PART EIGHT - To Happiness

The group piled into the car, after Kratos deliberately went through Ran's purse to remove all of her usual take-along distractions. "I'm sorry, but the point of going out together is actually spending time with one another," he said, putting everything from her notebook to her Gameboy away in a drawer. "You aren't going just to say you went, now are you?"

"No," Ran grumbled. "If that's the case, I don't need my purse at all."

"You only use it to carry distractions?" Squall asked. "What about money and… y'know, normal girl stuff, like a mirror and a hairbrush and all that?"

"If my hair gets messed up after the one time I bother to brush it, it can be messed up," Ran answered, sitting in the back seat of the car. "Mirrors are evil tools only the most materialistic of women bother with. My money itself is always stuffed into my wallet, which I carry in a pocket. Typical women carry makeup and all that jazz. Makes me want to barf."

Ash shrugged. "Kratos, make sure she doesn't have a pen stuffed somewhere. Last time we tried taking all her distractions away from her, she drew a very elaborate tattoo all over her right arm."

"Hey, it looked pretty good," Ran said.

"Yeah, it did look good," her sister agreed. "I really liked the heart being stabbed repeatedly and being wounded in various ways, shapes and forms."

"Oh, I actually drew that one on paper eventually. Some lady asked me to design her a tattoo."

Ash sat in the driver's seat and buckled her seatbelt while Squall sat down in the passenger seat beside her. "Well, did she pay you?" he asked curiously.

"Of course not," Ran sighed, looking out the window. "Why do I get the feeling that this is going to be boring as all hell?"

Kratos sat in the back next to her. "Typically, family get-togethers are only as much fun as you make them," he said, pulling his hair back only for it to flop back in place. "So if you put more into it, I'm sure you'll get something out of it."

"Always in the spirit of things," Ran replied, taking his hand. "If nothing else, I could stare at you all day."

"What would that accomplish?"

"Nothing, really, but it would be entertaining at least." she leaned up against him, nuzzling his shoulder with her face. "Might even get me to want to, y'know."

He blushed. "No rush. That will come when you're ready."

"It might be the only fun I have today at this rate."

"So you're only interested in sex when you're bored?" Ash asked, shaking her head.

"When there's nothing else to do, I start to think about it." Ran said. "But by the time I'm bothered to talk about it, I've found something more interesting to do."

"That's awkward," Squall thought aloud. "Put this piece of crap in gear and let's go."

"Don't insult my car, it'll actually start acting badly if you do," Ash said, driving out of the front yard and onto the front road. "Tell it you're sorry. I don't want to break down in town."

"I'll have to convince you somehow," Kratos whispered, wrapping his arm around Ran's shoulder, "that affection isn't so secondary."

Squall shrugged, "Okay, okay. Car, I'm sorry! I'm sorry!"

"Thank you," Ash said, rubbing the dashboard. "She's a sensitive car."

"Owned by a sensitive woman," Squall added quietly.

"Oh, Squall has mastered the art of sarcasm," Ran quipped from the back. "I am impressed."

"Because that's my whole point in life," Squall retorted. "Impressing you, of all people. I'm sure you'll be impressed if you just let Kratos have his way with you in bed."

"I'm not that impressive," Kratos said. "My wife had to walk me through it most of the time. It's been so long, I don't remember most of it anyway."

"You mean it's been so long that when you reach climax, then you'll blow a hole through Ran's backside about the size of the moon?" Squall smiled. "That must hurt, man."

"Not as much as you might think," Kratos answered.

"See, Ran? You're putting him in pain."

Ran just looked at all the trees going by through the car window. What she wouldn't do for a book right about now.

The city was about three hours away from home, so by the time they got there, Ran had fallen asleep in Kratos arms out of sheer boredom. Kratos had stopped talking about halfway through the trip, because he hadn't had much to say, but Ash and Squall were just talking about whatever the hell came to mind. The sun hadn't reached the highest point in the sky, though it was late in the morning by then. Ash pulled the car into a parking lot to take a break.

She got out and stretched. "You know, I've been thinking," she said. "Time to test something out."

"Oh hell," Squall said, "We're in for it now."

"You hush," Ash replied, opening Ran's door. "Aww, you're adorable together like that."

"…thanks, I think," Kratos whispered. "Let her sleep, would you?"

"I'm not intending on waking her up. I need her to stay asleep for this," she said, crawling in over her sister. She reached up to Ran's breast and touched it.

Ran reacted in her sleep to it, taking a sharp breath.

"Thought so," Ash announced, instead this time cupping it and moving it around a few times.

"…Kratos…" Ran moaned quietly. "…Mmm."

"Haha!" Ash said, getting back out of the car. "Experiment successful!"

"What were you trying to figure out?" Squall asked.

"Kratos, dear, you need to take a more direct approach," she said. "A moan like that means she was turned on, which means that sex isn't as unimportant as she claims. Besides, my sister isn't the type to admit to when she wants something like that, so you have to coax it out of her. She always did say she likes a man of action."

Kratos wasn't sure if he was insulted or not, so he just shrugged it off.

