As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

Dwarven Vow 31:
Chan eil tuil air nach tig traoghadh.
Every flood will have an ebb.

21-

When Anna awoke, she found herself propped up in a chair with someone wrapping a thick bandage around her injured ankle. She looked down and was surprised to see a head of blue hair.

"Yuan?"

"Oh, you're awake." Yuan looked up and smiled. "Kratos will be happy to see that when he gets back." He finished attaching the bandage and stood up, motioning to the fireplace. "Are you warm enough? You're still probably suffering the initial effects of hypothermia, but thankfully there's no sign of frostbite in your hands.

Anna ignored the second half of his statement. "Gets back? Where did Kratos go?"

"To find his sword. The one you dropped, remember?"

"Oh." Anna looked down at the floor in embarrassment. "I-I dropped it when I almost fell…"

"Don't worry. He's placed a magical marker on it so that he can find it if it ever gets lost. He does that with most of his important possessions." Yuan stepped closer to the hearth, retrieving a canteen of water from Kratos' belongings and offering it to her. "You look dehydrated. You should probably drink somethi-" He stopped as he saw her flinch in reaction to his movement. "Don't worry about me. If Kratos has decided that you're Anna, then you're Anna, and I'm a dead man if I lay a hand on you. So drink up or he'll yell at me, 'kay?"

"Th-thank you…" Anna accepted the canteen and took a few tentative sips. The lukewarm water burned against her chilled lips, but she realized at once how much she needed it and gulped the rest of it down eagerly. "When did you get here, anyway?"

"I tried to chase Zel- er, Orrison up here, but I wasn't fast enough." Yuan took the empty canteen from her and returned it to Kratos' bag. "By the time I reached the cabin, I found the door wide open and Noishe barking up a storm. It wasn't long after that, Kratos returned carrying you. He explained the situation to me and told me to tell you not to worry about Orrison getting away. I made sure the storage facility was locked up tight, and he can't do anything without that converter. Once we dismantle it, the threat will be totally gone."

Silence followed. Anna nodded her head, but she wasn't looking at Yuan. She was too engrossed in her own thoughts to say anything just yet, and when she finally decided on what to say, it wasn't at all relevant to the conversation.

"U-um, Yuan… can I ask you a question? It's something I'd rather not talk to Kratos about, but I need to know…"

"Of course you can ask a question." Yuan shrugged. "I can't guarantee I'll answer, but you can always ask."

"…I was turned into a monster, right? I attacked Lloyd, right?"

Yuan was silent for a moment. "Yes," he finally murmured, "Anna was turned into a monster.

"And the one who killed me… was Kratos, right?"

The moment of silence that followed was longer and more tense than the first. Yuan answered, stone-faced and unwilling to look at her. "He only did what Anna asked him to in order to protect Lloyd."

"I know. I'm grateful to him." She bowed her head, hair falling into her face as she looked down at her feet. "He says that he's always been selfish, but that sounds to me like a very selfless thing to do."

Yuan shrugged. "I mean, it's not like he had a choice."

"He did. There's always a choice. And, much as he seems to think otherwise, Kratos isn't the kind of person to choose selfishly."

A moment passed and Yuan gave a soft laugh. "Interesting perspective. You don't have any memories of what happened after Anna died, do you?"

She shook her head. "No."

"Talk to Lloyd. Talk to some of his friends. You'll find that Kratos is better at being selfish than you might think."

Anna crossed her arms and pouted. "You're so mean to him. You've always been so mean to him. Why are you working with him, anyway?"

Yuan's laughter grew, resonating through the small cabin. "Why, indeed? That's a good question! I wonder that myself, sometimes!"

His last sentence was almost inaudible, drowned out by the sound of the wind as the door to the cabin opened and closed. Noishe bounded in and paused to shake the snow off his fur, eliciting a yelp from Kratos who was already closing the door behind them. He hadn't been too distracted to hear the tail end of Yuan's speech, however.

"What's a good question?" Kratos asked, brushing the snow off his shoulders.

"Why we're working together," Yuan replied, gesturing back and forth between them. "Inquiring minds want to know."

