Fish. Yes that was necessary.

Hope you enjoy n.n

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Lloyd left with an enthusiastic wave back to his adoptive father as they left, the group walking to the clearing where they could take out the rheairds. Kratos lingered toward the back as Lloyd walked away from his home, trying not to think of how strange it was to be among this rag-tag group of freedom-fighters once again, instead keeping his attention on his son.

His son. He liked the way that sounded in his head. Liked how he could say it now, if he chose, liked the pleasant feeling that come from the idea…

The rheairds were shown to him and like with everything else, he pretended to not know of them, and allowed himself to be instructed on how they worked, as Genis and Presea would now be sharing. Of course he could fly one, he'd been able to for thousands of years, but he could take a little lecturing if it was necessary. He was good at acting like he didn't know things already, considering his 'job'…

As such, they didn't have any fighting to do until the landed at the entrance of the fire seal.

"Here we are, Dad," Lloyd smiled, "It's really hot, just to give you a heads up…"

"I can tell that already," Kratos nodded, looking around, "It is the desert after all."

"O- Oh, yeah, sorry," Lloyd flushed, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Shall we continue?" the man smiled weakly, glancing over at him.

"Ye- yeah," Lloyd nodded, "Let's go."

So they continued onward (after Raine resisted the urge to coo over the entrance again) and very shortly thereafter encountered their first bout with monsters. Kratos drew his blade and took a stance, frowning at how much heavier the blade appeared. Still, while it was noticeably heavier it wasn't heavy enough that it should hinder him at all. All right, his strength and speed wouldn't be what they were, he knew this, but his skill should not have diminished.

"Here they come," Sheena flicked out her cards.

Lloyd looked at him and then charged in, both swords already in his grip. Kratos frowned just a second and then followed, confirming that he was in fact slower than he would have liked. Still, he did manage to match Lloyd's speed, and considering Lloyd's exsphere and his younger body, that was an accomplishment. The first creature swiped in and he easily parried it, slipping behind it and slashing through the back of the neck, severing its spine.

He smirked lightly.

He knew what spots to hit, that hadn't changed at all. The spine, the head, the heart, various spots where he could slice a muscle, snap a bone, they were all still there. He didn't have to try harder, he just had to be more intelligent about it.

That wouldn't be a problem, if there was one thing he had was years and years of experience.

The battle didn't last long and Kratos flicked the blood off his sword, sheathing it and looking over at Lloyd, who had been watching him. A smile spread across the ignoble leader's face, sheathing his own blades.

"Wow! You are good! I knew you'd be," he grinned, walking over to him.

"Thank you," he smiled weakly, finding he was breathing harder.

This was a little harder than he thought it would be…it didn't matter, he had to make due. He would have to keep learning his limits and make sure to keep within them, he'd have to be cautious.

"Yeah, the old man is pretty good," Zelos smirked, "You think what with his age he'd be slow by now, with the aching joints…"

"A lifetime of combat coupled with that exsphere probably contributes to that," Kratos stated simply, glaring just a bit.

"You have a very advanced vocabulary," Raine raised an eyebrow, eying him.

"Thank you," he said simply, "I enjoy reading."

Lloyd tweaked.

"Oh? You do? What else do you like to do?" he asked, his eyes getting that hungry gleam again.

"Lloyd, don't mean to be a buzzkill but uh…we kinda have a pact to make," Sheena pointed out.

"Wh- oh! Yeah, duh," he shook his head, rubbing the back of his neck, "Yeah, let's hurry and finish up what we came here for."

So they continued onward, and it progressively became more and more hot. Kratos found himself sweating, growling a bit to himself at the discomfort he felt. Whether or not his senses were…more sensitive, he should have the mental discipline not to allow it to bother him. Still, bother him it did, but he found he wasn't the only one that was discomforted. The entire group was sweaty and looked irritable, with the exception of Presea, of course. Though he and Regal looked the least phased out of the lot of them.

"I forgot how hot this place was," Raine sighed, brushing her damp hair from her face with a groan.

"I'm DYING here!" Zelos whined. "Is it much further!"

"D- Don't worry guys," Colette smiled weakly, "We're almost there."

"Yeah yeah, let's just get there before Dick passes out and we have to carry him out," the man huffed.

They all stopped.

"…'Dick'?" Kratos repeated, turning to look at him.

