A/N: I am SO sorry for going so long without an update! I wanted to take a short break from writing but I never intended for it to be this long! Hope y'all don't mind!

The world is in quite a dire situation now, huh? But as you have read, there is hope. Somewhere in Welgaia is a place where angels can forge the legendary Angel Arms, the light's answer to the Devil Arms. The last time someone went through all of this, it took nine angels to bring down Nebilim. Even with Sheena being an angel now, can our heroes win with only three angels on their side?

That will be answered at a later time, for now Sheena is recovering from her Angelic Toxicosis and needs some rest. Raine has volunteered to take care of her until she gets better, but until Raine can get there, Lloyd's going to watch over her. For those looking for fluff, you may be pleased with this chapter, but it probably won't be anything like Chapter 7, Through the Night. Anyways, as always, enjoy the chapter and thanks in advance for any and all reviews!

Chapter 13: Chicken Soup

The door to Colette's house swung open slowly as Lloyd helped Sheena inside. They walked to the base of the stairs and looked upward in disgust.

"Stairs," said Sheena with disgust. "I don't know if I can do stairs."

Without hesitation, Lloyd picked up his lover and cradled her in his arms much like a baby or sick child. "You can now. Let's go."

She smiled weakly. "Thank you Lloyd. You're a real sweetheart." She closed her eyes and allowed herself to be carried upward.

Once at the top, Lloyd proceeded to seat her on the bed. He took a few steps back and said, "Go ahead and get ready for bed. I'm gonna go fix you something that will hopefully make you feel a little better. Is that alright?"

She nodded. "Alright Lloyd. Thanks again."

He flashed a smile at her and walked back downstairs. Once down, he sat on the floor in front of one of the cabinets, opened it up, and began rummaging through it.

"Hmm, where is it? I'm sure she has some left somewhere. She loves that stuff. It's not like her to not have any on hand." He kept pulling out several jars and cans of food that Colette had prepared and stored away for future use and setting them on the floor. Everything could be found here, from pre-sugared fruits to pickled vegetables, but he could not find the ones thing he was looking for. As he was about to go through the last few jars left in the cabinet, he heard a knock at the door.

Lloyd felt perfectly fine with saying, "Come in," despite the fact that this house was not even his. At his behest, the door opened and several heavy footsteps were heard. Lloyd didn't pay attention to the person who walked in as e continued his search.

"Lloyd!" said a gruff voice. "Is this how you greet your guests?"

Lloyd's eyes widened and he immediately stopped his search as he pulled his head from the cabinet to look at his visitor.

"Dad! You're okay!" exclaimed Lloyd. Sure enough, there stood Dirk with what appeared to be a few cooking ingredients in his hands. He ran over and hugged the dwarf tightly. He felt ashamed that, during the events of the past few days, he hadn't thought of Dirk even once. He was always too concerned with Sheena to care much about anyone else, Kratos and Dirk included. That didn't matter now though. He was just glad to see that his foster-father was alive and well.

"Whoa, easy there Lloyd," said the dwarf with a hearty chuckle. "You're a wee bit strong for even me these days."

Lloyd eased up a bit, initially unaware of how much strength he had been using. "Dad, how did you make it to the village? There are demons all over the place out of the safe zones."

"Easy," said Dirk matter-of-factly. "The safe zone was just wide enough to cover the house and that path through the hills to Iselia that we haven't taken in a while. I just hopped on Noishe and thought I'd come ride out this Niflheim business with all of you."

Lloyd scratched his head. "Dad, I won't be here too much longer."

Dirk nodded. "I know. I stopped by the schoolhouse before coming over here. They told me I had just missed you and gave me the gist of what was going on. I hear you, Sheena, and your father are going to Welgaia once Sheena's better. After that… it's off to actually fight Nebilim, huh?"

Lloyd nodded slowly. "Yeah, that's right. We have to at least try, even if the odds are against."

The old dwarf grinned. "I know Lloyd. I'm not going to try and stop you. In fact, it may not be much, but I actually came over to help you." He set his ingredients on the counter and pulled a tea kettle out of one of the other cabinets.

Puzzled, Lloyd asked, "Help? How?"

