YAY! A 'three chapter' update! Again, author notes for every chapter...lol, suck it up. I really should go to bed because it's 3am now and I have to be at work at 8:40ish tomorrow, but I wanted these posted. Also, these chapters are relatively short in my "Remembering Rachel Standards," but oh well. They would've dragged if they were any longer.

This chapter has been changed around quite a bit and I'm thankful for that. I actually had a TOTALLY different idea for the direction that this chapter was going to go in...but it would've made me cringe forever and ever. Therefore, I just kinda left you with more questions. I PROMISE that ALL ends will be tied up soon. Like I said when I started to write this fic, this is the most tangled plotline I have EVER written and that's why I had to write most of the fic before I started to post it. (Meaning, stuff from this chapter is mentioned in chapters 31, 33, 34, 35, 35, and 42--which is the epilogue. A few things are pointless but most of it is pretty damn crucial) I like the way this chapter turned out...but it took a while to put it all together and make it work. I had the idea for parts of this chapter in English/Math during the school year (and note: I've been out of school for two months) and I finished it about a week ago. That proves how long the skeleton has been on my computer. I finalized it tonight, so yay.

25. Solitude

"So, I just thought that you should know that bets have been placed throughout half the guys of Quantz over the question if you are going to ever leave your room or not." Locke didn't even flinch from his spot when he heard Xane speak from his doorway. He was lying on his bed on his back with one hand resting on his stomach and the other reaching out for the clear bottle that was on the bedside table next to him. Not taking his eyes off the ceiling, he blindly felt for the liquor and sighed when his hand found it. "Hmm, okay. If that isn't fascinating enough for you, the other half of the guys know you'll leave eventually, but they have placed bets on how long it's going to take for you to leave your room. I have about 75 gold pieces on today, so you better get a move on so I can rake in some cash."

"Very fascinating," Locke drawled sarcastically as he took a drink from the bottle, still not looking at Xane. "However, you're not going to win your bet. Sorry to inform you of that."

Xane exhaled and leaned against the doorframe, disappointed that he wasn't able to have Locke even crack a smile at his joke. "Locke, come on. You've locked yourself in your bedroom for the last two days and haven't even thought to step out and make sure that everyone else is still alive. For all you know, Quantz could've packed up and moved to a different location."

"I'm sure someone would've told me about it," he replied simply as he put the bottle back down and placed his hand under his head. "I just need some time alone that's all."

"You've been alone for two days already! Damn, how much more time do you need?" Xane asked as he shook his head. "You're beyond pathetic, man. Hell, you're almost at hermit level at this point."

"Not yet," Locke stated with a shrug. "Sounds like a new goal though. Thanks, Xane."

Xane scoffed at Locke's attitude and stood up straight again. "Okay, that's enough. Come on, get up."

Locke shut his eyes for a second as he felt the effect of the alcohol on him. "There isn't a decent reason for me to do so. Besides, it's not like I'm not doing anything bothersome, I'm just thinking."

"You couldn't have picked a better spot to contemplate?" Xane questioned as he shook his head. "You had to lock yourself up for two days? Knowing that your door was shut and no sounds could be heard from outside hasn't been the most comforting thing to me or anyone else. We've all been worried about you."

"Well, the world is spinning, so that's kind of comforting to me." Even though Locke was attempting at humor, his face remained exanimate. Instead, he picked up the bottle and held it up, almost like a toast toward Xane.

"Yeah, I can see that you've taken up drinking." Xane moved his gaze to the collection of empty bottles that were sitting on the floor next to Locke's bed. "I never knew you drank. Where did you get all the booze from?"

"I don't drink," Locke clarified as he took another sip from the bottle, causing Xane to roll his eyes. "I just need something to take my mind off of Rachel. Nothing else seemed to help, so I decided to go along another path."

With a sigh, Xane walked over to Locke, grabbed the bottle out of his hand, and walked over to the window. "All right, that's it. I don't think you need any more of this period of drunken solitude."

"Hey!" Locke cried out as he watched Xane open the window and throw the bottle to the ground. He winced as he heard the bottle smash, then scowled at the older man. "You bastard."

Xane shut the window and pointed back to Locke as he spoke. "Believe me when I say that drinking won't take back the past. Believe me, I know. Rachel would have a damn heart attack if she saw you like this. You're a fucking mess. Seriously, think of how she would want you to react. She would want you to be yourself and go out on a hunt! Or at least leave your room and walk down the hall."

"I feel like shit, Xane," Locke said as he slowly sat up. He was dizzy from the drinking, so he had to make sure that he wasn't going to fall right back down. "I really don't feel like doing anything right now."

