Ah sorry peoples! Lots of windshipping so far, but I'll get to the other stuff soon enough. I have lots of stuff swirling in my noggin, but I gotta put stuff in sequence. The updates will probably seem fast, but that's cause I got nothing better to do but write ...

Breeze: When does this "Delivery Service" actually take place?!

Me:….eventually… Shush-a!

Breeze: Oooh I think I see fluffy stuff ahead!

Me: Maybe, I dunno. My ineptitude at writing may not get the emotion I strived for…

Breeze: Aren't we negative today?

Me: I ARE NUB WRITER

Breeze: A little confidence would be nice...

Me: What is this "confidence" you speak of??

Breeze: (Oo)

Anyway, thank you reviewers and readers, for taking time out of your busy lives to read my crap :D

--

Ch 4- Taking Flight

"Do you think… I was maybe a little too fast?" Sheba asked. She was walking through the market place. The bright sun was high above them in Lalivero's always clear sky, signifying it was about noon. She was asked to pick up a few vegetables for the meal her mother was cooking.

"Hard to say… But, according to Kite and Gust, I can safely say that you both feel the same about each other" Aroma reassured her. Sheba smiled as she scanned through the carts of produce but quickly frowned as she reached forward and picked up a few sticks of carrots.

"Ew I hate carrots" Sheba gagged. Aroma giggled at her disdain. The air was filled with a strange scent. It was pleasant and energizing, but impossible to decipher. That was Aroma. She always smelled sweet and her flapping wings did nothing but spread it everywhere she went.

"Well, they say carrots give what you need for good eyesight."

"Lies. I won't believe 'til I see some hard proof," Sheba said, slapping the carrots in the palm of her hand at every syllable. They both chuckled as Sheba put the carrots in a leather bag. Sheba stopped, her expression grew concerned again. Aroma noticed and flew in front of her.

"Don't worry, he's just a 'fainter', he'll grow out of it as he becomes more comfortable." Sheba was puzzled by Aroma's intuition and wisdom when it came to matters of the heart.

"You sure do know a lot about relationships, why is that?" She asked.

"Oh… well, before I joined you, I worked with the matchmaker in the Shaman village where you found me," Sheba tilted her head as she continued, "my, erm, aroma, did wonders for calming those who came to her, and allowed them speak easier. I learned a lot!" Sheba grew annoyed when she said this. "Sadly, she passed away shortly before you arrived… she was, like, really, really old and…"

"So… why didn't you soften the mood when I was with Ivan?" She interrupted, putting her hands on her hips. Aroma hovered there confused for a few seconds until what she meant hit her.

"Uuuhhh…whoops" the purple Djinni turned red, embarrassed that she overlooked this convenient, detail. "I… guess I got caught up in the moment? Ehehe…" Sheba sighed and shrugged.

"Whatever. Anyway, let's get back. I got all the icky carrots and vegetables mom needs." She paid the grocer what she owed, and headed home. One more thing crossed her mind on the way back, how was she going to tell her family that she didn't want to stay in Lalivero?

Within minutes, she arrived at home. She opens the door, and sees Ivan laying across the couch, asleep. His head was wrapped in bandages and he was covered in a warm blanket to keep him comfortable as he slept.

Sheba put the bag of groceries on a nearby table and knelt down next Ivan. She watched his slow, easy breaths under the blanket. He was simply adorable.

Seeing him in bandages took her back to when they met up on Jupiter lighthouse. She had tended to his injuries while Jenna took care of Isaac and Kraden assisted Mia and Garet. Even while bleeding freely, he wanted them to tend to his friends first. His loyalty is admirable. At that point, she never thought she'd grow this close to him, but she had her first vision while helping him.

"Sheba, honey, you back?" It was her mother, who was busy in the kitchen, "Could you bring in the vegetables?" Sheba rose and grabbed the fresh vegetables and started towards the kitchen. Before she got through the doorway, she heard a stirring and a soft moan.

"Sh…Sheba…mmmm" She turned around and saw Ivan shift a bit in his sleep. She waited to see if he would say anything else, but nothing. He must be dreaming about her she thought. The very idea made her giggle.

"Ah, thank you" her mother said as she began taking out the vegetables and cutting them. Sheba was looking in Ivan's direction. Her mother looked at her curiously and felt something was wrong, "Something the matter, Sheba?" She jolted to attention when her mother called her name. She shook her head but stopped to think about it.

"Well, actually…" Sheba felt it was time to tell someone what she wanted to do. "I don't want to stay for much longer." Her mother's face showed an expression of sadness as she turned and continued to cut the vegetables. "Mom?"

"I had a feeling… you weren't going to stay long," she said as if her nightmare had come true. "Something told me that this was only a visit." Sheba stared down at the floor as guilt flooded her body. Her mother continued her cutting as she said, "When you returned, I almost didn't recognize you. You've grown so much." Sheba noticed tears forming in her mother's eyes. "I've felt that us keeping you and treating you as our little Savior here has kept you from truly living. It wasn't until you returned that I truly realized this."

