Author's Note: FINALLY! A chapter that isn't uber short, though it's not exactly uber long, either.. It's kinda in between, I'd say.. Ten pages is in between, right? Anyshway, hope you all enjoy.. and I also hope that you all review after reading. I should just change my pen name to 'Feedback Whore'. I might..

Disclaimer: .. Jack? XD

Rating: Same as before, gawddamnit.

-----------

They were both silent, and Celes soon got to her feet to leave; refusing to look at Locke as she walked to the door. He stopped her.

"Where are you going?" he asked, and Celes frowned.

"You told me to leave, and I'm respecting your request," she explained. His hand was on her arm, and she shrugged him off; going out and into the hallway.

He followed her, reaching out and grabbing her shoulder, "You.." he was hesitant, ".. you're looking for a place to stay, right?"

It took her a moment to reply, "Yes. I am."

Damn her. Damn her for making him feel sorry for her.. "You can stay here."

Celes turned to look at him, and he took a step back-- he couldn't quite place the expression on her face, but she seemed angry.. or maybe just annoyed? "You know," she said, "you really have to make up your mind, Locke. Do you want me to stay or to go?"

"Well," he wanted her to stay, but thinking something like that would get him pondering other things-- things that would make him forget about Rachel. "You've nowhere to go, and I'd feel like an ass if I kicked you out, and.. you're my friend."

She thought about it, or Locke at least figured she looked like that was what she was doing. What she replied with was a bit of a shocker for him: "That's true, I have nowhere to go. I'd stay here, but.. I can't; I can't be around you-- I can't be around somebody that I hate."

"Hate?" he repeated, confused. Was this because he had lied about them having searched for him? She didn't know that he had lied, though, unless he was that horrid an actor.. If it was about that, though.. how the hell was it bad enough to warrant hate?

"Look, Cel.." he started.

"Don't call me that," she cut in.

".. Celes," he corrected himself before continuing, "I'm sorry for being an ass earlier, and tryin' to argue that you and the others hadn't looked for me.. Maybe you just didn't look hard enough, or we all had bad luck and timing?" or maybe I was purposefully keeping myself hidden.

She almost seemed about ready to laugh, "That's not why I hate you."

"Then what is it?" Locke asked, now more confused than before.

"It's.." she hesitated, looking down at her feet, ".. I have my reasons."

"Are they good ones?" he blurted, wincing when he realized how rude that must have sounded; he noticed Celes tense up, and had to fight the urge to step back again.

"Yes, it is a good one," she answered somewhat forcefully.

Locke was both curious and afraid at the same time. "Tell me what they are," said he, and Celes shook her head.

"I would rather not share that information."

Locke frowned; whispering, "Well, that's unfair."

She sighed in annoyance, "Life isn't fair, Locke."

He was insulted-- he knew that; who the hell didn't? "You think I'm not fully aware of that by now?" he half-growled.

"Not as aware of it as I am," she retorted; he scoffed as if disagreeing, but did not say anything. The two were silent once more.

Locke briefly wondered what would happen next. Would Celes leave? Would she explain to him why--

"--you still want to know why I hate you?"

Alrighty. So she was going to.

"Yes," he mumbled, making himself sound just a bit too disinterested for somebody whose curiosity was piqued.

"There are two or three reasons, but I'm only going to share one of them with you," she let him know, and he shrugged, "Is that good enough?"

"For now," he told her, even though it was just another lie. He wanted to know everything about her sudden hatred.. but he was going to have to take what he could get.

She took one step forward to stand before him-- she was too tall, it was intimidating-- and reached out too quickly for him to react; she tugged up on his sleeves, searching his arms for something and looking disappointed when she didn't seem to find anything peculiar.

"What are you doing?" he questioned, but she cut in halfway through his sentence.

"--Take your shirt off," she ordered.

He felt his eyes go wide, "What?"

She frowned at him, "Do it."

What the hell was she doing? "Tell me why."

