Reaching for the Stars

by Irish Pirate Queen

See Radiant Gardens 8 years prior to its destruction through eyes of those who loved it most. Ansem the Wise, His Apprentices, a young woman working along side Braig, and a little girl who is the daughter of the King. RP done by two friends, Read/Review!

3. Day 3

AN: 'Reaching for the Stars' is a story that focus's on our two OC's Zuga and Miya, beginning before Birth By Sleep. In our RP that is 8 years prior. There is going to be a huge array of characters and alot of the settings and characters are our own take on them.

Just so you know... Italics are SDL's posts and regular is IPQ's posts

Also... please don't flame... lots of work has been put into both our characters so they aren't Mary Sue... we love them dearly and we want you guys to love them too.

WARNING:FOR THOSE WHO KNOW NOTHING OF KINGDOM HEARTS BIRTH BY SLEEP THIS RP MAY CONTAIN FORMS OF SPOILERS FOR YOU! SO DON'T BLAME US FOR A SURPRISE... YOUR WARNED!

Zuga (c) SandDragonLanayru .com/
Miya (c) IrishPirateQueen .com/
Kingdom Hearts (c) Square Enix & Disney

final fantasy (c) Square Enix

AN2: Day 3 is finally up, sorry for the wait, cute and fun stuff happens... and the next day will be Day 78... this time skips like KH 358/2, so enjoy... and no you didn't miss anything. Day 78 will be pretty awesome with some new faces... sorry for it taking so long... college life was a pain.

---

The next morning Braig woke up early, for that day and every day there after he was to be at the castle at 10 am. Stirring from his slumber Braig looked at his bedside clock with bleary, hazy eyes. It read 6 am. He reached over and shut the pulsing alarm off, with a begrudging groan and heaved himself out of bed.

"I hate you so much, 6 am!" Braig said, heading into the bathroom. Turning the cold water on and splashing it on his stubbly face, he went about his morning routine of face shaving, teeth brushing and hair slicking. After he finished Braig headed down the stairs 20 minutes later, well groomed and dressed for the day.

He pondered over his duties as he put a pot of coffee on and sat down in one of the stools.

'There's something strange about Miya? What did the old man mean when he said that? She's just a little tike, a normal kid. True her hair is unique, and her skin is a bit dark, but... Master Xehanort must have a reason to be wary of the kids. He doesn't joke around…'

As he sat there musing about Miya, Ansem, Lea, and Isa, Braig didn't hear the creaking steps as someone descended from upstairs.

Zuga stopped at the foot of the staircase, staring owlishly into the kitchen where she had heard Braig moving about. She had been awake for ages now, waiting for the sound of somebody rustling around until she decided to finally leave her room, as she didn't want to wake anyone up or amble about aimlessly through the house looking like a fool.

She glanced between the stairs and the kitchen, wondering if it was okay to disturb him in any way. Seeing that if she went back upstairs she'd probably be locked up there the whole day, she finally made her decision and took a few hesitant shuffles in before looking around warily, as if something was going to jump out at her at any moment.

Braig finally looked up. "Mornin', Swamp Monster."

Her expression sealed into a peeved scowl from the irritable nickname. She soon let it drop and leaned over until she was propped up against the counter-tops. She ran a tired hand through her long hair to rid it of unwanted tangles. "Hn," she addressed to him curtly in a soft grunt.

Braig quirked a brow at her and went over to his coffee pot, pouring his coffee into his mug. He quickly made a run out to the front door to grab his beloved newspaper. Getting back to the kitchen, he looked at Zuga before going to the fridge.

"Hey, do you need me to make you some breakfast, Swamp Monster?" he asked, looking at her over his shoulder.

She drew in a breath as if she was going to answer, but suddenly blanched, gnawing on her lower lip slightly frustrated. Tucking her arms across her chest stubbornly she stared at the ground and shuffled her feet. Zuga averted her eyes away from him, deciding to admit hopeless defeat. "Yes…" It wasn't like she could manage to make anything on her own.

She decided to play with the hem of her robe's sleeve, only barely listening to the sound of him getting out various items. As she leaned against the counter, her insides feeling twisted with nervousness and awkwardness, she couldn't help but reflect on how much she had yet to learn about this world. Yesterday she thought she had it figured out, but now, yet again, she felt reduced down to nothing. Her pale eyes traveled up slightly then back down to her hand, her vocals feeling taut.

"I'll have to learn to cook over again, aren't I?" she said in a strangled twist between her old world vernacular and this one's, a sour twist of a snort and a chuckle following.

As Braig went about making some scrambled eggs -he liked eating eggs for breakfast- he watched the young woman out of the corner of his eye, his ears peeled to listen to her mumble under her breath.

"I'll have to learn to cook over again, aren't I?" she murmured.

He gave a low chuckle and scooped her breakfast into a bowl and handed it to her. "Well, if you want, I can always teach you. It's not as hard as you might think here," Braig said with a nonchalant shrug, watching as she took her breakfast to one of the stools.

Zuga stared at the food with a wry smirk. "Looks harder than smoking kill over a range." She took the fork and started playing and prodding at the different chunks, as if inspecting it for something lethal. When finding nothing seeming or smelling toxic, she slowing began to eat, still looking suspicious of it. She glanced up to Braig to see him looking amused by her coyness.

Her shoulders sagged over the counter sheepishly. "But, you could try. Master Xehanort said I learn fast."

Braig scrambled up a bunch of eggs for himself and scooped it onto his plate. He scooted his coffee mug and paper over to the seat next to Zuga and sat down with his breakfast. "Yeah, I can teach you how to scramble eggs if you want. I'm not sure when Master Xehanort is gonna be up, but you can cook him breakfast and I can wake him," Braig said as he began to eat.

As she had done many times before, she looked up at him sharply and gave him the are-you-crazy look. Her brow quirked at him to question his sanity and she stuttered timidly, "I-I don't think that's a great idea Braig, I…" She glanced down at her plate. "I don't… I don't…"

She pursed her lips tightly when she couldn't think of a valid reason as to why she wouldn't or couldn't be able to do such a task other than the infuriating fact that she was afraid of failure. Zuga glanced at him again briefly before looking back at the dish. She heaved a sigh and picked at her food sourly. "If you order me to, I'll do it," she muttered to him.

Braig stared at her blankly, blinking at her with a raised eyebrow shortly afterwards. 'What the heck? What does she think she is? A slave? And who does she think I am? Wait- this must be something with her people's strange social pyramid thingies she was referring to last night,' Braig thought to himself.

The raven haired man just shook his head and sighed in disbelief. "Woah, Zuga, do you know what the word 'fun' means? We don't order people around here. You're not a slave, or servant. The only person in Radiant Garden's that has servants is the King, and they just have every-day jobs that they do. We don't order people to do things around here unless you're a disobedient child. And I don't think you're a slave, servant, or disobedient child, Swamp Monster."

The woman flinched to the word "servant", remembering how Master Xehanort had told her the same thing before they arrived here. She sagged her shoulders and stared at her hands numbly, shuffling her feet about as she pondered over his words.

"So… What should I do?" she asked suddenly. "Are you giving me a choice?"

"Yes," he drawled pointedly with a slow nod.

Zuga went back to looking at her hands, huffing irritably. Then it was a question of what she wanted. She didn't know what she wanted. In all actuality, she wanted to understand. 'And the only way to understand is to learn,' she told herself. So, she wanted to learn. Therefore, she should listen to him.

Sighing, Zuga muttered, "I'll do it… Just don't expect me to be good at it."

"I don't expect you to be good at it on your first try... that's just a bit overestimating your abilities. You're in a new world and you aren't sure how to quite deal with everything just yet. That's perfectly alright, no need to feel bad or feel pressured into doing something you don't want to do," Braig said with a smile. He scooped up the last of his eggs into his mouth and drank the last of his coffee in under thirty seconds.

The man was having a hard time processing that this young woman wasn't accustomed to not having a choice. Seriously, what kind of society had she grown up in? From what it sounded like it was a sexist race that the women had no rights or opinions and just did what they were told with no value to their physical existence. The thought of the Swamp Monster living some place like that made him cringe.

Standing, he took both his and Zuga's dishes to the sink and rinsed them off. "Alright, scrambling eggs isn't hard to do, it's a perfect thing for a beginner to learn, so come over here and I'll show you, step by step."

Groaning, she heaved herself over to him until she was standing next to him, looking quite uneasy with her mouth scrunched in a concerned frown. The strange machines they had still made her head spin, and she could only describe the heat-giving thing in front of her as a very oddly welded hearth.

She felt his stare on her as she stared down at the object. "You don't look very confident."

"I don't feel very confident," Zuga replied softly with a moan.

Braig just chuckled and shook his head. "All you're doing is scrambling eggs. I don't see how one can make a disaster occur from that. I'm gonna be right here the whole time," he said laying his hand on her shoulder and patting it reassuringly.

"First things first: this thing here is a stove. The top part is what has the burners and this-" he bent down and opened the stove's door. "-is the oven, and in the oven we bake things like bread and, just… other foods that have to be baked in ovens.

"Secondly, these are eggs," he said pointing to the carton of eggs on the counter. "This is a spatula and this is a frying pan." Braig held up the two cooking items. "We spray the pan with oil and then crack the eggs into it, and-" He gave her a look with the quirk of a brow, "-and we don't eat the shells."

Braig took one egg and cracked it on the frying pan and then threw the empty shell away. "Now you try," he said handing her an egg. "And be gentle with it. You don't have to bang it against the pan."

She looked at the items with a quick, tactical stare, assessing their uses and names. Once marking it down in her memory bank, he showed her the eggs, which she found (at last!) to be a familiar food. Reaching up, she picked the small spherical opal. It surprised her greatly with how small these eggs actually were. They were so light as well, and the shell seemed so brittle under her firm fingers. She looked up to Braig questioningly.

"Are all of your eggs normally this small and fragile?" she asked with a light, sardonic smile, palming it pleasantly. "In the swamps, our eggs could be the size of our heads and they were much more durable than this. Slam this thing down and it'll shatter, won't it?" A short chuckle sounded from her. "We needed a rock to crack open ours." Cocking her head she gently tapped the egg against the pan's edge, trying to hold back her strength so that she didn't completely destroy it. The yolk that came out onto the sizzling pan made her gape in surprise and astonishment. "And the insides are green... not yellow."

