A/N: Awwright! Now that the newest chapter of "Unconditional Love" is done, I can finally get back to updating my other fics! First on that list is "Crossing the Bridge". Ahem…

Her true identity revealed, Myra is relieved to no end that not only Regal and Raine but the rest of the villagers in Luin are willing to accept her for what she is: a sweet little girl and not some horrible little "Spawn of Cruxis" as the mysterious anti-Sylvanite put it earlier. In thanks for helping her out, Myra has invited Regal and Raine over to spend the night and have dinner with her and her adoptive grandmother. What other secrets could the little angel be hiding?

Intro aside, it's time for everyone's favorite segment of the show, er, story, "Respond to the Readers"! Yay!

Rock Raider – So many theories! Are any of them right? Wait and see! I think you'll like this chapter.

Sunnigen – I'm glad you and so many other people like little Myra so much! And thank you for your kind words

Rosa-Le-Fay – Heh… the man in purple was most likely Kratos… but why would he bring Myra to Luin? So many questions about little Myra! Some of those will be answered in this chapter! Who was the man? You'll find that out too! Of course I've had my septic tank checked lately::walks to window, points at yard: See? Everything is- oh no! My yard::runs off:

Kitten Kisses – Thanks for all the reviews! What happened to Raine was horrible, but hopefully she'll be able to do something about it. I didn't see many stories about Raine's quest to end racism so it seemed like as good an idea as any. Glad you like Myra

Cozette Wilder – Heh. I'm sorry this romance is slow-burn, but I'm sure you'll appreciate it in the end.

God all Mighty – You'll see!

Linkite – Thank you. I'll do my best.

Fenrir Hellfyre – I wouldn't count on Kratos showing up. After all, he's currently searching for the Devil Arms with Lloyd and Sheena.

Fan Fan Girl – Thanks. I'm glad you appreciate the slow-burn romance.

SoulTaken and FullofYami – Heh. We need a Myra fan club

Speaking of Myra, would anyone out there be interested in drawing everyone's favorite little non-corrupt angel? Ahem, without further ado, I present to you…

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Chapter 5: Getting Acquainted

As the moon rose slowly in the evening sky, everyone in Myra's house had found their own way to relax: Raine sat on the couch and read from one of her books of ancient lore just as she always did. Regal sat cross-legged on the floor, his eyes closed as he meditated. Myra's grandmother was in her chair, knitting away on one of Myra's torn dresses. Finally, little Myra was on the floor playing with a few dolls her grandmother had bought for her shortly after she arrived in Luin.

Myra's grandmother looked up from her knitting and up at the clock. She then looked down and Myra and said, "Myra, honey, it's time to go to bed."

"Aww, grandma! Do I have to?" protested the tiny angel.

She nodded. "Little girls need their rest. Don't you want to grow up to be just as pretty as Lady Raine?" Raine looked up from her book and blushed as Regal chuckled.

"Okay grandma, I'll go to bed." Myra grabbed her dolls, stood up, and walked over to Raine. "Lady Raine, will you tuck me in please?"

"W-what? Me?" asked Raine.

Myra nodded. "Please?"

Myra's grandmother smiled at Raine. "Would you mind doing it Lady Raine? I'm sure it would mean a lot to her."

Raine put a small piece of paper in the book she was reading, closed it up, and set it on the small table next to the couch. "Alright Myra. Go get changed for bed and I'll be there in a moment."

"Yay! Thank you Lady Raine!" Myra laughed and ran off to her room, her dolls in tow.

Raine smiled and shook her head. "She's adorable."

"She's my special little angel," said Myra's grandmother. "Her smile is enough to make me happy on my worst days."

Regal nodded. "Indeed. She seems like a very sweet child."

Laughing, Raine said, "I guess I better go tuck her in. I wouldn't want to keep her waiting." With that, she took off down the hall where Myra's room was.

Myra's grandmother watched as Raine walked down the hallway and once she was out of sight, she set down what she was knitting and looked at Regal. "Mr. Bryant?"

He turned to her. "Yes Ms. …"

She smiled. "Selias. Samantha Selias. Mr. Bryant, throughout the course of the evening, I could not help but notice that you took several glances at Lady Raine. Is it possible that you feel something for her?"

