Disclaimer: I do not own Star Ocean or its Characters.

Note: Looks like we have a little Alphia group going on here. I wish I could update like Keeki…but things tend to get a little hectic around here. Sorry guys, got a family to tend to(not to mention the holidays) so my next chapter won't be out as fast as this one. But thanks so much for the reviews and motivation. And, of course thanks to Kay once again for helping me out with the proof reading stuff.

Warning: I think this chapter might get a little OOC. I'll let you be the judge of that.

Dialog – "Bah"

Thoughts – 'Bah'

Bitter-Sweet Motivations

Chapter 2: Tempting Limitations

Now we must deviate from the timeline and jump ahead almost a week. Our band of brave warriors has returned here to Elicoor for a brief stay. Their journeys land them in the village of Arias where they will rest and restock on provisions.

Our lass was the type not to hold a grudge. She could easily forgive and forget. This was not the case with our swordsman. He had been silently plotting and seeking for the next opportune time to resume their 'discussion'.

She had shocked him with the way she handled herself during their last talk. She didn't back down even when it was evident she was intimidated by him. She even sounded some what intelligent in her naïve ways. Oddly enough, it intrigued him.

Albel exited the shop. He had been given charge of purchasing the provisions and had made as quick a job of it as he could. As he descended the stairs of the shop, he spotted her roaming the streets. She was alone.

"Perfect," he hissed under his breath.

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Sophia walked in wonderment, taking in the sights. Even though the village had suffered from the previous war, she found everything fascinating. She had never been to such a place. She had never been to an underdeveloped planet.

As her eyes roamed the scene, she noticed a wild flower tucked beside the rubble of a collapsed building. She bent down and examined the flower's lush yellow petals. She reached out and touched it gently. Its soft petals made her smile.

"And she talks to flowers too."

She jumped up at the sound of a voice right behind her. She turned quickly only to be confronted by one of Albel's famous smirks.

She frowned at him. She wanted to tell him how rude it was to sneak up on people, but she held her tongue. She let her expression soften. "Oh, hello Albel. Whatcha up to?"

He leaned on one foot and held up his bag of new supplies. "Better things then wasting time with useless foliage."

She shook her head and sighed. "Don't you see any significance with this flower?"

'So,' he thought. 'Here comes another blah blah speech of hers.' "Bah, flowers have no purpose."

She put her hands on her hips as she looked up at him. "I didn't say purpose. I said significance, though they have purpose also."

He squinted his eyes slightly. "Oh, please do tell what this significance is."

She frowned at his sarcasm. "Why should I? It's not like you care."

"So, she can learn."

She pointed her finger at him and shook it in a chastising manner. "And you could learn something too if you really paid attention." She restrained from yelling.

He crossed his arms but refused to respond.

She sighed as she flung her hand behind her to indicate the flower. "This whole village is recovering from a war. An ugly war and yet this flower finds life where there was once death. And it's ironic that the flower is yellow. Yellow is a color that symbolizes friendship." She took a breath and held it.

He just blinked at her.

She swung her arms in the air. "Oh, just forget it! You can be Mr. Gloomy Gust all you want, but I don't have to stand for it." With that she spun slightly and started to walk pass him.

As soon as she was beside him, he spoke. "You should learn to control your temper."

She stopped and eyed him. She found it hard to believe she had been so intimidated by him the other night. He wasn't intimidating, just extremely annoying. "And you should learn how to talk to a lady."

He chuckled. "Oh, had I known a lady was present, surly I would have acted accordingly."

Her face turned red with anger. She wanted to hit him, or do anything to vent. She knew hitting him would do no good so she simply turned her back to him. "Humph," was all she said as she stomped away.

He didn't turn to watch her go. Instead, he glanced the other way. His eyes found the frail petals of the yellow bloom.

"What utter nonsense."

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Sophia entered the room she was sharing with Maria. She was relieved to find her roommate had not returned. She sat on the bed and leaned against the headboard.

'How does he do it?' she pondered. 'How does he get on my nerves so bad? He really seems to like making me angry. I'm usually so patient with people. There are only two people who can put me in this mood. Fayt, well, you can't know someone that long and keep piece all the time. But, Albel…he's just a jerk.'

She was brought out of her inner debate when the door opened. Maria entered and smiled slightly at her. "Fayt said to tell you we'll be heading back to 4D space first thing in the morning."

Sophia nodded. "Thanks."

Maria set to the task of getting ready for bed. Sophia turned back to her thoughts, trying to determine the root cause for the whole situation.

You see, our lass here is the type to always analyze her feelings. She's always been self conscious and in this suffers from low self-esteem. She feels more like a timid creature, lost in a forest, then a person on a mission to say the universe. Though fast to stick by her morals, she is equally fast to doubt herself. She was trying hard to determine if she was somehow responsible for the outcome of her resent skirmish with our swordsman.

"Sophia, are you okay?"

She smiled weakly at her roommate. "Just tired I guess."

Maria nodded. "Well, try and get some sleep. We have a big day ahead of us tomorrow."

"Yeah. I will."

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Albel returned to the streets after leaving the supplies with Fayt. The night was his companion and he wished to spend time alone before bed. There was a lot on his mind and at night he could walk the streets without encountering another soul.

It seemed that everything happened in one quick shot. The war ended, there was intelligence in space beyond Elicoor, and now this so called creator wanted to kill them all.

