Me: Hello people! I am back!

Genis: So how did the convention go?

Me: Awesomely! Though I missed the sign up for the cosplay contest. A lot of people kept asking to take my picture. My sword turned out great, too! I was in the bleach photo shoot. I also bought some really cool bracelets and phone decorations. I also had pockey! It was seriously fun but I had to go home early because my feet got really sore from the shoes I was wearing. My next convention is already planned out.

Genis: Geez, how many are you going to go to?

Me: I'm going to keep going to them until I get bored of them and decide I don't want to go any more. On another note, my little kitty is evil! For three days straight she's tripped me and let me tell you, the ground is hard! I fell twice the first day, though the first time was my fault because I tried to slide to a stop on carpet in my socks and ended up slipping. The other two days the little kitty made me trip.

Genis: I'm not going to comment on that. She owns nothing.

Me: Except anything not originally in the game. Also the underlined quotes are Sammy.


My first thought when seeing Luin was, "Oh my gosh." My second thought was, "No… Dammit! Sammy was suppose to be here!"

I cursed myself for forgetting this was going to happen. I bit back the tears that wanted to fall. I felt everyone's eyes on me. Since they thought it was my home they probably felt sorry for me. I couldn't stand the feel of their looks on me and ran off before they could stop me. I ran though Luin looking for Sammy or Noishe, hoping they were okay. My search didn't last long because I found Sheena wounded. She had a large gash on her right side. There were many cuts and bruises covering her body. Next to Sheena was Sammy. She wasn't injured too badly. I ran over to them and knelt down.

"Are you two okay?… Stupid question, of course you're not," I said.

"Sarah?… If you want to finish me off then here's your chance…" Sheena responded.

"I'm not going to finish you off… I'm not the kind of person to kill someone that's injured… Besides, by the looks of it, Sammy thinks of you as a friend," I gestured towards Sammy, who picked up her head at the mention of her name.

"Wh…What?! But, we're enemies!" Sheena gaped.

I held out an apple gel to her, "Raine will be here soon. In the meantime, take this."

Sheena looked at me like I was crazy, but I just smiled back.

"You are the strangest person I've ever met," Sheena took the apple gel and ate it.

"I take that as a compliment, thank you," I replied.

Sheena just shook her head and I shifted over to give Sammy an apple gel as well. While I was tending to Sammy, I heard the others running over. I turned around and the others came to a stop. Noishe was with them, much to my relief. Lloyd walked over to us.

"What happened?" Lloyd asked.

Colette walked over and saw Sammy's and Sheena's condition.

"They're hurt! Professor, please heal them!" Colette begged.

"I will, but first, I want you to tell me what happened here," Raine directed the last part

towards Sheena.

Raine healed Sammy while Sheena explained what happened. As that went on I took in everything. It was all in ruins. The more I saw and heard the tighter I clenched my fists. It was horrible, I had never experienced anything like this. I had always been sitting safely at home. While war, destruction, betrayal, and all that other stuff happened I was living a life where I was taken care of and spoiled by my family. I had never known or experienced the horrors of the world. But now, I was looking at the result of them. Instead of feeling sad I felt anger. At that point, I had finally realized that whenever I was sad, I'd show anger instead.

Then we heard the shout of the person that was running from Clara. I wasn't sure if it'd be the priest or the traveler, but when I turned my head, I saw the priest. Everyone was surprised to see Clara, except for me.

"Th…that's…!" Lloyd gasped.

"It's Clara! She managed to get all the way here!" Raine breathed.

Sheena jumped in front of Clara and got in a fighting stance to protect the priest.

"Stay back you monster!" Sheena cried.

Clara knocked Sheena to the side easily. Sheena cried out in pain.

"Dammit!" Lloyd swore.

Colette released her wings and flew in front of Clara. "Clara, please, clam down!"

Clara struck Colette down but then escaped, stumbling down one of the bridges and out of sight.

"Colette, are you okay?" Genis asked.

We all ran over to Colette and Sheena, hoping they were okay. Colette sat up and looked

at us.

"Y…yes," Colette answered Genis' question.

I walked over and helped Colette stand up.

"She's lost a lot of blood," Kratos informed, inspecting Sheena's wounds.

"You're right. Professor, please heal her," Lloyd said, turning to Raine.

