Author's Note: I still like pie, muffins and Blaze. :P Other than that.. I'd like feedback, as I am a review whore!

Disclaimer: Most of the characters in this story don't belong to me, and um.. none of the places do! A few Original Characters (OCs from here on out. :P) may appear from time to time, but I'm too lazy to confirm that right now.

Rating: Same as before (R), though it's pretty much nowhere past the PG level right now for content.

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"Locke is not dead."

Terra stared across the room at Shadow, who was standing in her doorway.

"What?" she asked.

"He's not dead," repeated Shadow, "Setzer and I found him while he was headed for Kohlingen. He kept saying something about a woman named Rachel-- wouldn't shut up about her."

Terra frowned, "Rachel?" she shook her head, "Was he talking about.. bringing her back?"

Shadow nodded slowly, "Yes," he confirmed, "if 'saving her' counts as that. This girl is dead, isn't she?"

"Yes," said Terra, "she is."

Shadow lowered his head to remove his helmet, and pretended that he didn't notice Terra's startled little jump as he did. He glanced upward, narrowing slightly his striking, green eyes, and asked: "Who was she?"

Terra was trying to hide how openly her staring at Shadow was, and she was doing a horrible job-- she had never, ever seen his face before, and he was disturbingly.. handsome. Personally, she had always thought he would be horrible under there, seeing as he wore that thing all the time.. Shaking her head, she proceeded to rather reluctantly answer his question, "She was Locke's fiancé."

"And what happened to her?"

Terra didn't think that Locke would like her going around talking about that, and so she said, "Why do you want to know? She died, obviously.."

"What happened to her?" he repeated.

Terra sighed; avoiding looking Shadow directly in the eye, as it was severely distracting to her, "I just told you."

He was silent, and she found herself looking at his face again; the look he was shooting her practically forced an explanation out of her mouth: "Umm.. I only know what he told me, but she lost her memory while he was taking her on a treasure hunt-- like, she fell a very long way and hit her head or something. She forgot him completely, so he ended up leaving town.. when he came back a year later, she was dead after being killed in an Imperial raid; the last thing she said before passing was Locke's name." she sighed, looking as if she might start crying just having relayed that information. She got emotional just thinking about Rachel, for some reason.. it was probably because she felt so bad about Locke because of it. "There's a man in Kohlingen that is keeping her body preserved for Locke, so that when he finds a way to call her back.. he can."

Shadow just nodded at her before rather suddenly leaving the room. He returned about five minutes later with a grim look on his face. Terra was still sitting in the same spot, and she looked up when Shadow reentered.

"Did he sound like he found the solution?" she said.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean.. did he sound as if he had the solution to bring her back, or like he was still looking for it?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "I'm not entirely sure. I think he may have found a way. He sounded excited about something."

"Wonderful.." she sighed.

"You don't sound too thrilled," noted Shadow.

Terra shook her head, "I'm not."

".. Locke would be happy if this woman was alive again."

"Yes," she agreed, "he would be thrilled.. but what about Celes? He'd be happy with her too, I'm sure.. And what if one day she runs into a happily married Locke, or maybe his beautiful wife Rachel?"

"She said she was giving up on him, didn't she? That's what you told me when I got here.."

"She's very good at lying, and I'm very good at being able to tell when she's lying."

"So she wasn't being truthful?"

"Of course not!" exclaimed Terra, "How could she ever give up on him? She's in love.. it's impossible to let a feeling like that go, even if you're insane--" she would have gone on, but Shadow had begun to laugh, and that was something that she had only heard once before; though she was getting upset, as they were speaking on what was an extremely dire subject for her, the sound of his laughter was strangely.. calming. She didn't understand..

"What?" she asked once she had gotten over her shock, and trying to sound as if she were still annoyed.

"Nothing.. it's just that I remember when you were so desperate to know what 'love' was, and now here you are, going on as if you're an expert on the subject."

Terra was slightly insulted by that, and she felt her annoyance really coming back now, "Well, maybe I am; I have learned since then."

"There is no such thing as an expert on love," stated Shadow in an oddly matter-of-fact tone.

She scoffed, and though she knew she would feel bad about what she was about to say, she spoke anyway, "Whatever.. it's not like you would have any experience when it comes to this emotion, anyway."

Shadow shot her another powerful look, though rather than compelling her to say something, this one just made her feel guilty-- like, sick to her stomach guilty. If anybody else had been in the room, they wouldn't have noticed it.. but Terra thought that he seemed so.. hurt.

"You're wrong," he muttered, "about Celes being able to kill her feelings.. it is possible, and if anybody is highly capable of it, then that woman is."

"No," insisted Terra, now having regained her composure at least almost completely-- her gut was still bothering her, "Celes may seem like somebody who could do that.. but she isn't. I know her too well to think she would be able to just forget like that; she denies it, but she is somebody to dwell over something like this.. Something like love."

"Why the hell are you so adamant about this? It is possible," he argued.

"It isn't possible, Shadow! She's not you!"

They both fell silent.

After a moment of quiet, she tried to apologize, "I shouldn't have said that. I'm sorry.."

"No," he interrupted, "you're right. She's not me. I'm the one who should be apologizing.. arguing over something stupid like that. I don't know her as well as you do, and I should have kept my mouth shut about it."

Terra didn't disagree with him on that.

"I need to be going now," he said, turning to leave.

"Shadow?" there was something that had been bothering her for the past while, and she had to ask him about it, even though she knew that this was totally the most inappropriate time ever.

"Yes?"

She hesitated, "Are you Relm's father?"

Shadow bowed his head slightly to put his helmet back on, and though his back was to her, Terra could tell that he was frowning.

He breathed in deep; letting out an annoyed sigh, "Yes. I am."

"Why.. did you leave her?" she asked, knowing again that she should just keep her mouth shut.

"You have no right to question me about this."

"Yes, but.."

"But nothing," he growled, "stay out of my business."

Terra stared at the floor, "I'm sorry.." she apologized again.

"I should hope you are," was the last thing that he said before he was gone.

".. I am so stupid.." Terra murmured to herself; clenching her eyes shut and rubbing her temples, she began to wonder what in the world had made her ask him about that.. and why she cared that she had hurt a man that normally wanted absolutely nothing to do with both her and her friends.