hey guys just letting you know we're almost done with flash backs, and the real drama starts. I'll be focusing on the beginning of Eliana and Joshua's relationship since we haven't had any moments with them in a while.

I own nothing but my OCs.

Eliana (flashback/ present) 12 months ago

"Okay does it have white fur?" Joshua asked with a second guessing tone.

"Yes." Eliana answered with a bored tone. "Is it an Ogretail?!" Joshua said almost screaming the answer. "SHHH, yes, yes, you win, now be quit they might hear you." Eliana whispered looking annoyed.

She looks out the opening, checking if anything heard them. They had been on a recon mission all day, scouting out a rumored herd of Vajra. Vajra were something to be caution about but they tend to travel alone so a well-equipped unit could handle it. But hearing that were was a group of more than thirty put everyone in the North African Branch on high alert. No one was sure if it was a new or common type of Vajra, so they called in Cradle to investigate first.

Other teams were put in place but this was just a recon mission, so they would only have to report if they see the herd. An easy job really, but would get boring quickly when your placed in an abandon mining town where there's nothing but old buildings and lot of rock. Eliana and Joshua positioned themselves in one of the old buildings at the edge of town, overseeing the valley. Of course it didn't help that sandstorms are common in the area. So they have been waiting out storms all day; making the job more difficult when you can't even see the enemy coming.

"Uhhh, how long until we're done and out?!" Joshua sighs. "It would have been 20 minutes ago but with the storm earlier could be an hour or more before a helicopter shows up again." Eliana tells him in a low voice while sitting right across from him.

Since they haven't heard anything all day, all that they could do is sit around and wait. "Well, guess it's my turn now." Joshua said while leaning against the wall. "Uh, we've been playing 20 questions for the past hour. Got anything else?" Eliana complained.

Joshua sat up and reached for his bag. He rambled through it for a bit and brought out a desk of cards. "Blackjack anyone?" Joshua said as if he were a card dealer. Eliana gave a small laugh. "Sure," She answered with a smile.

…

It took some time, but I finally really started to enjoy myself again. After a long time of being sad, I think I found it within myself to move on. It probably didn't help that I decided not to tell Alisa or Sakuya about it. Well since there was no "Real" relationship to begin with, I shouldn't burden them with it plus I don't want them to give him a hard time. I tried reaching him just to see how he was and to finally say goodbye for good but like always he never picked up. Maybe one day…

Well at least it's been an interesting ride. Being part of Cradle has let me see a lot of new places, meet a lot of colorful characters, and make a few comrades. And to top it off, I finally made a really good friend out here. It's funny how I keep running into Joshua, he's the one member of Cradle that I usually get partnered up with. We still joke about being each other's stalker because of that. Well I'm glad that I didn't completely push him away when I was being… difficult, I would have missed out.

I suddenly come out of my thoughts when my communicator starts ringing. I look at the screen and see I received a written message. Thinking it was an emergency call, I open it only to find out it was from my little brother. The message was to remind me to come back the day of mine intend visit and to not break my promise again. I sign heavy, not sure what to make of it. "Hey, what's wrong, are one of the teams in trouble?" Joshua asked, as he also thought it was an emergency call. "No false alarm, it's just my annoying little brother. Who somehow got his hands on an emergency channel code just to remind me to come visit! Uh, I don't even know whether to be proud or scared of the fact he's becoming an evil computer genius." I let out my frustration.

Joshua on the other hand just seem amused. "Wow, he really loves his big sister, you should appreciate that. Not a lot of brothers go that far, especially for their doting big sisters." He commented with a laugh. "Oh ha, ha I bet you can't even handle being in my shoes." I say sarcastically. "No, since I know we're a hand full to our older siblings, but it is fun." He tells me in an amused voice. "Huh, you're a little brother, to whom?" I ask suddenly. "Ah, yeah just, my older brother Liam. He kinda of inspired me to become a God Eater." Joshua said in a reminiscing tone. "Huh, you never mentioned him before, did he join Cradle before you—

"No, he never got the chance to join since... he died a few years back." Joshua says in a quiet voice. "Oh I see." Is all I could get myself to say since I couldn't really find the right words. So he's lost someone that way too…

"Hey, don't worry about it, I'll be okay." He said trying to reassure me. "Are you sure?" I asked still not fully convinced.

"Yeah, it still hurts but someone has to fight…and…I don't want his sacrifice to go to waste. You know what I mean?" Joshua said wholeheartedly.

"Yeah, I do." I could see Joshua's resolve clearly. He wanted to keep fighting for his brother, for it was his fight too. We're fighting for the people who are important to us. That's what really matters.

"Thanks, that means a lot." He says with a smile, not his grin but a sincere smile. Seeing him smile like that somehow made my heart skip a beat. Wha?! How did that happened? maybe it's because it's not his usual big silly grin or laugh but a smile that showed sincere appreciation. Yeah that's probably it.

"Hey are you okay? Your face is turning red." He says out of the blue. "Oh…uh must be the heat." I guessed. "Oh then why don't you move to—suddenly Joshua stops talking.

"What—

"Shh…do you hear that?" He whispers.

I pause to listen, and I suddenly hear faint footsteps.

