Okay, yes! I have a fast review! Yay! Feel free to applaude now. ...Just kidding. Most of this chapter will be about everything becoming normal in Altiaire and for all you romance-haters...leave now. This chapter, towards the end, is nothing but Minulf! (puts in earplugs before all the Minulf fans squeal)

Chef Colette: Yay! I'm glad you liked the chapter! And thanks for your opinion on the child theory. Thanks for the review and encouragement!

Predator Drone: Wow, I'm not the only violent one who just went "Okay, Stasik and Karoline, I'm done with you!" I like your opinion on the cat-hawk children and I'm sooo happy that you like the Ranulf and Mihara pairing so much! That makes me so happy! (fangirl squee) As for the thirty-five chapters...it may be even more... (evil laugh) Thank you for reviewing!!

TheSilverHairedMaiden: Wow, I was so happy to read your review! Yay! Another marching band geek/Ranulf lover! You rock! (gives you cookies) I got a good laugh when I read your review, and it also helped me through my writer's block I had at the end of the chapter! Thank you so much for your review!

Iline: Well, I had to read through it slowly, but I got what you were trying to get at! Thanks for your idea and the review!

Disclaimer: Dot dot dot... Me no owey anythin'...

WARNING, SHOEN LOVERS! YES, EGP, THIS MEANS YOU! Shoen gets a noogie later!!! (evil laugh)

XxXxXxX

Chapter 25

A week later...

Mihara sat out on her balcony with a jacket on over her long gown, watching the beginning of snowfall. Her right wing had been healed by the healers in Altiaire, but it was in a small sprint until it was okay for her to fly again. Although, while she was glad to be alive, Mihara still felt grounded – like a bird with her wings clipped. It killed her that she couldn't fly. When Ranulf had taken her back to get Tibarn, she had cried herself to sleep. Shoen told her that on the way back, they had run into Janaff, Ulki, and Ginia, who had been trying to track them down to warn them about Vlas, but they had obviously been too late. When they had all arrived to the coast, Ranulf broke off and headed back towards Gallia.

Sylvia was admiring Mihara's room inside. She and Naesala had explained everything that had been going on to Leanne. Immediately, Leanne had wanted to go and help with Mihara, but Naesala insisted that Tibarn and Ranulf could handle it. So, they had spoken quickly with Reyson and Rafiel, and Leanne went with the other two to go find Ilyana so that Sylvia could learn her magic. By some miracle, the merchant caravan hadn't been too far away – they were just on the inside borders of Crimea, heading for Greil's Retreat. However, Ilyana had just gotten herself sick ("Something about how famished she was...then she passed out..." Aimee mumbled), so she wasn't able to properly teach Sylvia. Still, she had given her a few different thunder tomes to practice with ("I wouldn't suggest practicing near the castle. Tibarn'll have a cow if you zap a section of it," Naesala advised). Although, Sylvia hadn't gone out to practice since she had found out about Mihara's condition – both her injuries and her sudden aging. Naesala had dropped her off in Altiaire, then headed back to Serenes to be with Leanne...and to apparantly "explain something to her brothers"...whatever that meant.

Once Sylvia decided she had snooped enough, she joined Mihara out on her balcony and sat down beside her with a long sigh. "So..."

Mihara raised an eyebrow and turned to her friend. "So...?"

"I dunno... How much longer until you can fly again?"

Mihara shrugged. "The healers said at least two more days."

Sylvia gave Mihara a sympathetic pat on the back. "That sucks."

"You're telling me." Mihara looked back up at the sky. "...It's so pretty."

"Yeah..." Sylvia looked upward, too, but then couldn't help but look back at her friend.

Mihara saw her out of the corner of her eye and frowned. "Uh...what?"

"I just can't get over how you just aged like that! You look like you're my age now!"

"Well, in technicality..." Mihara chuckled evilly, "I'm older than you."

Sylvia scoffed jokingly. "Whatever. Old lady."

"Must mean I'm smarter than you, too," the female laguz retorted.

"You wish!"

"You wanna go, Sylvia?!"

"Oh, yeah! I'm gonna pummel you-!"

Shoen cleared his throat from behind the two girls. The two yelped from startlement, not having heard Shoen enter Mihara's room. They then grinned sheepishly. "Uhh...what do you need, Shoen?" Mihara inquired, still grinning.

