Insaneiac: Yummy. Well everyone, your favorite little Insaneiac is fighting the cold from hell. Yes, I am aware just how oxymoronic that sounds, but it's true. Lucy-fer himself sent this one upon me. But will that keep me from making the fans happy? Not a chance. Oh yes…I am changing up a bit of the original story here. But I think you'll like it. Now, I guarantee that for fans who have been patiently awaiting some fluff, this will make your day…kind of. So…who should I have do the disclaimer today? OH, I know…just because I haven't actually taken a shot at her yet.

Disclaimer: Um…what's a disclaimer? Hasten whisperings- OH! Insaneiac doesn't own the story. –More whisperings, slightly angrier- Oh…I'm sorry. He doesn't own the game or the story…

Never mind.


Chapter 6: Old Enemies Are New Friends
'This was not the first time.'

As Lloyd's back screamed in pain as it came in contact with the rushing cold air, that was all he could think about. That simple six word statement, and the fact that he had almost lost the woman he loved. What made it so much worse was the fact that he almost lost the woman he loved to the people he fought with, fought to help, fought to protect. The sting of betrayal burned him worse than the marks on his back ever could. The mental image of Raine, smiling as she watched the building burn, roared like a bonfire inside his head.

'This was not the first time I risked my life for you… and I know that it won't be the last.' Lloyd reaffirmed mentally, staring at the side of the beautiful summoner's face. Midway during their escape, Lloyd had given the Rheaird to Sheena, not trusting himself to keep her airborne with him. She flew it as close to him as possible, almost as through she was afraid that Lloyd might disappear. To tell the truth, he was doing the same thing, fearing the exact same thing. He loved her, he knew he did. But every time he tried to put it into words, he failed himself. This time, he had almost lost the chance to ever say it to her. But by Martel, he was not going to let that happen again. As soon as they touched down safely, Lloyd was going to say it. No matter what it took for him to put his feelings into words.

'This was not the first time…and it won't be the last…'

------ Island of Decision, a month and a bit ago ------

"…Admit defeat." Sheena spoke, pointing a spell card at her kneeling opponent. The look in Kuchinawa's eyes was nothing short of depression, rage, and utter failure. It was painful to look at, for both Sheena and Lloyd.

"So you don't want to kill me." Kuchinawa began, his voice livid with defeat-induced rage. "I don't want your pity…I REFUSE IT!" He yelled, pushing to his feet. His eyes regarded Sheena frigidly as he hurled Corrine's bell at Sheena's feet. Back tracking to a fair distance from the victor and observer, Kuchinawa pulled another dagger from his belt, and aimed it at his throat. "…I lost because of my own insufficient skill. Good-bye!"

"STOP!" Sheena screamed, dropping her hands to her side as the shock of what her once former friend was about to do. Before anything else could be said, Kuchinawa hurled the knife at the now defenseless Sheena's neck. Sheena's eyes shot open, absolutely stunned that Kuchinawa would go so far as to break the rules of the challenge to kill her. Her eyes shut as she prepared to feel the cold steel pierce her throat. A few seconds after what should have been a death blow, she felt herself fall backwards, and found herself sandwiched in between the ground and a warm feeling weight. Her eyes opened to see Lloyd lying on top of her, his face the absolute picture of agony.

"You…okay?" Lloyd muttered, before collapsing to the side, taking himself off of Sheena. Sheena, still confused, turned to look at the fallen swordsman and at the knife that stood out in the back of his shoulder. Her eyes soon shot open with fear, realizing that Lloyd had just used himself as a human shield for her.

"What are you DOING?" Kuchinawa yelled, looking enraged at Lloyd. "That was meant for HER!" Sheena stared at Lloyd as he forced himself to his feet, reaching to his back and pulling the knife out. He yelled out in pain as he felt it come out of its fleshy sheath, before tossing it into the ground beside him. Sheena's mouth hung open as she watched Lloyd.

