Author's Note: Just wanted to say thank you for the nice long review to Ninias (and obviously thank you to all my other reviewers). I'm very glad you seem to think the romance is working out alright. The bit I'm afraid of is the 'jump' as I call it from a crush on each other to a fully blown romance, but hopefully I'll find a way to do it. I've attempted (non-fan fiction) romances in the past, but they've never worked. I'm terrible at writing that kind of thing. So I'm glad to hear you think it's working out alright.

I'm also glad to hear Emilen is alive, but a little worried at the same time. I always run the risk when writing of contradicting FFXI, as somebody pointed out before, I've already contradicted the entire lore of the world! This means now I have to hope the facts still match up (right down to the name, which I got from a game script I looked up). If she doesn't remember the events, I can luckily lie and just say that she didn't want to bring them back up, so pretends she doesn't remember, but obviously had to bring them up to the Light Warriors. Either way, I'm near Seblina, so I'll check it out. Thank you for that piece of information!

I'm glad to hear the characters are sufficiently different in this one. Was my biggest worry in going to write a third that the characters would have become dull. Vivli's crush, and her anxiety problems were both introduced just to vary things, as well as Voldos being a little more serious. In all honesty, Vivli and Bootus and their arguing is very much like us playing FFXI, me and Bootus argue all the time, much in the funny way we do here. Some arguments are even taken from the game. I think we must be repetitive to Zinkata and Voldos as well!

I also know I must make grammar mistakes. I feel I should apologise for not proof-reading my work, since it is letting down my readers really. I'll try my best to proof-read in the future, because I'm so appreciative of all the people who read this story, I don't want to let you down. But please, if you spot a mistake and aren't too busy, please feel free to point it out in a review. That way I can go back and correct it. Anyway, thanks again for the review!

PART XI

Emilen took a deep breath, and began to recount her story. Zinkata listened in disbelief, and Vivli found herself gasping in shock. It took all the self control the little mithra had not to cry as she heard of (the other) Zinkata dieing, and Emilen losing her brother. For a moment after, the group stood in silence.

"So is he?" Emilen finally asked. "Is he your father?"

"I don't know." Zinkata answered after a pause. "I have no idea. All I know is that as a child I showed up in Bastok one day, lost, hurt, and mumbling. Signot took me in from there."

"Signot?" Emilen questioned.

"He was my father, really. If I was to say anybody was." Zinkata said, smiling for reasons Emilen couldn't work out.

"Is he a nice, caring father?" Emilen asked softly.

"Hell no." Laughed Zinkata. "He's not even alive anymore. We killed him when he tried to help Chaos take over the world."

"Correction." Vivli stated smugly. "I killed him."

"Not really, Viv." Voldos pointed out. "It was the spirit of the Light Warrior within you. That, and he said Chaos was the one who had killed him when he returned. You probably just hurt him." Emilen scratched her head, and Vivli angrily folded her arms.

"How did he return if you killed him?" Emilen asked, confused.

"Oh, he was some kind of undead demon type thing." Zinkata said casually. "Vivli brought him back through her own fears."

"That's not fair!" Was all Vivli could think of to say in protest. Emilen laughed a little.

"You people lead very interesting lives." Emilen observed.

"We're experts at that." Voldos smirked.

"You also somehow managed to get everybody laughing!" She pointed out, despite the grave subject matter.

"Oh, we're good at that too." Voldos joked.

"Maybe this should wait." Emilen suggested. "Until the evening." The laughter had made her think that perhaps a festival wasn't the time for a depressing story. "Can I talk to you this evening, Zinkata?"

"Of course." Zinkata smiled. Vivli felt strangely jealous.

"Right. I have this guy to beat in archery." Emilen motioned to Voldos with a grin.

"Oh, you don't stand a chance!" Voldos taunted. The two wondered off into the crowd.

"Want to follow them?" Zinkata asked Vivli.

"No, it's okay." She answered. "I can see Voldos humiliated by a girl any time we go to the tavern." She added, repressing a laugh.

Zinkata looked down at his own hands on the table. He was subconsciously twiddling his thumbs. Vivli leant across the table and looked up at him.

"Are you okay?" She asked in a soft voice, barely audible in the crowded environment.

"I'm fine." Zinkata managed a smile. "Just thinking about what Emilen said. Another guy named Zinkata. He had a son. Could be my real father."