"Is that so?" Kratos cracked a half-smile, but his expression regained its stern appearance as he moved to look at Anna. He approached her and placed one hand on her shoulder, the other pinching her cheek and tugging on it. "What were you thinking, running off like that in the state you were in?"

"Ow, ow, ow…" Anna could only groan until Kratos finally let go of her cheek. Once freed, she reached up to rub her cheek and spoke in a near-whisper. "I'm sorry, Kratos… I don't know what came over me. When I heard what happened to Zelos, I couldn't help thinking of how Seles- how all his family and friends- would react. And then I remembered what happened to me. How you and Lloyd reacted. I couldn't do anything. I was powerless to save you from myself. And I wanted to, to… destroy anyone who would make a person feel the pain that we felt."

"…Anna…" Kratos murmured. He couldn't think of anything else to say.

"But I know now that I can't do anything about what happened! Not to me and not to Zelos- that's all in the past now!" She forgot about her injured ankle and tried to stand up. Immediately, she lost her balance and fell against Kratos, but he caught her and she placed her hands against his arms to steady herself. "I have to work toward the future! I have to make sure that the world is safe for people like you and Lloyd and Seles to continue living. So, please, tell me what I need to do! Whatever it takes, I want to protect this world and the people in it!"

Kratos' expression softened as he looked down at her. Anna was leaning heavily into his arms as she tried to keep her weight off her ankle, so he gripped her closer, supporting her against his chest. Leaning down, he moved to kiss her forehead, but she saw what he was doing and tilted her face to catch his lips on hers instead. She caught him off-guard, and it took a moment for him to match her enthusiasm. A smile tugged at the corners of his mouth, causing him to break and resume the kiss momentarily, speaking the name "…Anna…" almost in a laugh.

Yuan cleared his throat conspicuously, shuffling toward the door to get their attention. However, the two completely failed to acknowledge him, lost in their own world. Yuan glanced over to Noishe, who was watching quietly with a wagging tail, and sighed.

Yep. They've forgotten that we're here.

With subtle hints not producing any responses, Yuan approached the couple, clapped his hands, and gave them both a slap on the shoulder. "I hate to interrupt, but we do still have a crisis on our hands. We need to take further action, or our efforts so far might be wasted."

The interruption caught both of their attention. Anna faced Yuan with an apologetic smile, but Kratos looked away, speaking more to the wall than to Yuan.

"O-of course. I would suggest that our next move be inspecting the storage unit and investigating the converter. We need to know exactly how it's built and how it works."

"I was thinking the same thing," Yuan replied. He kept shifting to the right slightly in an attempt to see just how red Kratos' face really was, but Kratos kept turning his head further away, and Yuan eventually gave up, walking across the room to gather his belongings. "The sooner that weapon is dismantled, the better."

"Dismantled?" Kratos looked up, the blush in his cheeks having mostly disappeared. "We can't do that yet."

"Why not? The longer it exists, the longer that the danger of a meltdown exists."

"But you're forgetting one important thing." Kratos helped Anna to sit back down, kneeling in front of her to tie the laces on her boots. She tried to protest and take charge herself, but Kratos was determined, and she knew that there was no changing his mind about something like that. He continued to speak as he tightened the knots. "That priest brat is still out there, and he has Zelos Wilder's body. If we destroy the object that he's after, then he has no reason to stay in this area. He could flee to anywhere in Tethe'alla- Meltokio, Altamira- and claim the Chosen's identity."

Anna frowned, gripping the arms of the chair she was sitting in. "Zelos is well-known, isn't he?"

"Yes. Well-known and beloved. There are a lot of people who would blindly follow Zelos should he give them orders. If Orrison realizes his new position of power, he could misuse it in many ways."

Yuan frowned and crossed his arms. "So you're saying that we should leave that deadly weapon as it is just to lure this guy back?"

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying."

There was a pause following Kratos' response. Yuan scratched the back of his head and sighed. "Well, as long as he's out there somewhere, we can't just ignore him. I'll go back to the storage facility and figure out what we can do to increase security in these conditions."

