About ten minutes later, Terra returned with a dejected-looking Duane who was back on his feet, followed by a relieved-looking Katarin. When they came through the door, Terra hurriedly began, "Duane's okay now, everyone, I just needed to tend to him with a Cure..."

She trailed off upon seeing the children standing before her in a neat row, oldest to youngest, all grinning up at her. "Welcome back, Mama! Thank you for all of your hard work!" they said in almost unison.

Terra's eyes went wide and she stepped back with a hand to her chest, then looked over to Leo who shrugged at her innocently. A second later she relaxed and broke into a lighthearted laugh. She crouched down and beckoned to them so that she could give them all hugs. "Thank you everyone. I'm so glad to see you all again and I'm sorry I had to go away."

"It's okay, you've gotta save the world," said Charley.

Duane sighed. "I wish I could have been more help. Our food has run out and I have to be the leader while Terra is gone, but I ended up just messing everything up and having to rely on her, anyway. I'm from a town of hunters but I can't even do that right."

Terra held his shoulder. "Your safety is more important than the food supply right now, Duane." She looked around the room, then continued, "Since everyone's here now, I guess it's a good time to tell you." She spared a glance to Leo for his approval, and he met it with a nod. Smiling, Terra announced, "Leo and I have brought all kinds of supplies for the town back with us from Jidoor. Food, clothing, medicine, toys, and all sorts of other things!"

"Toys?!" a few of the children gasped excitedly, bouncing.

Katarin held her hands to her mouth. "Are you serious?"

Terra nodded with a grin. "We even got some things for the baby."

Katarin's eyes started to water and she leaned forward to hug her. "Oh my gosh, Terra, thank you so much..."

Terra stroked Katarin's hair and looked back to Leo, saying, "We should probably start with the food, since it sounds like it's been over a day since anyone has gotten anything to eat. You loaded most of that up, so you know better about what we have."

Leo looked almost a little embarrassed. "While I do know the contents of the food crates that I packed, my only experience with cooking has come from heating pre-packaged rations in a pot over a campfire," he admitted. "I can tell you that we have brought 100 pounds of rice, 50 pounds of millet, 40 pounds of dried beans, 20 pounds of sugar, 10 pounds of salt, and a few jars of spices that... I honestly couldn't tell you what they are. They are various shades of brown. But they smelled good."

Jeanne raised her hand and said, "Um, there's some recipe books that I've read a few times and one of them had how to make rice and beans. I don't know how to cook, either, though."

Isabel bounced up and down. "Ooh, ooh, can I do it? I like to make things!"

"Excellent, thank you both for volunteering your expertise!" Leo commended. He looked to Duane and asked, "Are you well enough now for some moderate lifting? You had desired to provide food and still have the opportunity to if you'd like."

Duane let out a grumble and looked at the floor. "I'd just be the delivery boy for something someone else did the work for, though."

"Duane, be polite," Terra scolded.

"Yeah, I know..." he sighed. Scratching his hair, he shook his head and relented, "Yeah, I'll go help."

He walked out the door and to the stairs while Leo followed. Terra touched Leo's arm as he walked past her, saying, "Please forgive him... he's been under a lot of stress and is still having a hard time coping with everything going on."

Leo gave a light smile. "I take no offense. I have ample experience with anxious and uncertain young men and women trying to prove themselves. Helping them build their confidence and competency was the highlight of my job." He flinched and caught himself, adding, "Although, he is not a soldier and it is not my intent to make him one. I do not wish to overstep myself while a guest in your home..."

Terra slid her hand to the crook of his elbow and squeezed it. "But if you have the power to help someone, you should use it, right?" she reminded him. He made a light choke of surprise as she looked up at him with a smile. "And any help you can offer us here is welcome and appreciated."

He was held by her gaze for a moment, a warming feeling spreading through his chest where his breath was held. Finally he exhaled softly with a smile and nodded. "Yes... I shall do what I can."

