Disclaimer: I do not own any part of Xenosaga

Author's note: Some things are very inaccurate. A lot of things, such as the meaning of some of the names, the fact that Maria and Yeshua can read… which if you know Hebrew History, you know that most Hebrews were not educated enough and I combined/added a few characters that probably didn't exist to begin with, but the base characters are all the same. Enjoy!

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The village was not "big" but not "small" either. It was placed ten miles from a town that was along a major trading route that the Romans used, so there was always interesting goods to be found. The men were like most, they farmed, herded, did the odd jobs. The women kept the children in line, cooked, cleaned, told stories to one another. The only blemish to the village; it had a Roman "governor." His name was Phillaicus, a plump man who had been given the title of Governor and sent to the "godforsaken land" for starting a fight with the official Roman governor. It was his punishment.

The design of the town was nothing special: All the housed and markets were built along the main road, making a full circle off the right of the road around the well. That was just the "inside". The "outside" was a place of scattered farms, placed closer to the green mountains to the west, with plenty of streams and foliage to feed the flocks. This is the place where people were born, where they lived, and where they died. The village was neither big nor small, and although not as wealthy as others, it was a tight-nit community.

It was near the center of the village where the sign had been posted by the "governor." Many of the villagers could not read Latin, the language of the Romans, so Yeshua and Maria were sent for. Maria's father, who was disliked for his loyalty for the invader country, taught both Yeshua and Maria the language and how to read and write.

Both arrived looking very puzzled, being pulled by a mob of village children. As always, Yeshua was calm and collected, Maria was smiling and allowing the children to pull her without a fight. Both were met with the sight of many village men, women and children of all ages gathered around the small sign, nailed to the well. Isaac, a well respected man, requested they read the sign. "Maria, Yeshua, what does this read? That man posted it." Maria swept her hand towards the sign, indicating Yeshua should read it.

Not one to argue, Yeshua stood close to the sign, reading it silently before reading it out loud. The crowd formed a path from Yeshua to the sign. The surprise on his face was evident, so much so that he turned to Maria. "I am… reading this correctly?" Maria smiled, not sure what was wrong, but joined Yeshua close to the sign. Her face, instead of looking surprised like Yeshua, became confused and then angry. "He… can't do this!"

"What is it," Isaac demanded. "Phillaicus has… ordered that everyone in the village is to… choose a Roman or Greek name more fitting to the… empire. We sully the good name of the Empire with our… names." Yeshua took great care in choosing his words, for there were bound to be repercussions if he read what it really said. He watched as the happy light in the eyes of the women, how tall the men stood, all diminish. The proud light of the village was replaced by anger, hatred, and loathing. Maria watched it to, forgetting her own anger.

"We will confront Phillaicus, now!" The cheers echoed against the stone walls of the houses, louder then normal. The mob moved towards the governor's house, as one body, parents dragging children. The only ones left near the well were Yeshua, Maria and some of the elders of the village. The elders shook their heads sadly, murmuring "nothing good will come of this…" Yeshua and Maria just stared after the mob.

Of course Phillaicus did not relent. But neither did the villagers. The struggle began in front of Phillaicus's sad excuse for a Roman Villa, and ended there too. The Roman stood in front of his villa, not backing down in the least. The villagers were not organized, and it became a shouting match, each man or women trying to get their opinions out all at once. It was a sad sight to see the least, especially when Phillaicus's guards, two huge Roman's with swords, joined him on his porch. None of the villagers were fighters and fell back almost immediately.

Phillaicus did not like having his orders questioned, so he made this "decree," the villagers were given until sunset the next day to choose their new names, and if they didn't, then they would be punished.

"I don't think that's very fair." She was taking this a lot better then he thought she would, Yeshua noted. It was sunset, almost dark. They should have been getting ready for bed, but neither felt like sleeping. "Nothing is fair when Phillaicus is involved. What name have you picked out, Maria?" He watched as she began to pace. "Be careful, you might fall off…"

Which was very true. The only place where no one went was the roof of Yeshua's house. He and Maria had taken her father's makeshift ladder, using it to climb onto his roof. It was a small one, for his house was only three rooms, and there was barely enough room for a person to lie down. Maria did not stop pacing, but only shortened her stride. "I am Maria… he cannot take my name away from me! I was named after my grandmother, who died a few years before I was born, and… and…"

"Maria, I understand. You have told me this many times before because you are proud of your name, which everyone has a right to. But look what happened, everyone fought Phillaicus and we have no time to even think of names. Everyone will have the same name after this!" Maria stared at her long time friend. He was more then that now, but she could not think about that now. He sat there, legs crossed, arms on either side, looking up at her. "You are calm about this! Why?"

"I do not want to lose my name Maria, but I will not fight what will be. It's a waste of breathe." He was right, and Maria didn't like it. She sat opposite him, mimicking his pose, letting out a long sigh. "What name would I have? Mother has already used the ones that I know…" It the light, Maria was beautiful. Her black hair looked almost a dark blue, and her eyes were shining. To see Maria angry and frustrated strangely accented all that Yeshua loved about her.

He leaned forward, placing his forehead on her shoulder. "Kos-Mos…" Maria placed a hand on his shoulder, pushing him away from her. "What?" He smiled, replying "Kos-Mos. It is a name that means 'order" in Greek. The names could be Latin or Greek, could they not? I think that is a perfect name for you." She stilled looked puzzled. "Maria… as strange as this sounds, you are the order in my life. For all the trouble we seem to cause, I know where I stand when I am with you. You are the order that keeps me where I am… my pillar."

It was the most loving thing anyone had ever said to anyone. Or at least Maria thought so. She did not want to lose her name, but after hearing Yeshua's explanation about the name "Kos-Mos" she thought she could bear the fact that her name was being stripped from her. She could feel the tears well up in her eyes, and fall down her cheeks. Yeshua looked concerned, quickly wiping the tears from her cheeks with his feather-like touch. "Maria?"

She pressed her cheek into his hand, covering it with her own. "I think I can bear this now, Yeshua. That name… Kos-Mos is beautiful, and I think… I can wear it proudly. Will you let me choose a name for you too?" He nodded. She did not want to give him a regular name that all Roman's used… it seemed just to clichéd. He needed something special, that fit his personality and he needed to know really how he made her feel.

"Yeshua… what do you think of the name chaos?"

"What does it mean?" It was her turn to smile. "Think of it as being… confusion, disorder, problems… now wait." She placed a finger on his lips, stopping him from speaking. "You are nothing like this, I understand that. But that's the way you make me feel Yeshua… my heard races, I can't think straight, my cheeks grow red when you look at me… and I feel like a child. But I like feeling this way… and I want to be able to…"

There was nothing more to say really. He understood, a smile growing bigger with every second. "I love you Maria." Her answering smile caught him off guard, for it held a mischievous tint to it. "I love you too… chaos."

"Sister, Yeshua!" It was a tiny shout, but both knew who it was. Jacob was Maria's youngest brother, the rebel of the family. Yeshua shook his head, crawling over to the side, soon joined by Maria. "What is it Jacob?" The young boy of five years was almost jumping up and down, so excited. "Sister! Father is coming home within the month! He is brining the young Roman who wants to marry you!" The boy scurried off, having delivered his message.

Maria looked at Yeshua, eyes wide. With all the confusion of the stripping of the names, they had forgotten about that little detail.

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This was pretty short, but again it was my own twist on the story. Please Review!