"You went after him, even when you knew what we were going to do?" Firion demanded. His hand flew to the hilt of his sword like he wanted to draw it, and attack the Emperor for them. Instead he composed himself, but pushed it back and forth against the straps, flexing out his anger.

Firion was the most upset compared to Warrior and Cosmos. Though, Rosa realized, Warrior's anger was a close second. Despite maintaining careful control of his body language, his face was angry. His jaw was set and tense, eyebrows were furrowed down, and Rosa could see the gears turning behind his eyes, processing Cecil's news.

"It wasn't to attack him," Cecil repeated for the hundredth time. "I only warned him to stay away from Rosa."

"By saying what?" she prompted. "I want to know everything that was said. What you said, what Kain said, and especially what the Emperor said."

Cecil blinked once, methodically, restraining his own frustration. He shook his head, as though it was obvious. "I said just that: stay away from her," he enunciated, his tone changing into something tense.

"Verbatim?"

"No, not verbatim. It's not that important-"

"But it is," Cosmos insisted. "He may have let something slip about his future plans in the verbiage."

Cecil sighed, throwing his hand out. "We tracked him to the Sandsea. We saw him, and we faced each other. He tried to taunt me, and said he was sorry for our loss - meaning you, Rosa." He paused, letting out a deep breath and looking down at the water. He shuffled some with his feet. " . . . Please," he said, looking up at Rosa. " . . . I don't . . . feel right about it." He turned his gaze to Warrior and Cosmos. "Please excuse me . . . "

It was a half-hearted attempt to leave without Cosmos' permission. Rosa's heart twinged at the propriety of his plea. Like a revelation, the signs of his discomfort were suddenly so clear to her. He could barely look them in the eyes. He kept his head down, allowing his hair to spill partly over his face. He had his hands clasped in front of himself but was wringing them so hard she swore she heard some of his knuckles crack. He looked like a child being reprimanded. She hadn't seen such a visceral reaction from him since Mist Village. She should've seen the signs, and known them to be what they were since before she dragged him over to talk to them. She suddenly understood how bad he felt about the situation, and that she was putting him in a terrible position. She was partly responsible for making him feel worse, dragging him in front of Cosmos and Warrior to be berated.

She quickly relented. "I'm so sorry. I didn't understand that you felt so strongly about this. Let's go. We can discuss it later." She made sure to lean down and catch his eye, placing her apology there. She reached out and placed one arm around his back, then she stared up at Warrior, Firion, and Cosmos, hoping they understood. She moved to lead him from them, vowing to ask him later, when he was feeling ready.

Firion looked to Warrior and Cosmos as well, probably seeking their opinion while he shared his. He softened his voice and said, " . . . Forgive me, Cecil, but I'd really like to know what was said."

Rosa pressed her hand into Cecil's back, a firm affirmation that she was there and on his side. " . . . We can discuss it later."

"Stay," Warrior growled. It was clear he didn't care for Cecil or Rosa's pleas. Rosa understood his position as well. He was meant to lead this group, and they had information that could be helpful. "We will discuss it now." It was already given as an order, but Warrior still deferred to Cosmos. "Will we not?" At her nod, he asked, "After the Emperor offered his condolences, did you tell the Emperor that she wasn't fallen?"

"I did."

"How did he react?"

"From his reaction, he truly wasn't expecting it. He paused for nearly a whole minute, and I could tell he was processing the information. I asked him if he wasn't expecting the news. He responded, enraged, that surely if she was alive then we had no more reason to seek him out."

Rosa no longer wanted to contribute to his interrogation, but she couldn't stop the question from tumbling from her mouth. "How did he look when you told him? What did he do?"

"He was shocked, mostly. His eyes grew wide and he scrutinized me, no doubt trying to detect a lie. Then he . . . just deflated. He didn't say anything more, but it was like a large burden was placed upon him."

Rosa laughed dryly. "Well. That is a burden I am happy to be."

"What then?" Firion prompted.

"That was when I told him that I wasn't there to fight him, I was there to level a threat."

