Sorry guys, but I just got Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World, so I've been otherwise engaged.

The next morning was a glum one. People woke up at varying times, and quietly ate breakfast, which had been ordered by Zelos, who was slightly more familiar with the sizes of dishes at the hotel. Contrary to style, Zelos had been the first one awake that day. A few people woke up cheery, like Genis and Colette, but they were quickly subdued by the quiet noises of Zelos' packing. Unfortunately for him, most of his stuff was scattered on the floor in the room where Sheena was sleeping, so he had to tread very lightly. After a few minutes, he claimed to a have a close encounter with her and told everyone else in the party that he would just wait until she woke up.

Lloyd sighed. Everyone was awake except for Sheena and Regal, who was indeed sleeping like a bear. Lloyd felt a hint of resentment towards him, but he knew that it was unjustified. Regal was only the courier of this grim truth, the reality that was bearing down on them and Lloyd liked to believe that he was not the kind to blame the messenger.

Sheena woke up first, which was fortunate, so that not everyone had to be waiting for her. She merely nodded dolefully in greeting as Zelos entered the room. He began to pack away his armor as she sighed and left.

Finally, only Regal was left asleep. "It'd be a shame to leave without saying goodbye to him," mused Zelos sadly, "but I don't want to wake him up after all the work he did yesterday, and it's a long trip to Meltokio, even by Rheiard."

"We'll tell him you wanted to say goodbye!" exclaimed Colette, still managing a trace of hopeful, simple happiness, despite the fact that they were splitting up. "I'm sure he'll understand."

Zelos laughed a little, though it was without sarcasm or cynicism. "Well, I'll thank you for that. Bye, everyone. I'm sorry our time back together was so short." In a move of supreme anticlimax, he twisted around and pressed the elevator button. Of course, the elevator was near the bottom floor, so for about half of an awkward minute, they stood there in silence, with no valid, interesting topic of conversation to speak of. Still, inevitably, the door opened, and with a sigh, Zelos stepped in.

No one spoke for a minute, until Regal careened out of the kitchen, drunk on draughts of deep sleep. "Where's Zelos going?" he asked, his hand running through his long hair, which was impressively untangled, even right after waking up.

"Where do you think?" asked Sheena, slumping down on to the couch dejectedly. "You were the one who suggested this whole business."

Regal thought for a minute, confused. "To…get groceries? I do recall complaining about the lack of certain ingredients, if that's what you mean by 'suggesting this whole business.'"

"Zelos has left for Meltokio," said Presea, reverting to her old monotone. It was something she only did when serious, as Lloyd was beginning to notice. "He thought that it would be better to leave quickly before he thought too much about it."

A slow look of horror began to creep up Regal's face, like an extremely virulent infection. "What?" asked Lloyd. "You were the one who told him to go, why do you look so surprised?"

"I didn't mean immediately!" murmured Regal. "The next meeting of the Populus General isn't for another month! It's bad manners to show up early, he should have known that!"

A stunned silence greeted Regal's revelation. A silence like the silence a moment before a dam bursts, similar to the explosion of sound a few seconds afterwards. The elevator door and button were hammered as if they were foes in battle. Of course, the elevator couldn't come back up until Zelos had already reached his destination at the bottom, so by the time it came up, they were only greeted by a very surprised looking maid. Fortunately, Colette had the good sense to jump out of the window and fly down to the bottom of the tower and intercept him before he could find his Rheiard.

The very surprised Zelos was flown by Colette back up to the suite where the rest of the party and the confused maid were waiting. When the situation was explained, Zelos took a wild leap in the air, landed and ran around giving everyone a hi-five. When he reached Regal, he swung his hand away, leaving Regal's palm open and face up, as Zelos called it, "Leaving him hanging." He then mimed picking up Regal and throwing him off the balcony. Regal was not amused, but he was in the minority.

As months go, it was one of the most fun, if not productive that the party of eight had ever had. True, Regal was gone working and researching more than they would like, and even when he wasn't he was too busy thinking to be any real fun. His desperate hunt was like searching for a small, round diamond in a pit of glass beads.

