A/N: Yes… I'm aware that the last scene in the previous chapter was a bit corny… I was never good at adding a hint of fluff. Isn't my style, I guess. Anyway, this chapter shouldn't have any of that in it.

By the way, if you had a question in your review that you wanted me to answer, I have probably answered it on my profile page thingy. If it's not answered and you wish it to be answered say "Healist! If you don't answer my question, I'ma send the LARD ORCS after you!" That, my friend, will promptly get your question answered. Anyway… 'nuff rambling and more story writing.

Step Four… part B

Phoenix, like your average clueless guy, was not capable of complex thought processes. His simply guy mind had the ability to do one step at a time… and not much more than that. Because of this, Phoenix was unable to come up with multiple-step plans/ideas that would earn him Jullianne's trust and respect. There was only one idea that he could grasp, as it was rather simple.

Master all your abilities.

And so Phoenix worked overtime. He FOUND time to do those three-man engagements Dave had allowed him to do as a joke. He BOUGHT bows the clan didn't have so he could master the rest of his abilities. He WORKED his butt off, gaining those needed AP points that he somehow believed would win him Jullianne's heart. He WAS past the point of just wanting to get the poor, confused Viera in bed… he wanted to give her happiness. He KNEW this altercation in him would also bring Yuwain and Mack back to his side. But most of all, he PRAYED that god (assuming there was a god looking over Ivalice) would help Jullianne have faith in his newfound integrity (although she didn't know it was new).

Once he had mastered most of the Hunter abilities, he switched back to Archer for a few battles to master some abilities he had missed. He figured Burial WOULD come in handy at some point in his career. He also mastered Boost, as he found himself with increasing frequency Waiting a turn because he wasn't in range of anyone. Boost would be a good ability to hit during these turns, so he mastered it.

Finally, after he mastered the Bow Combo, he could proudly sport his Archer: (that's supposed to be the mastery star oO) Badge. Once he had that, he went back to being a Hunter, finished mastering some moves he had overlooked (mainly Hunting and Addle). When he had mastered Auto-Regen and Hunt Combo, he also sported a Hunter: Badge. Grinning from ear to ear, he was SURE this would help him get a little respect from Julllianne.

The completion of these feats couldn't have come at a better time, since Dave had picked out a string of some pretty rough missions for the clan to undertake.

(Insert scene change here)

"Help! My daughter was captured by a band of vampires last night. I saw them do it! They're probably headed for Ulei River, since that's the nearest location that's been void of any activity lately. Please bring back my daughter!"

"… Sounds like fun. Well definitely be needing some White Mage action for this… you do have Curaga, right Jullianne?"

"Yup."

"And Phoenix has Burial, which is helpful."

"Jussst ssso you all know… I HAVE massstered Exorcccise…"

"Good point, Yuwain… since Christopher was never a White Monk, I'm not really familiar with Monk Tech abilities."

"Exorcccise OWNS undead creaturesss."

Dave gave the group a wide grin. "I think we've got this one in the chest already, ladies and gentlemen."

"To Ulei!"

(Insert scene change here)

"A little girl? Uhhh… nope. Don't know about one. Do you Fred?"

"Nope… haven't seen one lately, Bob."

"Right… We'll be on our ways now-"

"HEEEEELP!"

"Aw, nuts… just when we were about to leave. Well, I suppose we'll be needing to get rid of you sack of beans before we can escape, no won't we?"

"Too true, Fred."

"ENGAGE!"

Phoenix was already giving Advice to Dave, Yuwain was Waiting for the Vampires to get close enough for him to Exorcise them, and Jullianne was warming up a Curaga spell. Euphem the Elementalist, who had come along for her status ailment abilities (Status was recommended today), had already targeted a pair of Vamps for an aimed Fire Whip spell or two (Doublecast was a REAL handy spell for these tough jobs…). Dave was primed and ready to hit the nearest Vampire with a Backdraft. Mack, sitting in the back, was Hasting his friends and waiting to Stop a Vampire if it came too close. All six Vampires advanced on the party, casting Miasma when the opportunity to strike multiple targets arose (except for the two incapacitated by Euphem's spell). Most of the party members were poisoned, and Jullianne had to put off casting Curaga to free her friends of the poisoning. Yuwain, however, had successfully Exorcised one of the Vampires and Phoenix had given another a proper Burial. Dave had significantly reduced the hp of another while Mack had Stopped a fourth.

