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Well, this chapter may be a little, uh, violent maybe? It IS Kanzas in the Coliseum so you probably know what I mean. Zieg and Rose also get time alone in this chapter.

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Disclaimer: I don't own Legend of Dragoon. The only thing that I own are the characters that I created, including the Dragoon Judges. THEIR MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE, MINE. That's the only thing that I own in this story. So HA.

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Chapter Eight

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Sophia stood on a long, narrow stone 'bridge'. in front of her, the judge, Nomos, hovered above the bridge. The 'bridge' was several yards above the ground. Four drones sat on floating 'seats', two on each side. Sophia was inside the Great Court Signet Sphere, waiting to be judged for her actions. The court began as Nomos spoke.

"YOU HAVE HELPED HUMANS ESCAPE KADESSA. HOW DO YOU PLEAD?" Nomos' words floated in the air, Sophia hesitating.

The had all the proof they needed to kill her off, so why did what she said right now matter? "Not guilty." She finally spoke, moving her hands behind her back. The two Wingly men behind her had not chained her hands up, probably because she was just about to be killed, so what was the use? She couldn't run away or fight back. Not yet that is. She wasn't called the best body guard in the world for nothin', ya know. She was not shocked at the courts answer a few seconds later.

"GUILTY. GUILTY. GUILTY." They chanted that word over and over.

"YOUR FATE IS DEATH AT THE HANDS OF THE WINGED EXECUTIONERS!! VECTOR, SELEBUS, KUBILA!! START THE EXECUTION!!"

Three creatures came out. One of them, Selebus, was a white feather winged female. She wore dark clothing, and had a dark piece of fabric wrapped around her head; covering her head like a bandana. Blonde hair went a little past her shoulders and curved at the tips. Feathers were like cat ears; sprouted from the sides of her head and were at least seven to nine inches above her head. Around her right ankle, there was a wide, metal bracelet with three and a half links dangling down.

The second one, Kubila, was a black winged man. He held a long staff in his left hand. He also wore dark clothes.

The last one of the three, Vector, was a small, crouched man with tan skin. He looked like he only used his brute strength to fight.

The two Wingly men dragged Sophia out into an arena like place. Other then them and the executioners, it was rather quiet and empty. The men quickly left, leaving Sophia alone with the three executioners. She stood in her fighting position, ready to fight for her life.

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Kanzas and Damia stood within the crowd at the coliseum. Wingly guards held onto them tightly. They had just been caught during the night when they were sleeping. Kanzas had woke immediately, but he couldn't do anything. There were just too many Winglies that surrounded them. So they ended up at the coliseum.

"The Human man will go first." One Wingly told another. The Wingly that held onto Kanzas, dragged him down towards the arena.

Minutes later, Kanzas was thrown onto the hot sand of the arena.

'This just isn't my day.' He thought as he looked around. He saw Melbu sitting in his own little platform that faced the arena. A small Wingly boy, the same one he had seen earlier while he was locked up, was sitting beside Melbu. Kanzas crossed his arms across his chest as he waited for his first opponent. A huge Giganto stepped out from the shadows. His battle axe was in his huge right hand. Immediately the Giganto charged at him. Kanzas quickly jumped out of the way, quickly sending a kick into the Giganto's left side. It hardly even dented the man. He turned to face Kanzas with an evil look in his eyes.

Kanzas ducked as the man's axe swung above his head, making a 'swoosh' sound. Kanzas turned and started to run as the Giganto charged at him. Suddenly, Kanzas turned around and ran towards the other man. He slid on the ground and slid right in-between the Giganto's leg. He jumped onto his back and quickly snapped his neck. As the Giganto hit to the ground, the ground shook. Kanzas looked up at Melbu with a smirk on his face. Melbu quickly told the guard next to him to bring out the next opponent.

The gates opened, and a tall man walked out. Kanzas stared at the man, curiosity filled his eyes. The man would have passed for a Human, if the huge tan cat ears sticking out of the top of his head weren't there. He also had a thick tan cougar tail that was twitching back and forth, like a pendulum on one of those old clocks. His short, bright orange hair and his yellow cat eyes stared at him. His fang teeth shown as his smiled evilly at Kanzas, ready for a fight. Kanzas was confused about this creature. He had never seen anything like it before.