"Of course," Warrior noted dully. "After we agreed to devise a plan against him, and Cosmos disallowed you from interacting with him. And what was the threat?"

"I told him . . . Give me a moment, I need to remember the words." He collected his thoughts, took a deep breath through his nose and huffed it out from between his teeth. "I told him that if he attacked you again, or targeted you again, or came within any distance of you, if he even looked at you, if he so much as sniffed in your direction, we would hunt him down and we would destroy him. We would end him just like he tried to do to you. And where he failed, we would not. That is word for word."

"What did he do?" Cosmos asked. "Did he seem to take it to heart?"

"Ah, no, he barely reacted. Like it was beneath him. Perhaps it was a front, but he seemed as though he couldn't have cared less. He asked if that was all we went there to say. I confirmed, but Kain disagreed because we discussed attacking and ending him before we even left. We briefly traded blows with the Emperor-"

Cosmos's eyes widened. "You both charged? Without provocation?"

"No, no, the Emperor instigated. He said something - after Kain said he would not let him go, the Emperor said something like, 'How could we live with ourselves' . . . Or, no." Realization and shame crossed his face. "He asked, 'How could we return to Rosa, look her in the eye, and tell her we let him walk away?' Then Kain attacked. We traded blows briefly, but he wasn't fighting with his full ferocity. He stopped the fight before long, probably when he realized how angry Kain was, and he gave his word that he would not target you again, Rosa, except during the natural course of the war. He disappeared after that."

"And you trusted his word?" Firion snapped.

"Of course not! But the point was made, and the threat delivered. At the very least, he will think twice. Is that not the goal?"

"He'll think twice?" Firion repeated. "Cecil, this is the Emperor!"

Before Cecil could try and defend himself again, Warrior held his hand out to silence him. He shifted his weight, and the plates of his armor scraped together, harsh and discomforting. "I need not say how rash and ill conceived your actions were. We were planning a preemptive strike that would have caught him off-guard and unprepared. It would have given us an advantage. But now his guard will be higher than ever. By disobeying a direct order from Cosmos, and for disrespecting her and all of your fellow warriors, you've turned a simple attack into a high-risk one. Now we will have to budget more time for a more complex plan, and more warriors for the increased difficulty."

Cecil wilted even further, hunching his shoulders and lowering his head further. Rosa slid her hand down to circle his waist and half-stepped in front of him before he realized what she was doing. She squared her shoulders to Warrior, okay with challenging him for the sake of Cecil's pride.

"Believe me," Cecil mumbled. "I regret my decisions as much as you do."

"As well you should," Warrior scolded. "You and Kain both face confinement and mission restrictions at a minimum."

Rosa didn't know what confinement or restrictions meant for them, but she knew they couldn't be good. "Is that really necessary, Warrior? No one was injured in this situation-"

"I am not punishing them for endangering other warriors, and they are lucky no one else was endangered. Others can be injured when the chain of command is broken. The punishment is for the disobeying of a direct order, and for the apparent disrespect they showed Cosmos and their fellow warriors."

Rosa stared at Cosmos, mouth open, waiting for her to say something. Anything that would discredit Warrior's assumption of her anger and save Cecil and Kain the punishment they were about to be doled. But apparently Warrior had correctly guessed what she was feeling. Cosmos said nothing. Perhaps it was not Rosa's place to argue. Warrior was their leader, after all, and had been fighting the war for far, far longer than she. Judging by his character, he seemed like he would be extremely fair no matter who he was leveling a punishment against, but she still felt the need to protect Cecil from their ire. "Then is a punishment wise? Can we spare the warriors when we're already on a modified schedule?"

"Cosmos and I will determine the full extent at a later time."

"Understood," Cecil snapped quickly, before Rosa could say anything further. "Please excuse me." This time, he did not wait for Cosmos' permission. He bowed to her, sent one last long, sorrowful glance to Rosa, and walked away. Rosa looked back to Cosmos, once again expecting her to say anything in his defense. She was usually comforting at the very least from Rosa's experience. Though Cosmos looked regretful, she didn't say anything to either of their aid.

