Things that we've feared that we've lost are closer than we think.

The Blooming of Friendship

*** Nami's Universe ***

Day three of the swap was almost done for Yuri. He had just gotten done with a solo mission in the Sunken Grid. He was well supplied, but wrongly equipped. Facing off two Sekhmet and a Dyaus Pita with a blaze God Arc was not the best of ideas. But with that being all he had and the fact he didn't want to use Nami's things he just adapted.

Using all the Stun Grenades and Snare Traps he lured the Aragami into a one-on-one combat, always keeping track on how close the other Aragami got. The Sekhmets were the first to go. Surprisingly, the Dyaus Pita gave him more trouble than the Sekhmets. But the ending reward money was worth it. If he was planning to survive here for a while he would need to use his earnings to settle in.

"It was pretty stupid of you to go on that mission like that." Soma was there, leaning on the Veteran Floor's hallway wall. She only looked at Yuri with her eyes and arms crossed under her chests.

"Heh, I wouldn't call it that. Reckless maybe, but-"

"It was stupid." She said to him, finally turning her head toward him. "Facing them alone, you must be suicidal."

"You were worried about me?" Yuri grinned as her face began to flush.

"N-no, don't flatter yourself! It'd just be disappointing if you died over an idiotic reason."

"Heh, if that's true..." Yuri leaned into the wall with one hand, facing Soma. "Then why are you out here waiting for me?"

"Y-you're so full of yourself!" She shouted with a growl, storming off to her room. She tried to hide it as she slammed her door shut, but Yuri still saw it. She had a big blush on her faced as she stormed off.

"Heh, Nami was right..." Yuri said aloud to himself with a grin. "She is cute."

*** Yuri's Universe ***

"Hey Leader, we gotta-" Soma gasped and instantly turned around. Due to a minor lapse of memory, Soma had forgotten that it was no longer Yuri's room he was barging into. Nami squeaked and covered her top with her shirt and ducked behind the dresser. "Sorry!"

"You could knock!" She shouts over the dresser.

"You could've locked the door!" He growled back.

"Well excuse me, Your Greatness. I wasn't expecting anybody to barge into my room so early in the morning!"

"I said I was sorry!"

"Well, all right. As long as you understand that you were wrong." Nami calmed down, but held her shirt closer to her chest as her blush started to heat her cheeks. "What are you doing here anyway?"

"I just wanted to tell you we have a mission tonight at the Tranquil Temple." Soma said, recovering himself and crossing his arms. "Kota and Lindow will be joining us, so you'd best be ready."

"Tonight? Couldn't you've waited until later to tell me this?"

"Just shut up and be ready for later." Soma said, walking out of the room. His face was burning.

*** Tranquil Temple ***

"Alright guys, let's eliminate the Kongous 'Pilgrim' in the Temple area." Lindow explained.

"(Sigh) Again?" Nami whined.

"What?"

"Sorry, it's just I've done a mission like this before with Kota and the others."

"Hey, I did that mission with Yuri too!" Kota said in surprise.

"Well this time it'll be different." Lindow explained. "We'll be facing the stronger species of Kongou, Fierce Kongous. Let's split up into groups. Soma you go with Na-"

"I'll go with Kota." Soma said, cutting Lindow off.

"Wait, it'll be more of a good idea to have a New-Type in each-"

"I said I'll go with Kota." Soma said with the final word, taking the left pathway while a confused Kota followed behind. Nami was a little crestfallen by his blatant avoidance of her company.

"Well, I guess it's just you and me, kid." Lindow said cheerfully at Nami. She responded back by giving him a cheerful nod and a fist pump.

"Let's give it our best shot."

They walked around for a while until two of the Fierce Kongous came out of the building in front of the Temple Bell Tower. Kota and Soma weren't fairing so well either, with two Fierce Kongous by the main temple.

"Lindow, come on."

"Alright I'll help you out."

The Fierce Kongous were relentless. While Nami attacked one, the other would lightning roll at her. It was tiring and they refused to give her time to use a Recovery Pill II. Things got worse when one of Kota's and Soma's Fierce Kongous jumped into the fight.

One decided to do a lightning sphere while the others lightning rolled before she could get back up.

"Ah!"

"Nami!"

"I-it's no use..." She breathlessly said as she went down for the count. She could see all the activity going on from the tracker. Lindow was trying to get to her but had to continually roll out of the way of the Fierce Kongous. She also noticed how Soma's tracker became... more active?

"You okay?" At last, Lindow had made his way to Nami. Link-Aiding with her, she got back up.

"Thanks..." But they weren't able to rest for long, the Fierce Kongous came rolling at them.

They split around the Gong Tower, Lindow attracted one while Nami got the other two. Nami noticed how Lindow's health was dangerously low on the monitor so she tried to shoot him some Recovery bullets. But Lindow dodged all of them and before she knew it she was trapped in a corner. All three Fierce Kongous decided to roll at her simultaneously. She had no where to run as they all rolled up on her with lightning.