"Good. In the meantime, I'll take Anna back to the resort and explain the situation to Lloyd and his friends. After what Orrison did to Zelos, they deserve to know that he's still on the run-"

"It's all my fault." Anna curled up in the chair, hugging her knees to her chest. "I'm the one who accidentally blew your cover and chased him away. I'm so sorry, Kratos, Yuan."

"Don't worry about it. What's done is done." Yuan waved a hand at her dismissively. "It's probably best if you just focus on getting back to Lloyd and his group, where you belong."

Kratos threw a pointed glare at Yuan, but Anna didn't seem to have any arguments against his statement.

"Oh, Lloyd. I hope he's okay…"

Yuan bade the two farewell, heading back out into the snow with a more serious demeanor. Kratos, meanwhile, collected both his and Anna's belongings and handed them over to Noishe.

"Can I trust you to hold onto these while I help Anna?"

Noishe didn't move from his seated spot across from Kratos. He tilted his head and gave a little whine. Kratos sighed in resignation, recognizing the stubborn look in Noishe's eyes.

"Can I please trust you to hold onto these while I help Anna?"

Again, no reaction from Noishe beyond a low whine and a tilt of his head to the opposite direction.

"I said please. What more do you want from me, Noishe?"

Whine.

"Noishe!"

Whine.

Kratos rolled his eyes and sighed in resignation, setting the pack back down on the floor. "This is silly. I'm not going to stand here all day having an argument with my dog ov-"

A loud yip from Noishe cut his sentence off, and before he was aware what was happening, the canine had pounced on him, eagerly licking his face.

"N-Noishe! Noishe, cut it out! Noishe, please-"

At the sound of Kratos' protesting, Noishe drew back, leaning down to slip his head into the strap of the pack. Satisfied with it hanging from his neck, he positioned himself at the door, tail wagging and eyes watching Kratos for further instructions. Anna laughed while Kratos groaned- a familiar pair of reactions for the both of them. Kratos wondered if perhaps he and Anna weren't the only family members who'd contributed to Lloyd's stubbornness.

For once, Anna gave no protests about walking by herself. With the weather like it was, and her ankle hurting something awful, she was perfectly content to let Kratos carry her back to the hotel. It was such a warm, familiar feeling, having her arms draped around his neck and her head resting on his shoulder. As desperate as she was to be with their son again, part of her didn't want this closeness between them to end.

"Hey," Kratos spoke after walking for a while, having to turn his head to make sure she could hear him over the wind, "can I ask you something?"

"Sure," she murmured, half-asleep, "what is it?"

"Well, I never asked you what you want to be called."

"Huh?" The surprise of the statement brought her out of her stupor. "What do you mean?"

"I started calling you Anna without even asking whether you preferred it to Ida…"

Anna tightened her grip on his neck, tilting her head so that she could speak directly into his ear. "Anna is my name. I am Anna, and that's what I want to be called. But, at the same time, Ida is a name Lloyd gave me, so… it's special to me and I don't want to forget about it. I like it."

She was surprised to hear Kratos laugh in response to her statement. "Really? And here I thought you said you hated the name Ida."

"What? When would I have said-?!"

"It was a long time ago." Kratos shook his head, cutting her off before she had a chance to argue. "If you don't remember, don't worry about it. Just rest for now."

Anna frowned, but with exhaustion pulling at her from almost every direction, she wasn't going to protest. She leaned her head back onto Kratos' shoulder and closed her eyes, letting his warmth lull her back into the half-sleep she'd been in earlier. "I love you, Kratos," she whispered.

"I love you too, Anna."

Hazel was in the lobby helping serve hot cocoa to the displaced resort guests when Colette burst in the door. Her friends had been waiting for her, and they all turned at once to speak- however, they couldn't get a word in edgewise over her.

"Y-you guys, I don't know what to do! Lloyd won't budge! I spent that whole time out there trying to convince him to come inside, but the best I could do was get him to take my scarf. He didn't even want any hot cocoa… he said he wasn't going to move until Noishe and his mom come back. But what if something happened to them? What if he stays out there all night and freezes?! I wish I knew what to do-"

By that point, Genis had jumped to his feet and run to Colette's side to calm her down. "Take it easy, Colette. You know how stubborn Lloyd can be once he gets his mind set on something. Everyone's stressed out. We should give him some space."