Still, despite Regal's slight damper on the party, and the fact that they had to all stay in the vicinity of Altamira, there was plenty to do, and they did it all. They collected pearls and sold them just to see how much they could make, then donated it all to beggars they saw on the way home. They had Rheaird trick competitions, with everyone else in the party carefully flying under whoever was performing at the time, ready to catch them if they were to fall. Of course, in the rare occasion they got bored, they could play one of the fun, innocent social games that Colette had learned. If they ever got desperately bored, they could play one of the slightly less innocent social games that Zelos played. Of course, everything was kept very carefully in control by Raine and Regal, the twin pillars of moderation in the party. It was interesting for Lloyd to see how the other members of the party had changed over the years of absence.

Colette had changed the least, still as innocent and forgiving as ever, although she had slightly improved her coordination. Of course, she still had a long way to go, as demonstrated by the row of broken potted plants on the way to the elevator in the hotel. But even as Lloyd concluded that she had remained nearly the same, she seemed somehow…different. Lloyd couldn't exactly put his finger on it, but she seemed slightly more reserved, perhaps, was the word. It was as if she was afraid to go back into full swing, like things had been six years ago.

Genis' changes were largely physical. He had grown at least a foot and a half since the end of the journey, and his voice was lower. His hair had grown out even more, but it had in some way managed to keep its volume. Still, his personality were exactly the same, and as Lloyd saw the boyish grin that Genis occasionally would display, Lloyd felt as if he too, were six years younger, on his way to saving the world. Of course, because he was still such a little kid at heart, he accidentally tended to make things awkward when trying to act mature. Still, they were all friendly enough to laugh off his inexperience, and he was, in fact, mature enough to take it.

Raine was different in one way, and one way alone. Her thirst for knowledge, had not been quenched, but like a recently fed fire, had only grown stronger with her research. Though she no longer would dive to her feet to examine the foundation of a building, or to remark on how one of the stones was clearly much older, and must have come from an ancient building long gone, she was now more proactive. She too spent much time in the Hall of Records with Regal, but she managed to do so in moderation.

Having spent much more time with Sheena then with the other companions over the last six years, Lloyd had a much harder time deciding whether or not she had changed. She certainly had an easier time keeping her cool, but perhaps that was because the fate of the world was no longer resting on her shoulders. Assuming whatever this Tethe'allan Superiority Group is doing isn't too serious, Lloyd reminded himself. Additionally, she seemed to be more tolerant of Zelos than she had been on the first journey.

Of course, being fair to her, Zelos was also much more tempered by his years away from the group. Still, fundamentally, Zelos was Zelos, and that was unalienable. His less frequent, yet still fairly common flirtations with check-in clerks, Meltokion civilians, amusement park clowns, actresses, scuba-diving instructors, lifeguards, chefs, waitresses, trolley operators, and whomever else he came across, tended now to draw more of smiles and rolled eyes than slaps and curses.

Regal was no longer so guilt-driven, and though still devoted every waking hour of his life to research; he no longer felt any obligation to his long dead wife, Alicia, to punish himself. Additionally, he had relearned how to fight with his hands, although he had become a pacifist, and refused to kill anything with them. During the third week of the month, Lloyd convinced Regal to duel him, Regal using his hands and feet and Lloyd using his swords. Everyone showed up to watch, and they were treated to a common sight and a rare sight. The common sight was Regal winning. The rare sight was Lloyd, bruised in more ways than one, limping back to the hotel. Regal came and apologized later, and Lloyd, having practiced many times on Colette, told him that no apology was necessary.

Of all of them, there was no competition as to who had changed the most. The clear winner was Presea. She no longer spoke with a monotone, and had actual emotion in her voice. Everything she did was energetic, fun, and completely satisfying. She was the one with the most creative and usually fun ideas for how the party could entertain themselves. Physically, she had grown, perhaps four or five inches, but was still below average height, "A condition," she jokingly lamented, "that she feared she would suffer for the rest of her life." In addition, to Genis' delight, she was far more receptive to his small, nearly pathetic attempts at flirtation. When she picked up on them, which was hard for anyone, considering how ambiguous he tried to make them, she would playfully thank him, as Zelos rolled his eyes. Zelos later remarked to Lloyd that he was considering taking Genis aside and giving him lessons, just so that he didn't have to hear any more awkward comments from him.

