Author's Note: Just as I took a vacation, so is Jade taking one of his own. I do hope this doesn't start a chain reaction, but if it does, what the hell, even writters need a break sometimes! It's near Christmas, just relax people. In any case, onto our author here.

TUH:What was your motivation to write this one-shot?

Jade: You know damn well why I wrote this one shot.

TUH: Did it make the itch go away?

Jade: Made it worse.

TUH: Keep on fighting the good fight. Just don't get too crazy with it.

Jade: How would I get crazy?

TUH: You know how. Just roll the chapter.

An Unfinished Scrapbook

The Sixth Picture

A Crystalit Promise

November 15th, 20 P.R.

Standing in the living room Ciro finished getting ready to head out for dinner with Tina. He had promised to take her out to Prishe's on Halloween after losing the match to Iris and Pris. It'd been an impulse on his part he readily admitted now. She'd been down when they'd lost and he'd wanted to fix that and offered the first thing that came to his mind. Right now he was buttoning up his new simple black blazer over a white shirt. Both his Mom and Rin had told him that he could go with something a little more original than basic black but he wasn't that adventurous and the only reason he even bothered with getting one was because he was heading out to a nice restaurant.

"Honestly Master, I leave you alone for one night and you go and do this." Min chided as she hovered around Ciro. "What possessed you, dear sister that you let our young master fall into the clutches of that kitten?"

"They had fun though! And Master was able to hold his own in the fight," Nim defended herself from her spot on Ciro's shoulder.

"And I can make my own decisions Min," Ciro added as he once more straightened his tie. "Even the ones I don't always think through. Prishe's place is more spendy than I thought when I did a little research on it. I've hung around Tina often enough, and while she doesn't have Pris' appetite, she puts my family combined to shame."

"Think I might be able to help with that," Sol stepped in. If you looked at father and son there was no denying that Ciro was fathered by Sol, the only difference between the two was their hair colour and height. While Ciro was a golden blonde, Sol's hair was brown bordering on black. Whereas Ciro had yet to crack six feet, Sol stood a whole eight inches over that mark.

"It's alright Dad, Mom already thought of that." Reaching into the inner pocket of his blazer Ciro produced his wallet. The wind had been taken right out of Sol's sails with that simple line, once more his wife had beaten him to making sure that their kids were taken care of.

"So when are you heading out?" Sol asked with a father's curiosity as to what his child was up to.

"Here shortly, our reservations are for seven and it'll only take a short while on Starlight to reach Prishe's." Nim and Min started to fly towards the door, expecting that Ciro was heading out now. "Wait, you two don't think you're coming along do you?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Nim asked innocently while she floated in front of the door. Her sister on the other hand knew exactly why and was giving Ciro a look that told him she was coming even if she had to fly the entire way on her own.

"You'll need protection in case anything goes wrong," the implications in Min's voice was not that Ciro would be in any physical danger, but that there was something more that he'd need to be protected from. "When have you visited a place of class? Do you know what is expected of a person when they head into a place that has earned the prestige this restaurant has? I fear Master that your parents haven't taught you the social etiquette that this place would demand of you and that you'd make a fool of yourself. If you look the fool, then so do my sister and I."

Sol, who was still in the room, didn't look the least bit offended at Min's words. He had not once bothered to teach Ciro what it was like to be in any place of high standing. Had Luna been there she certainly would have protested as she tried to make sure that her kids learned everything she had thought they might need, even if she wasn't the one to offer the advice needed.

"Min, I'm going alone. You and Tina don't get along, you two are almost as bad as her and Ceres. I told Tina that I'd take her out to dinner as a consolation prize since we lost to Iris and Pris, I kinda want it to be something she'd enjoy and honesty Min….. I don't think it'd be great if you came along. I don't think it'd be too much trouble to bring Nim, but taking her and not you wouldn't be fair, so you're both staying home."

"Master I implore that you take Nim if you're so adamant about leaving me behind. Do not worry about my feelings on the matter, we are here to protect you and I would feel much better if you at least had one of us accompanying you."

"But sister, I don't know any more than Master when it comes to how to behave." As oblivious as Ciro to Min's ulterior motive, Nim admitted that she was equally lacking. The glare that Min gave her twin was one that should have killed it was so intense.

