Well, here we are at Chapter 9. Honestly, I never expected this story to be so long. I don't know how much longer it will be, but I can finally see the end of it now. Of course, there's still all of the time between the current time in the story and White Day, so I'll have to figure that out. I do have a few reasonable excuses to skip days in the upcoming chapters, though; at least, I think I do. Anyway, let's go to the replies now...

The Flying Frog: That's a relief. Again, I am so sorry that this happened. :( I'm worried about this chapter, too, so let me know if it's messed up. I went back and fixed that little problem (I am so stupid!). Thank you for letting me know. :) Thanks - I'm glad I've gotten back into my rhythm a little bit; the bad scene in chapter seven was mostly caused by writer's block, but I'm trying to turn my mistake into something good. I'd been planning on revealing that little gem I created about Marumaro in a different story, and the talk he has with Shu about it. But I was so worried about the messed up scene, I thought "Why not?", and it developed from there. Yes; it's so sad about Kluke... So hilariously sad. ;) Thank you - I'm glad you like it again. :)

WindGoddess Rune: Physically, she should be fine; even if the explosion did reach outside, Kluke's a Shadow User, so it'll take a lot more than that to do any harm to her. Shadow Users, at least in my theories, have a higher defense than a normal person, so it takes much more damage to hurt them. Plus, Phoenix would always come out and use Protect Feather if Kluke was in any real danger. ;) But as for her self-confidence... We'll have to see. You won't hear about Marumaro's fiancé too much more in this story. But maybe later. Oh yes, maybe later... ;)

ultimashadow: Thank you; I was so worried that everyone was going to be driven away after my bad writing in Chapter 7! I know; I think he's surprised all of us. (Marumaro: I'm not an idiot, maro!) Oh, of course not. *insert snickering here* Perish the thought. Oh, and that guy, like WindGoddess Rune said, is Konrad L. Lawrence. Notice that, unlike the dub, I still spell his name with a "k". Take that, Viz! :D

WindGoddess Rune: Yeah, I know. I think this is mostly a reply to ultimashadow's question, so there's not really much I can say. But like I told ultimashadow, I still spell his name with a "k".

Prince of Tennis' Shaman: Yeah. I used to hate editing when I was younger, but now I'm more used to it, especially since other people will be reading what I wrote now. Good to know; I can never really tell. I guess the writer attempts to make one, and it's the reader who decides if it's a cliffhanger. Or something like that. Glad that you're excited enough about Chapter 9 to leave a shorter review. :) Yeah; I've always thought that Bouquet and Jiro had the potential to get along. In fact, I think Jiro would've befriended any of them if his family hadn't been killed. :( I hope you like this chapter, though.

Okay, there are the replies. Like some of you may have noticed, I'm kind of paranoid after what happened with chapter seven. I'm somewhat of a perfectionist, so it's a big deal to me. If you think it still needs editing, tell me. And now I'm really worried about Chapter 9, so please let me know if something needs to be changed. Thanks in advance. After the disclaimer, it's story time!

Disclaimer: I do not own Blue Dragon. Thank God, because, as you can see above, I am probably a perfectionist nut.

Jiro sighed, leaning back in his chair. Really, he hadn't had a meal like that in ages. He'd cry if he wasn't so happy about it. And to think, that Bouquet was the one who made it for him... This had turned out to be a wild trip.

The running water stopped; Bouquet must've been done with the dishes. Which was true, as she came in only a few minutes later. She was wringing her apron and her skirt in her hands, biting her lip. "Jiro?"

Preparing himself for another conversation like the one earlier, since she had that look in her eyes again, he plunged on. "What's wrong, Bouquet?"

"You... You won't tell Darling about this, will you? About me making the food, I mean."

Jiro was so surprised he nearly laughed. Instead, he closed his eyes, smirking, and said, "Sure."

Just then, a loud bang could be heard from far off.

Jiro took his hands off his ears. "What the heck was that?"

"I think it was an explosion!"

"What do you mean there's no more medicine?! Don't you people know that someone can get crazy and die without it?!" Shu shouted at the pharmacist.

"I'm noticing." the pharmacist drawled lazily.

Marumaro was about five seconds from grounding his teeth down to nubs. He was supposed to be the happy-go-lucky one! How was he supposed to do that if he was being forced into a corner (namely, becoming the mature one since Shu was losing it)? "Sir, we need this medicine very badly, maro."

"Well... We do have it in a different form."

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?!" Shu slammed his fists on the counter.

Marumaro screamed in frustration. "Shu-"

A large blast was heard from several doors away. The force was actually enough to bring everyone to the ground.

Shu sat up, Marumaro laying across his legs. "What the heck was that?"

"Sounded... like a... 'splosion, maro..." Marumaro fell on his back, dizzy.

"There was an explosion at that store over there!" Someone running outside yelled.

"Marumaro, come on!" Shu shook his friend's shoulder. "We have to go and see if everyone's okay; somebody might be hurt!"

As soon as the sound and shaking had died down, Kluke promptly slid to the snow-covered ground and began to sob.

She had been so close... This had been her chance to show up Bouquet, to prove to Shu that all of her cooking wasn't cursed. And to make Jiro, Marumaro and Zola like her just that little bit more. And now, it was all ruined.

She felt a hand placed on her shoulder. "Come on, kiddo. Let's go check the damage."

Kluke's crying slowed slightly, just enough so that her words were understandable. "I... I ruined everything..."

"No, you didn't. Come on, we're going to fix everything." Helen offered her hand.

Kluke looked at it for a moment; the scene was greatly familiar to something that had happened between her and Shu several years ago. On the eve of Pumpkin Day... She still remembered it well. She took Helen's hand. "Okay."