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Boralo also stared at the strange man.

"What is he?" He asked, never taking his eyes of the man.

"He's called a Couran. I didn't even know they existed until just a few weeks ago when some Winglies ran into him. They brought him back here and we've been putting him into fights ever since. He's never lost one battle yet." Melbu answered proudly.

Boralo continued to stare at the Couran.

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The Couran charged at Kanzas with amazing speed. Almost faster than a Wingly. Kanzas moved cat-like as he dodged the Couran's attacks. The half Human, half Cougar attacked faster than Kanzas could think about what to do next. Kanzas was just lucky that he was used to fighting Winglies. The Couran used a dagger in each hand to fight. Kanzas stuck with his fists. He continued to dodge until he had figured out the perfect strategy. Attack, dodge, block, attack, dodge, block. It was the same thing over and over again.

Kanzas ducked and swung his left leg out, trying to trip him. The Couran flipped backwards instead, kicking Kanzas in the chin and sending him flying upwards at the same time. Kanzas landed with a 'thud'.

'Damn cat man.' Kanzas stood back up and rubbed his chin. The Couran lunged at Kanzas. He dodged the cat man's daggers just barely, his shirt being torn and his chest being cut. Kanzas jumped over him, doing a flip, and landed behind him. He quickly turned around and grabbed the man's tail.

"YEOW!!!" The man screamed, turning around and cutting Kanzas' left cheek. Kanzas let go of the man's tail and wiped the blood off his face. He ducked again as the dagger made another swipe for his head. He swung out both of his legs, balancing on his left hand, and this time managed to trip the Couran. As he fell, Kanzas hopped up on his feet, and sat on top of the Couran, and just started punching his face. The Couran's face was now pretty badly bloodied up after ten punches from Kanzas. The Couran grabbed hold of Kanzas' shirt collar and threw him off of him. Kanzas landed on his stomach several yards away. He quickly stood back up and turned. The Couran punched him in the face, sending him flying once more. This time, he flew into the wall surrounding the arena. He stood, rubbing his back. The Couran was in front of him and punched him again in the face. Once more, Kanzas flew into the wall, almost through it. As he wobbled out, you could see a hole shaped just like him in the wall.

'Cat man's strong.' He found himself thinking as he ducked another punch being thrown at him. He ran away from the Couran, the Couran running after him. Has he came to the other side of the arena, he ran up the wall, and landed behind the Couran. As the Couran turned around, Kanzas swung out his left leg, tripping the Couran like he had done earlier. The Couran quickly stood back up, only to be kicked into the wall behind him. Kanzas pulled him back up, and just started punching. He kicked him up into the air, ran up the wall as far as he could, then kicked him again; sending him flying sharply to the right and into the tall wall. Blood now covered the wall. Kanzas twirled around one of the Couran's daggers in his right hand.

"Time to end this fight." Kanzas quickly ran to the Couran, and just as he was getting up, Kanzas had already had the blade ready. The Couran's yellow cat eyes went wide as he saw the blade coming towards him. The dagger cut his throat from ear to ear, spraying bright red blood on Kanzas' clothes and face. The nearly headless Couran fell and hit the ground; his red blood painting the sand around him.

Kanzas wiped the blood off of his face and hid the dagger beneath his belt.

'That wasn't so hard.' He looked back up at Melbu, his smirk back on his face.

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Milro and Phirala had learned that they had been sent to the Coliseum, so they immediately came here. They both had already seen the first two fights, both being won by Kanzas, and Milro was getting impatient.

"Go rescue Damia. I'll be right back." Milro transported. Since he was half Wingly, half human, he was able to transport even without the spell on him.

"Yes, master." Phirala said in a squeaky voice. She rolled her eyes and quickly stomped off towards where Damia was being held by a Wingly.

