hurt."

"It won't," he reassured her, "it will feel itchy or tingly from time to time." He looked around a bit, "I have to go, those who brought me here are probably wondering where I am."

The girl nodded and watched him walk out, "Thank you for saving my life."

All three occupants of the room watched Larsa try to sneak back in, not one of them berated him for leaving and with silent understanding; they let him return to his seat. Basch rested his hand on the boy's shoulder; the other two chuckled at his bright red face.

"So," Ash chirped like nothing had occurred, "Feel better with clean teeth?"

Noah could have laughed at her absurd change of subject, "Yes, thank you for the … toiletries." He turned and picked up the Oscar Wilde book, "Is this any good?"

Ashling snorted with laughter, "Gee I don't know," she giggled, "do you consider yourself to be intelligent?"

He straightened in his bed, "I headed the Ninth Bureau, that's intelligence," he boasted, "covert operations, espionage, etc."

"So that's a no then," she quipped, sending him a cheeky grin, "Maybe I should have brought Becky's little book of Miffy."

There was a tense moment, Larsa and Basch watched on the edge of their seats, nobody insulted Judge Magister Gabranth. "Miffy?" he asked incredulously, guessing it was a children's story.

Ash chuckled, "I'm just messin' with ya!" she slapped him on the shoulder, "and for the record I never took you as an idiot. Yes, Oscar Wilde is a fantastic read for those with a brain and I didn't take you as someone who would read Jane Austin." She regarded him for, his defensive stature clearly visible; even in his weakened state, "Maybe I should have brought in some Tom Clancy," she shrugged with her grin remaining frozen on her face.

Noah relaxed again, she had toyed with him and he fell for it, the crude jibe had affected him; he could not believe it. "Perhaps books about the world we reside in," he finally said, ignoring the look of amusement on Larsa's face. "I understand very little about this place."

Her features stiffened, "I know you're world was gripped in what can be described as a world war, but do you ever see periods of peace?"

"Yes," Basch cut in, "As there usually is when a war ends."

"Not here, the violence keeps going," she slumped back in her chair, "in one form or another, wars of all kinds are always raging, I have never seen true peace in my life; nobody has."

Larsa shuddered, "never?" he had a disbelief in his eyes that was hard to miss.

"Nope," she shifted again, "several of my friends are in Iraq and Afghanistan, soldiers with the army," she gave a short bemused laugh, "one of Justin's friends was in East Timor when the country gained independence."

"Justin?" Basch asked curiously.

"Yes, the Computer Whiz Kid as dad calls him," Ash picked at something between her teeth, "he got into a lot of trouble for hacking a few government websites a year or so ago and didn't cover his tracks as good as he usually did, he's in Barwon Prison right now, but only for a few more months."

"I have no idea what you are talking about," Noah resigned, "What do the Computers do here?"

"Just about everything," she shrugged, "they kept you alive when you were being operated on, regulate the traffic lights, open the doors we walked through when we arrived here, let's me shop from home without me being recognised; I can show you how to use them if you like, once you get out of here that is."

"Okay," Noah's mind raced at the possibility of spending more time with his angel.

"I warn you though," she added, "I am a really crappy teacher."

Vossler grunted as he kneaded the dough of the bread he was making, Naan bread to accompany the curry he worked on, it bubbled away on the stove in a large pot; he mused at how many chickens gave their lives to feed the dozen who would be dining that night.

"I do hope you will make it a little stronger this time," Ghis teased, flopping the newspaper on the counter, "or do you have a delicate constitution," the Judge laughed, "And here I believed Dalmascans loved their spicy food."

The knight flicked the paper away from him, "do you mind getting the nigella seeds for me?" Vossler pointed to the cupboard with a tilt of his head, "And I have added the extra chilli, but if you cannot handle it, there is a slab of V.B. in the refrigerator."

Ghis complied, tossing the plastic pouch of black seeds to him, "need anything else?" he leaned against the wall, hanging his hand off the top of the door.

