Chapter 8: Love and War

            Marle was beaming with pride the next day.  "Was I right about them or what?" she said for about the tenth time as she and Crono explored the halls of the palace.  Lucca was with the mages, figuring out a way to make her gun work in the intense magical field of the Lady's kingdom.  They hadn't seen Ketiya since breakfast, where she had seemed very distracted and had barely spoken at all.  Jack had apparently left to wander around the palace long before the rest of them had woken up.

            "Yes," Crono sighed, rolling his eyes.  "You were right.  Big whoop."  He tried to distract her.  "Look at this one here.  The tiles are so tiny that you can hardly…"  But Marle, he saw, wasn't really paying attention.

            "It's just so sweet, don't you…"

            "Marle!"

~***~

            The arrow thunked into the edge of the practice target.  Ketiya drew another, fired it, and missed the target completely.  She had started firing on the practice range an hour ago, few of her shots had been good ones and they had been getting steadily worse as her arms grew tired from the strain.  But she wasn't really doing this for its own sake.  She was doing it to keep her hands occupied while her mind worked.

            What had she been thinking?  It had all made perfect sense when it was actually happening, but in the light of day she saw how foolish it had been.  The two of them…it wouldn't work.  It could never work.  When all this was over, she would have to stay and finish her term of service with the Lady – a year and a day, which meant another five months.  She couldn't go back on a promise.  And if this all worked out, Jack would be able to return home, two thousand years away. If it didn't, he'd have to look for some other way back.  Either way, he'd have to leave, and she wouldn't be able to go with him.

            She fired another arrow.  This one hit close to the bull's-eye.

            The relationship between them, such as it was, could only cause them pain.  They would have to part ways soon, as they had done more than a year ago.  It would have been difficult anyway: they both knew that.  What had happened between them last night made it infinitely worse.

            Why did he have to say "I love you?" she thought to herself as she let another arrow fly, feeling tied up inside.  The arrow ended up a closer to the edge of the target than it did to the center.  He'd said the words.  He'd kissed her.  It was all his fault.

            But she'd made the first move.  She'd held his hand, when they were walking in the chill, dead mist between worlds.  Maybe even before that, when she had decided to travel with him shortly after they had first met.  It was her own fault.

            She fired another arrow, which barely hit the edge of the target.  It came loose and fell to the ground a few moments later.

            There was only one sensible thing to do; tell him that they had to break it off, before it got even worse.  But how was she going to tell him?  She drew another arrow, pulled it back…

            "Ketiya?"

            The shaft ended up stuck in the ground about halfway to the target.  She had been so preoccupied that she hadn't noticed him approach.  She spun around to face him, saw his eyes flick to the target that she had been practicing on.  His expression was one of mixed concern, guilt and nervousness.  He was trying much too hard to hide it.

            "Good morning, Jack.  I didn't see you at breakfast."  That had just slipped out.  What a stupid…

            He bowed to her, but when he stood up again he did not look into her eyes.  He looked down at his hands instead.  "I am sorry.  But I had to think about something.  Please forgive my inappropriate behavior."  Jack looked up at her, and she couldn't help but think of a kicked puppy.

            Ketiya sighed.  "You don't have to apologize for not being at breakfast," she said, before she realized that he hadn't been talking about that at all.

            He shook his head.  "No, that is only the smallest part of it.  I fear that I acted…selfishly last night."  Maybe it wouldn't be that difficult to break it off, after all.  That should have been a relief, but it wasn't.

            "It was my fault too," she assured him.  She looked down at her boots.  "It wasn't a good idea, was it?"

            "No, it was not.  Which is why…"

            "It would be best to pretend it never happened?" Ketiya suggested, looking up again.  Jack nodded.  For some strange reason, the fact that he agreed with her did not make her happy.  It made her feel disappointed and more than a little angry.

            "Again, I am sorry for what happened."

            "What do you mean?  Nothing happened," Ketiya snapped.  She was just as surprised at herself as Jack was.

            "Hey!  Ketiya!  Jack!  It works now!"  Lucca saved them from further awkwardness by running onto the practice range and skidding to a stop just in time to keep from colliding with them.  Jack bowed to her, and Ketiya nodded a greeting.  Lucca looked from one of them to the other.  "Is something wrong?" she asked.

            "No, nothing's wrong," Jack and Ketiya said at the same time.  She glared at him, but he didn't take any notice of it.

            Lucca was either very polite or very oblivious, because she seemed to believe them.  "The mages cast a spell on my gun.  It works now – take a look."  She pulled her gun from her belt, set her sights on the target that Ketiya had been shooting at, then pulled the trigger.  A red burst spat forth and incinerated the target on impact, leaving no more than a smoking pile of ashes.

            "Oops," Lucca mumbled sheepishly.

~***~

            Until recently, Fort Kulewan had been occupied by more than three hundred people.  The fort was now a ruin, and the three hundred were corpses.  A force of five hundred demons, in a variety of very unpleasant shapes, sizes, and colors were now crawling around the area, already thirsting for more blood.  They would be able to slake that thirst soon.