"Ah!" Nami was down again, Lindow was still down to his last strength and he still came to her aid. "No, Lindow... don't do it. You can't help me, you're at your last bar..."

But Lindow ignored her wispy warning, stilling coming to her aid. Even with the Fierce Kongou right beside her. It was about to do a lightning sphere attack so Nami stayed down with the little health she had. But Lindow couldn't get away, he went down with the last of his health.

"Lindow..." Nami waited a second for the Fierce Kongous to leave the area before getting up. Eating a Recovery Ball, she went to Link-Aid with Lindow. She gave all of her health until the last bar. "You okay?"

"Thanks for the help."

"Come one." She said, eating another Recovery Ball. "They're heading for the others, we gotta help them."

They ran up the stairs on the left side to the main temple. The Fierce Kongous were rocking the guys, bringing Soma's health pretty low.

"Soma!" Nami shot him Recovery bullets before reverting back to blade-mode. They kept fighting the Fierce Kongous, which appeared to like circling around the temple's shed. This continued until Nami's health was low. When she tried to get away to eat a Recovery Pill II, one of the Fierce Kongous decided to lightning roll at her.

"Ah!" She cried out as she was knocked down the stairs. She couldn't get up anymore, she'd hit her head pretty hard on that fall down. "I just... want to sleep."

This was it for her. The guys were busy fighting off four Fierce Kongous, there was no way they could get to her. Her eyes were beginning to close, darkness was beginning to give her its warming embrace. But coming into the tunnel, Soma ran down the stairs to her.

"Don't you dare die!" Soma growled at her as he Link-Aid with her; growling coated the worry out of his face. Her eyes shot back open as energy pushed through her body.

"Sorry..." She said breathlessly while getting back up. Running along side Soma, she jumped back into the fray.

Lightning and Fierce Kongous were everywhere as the fight went on. Armor was broken off, but none of the Fierce Kongous were going down.

"This is crazy!" Kota protested. "Will they just go down already!"

"Snow falls at random

The earth trembles with Lightning

But we won't falter."

"What the hell is that suppose to mean?" Soma asked Nami.

"It's called a Haiku. It's suppose to calm you down during a fight." While Nami answered him, one of the Fierce Kongous tried to get away on the stairs to the right. "Oh no you don't. You're not getting away."

"Nami, come back here!" Soma called out to her. He would've gone after her if it weren't for the other three Fierce Kongous.

Nami was doing fine by herself, but Soma began to worry when one of his Fierce Kongous went down the stairs after her. He was going to follow suit, but by the time he got there- or the other Fierce Kongou for that matter- her Fierce Kongou was dead and she had knocked down the other and was taking a bite.

But he did her more trouble than good since the other two Fierce Kongous followed him down. They kept trying to roll at her, but she was persistent with the one she was working on. Always finding it among the other Fierce Kongous, no matter how similar they looked. She wouldn't even let it get away as she finally took it down from behind.

The other two were going berserk, running down the lower stairs before finally being herded back up by Lindow and Kota. One of them tried to make a run for it up the stairs that lead to the main temple. But Nami took it down before it went up while the guys took care of the other one that was still trying to run to the Temple Bell Tower.

"Alright! We nailed it this time too!" Kota cheered, fist pumping.

"Good job everyone." Lindow praised. "We make a pretty good team."

"Well, except for one of us." Soma said, looking at Nami with slanted eyes.

"!" She gasped at his accusing eyes.

"Come on Soma, lighten up." Kota said, coming to Nami's defense. "I mean, Nami took out three of the Fierce Kongous and went up against one by herself."

"And she was the one who got incapacitated the most. She even got Lindow incapacitated trying to get her back up. If she can't handle the missions then she shouldn't be here."

"Soma..." Lindow was silently warning him. He knew Soma was just worried about how much she was struggling today, but he was coming off too cold.

"No, he's right." Nami said, head lowered and saddened eyes as she used her remaining items to heal Lindow. "I-I'm sorry... I have been more of a burden than a help during this mission. I would like to make it up to you guys. So please..."

She walked up to Soma, after she was done with Lindow, and hesitantly held out a hand toward him. "Let me at least heal your wounds." Soma turned his head away from her. "Soma, please..."

"(Sigh)." The sadness in her voice made him give in. "Fine."

She smiled at him and started taking care of the wounds on his arms.

"By the way..." She whispered to Soma, causing him to look back at her. "Thank you, you didn't have to Link-Aid with me."

"Hmph." He turned his head away from her, hiding his blush.

*** Author's Notes ***

A Haiku is a Japanese poem of seventeen syllables in three lines of five, seven, five. Traditionally evoking images of the natural world or a lesson. Sometimes you can cheat with the syllables if you say the word fast enough.