Braig looked weirded out by the woman's comment about yolk color of eggs. Green was definitely not a yolk color he was interested eating any green colored eggs. "Uhm that's… interesting," he said, rubbing his neck awkwardly and clearing his throat.

"Well let's get these eggs scrambled shall we?" Braig said handing her a spatula. He then proceeded to begin to scramble the eggs. "Just swirl the spatula around the eggs." Braig said turning the burner on.

She couldn't help but laugh to the strange look he was giving her and shook her head lightly. Taking the tool from him she began to mimic what he had done, trying to be gentle with it, for the item in her hand didn't seem very sturdy and felt very hollow in her vice-like grip.

Fascination hit her face as Zuga watched the batter begin to flare and swell to life in the chunks she had ate literally moments ago. She quirked a puzzled brow. "That's it? That's all there is to it?" It was the quickest dish she had ever made. Zuga swerved her head to look at him doubtfully, but he nodded and she slumped, amazed. "Wow."

Braig chuckled in response to her amazed gaze at the frying pan of scrambled eggs. "Not all dishes are this fast though, Swamp Monster. You better take that into thought when doing something like... Chocobo legs, or somethin'. Could get real sick if you're not careful with preparing some types of foods around here," he explained grabbing the pan off the stove and scooping the said eggs onto a plate.

"Now, just stand here!" he said moving her to stand right next to the plate of food. "And I will be right back."

And with that Braig disappeared upstairs with a sly grin on his face, nearly running down the hall. "Oh, Master Xehanort! The Swamp Monster and I made ya some breakfast!" he sang in an over dramatized and sweet voice when he had reached the Old Dude's bedroom door, which was more like the entrance to the attic, but Master Xehanort had chosen it and changed it to his liking.

"Oh, Master Xehanort! Time to awaken from your slumber!" Braig continued, knocking lightly on the door.

Zuga visibly cringed upon hearing the embarrassing tone of voice Braig was using. She waited a minute, counting down in her head to the snappy remark she expected next.

And it came.

It wasn't as threatening as she might've thought it to be, but it was enough to make her stomach flop.

"Braig, talk to me like that ever again and I'll wring your neck." It was a loud enough threat for her to hear from downstairs, and she couldn't help but wince more when she heard Braig laughing fairly obnoxiously at his master's retort.

Zuga listened quietly as a door creaked and another set of footsteps began walking around upstairs.

"Oh, Master Xehanort! Time to wakey-wakey!" Braig serenaded outside his elderly master's door.

"Braig, talk to me like that ever again and I'll wring your neck," was the deep gravely response from the sleepy, old man. Braig winced, his ears having to readjust for the day to his master's unfortunate vocal pattern's.

"Aww, come on, Master Xehanort! Don't I get even a small 'thank you' for exerting the effort to teach Zuga how to cook? And not burn the house down at the same time?" Braig asked, stepping to the side of the door as he listened to the old man groan and get up out of bed.

There was a spew of grumbles and growls that came from the room as the wizened old Keyblade Master fully awoke and put on his robe, before opening the door and giving his obnoxious apprentice a seething glare of disdain.

"Good morning, Master Xehanort!" Braig said, not missing a beat under the glare that would make most individuals wither into dust on the spot.

The elderly man shot his apprentice a cold glare, but sighed when he finally remembered that it would have no effect. The young man was too thick skulled to get the message clearly, or any message, for that matter; which was the precise reason he had gotten that barbarian girl to begin with. Sighing irritably, he lazily followed his wide-awake underling downstairs to the table-countertop, sparing a glance at the source of all the excitement.

Zuga gave him an exasperated look, clearly trying to make it known that this had not been her idea and that she had been against it from the very beginning. He returned it empathetically. 'Yes, he's always like this…' was his silent answer to her.

She seemed to get the message and huffed nervously, rubbing her arms.

Braig followed his master down the stairs, still beaming after all the glares and disapproving looks he was getting from both the Old Dude and the Swamp Monster. Once again his hyper, and strange attitude kicked in, and he went over to a chair, pulled it out and bowed dramatically for Master Xehanort. "Have a seat, Master. Zuga has prepared you a fine breakfast of scrambled eggs; with my expert helping hand of course," Braig said picking the plate up and setting it at the chair's place at the counter.

"I'm not too sure if your expert hand is a good thing or a bad thing at this point," he grumbled, helping himself to the chair. He gave Braig another wary glance before staring down at the plate. "You didn't poison it, did you?" he asked in his gravel tone, his gold eyes tapering. It was hard to tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

"I would never do such a thing!" the apprentice replied. Master Xehanort didn't miss the mock hurt in his voice.

Shrugging it off and deeming Braig too stupid to figure out how to actually poison anything, he sighed and slowly started on his breakfast, ignoring Braig's eager stare. If anything, he was embarrassing himself.

He caught Zuga out of the corner of his eye, lingering away from them. She looked like she was debating whether to make a run for the stairs or not. Personally, he didn't blame her.

But, he needed her with him today, so he couldn't have her locking herself up in her room. "Zuga," he called, not turning his head one bit to watch her flinch. She quietly shuffled up next to him, averting her gaze cautiously. "I hope Braig hasn't been too much of a bother to you," he grunted casually, hearing the said man's irritated huff next to him. "Sometimes he can get carried away with things..."

She dipped her head in understanding, the corners of her mouth twitching slightly. He decided that in time she'd feel more comfortable with verbal communication.

"I admit," he continued, "You've been doing good so far." He left it vague because in all honesty she was coping with the sudden world switch very well. Better than he had originally imagined. It was only day three, after all. "But now it's time to take the next step." He slumped back and stared at her. "I'm going to give you basic magic training today."

Braig felt a tad miffed that his master and the new addition ignored him so easily, leaving him in his corner to sulk. He went about tidying up his beloved kitchen and listened half heartedly to Master's Xehanort's fairly one sided conversation.

"I admit, you've been doing good so far. But now it's time to take the next step." There was a sigh from the old man and a shift in the chair. "I'm going to give you basic magic training today."

Braig coughed and sputtered on the last of his second cup of coffee, which he had been draining out of his mug. Thankfully it wasn't all over his master, but instead the unfortunate sink.

"Braig are you alright?" came his master's drawl which had a hint of distress in it. Braig admitted openly he could be a handful most of the time as a student.
The younger man nodded as he continued to cough and looked at his master with a bewildered stare. "You're already going to teach her basic magic?" he queried.

The only response was a nod from the old man.

Braig still looked bewildered and somewhat hurt. "You didn't start teaching me magic till a year after taking me in!" he began in a whiney tone.

"Because you begged and badgered my ear off about it constantly for that whole year. I had never intended to teach such a loathing fool as you magic, Braig. Just think back to how you were then: a lazy, good-for-nothing loafer who just surfed, destroyed coconuts and did the small, trivial errands I asked of you."

Once more Braig began to sputter and look injured. "Well- yeah, but-pfft!She can hardly speak! Or read, for that matter!"

Master Xehanort gave him a dead pan stare. "Don't you have somewhere you need to be getting to, Braig? You're a working man after all now. Don't want you getting fired for not showing up on the first day."

Braig looked as if he was going to give a smart -or dumb- retort, but paused as look of dawning came to his face. And then the shock. The man gasped and dashed up the stairs in a hurry.

Zuga watched the episode with a quirked brow, barely able to understand or comprehend what Master Xehanort was saying to Braig as he spoke to him in such a condescending manner. The terms were unfamiliar to her, but by the sound of the old man's tone, they were activities that weren't too productive or looked fondly upon. Why did that not really surprise her?

And when Master Xehanort reminded Braig about his new job, Zuga couldn't help but feel the pit in her stomach as he ran back upstairs. She supposed she was partially to blame for that… They had been pretty engrossed with their previous affair.

Master Xehanort sighed again, grumbling under his breath. Zuga shifted from one foot to another, not knowing if she was dismissed yet. After a few moments of the man recollecting himself, he looked back up at her. "Now, about the magic…" He glanced around for something, turning his head around the room. He finally found something worthy of interest… around her neck. He motioned to the fossil-like necklace. "May I use that as an example?" Her face flashed with sudden wariness, which he saw instantly. "It won't be harmed," he assured.

Zuga pursed her lips and slowly reached behind her hair to untie the thin, leather thong that clasped it together hestitantly. She slipped it into Master Xehanort's open palm and reclined back, never looking away from her prized-possession.

"Now, I've seen your fighting style back in Lackluster," he drawled as he manipulated his hand over the object. "You're more close-ranged than anything else… Therefore, your magic needs to be something that can be long-range to effectively hide or destroy weaknesses: a balance, in a sense." The bones of the necklace began to rattle and lift off his palm, seeming to divide into new bones. In a matter of seconds, a full, skeletal recreation of a bird rested in the old man's hand. He held it up to her.

"I know how you obtained this necklace," he said slowly and in a low voice, reading the awe in her expression. "… Think about the concept of it coming to life…" The bird hopped off his hand and flitted onto her shoulder.

Zuga stared at it with wide eyes, subconsciously reaching up to touch it. The bird pressed it's hollow head against her fingers. She swallowed the rising lump in her throat and swung her head to look down at Master Xehanort, icy blue-grey eyes set and stern.

"… Teach me."

He seemed pleased that those had been her first words to him. He nodded. "Alright then… first thing's first, though." He had the bird fly back to his hand. "I need to teach Braig a little lesson…"

There was a puff of black smoke and the bird vanished from his hand, causing Zuga to momentarily panic. But then, a second later, she heard Braig freaking out upstairs.

"What the-! Ow! Hey! Stop pecking me!"

After Braig had dashed up the stairs he went into his room hurriedly and checked himself in the mirror to double check his professional, guard-like appearance. When he was satisfied with what he saw, Braig tied his kerchief around his neck, slipped his boots on, and then proceeded to put on his gloves.

That was when the disturbing, skeleton- bird Master Xehanort had sent up to his room magically appeared inside and began to peck the unfortunate Braig.

"What the-? Ow-! Hey! Get the hell out of my room!" he shouted at it in surprise as it commenced its barrage of pecking.

With one glove in hand, he waved it at the bird and directed it towards his door, while it still tried to peck him. And it knew where not to peck too... His very slick backed hair that was nearly as hard as a helmet.

After being unsuccessful at getting the bird out of his room, Braig dashed past the disturbing creature and out into the hallway.

"Stop pecking me!" Braig screamed as he ran through the kitchen and out the door.