Shoen raised an amused eyebrow. "Well, I was asked to come in and check up on you, but you seem to be just fine." The Hawk Prince had had an "interesting adventure" finding new clothes that fit him. He had a wardrobe similar to Tibarn's – white pants tucked into dark brown boots, a white sleeveless shirt underneath a long, black coat that went to his waist. He had his hair somewhat neatly combed, but he didn't put a headband on to keep his bangs out of his eyes.

"Oh, really?"

"Am I wrong?"

Mihara stood up and stretched. "I'll be hundreds of times better when I can fly again..."

Shoen gave his older sister a scolding look. "Don't even think about taking the sprint off early. You could strain yourself."

Sylvia lightly punched Mihara's leg. "Aww, isn't that sweet! He sounds more like your older brother than your younger brother!"

"He may look like it, but I can still kick his butt!"

"Umm...we've never really sparred before..."

Ignoring him, Sylvia replied to Mihara, "Oh? I don't know about that! He looks like he can give you a run for your money!"

"Looks can be deceiving! You're only looking at his muscles, Sylvia!"

Shoen flushed lightly.

"Ha! You wish I was!" Sylvia then glanced up at Mihara with a sly look. "Y'know..." she said, changing the subject slightly, "This is just like going to a sleepover with like, ten girls there, and there's one little brother there who's younger than all the girls."

"So you're saying we're each like five girls? With all the trouble?" Mihara laughed.

Shoen's eyebrow twitched. "I'm leaving."

The two girls watched as Shoen swiftly left the room. When the door closed, Mihara looked down at Sylvia. "So, umm...what exactly were we trying to say?"

Sylvia shrugged. "No idea. I just felt like picking on him."

XxXxXxX

"But, Irea...are you sure you want to do this?"

"I have to, Stefan." Irea gave her half-brother a determined look. "I could've seriously injured them while I was being controlled. I have to find a way to pay them back."

Stefan sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Then I'll come with you."

"No. You need to look after our people. This is something that I need to do...alone." Irea turned and looked at the sun, which was beginning its descent in the sky.

Stefan took a few steps forward and placed a hand on Irea's shoulder. "Swear to me that you'll be okay. -And that you'll come back safe and soon."

"Of course I will, Your Majesty." Irea turned her head and smiled at Stefan. "The people of Meteora need you more than me right now. Ever since that raven attacked the Hawk Princess and then flew out this way, everyone's been on high alert and worried..."

"Of course I'm going to watch out for our people, but I'm still going to be worried about you, Irea. I mean, you're going to go out to Altiaire with how dangerous it is now and you aren't even going to have anyone with you?"

"I can take care of myself, Stefan."

"I know, but still..."

"Look, I'm going to leave tonight. The sooner I leave, the sooner I can come back, okay? Although, I can't guarantee how long I'll be gone."

"Okay. If a month and a half goes by – at the lastest – and I haven't heard a word from you, I'm coming to look for you, okay?"

"Deal."

XxXxXxX

Sigrun practically sobbed, "Empress, I just can't forgive myself for not knowing that the 'you' I was with later in Serenes was a replica! Please, you have to punish me!"

"Nonsense, Sigrun." Sanaki closed her eyes. "It was something the goddess created and it was acting exactly like me."

"But still-!"

Knock, knock.

"Who is it?" Sanaki called, opening her eyes with curiosity.

"It's Tanith, Empress. You have visitors."

"Visitors? Who?"

"Sir Tormod and Sir Muarim, Empress."

"Very well. Tell them I shall be along in a moment."

"Yes."

Sanaki turned back to Sigrun. "Now, Sigrun, this behavior is completely unacceptable. Nothing like this has ever happened and let us pray it shall never happen again. It was not your fault. Now, I am going to greet our guests. Will you accompany me?"

"Of-...of course, Empress."

XxXxXxX

Xavier sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Felicity, I still don't understand why you ran off all those years ago."

"Because, Your Majesty, I wasn't ready to accept that I was going to be your heir..." Felicity turned her gaze away. "I still don't think I quite am... I'm not ready to be a leader to the people."

Hadrian scoffed lightly. "My dear cousin, you still have a while left to prepare yourself. King Xavier's not but fifty-six."

