People liked my portrayal of Matthew...um, yay? Let's hope I can keep him IC for the rest of the story...

MagicianFairy: Does cursing really make a story better or worse? I don't think it makes much of a difference...

Ryst: Inter-story connections fun. I thought it would be nice to include those...

The Blazing Blade: Stat-wise, actually, Jaffar isn't that great compared to most other characters. But I think we can ignore that for now ;P

Spectral Flame: Matthew maybe, but I don't think he's that mad at Sain. He just wants to keep Nino close to him (how sweet) :P

lzn64: Thanks for your review!

Winteress: Night of Farewells is coming...--looks down-- soon. It was originally supposed to be this chapter, but, well...this chapter got long.

Fury: Thanks for your review!

Ragnarok-legend: I wouldn't be planning a novelization of Grandia II if I hadn't finished it yet, now would I? :P And on a completely random note, congratulations, you are my 500th reviewer overall! I feel so proud :D

The Story Master 125: Study of...skin? That's...weird...

Icy AngelWings: Thanks for your review!

Jeanie: I try to stick a Defiance connection in every story that I can :P And yes, of course, Matthew and Jaffar will be meeting again...

FireEdge: Thanks for your review!

Flaming Soul: Even later this time, now it's 12:42 AM as I write this. :P Probably won't get this chapter done on the same night, but still...

Dracobolt: Thanks for your review!

Macross-Green: Thanks for your review!

hyliansage: That was...a lot of rambling :P Go update Wish! I've been waiting for awhile :/

timmycheese: Thanks for your review!

Emotion Changing Reviewer: I hope the mental image that you have isn't dirty :P

AmbieChan: I think, actually, that Matthew would have blown up like I made him when he first found out about Jaffar. After that is when he begins to express his rage more "covertly," to use your word. But that's just my thoughts.

James Holester: Yes, OOC Out Of Character. Thanks for your review!

Lemurian 04: Thanks for your review!

Nocturna-Fire-Demoness: Thanks for your review!

Inferno-Hero: I'm not complaining about my writing skills! I just think lzn64's story is better than mine. "No matter how good you are, there's always someone better."

TrisRika: Thanks for your review!

Oswin the Nino Fan: "Nice use of Nino?" --raises eyebrow-- uh...

demonesszen: Eliwood being "unavailable" was just one of my various inter-story connections. At this time in my story Different, he's in Ninian's tent, trying to comfort her. But they're not doing anything, uh, you know. Hector's just making assumptions :P

katelynn: Thanks for your review!

gentleness28: Augh, Eliwood is not doing what you think! He's with Ninian, yes...but they aren't doing anything. Hector's just making assumptions...just read Different if you don't believe me! :P

NekoRaven: Thanks for your review!

Ryzuki: Thanks for your review!

On to chapter 9...

Chapter Nine
Sorrow

Lyn had told them everything: they were fighting against Nergal. Jaffar's old master. The assassin's resolve towards his decision to leave the Black Fang grew steadily as Lyn recounted Nergal's heinous acts, both those past and those he was planning for the future. He had essentially taken control over the entire Black Fang within a year through his loyal agent Sonia, who had seduced Brendan Reed easily after the death of his first wife.

Jaffar was not surprised at the revelation that Sonia was the cause of the Black Fang's corruption, but Nino seemed saddened. The assassin couldn't understand why—the woman had tried to kill Nino, and yet the young mage still felt compassion towards her mother. How could this be?

Lyn had provided the pair with a tent, a lantern, and two bedrolls, and then left, telling the pair to get some rest. Jaffar had set the tent up quickly, after all, assassins were well-trained in methods of creating shelter. Nino only watched him quietly, subdued throughout the whole process. When the tent was set up, the pair went inside and, lighting the lantern, sat down on their bedrolls. Jaffar, however, wasn't tired at all. The events of only the past hour were still rushing through his head, and he was still coming to grips with the fact that he would no longer be a member of the Black Fang. He didn't regret his decision, but he knew it would take some getting used to.

