Chapter 50: Well, staying home from school for personal reasons…NOT because I dropped out or anything…I'm just helping out my family…they're more important than school. So, aside from that, I pretty much have 24 hours to do whatever I want, so…BRING ON THE UPDATES! Oh, and I own nothing.

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Another quick year, passing by like a flash to the old Seraph. He wished time wouldn't move so quickly, that he could be with his wife and son forever, but he knew it wouldn't be so. Together, the family travelled all over Sylverant, searching for any trace of a dwarf. There had been none so far, and Kratos could tell that Anna's exsphere was in its final stage. At most, she would have a year left. The pain of the Cruxis Crystal had started to pain her all the time; sporadic attacks were no longer. It was hard for her to lift Lloyd without hurting her chest.

Kratos had moved north with the warming season. The weather was turning into a nice spring, and there was no longer a need for jackets. Lloyd was able to wear short sleeved shirts, of course in red and black shorts that matched well with the crimson. The boy's figure had thinned out from a chubby baby to a young lad, with his arms and legs longer, his "baby fat" gone, and his chin more defined. Of course, he was still adorable; he just seemed larger and more refined. Kratos loved Lloyd more than anything in the world. The Seraph would let the boy sit on his shoulders as the toddler would start clapping his hands, laughing. Another reason those started up again was because Lloyd had grown out of his "pulling hair" stage.

Once, while travelling, Lloyd had been making more defined sounds and sharper noises. He was on his way to his first word, which Kratos and Anna anticipated greatly. They were travelling from Hima, the mountain village, and they had just left an inn and stocked on supplies. Lloyd was sitting next to Anna on a bench while Kratos worked out funds with the inn keeper. He frowned, his mind concentrating, and the young mother noticed.

"Are you thinking of something?" she asked him. Lloyd had amazing comprehension. He could understand many things, but he could not say them himself. The young boy looked up, comprehending the words, and then nodded lightly. Anna smiled and ruffled Lloyd's hair with her hand.

"Eee…rrr…," he began, still frowning. The noise piqued her interest, and she listened intently. "…Dddd…Eeeeee…" Anna held her breath as the boy continued to make the noises with concentration. Kratos paid the sum of the money to the innkeeper, and walked over to the two.

"He's trying to say a word," Anna remarked to him, pointing to the still concentrating boy. Suddenly, his face brightened, and he smiled.

"RrrrreEEEEEeddDDD!!! REDREDRED!" he squealed, clapping his hands. Kratos and Anna looked to each other.

"…Red?" the Seraph echoed. Lloyd nodded and continued to squeal the word while Anna picked the boy up, looking dejected.

"He learned how to say a color before he learned to say our names," she said, looking to Kratos who also seemed a little disappointed. Kratos looked at the still laughing Lloyd with his sadness dispersing at the sight. Just seeing his son happy made the Seraph smile.

That was six months ago, when Lloyd was still one year old. Now, the three were travelling in Palmacosta, and it was nearing Lloyd's second birthday. The first one was a complete failure when the family still had a house. Lloyd fell on the cake, began crying, and didn't like any of his presents. Kratos and Anna were filled in anxiety of a repeat of the first time, as they watch Lloyd carefully run around, wobbling with every step. Kratos saw him chase a red butterfly, his arms stretched above his head as the small insect lifted higher. His fingers wiggled, hoping that it would help him reach higher, but it was just too high. He then bent his little legs and jumped up to get it, but the boy ended up missing and tripped, falling flat on his face. His face hit the dirt ground and pain crawled into it. Crying, Lloyd sat up and put his hands to his eyes as he did so.

Suddenly, the young toddler was thrown in the air, and landed on top of Kratos' shoulders. The cries of sadness turned into ones of happiness as he waved his arms in glee.

"Daaad!! Dad!!!" he said, and the Seraph's heart absolutely melted. Anna was now next to the men, smiling at the now bi-word son. When Lloyd saw his mom, he reached for her, making little "Oof" noises to get Kratos' attention. Of course, he complied, taking Lloyd off his head and giving him to Anna.

"He always seems to like you more," Kratos muttered, though he was perfectly happy. Anna laughed and pinched Lloyd's nose lightly, making him wave his arms in glee. It was such a perfect picture, with true happiness around the family. Kratos looked forward and noticed the city of Palmacosta not far away.

