-1Ok, ok, I know I've taken an entire year to post this chapter, and I would like everyone to know that I'm sooooooo sorry! But don't worry! Now that schools out, I'll have plenty of time to work on this fic. Uhm…. I'll probably apologize some more later…..

Warning: A few spoilers, and a bit of hinting at Shounen-ai.

Disclaimer: Okies, this time, I'll let Cloudo do the disclaiming.

Cloud: OK-sama doesn't own Star Ocean of Final Fantasy, so leave him alone, or you'll have to deal with my overly large sword.

OK: Thank you Cloudo.

Cloud: Why do you keep calling me Cloudo!

OK: On with the long awaited chapter!

Chapter 3: Sophia's Little Problem

While Cliff was tracking Albel down, Fayt decided to make a quick trip to the kitchen of the inn. He walked slowly down the stairs and almost tripped over Peppita.

"Oh, I'm sorry Fayt." Fayt look at Peppita who was sitting and staring at something downstairs.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, noticing Peppita's look of dread as she watched whatever was downstairs.

"Well, it seems that Sophia suddenly remembered that she could cast the 'antidote' spell, and used that on herself." Fayt sighed at the prospect of what that implied. Peppita looked at Fayt giggled, and continued.

"That's not even the worst part though. After she got up she spotted Maria and started yelling at her, from what I've heard she thinks that we didn't really spend much time looking for a way to cure her… it would be really funny if it weren't-" Peppita stopped speaking because the argument suddenly got a bit louder.

"Bitch!" A shrill screech penetrated over the din of loud voices. "Um, was it just me or did that sound like Sophia?" Fayt asked Peppita looking downstairs.

"It most likely was. She's been pretty loud ever since she woke up." Peppita looked at Fayt from her seat on the stairs. "You should really go down there and stop her. We might get kicked out of the inn."

"I guess your right Peppita; I'll try to stop her. Wish me luck." He sighed, and walked down the stairs and right into immediate danger. From the looks of things, Maria had tried to confront Sophia, and had provoked her into using profanity.

"Sophia? Could you please stop shouting in the inn, you're disturbing the other guests, and I'm sure that you still feel weak from your poisoning." Maria calmly placed a hand on the enraged teen's shoulder.

But that only seemed to make things worse. Sophia turned a ghastly shade of red, and began shouting even louder. "Don't you dare touch me, you bitch!" With that, Sophia swiftly slapped Maria right on the cheek. The blue haired girl, looked shocked at first, but shock faded into murderous intent.

Fayt only barely made it to the argument in time. Maria had somehow managed to pull out her gun in two seconds flat, and was aiming it directly in Sophia's face.

"Maria, wait!" The blue haired leader shouted as Maria's finger curled around the trigger of her gun. A shot to the face at point-blank range would kill almost anyone, not to mention Sophia.

"Oh thank God it's you Fayt!" Sophia cried as she latched onto Fayt's arm. "I was so scared that Maria was going to try and kill me again!" Sophia began sobbing.

"Again?" Maria shouted, her voice rising near hysteria. "I've never tried to kill you before just now! Where would you get such a ludicrous idea?" Maria put her gun back in her holster.

"Whatever, girlfriend!" Sophia used her free hand to snap in Maria's face. "I saw you tell that wasp thing to sting me! You had the scariest smile on your face as you did it too! The whole time I was sick I kept having nightmares." Sophia shivered violently against Fayt's arm.

"On top of that, you stuck me in the worst smelling room in the inn!" The brunet gagged slightly as if she were suffocating. "I don't know what you have against me. Haven't I been really nice to you ever since we met?" Sophia turned her overly large eyes to Maria.

"I'm sure you could've easily walked to any shop to buy an antidote, but you all just sat around laughing at my misery!"

