Chapter 7

The way to a man's heart…

"What the hell made you invite her to a walk through the woods?" Kain thought, as he put on his long, black boots, sitting on his bed in his small quarter. Although Cecil and Rosa had often enough offered him to move in some of the fancy guest rooms in Baron castle or rent a little house in town, Kain had insisted on moving to a little officer's quarter near the castle barracks. The room was very small and had hardly any furniture except for a little chair and table, and a small cabinet. On one wall several lances were leaning - Kain's quarter wasn't cozy in the least but the ex-dragoon liked it well enough the way it was - in his opinion he needed nothing else.

Right now he was preparing for his walk with Diane and had just put on his traveler clothes, being more suitable for a venture in the woods than the beautiful red clothes Rosa had ordered for him after his return from Mt. Ordeals.

He sullenly left his room and walked to the castle front gate. Diane was already waiting for him. She had bound her long hair tightly together in a net and wore some white trousers, a red blouse and solid shoes instead of her usual gown. Kain couldn't help but stare at her - in this outfit she seemed more lively and fresh than ever.

The young woman blushed a bit and shifted from foot to foot, uneasily. "Good morning, Kain... Sorry about the outfit, but it was the most suitable I have..."

Kain shook his head, irritated. "No - it's fine... Really - just right for the woods..."

She smiled gratefully. "Shall we go then? I've taken something to eat with me..." She pointed to the basket in her arm.

"Oh... good..." Kain grumbled. Taking a picnic basket to a walk in the woods wasn't something he would ever dream of, but he didn't want to hurt her feelings. After all she was Cid's daughter and he had no interest in annoying the engineer.

It was a beautiful autumn morning - though it was cold, the sun was shining and the trees in the woods seemed like an ocean of gold, the fluttering leaves being the waves. Kain informed Diane casually about this and that, telling her of the dangers the woods contained, which animals could be found in it and where the best places for hunting were. The woods had been his favorite place since he was a little kid, and he knew them better than the winding corridors of Baron castle. Diane listened attentively and only fell out of pace when seeing an especially rare flower amongst some leaves. Kain secretly wondered how persistent she was - he had feared that she would be tired after half an hour or so...

It had become midday by now and they had already ventured pretty far in the woods as they reached a light -flooded clearing.

"Huff... Can we make a pause for a while? Seems I'm not used to long walks like this..." Diane looked at Kain, apologizing.

"Oh... but you were... not bad..." he said more casually than friendly.

"Thank you very much..." the red-haired woman smiled, and sat down near some trees, ignoring his tone. She started to rummage in the basket. "What would you like to have? A sandwich, or some fruits, maybe? Or some of my favorite cakes?"

"It must be a joke... Sitting in the woods and making a picnic..."

"Oh, I am not hungry..." Kain mumbled, still standing.

Diane looked at him disappointed. "Really? Well I am hungry for sure, having walked all this way..." She started to wrap open one of the packages. "Are you sure you really don't want anything?"

The smell of fresh oven-backed bread tickled Kain's nose. His belly grumbled. In fact he was hungry, having eaten nothing the whole morning. "Ah what the heck...I hope know one ever gets to know of this! Kain - the solitary ex-dragoon making a picnic amidst the woods..."

"Alright... Maybe I could need a bite..." he grinned and sat down beside her.

Diane smiled broadly and gave him a sandwich. It tasted wonderful...

They ate silently for a moment, as Diane suddenly became interested in the sword that Kain had laid beside him. "It suits you..." she said between two mouthfuls of cake.

The blond man stared at her irritated "What?" He too, stared at the sword which was plain simple with a leathery bound, being totally different from swords like Cecil's Legend which were richly decorated. "It's just a plain sword..." he said, chewing.

"That's what I mean.. It suits you... A plain simple weapon without much decor around it... You're also not the type to talk around things long and you' re rather... rough... like the sword..." She leant her head to one side and watched him thoughtfully.

"Oh - you mean that..." Kain replied a bit unsure. He'd never thought about it like this - most of his weapons were this plain - they should only be functional.

He took another one of the cakes which were really excellent. Diane smiled happily "I am glad you had some hunger at all..." In fact Kain had nearly eaten all contents of the basket.

The fighter had to grin... "Yeah... seems so..."

"May I take your sword for a while?" Diane asked suddenly. "I've never touched one before..."

"This girl really has strange ideas..." Kain thought, but did not know what to say against her request. "Sure... go ahead..." he sighed.

Chewing, he leant back against a tree and watched how the delicate girl heaved up the sword. "Oh - it's heavier than I thought..." she ached. She went a few steps with it and tried to take a swing, which resulted only in falling flat on her back what she did very elegantly, though.

