A/N: Okay, let's try THIS idea instead. Same rules apply as to the old Christmas fic – this one, however, might not be finished on time. Here's hoping!

By the way, to get an idea of what I think Eiko and Amarant's relationship is like, you might want to read "Big Softie." I just posted it, so it should be around here, somewhere...

And sorry, but I don't think Amarant's getting out of this unslashed- I mean, unscathed... um... or do I?

Amarant, despite the rumors, has a steady home where he knows he can always go if he needs to get out of Treno fast.

It's small, and not exactly the best place for him, since it's in the middle of a forest and getting there involves lots of ducking and going through beast hunting grounds, but it's well worth it because it's so secluded. He only let it's location be known to two people in the entire world – Lani, and a moogle who had hunted him down to deliver a letter to him from Zidane. The letter had been an invite to a fancy holiday party in Lindblum, and though the paper was nice and the ink looked pretty expensive, it was written all very loosely, as if Zidane had known the answer already. He had sent back the affirmative, "No, you stupid monkey, I don't do holidays, go away."

Either way, his home is probably the least visited place in Gaia, and he likes it that way.

So, he is suitably surprised when, two days before Christmas eve, there is a knock on the door.

He pulls his claws on quickly and walks slowly to the door. "What?"

"Ne, Ama-chan!"

That voice! No, it can't be-

"Open up!"

It is. Dear god, it is.

"Go away!" he shouts, managing to slink to the side window and look outside. Oh, hell.

"Open your door or I'll blast it off!" the little, purple haired girl outside exclaims, waving a staff around and then hitting the door with it. He growls lowly and goes to the door, opening it just enough to look at her.

"What do you want, Eiko?"

She bats her eyes and looks up at him, "I want to come in! This is no way to treat a princess, oniichan! Let me in!"

"I'm not letting you in because then you'll never leave. And you're annoying. And I hate you."

"You're just saying that," she waves a hand, and then ducks under his arm and enters his house. He growls and she hops up onto a chair, grinning at him.

"I'm going to kill Lani..."

"Who? Oh, no, she didn't tell me where you live," Eiko sticks out her tongue, "That old hag's scary!"

"Love to hear you say that around her."

"I got it from the moogle." She laughs, "You should have been a little more cautious, oniichan, he could have given me more if I had asked."

"Stop calling me that."

"Why aren't you coming to my holiday party?" she pouts, ignoring his request and crossing her arms over what looks to be a pretty expensive silk shirt. Actually, her pants look expensive too – it looks like her entire outfit is a hundred gil a stitch and he can tell she got it custom made. Her hair is much longer now and he forgets he met her four years ago. He forgets he's already thirty.

Curses.

"I don't do holidays," he grunts, closing the door and crossing his arms. "You should know that."

"I don't care – Freya's coming and she doesn't 'do' holidays either!"

"Remember, she thinks you're her friend."

"You don't?" the girl asks, eyes watering slightly.

"No."

"You're so mean, oniichan!" she cries, then adds in an exasperated tone, "And shouldn't you offer me a drink or something?"

"I don't have things little brats can drink," he tells her, and it's the truth. Other than heavy alcohol and some water, he doesn't have anything at all, and he's not about to dive into his water for the little runt.

"Ama-chan, please come?"

"No."

The girl sighs and looks down. "That's too bad... I was really wanting to see you."

"You're seeing me right now."

"...Zidane wanted to see you too," she adds, glancing at him slyly.

He blinks, "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing," she replies, "I was just saying."

"Eiko, you know that when you're 'just saying,' you're implying. I know that. Don't play games with me."

"I'm not playing any games!" the girl exclaims, eyes widening. She sighs and frowns, looking at her hands. "I don't have time for any games anymore."

Amarant sighs as well and sits down at the table, across from the little girl. "What's the problem?"

Eiko looks up at the bounty hunter and shrugs. "...I miss Madain Sari. I miss running around, picking pockets in Conde Petie, and playing with the moogles." He looks about to say something so she quickly adds, "It's not like I don't love being a princess, and having a family and stuff, I just..." She looks away, "I just wish I could switch between the two."

"Why don't you take a leaf out of Zidane's book and just go with it? He seems to have settled pretty easily."

Eiko blinks, and then laughs, kind of unhappily. "Yeah, that's what you think."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

The girl shakes her head, and grins, "Nothing. Come on, oniichan, please come to my party? You can even bring Lani," she sighs, "If you really want."

"I wouldn't do that to her," he smirks, sitting back, "But..."

"But?" she repeats, eyes widening.