"What? Your name is Richard, right? So you're 'Dick'," he smirked a bit, shrugging, "Now don't get mad about it, Dick, let's just go."

"…Don't call me that," Kratos stated curtly.

"Why not, Dick?"

"It's Richard," he said just as curtly, taking care to make sure he said the 'right' name.

"Mr. Scott doesn't like that nickname, Zelos," Colette frowned, "Maybe you shouldn't call him that."

"Fine then, I'll call him old man," he shrugged.

"No," Kratos huffed.

"Geezer?"

"No."

"Old Fogey?"

"N-"

"'Get off my lawn' man?"

Kratos sighed and turned away, his hand gripping the hilt tightly.

"Let's just find the altar," he growled.

"Right-o, Dick," Zelos nodded.

Kratos ignored him.

"Hey, Dad?" Lloyd asked as they headed off.

"…Yes, Lloyd?" he asked, trying to ignore the oddness of hearing the title.

"Why do you always grip your sword like that? Even if we're not about to fight?"

Damn. He was still being too obvious.

"Habit, I suppose," he frowned, "I'm used to a fight breaking out at any moment, I suppose it comforts me…why do you ask?"

"Oh, I was just wondering if that was a…common thing," Lloyd frowned as well, eying him.

"..." he hesitated. "Common thing?"

"Kratos did that too," Genis stated, scanning him again.

He did his best not to flinch.

"Oh?" he tilted his head a bit. "Hm, perhaps it is, I knew a few other swordsmen over the years that had the same habit."

"That doesn't surprise me at all," Regal added, "When I was young one of my martial arts master's was prone to carrying around a dull knife. It had not purpose in fights, but he used to use knives in battle. The knife was there solely for him to grip when he wasn't using his hand."

"Are you just trying to back the other old man?" Zelos smirked.

"I'm not old," Regal huffed, "I'm thirty-one. I'm closer to your age, Chosen, than to Mr. Scott's."

"Woah woah woah! Are you saying I'm old?" Zelos scoffed.

They ignored him.

Finally, after what seemed like far too long, they arrived at the altar.

"Watch this, Dad," Lloyd smiled, "We're going to make a pact with the spirit here, we're going to have to fight it but it's still pretty cool to see what the spirit is like."

"Make sure you keep focused on the fight," Kratos stated.

"Wh-? I- Of course I'm going to," he huffed, flushing just a bit, "Why would you say that?"

"…I-"

He went to say something evasive, something harsh, something that'd make Lloyd put more effort into fighting, into proving him wrong, like he had done on the journey. How mad it made him…but-

"I just want to make certain you don't get hurt," he said instead.

Lloyd blinked, flushing a bit more, but smiled lightly before huffing and looking away.

"Okay, okay, I'll pay attention," he sighed.

The fight went smoothly enough, really, though Kratos still had to watch himself. Luckily, Lloyd seemed to be doing all right on his own, to Kratos' relief. To say he wasn't tired, however, wouldn't be entirely honest. By the time Efreet had subsided in his rampage, the ancient Seraph found himself feeling the foreign exhaustion of an aged man.

"Whew…that was a work out," Lloyd sighed, rubbing his face.

"Dear God, as if I wasn't sweating enough! My hair is going to be ruined!" Zelos cried.

"I wouldn't mind some water," Sheena sighed.

"Then hurry and make the pact so we can get out of here!" Raine snapped, irritable.

"All right, all right," Sheena sighed, rubbing her face and turning to Efreet.

Kratos never found himself so relieved to leave a place.

"Okay…" Lloyd sighed as they left, relieved, "I think we all deserve to go somewhere and rest."

"Definitely," Genis sighed, "Somewhere cooler."

"We could fly to Izoold I suppose," Raine rubbed her face, "It's a little further but at least there's water nearby-"

"Oh hell yes! I am totally up for a swim! Even if it is a dingy boondocks town!" Zelos grinned.

They ignored him.

"Okay, so let's hurry and get out of here," Lloyd sighed, wiping sweat off his own brow.

"Before one of us collapses from heat-stroke," Kratos added, muttering just a bit.

"Yeah, before Dick collapses from heat-stroke," Zelos nodded.

Kratos felt his eyelid twitch slightly.

"Zelos, could you lay off?" Lloyd sighed deeply again. "Please? Can we just go already?"