Kain chuckled slightly. "That will teach her, surely..."

To his surprise Diane only laughed, stood up again, brushed the earth off her clothes and took the sword again. After a while she had even managed to out herself into a half way decent fighting stance. "Is it right this way?" she said out of breath, trying to balance the sword.

"Guess you should help her - she might hurt herself... Cid would kill me..." Secretly Kain couldn't help but acknowledge again her persistence. He put the rest of his cake beside and walked slowly up to her. "Your grip on the handle is not stable enough..." he said, inspecting her stance.

Diane licked her lips in effort "Is it right this way?"

Kain shook the head. "No... you must do it like this..." He helped her holding the sword correctly. "And now take a swing..."

Diane frowned. "How?"

Kain sighed, walked around her and reached around her from behind, laying his hands over hers. She felt warm and soft and smelt pleasantly of flowers. Kain felt himself blush a bit - he wasn't used in being close to another woman except for Rosa.

"Do it this way..."

He helped her to wield the weapon and after some tries Diane had obviously understood how to do it...

Still she was exhausted. "Huff... Please let's stop. I am not used to this kind of activity..." she panted.

Kain nodded and released his grasp. As he faced Diane he noticed that her cheeks were more reddish than usual, too. For a moment they stared at each other. Diane opened her mouth as if to say something, but shut it after a moment of reflection and smiled instead.

Kain grinned mischievously in return - his once usual smile showing more often in the last few days. "Let's get back..."

Diane nodded and started packing the things together. "Can your girlfriend fight with a sword?" she asked casually.

"My... what?" Kain stammered.

Diane did not look up. "Your girlfriend. You said you had one... Sorry if I ask too much questions, but she must be an interesting person... If you don't want to talk about her..." she said in her usual friendly way.

"Well..." "Better tell her the truth... If Cid gets wind of this..." "Truth is, I have no girl friend..."

Diane seemed to stiffen for a moment, but otherwise didn't react. "Oh..." she just said plainly.

"And you? Already engaged?" he asked, although he knew the answer.

The girl shook her head. "No... I do not get around much...Besides..." she took the basket, "In my spare free time I like to be alone, caring for my flowers..." She shrugged her shoulders. "It's just how I am, I guess..."

Kain nodded. He understood her very well in the need to be alone sometimes, though silently wondered that such a pretty and hard working girl as she had no boyfriend.

The two young people slowly made their way back. For a long time no one said anything, and though Kain wasn't interested in carrying on the discussion they had have earlier, a question was still nagging inside of him:

"What did you mean as you said earlier that my girlfriend must be an interesting person?" he blurted out suddenly, and hated himself at once for this question.

Blood rushed into Diane's cheeks. "Oh... I..." She took a deep breath and then said, weighing her words carefully, "I guess being together with you can be... let's say it can be difficult... Not every girl could do it... You're often so cool, and unapproachable. It's as if you're hiding something..." She lowered her head. "Sorry... I shouldn't say these things... I really talk too much. Please don't be angry..."

Kain had stared at her for quite a time now, looking really surprised. "No one except for Rosa has ever dared to say such things right in my face... One wouldn't believe it but behind all her friendly and shy appearance this girl really has got guts..."

"I am not angry..." he said calmly. "It's right what you said. I've always been a bit of a loner... And yes - I have something on my mind... It's a... lost love..."

"It's alright - you really don't have to talk about it..." Diane said seriously.

Then she brightened up again. "Look! I can already see the town!" she exclaimed. "Thank you again for taking me with you... It's only a pity that I didn't take any flowers at all with me due to the whole sword fighting stuff...Well, can't be helped!" she laughed.

"Well - we could go again... Tomorrow if you wish, same time?" Somehow Kain had felt the urge to ask this.

Diane looked at him more surprised than ever. "You... you would? Really? Great! And this time I can leave the basket at home... I guess picnicking in the woods isn't something for a fighter like you..."

"By any means, take it with you!" Kain grinned. "And don't forget these little cakes - they really tasted good..." Eating in the woods hadn't been as bad as he'd expected.

"Su..Sure..." Diane beamed happily. "See you tomorrow than... Hey, Kain?" she suddenly sounded serious again.

"Yep?"

"This long lost love of yours - is she a bad person?"

Kain looked confused. "No... Not in the least..."

"Then... she surely wouldn't like to see that she is worrying you so..." Before Kain could reply anything, Diane had turned away and was hurrying towards town: "Bye!"

"Bye..." Kain murmured and tried to understand why he just couldn't be angry with her.

"This girl really confuses you..."