"Do it, or I'll do it for you."

Locke shook his head, "No, you won't."

"I will," she warned, and Locke shook his head again. Before he could really register it happening, Celes had pounced and he was slammed back against the wall. Her hands were so cold, he thought as he shrank back against the wall in an attempt to get away when Celes reached up inside his shirt and tried to pull it off; he kept his arms flat against his sides and didn't let her. What the fucking hell was she trying to do?

"Let me take your shirt off," she grumbled.

"No!" what was the point of it?

"Fine.. I hope you're not very attached to it, then," she muttered before rather violently just ripping his shirt from his body; pinning him back against the wall again with her hands on his shoulders, she leaned back to examine his chest-- searching.

"Let go of me. What are you doing?" he said, but she didn't reply, just continued to stare at him. "Celes?"

"This," she said slowly, "is why I hate you."

"What is--?" his breath caught in his throat when he felt Celes tracing lines along his skin with her fingers; searing his flesh wherever he touched, even though her hands were like ice. "What the hell are you doing!?"

"This," she emphasized, totally ignoring his second question. She continued to drag her fingertips along his chest, and he had to keep himself from shivering. He reached up and grabbed Celes' wrist to stop her.

"Stop that. Tell me what you mean," he practically whined, secretly disappointed at how cold he was now what she wasn't touching him any more.

Celes said nothing, just stared quietly at Locke and looking a bit red in the face; he was wondering why, and then he noticed that by tugging on her wrist, he had pulled Celes' body closer to his and that they were now practically pressed against each other. He felt that he was starting to blush now as well, even if it was only slightly. It was now that he was really starting to hate that she was the same height as him-- it made everything more uncomfortable than it already was; her head was lowered slightly and he could feel her breath along his neck and collarbone. Letting go of Celes' wrist, he was hoping that she would take a good step back now that her arm was free, but she didn't. He let himself shiver.

"Celes..," he whispered, and she tilted her head up so that she was level with and staring him right in the eye. Her own eyes were clouded over somewhat, giving her this look as if she wasn't really all there-- a look like she wanted him; Locke didn't understand why she would. He was an asshole, or at least he had been one to her this whole time.. Offering her to stay, that was such a joke.. It had probably been insulting to Celes for him to have even offered it after she was about to leave.

She's beautiful, he found himself thinking just out of goddamn nowhere, if she kissed me right now.. I don't think I would mind forgetting about Rachel. Locke smiled slightly to himself, but Celes didn't seem to notice, as she was too busy still staring into his eyes. Some hair had fallen to cover a part of her face, and it took everything Locke had to keep himself from tucking it back behind her ear. If he touched her right now, he was afraid that she might move away from him.. which, oddly enough, was exactly what he wanted her to do, and only because it had been making him uncomfortable. He was starting to like it, though.. he didn't mind having Celes as close to him as she was; he liked being able to take in her scent and being able to feel the heat from her body. His arm twitched beside him and he had to fight to not just slip it 'round her waist.. she seemed strangely fragile and disconnected, and he had a sneaking suspicion that she might just shatter if he tried to hold her.

Locke felt Celes' lower lip brush against his, and he groaned so quietly in the back of his throat that it had to have been silent.. but the mood was broken anyway, and Celes was soon standing almost a full foot away from him, staring at the floor so that her hair draped forward to hide how red her pale skin had become.

".. Your scars," she said in a very small voice.

"You..," he cleared his throat, deciding that it would be best to pretend that nothing had happened, "hate me because I have scars? You have them, too."

"I'm not a cutter," Celes clarified, and Locke found himself starting to get angry again in spite of what had just taken place. How the hell had she known that?

"Neither am I," he lied, and it was a half-truth since he hadn't done that in years.

"I hate cutters, Locke," she explained; he was about to protest when she cut in before him, "and people who were cutters."

"I wasn't a cutter," he lied again, wondering why he didn't just tell her the truth.

"I saw your bed."