"No, its fine," he emptied the seeds onto the pliant dough and folded it in. "So, how's your Irish lass?"

Ghis stiffened; "spying on me again?" he shot the man a glare.

"You have been chatting to her quite a bit," Vossler commented, "Maybe you should fly over there with Ash when she visits her mother."

"I do not think that Ashling would be happy with me intruding on her visit to see her mother," the judge stated dryly, "besides, now the house's population has grown considerably, I should stay to help out; we don't need another incident that nearly had you arrested."

Vossler glowered, Ghis had dragged out his little indiscretion in town with the mugger; Vossler had taken his sword with him when going into town for a few items of shopping. Ash did not care that a large, broadsword was attached to his back, to this day, he was not sure if she had known it was there. Ash had dived into a health food store for a few organic spices when a young man wielding a knife stepped in front of the Dalmascan knight, holding the weapon towards his throat demanding money. Vossler did what was natural, drawing his sword and readied for a fight. The young man shrieked, loosing control of his bladder before he stumbled back, begging Vossler not to hurt him. Vossler was disgusted and was about to help the thief to his feet when Ash exited the store and berated the young man as though he were a stray dog before turning her anger towards Vossler. "You're right," he eventually answered Ghis, "We do not need Basch making the same mistake or worse."

"Gabranth is also likely to take the same course," Ghis added, "I can give the esteemed Magister guidance with dealing with lawbreakers."

Vossler chuckled, "perhaps we should send them off to the police academy, save us the hassle of teaching them anything."

Ghis laughed, washing his hands to help with the moulding of the bread, "let's hope they can pass their driving test then."

Nancy checked Vayne's vitals, his breathing had not changed, nor his heart rate or blood pressure, was he stable … but no signs of recovery just yet. He had been out of surgery for six hours, blood loss from surgery had meant he needed two complete transfusions, but he would recover eventually, he was already off the life support system, meaning his lungs were strong enough for him to breathe on his own. Nancy pitied the young man, he had lost his mane of shining black hair and will have several big scars on his body and a few on his head, one on his face, marring his handsome features, but he would live.

She left the room, leaving Vayne by himself. "You are trapped, Vayne," a ghostly voice whispered to the comatose man, "I will free you, as my last gift to you." Venat appeared as a disembodied mist, materialising above Vayne. Venat floated there for a moment prior to being inhaled by Vayne, his body tensing and giving a faint shudder before going limp again, returning to the rhythmic breathing as before.

Vayne's consciousness hovered above his seemingly lifeless body below, no words formed as he had no voice, but the feeling of loss overtook his essence. He could not remain in the room with his body; he had to leave, but where to go? He saw a woman with a trolley loaded with food; he followed her as she distributed the contents to various patients and returned to the kitchens and repeated the process, ascending in the elevator to more patients on the higher floors. Eventually Vayne saw a familiar face, cropped blond hair and steel grey eyes with an uncharacteristically content smile on his lips … Gabranth, the man who tipped the balance of his big plans for Ivalice, causing them to come crashing down and leaving him little more than an object taking up space in a bed.

He drifted closer, seeing the traitor was reading a book and laughing at it, how could he be laughing when he would soon die a traitor's death at the hands of his peers at the magistrate. It was then Vayne noticed that his surroundings were not like anything in Ivalice. What is this place?

His investigation of the world outside Gabranth's window was cut short with another chuckle from the man, why is he so happy? Vayne drifted closer, looking at the words in the book, yes he could see why the traitor laughed, and this most definitely not being Ivalice, he was safe from punishment for his crimes. Vayne felt anger permeate his existence, no! He cannot evade punishment for what he done! Vayne tried to hit the Judge in anger, but he had no fist to hit with, instead his form drifted close to Gabranth and away again, not so much as an acknowledgement of his effort. Frustration; helplessness; Vayne was defeated … again.

It was then he had the idea of getting inside Gabranth's head, send him mad for what he had done. Like Venat, he glided to Gabranth's nose and entered his head.

