Vyse's Confession

Vyse, Aika and Fina had just landed on Maramba to search for the red moonstone. Thinking of how Drachma had deserted them, Aika followed the others up the stairs leading to the city pouting slightly, glaring at a random point in space and crossing her arms. Vyse bent over to open the big doors, and then entered, Aika and Fina following behind. They walked around the town for a while, stopping at stores for weapons, items and armor.

After crossing over the hot sand with a strange animal- Aika decided it resembled a giant chicken…except with arms- they reached the second part of the town. They entered a nearby tavern, and sat down on pillows next to the table to discuss the red moonstone, and how they would reach the temple without a ship.

Aika had an idea! After explaining her suggestion to Fina and Vyse, she asked Vyse what he thought of it without looking over.

"So what do you think, Vyse? Do you think it'll work?"

When Vyse didn't answer her question, Aika turned to look at him. He saw that he wasn't looking at her, he wasn't even facing the table! He was busy staring at the dancer on the stage. The dancer was wearing a purple top that looped around her neck, barely covering her chest. She had silky, baggy purple pants and her long red hair was up in an elegant fashion.

"Vyse! Have you even heard a word I've said!?" Aika yelled at him angrily. Vyse jerked his head towards her, alarmed and embarrassed.

"Umm…yeah.." Vyse stuttered nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"Seriously Vyse! You act like you've never seen a girl before!" Vyse blushed, gave a lopsided grin and turned back towards the table.

"Hehe…ok, I'll stop staring." Aika just glared at Vyse.

"Seriously though, I think she likes me! She keeps looking over here!" Aika felt anger coursing through her, the thought of that dancer filling the mind and feeling suddenly possessive of Vyse.

'Wait…what am I thinking?' Aika thought to herself, 'I have no reason to feel this way. Vyse and I are just friends…' Aika's heart sunk at this thought. 'Just friends…nothing more.' She glared at the girl dancing on the stage. 'I bet…I bet if I was up on that stage, in that outfit, Vyse would just laugh. Laugh and tell me to get down.' She looked again at the dancer. Why couldn't she be that pretty?

'And what about Fina?' Aika thought, looking over at the girl beside her, who was saying something about the red moonstone. 'Fina's so pretty…much prettier than me. I bet if Fina was dancing in that costume, Vyse's eyes would be glued to her…' Aika's heart sank deeper, and the smile she had pasted on since the incident faltered.

When Aika came back to reality, she realized the dancer she had just been rambling about in her head was standing in front of her, talking to Vyse and Fina about something.

"…So you can use my boat. Meet me at the docks tomorrow. You can stay at the inn. I know the innkeeper, so she'll give you a discount price. See you later, handsome" the dancer said, winking at Vyse and walking away, causing Vyse to blush slightly.

Aika glared at her back as she walked off. They were getting help from her newfound rival? Not good. The last thing she needed was for Vyse to be spending more time with her, causing him to fall in love with her even more. And it was especially bad now that she kept calling Vyse 'handsome'! Aika clenched her fist unconsciously.

"I don't think we should accept help from her," Aika said suddenly. Vyse and Fina turned to look at her, surprised at her sudden outburst.

"Why not?" Vyse asked, confused, "What don't you like about her?" Aika glared at her feet.

"I just…I…I don't think we should trust her! After all, why would she be helping us? She doesn't even know us!"

Vyse frowned. "That's true, but what other choice do we have? We don't have a ship!" Aika didn't answer, just made an annoyed noise and stomped off to the room she shared with Fina. Vyse and Fina looked at each other, and Fina told Vyse she would try to find out what was going on with Aika.

Fina walked into her and Aika's room, and saw Aika lying on the bed, her armed crossed behind her head, staring up at the ceiling with a sad, distant expression. Fina sat next to her, and when Aika didn't say anything, just glanced slightly at her, Fina decided she would have to start the conversation.