"You probably feel like shit from drinking for two days. Knowing that you don't have a tolerance, I have no idea how you've managed to keep it all down." Locke shrugged as he put his hand against his forehead to stop the room from spinning. "Now that I stopped you from drinking, the hangover will begin soon. You should consider getting a glass of water."

"Maybe you should consider leaving me the hell alone," he spat out with a sigh. "I really do appreciate you trying to cheer me up, but like I said; I don't feel like dealing with anyone. Brooding sounds like a world of fun right now."

"I'm not going to let you do that, so since you are drinking already, how about continuing it at the café?" Locke looked up at Xane and gave him a look of disbelief. "What's the look for?"

After a few minutes of staring, Locke let out a huff. "Are you nuts?"

"No, I'm completely serious. I just destroyed your last bottle of booze and you look like you want more, so I'm giving you a reason to leave your room. We'll go to Jidoor, even though it's more of a walk, but some of the guys and I figured it would be better for you that way. I'm kind of assuming that Kohlingen isn't going to be the best place for you right now." Locke made a face at Xane as he put one of his hands on his chin, not liking the scruff feeling from his facial hair. He grimaced from the touch, then put his hand back down.

"I'm glad that you have this all planned out," Locke stated as he listened to Xane.

"Like I said, you've kind of been the talk of Quantz," Xane replied with a slight raise of his shoulders. "It's not like you to just stay in your room and not do anything. Everyone knows that you get restless if you don't have assignments lining up. If you don't have something thrown at you, you're knocking on Vaughn's door practically begging him to give you something to do."

"I don't know if I feel like going anywhere," he repeated as he ran his hand through his hair. "I need to shower, shave…and damn, I need a new bandana too."

"Well, do the first two things, then we'll buy your bandana as an excuse to get out," Xane suggested as he walked closer to Locke's bed. "It's nice to see that you've copied my look. You should pay me royalties or something." When he saw that Locke wasn't amused, he shrugged and continued. "While we're out, we'll stop at the café. Who knows, maybe playing a few rounds of poker will make you feel better. You do know how to play, right?"

"Poker? Of course I know how to play," he replied, insulted that Xane would even ask him that question. "I just don't feel like playing right now."

"Brooding isn't going to bring back her memory," Xane informed Locke with a pat on the back. Locke groaned when Xane's hand met his back, the dizziness only increasing. "Come on! She'll be fine, but just give her some time. You never know, her memory might come back on its own."

"Xane, we were engaged," Locke mentioned as he stood up and faced the wall. He scoffed as he put his hands into his back pockets.

"You…You proposed?" He asked as he furrowed his forehead. "I knew that you were thinking about doing it on her birthday, but since her birthday was awhile ago, I figured you just changed your mind."

"No, it was more or less that I didn't want it to be predictable, so I waited until it was closer to springtime. I know she likes spring," he explained with a quiet chuckle.

Xane raised his eyebrows for lack of anything to say. "Locke. Stop this. You need to. Let me put a twist on the situation for a second: What if you lost your memory instead of her? Would you want her mourning over you or would you want her to move on with her life?"

Locke sighed and slowly turned around to Xane, revealing his tired eyes and disheveled appearance. "You're right. Maybe doing something…anything…will get my mind off of her for three seconds."

"That's what you need right now," Xane added with an empathetic nod. "Like I said, it's what she'd want you to do."

"All right," Locke said with a half smile as he looked down at his clothing. "First of all, let me shower and get the hell out of these clothes, then I'll go down to your room so we can leave."

"Even if that is the alcohol talking; that's the spirit!" Xane cried as he gave Locke a pat on the back. "All right, let me tell the other guys that we'll leave in about an hour!"

"Jidoor though, right?" Locked asked, making sure that he wasn't going to have to go to Kohlingen again. Xane nodded and Locke exhaled. "Thank you. I have a feeling that if I go to…you know…I'd run into her and I can't afford to go catatonic."

"Works for me!" Xane started to walk out of the doorway, then turned around to Locke again. "You'll thank me later, man."

"I figure," Locke admitted with a shrug as he started to gather up some clothing.

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"I win again!" Locke exclaimed as he grabbed all the gold that was on the center of the table. Xane, Ben, and Virga—two other men from Quantz—groaned and handed their cards to Xane, who was the next dealer.

"And you didn't want to come along?" Xane asked as he watched Locke's smile grow with every gold piece he touched.

"Damn, I'm glad I did!" He responded as he threw in some coins to start up a new hand. "I'm taking all your gold!"