Those three weeks were everything that they had planned the reunion to be and more. Still, though they accomplished everything they wanted to, and reconnected more than they could every hope for, no one was entirely at ease. The grim shadow of what had happened on the first day of the reunion hung over them like a Damocletian sword. It was the grim subtle reminders that brought them back to earth, like Regal's brooding stare, or a passing comment by some hotel worker about the amazing technology that the Tethe'allans had, especially compared to Sylvaranti. Half-elf racism had decreased since the reunification of the two worlds, but it had been replaced by a vicious desire of the Tethe'allans to assert their authority over the Sylvaranti, and a desire of the Sylvaranti to stand up for themselves. The tension between the two worlds was becoming clearer than Lloyd had ever previously noticed on his journey to destroy exspheres. It pained him so greatly that it was almost physical. He had strived for such a long time to end prejudice entirely, not just switch its target.

Still, three weeks were only three weeks, and soon enough they were gone. Zelos waved goodbye to the party and hopped onto his Rheiard off into the sunset. It was sad, but not as sad as it would have been, had they not had the extra three weeks to prepare. They all went back up to the apartment, dejected, but still satisfied by the amount of time they had spent with the entire party together.

"Well," commented Genis, with an attempt at sarcasm, "At least we have one less person to compete for beds with!" Everyone knew he didn't mean it. The sleeping arrangements had changed several times throughout the vacation, as the curtains had allowed other people to sleep in the front room now, and Lloyd now shared a room with Regal, Sheena with Colette, Genis with Raine, and Presea outside on the couch. Lloyd had most enjoyed his stints with Sheena and Zelos, as they were not afraid to stay up late into the night talking. He hadn't yet had a chance to share with Genis, but that was coming up next, and he was looking forward to getting more private time with his childhood friend.

Still, even without Zelos, time passed. Perhaps a bit slower without his amusing antics, but just because there were only seven of them didn't mean that they couldn't have any fun. Of course, in some ways it was easier, now that they didn't have to satisfy Zelos' high energy demands. He could be calm, but even then he just seemed to be so happy and energetic that it was tiring to be around him for a long time.

Interestingly enough, the party spent a much shorter time without Zelos than they expected. Only a week in fact, but that week contained two important events, perhaps not for the quest in general, but for some party members certainly.

The first occasion was a beautiful night, the third night since Zelos left. No one had any ideas as of what to do, but Genis insisted that they go back to the theme park. They had only been twice over that month long period, and as they were Regal's personal guests, they could get in for free, which, Genis warned would not always be the case. Lloyd secretly knew that any of could probably get virtually anything they wanted for free, as they were the heroes of world regeneration, but he was unwilling to use his influence like that, so everyone agreed and the party was off to the theme park.

It was an almost exact repeat of the other two times they had gone, except without Zelos. That was not to say that it wasn't amusing, but without his energy, it seemed strange, like a cake without a pinch of salt. The night was almost over, and the conductor of the elemental railway announced that the train was departing in ten minutes.

"Uhhhggg…" groaned Raine. "We should go…I'm not feeling too well…those tea cups nearly made me vomit."

"There was no 'nearly' about it," Sheena whispered in Lloyd's ear. "I was in the car, and I saw her by the trash can afterwards, she's just trying to hide it." Lloyd grinned at the irony. Even with the most advanced healing artes, possibly in the entire world, Raine still could not prevent simple motion sickness.

"No," moaned Presea. "Let's not finish yet! Come on, let's have one more short ride. Look! There's no one in line for the Ferris wheel! Last one there has to ride alone!"

Raine groaned again. "Well…at least such a simple, slow circular motion won't aggravate my condition. Still," she moaned as she lurched forward dizzily, "I think I'm definitely going to be last. I'm in no mood to run."

"Readysetgo!" yelled Genis rapidly, as he dashed off, Presea giggling after him. Neither of them were the fastest of the group, but his legs had grown over the six years, and he had retained his litheness, in addition to no one being either 'ready' or 'set'. He arrived first, with Presea close on his heels, having also received a slight head start, having been slightly more prepared to run. Lloyd might have been third, had there not been a crowd of people surging the other way, eager to get onto the elemental railway. He was bumped and shoved from every direction, and he only barely kept on his feet. Thus, Colette, who had the distinct advantage of angel wings, beat him, but just barely. Sheena probably would have passed him with her acrobatic flips over the people in the crowd, but she stayed behind for a moment to see if Raine would be alright. Regal assured Sheena that he would make sure she reached the Ferris wheel safely, and Sheena was off. Still, her delay had cost her and she ended up fifth, Regal and Raine limping into last place.