"Hello Gabranth," Vayne taunted, musing at the feeling of shock and fear that enveloped his malicious spirit. Gabranth's emotions.

"Who's there?" Noah asked in a whisper, closing the book.

"Do you not recognise me, my treacherous hound?" satisfaction rolled through Vayne as the fear intensified, "you have been a very naughty boy, Gabranth."

Noah's heart raced, "how is this possible?" he asked Vayne, not sure if he wanted to know the answer.

"You betrayed me, Gabranth. You raised your sword against me, against Archadia; you should die for what you done!"

"I did as your father ordered me, to protect Lord Larsa, to shield him from you."

"You are a coward, Gabranth. You knew I killed Gramis, yet you held your tongue when Drace moved to arrest me, she, who had more balls than all the male Magisters in the room, and you killed her for it."

"You ordered me to execute her, you cannot pin her death on me."

"You feel guilty that it was your hand that ended her life for a crime she did not commit."

"You wanted me in pain, you knew I loved her. The execution was not of her but of me, you drove me mad with grief, so I would recklessly ignore your orders and, hopefully, end my own life." Noah could feel his head begin to ache and a tear roll from his eye, maybe he was going mad, Vayne is in a coma, how could he be in the room with him at that moment.

"I'm not in your room; I'm in your head. Venat was quite generous with her last gift, freeing me from my corporeal prison, you will return me once my body has healed and we will take this place."

Noah laughed then, "try it, earth is much bigger than Ivalice and with more dastardly leaders out there with their own plans for this planet, you're small time in comparison."

It was Vayne's turn to feel something again, frustration had returned, this was not going as he had planned, he shut himself off from Gabranth's consciousness, leaving his head silent again.

The judge sighed, picking up his book again and continued onto chapter two of The Portrait of Dorian Grey.

Basch did not like shopping, he decided that when the shop assistant gave him a bemused look. Ash had to get clothing for him, Larsa too, but to a lesser extent, but the boy found the entertainment area of the department store, namely the demonstrations of the game consols and parked himself in front of a Playstation 2 that had a racing game loaded.

Ash showed no shame when holding up different styles of underwear for Basch to choose from, "we need to find out what size you are anyway," she sighed when Basch ducked behind a rack of t-shirts, "I thought you were a brave warrior?"

"This is not battle," Basch mumbled, looking at a couple of men choosing a pair of jeans. "Can you not guess like what you did for Noah?"

"I over estimated, remember?"

"Ah, but you could take that into account and make a new estimation, which should be more accurate than the first," he argued, the men were looking at him now. One gave him a shy wave and a wink; Basch did not know what that meant, but he waved back politely and decided that maybe Ash was only trying to help him.

"What do you think of these?" she held up the last style available, a multi pack of seven y-fronts of various colours, "if you say no to these as well, I'm going to come over there and shove them so far up your arse you'll choke on them."

Her expression was serious and Basch did not want to cause a scene. "They're fine," he agreed, not really caring what design they were.

Ash smiled, "now come over here and let me see what side jeans your wearing so I can get the right size." He walked over, letting her hands fumble behind him as she searched for the label, "Nice arse by the way." She could see his skin blush from her comment, so she decided to take it a step further, "Now I know what held Ashelia's attention this morning."

"What?" he turned quickly, nearly taking her hand with him.

"Hmm, size ninety-two," she smiled, "that makes life a lot easier, doesn't it?" she tossed the underwear into the trolley and moved to the socks, "you won't make a drama of this too, will you?" she teased, picking up several pairs of navy blue woollen socks.

"I have never felt comfortable about purchasing clothing for myself," Basch confessed with humility.

"I always like buying for others," Ash responded, moving them to yet another area of the clothing department, "I probably should do this for myself soon, my outfits are so out of date."

"Perhaps you could take Noah?"

Ash blushed, "oh?"

"I remember you saying that if he flirted with you, you would not return," he began, "however, from what I have seen, you have not only accepted his flirtations but returned them."

