A/N's: (yawn) I'm so tired. Ugh sorry if this chapter took a little while but I've been working like crazy. You can start reading. I'm too tired to think of anything to tell you.

Declaimer: I don't own TOS...or End of the Century from DDR Max II

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- 'It's better to have loved and lost than to have never loved at all...'

- Alfred Tennyson

Chapter 5: Childish Meetings

He slowly came to, feeling warm. The thing he was lying on was soft and the thing that was covering him was keeping him warm. He curled up between the two things in a dazed manner before sitting up straight suddenly in shock. Suddenly remembering the wolves that had attacked him, his hands immediately went to swords which were missing. He gasped and frantically looked around him not really taking in the fact that he wasn't outside anymore.

"Seems as though Mr. Sleepy-Head is awake now." Lloyd turned to look at the beautiful woman. She walked towards him holding a tray. He merely stared at her as she placed it on his lap then sat in a nearby chair.

"Well, go ahead and eat! You don't want it to get cold, do you?" she told him as he looked down at the steaming bowl of soup before and slowly picked up the spoon next to it. He paused before dipping the spoon into the soup, trying to figure out why the woman looked so familiar. He shook his head took a sip of the soup. He smiled happily.

"I-it's delicious!" The woman giggled.

"I thought you'd like this soup specifically." Lloyd looked at her face one more time. He remembered the taste of the soup before, when he was much younger... when he and his mother were hiding...

"Mo-mommy?" Anna gasped as Lloyd looked away shyly. He shouldn't have said anything... He didn't even know that he knew that word. Being deprived of his parents care he hadn't realized that he had forgotten the words of his own childhood. She walked over to him and embraced him in light hug.

"I thought you'd never remember." They stayed like that for a long while.

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"... and that's when the wolves attacked me and knocked me out," Lloyd finished as Dirk sighed. It was grave news for him when he first heard that the Goddess Martel wasn't a real Goddess. Now having it proven to him only made it graver but still he couldn't help but feel grateful that he wasn't living in the same lie as everyone else in the world was. Anna looked up.

"I guess it's time I told you how we were all sep-"

"Hello? Anna, are you there?!" Someone knocked at the door vigorously. The door flew open and before Lloyd knew it there was a woman with silver hair checking over his mother.

"Oh good morning, Professor Sage," Dirk said as Raine continued to check over Anna.

"Good morning!" she said with a quick acknowledgement. "Anna, how do you feel? Any pain or abnormalities?" Anna shook her head.

"I'm fine Professor, thank you." Lloyd watched with curiosity as Raine poked his mother continuously to make sure she was alright but... one thing that bothered him was what was wrong with her in the first place?

"Oh and hello. Who are you?" He sat up straight when he noticed the lady staring at him.

"This is my son, Lloyd. Dirk found him last night on the outskirts of the Iselia forest." Raine looked towards Anna, puzzled.

"But where did he come from? He couldn't possibly have survived on his own in that forest at his age."

"Uh...someone left me there...last night," Lloyd said quietly as Raine looked away angrily.

"Who could do something to a child?"

"A demon..." Dirk muttered as the air grew tense in the room. Lloyd began to grow uncomfortable when suddenly the ground began shake. It was so sudden that Raine feel over and Anna sat back down in shock. Dirk leaned against the wall and waited for it to pass.

"What in the bloody nine hells was that?!" Dirk roared as Lloyd ran up to his mother.

"Where are my swords?" She stared at him before pointing to the two sheathes on the floor in a corner. Still in shock, she didn't noticed what she had did until Lloyd said that he'd be back later and was out the door. When her senses returned she ran out the door and stopped trying to find any sign of him.

"LLOYD!" she called out but received no response.

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"Kratos! Open the door! It's important!" Yuan shouted as the door was immediately open. He stepped in and took a deep breath. When he was sure that he was calm enough he faced Kratos and decided to get straight to the point.

"Lloyd's near Iselia at the moment. I don't know who he's met up with but Yggdrasill left him in the Iselia forest last night."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know that yet but if you want to see him that badly then I suggest you look for him." Kratos looked away, ashamed. "What is it?"

"Yggdrasill summoned me. He has another mission for me in Tethe'alla." The two were silent for a moment. Kratos clenched his fists. The moment something came up about his son, Yggdrasill gave him another mission that kept him away. He felt as though he was failing Lloyd. He was letting his own son down.

"I'll check on him for you then. It will seem suspicious if I take your place and you suddenly go down to Sylvarant," Yuan suggested as Kratos nodded.

"Thank you, Yuan." With that he was out the door. Yuan just stood there pondering and remembering something that seemed as though it had happened just the day before...

