Edgar paced his room; he occasionally glanced out his window toward the alchemist's home to wonder why the others were still there. She needs her rest, he objected. How can they exhaust her this way? It was enough to drive him mad. Not only that, he was afraid Sabin used the time to persuade her to marry him. Blast, he thought harshly, I go through the trouble of getting her out of Zozo in one piece and yet he'll marry her!
"Edgar?"
He turned sharply, focusing on Celes' unsure expression. "Yes?" he asked in a sharp tone.
"Edgar, I need to talk to you."
"About?"
"Well, it's about Terra."
Edgar rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you want to marry her too."
Celes blinked in surprise before sending him a confused frown. "What?"
Edgar shook his head and sat heavily into a chair. "Nothing. Never mind."
"I just had a nice talk with her--"
"How is she?" The question was out before he could stop it.
Celes smiled in understanding. "She's doing better, Edgar."
Edgar let out a deep breath as his mood began to change. "Good," he said absently. "Very good." His lips tilted upward in a slight smile before he remembered Celes was in the room. He changed his gaze to her and noticed her hesitant expression. "What is it?"
"What I have to say is hard to phrase right."
Edgar raised an eyebrow. "This is certainly a surprise. You, Celes, usually can tell anyone anything without a problem."
Celes smiled slightly. "It's about Terra and the kids living in Mobliz."
A warning went up in Edgar's mind. "Yes?"
"Do you think it's wise? If this happened once, it could happen again. She doesn't have anyone to look after her there. Everyone's so far away."
"Your point?"
"I was hoping you could help me think of some way to present Terra with the problem. I know she loves it there by herself, and so do the kids, but we have to make her see reason. It's just not safe."
Edgar clenched his jaw. "Whether it's safe or not is beside the point. Mobliz is Terra's home. It's none of our affair whether she stays or not. I agree it isn't as safe as it once was, but the world is slowly changing. She's safer than she would have been a few months ago."
"I know--"
"Celes, Terra is a free spirit. We cannot take it upon ourselves to tell her where it's appropriate to live and where it isn't. Those are her decisions. I am concerned for her as well, but I won't be part of any plan to strong-arm her to another location."
Celes looked insulted. "Strong-arm her! Of all the... I would never force Terra to do something she didn't want to do, Edgar. I had hoped we could help Mobliz become a town again and wondered how to tell her what I wanted to do. After all, she's been on her own for so long. I had hoped you could help me." She stood with fists on hips and glared down at him. "What's gotten into you, Edgar? Every time someone mentions Terra you get defensive. Someone would think you were in love with her."
With that, Celes flounced from the room.
Terra looked at Sabin with a smile. "Of course you should start a school, Sabin. I think Duncan would approve, don't you? You're silly not to."
"I just don't know if I'm qualified."
"Qualified?" Terra giggled as she gave a slight shake of her head. "Sabin, you've learned all you could from Duncan and made up some new techniques besides. How can you be anything but qualified? I'm sure Edgar would agree. He's so proud of you."
Sabin blinked in surprise. "Edgar? Proud of me? What for?"
"For your dedication to your way of life. It's hard work, and he sees that. The discipline. The long hours of study. The control of your thoughts and body. Sabin, you've worked a long time to get where you are. He knows that, too. I'm sure if you proposed the idea of a school he'd agree to back you."
Sabin stared down at her in silence, and then he grinned. "I'd never thought to ask him. I was going to ask Setzer for a loan."
Terra giggled again. "Setzer? Loan you money? I don't think that's very bright. You couldn't afford to pay him back."
Sabin laughed, turning when there was a quiet knock. Edgar appeared in the doorway. "Hiya, brother. After so many days of insisting she wasn't strong enough, you're finally coming down again, huh?"
Edgar's face changed expressions when he focused on the two together. Terra didn't like it. It made her uneasy. She turned her eyes from Edgar and placed a hand on Sabin's arm, giving him a smile when he faced her. "Sabin, could you give us a minute or two?"
"Sure."