"I hadn't noticed," she lied, busying herself with finding a jacket for him.

"Liar," Basch smiled, "you're as smitten, as he is."

"I admit he is attractive," Ash said offhandedly, "as you are, and I always appreciate a well kept body," she looked over his form again, "I will have to get you into the gym; it's a crime for you to be so thin."

"Is that why you insisted on feeding me so much?"

"Yes."

Basch laughed, "You know it is my brother's fault that I am the way I am."

"That is between the two of you," she waved off his comment, "none of my business."

He shrugged, picking up t-shirts that caught his eye. "Are we almost done?"

"Yeah," she placed a few more pairs of jeans in their trolley. "I better get his lordship, before he gets angry and breaks the damn thing."

Ashe and Balthier sat at the table as Vossler served the evening meal, as did Penelo, Vaan, Ghis, Alex and a very relaxed Fran. Ghis eagerly tucked into his meal before everyone else, but as the curry hit his tongue his face burned red.

"Is something the matter Judge Magister?" Balthier asked, cocking his eyebrow at his former superior.

The older man's eyes bulged and could not reply.

"Oh dear," Vossler frowned mockingly, "did I make it too hot?" this elicited a glare from Ghis, "I added the amount of chilli you asked for, was it too much?"

Vaan took a hesitant morsel and smiled, "just like what your mum use to make, Penelo!" he dug into the dish, not bothering with manners or etiquette.

Penelo agreed, "Vossler, this is brilliant," she said, dipping the bread into the sauce.

A can of V.B. slammed down in front of Ghis, he opened it and skulled the contents quickly, he looked up to thank who had been so kind to offer him the means to douse the fire in his throat, it was Ash with an amused smirk on her face. "Vossy got it right this time, huh?" she leaned down on Ghis's shoulder, "I'm glad you remembered the nigella seed this time," she looked at the Dalmascan knight, who simply smiled in response.

"I do hope you remembered us," Basch added, opening a can for himself and sat at the table, he was dressed in a set of his new clothes, Black jeans, tight white t-shirt and black boots. Vossler did not wait as he begun to serve Larsa first, leaving Ash until last, as she had retrieved the rest of the slab.

"Before you ask," Ash turned towards Larsa, "you're too young so I got you a chocolate milk instead." She slid the 600ml carton in his direction, "If Ghis is any indication; you will need it."

Vayne was disappointed when Noah put the book down, it was the first truly interesting thing he had done since squatting in his former Judge's mind. He found that he could enjoy the same things that Noah did, like the taste of food, reading or even a daydream, Vayne had no control over any of these things but he was content for now.

Noah felt his eyes growing heavy, the long day had drained him, and the hour with the physiotherapist had been more painful than he had anticipated. He knew that the megalixer would have healed him by now, but Alex was right, the lingering pain from his injuries and the fact that he had hardly moved from his bed he had, in essence, crippled himself. His back, neck, shoulders, arms, legs and chest hurt, a sensation that Vayne too had felt, only he didn't grumble to himself.

Vayne sighed as he watched the last of Noah's blinks before finally closing for good. Great, he huffed, I, who no longer feel fatigue, must suffer hours of black! He would have crossed his arms and sulked if he could, instead he imagined pacing in his office back in the palace in Archadia. This quickly became boring and he tried to occupy his time with something else. I should have paid more attention to my philosophy classes when I was young!

As though Noah had heard him, his R.E.M. began, bringing forth a world from his imagination. Vayne recognised the place he now found himself in, it was Gabranth's Palace quarters. The small, two-bedroom apartment was unusually clean in comparison to when Vayne had last seen it, though that was after Gabranth had a couple of women he had entertained the night before; clothes were strewn all over the flat that morning and smelled of sweat and sex. The dream had none of that; it was evening with the small table set for two with a candle in a silver holder. Vayne heard Noah singing from, what he presumed to be, the bathroom; only it was the song he had been hearing all day in Noah's head and Vayne was sick of hearing it.