When he was a safe distance away from the house, Braig stopped and scowled back. "Dang it, Master Xehanort! It's only 8 am," he grumbled as the clock struck eight. He had two hours to wait till he needed to be at the castle.

With a sad little face-palm, Braig walked toward the town square. "Guess I'll just read the newspaper till its time," he said with a sigh.

After Braig fled the house in a panicked hurry, the skeletal bird returned back to Master Xehanort's shoulder. It rustled and preened imaginary feathers, but a mere second later, it trembled and collapsed into a rubble pile of fossils. It was a necklace again. The old man took the piece by the string and gave it back to her.

Zuga cradled in her hands, unable to bite back a thin smile.

Master Xehanort sighed, "Now that I've driven away the nuisance…" He looked up and started to instruct, "Magic is harbored deep within one's heart. You must delve into that reserve and draw it out through meditation and concentration on settling your emotions. You'll know when you've found it. It will be a very unique sensation."

She listened quietly, already trying to fall into concentration. But as she did this, he said, "In the beginning, you'll need complete silence. What I want you to do is find a comfortable place to meditate and set those bones in front of you while you do so. Focus first on finding the strength in your heart, and then try and transfer that energy to your necklace. I'll let you try it on your own for a little while then I'll come back and coax you the rest of the way. Fair?"

Zuga nodded and with that, Master Xehanort got up and heaved himself up the stairs. Zuga folded her fingers over the thin, brittle looking (but surprisingly solid) bones, deciding that she might as well try it in the book-room.

---

Braig sat at a quiet little cafe reading his newspaper till 9:30 sharp. The young man was still thoroughly irked at what his master had pulled over on him, and in his own house, at that. Braig sighed and rolled the newspaper up, setting it back down on the table before standing and heading off towards the castle.

'I wonder what little Miya's going to have in-store for me today,' he wondered.

He could already tell that taking care of this child would be a breeze. She had a laid back- personality; a child who loved to explore. Her attention was easily kept, too, if you knew how to properly interact with her.

The courtyard was silent when he entered through the gates; he looked around with a worried expression. He wasn't late... in fact he was 10 minutes early, so that might've been the reason for the lack of the King and his daughter's presence in the courtyard.

He saw a rustle in one of the lower windows out of the corner of his eye, and believed that he had only been seeing things.

That was until the violet haired princess came running out of the castle doors and tightly hugged his legs. "Braig! You're here! You're here!"

"Why yes, I am," he chuckled, trying to keep his balance as Miya constricted his legs together. She finally peeled herself off of him and Braig turned around, crouching down to meet the little princess' height. "You're up bright an early," he noted, ruffling her short violet hair. "Usually kids like you sleep in till forever on days like this."

"I'm too excited to sleep!" she exclaimed happily.

Today must feel like such a big day for her. Finally going out of the castle's walls to do something new and exciting... It might seem like a big adventure to one so small and so young as her. Braig smiled to himself and stood up, looking around. "So where's your dad, Kiddo?"

"He's in the kitchen, eating breakfast and reading his newspaper," Miya answered with a beaming smile. "He told me to watch for you, since I kept bugging him about when you were going to get here," she said with a rosy blush and a shrug. "I've been so excited this morning Braig! And Papa was kind of getting a headache, and he's never to happy when he has a headache," she said shaking her head.

The little girl dug her left black shoed foot into the ground self consciously. "He wanted me to bring you into the castle when you got here, that way you can have your official first day lecture!"

She grabbed his hand and began to pull him into the side door she had come out of. "Come on, Braig. The sooner you two talk the sooner we can leave!" Miya said excitedly.

The little girl pulled Braig through the door and down a few halls, all the while skipping and looking pretty cute in her little summer green sundress.

It wasn't long till Miya brought him to the back of castle on the first level. The kitchen itself was centered in the middle of that floor, but the morning room was at the back with a beautiful patio that went out into the garden.

The morning room was one of the King's favorite places in the castle, and always ate his meals there. The sun that filtered in every time of the day was truly an ideal place to appreciate the garden and all its beauty.

When Miya and Braig crossed the threshold, the little girl let go of her new bodyguard's hand and ran over to her father. He sat in one of the wooden chairs at the table by the window, reading his paper. The King was dressed in his casual attire and white lab coat, obviously ready for a day of experimenting and building whatever his latest project was.

"Oh, Papa! Guess who's here!" Miya sang resting her hands on her father's legs.

"Who is here, Miya?" Ansem inquired, lowering his paper and giving a wink to Braig before giving his full attention to his dear daughter.

"Braig is, Papa! Now you can give him his official first day lecture like you said!"

"Miya I was only kidding when I said that, you don't have to take me quite so literally, dear child," he said shaking his head with an amused grin and sigh.

Ansem set his paper down and scooped Miya into his arms as he stood, walking over to Braig with his daughter cheerfully giggling in his arms.

"Good morning, Braig," he greeted, "I hope your morning was pleasant."

"More or less," he said through a smirk, biting back the begrudging tone he had running through his head. He was still sour about his spoiled morning and having to wait outside for two hours. Giving the lavish room a quick sweep with his eyes, Braig coughed, "So, did you want me to give that rent money to the landowner for those two tikes today when it was time to go see them?"

Miya's eyes brightened with eagerness. She looked like she was more than ready to jump out of Ansem's arms and bolt straight into town to where her new friends lived. Now that Braig thought back, she hadn't seen their house yet.

Miya began squirming in her father's arms, and when she realized that he wasn't going to let her down she reached her arms out to Braig, begging with her eyes for him to take her.

But it seemed both men decided to ignore her and she crossed her arms, with a scowl and pout on her face.

Ansem nodded his head. "Indeed, I did, Braig," he replied, reaching into his lab coat's pocket, pulling out a medium sized, and very plump bag of munny, handing it to his Captain of the Guard. He then noticed the disposition of his daughter and chuckled.

"It seems Miya is quite impatient and is ready to go, Braig. I think it is safe to say that she is quite excited," Ansem said, setting her down.

Miya immediately grabbed Braig's free hand and began tugging him toward the door. "We can go now right, Papa?" she asked, full of hope.

Ansem nodded his head. "Yes, you both may go, have a good day. And Braig, you may need to be stern with her sometimes, she doesn't always listen when she's excited."

Nodding to the King's advice and tucking the rent away in a safe pocket, he then let Miya pull him through the castle, stooping slightly so she didn't yank his arm out of its socket. She led him outside the castle, and stopped there, looking between the town and paths on either side of her barred by white gates. Braig assumed they led to the gardens.

"Where are we going, Miya?" he asked her. Honestly, he had no idea how he was going to keep her entertained until it was time to go meet Lea and Isa. He had never really had responsibility over a kid before. But how hard could it be?

Miya turned her head to look up at him, a beaming smile on her face. "I think I should show you my home first, since this is your first day at work you need to get to know this place really well!" she said, beginning to pull him over to a hedge. The thing looked solid but Miya went right up to it and went down on her hands and knees, and crawled into it.
"Follow me, Braig, I'm gonna show you around the gardens first!" her little voice said from the other side of the hedge.

He glanced around, precautious; wondering if crawling around in the dirt was a good idea for one of his sudden status. Finally shrugging it off, he crouched down and peeled away the branches to see the other side. He pushed his way through, Miya there waiting for him. She grabbed his hand and dragged him, introducing him to different species of flora and segments that contained artistic pieces of architecture such as statues and fountains and some being interesting contraptions that her father had made.

This continued throughout the whole perimeter of the castle grounds, and after what seemed short-lived, they ended up back where they started: the castle gate.
Braig looked up to the sky, seeing that the sun was reaching its climax. They still had loads of time to kill before it was time to go meet the two little boys. Glancing back down to Miya, he asked, "So now, what? Anything amazing you want to see or show me?"

Bright amber brown eyes stared up at him, sparkling with excitement and a hint of mischief. Miya looked thoughtful as she tapped her foot on the ground and scratched her chin ponderously. She was a bit of a loss of what to do, for she had shown Braig everything she deemed him trustworthy to see, for she couldn't show him every little treasure just yet. Especially her special hiding place in the hedge. The little girl liked him yes, but just because she liked him didn't mean he had the full trust of the 6 year old.

"Well," she said looking around, and turning in circles a few time because of a distracting, passing butterfly. "You could show me around town, places you like to go- Oh, oh! And show me yourhouse!" Miya's voice changed from slow and drawn out, to fast and excited.

She leapt forward and grabbed his glove hand "Please, please, please! Show me your house, Braig!" Miya gave him her big brown eyes and best, adorable pouty face.

Braig looked at her doubtfully, his lips tugging into a nervous frown. "I-I don't know, Miya," he stuttered, not liking the proposition. If he were to go anywhere near his house during this whole operation while the old man was still there, he was bound to throw a fit about blowing cover and all that other stuff he didn't feel like being lectured about. But those darn eyes! He pouted back at her, tossing around the idea. Maybe she'd get so entranced with the town she'd forget about seeing his house.

Sighing in defeat, he said, "Oh, alright."

Miya squealed, hopping up and down with excitement. Braig looked to the gates once then back at her. Yeah, the town would keep her mind occupied for a while... He scooped her up and placed her on top of his shoulders without consent. Before she could complain or protest he explained, "There's gonna be lots of crowds at this hour, squirt. Don't need you getting trampled."

There was a squeak of disapproval from the small child as he hoisted her into the air and onto his shoulders. Miya wrapped her arms around his forehead tightly, chin resting on the top of his head, her little eyes wide with worried fright.

"B-b-but it's so high up here," she whimpered, her voice a small, high pitched squeak.

"Aww, come on, squirt! I'd rather you be safe and petrified up there than happily squished," Braig said, with a chuckle. "Just hold on tightly to me, you'll be fine."

"Promise?" she asked looking down at him doubtfully, even though he couldn't see her expression, it was in her voice.

"I promise, squirt."

"Pinky promise?" Miya reached her small hand down, pinky extended, her other arm tightening its grip around his head. Her little hand reached his shoulder as she reached for his hand.

There was a chuckle and Braig shook his head, causing Miya to squeak in disapproval and constrict his head further, which surprised him because she had enough of an iron grip already. He reached his hand up and locked his pinky with her tiny one.

"Pinky promise," he said heading off towards town.

His little ward settled into her perch, both arms wrapped in a steel grip, eyes wide, not only in a bit of trepidation, but excitement.