By the end of the third round, there was only one Vampire remaining on the field (all others were either Exorcised, Buried, or down for a few more rounds). Jullianne took care of him with a Curaga spell and the engagement was over. No sooner had they found and released the captured child than one of the KO'ed Vampires was revived by the 3-round rule, grabbed Jullianne, and disappeared with her.

"Hey! The engagement's over! That's not supposed to happen!"

Suddenly, seven more Vampires appeared, all eyeing the group maliciously.

"Stay down, little girl… we don't want to lose you. Apparently there were more Vampires than we thought."

Phoenix readied his bow and armed a Burial arrow.

"Ain't nuthin' I can't bury. Mack… Haste me, my brother."

"Roger that, kupo!"

And so the engagement resumed and Phoenix Buried Vampire after Vampire. However, for each one he Buried, another seemed to take its place.

"Thisss is getting nowhere!" Shouted Yuwain after he had exorcised his fifth Vampire.

"And we need to get Jullianne back, kupo!"

Suddenly, an idea formed in Phoenix's head.

"You guys keep working! Leave Jullianne to me!"

Euphem rolled her eyes. "Mr. Knight in Shining Armor off to save the Princess, eh? Don't worry about us! We won't get hopelessly outnumbered by non-stop Vampire appearances!"

"Oh, hush up! I'll be back before you know it!"

And so Phoenix leapt behind the Vampire ranks, Burying another as he passed. Still running farther and farther behind the Vampires, he figured the captor of Jullianne would make for a nearby alcove behind a waterfall that fed the river. More animals, not just Vampires, but Zombies and Antlions as well, were also running by, going towards the action. Phoenix Buried as many as he could while still making his way towards the alcove. He needed to act fast, or Mack and Euphem's MP would run out and then they'd REALLY be in trouble. Leaping through the waterfall, he kept running farther and farther in (the room was lighted by candles which, ironically enough, were installed during a dispatch mission Euphem had gone on a few months previously). He finally reached the back where he saw a good five or six Vampires circling a raised stone table with a body on it…

Jullianne's body.

From what he could see, her skin was deathly white, her eyes were closed, and her body limp.

'NO! She's NOT dead!'

Phoenix let out a roar of fury, and unleashed a barrage of Burials that were flying as fast as his Haste could allow him to fire them. Of course, this wasn't fast enough for some of the Vampires to react and start casting Miasma. Phoenix had dodged a few, but one had finally hit its mark and had poisoned him to boot. With this slight loss of concentration, a few more Vamps managed to hit him with Miasma. Phoenix gritted his teeth, ignored the poison, and continued his quest to Bury the Vampires. Finally, hacking and coughing from his deadly affliction, he stood atop the Burial site of the final Vampire. Choking and spitting, he made his way towards the table and shook Jullianne's shoulders.

"Wake up! You need to wake up!"

Curse him for not dabbling in White Magery and not learning Life!

"C'MON Jullianne! Wake up!"

Still no sign of movement from Jullianne.

Phoenix finally thought to check her pulse. Thankfully it was still beating, though rather faint and few. Phoenix's mind was racing as he thought of something he could do to revive her. He suddenly remembered he had a few items on the pouch belt strung across his chest.

Holy Waters? He tried it just incase she was Zombified or something… there was seemingly no effect.

Maidens Kiss? She wasn't a toad!

Potion? No effect… not even on the pulse.

Then, a feather slipped out of one of his pouches. Phoenix Down!

'DUH!'

And so he placed the feather of the sacred Phoenix on Jullianne's chest (he couldn't help but noticed how… well endowed Jullianne was), and watched as it seemed to melt into her system. There was temporarily an ethereal glow about her, a flash, and then her eyes flitted open!

