Edonil: Once again, please tell me what you think I should work on for my other fanfic. If you say nothing, I'll just have to choose on my own… Or choose all three, which will slow down updates immensely.

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own it.

Claimer: Yep, still own Avylonn, Crims, Sarah, and Saniiro.

To Change

Chapter Thirty-Three

"She WHAT?!"

"Kuja, please calm down."

"But… She could have been hurt or killed or-"

SMACK!

Steiner was having trouble keeping a straight face. Avylonn was in bed, and Steiner had come to tell Kuja and Crims what had happened. If Steiner had believed it possible, he would have said Kuja had changed; Kuja was definitely worried about his daughter. Crims was much calmer. Although slapping her… boyfriend wasn't exactly calm…

"Sit down and shut up, Kuja," Crims ordered. He obeyed. "Now Steiner, tell us about this 'Saniiro'. You say he is not to be trusted?"

Steiner nodded. "That is correct. He wanted to be one of the Knights of Pluto several years ago, when he first came to Alexandria, not long after it was destroyed." Steiner shot Kuja a dirty look. Kuja met it calmly. "As he had not been a citizen of Alexandria long, he was on probation first, of course. During his probation, however, he was unruly and obstructive. He didn't follow orders. I told him to shape up or get lost. He did neither. He started complaining about the way the Knights of Pluto were run. I told him to go. He left the Knights of Pluto, but started causing trouble in the town. He was pretty smart, though; whenever he caused trouble, he'd also do something good, so we couldn't arrest him without looking like morons. Finally, we told him he'd be banished if he gave us any more trouble. He's been keeping a low profile for a couple years, now. We rarely hear from him. Actually, tonight was the first time I've seen him in several months. I'd hoped he'd left."

---

The fools. It was too much to hope for, of course, but still… Saniiro really did want to be a Knight. But the Knights were fools! Especially that air-brained Captain of theirs. Steiner couldn't see beyond the end of his nose! He still thought Alexandria was the 'happy law-abiding place it has always been'. Hah! Before Kuja and the War, it had been mostly alright. People avoided certain parts of town when it was dark and they were alone, but all in all, it had been alright. Now, though… Did Steiner think people just got tired earlier? That they just felt like going inside before the sun went down? Saniiro had tried to explain. He'd been told to stop being a fool. He'd gone out on his own after his duties, to protect people. He'd been told to stop being a worry-wart. He'd patrolled the worst parts of towns when on duty. He'd been told to follow orders. He'd complained that they were fools. He'd been told to shut up. He'd said that the justice system was easy to get around. He'd been thrown out. He'd proved that the justice system was easy to get around. He'd almost been banished.

He had given up on the Knights of Pluto. They were fools. He'd tried to explain to General Beatrix, but Steiner always interrupted, and clearly love was indeed blind. It was useless to expect help from the Castle. So Saniiro had become a vigilante, doing what he wanted, and helping people. When Steiner had found out, he'd ordered Saniiro to stop. From then on, Saniiro had just told people to not tell anybody about him. But then he'd saved Avylonn, and the surprise of seeing Kuja's daughter had shocked him. Then Steiner had been there, and he had to tell the truth…

Besides, Steiner should be grateful; none of the Knights were there. And maybe Avylonn could convince Steiner that Alexandria was not a safe place.

Avylonn. Kuja's daughter. Who would have thought…? What was Kuja's wife like? Saniiro assumed Kuja was married. Then again, maybe not; Kuja wasn't normal. Normal people didn't destroy planets! Normal people didn't wage meaningless war! Normal people didn't kill innocent bystanders…

Mom… Dad… I will do something! I swear! You didn't die pointlessly! Because of your deaths, I'm now trying to make a difference… Your deaths had meaning…

---

Saniiro. An… interesting fellow. Steiner hadn't seemed to like him, but then Steiner didn't seem to like anybody. It would be nice to know why, though.

