Drunken Lullaby : An Erk and Serra Story:

Chapter 8: Journey to the Past

"One Step at a time

One hope then another

Who knows where this road may go?

Back to who I was

Onto find my future"

-Aaliyah 'Journey to the Past'

Disclaimer: I do not own the songs I use except for the songs by Kuri and I do not own Fire Emblem.

LLLLLLLLLL

She sighed as she looked over to her sleeping child, guilt wrecking her mind every time she decided a thought was in order. They were to leave soon to go to a home that she no longer deserved to visit.

Sitting there, looking at a mass of lavender tresses, Serra couldn't help what her mind called apprehension and guilt. She was guilty of a lot of things and didn't deserve the chance to be given such an opportunity with Reka's father. Her mind closed to the secret possibility that she had in her mind of Erk finally confessing that he forgave her vices and decided she was worthy enough to love and maybe, if she was super lucky in her day dreams, married.

She wanted him. Every night that she had been gone up in the highlands, she constantly thought of the two men in her life. She had wondered desperately if they were getting along but due to Reka's potent sleep, she hadn't heard what Reka really thought of his father, Master Sage Erk of Eturia.

When Reka had woken up only a few hours ago, he was a bit pensive for such a young countenance that Serra could've sworn to the Saint above that he was Erk for only a second. His eyes were downcast into thought before he was brought out of his reverie, hugging his mother, genuinely missing her with his strength. He had went to sleep once more after breakfast, getting ready to go on the road that night.

They had chosen night to be the easiest time to leave for Serra wanted to have her work done for the day and waiting till the morning usually meant that someone was going to need her for the next instant or other things. She never liked having the village be so resolute on her, using her as a crutch sometimes.

She had told Klaja the mayor and baker that afternoon that she was leaving the village though she might be back soon or not. The mayor was the kindest person she knew of except for Lucius. The bishop's memories of her older companion made her smile in secret as Erk paused at the doorway to the cottage, seeing the genuine smile upon her visage becoming torn between asking a copper for her thoughts and ruining the thoughtful moment.

To the image that he didn't want to ruin, he walked away with a saddlebag hanging onto his shoulder, wondering why he thought of her as a no one in the first place. Maybe she was more grown up as it seemed that Reka had done more than enough by settling the fire-spirited young lady he had once ventured with to the fire-willed woman that was looking over the boy with such complete love.

Was that what a real mother showed her child?

He nearly choked on that thought as it formed into his mind. It had indeed been a long time since he had to deal with the memories of his haunted childhood that did not deserve to be remembered. He didn't want to see those eyes at the orphanage he was from again. It was not as if he didn't want to see the people, he just did not want to see that defeated look in their eyes as he once did a long, long time ago.

Hells below, he barely remembered his playmates from the rundown old shack they had lived in. All he could remember was the mind numbing times he reached for a piece of food or for the fire in the shack to never be warm or never be fed enough. He ate what he got but he was never able to eat anymore than a small amount of food from the poorness of their caretaker.

He remembered the gentle bishop who was ordained to their city for the orphanage right after the war and the plagues that had nearly ripped Lycia apart at the seams. He couldn't remember his parents at all for they had been killed right before him when he was only a toddler. Presenting the saddlebags to his horse, he wrapped the straps properly, autopilot overriding his fingers as if he were some electronically charged toy.

He was remembering the bishop's eyes and face when he began to notice that the visage of his caretaker was that of Serra's resemblance. He blinked, realizing that the woman was an exact replica of Serra only older looking than Serra ever looked. The caretaker though had died a year before he had run away from the dismal place.

Why was he seeing this now? He decided once he could that he was going to ask Serra about her real parents if she could remember. He was now overtly curious about everything about the woman named Serra. He knew what she was, but he didn't know who she was. Who was Serra to him if she never had showed him how she was?

Had the gently bishop been his one-night stand's mother? He sighed as he remembered the kind woman in his memory. After she had died and once was easily replaced by a harsh drunkard that had seemed too kind in the eyes of Saint Elimine, Erk only shrunk in comparison to the memories that often came back to him of that horrid man.

He didn't realize it, but he was happy that Reka at least had his mother with him when he was born. He wondered how his bright seed would understand that his parents had loved him when he couldn't recall them. Had he, himself, wondered it so many times before? Erk tugged a little more on the strong leather strap to affirm himself of his belief.

He wanted Serra to know about the bishop. He also wanted Serra to realize that he wanted to be there for her.

But what did he want from her?

All of these thoughts were stifling causing him to start looking grim as the reaper of life, Morhigan, Elimine's sister. As Louise would have said to him that he used his brains too much. It was very true of him but would Serra have it any other way of him?

"Erk? Are you all right?" His purple head swerved upward in surprise as he had not heard a sound from around him to tell him of her coming. Serra always trodded like a loud attack dog rather than a cat that could slink around in silence. He could remember the battle before Serra had left, Matthew, Wil, Serra, and himself had been sent as a scouting set ahead of the rest of the team. The trio of men had asked a million gifts of silence for Serra's loud rambunctious enthusiasium and her loud feet. It was a wonder they hadn't been caught really.

"Serra……." He nodded in a general acknowledgement, turning his attention back to his saddle bags, the sense of having his soul examined at his back. He wanted to hide, desperately from her gaze for now since she had come back, it cooled and warmed him at the same time. He was wondering if he was going insane.

That was when things turned out for possibly the worst and probably yet the best for this little journey of theirs.

The healer stared at him for a few seconds trying to decide what was wrong with Erk. His cheeks were slightly flushed and he seemed cold and almost ghastly clammy at the same time as if he was in such a fright. Coming out of the silouhette of moon and the door, she stepped closer, much closer than either appreciated really.

A tentative hand reached out, touching his brow with warm fingers of the living spring of St. Elimine's truth. He could not help but notice their close apporximity. His hands falling limp at his side, clenched into fists so that his dreams would not be enacted as they often had been.

"Erk! You look sick! You shouldn't be so worried! Reka's just sleeping off his cold. I knew he'd get one soon. He sort of just suddenly gets sick when the weather turns and autumn's just around the corner. Well, anyway, he'll get better within the week. I gave him a draught of some catnip and turkey. Best thing for people who can't sleep. They fall off the bandwagon quicker than flies. Especially since I make the best draughts ever. You should hear some of the people around town talk abou-" It was funny to watch her speak, chest heaving, brushing against his as she looked at him with a worried frown marring her almost child-like features. He could not raise his eyes to hers for he knew the pull would be too strong, but when she commented on her making the best draught ever, he stared astonished. This was the Serra he had known, the one he had unknowingly pushed away. She looked so buoyant, exicted, and determined that he had lost himself to her powers.

