Asgard was much farther away than Kratos made it seem. But finally, they arrived there. Amidst a heated argument about the Church of Martel, Anna finally snapped. They stopped at the entrance of Asgard.

"Ugh! I'm leaving. I need time away from you and- ughhhh!. Humph. You think you're soooo great." She mimicked him and threw her hands up in the air exasperated, walking away.

Kratos snorted and rolled his eyes but followed her from behind. "You think it's easy to put up with you? You're naive and childish." He said coldly and Anna stopped, turning red.

Then she walked up to him and jabbed a finger into his chest, shouting, "Well if I'm so hard to put up with, then stop following me!" With that she ran away, upset and on the verge of tears. Kratos stared after her, unsure of what he should do. A part of him was uncomfortable with making her upset and wanted to run after her and apologize, yet his pride kept him from doing that. Noishe looked up at Kratos with a scolding look and growled softly at him. The protozoan had grown quite fond of Anna and protective since the incident at Hima.

"What do you want me to do, Noishe?" He said darkly at his companion. Then as he looked for signs of Anna, he began to panic. Lost in his thoughts, he'd lost track of where she was. As he thought about the potential dangers she faced without him with her, he instantly felt guilty for letting her go. His head turned to Noishe and with a hand on his head, he said. "Noishe, help me find her." He sighed as the protozoan shook his huge head, turned his noise up at Kratos and walked away with a slight skip, terrifying the people of Asgard.

Kratos frowned. Anna probably told him to do that. It was the first time Noishe didn't listen to Kratos, and this especially frustrated him. But his companion disappeared, leaving him to start his search on his own. Then he whispered to himself, "Where would she go?"

0o0

Anna was fuming. She'd never felt so angry in her life. She wasn't a child and she could certainly take care of herself without Kratos. After all, she survived the ranch. Just thinking about it made her shiver though she soon turned her thoughts to happier ones. Finally, though, she could do what she wanted without Kratos hovering around her telling her not to. As she thought about the face he would make at what she thought of doing, she grinned but soon stopped herself. Strangely it made her miss him, until she remembered that she was supposed to be mad at him. She growled to herself and went to explore Asgard.

Every place she went, Anna nearly ran into Kratos. Luckily she was quick at hiding herself and surprisingly, Kratos still hadn't seen her. Still, she thought to herself, how the hell does he know where I'm going to be every time? She groaned to herself. He must have actually listened to her rant about what she wanted to see. Right now, they were in a library and she popped her head out from behind a bookcase to see if he had gone yet, but no luck. He was still there and Anna caught sight of his face. At first it was indifferent, but now she could clearly see the worried lines that etched his face. His eyes were alive, she noted; it was rare to ever see his eyes alive. She felt her own eyes go up in surprise as she smiled a bit, almost wanting to come out and forgive him.

His eyebrows creased and he mumbled to himself, "Anna..." Anna felt her own heart flutter in response and groaned to herself. Ready to come out, Anna stopped herself as a pretty petite red-head stepped out from her seat and approached Kratos.

The red-headed woman around Anna's age tapped Kratos's shoulder and asked him softly, "Do you need help with something? You seem a bit anxious." She smiled and Anna noted that she was really very pretty, in comparison to her own plain self.

Kratos smiled warmly at the woman who was obviously interested in him and answered, "Yes, actually, I'm looking for someone." Anna gaped at him and dropped her mouth wide open, then immediately scowling. Kratos was never quick to smile at anyone, let alone Anna or a stranger. Anna grumbled to herself and suddenly felt furious at Kratos all over again. She left as quietly as she could, wanting to make him worry now more than ever.

0o0

As Kratos conversed with the red-head, he smiled at her hoping that she might have seen Anna. Even if she hadn't, a local could greatly help him in his search rather than stopping randomly in places that looked like they might interest Anna. With that in mind, he poured charm and friendliness into his words and as their conversation came to a close, the woman said, "Well, good luck. If you ever need a friend, I'll be here. Just give me a call." After giving him her number, she batted her eyelashes at him as he left and Kratos waved his goodbyes. He rushed hurriedly out of the library and noticed that the sun had gone down. The woman kept him talking longer than he should have spent.

He stood for a moment in silence, thinking of where she could be and finally it dawned on him, though he mumbled to himself, "She wouldn't..." With that thought in his mind, he left for the town's local bar. Sure enough as he entered the bar, he saw her sitting with a few shady characters giggling and drinking. He quickly walked up to her, frowning and asked, "Where have you been?" Clearly she had drunk more than she could handle.

As she struggled to stand without falling over, she looked at him and giggled. "Heyyy." She shouted, "You finally found me! Took you long enough." She laughed again and nearly fell over. Kratos frowned again worried.