Without looking, Dirk replied, "Remember that Cherry Spice tea I used to make for you when you were sick?"

He nodded. "Sure do. Tastes good and it always made me feel better."

"Well," started Dirk, "I'm going to make some for that young lass upstairs. Who knows? Maybe it'll even lessen the burden caused by her Toxicosis. Worth a shot anyway."

Lloyd sat back down on the floor and continued his search. "Great idea dad! Now if I can just fi-… oh hey! Here's a jar!" He stood back up with what appeared to be a jar of homemade chicken soup. "Last jar. Lucky me."

As Dirk prepared the tea, he looked over at the jar. "Ah, Colette's famous soup. Frank used to make that for Colette when she was sick too. Ever since he taught her how to make it, it's only gotten better and better. Add the tea, and Sheena's in for quite a treat, sick or not."

As the two prepared their own respective things, they made small talk and Lloyd talked a bit about some of their non-Abyssion or Nebilim exploits. Fifteen minutes passed, and a tray was prepared with a steaming bowl of soup and tea kettle along with two cups, a spoon, and a napkin.

"All set, Lloyd," said Dirk. "Just take this on up and spend some time with Sheena. Just you being there will probably do more for her than the soup or tea will ever do."

Lloyd's face turned a bright red. "Dad!"

The dwarf laughed. "No time for that, for I must be off. I'm gonna find the rest of your friends and see if I can make myself useful. I'll catch you again before you leave, eh?"

His adopted son nodded. "Sure thing dad. Take it easy."

Dirk let himself out of the house as Lloyd made his way back upstairs. He found Sheena in bed, wearing her white bedtime kimono. Smiling, he set the tray down on the nightstand next to her and pulled up a chair for himself to her bed.

"How ya doin' Sheena? I brought you a little something. Thought it might make you feel better," said Lloyd as he poured the first cup of tea. "Little bit o' Colette's famous chicken soup and my dad's Cherry Spice tea." He handed her the first cup as he poured another one for himself.

She smiled warmly at him. "Thank you Lloyd." She took her first sip and paused as her eyes widened a bit. She slowly put the cup back down, turned to him, and said, "Lloyd, this is the best tea I've ever had! You've got to show me how to make it sometime!"

"Haha. I'm glad that you like it. My dad used to make it for me when I was sick," he said. "Try some of the soup next. I guarantee that you'll love it.

She did so and had a very similar reaction. "Mmm! You said Colette made this? Remind me to compliment her later!"

As she ate, the two shared some small talk, doing their best to somewhat make light of the worldwide situation at hand. It would do them no good to worry about it now, given their current conditions. Nothing could be done until they returned from Welgaia, fully assuming that they would be able to successfully forge the Angel Arms.

Finishing her soup, she set the bowl and spoon aside and wiped her mouth with the napkin he Lloyd had brought for her. "That was delicious Lloyd. Could I please have another cup of that tea?"

He answered her request by pouring the last of the tea into both of their cups. "Good stuff, isn't it?"

She nodded and began sipping once again. "Sure is. Thanks again for bringing all of this to me. It's so sweet of you."

They sat silently for a moment and looked into their cups. They were thinking the same thing: no matter how hard they tried, they couldn't ignore the fact that soon pleasant times such as these may come to an end. Once she was better, they'd have to begin their quest to stop Nebilim. The odds for success seemed next to impossible, but if they didn't do something, who knows what would happen to the world?

"So… once I'm on my feet again, we have to go to Welgaia, huh?" Sheena half-asked.

Lloyd nodded. "Seems that way. I wonder what the forging of the Angel Arms involves. It's something that hasn't been done in… heck, who knows how long? Kratos said this was even before his time."

Sheena swirled the last of her tea around in her cup and looked down. "I'm scared Lloyd. Even with these Angel Arms, it doesn't look like we have much of a chance. I thought Abyssion was tough, but-"

"We defeated him, didn't we?" asked Lloyd.

"Huh? Well, yea of course. That's why were still sitting here today," she replied.

He took a last sip of his tea and put the cup down. "When we beat Abyssion, we didn't have Angel Arms or anything like that. All we had was each other, yet we still came out on top, battered but victorious."