Right when she walked up to them, she felt a sharp pain rush through her body. She immediately looked at her hair and it was the original blonde color. The Wingly looked at her and was about to grab her, when she kicked him in the shin. While he was rubbing his leg, Phirala grabbed Damia and jumped over the entire crowd. Since she was a Judge, she had a LOT better jumping skills then a human would. She landed softly on the ground. Damia didn't have much luck.

"Who are you??!!" Kanzas got into his fighting position.

"My name is Phirala and I'm here to rescue you two." Phirala explained. Damia's hammer appeared in Phirala's hands, and she gave it to Damia.

"How'd you-" Phirala cut her off.

"Can't explain right now. Battle." Phirala turned to face the gates, which were now opening. Two VERY large cats, big enough to carry three grown men on its back, if they were sitting on it, stepped out. Its length, not counting the seven foot long tails, was probably twelve feet. Its height looked to be maybe twelve feet, give or take. It was covered in black spots; three black stripes formed rings around the huge neck of the beast. It had two tails; stripes also covered them with spots in-between the stripes and at the ends, it looked as sharp as a spike. Five spikes formed a line from behind the two HUGE spotted ears (probably used for hearing REALLY well) and traveled down the neck, stopping in-between the shoulder blades. Another spike was like a Unicorn's horn on its forehead. Black stripes went around the ankles of the four spotted legs. The two cats' huge spotted paws stomped the ground. Their legs were long, probably used for speed. They also looked like they had retractable claws. Also, on their elbows of their front legs, a spotted spike was there. They both also looked like they were twins.

"What the hell are they?" Kanzas said, not being able to take his eyes of the huge beasts.

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Boralo seemed rather interested in the strange beasts that had now entered the arena. He looked up at Melbu.

"Their race is called Cougarus. The Couran use them like we use Virages. They ride on their back when they go to battle. The Cougarus' tails have that spike tip for weapon usage. They weight a lot, probably a little less than a Dragon, yet they have amazing speed. They use their body weight, speed, and weapons as an advantage in battle." Melbu explained. "Even with those two extra Humans in there, they won't stand a chance."

"Oh…"

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"I don't know. I think it's a race called Cougarus. They are VERY deadly." Phirala explained to him.

"Well, I'm deadly too." Kanzas lunged at one of the creatures.

"Why are men so stubborn?" Phirala asked no one in particular. 'I hope Milro gets back from playing around soon.' She decided to charge at the other Cougarus. Damia stayed away from the battle. Phirala and Kanzas looked like they could handle the twin Cougarus' themselves.

Phirala twisted as a giant paw tried to rip her in half. She was VERY small compared to the cat, but she took that has an advantage. She ran underneath it safely, well, as safe as it could get when you were running under a twelve foot cat, and she was only four and a half feet! She managed to grab onto one of its tails, and swing onto the back of the beast. She held on tightly to the spike that was closest to her, trying not to get cut. The cat jumped up and down and shook violently trying to get her off of its back. Kanzas seemed to be having more fun than she was.

He jumped around, dodging the cat's paws, tails, and that mouth full of deadly sharp teeth. He performed a set of back flips when the tails tried to stab him. He wanted to end this battle quickly, so he leaped onto the creature's back. He was able to hold on tightly by wrapping his legs around the stomach as far as they would go, and just squeezing; keeping him from flying off as the cat began to shake violently. He leaned backwards, legs holding on tightly, and managed to grab one of the tails to the cat. As the other shot towards him, he grabbed that one also. He sat up straight and stabbed the sharp tips of the tails into the neck of the Cougarus; one in each side. The tip of the spike in the left side poked through the right side and just the opposite with the other spike. Through the holes, red blood began oozing out. Its yellow fur with black spots was now stained red with its blood. He jumped off the back and landed softly on the sand. The creature fell lifeless to the ground, covered in blood. Kanzas now decided to watch the young girl fight.

Phirala had been thrown off just a few seconds ago, and was now punching and kicking the beast like crazy.

"HA! HE! YA!!" She threw three punches at the Cougarus and kicked it in its chest. "TAKE THAT! ANGEL'S DANCE!"