            Grehk, one of Aku's top generals and the commander of the invasion force, watched with approval as his underlings went about the task of razing the surrounding forest.  They were anxious to destroy something more than trees, but Aku had told him to be thorough.

            He felt the signal in his mind before the vortex of flames appeared in front of him.  The vortex became a flame-bordered window, through which Grehk could see the face of his master.  He bowed respectfully.

            "Ah, General Grehk.  Have you succeeded in your mission?" Aku knew the answer already.  He would not have been able to contact his general in this fashion if things had been otherwise.

            "My Lord," Grehk addressed him, "The spell you gave us penetrated their magical defenses without any trouble.  All the garrison has been slaughtered, and the trees are being…dealt with even now."  He could not help but smile proudly.

            Aku's grin was chilling even to Grehk.  "Good!  Hold your position for the time being – she is massing her forces against us, and you must be prepared to deal with them.  The samurai has joined with her, and three very troublesome human brats as well.  They may be a threat to our plans.  I want them eliminated.  You will make sure of it"

            Grehk bowed again.  "As you wish, my Lord."

~***~

            That afternoon, Jack was sitting alone in a glade in one of the palace gardens.  He had set himself in the lotus position, his palms pressed together before him, the way he had been taught.  His eyes were closed, so he did not notice when the occasional maple leaf fluttered down from the branches of the tree above him.  His sword, in its scabbard, was resting by his side.

            Tomorrow he would be going off to war, but all he could think about was how badly he had handled things with Ketiya earlier that day.

            He had made a terrible mistake by admitting his feelings for her and acting on them in the first place.  He had not realized it, though, until the small hours of the morning, after the moon had set.  Feeling unable to face her after this revelation, he had left the guest quarters while she and the others were sleeping, eaten a simple breakfast in the kitchens and spent several hours trying to figure out what he ought to say to her.

            Jack had managed to figure out what he wanted to say, but when the time had come to say it, everything just went completely wrong.  He had been sincere when he told Ketiya that he loved her.  He still loved her.  But that was one among many things that he hadn't managed to tell her.  All he had managed to say, more or less, was that he regretted it - as if what had happened between them was no more than a foolish mistake.  True, it had  been a mistake, but it had been so much more than that, for both of them.

            But he had not been able to say so, and now Ketiya hated him.  He didn't blame her.  All he had managed to do was hurt her, and himself.

            Perhaps it was for the best, though.  If she hated him, then it would be easier for her when the time came for him to leave.  It would be easier for both of them.  They could just forget about each other and go on with their respective lives.  She would find someone else who loved her and could stay with her.  That thought gave him some measure of comfort.

              It was then that he heard someone singing, in a slightly off-key voice, as they passed near the garden.  He could not hear the words at first, but as the singer got closer, he was able to make them out:

She'll promise you more
Than the Garden of Eden

Then she'll carelessly cut you
And laugh while you're bleedin'

But she'll bring out the best
And the worst you can be

Blame it all on yourself
Cause she's always a woman to me.

            Jack didn't wait to hear any more.  He opened his eyes, grabbed his sword, got to his feet.  With a sigh of frustration he put the scabbard through his sash again and stalked off in search of some more isolated spot where he could just sit and think and be alone.  But he could not keep himself from hearing the end of the song as he departed:

And the most she will do
Is throw shadows at you

But she's always a woman to me.

~***~

            "They definitely weren't looking at each other.  And not in a 'shy' way.  They weren't-looking at each other in an 'I hate your guts' way."  Marle's good mood had collapsed at lunch for just that reason.  "What went wrong?"

            Lucca adjusted her glasses.  "Now that I think about it…they were arguing about something this morning."

            "About what?" Marle wanted to know.

            "What kind of person do you think I am?  I don't listen in on other people's private conversations!" Lucca hunched her shoulders and pouted.  "I got there after it was over, anyway."

            "It's not our business, Marle," Crono reminded her gently.  Her fixation on the whole business had been annoying, but her disappointment at seeing it fall apart was heartbreaking.

            But Marle wouldn't leave it alone.  "Maybe we could try and get them back together?"

            "That wouldn't be a good idea," Lucca countered.

            "Yeah, they're older than we are and we don't know them well enough to do something like that," Crono agreed.

            Lucca's brow furrowed.  "Yes, that too.  But that's not what I meant: there's a much simpler reason."

            Marle peered at her.  "What did you mean, then?"

            "We planned to take Jack to the End of Time so he can get home from there.  The Epoch can fit four in a tight squeeze.  It can't possibly fit five."  She didn't elaborate.  She didn't have to.

            Marle hung her head.  "That's right.  I didn't think of that."

            Crono put a hand on her shoulder.  "They were doomed from the start.  Nothing anyone can do about it.  And we have other things to worry about, anyway."