Hacking, wheezing, and smiling, Phoenix gave her a HUGE hug. Her eyes bugged out.

"Gack! Can't… breathe…"

"Oh… sorry…" cough. "Umm… a little Esuna if you wouldn't mind?"

Jullianne smiled. "Gladly. And a Cura to top it off."

Once that was done, Phoenix grabbed her free hand and pulled her along as fast as she could keep up.

"Apparently there were more Vampires than we had expected. Not to mention I saw some Zombies and Antlions as I was running over here. We need to get back there… FAST."

"… I can see that."

Phoenix already had his bow armed with a Burial Arrow and let loose at the closest Vampire he could find. It missed, much to his dismay, and he armed another one, determined to take out that Vamp. This one struck and the Vampire was now 6 feet under with a gravestone and a few pretty flowers on top. Grinning at his handiwork, Phoenix continued on, Burying Zombies and Vampires alike while Jullianne was busy shanking Antlions with Last Breath (When she had changed to White Mage, she forgot to change her secondary jobset from Corner to Sharpshoot).

"Don't use MP on them yet! Find the group and heal them! They're probably near-dead from Poison and damage!"

"Right! I'm on it! Help me get through!" Jullianne started making a mad dash for the bridge crossing the Ulei. It was currently jam-packed with monsters. Phoenix unleashed a few quick Sonic Booms which helped scatter them and allow Jullianne passage.

"Not a moment too soon! Mack's down, and we need medical attention, FAST!"

"Working on it!" Jullianne first gave Life to Mack, who smiled and resumed Hasting and Stopping when he saw fit. Then everyone had their poison removed and were hit with Curaga shortly thereafter, which also hit some meleeing Vampires and killed them at the same time.

"Man, I love the area effect of Curaga…"

Dave sighed. "This is getting WAY too out of hand… I'm gonna summon a Totema. Now's as good a time to use my 10 JP as I'll ever get."

"I sssecond that motion…"

"I third it, kupo!"

"'I third it'? What'sss THAT supposed to mean?"

"Forget that, guys! Let's hit these Zombies with some Totema action!"

An appearance of Mateus, Famfrit, and Adremmelech quickly removed the swarm of Vampires, Zombies, and other nasties from the field.

"… let's get out of here before more of the freaks pop up."

"I sssecond that as well…"

"Third, kupo!"

"Mack… jussst keep your mouth ssshut…"

"Kupo…"

(Insert scene change here)

The group was back in Cyril where, upon the return of the captured daughter, they were bestowed with stacks upon stacks of cookies, much to the delight of everyone there… particularly Yuwain.

"CHOCOLATE! Exxxcellent!"

"Well, since I don't have that much gil that I could give you, I figured I'd treat you to a full load of my homemade Chocolate Chip cookies."

"Oh, thank you very much, ma'am."

"And in the future, stop by if you're in the neighborhood. My kitchen will always be open to you kind souls for rescuing my daughter from those nasty creatures!"

"We must admit, ma'am… it wasn't an easy task… quite hard for our standards, actually."

"Oh! Well, I'm terribly sorry for putting you through so much trouble, dears. But it's over and done with, now isn't it? All that matters is that my daughter is safely back in my arms!"

"And we have cookiesss…"

"Oh, put a sock in it, Yuwain."

"Well, I must make sure my daughter is all right from the encounter, so if you'll excuse me, dearies… have a good day to all of you, and don't forget to stop by later!" The door closed and they all began walking happily to the pub for their night's lodgings, while Yuwain munched happily on the cookies.

"YUWAIN!"

"Hwhut?"

"First of all… don't speak and chew at the same time… second of all… DON'T EAT ALL THE COOKIES, YOU DUMB BANGAA!"

Yuwain finished chewing the four cookies that were simultaneously tossed into his gaping maw and responded. "Firssst of all, usss Bangaa are not stupid. Sssecond of all, I can eat asss many cookiesss as I like, right Dave?"

"Wrong."

"WHAT!"

"We want some too, you know."

