Okay, here's the next chapter for this story. I hope that some of my writer's block goes away eventually. I have no problem with the ending of this story, but this part is pretty bad for me. Sorry... anyway, here's the next chapter. I hope that you like it.

Chapter 4: A Bond Formed

Storm went back outside after her talk with her father. There was someone that she wanted to talk to more than anyone. She was looking around all over the village for the person that Kratos had told her was completely worthy of her trust. Soon, she found exactly who she was looking for. Sutra was practicing her archery near a small grove of trees. She had marked some spots on the trees and was trying to practice on her aim. Storm watched as the young girl pulled back on her bow and released her arrow, easily hitting the target in front of her.

Storm watched her, wondering if she was truly worthy of being trusted. After all, it was her fault that Anna had been captured and that Mithos had been revived. It was because of her that everyone in the group was unsure of her once again and that she was on the edge of losing everyone that she cared about. But, there was something in Storm that made her want to give her a chance to redeem herself.

Storm carefully walked up to the archer and looked at her. Sutra turned to look at Storm, surprised that she was out once again and that she coming to her. Sutra put her bow away as she looked at Storm, wondering what she was going to say to her. Sutra wasn't quite sure if Storm had completely forgiven her for what she'd done, and she couldn't blame her if she didn't.

"Is it true? Did you really leave Cruxis?" Storm asked, almost desperately.

"Yes...I couldn't stand what Mithos was doing. He wasn't who I thought he'd be," Sutra explained herself. Could Storm really forgive her?

"The Mithos you were looking for died a long time ago," Storm told her sadly as she moved her eyes to the ground to hide the pain of losing her past guardian.

"The stories are true then...," Sutra whispered, "it's all just in the past," she finished as she looked at Storm sadly.

"Sutra?" Storm asked as she averted her gaze to the half-elf.

"Yes?" Sutra asked. She knew what was coming, and she couldn't be upset when Storm finally let out how upset she was with her.

"I'm sorry...," Storm finally let out.

"What!" Sutra replied, shocked at the reply she was getting. She definitely wasn't expecting any sort of apology, except from herself. She didn't even know what Storm had to apologize to her about. "What are you talking about?" she asked.

"I'm sorry that I thought that you were an evil person. You weren't...I was," she told her.

"No, you aren't evil. Those things that you thought were all because of Mithos and that Derris Emblem. Anyone could have been tricked by that," Sutra protested.

"Yes, but how many people would react with rage and allow it to take them over. Sutra...I appreciate you trying to make me feel better, but you can't fight the fact that I must be evil for responding that way," Storm told her. "And the worst part is...I can still feel the rage in my heart," Storm finished.

Sutra looked at her, unbelieving, as she thought about what she had said. There was no way that she could think of Storm as being evil. She kept thinking in her mind that it had to be some of her rage left over from before. Without any extra help from Mithos, Storm would be able to control it and eventually get ris of it completely.

"Storm, you can believe what you want, but I can't agree with you," Sutra replied stubbornly, letting Storm know that she was serious about her statement.

Storm sighed before looking at the tree that Sutra had been practicing on. She looked back to Sutra and smiled at her. "So, how do you manage to get such good aim with that thing?" she asked.

"It's the same as you with a sword, I can't believe how good your whole family is with them," Sutra replied.

"You think so?" Storm asked.

"Well, try hitting that target by throwing your sword at it," Sutra challenged her.

Storm took her sword out of its sheath as she held it above her waist, looking at the tree. She pulled her sword back before throwing it directly at the tree. The sword hit it's target perfectly, slicing Sutra's arrow in half while hitting the same target.

"See?" Sutra asked, raising an eyebrow and trying not to laugh.

Storm smirked at Sutra before walking up and pulling her sword out. When she went to pull it out, her sleeve as suddenly pinned to the tree by one of Sutra's arrows. Storm looked back and saw Sutra grinning badly at her.

"Like with that sword, practice makes perfect," Sutra chuckled before going to help Storm off the tree.

Storm walked over to where her father was standing. He was looking out towards the entrance of the city. She walked up beside him and followed his stare trying to figure out what he was looking for. Finally, Kratos decided to find out what she wanted. He looked over at her.

"Is there something that you needed?" he asked her quietly.

"Where is Yuan?" she asked. Kratos looked at her, shocked that she wasn't looking for Zelos first.

"Why aren't you looking for Zelos?" he asked her.

Storm thought back to what Zelos had said to her on Derris Kharlan. He had been pretty upset and he didn't want to be with her ever again. Maybe she could at least convince Yuan that he wouldn't have to wait anymore. She was too afraid to talk to Zelos, she didn't want to see him angry again.

"No reason, but I'll talk to him later," Storm lied.

"Well, Yuan just went out of the village for awhile to think about what we need to do next," Kratos told her.

"I'm going to go find him," she warned her father before walking out of the village, half-expecting him to go after her. Kratos; however, didn't attempt to stop her as she went after Yuan.

After wandering around outside of the village for awhile, Storm finally saw the image of Yuan in the distance. He was sitting underneath a tree, apparently lost in thought. She quietly walked up to the tree and sat underneath the opposite side of it. She let out a loud sigh as she looked to the sky. Yuan turned around, peeking his head around the tree to see Storm sitting by him.

"What are you doing outside the village Storm?" Yuan asked her softly.

"I was looking for you," she replied as looked over at him. "Will you forgive me for making you wait so long?" she asked him, looking at him, her eyes pleading him.

"Making me wait for what?" he asked cautiously, not quite knowing what subject she was talking about.

"For us to be together. I know that you've decided to stop waiting, but I need you back again," she begged him.

"When did I say that I was done waiting? I'll wait until you're ready, you know that," he told her. "Don't tell me that you let Mithos make you believe that I would stop loving you," Yuan said, shaking his head.

"Well...it just seemed so real. You're telling me that you never said that?" she asked him.

"Of course not," he told her, chuckling a little bit. His attitude made her feel so much better, and she began to question everything she had seen even more. Was any of it real at all?

"Will you be with me now? No more waiting anymore," she asked him.

"What about Zelos?" he asked her.

"He still seems so upset, he won't even look at me. Besides...he said that he didn't wan to be with me anymore...I'm afraid to even talk to him. So, what do you say Yuan?" she explained to him before scooting next to him.

Yuan looked down at Storm. He wanted so badly to tell her yes, to take her away from Heimdall to be with her for the rest of his long, long life, but he knew that he couldn't. He didn't deserve her as much as Zelos did, and he knew that they both still loved each other. They were both just too afraid to talk to each other. He would have to wait to see what happened after they finally talked.

"I'm sorry Storm, but you need to really talk to Zelos. I won't stop waiting, but I know that Zelos wouldn't give up on you that easily," he told her.

"I can't talk to him...please Yuan...I want to be with you," Storm told him before crawling on his lap and placing her head on his chest. Yuan gently wrapped his arms around her. He hated the pain that she was going through and he really wanted to teat Mithos apart for it.

"Storm, I'll keep waiting, but we can't be together yet. Go and talk to Zelos," he told her before letting her go. Storm couldn't believe what he was saying, he wanted her to go and talk to Zelos. There was no way that she would do that. She just had to be on her own.

Storm got up and walked back to the village sadly, trying to decide what to do next.

Well, that's it for this chapter. Don't worry, we're getting close to the action again. There are a few more chapters like this and I will hopefully be free of writer's block. Well, tell me what you thought and please review. Thanks for reading. Oh, and I should be able to reply to this chapter's reviews so bring them on.