"Yeah, but at this rate...I don't think I'll ever be ready."

"Of course you will, Felicity. I have faith in you." Xavier gave Felicity an assuring look. "There's a reason why I picked you."

"Then why did you?"

"One part is because of the ancient magic you have within you, just as I have it within me. However, not everyone has it. The magic is slowly vanishing from our people. This magic is something that comes from an acute sense to the balance of nature. And right now, you can tell that the balance between chaos and order is wavering, can't you?"

With a hesitation, Felicity nodded. Hadrian agreed, "Yeah. You can sense that, and I can too, but not on such a great scale. All I can tell – and what most of the others can tell – is that something is wrong."

"That is mostly just from instincts," Xavier commented. "But the reason why...Ike, is it-? -found and chose you to accompany him. You have the ancient magic within you and you could've tried to stop order and chaos from shifting."

"But I failed." Felicity's hands balled up into fists. "I could've stopped all of this."

"Don't think that for one moment, Felicity," Hadrian snapped. "None of this is your fault. You tried, but the goddess was just stronger."

"I can't help but blame myself...! Because I couldn't properly transfer her to the proper medallion, so many laguz and Ike could've been burned to death if the goddess Yune hadn't intervened!"

"Do not blame yourself," Hadrian repeated, quieter, and with slight anger in his voice.

XxXxXxX

"Should you be moving around so much just yet, Tibarn? You got hurt pretty badly," Ranulf reminded Tibarn.

"I'm fine. It's not like I'm a heron. If I don't move, I'll just get restless and..." Tibarn trailed off. "Anyway, I wanted to ask you something before you left, Ranulf."

"Okay...? What is it?"

Tibarn turned away from Ranulf, his back to the cat warrior of Gallia. He sighed, trying to figure out how to make the words come out. "You...love Mihara...don't you?"

The question caught Ranulf off guard. "Umm, what?"

"Don't try and hide it, Ranulf. It's plain as day on your face. You do, don't you?" Tibarn turned back around and faced him.

Ranulf looked Tibarn straight in the eye. "...Yes. I do."

Tibarn narrowed his eyes. "...I believed so. Well, let me put this simply, Ranulf...I'm not pleased with that fact, so shortly after getting Mihara back. Still, if she loves you back, there's nothing I can do about it. However..." Tibarn's voice became slightly teasing. "All she has to do is come to me with one tiny complaint, and I will come after you and put you in your place."

Ranulf chuckled. "Don't worry, Tibarn. That won't happen. If – and that's a big 'if' – that were to happen, trust me: I'd rather fight Ashera and Yune and Dheginsea by myself than have you coming after me."

Tibarn cracked a grin. "Good."

XxXxXxX

Tibarn sighed, wandering the halls of Altiaire. He had been informed about the field fires that forced the horse tribe to seek shelter and healers in the castle. Apparantly, the last injured horses had been fully healed, so the herd had moved back out again. The halls were slightly quiet, save for the children running about the halls and the adults having quiet conversations. Yune had informed Tibarn that Mihara's birthday was only five days away. Perhaps that would be a good thing. The kingdom needed a lighter event to cheer everyone up. Not to mention, Mihara would be flying by then, which would boost her spirits even move.

Tibarn then caught sight of Shoen, stalking away from Mihara's room with a flustered look. Amused, Tibarn inquired, "What happened?"

Shoen looked in the direction of his father, then just said, "...Girls."

Tibarn laughed. "What were they doing?"

"...Being girls."

Ginia, who suddenly appeared out of nowhere, suggested, "You may want to get used to it, Lord Shoen. Lady Mihara and Miss Sylvia will undoubtedly pick on you a lot."

"Ack-! Where did you come from?" Shoen demanded.

"From down the hall, of course," she replied with a sly smile. "Now, if you will both excuse me..." and she slipped inside Mihara's room.

Tibarn and Shoen both gave the closed door blank stares. "What was that all about...?" Shoen muttered.

"Not a clue, but I have a feeling that since there's three females in there and only two of us, we should stay out of it," Tibarn advised, continuing on down the hall.

"Yeah. I agree." Shoen followed after his father.