Leo headed outside and found Duane looking a little intimidated by the stack of crates. He softly cleared his throat as he approached him in an attempt not to startle him, then extended his hand. "Terra told me about you, however I apologize that we have not been formally introduced. My name is Leo."

Duane looked at his hand, then hesitantly took it with a weak shake. "Yeah, Terra mentioned you were here. She's talked about you sometimes, too, and so did that injured soldier. Said you were nice. So... there's that."

He released his hand and Leo cocked his head at him, wondering, "Is something troubling you?"

"Not really." He was a seventeen year-old boy with a pregnant girlfriend living alone with eight other younger children in a demolished town surrounded by monsters. Surely there was something.

Duane turned and absently ran his hand over one of the crates. "It's just..." There it is. "I don't even know what I'm doing anymore. I don't know if I ever did. I never really paid attention to news of the war because we only heard about it through letters. It seemed so far away and like something that would never affect me, so I wasn't ready for..." he helplessly indicated the demolished town, "... this." Sighing, he continued, "Then Katarin got pregnant and I wasn't ready for that, either. Then Terra had to leave and I wasn't ready for that." He lightly pounded his forehead against the outer wall of the house. "It feels like no matter what I do everything keeps falling apart, and that nothing I'm doing makes a difference."

Leo folded his hands behind his back and nodded in understanding, looking off to the side contemplatively for a moment. "If you do not see yourself making a difference, what do you believe 'making a difference' would look like, then?"

Duane shrugged. "I dunno. This town being put back together. Us having enough food. The monsters being gone."

"And certainly those are all admirable things to wish for," Leo agreed. "However, if you are judging your self-worth solely on your ability to effect such drastic changes single-handedly, then you are selling yourself short. There are more important places where you are making a difference that you seem to be overlooking."

"Like what?" Duane wondered, confused.

"Well... the children certainly seemed happy to see that you had recovered when Terra returned you to them. Katarin even more so," Leo observed.

"Well, yeah..." said Duane, scratching his head. "But I don't really see how that means anything."

"It means that you make them happy," Leo explained, poking a finger to Duane's chest. "And in this world, that is the most important thing. Your desires are for everyone to be safe and secure, and they understand that. Any moment that you can make another person feel happy or cared-for is a moment made worthwhile. A person can live in a fabulous home full of food and be safe from the outside world, and yet still be miserable if they feel that no one cares about them. It is having that emotional security that makes the physical security even matter, because it makes us want to see what tomorrow can bring even if today is looking dire. If you were truly making no difference in Terra's absence, we would have returned to a town full of people unwilling to carry on. And it was only in your absence that the children became despondent, and they recovered as soon as you returned."

Duane blushed and hunched his shoulders, looking away. "I... I'm not that special. I don't even know what I do that makes them like me so much. I feel like every time I try to do the right thing, I just mess it up."

"But you still try, and that's what earns you their appreciation. A lesser person would not have even made the attempt," Leo reasoned. "You haven't given up on them, and through that perseverance you instill hope. And giving people hope is the absolute most valuable thing that you can be doing right now."

Duane let out a little laugh and kicked at the dirt. "Well... and giving them food would help, too."

Leo chuckled. "Well, yes, hope is necessary to our continued survival but by no means sufficient. I am not saying that providing hope is the extent of your capabilities, nor should it be. No, you have plenty of room to grow and I am confident that you will, given time. But as your initial anxiety was that you provide 'nothing', I can confidently tell you that that is not true."

"Heh..." Duane awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. "Well... when Terra talked about you she did always say that you helped her feel better about herself. Guess she wasn't kidding." He let out a breath and stated, "All right, yeah, let's bring in these supplies." He turned to the crates, then paused and sheepishly looked back towards Leo, adding, "Oh, and... thanks."

They carried in a bag each of beans and rice, the smaller bags and jars of salt and seasonings, plus a large stock pot that had also been purchased in Jidoor. When Duane and Leo re-entered the house, Terra was on the main floor re-lighting the fire to the stove while Jeanne was reading the cookbook to Isabel.