His bed? What the hell did his bed have to do with anythi-- oh. He hurried back on into his room to eye the bed sheets wearily, sighing. "So just out of nowhere, you hate me because I used to hurt myself?"

"Was it because of Rachel?" she said, once again ignoring his question, which was really starting to annoy Locke.

Why did she give a damn? Why was it such a big deal? It wasn't really any of her business, friend or not.. "Of course," he answered, letting some of his annoyance slip out, "what the hell else could it have been?"

Celes said nothing.

"Why are you even asking? Something that I did a year ago is no big deal."

"A year?" she said, and Locke could sense something peculiar in her voice.

He wondered if saying that had been a mistake, "Yes.." he confirmed.

"You'd been doing it when you knew me?" she asked, and Locke registered that 'something' as hurt. Her breath hitched, and Locke wondered if she might start hyperventilating; still kind of thinking that she was taking the whole situation too personally. "Why?" she queried.

"I was still upset," he explained, telling the complete truth for probably the first time that night.

"And she died how long ago before that?"

Not very, you bitch. "Don't."

"Don't what?"

Don't make me want to hit you. "Don't," he simply repeated.

"Are you planning on elaborating, or can I just assume that you've gone slow? How long ago did she die, Locke?"

"Don't! Don't you fucking bring this up! Just drop it, and leave Rachel out of this!" he snapped, spinning around to glare at a slightly frightened looking Celes.

"How much do I owe you?" she asked.

".. What?"

"Or am I not allowed to stay?"

Hell no.. ".. You can stay for free." Damnit!

She shook her head, "I can't do that.."

Why the hell not? "Yes you can," he mumbled.

"It would feel wrong," she protested, "especially after what just happened-- I would feel like shit."

"It's free, Celes," repeated Locke, and she seemed to drop the entire thing for now.

"I-- fine," she agreed, sounding extremely displeased, "where will I be sleeping?"

"In here."

".. What?" the look on her face was priceless, it was like shock and disgust mixed with.. something else.

"After I take care of this.." he gestured to the bed, sighing.

"I don't think.."

"You don't think what?" he interrupted.. just say 'thank you' and go away for a while, already..

She seemed nervous, "I can't sleep in here."

What the hell? "Why not? If it's because of the blood, I just told you that I'm cleaning that up.."

"Well," she began, "I just--"

"Wait a minute," he said, holding his hand to silence her. He could hear Natalya calling him from somewhere outside. Good, and excuse to get away from Celes for a little bit. "I'll be right back."

Ignoring the confused look on Celes' face, Locke turned and left the room. He could see her sitting down on his bed from the corner of his eye.

---

Celes closed her eyes, shuddering; she was glad when Locke was out of the room.

Why did she have to bring up Rachel? She wasn't stupid; she had known that it would upset him, but.. maybe that was why she did it-- she wanted him upset. He didn't exactly deserve it, but it had felt damn good to make him feel like shit, even if he acted like an ass because of it.

She ran her hands along the blanket she was sitting on, ignoring the dust that she picked up on the way. She was so angry with Locke now, and she had no real idea why. all she really wanted to do was kick his ass, or just hit him or something.. or kiss him, that was a good idea too.. She had almost done it earlier, and she had no idea why she didn't go through with it. Panic had obviously been a part of it, but that was only because she wasn't sure how he would react-- she was never a nervous person, or was she getting them mixed up.. and she was never a panicky person? Either way, it didn't change the fact that she hadn't kissed him when she had the chance to.

Locke had wanted her to do it, she had seen it in his eyes-- now, she had absolutely no experience in this kind of thing, but some part of her had just told her that want was what she had seen, and she had never been a woman that didn't trust her instincts. Hell, if it weren't for instinct, she wouldn't be alive now to be confusing herself over this.