"Help me, big brother!" Mithos clung to the edge of the cliff in fear. He didn't want to fall... he'd die for sure. He didn't know how to use his wings yet and he didn't want to try at the moment. Yuan faced off against the ogre blocking his way. The beast swung at him as he dodged and managed to cut into the ogre's side. With an outraged roar it hit him in the gut with its club. He landed on the ground with a grunt.

"Big brother, my hands are...they're slipping!" Mithos shouted in fear for sweat was gathering on his fingers making it even harder for him to hang on. Yuan heard the boy's cries and stood up. He charged the ogre and thrust his weapon through it. The beast fell back, over the cliff. In seconds did Yuan realize what he had just done.

"Mithos! I'm coming!" He jumped off of the cliff just in time to see Mithos let go as the Ogre bounced off of the cliff wall. He closed his eyes tightly trying to think of way to save Mithos. Purple wings sprouted from his back as he burst downwards and managed to grab the screaming Mithos. Changing the position of his body, he flew upwards and back onto solid ground where a tearful Martel and pale Kratos awaited them. Martel embraced her brother in a hug after looking towards Yuan.

"Thank you...Yuan."

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Anna sat obviously worried about Lloyd who hadn't returned the night before. She heard some kind footsteps and expected to see Lloyd walking towards her but sighed in disappointment when she realized it was just Noishe. Noishe licked her face before sitting next to her. The protozoan was concerned. He could tell that she didn't breakfast or lunch and seeing as it was mid-day, she had been waiting outside for a long while.

"Mom!" Anna looked up when she heard that childish voice.

"Lloyd...?" Lloyd came rushing up to her with a huge, heavy bag. He opened it to reveal tones of fruits and cooked meat. Anna stared in awe at all of it then looked back at Lloyd.

"Did you...find all of this?" Lloyd nodded.

"I don't know what the explosion was but I figured that you and Dirk would be hungry so I found some berries and cooked some food from last night."

"You spent the night in the forest?"

"Yes. I had to otherwise-"

"Bark!" Noishe decided to make his presence known to the boy he surely knew. He greeted him by licking him in the face. Anna giggled.

"Do you remember him, Lloyd?" Lloyd nodded happily.

"Noshy!" he called out as Noishe barked again. The boy hugged the protozoan's neck tightly, almost making the poor thing wheeze. When he finally let go, Anna let out a content sigh.

"Lloyd, how about this? Let's go into the village and have a bit of fun for the day." Lloyd looked up to her with a smile on his face.

"Sure!"

For the rest of that day, he merely did things with his mother and Noishe. He did things that he guessed he would consider enjoyable. For once, he could actually say that he had fun. For once, he was enjoying a day without anything going wrong. They played with some of the kids at the school house and even Colette joined in. If Lloyd had anything to say about it, he'd say it was the best day of his life... but still the thought that he tried to keep buried deep in his mind still rose up and distracted him. Just how long could this last before Yggdrasill became fed up with it?

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The field seemed pure and rich as children and their parents ran around happily merely enjoying their time together. It seemed like a joyous reunion. The children were giggling away and their parents watched on proud and just as happy as they were.

Life, love, cherish it all,

'cause in the blink of an eye...

There was no tension, hate or anger. Everyone simply cared for each other dealt with problems in a calm and collective manner. Some would say that it was paradise...others would say that it was something that just couldn't last... in a way, both were right...

Man, woman, child, no longer exists...

You won't hear a sound...

Everything changed suddenly. The people collapsed onto the ground dying, deprived of their strength. The field just slowly died turning into a beige wasteland. The surrounding trees seemed to melt away, leaving only dead lumps of bark. Eventually, all sound stopped and not a single breath could be heard. Even the wind was silent and not a single bird sang nearby.

Although this was the beginning,

Beware because the end is near...

Lloyd wandered through the field. How quickly the field had seemed to change... how quickly the people seemed to fall to this sudden change in the environment. Was this truly how weak and defenseless humans were against nature?

Many changes we are seeing,

I just say it's the end...

He put his hand to the dead bark of a tree that was long gone. He sighed. What could he do to prevent something like this? It wasn't like he could fight Mother Nature...right?

It's the end...

He bent down the ground as something shiny caught his attention. After brushing away some dust, he found a simple plant trying to grow from the ground. He touched it to see if it was real or actually alive. It appeared to be. When he took his hand away, it faded away into dust. He stood up and looked around only to notice that everything was fading into dust around him...

It's the end...of the century...

'Please...don't let him kill another...'