As he had predicted, the streets were filled to the brim with bustling citizens, going about their daily commute. Mostly it was the women going around to fetch ingredients for a later dinner while their kids and husbands were away. The handful of men that were about were either shop vendors or retired and elderly. There were was an occasional teen running about, doing public services such as weeding out gardens, or raking the few fallen leaves that might have drifted onto the pavement. Braig found himself brushing elbows as he made his way through the Square, Miya's grip slackening only a little as she took in the wonders from a new view, nearly oblivious to all the stares she was receiving from below as well.

After clearing a degree and getting many stares along the way, (he had to admit, the sight of Miya was odd for most, seeing that she had a rare hair color) and for the fact that she was riding atop his shoulders to top the whole scene off, Braig got to a less crowded part of town through a less-often used alley. It brought them to a part of town that was more of a scenic route paved on either side with lovely trees and budding bushes than that of a worn, commerce road. Seeing this place to have not a lot of people, he hoisted Miya down next to him.

"Now don't you go wandering off, kiddo," he said as she began to immediately inspect her new surroundings. "Stay close to me, alright?"

Only the eager bob of her head indicated that she had heard. Braig followed her around in short strides, waiting for her to have her fill of questions and observations. When she did ask a question, he would try his best to explain it for her. He wasn't too sure if he was any good at that, but she didn't complain about his answers and would bounce to the next item of interest. Her exploits seemed to hit him like a wave of déjà vu. Hadn't he been in this very predicament not but three days ago when a dinosaur walked into his hallway? The thought teased him, making him smile. What a small world it was.

When they had taken a near complete circle by following the road, Braig led her more toward the center of town. Upon seeing crowds too thick for his liking once more, he picked Miya back up and set her again on his shoulders. His next destination was to the fountains. It was on the other side of town, but the long walk was worth the wait when they reached the cascading waterfalls of color. The sun hit the fountain at such an angle that rainbows were painted above, casting their vibrant reflections on the silver surface. He set Miya down again.

"And here are the Fountains! In the summer, kids like to come and play around here to cool off." He watched fondly as Miya stared wondrously around her, taking in the breath-taking sight.

Miya stared wide eyed at all the people as they walked through the crowded square. There had been lots of people at the festival the day before but she hadn't noticed them because she had been so focused on the things her father was showing her... and the Chocobo's. Now there wasn't that distraction, and they all seemed to be looking at her. She ducked down low against Braigs head, trying to be as small as possible, unsure of why they kept looking at her so strangely.

She was amazed by the sheer size and beauty of the town. The building were beautifully decorated, and every plant and tree were finely pruned. It almost rivaled her beloved gardens at the castle.

Miya was very happy when Braig set her down on the ground, and she looked up at him quizzically as to why. He chuckled down at her and patted her head, his response being "There are less people so no threat of being squished, Squirt."

The little girl grinned happily and started to poke around, curiosity blooming in her eyes.

"Now don't you go wandering off, kiddo," he said as she began to immediately inspect her new surroundings. "Stay close to me, alright?"

Miya turned back and nodded her head in a quick affirmation, walking and sometimes running from one place to another, always with a question of how, what and why. Braig always responded with an answer, all of them seeming extremely smart and knowledgeable. And she often spoke this to him after he'd answer. Things such as "wow, really?" and, "you're so smart!" and, "how do you know all this stuff?"

The time passed by quickly, even though it was like an hour or three, but Miya didn't notice. She was extremely absorbed in figuring out her new huge surroundings. Life outside the castle seemed so confusing and complex, not to mention exciting and adventurous.

Miya took his hand as they walked back out to the busier street, though she was too busy inspecting flower bed of tulips to notice Braig's ponderous expression. Once again she was swooped up onto his shoulders, earning him another squeak of displeasure. This time for being taken away from her flowers, though one was firmly stuck in her hand, now. A lovely purple tulip, and she settled on this his shoulders to stare at the flower and the area of town they walked through.

It was a long walk and one of Miya's arms hung loosely over Braig's head, hand and flower dangling in his face. Head propped up on the other hand, elbow propped on his head, a tired and amazed look on her little face. He turned a corner and she shot her head up immediately.

She stared wide eyed at the huge beautiful fountain before her, the sun cascading onto the flowing water, casting rainbows all over the place. He walked onto a small bridge in front of the huge fountain and stopped. It was a perfect spot; it was in the middle of the rainbows and the spray of the water. Braig set her back down on the ground, letting her stand in amazement of the sheer beauty. They were the only two there at that time of the day, the whole area quiet and serene.

"And here are the Fountains! In the summer, kids like to come and play around here to cool off." He watched fondly as Miya stared wondrously around her, taking in the breath-taking sight.

Her brown eyes were like saucers as she turned in a 360 circle over and over, watching the rainbows play on the purple and grey stone walls, and as they danced across the waters silvery surface. The two stood in awe for about ten minutes, before Miya decided to go explore the water around the bridges edge.

Braig was too busy admiring the site to notice her turn and walk off to the opposite side of the small bridge. She went to the edge and stared at the large lily pad covered surface. They were in full bloom and were quite lovely. Her little mind couldn't help but wonder what it would be like to sit on one.

Miya turned to look at Braig, happy to see he was still busy with the fountain and she then turned around and inched over the side of the bridge. Her feet sought out the firm feel of one lily pad and she let herself sink onto it.

The six year old smiled happily as she sat on it for three seconds, before a sploosh of water and a squeak issued as the pad gave way beneath her and she fell into the water.

Upon hearing the splash, Braig turned his head, the first thing he saw being Miya climbing out of the water, overturned lily pad drifting away, drenched head to toe. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had just happened. He gawked at her in disbelief. Her bangs were plastered to her face, dress clinging to her legs. She looked ridiculous, causing a tired smile to go on his face as he ran a hand through his hair.

She was shivering from the cold water but other than that, she was alright. Miya looked up at him sheepishly, a nervous, sideways grin on her face.

Chuckling in sheer amusement, he sighed, "Your dad's gonna kill me. Did you think you'd make a good frog?" He quirked a brow at her watching the water drip off her hair onto the puddle underneath her feet. "Because I don't think frogs are purple and look like drowned cats."

Miya used her arm to lift her plastered bangs off her face, staring up at Braig with a sheepish little grin. "I just wanted to sit on the lily pad Braig... I'm sorry," she said to him apologetically, a sincere, little look on her face.

The girl shuddered and picked up her wet dress skirt and began twisting the water out of it, also slipping her wet shoes and socks off. The feel of the warm rocks on the bottom of her wet feet felt very nice.

"Please forgive me Braig, and don't tell Papa! I didn't think it was going to do that! It looked quite solid!" she said with big brown eyes.

He crouched down and gave her an entertained, yet exasperated expression. Her admission of guilt was innocent and he took it with a smile. Without much else to help out with the situation, Braig pulled off his scarlet kerchief and used it to flop on top of her head, ruffling it down over her face.

"You're quite the handful for being so dainty," he said. "But your apology is accepted and I forgive you." Braig sighed, seeing that his scarf wasn't helping much. "Now we gotta figure out how to dry you off… I'm sure the sun will do the trick, but walking around sopping wet isn't the best choice either. Might make you catch a cold or something. And no one wants that." He sat there, pondering what he could do. Bringing her back to Ansem to get her new clothes would entail him admitting to letting his daughter fall into the fountain and that wouldn't look good on his rep. The other resort was his only hope and solution, though it was just as costly…

He stood up, casting his eyes over in the general direction of his house, glancing at Miya to see her still wringing out her clothes, his kerchief still decorating the top of her head.

"C'mon, kiddo, let's get you dry," he said in confirmation of his plan, scooping her off her feet again. Her wet, cold body began making his own outfit damp and uncomfortable. "And then we can go get Lea and Isa."

Miya didn't protest when Braig picked her up, her little mouth was formed into a 'o' of wonderment and her brown eyes wide with excitement. She liked it when he picked her up off the ground, she felt so high up. She grinned up at him as he mentioned getting Lea and Isa once she was dry.

"Oh, goodie! I can't wait to see them and tell them what we've done so far. I wonder how their day at school has been. What is school Braig?" she blinked up at him, and then another question came to her little mind. "Are we going back home to get dry clothes? How am I going to get dry?"

Her mountain of sudden questions made his head spin. He sighed, trying to take them one by one as he plodded along. "School is where people, usually young kids, go to learn about stuff. Going to school makes you smarter and teaches you that sitting on lily pads is not a good idea." Braig laughed at his own statement.

To her second and third question, he furrowed his brow, wondering what he should say. If he said they were going to his house, she'd want nothing more than to look through it. However, there was always their little curfew, and doing that would take time away from her two little friends, which she definitely wouldn't like. Braig looked down at her.

"We're going to my house to get you a towel so you can properly dry off."

Master Xehanort was gonna bite his head off for this…

Miya's eyes were wide as she sat in his arms for a moment, his answer sinking in.

"Really, Braig! Really? You're going to take me to your house! YAY!" she burst in excitement, and wrapped her wet little arms around his neck tightly giving him a big, wet hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

He sighed, trying not to cringe as he was splattered with more water. "Well, it'll be fast. Fast enough that you can wait outside while I run in. We don't want to waste time because we gotta go get Lea and Isa," he said. His focus was drawn back to where he was walking. Lucky for him, his house wasn't particularly far from the fountains, and soon he could see it coming up. Only a few people were nearby, and they seemed to be clearing out anyway.

He sat Miya down in front of it with a grunt. "Okay, you wait right here while I get a towel, okay?"

Miya nodded her head in understanding, she watched him quickly walk into his house. She stood there waiting, drawing an 'X' in the ground with the toe of one shoe. The little girl stood on top of it and refused to move. Even if her curiosity about Braig's house was near boiling over, she refused to move from that spot.

So she simply settled for staring at it, taking in all its outside details. She liked it a lot, it reminded Miya of a house from a fairytale almost. Though most of the houses around town seemed that way anyways... but for some reason Braig's house was more than the rest.

The little, sopping-wet, six-year old waited outside patiently, rocking back and forth on her heels, wringing her dress out as much as possible, and after awhile pulled Braig's kerchief off her head and began to examine it, and then fold it neatly.

Miya was pleased with how well she was keeping herself occupied and staying still.

