Chapter 6 at last! I wanted to get it out sooner, but I've been busy, and I had to update and write the other stories. So... yeah. Let's just get to the review replies, shall we?
The Flying Frog: Yeah, I guess so. Though Bouquet just thinks she has problems. ;) Don't worry; she won't be doing much customizing. But, Kluke on the other hand... When you go into hiding, bring me with you. Yes, it won't be pretty. Especially with Kluke. ;)
Prince of Tennis' Shaman: And I'm glad you're reading it! :D I don't actually know which one showed up first; I read all of your last reviews around the same time. Kluke definitely shouldn't give up, but that doesn't mean that she isn't going to cause a little trouble for herself and everyone around her. ;) Yeah, the three of them seem to get into fights often, so I thought I'd pop that scene in there. And when I watch the anime, Shu and Jiro's fights are always entertaining. ;) If it's in the game, I just worry. I'm not really sure when this will be finished, but like I said, I'm planning on drawing it out a little longer; I've really started to enjoy writing this. Here's the next update, and, in your words, long live Blue Dragon! :D (PS: I read your updated profile, and I have two notes for you concerning it. One, I have two Jiro x Bouquet fan fictions in the works, one of which will probably be uploaded after I finish Troubles on White Day, though possibly sooner. Two, I'd really like to see some Blue Dragon fan fiction from you; you seem like a big Blue Dragon fan, and you've been so nice to me, so I'd love to read anything you wrote for the series. I wouldn't care for a Jiro x Shu too much... but I might skim through it as a courtesy to you. I don't really like yaoi that much, but I'd at least drop a review for you; I'll pretend it's brotherly. ;) )
WindGoddess Rune: Thanks. Episode 43 had a big spoiler in it, so I don't want to give it away, in case there are people reading this who haven't watched that far. If you really want to know, I can e-mail/PM you with the information or the link for where I watched it. Also, Prince of Tennis' Shaman might tell you; they watched the episode just yesterday.
motorcycle demon: No worries; I've got a Shu x Sahlia oneshot in the works right now. ;) And they're my favorite pairing in the game, so there will likely be at least some hinted Shu x Sahlia in Blue Dragon Beyond and its sequel. I might've been planning that already, though; it's supposed to be a surprise, so I'm not going to say until I reveal the pairings with the surprise pairing. ;)
ultimashadow: Thanks. :) I wanted to keep some of Bouquet and Marumaro's "interactions" from the original Japanese version, but I didn't want anything explicit because I'd have to change the rating to T, though I might have to do that anyway if Bouquet turns invisible or does something off the wall. I don't really like writing anything perverted like that; plus, it's much more funny if you leave it to your imagination. I don't know how you'll like this chapter compared to the last one, but it should be pretty good.
Okay, there are the replies. Whew! *insert brow-wiping here* I guess that's everything except the disclaimer, so let's get to the story!
Disclaimer: If I owned Blue Dragon, I wouldn't have to try and think of a witty disclaimer every other day.
It was already a half hour into sunset by the time Kluke got out of the shop. And frankly, she felt like she'd been run over by a cockatrice flock.
She made tracks through the snow as she dragged her feet. A few people passing by stopped and stared, but she was too tired to care about it.
It was so cold... How could it be so cold? She wanted to go back to Talta... it was warm in the desert.
She couldn't begin to describe her relief when she saw the inn. So much relief that she promptly collapsed to her knees when she got inside.
"Kluke, you're back!" Shu jumped off of his bed, running over to her. "I was so bored, and you were gone all day! Where did you go, anyway?"
"Candy..." she sighed out, the only thing she could manage to say.
"I'd like some candy, mar- ow!" Marumaro held his knee where Jiro had kicked him.
Jiro knelt down in front of Kluke. "Are you alright?"
"Y-yeah, I'm..." Kluke's eyes slid shut as she fell forward.
"Kluke!" Shu and Jiro yelled her name at the same time, but Jiro was the one to catch her.
"What's going on?" Zola entered the room, Bouquet close behind.
"Kluke fainted, maro!" Marumaro pointed wildly towards the entrance, where Jiro was trying to hold up Kluke as she slumped forward, while Shu glared at both of them.
"Kluke!" Bouquet shot forward so fast she nearly shoved Zola out of the way. "How dare you try and seduce Jiro so early?! The competition hasn't even been going on for a day!"
"Bouquet, this is serious!" Shu yelled at her. "The SCI is probably messing with her!"
"Darling, she's trying to trick you!"
"You think this is a trick?!" Jiro ground out through his teeth.