Once inside the shop, they paused in front of the door. "I don't know how bad the damage is, but I want you to know now that I'm not angry at you."

"How could you not be?" Kluke asked miserably. "I destroyed your store."

"No, you didn't. Look around you; nothing's messed up. If anything has been ruined, it's inside here."

Helen took hold of the knob, turning it slowly. As soon as the door was open, a flood of chocolate crashed into them.

Zola looked up from where she was grabbing her sword when she heard her name called, Bouquet and Jiro running into the room.

"Zola, I think there's been an accident." Jiro sounded like he was out of breath.

"Did you hear that explosion?" Bouquet asked.

"Yeah. I was just on my way to get you two. We should check it out and see what happened."

"You don't think it's Grand Kingdom, do you?" Jiro folded his arms.

"I didn't think they would find us here, but it's certainly possible. There's only one way to find out."

"What do you mean we can't go inside?!" Shu yelled at the worker, not realizing how this was an echo of his earlier argument.

The man bowed. "I'm very sorry, but we're experiencing some difficulties at the moment. We're asking everyone to come back later. The business will be up and running shortly."

"I keep telling you, I'm not here to buy!"

Marumaro sighed, the sigh of one who's accepted his fate - in this case, being stuck looking after Shu until they'd left this cold place and he was in his right mind again. "Shu, let's just go, maro."

"I'm not going anywhere!" Shu planted his feet firmly on the ground. "Not until I find out if someone's been hurt!"

"Young man, are you a medical professional?"

"Of course not!"

"Then even if someone is hurt, there's nothing you can do to help."

"Why, you - Hey, Marumaro!" Shu started to protest when the Devee started dragging him away by his waistcloth.

"I'm not going to get arrested because of you, maro." he replied through grated teeth.

"We're not going to get arrested! I just want to find out what's going on!"

"Then let's do it from a distance, maro!"

"Marumaro, if you don't let me go-"

"Shu! Marumaro!" They both stopped when they heard Zola calling them. She caught up to them in moments, Jiro and Bouquet with her.

Bouquet took care to keep Zola between her and Jiro, mostly because she felt guilty, but she still looked down at her feet; if Shu was going to treat her like that, than he deserved to feel as guilty as she did.

Shu noticed. He tried to focus his eyes on Zola, though he would switch to Jiro if he had to, even though at the moment Shu still hated him with every ounce of his being; jealousy, even though he wouldn't admit it.

"What's the situation?" Zola was strictly business. She knew that there was something going on with all these looks between the young ones, but she wanted to make sure that the pressing matter of possible injuries was dealt with first; emotional baggage could be dealt with later, with more efficiency.

"They won't let us in." Shu didn't realize it, but he was almost pouting.

"Maybe they would have if you'd stop going crazy, maro!"

"Marumaro, did you get the medicine for Kluke?" Bouquet asked quietly.

Everyone was very quiet for a few minutes.

Shu broke the silence, swallowing hard before he spoke. "Bouquet..." To put it bluntly, he felt like he'd been stabbed through the chest.

She ignored him, focusing only on Marumaro. "Did you get it?"

Marumaro sighed - he could feel a migraine coming on. "No, maro." He hadn't had to deal with anything like this since two of his sisters had gotten a crush on the same boy - the worst part had been telling them that their baby sister would be the one to marry him. And he was eternally grateful that things between his human companions probably wouldn't get that bad. Yet.

"Look, we can do this later," Jiro cut in. "Did anyone get hurt in that explosion?"

"I told you, they wouldn't let us in." Shu said flatly, eyes constantly darting towards Bouquet.

"All of you wait here for a minute," Zola strode towards the chaotic storefront. "I'm going to see if I can find anything out."

Once she had left, there was an awkward silence, one that no one was too intent on braking.

However, Zola was back shortly, if a little grudgingly. "No one seems to be injured, but they're still not letting anyone inside."

"Well, if there's nothing else we can do about that issue," Jiro nodded his head toward the pharmacy. "What are we going to do about the SCI meds?"

"I'll talk to them." Zola's patience was wearing thin, but she was willing to put up with this extra annoyance if it would help Shu and Kluke.

"Can I please come with you this time?" Jiro asked her; he did not want to be stuck with these three again!

"No; keep an eye on things for me. I'll only be a minute." she was already walking away.

Shu scuffed the snow with his shoe. "Of course she'd leave Jiro in charge..."

Jiro snorted. "It's not like she can leave you in charge."

The glare that Shu turned on him was so harsh that Jiro was actually shocked. "If you know what's good for you, you'll leave me alone."

"Are you threatening me?" Jiro took a menacing step forward.

"Jiro," Bouquet said his name so sweetly that it stunned all of them. "You shouldn't waste your time on him."

Seeing Shu on the verge of tears, Marumaro frowned at her. "You're only saying that to spite Shu, maro."

"Maybe," her voice turned cold. "But it's not like he doesn't deserve it."

Shu started running, ignoring Marumaro's yell. He would've made it, too, if Zola hadn't caught his arm.

"We'll talk when we get back," Zola said gently to Shu. Turning her attention to the rest of the group, she held up the bag, saying, "I got the medicine. Let's go to the inn and wait for Kluke."

Well, chapter nine is finally done. I don't really know what to think anymore; like I've been saying, I'm paranoid now about whether everyone's in-character or not. So, if/when you review, let me know if this one is alright along with whatever else you were going to say. Next chapter will be up after while, and we'll finally be getting into double digits! :D I might have to do something special for the occasion. ;) See you then!