"If we hurry, we can look at the shops a bit," Kratos remarked, knowing that would make Anna move to a sprint for the rest of the way. She immediately began a trot with Lloyd bouncing in her arms and giggling at all the movement. Kratos sighed, putting a hand on his face to hide it. Sometimes, it was hard not to laugh at the exciting woman.

The Aurion family made it into Palmacosta within twenty minutes when it was supposed to be a one to two hour walk. Anna was tired at all, either, too. She gave Lloyd to Kratos and began to dash around the city, looking for shops to…well, shop at! Her smiles grew wide at every image of cute clothing in the windows, imagining herself in them. Kratos and Lloyd had trouble keeping up, and after a few minutes, gave up altogether. The Seraph headed for an inn to reserve a room while Anna, oblivious to her husband's decision, looked about the city with ecstasy.

The Seraph entered a nice hotel to stay, and entered it with a smile. The innkeeper exchanged keys for money, and the Seraph went upstairs to unpack the items. The family would now be staying for three to five days until they felt too comfortable in the place. That is how they travelled for almost a year now, and it was working great…except for the fact Kratos couldn't find a dwarf. His anxiety grew as quickly and unexpectedly as Lloyd, when he would relax, Anna would tell him about how her Cruxis Crystal pains her, and whenever the Seraph was prepared for an "attack" from the devilish thing, it would never happen.

The Seraph left the inn room with now only Lloyd, for Noishe stayed outside the city, and there was no need to bring anything. Within the minute he was outside the inn, Kratos noticed Anna flocking to a large shop, sparkles in her green eyes.

"Lloyd, whatever you do, do not marry someone who is crazy about shopping. It'll kill you," he told the boy. Because of the advanced word choice, the boy just looked to his father with big, confused eyes. "Let's go get Anna." The toddler understood that and nodded, pointing to the shop she just went inside of. He found her looking at assortments of shoes when Kratos lightly tapped her on the shoulder.

"Anna, why don't you buy something for…," he pointed his head to Lloyd, who wasn't really listening. "We should celebrate today." Anna looked back at Kratos, then to Lloyd, and nodded happily. Kratos threw her a pouch of money, and left to occupy Lloyd so Anna could do her thing.

The first place little Lloyd wanted to be was at the large, central fountain of Palmacosta, in a plaza between the governor's building, and the church. Many other kids were playing around it as well, making paper boats and sailing them across with the help of their parents, or whether it was playing tag. Lloyd saw the fun all these kids had, and squealed happily. The Seraph let him to the stone floor, and he carefully wobbled to the group of kids.

He was accepted right away. Playing with another two year old, they began rolling a big blue and red ball back and forth to each other, giggling whenever it would bounce or fall into the water. Kratos smiled and sat down at a bench where he could watch the boy without being too close. He watched Lloyd bend over, grab the ball close to his feet, and awkwardly throw it to the other boy a couple meters away. It hit the floor and bounced, making Lloyd laugh. The other boy, with blonde hair and a blue sweater on, grabbed the ball that came close to him.

This occurred several times, with each boy laughing madly. Then, when the ball became obsolete for their fun, the boys began to play tag. Lloyd was a bit slower due to his lack of time for play on the road, and was "it" most of the time. The boy didn't even know what the game was, so he didn't mind when he had to run around. One instance, he was "it" and started running after the blonde boy with a smile on his face. His foot caught onto a protruding stone, and the boy tripped. He landed on top of the blonde boy, and they rolled around in heap. The blonde obtained a red knee, and began crying while Lloyd stared at him with a bloody foot and cut hands. He was not crying at all. In fact, he wobbled to the boy and patted him on the shoulder, silently apologizing for his clumsiness. The boy eventually stopped and smiled, the comfort Lloyd bringing working very well. Kratos watched this with full interest, and stood up when he saw the bloodied foot. Quickly, he knelt next to Lloyd, who had a grin on his face, and lifted him up.

"Does your foot hurt?" he asked him. Lloyd comprehended the words for a moment, and then shook his head. He looked at the cut, and chose to head to the inn for treatment. "Say good bye for a little, because we need to fix your foot." Lloyd waved to the boy, still in his dad's arms, and then held onto his dad. When they left the plaza, and were alone, Lloyd immediately began to change. Tears filled his eyes and his body shook.