Braig glanced once back at Miya before he went in, making sure she was staying still. Seeing that she hadn't budged an inch, he slipped inside, trotting briskly through the hall and into the kitchen where the stairs were. Master Xehanort was in there, sitting at the counter with a book. He looked up, seeming surprised.

"Fired so early?" he asked bluntly.

Braig glared at him as he walked by. "No, the kid fell into the fountain and she's wet. I need a towel."

The old man rolled his eyes at him with a smirk. "Can't even watch a child…"

From the top of the stairs he retorted, "My eyes were off her for literally two seconds!" He rustled through a hall closet, pulling out a plain white towel before rushing back down the stairs past the Master again. He was shaking his head, chuckling at him. Braig gave him an irked scowl, flying out the door again.

The old man sat still for a minute, waiting for the sound of Braig closing the door. When it hit, he glanced over his shoulder with a huff. Quietly, he slunk into the study past Zuga, who was still focusing on tapping into magic, and peered out the window from behind the opaque curtains. Braig had tossed the towel on top of the child's head and it was large enough to look like a ghost-sheet costume. She seemed to be laughing. Then she pulled it off and stared up at her guardian.

Master Xehanort squinted. She had grown quite a bit since the last time he had seen her… He looked to Braig. If only he knew the irony of this picture.

Quietly as he came, he left, ignoring the trailing pale blue eyes on his back.

It would be interesting to see how this played out.

Miya giggled up at Braig, holding the fluffy white towel in her hands, she grinned up at him for a few brief moments before going about drying herself. As she wrapped herself tightly in the towel she wondered if she'd imagined seeing a shadow in one of the windows, or if it was simply the wind playing with the curtain. But the thought left in an instant; as Braig knelt down to assist her.

She had it wrapped around her small body and head, the only thing visible was her face and shoed feet. Miya grinned at him brightly, cheeks all rosy.

"Braig, I stayed still the whole time you were gone! I stood on this 'X' I made." She pointed down to a smudge in the dirt that was nearly gone because of all the dripping water. "I did a very good job!"

He grinned, confirming the mark with a glance. "That's a good kiddo!" She looked funny all blanketed up in that towel, but he bit down his laughter. He nodded to it. "That should help dry you off in no time." Braig reached up to his collar, attempting to adjust his kerchief. When feeling it not there, he momentarily felt that wrenching gut feeling when something valuable went missing. But then he remembered where he had left it and looked down at her. Miya was holding it out, seeing that he had been looking for it.

"Here you go!" she chimed.

Braig took it and found it damp. Shrugging, he wrung it out before flinging it on his shoulder. There was no use in wearing it now.

"Alright, shall we go see the boys now?"

Miya nodded her head "Oh, of course! But first let me take my shoes off. They're all wet and splooshy." she said wrinkling her nose up and bending down to un-strap her shoes and slip her very wet socks off. She wrung out the socks and tucked them inside her shoes, picking them up in her hand.

Miya's little feet were wrinkly from staying in the wet articles for so long. She giggled as she wiggled them on the warm, stone walkway and grinned up at him.

"Now we can go, Braig! Now we can go!" she sung cheerfully.

He replied with a slight huff. As easier and faster it would be if he carried her there, it would be hard when she had all that stuff: towel, shoes, socks... He blinked contemplatively, looking down the road. Lea and Isa lived in the back of the city, where nobody usually went. The traffic wouldn't be too terrible. Then again, he didn't want her to get sore feet from walking barefoot. After a moment, he decided that if she started to look uncomfortable or mentioned it, he'd go the extra mile and carry her again.

"Okay, follow me," he said, motioning to a stone archway that connected two buildings together. This path would offer as a nice route to get to their house.

On the way, the luster of the city seemed to desaturate into pale colors. The walkway became worn and less clean. Stray cats padded around, fishing through scraps, meowing and mewling with hunger. They would scamper once seeing someone come close. The sides of the pavement became hidden under untrimmed grasses and weeds. The value of the houses came down in both design and size. They were half-way there.

Miya moved closer to Braig as they walked through a part of town she'd never seen before. Its rundown appearance worried her and made her brown eyes large with concern. She stopped briefly, not saying anything and pulled her socks out of her shoes and slipped the shoes back onto her feet before running to catch up with Braig.

The sights of the rundown buildings, pale colors, lack of flowers, abundance of trash, and scary looking cats- Miya's little mind made a disturbing connection.

"Braig? Do Lea and Isa live here?" she asked with her face scrunched into a scared look, full of distress and unhappy thoughts. Miya couldn't imagine that her two friends lived someplace like this.

He looked down to see Miya nearly pressing up against his leg. "They live around the next couple of blocks," he replied dryly, catching the distress on her face. This was a pretty awful place to live, but as he had learned from experience, the orphanages were much worse.

The next place they turned led them to a narrow road. This one was a tad brighter than what they had seen earlier, as the sun was at an angle where the shadows of the buildings didn't cast as long. It seemed sunny compared to the other roads, but still, weeds climbed all over steps and walkway cracks and even sides of houses. Some shingles looked ready to fall off and window hinges were sometimes skewed.

"Well, we're here," he said, stopping at the second house.

It looked more like a two-story apartment than a house. What you could see past thick layers of vines that surrounded one side of the house was seen to be a dirt off-white color. One window looked cracked from one corner to the other. There was a small stairwell that led to a tiny porch (big enough for probably only one full-grown adult), dark railing twisted and rusted. The door was scratched and nicked in more than one place. The gutter was full of leaves that had failed to be cleaned out. The only thing that brought sign of life was a tiny flower pot with a slightly wilted orange flower inside resting next to a worn and ragged "welcome" mat.

Miya stared at the little home with wide eyes and pink little lips in a thin, displeased frown. Her little mind was putting things together about her new friends. The events that had taken place the day prior hadn't made much of an impact on her till now. The reality of why the boys were so defensive, protective of each other, not easily trusting, and also why they were shocked about her own lifestyle.

The image of her verses theirs, a little princess with the ability to have anything she wanted, and then Lea and Isa, two young boys who had to fight for everything in life. Yesterday she'd pleaded with her father and to them that it their statuses wouldn't affect their friendship. But seeing the reality was eye opening for the comprehensive six-year old.

Miya was going to keep her promise of not letting the difference have anything between them ruptured. She wouldn't pity them in any way. She'd be their friend and act like there was no difference till the end. Miya didn't understand why she was so drawn to these boys, but she wanted nothing more for them to accept her and see her as a true friend.

After a few moments of her pondering the little girl shrugged her towel off and handed it to Braig, shuddering from lost of its extra warmth. She went up the steps and knocked on the door lightly, a bright smile on her face as she waited.

There was a small rustle from inside, and a hushed whisper. Then silence. They waited, an eerie feeling settling over. After a moment, Miya looked like she was going to knock again, but a pale face appeared to peek out from the cracked window. "It's Miya!" they exclaimed. It was Isa. He darted out of view and rushed to the door. It sounded like he was undoing a lot of locks before he finally threw open the door, Lea flying out first from under his friend's arm. Both were bright-eyed and excited, as if they hadn't believed she would show up.

"Hi!" they both squealed at her.

Miya's face broke out into a huge grin and she waved at the two, eyes wide and excited.

"Hello!" she said happily, clapping her hands together at the sight of them. "I'm here! We can go do whatever you guys want! How have you two been? Did you have a good day at school? Did you learn anything interesting? What is your school like?"

The long slew of questions hadn't been intentional, but once Miya's brain came up with one a lot more always followed.

The two boys stared at her blankly, seeming not to know what the heck she was talking about. They blinked a couple times, exchanging glances. Isa suddenly perked up, "Oh! Right! School!" His face broke out into a smile. He nodded professionally. "It was good. We didn't do much, but most of the stuff we know anyway, right, Lea?" he said, nudging his friend.

Lea still looked quizzical and confused. "… We didn't go to school today, Isa… Remember? We slept in until eleven."

Isa glowered darkly at Lea. Braig couldn't help but grin at them. They were just like him when he had been a tike.

"Whelp," the guard said, slipping out the fat envelope from the king, "I'll just deliver this to what's-his-face over there while you guys decide on what to do." He paced away to the house next door, leaving them to ponder.

They watched him go briefly before looking to Miya. "So… What do you want to do first?" Lea chimed.

"We could go play in the park, chase frogs and bugs, make mud pies, harass Cid's gang, eat ice-cream… What do you feel like doing?" Isa listed, cocking his head at the princess.

Miya blinked after Braig, little head turned and tilted to the side as she watched him walk away. She wondered what he was delivering. She felt like she should remember, but she shrugged it away. She had too many more exciting things to focus on.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Lea broke the silence between them all, bringing her focus back to the present.

"We could go play in the park, chase frogs and bugs, make mud pies, harass Cid's gang, eat ice-cream… What do you feel like doing?" Isa listed, cocking his head at her.

Miya tapped her chin contemplatively; brown eyes once again alight with excitement. "Let's do all of them!" she said at last. They all sounded interesting; though some of them she wasn't sure what they were, such as the mud pies and harass a Cid's gang. But she figured she'd find out soon enough with these two.

"Let's go get Braig! We can tell him that we are going to the park first!" she exclaimed happily.

As Miya turned to run after her guardian, the boys pulled her back by the arm. "Wait!" they said in a hushed, urgent voice. Their green eyes became wide as they observed from afar Braig talking to their landowner. Both adults had set jaws in mutualism. Jazz was opening the envelope, making sure what belonged in there was in there before giving a dark glower their way. They tried to smile back confidently, taunting him. Jazz only scoffed in irritation and turned inside with a grumble.

Braig came back with an irked expression. "Man, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed," he grumbled with a huff. "Is he always a prick?"

Isa nodded.

"Sadly, yes," Lea mumbled.

The guard shrugged it off. "So, what's the plan, kiddies?"

Isa was about to say their next destination when a voice called, "Hey!"

They turned. Lea's face brightened with excitement. "Zack!"

The group watch as the small, black-haired child from Cid's party ran over to them, puffing. "They told me to get here and back as soon as I could to give you guys this," He handed them a bag, and at the same time, his trailing eyes met the unfamiliar images of Braig and Miya. He stared at them blankly, glancing at Lea and Isa for an explanation. They were too busy peering inside the bag though, causing the child to look uncomfortable.

Miya rocked back and forth on her heels, watching Lea and Isa with a smile, going over to Braig and holding his hand. She watched the black haired boy, whom she'd seen the day before and who she remembered was Zack. Mainly 'cause Lea had shouted his name. She wondered why he looked so uncomfortable and uneasy.