His arms lost their battle and so did his mind. Fingers grasped a firm yet soft linen-clothed body, the brocade of her tabard stiff against his own velvet and linen clad body, helping to hide a certain friend of his. His face fiercely interfering with the woman's bubble, poking into it so far that his lips were roguishly taking a treasured possession of hers.

Her words were lost upon her lips as a soft almost like a stargazer lily's pair of petals fell upon hers with a fierceness of possession and need. He wanted this feeling to prevail as the woman nearly crumbled into his waiting arms, grasping onto his strong shoulders, stronger than her legs at least for the moment. Her skin was stiff yet flowing, hot and at the same time cold. A storm of emotions took her and yet she was certain of what any pertained to be labled as.

"Serra, shut up." Needing to breathe, not only for himself, a satisfied smirk crossed his petal-like lips, soft, graceful with a sense of nobility in the tone. She stared, wide-eyed as she was worried what would happen next. She complied only briefly when he started a new assault on her castle.

Saint above, he wanted her dearly now, body, mind, and most of all, soul. Just a feeling of those lips and he wanted too much. She was a poison to his system that needed to be avoided and not craved for he would surely kill himself from the very seconds it took for her to show that she needed him to back off.

He wanted. Oh, how he wanted the one thing he could never have. Serra was a holy woman, a woman of a certain honor that he had tainted once before. He didn't want to taint her honor a second time. Saint Elimine, preserve him from this hunger, he almost cried out in the night but the plea stayed within his mind as he numbly pulled away from the addictive drug of the now tainted Serra.

"Erk………?" Just the question and the flicker of hurt he saw in those eyes were enough to make him cry. He had caused that! He wanted nothing more than to feel her lips enveloped into his, drowned into a thing so natural between two lovers that he knew that he would not and most of all could not proceed with. He felt like such a fifteen year old again.

"…….Mama?" Serra felt herself almost drop from surprise as she turned around red-faced to her son who stared at the couple. His eyes were wide and unblinking, unflinching from the sight of the two as they stood side by side, one in deep contemplation and focus and the other too surprised to say anything really.

"Yes, Reka?" The bishop finally found words for her mouth to speak, ignoring an earlier command made in a more passionate tone a mere few seconds before her trespassing child came into their stable. She smiled, turning towards Reka from her position in front of Erk.

"What do I need to pack?" Reka stared unsure of what exactly he was staring at. His mother's features were flushed against the moonlight that showed all of her visage to his young and naïve eyes. She seemed sick and yet he knew his mother to be one of the healthiest people on all of Elibe.

"Oh, don't worry, I had Erk do to do your packing. Why don't you help him, Reka, now that you feel better anyway?" Her smile turned to be genuine as she stepped to the side to show Reka a better view of Erk; his face was the same color, maybe even a slightly brighter red than that of his mother's featuers.

"Okay!" Not coming out with his own knowledge, Reka let his ideas sit as he watched Erk nod, only shying slightly away from his mother as the sage pressed on towards the boy, taking him by the shoulder, gently back to the house.

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

It had nearly been a week on the road through to the border of Laus that they finally arrived at a station that marked the near end of their travels. It would be a few more days until they got to Ostia as Erk had predicted when they left the comfortable village to the dust of the road. The anonymity helped them considering that bandits saw that the entire group was rather dressed in pilgrimage clothing that were sacred. No bandit disrespected the pilgrimages really. It was one of the few sacred things they held still.

To Reka's own observations, the traveling wasn't the boring part. His mother and Master Sage Erk were the boring part. They were uncomfortable around each other and increasingly so around him though they tried their best at polite conversation. He was sure that his mother felt some strange fever for whenever Erk looked at her or they were caught staring at one another or accidently brushing their fingers, she darkened her rosy cheeks.

But it was on this day that something made a turn for the worse. His mother was arguing with Erk over which roads they should take, one of the few things she seemed to be willing to fight for now. Looking over towards the other end of the crossroads, Reka's eyes widened. There was a procession going towards Ostia, he supposed, but it looked as if there were many reasons for the train of people to look so abundant and happy.

"Hail there! Well met, tra-" One of them had spotted them, a bow slung over their shoulder with a quiver at their waist. The person's hair reminded him of a bird's nest as unkept as it was. His greeting cut short as a green blue passed in front of Reka's young eyes to the horse beside him which carried his mother.

"My FAIR LADY!" Reka blinked, noticing the man with blond hair falling in such a carefree way that he wanted to know if the man woke up like that. The only thing that Reka could come close to describing the man was the fact that he immediately disliked him. The aura around the man seemed to make him want to puke. Even more, the man was holding his mother's fingers in his gauntleted grasp.

"Who?" Uttering his own question, he looked to Erk who seemed to be biting the inside of his cheek and keeping his anger in check. There was a slight gleam of possessiveness in Erk's eyes as he watched the green armored freak touch his charge. A bit of a growl escaped the sage as the green-armored man began to speak.

"My fair woman, it is I, your champion, Sir Sain of the Lyndis's Legion! You must be terrified for your Sir Sain has not been by your side nor in your arms at night!" So the idiot had a name? Reka's mind blinked as he contemplated whether or not this was the Sain from the legends that his mother told him at least once a night. That was when his mind clicked his words, linking the connections together.

"Sain….?" Serra blinked, trying to get her fingers away from the bruising grasp of the much taller Sain, his warhorse bigger than her simple bay gelding. The beast at least gave him a much bigger appearance though she knew his real height was only a foot taller than her back when she was still in the army of Ostia.

"Sain, get your hands off of Serra!" Not being able to contain his anger and jealousy even more, knowing that Sain's hands were not worthy of even touching a dainty hair on Serra's head, also knowing she was trying to get away and his own possessiveness, he put his beautiful mare between the two. The horse and himself rode in front Sain, forcing the knight to separate his fingers, and crushing grasp from his unfortunate victim.

"LADY SERRA?" Sain stared awed and also astonished that this seemingly older and more mature woman was the childish youth that he had paid so much attention to about eight years ago, when he was no more out of the womb than she. He now realized if that were the truth of the matter she would be only a year younger than him, about the ripe age of twenty-three to be precise.

