By the time I got to Norende, I was still mulling over Alternis and Agnès's conversation. I had hardly noticed I had reached this town and when I did I couldn't help but admire the place.

It was exactly the kind of place I imagined Tiz grew up in. Quiet, sleepy, quaint. A place that cultivated innocent pure hearts. A place that could only raise a boy like Tiz. The light was radiant here, the glades dappled with sun.

It was completely the opposite of the kind of environment I'd grown up in. Eternia was cold, desolate. I'd grown up in the lap of luxury, but I'd been born to compete, to become the best.

Norende was warmth. It made my heart ache seeing this place.

And yet, I realized as I approached the town, there was something eerie about this place. It didn't take me long to realize what that was; the emptiness was off-putting. As I approached the town, I saw a few sheep milling about, untended to. I saw perhaps one person, a haggard old man who kindly directed me to the town square.

But even as I approached the small town, I noticed it was empty and it seemed to be that way for awhile. Though the buildings looked new, they did not looked lived in; there was a fine sheen of dust covering everything.

I bit my lip. Where was Tiz? I turned about, but again, aside from a few villagers I could not see the boy who constantly looked like he'd just woken up and hadn't bothered to comb through his hair. Had Agnès and Alternis already gotten to him?

"Excuse me," I said politely to one of the villagers, a young woman who seemed to be in her twenties. "I'm looking for a friend of mine. His name is Tiz."

Sure enough, her face lit up in recognition. "Oh yes, Tiz. His house is quite aways from the town, but you can't miss it. His little brother can take you if you'd like."

I frowned. Tiz's little brother had perished along with the rest of Norende's inhabitants. That much I knew. Tiz never talked about him often to me, but I'd seen how much it had torn Tiz up to choose between saving all the worlds and staying with his brother to rebuild Norende in one of the other worlds that we'd gone to. "His brother?" I asked blankly.

The woman arched a brow. "The pint-sized little welp. Egil? I personally believe he's a pain, but Tiz loves having him around."

Oh, right. Egil. Wasn't he supposed to be with Karl? But it made sense that Egil stayed with Tiz. Egil had reminded him strongly of Til, after all. They even looked alike, from what I remember.

Like most of my relationships, Egil and I hadn't gotten along in the beginning. I privately considered him a liability even though he had been extremely useful navigating us through the mines as he couldn't fight, but toward the end, I realized he had been more of a help than a hindrance. Without him, we couldn't have accessed the Fire Temple, and all things considered he was an orphan and had no family. It made sense he had recklessly pursued adventure if he felt that nobody was left to truly care for him.

"Oh right, Egil," I responded. "Yeah, I'd really like that."

The woman chuckled. "He's probably by the stables by the inn. He loves the horses there."

It didn't take me long to locate the stables, and sure enough, I spotted Egil, squatting down by a gray mare's stall.

Or at least, I thought it was Egil. When he turned around at my footsteps, he stood and I was struck with how much he'd grown.

The weedy, sickly little boy had filled out. Norende had agreed with him. He now sported a nice, healthy tan, and he'd grown several inches since I last saw him, almost to my height. He'd shorn off his silvery-brown long hair, leaving it short, practical and now it was easy to see his face. There was still the look of innocence and youth to him; the smatter of freckles across his face certainly helped with that. But his face had slimmed and matured just a little, his cheekbones becoming just a little more pronounced.

"Edea?" he asked, his voice cracking a little. It almost made me smile, hearing him going through puberty.

"You've forgotten me already?" I teased.

"Not at all." He demurred. I was so busy noticing what had changed about his face that I suddenly realized the brown in his eyes betrayed wariness. "I'd never forget you."

I walked a little toward him, closing the distance between us and then, crossed my arms. "But you don't seem happy to see me."

He froze; he was caught. "Still the same Edea, huh? Cutting to the chase." He laughed nervously. Even though he was nearly my height, he seemed cowed by my bluntness. I decided to take advantage of that.

"And you're avoiding the topic. I thought maybe I was imagining things, that maybe Tiz was too busy to write back. But the look in your eye tells me I'm not. You guys don't want me here, do you?" My voice went soft as I voiced my greatest fears about Tiz aloud. I had thought that Tiz and I had an unbreakable bond after everything we went through, but perhaps there were bigger things - bigger than saving the world from imminent destruction - that could tear a relationship apart. I wondered if it was my fault. I worried.

