Author's Notes: Must—finish!!

Disclaimer: Suikoden=NOT mine. Millie/Luc=Wish were mine. Nanami/Jowy, Meg/Futch, Tomo/Riou, Tengaar/Hix, Leona/Viktor, Anita/Miklotov, Valeria/Camus, Apple/Shu, Wakaba/Sasuke, Viki/Tir, Nina/Flik = Millie/Luc. Plots and other off-the-wall, but nonetheless nice IMHO stuff that Konami didn't think of=Mine.

Carol of the Bells

Chapter Nine: Daisy

            "We're out of ale, Miss Leona." Said one of her maids.

"I shouldn't have underestimated them," Leona sighed. "I will get some more. Keep them preoccupied."

"Tough night?" Viktor asked.

"Yes." Leona says.

"Good party though," Viktor smiled. "I'll carry the ale for you."

"Thank you Viktor," Leona said gratefully. "The others are already too drunk to be of any use."

They reached Leona's tavern and went inside. "That thing caused a lot of trouble for Flik, you know." He points at the mistletoe.

Leona just laughed. "He should've just kissed Nina and get it over with."

"Speaking of kiss," Viktor said. "I owe you one if I remember correctly."

"Hmm?" Leona raised an eyebrow. "You can give me something else."

"And what would that be?"

"Well… I like stories." Leona said, sitting on a barrel of ale.

"A story??" Viktor laughed. "I'm no good at making stories."

"Then tell me one that you know already."

"I don't know any interesting stories." Viktor says. "What can I tell you?"

"Daisy…" Leona says. "I heard that name plenty of times in the past, when you've had one drink too many and fell asleep right on the tables."

"Daisy, eh?" Viktor chuckles. "Well, Daisy is my sister. She's not really my sister, but an abandoned girl my mother adopted. But we were as close as blood-related siblings were…"

"Can you, describe her?"

"Well…" Viktor shrugged. "It has been a long time, I'm not sure if I can remember everything… Daisy had long black hair and she was so fond of wearing a headband in it—usually something blue. She loved the color blue. She had very fair skin that easily burned when we played too long in the hot sun. Her eyes… they were colored like orchids—a little of blue, a little of purple. She was a very sweet, little girl… even though she had an explosive temper."

"You two… must have made a lot of memories in this castle, no?" Leona mused.

"That's right." Viktor points at the counter. "There was a bar right there too, we used to sneak in with our friends and steal as much as we could of the ale. We'd go home dizzy and mother would hit our rears with her broomstick. Those were the days…" Viktor looked at Leona. "Do you know that duck pond at the side of the Castle?"

"Yes."

"We played there all the time. It was shady enough for Daisy and the ducks weren't scared of people. One time Daisy moved too far out and fell in. The water wasn't deep, but we were still little children after all. An adult fished her out. After that, Daisy was incurably afraid of water. But she would still join in other forms of mischief." He grinned at Leona. "Seeing Riou and Nanami reminds me so much of Daisy and I…"

"No wonder you have a soft spot for those two."

"Yes," Viktor sighed. "Daisy had a whole life ahead of her. She got engaged to my best friend and it was hard to tell which one among the three of us was the happiest. They shouldn't have died that day… that Neclord…"

"As you probably know by now, Neclord destroyed this village. I was the only one who's away, the only one who survived. Everyone else was killed, my mother, my best friend, Daisy…"

"I'm sorry I had to bring up something so painful just to satisfy my curiosity…" Leona says.

"You know what? Talking to you about it right now… it wasn't painful." Viktor said. "I think… I had just given Daisy closure."

"That's good."

"I know." Viktor looks pointedly at the barrel Leona was sitting on. "Now, should I bring that back to the party?"

"Okay, let's go now." Leona says and they headed back.

"Ahem, ahem…" Annalee coughs delicately. "It is twelve midnight now, everyone!! It is time to give out the presents!!"