Yeah I did lose a grasp on Mart-Mart's personality there but it's been so long since I updated and played the game I decided to twist her personality a bit. Though you do have to admit Marta didn't mature until much later. She was slightly self-centered in the beginning of the game even though she was helping people out and it showed much more with Emil when they began their journey. Also I forgot to thank everyone that reviewed during my absence and now! Those reviews gave me help on getting back into this!

Emil: (clearing throat) She does not own ToS, but she does own her ocs.

Chapter Fourteen:

I sat there until I heard the water splash a bit behind me. Turning my eyes a bit I met red ones that bore into mine with so much emotion it was hard to distinguish what was what. Without saying a word he came to sit next to me the waves parting to avoid the newest obstacle in their path.

"...Emil...?" Finally I was the one to speak up, the awkward silence that hung about us becoming too much to bear.

He glanced back at me, still not speaking. I shifted a bit, moving a hand to play with a strand of hair nervously. I knew I said I wasn't going to be weak about anything but I was still working on getting that courage. Especially around the other next to me. When the other Emil was out he was so strong both physically and mentally. It made me a bit ashamed the first time, then he was so nice to me.

"I didn't mean to push you."

I held back a sigh, heart racing against my chest.

"It's alright Emil...I was just...surprised is all."

He nodded looking out over the water. It glistened with thousands of sparkles make the scenery almost surreal. Slowly I smiled honestly as an arm hesitantly wrapped around my waist trying to gently tug me over to him. The distance was already short before when he had first sat down but I allowed him to close the gap further.

"Everyone thinks we should just continue on—the quicker this is over the faster the Light Frog won't bother anyone," Emil gave a slight pause before heaving an agitated sigh. "I wanted to know what you thought..."

He mumbled something after it but it was too soft for my ears to pick up. Though the small part I caught sounded like he was chastising himself—or normal Emil. Odd. Returning my thoughts to what was at hand I thought it over.

"I think we should help the people here. If we manage to bring some peace here...even if for only a short while it will save many more lives from economic problems and possible death." Stopping the Light Frog was my main concern, I didn't want anyone to get hurt.

It was selfish even though most considered it not. I didn't want to see other people in pain and suffering, it was something no one should go through. I spoke up again.

"If you want you and the other's can go ahead, but I'm staying here to make sure the townspeople get through this..."

Emil's eyes darkened some and he looked about ready to snap at me, probably for my own idiocy in thinking I could handle something I was shown powerless against. My arms stung as a reminder and I looked back at the ocean.

"I won't be alone...I'm sure if you guys go Tina and the others will help me. And when it's over I swear I'll come join yo—!" Emil's abrupt movement silenced me and I blinked up at him.

He shook his head, "no! It's my job to protect you! I won't leave you behind to get hurt again!"

My eyes widened. His job...to protect me? He didn't have an obligation to do that, unless he promised himself that. My heart fluttered and my face darkened.

"I-I...I thank you for that but I don't want to just be protected anymore. I want to help with this...," I elaborated. "Besides...what good am I...if I don't try and improve myself?"

He huffed turning away to cross his arms over his chest. Satisfied that he hadn't shouted again I slowly got up, my clothes soaking wet. I nervously chuckled.

"I may need to get another pair of clothes before we continue however..."

Emil would probably worry about me catching a cold if I stayed wondering around like this. His clothes—if I remember correctly are water resistant so he didn't have the same problem I did.

Ratatosk's POV.

I was still seething after her stupid comment. Didn't she realize that I didn't want her hurt? Something indescribable formed in my heart making it skip a beat. For a moment I thought it was something to worry about but then shook my head. Ridiculous. Nothing could hurt me. As Light continued to talk my anger started to subside. She just wanted to get stronger to help people. I supposed it wasn't so bad. At least it wasn't like my weaker self. At least she did things on her own. I felt the weaker me stir slightly just before I heard Light chuckle then speak.

"New clothes—?!" I jumped as she stood, seeing she was soaked.

The clothing clung to her skin and my face heated up much to my dismay.

"I'll..I'll ask Raine or Marta to help you!" I grumbled a bit flustered, damn that weaker me was rubbing off.