"Don't say that, Edea. I missed you. I always saw you as my tough, bigger sister," he said, and swallowed with great difficulty. "Trust me, I always wanted you to visit."

I paid attention to what he wasn't saying. "But Tiz doesn't."

He hung his head. "Tiz doesn't." He hastened on to explain, "But I don't think it's necessarily you, Edea. Ever since he came back he's been... different. He doesn't show it a lot, so I don't think anybody has noticed, but I spend a lot of time with him and I can see it when he thinks nobody's paying attention."

"See what?"

Egil shrugged. "I don't know how to explain it."

I bit my lip. "Okay, then can you show me? Just show me to him and I'll see if I can figure it out." Even though I'd gotten some sort of confirmation that there had been something wrong with Tiz, I was still very anxious. I realized I needed to see him now.

Egil sighed. "I don't know..."

"Egil," I interrupted, as softly as I could. "Tiz could be in trouble. He needs our help, and if I don't know what's troubling him... I just... I really need to see him." Maybe it was Florem's loss or the way I'd totally ruined Alternis's and the Matriarch's reunion, but I really wanted something to go right.

I saw the wheels turning in Egil's head as he considered my offer. Finally his shoulders slumped in defeat and he said, "Okay."

...

Tiz's house was a little away from Norende, more on the outskirts. It was a cottage surrounded by light blue and light purple wild flowers. It looked very picturesque. There was a small pig pen beside the cottage, a chicken coop, and a big pen where sheep were grazing. Behind this, I could see a tiny, bubbling little brook.

After he assured me that Tiz was home ("All the animals are in, and he wasn't planning on going to town.") Egil quickly made some excuse about tending to the sheep, leaving me alone in front of the rounded wooden door. There was an old, burnished knocker at the front and nervously I rapped it against the door three times in quick succession. My heart was pounding.

Less than a minute later, the door opened cautiously, and there he was. Tiz.

Before either of us could say a word, I'd thrown myself into his arms and crushed him against me. He smelled like sunlight, hay and sweat. He was just there and I knew I missed him but I didn't know how much I had until this moment. I felt my eyes water, feeling him against me. It was like he was real again.

Tentatively, I felt his arms encircle me as well. "Edea?" he asked. "What's wrong?"

I loved that about him. I had missed that about him. He instinctively knew that there was something wrong. I pulled back and studied him, keeping the tornado that was my emotions in check. "You. I think."

"Me?"

"Where have you been, Tiz? You've been so absent..."

I saw something flicker in his eyes, but then a second later he gave me a sheepish grin. He scratched the back of his head. "Have I? I've been busy rebuilding Norende..." he trailed off, the lie hanging between us awkwardly, creating space.

We both knew it wasn't true. How could it be, when I had been traveling all over the world, forging relationships and still had taken the time to write painstakingly long letters? I had never been the kind of person to write lengthy letters unless I needed to. I preferred actions to words. I knew Tiz was the same. He was quiet, speaking only when he needed to, but I also knew that he would write to keep in touch.

I licked my lips, pondering how best to restart the conversation. "Agnès is looking for you too. She's worried about you."

At her name, he seemed more alert and I suppressed the urge to fight off a smirk. If nothing else could get a reaction out of him, she would have to. Getting Tiz and Agnès to admit their feelings to each other was something that Ringabel and I had agreed on from the very start. Just because Ringabel was no longer around, didn't mean I couldn't stop trying to get them together.

"How is she?"

"Distraught that you haven't responded to her letters." I arched an eyebrow at him and he had the grace to look utterly cowed.

I stepped over toward the kitchen, a tiny, yet clean space and sat down at a tiny wooden table. "I would have thought she would have came here first, actually. She began her journey before I did. Her and Alternis actually."

"Alternis?" Tiz followed me into the kitchen and immediately put a kettle on the stove. "As in... Ringabel's...?"

"The Ringabel of our world," I said, and I found it extremely weird to put it that way. After all, shouldn't it have been the other way around? Wasn't Alternis the original?

"Doesn't he... not like her?" Tiz asked carefully. "Or... well, any Crystalist?"