He looked over at Nino, at the reason he was even here. She also didn't look tired, despite the fact that night had fallen several hours ago. Then again, Jaffar supposed, she had been through quite a lot as well.

He didn't understand the feelings that came whenever she was close to him, and yet even now, when he was alone with her, he felt the feelings surge once again. He longed to stay with her, to protect her with his very life—

"Jaffar?" Nino said softly, catching his gaze and looking up at him. "What do you think it will be like now?" Her tone was rather uneasy compared to her usual cheerfulness.

"What do you mean?" Jaffar replied, as the question had caught him off guard.

"I mean, do you think we'll be well off here?" she asked, her voice strangely saddened. "We just left the Black Fang behind..."

"You said yourself that the Black Fang has been corrupted," Jaffar responded, intent on the decision he had made previously—he was done with the Black Fang forever.

She looked at the ground sadly. "I know, but...what about Mother? What if we have to fight her?"

Jaffar's first thought was to tell the young mage that he intended to kill Sonia the next time they met, but he knew Nino would not like that answer. Instead, he asked a question he had been wondering about for some time: "Nino...how can you still think about Sonia?"

Nino looked up, confused. "What do you mean by that, Jaffar?" she asked, sounding hurt. "She's my mother..."

"She wants to kill you," Jaffar reminded her. He didn't want to hurt her feelings by saying that. He only wanted to keep her safe...

But his words apparently did not have their intended effect, as Nino's gaze became a mixture of sadness and anger. "No she doesn't," she declared vehemently, though it was more to herself than Jaffar. "She's my mother. She can't..." Tears started welling in her eyes even as she denied Jaffar's claim, refusing to believe that her own mother could hate her so. She shook her head. "Jaffar, you know that, right? Mother can't...she can't...want to kill me...you know that, right?"

Jaffar quickly realized that Nino was expecting an answer from him, but he was torn over what to say. He didn't want to lie to her, but he knew how she would react if he told her the truth...and he didn't want that. Being as indecisive as he was, however, he couldn't hold up to Nino's intense gaze, and he looked away from her guiltily.

Unfortunately, Nino was more than intelligent enough to understand what his silence meant, and the tears that she had been attempting to hold back began to stream forth freely. "N-no..." she whispered, her voice cracking. "Jaffar...she can't...she..."

The rest of her words were drowned in sobs as she threw herself on the bedroll, crying in despair.

Jaffar was left to stare at her, a mixture of emotions running through his body. He felt disgusted with himself at the fact that he had made Nino cry. And he was confused, because he couldn't understand Nino's feelings towards her mother.

But most of all, he felt an overwhelming sorrow pervading through him and the entire tent. He had never seen Nino break down like this before, and more than anything, he wanted her to stop crying, to make the pain coursing through him go away. If Nino was sad, then he was sad, even if he didn't understand why. He just wanted to make her happy again, like she usually was.

The only problem lay in how to go about doing that.

Slowly, haltingly, he moved over to the young mage, whose body was shaking with sobs now. Unsure of what to do, what to say, he slowly placed his hand on her shoulder. "Nino..." he said softly.

She looked up at him, and her watery eyes and tear-streaked face cut into his soul. He couldn't stand seeing her like this...

"J-Jaffar...w-why didn't y-you tell m-me?" she asked, sobbing all the while. "W-why did y-you keep it f-from me?"

"I...didn't want to hurt you," Jaffar answered slowly, but truthfully. "You...were so focused...on pleasing your mother..."

"Oh, Jaffar..." Nino sobbed. Then, quite unexpectedly, she placed her arms around the assassin and began to cry into his shoulder, which sent a now-familiar sensation running throughout his body. Slowly, unsure as to whether it was the right thing to do, he returned the embrace, making the emotions flowing through him increase in intensity.

"She...sh-she really does...want..." Nino whispered, finally coming to grips with what her mother desired.

In the state that she was in, having broken down so completely, Jaffar could only think of the young mage as a scared, defenseless little girl. He tightened his embrace out of protection for the young mage, as though she might disappear if he let go.

He had to protect this girl. From everything. He was the only one she could look to now...