Rosa's heart sank in disappointment and hurt on Cecil's behalf, and she turned to follow him.

"You don't want to stay?" Cosmos asked. Rosa nearly balked at Cosmos' audacity. "With this new information, we are going to reevaluate and come up with a new plan for the Emperor."

"No. I don't. I regret bringing Cecil over here in the first place. It's not like I would be allowed to assist in the actual attack anyway." She kept her anger over Cosmos not offering any assistance to Cecil to herself, and carefully concealed the signs. She relaxed her face when she bowed to Cosmos.

As she followed Cecil, she considered all that she had said in his defense. Asking Warrior if a punishment was necessary, asking if one was wise, and trying to get them to discuss it later after Cecil had the chance to process his emotions. She felt as though she articulated her position well despite not reacting angrily, and she didn't feel as though she said anything particularly rude or out of turn. She was glad for that, but she wished she had said anything of more substance, to at least force them to consider an alternative to punishment. She simply hadn't had the chance to think of anything else.

It occurred to her that she had changed since she first arrived to the war. Before, she wouldn't have hesitated in challenging Warrior and Cosmos. She would have displayed her anger, and let them know how badly she disapproved of their decisions. Now that she had more of her memories and her sense of self, she knew herself to be better than that. More careful and controlled. She did not want to be that angry of a person.

Though she felt emotion fiercely, she knew to maintain a clear and level head as often as she could now. She was mature enough to understand that in this situation, Cecil and Kain were in the wrong. Warrior and Cosmos were the ones in charge. They could levy whatever penalties they wanted to, and it was only detrimental to constantly be angry about things beyond her control. "Emotion is natural, dear Rosa, and you should never stop yourself from feeling any sort of way," her mother told her at one point in her life. "But after it's acknowledged, it needs to be sent away. Actions are far more direct and effective when emotions are handled appropriately."

Rosa followed Cecil to an empty part of Sanctuary, away from all the other warriors. She sat down next to him with a loud, dramatic sigh, drawing her knees up to her chest. He didn't react to her. In an attempt to lift his spirits she leaned over to him and stared up into his face with the goofiest, lop-sided smile she could muster. He smiled slightly, though she could tell he was trying not to. She couldn't keep a straight face, thinking about how silly she looked, and accidentally barked out a laugh into his face. He blinked and finally laughed as well.

"Thank you. I needed that. And thank you for trying to defend me."

"I didn't do a good job," she mumbled. "What was Warrior talking about? What is confinement and restrictions?"

"It's nothing. We're just forbidden from going on missions for a while."

"Oh! Lovely," she commented. "It's nice to know that I've been getting the equivalent of a punishment all this time."

"No, no, yours isn't like that," he said. "You're stuck here out of necessity. Restrictions are different. You still have to contribute to the missions. You do things like gather Items, polish armor and weapons for everyone else, fill water canteens, help comrades suit up. But you yourself cannot participate."

"That doesn't sound so bad," Rosa said.

"It wouldn't be, if groups weren't cycling in and out constantly. You're stuck here so you're not exerting yourself, but you don't get a break either. Except when a group takes longer than normal to get back, and that can be nerve-wracking. You have to hope no one was hurt because you weren't on the mission with them. You're not allowed to do anything else in the meantime, either. No sparring, no caring for your own equipment, or anything. It's . . . withering, and condescending," he sighed. He pulled his knees to his chest to match her position and rested his forehead on his knees.

He was downcast again. Rosa paused, but decided now was as good a time to ask as any. "What are you so upset about regarding the Emperor? Is it me?"

"Yes . . . No. It's not about you. Just . . . did I make the right choice?"

"To let him go?" she asked, ensuring she understood what he was asking her. "Did what he said bother you? About looking me in the face? Is this about my reaction to you letting him go?"

His head snapped towards her, shock on his face. "How did you know-" He quickly chuckled, calming himself. "You were always so good at that. Sometimes you were better at articulating my feelings than I was."

"Well, we know each other well. To answer your question, yes. You made the right choice to let him go."