I shrugged. "A lot's happened since. I think I updated you in one of my letters that Agnès was traveling with us. She and Alternis had some time to pick at each other's heads. I wouldn't call them friends exactly but..." I didn't know what else to say so I shrugged. I didn't know their relationship.

Tiz said nothing. He was always more of a listener. We lapsed into comfortable silence for a few minutes, and the kettle started whistling quietly.

"Nice house you got here," I said waving an arm around vaguely. Then I said, "I can see why you were so determined to rebuild Norende. It feels like home and I don't even live here."

Tiz smiled, but it was a sad smile. "You should have seen it when it was full. Everybody knew each other and took care of each other. Sometimes it was a little annoying having people know your business before you did, but they were the kindest..." he trailed off, seemingly emotional.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset," I said quickly.

"It's okay," he said. "Now Norende's just a shadow of what it once was." I was surprised to detect bitterness in his tone. "It's like, I look around and I can still see the exact place I noticed the first time I lost a sheep, where the inn was where I'd had my first ale. My first kiss was behind the school house. I know all the spots, but it's like the heart and soul of Norende no longer exists. I don't feel attached to this place anymore." He said this in a strange voice, the expression on his face not unlike what it was when I asked him why he'd been so absent.

Then he said, "Maybe it's not Norende, though. Maybe its soul still does live on, even though all the original folk here are gone. Maybe the problem is me."

I was getting creeped out. I couldn't explain why I felt scared, hearing him say that. I didn't even really understand what he was saying, but there was something sad and bitter in his voice, coupled with that same absence I had been feeling from him. "What do you mean?" I asked quietly.

"It's like-" he was cut off when the kettle began its high-pitched whistle, which startled him. A second later, he was the same old Tiz, pouring me a cup and asking me how much sugar I took. I appreciated that he didn't even bat an eye when I put my fourth sugar cube inside the cup and showed no signs of stopping.

"Your life seems a lot more interesting than mine. I know you've sent me letters, but tell me everything, anyway. I've been keeping up with The Caldislan Times and sometimes you're on there, but I'd rather hear it from you."

I sat back in my chair, my hands circling the large mug of tea he'd placed in front of me. It was still steaming, but the warmth of the mug seeped through my fingertips. "I don't know if you want to hear it," I said slowly. "Some good stuff's happened... but I fear that there's more bad than good." I sighed heavily. "I wonder how well you'd think of me if you heard it. Times seemed so much simpler when I was traveling with you and Agnès and Ringabel. Even if we were wrong, our path seemed so much clearer." I took a sip of tea. I couldn't tell exactly what it was because of all the sugar I'd dumped in, but it smelled and tasted flowery, and almost soothing.

Tiz rolled his shoulders back. He didn't say anything for a long time, but I could see his brown eyes staring at me. There was no judgment in them which I appreciated. Finally, he said, "I think part of growing up is realizing that there's no such thing as right and wrong. The line between the two becomes more blurred, the more people you get to know. I grew up in a small town. We all held the same kind of beliefs, more or less. But then I met you guys and I realized how diverse the world was. Even though we were fighting for the same thing, we had different ways and methods for doing it. I realized the world was a lot bigger and stranger than I previously thought and at first I couldn't accept that." He smiled to himself. "But then..." he stared off into the distance.

"Then?" I pressed.

"Then, I saw Agnès change." When he said her name, it was like his whole body changed. He instantly relaxed, and it was like his eyes were smiling too. "She was my inspiration for realizing that every person is unique, from the circumstances they were born into, to the way they experience things. And it's because of that, that I realize peoples ideals and their versions of right and wrong will never perfectly match up with somebody else's.

"I can never forgive what Airy did to us. The world. The universe and all its parallel ones." he said. "But... I can definitely see why she did it. Before I met Agnès I think I'd have wondered my whole life why she betrayed us so badly."

I raised my eyebrows. I still couldn't see why Airy did what she did. And as I opened my mouth to say so, I heard a brisk three knocks at the door.

Tiz and I shared a look, before he got up, me following him.

