I didn't end up updating regularly over NaNoWriMo, but here I am again, ready to continue the story. As usual, I don't own anything. I'm just a fan writing some fiction. Please enjoy!

Dwarven Vow #125:
Uisge Beatha dòcha nach eil leigheas air an tinneas, ach eil e tuilleadh gu dòigheil na rudan eile.
Whisky may not cure a cold, but it fails more agreeably than other things.

20-

"And THEN, oh, THEN-" Zelos tossed back another shot before continuing on his tirade. "-this bastard has the guts to say to me- to ME- do you feel better about yourself, Mister Chosen? And I'm THIS close to snapping right then and there, but NO. No, I kept my cool, and was like, hell, I've NEVER felt good about myself in my DAMN LIFE-"

His speech slurred as he reached for another shot glass, but Genis put a hand out and stopped him. "Zelos, I think you might want to take a break. Drink some water or eat something-"

"NAH, man. I'm good. It's allgoodman. Allgood."

Zelos pushed Genis' arm away, accidentally swatting a couple of empty shot glasses off the side of the table. He fumbled to pick them up, but Genis got them before he could manage, and set them on the opposite side of the table so that Zelos couldn't knock them off again. Lloyd was watching with morbid amusement, trying to hide his fascination with the scene behind his half-emptied glass of whiskey and nearly empty plate of head cheese.

"Hey, uh, Zelos?" Lloyd began, seeing the struggle that was taking place across from him, "I'm really sorry about what happened with your cousins, but maybe you should stop with the storytelling for now. How about we have Genis tell us about his day?"

Genis was going to intervene, but to his surprise, Zelos was supportive of the idea.

"YEAH! A great idea, Lloydmybuddy. I wanna hear the GOOD stuff." Zelos clapped his hands and then slapped Genis on the back with a force that nearly knocked him over. "How'd your DATE with the PRETTY LADY go today? Did you score? I'll bet you TOTALLY scored."

"She has a name!" Genis defended, his cheeks turning red. "But, yes, we talked a lot, had some ice cream, visited the history museum before it closed… and Nika said she'd love to do it again sometime soon. So you could say I scored a future date."

Zelos burst out laughing, his voice practically bouncing off the walls of the little bar. Genis covered his ears and Lloyd tossed a few apologetic glances toward the other patrons.

"You guys are so CUTE, y'know that?" Zelos fell against Genis' shoulder and tousled his hair. "Scored a date. HAH!" He continued to laugh softly as he pulled himself away again, this time sitting up on his knees and leaning over the tabletop. "You know what I've decided? I've DECIDED. I've decided I'm FINALLY gonna teach you two how to get laid."

Genis' face turned white and Lloyd nearly choked on his last bite of food.

"...no, you're not going to do that," Genis replied firmly, pressing a hand to the top of Zelos' head with a push back toward his seat. "That sounds like an all-around bad idea-"

"No no no no, no. Hear me out, would'ya?" Zelos waved his hands. "You'n Lloyd, you're good kids. My best buds. Family even. That's- hic- why I want you to know the joy of pleasing a woman."

Genis looked to be exerting a massive amount of patience, and Lloyd tried to hide a fit of laughter behind one of the menus.

"Why don't you go back to telling us about your cousins instead-" Genis began, but Zelos had no intention of backtracking. He was sitting up on his knees by this point, leaning across the table to get in on the conversation.

"Genis, BUDDY, how old is your lady friend? She looks like she's been around the block a couple times before."

Genis stiffened. "She's only twenty- and what do you mean by been around the block? Don't bring Nika into this!"

"Oh, c'mon- hic- she's totally into you. I saw'her face earlier, and lemme tell ya, that's the face of a woman who knows what she wants."

"What she wants is none of your business!"

Lloyd, in his amusement, was trying to keep out of the conversation as best he could. But he couldn't help staring at Zelos, and suddenly Zelos' eyes met his.

"Oh, Lloyd! Speaking of women who know what they want-"

"Is this really necessary?"

The question fell on deaf ears as Zelos scooted his chair over next to Lloyd's. "I gotta tell ya, in all the years I've known Sheena, I've NEVER seen her with the hots for anybody quite like she's got for you. With the advice I'm gonna give ya, you'll have her begging to get in your bed!"

Lloyd tried to push Zelos away from his face. "You really don't have to do that."

"I KNOW. That's what makes me so nice."

"No, I mean, that's really not necessary-"

Genis grabbed the back of Zelos' shirt. "All you'd be doing is making problems for a well-established relationship. Lloyd and Sheena are taking things at their own pace. Isn't that what you're doing with Colette?"

Zelos gave a dismissive wave in Genis' direction. "That's different."

"How so?"

"It just is. Colette is- hic- not afraid to tell me what she wants. When she wants it, she'll say somethin'. Offering before then is pointless."

"Can't you accept that other couples have that kind of open honesty too?"