"How can you say that, after what he did to you? He wronged you, Rosa, and I let him go. It's as though I didn't care enough about you or your safety to-"

"You know I don't think that," she insisted.

"But what did it accomplish for your sake? You're no safer with him in the world, and Kain is angry with me for it, and you should be angry with me for it, and now I've ruined our real plan to be rid of him!"

"You expect me to be mad at you for doing the right thing? The honest thing? Regardless of at whom it's directed?"

"No, but the Emperor was right. I let the man who harmed you go. I almost can't look you in the face, knowing I betrayed you like this." To make his point, he shifted, half-turning away from her and looking away. "I haven't felt this terribly about something since Mist Village."

She felt so sad for him her chest ached. She reached over, placing her hand on his cheek. She turned his face back towards her, forcing him to look at her. She made her eyes as soft as possible, letting him know she was not accusing him of anything. She allowed her lips to turn in a small smile, and he returned the stiff gesture as much as his emotion would allow, but it did not reach the rest of his face. She stroked his cheek with her thumb, and he leaned in to her touch, closing his eyes.

"This is not the same as Mist Village. You were faced with a choice this time - to do the merciful thing, or the cruel and heartless thing. You chose mercy, as per your conscience, and I will never, ever fault you for that. Whatever the Emperor does after this, we will face it together, as we always do."

"You're right, of course," he said bitterly. "But it still hurts my very soul."

"I know it does."

" . . . I should apologize to Kain."

"I agree. What you said to him was not right."

"I know. I was angry and said something I shouldn't have. I'll go now. It's not like waiting will make it any easier."

He touched her hand and clasped it in his, raising it to his lips for a long, slow kiss. He tugged on her arm and pulled her into a tight hug, and he squeezed her so tightly, she imagined pressing all of the negative emotion right out of him. After he released her he stood and Rosa watched him leave, sighing the heaviness out of her body.

She allowed her gaze to scan Sanctuary, noting who was there at the moment. Warrior and Firion were Cosmos's posted guards, leaving Bartz, Cloud, Terra, and Lightning to relax in Sanctuary while the Onion Knight, Vaan, Zidane, Laguna, Tidus, Yuna, and Tifa were out on the next mission.

She would have liked to talk to Firion or Zidane alone about the situation. She valued Firion's opinion, both on Cecil's actions considering how close they were, and the consequences they would have on the Emperor. Cecil told her at one point that Firion was one of his oldest friends in the war. Surely when alone, Firion would tell her the truth about whether or not he disproved, regardless of whether or not they matched the outcome. She would have liked Zidane's input on what to do in the wake of this. No doubt he would have some piece of wisdom that would help her in understanding and caring for Cecil better, or responding to Warrior and Cosmos better.

She lamented them not being available, but figured talking to Bartz would be just as fulfilling. She could use his upbeat, carefree attitude at the moment, and perhaps he had gained more of his memories back. The last time she talked to him, he barely remembered anything.

She stood and walked over to him. He was parked between Cloud and Squall, who stood on either side of him like he was the one with posted guards. He sat in the water, legs crossed, fiddling idly with the chocobo feather he carried with him. He was running it between each of his fingers, tracing it across his palms, and drawing it through the air. Cloud watched Rosa approach with his unnaturally bright blue eyes, and nodded his greeting to her. She nodded back, and asked Bartz, "May I?"

He looked up, startled, and squinted up at her. From the glazed, lost look in his eyes, he had been far away in a memory. "Yeah! Sure!" he said brightly, scooting over to make room even though there was plenty. She sat next to him.

"What are you thinking about?"

"Mm," he hummed, "my dad."

She was about to ask him to elaborate when someone said, "What's up with Cecil?"

She never heard Cloud speak before. Him, or Squall. She looked up to find which one the voice came from, but from Squall's disinterested eyes it wasn't him. She stared up at Cloud. Him and his spiky hair. "He did something he regrets."

Cloud's expression changed. His lips pursed and he cast his vibrant blue eyes to the water. His very energy shrank and when he raised his eyes again it was a look of understanding. He empathized, she knew.

"What did he do?" Bartz asked. "Kain looked angry as a Bomb when they got back."