"...But, I guess you're just not going to leave until I do."

"That's right!"

"...Then I guess," he sighs, standing up, "I have to go, don't I?"

"Yes!" she exclaims, jumping up and grabbing his unclawed hand, "Okay, we can make it to Lindblum double time – the airship's just outside the forest; couldn't you pick a better place to live?"

"There's a reason why I live here," he sighs, and reaches over, grabbing his coin bag, latching it onto his belt in a quick, easy stroke. He knows as well as Eiko does that now he's in her hands and there's shit he can do about it – for all her joking, calling him "oniichan" and being so rough with him (as rough as a child can be to a bounty hunter of thirty), she really does consider him a kind of older brother figure, and he kind of really does consider her a younger sister.

Well, as much as he can, considering he hasn't seen her in so long.

"Ne, oniichan, you can't stay away this long anymore. Look at you – you're all scraggly! The first thing you need is a shave, what are you, a bear?"

Amarant rubs his beard and decides that it is a little shaggier than he'd like.

"And you need to keep better care of your hair. It looks all oily! Why don't you take it out of those dreadlocks? You would look so cute with long, straight hair!"

"I'm not wearing my hear down just because you'd think it'd look cute. Dreadlocks are easier to take care of."

He ducks under a branch that Eiko can walk through and sighs, grabbing a lock and feeling it. She's right, they are kind of dirty. It's been a few weeks since he's washed, really.

"And you need a bath!"

"What am I, a dog?"

"Well, if you would just wash and keep yourself neat, maybe you wouldn't be such a bad bounty hunter!"

"I'm not a bad bounty hunter!" the redhead exclaims.

"That's not what I hear! How many people have you taken in, in the name of justice, lately!"

"Justice? I just want the money."

"How many? I talked to Mr. Gilgamesh before I came to see you and he said-"

"You talk to thieves, do you?"

"I talk to Zidane!"

"He's not a thief anymore," Amarant drawls, "Remember? He's a consort to the Queen."

Eiko shrugs, "That's what you think."

"Stop being so enigmatic!"

The little girl laughs and jumps over a log that he can step over easily, pulling him forward, "Come on, you're so slow!"

"I seem to remember you being the slow one," Amarant says, but he picks up the pace nonetheless and feels a little... tame. He feels like he should be in a children's book or something, following Eiko, who isn't a princess (even if she calls herself one) but pretends to be, and playing big-brother to her.

They reach the edge of the forest and find a nice little airship waiting for them, not the Hilde Garde but still quite elegant. Amarant feels out of place walking on board with the little girl tugging at his arm but the shipmates all send him sympathetic looks, so he doesn't feel so bad. Apparently everyone gets the treatment.

They enter the navigation room, and Eiko shouts, "Alright! We've got what we've come for, let's go home!"

The captain looks up and blinks at Amarant, "What...?"

"Hey! Phillip, I said we could go home now!" the girl repeats, letting go of Amarant and crossing her arms, "And do we have any tea in the galley? I feel like some tea."

"I'll go make you some, milady," one of the shipmates says.

She waves a hand, "Don't bother, I can make it myself. Just because I'm ten doesn't mean I don't know what I'm doing! Now, get this thing in the air and let's get going, okay?"

"Yes, ma'am," Phillip says, rolling his eyes slightly but sending out commands nonetheless.

The girl pulls Amarant through the ship and to the galley, going into the kitchen-area and telling him, "Take a seat, do you want some tea?"

"No," he drawls, sitting down. "Eiko, shouldn't you let your servants do that? Isn't that what you princesses do?"

"I'm not a princess right now," she responds easily, "I'm just Eiko."

"Why don't you stop being such a brat and tell me what you mean about Zidane?"

"Why do you care?" the girl asks, looking over the counter at him as she puts the water to boil, "It's just Zidane."

"I'm taking the bait, runt. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth."

The girl hops over the counter and comes to sit across from Amarant, crossing her arms and leaning forward. "Do you really want to know? Because he told me a lot of stuff in complete con...confid..."

"Confidentiality?" Amarant supplies, smirking. She can act as smart as she wants, but she's still just a kid.

"Yeah, that. But I can tell you that he's not what he's letting himself be read as. No," she sighs, "He's not happy at all. It's a shame, really. If I had known earlier, I might have tried to talk to Garnet about it, but now I'm just too busy to do much of anything."

"Not happy?" Amarant asks, raising an eyebrow, "How can that fool not be happy?"