Avylonn wasn't quite sure what to think of Saniiro. He'd saved her, and seemed nice, but… He probably thought she was a moron. A naive, stupid moron. And she was! She didn't know anything…

She'd just have to learn. Tomorrow, she'd go out, and make sure to avoid that part of town. She knew it was a bad place, now. She'd go inside earlier. She knew that, now. She was learning. The human brain was an amazing thing; it could constantly absorb new information.

Was he human? She still hadn't figured it out. She new her father wasn't, and she wasn't so sure about her mother… It was too confusing.

Saniiro… I wonder what he thinks of me. Besides that I'm a moron, of course. Does he like me? What kinds of things do men think about? Is he a man? He couldn't have been much older than me… But he's not a boy. He's too old. Why am I thinking this?

Why do I care what he thinks of me?

---

It was getting late. She'd have to get inside soon. It had been two days since the incident, and Avylonn had been very careful. She'd seen no sign of Saniiro, though. She wasn't sure why, but she felt… something.

Why should I have seen him? If what Steiner said is true, then Saniiro is probably out helping some defenceless girl who hasn't learned better. It doesn't matter, anyway. Even if he wasn't, why would he want to see me. He's probably got plenty of girls fawning over him that keep him occupied. In stories, the hero always has girls fawning over him. Usually blonde girls. Blonde-haired girls. Not feathery girls like me. Why do I care what I look like? I saw him once. That's all. It doesn't matter.

It was getting darker; she really ought to return to the Palace. Turning around, Avylonn saw a man staring lecherously at her. Splendid. He was dressed like all the ruffians in the town. Even more splendid. Gathering what remained of her courage, Avylonn lifted her chin and walked forward, doing her best to ignore him.

"M'lady," he bowed mockingly. "Not going to say 'ello to a 'umble citizen?"

"Hello," she said, continuing to walk.

"Now, that's not very nice. Why don't ya just slow down a little- Or not. Ya know, I think I got better things to do. Ta ta!" Avylonn looked at him curiously as he hurried off. What had made him disappear so quickly…?

"Hello. Avylonn, isn't it?" Avylonn turned around to see Saniiro. That explained something.

"Yes. Hello, Saniiro."

"I thought you'd have learned by now; the streets are not safe at night."

"I was just on my way home."

"Good." They looked at each other for a while. Then, "So… How have you been?"

"Well. And you?"

"As well as can be expected. I trust you have not had too much trouble with cowardly ruffians."

"No." Avylonn thought of something to talk about. Small talk wasn't her area of expertise. Finally, she settled on something. "I've been wondering something. Why did you save me the other night?"

"The Knights of Pluto do not do a… very good job. I've tried to explain to them that the streets are not safe, but they didn't believe me. So I've been making them safer."

"Why? Why do you want to keep people safe?"

"Chivalry is not dead, although many people seem to think it is. The Knights of Pluto used to have a motto: 'Veneratio et Integritas, or 'Honour and Integrity'. Now, they have nothing. They care more about when their shift is over than about helping people!"

"I… see." Perhaps another topic would be safer. "Um… What have you been doing recently?"

"Protecting people."

"Is that all you do?"

"Yes."

"Interesting… Is there any particular reason you want to help people? What made you… decide to help people?"

"I… I couldn't help my parents." Saniiro's voice broke. "They died. I'm trying to… make up for it."

"I'm sorry," Avylonn apologized. She shouldn't have asked… It sounded like he was still very upset…

"It's alright." Avylonn looked at him. He seemed to want to say something- he opened his mouth several times- but finally just said, "I'll see you around." Then he turned and strode off into the darkness.

"Goodbye.."

Edonil: I was running out of stuff to say… And I want to end this chapter before I kill my computer. I must have spent over an hour looking up 'Veneratio et Integritas'. If anyone speaks Latin, please correct me! There don't seem to be any online English-Latin translators… Please R&R!