AN: A fair amount of this is from Chris' POV. Hope that doesn't throw people for a loop. As always, comments and criticisms are welcome. Hope you are enjoying this so far, and I hope you aren't finding it boring. I enjoy trying to figure out what makes these people tick, so there will likely be a fair amount of interaction and not a whole lot of action sequences. Just how things are, ya know?

Anyway, enjoy.

Disclaimer: don't own the IP of Suikoden.


Full House

Lady Chris stepped out of the Guild Hall and was greeted by the reddening of the dull bricks by the setting sun. She sighed wearily as she descended the stone steps. The council, despite having had some of the more corrupt heads chopped off recently, was still as demanding as ever. Half of them flatly refused the demand of the Grasslanders for material aid for the reconstruction of Karaya and the other half wanted to charge the villagers for the material needed.

"Greedy louts." She muttered. She rarely felt the urge to venture out to a pub, but the long day of negotiation had her wishing for a stiff drink. Salome would have been better to deal with the council, she thought as her feet carried her toward the market square. Her mind was racing through various sundry epitaphs for the council members—things she would never say aloud to anyone—as she walked, her armor clinking against the cobblestones. The merchants were taking down their stalls and closing shop for the night as she weaved her way through the normally busy square. A shock of pale blonde hair heading in the opposite direction caught her eye as it disappeared behind a stall awning. She noticed a rather large hump protruding from her comrade's back intrigued her. She turned around quickly and started following him.

"Borus?" she called out as he broke free from the row of stalls and turned toward the houses that lined the square. "Borus." She trotted to catch up to him as he stopped upon hearing his name.

"Good evening, Lady Chris. How was your meeting with the council?" he smiled sympathetically as she rolled her eyes and he noted her weary stance.

"Don't even ask. I thought you were going to visit your sister?"

He shifted the weight he was carrying slightly.

"I'm headed back there now actually. I took my niece here for a walk earlier and we let the hour get away from us." Chris looked at the girl sleeping on his shoulder.

"She's rather heavy, so if you don't mind walking and talking, Milady?"

"Oh, not at all… I was actually headed to the pub, but it is probably better that I ran into you before I go there." Borus' eyebrows shot up at her mention of going to the pub as they resumed the trek to his sister's home.

"Have I created a monster, Milady?"

"What?" she looked at him curiously before she understood his meaning. "Oh, no. I'm just really worked up from dealing with the council. They refuse to give in to even the smallest demands of the Grasslanders."

"I see." They strolled through an alleyway between two large apartment complexes and entered the street on which Elena lived. Chris vented her frustration as they walked. They came to the red house and walked up the short stairs to the unassuming front door.

"Um, could you open the door for me or knock please?"

Chris turned the door handle and pushed it open, revealing a tall gallery-like hallway, lit with several lamps down its length. Several large gilded frames lined the wall with portraits and paintings of various people and places. A small half-moon table and a finely upholstered chair sat against the wall near the door.

"Thanks." Borus squeezed past her, trying to keep his young niece from slipping off his back.

A tall lanky man with red hair smiled as he saw them enter.

"We were wondering when you'd get back, Borus."

"Sorry, Michel, we lost track of time while we were out."

"All tuckered out, is she?" the taller man relieved Borus of his burden. "I'll bring her upstairs then. Are you joining us for dinner?"

"Yeah, I had planned on it."

"Well, there's plenty." Michel carried the young girl up the stairs. Borus turned to Lady Chris.

"Thank you for your company, Milady."

"Thank you for listening, Borus."

"You're quite welcome." He looked down the hallway. "Um, would you like to stay for dinner?"

"Are you sure it's ok?"

"It'll be fine. Come on." He looked at her. "Please?"

"It does smell delicious, but…"

Borus took her by her gauntleted wrist and led her further into the house.

"Borus." She started protesting.

"Come on, Chris. It'll be better than going to the pub alone."

"Well, I guess you're right about that." She sounded uncertain.

"I hear voices… Borus, did you bring a guest?" Elena called from the dinning room.

"Uh, yeah, Elena, I did." He replied as Chris gestured her protestation. A dark haired woman about Borus' height stepped into the hallway and looked over his brother and guest.