"The match was over…" Lloyd grunted, his breathing heavily. "And I refuse to let any senseless sacrifices continue!"

"Lloyd…" Sheena muttered weakly, her bottom lip trembling. She had been so sure that this was it, that she was going to die.

"What is the point…" Lloyd began, before collapsing to a knee. His entire body was burning as if a fire was raging just beneath his skin. "…of avenging deaths? Will it bring back what you lost? All it will do is create more stupid oaths of revenge!" Lloyd choked out, forcing his head up to maintain eye contract with Kuchinawa. He was surprised to find even him staring in shock. "It's a stupid and never-ending cycle."

"But it is what she deserves! She took EVERYTHING FROM ME!" Kuchinawa yelled. "My purpose is to kill her, so that my life can end with a shred of honor in knowing that I've avenged my parents."

"That's stupid!" Lloyd choke out, glaring at Kuchinawa. "You can't die with honor! Death for death's sake is meaningless. It's living with honor that is important." He paused for a moment as he bent his head down, coughing heavily. A good chunk of blood splattered against the ground, but Lloyd found himself undeterred. Fighting with his being, he lifted his head once more, taking in Kuchinawa's gaze with his own. "There is no meaning in dying, only in living. Killing Sheena won't give your death a meaning, just like killing yourself won't either. It's how you live that matters. A meaning in life…not death…is the truth behind honor."

For a long time, no one said anything. Sheena and Kuchinawa stared at Lloyd in shock and Lloyd was slowly succumbing to the toxin that coated the dagger. It wasn't until Kuchinawa reached into his belt pouch, and threw a vial at the grass in front of Lloyd that Sheena's stare broke off, resting this time on Kuchinawa. "Lloyd is it? That will stop the toxin. Take it quick, as that poison kills with vicious speed." Kuchinawa muttered, before back flipping into the air, and landing on a tree branch. He stared down at Lloyd one last time, before adjusting his view to Sheena. "What he sees in you, I will never know. You don't deserve a friend like him in this life." He spoke coldly, readjusting his view once more Lloyd, who just emptied the vial. "And I will be watching you, Lloyd. I will be watching to make sure you never falter from that thinking. I refuse to let you. If I ever find out you've betrayed these words, I'll end you." With that, the man disappeared, leaving the wounded swordsman and the stunned summoner alone on the island.

"Lloyd…why?" Sheena nearly sobbed, dropping to her knees at Lloyd's side. "You IDIOT! He could've killed you! WHY?"

"Because you're…" Lloyd began, still weak from the poison. His mind felt clouded, his senses numb, but at the very least he didn't feel like he was internally engulfed in flames. "…a great friend." He finished with a smile, before blacking out and collapsing into her arms.

------ Present time ------

In the distance, Lloyd could see Flanoir. That was the furthest from Iselia that he could think of. He was positive that they would be safe there, free from the madness of his once true friends. Without even needing to ask, he knew Sheena was still shook up about the whole thing. He would have been. 'Heck…even Dad would have been.' Lloyd mused, as his thoughts briefly drifted to Kratos. Shaking his head back to the plotting of what to do, Lloyd looked at Sheena once more. This time, they had both caught each other, making eye contact. For a brief minute, their worries faded away as they met each other's gaze, smiling encouraging smiles.

"Sheena…are you okay?" Lloyd asked for what seemed like the fiftieth time. Sheena nodded, not trusting her words at the moment. "I'm sorry."

"For what? You were just as fooled as I was." Sheena replied on instinct. Slowly, Lloyd began his descent towards the ground. For the first real time since leaving, Sheena clearly saw Lloyd's scorched back, rendering her silent. It looked so horrible, and he had suffered it all for her. "Lloyd, your back…" She started, before descending with Lloyd.