Sabin placed a kiss on her cheek, as had become his custom on his visits to her in Mobliz, and left after clapping Edgar on the shoulder. Edgar made his way further into the room, reluctantly it seemed to Terra, and eventually sat in the chair at her side.
She watched his face and felt a lump of concern grow in her throat. "What's wrong?" she asked.
His eyes changed, as did his face, and he sent her a smile that seemed fake. "Nothing at all, my lady. I was just concerned for you. It didn't seem wise to allow all these visits when you'd only just recovered after being in such a bad way."
"I'm okay. The alchemist... What's his name? Well, he said I'm a very fast healer. He's never seen anything like it." Terra remained silent as she tried to give Edgar a chance to voice what bothered him. When he didn't, she pressed on. "Edgar, what's the matter?"
His eyes still didn't meet hers. "I need to ask you a personal question."
"Go ahead." When Edgar finally met her eyes, his were masked. Terra didn't like what it did to his face. He was usually so bright and handsome, but now he seemed haggard and alone. Something was terribly wrong. "Edgar?"
"Are you in lo--" He cut off and clenched his jaw. Then he looked away with a shake of his head.
She intensely watched his face. "Am I in what?"
"Are you lonely?"
Terra blinked and leaned back in surprise and confusion. "What?"
He met her eyes again, and this time he reached forward and took her hand in his. "Terra, all of us agree that it's unwise for you to live so far away. Not when you have so many children to care for. Suppose something of this magnitude were to happen again? I want you to consider allowing me to rebuild Mobliz. To encourage growth. To have the city be as it was before Kefka."
Terra lifted a finger to her lips and absently chewed on the nail. Then she hesitantly lowered her hand. "I think that would be wonderful," she said slowly. "I'll try and be as helpful as I can, as will the children, but... W-Was that what you were going to ask?"
Edgar cringed slightly and moved his gaze to stare down at her hand in his. "It's of no import."
"But..." Terra worried her lower lip. "But then you wouldn't look so miserable. Please, Edgar. Tell me what's wrong."
He clenched his jaw. "Sabin asked my permission to marry you."
Terra received the information with shocked silence and another blink. "Sabin?"
Edgar looked up to meet her wide eyes. "Was that not what you discussed when I came in?"
"No," she said in a strange voice. "He was asking my opinion on whether he should start a school--" Her face puckered in a frown of confusion as she leaned slightly forward. "He asked you if he could marry me? Why would he ask you?"
"I don't know," he said quickly as he lowered his eyes.
But there was something about the tone of his voice... "Edgar, you're lying to me," she said in a shocked tone. "Why?"
Edgar flinched and stood. She gripped his hand, but he still pulled away. "Lie to a lady? Preposterous!"
Terra sighed and lowered her eyes to her empty hands. "Fine, then I'll ask Sabin why he talked to you instead of me. Then I'll ask him why he hasn't brought it up--" She cut off and pressed her lips together as she lifted her eyes to an intense perusal of his stance. His back was to her, so she couldn't see his face or his eyes. "What did you say to him?"
"I told him he would make you a fine husband."
The silence that settled was uncomfortable, and she almost felt like she couldn't breathe. She tried to adjust her position so that she could examine his profile, but he stood wrong. Desperation and a refusal to let things stay uncomfortable straightened her back and made a slight spark flash in her eyes.
"So where do we go from here?" she asked. "Do we walk away like we did after the fight with Kefka? I didn't like how that felt. I thought you didn't either."
"Terra..." was all Edgar said.
Terra stared at his slightly hunched back and felt a strong wave of something so powerful that it opened her mouth and made her say "Edgar" in such a soft tone that she saw his stance change. She swallowed hard and pressed onward. "Edgar, I think I'm in love with you."
Edgar straightened sharply and turned. "What did you say?"
She tried to adjust her position, but it didn't work. She only grimaced in pain and smacked at the blankets in frustration before looking over at him again. He still stood by the window.
The frustration blossomed to irritation. "Why are you just standing there? Why don't you say something? I just told you that I think I love you, Edgar Roni Figaro. So what are you going to do about it?" She crossed her arms. "Well? The ball's in your court, highness."