Ran just leaned more on Kratos, starting to snore.

"Now that's hilarious," Ash laughed. "Ah well. Now what are we going to do?"

"There's a lot to do here in town, I'm assuming," Squall said. "Let's go explore."

"Why don't you guys go?" Kratos asked, looking down at Ran.

"Oh she won't get out of this by sleeping," Ash said, flicking Ran's forehead. "Hey you. Wake up."

Ran jumped at her. "How dare you wake me from that!" she snapped. "It was Heaven!" When she realized that she had been in Kratos' arms that entire time, she blushed. He was more than comfortable. "Not that this isn't," she said with a slight smile. "Anyone ever told you that you were made to sleep on?"

"We're here," Kratos said gently. "We want to go explore a bit. So come on."

"Aww, I want to stay like this," she whispered to him. "You shouldn't grab me like that."

"Oh," he said, "Then next time I'll be a bit more careful. We should go and walk, though. I think you'll feel better."

"What are you talking about? After a restful sleep like that, I feel great," Ran pulled herself out of the car and stretched for a minute. "I could take on the world."

Kratos followed out. "Fine, then," he agreed, looking around. "Hey. This place looks familiar."

"It should be," Ash said. "When we first saw you, we were eating lunch over at that delicatessen. It's one of Ran's favorite lunch spots. That means you came from the park a little over that way." She pointed over in that direction, but her head buzzed when she did. "I don't think it's a good idea to go somewhere we've all ready been."

"You're right," Squall agreed. He then looked in the opposite direction. "What's that big tent over there?"

A big blue and red tent was pitched up over a large parking lot in front of a line of shops.

"Is it time for a summer festival all ready?" Ran asked.

"The circus doesn't come by here anymore, so it's either that or some salesman's trying to get some attention," Ash replied. "Summer festivals are usually decent in these parts."

"They aren't anything like Japanese summer festivals," Ran said. "While the whole mindset is about the same, they lack the cultural impact and formality."

Ash shrugged. "Little miss know-it-all at your service."

Ran's eyes cut her a glare. "There are some subjects out there you know more about than me, and when you can, you like to show it off," she said, walking ahead. "If we're going to that damn festival, then I suggest we get going."

Squall shook his head. "Oh, joy."

Upon walking closer to the tent, Ran spied a bookseller. No one else could catch up to her once she had taken off for it. Once Kratos did find her among the boxes of books, he gave her a bewildered look.

"Hey, you know me," she said, thumbing through the books. "Oh dear. Is this authentic?"

The bookseller gave a slight nod. "These books are from all parts of the world. We travel everywhere and gather all sorts of things, and as we go, we sell what we've found. Think of it as a worldwide roaming caravan."

"Oh, that's wonderful," Ran chimed as Squall and Ash also were in sight. "A worldwide roaming caravan!" She lifted a book from the box, staring at the cover. "Too bad this is in Chinese. I'd love to read it."

"What is it?" Kratos asked, interested.

"This reads on the front, 'The Diary of Zhuge Liang'. One of my favorite historical figures, if not my absolute favorite," Ran explained. "I know some Chinese because of the evolution of the Japanese language being based on Chinese characters, but nowhere near enough to read this. Still it's a collector's item if it's authentic. I doubt the Sleeping Dragon himself would write on his diary what it was, or even keep a diary. The problem is, since I can't read it, I'll never really know." She put it back in the box. "Too bad."

"You should get it anyway," Ash said behind her. "No one studies ancient Chinese history like you do."

"Through strategy video games and translated texts," Ran added. "I can't claim to read Chinese when I obviously don't. And considering how old it would have to be, over 2000 years old, the Chinese would not be anything like the Chinese nowadays that I could learn, and it could even be in a dialect that's unheard of even by Chinese linguists! Besides, how authentic could this really be if you're selling it in a box to normal people? If this really was the Diary of Zhuge Liang himself, it would need to be preserved in a museum."

Kratos was reminded very much of a friend of his son who studied ancient history of their world with a dedicated passion. Their names even sounded alike once he thought about it for a minute. "Don't worry about it," he said. "If you want it, get it. Just to say you have it."

She picked it back up. "You're sweet," she said. "In a very odd way."

"I try on occasion," he replied with a bow. "As everything I do is rather odd, yes?"

Ran paid for the book, still not knowing if it was authentic, and at that point, she didn't really care if it was. She would just add it to her library, and it wouldn't be special because it was a book about one of the people in history she'd kill to meet. It would be special for being a part of her first date with Kratos. Of course, once she realized she thought of that, her face turned bright red.

"Are you all right?" Kratos asked once they left the bookseller.

"Of course, why wouldn't I be?" she answered. "A book written by the man I believe to have been the greatest military strategist of all time? A man that, if I had a time machine, I would kidnap and rape him just to bear him children."

Ash giggled. "Perhaps Kratos should get some ancient Chinese robes and get into military strategy."

"Oh, don't you know that there aren't any redheads in China?" Ran asked. "It wouldn't work, though, that old armor is pretty sexy."