"It's just a little burnt…nothing too bad." Lloyd tried to lie, grimacing as he felt more cold air wash over it. He visibly winced in place of a yelp or a groan, and Sheena could only watch as Lloyd suffered from the burns. The two touched down just outside the snowy town, Sheena on instinct storing away the Rheaird as soon as she dismounted from it. The old familiar snow fall of Flanoir delivered as it usually did, brining pleasant memories to them. Reaching into his pack, Lloyd brought out a pair of cloaks, tossing one to Sheena. "For the time being…I think we should try to blend in." Lloyd muttered, surprising Sheena. More often than not, it was someone else who had to think like this.

"That's…actually a good idea Lloyd." Sheena replied, still slightly stunned. Throwing on the cloak, she pulled the hood over her head, watching as Lloyd slowly did the same, wincing as the fabric brushed his burns. "Lloyd…I can see if Undine or Celsius can help with that…"

"I'm okay Sheena." Lloyd replied with a smile, before walking off towards the inn. Sheena shook her head in disagreement with Lloyd, but chose not to pursue it as she followed him into the town. Keeping their heads down for the most part, the two cloaked figures entered the empty Inn, aside from the innkeeper standing behind the desk. He smiled warmly as the two entered, placing down the book he was reading and lifting a ledger from underneath the desk.

"And how are ye today?" The man spoke pleasantly.

"Good. We'd like a room please." Lloyd spoke, staring the man in the eyes.

"Okay…just-"

"Could we have a room without signing the ledger?" Sheena spoke quickly, making eye contact with the keeper. For a brief minute, Lloyd thought he saw a cold flash in his eyes as she spoke, but shrugged it off as nothing.

"That's an odd request lass…" The man spoke, coming out from behind the desk and moving to the door. He opened it for a moment, peering into the snowy night, before closing it and locking the door. "It's a cold one, isn't it?"

"It's Flanoir. It's always cold here." Lloyd replied pleasantly. The man turned to Lloyd, flashing a generic smile to the cloaked boy and nodding.

"I meant the whole world…and not just temperature wise. Emotionally. It feels cold emotionally." The man spoke, quick and fast, turning away to walk behind the desk. "Wouldn't you agree Lloyd?"

"You've got tha…" Lloyd started, nearly oblivious. His eyes shot open part way through as his name registered. "How do you know my name?" Lloyd spoke as his once happy voice faded, changing into a tone now carrying an underlying fierceness to it.

"Why don't you ask Sheena? She seems to have an idea." The man replied, his voice not as warm as it had been moments ago. Lloyd turned to eye Sheena, who silently mouthed a name. Whether she was intentionally silent or struck silent didn't matter. In a heartbeat, Lloyd had spun back to the man, hands seconds away from drawing his Material Blades. It was, however, much too late. Lloyd's head shifted downwards as best as it could, spotting the knife resting gently on his neck, the edge of the deadly weapon just slightly pushing against the flesh. Sheena too had a knife pointed at her throat, catching the both of them completely off. Flashing Sheena a cold, hateful smile, he spoke again. "I told you, I would be watching you, Lloyd."

"…Kuchinawa." The two spoke at once.

------ Renegade Base ------

There are three forms of very painful awakenings in life. One comes from sleeping on top of something, like a rock or a book. Raine had experience this one quite a few times, as she more often than not misplaced books she would read. That resulted in a stiff back, and an even further stiffened mood. Another was from too much alcohol, a pleasantry she had yet to ever experience, and if her will remained her own, she never would. The third was waking up from being hit over the head with a blunt object. More often than not, this led to three distinct effects. A mind-splitting head ache, a full set of dulled senses, and a very angry mood.

That being said, Raine felt herself coming back to reality in the fashion of one who had been hit with a blunt object. "Ugh…where…am I?" She murmured, blinking repetitively to try and regain her sense of sight. Slowly, her ears began to focus on the sound of a tapping foot, which served as a place to start. Turning towards the sound, she focused on the foot until her eyes began to clear up. Following her regained sense of hearing and sight, Raine began to focus on her surroundings, noticing she was on a rather comfy looking bed. Groaning once, she forced herself to sit up, struggling to cope with the killer headache. Her hands clenched at the fabric briefly before letting it go, her hands trailing to her face. A long groan escaped her lips as she tried to place together what had just happened.

