"He what!" I asked, stunned.

"He killed…" Jyrie began, but I interrupted.

"No, I heard you, I just…well…," I stammered. I shook my head to clear it. "I can't imagine…Why! I know he has a short fuse at times, but to just haul off and…" I trailed off as my mind tried to process this new information.

"Like I said, I don't know for sure what happened or why -- the entire incident was kept very quiet -- but I do know that he faced a trial-by-jury consisting of high priests and was acquitted," Jyrie stated firmly. "I don't think there was any 'hauling off' of anything. I know Auron just about as well as anyone can, and I don't believe he would resort to anything that drastic without an extremely good reason."

"How many good reasons do you need to kill someone?" I snorted derisively.

Jyrie shrugged. "Look, I probably shouldn't have told you, so I'd appreciate it if you didn't say anything to Auron about it. Not that he'd mind, " he amended hastily, "I just think that he'd rather tell you himself."

I laughed humorlessly. "Oh, he'll mind. I've already been told not to ask any more questions about him. Oh, I won't tell him you said anything, don't worry about that," I added, seeing Jyrie's worried look, "I just think I should have the right to know since I do live with the man."

"Know what?"

I glanced up as Lana returned. "The fact that Auron killed…may have killed," I corrected myself, "a fellow warrior."

"Oh, that." Lana shrugged.

"You mean you knew!" I asked.

"Well, yeah, but it's just rumors and stuff. Nobody really knows what happened except for Auron and the priests and warriors that were there."

"Come on," she continued at my disbelieving look, "does that really sound like something he would do?"

"How should I know? I just met the guy!"

Lana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, okay, whatever. Listen, we gotta get going if we're gonna do anything, so we'll see you later, Jyrie."

He nodded. "Just make sure you're here in time to close."

"I can help out if it means we get to stay out longer," I suggested

Lana grinned. "Not very anxious to go home, huh?"

"After what I just found out? Not particularly."

Jyrie leaned over the counter towards me. "Just promise me one thing." I nodded and he continued. "Promise that you'll give him a chance and not judge too harshly without knowing all the facts. The truth is I don't know what happened. No one does except for Auron. But I'll tell you one thing, he's a good man and a loyal friend, that much I do know. He deserves your respect."

"I'll try," I said softly, feeling slightly reprimanded.

"That's all I ask," he stated, satisfied.

We left the shop in silence. Lana seemed to understand that I needed some time to think and left me to my brooding. I followed her into the city, nearly unaware of my surroundings, until we reached a large square with a beautiful fountain in the middle. There were all sorts of neat little shops around it and vendors scattered along the broad, paved walkways. I shoved my troubling thoughts to the back of my mind and looked around in interest.

"This is one of the places I like to hang out when I'm not sure what I'm shopping for," she spoke for the first time. "There are all kinds of hobby shops and, well, just cool stuff. We'll go farther downtown later, but I thought this would be a good place to start."

"This looks awesome!" I exclaimed. "I hardly know where to begin!"

"Well, let's start over here," she motioned, "and just work our way around."

We entered a small store on our left. My eyes widened as I walked in and saw rolls and rolls of scrolls, bins of linen, silk, and rice papers, and brushes and pens of all sizes. A short, thin man with wire-rimmed glasses trotted up to us.

"Can I be of assistance to you young ladies?" he queried in a whispery voice.

"Oh, yeah," I said with a huge grin. Lana looked at me, surprised by my enthusiasm. "I like writing and drawing," I shrugged defensively.

"Oh, no. Auron's gonna kill me if you keep spending so much at all these places I take you," she teased.

"Who says I'm going to spend a lot?" I asked in mock indignation.

"Pu-leease. I saw your face when we walked in. Nothing in here's safe."

I glared at her and started to make a smart remark back, but was interrupted by a soft "Ahem."

"Oh, sorry…right. Uh, I'm not really sure what I want." The shopkeeper's eyes lit up and I hurried to derail him from trying to talk me in to buying out the entire store. "I think I'd just like a basic brush set, some good quality -- but not expensive -- ink, some writing paper, nothing fancy, a set of pens…oh, and do you have colored inks and paints, too?" The man nodded, scribbling frantically on a pad of paper that had materialized out of nowhere. "Let me get a set of each of those, and some good, sturdy paper to paint on."