Soon the steps quicken as if whatever was moving started to run. Then the earth started to shake as well. I try looking out the opening but the rumbling makes it hard to keep my balance. I try supporting myself by leaning against the wall. I can only get a glance of what's going on through the window. I can't tell what's really coming, for there was a huge cloud of dust coming our way.

A sandstorm?... No, it's too loud to be a storm, plus the earth is shaking, it must be something alive.

And within the cloud of sand, my eyes could faintly make out the dark figures within, I couldn't really tell what they were, but I knew they were big and coming in fast.

I try reaching for my God arc but I lose my balance the second I let go of the wall. I fall on my knees and try getting up again. Suddenly I hear a crumbling sound right above me. Just as I look up, I see the ceiling coming down right above me. "ELIANA LOOK OUT!"

Before I could react I feel something pulling me out of the way. I look up and see Joshua right beside me. Luckily, he pulled me out of the way before the rubble crushed me. However right at that second the rest of the structure starts collapsing down as well. "Duck!" I yell as I push him down to the ground automatically.

We duck against the other wall, under a table, just as the ceiling comes crushing down. wooden support beams fall right against the wall. I can't really tell what's going on for I duck my head, covering my face and head with my arms. All I could hear was the crushing sound of the structure and the loud stampeding of the Aragami outside. My mind went completely blank, becoming unfocused.

Soon enough the rumbling stops and the sound of the stampede starts to faint in the distance. I stay in my position until the shaking completely stops and I can only faintly hear the running from a distance. When I'm sure that it was over, I gain the courage to open my eyes.

"Oh, that was close." Joshua says as he looks up. I just sign in relieve. I look around and see that the table and support beams were able to keep the ceiling from completely crushing us. However, it barely missed us, sandwiching us against the wall, making it hard to move around. "You okay?" Joshua asked with concern. As far as I could tell we only had a few cuts and bruises, since none of us were screaming in pain from a broken or lost limb so I guess we're good. Of course, it was hard to tell since we were up against a corner with so little room, I was practically in Joshua's arms. My face is buried into his chest, with his arms around me. I could feel my face getting warmer from the body heat. "Yeah, I'm okay, you?" I ask him trying to look up. "Yeah, I think I'm good." He tells me. I try getting up however it's really hard to move around. I try crawling out but I end up elbowing Joshua in the face and my knee kicking his leg. "Ouch" He yells when I hit him. "Sorry." I apologize. I let him try but he ends up kicking me in the stomach.

"Gah"

"Sorry, sorry!"

"It's okay, just be more careful."

"Hold still, my leg is stuck."

"Here put your arm right here."

"Okay I'm almost out."

Just as I'm about to get my feet loose, my hand slips causing me to fall forward, making my lips to brush up against Joshua's neck. I jerk back as fast as I can and try crawling out. "Uh, uh, I… I think I can get loose here, just hold still." Joshua said suddenly but in a small voice. He wiggles his way up and is able to start crawling. Just as he tries passing me, his hand brushes up against my cheek, causing shivers down my spine. Wha, I'm sure I just got cold all of a sudden. Soon he's able to completely crawl out and tells me to crawl his way. I wiggle my way through and just as I'm about to be out, the rubble started coming down. "Eliana!" Joshua yells as he yacks my arm pulling me out completely.

I'm out, I'm alive, oh thank goodness.

I sign, breathing in and out heavily. Just as I'm catching my breath, I realize that once again I was being embraced by Joshua. I guess he just realized that too, for the moment we look at other, our faces start turning red. Immediately we jump away and get to our feet.

"Uhh, well…. uh thanks, and uh- "

"oh, um yeah… uh don't, uh mention it."

"Yeah, um… uh yeah."

"yeah. we… should…uh go call...in a helicopter."

"uh, yeah, yeah we should."

Both of us became so flustered that we there acting like bubbling fools. I could feel my face glowing red.

Once the helicopter arrived we got on and just didn't talk the whole way back.

What was that? I'm sure it's nothing. It must have been the heat, or the fact we almost died from a building which is more surprising in this line of work. Yeah, that must totally be it.

(Present) JOSHUA

I wake up just realizing that I wasn't in my room. I look around and see that I'm in the sick bay. I must have dos off while I was visiting. I look at the overhead clock and see it's late and that visiting hours have since been over. I stretch my arms and just as I'm about to get up to leave, I see something unexpected. In the corner of my eye I see Eliana's hand move. I look again to make such, and her fingers start to twitch. I look up at her and see her face is flinching. "Eliana?!" I call out, not sure what to do. Then Eliana appears to be trying to say something. I try to lean in to hear what she's saying, when my hand brushes against hers.

The moment my hand touches hers a wave of electricity runs up my arm, spreading throughout the rest of my body. A flush of images start playing before my eyes, so fast I can't even make them out. My head starts to hurt like crazy as if someone just hit me with a bat. I start hearing things piercing through my ears. Everything is happening all at once that my body goes numb and my vision blurs to darkness. Just as I lose consciousness the images start to clear and slow down. Playing them out clearly.

Ahh, she can be so dense at times. don't worry there's more to come between these two, wink, wink.