"Take you time…" The voice muttered, flowing into her ears.

Anger time.

Raine's head shot up, her eyes locking with Yuan's in a flash. A second past before her gaze began to whip around, hunting for her staff. 'HE KIDNAPPED ME!' She mentally yelled, as her search turned up empty. Slowly, she turned back to Yuan, who was holding her staff in his hand. To make it even worse, he was wearing a confident little smirk. "Give me my staff." Raine uttered, her voice a vicious calm. It was the kind of calm that was prevalent in most assassins, or some serial killers. When all Yuan did in response was grin a little more, Raine dropped the act of being calm. "NOW!"

"Calm down already." Yuan spoke calmly, tossing her the staff and crossing his arms. He mentally flinched as she caught it in mid-flight, holding it in the air. 'Never realized quite how scary she could get.' "If you're quite done over reacting…"

"OVER REACTING?" Raine yelled, leaping to her feet. "You knock me out in the middle of the night, and kidnap me!" She continued to scream at Yuan, who looked more annoyed than apologetic or fearful.

"I told you to head towards Triet, I never said anything past that." Yuan answered staring as the usually composed mayor of Iselia. He knew that antagonizing the woman would result in only the worse kind of hassle, but still. He rarely got to have any fun running the Renegades, so when the opportunity arose, he took it. "Besides, you're way too uptight. You said you wanted to see Lloyd. Stop focusing on the small and unimportant."

"I really wouldn't call kidnapping small and unimportant." Raine shot back, her voice a more steady calm. 'How aggravating can this guy be? But he is right…remember why you are here Raine.' With her mental critique out of the way, her mind turned towards her true purpose for being here. "So then, where is he?"

Yuan paused for a moment, before pulling out a seat from the table beside him. Raine had, unintentionally, taken the time to look at the room. She was surprised at how familiar it looked to Yuan's old main room in Triet, though this time with the added feature of the extremely comfy bed. "I need to explain a few things to you first." Yuan spoke, breathing in deeply. "And you have to swear this stays between us. I mean everything."

"I won't swear on anything before I see Lloyd."

"Then I won't say anything, and I'll simply wait for Regal to return." Yuan countered, narrowing his eyes. Once more, the two engaged in a battle of wills. This one, however, was much shorter than their last one, with Yuan coming out as the victor in this instance. Her head hanging in defeat, Raine sighed.

"Fine. I swear, not a word of this is heard by anyone else." When Yuan smirked in response, she once more felt like punching her. "Now get on with it already."

"A few days ago, Lloyd and Sheena were resting in a forest just outside of Meltokio." Yuan started, throwing a hand in the air to silence Raine. "How I knew he was there is unimportant. After the two shared some encouraging words, I confronted Lloyd. Offered him a chance to…learn some things." Yuan continued, picking his words carefully. Raine nodded, not wanting to waste anymore time. The sooner she could see Lloyd, the sooner she could be done with Yuan. "So…I knocked him out."

Raine stopped nodding for a minute, slowly tilting her head. "You…what?" She inquired monotonously.

"Well, did you honestly think Lloyd would just leave Sheena?" Yuan scoffed, rubbing his forehead. "Besides, that's unimportant."

"Knocking out the savior of the worlds is not unimportant Yuan. It's moronic." Raine critiqued, smirking herself when she witnessed his reaction. For a moment, the two remained in a tense silence, both staring at each other, before Raine finally nodded. "Go on."

Yuan gave her a narrowed glare, only serving to widen the smirk on Raine's face, before continuing. "As of now, Lloyd is drugged." His turn to smirk, as he watched the confidence fade from Raine's face, and replace itself with a weird mix of shock and anger. "Lloyd is currently under the influence of a very potent hallucinogen, doubled in strength by the fact that he is currently in a hibernation chamber." Yuan watched as the shock soon faded into the anger, watching Raine very slowly begin to forsake the cool head she wore in most encounters, inching very quickly towards mindless violence. "So, as of right now, he is currently experiencing an… altered reality of sorts. One that will help teach him these things."