Zelos laughed and nudged Genis' shoulder. "C'mon, man, have you MET Sheena and Lloyd? They're the most awkward, CLUELESS-"

"I'm right here, you know!" Lloyd grinned plucked an ice cube out of Genis' juice and flicked it across the table at Zelos. "Sheena and I have already been through this; we don't need your drunken advice."

There was a pause, Zelos looking back and forth between Lloyd and the glass of juice. He finally plunged his hand into the glass, grabbing up the rest of the ice to toss across the table at Lloyd and eliciting a frustrated "my juice!" from Genis. Lloyd put up his hands to shield his face, stifling another fit of laughter at the reaction.

"Hey, man! That's not fair!"

"You started it, ya JERK!" Zelos responded with a half laugh himself. "If you two already got it on, you should'a told me!"

Lloyd grinned, gulped down the last sip of his own drink, and slid the glass across the table back at Zelos. "Maybe we have and maybe we haven't. I don't think that's any of your business."

"I see that smug look on your face! You really ARE holding out on me with the good news, ya bastard!" Zelos started grabbing up the empty shot glasses and Genis gasped as he realized what was going on.

"Don't you dare start throwing those!" Genis grabbed hold of Zelos' arms from behind. "If you're going to get violent, we need to leave."

"Genis is right," Lloyd said, standing up out of his chair and motioning to the door. "I can feel the whisky getting to me too. Why don't we pay our tab and head back?"

"Fine w'me," Zelos began as he pulled himself to his feet, stumbled, and then righted himself again. "But I wanna hear ALL the juicy deets on the way home."

"All the- what?"

"The DETAILS, Lloyd, the details!" Zelos slung his arm over Lloyd's shoulder, and while Lloyd thought it was an overly-friendly gesture at first, he realised almost immediately that Zelos was just trying to hide the fact that he couldn't walk on his own. "I want to know everything you did, EXPLICIT detail, chronological order. I'll be grading and giving constructive criticism, so be sure not to leave ANYTHING out."

Genis started yelling at Zelos, trying to get him to drop the subject, while Lloyd subconsciously buttoned his overcoat all the way to the top.

Maybe Kratos was right about keeping this sort of thing away from Zelos after all…

After the three had paid the tab, they exited the building to find that it had begun raining- and it didn't look like it was going to let up anytime soon. Genis suggested they wait under the eaves of the building for a break, but Zelos was already dragging Lloyd out into the storm, and Genis had no choice but to follow.

It was going to be a long walk back.

Kratos pushed the door to Yuan's room open ever so gently, not wanting to startle him. To his surprise, he found Yuan still asleep, a colorful children's book splayed across his chest as though he'd fallen asleep in the middle of reading. Adora was sound asleep as well, curled up next to the pillow, practically nestled in the crook of her father's shoulder.

With as little force as he could muster, Kratos pulled the book out of Yuan's hands and sat down on the foot of the bed to examine it. "Ten Minutes Till Bedtime…" he read from the cover and stifled a laugh. "Looks like they didn't make it that long."

As he flipped through the pages, Kratos heard a low groan from Yuan. He seemed to notice the weight at the end of the bed, but he pulled the blanket over his shoulder and turned so that he was facing Adora. "Song, it's late. Turn out the light, would you?"

Kratos replied without even trying to correct him on the mistake. "No. Can't you see I'm reading?"

Yuan shot to a seated position, scooping up Adora in one arm and nearly tossing the blanket off the side of the bed. "Wh-what are you doing here? Give me that book!"

Kratos gave up the book with no struggle as Yuan snatched it back, but he frowned. "Aw, I'd only made it halfway through. I was enthralled by the riveting plotline."

"What riveting plotline? It's a picture book- there's hardly any words."

"Pictures are worth a thousand words."

"Get out of my room."

Yuan set the book on the side table and rocked Adora against his chest, hearing her begin to stir as well. Kratos watched the scene for a few moments before ignoring Yuan's instructions and speaking up again.

"I just wanted to talk a little-"

"I don't want to talk to you."

"That's not surprising. But I want to ask you at least one question before I go."

"What is it?" Yuan mumbled.

"I want to know… what it was about me that you couldn't trust. All these years, why couldn't you have told me?"

Yuan was silent at first. Even when he did answer- with a question, no less- he kept his eyes focused on Adora instead of Kratos. "Did Song tell you?"

"Only because I pieced enough together to know what questions to ask him." Kratos leaned forward, trying to catch Yuan's attention. "Back then, up until now… why didn't you say anything? I understand keeping it from Mithos, but from me?"

"You say that like you weren't always 'Lord Yggdrasill's' obedient little dog. Even Noishe didn't follow his orders as closely as you did. Why would I tell you anything?"

It was Kratos' turn to avoid eye contact. "But before all this? Before Martel died? I know it must have been hard for you. Why didn't you come to us-?"

"Because we didn't want your pity!" Yuan shot back. He froze, realizing that the volume of his reply had unnerved Adora, and continued with a quieter tone. "Do you really know what it was like to get a diagnosis like that back then? The doctor gave us two choices. One, we could do our best to make Adora comfortable and watch as she died a slow and painful death, or two, we could…" His voice hitched in a way that Kratos was unfamiliar with. "...not let her suffer."