He read the list back to me and headed towards the back. I glanced at Lana worriedly. "Do you think I'm spending too much?"

She shook her head. "Everything you ordered is pretty basic and even with the paints, shouldn't come to too much. I'd have him deliver it, though. We have more to see and you don't want to risk breaking anything before you can get it home."

"There's that word again."

Lana looked puzzled.

"Oh, it's just…well, it doesn't feel like home, you know?" I sighed. "Never mind, I'm not gonna think about it. I'm going to have a good time with you and get back late enough to crash without having to talk to him."

Lana laughed. "This clash of wills between you two is starting to get really entertaining. Seriously, though, don't worry about it. You're right, we're going to have an awesome day. With no weird drivers, either."

"Ugh, don't remind me."

Lana smirked. Thankfully, the little man arrived with my packages and total cost just then and prevented any further comments. He agreed to have his assistant deliver the items and the bill to Auron and we continued to the next shop.

The next couple of places were interesting but had nothing I really needed, so we only stayed a few minutes in each. We sampled different spices in an essence shop and I laughed so hard I could barely stand when Lana accidentally sniffed some moonflower powder and sneezed for several minutes.

A few stores later we landed in blitzball heaven. Jerseys hung in rows on the walls and fancy-looking balls sat on shelves in glass cases. I turned to ask Lana why we were in here when a good-looking blond young man strode over.

"Hiya, Lana," he said casually, leaning on a rack of shinguards.

"Hey, Vic," she returned just as casual, but I noticed a pink flush crawling up her cheeks. I shot her a knowing grin and she glared at me warningly. "How's business?"

"Really great," he enthused, "especially since the Goers won the tournament last night. Jaq and I were here until close to midnight, the place was so crowded with fans. I think we sold almost thirty jerseys. Who's your friend?" he noticed for the first time.

"Oh, s-sorry," she stuttered. She introduced us and Vic stuck out his hand in a friendly manner.

"Any friend of Lana's is a friend of mine," he stated cheerfully. "So watcha' all up to?"

"Just shopping, checking out some of the places around here, spending Auron's money."

"Hey, that's right, you're the one staying with Auron. Man, that guy is awesome! My younger cousin trains with him, and one day when I was dropping him off, I got to see a few of Auron's moves. I'd love to see him on a blitzball team!"

"Yeah, he'd probably intimidate the other team into forfeiting," I remarked dryly.

Vic shrugged. "Whatever works," he smiled. His grin was contagious and soon we were all laughing. I could see why Lana liked him; he was easy-going and friendly, despite the fact that he was a jock and a little blitz crazy. "Hey, listen, I get off here in a couple o' hours; why don't you two meet me back here and we'll all go to lunch?"

Lana nodded happily. With a round of "See ya' later" we headed out the door.

"Ooh, Lana has a boyfriend," I teased once we were out of hearing range.

She blushed and swatted at me. "He's not my boyfriend," she argued. "Our families have known each other for a long time and we grew up together. We're good friends, that's all."

"You may be friends for now, but I know for a fact that you want more, and if I'm not mistaken, so does he."

Lana frowned. "You really think so?" she asked hopefully.

"Sure. Besides, friends make the best lovers. It's a great place to start."

"He's just never shown that he saw me as anything other than a friend."

"Maybe it's because you've never responded in any other way. Guys are a little slow on the uptake sometimes. Make it ridiculously obvious and he'll eventually catch on."

Lana chuckled, then grew solemn. "I don't know if I could really tell him. I mean, we've been friends for so long, I'm a little scared to go farther, ruin what we had, and end up with nothing at all."

I shrugged. "Life's too short to be afraid of living it." I dodged a little boy chasing after a dog with a stick in its mouth and continued. "It's true, you run the risk of losing a good friendship, but do you really want to live your whole life wondering what might have been?"

"Nooo…" she said slowly, "but…oh, I don't know what to do!"