But the doe eyes didn't work on the blue haired girl. "Nice?" Maria muttered to herself. "Oh, you've been nice alright." Maria's face grew murderous again. "First you turned my hair green after the first week, then you put a fake rat in my bed, two weeks later you switched the salt and sugar in the kitchen of the Diplo, and just last week you turned my hair pink! PINK!" Maria shouted. "You have no idea how much I hate the color pink… And that's beside the point. We spent hours (A/N: Minutes) looking for some way we could cure you! We can't move forward without you and your stupid connection genes!"

All throughout the argument, Fayt decided it was best to stay quiet, but not that both Sophia and Maria were shouting…"Enough!" The blue haired teen wrestled his arm from Sophia's death grip. "Now, the both of you go back to your rooms, and stay there until we're ready to leave. You've caused enough trouble for these people with your arguments, and you both probably need sleep."

Both girls glared at each other for a minute, but finally sighed and gave up. As they trudged to their respective rooms, Fayt turned with a sigh. So much had been going on in his life lately, and he didn't know if he could stand it anymore. So without any preamble, the young teen turned from the small crowd of people and walked into the kitchen.

WhewFaytcaneatlinebreaklinebreaklinebreakweetwootweetwootlinebreaklinebreakalert

Two Hours Later…..

"Thank you again for all the food." Fayt bowed his head to the slightly blushing kitchen attendants. As soon as he'd left the kitchen, the young women burst into excited conversation.

"Did you see that boy's cute green eyes?" One whispered. "No, no, I was too busy staring at his lovely azure locks!" Her friend eagerly replied. "The poor boy looked so starved though; did you see the way his clothes hung so loosely?" Another attendant joined the conversation. "Maybe it's a new fashion in Aquios!" The first one giggled.

Lookanotherlinebreakyaaaaaaaaaaaaylinebreak!ohwellonwiththecliffandfaytbrotherlylove

Cliff arrived at the inn soon after Fayt returned to the sanctity of his room. Few people lingered in the common room near the entrance, and the select that did were busy gossiping about the strange group of people upstairs. But Cliff could not be distracted by stupid people and their rumors. He had a mission to accomplish.

So, once again making sure his gift was secure, the blond put his best 'I'm stupid but adorable in that weird muscle-y way' grin on his face as he ascended the stairs to Fayt's room. He knocked twice, and received a feeble answer that the door was unlocked.

"Hey Fayt," Cliff walked deeper into the pit of darkness that was Fayt's 'emo' room. "How're you feeling?" Fayt turned and smiled sadly at his friend.

"Better than before, I guess. I at a bit a few minutes ago, so you don't have to worry." He glanced at the basket hooked on Cliff's arm and pointed at it. "Are you planning a picnic?" Fayt looked out the window into the gathering darkness. "It's a bit late for that."

Cliff laughed a bit and shook his head. "Nope, I have a gift for you." He carefully reached into the basket and pulled out a very pissed Albel Kitty. "Here you go, Fayt." Cliff handed the cat to Fayt who took it carefully into his arms.

"You've seemed so depressed lately, and I thought a pet would cheer you up!" Cliff smiled brightly at his younger friend. Fayt could only look on speechless. "Are you sure?" He asked in a quiet voice. "I mean, with all of this trouble with the 4-D universe and everything, don't you think it will be kind of dangerous for him?" He paused. "It is a he…. Right?"

Cliff laughed as Fayt blushed and the Albel Kitty yowled quietly. "Yeah, it's a boy kitty." Cliff smirked a bit. "And don't worry about that cat's safety; he'll be able to protect himself." He reassured Fayt. "He'll probably even try to protect you…" He added almost as an after thought.

But Fayt was too distracted with his new companion to notice the strange expression on his older friend's face. He was already sitting on his overly large bed, wiggling his finger in front of Kitty Albel's face, as the exasperated cat swiped at it with his de-clawed paws.

"Well, I guess that's all for now." Cliff turned to face the door. As he walked out the door he stopped short. "Oh," he turned back to Fayt. "I saw Albel, and he said that he was going to the Ursa Lava caves to train before the big battle." Fayt looked up at the mention of his crush's name. "He said for all of us fools to do the same if we're to defeat our creator." With that he turned around once more, and returned to his room.