The Cougarus stumbled backwards a bit, but lunged at Phirala a second later. She side-stepped and ducked the tail that tried to slice her head off. She jumped the next tail, but landed right back on it. She was NOT expecting THAT. The tail swung around. Phirala was riding on it, legs and arms held tightly around the thick tail.

"THIS WAS NOT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN!!!" She found herself yelling. She was being violently shook around. After a while, the Cougarus finally stopped swishing around the tail and simply began banging it against the ground. Before it could hit the ground, Phirala had already jumped off. She jumped towards the back of the cat, but missed. She landed on the face of the creature instead. She didn't mean to do that, but when you're dizzy, it's hard to tell where you're going. She held on tightly as the cat tried to open its mouth.

Phirala was covering its only way to breathe, so five minutes later, the cat died by suffocation. It just couldn't get her off.

"Well…uh…" Kanzas blinked. "That's a way to kill it I guess. Not really the way I had pictured it…but…um…it gets the job done."

Phirala finally let the cat go and stood, wobbling back and forth. She held her head to help the spinning, but it didn't help at all.

Damia walked over to them. "Nice fight, Phirala."

"Uh…thanks." Phirala's eyes were literally going round and round and round and round… "Does anyone know how to stop the spinning?"

Both humans looked at her.

"Guess not."

The gates opened up again, this time, something MUCH LARGER coming out. A DRAGON.

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Boralo didn't even hafta ask.

"It's the Dead Dragon, boy. I caught it recently so I don't know what it does. That's why I'm putting it in a fight against those humans down there." Melbu explained.

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"That's not like any Dragon I've ever seen." Damia said.

The Dragon was see-through. Completely see-through.

"Wanna explain?" Kanzas looked back at Phirala, who's eyes were still going round and round and round…

Without hesitation, the Dragon charged at the three. Phirala, as if on cue, snapped out of her dizziness and began running along with the other two.

"Our attacks will just go through the Dragon so it's best to run! Considering his special ability will put all of our lives in danger and could possibly kill two of us!" Phirala screamed as she was running.

"What about the last one?!" Kanzas hollered, trying to be heard over the cheers of the crowd.

"That's the person that lives because they will kill the other two!" Phirala explained.

"WHAT??!!" Kanzas and Damia said in unison.

"The Dragon is able to pass through someone or something and take control of it! If it passes through one of us, more than likely the other two will be killed by that person that is controlled!" She hollered.

"Run, run, run, run, RUN!!!" Damia chanted as she started to pick up speed. Phirala and Kanzas also picked up speed.

"I've gotta plan! When I run off from you two, the Dragon should follow me!" Phirala yelled at the two. "The Dragon can't take control of me because…well, I'll explain later! The only thing it can do is merely knock me out!" She separated from the other two, and to her surprise, the Dragon did NOT follow her. When she looked back, the Dragon had trapped Kanzas in a corner of the arena. Damia watched helplessly.

"Great." Phirala sighed.

Kanzas just stood there. He couldn't do anything else. As the Dragon came closer, he closed his eyes. A 'swoosh' sound was all he could hear seconds later. When he reopened his eyes, he saw Phirala standing in front of him and the Dragon was gone. Phirala held her head, and fell to her knees. Kanzas slowly backed away from her.

"GET OUT OF MY MIND!!" She screamed.

Damia walked up to him. "What's wrong with her?"

"The Dragon's trying to take over her mind, I guess." Kanzas said. Both humans stepped away from Phirala as she began screaming. Winglies began running around like chickens and screaming. Kanzas and Damia looked up only to find a violet Dragon hovering above the coliseum.

"Anyone need a ride?!" Milro looked down at them, his normal brown hair back. "Oh no…" He landed the Dragon and quickly ran over to Phirala. "Get on the Dragon! NOW!" He ordered Kanzas and Damia. They both nodded, unsure of who this man was, and hopped on the back of Quetinno.

Milro closed his eyes. "Rokat de munsha ra kamna ta clautmah rumpta" Those were Wingly words. They meant Open the doors to this mind and let this person out. After those words were said, the Dragon just floated out of Phirala, hissed, and disappeared. Phirala fell limp in Milro's arms. He picked her up and carried her to Quetinno.