The deposed Emperor slumped onto the couch, placing his feet on the small wooden coffee table. He almost laughed when he watched Noah leave the bathroom, wearing a towel and nothing more, he watched him move to the master bedroom and start dressing without closing the door. "Close the door!" Vayne called out, averting his eyes from the spectacle before him. He waited until he heard the click of the latch, but it did not come; he looked up (Thankfully, Noah was no longer naked.) and wondered if the stupid Judge had heard him. "Judge Magister!" he called louder; still nothing.

"… I'm on the hunt. I'm after you," Noah sang, leaving his room dressed in the latest of grenty fashion. Vayne curled his nose; the smell of something coming from the kitchenette tickled his olfactory system. He knew that Gabranth still held a love affair with the food of his homeland, but did the man have to dream about it as well? Noah dashed into the kitchen, opening the oven to what appeared to be a stew made with pickled vegetables, the vinegar aroma increasing ten fold. Vayne gagged at its potency. Noah dipped his finger into the stew and tasted it, "Perfect." He placed it on the bench and returned to the bathroom to finish grooming.

"Who could you be fantasising about to make you want to put such an effort in?" Vayne asked Noah, knowing that he would not get a response. There was a soft knock at the door, "Oh, don't worry Gabranth, I won't tell anyone," Vayne chuckled before Noah opened the door. Vayne's jaw would have hit the floor, if it were physically possible; at the door was none other that Princess Ashelia herself.

"Ash," Noah greeted his guest, politely, "I am so glad you could make it."

"Gabranth you cad!" Vayne chided his hound, "Lusting after the woman you tried to kill! And I though my tastes were eclectic." He watched in greater interest as the Princess gave her coat to Noah and she wore something even more revealing than her combat outfit. "If she bends over in that I'll see everything!" Vayne warned them, "And she'll fall out the top!" Noah put some music on; "Oh not that bloody song again!"

The Judge offered her his hand to dance, "I'm so glad you didn't change your mind," he whispered to his guest as they danced.

"How could I?" Vayne mocked, "You killed my father, nearly killed me, but you look smashing in your judge's armour, so really, how could I say no?"

"What is that delightful aroma?" the princess asked, sounding as if she liked the stench.

"This is getting perverted," Vayne complained, not that his words had any affect on them. "I can only hope that the princess in real life has a working sense of smell," he watched Noah lead her to the table and serve her a steaming bowl of stew. Vayne would have thrown up if he could, but the cursed state he found himself in meant that he was a captive audience to the dreamscape.

He looked elsewhere when they began to eat; he knew that Landian food usually consisted of things he really did not want to think about. The giggling from the princess drew his attention. "Noah, you are so funny!" she cried, her breast jiggling more than they would naturally.

Noah smiled, shyly, "no I'm not."

"Oh Venat! Is he actually blushing?" Vayne exclaimed in disgust, unable to turn away from the airship crash unfolding before him.

"Yes you are," The Princess replied, reaching for Noah's hand, "And so much more."

"Great," Vayne cried, "Now she's blushing. You know, Gabranth, for a man who would frequently take multiple women to bed, this dream of yours is sickeningly innocent! And it has an annoying soundtrack!" he stood next to Noah, lowering his head to Noah's ear and screamed, "This is the worst erotic dream I have ever had the misfortune of seeing!"

The couple did not react to Vayne's outburst; instead, Noah lifted Ash's hand to his lips, "Shall we retire?"

"Please do," Vayne answered, glaring at the couple, "Leave me in peace."

At first, it appeared that they would indeed, leave Vayne alone, he dropped into the armchair and reclined, waiting for the dream to end.

The room around him shimmered, puzzling the displaced spirit of Vayne, once the surroundings settled he found himself sitting on a rather large and plush bed. "Curious," he uttered, looking around. He gasped when his eyes found a very naked Gabranth cradled between the luscious thighs of the princess. Her face was contorted with pleasure as the Judge pounded into, his lips caressing her slender neck with delicate kisses. "By the Gods," he cursed in wonder, unable to take his eyes from the purely intimate sight.