"Cecil and Kain disobeyed Cosmos' orders to wait, and they threatened the Emperor. Warned him to stay away from me."

"He regrets warning the Emperor away from you?" Squall asked. His voice was tight and nasal, and his words slow. Cloud's voice was more smooth but had an edge to it she couldn't place.

"No, no, he regrets only warning the Emperor. Of course, the Emperor taunted him over it, and now Cecil's second-guessing if he shouldn't have done more."

"Why would he regret not killing someone, even the Emperor?" Cloud said. "He's pretty set on doing the right thing most of the time."

"The Emperor pointed out that he'd be doing me a disservice. The thought plagues him, even though I insisted I'm not upset. Kain was angry because he thought they were going to finish him off, but Cecil disagreed."

She glanced across Sanctuary to the two of them. Cecil stood, straight-backed and resolute and formal. It was a distinct contrast from when he was around her a moment ago. She knew it was because he had no qualms about apologizing to Kain, and he likely wanted the apology to be as formal and proper as possible. Kain was also standing tall, giving him a good few inches over Cecil in height, but he was throwing his arms out, pointing sharply at the ground and at Cecil, pounding his fist into his palms and gesturing towards himself. Rosa cringed, not wanting to guess what Kain was saying.

"Yikes . . . " Bartz mumbled, following her gaze. "What did Cosmos say about it?"

"Cosmos . . . I don't really know how Cosmos felt about it. She didn't say anything, really. Warrior and Firion were the ones upset."

"Restrictions?" Squall asked.

"Yes. Both of them."

She looked back and watched them argue more. It was Cecil's turn, but he wasn't nearly as animated in his reply. He slowly moved his arm and placed his hand flat on his chestplate over his heart. He bowed slowly and his hair spilled forward covering his face. She couldn't see his lips. Kain crossed his arms.

"Cecil's gonna beat himself up pretty bad for this," Cloud said dully.

"Yes. He will," Rosa said. "Do you know him well?"

Cloud shrugged. "He's a straightforward person. He's pretty honest about what he wants and how he feels. We all respect him a lot. Just . . . make sure he forgives himself. Especially if you forgive him. Guilt's a . . . heavy burden and Cecil doesn't bear it well."

Rosa nodded. "I'll try." It was endearing to her how much they all seemed to care about each other and know each other. From Cloud's words, he knew guilt as well. "Have you been here long?"

"Long enough. But not as long as Cecil."

"Have you struggled with guilt?" She paused, and immediately remedied, "I'm sorry, that was intrusive."

He still answered her question. "There's a lot of stuff I still blame myself for. I let a lot of people down and let a lot of people get hurt. I know none of them blame me, but it's hard to remember that sometimes when you miss someone and when you think about your actions."

"I think I know the feeling, too. Or at least, I know something similar," she said. "I'm sure it's much, much different when the people involved are your close friends," she said, acknowledging Cloud's point, "but Mages see both friends and countless people we don't even know wounded and screaming, at their weakest and their most desperate moments. The expectation is that with a wave of our hands or a simple touch, we pull people away from death and that is simply that. People don't understand the gravity of that until the hand wave no longer works. There are some people . . . you can't save. Those alert enough to look at you do so with such fear and they beg you to help, but you have to look them in the eyes and betray their trust and desperation. I know it's not me they blame in particular, but the betrayal ate at me for a long time. I almost quit being a Mage when I was younger."

"Yeah, we don't want Cecil to fall into that trap. Not when he's already prone to it."

Rosa nodded. "I'll make sure he doesn't stay there for long."

Squall lifted his chin in acknowledgment. "He's lucky to have you."

"It is me who is lucky." She said it on impulse, but it still made her heart full to know it was true. She blushed before she could help herself and smiled down at her feet. To change the subject, she asked them, "Have you ever been on restrictions?"

Squall and Bartz shook their heads. Cloud actually chuckled.