Genis set his hands on his knees and bent over breathing heavily. His face was red, and in the rapidly chilling night air, he was actually steaming just little bit from sweat. It was clear that he had really wanted to win. Presea giggled. Despite having been reunited for over a month, Lloyd still had to check that it was in fact Presea giggling. It surprised him every time; it was such a radical about-face in her demeanor.

"Well," she laughed. "Genis, you won, but I'm second, so we go together!" She grabbed Genis' hand and skipped up to the ride operator, pulling a very confused Genis behind her. The ride operator, an old man cleanly shaven everywhere except for a perfectly trimmed shiny white moustache, winked knowingly at Genis. Genis looked at him, bewildered for a moment, until he realized the implication and blushed feverishly.

The old man laughed an old man laugh, deep in his throat, guttural and low. He barely managed to stop before breaking into a fit of coughing. Wiping his mouth he chuckled again as Presea pranced playfully into the Ferris car, Genis nervously following her. He looked partially excited, but mostly terrified. Lloyd couldn't help but snicker.

"Next, please," intoned the old man formally, though still with an obvious smile hiding behind his moustache. Colette glanced at Lloyd, then carefully walked over to the empty car, sitting on the furthest opposite side, resting her arm and chin on the side, looking out to the sea. She seemed to be deliberately ignoring Lloyd and the rest of the party.

Lloyd shook his head, confused and followed her, though he too sat further from the middle of the car. This was not at all like the Colette that he knew. She seemed lonely, despite the fact that she was now reunited with all of her friends from world regeneration. It was as if there was someone else she wanted to see who wasn't there, and she was clearly uncomfortable socializing too actively with the rest of the group. It was a problem Lloyd would have to ask her about, but later, and not when they would only have a short revolution or two on the Ferris wheel to discuss it.

To his surprise, the Ferris wheel began moving before he was completely comfortably seated, and it moved backwards, which he had not been expecting. He lurched forward, and would have fallen back onto the platform if not for the metal bar that Colette slammed down in front of him.

"Thank you," said Lloyd, hoping to get some kind of normal Colette-y response, but all she did was nod sadly. Lloyd sighed and, like Colette, leaned against the side of the car.

There appeared to be some disputation over who was sitting with whom down at the bottom, as Regal and Raine had tied for last. Apparently Raine volunteered to go alone though, and as she stepped in and collapsed into the car, clutching the bar tightly, Lloyd could guess why. He certainly wouldn't want anyone to see him like that.

The ride started up again, though it continued to move in reverse. Of course, at such a low velocity, Lloyd hardly felt any different, but it was still a nice change. The sun was setting beautifully to the west, casting its fading glow across the shallow waves of the ocean. It was almost like the sun's fire was traveling along with its light, and was now dancing through Altamira's waves. Dark purple clouds were banished from the horizon, fleeing like specters towards the growing dimness in the north and south. It was truly a beautiful and romantic moment, or at least it would have been if Lloyd had a more energetic partner on the car. Colette was staring determinedly to the north, as if trying to read an invisible book hanging several feet in front of her face.

Her stony demeanor was suddenly interrupted by a sound Lloyd was far more familiar with. Colette inexplicably let out a single burst of giggles, like some measure of mirth inside her had finally slipped out.

"What?" asked Lloyd, grinning, hopeful to eke some response out of Colette, but she remained as mystic as before. "It's nothing," she laughed.

Lloyd was about to insist that she tell him, but he realized that she was clearly listening to something amusing, judging by her slight lean forward and attentive face. Lloyd laughed and joined in the eavesdropping.

After they removed their exspheres, every member of the party had lost some abilities and retained others. Colette had lost some of her skill with chakra, but had kept all of her other angelic senses, including hearing. Lloyd had never fully undergone the angel transformation process, but he had gained some angelic senses, and by straining carefully, he could hear the adjacent cars. At first he thought that Colette was amused by Raine's piteous whimpering in the car behind, but Colette had never taken pleasure in anyone's pain, so Lloyd ruled that out.

Focusing in on the car that was now above him, containing Genis and Presea, he discovered the source of Colette's mirth.

"H…H…Hey…P…P…Pre…sea?" he stuttered. Lloyd was almost surprised for a moment, Genis had been improving in his speech patterns when around Presea, but Lloyd realized that he must have reverted to his original awkward speech once he realized that he and Presea were indeed alone, or at least alone with two eavesdroppers.