In a rare moment of embarrassment, Regal's cheeks turned red as he looked at the ground. "I must admit that I did do just as you said. Raine is a very valuable companion and a good friend of mine."

"Really Mr. Bryant? Is that all?"

"What do you mean?"

"I have a feeling that you consider her to be more than just a friend."

Regal closed his eyes. "We are on a journey to save the world from the evils of racism. This is not the time to worry about such things."

"You're making excuses. This journey is as good a reason as any to get close to each other. You do realize that she glanced at you a few times as well, don't you?"

Regal looked back up at Ms. Selias. "She was?"

She nodded. "Indeed she was. Every time she did, he face turned quite red. She seems to be quite fond of you."

Regal closed his eyes again and shook his head. "Fond or not, I dare not get to close to her. My sins are too deep for me to get too close to someone as pure as Raine."

"You are not an evil man Mr. Bryant. I can feel it."

"I have committed a crime that can never and should never be forgiven."

"Is that why you wear the restraints?"

He nodded slowly. "Yes."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

He shook his head again. "Forgive me, but-"

"No explanation needed Mr. Bryant. I shall respect your privacy. Is your crime so great that you can not somehow put it behind you and remove those cuffs?"

"Yes."

"The crime is great to you, or to society?"

"What?"

"I don't know what you did Mr. Bryant, but it could not have been so terrible that Lady Raine would decide to not travel with you. Perhaps she understands what you did and sympathizes with you."

"I… I…"

Ms. Selias picked up what she was knitting and got back to work. "Just take some time to think about it Mr. Bryant. You are a good man. There's no need to punish yourself for the rest of your life."

Regal said nothing as he closed his eyes once again and went back to his meditation.

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"There you go little one," said Raine as she finished tucking in Myra.

The tiny angel smiled up at her hero. "Thank you Lady Raine."

Raine smiled as she prepared to walk out of the room. "Sweet dreams Myra."

"Lady Raine?"

Raine stopped and turned back to Myra. "It's okay Myra. Just "Raine" is fine. What's wrong?"

"Do you like Mr. Regal?"

Raine's face immediately became fully flushed as she turned away. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

Myra giggled. "You were looking at him an awful lot."

If it was possible for Raine's face to turn any more red, it just did. "N-no I wasn't."

"Yes you were! Hehe!"

Raine folded her arms. "Hmph. So what if I was?"

"I think it's neat! From the stories I've heard, Mr. Regal is very strong and brave, like a knight from the stories that grandma tells me at bedtime."

Raine closed her eyes. Indeed, there were several times when Regal, much like a knight, saved her danger and fought fiercely to protect her from any further harm. However, that didn't necessarily mean anything. Friends do such things for each other all the time.

Raine turned back to Myra. "This isn't something little girls shouldn't worry about."

Myra giggled again. "Lady Raine likes Mr. Regal!" she said harmoniously.

Now Raine was terribly embarrassed. "Alright, that's enough out of you. Time for bed."

"Raine?"

She sighed. "Yes?"

"Will you tell me a story?"

"A story?"

"Yes. Tell me about how you saved the world from Cruxis!"

"But Myra, I-" Raine hesitated. Tell the story of how they defeated Cruxis? She couldn't bear to tell Myra of how she and her friends had defeated the angels of Cruxis… the same angels that most likely gave birth to her and left her to die at the foot of the Tower of Salvation. Besides, every time that Raine thought about it, she became increasingly worried that perhaps during the course of their travels they may have unknowingly come across Myra's parents and killed them. Their journey, while successful, was still laden with pain and hardship. Such things were not the kind of material one should use for a bedtime story.

"Lady Raine?"

Raine shook her head. "I'm sorry Myra. I'd rather not tell that story."

"Why not? I bet you had a really neat adventure!"

Raine looked as if she was going to say something but then stopped herself. She shook her head again. "Maybe some other time. How about if I tell you another story?"

"Okay! What's it about?"

Raine cupper her chin with her hands for a moment. "This should be easy. I'll just take some of my friends whose names she'd recognize and put them in a different story. Now who would she recognize… ah! Of course! Lloyd and Sheena! Their statues are still up" She smiled, pulled up a chair, and sat next to the bed. "Have you ever heard of the heroes Lloyd and Sheena?"