Thinking back on almost twenty years-- on a lifetime-- of absolutely no knowledge on what she could have done, and what could have possibly followed.. Well, not a total lack of knowledge-- she wasn't an idiot, she knew what kissing was, and she knew what sex was, but she had never had a part in anything like that. Just because she knew what kissing was didn't mean that she knew how to do it.. Maybe that was the problem, and she had been afraid of kissing him and not doing it properly; of messing it up so badly that he'd laugh at her for it. Sure, Locke wasn't the kind of person to laugh at somebody over something small or stupid, but who wouldn't laugh at a person who can't kiss right?

This was insane! She needed to get her mind off of the embarrassment and possible ridicule she would had to endure had she kissed Locke.

"Think about something else, Celes," she mumbled to herself, "think about anything other than wanting to kiss Locke, or the look in his eyes that made you feel like melting. Don't think about how easily you ripped his shirt away even though your hands were shaking like mad, and don't think about how long you stared at his chest, even when the scars you needed to explain yourself were everywhere.. Or how much you wanted to just kiss every one of them as if it would magically make them all better.." she sighed, knowing that telling herself these things had just made it worse.

She felt that she was a very unlucky woman for so badly wanting somebody that she could not have, and honestly didn't care that she wasn't the only person with that kind of problem. Oh, for the love of the Goddesses.. Think about something else, Celes!

Asking Locke whether or not the reason for him hurting himself was Rachel had obviously earned the response she had been given, but there was something in the tone of his voice that told her he wasn't quite over his fiancée or her death just yet. Celes felt guilty for upsetting him like that, but at the same time she also felt extremely good about it.

"He deserves it," she told herself, "after she's been gone for so long, and he's still not over it.. He needs to move on." he needs to be with me.

She had always kind of hoped that meeting up with Locke again would have been like something out of a story reunited, they become afraid of losing one another again and confess their love. There was two major problems with that idea, though, one of them was that Celes' feelings were obviously one-sided, and the other was that the concept was bullshit.

---

"There are some people in town looking for you, I told them to come here.. hope you don't mind, but it seemed like an emergency. What's wrong? You look angry."

Angry that you let people know I'm here, maybe.. Locke just frowned, shaking his head.

"And I meant before I told you about those people. Did you and that girl have an argument or something?" asked Natalya.

"I hate to say it, but that's really none of your business," he mumbled, and Natalya nodded in agreement.

"You're right. Anyway, I just figured I'd give you some warning before they show up here."

"Did you get their names?" asked Locke, figuring that Natalya's intentions had been good and forcing himself to relax a bit.

She suddenly looked quite embarrassed, and shook her head. "No, sorry.. But there was only two of them-- a man and a woman-- and the man left before I could get a good look at him.."

"And the woman?"

"She looked pretty young.. about the same age as the girl you've been talking with, I'd guess. Umn.. she was kind of pale, and had this weird, but sorta pretty, green hair.."

"Green hair?" he repeated, blinking once or twice. Same age as Celes.. What the hell was Terra doing in Kohlingen, and how did she know that he was here? Who had been the man with her..? "Alright, thank you."

Natalya smiled and left, walking back to town.

Locke shook his head, leaning back against a nearby tree. Why was everybody showing up so suddenly?

---

Terra made her way through the trees, wondering why she had decided to cut through the woods rather than take the path. Her arm was stinging from getting cut on a low hanging branch, but she ignored it as best as she could-- she'd had worse.

A house came into view beyond the trees, and Terra was soon standing out in the open, staring at somebody she had honestly thought dead. Locke was leaning against an oddly placed tree, out in front of the house, and he didn't look very happy to see her.

"Hello," he greeted, his voice sounding quite flat and uninviting.

She was taken aback, but refused to really let any disappointment show. She wanted to say 'hello' back to him, but ended up blurting out something very different: "You promised to protect me!" her eyes went wide at her own words, and she clapped her hand over her mouth, having no idea what had compelled her to point that out. This wasn't about her.. "Celes," she corrected lamely, "You promised to protect Celes."

"I did," he agreed.