"Professor, please," Colette begged.

I turned to look at Raine. The look I gave her was one asking the same thing as the others.

"…Fine. But, I swear, you're all way too softhearted for your own good," Raine sighed.

She stepped forward, casting a healing spell on Sheena. Most of Sheena's injuries were healed quickly and she was able to stand up.

"…Why…why did you save me?" Sheena asked, confused and surprised.

"Probably for the same reason you saved that man," Lloyd replied.

"…Thanks," Sheena paused, looking slightly uncomfortable. I realized that she had decided she wants to join our group now instead of later. "I know it's a selfish, unreasonable thing to say at this point, but um I have a favor to ask of you."

"A favor?" Lloyd inquired.

"I owe the people of this city for food and lodging. Please. Help me save these people. If you agree, I'll declare a truce with you and help in anyway I can," Sheena explained.

"All right," Lloyd agreed.

"Lloyd, are you serious?" Raine asked, incredulously.

"I agree with Lloyd," Colette put in.

"Me, too," I added.

"Colette, Sarah, not you, too!" Raine responded.

"What about you?" Lloyd turned to Kratos.

"I see no problem with it," Kratos replied.

Genis frowned, looking around at us all, "Ah…um…I'm sorry, Raine!"

"Fine! Do as you wish," Raine replied, annoyed. "I suppose if we look at it another way, it does mean we can keep a close eye on her."

Sheena smirked at this comment. "Heh. You better watch out so you don't lose your head while you sleep."

Raine glared at her and I felt the tension between them heat up. I stepped between them and put my hands up in a defensive position.

"Okay, before this turns into a fight, I suggest we start up camp. It'll be dark soon and it doesn't seem like any of the building are stable enough to be in," I said, trying to keep a fight from beginning.

"She's right. Let's find a spot near the city and begin to set up camp," Kratos agreed and walked off.

The others followed but I lingered back and took one last look at the city. I sighed and caught up with the others when Sammy tugged on my glove.

It didn't take long to find a good spot to set up camp. I was sent out to get firewood again and Sammy followed.

"I'm glad to see you again, Sammy… I'm sorry that I forgot that that was going to happen to Luin. You got hurt because of that," I said, angry with myself.

"Now, now… It's alright, you are human after all. You can't expect to not make mistakes… Especially when your brother isn't here. You use to learn from his mistakes but now you're learning from your own."

"I know, but I still feel bad about forgetting… I wonder what Kuro's doing…" I pondered.

"How you can get distracted from the original topic so easily it beyond me."

"Oops, sorry. It's just, I really want to see Kuro again… I haven't had contact with him since Palmacosta… I hope he's okay…" I replied.

"If you two are as similar as I think, then he'll be hard to kill… You're both too stubborn and hard headed to die."

"Is that an insult or a compliment?"

"Figure it out."

"I'll just take it as a compliment," I said, unsure.

"You should hurry with the firewood before the others get worried."

"Good idea."

I finished picking up the firewood and returned to camp with Sammy. After putting down the firewood, I sat down with Sammy. I leaned back against Sammy's soft fur and gaze at the sky. My mind drifted off to the events to come. I was mentally preparing myself for anything that might happen. I was thinking out just about every outcome I could think of and playing it through my head. Though I gave myself a headache after a while and decided to just forget it and let myself enjoy the beauty of the sky.

"Hey, Sarah, you okay?" Lloyd asked, walking up to me.

I sighed, "For the most part, yeah. I know we're going to save the people that were taken to the ranch so that makes me feel better."

"…What about your family? Colette told me that you live in the outskirts of Luin," Lloyd said.

'I should've expected him to ask something like this. Damn!'

I bit my lip and lied. "We didn't live that too far off from Luin to where the Desians wouldn't attack. So they were probably attacked… I couldn't bring myself to see what had happened… Can we… not talk about this?"

"Yeah. Sorry, I brought it up," Lloyd replied.

"It's okay."

There was a silence before I stood up. I decided to do some training to burn off some of the anger I held towards the Desians at that point. I was about to walk off to find an area to train in when Lloyd stopped me.

"Where are you going?" He questioned.

"Gonna get some training done," I answered simply.

"Can I come? I want to get stronger so that we can save the people at the ranch," Lloyd said.

I smiled, "Sure, It's always good to have a training partner."