"Yeah, once. Zidane and I were supposed to trade some weapons for Items and on our way, a manikin dropped a little orb-looking thing." He circled his thumb and forefinger to show her the size. "About that big. We took it with us to the Moogle and he told us it was called a Mindcrush. We asked how much it was worth and the Moogle said not much since they were pretty common, so we kept it. Later, we were sitting in Sanctuary and Zidane and I realized we never found out what it did from the Moogle. He wanted to play around with it and try to use it to find out, but he couldn't figure it out. He asked me to try it, and I said no. It looked a lot like the materia I use from my world, so I thought it would be easy, but I still refused because I didn't want to accidentally hurt anyone. He insisted I try it on him, because he could handle it, so he said. I used it on him, and I thought I killed him. He dropped immediately and wouldn't wake up for a few hours. The item actually crushed his mind for a while. We both got put on restrictions for playing around with it."

Bartz snorted a laugh. "Of course it was Zidane."

"Yeah, Zidane gets hit with restrictions all the time."

Rosa chuckled, imagining the kinds of shenanigans Zidane was involved in on the regular. His theatrical, almost childlike sense of adventure no doubt led him down some precarious paths.

She looked to Cecil and Kain again, and saw that Cecil had finished with his apology. He ambled towards her, still downcast, but she could see in his aura that a significant burden was lifted. The colors were less muted and grey. Apologizing made him feel slightly better. "Oh, he's done," she said, hopping to her feet. "Let's see what he said." From the vehemence of Kain's reaction he didn't take the apology well, but from Cecil's demeanor he had said all that he felt was right to say to Kain.

"Oh! Rosa, wait!" Bartz said. "Can I ask you something, real quick?"

"Of course."

"You remember a lot of stuff now, right?"

She nodded, considering all of the things she both directly and indirectly recalled. Her largest and smallest memories, her better sense of self, the way they shaped her relationships with those close to her. "Yes, I'd say so. I don't get those large . . . crippling memory flashes anymore, which I assume means the majority of important things have come back to me. And I've changed - like I've remembered the kind of person I want to be. There are things I know to be true about myself and those closest to me that I didn't know before and had no way of guessing."

"Oh, okay," he said. Clearly that was not the answer Bartz was looking for. "I'm still getting really big memory flashes. Were any of yours . . . weird?"

"Weird, how?"

Bartz took a long minute to search for the word. " . . . Incorrect? Or, were there any details that were wrong?"

Rosa wasn't sure how to answer, not entirely sure of what he meant. Everything she remembered, it was as though she watched it all play out in front of her eyes. She had no control over the situations, watching them happen in real time. She was simply staring through her own eyes, moving her own body in the way that it happened then. She wouldn't have known any better if there was something incomplete or wrong about her recollection. "I'm sorry, I don't know what you mean. Wrong, how?"

"Most of the big memory flashes I'm still getting are from my home world. The things that happen to me in the memories happen the same way they did then, and the things I said are the same. I remember the Rift and what happened there, Exdeath, my chocobo, my friends, things I've already seen, and things I know to be true too. But I also keep getting these short bursts of stuff that's . . . wrong. There's one detail that seems incorrect about them. I'll remember what happened in the memory, but it'll be placed somewhere here, in this world instead of home. Or, I'll remember a place from home and I'll remember something I said correctly, but it wasn't what I said to the people in the memory at that time. Did that happen to you?"

"No, I'm sorry. All of my memories have been my own, as far as I know. I didn't see any places I didn't recognize, or say anything I didn't remember saying."

"Right. Okay, thanks."

Rosa shrugged. "Who knows? Maybe it's a sort of side effect of re-experiencing your own memories. Maybe I just wasn't affected that way."

"Yeah, maybe." Bartz rolled back onto his back in the water, sprawling out and spreading his arms to the side. "I'm not really worried about it," he said, but his furrowed eyebrows and troubled expression told a different tale. "I'm sure whatever it is, it'll sort itself out."

"I'll ask Cosmos," Rosa said. "I'm going to talk to her again after I talk to Cecil, and get the plan for the Emperor."

"Alright. Let me know what she says."

Rosa nodded her goodbyes and turned around, meeting Cecil halfway across Sanctuary. "What did Kain say?"