"Do I!" said Myra excitedly. "After you, they're my favorite heroes!"

Raine laughed. "Is that so?"

Myra nodded happily. "Yup! I'm not sure which one I like more."

"Oh?"

Yeah, I mean… Mr. Lloyd is strong and very brave, but Lady Sheena is kind and very beautiful. They're a great team!"

Raine laughed again when she heard this. This little girl seemed to really enjoy fixing up relationships. "You don't say? Well little miss, you're in for a treat tonight. Tonight's story is about how brave Sir Lloyd saved Princess Sheena from the evil Earth Dragon!"

Myra squealed happily. "Yay! I can't wait to hear it."

Raine smiled and began to motion with her hands. "Once upon a time, in a land far, far away, there lived a brave young man named Lloyd who served the kind and very pretty Princess Sheena."

Myra smiled. "How pretty was she?"

Raine grinned and poked Myra lightly on the nose. "Not quite as pretty as you."

Myra giggled and laid back. After laughing with her for a bit, Raine continued on with her story.

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A half-hour later, Raine slowly made her way out of Myra's room and quietly closed the door behind her. When she turned around, she saw Regal standing not far from her.

"You have the soul of a mother," said Regal.

Raine blushed and turned away. "I-it's nothing really. I used to have to do the same thing for Genis, so I'm really used to it."

"But Genis is your brother. This is someone you just met today."

Raine sighed and turned back to Regal. "There's something very special about this girl. It's common knowledge that a child's soul is pure, but what I feel from Myra is unlike anything I've ever felt before. She's honest, very sweet-hearted, and well-mannered."

"She must have had a very fortunate upbringing."

"With parents who may have worked for Cruxis?"

"Let's not be so hasty Raine. Even after the fall of Cruxis, I feel that we have not yet even begun to scratch the surface of their organization. There is most certainly more to this than meets the eye. After all, have you noticed her ears?"

"Her ears?" Raine shook her head. "I haven't really paid attention to tell you the truth since her hair was always covering her ears. Seeing as how she is an angel with real wings, I could only assume that they are pointed, since angels are nothing more than evolved half-elves."

"Her ears were not pointed Raine."

Raine blinked. "W-what?"

"I caught a glimpse of them while we were relaxing after dinner. Her ears are just as round as my own."

Raine shook her head again. "That can't be. All half-elves have pointed ears."

"Which leads me to believe that there may be such a thing as real angels."

"Real angels? What do you mean?"

Regal closed his eyes. "I mean the kind of angels that we used to hear about in fairy tales; not the half-elves who tried to become like them."

Raine sighed. "This is a lot to take in. There are so many things to consider."

"Agreed. There are still many questions left unanswered. Perhaps we may come across some of the answers on our journey. For now, we should try to get some rest. Myra's grandmother has informed me that she has a guest room prepared for you at the end of the hall."

"What about you?"

Regal grinned. "I'll be sleeping on the couch. It's more than I need."

Raine was going to argue with him but decided against it. "All right. Thank you Regal."

"Then I shall bid you "good night" Raine." With that, Regal gave Raine a slight bow and began to walk back towards the living room.

Raine turned around to walk towards her room but only took a few steps before she stopped and turned around.

"Do you like Mr. Regal?"

"Regal?" said Raine.

"I have a feeling that you consider her to be more than just a friend."

He turned to face her. "Yes Raine?"

Raine hesitated and shook her head. "No, it's nothing."

"I see. Good night Raine."

"Good night Regal." She watched as he turned the corner to the living room and sighed.

"Lady Raine likes Mr. Regal!"

"I'm sorry Myra," said Raine to herself. She opened the door to her room and took one last look down the hall. "Not yet." She closed the door behind her and prepared herself for bed.

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And chapter 5 is done! A tiny bit short at 2,000 words, but I hope y'all liked it all the same. So how about that? Little Myra doesn't have pointy-ears, meaning she can't be a half-elf… right? What lies in wait for our heroes tomorrow? Will they have to part ways with Myra so they can continue their journey? Maybe she's gonna tag along, but why would she leave her grandma? So many questions. What better time than now to end the chapter, heh. Anyway, thanks for any and all reviews! Be on the lookout for story number 2 of MoS: "What if Raine knew how to cook?", coming soon to a fan-listing near you!