The two men hardly saw any of the three girls for the rest of the day. Occasionally, they would see Ginia sneaking around and slipping in and out of rooms before heading back to Mihara's room. This made them conclude that the girls were simply up to no good. They had a feeling that they would find out later that evening. After Tibarn and Shoen conversed ("More like plotting..." Ulki commented to Janaff), Shoen had been chosen to be the "sacrifice" to see what the girls were up to.

So, after much convincing ("You wanted to ask her about Earth, anyway, didn't you?"), Shoen stood at Mihara's door. He turned his head and gave his father, Janaff, and Ulki – the aides having been dragged into it – evil glares. The three all grinned and waved him on in encouragement, then disappeared around the corner. Shoen grumbled darkly, then raised his left hand and knocked. Instantly, the talking that had been going on inside stopped and footsteps approached the door. Sylvia opened the door. "What?"

"Can I, uh, talk to Mihara?"

Sylvia narrowed her eyes playfully at Shoen. "Why?"

"Sylvia-..."

"Oh, Sylvia, be nice! Stop teasing him – I'll talk to him."

"Fine..." Sylvia sighed, then moved out of the way of the doorway.

Apparantly, part of the girls' plots behind the door was finding Mihara new clothes since she was released from the infirmary. They had found her a new (or adjusted) shirt. It was the same as her old one, but it was simply larger so that it wasn't tight anymore. She still had her armwarmers, only they weren't as long – they only stretched to about her elbow. She now had white pants that were similar to Tibarn's, but instead of being tucked into boots, she simply left them hanging over her black sandles. She had taken her wing out of its sprint, had her now long hair tied back into a neat braid, and looked at Shoen with curious eyes. "What do you need?"

"Can I ask you something? ...In private?" he added with a slight glare directed at Sylvia and Ginia, who both gave him innocent smiles in turn.

"Sure." She turned back and told her two friends, "Be right back."

They nodded and began to talk amongst themselves. Mihara closed her door and proceded to follow Shoen down the hallway. She looked slightly up at him, Shoen now being about two inches taller than herself. "So, what do you need?"

"Well, first...what would you like for your birthday?"

Mihara jerked to a halt with a light blush on her cheeks. "Oh, crap... Umm...what's today?"

"The first," Shoen replied with a chuckle. He stopped walking and faced Mihara. "Did you forget?"

"Again," she admitted with a groan. "But so much has been going on, so it kinda...slipped my mind..."

"Well, now that I've reminded you, what do you want?"

"I've not even given it a thought." Mihara began slowly walking again. "Really, I just hope everything is normal on my birthday..."

"I'm sure everyone wants that. But, c'mon...you don't want anything? Like a pair of scissors...?"

Mihara stopped again and gave Shoen a menacing look. "Are you trying to say that my hair looks bad?"

Shoen grinned. "Of course not."

Mihara then lunged at Shoen and put him in a headlock, giving him a noogie. "Arghhh, you really are a little brother! Why, I oughta-!"

"Ow! Mercy, Mihara! Owww!!"

Mihara released him with an evil chuckle. "Don't forget, it's like I said – I can still kick your butt!"

Shoen rubbed his offended head. "Oww... Ugh, you're totally not getting a present from me anymore!"

"Aww, so you were gonna get me one anyway?"

"'Were' being the key word."

Mihara just laughed. Then, she inquired, "So, didn't you have more to ask?"

"Yeah, actually..." The two came to the overhang of the second floor of the castle. Shoen leaned over the rail and looked down at the first floor activity. "Do you think...you could tell me more about the other world?"

Mihara looked slightly shocked at his request. She, too, leaned against the rail, but with her back on it. She looked down at the floor. "Shoen, I wish I could, but...ever since this last...event-thing...and I said I wanted to come home to Altiaire...I can't hardly remember anything. All that I can still remember are smiling faces of people...and the smell of hay...but otherwise, I can't remember. I'm sorry."

"N-no, it's okay... I was just...wondering if you could." Shoen quickly tried to change the subject, "So, umm...what were you three doing in there all day?"

Mihara smirked. "I knew it. You and Dad couldn't just get Ulki to eavesdrop?"

Shoen flushed. "Uhh... We...wanted to be considerate. You know...privacy and all that."

Mihara rolled her eyes with the smirk still on her face, then got off of the rail. She began to walk down the hall with a short wave to her brother. "By the way, Shoen..." She stopped, then requested, "Please tell Dad to not get any crazy ideas and repeat the laguz party."