Ciro headed towards the door letting his fairy summons bicker about what they were going to do. With a quick wave goodbye to his dad, Ciro ducked out the door, the sound of it closing alerted both the Espers to what had just happened. Both flew to the door and started pounding on it in a vain attempt to get Ciro, or even Sol, to open it and let them out.

Being neighbours with Tina was convenient when Ciro wanted to hang out with her. It wasn't odd for him to randomly head over to her house and see if she was up to anything. He had made the walk over to her house numerous times but this time as he walked over, he felt that there was something different about it and it wasn't just because he was wearing a new pair of shoes.

Reaching the door Ciro found that he was nervous. It was just dawning on him that he was going to a fancy restaurant, with Tina, alone. By all rights this could be construed as a date. He tried to tell himself that he'd do this for Nimbus or any one of his friends but quickly realized that it wasn't true, the thought would never had crossed his mind.

"Been waiting for you Ciro," Nimbus appeared from behind him startling the teen. "Where's your dynamic duo?"

"Gods Nimbus, warn a guy before you scare the life out of him." Ciro had spun around to face Nimbus who was in her training garb, having clearly just come from another round of her workout. "And yeah, Nim and Min aren't exactly happy about it but they're sitting at home. Min's probably trying to figure out she's going to make my life hell when I get back home."

"Braving the wrath of a tiny fairy for my sister, you truly are a man Ciro." Nimbus teased. Patting Ciro on the back and almost knocking him down. If he wasn't used to such a welcome from the Esper girl he wouldn't have quickly gotten a Protect off when she'd first announced herself and been able to stay standing. "Good work with that Protect."

"Hey, Min can be downright evil." It was weak, the truth, but weak when Ciro thought about it. By all rights he was the one in charge of Min, she even addressed him as Master much to his dismay, so he shouldn't be afraid of his own partner.

Nimbus ignored his defence and opened the door, leading Ciro into the house. Immediately Ciro felt the nervousness that had left when he was talking with Nimbus. This oddly didn't feel like the house he visited on a whim, this felt like a domain of a large creature that would just as soon strike him down as blink. Something about this place had changed. Like always Ciro's magical sense went a little haywire in the house. Given the strength of those living inside and the amount of mana they had was enough to alert even the densest of magic users and Ciro was anything but oblivious when it came to sensing magic.

Half expecting Tina to be in the living room waiting for him Ciro was shocked only to find Terra sitting on the couch. She turned and looked to see who had entered her house and waved at Ciro when she had spotted him. It didn't shock to see that Terra was in her Esper form, he'd seen her in it often enough that he had gotten used to seeing her like that. Quickly she had gotten off the couch and headed to the stairs and called out to her eldest daughter.

"She'll be right down Ciro," Terra informed as she turned back to face her guest. "And you do look good today, I know Tina will think so too." Blushing a little Ciro simply rubbed the back of his head and accepted the compliment.

"So you're taking Tina out to dinner at Prishe's, didn't know you were ready for such a step. Honestly wasn't sure that you had it in you." Nimbus' tone said that she was teasing but the look on her face was almost one of genuine surprise.

"She was really down about losing our trip to Gilg's to your sister and I just offered the first thing that came to mind."

"That's adorable," Terra chimed in. Ciro's blush deepened at the words, she clearly wasn't going to be satisfied until he was red in the face.

Terra didn't have to say anything more to have all the blood in Ciro's body rush to his face, Tina had appeared on the top of the stairs. Like her mother and sister, she was tranced. While Ciro was used to Terra being tranced and saw Nimbus like that on a daily basis, it didn't really register that they were technically naked, though in Nimbus' case she did wear clothes. Tina didn't often trance, mostly just to fight or when her emotions got the best of her. To see her like that, Ciro wondered what caused her to appear like that, as he had many times before, Ciro wished he had Fay's powers.

Walking down the steps Ciro watched Tina, unable to take his eyes off her. He wasn't starting for any improper reasons, though it'd be a lie to say that he wasn't acknowledging what he was seeing, but worry was written plain on his face. He walked forward to meet her at the bottom of the steps and he took her hand like he had on many occasions before when she was like this.

"Well Tina, you ready to head out for dinner?" Ciro asked as calmly, putting on a smile and trying to get his heart rate under control. It was a trick his Aunt Rin had taught him, when you want to calm someone else down you had be calm yourself.

