The little girl had awakened, looking around. It was still dark, and the girl believed there could still be wolves out. Her pigtails were frizzed from lying on the sand, and her skin felt sticky. She rubbed her eyes a few times, and then heard clinks of armor. She recognized the noise. They were imperials in the desert strolling around. She heard some stop to talk, but she was too far from them to clearly hear their conversation.
'Maybe I can ask them for help.' She thought. 'They should help me find my mother.' Then again, they were selfish imperials that would never help. The Archadian Empire usually ignored what Dalmascans anyways. But she needed to return to Rabanastre. 'Never know until I try.' She thought to herself. She stood up, and began to saunter towards the imperials.
"Over there!" She heard a young boy with the trademark Archadian accent say. "There! I think I see her!" The girl didn't know whether he meant her or not, but she went towards the voice anyways. It was a good chance to leave the Estersand.
She felt someone abruptly grab her wrist. It appeared to be an imperial. "Ah, this must be you." She was stunned for a moment, but then remembered the opportunity to leave. "I'm lost." She told him.
"Oh really? I know someone who has been looking for you." He said with a malicious tone. The little girl gulped. "Well come along. I will show you."
The little girl could not tell whether she was in a safe situation. She did not have much experience with strangers. She did not know whether to scream or stay silent. Just then, a boy about five years younger appeared before her, riding on top of a chocobo with an imperial guiding it by holding the reign.
"Hello, you must be Penelo, the girl your mother and brothers had been searching for." He asked in a measured way. Penelo smiled, but then frowned.
'Brothers?!' She thought 'What brothers? I'm an only child! He must be mistaken!' Then she remembered this was a chance to get back to Rabanastre. She nodded her head.
He put his hand on her frizzy blond hair. She blushed a little bit. "Very well then, come with me." He turned his head to the imperial holding on her wrist. "Put her on my saddle." He commanded. Penelo heard the imperial complain under his breath. With that, he grabbed onto her waist and lifted her. He put her on the chocobo's saddle behind the young Lord.
"You will be reunited with your family soon." The young lord said. He gave her a sweet smile. She blushed and smiled back. The imperial grabbed onto the reign of chocobo, and walked towards the East Gate of Rabanastre. On the way back, Penelo rested her head on the young lord's shoulder.
The chocobo just had crossed the border between the Estersand and the east gate of Rabanastre. The ride did not last long, but the duration of it was calming for Penelo. As soon as she recognized that she had returned to Rabanastre, Penelo quickly jerked her head off the young lord's shoulder. She looked up, looking for her mother and her so-called brothers.
"We're back." said the young lord. "Your family must have been worried. Their presence suggests so." He pointed in the direction where her mother was standing. Without noticing, the imperial abruptly lifted Penelo off the saddle, and put her on the ground. She choked for a second.
She did see her mother, but with two other boys. One looked a few years older than her, and the other appeared to be about her age. 'No.' she thought. 'Mother wasn't trying to replace me, was she?' She glanced over at her mother. It appeared she probably did miss her, since her eyes were in tears. The two boys standing next to her just seemed to stare- the blond one looked confused. The boy with the gray hair tapped her mother's arm and pointed to her. The mother looked up, and ran to her.
"Penelo!" She cried, "I am so glad you are unharmed!" Her mother embraced her like she was the only the remaining gil in Rabanastre.
The young lord approached her mother. "I am grateful that I can be of assistance."
"Thank you so much! I wish to reward you!" the mother said.
"No need to repay me. I am content with seeing all your smiles." He walked away with his imperials following.
Her mother started asking her questions. "Are you hurt? Are you sick? What happened?"
"I think you should let her rest first. She looks exhausted after her journey." said the gray haired boy. Penelo stared at him with bewildered eyes.
"Oh yes, honey, I would like to introduce to these boys. This one is Vaan." She said, pointing at the young blond, "and this is Reks." She said pointing at the gray-haired boy. "You should be most grateful of them. They helped me out."
Reks gave her a gentle smile while Vaan gave her a smirk. She looked at her mom and back at the boys. "Hi." greeted Reks.
"Hey…." Penelo greeted shyly.
Her mother smiled in satisfaction. "Good, now that's all settled, let's go home."
Penelo was confused. 'We? As in her and her mom? Or all four of them? What events have occurred during her absence?
Penelo held firmly onto her mother's hand as she led them home. The boys followed. 'I guess they are living with us.' She thought. She turned her head to look at each of them, and studied their dirty faces. 'They're cute.' She thought, and smiled to herself.
The four have just gotten home, and were getting to bed. Since there were only three bedrooms in the house, Reks was granted his own room, while Vaan was asked to share with her. Luckily, she would still have the bed while he had to sleep on the floor with a blanket and a pillow. 'At least I'll have some company.' Penelo thought. 'and a new friend to talk to when I can't sleep.' She smiled to herself. She would finally get to talk to one of these cute boys.
Her mother let each of them take a bath, which was nice for Penelo, since she sand had stuck to her sweat, and her hair was a mess.
Penelo had put her hair back to braided ponytails, as usual. It was her favorite hairstyle. Penelo yawned. Tired, she found herself wandering off to bed. When she had reached her room, she hopped on her bed. She was about to pull the blanket over herself when someone yanked both her pigtails and hurled her onto the floor.
She looked up and saw the boy named Vaan glaring down at her coldly. "You stay down there. I'll sleep up here."
"But I sleep there!" argued Penelo. "Mother said that you had to sleep on the floor."
"No way! While, I'm here, I'm going to make the best of it. So stay out of my way!" He yelled back.
"Wait until mother hears this-"She stopped when Vaan grabbed both of her pigtails. He pulled her head towards him.
"If you dare tell anyone, then I will pull these ropes out of your head!" He threatened. Penelo suddenly became silent. He let go with satisfaction, and made himself comfortable on her bed.
Her bubble had burst. This selfish guy did not want to talk to her in a friendly way at all. She knew she did not want to think any longer because yanking her pigtails initiated a headache. All she did was lie down on the pillow set on the floor, pull the covers over her head, and cry herself to sleep.