"Wait just one second." Raine began, her voice shaky at best. "You drugged Lloyd…then locked him in a hibernation chamber? All to help him?" She checked, the end of her question filled with critical doubt and anger.

"Heh." Yuan replied, watching Raine get even angrier. "Since when did I do anything to help anyone selflessly? While Lloyd's in dream land, I've been running experiments and tests on his exsphere. And while what I have found has been startling, it has been next to nothing in so far as usefulness goes. That is why you are here Raine. I figure something from the final battle with Mithos triggered a change in his exsphere. I need to know what it is." Yuan finished, watching as Raine slowly stood up from the bed.

"So…you kidnap Lloyd, cause my friends grief, drug one of my favorite students, and you have the tenacity to simply come to one of us and ask for help like it's no big deal?" Raine uttered, her voice once more bearing a fatal calmness to it.

"Yes."

For a moment, there was absolutely no noise whatsoever. The two seemed to be encased in the world's single most uncomfortable silence. Neither one made a move or even took a deep breath for minutes, until finally, Raine slid her hand to the bottom of her staff, and stared maliciously at Yuan. And for the first time in much too long, Yuan felt his blood run cold. "Violence isn't going to achieve anything Raine."

"No, but I'll feel a whole lot better about this after I'm done…" Raine replied just seconds before a large screen on the nearest wall activated, capturing both the violent Raine's and scared Yuan's attention. Much to the satisfaction of the blue haired half-elf, Kratos showed up on the screen, eyeing the two of them. "Kratos?" Raine exclaimed. The scene probably looked pretty bad, what with Raine holding up a long wooden pole in the air, prepared to bring it down onto Yuan.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" Kratos spoke, looking at the two. Before an answer could be uttered, Kratos looked at Raine. "So then, I suppose he's told you about my son's current state?" Raine nodded, slowly lowering her staff to her side. "Then I need you to understand that this is more than a petty sense of curiosity. I am legitimately worried about my son's exsphere. I was even the one that suggested Yuan to see you about it. I know it looks bad Raine."

"Yes…but I suppose if it's enough to worry you Kratos, than it should hold my concern as well." Raine replied, turning to Yuan. "Take me to see him. Then I'll start explaining."

------ Flanoir (Lloyd) ------

"Kuchinawa…you're working for them now?" Sheena muttered, narrowing her eyes at the former Mizuho ninja.

"Of course not." Kuchinawa replied. It was kind of hard to truly take him seriously, seeing as he was still disguised as a fairly regular looking innkeeper. However, the knives that threatened to spill blood seemed to get the point across. "If anything, I am here to help." That statement was enough to stun Sheena for a moment. Neither moved, seeing as how Kuchinawa as in a position where he could kill the both of them with a single action.

"What do you mean, help?" Lloyd muttered, his hand slowly resting itself on the handle of his sword. Just as he was about to make a move, the knife removed itself from his neck, and sliced through the fabric of the cloak he was wearing, right down the spine of it. The knife never touched skin, which had only served to further surprise the swordsman.

"Your back looks like hell. Looks like you've paid another big price for being near Sheena." Kuchinawa mocked, lowering the knife pointed at Sheena's neck, before leaping back over the desk. "Iselia must have been an eye opener, wasn't it Lloyd?" Lloyd spun around to face Kuchinawa, trying to find something to say to the former ninja, but falling short. Kuchinawa shook his head as he watched the swordsman try and defend himself and Sheena verbally. "Don't bother trying to say anything. Like I said before, I am here to help."