She grinned at the spiky, black-haired, blue-eyed boy and waved. "Hello, I'm Miya! We met yesterday at the Chocobo pen."

Zack shuffled his feet shyly, averting his attention to the ground as he shifted nervously. "Yeah, I remember… Hi," he said, nearly in a squeak.

Lea and Isa had begun pulling out coins, counting them down to their proper amount, tuning the rest of their company out. Braig seemed to be ignoring everything, trying not to look interested in whatever they were doing.

Miya stared at the black-haired boy with a curious look, and she decided to walk over to him. And she took it that he didn't like that idea, because for every step she took, he took one back. She couldn't understand why he looked uncomfortable and worried. "Is something wrong?" she asked tilting her head to the side.

Zack still looked nervous and defensive. He stole a wary glance at her, shuffling his feet. "C-Cid and Reno s-said I shouldn't be around girls..." He paused looking from her to Lea and Isa, who now seemed to be paying attention to their conversation. "They... They said girls have c-cooties."

Silence took them as everyone stared at the little boy. Suddenly, Braig sputtered a poorly concealed laugh and shook uncontrollably with fits of giggles. Zack looked offended and somewhat shocked.

"It's true!" he pleaded, bright blue eyes wide with fright. "You touch 'em and they give you this disease that will eat away at your skin and make you really, really sick! Cid and Reno said so!" Zack looked to Lea and Isa for help. The two boys were now examining their hands with pursed mouths, trying to find any effects from these "cooties". All the while, Braig kept laughing away, making Zack's face flush with embarrassment.

Miya looked at Braig with a very confused expression. She had never heard of such a thing called "cooties". What were they? And why did only girls have them? That was a strange illness, she just might have to ask her father about it later.

"I... I don't know what you're talking about,." she said crossing her arms and looking at Zack with a suspicious glare. "I've never heard of such a thing as "cooties". You must be making it up. Or perhaps it's you that has 'cooties' and not me. But I think your making it up... it doesn't sound real."

Braig was still laughing, more so now than a few moments before. He sounded like he was going to die of laughter.

"I didn't make it up! It's what Cid and Reno said," Zack huffed desperately with a pout.

Isa quirked a brow. "Well Reno's stupid."

"Cid said so too! He's not stupid!"

Now Lea was starting to look worried. He scanned his arms with a narrowed gaze, trying to find the cooties.

Braig was still laughing, but he was able to say despite such, "I-I hate to break it to you, guys, but... Cooties aren't real!" He began to crack up all over again. "It's just something someone made up to keep their boys away from girls."

Lea and Isa looked relieved, but Zack still didn't look convinced, and continued to pout, shuffling his feet.

Miya looked even more confused at this revelation. She crossed her arms and looked thoughtful, her little pink lips pursed into a little troubled pout. "Why keep boys away from girls? There's nothing wrong with girls!" she said looking between Braig and Zack. "It would make more sense if it was to keep boys from girls and girls from boys... if boys too had cooties... but I think this is all nonsense... if it's not real..." Miya looked at her own arms and then at Zack's "Doesn't look like you've got any disease... perhaps your friends were just teasing you."

Zack looked disgruntled and grumbled to himself, kicking a piece of rock around. Lea and Isa began to chuckle. "Well, you are pretty gullible, Zack. And you know how much those two like to mess with you... and us..."

The black-haired child stuck his tongue out at them teasingly. "Well, I gotta go. Cid wants me back soon." He turned around, dashing off the way from which he came, throwing a small wave over his shoulder. The others watched him go with small smirks of amusement.

"Probably wants to ask Cid if the cooties are real," Isa said with a grin. He looked at the bag of munny and ran into his house to hide it, running back out not two seconds later.

"So, about the park," Lea prompted them, looking eager and hopeful.

"Yeah, let's go!" Isa agreed, looking to Braig and Miya for their consent.

Miya's confused face melted away to excitement and she skipped over to Braig and began to hop up and down. "Yes! Let's go to the park! Can we, Braig? Oh, can we, please?" she asked pleadingly.

Her guardian chuckled, bending down to ruffle her violet locks. "Yes, we can go to the park."

Miya squealed in delight and dashed over to Lea and Isa with a bright smile. "Alright, lead the way! I've never been to the park before. Is it far? What does it look like? What do you do at the park?"

Once again one question led to a multitude of others, barraging the boys with one right after the other and Miya completely unaware of this fairly normal habit of six-year olds.

The two boys looked at each other with perplexed expressions, not knowing at first how to answer her. Then, they grabbed each of her wrists and said, "We'll show you!" Dragging her along on stumbling feet, they traversed down the beaten cobblestone path and around corners until the muck of their neighborhood melted away and became replaced with more lush surroundings as they made a loop for the Square. As soon as it seemed they were going to enter it, however, they veered to the right and pushed past a few accumulating crowds before dashing around to the path Braig had taken Miya to earlier. However, half-way around this circular road, they took a side-street that took Miya to a new section of the city. There were more shops here, and picnic tables were scattered about, people eating lunch upon them.

Isa led them over to yet another path, though this one wasn't paved with bright stones. Rather it was made of mulch and dirt. Dead ahead was the playground, and there was nobody there, making Lea smile happily. It was always better when no one was there to share with. As the children rushed to area, Braig hung back, content to watching how Miya would react to the jungle gym of childish fun.

Miya followed Lea and Isa through town close on their heels, Braig's towel still pulled over her hair and most of her body, her two little hands clasping it together at her front as she raced through the town after them. As they rounded the corner Miya skidded to a halt and stared wide-eyed at the amazing place that the two boys called a playground.

The playground was no ordinary playground. Yes, it had the monkey bars, the slides, tunnels, rock climbing walls, sliding poles and anything else you could want in the coolest playground ever. But it was fashioned to look exactly like a castle from a fairytale book. Its walls were made of stone, stacked just like a castle wall, the slides made of metal and the other activity pieces made of rubber, rope, metal or rock. The doors in the walls had gates that could be pulled up and there was even a moat and a draw bridge that led to its entrance.

It was exactly like a castle from one of her storybooks, or at least it looked like how she would have imagined it. "Wow, this is a playground?" she asked in bewilderment.

The two boys nodded at her excitedly. "Uh-huh!" Before anything else could happen, they dashed off to the swings, nearly tackling the seat to the ground, had it not been suspended by chains. Both looked back over at Miya, and Isa called, "C'mon, Miya!"

Lea began climbing higher on the swing with each passing stroke of his legs. Isa was merely twisting the swing in circles before letting himself spin out of control rapidly. Each began laughing at their antics, now starting to try and nudge each other with a stray foot as they swung.

Miya watched the two of them for a few minutes, a big smile on her face as she tried to figure out how they were being successful in swinging so high. After three or so minutes Miya quickly spun around and ran over to her guardian, holding the soggy towel out to him, waiting for him to take it.

Braig took it from and ruffled her hair, shooing her away, nodding his head in encouragement towards the two boys, who were now swinging lopsided as they were kicking each other as they crossed paths, or at least were trying to. Isa would kick his leg out and Lea would pull his leg away, thus making the swinging lopsided.

He chuckled as that little head of violet hair skipped over to an empty swing, the child poking it and then pushing it experimentally with her eyes wide. She turned her back to it and grabbed the chains, trying to jump up onto it but only succeeding at failing. Her little pout of frustration made Braig chuckle as he watched her.

Eventually Miya turned around and draped herself over it on her stomach and curled up into a ball, pushing off with one foot, but not getting as high as the two boys and looking a bit, well, worried.

It was comical to see her struggle with the swings. So alien it was to her that she knew not how to work it. Braig grinned to himself with his arms folded as he watched her, wondering if she'd figure it out herself. Lea and Isa saw her struggling and tried to explain it to her.

"You're supposed to kick your legs out like this!" Lea said, demonstrating. He soared high over their heads. Isa copied him and made the same move. However, when Miya tried stretching out her legs and kicking, her stagnate form did not budge. She looked to her friends with a puzzled expression.

"How does kicking your legs make you go higher?"

The two boys stopped swinging and looked to each other. "Well," Isa began, looking like he knew. But then he stopped, pondering. "I... Well, it's like... Hm. I don't know."

With Lea and Isa's lessons a failure and Miya still not being able to figure it out, Braig could only plod over at that point and say, "Need some help, kiddo?"

Miya let herself slip from the swing and turned to look up at her guardian and nodded, "Yes, please, I don't get it, plus when I try to get up on the swing I can't reach, I'm too short." She dug the toe of one shoed feet into the mulch, looking very downcast. Perhaps she wasn't a normal kid 'cause she couldn't manage to swing like Lea and Isa did. Which frustrated her. She wanted to be just like her two new friends.

Braig only laughed and picked her up from underneath her arms, setting her down curtly on the swing's seat. Pacing around behind her, he pulled the chains on either side of her back, taking her with him. Once he deemed them a good distance, he said, "Ready, kiddo?"

When she nodded, he pushed her forwards, making her swing upwards, but not as high as Lea and Isa. He didn't want to scare her with a sudden height change. As she reared back again, he gave her another light push on her back, keeping her aloft. "Now, if you draw your legs in and out while you're going back and forth, you can keep going by yourself," he explained. "Though, it does take a bit of practice."

Braig watched on in satisfaction as Miya giggled happily on the swing, slowly but surely getting the hang of the contraption that her friends had mastered. The man chuckled at her enthusiasm, the little tike was so determined to find connection's with these two boys. And he had to admit, her persistence was very admirable for a child of six years. Lea and Isa were very accommodating of her very hyper and eager attitude, in fact they seemed to feed off of it. Having the younger girl stare at them in awe constantly as they moved from the swings and over to the actual structure of the pretty awesome playground.

He found it amusing that the playground look very much like the King's castle. Braig thought that something exotic like a pirate ship or beach theme playground would have been way cooler than something the kids saw every day. The huge castle loomed up into the sky so high it was almost imposing. If it had been a dark hue it might have looked foreboding. Braig watched the three children play for the majority of the day. The boys explaining everything about the playground to their little admirer and they played out some type of story that involved an evil monster that liked to eat kids. Though in the end they were all triumphant, though Isa had been the unfortunate individual that got eaten... and somehow resurrected. Braig had found it amusing to watch and listen to none the less, and figured he'd be having these types of matinee shows often in the future.