"Well, met, Sain." Her grin brought him out of his surprise as he realized how much she could simply twist his heart, not to mention rise his sexual organs to attention, as he stared at the matured version of a pink angel.

"……….Who are you?" Reka, trying to break the stare from his mother, angry at the man's wrong attention to her. Trying to gain some semblance of calmness, he was paying as dearly as his unknown father. Biting his tongue from saying something scathing to the vagabond that dared to touch his mother's hand was costing him his patience and he had a lot of that to expend enough to last so long.

"Ahh! This young whelp of a child needs to know the legendary tales of Sain! Let me tell you all about me. My name is Sir Sain and that lovely woman sitting in that Palanquin is my liege, the extremely beautiful Lady Lyndis of Caelin!" He blinked, watching the idiot of a man, a man Reka despise almost fill him with awe and surprise.

"Oh, my saint! MOM! We're talking with LYNDIS'S LEGION! MOM!" He pointed at the now very pleased Sain, holding his head with a fore finger and thumb in thought, arrogant as all things could be, while Erk looked on with the contemplation of wanting to bash his head in.

'How the Saint loves us……' His thoughts cringed as he thought of his run of bad luck. Now they had run into Lyndis's traveling party. He hoped to the Saint above that none of them would insist on going to Ostia with them if they were going that way. He took another look at the love-struck Sain and prayed with much more fervor in his mind.

"You didn't know that you're mother was once in Lyndis's legion? She was one of the most important members of our group!" To this remark, Serra wanted to slam her head into a rock and let Erk fry her, after Reka stopped being so awe-struck with the annoying green knight.

"Wow, Sain! Look at the sun! We have to leave, like now! Come along, Reka! Stop playing with the insane knight! Come along! Time we go to Ostia now!" Deciding that Sain was already taking too much time and giving out too much information for her comfort or Erk's for that matter, Serra began to tug her son's filly showing an urgency that belied her discomfort.

"You're going to Ostia, also? Travel with us, Lady Serra! I am sure we can spare a tent for you and your family. I didn't know that you had tied the knot with our esteemed Master Sage here though, My lady Serra. You two always were the chummiest of pals together in our adventures! Though you did leave in the middle of our campaign……..Why di-" She wanted to die. Erk was going to kill Sain and then her just to appease his anger from the Saint above. Simply deciding her fate was against her wishes, Serra felt the oncoming headache with mere hope that she would get knocked out quicker than she could find a vulenary.

"Sain, some things are not meant to be pried into. Leave Serra alone." Glaring with his dark eyes, Erk noticed that the pink haired devil looked as if she were about to try and knock herself out. He frowned as he reached over and slipped a hand through hers, the motion undetected by both child and cocky knight.

"Lady Serra and Lord Erk?" Serra felt his hand, the alabaster skin contrasting with her slightly more robust and darker peach skin and the thousands of pricks she felt. Her breath seemed as if it couldn't be any harder to breathe out and her mind felt like it was spinning! Wasn't she over Erk! Why was she feeling this way about him? Thankfully, she noticed the rest of Lyndis's legion. Then again, she wasn't so thankful though it was nice she supposed as she watched them approach to see their faces.

"Master Destin! Lady Lyndis! Sir Kent! Sir Wil! Sir Rath!" Calling out to them, moreso as an escape from Sain's mutterings about his valiant life-threatening adventures as a knight of Caelin, Serra noticed their maturity. She was willing to think that Sain, however, had not grown up one bit.

"This certainly is a surprise to see you, Lady Serra! Where have you been? When you deserted the campaign years ago, Seras was so distraught over your disappearance!" Erk could feel the tenseness from her hand, cringing as her fingers tightened onto his, locked with the grip of an ogre. Massaging the back of her hand with a thumb, he gave her a glance of neither pity nor anything he could name so well.

The being that had spoken was Wil, the archer companion from her years before Reka's birth. The talkative and quite amiable young man had matured with the glee that his voice projected. He seemed to just generally be happier than anything else in the world, tossled hair, and frankly joyful brown eyes appraised her.

"That's because she had to deal with Lady Priscilla, Wil. Master Erk and you got married then?" A noble sitting upon a horse, riding beside the walking archer, rose an eyebrow at the four people, more towards Serra and Erk than Reka and the still spouting Sain. His brown hair fell in his eyes, which if Serra remembered correctly, were a light green color. Looking over the royal blue and dark clothing, she spotted the pendant. That was Destin, Lord Hausen's tactician or rather ex-tactician if she heard right a year or so ago.

"Lady Serra….." Rath surprised her as he had not seemed to age a bit. His face was still so stern and serious that Serra barely noticed the small twitch of his lip. He was a small bit happy to see the joyful expression on Lyndis's face then, at least as far as Serra thought.

"How're you doing, Serra? It is rather grand to see you!" Serra smiled at the lord with every ounce of sincerity and amusement. The bladed warrior did not look so happy in her palanquin though she tried to show her happiness to seeing Serra. The woman was decorated head to toe in grandeur as she was acting more in her noble status than the warrior one she preferred.

The ex-bishop just knew that the woman was uncomfortable as hell to be sitting on a moving beast than on her own two feet. Serra did have to admit begrudgingly that Lyn was more beautiful than she last remembered her. The woman held an air of regality while still seeming as if she was not afraid to get her hand dirtied by the peasantry. She was the type of noble every peasant would want.

"……Serra." Kent was the last one to welcome her. A single efficient grace of his head down and up was all he needed as he returned his gaze towards the land surrounding his liege. The Crimson Shield had held up with a small goatee sprouting from his chin, something red seeming to brush his armor. The only real difference that she could see besides that was a headband that definitely was something he never would wear.

A flash of inspiration and the smoothing gesture from Erk's thumb seem to hit the proverbial nail on the head. That bandanna was Fiora's!

"Um…..hehehhh…..I'll explain everything later to you, Lady Lyndis! There was a thing that had happened and I had to leave for reasons pertaining to that thing…..uh, yeah….Anyway, Erk and I aren't married at all. Not even engaged. He's escorting us to Ostia. Part of a job and all that! You know, what he was doing when we first met!" Stuttering around for an answer, Serra tried her best delay tactic by putting on a cute yet seemingly ashamed face and bowing, trying her best to look innocent. When she bowed she looked to her hands to see that one was still holding onto Reka's reins and the other was still being held in a comforting grip by her favorite sage in the world.