"Would you like me to help?" Kratos asked, walking over.

Lloyd and I turned to him, then glanced at each other.

"Yeah, sounds good," Lloyd nodded.

"Follow me," Kratos said.

We followed him to a good location to start training. I slipped on my Cruxis Crystal on the way. Sammy followed me, wanting to see how my training had come along. During our training session Sammy sat on the sidelines and watched. She would always make a comment whenever I lost my footing and fell. Apparently, she found it fun to provoke me whenever I messed up.

When we returned to the camp sight, Genis had already finished dinner. I had removed my Cruxis Crystal on the way back. I felt a lot better after training. I had always found it strange that whenever I trained I always felt better. I guessed that that was just my way of releasing my anger or something like that.

So anyways, while we ate, nobody really talked. It was an uncomfortable silence for me. I really wanted to say something but it didn't seem like the time to say anything. I just let the rest of the night go by in silence and fell asleep with Sammy.

The next morning we got ready and headed towards the ranch. Most of the way there I was out of it, thinking about what would happen at the ranch. This was the ranch I hated most. But I would feel better after finishing it off. The trip to the ranch wasn't long. We hid near the ranch and checked out the surrounds.

"The security is intense. It's completely different from the last time," Genis noted.

"No kidding," I muttered.

He was right, it was hard to find a spot where we wouldn't be noticed.

"Yeah. Even if we get inside…" Lloyd trailed.

"Hmm… There is a way though…" Raine informed.

"Professor, I bet you're thinking the same thing I'm thinking," Lloyd responded.

"That's a bit risky but I don't see any other option," I added.

"What? What are we going to do?" Colette asked, confused.

"We'll disguise ourselves as Desians and sneak in," Lloyd answered.

'Espionage…Sounds fun…'

"…I see the gears in your head move quickly only in times like this," Raine smirked.

"…What's that suppose to mean?" Lloyd questioned.

"She's saying that the only time you're not slow is at times like this," I explained, knowing no one else would.

Lloyd was about to retort to that but Colette started talking before him.

"Oh, I see! If we look like Desians, we won't get caught!" Colette chirped.

"Well, well. That's quite a daring plan, Raine," Sheena commented.

"I don't think this is the best plan either, but do we have any other choice?" Raine questioned.

"…The Desian patrol is here. What shall we do?" Kratos asked.

"Let's do it!" Sheena said.

"Yeah!" Colette agreed.

"Let's go for it," I added.

"Okay, let's hide behind those trees and ambush them," Lloyd nodded.

Everyone agreed and we hid behind the trees, waiting for the right moment to strike. The Desians stopped to take a look around the area. There was one mage and two spear soldiers. I slipped on my Cruxis Crystal when no one was looking.

"Let's hurry and take care of this!" Lloyd whispered and charged in.

I followed after Lloyd unsheathing my daggers as I ran. Raine and Genis stayed hidden behind the trees to cast. I took on one to the spear soldiers. I slashed down, vertically but the soldier blocked with her spear. I tried to kick her but she dodged to the left and swiped her spear down, diagonally at me. I moved out of the way but received a small cut on my shoulder. I then dived in for a counter attack and plunged my dagger right through her throat. I pulled it out and saw the body hit the ground. I cleaned the blade of my dagger off on the grass and sheathed it. The other were already finished and Raine was gathering up all the uniforms. I followed the others as we made our escape back to Luin.

As we were setting up camp I removed my Cruxis Crystal. I hadn't noticed until then, but my emotions had been dulled down incredibly. I immediately felt the guilt of killing that soldier. Though instead of showing it, I just bit back all the emotions I felt for killing that soldier in cold blood. I knew I couldn't have an emotional time then. I just had to bite it all back and keep it to myself, just like I had done all the time back on Earth. I decided to think of the people I'd be protecting and saving instead of the ones I'd have to kill in order to do that. Though it was harder to bite back this time.

Later on, we all gathered around the fire to discuss the plan for the next day.

"We're finally going to infiltrate the ranch," Genis said.

"Wait. We have to decide who will be the Desian," Raine informed.

"What do you mean, Professor?" Lloyd asked.

"Only two of the Desian uniforms we just obtained looks like it can be used. So everyone else is going to have to be prisoners," Raine explained.