We reached a musty-looking building and I held the door open for Lana. I followed and glanced around the dark interior. "What's this?" I asked curiously.

"Well, we both have questions that we want answers to, right?" she queried with a mischievous look on her face. "This is a fortune-teller's shop."

"Oh, hell no!" I stated vehemently. "Lana, I am NOT getting my fortune told. This is ridiculous. Don't tell me you actually take stock in these places!"

"Of course not! Come on, it's just for fun," she begged, tugging on my arm. I turned and grabbed at for the door, managing to just barely brush the knob with my fingertips before she yanked me into the room.

"What travelers has the wind brought to me this day?" a quivering voice asked.

"This is insane," I muttered under my breath as Lana nudged me across the room. A feeble old woman appeared from behind a beaded curtain. Her face was creased in wrinkles and she leaned heavily on a cane carved from reddish wood.

"We'd like to get our palms read," Lana said, giving me a sideways look. I glared at her, but plopped down in one of the overstuffed chairs the woman waved us towards. She settled in across from us and reached for Lana's hand, who gave it to her. She traced the lines with her yellowed fingernails, looking deep in thought.

"I see an uneasy childhood," she intoned, "and much, much trouble, yet life will improve. There's a love here, and a family. You will live a long and fulfilling life and die happy in your bed." She looked up as Lana smiled satisfactorily and released her hand, reaching for my mine. I shook my head.

"I don't think I'll…" Lana stomped on my toe. I bit back the rest of my sentence and held out my hand, palm up. She started to trail along the contours of my hand. Her nails tickled my palm and I resisted the urge to grab my hand back and scratch it frantically. I kept waiting for her to give me the whole "long and fulfilling life" bit, but she gave me my hand back wordlessly. Conflicting expressions flashed across her face, and when she did speak, it was in an emotionless tone.

"I'm sorry, your life is too clouded for me to see. I will charge for just the one reading."

Lana handed her a few gil and the old lady tucked them into a silk sash, then hauled herself to her feet and disappeared in the back. We wandered outside, blinking in the bright light. It was a little while before either of us said anything.

"Okaay, that was weird," Lana said finally.

I shrugged. "You just can't believe all that stuff. She probably had a lapse and couldn't think of anything to say."

"So if all she was doing was making stuff up, why would she rather say nothing and not get paid for it?" she countered. "Not that I believe in it or anything," she added hastily.

"I don't know. Maybe she thinks if she can get us curious, we'll come back."

"Maybe."

We lapsed back into silence again, lost in our separate thoughts.

We managed to make it to a several more places before noon, then backtracked to the blitzball shop. Vic was waiting on the front step and gave Lana a huge smile when he saw us coming. She trotted on ahead and I strolled along, content to give them a few moments of privacy before I got there.

They started towards me when I was about three-fourths of the way across the circle. We met at a small bench sitting on a grassy spot and I stood there, amused, while they argued about where to go for lunch.

"How about Sukie's?" Vic suggested.

"Nah, last time I went there with Jyrie and his girlfriend, some weird waiter started hitting on me big time and ended up asking for my number. I barely even ate because he kept interrupting us."

"Well, I wouldn't let anyone bother you," he boasted, but Lana shook her head.

"I just have a bad taste in my mouth for that place now," she said.

"There's Blue Haven," Vic offered. "They have great pasta."

"Mmm, not really in the mood for pasta."

Vic was starting to look exasperated. "How about that new place -- what's it called -- Kyoto's? Have you been there yet?"

Lana and I both shook our heads. Of course you haven't been there, you idiot, I berated myself. You only just got here.

"It's really nice; classy, yet traditional. I think your friend would like it."

Lana shrugged. "What do you think?" she queried, turning towards me.

"Sounds good to me," I stated. "I'm starving!"

"Kyoto's it is, then," Vic agreed. "It's clear down by the bay, so we better call a ride."

Lana laughed at the expression on my face. Vic glanced at her, puzzled, and she enlightened him with the details of my experience the night before. His eyebrows shot up at Auron's admonition and he chuckled.