Sheba tried to hold back tears of her own as her mother stopped and turned to face her. She stepped forward and embraced her daughter. "M-mom…" Sheba muttered, tears rolling down her cheeks.

They released each other, and looked into each other's eyes, with Sheba's mother's hands on both of her shoulders. "You've become so beautiful… you do what you have to." She said, smiling at her daughter. Sheba lunged forward and hugged her mother again.

"Thanks for understanding," she was so happy that her mother supported her. She felt a weight was lifted now that someone truly understood how she had felt all those years living in Lalivero. She felt she could do anything now.

"Now you just need to explain this to your father." The thought popped into Sheba's mind, and that 'can do' feeling left as quickly as it had come. Crap. He probably wouldn't go for this. Suddenly, a purple creature flew into the kitchen.

"Hey, hey! Ivan's waking up!" Breeze yelled before flying back into the other room. Sheba and her mother smiled at each other after their hug ended, and Sheba ran out of the kitchen. Her mother returned to her cooking duties.

"I'm happy that you've found someone to become close to, Sheba." she whispered.

--

"Mmm…uuh" Ivan moaned as he stirred on the couch. He slowly opened his eyes. Much to his surprise, he had awoken to a vision of beauty staring right at him in a way that made all the aches in his body to disappear.

"Hi there" she said, smiling at him.

"H-hey…" he answered groggily. He smiled under the blanket that covered most of his face. "What happened?" he couldn't recall anything after he and Sheba had kissed. All he remembered was the best feeling he had ever experienced.

"You totally just passed out and landed on that coconut of yours!" Breeze said rather loudly, causing Ivan to cringe as his pain surged back to their respective aching points. Sheba shot an evil glance at the Djinni before turning back to Ivan with a caring expression.

"You…fell off the wall and went unconscious after hitting your head." Ivan's face began turning red again, embarrassed that he actually fainted when he kissed Sheba, the first girl he truly felt this way towards. "The healer said you had a concussion, and that we should keep an eye on you for the next few weeks." Ivan turned to lie on his back with difficulty, his head throbbing painfully and an infernal ring echoing through out. He tried to sit up but couldn't get an inch off his resting place without feeling completely dizzy. These were obviously effects of his head injury.

"Okay… I guess I'm stuck here then," he complained. He could barely move.

"Don't worry, I'll take good care of you," Sheba reassured him, then she raised a finger. "Oh yeah, healer's orders…" He looked at her puzzled. "No more kisses…"

"Awwwwww…" Ivan and the six Jupiter Djinn immediately lamented in unison. Sheba couldn't help but laugh at the sight of Ivan pouting under his blanket. She leaned forward and stroked his head. He closed his eyes, enjoying her gentle, loving touch.

Then she added, "That's what I said, too!"

--

The next week went by very smoothly. Ivan's recovery went well, and he was eventually able to stand up and walk about without feeling nauseous within the next few days. He loved it when Sheba came by to check on him. Much to his dismay, Breeze kept him constant company with his perpetual ramblings when Sheba was busy. Faran often took her to go alert the whole city of her return, but that period is pretty much over.

Sheba walked into the family room with an apple in hand. She was about to take a bite out of the red fruit, but noticed Ivan pacing in front of the fireplace.

"Something wrong?" she asked, walking up to him.

"I… don't know…" Sheba looked at him with a confused expression. He continued, "I think I'm forgetting something."

"Should I probe your noggin?"

"Doubt it would work, since I don't know what it is myself." He started his pacing again. "Let's see, ummmm…" Sheba crossed her arms and thought about it. Suddenly a blast of air flies through the window and swirls around forming four Jupiter Djinn.

"Ello yellow headed peoples!" greeted Kite. They waved hello and returned to their thoughts and Ivan to his pacing. The Djinn look back and forth between them and tilt their heads curiously. Another gust of wind blows through the same window and forms two more Djinn.

"Ugh! Ivan, please tell Breeze that the Tempest Lizard is the purple one, and that the Storm Lizard is green!" whined Gust.

"Nuh-uh! It's the other way around!"

The other Djinn and two adepts ignore their squabble until a thought popped into Sheba's head.

"Is what you need to remember have anything to do with Hammet?" she asked. Ivan stopped mid step and turned towards her. He stared at her for a bit.

"Hammet…" he repeated. There was an eerie silence. He tilted his head before asking, "Who's Hammet?" Sheba dropped her apple. Those two words hit them like a Golem's Truncheon Fist.

"Ooooooh, damn…" Sheba and the Djinn said together. Ivan's head trauma has apparently given him a certain degree of amnesia. Sheba walks over to Ivan and seats him on the couch, donning a concerned expression. Ivan gave her a puzzled look with his bright violet eyes.

