A/N: Yeah, I suck for not updating this in awhile.
Then again, it's not my most popular work, and that sort of thing can drag on an author, you know?
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Jean wasn't surprised Hiro was back at the helm the minute they left the dragon ruins. As she'd predicted, once Hiro had a plan to get Lucia back, he'd locked onto it with a single-minded determination without faltering.
She'd always admired that about him. Hiro was, perhaps, as naive as Lucia was, in his own way, but his heart and his drive were well beyond anyone else she'd ever met.
Except for Lucia.
Those two were more alike than they could possibly know.
She sighed as she rested her arms and head on the side rail of the Dragonship Destiny. It would be at least a day before they reached the water ruins, and that was if they didn't stop anywhere for supplies.
Ronfar had conked out after he'd healed their wounds, and once again, Lemina and Ghaleon were off arguing, so Jean was left to nurse her pride on her own.
Why do I feel so useless? She sighed to herself, blowing her bangs out of her face. I want to help Hiro more than anything after all he's done for me, but I feel like he could accomplish everything on his own without me.
"I haven't been much of a drinker since I joined the Chosen," Leo's voice came from behind her, "but I think you could use a drink. And, luckily, I know where Ronfar hides his customary flask of liquor."
She straightened and turned to see Leo holding a large silver flash out in front of her face, and her sorrow fled her as quickly as it had arrived.
"Cheers!" she shouted as she unscrewed the flask and took a large swallow. "Oh, that burns; I always thought he was more of a beer guy than straight up whiskey."
Leo chuckled as he moved to lean against the railing beside her, and she was surprised to see that he seemed more mellow, as well. "He'll drink whatever he can get his hands on."
"I see that," she said, eying the flask as she considered another sip. "I'm more of a beer girl myself. But oh, you only live once, right?"
She waved the flask at him before taking another sip—though this one was considerably smaller than her first.
"Unless you are Ghaleon or Althena, I suppose you're right," Leo said quietly next to her.
"Huh. I forgot about him." Jean lounged against the railing. "I never would have thought Althena would bring him back after all he'd done." She waved the flask under his nose. "Sip?"
He stared at the flask so long she thought he'd never take it. Suddenly, he reached out and took a huge swallow—though he immediately began coughing. "That's strong," he choked out.
"I warned you." She grinned at him, enjoying the ease their friendship had become. They might be two lonely, wounded individuals, but somehow, they made it work.
"I think, at the end, the goddess was more human than we knew," Leo finally said. "Perhaps that's why she tried so hard to save Ghaleon. And why she tried so hard to give Lucia a real future."
"I never thought about it like that." Jean glanced up at the sky, where the Blue Star and Lucia loomed far above them. "Do you think she ever regretted becoming human?"
"I think," Leo said seriously, as he passed the flask back to Jean, "that she finally had the chance to be herself."
Jean considered that as she took another sip. "You know, Leo, if a goddess can forgive herself for becoming human, we can at least forgive ourselves, right?" She sighed. "We aren't perfect, but we did manage to save the world anyway, despite that."
She felt a breeze flow over the deck, despite the fact that there hadn't been a breeze since they'd left the dragon's nest, and it felt like, for a moment, she'd been hugged.
She turned to look at Leo, only to find him wearing the same stunned expression she knew she had on her own face.
"If Althena were still here," Jean said slowly, "I would have say that was a sign."
"If Althena were still here," Leo echoed, "I would have said you were right."
Neither of them touched the flask of alcohol after that. Instead, they stared out to the open sea, and pondered.
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Ghaleon watched Lemina closely, trying to gauge her potential acceptance to his proposition.
He knew she needed his help, just as he knew he needed hers.
But the Junior Premier was feisty, perhaps more so than Mia herself had ever been at that age. Mia had been quieter, more demure, and full of poise, where Lemina was known to be brash, indelicate, and haughty.
It was hard to believe the two women were related, until you realized that, underneath, they both had the same determination and the same desire to protect the people they cared about, and they both seemed to love so deeply that it was positively ridiculous.
Ghaleon wasn't a fool; he knew he wasn't on that list of people Lemina cared for, and he wasn't sure he wanted to be, either. But if he didn't allow Lemina to be closer to him, she likely would never trust him to help her rebuild Vane in the first place.
It would be tedious, but he'd have to sacrifice more of his own pride to achieve his task.
He just didn't know if Lemina would let him. The infernal woman seemed to have a tendency to hold a grudge, and Ghaleon had never been known to have the same charm that Dyne once held over the ladies.
Then again, Lemina herself was a straight-shooter, and Ghaleon figured she'd appreciate the same in turn. He'd made a promise to Dyne, after all, and he would uphold it, so he decided then that wouldn't allow Lemina to turn him down.
She walked past where he'd been waiting in the hallway below deck, and he reached out to pull her to a stop.
She screamed. "Ghaleon! I'm going to mega freeze you to death one of these days!"
He chuckled as she glowered at him. "Your magic pales in comparison to my own," he reminded her.
Lemina, however, was no Mia, and she refused to back down. "That was before you died." She sniffed, ignoring how he stiffened. "Who's to say how much magic you lost coming back to life as you did?"
"I believe I proved myself back in that dragon's dungeon," he ground out, reminding himself to be patient, to tempt her to accept his plan rather than to lose his temper. "Lemina Ausa, you do not trust me."
"You destroyed Vane. Twice," she pointed out.
"The city still stands," he protested, waving a hand.
"Maybe so, but it no longer floats." She huffed.
"There is no longer the goddess' magic to sustain it in the air as it once did," Ghaleon countered. He willed her to accept reason, so that he could convince her to accept his help.
"Which is also your fault." She folded her arms across her chest and glared at him.
Ghaleon ran a hand through his hair in annoyance. "Thousands of years ago, yes! But I am attempting to fix all of that now!"
She stared at him. "You want to fix Vane?"
"Yes," he said simply.
"You want it to fly again?"
"If human magic can do so, yes."
She didn't look convinced. "And what if it can't?"
"Vane can still be revived," he reminded her. "Vane wasn't important merely because it floated, girl. It was what it represented, and what it housed."
Lemina tapped her wand against her shoulder absently. "You won't get to be a premier or a dragonmaster again."
"I am aware." Those titles no longer mattered to anyone, anyway. There was no Althena to protect, nor was there her magic to steal save what she'd left behind of herself to the humans.
"You promise to help, and not stop until it's done, right? You'll help restore and translate every last text, rebuild every last building, and locate every lost treasure of Vane?" Lemina met his eyes with a gaze that hauntingly reminded him of Dyne.
Ghaleon swallowed, hoping she didn't notice his sudden nerves. "I do swear to do all of that," he told her, pausing to inhale slowly, "and more."
She smiled at him, and he was forced to note that she wasn't quite so ordinary and plain as he'd first assumed. "Then I'd love to have your help, Ghaleon, once we help Hiro."
He found himself smiling back, though he'd later be hard-pressed to say why.