"What's going on Aika? Why do you hate Bellena so much?" Aika sat up and looked at Fina, sighing.

"Do you promise you won't tell Vyse?"

"I promise." Aika bit her lip nervously, and decided to tell. She could trust Fina. Fina would never break a promise.

"Ok Fina. See, I..I kind of.."

Fina smiled at her. "You love Vyse, don't you?" Aika gaped at Fina, shocked.

"How do you know!? Am I really that obvious?" Aika asked worriedly. Fina just laughed at this.

"No, don't worry, I can just tell. To tell the truth, I…I love him too. But Aika, Vyse loves you too! It's so obvious! You have nothing to worry about, Aika."

"You…you're just saying that." Aika said quietly, a single tear running down her face. She quickly wiped it away with her hand, embarrassed that she was crying over all this. "Vyse couldn't love me. You're so much prettier than me, Fina…He just thinks of me as his tomboyish friend. You're so elegant and pretty and sweet…of course he favors you over me."

Fina smiled softly. "I wish you were right, Aika. But you're wrong."

Aika shook her head violently. "No, he can't love me. It's impossible."

Fina grinning, leaned back on her arms and looked up towards the ceiling. "You can think that if you want, Aika…but wasn't it Vyse himself who said 'Impossible is just a word people use to make them feel better when they give up'?" With that, Fina flicked off the light, lied back and went to sleep, leaving Aika alone with her thoughts.

The next day, Vyse noticed that Aika seemed to be acting more quiet and thoughtful than usual. He was going to ask her about it, but figured it was just his imagination and tried to get it out of his mind.

When they reached the dock, they saw Bellena waiting there beside a small ship. When they came near, she looked up at smiled at Vyse.

"Hey handsome."

Vyse blushed, and scratched his head with his hand nervously. She was starting to make him uncomfortable. Before entering the temple, the four had a short conversation. Bellena stated that she would be staying out by the boat, and would wait for them to come back.

"Yeah," Vyse said, "A beautiful girl like you shouldn't go into a dangerous place like that."

This statement drove Aika crazy. "What about Fina and I!? We're girls too, you know!! Let's go Fina. I'm sure we'll get the moonstone much faster without Vyse." After a little more talking and some laughing at Aika's antics, the trio entered the temple. Upon entering the temple, Aika began walking ahead of the two as she was still angry with Vyse. Vyse noticed this, and got slightly worried. He decided to ask Fina what she knew.

"Fina," Vyse whispered, "Any idea what's up with Aika?" Fina frowned at the question. She had promised Aika she wouldn't say anything, but at this rate, they would never get together. Vyse was so dense when it came to girls.

"Can't you tell, Vyse? Aika's upset at all the attention you're paying to Bellena. She thinks that you love Bellena."

Vyse frowned. "She thinks that? But…"

Uncharacteristically, Fina interrupted Vyse. "Do you love her, Vyse?" She questioned softly.

Vyse blushed slightly. "I…yes. Yes, I do."

"Then you have to go to her Vyse. You can't wait any longer. She's going to give up hope."

Vyse gave her a grateful smile. "Thanks, Fina. You're right. I'm going to go talk to her." Vyse sped up slightly so that he had caught up with Aika. Aika was so deep in thought that she didn't notice Vyse was there until she felt Vyse's hand grab hers.

"Vyse!?" She exclaimed, startled.

"Aika, I…I'm sorry for paying so much attention to Bellena. She was pretty, but…she was nothing compared to you." Aika just stared at him, not believing what she was hearing. Vyse smiled down at her. "I love you Aika."

Aika stared at him for a few seconds, and then grinned. "I love you too, Vyse." Vyse put his hand on her chin and gently lifted her face up and pulled her into a breathtaking kiss, one hand around her waist and the other on her check. Wrapping her arms around Vyse's neck, Aika made a note in the back of her mind to thank Fina. She really owed her.

The end!! Yay. I hope you guys like it!! I finally wrote more..woot!