"I know what it's like to find out who your real parents are." Vivli reminded him. "He sounds like a real hero. And a great guy."

"Yeah." Zinkata laughed again.

"Like father, like son." Vivli commented warmly. Zinkata looked at her, gazing into her eyes, not noticing how full of love they were.

Bootus was stood, watching the sparring match. A powerful galka lunged at a male hume. The hume dove aside with superhuman speed, coming up behind the galka and pounding him powerfully in the back. Before the galka could turn, the hume climbed over the back of the galka, and jumped down in front of him. A few more well timed and speedy strikes, and the galka went down. Bootus was in awe.

"You stunned too?" Lucia asked, walking to his side.

"I've never seen anybody fight like that!" Bootus cried.

"Complete stranger, too." Lucia explained. "Nobody's ever seen him fight before. He just did it for fun apparently."

"What's his name?" Bootus asked curiously. He was too far away to get a good look at the figure.

"Listen. They'll announce it." Lucia told him. He listened carefully as the judge stepped out onto the stage.

"And again, this match's winner is…" He paused for the traditional build up. "Captain 'Crazy' Steve!" Bootus froze in horror. Lucia looked at him.

"You alright?" She asked. Bootus didn't respond. "Urm, hello?" She tried again. Bootus tried to form words, but couldn't. Lucia sighed.

Voldos stood along side Emilen in final of the archery competition.

"This has never been heard of before." The commentator told the crowd. "A warrior in the final of an archery contest." Voldos fired an arrow, and it thudded into the board, just outside of the bulls-eye. Emilen pulled back her bow, and fired, hitting the dead centre. Voldos cursed.

"Haha!" Emilen cried.

"And it appears that Emilen, the ranger, has taken the lead." The commentator explained. Voldos fired again, hitting the bulls-eye.

"You haven't won yet." He taunted.

"The round isn't over yet, either." Emilen reminded him. The two smirked at their playful rivalry.

Vivli and Zinkata had taken to walking through the streets. She was still gazing at him lovingly. He still hadn't really noticed. The two were holding hands. Vivli had taken his, and he had let her, so used to her doing it as of late he didn't really think anything of it.

"Zinkata? Vivli?" Came a cry. The two turned around. A mithra waved to them. The two walked over.

"Angel!" Vivli cried happily. She paused as she noticed Angel was in the arms of an elvaan. Her lover, it seemed. She went to speak, but noticed something else. The large bulge coming from Angel's stomach.

"Well, say something." Angel said playfully.

"Urm." Vivli stumbled over her words. "Congratulations." Angel laughed.

"This is Zanu." She said , pointing to the elvaan. "My husband."

"Pleased to meet you." Zanu said politely.

"These are two of the Light Warriors." Angel explained. "I've told you about them." Zanu laughed.

"Of course." He held out his hand, and Zinkata shook it while Vivli performed a formal curtsey.

"So you got married?" Zinkata laughed.

"Yeah." Angel said happily. "We love each other. Why wouldn't we?" Zinkata laughed. "Looks like you've formed a relationship of your own." She said, gesturing to Vivli. Vivli quickly let go of Zinkata's hand, and the two shot away from each other with a nervous laugh.

"Heh, heh, heh. Not exactly." Zinkata said, tired of explaining. "We're just friends." Angel rose an eyebrow, looking at the two.

"You sure?" She asked, able to read the expression on Vivli's face easily. The two paused awkwardly. Vivli blushed.

"So how's life treating you?" Zinkata asked quickly, to change the subject. Angel smiled.

"I've become a fully accomplished summoner now." She answered. "And of course married my love." She gazed into Zanu's eyes. "I've never been happier." It was clear both Vivli and Zinkata were thinking the same thing. Could we be that happy if we were together? Vivli realised she was staring at Zinkata again, and quickly looked away.

"So, what's with that girl?" Lucia asked Bootus.

"Who?" Bootus questioned, only just snapping out of his trance.

"The weakling." Lucia stated.

"Oh, Vivli?" Bootus said. "She gets wound up easily. That's all." Lucia paused.

"I hate girls like that." She stated. "I've trained all my life to be a warrior. To be strong. To be brave. To be respected. She's as weak as jelly, cowardly and can't stand on her own two feet. Yet she's the one with loyal friends. I mean, that Zinkata guy clearly has a crush on her. Why do males never find a strong independent woman attractive? Why do they always go for the pathetic weaklings?" Lucia clearly had a grudge about something hidden somewhere.