It didn't matter because it was around Light and for her I felt like I didn't need to care about those things. I watched the water droplets softly fall from her silver hair as she reached to try and run her fingers through the ends. I knew she kept it soft—but only because of when I carried her earlier. It had fallen against my cheek as she had looped her hands around my neck gently. My face once again darkened.

"...? Emil are you alright? Your face is red...," Light's voice dragged my eyes back to her face.

"Of course!" I answered instantly feeling off.

I had forgotten we were so close and turned away a bit with a huff, acting as if the question was idiotic. I heard her laugh again and became puzzled. Why was she laughing? I had said nothing funny. Turning a sharp stare at her I noticed that she had placed a semi-closed fist against her lips to stifle her own laugh. Then her eyes opened and stared back at me. The peace was shattered a minute later by shouts calling out our name.

"Emil! Light!" The small group of our 'friends' ran over to the edge of the water.

The smaller, Genis, spoke first.

"Jeez! We thought you guys decided to elope—mmph!?" His sister's hand was quickly placed over his mouth as she scolded him for using such a word.

I reached a hand for Light showing I'd help her back to shore. She smiled gratefully, but I saw something else dance in those ruby hues. Something akin to affection. Once again my heart skipped a beat and I had to glance away to control myself. I would protect her, but I wasn't sure about this new emotion rising deep within me. It made my heart race almost as if it would burst every time I thought of her.

When we reached the shore I let go of Light's hand allowing her to go talk to Raine about clothing. With this I turned my attention on Marta and the others. Tenebrae was staring at me and I regarded him with a glance before calling attention to everyone. I was going to stay here with Light to help her, but I needed to choose the right words to tell everyone that. For that I let the weaker Emil take over again.

Tenebrae's POV.

It seemed Lord Ratatosk had taken a fancy for the human girl, but I found myself wondering how long that would last when his memory fully returned. Noticing Lord Ratatosk disappear I closed my eyes. It seemed that having Lloyd's sister here was a better choice than I had originally thought. I only hoped it would help turn Lord Ratatosk's mind when he regained every shred of memory. Hm? It seemed Emil wanted to stay here to help the town, much to my own dismay. He did realize that we needed to hurry, correct?

"Emil are you sure about this, we must be going to collect the rest of the cores!" I told him sternly.

He glanced my way before Lady Marta piped in cheerfully.

"I think that's a good idea! The townspeople shouldn't suffer because we neglected them!" She stated determined.

I sighed, so even Lady Marta wanted to stay. There was no way I could oppose either one though so I went back to being quiet as the group talked about their plan.

Light's POV.

"So...Raine and Genis will head to the next place to continue looking for cores and Regal, Emil, Marta and I will stay here?" I confirmed with the others.

They nodded and I watched the determination in everyone's eyes. They reminded me of nii-san in one way or another. Their determination was definitely one of them.

"Then I guess this is where we will have to say goodbye...Genis...Raine...It was good to see you again after so long!" I grinned happily at them.

"Good luck guys! See ya!" Genis nodded to us.

"Oh before I forget I wanted to give this to you, Regal." Raine walked over to him and handed him a letter.

"What is this?" Regal asked in confusion glancing at it.

"Oh, you could say it's a love letter." Raine chuckled softly.

The rest of us where shocked.

"Raine?!" Genis stared almost horrified at the thought.

"Oh wow! She's so bold, I should learn from her example!" Marta swooned slightly in high regard to Raine.

I simply blinked and a dark blush heated up my face as I glanced at Emil. He was too busy becoming flustered to notice so I let my gaze fall back to the two before us.

"Read it later when you are alone. Don't show it to anyone else," Raine instructed the puzzled Regal.

Quickly the blue haired male regained his composure.

"I never thought I'd receive such a gift from someone as beautiful as you. I will protect it with my life." Regal stated seriously causing me to be slightly worried about his statement.

Never having received a love letter before I didn't understand why it was so important but didn't question.

The horn called and we waved goodbye as the boat left, my thoughts missing most of the conversation anyways. That letter puzzled me though, when did she have time to write that? sighing I placed a hand to my head feeling exhausted as the sun hinted the evening hours. Emil seemed to notice.

"Hey guys? Maybe we should rest at the inn before heading out?" Emil reasoned as he kept glancing my way.

Marta blinked, "Hm...maybe you and I could share a bed if they don't have any room!"