Then he grabbed her arm roughly and said, "You've had enough. We're leaving." He stared the other two drunkards in the eyes, placing a hand on his hilt. That was enough to scatter them.

"Ow!" Anna whined as Kratos dragged her out of the bar and down the street to the inn. "Lemme go you jerk" She tried to say but her words slurred and became incoherent. Even Kratos had trouble hearing and understanding her. "I hate you..." She slurred again as she repeatedly slapped him. Halfway there, Anna tripped and fell in her druken stupor, but Kratos caught her in the same way he did at Hima and found himself locking eyes with Anna's again. He looked away uncomfortable being distracted again and Anna laughed at him. Then she put her hand put to Kratos's face softly and laughing more, she kissed him.

Kratos was instantly surprised and confused. He face became hot, like he had a fever and his heart pounded so loudly he thought he could hear it. He felt something he hadn't felt for ages and suddenly became nervous and flustered, tripping over something behind him as he backed away. It sent both him and Anna tumbling to the floor. As Kratos himself stood, he noticed Anna incapacitated on the ground and picked her up. As he continued walking on to the inn, his heart was flustered just looking at her face. What happened? he thought to himself. He shook his head sadly, it couldn't happen though...it wouldn't be fair to her. But Kratos couldn't deny the anguish, desire, emotion that he heart felt for the first time. Thawed and raw and exposed, Kratos felt vulnerable and nervous. It only made him want to seal himself away even more.

All of a sudden, rain poured down on them heavily. THe inn is still far away, Kratos thought and immediately sought for shelter. He found a hidden cave nearby with drawings in it and decided they could rest here for the night. The rain wasn't going to let up until morning. Searching for Anna had tired Kratos, so he sat down, laying Anna down gently. As he slept into a sitting position, he felt Anna shift as well leaning her head on his shoulder. She sighed gently and shivered next to Kratos, probably cold from the rain. Kratos then gently put his cloak over her and drifted off to sleep, promising himself that he would never allow himself to feel that way again.

As the sunlight hit the cave, Kratos woke up and saw Anna still leaning on his shoulder now clinging to his arm as well. He sighed as he struggled to wiggle his arm out without waking her. But he had no such luck. As soon as he moved, Anna stirred and groggily yawned. As she rubbed both her eyes and stretched, she finally caught sight of Kratos. "Kratos?" She nearly shouted and jumped back, confused. Anna couldn't remember a thing from the night before. When she noticed her arm in his and his cloak on her, she immediately pulled back, threw his cloak in his face and said, "ughhh! i can take care of myself, you know!" She blushed but looked him right in the eye, still a little angry at him. Strangely he wouldn't look at her and she was surprised. Kratos was never one to avoid confrontation, but now she saw that he was uncomfortably shifting away from her. He cleared his throat and now frowned, grumbling, "I hope you learned your lesson from last night."

Then she said angrily, "Well I hope you learned yours!" She glared at him intensely, until she noticed that he was now slightly confused.

He cleared his throat again and asked, "Do you remember anything that happened last night?" She shook her head. She noticed that he looked relieved and now looked her in the eye with his cold indifference once again. "Well, Anna, you cannot walk off into bars with shifty characters." He frowned and raised his eyebrows at her. Crossing his arms, he continued, "Well, what do you have to say for yourself?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "I had everything under control. I didn't need your help and still don't!" She snapped at him and turned away. "I am not a child. I can take care of myself without you." She started walking out of the cave.

"Hmm..." He said in response, following her as she went on rambling. What I felt was just surprise, He thought to himself as he touched his lips with his fingers. He told this to himself to reassure himself until he completely sealed away what he felt. Besides, Anna basically hated him. She would get away from him first chance she got. Then, he thought long and hard about whether or not that was a good thing. All of a sudden, Anna stopped and turned around at Kratos, frowning.

"You've been unusually quiet. What's wrong with you?" Anna tilted her head confused at him and Kratos only shook his head and responded,

"I'm usually am." His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. Anna only sighed and circled around him slowly, observing him.

"But its a different kind of quiet...Sort of, disturbed." She said, her hands now folded behind her back.

Kratos snorted, "Whatever you say." And he continued walking. This time Anna followed him.

"Where are we going?" She asked him curiously. Kratos rolled his eyes at her.

"The inn. Do you expect to stay in the cave for the next few days?" Anna scoffed.

"Well, don't get all defensive now." She scowled at him. They walked into the inn together, ready to check in for a comfortable bath and breakfast. But both were shocked to see what lay waiting for them. The silent air ate at Kratos, warning him almost, but still his feet willed him forward. There, he saw the innkeepers shackled and beaten, held up by the hair by Desians. Kvar was there himself to give them a warm welcome.

He smiled, a rather horrid sight as his slanted eyes glinted and sharp teeth spread out at them. "Well, well. A012. Ah! And her rescuer, none other than the traitor Kratos."