I knew who it was before Tiz had even opened the door. Alternis and Agnès stood there. Agnès's face looked drained of blood, her gaze hungrily drinking in Tiz. It was like she couldn't believe he was there, standing in front of him. But there was also something unreadable in her eyes. It almost looked dangerous.

Alternis was, as usual, in his full black armor and because of that, I couldn't read his expression, let alone wonder if he was even looking at me. Blast his stupid armor! Either he was completely ignoring me, or he was staring at me. And if he was, then that would mean we were looking at each other which hadn't really happened since his confrontation with the Matriarch. With this sudden realization, I glanced back at Agnès hastily. I wasn't prepared for any eye contact which may give him the idea that I wanted to talk to him. Not especially after what I'd overheard back in the caves.

As much as I hated to admit it, he'd had a point. If he had put me on a pedestal all these years, entering into a relationship with him would only wreck us. He wasn't emotionally ready for us getting closer. I felt my heart throb painfully at this realization. Was I giving up? I didn't know if he even wanted to see me as anything more than somebody to idolize. If I was to be his perfect person, the one person who defied all darkness in the world, who was I to begrudge him that? For now, it was probably best to keep my distance from him and let him think whatever he'd thought of me before.

Alternis said, "Tiz Arrior?" in a very stiff voice.

Tiz tore his eyes away from Agnès to give me a quick look that said, "is he always like this?" Then he responded cautiously. "Y-yes, that's me..." His eyes switched back to Agnès. His cheeks had gone slightly red as he gazed upon her.

"I'm Alternis Dim... But I guess you already knew that as we've met before. Er... when I saved you from the Chasm and then knocked you out, and then I fell off Grandship," he added in a slightly flustered voice. Tiz didn't say anything; he was too busy looking at Agnès. It was like everything in the room had disappeared except for her. Watching them stare at each other like that made my heart squeeze again.

Alternis said again, "Lady Oblige was most anxious to meet you."

"Agnès," Tiz said, ignoring Alternis. He said it softly, with care. It was as though he was scared that if he didn't treat her name with the proper care, she'd shatter right in front of him.

Agnès took a step closer. "Is it really you?" she asked in a voice that barely went above a whisper.

"Yes," he breathed. "It's me."

I thought they were going to kiss. I really did. They were close enough that Tiz could have pulled her into one.

Instead, I saw Agnès's face contort, and before I could warn Tiz, her fist connected with his face.

Agnès had punched Tiz.

In the face no less.

I should have seen that coming.

HI! IT'S ME AGAIN.

Surprised? Well, me too! I don't want this to become a diary of my personal life, so I won't bore you with the details. I've reached that stage where writing has not become as stressful as I previously thought it would be under my circumstances. I realized I missed it, so I came back. I'm going to try to set a pace like I did last time (remember the days I used to update once a week, then it went to twice a month, then once a month? I'm going to try to be more consistent...), but we'll see how that works out.

This chapter is so much shorter than most of my other chapters. Sorry for that. I'm still trying to get into the flow of writing, so I'm still VERY rusty. This was mainly an exercise for me on how I'd deal with Tiz's character. I always knew Tiz would be hard for me to write; we can agree that Bravely Default is told through his eyes, therefore he doesn't have quite as much quirkiness in-game as Edea, Agnès, Ringabel, or Alternis do, like most main protagonists do. He is perceived as more normal/less quirky than the other three. This is a mechanic a lot of storytellers use for main characters that are in video games especially, giving the main protagonist a blanker slate than the rest so the player can insert themselves into the character.

I'm trying to stay true to that sort of characterization for Tiz, but I admit, it's hard, heh. Anyway, Bravely Second is out and has been for some time! I got the Limited Edition, but I have yet to play it (I didn't even download the demo because I'm too busy playing Fire Embleim: Fates and there wasn't enough memory for the demo to fit, anyway, orz). Now I'm not sure if I should start it up. I'm afraid if I do start BS, it might interfere with how I envisioned this story to end. At the same time, if I do play it, I can make it as canon-compliant as possible toward the end. Gah! So many decisions. Well, I doubt I'll have time for it anyway, since I have a huge exam coming up in June that I need to study for. BS would only hinder my ability to study (As Fates is currently doing to me now hahaha ^^;).

Well, until next time, readers! As always, thank you so much for the reviews and support. It means the world to me.

-TSE