"Oh, welcome Lady Chris, we'd be more than happy to have you."

"See, you should stay." Borus looked at her hopefully, his eyes sparkling in the lamplight. Chris looked from brother to sister, marveling at how different they seemed.

"I guess. Thank you."

"You should get out of your armor, Chris and relax a bit."

"Borus, can you go open the wine? I'll find Lady Chris something less… rigid. Follow me, please?" Elena led Chris upstairs to her dressing room as Borus called after them.

"I'll help you cart your gear home after dinner, Chris, don't worry." Chris looked back at him a bit uneasily.

"So you're Borus' sister?" Chris asked as she unbuckled her chest plate, having already shed her gauntlets and boots.

"That I am," Elena replied as she pulled a simple green dress from her armoire. She held the garment up and judged the size of the silver maiden against it. "This should do."

"You're older right?"

"By three years, yes. And fortunately, I was lucky enough to not inherit the famous Redrum temper." She chuckled. "I was not so lucky in inheriting the family stubbornness. Here. It should fit." Chris looked at the dress as she took it. While the cut was simple and plain, it was crafted well and out of the finest of fabrics—a soft silk that felt cool against her skin as she slipped it over her head.

"You look much smaller out of your armor. I guess it's that you look more… feminine."

"Thank you? I think."

"There's water in the pitcher if you'd like to freshen up." She tied a simple brown sash around Chris' waist, pulling the dress in to further accentuate her feminine form before she left. "We'll be downstairs. The dining room is down the hall on the left."

"Thank you." Chris stared at herself in the long mirror a moment, trying to comprehend what she was looking at. She had not seen herself in a dress since she joined the Academy and now it was as if she was looking at herself as both a child and a woman.

"So odd…" she said quietly as she turned looking at herself in the mirror and felt the loose fabric of the skirt swish around her calves. Elena had left a pair of small leather shoes near the door for her. She slipped the supple skin over her feet, surprised to find them a decent—if snug fit. After refreshing her face, Chris looked once again at herself in the mirror, and on a whim, pulled her hair loose of the thickly braided bun, letting the silvery lengths fall in large waves about her shoulders. Chris took a deep breath, marveling at how much she looked like her mother before venturing downstairs.

After introductions had been made, Chris had been a fairly silent guest, unsure of how to join in on the conversation among family members who had suffered a great absence in the recent past. She felt Borus' eyes on her repeatedly, but as she looked up from her meal to meet his gaze, his attention had shifted elsewhere, drawn by the conversation or, occasionally by embarrassment, as she noticed a light blush coloring his cheeks every so often. She answered questions asked to her, by both the children, who were quite in awe of her, and the adults, who thankfully, were not. At one point in the conversation, as she listened to the happy family, she found herself watching Borus talk to his eldest nephew and smiled as she recognized a lightness within him that had been missing since the fiasco in Grasslands had begun. He looked over at her and as he lingered in her gaze, she felt her lips tingle with a phantom of a kiss shared prior, her breathing grow shallow and her heart thudding in her chest. He blinked slowly and she could see his desire welling in his eyes.

"Borus, how long are you planning on staying?" Michel, the elder asked his young brother-in-law, drawing him away from her gaze. Chris lowered her head and sighed heavily, willing her heart back into its normal rhythm and her warmed cheeks to cool.

"Lady Chris, would you like some more wine?" Elena asked from the foot of the table.

"Oh, no thank you. I've had… more than I'm used to as it is." She looked at the darker, older woman, who smiled sweetly, but knowingly at the silver maiden before glancing toward her far fairer brother and back.

"Very well, some water then?"

"Yes please." Elena stood and refilled Chris' glass herself. She whispered in Chris' ear as she poured.

"Don't be afraid to pursue that which you desire, Chris. We all deserve happiness, even if it is fleeting." Chris looked at the older women, who smiled sympathetically before their attention was drawn by Borus who was looking at them quizzically.

"Thank you." She met the older woman's eye, willing her to understand that she meant to thank her for more than just the water. Chris smiled shyly as she met Borus' stare.


AN: Again, part of a long "time in Vinay del Zexay" sequence. More in the way of romance in the next chapter.