The hopeful grin on her face made my eyebrow twitch. Could she ever get that out of her head?

"I think we should all sleep in our own bed if possible," Regal spoke up.

Emil seemed relieved and nodded at this.

"Yeah, that way the beds won't be crowded..." He turned back to me, "Light do you want help getting back? You look tired."

I shook my head. "No I'm fine, just a little tired."

That seemed to reassure him to some extent and we started for the bridge to go back to the inn. It was only about a fifteen minute walk when we reached the door and pushed it open. Inside we were greeted by the nice lady that ran the place.

"Yes we'd like a room for the night," Regal told her politely.

The girl paused before frowning, "I'm sorry we only have three beds available..."

I could almost feel the cheer radiating off Marta. My shoulders slumped a bit at the prospect. I heard Emil tell the lady that it was fine and after hearing the room I turned to go there.

Marta was still chatting about how she and Emil would share a bed when Emil spoke up again.

"I was thinking of sharing a bed with Light—" I froze and turned to stare at him.

"W-what!?" The chorus of surprise from both Marta and I startled a resting bird in a nearby window, sending it flying off in fright.

Emil raised his hands in defense.

"I-I mean...!"

My face was growing red once more out of embarrassment and my heart hammered loudly in my chest. I was surprised no one could hear it. Marta on the other hand was growing angry at the thought and was about to sound a retort.

"...I think it would be best if Emil and Light share a bed," Tenebrae piped in floating off to the side. "And it would be good for Lady Marta to get as much rest as possible."

It seemed he was trying to diffuse a very bad predicament. I couldn't hide the blush anymore and Marta glared like a small child would if someone told them they couldn't do something. It was rather amusing in its own right. Emil was also becoming flustered.

"I s-swear I won't do anything!" He still seemed hung over on how he worded that.

I had thought he had worded it just fine, a lot better than most would in that situation. Glancing at a wall finding that interesting enough I mumbled out an agreement. My heart wouldn't stop racing! Regal only looked on with a small smile.

"Seems we settled it!" He stated as if amused by something he knew.

"I-I guess so...," I shifted from foot to foot.

Sleeping...in the same bed with Emil? Was that even right in the first place? Raine had left me some clothes to borrow that somehow miraculously fit me, albeit a little bit too large. I could probably use one of those for pajamas but at the same time I didn't want to change.

"I-I'm going to go change into something sleep c-comfortable!" I stuttered out before running ahead with the small bag on my back.

Shutting the door behind me I mumbled out incoherent things seeing my beet red face in the mirror. Rummaging around in the bag I pulled out some comfortable clothes for sleepwear. Of course I was going to wear my underwear. Pulling on the light blue shirt along with long baggy pants—since it was still moderately chilly even here in Izoold—I looked in the mirror once more. The blush wasn't leaving my face and I could hear the others waiting patiently at the door.

Quietly I went over and allowed them in, catching a glance from Emil and watching a red dance over the green briefly. He smiled kindly at me, and I returned the notion with ease.

The sun had begun to set now and Regal was the first to lay down to fall asleep. Being in Jail must have been exhausting. Marta huffed and sat on her own bed in a childish pout, glaring my way.

I merely ignored her this time and gratefully sunk into the mattress. I sore, tired and god knows what else when I relaxed into the warm sheets. Emil walked over to Marta and talked to her for a while as I started to doze off. Hours or minutes, it was only a matter of time before my half-asleep consciousness felt a warmth slide into the bed next to me. An arm wrapped around my waist and pulled me to the body that it was connected to. Too tired to care much I smiled and finally gave in to sleep.

Ratatosk's POV.

I let my arm gently loop around her waist pulling her to me. She looked so comfortable, I didn't really want to disturb her but I wanted her closer. Her form seemed fragile in my mind, and I had to keep reminding myself not to see her as such. She didn't want to be viewed like that and I would respect her wishes. Though an odd thought popped into my head and my face went almost as red as my eyes in embarrassment. Sighing so I could calm down I nuzzled the back of her neck affectionately. At least I think that's what that action is called. Slowly I closed my eyes reigning back my control of my body so my weaker self could have some time. Damn him sometimes. One of these days I just want to be alone with her. Watch her smile, and be the full center of her attention. I felt Marta glaring before I lulled myself to sleep, holding Light to me.