"Fly back to Vellweb." Milro whispered to Kanzas. "When you get there, put her in a safe place."

Kanzas hesitated a second or two, but finally nodded. Milro placed Phirala in Kanzas' lap.

"What about you?" Damia asked him.

"I'll stay here and hold off the Winglies. Don't worry 'bout me, I'll be FINE." Milro answered. Quetinno flew off.

Milro drew his axe and prepared himself. 'I REALLY hate Winglies.' He swung his axe at the first Wingly that attacked him. The Wingly's head flew off.

"TIME TO PAH-TAY!!!" Milro shouted as he ran towards fifty Winglies that had armed themselves and were also ready for a fight, but he was more ready……

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Quetinno landed softly inside Vellweb, scaring off several humans in the process. Damia jumped off and ran towards the Blue-Sea Dragon who was waiting for her.

"Loshianna!" Damia hugged the Dragon tightly.

Kanzas hopped off, and walked towards the 'Meeting Room'. He carried Phirala. As he stepped inside the room, Rose, Zieg, Syuveil, Belzac, Shirley, and even Emperor Diaz looked towards him.

"No time to tell ya how much fun the trip was, so don't bother askin'." Kanzas walked up to Diaz. "Where do you want me to put her?"

"Lay her-"

"I will take care of her." A woman walked inside the room. Her long, silver hair shimmered in the sunlight. "I am the Dragoon Queen. Please lower your weapons." Her sky blue eyes looked over at Rose and Zieg, who had their swords ready. "Hajeri, I trust you can carry her?" The Queen looked back at a black haired man.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah." Hajeri walked out from the shadows, Mike and Saphira not to far away from him. Hajeri froze once he saw Kanzas.

"H-Hajeri…" Kanzas said so low, no one heard him.

"Why can't Mike get her?" Hajeri looked back at the Queen, who was staring coldly at him. "FINE." He cautiously walked up to Kanzas. Kanzas gave Phirala to him and watched him walk back to the Queen.

The Queen laid her right hand on Phirala's forehead. Seconds later, Phirala opened her eyes.

"AAAHH!!" Phirala automatically smacked Hajeri and jumped out of his arms.

"Nice to see you too." Hajeri muttered as he rubbed his cheek.

"WHY IS HE HERE???!!" Phirala shouted at the Queen.

"Because I couldn't leave him alone." The Queen turned to Diaz, who seemed to be staring at her. "Where is my other Dragoon?"

The door swung open and Milro walked in. He casually walked up to Hajeri, and punched him. Hajeri flew into the nearby wall.

Everyone stared at Milro.

Milro shrugged his shoulders. "What?"

The Queen shook her head.

"What did I do?" Milro asked. Hajeri stood up and rubbed his cheek. Again.

"Hello to you too." Hajeri walked over to the table and sat down.

"I am sorry for bothering you, Diaz, but I needed to retrieve my Dragoons before they caused anymore trouble." The Queen looked over at Milro. He had an innocent look on his face.

"They're no trouble at all." Diaz said.

Rose stared at Diaz. 'Is he blushing' She smiled. 'Yep. He is.'

"Please, have a seat." Diaz said to them.

The Dragoon Judges all sat down. Damia also walked into the room and sat.

"These are my Dragoons. Milro the Hate Dragoon, Saphira the Love Dragoon, Mike the Dream Dragoon, Phirala the Living Dragoon, and…Hajeri…the Dead Dragoon." When the Queen said Milro's name, he stood and bowed, then sat back down and propped his feet up on the table. With one sharp look from the Queen, he quickly placed them back on the ground.

"And these are my Dragoons. Rose the Darkness Dragoon, Zieg the Red-Eye Dragoon, Shirley the White Silver Dragoon, Belzac the Gold Dragoon, Syuveil the Jade Dragoon, Damia the Blue-Sea Dragoon, and Kanzas the Violet Dragoon." Diaz introduced them. "Do you think it's okay if you stay here for a day or two?"