As the sun began to wane and drift closer to the horizon Braig figured it would be best for him and his charge to head back to the Castle. Miya was looking very tired and the boys too seemed to have run out of steam. He walked over to where they all sat, talking and staring at the sky.

"Hey kiddo's, I say it's time for us all to head on home, I'm totally beat and you three don't look so hot either." The trio looked up at him with tired eyes and they chuckled.

Miya stood up and beamed. "How are you tired, Braig? You just sat and watched us."

"Hey, hey! Don't knock my job, Miya. It really is tough work watching you kiddies wear yourselves out! Makes me tired just watching ya," he said ruffling her hair. She winced under his hand, laying her hands on her hair to straighten it out when he'd removed it.

The two other boys got to their feet and yawned, stretching, and murmuring their compliance. With a few trudges they came to stand near Braig and Miya, eyes heavy-lidded with weariness. Lea suddenly lifted his head curiously and asked to both Miya and Braig, "Hey, can we play with Miya again tomorrow?" Isa found the question worth staring for and both children looked anxiously and hopefully at the princess and her guard. Never before had they had so much fun in one day, and it was nice forgetting the troubles of their trying living-style for such an extended amount of time.

Braig seemed to contemplate this question carefully, looking down at Miya, who was nodding vigorously. He glanced back at the castle, as if Ansem's opinion would be there in some sort of sign. "I'm sure there won't be a problem with her coming again, I can't see the King opposing it. If there is some reason we can't, I'll let you two know, alright?"

That seemed to sound like a "yes" to them, and they all squealed in delight. Miya went and hugged her two friends excitedly. As they did so, Braig huffed with amusement at their antics. A sudden thought crossed over to him and he said to the boys, "You want us to walk you back home?"

Lea and Isa unwound from their group hug and looked to Miya, saying, "Okay, sure." Of course, they all knew that answer would be yes. That meant more time with Miya, even if it was but for a little longer.

The guard nodded and said, "Well, let's get moving. I think Ansem wants this little one home before it gets dark." He poked Miya's shoulder before herding the kids back towards the outskirts of the town back to the boy's house. Throughout the walk, the children had talked, dashed around, and chased each other to milk out the last of their time and energy. By the time they actually reached the little house, Miya was dragging her feet. The boys turned back as they started running to their porch, waving. "Bye, Miya!"

"See you tomorrow!" Isa added.

Miya waved and said goodbye back, continuing to bid farewell until their door shut. As soon as the door clicked, she slumped in exhaustion. Braig grinned at the little one. "You want me to carry you back? You look like you're about to fall asleep on your feet."

The little girl turned head up to look at Braig, blinking up at him like a tired little owlet. She nodded her head ever so slowly. "Uh-huh... Yes, please." Miya said, lifting her arms up towards him.

Her guardian chuckled lightly and picked her up, and she immediately melted into his arms, head slumping onto his shoulder. Those little brown doe-eyes were closed less than two minutes of him walking back to castle.

"Yeesh, kid, you party hard and crash even harder," he chuckled and patted her back, shifting Miya in his arms more comfortably.

On the way back to the Castle he realized something, something that Master Xehanort would not be ecstatic to know, and would probably chastise him for it. But it had happened so quickly, and had been so unforeseen. But perhaps that was the charm of the little princess he held in his arms. Miya had no reason to not trust him, he had the perfect front, and it was actually barely a front really. Braig found that he was completely himself around the King and his daughter. He couldn't say if it was a bad thing, but it was almost nice to know that he was indeed soft. The little princess had successfully taken a hold of his heartstrings and had wrapped them around her finger... tightly.

The man sighed and shook his head, looking down at the small head of violet hair in his arms. Truly this kid was something special, even if it was just her cuteness level. As he reached the castle gates he stopped and stared at the castle for a moment or two before heading into the massive abode. Now he had to find Ansem and deliver his very tired daughter to him.

But in all honesty, Braig had no idea where to find the King of Radiant Gardens.

He made his way up the middle path of terraces that led to the castle, furrowing his brow in thought as he wondered where he could find the king. More than likely he'd be inside, but… Braig looked upwards at the looming towers that hung over his head, imposing upon his hope and crushing it to little pieces. It would take forever to search the place out ground to top. Perhaps he could ask around…?

Looking about, he saw that there was literally no one around. "Duh, it's late, they all probably went home…" Grumbling to himself, he pushed open a little, waist-high black gate that marked the exposure of the last plane, which went directly to the large, front door of the castle.

And it came to Braig's most utter relief when he saw the King standing right outside it, waiting for him. Braig came up with a grin, saying, "Hey, your Majesty, I think I found something that belongs to you." He hefted the tuckered out Miya a little, wondering if she was completely passed out yet.

Miya grumbled as she was shifted in her guardian's arms, not liking that at all and lifted her head up tiredly. Looking around her surroundings with a tired expression; this was until they fell onto the figure of her father who had just walked up to Braig. Her face lit up and a burst of energy brought her back to life.

She jumped out of Braig's arms and into those of her fathers, hugging him and talking at a very fast and incoherent speed about what had happened to her.

"Whoa, whoa, Miya! Calm down, my dear!" Ansem said with a full hearted laugh, shifting her more comfortably in his arms. "I can't understand you when you are talking Hypernese, Miya."

The little girl gave an indignant huff, wiping her bangs from her eyes as she began again in a calm collected manner, but still very hyper. At least it was understandable in Ansem's opinion.

"Papa, you won't be able to guess what happened today! I got to see the big fountain with all the pretty floating flowers and the rainbows! And then Lea and Isa took me to the playground! I've never been to a playground before Papa! It's so cool! Someday I have to take you there, so you can see it! I learned how to swing, what slides were for and that I don't like monkey bars, but I do like the rings, which are kinda like monkey bars but not!"

Ansem laughed again at her intense description of her day, patting her on the head and then placing his index finger across her mouth to let her know to be silent, before turning to Braig.

"So, I presume she behaved well for her second time outside of the castle walls? She didn't cause you too much difficulty, and got along with those boys well?" he inquired of his Captain.

Braig nodded, looking pleased himself. "Yeah, she did real well. She's an angel, doesn't cause trouble at all." There hadn't been one scuffle he had to intervene, actually. Those three got along wonderfully. "Even those boys were well-behaved, despite not having authority. Speaking of which, I gave their landlord that letter, and he's complying with it, begrudgingly." Ansem didn't seem shocked by this news in the slightest and only pursed his mouth slightly with a light bob of his head in response. Braig wondered if he had missed anything... Oh!

"Those two were wondering if Miya could play with them tomorrow as well," he said, looking to the little princess.

Miya beamed and nodded her head, turning her big brown eyes to her father's face. "Oh, please, Papa! Please, say yes! Playing with Lea and Isa was so much fun! Oh please, oh please, oh please!"

Ansem chuckled and kissed his daughter's forehead, brushing her cheek with the thumb of his free hand. "Why of course, Dear One. You may play with those delightful boys every day if you so wish. Of course it will be like today: Braig will accompany and supervise you children. Braig has nothing but good words to say about your behavior, so as long as it stays that way you are free to play with them every day," the King said with a finalizing nod.

Miya squealed with joy, very pleased and excited by her father's approval. Content and happy she rested her head against her father's chest and looked at Braig with sleepy eyes.

"Braig has to go now?" she asked quietly, looking up at the sky that had begun to turn red with the sunset. Ansem nodded and extended his hand to Braig. "Once again I thank you, your work today and in the future will be much appreciated."

He grinned, shaking the King's hand firmly. "It's my pleasure, Your Majesty!"

After saying goodbye to Miya once more and again, giving his regards to the king, Braig turned heel and ended his first day of (enjoyable) work. It hadn't been what he had expected, and that was for the best. The King was pretty laid-back about stuff, something he hadn't really expected, and watching the little tikes was a breeze. He actually wasn't dreading the next however long he had to do this.

Now that he thought about it, the more difficult part of his day was probably dealing with the people back home. Then again, dealing with the old man was always a pain in the rear, though he had his uses in some areas…

The walk home seemed too take less time than he remembered. Sighing and looking to the house where he knew a mound of problems waited, Braig went and unlocked the door, trudging inside.

Another spark of blue flickered into her hand before simmering out into a single plume of smoke. Zuga tried again, the flash of light reappearing. It had taken her nearly all day to even get the physical existence of the magic to appear in her hands, after some lecturing from Master Xehanort on technique.

She was now sitting on the floor of the living room, peels and peels of the fruit these people called "oranges" (an oh so creative title based on its color,) laying on the low-table next to her. The fruit itself had a tart smell, and was rough to the taste, but apparently she direly needed to eat these, according to the elder. Something about vitamins and lack of sunlight hurting her skin… She didn't quite remember.

Another swirl of magic appeared into her palm, different than the previous attempts. Whereas those before were mere flashes of brief light, this one was a thin tendril that swirled delicately, like a thread caught in the wind, between her two hands. She held still, still focused on it, determined not to let it evaporate like the others… And it was only a few moments later when she heard the door open, signaling Braig's return. The distraction was enough to make the tendril flicker, but she was able to recapture it with a supportive burst of inner energy.

Braig walked through his door and shut it with a slightly depressed sigh. The idea of having to interact with the Swamp Monster and the Old Man was a bit displeasing when he fully realized the day had caught up to him. He could sympathize with his little charge, and possibly the boys back at their home... all in which were probably taking some form of nap or were out of the rest of the day. He was sure Master Xehanort would have a few words for him; he always did. And Zuga, well she'd probably not be too... eh... wishing for interaction with him. After all she was still a fish out of water in this world.

Braig tiredly acknowledged Zuga sitting in the living room as he passed through, though it was the bright color of orange that shocked him to say anything. "Pfft! Wh-what's all this mess?" he sputtered, looking at her with a tired pout. It hit him that he'd become a bit of a clean freak, though that was normal right? It was his home. And he didn't like it getting messy.

She quirked her brow up at him as he looked around, his expression highly amusing, though her own remained serious. The thin string of magic faded from between her fingers. Zuga reclined, giving him a blunt stare. "I believe you refer to them as 'orange peels'," she said. Why he was so irked, she had no idea. It wasn't like she had intended to leave the peels sitting there forever... It was just that magic was her foremost problem, and she was instructed to practice diligently. The peels could wait, even if they did make the room smell tangy. Besides, they weren't even on the floor, just on that little table. "Master gave me a bunch and told me to eat them while I was practicing." To demonstrate, she lifted her hands and recreated the sparks of blue once more, averting her eyes from him.

