Me: Back again. Aside from Kira, I haven't had any death threats, and I've really been enjoying myself.

Kira: Shauni Osteroth Methai, Shauni Domz Eretai!

Me: I'm the one who uses that to annoy people! It's from one of my favourite games, Beyond Good and Evil.

Kira: You have a list of favourite games!

Me: Of course!

Tales of Symphonia

Beyond Good and Evil

Baten Kaitos

Animal Crossing: Wild World

Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time

Kira: Shurri fire sword protect me…Oh, no! Now she's got me doing it!

Me: Doing what?

Kira: Naming Winding Circle gods! Mez10000 does not own Tamora Pierce and her books; any of the aforementioned games; or Tales of Symphonia.

Me: (OMG face, jaw hanging)

Kira: What?

Me: You've never done a disclaimer without me asking before! Who are you and what have you done with Kira!

Kira: I just thought I'd be kind for a change. Anyway, shouldn't you let your readers read?

Me: Yeah, sure. Oh, and I've been hinting at something for ages, which I'm surprised no-one has mentioned. And why hasn't anyone reviewed? And enjoy.

Have I mentioned how much I hate snow? Just for the record: I hate snow! As soon as we got into Flanior I ran into the inn on my left in one second.

"Hey, it's that girl again!" Said a male voice once I was inside the inn.

"Uh-oh." I whispered to myself. I never like it when people automatically know me. It makes me feel awkward and guilty.

'Calm down. You haven't done anything.' Cyclone reassured me. 'Although you haven't spoken to me much.' Was that a pouty tone?

'I'm sorry, but you've seen how busy we've been…'

My apologies were stopped when the innkeeper spoke to me. "You're that girl, um…Nia!"

"How do you know my name?"

"We don't get too many girls round here unconscious in a man's arms, miss."

I blushed, remembering the last time I was in Flanior. Kratos must have carried me from the ice caves to here!

"I fainted in the ice caves." I explained.

"That's not how that other guy explained it, miss. He said you and the tall guy had something going on."

"I am going to murder Stephen!" Luckily for me, Stephen just walked through the door.

Noticing my murderous glint, Stephen looked at the innkeeper. "You didn't tell her did you?"

Not getting an answer, he ran back through the door. Then his head reappeared through the door.

"Just to let you know, everyone else is getting the doctor." Stephen informed me.

The wind pushed the door shut, unfortunately not with his head in.

I threw down some money for my room on the reception table and stormed off.

"Room three, miss. First on the left." The innkeeper shouted up to me.

Once in my room, I realised how cold it was. I sheepishly walked down to the reception and asked for some logs for a fire.

I had got a fire blazing merrily when night fell, and my temper had disappeared. Almost.

I heard a knock on the door. "Come in." I said, thinking it was probably room service or something.

"Lloyd?" I almost choked. Lloyd wasn't supposed to be here! He should be speaking to Colette or Kratos or someone! "Um, sorry. I was a little surprised. What do you want?"

"If you don't mind the snow, I'd like to talk to you outside."

"Sure. Give me a couple of seconds." I replied.

I quickly changed the morphanic material into three layers of fire and waterproof clothing, the last layer being a thick, fur-lined coat and trousers. I looked down at my hands and got gloves.

"Okay, I'm ready."

Lloyd and I walked out into the Flanior, to the balcony that overlooks the snowy city.

"It's really pretty. Like a scene from a Christmas card." I whispered reverently.

"Christmas card?" Lloyd asked.

"Oh, nothing. I make up weird words sometimes. Just ignore me when I do that." I fervently hoped Lloyd would buy it.

"Sure. Whatever."

"So, why did you want to talk to me anyway?"

"I wanted to know what Kratos is really like. He could have been hiding his true feelings the whole time he was with us."

"I understand. It can't have been easy for you when you found out. I won't tell you any lies, I promise.

"Kratos cared about you from the moment he knew who you were. That's why he tried to leave you behind in Iselia. He knew what the journey would be like. Unfortunately…or maybe fortunately, you're stubborn. After all, if you hadn't come along, no one would have got this far.

"Once Kratos knew I knew who he was, he asked me to protect you. He made me promise."

The realisation dawned on Lloyd's face.

"What else can I say?.. He's done a lot 'behind the scenes' to help you. When you needed the mana fragment…"

"Kratos told the guard that he needed it, so the guard would give it to us." Lloyd's jaw dropped open. "All the hints about where to look for the cure to Colette's disease, everything was for me wasn't it?"

"Yes. To be honest, Lloyd, you have one heck of a dad."

"Thanks."

"I'm starting to get cold. I hope you don't mind, but I'm going to go back to the hotel."

"No, that's fine. I'll walk you back."

As we walked, I kept my eyes peeled, hoping to see Kratos before Lloyd did. Sure enough, I saw him sitting on the inn's roof, a mere black splodge.

I smiled, winked and said under my breath, "Good luck."

Kratos nodded, to show he'd heard me, then jumped down off the roof.

The boys remained silent, not sure what to say, then they both said, "I want to talk."

I would have laughed, but the situation was delicate. "I'll leave you two to it." I muttered and wandered off.

Short, I know. Don't complain, I have exams coming up and I wanted to wrap it up before then. My first exam (as the fates would have it) is Welsh! That was the only exam I was going to revise for! (and the one that I hate the most!)

Something that has cemented my bad mood is that no one's reviewed the last few chapters! Please, if only to say how bad it is! (Although I would be broken hearted because there are some really good moments in there.) I can only assume that everyone's as busy as me, and that you'll read and review at a later date.

Ciao!