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Lloyd sat before his campfire in the forest. The other night before he had slept over at Dirk's due to his mother's pleas, so he gave in. Just earlier in the day, she moved back to Iselia with Raine. The Professor had offered that he stay as well but he insisted on staying in the forest. She didn't exactly like the idea but she let him go. He left before even telling Anna anything. He had some things on his mind from the night before and preferred not to speak with anyone about them until he was sure of what it meant.

The main thing that was bothering him was the voice. The strange voice that had an overwhelming sadness to it. It continuously played over and over in his head. It had been occupying his mind all day to the point where he could barely concentrate. It seemed so innocent and pure. The only thing he succeeded in doing all day was figuring out that the voice was that of a woman.

"Lloyd, where were you last night?" Lloyd jumped back. Yuan was suddenly hovering over him with an angry expression on his face.

"Uh, I was away..."

"Where? You're supposed to stay in the forest at all times! Not go make contact with other foolish humans!" This made Lloyd angry. No one was going to disrespect his mother and get away with it.

"Mom isn't foolish!" he shouted. Yuan seemed to stare in shock. Lloyd had never raised his voice before and had never been that angry. But what shocked Yuan the most was the fact that his mother was still alive... Anna? Alive!? He shook his head.

"What do you mean? You mean your mother is still alive?"

"Of course she is! Why wouldn't she be?" the boy asked curiously. The anger had seemed to completely disappear.

"How little you know... That doesn't matter. Anyways, feel special 'cause I won't be telling Yggdrasill where you've been going everyday." With that, Yuan simply walked away leaving Lloyd confused and worried. Why would his mother not be alive?

'Please...don't let him kill another...'

Only the creatures in the forest that night could hear the cries of frustrated child who was in desperate need of friends and family...

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The next day seemed to arrive too slowly for Anna. She hadn't seen Lloyd in almost twenty-four hours, and he hadn't even said bye to her the day before. She sighed sadly constantly watching the gate hoping Lloyd would walk through with a big smile on his face, letting her know that things could possibly go back to normal. But she knew deep in her heart, that with her current illness it would never be the same...

"Ms. Anna, are busy at the moment?" The current mayor of the village walked up to her. She stood up and dusted herself off a bit as she tried to look a bit more presentable.

"No, I'm not doing anything. Is there something I can help you with?"

"Actually yes. I was wondering if you'd walk for a bit with me outside the village. We won't go too far, I'd just like to have a bit of a private chat with you, if you don't mind."

"Oh, of course!" They left after Anna told Raine where she was going.

The forest was as peaceful as ever. The monsters had seemed to be staying even farther away from the village, lately. Anna thought that it was because her son was kicking their butts but she also found it unlikely. She noticed that they were quite the distance from the village. They were basically half way to Dirk's house... which was too close to the ranch. The mayor stopped and turned towards her.

"I apologize... but your presence is a danger to Iselia." Anna was about to respond to that when the Desians jumped out from the trees and bushes, surrounding her completely. Her mind seemed to freeze. Things were happening to fast. The events changed rather quickly. Before she knew it the Desians and the mayor had run away and her son was in front of her. She was on her knees and seemed to be quite far from Sylvarant at the moment.

"Mom, don't worry I'll stop them. I won't let them get away with it!" she heard Lloyd say as she looked up at him. He sheathed his swords and took his chance to look back at her and winked before running off. Only when he was already hidden by the trees did she comprehend what had happened. But she couldn't do anything about it. He was already gone.

"Anna!" Someone shouted behind her. She felt warm as a soothing green light flowed over her. When it disappeared she felt strong enough to stand. She turned to see someone else she hadn't seen in a long while but she had no time for pleasantries.

"You were watching right? Kratos, you need to save him! He's gone after the Desians one his own!" Kratos felt as though he was being placed in a corner.

"But, Anna, you-"

"Forget about me! GO! If you don't I'll never forgive you!" He was gone the moment she had stepped away from him...

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Me: well that a bit... longer.

Anna: well no duh. And why are you updating today first of all?

Me: becuase I can... and cuz I feel bad that it's been so long.

Anna: ... it hasn't even been a month yet.

Me (ignores) Ok I've had soo much work to do during this month so It was hard to get through but i finished it! YAYNESS! and you...just read it lol well I hope it worth the wait. I know that most of it was dialogue...sorry but i was fighting writier's block the whole time and I tried my best! Hopefully it wasn't too bad. Now I think I gave you enough clues as to whose voice that was... if you can't figure it out well...I guess it was harder than I thought huh:P anyways review please! THEY BRIGHTEN MY DAY WHEN THE SUN DOESN'T SHINE!!! tee hee! Till next chappie!! (actually the next one is gonna be pretty short since its the continuation of this one... hopefully the next one and the one after that will be out fast enough)

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Preview: Chapter 6: Childish Battles

"Grow strong, Lloyd."