"He said that if I had always thought to only threaten the Emperor, I should have told him. Only, I didn't always think to do that. I only thought of it after we left. I apologized for misleading him nonetheless, and he eventually accepted. Though, he'll probably stay mad at me for a while."

"Will he?"

"Undoubtedly. I deserve it, I suppose."

Cloud was right, she noticed. Cecil would to carry this with him for along time unless she intervened and tried to make him feel better. Being quick to admit fault and to forgive were not bad traits to have, but he was extremely self-reflective, and was constantly evaluating himself and his actions to make sure they followed the path he wanted to tread. He held himself to a higher standard and took it personally when he fell short, no matter how impossible the standard was.

"Cloud says that I should make sure you forgive yourself."

"You didn't tell them, did you?"

"I gave them a vague description."

He sighed. "Rosa-"

"What? People were curious - Kain came back in a poor mood and you looked like someone kicked your chocobo! People asked questions." She paused, deciding to voice her thoughts. "I know you hold yourself to a higher standard, and as I said before, I admire that. But you're not inflallible, and people make mistakes. I've made a few here, too."

"This is different. This wasn't a mistake, this was . . . inaction. He wronged you, Rosa. I had a chance to deliver justice, and I refused to take it. The more I think about what the Emperor had to say, the more I wonder if he was right."

"He was only trying to manipulate you. And besides, I'm not angry with you! The person who should be the most upset," she said, gesturing to herself, "isn't angry with you. Forget about what the Emperor said. He was only trying to bother you."

"It worked."

"I know. It's because you're such a kind person. Anyone else would have destroyed him and not thought twice. Kindness is not a bad trait to have."

"Not when you know where to draw the line."

Rosa paused. She was running out of comforting things to say. Like flipping a switch, she knew she had to change her tactic. She remembered doing the same thing to him after he confronted the King of Baron. Now was the time for her to draw the line. He needed a firmer hand. "Fine," she said, turning away from him. "Mope, if you want to."

"What?"

"I've tried to insist that you've no reason to be so angry with yourself. But if you'd rather sulk and feel sorry for yourself, I'll not stop you. I've remembered enough to know that that's not the Cecil I know. The Cecil I know would never doubt doing the right thing - no matter who it was directed towards. I'd rather not be here while you pity yourself. So I'm going to go and talk to Cosmos again and see what the plan is. Let me know when the Cecil I know comes back."

He blinked and sputtered out his surprise. "I- I don't . . . Rosa!"

She held out her hand and stopped him, then left him there, crossing Sanctuary to stand before Warrior, Firion, and Cosmos again. "Did you come up with a plan yet?" she asked before anyone could say anything to her.

"We unanimously agree that we will not pursue him further," Warrior said. "Cecil's point - if successful - will keep the Emperor away. If it was not successful, then we have already taken the necessary steps to combat him with the modified schedule. You will be protected, Cosmos will be protected, and we'll have to protect each other on missions as we always have."

"But we will consider other options if you want," Cosmos said quickly. "I feel it is only right that you are involved in the decision, and we also developed a plan in case you wanted to pursue him. The choice is yours."

"I don't want to reinvest time into him," Rosa said. "If his decision is to be done with me, and he means it, then my decision is to be done with him."

"We shouldn't trust him," Firion said.

"I know, but Cecil's description of his reaction tells me that he's done with me. I'm okay with that."

"Very well," Cosmos said. "Then we needn't change anything about our current organization-"

"However," Rosa added quickly, the thought coming to her suddenly. "I would propose that if we do not go after him, then Cecil and Kain don't go on restrictions. If you would accept the results of their confrontation, then you shouldn't punish them for it."

"Their punishment is not levied based on the outcome of their offense. It is the offense itself, betraying Cosmos. You cannot bargain for their punishment."

"Then I think we should ask Cosmos," Rosa said, glancing past him to her. "What say you? Are you even as mad as Warrior assumes you to be? Do you even want to punish them?"