"Damn, she actually said something was sexy," Squall said.

"I'll be the first to admit when things are sexy or not," she grunted. "Like, battle armor? Totally sexy. Swords? Even more so. A knight in battle armor with a sword, wearing a flowing cape behind him? Orgasmic on sight. Men back then had to be badass. Nowadays, they all sit in front of their computers and play sports. Bah. But a man back in the those days… they were real men!"

Kratos shook his head. "I've been going about this the wrong way."

"Wrong way?"

"You see that sword over there in the case?" he asked.

"Yeah. It sure is a beauty!"

"Well, you see, that sword is intended for left-handed people to use. Check out the shape of the handle," he explained. "Based on the length and the width of the blade itself, it was intended for a person with weaker upper body strength. That one, over there, that's a two handed broadsword. They are heavy and require so much strength to lift that it's hard to use, but let gravity assist on the slash downward, and not much will be surviving the blow."

Ran's face lit up with joy. "Oh, but tell me something about them I don't know. My thirst for knowledge about that kinda thing just can't be quenched enough."

Ash pulled on Squall's jacket. "They're going to be there a while. I think he's figured her out."

"I don't think I've ever seen her so talkative," Squall led them out of the bookseller's area of the tent. "So what is it that you like as much as your sister likes ancient battle equipment?"

"The directly honest answer to that would be sex," she said, "though I like all sorts of things. Movies, music, y'know, a fantasy novel here or there."

"But no specific area that you're overly passionate about?"

"I do like to write," Ash said with a shrug. "I haven't done much of it recently."

"What you're telling me is that we've been going the right way all ready."

"Pretty much."

They laughed together, walking along the side of the big tent.

"So I should take you to the place they sell sex toys from around the world, then?"

Ash shook her head. "What do I need toys for?"

Squall felt his body shake with laughter. "Touché."

The group had a rendezvous together for lunch a few hours later, and both Squall and Ash were more than amazed at what they saw. Ran had become warm and talkative to Kratos, not wanting to use her right hand to eat because she was holding his hand in it.

"Have you ever used a sword though?" Kratos asked. "The only way to know how they work for real is to actually wield one."

"You kidding? My dad would have killed me if I had a sword in his house, knowing my frequent mood swings and emotional instability," Ran replied, holding back a laugh. "Besides, even if I had a blade, I don't have the upper body strength to use one. I've got weak arms, and I'm sure I couldn't even hold a full size baby for very long."

"Excuse me," Ash said, "would you mind? I'm trying to eat."

"What?" Ran shook her head.

"You guys are playing footsie under the table, you're holding hands, you're giggling at each other like lovebirds," she explained. "Save your affection for the-"

"Calm down," Kratos said, waving his arm. "Hold that comment. You'll ruin the possibility."

Ash then nodded. "Oh all right. It's just you don't have to be so cutesy in front of people eating."

"All right," Ran said, taking her hand from Kratos so she could use both to eat her lunch. "We can save that conversation for later, my well-studied swordsman."

"Sounds wonderful, my little scholar," he replied, giving her a very wide smile. He took to his sandwich , never taking his eyes off of her.

"So… Uhh, what do you guys want to do after lunch?" Squall asked.

Kratos didn't say anything, but the look on his face spoke pretty loudly. He had his eyes focused on Ran's every twitchy movement, craving to be closer to her. Ran hadn't even noticed, and it was his plan for her not to. If she caught on, there would be resistance, and Kratos' plan was to catch her in the heat of the moment without giving her a chance to refuse.

"I think it would be great to go swimming," Ran said honestly.

"Swimming?" Ash repeated in question. "Oh that sounds like so much fun."

Kratos coughed. "You sure you don't want to save that for tomorrow?" He knew that Ran in anything less than a knee length dress would give him too hard a time. He wouldn't be able to hold himself back at this rate. "Swimming directly after eating isn't very good, either."

Squall noticed Kratos' hesitation as he said, "Maybe we should go swimming tomorrow instead. Kratos is right about that. Nasty cramps come with that."

"Speaking of cramps," Ran said suddenly. "Oh hell."

"What's wrong?" Ash asked.

"I need to go use the restroom," she instantly said, taking off.

"I should go with her," Ash said quietly. "We'll be back."

Once they were both out of earshot, Squall said, "I saw the look on your face. You wanna go back home, if you catch my drift?"

"When she's actually affectionate, she's very enchanting," Kratos said. "I can't help myself."

"I can see that," Squall said with a nod. "You took a girl from being a workaholic hard ass to being an open, affectionate and endearing person. What effect do you have on women?"

"Another friend once asked me that, because girls in Aselia used to swoon over me. I hated that about my life. I like having one to myself, not a whole flock of fan girls." Kratos looked around to see Ran coming back over, gripping her midsection. "Are you all right?"

"I vote to go home," she said, sitting down. "I'm cramping like hell. I need to rest."

"I concur." Kratos gave a nod.

Ash came up from behind. "Swimming next week, then. Works for me." She sat down. "Maybe by then I can rent a boat and we can go up to the ocean."