"While that's true, I'm afraid that Master Lloyd isn't dressed for subzero temperatures," Hazel broke in. "Even if he's out of the snow, the wind chill exposed to his skin is putting him at risk of hypothermia. He really needs more than a windbreaker and a scarf."

"But what can we do?" Colette wrung her hands. "Nothing I said to him made any difference."

Seles leaned over the back of the couch to address them. "You're too nice, Colette. You've gotta forcefully drag him inside."

Colette gasped. "D-drag him? I couldn't-"

"Colette's just fine the way she is, sis." Zelos gave Seles a gentle tap on the shoulder. "If she's not comfortable dragging Lloyd around, then let someone else do the dragging."

"Oh? And who do you suggest? Your current physique isn't exactly optimal for dragging people around."

Zelos thought it over for a moment. "Sheena is good at dragging grown men around. Why not get her to do it?"

"Hey!"

Sheena set her mug of cocoa aside to slap at Zelos, but Colette stepped between them before a fight could break out. "That's right! Sheena, Lloyd really likes you. I'm sure if you ask him nicely, he'll come inside. Please, will you try?"

Zelos gave a dramatic gasp. "What's this now? Lloyd likes Sheena? Scandalous! Why wasn't I informed-?"

"Y-you know what she meant!" Sheena managed a slap to Zelos' hand before standing up. "Don't worry, Colette. I'll see what I can do."

The front of the resort was covered by an elaborate canopy, held up by towering columns with intricate floral designs. Sheena found Lloyd standing with his back pressed against one of the columns, staring out into the blank landscape. It was hard to hear over the powerful wind, and Sheena pulled her coat tighter so that she could approach Lloyd closely enough to speak to him.

"Hey, Lloyd?"

Her voice startled him and he spun around. "Sheena? Don't tell me that Colette sent you out here to drag me inside-"

"N-no, I-" Sheena began, taking a moment to process what he'd said. "-wait, how'd you know that? F-forget it. I just want to talk. Is that okay?"

Lloyd shrugged, heaving a sigh that manifested into a cloud of condensation that was blown away from his mouth just as quickly as it had formed. "Sure. It's not like I've got anything better to do right now."

He turned back around to face the landscape, so Sheena stepped into line beside him. "What's going on with you? Is it something you can't even tell Colette about?"

Lloyd shook his head. "It's not quite like that. I love Colette, but the fact that she wants to solve everybody's problems makes her hard to be honest with sometimes. I don't want her trying to fix my family situation while she's got the whole trouble with Zelos going on."

"That makes sense." Sheena nodded. "How about this? If I promise just to listen and not try to fix everything, could I pick your brain a little?"

"…" Lloyd glanced away. "…I don't want to saddle you with my problems either."

"That's what I'm here for, isn't it?"

"Pardon?" He turned his head to face her.

"I came to Flanoir to be here for my friends. That includes you." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "We can't fix your problems for you. But if you tell your friends what's going on, maybe we can help you confront them. That's what Colette was trying to do too. Please, Lloyd, will you trust us?"

Lloyd was quiet for a moment. He had pressed his lips together, thinking it over, and finally sighed.

Sheena wasn't ready for the intensity of his answer.

"I just- just- can't believe how stupid I've been all this time! Like, like, like… my mom has been right here the whole time, and I didn't even realize it! I mean, I did realize it, but I didn't really understand it. I thought there was no way that she could be… w-well, her! And now what's going to happen? Am I going to lose my mom again? And this time, will it be my fault?! Kratos is angry with me now; imagine how it'll be when he finds out that I let her just wander off into the arctic wilderness alone! How will I be able to face him? How will I be able to face myself? I… I don't know what to do."

By this point, Lloyd had collapsed against the column he was standing next to, resting his forehead against the cold marble. He waited to hear something from Sheena, dreading to hear her yell at him, or worse, pity him. But that wasn't what he heard.