Kratos nodded gravely. "And yet you found a third option."

"It wasn't a third option, it was just putting off making a decision. I think Martel genuinely believed we would find a cure someday after the war was over, but… even at that time, there wasn't an end in sight. She nearly killed herself just trying to give us more time to say goodbye."

"I was wondering how Martel managed the spell only five weeks after Adora was born," Kratos replied. "It must have been hard on her."

"Hard?" Yuan scoffed. "It took all of her remaining mana! If I hadn't given her some of mine, she would've died. You know how that is, remember?"

"Huh." Kratos tried to add an air of disappointment to his sigh. "And here I thought I was special."

"Oh, shut up!"

"But you know-" Kratos ignored the admonition and continued. "-I wouldn't have pitied you."

"You would have!" Yuan shot back. "You had no idea how I felt!"

"I can't argue with that," Kratos replied. "For a long time I didn't. It's a pain you have to experience to truly understand."

There was a silence between them. Yuan looked around uneasily, trying to preoccupy himself with Adora. She had fallen asleep in his arms, however, so there wasn't much he could do without risking waking her. He had no choice but to continue the conversation.

"...I almost told you. After what happened with Anna, when you thought you'd lost Lloyd, I was going to say something. But you-" Yuan closed his eyes, unwilling to look at Kratos. "-you went back to Mithos. And I couldn't let him know at that time. We already knew how closely little Colette's mana signature resembled Martel's; if Mithos had found out about Adora then, when he had the ability to get his hands on her, there's no telling what he would've done."

"I suppose I don't blame you for that," Kratos murmured. "I was in a difficult place at that time, so I might have become angry or not believed you. You did the right thing. But…"

This time Yuan managed to look up at Kratos again. "You're going to ask why I didn't have Colette break the spell after the worlds were reunited, aren't you?"

"You know me well."

"It was because…" Yuan's voice caught in his throat again. "...I thought, as long as the box was near the tree, Adora and Martel would be together. I put Martel's name on it before I reburied it as a memorial for the two of them. It was better for Adora to be there with her mother than it was for her to be here with someone like me."

"You really believed that, huh?"

"What do you mean? It's true-"

Kratos gave Yuan a sharp hit on the forehead with the back of his hand. "You say that when there are so many people in this world ready to love her and take care of her? Are you blind?"

"Wha-"

"Colette and Zelos are worried sick! They've been giving their all to caring for her these past few days, and when you just took her, it terrified them. Didn't you think about that? And no matter how you feel about me, I loved Martel too and I'd do anything to help her daughter. Anna, Lloyd, and I would be here for you no matter what. And even without her mother, a loving father and step-father would make Adora luckier than a lot of children out there."

"S-step- what?" Yuan stammered, cutting off in shock. "What are you talking about?!"

"I'm talking about Song, idiot. You're not subtle with your affections. You weren't with Martel and you aren't now."

"Th-th-" Yuan's face had turned bright red, a sight that Kratos hadn't seen since Martel was alive. "That's none of your concern! I've already told you, there's no way that's going to happen!"

"And why not? It's not that complicated." Kratos shook his head. "If you both feel the same way, then-"

"Don't assume my feelings for me! Besides, it wouldn't be fair to Song."

"What wouldn't be fair?"

Yuan looked down at Adora. "No matter how I feel about anyone else, I'm still in love with Martel. So madly in love with Martel. And until that changes, promising myself to anyone is impossible."

"You really think so?" Kratos asked. "Because you'll always be in love with Martel. If you wait for those feelings to go away before you're willing to love anyone else, you'll be alone forever. Song knows you'll always love Martel. He just needs to know there's room in your heart for him too."

Yuan grabbed the book from the nightstand again and swatted Kratos on the head with it. "That's a load of sentimental garbage. You've been spending way too much time around Anna and Lloyd, you know that?"

"Maybe so, but that's because I love them. What's your excuse for hanging around Song all the time?"

Yuan didn't look back at him. He kept staring at Adora.

"How long ago did I ask you to get out of my room?"

Kratos sighed and stood up. "All joking aside, Colette and Zelos are still worried. They need to know Adora is safe. Why don't you-"

"Fine." Yuan pulled himself to his feet too, holding Adora out toward Kratos with a reluctant frown on his face. It was clear he had to force both the gesture and the statement that followed. "Y-you can take her back. Just make sure it's Colette that's taking care of her and not that stupid Zelos-"

Kratos held up a hand. "No. I'm not taking her from you."

Kratos watched as Yuan immediately pulled Adora back to his chest. The look Yuan gave him was relieved, but still puzzled.

"Huh?"

"You need to apologize to Colette and Zelos yourself." Kratos turned to leave the room. "I'll tell them that Adora is safe and with her father. Nothing more than that. You can explain everything to them tomorrow."

"You can't be serious-"

"It's already quite late. Tomorrow will be here before you know it- you might want to think about what you're going to say to them."

"KRATOS!"