"W-what...are w-we going to d-do now, J-Jaffar?" Nino asked after a time, still sobbing. "M-Mother...she's sure t-to be looking for us n-now..."

Jaffar's gaze hardened, though Nino could not see it. He supposed he could speak more freely now that Nino knew her mother's intentions, and as a result, he whispered angrily, "I'll kill her."

"No!" Nino suddenly cried sharply, raising her head from his shoulder suddenly and looking directly at his face. "Y-you can't do that, Jaffar..." she protested, albeit weakly.

"Why not?" Jaffar demanded, probably more harshly than he would have wanted to. "If Sonia wishes to kill you, then I am going to kill her. She deserves it."

"B-but she's my mother, Jaffar!" Nino shouted, more tears streaming down her face. "Y-you can't...you c-can't just do that!"

Jaffar looked away from her, feeling guilty and furious with himself for sparking such a reaction from the young mage. "I...don't understand," he finally said slowly. "Why...do you have so much respect for your mother...even though she wants to kill you?"

"Because she's m-my mother!" Nino screamed angrily, causing Jaffar to curse himself further. "And I'm her daughter! That's what daughters are supposed to—"

And then, quite suddenly, she stopped. Jaffar looked back at her face, curious as to what had made her silent, and saw a look of realization slowly spreading over the young mage's face.

"Jaffar..." she finally said, softly. "Y-you've...you've n-never had...a f-family...have you?"

"No," Jaffar answered, but there was no emotion in his voice—he did not feel sad or happy because of that fact. He wasn't sure how Nino had figured that out on her own, but...that didn't really matter to him at this point.

"J-Jaffar..." Nino whispered, "I-I'm sorry...I d-didn't realize you didn't...u-understand..."

"It's nothing," Jaffar dismissed the issue. "Don't worry about it."

She looked away sadly. "Jaffar...I-I know...y-you might n-not u-understand this...but please, d-don't hurt Mother. Please..."

He wanted nothing more at that moment to destroy Sonia, to make sure that Nino would never have to worry about her again, but...Nino's request was more important to him than his own feelings. If it would make her happy...

"If you wish me to," Jaffar said softly, "then I will not harm her."

Nino looked back up at the assassin, her eyes pleading with him. "Do you promise?" she asked.

"Yes," Jaffar answered. He couldn't resist her gaze, or the emotions flowing through his body. He would do anything for this girl.

A sad smile made its way onto Nino's face. It was the first true smile he had seen from her that night, and it filled him with a warm sensation to know that he had made her happy again. "Thank you...Jaffar," she whispered.

She lay back on her bedroll. "We should...probably get some rest," she suggested.

"Yes," Jaffar agreed. Slowly, he moved back towards his own bedroll, slightly dismayed at the fact that the emotions he had felt mere moments previously were beginning to leave him. He laid down on the bedroll as Nino put out the lantern.

"Good night, Jaffar," she whispered.

But the assassin couldn't get to sleep. And with the thoughts of the past few hours rushing through his head, he knew he wouldn't fall asleep for a long time.

-----

It was definitely a good thing, however, that Jaffar could not get to sleep.

He didn't know how long he had been laying there on his bedroll in the darkness with his eyes wide open. But at some point—Jaffar estimated it had been about an hour or so since his conversation with Nino had ended—he heard a slight rustle next to him, and then, looking up, he caught sight of a small line of light from an opening in the tent flap before it closed. Then he heard footsteps, running quickly away from the tent...

Jaffar didn't need any further provocation. Standing up quickly, he threw open the flap of the tent. And by the faint light of the campfire shining towards him, he could make out Nino's bedroll—it was empty.

She was trying to run away.

Nearly panicking, Jaffar hurriedly stepped out of the tent, but he caught no sight of Nino—he could only see the campfire and the silhouettes of whoever had watch duty. The shadows were too large to be the young mage, though, and Jaffar knew that if Nino was going to run away, she would be smart enough to avoid getting caught by anyone in the camp. She would not have run in the direction of the campfire.