While Shoen stared after her with a puzzled look, he droaned, "Sure..."

XxXxXxX

The Griel Mercenaries sat and spoke with all their old Gallian friends. For whatever reason Ike had requested that his comrades go to Gallia, it had turned out to be a false alarm. Yet, he asked that they all hung out at Gallia for a while, in case "something else" were to happen. While they were there, Mist had hardly left her brother's side, practically becoming his shadow. She asked him about his adventures across the waters where he had found the other laguz. He answered all of her questions with a smile. Even though he still believed he should've stayed away from Tellius, he was happy to be back with Mist and his family.

However, Ike noted that he hadn't seen Ranulf yet since he'd returned from helping Tibarn. He did want to speak with his old friend, but if Ranulf was tired, he couldn't help that. Skrimir had filled Ike in on everything that had been going on as of late with Tibarn and his children. At first, Ike was completely confused, but it didn't help that Skrimir didn't have the tinest details that made all the difference. Still, after a while, Ike had put pieces together. One thing that caught him off guard was mention of the children of general Petrine. He pondered on what the two had to do with everything that had happened to Tibarn, Mihara, and Shoen. They could really be after him for revenge, but...then...Petrine would've had to have been working with Ashera from the beginning to get the power to stop Shoen's aging...but that's impossile. Ashera was still awake...she couldn't have contacted anyone...

"Ike?"

The blue-haired beorc hero blinked, dragged back to reality by Lethe's voice. He looked up. "Ah, yeah?"

"Have you seen Ranulf today?"

"No." Ike frowned. "Why? Is something wrong?"

"Well..." Lethe cocked her head slightly. "Kyza went to check on him for King Skrimir and he wasn't in his room. I was simply wondering if you had seen him."

"Do you need help looking for him?"

Lethe shrugged. "You can look for him if you want. He's around, but he just might not want to be found by certain individuals."

"Like who?"

The orange-haired laguz shook her head. "I'm not sure. Although, when he returned, he just told me that he didn't want to be bothered if it wasn't important and that he wanted some time to himself. Whatever happened, it must've been bad."

"...That's strange. It couldn't be as bad as when we discovered the Feral Ones or when everyone was turned to stone... I'll go look for him."

"He should be close by, in the forest."

"Alright. Thanks, Lethe."

"...No problem."

Ike stood up and walked away from the large group of people and headed outside. There was hardly anyone outside, save for four young teenage-looking laguz wrestling with each other. He walked into the thick sea of trees, looking upward for his friend. "Ranulf?" he called. "Where are you at?"

He looked hard into the trees, knowing that if Lethe's words were true, Ike could easily miss Ranulf. Even so, he didn't have to go too far. He hadn't gone any farther than one hundred feet from the castle when he caught sight of blue. He saw a cat tail and sighed. Ranulf was up in almost the top of a thick tree, sitting on a branch, letting his feet dangle over the edge. However, Ranulf looked like a mess. His hair was messy, not held out of his face by his orange headband. He looked exhausted and worried about something. Ike began to climb the tree.

"Ranulf, I'm coming up," he said. He knew that Ranulf heard him, because even though the cat warrior didn't respond, he saw Ranulf's ears twitch in his direction. It took Ike longer than he liked since he still had most of his guards on, as well as Ragnell and Alondite on his back, but at last, he reached the branch below Ranulf. He looked up. "Ranulf, what's wrong?"

"...Ike, I...I've never felt like this before," Ranulf muttered, looking at the forest floor below distantly.

"Felt like what?"

Ranulf scoffed dryly and quietly. "Ike, I love this girl...and it took me until she was in the face of death to get me to tell her that I loved her."

Ike looked slightly surprised. "Really? Well, whoever this girl is is okay now, right?"

"Yeah, but...I'm still worried."

"Why? Is she in trouble?"

"...Long-range, I suppose you could say so. And...she never said anything to me after she found out, so...I don't know if...she feels the same way."

"...Are you talking about Mihara?"

"Heh. For someone so dense in the area of love, you figured that out pretty quick."

Ike glared up at his feline friend. "Gee, thanks."

