The Rebirth of a Dragoon

Based on: Final Fantasy Record Keeper

Disclaimer: I don't own Final Fantasy. The OCs featured in this fic belong to various friends. Note that while the characters belong to friends, I am the one writing the fic itself. Thank you to Tibby-san and MajoHikari for continued support of this little story.

Notes: You don't like this, don't read it. I'm not writing it for you. Also, name change!

Warnings: Eventually all this stuff on this list: Cursing, potential OOC, OC x Canon, incest, stupid fluffy romance, sex, angst, self-insert author avatar

FIC START!

Chapter Thirty-three

When Kain headed towards the courtyard where most of the students were known to gather for lunch after he was done with the day's Monsterology lessons, he found Canti under the same tree she was always under. She was a creature of habit and routine. As he headed that way, he noticed that her usual friends had gathered around her. Crystal and Hikari were there, and he saw Minwu making his way over there. Minwu hadn't actually spoken to him today, even though they were in the same Combat Basics class. He didn't remember much about today's Combat Basics, but even though they were usually doing reps close together, Minwu was nowhere to be seen. He started to head over there to the only friend he had that was his age.

"Hey, Minwu," Kain called out to him. "Where have you been today?"

Minwu said, "Oh, I was over with the other staff users. Did you not even register that today we broke off into groups based on weapon type?"

"No, I didn't. I was lost in thought the entire time," Kain confessed.

"You've become quite obsessed, haven't you?" the white mage in training asked. "After having kissed her, she's devoured every bit of your thoughts."

"You have me pegged," Kain said with a little nod. "Now what do I do?"

"Have you spoken to her about it since?" Minwu asked.

"...I wrote her a letter last night. But I haven't spoken to her about it at all."

"Don't do it here," Minwu said quietly. "Last thing you want is your cousin to be gossiped about. They may overhear the truth, but when this kind of things spread, rumors can grow way out of proportion." He sighed. "Speak to her in private about it. You don't want wandering ears to catch wind of what happened between you two."

"You're right. I should respect that, at the very least."

"Now do me one more small favor," Minwu said, looking at his friend carefully.

"Sure."

"Do try to keep me out of your family affairs. I'm your friend, not your counselor. And, since you've decided to be outspoken about your feelings, I hope you don't intend on forcing me to keeping that infuriating promise," Minwu scolded him, glaring the entire time. "I'm not going to marry, I am not going to father children, and I'm not going to join your family so long as I can help it. Do you understand?"

"...yes, Minwu…"

"Thank you."

The duo walked over to where the girls were sitting. All three girls were happily eating their lunch, just enjoying how simple the midday was underneath the mostly dreary sky. Kain hoped that it would rain. That was his favorite sort of weather. Sometimes the sunlight just got too bright and hurt his eyes, which was why he preferred wearing the dragon helmets that went over his eyes any time he went training while the sun was still out. He liked those helmets and hoped that one day, he could have one of his very own when he earned the rank of dragoon. Maybe his would be sort of like that statue in the Highwind Manor's Garden when he got to be the Grand Dragoon… his father had a custom dragon helmet that was given to him when he became the Grand Dragoon, and it was a family heirloom at this point. Kain would watch his father for hours shining that thing until it was so shiny all the jewelry hanging in his mother's closet was envious.

"Hi, Kain!" Crystal said as he sat down to open his lunchbox. It was just as full of ceremony leftovers as Canti's was. "How are you today?"

"Doing well," Kain responded, taking his fork out. "And you?"

"I got to pound the hell out of iron today in Blacksmithing," Crystal said. "Eventually, I'll go up the ranks and learn to form things like mythril, damascus, orichalcum, and one day, probably once I'm an official Blacksmith, I'll be able to work with adamantite!" She seemed way stronger than she actually appeared, which was typical of the dwarves. Though with vibrant teal hair like that, Kain wasn't sure if she was full dwarf, but he didn't want to be rude about it. "Lali-ho! I'm so excited for my future as a blacksmith!"

"Oh yeah? I was learning things about how to make the haste spell more potent," Hikari said. "In Magical Mastery, we divided into groups to suit our class of magic. I'm a pretty fast one all ready, but I'd never cast Haste that could go four times faster than a normal haste before. I was so dizzy, Canti had to use almost all her energy to cast Basuna on me."

"She ran from where the green mages were to where we white mages were without even knowing where she even was," Canti continued the story. "So without even thinking, I grabbed one of the textbooks on Professor Ifreet's desk and read out Basuna to cure the confusion. It worked pretty well. I almost fainted, but Hikari helped me get to my desk where I could rest." She did look a bit tired, but the more she ate of her cake, the more she seemed to be coming back to normal. "We were learning how to use more of our spirit to channel stronger versions of Cure. I'd never cast anything but a basic Cure spell… Ifreet was totally impressed though."

"With both our progress!" Hikari said. The two girls giggled just as Crystal had.

"That's impressive that you just read it out of the book and got it on your first try," Minwu's compliment made Kain's comment from yesterday just echo through his mind. Oh, the wave of regret was flowing through his mind now. That was the last thin he wanted now. "Don't you think so?" He nudged Kain, trying to encourage him to participate in the conversation.