"She's looking for you," Terra warned, "And.. I want you to stay away from her if she comes close to finding you."

He looked amused, "Why is that?"

What was so.. entertaining? Did he know something that Terra didn't? "You'll hurt her," she said.

"How so?"

Terra frowned, "Rachel."

He shook his head, pushing off of the tree and walking over to stand in front of Terra, "Rachel is dead. You know that."

"You're trying to bring her back," said Terra, her voice cracking slightly when she did. She hated talking about Rachel, and she hated the thought of Celes getting hurt..

He went silent for a good fifteen minutes, or what at least felt that long to Terra, "What does that have to do with Celes?" he asked, and she couldn't tell whether or not he sounded curious or like he already knew.

She hesitated, "I.. can't tell you."

"So you came to warn me about something I'm not allowed to know?"

"It's not that you're not allowed, it's more like I don't think I should tell you.. Celes would get angry with me," and hate me forever.

He forced a grin, "I'll pretend that I don't know."

"No," she muttered.

"I'll forget it right after you tell me."

Terra said nothing. There was something very intimidating about how c lose he was standing to her, and she had to take a step back. She shifted her gaze from his ever-so persistent eyes.. why wasn't he wearing a shirt? Why wasn't she telling him a bout Celes' feelings? Why did he have so many scars? Why was she finding herself oddly attracted to him? Damnit! She managed to stop staring at him and look at the ground instead.

"Please, Terra.." he sounded so much like he wanted to know, but maybe that was just Terra's imagination pretending that he did so she would have an excuse to tell him.

"Celes is.." damnit, Terra! Just tell him!

"Celes is what?"

Terra sighed, glancing back up at Locke and just goddamn telling him; had she known what reaction she would be getting from Locke, she might have kept it to herself, "She's in love with you."

One of his eyebrows rose, and he started laughing so suddenly that Terra was startled into taking three steps away from him. "That's funny, considering she just told me that she hates me."

Just told him that she hates him? That meant that Celes was already here, and Terra had arrived too late! Oh, no.. "Where is she?" asked Terra.

"Inside."

".. When did she get here?"

"A while ago."

Terra frowned again, "Why aren't you wearing a shirt?"

"She got rid of it. Look, do you want to talk to her or something? I think she's still in my room." there was silence, and then Locke must have caught the surprised look that Terra knew had taken over, and he was soon laughing again; Terra felt her face flush in embarrassment. "That sounded wrong, didn't it?" he asked after his laughter had calmed, "We didn't do anything, Terra, if that's what you're thinking." he seemed to be leaving something out, but Terra didn't press the issue.

"R-right.. I wasn't thinking that," she lied before quickly changing the subject, "How do you plan on bringing Rachel back?" she asked, and when she spoke she suddenly felt very sick to her stomach as the realization came to her that whatever Locke had found most likely wouldn't work now that magic was no more.

She had expected him to get upset upon the mention of his lost love, but he seemed relieved this time, almost as if he had been waiting for the question to come up, "Well, I found this esper.. or magicite, really.."

It won't work, Locke.. How am I going to tell you that?

"..Phoenix. Phoenix can bring people back to life, right?" he asked, and Terra stared blankly at him. Of course Phoenix could.. if Phoenix was in existence, maybe. She felt like just lying to him, 'no, she can't..' but then he would just go looking for another solution.

"Magic.. would be the only way to bring her back, right? There's no other way?"

He nodded, "Right."

Terra bit her lip, knowing that she was going to hate herself 'til the end of time for what she was about to do, but Locke needed to know now or both he and Celes would just end up getting more hurt in the end. Her stomach churned, and she winced slightly.. knowing she was about to break somebody's already tattered heart was a horrible feeling.

She inhaled deeply, holding her breath before letting go. She lifted her head to look at Locke properly, and kept her voice very serious so that he would know she wasn't just trying to make him give up: "You can't bring Rachel back, Locke.. ever. There's no such thing as magic any more."