"Oh, if that's the case, Lady Serra! I will be willing to share my tent with your esteemed and lovely presence along with your charming son." The ex-cleric could feel her jaw tighten in anger as she checked herself quickly for twitches. She felt Erk's grip tighten, his eyes glowering with daggers shooting out of them. If Erk was a superhero of some sort with beams out of his eyes, She could be sure that Erk would be having toasted Sain for lunch. The only question was why was Erk glowering at Sain with such vehemence as the green knight turned his adoring gaze upon her?

"Yes, it will be quite an explanation, I bet." Lyn's eyebrows furrowed as she looked at the linked hands between Serra and Erk. The bladed woman had to admit that Serra had matured more in the years she had known her than the months she had spent with her. It seemed as if she simply were more settled.

Erk had grown more than in the five years she had last seen him. His hair was up in a bun, some of the hair falling in gentle waves down his back. He was paler and much more thinner than Lyndis remembered. She wondered if he ate anymore than he had at his visit in Caelin. Shrugging that thought away, she saw the small child beside Serra on the pony. His hair was a lighter purple and he seemed to be an exact replica of Erk except for the hair.

"Oh! Who is this with you Serra?" Wil beat her to the punch, yet again. The boy in question rose his face in question, his skin more vibrant than Erk's and definitely more rosy as the attentions of the legion turned to him, seeming to swarm the boy with their large presences. Reka never knew another time that he wanted to bury his head in the sand but right now was that time. With a small 'eep' he began edging his pony closer to his mother's gelding.

"This is my son, Reka." Laughing, Serra looked at her son with much affection that Reka started getting even more embarrassed. Holding onto his mother's arm, he leaned over, burrowing into her arm to hide, his lashes shut as he tried his best not to feel so embarressed.

"WHAT!"

The silence hung in the air as Serra left a rather dazzling smile on her face with Erk's hands tightening on her delicate fingers, not wanting to let her go. His tense look seemed to silence Lyndis as she began to speak, a question forming on her lips to fall away at the severity of the look he was giving her.

"This is not a time to speak lest we dine to have vagabonds around our respectable parties, Lady Lyndis. We must get to moving on our path to Ostia." Understanding, the brunette tactician stepped his horse up a pace, looking back to the gaudily-clothed noble with a bit of warning in his face as well. Conveying his apprehension, he turned his face to start going when Sain began to speak.

"Lady Serra is going to Ostia as well! IT would be better if we all went together like some big parade of some sort. The grandeur of our ladies beauty will resound in the streets of Ostia when we enter! It will be a glorious way to show the world the beauty of Caelin and her men!" Sain's mare led him to the palanquin by his liege as he begged her. His adoring green eyes making Lyndis nearly melt as she fought off his charm. She had to admit that Sain knew how to turn his charm on, even on her when she was mostly immune to the lecherous green knight.

"Especially Sir Sain's beauty, right?" Destin cut in. His eyes looked at the green knight in a more skeptic light than a few moments before. A scathing comment was more than what was wanted as Kent flipped his attentions from guarding to listening to this conversation. It was known that Destin highly disliked Sain though he could not help his admission that Sain was a good warrior. The only real reason Destin hadn't liked Sain as much as he probably would have was due to the amount of chasing the green knight had done to his younger sister, using the same amount of fervor to chase Serra now. The other thing was the fact that Sain used his knight status much like a double-agent using his employers. Sain loved getting the glory, the women, and the booze. Not much would not stop him from liking it if he was able to get it.

"Lord Destin, please do not be all assuming that I would take that grand party as my own means. If people think I am dashing then I humbly accept those graces of love they lavish me with!" The tactician of Caelin got out of Sain's tentative arm that was wrapped around his shoulder. Counting to ten before he spoke out in anger or mere scathing, Master Destin promptly removed the arm to only have it replaced, a glower set upon his stern lips.

"Sain…what people is it that you speak of really? Last I checked…those taverns that we stayed at? Let's just say that Kent and I had a bloody good time making sure that the wench you thought was…hitting on you, well, we had a good time making sure that you didn't do anything stupid anyway. I'll leave the rest to your imagination, as much as I will later regret doing so." Sain's eyes retained a dreamy quality as he reminisced about the acquaintance they had started talking about. He could remember her lime hair, much like the beautiful Rebecca's and her prominent chin. She looked masculine yet feminine and he had tried all night to get her into his bed, but due to Kent and Destin he hadn't been able to because of tasks that only he could hold out.

"She was a grand sight for these tired eyes of the everyday women from the usual taverns in Caelin. She sure had a prominent air about her, did she not?" Wil had a wry smile on his face as Sain extolled the virtue of a powerful woman, mentioning Lyndis in the same category causing Rath to frown a little, a small turn of his lip and a furrow of his eyebrows to show such.

"………Yes. She was such a man." Master Destin and Kent couldn't help cracking smiles while the rest of the party except for Serra, Reka, Erk, and Rath started laughing. Sain only stared with interest, wondering if Destin was mocking him or not.

"Master Destin!" Reprimanding the tactician, Sir Kent had to look the other way when he started to feel the smile slip away from his façade of indifference. He was secretly laughing as he turned away from the bewildered Sain and the stratagist, trying his best not to laugh.

"Master Destin, I believe we can continue this later as interesting as this sounds. Let us go on our way together. Is that all right, Serra?" Covering her mouth with her hand, Lyndis could only let the suggestion roll after a few moments of calming herself. It was highly unladylike to laugh at her knight's misfortune. Or rather, she thought it was unladylike to laugh at some one's misfortune though she could remember the man at the last tavern. He was definitely more of a man than the woman he was trying to portray.

"Let us go then." Serra seemed to hang her head in defeat, watching her hand connected to Erk's hand. He still hadn't let go and she finally realized that her face was growing hot not from embarrassment but from the mere touch that Erk was holding with her, flush features on both their faces.

"Mom, you knew the Lycian League?" Taking this opportunity as the lord's traveling party began their procession once more, Reka turned towards his mother who held her head to her saddle, unknowingly wondering if she would ever forget those hands of Erk's and what exactly they could do. Raising her head, a smidgen of movement to her side, she looked blankly at her son before recognition began to fill in.

"Yes. I once traveled with them." Deciding an ambiguous answer was better than an outright lie, she hoped that Reka would read only a little into it or whatever he wished. She hoped he wouldn't comment anymore but that was like asking the sun to not shine and Elimine knew the sun would always shine somewhere in the world.