"Don't ask me." Bootus shrugged. "I'm a galka. Asexual, remember?" Lucia laughed. "Besides, it's not Zinkata who has a crush on Vivli, it's Vivli who has a crush on Zinkata." Bootus added.

"You sure?" Lucia asked.

"Positive." Bootus smirked.

"How can you be so sure?" Lucia questioned. Bootus held up a battered and faded pink notebook.

"This." The word's 'Vivli's Diary: Keep Out' were scrawled on the front. Little flowers drawn a long time ago decorated its cover.

"Where did you get that?" Lucia cried.

"Fell out of her satchel last night when she was drunk." Bootus explained. Lucia snatched it off her and flipped through it. She couldn't hide her disgust at its design. "Wow. I knew she wasn't exactly a warrior, but I never realised she was so girly!" She exclaimed.
"Well, it is an old diary. That's probably what she was like as a little girl." Bootus didn't even notice that he was in fact sticking up for Vivli, instead of his usual insulting her. Lucia flipped through it and smirked.

"I have an idea." Lucia beamed.

"I'm nervous yet curious." Bootus sighed.

Zinkata , Vivli, Angel and Zanu were sat down at a table, but unusually silent. Vivli was too embarrassed to say anything, and Angel and Zanu were looking lovingly at each other. This left Zinkata to reflect upon how they were behaving. He had to admit, he longed for that kind of companionship. Lucia suddenly walked over to join the four.

"Vivli?" She asked. Vivli looked up. "You up for sparring yet?"

"Forget it!" Vivli cried. "I'm not that stupid. You wouldn't even let me use magic."

"True, but that's the rules of the competition." Lucia smirked as if she knew something Vivli didn't.

"My magic wouldn't save me anyway." Vivli grumbled. "I'm a white mage. A healer. I don't fight."

"Oh, okay then." Lucia said pleasantly. "I understand." She paused for another knowing smirk. "I need to talk to Zinkata in a minute then." Vivli paused to ponder this. "Oh, by the way, here's your notebook back." She passed Vivli her diary, and Vivli visibly became stunned with horror. Zinkata, Angel and Zanu all watched curiously. Vivli stumbled over her own words, trying to say something.

"Urm, now that you, urrr, mention it." She managed to get out. "I think us sparring would be a good idea. We should go now." She quickly tried to think of a reason so the others wouldn't get suspicious. "I, urm, could use practicing self defence." Lucia smiled bitterly.

"You know, I'm not sure I want to now." Lucia taunted. Vivli quickly sprung up.

"Yes you do!" She cried. "Come on!" Vivli hurried off, looking incredibly pale. Lucia giggled and followed.

Zinkata looked blank.

"I wonder what that was about." He grumbled. Angel laughed to herself.

"For somebody who's saved the world as much as you, you're not very smart." She commented.

"What?" Zinkata asked.

"That girl is hopelessly in love with you." Angel explained.

"Lucia?" Zinkata gasped.

"No you idiot!" Angel laughed aloud at Zinkata's stupidity and even Zanu snickered.

"Vivli?"

Vivli fiddled nervously with the sleeves of her robe as she rushed to try and keep up with Lucia.
"Urm. How much did you read?" Vivli asked, her face very red.

"Oh, I scanned through all the recent stuff." Lucia told her. "The rest really didn't interest me."

"How did you get it?" Vivli questioned, grabbing at Lucia.

"Bootus gave it to me." Lucia smirked.

"Bootus? Bootus has read it?" Vivli looked like she was going to cry in pure distress.

"You got sloppy when you were drunk." Lucia told her with a smile. Vivli stood still, looking to the floor. A tear ran down her face, but she quickly mopped it away.

"This isn't fair." She said. "Why do you want to spar me anyway?"

"Somebody has to teach you what it means to be a weakling." Lucia gave a bitter answer. "Don't fool yourself. Strength is all that matters in this world. Whether it be strength by magic, strength by physical force or strength by numbers. There is nothing you can do to stop something that is stronger than you. Somebody like you is powerless. You live off the good intentions of others. The instant somebody turns on you, you can do nothing about it." Vivli shivered. She felt that same fear that had been gripping her for so long creeping back.