"Oh, yes, it sure is… impressive," Kain said quietly with a nod. "That's great for you, Canti."

"At least no one was there to stop me," Canti said, not looking up from the cake in her lunchbox. "You know, from being a showoff."

"...you weren't showing off," Kain said, not looking up from his lunchbox. "You never do. That's not how you are. And… I'm sorry I… called you a showoff yesterday."

Canti sighed, finishing up her lunch and putting it all away. "I'm not mad at you, cousin. I don't understand why you did it, but I'm not mad."

"You aren't?"

"No. I'll get another chance to show Uncle Richard that I can do a Dragoon's Jump," she said. "I should practice first before I do, though."

"Oh… right," Kain said, not raising his voice.

"...that's it?" Crystal asked. "You didn't want to talk about the other thing?"

Kain couldn't help but wonder the same thing, but he wasn't going to press the issue now. It wasn't the right time, and they were in company. He just stuck to eating and listening to what everyone else had to say.

"Now's not the time, here's not the place," Hikari said. "I wouldn't talk about that here, either. Not with all us around. It's not really our business anyway."

"Can't argue with that," Crystal said.

So just like he had reached out to Minwu, Canti had reached out to her closest friends over it, too. He didn't know if they approved, or if it changed their opinion of him or not. He wasn't sure if he cared, either, but the thought did appear in his head regardless. Kain finished his lunch quickly… but he hesitated before putting it away.

"And there's also someone hiding in the branches above, just waiting for some juicy information…" Hikari said, annoyed. She looked up at the tree they were all sitting under. "…I see you there, looming."

"I was just curious…" it was Mateus who hopped out of the tree. "Considering I know emotions were running high at the Highwind Manor due to the ceremony. They always are."

Canti sighed. "Have you ever actually been to the manor, aside from on Saturday?"

"I don't have to be there to know," Mateus said, circling around the group. "I live just a few houses down in the same district. It's not like they argue like the trash in the poor district, but-"

"Trash from the poor district?! What is wrong with you?!" Hikari grumbled. "So sorry we aren't made of money, your highness!"

"There is a poorer district than your… humble area," Mateus said. "A home for the refuse of the city. No, you aren't the poor people of Dagurreo. Those who live under the docks at Fisherman's Horizon, they have less than four walls to live in." He shrugged. "They argue constantly over there. If it weren't for people like Miss Erina Highwind donating things to them, I think they'd starve to death. Perhaps the country would be better off without them, but there they are. Struggling to survive."

Canti had never been to Fisherman's Horizon, so she had no idea what Mateus was talking about. Hikari seemed fired up over Mateus' description over the situation. She knew more about the state of the country, as she knew a Senator because of her dad's job. She probably got to hear all kinds of things about the wellbeing of the country because of that. "How is anyone dying going to make the world better off?" she asked.

"Those people are still people!" Hikari said loudly. "No matter their situation! If I were a senator, I'd tell families like yours to share! You don't need all the money you have! At least Kain's mom knows not to leave anyone hungry!"

"We make money by keeping ever single monster within this country from hurting anyone else," Mateus snapped at her. "My family has earned its reputation and its status!"

"All right, that's enough…" Minwu said sternly. "…there's no reason to fight over this."

"...you know what?" Canti said, picking herself up. "Since I'm done eating, I'm going to the library. At least it's quiet in there."

"...do you mind if I… join you?" Kain asked.

"If you want to," she said, heading off in that direction and Kain quickly following suit.

"Those two…" Mateus said, starting to follow them, totally ignoring the conversation he was having with Hikari.

"Don't you even," Crystal grunted at him. "You can just go off your own way."

Canti was so tired of listening to everyone else chatter on. She needed a moment to let her ears rest. She figured that Kain would want to talk to her, and since there wasn't any other students in the library this time of day, it wouldn't be so bad. But, honestly, she'd rather not talk about that one pressing issue while at school anyway. She sat down with her books at one of the many tables, far from the door that led back outside. The lighting in there was much more dim, but not dark. She took in a deep breath, relishing in the silence.

Kain sat at the same table, across from her. He had textbooks to go through, too. Even if she didn't want to talk to him, she was okay with him being around at the very least. That made him happy. He didn't want to be the one to start the conversation. He didn't want there to be pressure between them.

Canti flipped through her book, got out some writing utensils, and started taking a few notes. Every now and then, she looked over at him, and then she went back to whatever it was she was doing. Did she expect Kain to speak to her? He didn't even know where to begin. He watched her calmly, carefully go over her textbook.

He decided he wanted to do something, anything, to hold her over until they were away from school. She was just as anxious as he was, but Canti was just trying to hide it. He reached over, putting his hand on top of her right hand as it was not the one writing at the moment.

She stopped and looked up at him again, even though she remained silent. The warmth of his hand on hers was comforting. Maybe he was just as afraid to speak as she was after all. It was nice to have him there instead of being all alone.

Then the bell rang. Lunch break was over.