"Ciro, I'm tranced, do I look like I'm ready to head out to dinner?"

"Far as I can tell you are." Distracting her from whatever was causing the stress as best he could Ciro made it his mission to avoid mention her tranced form or even showing that he registered that she was in it. "Starlight is out in the stable isn't he?"

Since he already had her hand it wasn't hard for him to pull her out of the house, if Tina was tranced outside of combat like this she was actually pretty easy to lead. Terra and Nimbus stood out of the way, letting Ciro take care of Tina, both mother and sister knew that he'd be able to bring her out of it.

Reaching the stables that housed the plethora of Chocobos without so much as a peep from Tina, Ciro knew that whatever was getting to her was big. He only hoped that by the time they got to the restaurant she'd be calmer. Finding Starlight's nest wasn't hard, while all the stalls were clean, only a few of them were as immaculate as his or as big. Not to mention that the sleeping Chocobo had a small Tina doll that had been made by Celes that he had nestled around. Ciro stood at the opening of the stall and looked at the sleeping form. Having dealt with his sister's Chocobo, Gladiolus, often enough, Ciro was afraid to wakeup Starlight, they were siblings and he feared Starlight would have the same temperament as his brother.

Even in her present state Tina knew what Ciro was thinking and started to get Starlight ready for travel. The big drought Chocobo had happily roused to see Tina and kweh'd in joy when he saw that it was her. Her trance form didn't bother her Chocobo in the least as she got him ready, getting him saddled and prepped for flight, feeding him a xelphatol apple in the process. Once he was all-ready Tina turned to Ciro with a worried look on her face, she clearly still wasn't ready for what they had planned.

"Thanks Tina. I would have been of more help but Gladiolus has made me more than a little shy around large Chocobos."

"It's no problem Ciro, but are you sure that you still want to head on out?" Ciro had hoped that getting Starlight ready for flight would have given her some release for the pent up feelings.

"Yes, I had to make reservations for this and that was hard to get" What Ciro left out was that he wasn't sure that he'd have the courage to ask Tina out to dinner like this again, not without an opportunity like Halloween.

"I suppose we should get going then," Tina turned and looked at Starlight like she didn't want to climb onto the bird's back.

Taking advantage of her open posture Ciro moved over and wrapped his arms around Tina. He felt her whole body tense at his touch and her breathing quicken as she tried to get control of herself. Standing and holding her through that Ciro felt the fur of her face brush against his as she calmed down. Normally he wasn't so bold as to do this when she was her normal self, but he knew that when she was like this, it would help bring her back.

"Tina, I've told you each time that you get like this, just take a deep breath and let go. I don't know what's got you like this tonight but just focus on the fun. We're going to have dinner at one of the nicest places in Mobliz and if I remember right, Prishe's place has a cool crystal theme to it. I brought enough gil that you can order a few meals if you want, there's nothing to worry about"

As he held her to him Ciro could feel the whiskers against his face start to recede. When he pulled back Ciro felt his breath catch. Tina had always looked stunning but today she had seemed to pull all the stops. She, like he, had bothered to dress up but the outfit she had on made Ciro feel like he hadn't put enough effort forward. She wore a red dress that hugged every, single, curve of her body and accented them. The length of her skirt had a slit running up one side all the way up to Tina's thigh showing off her smooth leg. A pair of red heels put Tina a little taller than when she had been in her Esper form.

Ciro had gulped when he saw where the top of the dress ended. It covered just enough of her chest to be deemed any amount of decent and the dress definitely brought attention to the area. Since the back of the dress was non-existent Ciro could only surmise that the front of the dress was being held up by magical means. Her hair had even been pulled up into a bun, something that was done for a more formal occasion and Ciro had to admit she looked great. He noticed a gleam on her ear and took a closer look to find that she was wearing a pair of earrings. They were a silver circle hanging from a two link chain with a red orb set just below where the chain connected to the circle.

"Like what you see?" Tina's playful voice purred as she spun a little to give Ciro a better look. It was all that he could do to nod his head.

"Where is he?!" Shin's voice echoed from the house. That same dreaded feeling that Ciro had felt in the house now sent a chill down his back. All Ciro could tell was that for some reason Shin was angry and given the fact he was calling for a male made him assume that Kefka had oddly done something to warrant his father's anger.