"Sit tight for a sec," She said walking into the kitchen followed by the cluster of Djinni. "Ok, we have an amnesiac in the other room. What to do?"

"I'm confused to how we went a whole week without running into this…predicament…" Breeze commented.

"Bad luck?" Lull wondered. "Or would that be good luck? I can't tell…"

"Mmm, I think it may have been because we've never mentioned anything having to do with stuff prior to coming to Lalivero." Gust suggested. They peered back into the other room. Ivan was still sitting on the couch, twiddling his thumbs.

"That could be it. But this… I just completely did not see this coming…" Sheba said with a hand under her chin. The seven went back into the room where Ivan sat.

"Something wrong, Sheba?" he asked, noticing her worried look as she walked in front of him.

"Lull, do me favor?" Sheba asked, not breaking eye contact with Ivan.

"Ya?" he flew forward and landed on the couch arm next to Ivan.

"I need you to work your magic on Ivan. I want to try something…"

"Uuhhh, okay." Ivan turned to the Djinni, but before he could protest, a flash of purple light erupted from the elemental, causing Ivan to blank out, and slump backwards onto the couch with both eyes still open. Lull also just sat there, like a statue.

"Alright, time for some mind surfing." Sheba said, kneeling down and putting her index and middle fingers of her right hand on his forehead. She closed her eyes as psynergy began to swirl around her.

"What do you think she needed Lull for?" Wheeze asked, followed by another of his trademark coughs.

"I'm guessing she's trying to access his memories by eliminating all thought processes. I think they were discussing something about this when they were in Vault." Kite hypothesized.

"Will that even work?" asked Breeze. Sheba turned around, obviously annoyed .

"Excuse me, but I'm trying to focus. Now all of you, hush!" she turned her attention back to reading Ivan. The Djinn watched silently. After several minutes, Sheba opened her eyes and removed her hand from Ivan's forehead, then sighed.

"What's the diagnosis, doc?" Breeze asked, flying in front of Sheba.

"Good news is that I was able to look into what he does remember…" She turned away and stood back up. "He remembers past events. But he seems to have forgotten the identities of people he knew…"

"Huh? Explain pleeeease."

"Well, let's say he remembers that we lit all four lighthouses, but pretty much forgot everyone who participated except me and you guys. I'm confused to why he hasn't forgotten us as well." Aroma flew forward.

"Perhaps it is because of the special bond you two have developed over this time of peace? He could also remember us probably because we were present during the incident."

"Maybe… well, it could have been a lot worse… anyway, we can't really leave Lalivero until he remembers everyone." She got up to leave to her room. This wasn't a totally bad thing. It gave her more time to think about how she should approach Faran.

"Sheba," Wheeze coughs, "where you going?"

"To write a letter. Breeze, come with me."

"Okie dokie!" Breeze sang as he flew upstairs with Sheba. As the two disappeared, Lull, who hadn't moved an inch since he put Ivan out, jolted to attention.

"Huh, what I miss?" he asked. At that point, Ivan broke out of his trance.

--

In the candlelight of her room, Sheba was at her desk writing on a peace of parchment with a quill. Breeze stood on her shoulder, watching every feather stroke.

"What's that for?" he asked.

"It's a letter to Hammet. I believe he expects Ivan to be back any day now, and will be concerned when he doesn't show up. So, I'm writing this to tell him about Ivan's injury and to assure him he need not worry." She explained, finishing her signature on the bottom.

"Ooooh, good thinking." Sheba rolled the letter up and put it in a leather pouch. She then put the pouch's strap over Breeze's head so that the pouch hung at his side just under his left wing. "Uuuuh, what's this for?"

"You know where Kalay is, riiiight?" she asked him with an evil grin.

"Um, yeah I think so…" Breeze grew nervous, something didn't feel right. Her emerald eyes were looking especially sinister.

"Good, now get flying!" and with that, she created a whirlwind that lifted the Djinni up and tossed him out the window. He tumbled through the starry sky for a few seconds before righting himself.

"Sheeesh, annoy the crap out of someone once, and they make you do stuff without asking!" He stuck his tongue out in the direction of Sheba's home and started his journey due…

"Wait… which way was north?" He swirled around. "Ah, whatever, I'll figure it out." He shrugged and flew off into the night.

--

Me: Hmm, I think this ended up a bit differently than I planned.

Breeze: Yeeeeaaaah! I'm finally delivering something! But… against my will?

Me: Hey, you're doin it anyway. Must mean you want to do it to some degree.

Breeze: Hm I guess… Whatever.

Oh yeah, thank you , IsaacGaretMia, for pointing that out. I think my English teacher mentioned the same thing, but I never really fixed that problem when I write… x.x

I'll try to fix it as I go.