"But……they personally know you!" His eyebrows were knitted in confusion. From what he'd gathered by paying attention to the conversation, he'd learned his mother left the campaign, Erk and her had a past, and that Sain might have a potential attraction of a man which nearly caused him to choke in disbelief as the tactician had implied. Lest to say, he wasn't learning everything he could. Then it hit him. Why not just ask Erk directly? The sage had answered almost every question of his and didn't like to lie, especially to him.

"It will be a tale of another time, Reka. It is something your mother is not willing to discuss and I ask that we respect her wishes." Shutting his mouth before letting out his question in front of his mother and the sage, Reka gave one more pitiful look as his mother and Erk seemed to share a moment between them, both of their eyes connecting to only disconnect at what seemed to be the last possible second.

Reka had a feeling that maybe St. Elimine was hearing his prayers and giving him a father soon.

LLLLLLLL

He had spent most of the time that first day traveling alongside his known parent, hearing stories of majestic proportions from the archer who had called himself Wil. He had been telling Serra what had been going on in Caelin, their home, while completely losing Reka every once in awhile. There were a whole lot of names that he mentioned that the young boy had no idea of.

Finally, seeing Erk towards the back of their caravan of people, Reka mentioned something about going to him to his mother. Nodding her consent, he turned his horse towards the lone sage, clopping as he trotted lightly to the back. Looking up to the sound of approaching horse shoes, Erk seemed to smile softly at his unknown son.

When the child slowed his horse to a small walk, he pressed his horse close to Erk's. The two brown horses eased themselves into familiarity. The fledging took on an air of secrecy as he leaned slightly forward as if drawn to Erk through his presence alone.

"Master Erk? Could I ask you a question?" his voice was low, almost causing Erk to lose all hope of hearing the boy clearly. But his hearing had always been the best out of most of the scouts in any of the campaigns, especially compared to Serra's. Spirits above, he had to wonder how that woman ever could spot a thing during her campaign seasons.

"You've asked two, Reka." Stating a fact, Erk really hoped he wasn't going to be put into a tight spot like the few weeks before in the cottage amongst the trees and garden. He really hoped so. He didn't have many more excuses from the curious child the he wanted to use.

Reka shook his cranium of hair and decided at best to ignore the rather sarcastic remark. He had heard worse come from Erk so far. The sage, as he could tell, was not a big group person. He seemed uncomfortable in large crowds while a small crowd or one on one never seemed to bother him. Maybe he was claustrophobic.

"Are you my father?" The sage almost fell out of his saddle, his fingers clutching tight to the leather horn as his visage slipped away into disbelief. This boy was a little too perceptive, but then again that was a strong point and a weak point with the child. He knew that the next shrine to St. Elimine that he was going to pray heartily instead of being the blasphemous sage he had been. Maybe Elimine was getting back at him.

"……..eh….." Either that or Lady Luck just downright hated him.

"I overheard you and mama talking. I don't want to lose you if you're my father." Reka's eyes showered with something hidden in them akin to determination, a factor that he saw more in Serra's eyes than anyone else's. The darkened look made a promise into reality. He would live with this child as far as he knew. There was no other choice for him.

"……….I can't tell you." Unsettled, the sage tried to look away from his son, heart hammering from his near getaway answer to the child. However, he quickly saw that his troubles were only getting worse. The dark-haired tactician sidled up on his other side, the one currently unhindered by Reka's gelding.

"Huh…great way to end an awkward situation Master Erk…I think we all want to know now what the actual answer is. Besides…I'm sure I can think of "ways" to persuade you to answer truthfully." Lord Talunis wore his bearing with the royalty that he was as he approached seeming as if he was perhaps not a common man to be around. In all truth, Erk knew he wasn't really a regal person. Destin was more of a thinker than a socializing noble and always more down to earth and friendly with those he considered his friends.

"Destin!" Reka assumed that his father was used to this air of regality that he wasn't sure that the tactician knew he was putting on or not. The man smiled, a loping smirk falling off his lips onto his visage, half-way hidden amongst brunette bangs. Reka didn't know how else to describe this man as he approached.

"Yes, that's my name. Don't change it." His reply was self-assured, nonchalant as his manner seemed, yet there was something that set Reka off. He liked the man and yet he didn't. It was hard to say why. Maybe his mother or his father would understand why.

"I forgot to introduce you two! This is Reka, Serra and a mage's son. Reka, this is a good acquaintance of mine named Destin Talunis from the famous Talunis family of tacticians we discussed in your mother's absence." Astonished at his forgetfulness to his first fledgling, Erk's eyes seemed to brighten with a slight tinge of red to his face, an entire forgotten amount of pixie dust upon his cheeks. A wry smile was upon his lips as he motioned towards his son and the tactician, introducing the two.

"Hmm…and your apprentice as well unless I'm mistaken. Master Erk, when we break for camp tonight, may I talk to you in private? I feel like we have much to catch up on in the years of your absence from your studies in Eturia. It is grand to meet you, young fledging. I am sure Erk will spill his gourd of beans now that I am here." The man nodded his head towards Reka, but otherwise, his notice of the child was little. Destin had no time for children, except if they were his neice and nephew from his sister in Bern.

"You could always see right through me like Serra. Saints above help that woman." Erk, seemed at ease with the other young man. Destin was barely younger than he was now in his mid-twentieth winter. Their camadarie had been easy to forge when Destin had long asked Erk to instruct him in some of the stronger magics when the first campaign had been over, Serra's employment having been a constant side effect of that quest long ago.

"It is nice to meet you as well, Master Destin. But are you my father, Master Erk?" Not put off for a second, Reka frowned as he bowed his head in respect to the elder man, acknowledging that the man was of some higher class than the young pupil. Turning his dark eyes back to the matter on hand, Reka's lips let the frown linger as he put all his intensity towards his father from his eyes.

Erk blinked, mouth gaping open much like a fish, switching views from his son to his ex-stratagist every five seconds or so. Cursing at the spirits, he groaned, knowing that Reka wasn't about to give up anytime soon and that Destin wouldn't either.

Someone up there really hated him.

"……Yes…..But your mother may not know that you know. She would skin my hide and serve me to the soldiers." Giving in, Erk gave his fiercest look, throwing his mind into the task of trying to look as severe as possible, more like Vaida than anyone else he knew. However to Reka and Destin, he looked much like a roughed up nobleman.