Okieslastlinebreakofthischapteryay!SleepsleepsleepsleepdreamingdreamingmoresleepZzZ

Kitty Albel slowly woke to the sight of a beautifully bright light peeking between two slightly open window shades. Yawning, he stood up and stretched lazily as all felines do when they first awake. He soon froze however when the sounds of soft moaning reached his sensitive ears.

"Nn… Albel….please…." Fayt twisted in his bed covers. "Don't leave me…" His slightly feminine face was covered with sweat, and his normally pastel cheeks were flushed.

Kitty Albel slowly walked to his young companion and placed a soft paw on his brow as if to say 'I'm right here, fool!" But when the gentle approach didn't work, Kitty Albel hissed rather loudly and smacked Fayt with the same paw.

The blue haired teen awoke with a slight gasp, and sat up. "Oh… it was just a dream…" Fayt looked to his new cat and smiled. "So, how're you this morning?"

Kitty Albel looked at Fayt unblinkingly. "Oh, that's right, I forgot animals didn't talk." The cat looked about as shocked as a cat could look, and Fayt blushed. "I've never had a pet before… How could I know?" Kitty Albel shook his head.

The silence of the morning was soon shattered by a most familiar screech. "FAAYYTT! WHAT ARE YOU STILL DOING IN BED! I WANT YOU TO GO SHOPPING WITH ME!" From the sound of it, Sophia was right outside his door, too.

"I'll be out in a minute, Sophia." Fayt replied as he swiftly got out of bed. "I just need to get dressed." He was only wearing an extremely long shirt. That was what he always wore instead of the horrid pink pajamas Sophia bought for his birthday a few months ago.

He quickly threw the shirt on his bed, and rooted around in his pack for clean clothes. While this was happening, Kitty Albel could only watch in horror. Sure Albel had seen Fayt without a shirt before when they would train for hours on end, but that was about it.

When the blue haired teen finished dressing, he turned to pet his new cat. "Are you ok, Kitty-chan?" Fayt seemed to have already decided on a name. (A/N: Original, isn't it?) "You look a bit out of it; do you have a fever?" He put his hand on Kitty Albel's head.

"Fayt! Hurry up!" Sophia was getting restless, so Fayt hoisted his cat into his arms, and walked to the door. Upon opening the door, Sophia screeched once again. "A cat? What are you doing holding a cat? You know I'm allergic!" She quickly backed away.

"Oh yeah, I'd forgotten about that…" Fayt scratched the top of his head. While Sophia was retreating, Kitty Albel got a very wicked idea. With as evil a smirk as a cat can have, he jumped out of Fayt's arms and slowly advanced on Sophia.

Said girl screamed again, but was interrupted by a loud sneeze. "Get that -sneeze- stupid cat -sneeze- away from me -sneeze-!" She backed up even more, growing closer to the top of the stairs every moment.

"Uhm… Here, kitty, kitty." Fayt patted his hands on his thighs. But that wouldn't deter Albel from his revenge. Only last week, Sophia had washed her clothes with his, and they all faded pink! So, a little revenge was in order.

As the pink loving girl cowered from him, Kitty Albel led her slowly to her doom. Then, he pounced! Sophia jumped back right when she was at the top of the stairs, and soon went sailing. The stairs were pretty step, and there were lots of them, considering they were on the 20th floor. Fayt looked worried soon after when he heard a loud thump.

"Hey, Fayt!" Maria called from downstairs. "You know she's still alive, right?" Fayt snapped his fingers, and picked up his kitty. "You'll have to try a bit harder next time, Kitty-chan."

To be continued…

Ok! Another wonderful chapter completed! Once again, I'm soooooo sorry that it took so long. But do not worry! I won't give up on this fic! But in a few months, it may take me a while to update again, because school is evil, and consumes your soul.

Anyways, pleas review, and maybe I'll get the next chapter written faster…..

Oh, and I've improved the grammar and such in the first two chapters, yay me!