Gallows sat still on his bed back in the sandcraft. Staring intently at the opposite wall of his room. A lonely room if he thought about it. He was the only one without a bunkmate. It would be usual for him to comment something along the lines of getting a girl in here and all that jazz, but he was not really up to that right now and no one was here for him to have to say such to anyway. His mind was just drawing blanks despite the fact he wants to think.

Virginia placed a platter of meat on the kitchen table as they all sat around it. Jet looked to an empty seat. "Where's that idiot at? To think his unending gut can't find it's way to dinner." He scoffs and begins to eat.

"That wasn't very nice you know." Virginia grimaced.

Jet looked to the other two at the table and saw signs that they agreed with her. He formed a fist. He was not in the mood for this. "Oh, so I'm the enemy here?" He shouts. "Look, I'm through with being pushed around! Do you hear me?" Too bad that gave them some confusion. They had been pushing him around? "I'm sick and tired of always being the bassoon!" He grumbled.

It was silent for the next few moments. "Uh…Jet," Virginia began. "The word is 'buffoon'."

He sat there silently. His teeth clenched and his fork nearly bent due to the pressure. "Beat again!" He takes his chair and his food with him into another room so as to avoid the embarrassment. Meanwhile the rest just laughed at him.

Then it faded. "Still…where is Gallows?" Clive continued.

"I don't know…I'm a bit worried." Emilia commented.

Clive let out a smile. Virginia opens her mouth. "Somebody has the-"

"Stop there." Emilia gave her a death glare. "I'm worried for the women he'll no doubt bother. He has a way of being annoying."

Clive gave a chuckle. "I wouldn't be worried about whatever he's doing. I'm sure he can handle it. He knows what to do."

"Let's hope so. We don't need a small Gallows running around anytime soon." Emilia grunted.

Still, night passed by and they went to bed, and Gallows still lied very much awake. Lying on his back and resting his head on folded arms. Staring at the ceiling. "Why…can't I figure it out?" He rolls on his side. "It can't be…that they hated me? No…there's no way that's the case. If I could only remember more…but I don't remember anything of that time." He sat there trying to remember his childhood as best he could, but nothing came up that would lead to an answer he wanted, and it just became him thinking about his past in a surreal fashion. Then he sat up as fast as a clap of lightning. "Wait…Why am I after the Twilight Elements? There has to be a reason to do that." He rubs his chin. "I want…to know about what the Hell is going on." He shakes his head. "No, I only wanted to know what they were about in the beginning." He nods his head. "I…want to stop that arsehole, Nobuo. To…make a future…and to help my friends. To keep them. To protect them if I can help at all. Emilia and Jet are so much better at fighting. Virginia has been making sure we've all been well. Clive is so damn smart for his own good. He always has an idea, or something that will help. Emilia can fix this ship. She has a way with machines. All I have is arcana."

"Isn't it that you want to keep your friends up, more than be alongside them."

"What are you doing here?"

"Couldn't sleep. Didn't hear your stupid snoring." Jet grins. "I don't know what you're thinking about. If it's about running away or something, but…I guess I'm an expert on finding reasons to stay rather than run." He scoffs. "Like I said. You were just stating what it is that the rest of us have that seem to have put you in the background recently. You play a bigger role than that. You're our jester, y'know. Do you think Virginia would be so cheerful if it was always serious around here? And like you said, you got your magic stuff. Do you know how many times that saves us?" Jet leans against the wall. "I'm not going to kick Nobuo's ass without you there. Who would I brag to when I win?"

"Is that all?"

"Nobuo…I can't help thinking that he is out to do something that isn't right on any scale. Something that's going to put not just us, but the whole planet on the line. Nothing new for us."

"Yeah?"

"So…we have to protect the future from the past. That's what I've come to understand. Someone…gave me that responsibility…I guess. I only took it because I'm tired of that jerk Nobuo, but…I'll be happy if in my own guilty desire to beat the snot of someone will also save the planet."

"What are you saying?"

"Don't run away. Who else would I have to fight with all the time?"

"Pheh. You stupid punk. I still remember how when I was talking with Mizu you punched me at least twice. That's happened more than once. You think I'd run without settling the score first?"

"Of course not. I didn't think you were running at all. At least not from us. You're running from something though. When you really should be chasing after it."

"What do you know?"

"I know why I'm doing what I do. I know why you're doing what you do."

"Oh?"

"I'm not going to say it. I'm just going to say that these goals are always some of the most important things a person can have. They are something no one can still." Jet looked serious. "I may have had no memories, but at least I could have goals. They're more important than anything even if all my goals were greedy and pointless. They were still goals." Jet turned back to the door. "There is always someone in the background who does more work than someone in the foreground. That never makes them any less important than the ones who are seen."

"What do you mean?"

"Just because everyone else has a noticeable action, doesn't mean that you have none at all." Jet exits the room just as quietly as he had been listening.

Gallows sat there in silence for a few moments. "At all costs I have to keep my friends up."

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A loud bang rang out many times upon the metal door of the sandcraft. The early rising sun floated slowly into the sky. A grumpy man answers the door. "Gallows?" Hyato rubbed his eyes.

"I must speak with my parents."

In enough time the group all sat around a table as the older adults sipped some much needed coffee. It was too early for this. Virgule gave his son a serious look. "I take it you understand?"

"Yes, because we share the same reason." Gallows replied quickly.

"We…left FOR you and your brother." Amigone began. "We didn't leave BECAUSE of you."

"I know that now." Gallows nodded. "You two love me just as much as I can you. Maybe even more. That is why I can finally stop thinking about you so much. I always have a bit in the back of my mind. Wondered what happened to you. If you really were dead. Now that I know…I don't have to have those nagging questions on my brain."

"So what will you do now?" Virgule questions.

"That's the easiest question of all. I will-"

"What's up, Gallows?" Emilia wondered as they were finishing up getting the ship ready to depart as the afternoon came about. The two standing about in the bridge. Gallows had just been looking out at the landscape with a stupid grin.

"Nothing."

"Where'd you go off to this morning? I thought I heard some racket from you." She wonders.

"I went…to find I've been wasting my time worrying about something I don't need to think about." Gallows looks to her. "I always knew, I just couldn't accept the terms."

She looks on puzzled. "I don't understand."

"I may look like an idiot sometimes…but I'm serious about protecting everyone. I will save you if you need me to. I have a new goal now." He laughs. "But…maybe I've always had it, and I just never knew it." She just smiles warmly in return and turns to staring the ship up.