Dismissing the severe look as Erk's high disapproval to telling him, more than the threat that it was trying to be to the young sorcerer, Reka reached over with a hand, grasping the sage's hand with a smile that brightened his face considerably.

"Thank you! This means so much to me!" The sage looked down towards the euphoric cherub, or rather the troublesome rascal, and could not help but feel a light-heartedness tug at his bones, loosening up his face muscles to slip in a small smile.

"Shhh! We don't want your mother to know!" Erk placed a tentative finger to his lips, gesturing for them to keep it a secret. Reka imitated his finger placement by taking his small hand from Erk's and raising it to his smaller lips, a cheeky smile appearing upon his visage, a fox's grin if there ever were one.

"Of course, she won't……I promise." Destin watched this display with a general lack of compassion. It wasn't as if Destin never felt touched by emotion such as this heartwarming regalia of a father and son, he was just mostly out of touch with those feelings. His whole family had mostly been like that except for his sister, Remiel, who had been the one to continue their line as Seras and him were not 'parent' material and the other two in their family were dead from the war a near decade ago.

"Somehow, I dearly think he's got something going on his noggin just like Serra always had, the troublemaker that woman was." The child reminded him of a sphinx, except without the different bodies made into one. Erk's light-heartedness made the tactician wonder what it would be like to be around someone that could cause such a serious stick in the mud to lighten up. For him, he knew of only one person that could do that and currently, as he had heard from his sister, she was in Bern, teaching archery at a local archery academy.

"But Seras did love her." It was indeed the truth when his sister had become aquainted with flighty cleric years ago. Seras Talunis found it hard to form a friendship with other women due to her problematic dominance issues. She was more of a man than a woman in her mannerisms because of her very determined and almost outrageous stubborn views. Most men thought she was too much of a shrew and women usually thought she was being a silly girl for challenging men in wits.

However, Seras had found that Serra was not one of those women. It was a rather intimate detail, but Destin had picked up on it from her letters to him during her campaigning years. Seras admired Serra's strength.

"As did some others I know of, Master Erk." Keeping his voice vague, Destin left a rather cryptic and unknowing smile upon his lips, mystifying and intriguing his quarry to continue on with him.

"Let us tell our tales as he we travel, eh, Destin?" Getting the hint, Reka and Erk began their weeklong travel with the party of Lyndis's legion at their side.

LLLLLLLLLLLL

It had been half the week before anything remarkable happened. Reka was sick of traveling by then and really wanted to just go to bed in a regular bed. His mother, Erk, and himself had been given a tent for themselves to use, along with a two cots. Usually Reka ended up sleeping with his mother but sometimes, during the night when his mother was drop-dead asleep, he would wander over and sleep with his father. It wasn't really a habit as much as it was a necessity that he share a bed with a parent. He just preferred having his mother's or his father's arms around him.

Speaking of his father, they hadn't talked about him being Reka's parent yet, though Reka supposed he didn't want to really blame him. Tonight was different though, he wanted to act on some sort of retaliation against Sain's attentions on his mother and from Erk's eyes, so did he.

Ever since they had accidently ran into Lyndis's legion, Sain had been fawning over the earth his mother walked on making Reka a very angry kid simply because he disliked the man. Sighing again, watching the fire, Reka began blowing at his bangs, noting how long they were before he saw a familiar face in front of him. Gaping in surprise, he watched the man come into full view.

"Hello!" A cheerful and quite absent voice seemed to echo at their campfire, a merry twinkle in the tall traveler's eye as he came into view in front of Destin, the tactician sitting beside his father talking hushed whispers, and his father, staring much like he had been doing a moment before.

"Legault!" The tactician allowed a gentle smile press upon his lips, bangs swept out of his face by a dark royal blue headband that Lady Lyndis had given him a day before. Getting up, the stratagist embraced the taller man, fervently trying his best to make sure the man didn't have his daggers near his back.

Much earlier in the year, Destin had threatened Legault with death with something having to do with his younger sister. In the return answer, the witty and ever sneaking thief had said something much to not before I stab you in the back sort of deal. Now there was a lot of uneasiness about that, the tension in the air having gone taut to only relax as they took in each other at arm's length.

"Brother Destin! Seras sends her greetings!" The widening smile told little to Destin as he was reassured about his sister's safety, which to him was a priority if nothing else was except for a certain archer woman and his liege of course! The lavender-haired man began sitting down next to Reka, smiling for the whole world to only get unsettled by the next question fired at him.

"Where is she?" Looking around to the other two campfires they had, he did not notice his ever emotion-throwing sister. Seras certainly couldn't be in trouble, now could she? He decided not to answer that as he stared, trying to pierce through to the darkness and mystery that was Legault.

"She's busy as always now that she's got a few new problems." He grinned, lavacious with his words, an unkindness that Destin never had liked well about the potent thief. He never really understood why his sister had fallen in love with such a mysterious and annoying man. In all truth, Destin had never been more annoyed than by having a conversation with Legault.

"New problems?"

"Yes. Well, except for the morning sickness she has nowadays. Oh, is that young Reka I see?" Legault looked over to the pint-sized clone of the sage sitting beside the boy. Destin slowly sat down, getting comfortable once more as he began watching his brother-in-law's movements with the precision of a stratagist. Knowing one's enemy was one thing, knowing one's ally was a different thing. Destin hardly knew what side Legault had always been on.

"Yes, Sir." Reka smiled at the elder man, a gentle relief compared to Mr. Serious-stick-up-the-butt, and Mr. Royal-air. Legault really took notice of how tall Reka was, making a silent prediction that would more than likely come true as if he could see into the future like that hag, Hannah, or those dragons, Ninian and Nils. He had always disliked auguries but predictions made by normal people were all right with him, besides he preferred gambling his chances.

"Don't sir me, boy. There's no reason to treat your uncle in such a manner. So did you and Serra marry?" Patting the youngling's head, Legault watched as Erk seemed startled at his approach. He didn't know why. He had always been a little more straight-forward than necessary but then again he had always been the one for double meanings.

"He's not supposed to know." Glaring at him, Erk returned his jibe with a simple answer. His face started to turn darker by the second, not only with anger but more so with embarrassment. He was remembering the dark kiss in the night, the stable smell along with her scent that could drive him nuts. Legault's smirk became even more lavacious.