"Yes, Genis?" asked Presea calmly and expectantly. It was clear that she wanted to let him say what he had to say without her helping him.

"Y…you…you're…um…s…so…so…uh…beautiful," blurted Genis. Or at least, that's what Lloyd thought that he said. It was hard to tell. Genis' speech was not very clear.

"What's beautiful?" asked Presea. "I didn't hear that first part." She seemed genuinely confused, not cruel. Her head was cocked slightly toward Genis. Genis seemed taken aback that she did not understand him the first time.

"Uh…umm…y…I mean…um…I think that…y…the sunset," sighed Genis, defeated. "The sunset is so beautiful." Genis looked dejectedly down at his shoes. A slow smile spread across Presea's face as she realized that the sunset was not what Genis originally had meant to compliment.

"I couldn't agree more," she confirmed contently. The Ferris wheel had continued its movement, bringing Genis and Presea's car in front of Lloyd and Colette's, giving them a better view of the proceedings. Even as Lloyd silently thought in his head that he was glad for a better view, Presea wiggled in her seat, nonchalantly scooting closer to Genis. Unlike Lloyd and Colette, Genis and Presea were seated very close together, leaving the rest of the car open. For a moment, Lloyd laughed to himself imagining the blush creeping over his best friend's face, until he didn't have to imagine any more, as the blush had spread itself all the way to the back of Genis' neck. Lloyd shook his head and put his forehead in his hand, feeling the embarrassment for Genis.

Still, to his credit, Genis didn't back away, or say anything, or in any way try to deter Presea, and that was all that mattered at that exact moment. "It's interesting," remarked Presea seemingly innocently, but with obvious implications, "That you only stutter sometimes. You seem fine when you're with the entire group, but when it's only two people, like say, me and you, the problem comes back."

"Oh…um…yea…um…I…I don't know why that'd be!" excused Genis hastily. "I guess I'll just have to try to…uh…er…be more clear…about…what…I…think…" Genis' last words faded off into silence, so that Lloyd had to almost guess the last couple.

Presea laughed. "I guess so, but maybe I can help,"

Genis' eyes widened as he looked at her. "Huh?" he asked.

"Well," continued Presea formally, "In order to solve this problem, we've got to get to the root,"

"I'm not stupid," replied Genis angrily, and for once, without stuttering. "Don't make it sound like I'm mentally retarded. I just…get…nervous sometimes…around…some…people…" Genis realized that he had said too much to be entirely ambiguous anymore, and the blush began to creep back around his neck. Lloyd wanted to yell instructions or encouragement, but that would certainly only worsen the situation. He was just glad, for once, that Zelos had left.

Presea grinned smugly at his admission. "What people?" she asked. "Me, as exemplified. Anyone else?"

"N…not…not really, no," replied Genis, his voice quavering.

"Well, then!" exclaimed Presea, clapping her hands so loudly that Genis jumped, "The solution is simple!"

"I…it is?"

"Yes!" There was a moment of silence.

"What is it?" inquired Genis eagerly.

"Genis, you and I must come to a point in our relationship," Genis sat up at that word, "Where we both trust each other as friends, and where you know that you can say anything to me without fearing negative repercussions, and I know that whatever I do, you won't be hurt. That way, you'll not need to be nervous!"

There was a silence so tense that Lloyd and Colette were nearly falling out of their chairs, trying to hear what was said next. The Ferris wheel gave off a squeak that startled Lloyd as much as a cannon blast in a dark room, causing him to jump back. Fortunately, he regained his composure enough to hear what Genis said next.

"Th…th…" he paused for a moment, regaining his composure. "That sounds like a wonderful idea." He leaned back slightly in his chair, but now Genis and Presea's car was crossing over the limits of Lloyd's vision, dropping below them in its circle around the predestined path. "That sounds wonderful."

Presea, on the other hand, did not sit up straighter; she actually relaxed her posture, back to her normal self, close up against Genis. "Doesn't it?" she whispered. And just as they dropped out of the event horizon of Lloyd's sight, Lloyd thought he saw his childhood friend slowly extend his left arm and drape it around Presea's shoulders, not quickly or smoothly, but at least comfortably. She lowered her head to his shoulder and nestled it in the cleft of his shoulder.

Lloyd heard Colette sigh romantically to his side, and he wanted with all of his heart to turn around in his seat and see what was happening now, but they were both silent, and Lloyd felt that if either Genis or Presea caught him staring at them, or somehow figured out that he had seen the proceedings, the entire event would be ruined and things would become even more awkward than before, so despite his most fervent desire, he sat still in his seat.