Edgar stepped forward, lowering himself into the chair across from her so slowly that Terra was sure the world was in slow motion.
"It's bad enough I'm messing the whole thing up," she complained in a choked voice, "but do you have to--" One of his hands came up to stroke her cheek, and Terra jerked back at the unexpected tenderness as well as the warm spark that rumbled within.
"It's all right, Terra," he reassured her. "Trust me. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise you this." And then Edgar lowered his head to brush her lips with his.
Something like a lightning bolt seemed to strike her from the inside out, tingling from her toes to her lips. She pulled back, gazing up at him in surprise and...
Edgar examined her expression. "Terra?"
Terra brought a hand up to her lips. "You kissed me."
Edgar smiled, and his face relaxed into the expression. "I did, didn't I?" he asked, eyes twinkling.
Terra blinked up at him. "Why?"
Edgar's smile softened to something she couldn't put a name to, and then he reached out with a hand and cupped her cheek, stroking it with his thumb. The touch was so tender and gentle that it brought tears to her eyes.
"Because I love you," he admitted in a quiet voice.
"Y-You--" Terra blinked, but couldn't finish the sentence.
Edgar lowered his hand from her face as he turned his head away. "I should have told you before, but I didn't know how. You always thought of me as a tease. A flirt and sweet-talker without a sincere bone in his body. How could I prove otherwise when even Locke was against me?"
Terra watched his face as he continued. Little by little the haggard lines and paleness that came with exhaustion had begun to fade.
Edgar released a deep breath and brought his gaze back to her face. He gathered her hands into his. "You have been the light of my heart for what seems such a very long time, Terra. That was one reason I stayed away. I was afraid it would ruin our friendship. That's why I simply sent you the flowers, invitations, and gifts on different birthdays. So that you would know I hadn't forgotten you." A smile caressed his lips and danced within the blue of his eyes. "I would never forget you," he said as he brought each hand to his lips.
She tightened her hold on his hands. "Edgar, why didn't you say something?"
"I don't know," he said gruffly, as if he were punishing himself. "I, the ladies man of Figaro Castle, didn't know how to say I cared what you went through. So many times I tried, but..." Edgar released another deep breath and gave a slight shake of his head. "Fear is a powerful thing, Terra. It can grip the soul of a very brave man and make him a coward."
And the expression on his face twisted her heart. "So those times I thought you were teasing... You weren't, were you?"
He smiled, but the pain clearly showed in his eyes. "I was quite serious, Terra, but it seemed to come out wrong. Habit, I suppose."
"Then you don't really want me to marry Sabin?" she pressed.
Edgar's smile lightened. "If you marry Sabin, I shall kill him myself. But I've a suspicion this was a plot to make me realize what an idiot I have been." He caressed her cheek with a finger, brushing a stray wisp of hair from her forehead and lightly touching a winged eyebrow. "All those nights of adventure against Kefka you were so close... How could I have been so blind?"
Terra's eyes twinkled at him as she reached up to take his hand from her face, cradling it in her lap between both hands. "How do I know you're not just being your usual self? Maybe I just present a challenge?"
Edgar chuckled. "There's only one way to prove my honesty, my lady," he said. Edgar bent down on one knee by her bedside and covered her hands with his. "Will you rescue me from my miserable existence, my Esper angel? Will you marry me?"
Tears flowed silent and steady down her cheeks as she gazed down at him. "I... I..." Terra threw her arms around his neck. "Yes! Oh yes!"
He gently pulled back, gazing into the unique eyes that had come to be a part of his soul. "Never again, Terra. Never again shall I allow you to be lonely or in need of comfort or companionship. Should you marry me, I shall forever be in your presence."
Terra held his face in her hands and smiled into his bright expression and twinkling eyes with violet eyes afire with love and renewed purpose. She caressed his face with her thumbs. "Just try to leave."
He swept her hands from his face, kissed each palm, and then drew her close to kiss her quite thoroughly.