"Okay, this says we neeeeed... two cups of rice and two cups of beans. Um... how much is a cup?"

Terra held her cheek and looked over at Leo. "Oh, measuring cups. We didn't pick anything like that up."

Isabel pointed at the recipe book and said, "No, but this says it's for four people. We have more than four people. We haaave..." she counted on her fingers, then looked up at Terra and confirmed, "... Eleven?"

Terra nodded her head towards Leo and smiled. "Plus one guest."

Both their faces lit up and they exclaimed, "Is he staying for dinner?!"

"Are we gonna have a dinner party?!"

Terra bounced a little. "Oh, we should! We have nice new clothes for you all and everything!" She looked over to Leo and confirmed, "Doesn't that sound like a fun idea?"

"Certainly!" he agreed with a smile. "The quarters are a little cramped, but we can make it work. I've gotten an entire platoon into a tent to celebrate a promotion on more than one occasion."

"Well, there's a lot of open space in the storage area under the other house," Duane offered.

"Oh, excellent," Leo replied. "That would also be an ideal place to store the surplus supplies until needed as they shouldn't be taking up precious living space."

"I'm on it," Duane immediately volunteered. With a smile and a little chuckle, he said, "I think I can handle that much on my own, Mister Leo. You can help get everyone else prepared, if that's all right."

"Understood," said Leo, smiling and giving a slight bow of his head.

Terra raised a cheeky eyebrow at him as Duane left, commenting, "So you're 'Mister' Leo now. I see you got a promotion while I wasn't looking."

"I am technically not permitted to accept titles from foreign dignitaries but in this case I believe I can make an exception," he replied.

She laughed and approached him to hold his hands. "Well, in any case, thank you for talking to him. He seems in a lot better spirits than I've seen him in a long time. That title was well-earned." Squeezing his hands, she sighed and said, "I know this seems like a lot to ask of you since you're a guest here, but could you possibly help with getting the children cleaned up and changed? Katarin can help a little but she's not able to perform much strenuous activity right now. I'd help, but I don't want to leave these two unattended at the stove." She nodded her head towards the two little girls engrossed in the cookbook and trying to use a bowl to measure out rice into the pot.

"Terra, I know you want to lessen my burden, but don't be shy about asking for the favor to be returned when you need it," he replied with a smile. "I want to be your support as well." He leaned forward and brushed his lips against her temple before placing a light kiss on her forehead. Smiling into her hair, he softly admitted, "Plus I want to do what I can to make those children happy, regardless."

She blushed, feeling a pleasant tingle from where his lips met her forehead that radiated down her back. She may not have regretted staying and taking care of this village, but that didn't mean it hadn't been daunting and exhausting all by herself this whole time. So to have someone willingly and eagerly offering to help... She looked up at him with misty eyes full of appreciation and gave his hands a squeeze with an earnest smile. "Thank you..."

She sniffed a little and looked around the room, then picked up a pair of buckets and held them out to him. "Um, if you're going to be doing cleaning you're probably going to need water, and we're going to need it for the cooking, too, but the water from outside needs to be boiled first before it's safe to use, so can you bring some back first?"

"Of course!" he replied. But instead of immediately taking the buckets, he fiddled under the flap on his collar to undo his uniform jacket, then pulled it off leaving him wearing only a sleeveless green undershirt and his dog tags. Terra let out a squeak as he held the coat out to her, saying, "I have a feeling my job is going to get messy. Trade?"

She nodded wordlessly and handed over the buckets while taking the uniform coat, hugging it to her chest protectively while he trotted outside to gather water. It was heavier than she thought it would be, and despite it going through numerous repairs, still looked well-worn. He'd said before that his uniform represented his dedication and service to people, and the fact that he would entrust her with it so readily made her feel a flush of esteem. She needed to put this somewhere safe but show it the proper amount of respect.