Jullianne giggled at this developing conversation/argument. Phoenix smirked.

"Did I just hear a giggle?"

Snerk. "Yes…"

"Wow… never thought I'd live to see the day that Jullianne the Sniper would giggle."

"What's this? Jullianne giggled?"

Snerk. "Now look what you've started, Phoenix!"

"Huh? I didn't start anything! It was YOUR giggling that caused me to make that comment."

"Who's giggling? Surely not Jullianne."

"Apparently, it IS Jullianne."

"Whoa…"

Jullianne sighed. "Oi… this can't turn out good."

"Mark your calendars!"

"Hide in the bomb shelters!"

"Write a book about it."

"JULLIANNE THE SNIPER HATH GIGGLED!"

"… do you really need to shout it?"

Heads started poking out of windows and doorways.

"What? THE Jullianne? Giggling?"

"Oh, dear lord… NOW look what you've started, Phoenix."

"I repeat, I didn't start anyth-"

"Yes you did, and you know it!"

(Insert scene change here)

After wading through a mass of curious people hoping to hear Jullianne giggle again, they managed to get the door shut to their room and Jullianne turned and glared at all of them.

"NEVER do that again…"

"Well… we kinda thought it amusing and…"

"… it kinda snowballed downhill from there…"

"KINDA!"

"Yeah… kinda…"

Jullianne sighed. "Fine… you're all off the hook this time… just deal with that crowd outside. I never knew I was so well-known for being a stern Sniper…"

Phoenix walked over to the door, cracked it open, said in a matter-of-fact tone, "Jullianne has left the building." And shut the door again.

He was greeted with odd looks from his fellow clanners.

"… Jullianne has left the building?"

Phoenix shrugged. "Hey… I picked it up from a concert I went to. Apparently the crowd wouldn't move until someone said something to that effect on the speakers."

"Ah…"

"Well guys, do whatever you please, now. Be it going downstairs and grabbing a drink, having dinner…"

"… Eating cookiesss."

"PUT A SOCK IN IT, YUWAIN."

"Fine… but that'sss what I'm doing… see you guys later." And he walked out with the platter of cookies.

Euphem immediately got up. "That plate of cookies ain't leavin' MY sight with Yuwain in command of them." And she followed shortly thereafter.

"I'm feeling in the mood for a drink, kupo."

"Same feeling here, kupo." And the two moogles left.

"I'm in the mood for… a salad." Nu mou gone.

"Ah, sssome cooked meat ssssounds good to me right about now… sssee you guysss later." And the second Bangaa left.

"I'm gonna agree with Chris on that one, bye." With that, Dave was gone, and Phoenix and Jullianne were the only two left in the room.

Phoenix had a funny feeling this was all planned out. He gave a slight cough, shuffled his feet, and looked down to examine then.

"Yes… well…"

"Right… well, then…"

"Hmm… yes…"

"Umm… thanks for saving me?"

"Sorry for being an-" Phoenix caught himself before he started using vulgar language in front of Jullianne. The book had recommended against vulgar language in front of the target, even if she swears herself… it's the mark of a true gentleman if you don't swear in front of ladies.

Jullianne giggled.

"What? Twice in one d-"

"Don't get started."

"Sorry."

"But seriously… thanks for saving me. I mean, true there was a judge there, but I wasn't exactly on the playing field, now was I?" They both grinned.

"No, you weren't exactly on the field. But I'm also serious… sorry for being an-… an idiot."

Jullianne smiled and gave him a hug. "Ah, it's okay. I believe you after what you said a month or so ago."

'Was it really that long ago?'

"So you trust me?"

The Viera gave him an odd look. "Is that a mistake?"

"Oh, no!" Phoenix said hurriedly. "Not at all! Just checking to see if I believe my ears."

Jullianne gave a small laugh and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

'Still as soft as ever…'

"Ah, you're too cute, Phoenix. Shall we join our friends in the cookie feast?"

"Yes, I think we shall."

Arms slung around shoulders, the two friends walked out of the room and into the main room of the pub to eat some high quality cookies.