"Why?" Sheena finally muttered, catching a glare from Kuchinawa.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not doing this for you Sheena. Lloyd has earned something of mine that means more to me than even honor. Respect. He's been stabbed and now scorched for you. A person willing to risk death is a very rare person indeed, and someone willing to risk it twice is down right one of a kind. He's done more for you than any self-respecting person would, or should, and for that he's earned it. And aside from that, I vowed to make sure to watch him, and that kept his word. That's kind of hard if he's forced to keep running from your former friends." Kuchinawa explained, watching as Sheena's head hung from her shoulders. "Turning old friends against him, you've taken the cake this time Shee…" Kuchinawa began, seconds before a sword embedded itself a foot into the wooden pillar right beside his head. His sight lowly turned to Lloyd, who was glaring viciously at him.

"Don't talk to her like that…ever." Lloyd growled, reaching for his Material Blades. It was a new habit Lloyd had developed, keeping a smaller blade located just behind his left shoulder, incase he was ever momentarily disarmed. It had saved his skin a few times since starting the journey to destroy the exspheres. Luckily, it had been one of the rare things on his back to remain undamaged from the fire. Sheena looked at Lloyd, a warm smile on her face as she watched him stand up for her. "It's not her fault."

Kuchinawa smiled, nodding once. "I'll leave it at that then." With a sigh, Kuchinawa walked to a wall, pressed a secret panel along a wooden plank to open up a secret room. "Rest in there. Come tomorrow, we take the secret route to the abandoned Renegades base. You'll be safe there until they stop looking for you. Then I'll get you both to Mizuho, where you'll be safe for sure. Only a fool openly attacks a village of ninjas." Kuchinawa explained, watching as the two nodded. They walked by the desk, Lloyd stopping briefly to pull out the sword, before entering the room. "I'll keep watch out here for the night…You've been followed by the former chosens."

"How do you know all this?"

Kuchinawa grinned, slowly turning to Lloyd. "When I said I would be watching you, I wasn't kidding in the slightest." Kuchinawa spoke, strong and steadily. He turned his head away from Lloyd, staring at the door intently. "I am constantly waiting for you to slip up, so I can claim your life. No one should be allowed to betray words like those and live." With that, Kuchinawa went back to the book he had been reading, as the door closed off, separating them from the actual inn. Sighing deeply, the two walked down the long hallway, noticing how it sloped downwards steadily. At last, after a couple of minutes of walking, the two arrived at a door. Opening it, they stepped into a fairly bland room, looking quite like the regular rooms in the inn, aside from the lack of windows. There was only a single bed, but a couch as well. A single light rested above them, lighting the room up surprisingly well considering it's size. There was a bookshelf there, lined with several odd books about random things. Aside from that there was a small bathroom. Just managing to close the door, Lloyd allowed himself to collapse onto the couch face first.

"I call upon the maiden of the mist. Undine!" Sheena summoned, catching Lloyd off guard. Lloyd turned to look at Sheena, and saw Undine floating beside her. Lloyd almost said something to contest with Sheena's action, but she silenced him with a raised hand. "No Lloyd."

"What is it, pact maker?" Undine spoke.

"Can you do something about Lloyd's back?"

"I will try." With that, she beckoned Lloyd to her, who responded obediently. Truth be told, the pain was killing him, and anything that could help he would try. "Please, remove your upper garment." Undine spoke, Lloyd was hesitating to follow, until his eyes laid themselves upon on Sheena's. She looked so worried for him that it almost hurt. He turned back to Undine and nodded, removing his upper layer of clothing, and exposing his back to the summon spirit. She extended her hands, hovering them just over Lloyd's mutilated back, and began to douse it with a steady stream of water. Surprisingly enough, where Lloyd had been sure that anything touching his back would have been excruciating, this water was soothing. A few minutes later, Undine stopped the flow of water, backing up a ways and turning to Sheena. "The task is complete." With that, she disappeared from the room, leaving a pair of exhausted travelers. Lloyd smiled, stretching his body and feeling absolutely no pain from the burns. To his surprise, he looked in a mirror and saw that the burn marks had almost completely faded.