"That would be our cue to leave,"

Tina climbed up on Starlight, Ciro had the decency to look away as her dress was already daring enough without her hosting her leg up onto a Chocobo's back. She turned back and held out her hand to Ciro who waved it away as he hiked up onto Light's back. Ciro had been aiming for the spot behind Tina but found that he had wound up sitting in front of her. A cheshire grin spread on Tina's face as she moved forward and grabbed the reins, essentially hugging Ciro in the process, along with pressing certain body parts against him.

With a loud kweh to the sky Starlight took flight and made a brief pass by house where Ciro got a glimpse into the house to see both Pris and Terra holding Shin back. Nimbus had opened the door in time to wave good bye at the passing trio. Nimbus cupped her hands to her mouth and called something out to them but Starlight had taken them too far for Ciro's human ears to hear but judging by how Tina nodded her head she had gotten the message that her sister had shouted out to them.

The flight to Prishe's had been quick and slightly uncomfortable for Ciro, not physically speaking though his physical senses were definitely the reason. Tina had been pressed up against him the entire time and it had been a little mentally taxing trying to not think about how the sensation on his back. It wasn't unpleasant in the least, in fact that was the problem and Ciro didn't want Tina to think he enjoyed it too much, like all the guys that pined after her. He had his place as her friend and he didn't want to jeopardize that for any reason.

When they landed in the parking lot of the restaurant Tina gracefully floated them both off of Starlight's back. A simple pat on his side was the only signal Tina needed to give to send the large Chocobo back home.

"Don't want to leave Light out here when he can be back home resting." Heading towards the door Tina waited for Ciro to catch up to her.

The entrance to Prishe's wasn't as extravagant as one would expect. A simple outside did not prepare the customers for what lay inside. Light threatened to blind Ciro as he entered from the plethora of crystal that shone in the room. The entire floor had been made of the rock, blue and shining bright with some hidden power. Crystalline pillars ran up the walls giving off a low yellow-orange light that was the main source of illumination. While each table was wooden and looking somewhat simple compared to the rest of the room but the chairs were a great segway to them. Chairs were made out of both wood and crystal, the legs look like they had grown straight out of the floor while the gem slowly gave way to lumber, turning to full wood by the time it reached the seat.

Each table seemed to have bodies in the seats accompanying it, there appeared to be no room for the young duo to sit. The wait staff was bustling around getting orders out to their tables as fast and promptly as they could without disturbing the guests or other staff members. One man spotted Ciro and Tina and quickly made his way through the maze of tables and people. He was dressed in a black suit and looked very much the part with a rose in his pocket made out of ruby and emerald from the looks of it.

"Can you help you young sir and miss?" He asked as he stood behind a crystal podium.

"Yeah, we have a reservation under Ciro Adamas, that's A-D-A-M-A-S," Ciro habitually spelled his last name. There was no malice or haughtiness in his voice, he simply found that most people would misspell his last name given the chance even though to him the name was spelled as it sounded.

"Yes, Mr. Adamas I see your name here. We have a lovely table set aside for you and your date."

Eyes widening to the size of dinner plates Ciro looked between the waiter and Tina. His mouth moved as he tried to deny the fact that Tina was his date but nothing came out. It was only made worse by the fact that Tina wasn't saying anything but looking at Ciro expectantly. Shaking his head Ciro managed to stammer out a response:

"S-S-She's not my date," he managed.

"My apologies," with a curt bow the waiter looked at both teens as if in a new light. Ciro looked back at Tina apologetically and swore that she looked hurt at his words. "If you two would follow me to your table." Moving out from behind his little stand he motioned for the two to follow after as he navigated the room.

Their table was more towards the back of the room near one of the dim pillars, at first Ciro thought that the light would be a bother but it actually gave off an inviting glow. The menus for both of them were already placed at their table. Ciro went to one side and pulled out the chair, he expected it to be a bit heavier than it was since part of it was pure crystal which could be a heavy stone. He waited patiently for Tina to come and sit down, while he had told the truth and this wasn't a date, it was also a place of class and was expected of a gentleman to pull out a lady's chair for her. Taking her spot that was kindly offered and let Ciro push it in for her also. He headed around the circular table and took his seat.

"Can I start you two off with anything to drink?"

"I'll have some Cabernet Sauvignon to start the night with," Tina ordered without even looking at the wine list to see what the place offered.

"And you for you sir?" the waiter turned to Ciro expectantly.