"I dedicated my life to helping people!" She barked.

"At the cost of your own usefulness. You're just a liability." Lucia was obviously very angry about something.

"Why are you doing this?" Vivli snapped, unable to keep herself from crying. "Stealing my diary is personal and hurtful, but this is beyond that!"

"I'm doing it so you learn." Lucia told her.

"No!" Vivli had got sufficiently upset to make her point. "You're doing it because you're jealous! You're jealous Zinkata likes me more than you!" Lucia paused, and burst into hysterical laughter.

"You think this is about Zinkata?" Lucia cried. "I don't give a damn about him. This is about somebody else." Vivli paused, realising that she must have been wrong.

"Oh." She sighed as she figured it out from everything Lucia had said. "Somebody you loved ran off with somebody like me, not like you. Right?" Lucia paused, as if feeling great pain.

"Not just once. Every time." She growled. "I loved somebody. I loved somebody a lot. And never once did they look at me. Why? Because they'd much prefer pathetic weaklings like you to a girl who could take care of herself!"

"Maybe he just didn't like you because you're so mean!" Vivli cried. Lucia paused. "Maybe it's not physical strength. Maybe it's not profession. And maybe it's not how you fight. Maybe it's what really influences love. Maybe it's your personality."

"Catfight! Woo!" Bootus cheered, walking over. "Looks like I'm missing one hell of a show." The two woman instantly unravelled, as if letting go of all their stress. Bootus brought to their attention just how petty they were being. "Diary was a good read by the way." Bootus told Vivli. "Should get it published. Either way I'll pass on the message to Zinkata. Oh, and I'd never let myself get trampled by a giant tonberry."

"That was a battering ram!" Vivli cried angrily, stomping her foot like a child.

"Oh. You suck at drawing then." Bootus commented.

"Don't you dare say anything to anyone!" Vivli screamed.

"Why not?" Bootus asked. "You can't stop me." Vivli looked at him. She still had tears in her eyes.

"Please don't." She sobbed. "This isn't a joke like normal. Zinkata means a lot to me. Don't ruin it for a joke. Please." She begged. Bootus sighed.

"Alright, Viv." He paused. "But just this once! And I can mention anything else I read in there!"
"It's the best I'm going to get." Vivli sighed. Lucia looked curiously at Vivli. The way she had spoken about Zinkata and the look she had in her eyes really had made an impression on Lucia.

"Vivli. I'm sorry." She said. "I didn't mean to be so mean. I can see this guy means a lot to you."

"Does this mean I don't have to spar?" Vivli asked hopefully.

"Hell no." Lucia laughed. "I want to see if I can set the record for the shortest match in history."

"She's already the shortest mithra in history!" Bootus laughed.

"I'm not that short, dammit!" Vivli cried, before turning to Lucia. "And I'll show you a short match! Just I'll be the victor!"

"That's the spirit." Smiled Lucia.

Elsewhere, Emilen was cheering, clutching her trophy.

"You lose, Voldos!" She cried with a laugh.

"I let you win!" Voldos protested. "Just didn't have it in my heart to beat somebody as beautiful as you!"

"Wow, the legends about the corny chat up lines are true!" Emilen laughed. "And you looked like you were trying to me!"

"I didn't do too badly for a warrior." He smirked. "I shouldn't! I use a bow all the time!"

"Why don't you become a ranger then?" Emilen asked. Voldos paused.
"Nobody to teach me." He answered.

"Absolutely sure?" Emilen asked.

"You offering?" Voldos shot back.

"Your place or mine?" She sarcastically said to him.

Another Author's Note: It's come to my attention I've ended up with a rather large amount of characters in this chapter. Let's see, we have Bootus, Voldos, Vivli, Zinkata, Angel, Zanu, Lucia, Emilen and Illuga who's somewhere, not to mention a cameo from Crazy Steve. In my head, it's easy to keep track of who is who because I'm writing it, but I'm worried I'm character overloading (as I call it). If you're finding it a bit hard to keep track of who's who, please tell me in a review and I'll cut it down through convenient plot devices over the next chapter so we're just left with the important characters. The festival arc of the story (I'm talking about story arcs, it makes me sound like I've planned this…) meant I could use quite a few characters, but after this, it should be back to the good ol' four and just one or two extras.