"Hey, gramps!" Zelos called into the small doctor's office, leading Lloyd through the front door. An older, human man pulled himself out of a chair and walked over.

"Zelos!" he said, wrapping the redhead (who only looked slightly uncomfortable with the situation) in a hug. "It's been a long time!"

"Yeah, definitely." Zelos said, "How have you been?"

"I've been alright, I suppose." The man shrugged, "Who's your friend?"

"Oh, this is Lloyd Aurion." Zelos glanced at Lloyd.

"It's nice to meet you, sir." Lloyd said.

"You as well." The doctor nodded, "So, what brings you to Flanoir?"

Zelos's smile fell a little, and he pulled out Kaley's letter, handing it over. The doctor took it, a little confused, and ripped it open, reading it with a frown set on his face. When he finally looked up after reading it, Zelos spoke. "Do you think you can help?"

"Of course I can." The doctor said, "When are we leaving?"

Lloyd smiled, relieved, and answered for Zelos, "In the morning. We all need to rest tonight."

The doctor nodded, "Perfectly understandable. I'll be ready first thing."

"Thanks, gramps." Zelos smiled.

XXXX

Kratos and Anna walked into the Inn a little bit later (Anna had insisted on walking once they were in the city, instead of having Kratos carry her the entire way. Had she not just been attacked, she probably would have taken the lazy route and let him do all the hard work.) and were immediately assaulted by Genis and Sheena, who buzzed around them, demanding to know if they were okay.

"We're both fine!" Anna laughed, "I just need to change my tunic. Do you two have my bag?"

Sheena nodded, "It's upstairs. Come on, I'll take you up there."

Anna smiled gratefully at her and followed the ninja up the stairs. Genis looked over at Kratos.

"Is something wrong?" Kratos asked.

Genis shook his head, "No, it's just… you and Lloyd coincidentally decided to come here and just happened to know you need extra rooms in the Inn?" he asked.

Kratos sighed; Lloyd was a terrible liar. It was a miracle the family hadn't been outed as having wings Kratos.

"Is something wrong?" Kratos asked.

Genis shook his head, "No, it's just… you and Lloyd coincidentally decided to come here and just happened to know you need extra rooms in the Inn?" he asked.

Kratos sighed; Lloyd was a terrible liar. It was a miracle the family hadn't been outed as having wings yet.

"How'd you know we were coming?" Genis asked.

"Anna got a message to me through Mara." Kratos said, "Mara was able to pass the message onto me."

Genis's eyes widened, "B-but… Mara's an enemy—she's with Cruxis! She's one of the people who took Colette!"

"Mara was a family friend long before she became an enemy." Kratos said, "And Anna made it very clear with her that she wasn't pleased with her behavior. It was just the only way she knew to send the message to me."

Genis didn't look convinced, "But… what about Colette?"

"Mara is not one of the angels tasked with Colette's fate. She's just as eager to find out if she's okay as we are." Kratos lied.

Genis frowned, "I'm so worried about her, and I feel bad not doing anything about it."

"We have to focus on what we can right now, Genis, and that's healing your sister. We'll figure out what to do about Colette after that." Kratos said.

"But what if it's too late?" Genis asked.

Kratos didn't have an answer for him. After all, it already was.

XXXX

Lloyd and Zelos walked back into the Inn to find Anna and Kratos sitting by the fire.

"Mom!" Lloyd said, relieved.

Anna jumped up, running over and pulling Lloyd into a hug, holding him tightly.

"What did the doctor say?" Kratos asked Zelos, strolling up behind his wife, as the woman launched into a lecture about running off without letting go of her son.

"He agreed to come with us. Lloyd told him we're leaving tomorrow morning."

Kratos nodded, "Good."

XXXX

"You know what's weird?" Zelos asked Sheena as he and his friend sat on either side of a table, playing cards.

Sheena glanced at him, "Hmm?" she asked, pulling two cards from the stack and putting four down.

"I was only supposed to escort you guys to Sybak and back." Zelos said, pulling a card from the pile, "We're in Flanoir."

Sheena chuckled, playing a card from her hand, "We took a massive detour."

Zelos laughed.

"Hey," Lloyd greeted as he walked in.

"Hi, Lloyd." Sheena smiled.

"What are you playing?" Lloyd asked.

"Not a clue." Sheena shrugged, "We used to play this all the time as kids, but we never established the rules."

"Goal seems to be 'get all the cards from the deck into a pile', though." Zelos said, tossing down a card as Sheena nodded in agreement.

Lloyd blinked.

"Is your mom okay?" Sheena asked, changing the subject.

He nodded, "I think so."

"Kvar seems to have a grudge against you when he had kidnapped us… Did that have to do with your mom?" Sheena asked, frowning.

Lloyd pulled up a chair, nodding, "My mom was a prisoner of his for awhile when I was younger. Dad and I had to save her but while she was there, she gave him hell." He explained, "He's still pissed about it."

"Oh…" Sheena nodded, putting a card down and picking one up.

"Yeah." Lloyd said, "Dad's ready to kill Kvar, but Mom's okay, at least."

Sheena glanced at him, smiling, then looked back at Zelos, "Zelos! Stop cheating!"

"How do we even know what cheating is in this game?" Zelos asked, "We don't even know the rules!"

XXXX

"I'm glad everything worked out." Martel smiled, relieved, as Yuan filled her in on what had happened with Kvar.

"Yeah." Yuan nodded, smiling as well.

"I'll increase the search for the Renegades." Martel said, "We'll catch Kvar."

"Alright." Yuan nodded, "If I didn't have to get back to Iselia so soon, I'd search myself, but-"

Martel smiled again, "Don't worry about it."

Yuan smiled back at her, "Where's Mithos?"

Martel's smile fell, "I'm not sure. He's been tired… I hope Colette's body's not rejecting him."

"If her body rejected him, the fusion wouldn't have worked in the first place." Yuan reminded her.

"Yeah, you're right." She stood up.

"I should go check the tree." Yuan said, standing up as well.

"And I should find Mithos." She smiled up at her longtime friend, "Thanks, Yuan." She said, leaning up and giving him a kiss on the cheek before spreading her green wings and flying away to find her brother.

I have no excuse.

I just have NO excuse.

The last time I updated Fated was in June. Since June, I got a job, started one of the most stressful college semesters of my life, and spent my first birthday away from my family.

The only one of these that could be an excuse isn't listed. I had a lot of trouble keeping my mind in one place to write a single chapter of ANYTHING this semester. I have bits and pieces of chapters EVERYWHERE now that I'm on break, and I've devoted myself to actually piecing them together now.

But, the good news is, I went through and outlined this entire story to chapter 52, which should make it easier to write. By chapter 52, we will have the entire party together, and be well into our next big plotline.

The next chapter is half written, and would've been completely written except that I wanted to get this out before midnight in California. (What? No, I live on the East Coast, it's a long story.)

But, long description compacted: I'm really sorry this took so long.

Next chapter on the 8th. I PROMISE.

If not, Kelly and Jasmine are welcome to kill me.

(Speaking of Jasmine. If you haven't already, you should all go check her out. She's my roommate, and she wrote this massive fanfic for NaNoWriMo, about if Lloyd and Sheena were the Chosens. It's incredibly well thought out. Her penname is "iwasnthere622", and there's a link on my profile. (Or will be in a few moments.)

Now, to the sound of obnoxiously loud fireworks in my neighbor's yard (that are only obnoxious 'cause I can't be out there shooting them off myself), I shall go to sleep.

Happy New Year, everyone! See you on the 8th.