This is another long, boring chapter. Sorry about that, and... I decided to have Loki's past on the next chapter.

I'm done with the characterization of my OC's, but the scanner won't work so it may take some time before I could show you.

I hope you still like the chapter even though it's a bit boring... excuses like this is unforgivable, but please spare me.~

Enjoy! (?)

: )

Night Thirteen

Morning breeze and starry night sky was not the only thing the snow white hair lad liked. He found out that the afternoon, when the sun was setting, was beautiful. He sat at the back of wagon; his silver eyes traced the grass fields outside as they passed. In his eyes they appeared yellowish and some where brownish which reminded him of honey and chocolate. He then landed his gaze up to the sky. It was like a canvas painted with the hue of yellow, orange, and red. When he looked at the horizon where the land and sky were connected, he noted that it would be a wonderful subject for a painter.

"Afternoon and evening are wonderful in here."

Allen looked over his shoulder to see Loki went out and sat beside him.

"Around this time you could see the wheat field appears like gold when you are at the hill and the grass is like chocolates. And if the sky is clear, you can see the stars, the constellations, at night."

Allen's mind was blank at the moment and was speechless. He didn't know what to say, thus he ended up staring at Loki with wide eyes. Loki felt a pair of eyes digging in him, so looked to his side and found that Allen was staring at him.

"What's up with that look?" Loki twitched and Allen jerked.

"Ah! Uhmm... So-sorry..."

"What're you apologizing for, twerp?"

T- Twerp!? He called me twerp! Allen screamed in his mind. "Oh, Uhmm... Sorry because I was staring at you." he said calmly though his fingers fidgeted.

Loki noticed this, but said nothing as he averted his gaze to the horizon.

"Why are you staring at me then?" Loki asked.

"Eh? Well, this is the first time I talk to you since we met."

"Didn't we talk when we first met?"

"What?"

"I said the words sorry and scary that time, right?"

"Oh." it wasn't a talk at all! He just spoke! "I thought you don't like talking. Amy said you hate talkative people."

"That nosy witch..." Loki muttered under his breath.

"Pardon?"

"I mean... It doesn't mean I hate noisy people, I do not talk."

"... You have a point..."

The then went silent as they both looked at the beautiful scene before them.

oOo

When the night fell, the group went to a clearing where they could set up fire and camp outside. Each of them set their covers on the ground where they will sleep on. And, to say the least...the atmosphere around Tidus towards Cross wasn't that appealing as he sat cross legged, folded his arms with a huff, and stared at Cross. The four of them sat around the fire Cross created waiting for the fish on stick to be cook. They didn't have to wait any longer food, though.

Allen took his first and stuffed his mouth, satisfied at the juiciness of the smoked fish Loki and Tidus had caught from a nearby river. Cross took his next and ate normally followed by Tidus, who was still staring warily at the half masked man, and then Loki.

"Do you have a grudge against him, idiot?" closing his eyes as he savoured his food, Loki asked.

"Shut up and stop calling me that!" Tidus averted his eyes to Loki as he yelled.

"I will if you stop acting like idiot." he retorded.

This guy... Tidus growled inwardly.

Allen heard nothing from them, he was too busy with the bliss the food brought to him while Cross just ignored them completely.

Since the beginning, Tidus and Loki didn't get along. Tidus was oftenly offended by Loki's lack of interest at things and got irritated by his emotionless manner which leads to him acting like a mean, and rude. Loki in the other hand hated him because of his idiocy and now, since the death of their parents, it only got worst to the point Tidus would tease him about him being shy and all and thanks to Amy's loud mouth and his secret love towards the strawberry was revealed.

"There, there." Tidus patted the black haired boy on his head, messing his unruly hair. "I told you, you don't have to be shy! We've been living together all these years, so it isn't that embarrassing to call me brother right?"

And when the hell is this topic came from? Loki said inwardly. "Even you say so, I was not legally adopted, my last name isn't Alberts, but Umber, we are obviously not related by blood, and most of all..." he said these words upon closing his eyes and paused as he snapped his eyes open and stared at Tidus with his sharp, glassy eyes. His face held nothing when he resumed and said, "Your siblings never call you brother even once since I came in your lives because you are a real idiot."

Tidus was surprised that he dropped the twig he picked up awhile back. He was speechless so as Allen and Cross. There was a heavy silence that hung around them you could hear the crickets making sound from their hiding place.

"Pfft.- BWAHAHAHA!" Tidus laughed out loud, Cross smirked, Loki didn't react at all, and Allen was left behind, lost in thoughts.

Just when Tidus was about to stop laughing, Allen asked, "Is there something funny? Loki just called you idiot." which caused Tidus to laugh more until his stomach aches.

"What? What? Is there anything to laugh about? Master, why are you smirking? Tell me, please."

"You don't get it?" his Master asked.

"Ahahaha! You poor little thing!" Tidus pointed at Allen while holding his stomach. Oncs he calmed down he said, "You see, our dear shy little boy here just answered me back! Usually he just ignores me or punches me. This is the first time I heard him said that! And he's talking more than before! I thought you've gone crazy, but I'm proud of you Loki!" he said merrily as he placed his arm on Loki's shoulder.

"... I don't find it something to laugh at all." staring at the blonde with his round silver eyes, Allen commented which made the teen stopped laughing immediately. Tidus blinked once, wondering why Allen would say it.

"You know, you're no fun at all."

"Master often says that to me." this reminded the blonde teen about what happened that morning. He sighed as he let go of his cold, black haired friend.