"What I'd give to have seen that," he said. "Although, from what my cousin says, he's not the type to explode like that. I wonder if that's not a sore spot for him?"

"Anything involving me is a sore spot for Auron," I complained.

"They don't get along that well," Lana explained. "It's kinda complicated."

"He hates having me there, and I hate being there. How complicated is that?"

"Are you serious!" Vic exclaimed unbelievingly. "Do you know how many guys Auron trains that would jump at an opportunity like that?"

I shrugged. "More power to them."

"Look, I hate to interrupt this light-hearted conversation, but time's a-wasting," Lana reminded us.

Our ride arrived within five minutes of being called and I noticed with some relief that the driver was a woman in her forties. She chatted genially as we rode along, and by the time we had reached our destination, I could have written a biography on her life. She was interesting, though, and I didn't really mind listening; I just didn't understand how someone could talk so much.

She dropped us off outside a classy-looking building overlooking the ocean. Vic gave her a tip, which I understood to be quite generous judging from the huge smile she flashed him. We went inside where we were escorted to a comfortable corner booth and offered drinks. I decided against anything intoxicating and choose a cherry flavored drink similar to what I had drunk at Auron's. Vic and Lana both ordered a soda-like beverage and we sat sipping them, contemplating the menu and chatting.

"So, Vic, do you own your store?" I asked curiously.

"Well, half of it at least," he said cheerily. "Jaq and I started it about three years ago, but it didn't really take off until a year ago. We didn't really expect it to become so popular. All we knew was that blitzball was our life."

His face took on an almost wistful appearance. "He used to play, you know," he continued. "He had just signed a contract with the Goers. It was his first game, and he was nervous as hell. I kept telling him that he would do fine. Man, he was awesome! Everyone loved him. The crowd was cheering like mad, and then…" His voice caught and he took a sip of his drink to steady himself.

"He was going up to catch a pass when a player from the other team slammed into him. It threw him clear from the sphere and he landed in the bleachers hard. He didn't get up. I remember racing over to him and he was holding his knee, groaning in pain. From the look on his face I knew it was serious. After they took him to a healer, we found out that he'd permanently injured his knee and he'd never play again."

He sighed heavily. Lana reached over and rubbed his hand. "I blamed myself for the longest time. He said he wasn't ready and I encouraged him to go ahead. Told him he'd never have a chance like it again. He didn't. Lana finally made me understand that I was so engrossed with my own guilt that I was oblivious to Jaq's pain and loss and was virtually useless to him."

He smiled at Lana warmly. "So I concentrated on helping Jaq recover and deal with his hurt, and we both pulled through it. Now we've got a thriving business and I've never seen Jaq happier."

We returned to more cheerful topics for the duration of our meal. Gentle banter flew back and forth, and to my surprise I found myself joining in. It was nice being with people my own age and a welcome break from the tension I felt around Auron. Lana and I polished off a generous amount of food and lightly protested when Vic insisted on paying for it. After threatening Lana by refusing to speak to her "until the Aurochs win a tournament," we conceded and left the restaurant in a jovial mood.

"Well, ladies," Vic said when we pulled up in front of the store," as much as I'd love to escort you on your shopping trip, there's work to be done. Maybe some time we can get together and go to a game?" His question was directed towards both of us, but he looked questioningly at Lana.

"I'd like that," she smiled brightly. We watched him disappear into the store, then I turned to her.

"So…what now?" I asked.

Instead of answering, she leaned towards the driver. "Could you take us downtown, please? Say…The Dancing Dagger?"

"Sure, ma'am," the boy agreed. We took off and she settled back contentedly into her seat.

"Can I know where we're going, or is it some huge secret?" I asked warily.

Lana smirked. "Well, I should make you wait…" I glowered at her and she continued hastily. "The Dancing Dagger is a hang-out, if you will, for Crusaders, Knights, and warriors. It's the place they go to unwind, I guess. What we'll do is visit some of the shops around there, then later on stop in for a drink. It's a good way to brush shoulders with some high-up authorities and start getting you known around town. That is, if you're serious about this warrior thing."

I glanced at her sharply. "Well, yeah, I guess I am, but how did you know?"