"They're very cute together," said Colette, speaking to Lloyd for the first time that ride. "Don't you think?"

"Yeah," agreed Lloyd. "I probably should have seen that coming, but I didn't."

Colette laughed softly, more out of nostalgia than amusement. "That's the Lloyd we all know and love. Completely clueless."

"Hey," responded Lloyd, faking outrage, "Aren't you the one who always accidentally trips over everything?"

Colette laughed again, this time out of pure joy and humor. "Lloyd," she explained mirthfully, "You're confusing two traits. You're clueless. I'm clumsy. There's a difference."

"Oh," said Lloyd looking down. "I can't believe I've had that mixed up for so long."

Colette shook her head at Lloyd in mock condescension. "It's scenes like that," she gestured back at Presea and Genis, "conversations like this," she pointed at the two of them, "that almost make me wish…that…never mind," she ended, shaking her head, hoping to discourage Lloyd's inquiries. She did not.

"That make you wish what?" asked Lloyd, oblivious to the body language that was telling him to ask her later.

"Let's…let's talk about it later, okay? When we have a little more time, alright,"

"We've got plenty of…oh," The ride ground to a halt as the two of them reached the bottom and the door unlocked and swung open. Lloyd and Colette stepped out.

The old operator coughed twice to clear his throat, then gleefully intoned. "Thank you very much for riding the Lezareno Ferris Wheel. That will be the last run of the day, you may exit to your left."

"Thank you," said Colette, nodding to the ride operator, this time sincerely. "I had a good time." They exited to the left as the Ferris wheel made another ten degree turn to let out Regal and Sheena. Lloyd and Colette descended the ramp to find Genis and Presea, side by side, and a little closer than they would have been before the ride. Both of them also had massive grins on their faces.

"What are you two so happy about?" Lloyd implied that he knew with his eyebrows, but of course neither of them had any reason to suspect eavesdroppers, so they reset their faces to blank, almost formal looks.

"No reason," replied Genis, careful not to betray anything, even though a slight grin was tugging at the corners of his cheeks, no matter how hard he tried to keep them down. "I…I just love Ferris wheels!" he formulated quickly.

Regal, Sheena, and Raine joined them, though Raine had her eyes shut and was being pulled along by Sheena. "Raine," lectured Sheena, "You're never going to feel better until you open your eyes. That's how motion sickness works."

"No…" moaned Raine. "I'm not going to open my eyes until the world stops spinning!" She vehemently stomped her foot.

"And the world is not going to stop spinning until you open your eyes," concluded Regal. "You have a bit of a dilemma here, Raine."

Raine scowled and looked at her feet, but millimeter by millimeter pried open her unwilling eyes. After a few moments her eyes were completely open, and she collapsed backwards, staring up into the sky. She groaned loudly.

"Hmm…" mused Genis happily. "Water and theme parks. I'm going to have to remember this for later."

Raine growled at him from the ground, but couldn't do anything else. In the distance, a call rang out from several loudspeakers near the elemental railway. "This is the final boarding call! All should be on in the next five minutes, or they will have to swim!"

"Looks like you're stuck between your two fears, Raine," explained Presea sympathetically. "If we get on the train, you'll have to deal with its fast motion, but if you don't, you'll have to swim back." No one could resist a piteous glance at Raine, who groaned once more, but refused to make further statement.

"I've heard that lemon is an effective cure for motion sickness," thought Regal out loud. "Ah," he exclaimed, "I have just the thing." Reaching into his pocket, he produced a small yellow candy in its wrapper. "Here, take this," he said, placing it in her mouth. "It's a Lezareno company lemon drop, so you can be assured of its highest professional quality."

Sheena rolled her eyes behind him, but the little pill obviously did its job, as Raine slowly relaxed, closing her eyes and slowing her breathing to a normal rate. "…So…I guess we're taking the train?" ventured Sheena. "Are you okay with that Raine?" She did not respond. "Raine?" questioned Sheena.

"I wouldn't ask her," yawned Regal, glancing over to the train.

"What do you mean?" asked Lloyd, not getting Regal's implication.

"That wasn't a lemon drop; it was a fast-acting sedative. I always keep several on me."

Genis couldn't stop laughing until they were all the way back to the suite.