"I know you have something you wanted to ask me, Tidus."

The blonde teen glared at him and said, "What did you and Yuna talked about this morning?" in a dead serious tone.

"We talked about your parents' death."

Tidus' eyes widened at his answer. They never talked about it since that tragedy seven years ago, reason was Tidus was always reminded of the crime he did. He was traumatized after that incident and often had nightmares haunting him every night. He even got scared of holding kitchen knives and he would shake whenever he sees blood no matter how small it would be. Among them, Tidus was the one who got it worst unlike Yuna and Amy who will just cry over it. Because of this, no one eve spoke about that night.

For two years, Tidus had been like that until Loki helped him back even though he still refuses to talk about it.

Allen heard about this from Amy, but only a little so he didn't know the real story.

"Yuna told me everything. And I mean everything including your phobia of blood and knife before and you refused to talk about it. If you want, we can talk about that tragedy. This way you can move on with your life."

"You…" Tidus face darkened as he snarled threateningly as he glared daggers at Cross. He visibly shook out of rage, fisted his knuckles until it turned white, and gritted his teeth. "You have no right to say such a thing! It is none your business so you don't bring that topic out like it was nothing!" he yelled.

"Indeed, it has nothing to do with me, but seeing that lonely eyes of your twin I can't bring myself to ignore this." Cross stood and made his way towards the growling teen. "You are a man, Tidus. Face the truth. Are you that dense enough not to notice you siblings' feelings? Even Loki knows about this."

"What do you mean?" he growled. "That jerk knows nothing. He killed those thieves without any hesitations. He had the eyes of the killer when he did it. I saw it!"

"Haah… you don't get it." Cross rubbed his temple. "You, listen here." He snarled as he yanked Tidus closer to him by his collar. "You can't smile and laugh like nothing had happen. You can't show that damn face forever because that very same face hurt them. You can't show the world that you are alright. Because Yuna, Amy, and Loki know that you are hurting inside and it also hurts them to see you like that. Why don't you face your sin? Don't run away from your past mistakes. You got me?" and with that, he pushed him back, leaving a doubtful Tidus and went back to his position.

Cross was right. He had a point. He can't just run away to avoid the things he don't want to remember. He has to face it.

"Hey." Tidus called Cross without looking at him, but at the burning fire before him. "Tell me. What did Yuna said?"

…

About 11 hours ago…

Yuna was feeding the chicken when she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks. Shadows covered her eyes, her lips quivered, and shoulders were tensed.

"What's the matter?" she jerked, surprised at the sudden voice. She spun around and saw the red haired man standing at the entrance.

"Ah! Mr. Marian! Nothing. Nothing's wrong. What are you doing here anyway? Shouldn't you be still asleep?"

"I'm an early riser fair one. I was just walking around when I saw you here." He said as he approached her. "What's wrong? You look so sad."

"Wha? Me? Hahahaha. Nah, I'm not!" obviously, she faked her laugh.

"Tell me… Is there something that bothers you? You know, you can't hide it from me. I can see it in your eyes. I can't let anyone like you to be like this. If you're sad, just tell me…" he soothed.

Yuna hesitated at first, but she let him know the things that bothered her a lot. She told him about the tragedy seven years ago. She and Amy already coped up with their lost so as Tidus, however, there is something in him that worries her. Tidus acted overprotective to them and always laughs and smiles which was strange because he wasn't like that before, but a calm, smart boy.

"He refused to hear anything about our parents and never gone to their graves even once. It seems that he still hasn't forgiven himself for killing the thief. Can you… help him?" she pleaded.

"Yeah… don't worry." He then pulled the sobbing blonde teen into a tight hug. They were like that for minutes until she calmed and when Tidus, Amy, Loki, and Allen came did he let go of her.

Now back to present…

"It hurts her to see you like that, acting like you are fine." Cross said.

Tidus said nothing. He just sat there, arms around his knees protectively as he stared at the fire with solemn face. The burning fire reflected on his eyes, making it look lively. "Hn. So she told you everything."

"Yeah…"

"Maybe you are right, I'm dense. I never realized they felt that way. Do you also feel that way, Loki?"

"Hn."

"I see… I thought if I act like this things will be the same again, but I'm wrong. This act proves my selfishness. How do I say this… I'm avoiding the reality, pretending to be happy and all, but I didn't know it would hurt you, Loki…and my siblings. It pains me to remember the past, so I tried my best to pretend that I'm happy so you won't worry to me anymore, but it has the opposite effect. I… want to… move on…" he trailed off.

"If you just talk about this you'll be fine. Yuna and Amy are obviously waiting for you to open up, you know?" Cross said.

"I…I see. But…"

"It isn't easy, but we always remember that we are here for you." lying on his back, and eyes were closed, Loki said in hopes of reassuring him.

"Loki…" Tidus trailed off as he stared at Loki, and then he smiled. "Thanks!"

"No problem, idiot. You are stupid after all, making your sisters worry for you that much. You aren't a gentle type." He turned his back on Tidus as he said.

"Like you're one to talk, you jerk!"

"Silence, Tidus. I don't want my apprentice to wake up and ask food to me." Cross stopped him when he noticed that he was about to yell another word.

Tidus looked towards the sleeping figure of the white haired lad. "Oh, did he fell asleep during you story telling?"

"Yeah, so don't wake him."

"Right, sorry…"

It may be boring, but isn't it welcoming? No? Nah...

If you noticed, Loki never call them by name. : P

Thank you for reading... Please tell me how was the chapter.

See you!

#CBA