Fuegoleon watched Talia carefully for the next few days, trying to keep his distance while trying to understand what was going on with her.

'How long has she been living in fear like this?' he wondered over and over.

After a few days, Fuegoleon decided to look into as much as he could to try and understand what has happened to Talia in hopes of helping her overcome her fears. He had asked one of his family's servants to act as his eyes on the outside, so to speak, and see what information they can find out.

"Fuegoleon."

Fuegoleon turned to find Mereoleona coming to stand next to him as they oversaw the current training session. "Good afternoon, sister."

"You seem troubled," Mereoleona noted.

Fuegoleon sighed and looked over as Talia came hurrying out of a nearby doorway with medical supplies.

Mereoleona noticed his brow furrowed with worry and she followed his gaze to where Talia was putting herself to work. "How is she doing? It's been about a month, hasn't it?"

"She does well with the rest of the squad," Fuegoleon started.

"But?"

"It would seem that she's uncomfortable being near me."

Mereoleona eyed him a moment. "Did you do something?"

Fuegoleon shook his head. "No, but she said something rather curious, if not concerning."

"Oh?"

"Someone seems to have created a great deal of fear in her and whoever it is, she is terrified of what would happen if he knew."

"About what, though?"

"I don't know, but it has me rather worried. Any time someone raises their voice or shows any form of anger, she flinches and shies away," Fuegoleon watched Talia with some of his subordinates, a small smile growing as she spoke with them. "She seems fine with the others for the most part, which is a relief, but..." He sighed again. "I wish I knew how to help her."

"We can't help her if she doesn't want it," Mereoleona started, "but I don't like seeing her afraid. She always had such a warm smile when we were children; I want to know what happened to change that."

"As do I."

Mereoleona watched him a moment. "You know now, don't you?"

Fuegoleon nodded, knowing what she was talking about. "She had believed that I forgotten her after all these years."

"It's difficult to forget someone like her," Mereoleona said, turning her attention back to Talia. "She is still as sweet and caring as she was then."

Fuegoleon managed a smile at that. "She really is." He stood with Mereoleona as Talia gave them a small wave, having noticed their presence, then looked to his sister as she said, "I'm going to do a little digging myself."

Mereoleona looked at her brother. "Something isn't sitting right with me. If Talia is in danger, we need to know what that danger is and be prepared in case it comes knocking on our doorstep."

"I have Mizuki looking into it as well," Fuegoleon informed her.

"Good." Mereoleona clapped him on the shoulder as she turned away. "I'll let you know when I find anything. In the meantime, I'm off to the forest for some more training."

Fuegoleon dipped his head as his sister took her leave, then turned his attention to the training session. 'I hope we can help her...'

"Captain, a package has arrived."

Fuegoleon turned to Randall and took the small package from him, thanking him before looking up at the sky. "Another storm?"

Randall glanced up as thunder sounded in the distance. "It's a bit ominous if you ask me, all these storms. It's the fourth one already this past month."

"It does make one wonder."

Talia kept herself busy, trying to get what happened with Fuegoleon off her mind. She hated keeping away from him, but she felt a sense of relief in Fuegoleon knowing who she was.

'I never meant to hide it from him...' she thought as she paused in her work. 'If he didn't forget about me, then why did I never hear from him? Did Father have something to do with it?'

A knock sounded at the door of the storeroom where she was working and Talia turned to find Fuegoleon standing there hesitantly, a small package in hand.

"Am I interrupting?" he asked.

Talia shook her head. "Not at all, sir."

Fuegoleon seemed to relax at that and stepped into the room. "I have something for you," he said, presenting her with the small package.

"For me?" Talia took the package gingerly and looked at it for a moment, then back up at Fuegoleon as he offered her a small bow and excused himself. 'Leon...'

Sighing, Talia opened the package and smiled when she saw the item within: a soft grey leather grimoire satchel with silver buckles. She touched the simple knotwork design etched into the front, realizing that Fuegoleon must have had a new one made after the strap on her old one had snapped for the last time.

Setting the satchel, she hurried out of the storeroom and searched the halls for Fuegoleon- spotting him towards the end of the northern hall. She ran to catch up with him, calling out to him as he neared the corner.

Fuegoleon had taken his leave so as not to make Talia feel uncomfortable and as he made his way through the halls, he hoped that she would like the satchel. He had still been searching for a way to thank her for what she had done for him during his comatose days, and seeing how worn her grimoire satchel was and how much she had tried to repair it, he knew this would be a perfect way to thank her.

He had had the satchel made special for her, choosing a soft grey leather and silver buckles and accents. The knotwork design was a simple one but it was one that represented water.

Just as he neared the end of the hallway to turn the corner towards the headquarters ' entrance, he heard Talia calling out to him and as he turned to look back towards her, Talia came running up to him and buried her face in the back of his cloak for a moment.

"Lady Talia?"

"Thank you, Leon, I love it." Talia stepped back and bowed to him.

Fuegoleon looked down at her as she stood upright and offered her a smile. "I hope that it will suffice as a thank you for all that you have done for me- for us- as well as serving as a formal apology for the other day."

Talia fiddled with her sleeve for a moment. "Leon, there's nothing you need to apologize for." She let her gaze fall a bit, but forced a smile and looked at him. "Thank you for such a wonderful gift." Then, against her better judgment, she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around his waist- hugging him. "I mean it, Leon, thank you."

Fuegoleon was surprised, but he returned her embrace- noticing as he did that she smelled of heliotropes. "Anything for you, Talia."

Talia stepped back, blushing a bit, and offered him another bow before taking her leave and returning to work. Fuegoleon watched as she hurried off, a soft smile lingering upon his lips for a moment before fading as his brow furrowed.

'You haven't changed in all these years, so what has you so fearful?'

Hidden in the shadows just outside of the hallway where Talia and Fuegoleon were just in, an intruder lurked and watched their interactions. When he saw Talia hug the Captain of the Crimson Lions and how quickly he was to return her embrace, the intruder used a teleportation spell and stepped through to report back to his employer.