Her hand was soft and warm in his, just how he remembered it. It had been a long time since Lloyd had held this hand, since he and Collete had been on hand holding terms. Lloyd gazed upon the sleeping woman, and an expression of concern came over his face. I hope she's okay. His body tensed as he recalled seeing Colette fall from the sky unconscious, unable to save herself. As he watched her fall, Lloyd felt his lungs contract and his throat constrict, holding down a scream.

But she had been saved, and now she was here at the inn, resting and hopefully regaining her strength. His mind wandered to the last time he had seen her when he had felt similar emotions. They were at the World Tree Temple, in her office. Lloyd remembered how his heart had pounded as he listened to the words come from her pink mouth; her swimmingly blue eyes were unreadable as her words left him confused and hurt. As he focused on the memory, the pain washed over him again, wrenching his heart as though he were feeling it for the first time. Lloyd had never shared what happened with anyone, and he doubted Colette had. And so the wound had never healed.

From the back of his mind, Lloyd registered the door to Colette's room open behind him. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he pulled himself out of his thoughts and looked up to see Kratos standing by him. Relieved, he smiled at his father. The angel motioned to the hallway and walked back out. Lloyd stood as well and followed his father out of the room, stealing one last glance at Colette before shutting the door.

"How are you holding up?" Kratos asked, leaning against the opposite wall.

"I'm okay. Just worried about her." He sighed and stretched his arms out above his head. "She's going to be fine, right?"

"She used too much of her strength. Rest will do her good." Kratos stood and began walking down the stairs, away from Colette's room, Lloyd in tow.

"What happened?"

"I believe she's discovering new powers."

"Wow. Does that happen to all angels?"

"Yes. The angelic evolution spurred by the cruxis crystal is slow. It can take up to five years for a person's abilities to show themselves when they begin utilizing the cruxis crystal to sharpen their abilities. Colette's only been using hers for about three now."

"What else can she do?"

"I don't know. It's mostly different for each person."

"Mostly?"

"Angels can learn to communicate telepathically."

"Like read minds?!" He gasped.

Kratos chuckled. "No. We send thoughts and images to each other, but we cannot proactively read each other's minds."

"Ah, okay." Lloyd sighed with relief. After a beat, he said, "Thank you for saving her."

"Of course."

"I couldn't save her."

"Why not? Your exsphere has given you wings before."

"I don't know. I haven't been able to use wings since."

Kratos paused, thinking on this answer. "Is it your job?"

"What?"

"To save Colette. Is it your responsibility?"

"No."

"Do you want it to be?"

"…yeah."

"Then what's stopping you?"

Lloyd winced. Sighing, he said, "It's complicated."

"That's an excuse." Kratos led them outside onto the balcony overlooking the streets.

"I don't know what to do." Lloyd said, leaning against the railing and looking up at the sky.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how to fix it."

"Lloyd, is this twenty questions? Fix what?"

"Sorry! God, I dunno. Fix the situation!"

"Lloyd, what happened?"

"She doesn't want me around. She doesn't need me to protect her."

"And why is that so important to you?"

"Because I…"

"You care for her."

"Yeah."

They were silent before Kratos said, "So, let me ask you again. What's stopping you?"

"I told you. She made it clear she doesn't need me to protect her."

"Did she say that? Did she say those exact words?"

"Um, sort of."

"When did she say that?"

"Last year. When she became High Priestess and we visited the Tree."

"So she said that she didn't want you around anymore. That's hard for me to believe."

"She didn't say that exactly."

"What did she say then?"

"That she had her powers and guards so I didn't need to worry about her anymore and I could spend my time doing other things like spending time with my dad instead of watching over her."

"So you think she just didn't want you around."

"Yeah."

"Have you considered she was trying to give you some freedom? Or that she wanted to show you she could take of herself? Or that you both could be independent?"

"…."

"Lloyd, there are endless possibilities to why she gave you that message. And besides, she probably felt guilty saying those things to you in the first place."

"Dammit." Lloyd said, closing his eyes.

"Why did she mention Dirk?"

"No reason." Lloyd said quickly. It was a lie, of course. He wasn't ready to say it out loud. And he didn't want to tell Kratos, although he was sure Kratos knew that it was a lie. Lloyd opened his eyes and looked on the street below, ignoring Kratos' gaze.

"So what do you intend to do?" The angel asked.

"I-" Lloyd began, when he saw a shadow move on the street beneath them. "Hey look!" Kratos focused on the disappearing figure. "Isn't that that guy with Mayor Yamaguchi?"

"Yes, that's Emmanuel." He turned and ran back into the inn, Lloyd on his heels. Lloyd looked sideways at his biological father. Kratos gave a slight nod and led them out of the inn and down the cobblestone path, following the figure into the night. The rest of their conversation would have to wait for another time.