            He didn't like the long silence that took place before Marle answered.  "You're right," she said at last.  "These things don't always work out."  She frowned.  "But that doesn't mean I have to like it."

~***~

            The next day – the day of their departure from Kalvalen and the valley – was warm, clear and bright.  But nobody was taking time to enjoy the good weather.  They were preparing for war.  The five of them were in the palace armory, getting some extra equipment.

            "One hundred Rangers, one hundred and fifty light cavalry, two hundred spearmen, and us," Ketiya told Crono when he asked how big their army would be.  "All that can be spared, without completely stripping every garrison in the kingdom.  Half the Rangers and spearmen, and all of the cavalry, will be joining us at Exan's Creek."

            Crono made a quick calculation.  "That's four hundred and fifty.  Fifty-five, if you count us.  What are we up against?"

            Ketiya sighed.  "As far as I know, we're fairly evenly matched as far as numbers are concerned.  But they're big, strong and nasty – not like those little imps we've been seeing, which are just nasty."  She examined the contents of a nearby weapons rack.  It contained a series of black wooden poles, each about three feet long.  Upon closer inspection, Crono noticed that that each pole was actually composed of two segments, with the divide at the midpoint.

            "Watch this," Ketiya said as she picked up one of the poles and stepped back.  She held it parallel to the ground, with one hand on each side of the midpoint, and gave it a twist.  Two new segments emerged from each end of the pole, nearly doubling its original length.  It was a collapsible staff.  Ketiya spun it experimentally, first in front of her, then to her left, then to her right.  She began to move around the room, striking out at imaginary foes.  Then she tossed it up in the air, caught it, gave it a final whirl and snapped it to a stop.  "This one's good," she decided.  She twisted the staff again, causing a slim metal blade to appear at each end.

            Crono picked up one of the other staves as Ketiya collapsed hers back into a compact pole and placed it in a little sling on the side of her quiver.  He found the wooden pole to be surprisingly heavy.  He was attempting to expand it to its full length when Lucca came in from another part of the armory, wearing a silvery chainmail shirt over her jacket.  She was holding another such shirt in her hands.  Crono replaced the staff on the rack.

            "It's really neat," Lucca said, proffering the shirt to him.  "It's no heavier than a wool sweater.  And the smith said that it'll protect you like a boilerplate."

            "Noon-forged steel," Ketiya said.  "Worth your weight in gold.  The Lady's way of looking out for you."  She grinned.  Crono took the chainmail shirt in his hands.  It was definitely made of metal but, as Lucca had said, it was surprisingly light.  The inside was lined with some sort of thick, silver-gray fabric.  Crono was about to put it on when Ketiya stopped him.

            "You had better put on a helmet or something first," she warned as she went to get a helm from a rack on the opposite wall.

             "Chainmail and hair don't mix," Lucca agreed.

            "No, actually, they mix quite well," Ketiya countered.  "It's the un-mixing that's a problem."  She placed the helmet on Crono's head and helped him into the chainmail shirt.  After he adjusted it a little, he found that it was actually quite comfortable.  He didn't want the helmet, so he removed it and put it back in its place.

            Jack and Marle came in through the entrance that Lucca had used a few moments before.  Marle was wearing a shirt like Crono's, but Jack had a sleeveless chainmail vest instead.  As soon as he came in, Ketiya walked out, without even looking at him.  He didn't acknowledge her either, although he bowed a greeting to Crono.  He was worried that Marle might make some comment about it, but she didn't.

            What she did say, however, was almost as bad.  "Is everyone ready?" she asked cheerily, as if they were preparing for a picnic and not a battle.

            Jack, though, took the question seriously.  He nodded and walked to the door out of the armory.  Lucca looked at Marle, then at Crono.  Without a word, she went to follow the samurai, leaving her two friends alone in the armory room.

            Marle looked down at her feet dejectedly.  Crono went over to her and put a comforting arm around her shoulders, because he wasn't sure exactly what was wrong or what he ought to say.  But it seemed to be the right thing to do, because it seemed to make her feel a little better.  She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed.  "That was really stupid of me, wasn't it?"

            "Everyone does stuff like that now and then," Crono said.

            "But it wasn't just that, it was…" Marle bit her lower lip.  "A lot of other things.  Like thinking that love stories always have happy endings."

            Crono had to think about that for a few moments.  "Maybe not always," he said, "But some of them do."  He kissed her gently.  When he drew away from her again, she was smiling.  He felt a lot better himself.

            "Thank you, Crono," she whispered, snuggling her head into his chest.  After a few moments, they heard shouting outside.  Marle lifted her head.  "We had better go," she said, "So they don't leave without us."

            "Yeah, don't want to miss all the fun," Crono remarked.  Marle gave him a playful slap on the cheek and they both laughed.

            They left the armory hand in hand, with Marle leading.  Not all love stories have a happy ending, Crono repeated silently to himself, but at least ours will.