She hung it on a coat rack on the wall and absently worked on arranging the sleeves and coattails so that it hung straight. While she was fussing over it, Jeanne tugged at her skirt and said, "Mama, Mama, the recipe says we need onion, celery, salt, and pepper. Do we have that?"

Terra looked through the smaller bags and jars that had been brought in with the grains. "Hmm... onion and celery are plants so we don't have any of that... we have salt, but pepper..." She looked helplessly through the jars of spices. "I'm not really sure what these are, either."

"Awwh, does that mean we can't make it? What are we gonna do?"

Terra tapped Jeanne's nose with a smile. "No, we can still make it. But this just means it's going to be your special recipe instead of the one in the book. I think that's even better." She opened one of the jars of spice and said, "Here, let's smell these and see if we think any of them would taste good."

Leo returned with two full buckets of water and set them on the floor, announcing, "Resources acquired. How long will it take to sterilize them?"

"Just a few minutes," Terra replied, kneeling down and placing a hand in each bucket. Her hands glowed red with a Fire spell, and the water in the buckets began to bubble and steam.

Leo looked down at her work in fascination. "That's incredible! Back in Vector we had a steam-powered water pumping and filtration system that delivered clean water directly into every building in the city. I'm glad that you're able to provide something comparable."

Terra chuckled, still working on purifying the water. "Still, that sounds nice... being able to have clean water whenever you want it without having to go outside and watch out for monsters..."

"Can we build that here?!" Isabel wondered excitedly. "I wanna help!"

Leo blushed a little, then looked to the side. "Well, I only know the very basics of how it works from my lessons in my Academy days... plus, Mobliz has its own way of doing things that is different from the Empire. You shouldn't... you shouldn't feel like you need to adopt our way of life, and I don't want to-" He shook his head, then diverted to, "Anyway, I'll go collect the clothes and cleaning supplies."

After he left, Isabel looked to Terra and wondered, "Is he okay?"

Terra pulled her hands from the water, using a low-level Blizzard spell to gently cool it back to a usable temperature now that it was cleaned. "He's had a lot of things happen to him and he's still in the process of mentally coming to terms with them," she explained softly. "So I want you all to do your best to be nice to him, okay?"

When Leo came in the next time carrying an armful of towels, sponges, and soap, Isabel and Jeanne turned to him and said, "Thank you, Mister Leo, for all your help!"

Leo fumbled with his armload in shock and blushed. "Y... you're both very welcome..." he replied. He glanced to Terra who only smiled and shrugged. Clearing his throat, he told the girls, "Now you two take good care to follow your Mama's instructions so you don't burn yourself while cooking, understood?"

"We wiilll," they chorused.

He nodded and descended to the basement while Terra helped get the pot of rice steaming. He made a few more trips to bring everything down including fresh linens for the beds, and after a few moments Terra could hear some splashing and excited shrieks coming from the basement, followed by some muffled words from both Leo and Katarin. Part of her wanted to run downstairs to see what was going on, but she knew that he could handle himself. Having someone to rely on like that felt... nice.

Once the rice was steamed, they began boiling the beans, which Terra, Isabel, and Jeanne took turns stirring to keep them from burning while Terra regaled them with stories of her travels from the past few weeks and the two girls filled her in on what everyone in Mobliz had been up to during that same time. Thankfully aside from Duane being hurt hunting, Mobliz had been generally quiet in her absence.

After about an hour, Duane came back into the house, wiping sweat off his forehead. "Phew, that's the last of those extra bags of grain and supplies moved into the storage area. How in the world did just the two of you get all of that over here in the first place?"

"Magic," said Terra with a wink. "And thank you so much with helping out with that. I know it's not the most glamorous work but it still needed to be done."

At that moment, Leo came back up the stairs, the front of his shirt patched in wet spots and his arms streaked with soap suds. He let out an accomplished breath and grinned, then upon seeing Duane remarked, "Oh, perfect timing. We have some new clothes for you, too."

"Huh? For me?" Duane wondered, a little flattered.