"Yup, I'd say I'm up for that," the Chosen nodded, taking out his rheaird, "Okay, let's go."

So they were off again. As they flew they made it into the more windy- but thankfully far more cooler- air, which came as a relief to all of them. It even soothed Kratos to the point he could finally concentrate on what had been bothering him.

The pacts…he still wasn't sure if this was the right thing to do. A mana link had been broken, Celsius had appeared, and there had been an earthquake…it didn't look like it was adding up very well- No, all right, he could find a way to bring attention to this without bringing attention to himself. After all, under the guise of not knowing anything, it'd be well accepted if he were to ask questions on the subject. He could bring it up, as if curious, as if he didn't know more than they did, and express concern over the violent effects. If he could draw their attention to it- Raine and Regal in all likelihood- maybe he could convince them to delay this until they had looked into it more thoroughly…

Izoold was cooler, the sea breeze buffeting their bodies as they landed close to the town. The smell of salt and fish from the market was prominent even outside the city, and Kratos felt a flicker of nostalgia, a soft smile coming across his face.

Ah yes…Izoold…

"Hey, Dick, you spacing out?" Zelos asked, waving a hand rapidly in front of Kratos' face. "We're going already, are you having a senior moment or something?"

Kratos shot him a quick glare and simply walked past him. The Chosen one was always extremely irritating-

His eyes widened and he choked just a bit in surprise when his leg touched down and buckled, causing him to struggle just a second to stand again, a sharp throb going up his leg.

"Dad-?" Lloyd looked around at him, his eyes widening a bit. "Hey- Dad, are you all right-?"

"I-"

Raine was already over by him, casting healing mana into his leg. Kratos frowned and went to protest as she looked up at him.

"Sit down," she said curtly.

"I-"

"Sit down, Mr. Scott," she snapped again, her blue eyes narrowed menacingly.

Kratos gritted his teeth a bit but did so, keeping silent as Raine pulled back the pantsleeve and examined his leg.

"I think you're fine," she concluded after a moment, "you probably just overexerted yourself. It doesn't seem like you pulled anything."

Kratos stared at her.

He staggered like that…because of…exertion? He wasn't wounded her just…was tired? That's it? What kind of humiliation- how could he live that down? This was unacceptable, he wasn't some frail old- …well he was old, yes, and physically he was 'aging' but he was not OLD….

"Try to take it easier next time," Raine said as she got to her feet, "You probably haven't had to fight that hard in a long time, I imagine."

He stared at her. It took him a moment to recognize the emotion that was nagging at his inside, but eventually he determined it. Embarrassment. He was embarrassed.

With a grunt he got to his feet and brushed himself off, his eyes closed, trying to compose himself so as not to let his irritation and humiliation be detected.

"So he's okay-?" Lloyd asked.

"Yup, just fine, bud," Zelos grinned, "just an effect of old age."

Lloyd glared at him.

"Geez-! If looks could kill! What? Your dad is old! How is that my fault? It's a fact of life!" the chosen muttered, but backed away from him nonetheless.

"I'm fine, Lloyd," Kratos stated, frowning just a bit, "Don't worry about it."

"Well…okay," Lloyd bit his lip, looking at him a moment before looking away.

What else was he supposed to say, really?

So they walked into the village and once again Kratos found himself lost a bit in the breeze, the smells, the feel of the town. It was strange..it was all fainter now, yet somehow that just drew his attention more. It had been…not easy, but not hard to push it away when they had been through here the first time, when it would all so blatant, when he knew he had to hide it. Maybe that was why, he didn't have to hide it now…maybe that was why he let himself look around a bit, allowing the sights to sink in…

"Hey, Dad?" Lloyd asked.

"Hm?" Kratos looked down at him, shaking himself from the feeling.

"Have you been through here before? You traveled a lot too, right?" he smiled eagerly up at him, like he did when he was a child, like when he was asking for a treat…

"Yes," Kratos fought a tug at his lips, "In fact…"

He hesitated a bit, looking around at the village, then at the eyes on them, the eyes of his friends, curious, suspicious…

"Yeah?" Lloyd prodded, eager.

"We should get to the inn and rest first," Kratos said, looking at him again, "then we can talk."

