Presea relaxed, holding her axe at her side "Hello Lloyd." She looked around momentarily "What are you doing here all alone?"

"I'm here too," Sheena said stepping into the clearing

"Oh... Well why are you both here?"

"We were trying to find out what scared away all the monsters," Lloyd replied. "Wait... They weren't running from you were they?" he added, the expression on his face priceless.

"That... would not be logical. Together they could defeat me easily"

"Well... Yeah... But what was that green light?" Sheena asked

"I have no idea..." Presea said reaching into her pocket. She produced a small almost see-through green orb, with several tiny veins running through it, each one a different shade of green. "As soon as I touched it the glow stopped"

"That- It looks like an Exsphere!" Lloyd cried "I've never seen a green one though... And what are those little vein-y things?"

"Now that you mention it... It kinda does. That glow felt similar to the warm glow of an exsphere too," Sheena added. "That still doesn't explain why all those monsters were running for their lives though. I'm pretty sure they weren't running from a scary exsphere."

"Hmm... Good point... Then again, that weird feeling is gone now. I don't feel like running for my own life anymore."

"Aaaagh! This is all so confusing," Sheena sighed

"Well we should probably be on our way. It doesn't look like there's anything to investigate here anymore. Flanoir isn't gonna come to us"

"Flanoir?" Presea blurted out, before quickly adding "Umm... Why Flanoir?"

"Well... It's probably the most out-of-the-way place," Lloyd replied "We thought it'd be best to get it done early so we don't have to go back. Plus there shouldn't be much to find around there anyway since it's mostly wilderness. Not many people are going to be running around planting Exspheres in the snow"

"Would- Umm... Would you mind if I went with?" Presea asked shyly

"How come?" Sheena said, thinking afterwards that her tone may have been a bit harsh. Well if she couldn't tell Lloyd how she felt when they were alone what chance did she have with Presea around?

Presea hesitated. No. I can't tell them... Especially now that she'd found this... Exsphere. If it really was an Exsphere. It certainly looked like one. "I... Haven't left home in a while. I would quite like a holiday, and Flanoir is... Nice"

"Well... Sure, I suppose we could use as much help as we can get. No slacking off though!" Lloyd joked.

"I will make sure I work hard"

"No I- Ugh... You're impossible to joke with Presea," he sighed.

"Do you have a Rheiard?" asked Sheena, deciding to simply be blunt, and hoping she ended up changing her mind.

"There is one back at my house. We should go and get it. And I must tell Regal…"

"Oh so he's staying with you huh?" Sheena replied, winking.

Presea simply said "Yes", and wondered what Sheena had stuck in her eye. "Anyway, we should get going. It is not far"

They set off in the direction of Ozette, Sheena trying to stay as close to Lloyd as possible and Presea lagging behind slightly. After several minutes of walking and much deliberation on Presea's part she tapped Sheena on the shoulder, blushing intensely. "Umm… Can I ask you something? I-In private," She added looking at Lloyd, and dragging Sheena back a few paces.

"Uuh… Yeah sure. What is it?"

"I…" She coughed nervously. It wasn't like Presea to show any emotion, especially embarrassment, or even ask questions. She seemed to know everything already. "How do you know when you are in love?" she suddenly blurted out, adding "I mean… There must be some- symptoms?"

Ah. That explains it. "Presea… You make it sound like a disease," sighed Sheena

"Well surely there is some way of knowing? A sign of some sort?"

Sheena couldn't help glancing at Lloyd. "Well- I- I can't really say. It's hard to explain. No one else can tell you you're in love, that's for sure. You just sort of… Know. If that makes sense?"

"It does not. How do I know if I know if all I know is that I am supposed to know? If that makes sense?"

Sheena felt like screaming. Not only did she love Lloyd, and not only could she not find the courage to tell him, she was now being asked to explain WHY or HOW she loved him, by someone who couldn't understand even if she did know how to explain it. "Well- I suppose you just get this feeling in your chest. Your heart beats faster you know? You want to be with someone all the time. You want to talk to them, and walk with them and…" she coughed "Well- I'll tell you the next bit when you're a bit older... Understand now?"

"… Increased pulse rate? That is a symptom."

"O.k Yeah… Let's just go with that," she sighed, giving in.

"Umm… Thank you Sheena"

"Whyyy… Do you think you might love someone?" Sheena said, grinning.

"I do not think so. I have not experienced those symptoms whilst with anyone as far as I can remember. I just wanted to make sure."

"Yeah… Well… Now you know" … She's completely hopeless…

"You guys aren't talking about me are you?" Lloyd shouted from ahead of them.

In a way… "No of course not," Sheena laughed

"Well we're almost here now. Ho- What the? … Presea! I thought Ozette was being re-built!" Lloyd cried as they arrived near the outskirts of the still-ruined village.

"Well… They started to, but when the worlds were rejoined most people chose to move to much larger cities. It is far easier to attain food and other things, not to mention safer. The only thing stopping most people from leaving before was Gaoracchia forest, and that stopped being a problem when the worlds joined."

"So you've been living on your own all this time?"

"I was with Regal… Besides, I lived in isolation for most of my life. No-one would talk to me at all for s-… several years"

"Man… You really need to socialise more," he laughed, but shut up as soon as he realised she didn't get it.

They made their way through the small village, most of the houses still charred relics, towards Presea's small house. She hesitated briefly before opening the door carefully, looking around for Regal once she was inside. "Regal?" No reply. Good... He is not here. She felt cruel leaving him behind, but she had to do this on her own. It would be nice to finally have a break from Regal anyway. She hurried over to the desk to grab her wing pack and a few more essentials, when suddenly a sound from outside made her heart sink.

"Regal! Long time no see!" Lloyd shouted cheerily

"Good to see you Lloyd," Regal replied. "What brings you around here?"

"They came with me to get my Rheiard," said Presea, emerging from the house. "I'm going to go with them to Flanoir."

"I see. Then perhaps I should come as well... I must admit I wouldn't mind a good test of my strength around the ice temple. Wouldn't want to get out of practice," he grinned.

Presea knew there would be no convincing him to stay now. It wasn't that she didn't like Regal, she just wanted a bit of space... "Yes. If that is o.k with you Lloyd?"

"Uuh... Yeah sure. I guess we could use some help around there... You still have a Rheiard too right?"

"Yes," said Regal simply, unshrinking his Rheiard. "When do we leave?"

"Well right now if you're ready," Sheena answered, getting out her own Rheiard. "We've already had enough delays today"

Within a few minutes, after Regal had quickly gathered some gels and other supplies, they were all on their Rheiards darting over the trees towards Flanoir, freezing winds and harsh blizzards, Presea clutching the green exsphere tightly in her pocket.

A/N: Aaaah Presea, when will you learn? Anyway... Really hated the end of that chapter, but I suppose they couldn't just suddenly appear in Flanoir...

Oh and I don't really like Regal very much. I think I hide it pretty well. You probably didn't notice. More importantly... Things should start to get a bit more interesting next chapter 3