"Sure." Milro answered. He looked towards Rose and winked. Zieg noticed and simply laughed because Rose gave Milro the infamous 'death glare'. Milro also laughed.

"You simple minded fool!" Phirala smacked Milro in the head. He continued laughing. So did Zieg.

"I'm sure it's alright." The Queen finally answered.

"Saphira can stay with me." Shirley looked over at Saphira. "If it's okay with you?"

"It's fine with me. I wouldn't mind speakin' with an old friend." Saphira smiled.

"Old friend?" Milro looked back at her.

"Yes. Shirley and I met several years ago. Of course, she was only six, so it was a while ago."

"Hey! I'm only twenty-two!" Shirley told Saphira in a playful sounding voice.

Saphira chuckled. "I know."

"And you don't look a day older than eighteen." Shirley told her dear friend.

"Thank you." Saphira walked with Shirley out of the room.

"She's an old-" Phirala smacked Milro in the head before he had a chance to finish his sentence.

"I would watch what you say, you're not much older!" Phirala yelled at him.

"You're not much older either!" Milro yelled back.

This kept Phirala quiet.

"How old are you?" Damia asked, not thinking that it was rude for her to ask.

Milro answered for Phirala. "She's two thousand and eight."

Phirala smacked him in the head once more. "And he's two thousand and EIGHTEEN!!"

"Please, calm down, you two." The Dragoon Queen pleaded.

"Damn. I'm MUCH younger than BOTH of you." Hajeri said.

"How old are you?" Damia asked him.

"Twenty-five. No thousands included." Hajeri looked over at Phirala and Milro.

"You're only two years older than Kanzas." Rose told him.

When she said this, Kanzas quickly left the room, looking at Hajeri before he left.

'I know.' Hajeri decided not to say that out loud, so he kept it to himself.

"Mike, how about you share a room with Syuveil?" The Queen gestured towards the Jade Dragoon.

"Sure." Mike stood.

"Allow me to show you where it is." Syuveil led Mike out of the room.

"Can Phirala stay with me?" Damia looked at the Dragoon Queen.

"I'd love to!" Phirala hopped up and followed the Blue-Sea Dragoon.

"I'll stay with Hajeri. He needs to be watched." Milro reported.

Hajeri smirked. 'I don't need no babysitter.'

'Yes, you do.' The Queen told Hajeri mentally.

Hajeri had completely forgotten that the Queen of Dragoons could read minds. 'You shouldn't be reading my mind.'

The Queen ignored him and stood. "Where shall I stay?" She asked Emperor Diaz.

"I'll-I'll show you. F-follow me, please." Diaz seemed nervous, which was very unlike him. He quickly left the room, the Queen not too far behind him.

"I think Diaz likes her." Rose whispered to Zieg.

"I do believe he does, Rose." Zieg kissed her on the cheek. He began whispering something to Rose. Rose looked as red as a cherry when he stood to leave.

"Excuse me." She stood and followed Zieg.

Milro watched the two Dragoons leave. "I'm no Love Dragoon, but I have a feelin' them two are deeply in love."

"They are." Belzac finally spoke.

Hajeri smirked at the two. He stood up and walked towards the exit. "You comin', babysitter?"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hold ya horses." Milro followed him out. 'Tomorrow mornin' I'm gonna show these Dragoons how to have REAL fun.' He smiled to himself as he walked with Hajeri to the cell that he was supposed to stay in.

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Zieg was standing behind Rose, arms around her waist. He began kissing her neck. Rose just stared out of the window, enjoying Zieg's company.

"Rose," He stopped and looked out of the window with her. "I need to tell you something."

"Yes?" She turned around to face him. She rested her hands on his shoulders.

"Rose, dear, I love you dearly." Zieg began.

"I love you too." She looked up into his eyes.

He took a deep breath. "Will you marry me?"

She was surprised at his question. "I-" She didn't know what to say.

"We can get married after the war. Please, Rose, I've never loved anyone so much before. I don't know what I'd do without you." He stared at her with love in his eyes.

"Yes. I'll marry you, Zieg."