"Do you feel better now?"

Lloyd slowly lifted his head from the column, looking back at her. "…yeah, actually I do. It didn't solve anything, but I feel… a little warmer, at least." He stopped, pausing to sneeze and wipe his nose with the back of his hand. "My fingers are numb."

"Please come inside, Lloyd. You're going to get sick if you stay out here. I know you're worried about your mother, but-"

Momentarily, the sound of the wind was broken by a loud howl. Sheena stiffened, fearing suddenly that it might be a wolf, but Lloyd recognized it immediately. He jumped away from the column, and ran out into the snow.

"NOISHE!"

"W-wait! Lloyd!" Sheena ran out after him, but she didn't have to run far. Lloyd had met up with Noishe, who corralled him back under the cover of the resort's canopy. Lloyd had taken a bag from around Noishe's neck and was examining it.

"Where did you get this, Noishe? Isn't this Kratos'…?"

"Lloyd!" Sheena caught up to him, placing a hand on his shoulder and gesturing back out into the snow. Lloyd turned around and dropped the bag abruptly.

"KRATOS! MOM!"

Kratos had seen the lights of the resort from a short distance away and prompted Noishe to run ahead. He hadn't realized, however, that there were people waiting at the entrance, so the sound of Lloyd's voice caught him off-guard. Has he been waiting here for us? The idiot! He'll freeze!

Stepping under the cover and out of the snow was a relief, and Kratos sighed before nudging Anna, who was asleep with her head on his shoulder. Lloyd was watching from a short distance away, his eyes wide with what looked like fear. Seeing Anna unconscious had probably startled him.

"Anna? Hey, wake up. Your son wants to see you."

"…mmm?" Anna lifted her head from Kratos' shoulder, rubbing her eyes as she looked around. Kratos helped her slide back to the ground, keeping one arm around her to steady her, but as soon as she saw Lloyd, she dashed off in his direction. It was lucky that Lloyd was close enough to catch her, as she toppled over immediately after putting pressure on her bandaged ankle. She fell into his arms and he scooped her up, both talking at once.

"Mom! Oh, thank goodness-" "Oh Lloyd… my precious Lloyd…" "-I was so scared that something had happened to you-" "…you've been here all this time and I didn't even know…" "-and I just could never forgive myself if I lost you again-" "…you helped me so much and still I didn't remember you…" "-please, please don't do anything so rash again-" "…I was so worried about finding my baby, and here you were…" "-for your sake and mine, you have to stay safe…" "…my little boy… my Lloyd… thank you…"

Thank you.

The two had dissolved into a crying mess, Anna leaning on Lloyd's shoulder and Lloyd's arms wrapped tightly around her. They pulled away from each other slowly, and Anna reached up to wipe a tear off Lloyd's cheek. Lloyd laughed despite himself, and Anna mirrored him. For that moment, it was as if no one else existed.

But, of course, that wasn't the case.

"Lloyd Irving, what do you think you're wearing?" Seeing them breaking from their reverie, Kratos grabbed the back of Lloyd's shirt and tugged on it. "How long have you been out here dressed like this? You're going to catch a cold."

"H-hey, hey! Let go!" Lloyd twisted his shoulders, trying to wriggle out of Kratos' grip without taking his support away from Anna. "I was worried about you guys, okay? I'm not the one who was running around in the snow! And anyway, it's not that cold…"

Kratos scoffed, glancing over at Anna and then back at Lloyd. "You're just like your mother."

"Miss, uh, Anna, we should go inside." Sheena stepped forward, taking Anna's arm and tugging it around her shoulder to support her. "We can talk more once we're out of the cold."

"Thank you, Sheena. I appreciate it."

"C'mon, Lloyd. Kratos." Sheena motioned, and accompanied Anna inside the front entrance. Noishe bounded after them, glancing only briefly back at the two men. Lloyd ran to follow, but Kratos reached out and grabbed his shoulder.

"Lloyd. Once we're inside, may I talk to you… privately?"

Lloyd paused. He felt a chill as he saw the serious look in his father's eyes.

"Sure…"