Ranulf cracked a small grin and looked down at Ike. "But, yeah. It is Mihara. It wasn't exactly the words 'I love you', but it was the same message. Even though I don't know if she feels that way about me, I can't help but wondering about her...and worrying about her. Ashera's been after her and all I can wonder is 'what is she doing right now?' 'Is she alright now?'"

"Ranulf, trust me. I agree with you that I'm not exactly the expert on love, but even I have a feeling that she cares for you in that way, too. I mean, I don't know her much, at all, but..."

"I want to believe that she does, but...I don't think I would be able to take it if my hopes got up...and then crushed."

Ike looked back down, wondering on what he should say next. "Ranulf...I don't really think you have anything to worry about."

"Although, now that I feel like this, I feel terrible because of the way I treated Lyre when I was sick. I told her that I didn't love her in that way. Ever since I said that to her, she just hasn't...been the same. I mean, she's still arguing with Lethe and Lyron – their brother – the same, but it's like...her heart isn't in it." Ranulf's eyes narrowed. "But she's strong. I don't know if I'd be able to hang on like she has been."

"You're stronger than you think."

"...You really think so?"

"I know so, Ranulf. Now come on, moping and pouting isn't your style!" Ike stood up slowly on his branch and grabbed the one Ranulf was on to balance himself. He grinned and said, "The others are inside and wanna talk to you. C'mon, let's go."

"...Yeah. You're right, Ike. I'm sorry." Ranulf stood up, as well, smiling. He jumped down onto Ike's branch, which moaned in protest.

Ike yelped, "Hey, do you wanna break this or something?!"

"What's the problem? I'll land on my feet." Ranulf smirked slyly.

"I'm not a cat!" Ike snapped.

"Then you'll land on your head." Ranulf shrugged as though it were no big deal.

"Are you not worried about me?!"

"No. Your head's just so thick. I think you'll come out completely unscathed."

"...Ranulf, you're a real pal," Ike muttered darkly.

"I know!"

XxXxXxX

Mihara looked at the necklace Ranulf had made her carefully in the palm of her hand. Sylvia and Ginia gave her identical anxious looks. Mihara smiled to herself. Then, she told them, "Ranulf said...that he loved me."

Both girls squealed (Ulki winced and rubbed his ears. Tibarn raised an eyebrow. "What's going on in there?" "Sir...you really don't want to know right now...") and jumped up on her bed. "Really?!"

Mihara's smile grew. "Yeah."

"I knew it!" Ginia sang.

"Man, Mihara, I'm so jealous!" Sylvia hugged her friend. "That's so awesome! You like him back, don'tcha?!"

"Yeah, of course I do! Although..."

Ginia and Sylvia froze. "'Although'...?"

"...I don't know what Dad'll think."

"Oh, him?" the two scoffed, waving the mention of Tibarn off. "Don't worry about that. Ranulf needs to worry about that."

Mihara laughed. "But, seriously! Don't you two think he'll take 'overprotective daddy' to a whole new level?"

Ginia and Sylvia took the time to mentally picture Tibarn taking on the role of 'overprotective daddy'. Both then started laughing, saying they agreed. Ginia then said, "In seriousness, I think that His Majesty really trusts Sir Ranulf. Perhaps he won't be as bad as you think."

"Yeah. I mean, it could be worse," Sylvia chimed in. "I mean, he could have a gun..."

Mihara and Ginia blinked. "Gun?"

Sylvia winced at Mihara. "You don't remember...a gun? You know..." She held her arms out and positioned her hands as though she were holding said weapon. "'Bang!'?"

Mihara frowned with thought. Then, her eyes widened. "Oh, yeah! I remember. That's true, he could have a gun, but he has talons..."

"...True."

Ginia giggled. "I feel bad for Sir Ranulf."

XxXxXxX

Well, let's see... Random fact: this was the third longest chapter, also probably the most random, too. IKE gave RANULF LOVE advice? The apocalypse is coming!! (hides underground)

Okay, I have a proposition for all the people who said that they wanted a Mihara and Reyson pairing... Obviously, it's going to be Mihara and Ranulf now, but does everyone remember when I asked if I should have a three-way? I could have that happen with Reyson crushing on Mihara for a while before he sees how serious Ranulf is towards her... So...yes? No? Let me know!

Please review! I may get the next chapter up as quick as this one, too!