Lloyd blinked and then frowned a bit, eying his father, but nodded. A small smirk came to Kratos' face as he walked off. Though he was nearly grown that look and his face was almost the same as when he was a child, that air to him, that he was disappointed. It nearly made him chuckle, but it had almost done that many times during their journey beforehand…he knew how to hold it back. …Besides he already had humiliated himself enough with injuring his leg through nothing more than his age…

He sighed.

They made it to the inn and the group plopped around into chairs and on beds, groaning a bit, thoroughly exhausted from the day's fight. Kratos sat down slowly on one such chair and suppressed the urge to sigh in relief, as his aching new body seemed to do, his muscles relaxing. He closed his eyes a moment, nothing how comfortable he was-

"Dad?"

His eyes snapped open and he shook his head, frowning a bit. Was he going to doze off? He couldn't be that tired, it wasn't even dusk yet…

"Yes?" he looked up, seeing Lloyd once again before him.

"Uhm…so.." the teen rubbed the back of his neck, glancing down at Kratos. "…What were you going to tell me?'

To tell him? …Should he tell him-? Then again, why shouldn't he? Lloyd had been eager for anything he could hear from him, just he hadn't known where to start, or how to bring it up…

Well no better way than to let Lloyd bring it up then, he supposed.

"This town…" Kratos frowned a bit, looking out the window at the churning sea, the boats coming in and out, "Is where you were born."

Lloyd stared at him, the others tried to act like they didn't notice, tried to be polite as not to listen it, but they had all fallen silent. They were all interested, but that didn't bother their ignoble leader at all.

"It- it is?" Lloyd beamed, pulling up a chair, sitting by Kratos and looking up at him like a starstruck child.

"Yes," Kratos allowed himself to smile weakly, glancing at him and then out again, "Your mother and I were coming here on a boat from Palmacosta…she went into labor when we were still on the ship."

Lloyd stared and said nothing, just kept looking at him with those large eager eyes, imploring him to continue, nearly begging him to say more. A soft chuckle slipped from him and he looked back out at the sea, hiding the tug of his lips into a faint smile.

"We arrived here and she had been in labor for almost two days already," he shook his head, "She had almost blown her voice out from all the shouting she did. Yelling at me, yelling at anyone around, yelling at the boat- poor Noishe, he was terrified."

Lloyd smiled a bit, laughing just a little. Kratos glanced back at him, feeling a warm sensation bubbling up and threatening to make him smile more. He turned again.

"When we arrived we were taken to the small infirmary by the docks, a midwife was called and she helped deliver you," Kratos smirked a bit, glancing back at his son, "You arrived after about an hour of coming here. Your mother's first words when she held you was 'took your time didn't you'?"

Lloyd pouted a bit, flushing just a little.

"Hey…it's not like it was my fault," he huffed.

"Of course not," Kratos smirked at him, "And she wasn't serious, of course, she was overjoyed. She cried and said you were the most beautiful thing she'd ever seen. …Of course right after that she claimed that it was all her genes."

Lloyd grinned and laughed a bit more, barely able to contain his excitement over the little bits of information.

"She loved you very much," Kratos' smirk faltered into a small, weak smile, feeling his eyes mist, "she wouldn't even let me hold you for a good couple of hours…kept you…all to herself…"

His face fell and he looked out the window again, focusing on the water. He had to get a hold of himself…or…he knew he'd weaken more, at the thought of her. Knew he'd lose control…

"Dad?" Lloyd said after a moment.

"Yes?" he answered, not looking back at him.

"Thanks for telling me."

Kratos blinked and finally turned back to look at his son. Lloyd's face was serious, but gentle, a small, warm smile on his face and a shimmer to his eyes that Kratos had seen so often in Anna's. He felt his throat tighten a bit and then nodded, smiling weakly back as he took him in.

"You…have no need to thank me," he said, glancing away, "As said, I owe it to you…so it's quite all right."

Lloyd looked at him a moment and then nodded. With a sheepish grin his rubbed the back of his neck, straightening.

"Uh…I should go take a bath now," he said, "I kinda smell…sweating and all…"

"Hm…" Kratos wrinkled his nose a bit, "I say we all could use that..."

"Already called the bath," Sheena declared, walking out, "You can fight over who's next."

Raine instantly claimed her spot and the others began to quarrel over it lightly, which involved Lloyd putting Genis in a headlock at one point. Kratos tilted his head to the side and observed, silent.

This group had gotten even more rambunctious…

Lo it is done 83 hope you liked n.n