"Don't be stupid," Bouquet waved her hand dismissively. "It's easy to faint. Girls do it all the time."
"I'd like for Bouquet and Kluke to faint on me, maro."
"Shut up." Jiro snapped at him. Despite himself, he could feel his face heating up.
"Jiro, let me see her," Zola held her arms open, where Jiro was all to eager to hand over Kluke. "Let's get her into bed. We'll ask Kluke what happened when she wakes up."
They waited several hours for Kluke to wake up, but she never did, so Zola brought a doctor to see her. After a quick examination, he determined that she was just overtired and needed rest; a good night's sleep and she'd be fine.
On that note, the group had a quick dinner, then went to bed themselves.
Everyone was asleep. Except for one person.
Bouquet was laying on her side, biting at her nails. 'I can't believe this... I thought I had this in the bag, but that sneak decided to play dirty! Well, fine... If that's how she wants to do it, then we can take this to a whole new level.' With a quiet huff, she angrily threw the covers over her head.
"Obachan!" she ran up to her grandmother, wrapping her arms around her waist.
"Bouquet-chan, I've missed you... It's only been a year, but you've gotten so big!"
She giggled. "That's because I'm a big girl!"
The old woman held a finger to her chin. "But, what am I to do? I had all of these sweets that I was going to make with my granddaughter, but she's been replaced by this big and mature young lady!"
"I'm not that big, Obachan! I want to make candy with you!"
"Well... I suppose we could at least go into the kitchen..." she smiled knowingly.
" 'Kay!"
For three years they had played this game, and it always ended the same way; they would go into the kitchen and Bouquet would say that she was "pretending to be little again" so she could make chocolate with her grandmother.
She watched the chocolate carefully as it boiled. "One day, you'll find a nice boy to make chocolate for every year."
Bouquet had been too young to understand then, so she just tilted her head in curiosity.
Her grandmother chuckled. "Why don't you do me a favor and get some cinnamon from the closet?"
"Okay!" she hopped down from the little box she'd pulled up.
The doorknob was high to her, so Bouquet had to stand on the tips of her toes; when the door opened, she stumbled forward.
"Obachan... it's too dark in here. I can't see."
The door slammed behind her. She cried out in fear, startled. Once the initial shock had worn off, she tried to bang against the door. "Obachan! Obachan, help me!"
When she saw a red light behind her, she turned around slowly. She screamed at the sight.
A dark tunnel filled with mirrors, mirrors that held fire in their reflections.
Not able to go back, Bouquet ran forward through the tunnel. She was crying, afraid of this horrible place.
As she got further through the tunnel, more of the fire mirrors appeared; it was like they were chasing her.
"Mommy, Daddy, Obachan... Where is everyone?!"
That was when she heard a voice, one that was very familiar, saying a phrase that she knew by heart:
"Bouquet, I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but... Your family has been in an accident..."
She woke up with a start, almost rolling out of the bed before she remembered where she was.
Bouquet sat up, wiping some of the sweat from her forehead. She hadn't had that dream in a few years.
In the Ra Clan, dreams were considered to be very important things; even the most silly dream had a meaning. If she'd been able to talk to the elders, she might've been able to figure out what this one meant. But she was far from any of them, so she had to go by early teachings and instinct. Unfortunately, it wasn't really getting her anywhere.
She closed her eyes, clutching her hands to her chest. "Obachan... Please give me guidance."
Wow. The last part was more serious than I had originally intended. The dream that Bouquet had was going to be in a different story, but I decided to put it in this one. I will reference it, though. Two other stories will have her having the same dream; since Troubles on White Day is a separate entity from the other two stories, she will never have had it in those timelines. I might write out the whole dream, or I might just have a note saying "see dream in Chapter 6 of Troubles on White Day", I'm not sure. I would appreciate some advice about that, though. Anyway, it looks like once Bouquet gets over her dream, she'll be carrying out what she was planning before she went to sleep. This will undoubtedly mean trouble for someone. Also, how's Kluke going to deal with her job? And Jiro. ;) We'll see; I haven't started the next chapter yet, but I've got a load of ideas. I'm always up for comments and suggestions, too, so leave a review if you like. Another thing is that there's something I'd like to ask you, the dear readers: Should I move Troubles on White Day and Shu and Kluke: Precious Memories to the Anime section of Blue Dragon? I didn't know that there was a Blue Dragon category in the Anime section, otherwise I would've put it there in the first place. I'd really like some advice on this, so if you review, please tell me what you think in addition to whatever else you were going to say. Thanks! Next chapter should be up shortly after this one reaches 10 hits. Bye for now!