"I'm not completely happy, either. I think that I can handle it, but... You know, Zidane wasn't born for royalty. He's always been a thief, still plays thief, and probably will always be a thief. Oniichan, don't you think that maybe he shouldn't... be there? In Alexandria?"

"What, do you want him to stay in Lindblum with you?" Eiko glares at him halfheartedly, "Besides, isn't the little monkey practically engaged to the Queen?"

"All but," the girl sighs, "It's... I don't think Zidane's happy. At least, not as happy as he thought he'd be. Garnet's a great queen and a nice person, but I think that she's a little more preoccupied with politics than she should be. I think... I don't think Zidane's so much in love with her, now."

The kettle whistles and the girl goes back to the counter. After a moment, she comes back with two cups of tea – even though Amarant declined.

"What do you think?" she asks, setting the tea down in front of him, along with a thing of cream and sugar.

"You sound like a gossiper."

"No!" she exclaims, "This is a valuable information session. Besides, Ama-chan, don't you want to make Zidane happy?"

"Why would I want him to be happy while the rest of us are miserable?" he asks, and she grins.

"Why, because he saved your life! And besides..." She shrugs, trailing off.

"It's to be expected," he sighs, "He's only twenty. He wasted four years on a girl, of course he's growing restless."

"Wasted? Why would you say that?"

"All women are a waste of time," he drawls, "Just look at Lani."

"I thought you were dating Lani?"

"Waste of time. Besides, the woman can't keep a steady lover for more than a few days. She gets tired quick."

Eiko sighs. "I wonder... Ne, oniichan, would you date Zidane?"

Amarant had let his guard down. He has the cup of tea half to his lips when the question is asked, and he nearly scalds himself when he drops the cup, eyes widening.

"What?"

"Well," the girl continues, ignoring his spilt tea, "If you think women are a waste of time, the only logical path would be that you like men. And if you like men, maybe you'd date Zidane."

"You are one of the most skewed little brats I've ever heard."

"You haven't answered my question," Eiko responds easily, smirking.

"I don't like men," Amarant growls, "And no, I wouldn't. He's a stupid, foolish monkey."

"With nice hair, and a pretty smile, and expressive eyes," the girl sighs, reverting for a moment back into her old fangirl mode. "And he's sweet, and charismatic and just and mysterious and funny and-"

"And twice your age."

"And only ten years younger than you."

Amarant's catching on faster than Eiko probably wants, and he crosses his arms. "You are not..."

"...Not what?" the girl asks, batting her eyelashes.

"You're not trying to hook me up with Zidane."

"...Of course not!" the girl exclaims, before frowning, "Is it not working?"

"I don't like men, and I don't date anyone," he growls, "And if you keep trying to invade my personal life, I'm not going to stay very long in Lindblum."

"Oh, you don't have a choice. Once you get to the castle, Freya and Zidane won't let you leave."

"Oh, now you're going to try and pair me up with the rat?"

"No," she waves a hand, "Freya's actually pretty content with that Fratley guy. Sorry, Ama-chan, I'm only focusing on Zidane."

"You want him to suffer so much as to try and pair us up, huh?"

Eiko blinks, and puts her empty teacup down, folding her hands on the table. "No, of course not. I only want Zidane to be happy. After all, we're in the same boat, you know?" She giggles, "Two lowly peasants suddenly risen to royalty!"

"I don't think that's proper grammar."

"Like you care."

"Either way," Amarant rolls his eyes, "Zidane isn't someone you can pair up with people, Eiko. Stop trying. He's with Garnet, and you shouldn't be looking to get him in trouble with her."

Eiko shakes her head, but can't respond, because a shipmate comes in and announces that they'll be in Lindblum by the end of the hour. "Thank you," she says, smiling at him, and Amarant realizes how refined the girl's become. He figured she'd be more likely to leap into mud puddles and steal apples off of carts, rather than sit with her back straight and her hands folded, thanking someone like Garnet would.

"What are you looking at?" Eiko asks, blinking, and Amarant catches himself and looks around the galley.

"Nothing. This ship goes pretty fast."

"My f-father is really good with ships, isn't he? This is his third after the Hilde Garde." She looks up to the ceiling, "Do you think I'm different, oniichan?"

The girl's a reader, alright. "...No," he decides, "You act different, but you're still the same, nosy brat from Madain Sari. Fancy clothes or not."

She grins at him, and then gets up. "Come on, I'll show you the engine room! It's really loud and neat!"

He rolls his eyes but follows the girl nonetheless.

He might be Amarant fucking Coral, but it doesn't mean he can't be soft on a little girl – just this one.

Next Chapter Soon.