"She wants her secrets then. Anyway, young Reka is too bright to not know already. I would bet on him over Serra any day of the week if it came down to noticing things." With that voiced, he tossed an Ostian coin in the air, catching the coin and moving the piece of silver along his fingers, the long instruments, dancing around with a piece of fire in its grasp.

"I get the feeling that you would as well, Master Destin?" Destin's hidden smirk moved out of sight as he tried to hide it behind resisting bangs that were stuck in a braid. Growling in discontent, he frowned at the assassin. His eyes glued to the other man as if watching for anything unlike normal.

"Yes. Serra is a bit wrapped up into her world." Though, he did answer. Erk only blinked. He never thought that Serra was dense, maybe oblivious sometimes but she acted that way when she didn't want to notice something that may be hurtful. During the entire time they had been with Lyndis's party, Serra had taken up to talking to everyone, especially Lady Lyndis and sometimes Sain, causing Erk to get into an irritated mood.

"I don't think she is." His mumbling caused all three other men to lean over trying their best to capture the words in the roar of a fire nearby. The sage's face grew to be as bright as the flame, a candle erupting into fire if one could say as such.

"Of course you don't. You know her in the only way no one else has. Anyway, Seras was rather….annoyed, about learning why Serra went missing. Her sister was still recovering so she stayed in Bern." The ex-thief's face became more contemplative as he decided to open up moreso for his brother-in-law than the sage. He and Erk had never been easy-going pals but when Serra had deserted the campaign, Legault couldn't help but try to find out why the mage had went so introspective, warding away everyone around him. Seras had mentioned that Priscilla had shown interest in the young man, so he had set them up by a few talks with Master Pent. Too bad that he didn't receive the information until it was too late that Erk was not that interested into Priscilla to marry her.

"How was Bern anyway?" Oh, well. His wife had never mentioned that Erk didn't reciporate the Lady of Cornwall's fragile feelings. Afterwards, Lady Priscilla had gone mad and had been locked away by her brother, Lord Raven. The only time he had heard anything about her was from Lucius, the only one other than Lord Raven that was allowed to see the beautiful yet tragic and fragile-minded woman. That incident had been a little over five years ago, a year before he had convinced Lucius and Pent to get Erk out of the work room by trying to get him an assignment by Seras's orders.

"Hated it. Remiel was in madness. Anyway, she has regained herself enough to run Bern with power to rival Zephiel's." Destin's face could not have gotten more surprised. Reka was sat there trying his hardest to swallow his beef tack that he had been chewing for an entire hour. Erk, however, only frowned in repose. The strategist only blinked enough to shake away his surprise. Looking at his companions, he began hitting Reka's back, trying to help the boy digest the hard tack that Serra had made before she left her cottage.

"It's a wonder for me as well." Seeing the surprised glance from Destin, Legault smiled in a way that caused a twitch to develop under an eye that looked at him. Erk remembered now why he never liked the thief that well. The man was more like an unwanted pest at times that Erk couldn't help but not like him.

"There is some good news in Ostia though. Is it the proposal true?" Now, Erk knew that Legault could keep secrets but he also knew that the man played with people much like the manipulator his wife was. He had no real disrespect for Lady Seras except that in a battle situation, she thought more of numbers and abilities than what was right or not. She had learned how to detach herself away from what was socially acceptable. It was an ability that most tacticians had to develop otherwise they would not be able to succeed in their battles.

"Proposal?" The proposal was intriguing as Erk had not been interested in the least about social rumors though he supposed anything that had to do with this coincidence was worth listening to, after all Legault rarely did or said anything without a reason behind it, even if it was a hidden one.

"Have you been hiding under a rock, Erk? Yes, proposal to Lady Lyndis." His scarred face seemed to fall away into boredom, watching the licking flames dance away into the night, embers flying with the wind.

"Rumors say something to the effect that Caelin will become Lord Hector's land. Seras thinks it will be through marriage while I think it will just be a handover." The brunette turned towards the sage, green eyes lighting in a way that made Erk feel more cautious. His son edged nearer towards him.

"So, it is true."

"Master Erk, why would Lady Lyndis give up her land?" Raising his hand, cupping the ear of his father, leaning in with all seriousness, Reka asked a question for what he was not understanding. His mother never explained the nobility of the land. In fact, he barely had any knowledge that their liege lord was indeed Lord Hector of Ostia, the High Marquee.

"She is not the type of woman who can stay in the court as most noble women are. Lady Lyndis is more of a free spirit. I think she deserves to live where she wants." Erk's reply was quick and self-sufficient, justifying his mind as questions began to form in his prodigal son's mind, creating confusion into a chaos that was always there,

"But can't she keep it and have someone else govern it?" Reka had always thought that a woman could inherit as many of the women in the village often had. When some of the elders in the village had gotten together, they usually talked of past lives with men that had died with businesses left untended to only take over completely in name and everything even allowing their female children to take over after them.

"Yes and no." Legault seemed to have heard as well. His face turned to one of general scathing. As Reka recalled, the thief hated the military and the nobility with a strength that bordered his father's love and lust for knowledge. The foundling had no idea that Legault was formerly of the Black Fang. In fact, besides those who had not been on that campaign or were not related to the Lady tactician Seras, had no knowledge of Legault having once been part of the Black Fang or even of the Black Fang, though it was whispered around the courts.

"Yes and no?" The boy's inquisitive stare, thirsting for knowledge that Erk knew he could provide. However, he was thwarted in his telling by Lord Destin.

"For a woman to inherit she must be the last of her line, which Lyndis is, as far as we all know. For a woman to give up her inheritance, she must either pledge her home to a liege lord and stay on as an overseer, or marry the lord and have him take care of the entire place. The only other thing she can do besides that is simply live as she has been living this last year without her grandfather. The Bladed Lady has had much time to decide as the time of mourning Lord Hausen has long passed." A few simple gestures and a statement got him far, a lop-sided sardonic frown pasted upon his lips as he explained as

"Bladed Lady?"

"Another term quite popular in for Lady Lyndis." This time Erk got the chance to answer though his disappointment as he hadn't been allowed to explain the finer points of nobility inheritance. He had actually studied up on the inheritance properties of Reglay, in case Pent and Louise never made it back home from many of their traveling journeys while he was still in his apprenticeship.

He had feared losing his parents and he had lost them. Pent and Louise were no different to him. He did not want to lose them too. He also had wanted to know what was going to become of him if they one day keeled over, pushing up daisies from six feet under. He had been so disrupted and chaotic right after his parents died, being passed from aunt to uncle to only end up in an orphanage not sure of what was going to become of him.