Sheena took another sip. "But Verius was the one who destroyed Abyssion. Not us per se."

He shook his head. "That's not true Sheena. From what I understand, Verius is powerless by himself. In fact, he's the weakest of the Summon Spirits. However, when he combined together with you and then me, we had enough power to defeat Abyssion. Basically, we had the power in us all along. Verius was just like a… ah… what was the word my dad used? Catalyst? Yeah, Verius was the catalyst that enabled us to release our inner strength and win."

She blinked in surprise. "Wow Lloyd. I never expected you to say something like that."

With a cocky smile, Lloyd brushed some of his hair aside. "Heh. I'm not as dumb as everyone thinks. Sometimes, anyway. I guess I have my moments. Like Genis said once, "It's times like these when Lloyd's brain kicks into gear." I guess this is one of those times."

She giggled and he laughed with her. "So anyway, back to being serious. Yeah, Nebilim may be far stronger than Abyssion, but so are we. At least, we will be once we return from Welgaia. We'll have Verius, the Angel Arms, and my dad to lead us to victory. We just have to believe in ourselves. Everyone is counting on us, y'know?"

Sheena finished off her tea and set down the cup. "Thank you Lloyd. I feel much better now. But you know, Dirk was right. You did more to make me feel better than event his delicious soup and tea did."

Lloyd turned a bright read and rubbed his head. "Ah, hehe. That's nice of you to say. Hey, wait a minute. How did you know that dad said that?"

She grinned. "I heard the two of you talking."

Now more embarrassed than before, Lloyd shrank in his seat. "Gah. How do you always hear me?"

She giggled again but coughed shortly afterward. "Bleh. Hasn't even been two hours yet and I already feel like I've had this Toxicosis for a month now. How did Colette make it through this?"

Lloyd forced her to lay back on her pillow. "Hey now, take it easy. You're going to need all of your strength later. We can always talk another time. Alright?"

She looked disappointed, but said, "Alright Lloyd" in her best "Yes Mother" tone.

He stood up and tucked her in, much like a child. "Raine should be up in just a minute. She'll take care of you while I get some rest too. Don't wanna be a burden on you guys once we're ready to go."

He turned to walk away but stopped dead in his tracks when he heard Sheena say, "Lloyd?"

He turned around and asked, "Yes?"

Her face turned red as she asked, "Um… will you stay with me until I fall asleep? I promise it won't take me long."

He nodded. "Sure thing Sheena." He sat back down in his chair and pulled one of her hands out from under the covers, holding it gently as he did so. "There now. Sorry about that."

She smiled weakly as her eyes slowly closed. She wasn't kidding when she said she wouldn't take long to fall asleep, for, not even one minute after he sat back down, she was already asleep. Still holding her hand, he stood up and leaned down to kiss her on the lips.

"Sweet dreams Sheena." He was ready to put her hand back under the covers but when he looked down at her beautiful face again, he just couldn't do it. Instead, he gently moved the chair aside and sat on the floor next to her bed. Still holding her hand, he laid his head against the bed and closed his eyes.

A few moments later, footsteps were heard coming up the stairs. Raine could be heard saying, "I'm sorry to keep you waiting guys. We had to-"

She walked in the room to find that, not only Sheena, but Lloyd, were fast asleep. She was supposed to perform some routine medical checks on both of them but, from just looking at them, she could tell it wasn't necessary enough to wakeful them from their slumbering bliss.

She smiled. "You know, I think you guys had this planned from the beginning just to avoid a doctor's visit," she said to herself jokingly. She walked out of the room and back downstairs as quietly as possible. "Sweet dreams you two."

Not too bad, eh? I hope not anyway. Our heroes are doing their best to enjoy themselves and rest while they can, despite their injuries and illnesses, knowing full well that a trip to Welgaia and a battle with Nebilim are looming just around the corner. Will they be able to create the means necessary to defeat Nebilim in Welgaia? Find out next time! Again, I'm really sorry for the late update and thanks in advance for any and all reviews.

Sidenote: If anyone cares, I originally planned on naming this chapter "Chicken Soup for the Summoner's Soul" as a joke but decided against it