"Me! Me! I'll be a Desian!" Lloyd childishly called.

Everyone except for Colette and I gave Lloyd a look of disgust. I just sighed and shook my head.

"…This is not a game," Kratos stated.

"Sarah and I will be the Desians," Raine informed.

"Wh…what?! Why me?!" I asked, not wanting to dress up in the uniform.

The uniform actually looked like it did in the game. I really didn't want to wear it. It was too revealing for my liking.

"They're both female uniforms and Sheena already has one. Also, Colette must be a "captive" because she is the Chosen," answered Raine.

"Do I have to?" I grimaced.

"I don't like it any more than you do, but we have to save the people in the ranch," Sheena put in.

"Aw, man," I complained.

"We should get some rest for tomorrow's infiltration," Raine suggested.

Everyone agreed and found a spot near the fire to rest. Sammy laid down and I leaned against her soft fur, using her as a pillow basically. I tried to fall asleep but I couldn't. After a while of trying I sat up and looked around. Kratos had volunteered to be night watch so he was the only one awake aside from myself. Even Sammy was asleep. I stood up and was about to take a walk but Kratos stopped me.

"You should be resting," He said.

"I know, but I'm having trouble falling asleep. I'm just gonna take a walk to clear my head," I replied.

"Don't go off too far, and be careful," He ordered.

"Okay," I agreed and walked off.

I continued walking until I found a small clearing near the camp site. There was a boulder, perfect for sitting on, in the clearing. I sat down on it and gazed at the sky. My mind was clouded with thoughts about the Desian I had killed, Kuro, what would happen, and many other things. I really wanted to forget about all of it, but doing that wouldn't be easy. I mean, it's not like their's a restart button for your brain. it's be really weird if there was though. Back to the point! I was just really distracted by those thoughts.

I heard footsteps behind me and turned around to see who it was. I was a bit surprised to see Lloyd walking up to me with two cups.

"You're pretty easy to find, you know," Lloyd smiled.

"Really? My hiding ability must have decreased greatly since the last time someone commented on it," I replied, smiling.

He laughed slightly and handed me a cup. "Mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," I took the cup and moved over so her could sit on the boulder.

He sat down and said, "It's coffee incase you're wondering."

"I've never had coffee before," I commented and took a sip.

"So? What do you think?" He asked.

"It's good," I answered.

"Good… So, what are you doing here?" He questioned,

"Clearing my mind…You?" I inquired.

"I woke up and saw that you weren't there. Kratos told me that you went for a walk so I thought I'd bring you something to drink."

"Thanks," I took another sip and turned my gaze back to the sky.

"Tomorrow we're going to infiltrate the ranch, how do you feel?"

"Anxious… tense… Either of those would work," I nodded.

"We'll save the people at the ranch. We just have to try our best," Lloyd encouraged.

Usually if I was back with my old friends I'd be the party pooper and ask, "What if our best isn't good enough?" But, I didn't want to say that. I knew we'd save the people of the ranch.

"Right, we just have to try our best," I agreed. There was a pause before I spoke to break the silence. "You know, it's strange. Usually I have a hard time trusting and it takes about a year or two to become my friend and gain my trust. But you and the others have gained my trust in no time and became my friends instantly."

"…Why did you have a hard time trusting until now?" He wondered.

"I'm not really sure… I guess I was just too cautious about it or something," I replied.

"Well, I've told you before that you can trust me," He smiled.

"I know, and I'm taking your word for it," I took another sip.

"We should get back to the camp site and get some rest," Lloyd suggested.

"Agreed, I've cleared my head and we're going to need our energy for tomorrow."

I stood up and walked back to the camp site with Lloyd. He instantly fell asleep and I took a few minutes but fell asleep soon after he did.

As long as I had someone I could trust, the journey wouldn't be as hard as it could be.


Me: Sorry I haven't updated in a while. I've been busy with stuff.

Genis: So now that school's going to start, how long will it take for you to update.

Me: Not sure. But things are going to be hectic starting Monday. I start school and there's a lot of paper work to be done. I wonder how things will go. Before school ended last year I heard that they might get rid of eighth grade algebra AKA the eighth grade advanced class. So I might not get to be in algebra.

Genis: I guess you'll just have to wait and see.

Me: Yeah… Well, review please. I like to hear what you have to say.