"Lloyd…this is my fault." Sheena muttered, sitting on the bed. Lloyd shot around, catching her eyes with his own, comforting them within his own. "You could have died again. Maybe Kuchinawa is right…I really don't deserve a friend like you."

"Kuchinawa's an idiot." Lloyd growled as he began to put on his burnt top. Even if it was burnt, it was better than nothing. Turning back to Sheena, he smiled. "You're a great friend Sheena." Sheena broke the eye contact, staring down at the ground instead, afraid to look back at the man that put himself through hell for her now on two accounts. "Sheena…"

"No, he's right Lloyd. You've nearly died twice for me. All I've manage to do from the moment you met me was cause you trouble." Sheena lamented. "What kind of friend am I? Getting the closest friend I've ever had hurt time and time again…" She felt a gloveless hand rest under her chin, gently lifting it up to come eye level with Lloyd. He was kneeling in front of the bed, his head just far enough away so that her eyes could take in his entire face. Their eyes met once more, and Lloyd gave her the warmest smile he had.

"Sheena…" Lloyd began, removing his hand from her chin, and resting it along the side of her face. "I would risk death for you a thousand times if I have to. Kuchinawa is just bitter because he can't let go of the past. If he knew the Sheena I knew, with her warm and caring smile, her gentle and independent eyes, her strong will and her ability to overcome, he'd have been stunned." Lloyd soothed, unaware of the blushes that the two now had on. Sheena's face had softened considerably, her bottom lip trembling as Lloyd's words filled her ears.

"Lloyd…" Sheena whimpered, her eyes watering slightly.

Lloyd breathed deeply, overlooking that last step. He had come this far, no point in turning away now. "Sheena…I found my reason to live when I searched through your eyes before we went to face Volt. I don't care what happened before that day. What happened or what you did doesn't worry me." Lloyd spoke, his voice surprisingly strong. He hadn't expected himself to be able to get this far before. He wondered if the fact that he just about braved the fires of hell to save her had anything to do with it. It took a second run in with death to give him the confidence to say the most important thing he ever would. 'No…it wasn't that…it was the fact that I almost lost the chance to tell her how I felt.' Whatever it was, he would ride it until the end. He almost lost track of himself when he felt Sheena throw her arms around him, embracing him warmly. His own arms found their way around her, holding her tightly, as if he was afraid that this was all one big dream.

Slowly, Lloyd broke the embrace, pulling away enough to bring Sheena's face into full view. Swallowing one last time, Lloyd put any fears behind him, and gently rested a gloveless hand on each side of her face. "Sheena…I lo-" Lloyd nearly leapt out of his skin as the door slammed open, catching the attention of both Lloyd and Sheena, destroying the moment. They both caught sight of a very worried looking Kuchinawa, still in his innkeeper disguise. His eyes said it all, and that was enough to wrench back the fear into Lloyd's life. The once quiet and sensitive moment turned into one of the most panicked moments of his life, as he saw Kuchinawa panting.

"We need to go…NOW." Kuchinawa muttered hastily, his voice littered with a sense of fear. Closing the door tightly, he pressed another button that locked it instantly, sealing themselves inside the room. Lloyd, still convinced he needed to do this, turned back to Sheena and stared back into her eyes. When he looked into her eyes, he saw a shallow and lost gaze in them, something that alarmed Lloyd greatly. He quickly noticed that Sheena's face had gone deathly pale, and as her hand brushed his face, he could feel the warmth fleeing from it.

"…L-Lloy…" Sheena whimpered, before collapsing into his arms, and going into convulsions.


A/N: Oh yah…this is going to make me public enemy number one with EVERYONE. Lloyd and Sheena sharing a very touching moment, almost coming to the verge of the most sacred of confessions, when Kuchinawa comes up, brining the evil pear shaping events with him. Do I think I'll get some scathing reviews from those that were expecting the declaration of love? Of course. Hell, I'm prepared for it. Enjoy