The jumble of his thoughts brought him to a stop. For the first time in his life there was an uncertainty about the future. He felt his life was out of his control and this angered him. He didn't give into the ideals of fate and destiny. He was the maker of his own, and the ruler of himself.

Time seemed to stop in that instant, just to start again at the sound of something hitting the ground. He turned to the source of the noise. A short distance from him there was a small toy lying on the ground.

"Oh no."

He looked up to see Sophia hanging half out of the second story window. She was squinting down, trying to see in the dark. He stood perfectly still. He had inadvertently made a point of staying in the shadows and knew she couldn't see him.

He watched as she disappeared back inside. Within a short time he heard footsteps and knew she had come to retrieve the item.

Without giving away his position, he watched the girl search the ground.

"Oh, there you are." She bent down and lifted the small doll. She dusted it off and smiled.

"Typical. All children need their toys."

Sophia jerked her head up. She immediately recognized his voice. It was the same voice she had been trying to get out of her head when she dropped her charm. "It's not a toy. It's a worry doll."

"A doll's a toy, fool."

"Not this one. You don't play with it, you…" She clamped her mouth shut. The last thing she wanted was to give him ammunition.

"You what? Dress it up and sing it songs."

He didn't know why he nagged her on. He felt compelled to trigger a response. He had found it humorous the way her face turned red earlier that day.

She huffed. "Why don't you just walk away from me like you do everyone else when they talk to you? Why is it you insist on being mean to me? Or…wait, that must be it. You enjoy talking to me don't you?" She put her hands behind her back and rocked on her feet.

He stepped out of the shadows and growled. "You're hardly worth the trouble, worm."

Part of her wanted to just give up and go to bed. She was tired and was simply trying to ease her mind for sleep before this. But something in her wanted to argue with him. This reminded her of some of the arguments she had had with Fayt in the past. He was too busy lately and the events just didn't warrant another of their argument. 'I guess Albel will just have to do then.'

She smiled, making herself look even more like a little girl then her current pose did. "That's what you say, but not how you act."

Before she knew what was going on, he had her pinned to the wall of the building. His hand was on her collar bone. He held his claw close to her head. "Would you prefer I just kill you now? Would that be more to your liking in actions?"

She took in a deep breath. She could feel her whole body start to shake. She tried to get a hold of herself, but her heart was beating at an outrageous speed. She tried to swallow, but her mouth had gone dry.

"You're nothing more then a pathetic weakling. Why anyone would waste their time to even look at you is beyond understanding." He lowered his hand and claw. He leaned in, touching the tip of his nose to hers. "Weak and pathetic."

Her breath ceased as she trembled slightly. No matter how she willed her body to move, it wouldn't budge. She was captivated and her eyes refused to blink. All she could do was stare at him.

He leaned back only slightly and smirked. "Just as I thought, easily frightened. At this rate I won't need to kill you. You'll be dead soon enough. You're luck to have survived this long."

This time she surprised him by growling. He raised his eyebrow slightly. He almost laughed. Her growl wasn't intimidating at all. It was merely feeble and insubstantial, but he found it amusing.

"Let me tell you something, Mister Nox," she said emphasizing the word mister. "I've had about enough of you and your attitude. You're the one who's pathetically weak. Really! Being such a big meanie like that! What is it, huh? You think intimidating others is a way to make yourself look big? Well, is that it? You're nothing more then a big bully."

Her face was red again. She clutched her fist at her sides. Even in her anger, a hint of her apprehension showed through. She was frightened. Scared but determined and unable to understand why she needed so badly to prove herself.

"Heh," he chuckled. "Give me another of your self righteous speeches." He spread his arms out. "Go on and give me your best shot. But let me tell you that you reek of fear."

"I'll show you fear."

His smirked widened. He readied himself to receive a few punches from her small fist, or more words of argument. She had defensively taken a fighting stance and her eye's looked to be ready for battle. What she did next shocked him.

Instead of pursuing either course of action, she leaned in and pressed her lips to his.

She was desperate. She had to do something he wouldn't expect and hopefully something that would shock him into silence. So she did the one thing no one would ever expect from her. She kept her mouth firmly shut as she pressed hard against his.

She leaned back. "Humph," was all she said as she turned on her heels. Her fists were still tightly balled at her side. "Who would have thought…your lips are softer then your words." Her voice was pleasant, but laced with triumph as she noticed he was temporarily frozen in place.

As she walked away, she was glad for the night. She didn't want the tears streaming down her face to be noticed.

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Albel didn't know how long he stayed hunched in that position. All he knew was that his back ached slightly as he straightened it out. His mind was a complete blank.

He took a step before something caught his peripheral vision. He turned to notice the doll. Sophia had dropped the doll when he had pushed her. He bent down and lifted the doll to his face. It was a simple doll with sewn on clothing. It appeared to be old and handled often.

He carried the doll with him as he returned to his own room. He found it irritating that his mind would not focus on any one thing, but he was tired and tried to ignore it. He would get some sleep and put off thinking about it for tomorrow.

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Thought I would twist things around and have her be the one making the first move. That's were I see a little OOC, but I tried to justify it. (Actually, going by the game…I couldn't see him make the first move either but that doesn't stop us from writing stories about it. So, keep writing!) :)