Jaffar quickly ran around the tent, scanning the area outside of the army's camp for any sign of Nino, before she was too far into the darkness, out of sight...

His trained eyes picked up a very faint shadow moving away from the camp. As fast as he could, he ran after the figure, hoping, praying that it was Nino. He couldn't lose her, after all that had happened that night...

"Nino!" he called as he got close to the figure.

He felt a surge of relief as the figure stopped. It was too dark for him to make out any details of the figure, despite the moon hanging high in the clear sky, but any doubts about whether the figure was Nino disappeared when he heard the young mage's voice ask, "Jaffar?" Her voice was filled with an emotion Jaffar couldn't place. She sounded almost...disappointed?

"Nino, what are you doing?" Jaffar demanded. It felt strange to speak to her when he could barely even see her face, but that didn't concern him at the moment.

He could barely make out the green-haired girl turning away, hanging her head. However, she didn't say anything.

"Why are you running away?" Jaffar pressed. He had to know; it didn't make any sense to him. Why would she leave?

"I wasn't running away!" Nino suddenly declared defensively, but then her voice softened considerably. "I was going to come back..."

"Then where are you going? And why by yourself?" Jaffar demanded. Part of him was deeply hurt at the fact that Nino wanted to go off by herself, to leave him alone. He had resolved to protect her, yet she was going off alone...

"I...I wanted to see Mother," Nino whispered, her voice full of an almost childlike shame. "I have to see Mother," she went on, a little louder.

"But—"

"I know, Jaffar! I know she wants to kill me!" she shouted suddenly, cutting the assassin off. "But...but I can't believe that. I have to...hear the truth from her..."

"But by yourself?" Jaffar asked almost incredulously. "I could protect you...why didn't you tell me?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't let me go!" Nino shouted in response, and Jaffar had to admit that she had a point. He certainly wouldn't have allowed Nino to put herself in such danger...

"But I have to go, Jaffar!" she went on. "I know...I understand what you've told me...b-but she's my mother!" Though Jaffar could not see her face clearly, he could tell that she was crying, as her voice began to break up. "I-I'm her own flesh a-and blood!" She stamped her foot to accentuate the last word. "She just c-couldn't...she's the o-only m-mother I have..."

And once again, her words were drowned in sobs. "Y-you h-have to l-let me g-go, Jaffar..." she pleaded.

But Jaffar was torn. If he allowed Nino to go, there was a good chance that Sonia...well, he didn't want to think about that. And yet, he couldn't stand to see Nino so sad, to feel such pain because of her sorrow...

He took a deep breath.

"If you go...then I go with you," he muttered. At least then, she would be happy, and he could keep her safe...

Nino sniffed. "Y-...y-you'll let me...?"

"Yes," Jaffar replied simply. "Do you know her whereabouts?"

The green-haired girl sniffed again, her voice becoming calmer. "W-well...the mountain fortress has been discovered...so she has to be in the...other place," she responded.

"The Water Temple?" Jaffar asked. If that were true, it would certainly be convenient—the temple, dedicated to the gods of the waters of the seas and rivers, was no more than a half-hour's walk from the prince's manse.

"Yes," Nino replied. "I-It's very late, but...Mother always stays up. She'll be there..."

"But we have to be back before sunrise," Jaffar reminded her. "If we aren't..."

"I know," Nino answered softly. "Please, just...let's go. I...have to do this."

"...All right," Jaffar replied. And slowly, despite Jaffar's better judgment and their inability to see each other clearly, the two of them began walking to the Water Temple.

"Jaffar?" Nino asked softly after a few moments.

"What is it?" Jaffar responded.

"...Thank you," Nino whispered.

And on they walked.

Jaffar's so sensitive...can't stand those crying chicks :P
You know what really sucks? When you at first expect to get to an important story point but then realize that your chapter would be too long if you did. That happened here :/ I was expecting to get to Night of Farewells in this chapter, but it kinda got long, and I figured it would be best to post this alone since you guys have been waiting awhile. Don't worry, next chapter will (hopefully) be up soon!

Please review!!!
-TheOneAndOnlyT