"For everyone," Leo confirmed. "We even bought some maternity clothing for Katarin." Looking to the two girls with Terra, he wondered, "Are you at a point where I can steal our two chefs for a moment to get them cleaned up and into their new clothes?"

"We get new clothes, too?!" Jeanne wondered excitedly. She looked up at Terra and pleaded, "Mama, can we go, pleeease?"

"Of course you can!" Terra replied happily. She gave the pot a slightly uncertain glance and confirmed, "So, I just need to keep stirring these every once in a while, right?"

Jeanne nodded. "Yup, the book says they need to cook for one hour and then be strained. I'm not sure what that last part means."

"It means you've gotta sort of put the lid on part way and dump out the extra water," Isabel explained. "I think I know how to do it. I can help when I get back, but you gotta take that pot off the stove right when the clock says 6:00, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," Terra replied with a little giggle.

The three of them followed Leo back down the stairs, leaving Terra alone with the pot. She stirred it absently, excitedly wondering what everyone looked like in their new clothes, but got the feeling that Leo was keeping it as a surprise like he had his own change of clothes at the opera house. She'd never cooked before, but now here she was standing over a stove preparing dinner for Leo and the children. It felt so... domestic. Was this what it was like to... have a family?

She was so caught up in her thoughts that she almost missed the clock striking 6:00. She lifted the pot from the fire, which turned out to be quite heavy now that it was full, and set it down on the floor to cool. After looking at the steaming pot blankly for a moment, she picked up Jeanne's cookbook to see if there were any clues in there how to perform this "straining" maneuver. Could it be done with magic?

While looking through the book, she was interrupted by Leo poking his head up from the stairs and quietly knocking on the wall to get her attention. When she looked up in surprise, he chuckled and motioned to her. "Preparations complete. Are you free to perform inspections?"

Terra dropped the book and hurried towards him with unconcealed enthusiasm. "They're ready?!" She balled her fists under her chin and bit her lip with a nervous grin. "I hope everything I picked out fit okay."

He smiled and held his hand out to her. "Come and see for yourself."

She took his hand, the fingertips of which were soft and wrinkled from being wet, and followed him excitedly down the stairs. When they reached the bottom, Leo gripped the door handle, then stood to the side and bowed lightly, opening it for her. "Your children await."

Terra cautiously but eagerly entered the room, and was met by the children once again standing in a neat line. But this time instead of the worn, ill-fitting, torn, and dirty clothing they had been wearing for the past year, they were all neatly dressed in colorful, fresh, and vibrant outfits that were only outshone by the smiles on their faces. Their hair was neatly combed and their faces freshly-washed. As Terra had been with them every day for the past year, the gradual degradation of their clothing and hygiene had been difficult to notice, but now they were all wearing fresh garments, the difference was incredible.

"Thank you, Mama!" they all said, though Felix lagged behind with, "Thank youuuu!"

Lili nudged him. "No, you didn't do it right!"

Terra held her mouth and her eyes welled with tears. "Oh my gosh, you all look so beautiful!" she choked.

Katarin came out from behind them, wearing a long dress that fit her bulging belly much more comfortably than her previous clothing. Duane was beside her in a new vest, suspenders, and trousers. She took Duane's arm and shook him a little with a smile. "Look at how handsome he is now!" Looking sheepishly up at him, she amended, "Well, you were always handsome, but you still clean up nice."

Duane took her hands. "And I'm glad that you have something more comfortable to wear, too. It was really stressful seeing you struggling to move around in those clothes before." Looking to Terra, he echoed, "Thank you, Terra. And thank you again, Mister Leo."

Leo strode up behind Terra and gave a small nod, folding his hands behind his waist. "Proper grooming is part of basic training. I offered my assistance where it could be best put to use."

Lili ran up to Terra and spun around. "Mama, Mama, look! My skirt has flowers on it!"

"And my shirt's yellow! I love yellow!" said Dennis.

Frances hopped around the room, shouting, "I can jump so high in these shoes!"