"I'll just have some water thanks," Ciro smiled as he handed the wine list over. Ghosting away the waiter left to take care of their orders.

"Still don't drink, eh Ciro?" observing that despite being of legal age in Mobliz that Ciro had never had a single drop of alcohol.

"Yup, Mom's culture has the age set up at twenty-one and I'm a few years shy of that." Not batting an eye at the fact that Tina might find it strange.

"Ciro, you are more the welcome to try some when he comes back with the bottle." When you ordered a glass of wine you didn't just buy the one glass, you bought the entire bottle since it wasn't exactly good to simply recork the bottle and drink it later. As such many places simply brought the bottle in a chilled bucket so that the customer could drink at their leisure.

"I'm fine Tina, really. I know that a lot of people our age have taken advantage of the lowered age and that's their choice. Mom made it clear that she expects me to hold true to my heritage and I plan to." Propping open his menu Ciro hid behind it as he pretended to look through it.

"Don't worry Ciro I'm not going to force you to drink any, just wanted you to loosen up a little bit." Unfolding her own menu Tina earnestly looked over the list of food that was up for the taking. "Oh and Ciro, you don't have to pay for me tonight."

"Tina," Ciro started as he put down his menu. "I'm the one that offered to bring you here and I offered to pay. We're friends and I've seen how much you can eat, I've come prepared for that. Please for tonight, don't argue about it."

Silently they looked over the menu and decided on what they wanted to eat for the night. For a while Ciro felt comfortable in the quiet, taking Tina's silence as her pondering over what she wanted to eat. After having decided on his own meal Ciro had thought that he would try to strike up conversation but Tina still had her head hidden. Unsure if he should interrupt her or not Ciro waited patiently for her to be done. As if he knew exactly when both had made up their mind, the waiter they had met arrived ready to take their order almost the second that Tina had set down her menu. Ciro had settled on a simple pasta dish that he thought he remembered having before.

"And I'll have some parmesan and herb-crusted beef tenderloin, apricot brown sugar ham, honey-glazed baby back ribs with whiskey marinade, caramel apple pork chops, and last but not least some marinated pork tenderloin. All of it as rare as you can make it please." The list Tina had rattled off had made Ciro wonder if he hadn't bitten off more than he could chew. He was certain that he had brought enough gil to pay for everything but that had been before Tina rattled off five different dishes like it was just going to be her first course in a twenty course meal.

As their orders were taken another man had appeared with Tina's wine and Ciro's water. The glasses were made of crystal just like the rest of the place but they were more finely polished and while coloured, you could easily see the liquid that sloshed into the cup as the wine was poured into the ruby red cup on Tina's side. Ciro's own glass was a deep green colour that dyed the water he drank.

Waiting for the food wasn't as quiet in the least, Ciro had taken a deep breath and figured that now was the best time as ever to breach a subject that he wasn't always fond of but needed to get done. It was something that he had done often enough and while he wasn't sure that this was going to be the best time, he wasn't exactly sure when he would next have Tina alone and be able to talk about it without drawing unwanted attention.

"Tina, about your latest….. disagreement." Ciro wanted to pick his words carefully, he had thought to call it a fight but the fact that Tina had come out unscathed and the guy had once more wound up in the hospital, it couldn't really be classified as such.

"Do we have to do that now?" Tina asked as she sat back in her chair. "I mean it's pretty straightforward, he was peeking on the girls locker room and so I taught him what the cost of that was by breaking a leg or two. But we don't need to discuss that. You're my class rep but I honestly don't know what you do."

Ciro felt his hand scratch the back of his head again as he thought about what to say. "Well…. most of what I do is making sure that your actions don't come back to bite you too hard. Like with this last one, I had to convince him that it was better to let it blow over rather than bringing it up with anyone of authority given what you had already done to him. He realized that the threat of you and your anger was worse than pressing charges. Then I brought up your heritage and he turned pale as a ghost."

"I do thank you for what you do for me Ciro, but honestly, whenever my mother tells people to stop bullying people you know what they keep doing, picking on people, namely Pris. When I break a few bones they leave us well enough alone." The spite in Tina's voice was easily heard, she was protective of her little sister and Ciro knew that no matter what he said she would continue to protect Pris in the way that she saw fit. Still, he had to make his point since he had brought up the subject.