Noah drove himself into his lover, sliding his calloused hand up her thigh to the soft curve of her rump and back again, as though savouring the silken skin.

"Just take what you want, Gabranth," Vayne yelled, "It's your dream, why bother with her pleasure?" Noah still ignored the captive audience and continued to delight his partner with gentle caresses and powerful thrusts.

Vayne felt a powerful orgasm shoot through him, but the sight he was watching had vanished and he was staring at the ceiling of the hospital ward, Noah had woken up.

"Shit!" the Judge cursed quietly. Vayne knew what had happened; he could feel it, the rapidly cooling goo that coated the inside of Noah's pyjama pants. "I am too old for this." Noah carefully removed the covers and made his way over to the door to his room, closing it as silently as he could.

Noah, flicked the light on and walked over to the small, stainless steel basin in the wall, he removed his pyjama pants and proceeded to wash them with a small amount of soap from the dispenser.

"I felt that," Vayne said dryly, "The show could do with a little more work … and your choice of the princess was a surprise."

"That was not the princess," Noah growled through clenched teeth as he scrubbed his seed from the clothing, "And why are you bothering me again?"

"I do not sleep, apparently," Vayne sighed, nonchalantly.

"Just my luck," Noah checked his work, they were clean, but now they were wet, he groaned and placed them over the back of a chair to dry, "I hope they are dry by morning."

Both Ashe and Ash laid in bed, neither spoke a word as neither were in the mood for talking as they did the night before. Basch snored from the next room loudly; the girls would have laughed if they had felt more jovial. Ashelia listened to the thunderous snoring, each drone pulled hat her heart, they were Basch's snores, and no matter how loud they were or monstrous they sounded, she could not hate the sound. Ash on the other hand did not hear the snoring; she lay with her ear-buds firmly planted within the canal of her ear, listening to a song that her departed fiancé had sang for her in his beautifully deep voice; although, in her opinion, all Maoris had beautiful singing voices.

She looked over at the time, in a few more minutes it would be midnight; she failed to find the will to sleep. Unlike the year before, she felt guilt for her feelings for another, this day should be reserved for the memory of her Russell, not thinking of ways to seduce a man nearly twice her age.

Ash rolled onto her side, huffing with frustration. "Ash?" Ashe called softy.

"Yeah," Ash responded in kind.

"Are you alright?"

Ash chuckled sadly, "I think so." She paused for a minute or two, "Ashe?"

"Yes?"

"Do you ever feel guilty for loving someone, since you've been widowed?"

Ashe thought for a moment, "I did at first," she explained, "especially with seeing his ghost everywhere we went."

"You saw Rasler's ghost?"

"Yes … well … sort of, it was the Occuria trying to manipulate me into doing their dirty work."

"And?"

"Well, I knew that Rasler would not want me to pine for him forever, he would want me happy," Ashe smiled to herself, thinking of Basch. "Why did you ask me such a personal question?"

Ash sighed, "It's my late fiancé's birthday tomorrow," she noted the time, "Today."

Ashe drew her twin into her arms, "I'm so sorry, if I had known …"

"I asked you, remember?" Ash sobbed into Ashe's shoulder, "I feel guilty about what is going on in my head at the moment."

"Do I want to know?" Ashe asked playfully, trying to cheer the girl up.

"It's Noah," she confessed, "I feel drawn to him like a magnet to iron. I have never … ever felt like that towards someone before in my life."

Ashe looked down at Ash, "By the gods, you're serious," she noted the tears in her eyes, "you're thinking of Noah?"

"I stupidly thought that he would be a silly little crush," her lips slowly curled upwards; "he called me his angel, for giving him blood."

"I am so glad he saw you first," Ashe giggled, "could you imagine the mess if he developed feelings for me?" Both girls laughed.

Ash felt relief wash through her, tomorrow she would say her good-byes to Russell and try to find the courage to move on with her life.

Note: Noah was listening to Duran Duran's Hungry Like The Wolf