She shrugged. "No matter how different each warrior that comes into my shop is, they all have one thing in common. It's the look in their eyes. Jyrie calls it "the look of wolves." It's this…well, intensity, I guess. I dunno, it's hard to explain, but it's the first thing I noticed about you when I met you. That's why I took you to Makira's. I wanted to see if she saw it, too, but I figured if I said anything, you'd think I'm psycho."

"Right now, I think I'm the one that's psycho," I muttered.

"Here you are, ladies." The driver interrupted our conversation and I realized that we were sitting in front of a brightly-lit building. I suddenly recognized it as the place Auron and I had met up with Tiorak and Cylie the night before. We climbed out of the vehicle and paid the boy, who blushed a deep pink when Lana smiled at him. He fumbled over the change and took off as soon as she had the bills in her hand. We smirked at each other, amused, and ducked inside the building.

The room was mostly empty, with a patron here and there at the bar. A young girl in a skimpy outfit walked up to us. "Will you be needing a table?" she asked brightly.

Lana shook her head. "Not right now. I just wanted to show her around, but we'll probably be back later this evening."

The girl nodded and smiled. "Well, let me know if you want anything." She walked in behind the bar to refill a customer's glass who was tapping the bar impatiently, and we left the building.

We spent several more hours browsing shops. The stores in this area were different from anything I had ever seen. We stopped at a sphere store, and I studied the small, glass-like balls curiously. Lana showed me buttons on the sides to record sound or images, depending on what type the sphere was. Intrigued, I recorded her, zooming in and out, grinning like an idiot when I saw the video played back in a transparent vertical plane that was projected from a small slot on the top of the sphere. I bought three, two video and an audio. I had one of each sent to Auron's house and insisted on keeping one on me.

Lana was amused and chuckled as I kept recording random images and playing them back, over and over. Finally, the novelty began to wear off, and I tucked the sphere in my pocket.

"Finally tired of your new toy?" Lana asked teasingly.

"Naw, it's just getting too dark to see much," I replied with a grin.

Her eyebrows shot up in surprise. "You're right, it is getting late. You about ready to head back and have a few drinks?"

"Sure," I agreed. She cut through an alley and I tagged along, totally disoriented. She apparently knew what she was doing, however, and in less than fifteen minutes we found ourselves at the door of The Dancing Dagger.

The room was bustling now, swords and various other weapons propped along one wall as their owners relaxed from a long day of patrolling. The noise was loud and raucous as men and a few women traded experiences. We managed to find a seat at a rear table and Lana leaned forward.

"What would you like?" she asked in a raised voice.

"That depends," I shouted back. "What did you have in mind?"

"Why don't we get a couple sakes and a platter of appetizers to split?" she responded.

I gave up on trying to talk and nodded instead, rolling my eyes at the clamor. She laughed and motioned over a waitress. She yelled out our order and the girl dodged off to bring our drinks. "Your food will be here shortly," the waitress yelled when she had returned. We both nodded this time and sat sipping quietly. I emptied my glass relatively quickly and Lana motioned towards a waiter carrying a metal pitcher. He refilled my glass wordlessly and we settled back introspectively.

I took the opportunity to look around and study the other people in the room. After a few minutes, I thought I could pick out the Crusaders from the Knights. Both groups had different additions to their uniforms, but were dressed pretty much the same within their unit. The warriors were harder to pinpoint. Each was unique, outfitted to his or her own preference; their dress apparently a way of identifying their personality or skills. I found it intriguing and was busily scrutinizing a pair of men in the corner when Lana tapped my arm.

"Our food's coming," she said, nodding towards the bar. I glanced up and noticed our waitress fighting her way through the crowd. I jumped up and walked over to get the plate from her and save her from at least a bit of the hassle of coming all the way to the table.

As I struggled to reach her, she smiled gratefully and raised the plate over her head, trying to pass it to me. I leaned forward to accept it when a sharp shove from behind me knocked me into a man sitting alone at the bar. I bent towards him to apologize when he suddenly turned around. Our eyes met and I sucked in my breath. It was Lobax.

9