"Just know Tina that I'm not sure how much help I'm going to be. I'll support you as best I can in every way I can but I'm losing my power to do so." Taking a sip of water Ciro was sincerely debating taking a drink of Tina's drink to help him through it. "Lot of the other reps are getting tired of me defending you and they're putting up more and more resistance with each of your antics. I can stop the guys you hurt but that doesn't mean that others won't be looking for a reason to strike at you in any way they can. Yeah a lot of the student body likes you Tina, but you've made a fair number of enemies also." Downing the remnants of his water Ciro leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath. He hadn't meant for the conversation to end like this. He had just wanted to let Tina know that he had covered up for her again as best he could.

"Thank you Ciro, truly. I didn't mean for this to affect you. Really I didn't think it would affect anyone but me. I can promise you this though, I won't hospitalize anyone from here on out. Unless they go too far bullying Pris." Refilling her own glass Tina passed it over to Ciro with a serious look on her face. "You look like you could use it." Holding up his hand Ciro denied the drink as politely as he could at the moment.

As if by some divine plan, some of the food arrived at table, Ciro's pasta and two of Tina's five dishes. They passed the rest of the dinner in small talk, plans about what they were going to be doing for the upcoming holiday season to the antics of their siblings or cousins. Some of the stories that Tina had told about Pris Ciro understood that they were viewed through a rose coloured lens as Tina could see no wrong in her youngest sister.

While Ciro had taken time to eat his meal and savour the well-seasoned food, Tina more tore through her food. Her table manners weren't atrocious but they did leave something to be desired given the place they were in. She had managed to eat both of her first two plates before the last three had made their way out and Ciro had barely managed to get through half.

Reaching the end of the meal Ciro readied himself for that damage that was incoming. While he was certain he had enough to cover for the night, he wondered just how much lighter his wallet would be after this. His own meal had cost a pretty penny and had been pretty simple, Tina had gotten five and at least one of them was certainly on the higher end of the price board. If it wasn't for his mom making sure to fatten his wallet he was sure that he would have had to ask Tina for help in paying and he didn't want to lose what dignity he had.

"Hey," Tina called the waiter over as he passed by. "Can we see the dessert menu please?"

"Certainly Miss," he readily produced a small list from inside his coat. "I had two ready incase you two wanted to browse our wide selection."

"Tina," Ciro looked on in horror.

"This I am paying for Ciro and you best order something." Taking a look into the dessert menu didn't take nearly as long as ordering their main courses.

Ciro was only slightly shocked when Tina had gotten two large bowls of ice cream, a small plate of dark chocolate fudge that was so decadent that Ciro was sure that all chocolate from then on out would be a pale comparison to what he had eaten, a slice a of lemon and fresh raspberry dacquoise, a whisky tart, a single serving of mocha pots de creme, and a pair of cream puffs with dark chocolate sauce. She had ordered more dessert than she had normal food. At that moment Ciro felt his ego deflate a bit when he thought that he had been able to take care of Tina for the night when he had barely made a dent in her appetite. For himself he had just ordered the fudge as it was the cheapest thing on the menu and he didn't want to impose on Tina's generosity.

Her manners hadn't improved when it came to dessert and Tina had eaten everything pretty quickly except the ice cream because even an Esper wasn't immune to a brain freeze. Tina announced herself done when she had finished everything but one of the cream puffs, one of the ice cream bowls, and the mocha pots de creme.

"You're done?" Ciro asked confused as he looked at the unfinished food in front of her. He had finished his small plate of chocolate already and had just been waiting on his friend to finish.

"Yes and I see you didn't really order much there. I don't care that all you got was some fudge, that was the cheapest thing on the menu so I figured you'd like a few more things to finish off the night." Getting up out of her seat Tina pulled her chair behind her and sat down next to Ciro. "Now, either you can eat the rest of these since they're already ordered, or I can feed them to you."

"I think I can handle that on my own," taking up the spoon sticking out of the somewhat melting ice cream Ciro started to eat, he did have some pride that he wanted to protect and having Tina feed him would destroy that.

When it came time to pay for the bill Ciro tried to downplay the cost of what Tina had ordered and cover as much as he could afford but she had ripped the bill out of his hands and looked over what she had owed for the dessert. Splitting the bill appropriately they waited for the waiter to return with their change. A small camera was in the waiter's hand as he approached the duo at their table. Both teens looked confused at the device when he approached.