"Warrior is my right hand," Cosmos said, "and the leader of my warriors. He is the general, and you the army. If he deems it necessary to hand down a punishment, I need not interfere. I trust his judgment completely. I'm sorry," she said, at Rosa's obvious disappointment. "We cannot make exceptions when others have served reprimands for lesser offenses."

"Hm. I understand, I suppose. I doubt Cecil would accept a lesser punishment anyway," she added dryly. "Alright, then. That's all I wanted to know. That, and one more thing. Bartz and I were comparing the process of regaining our memories, and he mentioned to me that some of his were being blended and confused with places and people and experiences here. I didn't experience any of that. All of my memories have been exclusively of my home world. Is that normal for him to experience that? Should I have experienced that?"

Cosmos looked to Warrior, and Warrior shook his head. "I will defer to Firion. I cannot offer any insight into memories."

Firion's eyes widened at the sudden attention. "Oh, I . . . It's been a long, long time since I've experienced a memory like that. I'm not sure if I can even remember what it was like. Cosmos?" he asked.

"Each warrior experiences their recollection differently. If the memory was not clear to begin with, it makes sense that they may become blurred and confused with events that happened in this world. I don't believe it is anything to be concerned with, especially if it is not interfering with the process as a whole. Even remembering pieces at a time should be something to celebrate."

"Right. Thank you for your insight. I will relay this to Bartz." A muted sense of disquieting, nervous energy overtook her at Warrior and Cosmos' dismissiveness. It sparked the same angry feelings she felt when she first arrived in the world: feelings of being deceived and lied to, like they were deliberately withholding information from her again. Though, she couldn't pinpoint why she felt that way. Cosmos hadn't said anything that indicated she knew more about the memories, and neither had Warrior. Perhaps it was because she had simply left without a definitive answer again.

She had nothing more to say to any of them, and she knew what they were going to be about the Emperor. She left once again, eager to release the tensions she felt. The last time she felt this way, she had left Sanctuary entirely and ventured out on her own into a world she was unfamiliar with, surrounded by warriors she was unfamiliar with. It was what led to her first encounter with the Emperor.

She felt the tug to leave again. To be on her own, to look for the answers to the things that were bothering her. She had done the same after Cecil and Kain were sent to Mist. She had talked to the King, he had dismissed her and refused to help her, so she gathered her belongings and traveling necessities and went after the two of them herself. She felt the urge to do something, anything, to make her feel like she had control of the situation and of herself. So she found an empty part of Sanctuary where there were plenty of crystals and rocks to aim at.

She called her bow to her hands and experimentally tugged the string once, twice, feeling its weight and pull. It had been so long since her fight with Ultimecia, Exdeath, and Kekfa, and though her wounds were healed her loss of practice was not. The fingers of her right hand curled around the string, stiff and unfamiliar, unable to retain their flexibility after they were broken so violently. She drew and her shoulders hitched, wobbling on their once smooth path. With all her might, she couldn't yet make it to full draw, and her wrists, elbows, and shoulders trembled with the force of trying to maintain the position. The string accidentally slipped through her fingers and loosely slapped against the guard on her white lace sleeves.

She sighed, visualizing the grueling struggle ahead of her to get her skills back to where they had been. She would have to nearly start from scratch, first focusing on basic technique and then finesse. How to hold it, how to draw it, how to nock an arrow, how to aim, and then how to position shots, imbue the arrow with magic, shoot on the run, and other tricks she learned.

With nothing else to do, she practiced drawing the bow and miming firing with no arrow until her shoulders screamed and she could barely even lift the bow, let alone draw it. She vowed to practice as often as she could and continue to work out the kinks and her anger. This was a war, and though she was condemned to be an inactive participant, she wanted to be ready to fight as a whole. Now that the Emperor wouldn't be as large of a problem to her, she wanted to prepare for the other Chaos warriors. She didn't want to be bested so easily again.

A/N:

What up, friends?

Ya girl back with another Petal update! This chapter is going to set up some people's positions for future events, so I can't wait to get started on them now that the ball will start rolling!

As always, please leave a comment if you have the time, or if you want to, stop by my Curious Cat and ask me anything about Petal! 3 3
~Keyblader