"Just don't spend it on more alcohol," Virga quipped as he took a sip from the mug that was in front of him.

"Ha ha, very funny," Locke retorted, trying to sound amused. He figured he had drank enough over the last few days, so instead of ordering liquor like the other men did, he simply ordered water to flush all the alcohol out of his system. Knowing he was still buzzed, he didn't want a hangover when that feeling ended. "I was actually thinking about going to the Auction House after this to see what they had up for sale."

"Ya know, I heard that the starting prices were very unreasonable," Ben stated as Locke fixed his new bandana around his head.

"It's an Auction House," Locke said with a chuckle. "Of course the prices are going to be unreasonable. However, look at all the gold I've taken from you three! I should be able to buy something worthwhile."

"How about spending it on them?" Everyone looked in the direction of where Ben pointed; at the dancers that were exotically dancing on the stage. Locke looked at them closely and had to admit that they were very beautiful, and he even caught himself staring. "Every time I come here, the dancers just dress more and more provocatively. I love it!"

"Eh, they're not bad," Locke said with a shrug, then motioned for Xane to deal out the cards. The last thing I need is to think about women…"Come on, let's get another hand started."

Xane shuffled the cards in his hands then stopped and placed them in a neat pile in front of him. "Here's a fun little idea to spice things up a little bit. Let's change the stakes."

"You always do this and it never ends out well," Virga said, making a face toward Xane. "The last time you said to 'change the stakes,' it ended up with Vaughn practically being lit on fire."

"It wasn't my fault that he was careless," Xane replied as he thought of what happened.

"Whoa, why was Vaughn almost lit on fire?" Locke asked, quite intrigued. Xane put his hand to his forehead and the two other men chuckled. "Okay, now I'm really interested. I don't care who tells me, I just wanna hear it."

"Well," Ben began to say, looking over at Xane. "Vaughn decided to have a little challenge with Xane just for the hell of it."

"It started as a treasure hunting challenge," Virga clarified, still laughing. "However, this bastard over here thought it was a good idea to 'change the stakes' and make it a fighting challenge."

"He told me not to hold back, and I didn't. Of course, that meant that I could use all the magic that I wanted…and I did." Xane picked the cards back up and started to deal them out. "It was entertaining to see him swear at me because I singed his favorite jacket."

Locke shook his head in amusement as he looked at the cards in his hands. "Yeah, I can definitely picture that. I just wish that I was there when it happened."

"It will forever go down in Quantz history," Ben said, looking over at Xane to see the proud look on his face. "Anyway man, what do you want the stakes to be now?"

"Winner has to—" Xane froze as he saw the door to the café fly open. "Oh shit."

Locke turned around to see what caused his friend's action and saw several Imperial soldiers walk in and saunter over to the bar. They loudly ordered their drinks and pushed people out of the way so they would be able to sit down. He felt the cards being ripped from his hands and he faced Xane again. "Hey!"

Ignoring Locke, Xane quickly gathered up the cards then leaned in closer to the table. "We need to get out of here before trouble starts."

"It's just a couple of soldiers, Xane," Locke stated, pointing in the direction of them. "Just ignore them and deal out the cards. Even if they want to put up a fight, we'll kick their asses. It's not the end of the world."

"It's getting late anyway," Xane replied, standing up. "I had to get up early for a hunt this morning, so I'm exhausted as it is. Come on, let's go."

Reluctantly and confused, Locke stood up. He and the other two men started to follow Xane, but as they were passing the soldiers, one of them grabbed Xane by the arm to stop him. "Hey, you!" He bellowed as he got a closer look at Xane. Locke and the other two men exchanged looks as Xane clenched his teeth.

"Yes?" Xane politely asked, his hand traveling to the sword by his side. "What can I do for you?"

Without taking his hand off of Xane, the soldier stood up and narrowed his eyes at him. He brought his free hand to his chin and as he slightly tilted his head up, he muttered, "Do I know you? You look vaguely familiar."

"I get that a lot," Xane retorted and broke free of the soldier's grasp. "Have a nice day."

Without another word, Xane stormed past the soldiers, the other three men not far behind. "What the hell was that all about?" Locke asked as he caught up to Xane.

"Not a damn clue," Xane replied with a shake of his head. "He must've mistaken me for someone else or something. Let's just get back to the hideout before it gets too dark."

Locke nodded and observed the way Xane was walking. His arms were crossed across his chest, hands tightly clenched together, jaw firmly set, and eyes looked straight ahead. Locke looked at the other two men out of the corner of his eye and they simply shrugged. What's going on? Locke asked himself, unable to help the uneasy feeling that was growing within him.