"It's part of the reservation package that you made Mr. Adamas, or did you not want it? I understand that most people opt for this package simply because they get to keep the fine crystal glasses." It was then that Ciro remembered looking at the information on the restaurant and wishing that he had been able to afford the glasses to go along with the experience, he had even played around with what colors he would have gotten. His first clue that some interference had come into play was the fact that the last colours he had decided on had indeed been the two that he had last looked at. When Ciro got home he was going to have to have a word with his mother about interfering with his life, and to also thank her for doing this for him.

"Uh no, the picture will be alright." Ciro moved over to stand next to Tina in the most platonic way that he could. She wasn't going to have any of it though. Instead Tina pulled Ciro in close, close enough that their faces were almost touching and linked arms with him. For the third time that night Ciro felt blood fill his cheeks as his face reddened in time for the flash of the camera.

"Think we should head on home now," Tina said as she took the offered picture and picked up her glass off the table. "And don't think I'll forget this." Unsure if that was a threat or not Ciro lead the way out of the restaurant.

Hitting the night air Ciro realized that he had no idea on how they were going to get home. Last he checked neither Tina nor him had bothered to bring along any method of communication and their ride in was long gone, resting back home in his nest. Looking up and down the street Ciro wondered just what the cab cost would be to get them back home. It was as he was pondering that bit of information that he felt the air charge with mana. Facing Tina he wasn't surprised that she had transformed, just didn't know why she had done so.

"I'll take you home tonight Ciro," holding out her wine glass expectantly Tina waited for Ciro to take it. He hadn't been braced for what happened after he had taken her glass. Next thing that he knew he was in Tina's arms much like how a groom would carry a bride across the threshold. All traces of any dignity he had were just blown out of the water by that one simple act.

Ciro gritted his teeth as he was carried through the night sky. The wind was chill against his skin but the warmth of the arms he was in helped cut through the cold he was feeling. Neither one tried to talk, Ciro was too preoccupied making sure that the glasses they'd gotten along with the single photo weren't lost in their travel.

Rather than heading to her home first, Tina had landed in front of Ciro's home. As she set him down she reverted back to her human form. While Ciro's short hair was showing definite signs of high speed travels, Tina didn't have a single hair out of place.

"Thank you for tonight Ciro," Tina smiled as she took her trinket out of his hands. "And for this." Not only had she taken the cup but also the single picture.

"No problem. I know it wasn't Gilg's and all but I hope it was a good enough trade off."

"Ciro, it was great." the sincerity in Tina's voice lifted Ciro's spirits after the events that had just transpired.

"Away from my Master!" Min came flying out of the upstairs window and down to right in front of Tina's face. "You dare to fly him through the night sky in the middle of a chill month like this? Are you insane? If I did not know the limits of your intellect I'd swear you meant for him to get sick."

"Master!" Nim cried as she too appeared in a streak of light. Instantly she was looking Ciro over both physically and magically to see if anything had happened to him. "His core temperature is a little lower than I'd like. If he doesn't want to catch a cold he best get some sleep so his body can fight it off."

"Min, Nim, enough. Tina was kind enough to bring me home after I didn't secure a way back for us. Rather than berate her you should be thanking her for getting me home." Folding his arms over his chest Ciro looked at the twin fairies like one would look when scolding their children for lacking manners. It was then that Ciro realized he wasn't the only one lacking manners. Quickly undoing the buttons of his jacket Ciro slipped out of it and handed it over to Tina. "You can give it back to me tomorrow. Don't want you walking home in the cold dressed like that."

"Oh Ciro, I don't actually need this kind of thing... but I'll take it. If anything, I'm sure it's comfortable! As for you two, I'm glad you care about your Master so much. I'll leave him in your capable hands Nim!" With a wave Tina floated away as she shouted goodnight to Ciro. He called back to her that he'd see her tomorrow, swearing she had taken a sniff out of his coat for some reason, before he returned his full attention to the two floating in front of him.

"What am I going to do with you three?" he asked no one in particular as he opened the door and headed inside to follow Nim's advice and get some rest.

Post-Chapter Note: And there you have it. Simple, to the point. And... excruciating in some ways. As always, all credit goes to Jade, and I'm sure he hopes you enjoyed and are able to drop your opinion on it!