Braig quirked his brow at her, watching the sparks of magic form in her hands. He had to admit he was impressed by her answer all together, along with her magic skill thus far. Zuga was obviously a person who took things literally, which he understood. It just amused him that she was answering his question in that fashion.

He sat down in a chair not too far from her and watched her create the physical form of magic in the palm of her hand. Thinking back to his earlier years with magic it had taken him about a month to be able to do what she was. And it had only been one day for her. He could see why Master Xehanort was intrigued with her.

"Ah, so I see. Well, good job, kiddo. When you're done practicing just make sure you pick up those peels. Don't want to leave them laying around. If Master Xehanort see's them he won't be too happy," he said with a nod of his head, standing from his chair and readying to leave the living room.

It was about time he hunted his newspaper down and relaxed, best to do that before the old man realized he was home.

Zuga tried to ignore the pair of eyes on her as she was manipulating her magic. It had been pressure enough when Master Xehanort had been doing so, which is why she believed he had left her be on her own for as long as he had to train. Her sparks came back into her hand, but she couldn't get the thread to appear again like before. Braig must've taken a hint to her unease or found a reason to leave, as he soon got up and began to walk away.

"Ah, so I see. Well, good job, kiddo. When you're done practicing just make sure you pick up those peels. Don't want to leave them laying around. If Master Xehanort see's them he won't be too happy,"

Her head perked up, and the magic flared a little before simmering out again, much to her chagrin. Kiddo... She glared at his retreating back before growling in her rumbly voice, "I'm not a kid."

Braig waved his hand over his shoulder at her, nodding his head. "Yeah sure, whatever Swamp Monster." He chuckled and dashed up the stairs to his study, grabbing the paper on the nea by table and flopping down on the couch. He kicked his boots off, slid his scarf off and unbuttoned his uniform before opening the paper up and beginning to read its printed letters.

It wasn't more than a few minutes later when the hallway creaked and a hunched Master Xehanort appeared in the doorway, peering at Braig intently. He cleared his throat to catch the young man's attention though Braig's eyes were still peeled on his newspaper despite the effort. Scowling at the distraction, the magician waved his hand, the paper vanishing. Braig made a questionable noise, glaring at his empty hands before looking to his master in a huff, who held said newspaper under his arm.

"Now that I have your full attention," he began, "how did today go?"

Braig turned his head and scowled at the old man, looking longingly at his captured newspaper. He huffed and turned his attention back to his master and shrugged.

"Today went well. I just watched the three kiddies, nothing to straining or demanding. Not that I'm complaining anything... but I'm just a day long babysitter... kind of like a nanny... just... I'm a guy and not a woman." Braig sat up and faced his master now.

"Why do you ask? It's as if your awaiting some type of specific answer... It's kinda... odd. Like you're expecting something to happen," he said quirking his brow. "Anything I should be looking out for, sir?"

'Caught on to that did he?' Master Xehanort observed mentally, quirking a brow, mildly impressed by his apprentice's insightfulness. Perhaps he wasn't as brain-dead as he originally thought. He only smirked, slight disappointment welling up inside of him to the lack of… events. He had been hoping for at least something unusual to happen, even the tiniest bit. But, perhaps his long-term work just needed more time. "Hmph," he grunted. "As I said, that little one is odd. Magically odd. I'm just getting the vibe that something is going to happen. You know how my intuition is."

Before Braig could inquire further, he cut away from the topic, unfurling the newspaper and tossing it back to him; a reward for Braig, and a distraction so he wouldn't bother to question about his master's comments. And to get his mind off of it for good: "Did you talk to Zuga at all? I can barely get a sentence out of her, and her being comfortable around people is imperative for the role I need her to play."

Braig hugged his newspaper gleefully, happy to have his reading material back. That was the only thing Braig liked reading, 'cause he disliked books with a passion. Having been stuck with his Master in a room full of books in his younger years had left him with a grudge against the tombs.

He yawned and nodded his head "Yeah, yeah... I talked to her. Watched her do some magic stuff for a little bit too. Told her about how she shouldn't leave her orange peels out and such... Yeah, I talked to the Swamp Monster."

"Did she respond at all, and what did she say? I know very well that you can talk to air, Braig, and be fine with not getting an answer," Master Xehanort sighed. It was true though, that throughout the day, the barbarian had said little to nothing other than mumbled acknowledgments to orders and instructions with the rare "Yes, Sir," and "No, Sir." How Braig had been able to hold a conversation with her baffled the old man, and he couldn't see it, nor figure out a method to his student's madness.

It seemed Zuga was either unsure about how to talk to him, or was just more comfortable talking to someone closer to her age. Speaking of which, he had no idea how old she was, exactly. To think about it, he didn't really know much about her at all, personally, other than a little bit of her family history and what he had been told by others in her tribe, and most of the things they had to say were negative insults. The only compliment he had heard was from her own chief, who said that she was "committed and hard-working." It had been the trait he had wanted to hear, so he had taken her under his wing. She was much brighter than her tribemates anyway, and very eager to learn.

But whenever he had tried asking her questions about her, or her world, she'd either shrug, or bite her tongue, looking hurt, or just gave the simple yes, no, and maybe-like answers, never a full, complete sentence. Perhaps Braig would be more successful in gleaning out her perks and quirks. He had done a fine job getting her to even talk in the first place yesterday.

Braig sat back down on his couch and reclined back, shaking the printed paper out in front of him. His face was hidden behind its curtain of black print and paper.

"She said things, held a simple conversation, retorted indignantly at me calling her 'kiddo', declaring she wasn't a kid, took me literally when I asked her what the mess was and defined it as orange peels... She has quite an amusing way of expressing herself Master. She's quite willing to converse if it's at the level which she can feel comfortable in and converse back."

Braig's tone was far different from the tone he'd used moments ago; it was his serious side, something that his master didn't see often, but there were glimmers of it every now and then. Braig was an intelligent man, but one of his greatest strengths was acting in a way that made people underestimate him. He was always one who liked to be the surprise, the guy you thought was the underdog but actually isn't.

That was Braig, and he was sure proud of it.

The master quirked a brow, staring at his apprentice through his veil of monochromatic paper. "All of that in the last few minutes? You've gotten her to say more than I have all day! And you've only been home for a little bit." Zuga did have an interesting way of doing things, but he had to correct one thing, a thing he had observed in Lackluster Swamps: she wasn't expressing herself through her literal outlook… She was just so used to following orders to a tee that when a question was asked, she took it militaristically, and answered it literally. Which was partially a problem, since Zuga didn't seem to have a sense of self importance or seemed to understand she wasn't a soldier anymore, or that she didn't need to follow such conduct here.

He huffed, unable to understand how Braig did it, especially when compared to his wizened master. Must be the socialite side of him. He was always cheery, friendly person through and through. Or perhaps the little girl was very in tune with reading inner intentions, or more negative emotions, therefore avoiding them. That theory didn't please the master.

Braig… Well, looking at Braig, it was easy to see he had not a care in the world, nor any reason to be malicious or have a "negative" side. After all, he was positive, and that in itself was probably the only thing holding out his patience when it came to their plans. And he wasn't overbearing with intelligence, though he had to admit, Braig had his moments of glory, such as now… This would be quite fun to experiment with, this weird balance and interaction.

After contemplating a bit, the old man had his idea. "Braig, I want you to talk to her again," he said, explaining, "this time, personally. I need to know what makes this girl tick so I can relate with her, and see where's she's coming from so it's easier for me to teach her. Simple things, like age, hobbies, goals, anything that will let us get to know her better." Braig had suddenly pulled his newspaper down to stare at Master Xehanort doubtfully and skeptically. He got the message and added with a sigh, "Perhaps not today, but in the very near future. I'd do it myself, but you're having much more success than I am."

Relief washed over Braig when his master caught the unspoken message in his face. Master Xehanort always picked up on his very expressive expressions, and generally it kept him from getting a scolding. After all one could not get in trouble for something if they didn't say it. Well... that was generally the case.

"Alright, I'll do it some morning when I'm teaching her breakfast routines... at least then I'm more awake than when I come home. I guess the fact is true that your brain's more awake when you just get up than later in the day," the man said with a humorous chuckle and lifted his paper up again.

"So, I take she's a tough nut for you to crack, Master? Do you have any inclination as to why, or are you just losing your touch with the younger generation?" Once again there was that jesting, sarcastic tone.

There came a snort of contempt from the old man as he took in the affront. Huffing, he defended coolly, "No, I believe she's just intimidated. I'm more wizened than the both of you combined and it's very obvious that I run things around here, and she's seen what I can do with my magic. I think she's just afraid to speak and say the wrong thing. It has to do with the psychology of dominance and social class. She's more open with you because she doesn't find you a threat of any kind to her." It had meant to jab at the younger's ego, in retribution for his previous comment.

Braig snorted with an edge of distaste, mumbling under his breath and shaking the newspaper out. He turned his attention back to his Master, speaking up. "Touché. But you know what? That can be a good thing. It goes to show that I can be deceptive..." he chuckled a bit on the darker edge, "You trained me well, Master. I'm a lean, mean, fighting machine with a soft, deceiving side. That is why she can talk to me. 'Cause I'm just that good."

Master Xehanort was amused by his student's claim and retorted with a smirk for the sake of having the last word, "More so you're a soft guy with a deceiving tough-guy act. You're as harmless as a kitten, regardless of your skill, Braig. It's not your nature to wreak havoc… intentionally." He chuckled, knowing that'd hit him hard. Before Braig could snap back he said, turning, "Well, enjoy the rest of your evening." And then the old man departed back to his quarters with a smug air around him.

That had hit the youth hard, and that was a below the belt shot too. Braig felt his ego suddenly deflate. He huffed, scowled, and pouted for a minute before shaking his paper out and lifting it back up to read it. Grumbling under his breath, he said, mostly to himself, "Oh, I'll enjoy my evening... and I'll enjoy the morning more when I wake you a big pale of water falling all over you and getting you all wet." The only reason Braig even dared to say this was because he knew his master was gone and could no longer hear him.

With that said he shook his paper out and read it, enjoying the idea of some alone time with his newspaper.

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AN3: Read and Review Please, I love feedback