"Does it hurt now?" the Seraph asked, seeing the sudden change. Lloyd slowly nodded, the tears rolling down his cheeks. Kratos then figured out that Lloyd had refused to look weak in front of anyone besides his dad. "Lloyd, you don't have to hide your feelings." The boy nodded and sobbed into the cloak that Kratos wore.

He's so smart…he already knows how to hide how he hurts, and deceive even me…poor child, he just wants everyone to be happy around him, and he knew that if he cried, that he would create sadness and tension with those around him…how did he figure that out? Kratos mulled glancing at his son's dirty face. It also bore scratches from the hard stone fall.

Inside the inn, Kratos began using his magic to heal. He touched the red toes with his hand, and muttered a First Aid. The blood dried, and the cut vanished. Lloyd laughed from the tingling sensation that went through his body. The light cuts on his cheeks disappeared, and the sore hands and knees became well once more.

"All better," Kratos said, smiling at the toddler. Lloyd felt his foot in wonderment, and then made a toothy grin.

"Daddy!" he squealed, and gave him a big hug. Kratos smiled, and gave him a hug back. "Love yoooou!" The new words caught Kratos in surprise, and his heart melted in a heartbeat. Lately, it has been doing that more and more, it seemed to him. Just then, Anna appeared with three boxes in her arms. She smiled when she saw the boys embracing. Then, she placed the boxes on a table and picked up Lloyd.

"You know what time it is?" she asked, smiling.

"Moooomm!! Love yooou!" he squealed. What's with the sudden vocabulary boost? Anna hugged her boy tightly, her heart as light as a feather.

"Well, it's birthday time!" she exclaimed. Lloyd looked at her, confused, and Anna smiled at his confusion. She merely opened one box, and inside was a small, yet pretty brown cake. Lloyd widened his eyes and made his inarticulate noise to get down. She complied, and he wobbled over to the table. He poked the cake and licked his finger. Yummy chocolaty flavor came into his mouth, and Lloyd smiled. He was about to dip again when Anna swooped him up and placed him on the bed.

"I'll get you a slice," she told him. Lloyd squealed and clapped his hands when he received a plate with the cake on it. Grabbing the fork embedded in the top of it, he made a mess as he chomped on the food with glee. Anna grabbed a slice for herself, but Kratos didn't want any. He chuckled as Lloyd managed to get more on his face than in his mouth. The toddler licked his chocolaty face, and wiped off the more stubborn crumbs when he was done.

"Want new toys?" she asked him. Lloyd's eyes brightened, and he nodded, grinning from ear to ear. She obtained the second of the three boxes and set it on his lap. He ripped apart the bag while going through the box, his want for a new toy very great. Inside, there was a smaller, and flatter box. Happily, Lloyd opened it, and inside was a set of red trains, painted down to the very last detail. He squealed happily at the sight and opened that box as well. Grabbing the plastic trains, he set them on the table and connected the trains with its cable cars. Now making "choo choo" noises, he ran it along the table, happily giggling.

"Lloyd, we have one more present!" Anna said, smiling with another box, much larger than the other. Lloyd looked at it in awe and ran to his mother, stretching his arms. Anna chuckled and gave him the present. Lloyd looked at it for a moment, wondering what it could possibly be, and then tore the box open. Inside, there was no extra box, but red paper holding his present inside loosely. Lloyd ripped open the paper with sheer force, and took out the new toy.

They were two wooden swords, dull and light. The toddler knew what a sword was from his dad, when he would practice with it, and began swinging them around with glee. It was then fifteen seconds later that he managed to knock over the cake and it splattered all over his head. But Lloyd was happy. For the rest of the day, he was able to eat cake whenever he wanted to.

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Mr.Who2123: In the beginning, Lloyd was the baby from hell, and now he's the boy from heaven. I just love the idea of a smart baby Lloyd because Kratos wouldn't raise him any other way. To me, I liked this chapter's random fluffiness! There will only be one more of these, however, which is the next chapter, so be prepared to have it leave soon! Oh, and please review…they have become very scarce lately…