"How did you ever get so good at court politics?" Yet another question. The sage thought the answer would be obvious but then again, he was Serra's son also. Erk wondered if Reka really pondered upon how it would be like to lose his mother as well as Erk. Would the boy succeed in life, despite the odds?

"Seras plays the game of houses. Remiel surprised me when I found she never took a hand in the game which is probably why the Black Fang was never found in Bern."

"That was because she's simple-minded. So how is Ostia?"

"Worse. Lord Hector is more blunt than the broadside of a barn and the nobles that were on the late Lady Lita's side are rebelling from him because she's not there to soothe feathers of overripe chickens. Seras is getting battered on two fronts, by Lord Hector and the dividing nobles, ready to dissent at the instant of weakness yet willing to devour the young Marquee. What wolves nobles are. Turning on their weakest at a moment's notice. There is no loyalty amongst them." With that, Legault seemed to be a thousand years older than he really was. His wisdom outshone Erk's knowledge and Destin's sarcasm and yet Reka knew that the thief was only remembering the life he had left behind in Ostia.

"What's the game of houses?"

"Noble politics. When a noble decides to back someone or something, they usually give money to further that goal. Some nobles are too radical, while others are too conservative and to do anything, the Marquees must have a two-thirds vote of his court fellows. In the game of houses, a single noble can manipulate another house into taking a fall or simply doing what they want. It is a game of deception and deceit. Tacticians, when they are not on their campaigns with their lord, usually take the game up for their liege." This time Erk took up the explanation with pride. The sage had always wanted to try his hand at the noble game of politics but he had never been high in the courts to be able to pull it off that well.

"Dear spirits, she even has Lyndis in her plans?" This time it was the Master Destin that asked the question.

"Yes. Men have started following a house called House D'Targnan, which is very new money in Ostia. Seras knows a few things about the House that the House would rather have silenced. Lady Lyndis must prepare for each situation in Ostia. Seras told me to relay that message to you, brother." Taking a careful eye on his movements, Destin couldn't help but sense the seriousness in the rather jovial ex-Black Fang's voice and oculars. Those oculars had turned deadly in a second that it took to explain that the man's liege might be in trouble when she arrived in Ostia if she wasn't prepared. Getting up, the tactician turned to his lavender-haired and bandanna covered brother in arms.

"I see…….I will tell all of this to Lady Lyndis to prepare her for court. Legault, tell Seras that I hope she feels better." With that the regal personage walked away in a swirl of movement, dark hair covering his face with a hand against his temple in either disgust or thought.

"So have you been practicing Reka?" Turning, facing the young charge, a smiled warmed the youngling's face. He had studied hard to show that he could at least do a little magic. Besides Elfire, Erk had taught him a servant spell and a quick dry spell which was a large help in doing the laundry of their small force.

"Yeah! Erk taught me a lot while he was staying with me! I'll show you!" Taking a stick from beside the log he and Erk sat on, he put in the pentagram and the runes needed to make the unseen servant, writing his words from the anima runes into the circle to make his command wished to carry out. Erk was highly experienced with this spell that he had never a need to do a pentagram while Reka was straggling in summoning the creature instead of writing the words.

After a few minutes, Reka felt the presence in his mind, a being unaware of itself in a way that if the young mage ever let go of his will, by spell or accident, he was doomed to become the drone instead. His mind had always been strong whenever he had summoned an unseen helper, prepared with mental barriers and his mind's thoughts, the ones that were carved into the dirt, being carried out by the invisible serf.

"How?" Taking a few minutes of glancing at the boy when he finished his transmutation circle, he wandered where this 'spell' was going to come from.

"See Sir Sain and Mama?"

"Yes?"

"Watch."

"Oh……….."

"Is he?"

"Dear spirits!"

"REKA. That was a dirty trick."

"Do I have to apologize?"

"………no. He doesn't know and neither do we."

"Legault! Don't encourage him!"

"I didn't see anything."

"Legault!"

"I can't help that I have quite awful eyesight, Erk. Now, if you have a problem with Sain groping Serra, then you should go over there to her as soon as you can and claim Serra as your wife."

"You do not simply claim a woman!"

"You do if she's already yours."

"Why are you so stubborn about it?"

"Let's say that being able to support yourself doing something is not as great as having support from others."

"Stay out of it, thief!"

"Assassin."

"Thief!"

"Sp-…Assassin."

LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL

There! FINISHED! Only joking! I simply got finished with this chapter. I thought this chapter should just be alittle more about explaining the events that are taking place in Ostia. (I'm doing a bit of the Hector and Lyn pairing along with some of the ending game stuff…….) Game of Houses is from a certain book series that I re-read during writing this. (Nynaeve's my favorite!) I finally decided on what the plot is. Part of it is in here. If you can find it, I give you a cool……plushie? Piece of pocky? Happy stick? Uh……almost whatever you want?

OH! I decided next chapter is just going to be an interlude! I'm going to let the speak about the story in their own way……teehee…..

Serra: She made me cut my totally cute hair! You horrible authoress!

Erk: ……..It was cute enough to deal with.

Serra: You thought my hair was cute after I cut it?

Erk: ……I don't understand why I even complained

Serra: I'm sooo glad you liked it Erky!

Erk: I knew that all that immaturity had to come out somewhere.

Serra: How sweet! You think I'm mature!

Erk: Open mouth, insert foot.

Serra: Why would you want to taste your foot?

(suddenly gets hit with shoes from the readers)

OKAY! I won't do that! I owe you all a lot of chapters but I think I'm either half-way through or almost through, but I can't be too sure…..I so want to start on Basket Case, but I promised I was going to finish one story before I started another! So Blargh! (Basket Case is a story where most of the characters are at an asylum and Seras makes observations on them all. Will mostly be drabbles and a bit of comedy.)

OMG! HAHAHAHAAA! TOLD YOU I WOULD UPDATE BEFORE CHRISTMAS DESTIN! IN YOUR……..MEOW MIX! EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE ANY! I got kind of tired at the end and was almost going to end it about three pages short. Gawds! This was only twenty three pages and I feel like I'm going to die! Sheesh! Anyway, I'm working on the next chapter already! I can't wait to finish this! So Happy that a plot has finally been mentioned! Keep up the SERK fluff! LOVES TO ALL!