Terra fell to her knees and hugged them tightly. "I'm so glad that you like everything. I know things have been hard for everyone this past year, so I'm happy we were able to help make things better, even if just a little."

"Is there food yet? I'm hungry," complained Charley.

"Charley, that's rude," scolded Jeanne.

"I can help!" offered Isabel again, now wearing a blouse, slacks, and suspenders. "Jeanne, we've gotta mix together the spices and stuff, too."

"Oh, the pot was really heavy, let me help you with that. Plus, I want to know how to do it, too," Terra requested. She looked to everyone else and said, "The food should be ready right after that, so why doesn't everyone else head over to the store room next door?"

Duane rubbed his hands together. "I can take everyone over. I tried to set up everything down there really nice, too, so hopefully it's okay."

"Aww, Duane, that's so sweet of you," said Katarin, kissing his cheek.

Everyone headed upstairs and out the door, while Terra, Isabel, and Jeanne stayed behind to finish the food preparations. Leo also remained to reclaim his coat and watched in interest while he put it back on. Terra lifted the pot while Isabel held the lid over the top and tilted it over another bowl. "Okay, so you gotta pour the water out like this while keeping the beans in there..."

Once they were ready, they combined the beans and rice in the pot and added the salt and other mystery spices. After mixing it all together, Terra held up a small spoonful to Isabel and wondered, "Well, how does it taste?"

Isabel took a bite and chewed it thoughtfully. "... It's all right. But it's not dried meat, which makes it lots better."

"And even without the celery and onions, being 'all right' is still a great accomplishment for just making up the rest of it with what we had available," Terra commended. She picked up the pot and nodded. "Come on, if Duane brought the rest of the supplies over there, then there should be bowls and spoons down there already. Are you all ready for dinner?"

"Yeah!" both girls shouted, then ran outside to the next house.

Leo came up behind Terra, smoothing out his jacket and adjusting his sash. "I look forward to tasting Jeanne and Isabel's famous 'All Right Rice and Beans'."

Terra laughed and nudged him with her elbow while holding the pot. "Thank you so much for all of your help. And it was really sweet of you to figure out that it was Isabel that I got trousers for instead of a dress."

Leo blushed. "Well, she did gravitate towards them all by herself, so it wasn't entirely me."

"But Isabel was the last one you dressed, so you still had to have left it for her," she said with a knowing smirk. "You have a strong sense of what other people need and you don't need to be so modest about that."

"I... have been mistaken before," he admitted, looking to the side. "Even if I do have a skill for something, it doesn't mean I can become complacent and assume my proficiency in every situation." He shook his head and gave her a half smile. "But in this case, I'm glad that I guessed correctly."

Terra bumped her forehead against his arm since her hands were still full of the pot of food. She could see his self-confidence constantly fluctuating, but at least so far he'd been able to recognize it and pull himself back off his forays into self-deprecation. Remembering how he'd encouraged her when they first met, she whispered to him, "You're doing fine."

He sighed, then nodded and reached his arm around her back to squeeze her shoulder in affirmation. "Thank you..." Forcing out a breath, he blinked back to the present situation and noted, "Anyway, we have some hungry children to feed. Shall we?"

Notes:

- I don't know if Yoshitaka Amano was on LSD or something when he designed Leo's uniform because I honestly can not figure out how it goes together. Even with his 3D character model in DFFOO that can be seen from the back, it seriously just looks like the sleeves go on separately from the rest of the top of the outfit and the bottom half of the coat is a separate piece held on by the belt. But because I didn't want there to be a whole long process of him getting in and out of that coat, for my purposes it's all one piece and just kind of... wraps around or something.
- Vector was the only place in the world that had toilets thus indicating that the Empire had indoor plumbing. South Figaro had waterwheels so may have had a rudimentary water delivery system, but from the looks of it, Vector was the only place in the world where you could poo in peace (or "poo on peace", according to the soldier you so rudely walk in on during the banquet. I would have started a fight, too).
- Title "Comprimario" is a supporting role in an opera.