The moment hung, suspended. I couldn't look away, but at the same time I had no real answer. In a way, she was crazy. After all, crazy is when your brain isn't functioning properly, right?

"No," My own voice surprised me. I hadn't meant to say anything, but it still came out nonetheless.

"Then what happened?" She broke eye contact, running a hand through her hair.

Even if you don't remember, you still have the same habits, huh?

"I can't tell you," I said quietly.

"You're an ass," She said simply, "And if you don't want me to continue thinking that, you better tell me what's happening."

"I still can't tell you," I tried to move my leg, annoyed when the ice didn't even budge. Urgh. Mages are so annoying…

"So you don't mind being the bad guy?" She demanded angrily; obviously upset her attempt at wheedling the answer out of me didn't work.

"I'm use to it," I said idly, trying to pry the ice off with my fingers. It still didn't work. Something soft hit me on the head and I looked up frowning. She had a lump of dirt in her hand. I sighed, "I can't tell you."

"You're an ass," She said again, throwing another clod of dirt at me. I didn't bother to try and avoid it, instead standing still and staring at her steadily as it hit my shoulder. It left a dirty mark, but I didn't mind enough to give her the satisfaction of a reaction. It continued for awhile. She would dig up the dirt with her hands, a growing look of irritation on her face. She would fling it at me and I wouldn't react. Even when one landed directly on my face. It annoyed me inside, but I didn't have the courage to get angry at her again. I was afraid that, if I did, she would go back to being terrified. That she would look at me with those scared eyes and cry. She finally burst, snapping, "You're a jerk. You wear too much black. You're annoying. You're emotionless," When I didn't react she seemed to get even angrier, shouting, "If you're not even getting angry at me for this, what did I do?! What did I do to make you so scary?! At least say something!"

"Something," I said, deadpan.

She looked flustered, narrowing her eyes and muttering, "You're getting more sassy."

I raised an eyebrow at the thought of a sassy Judgment Knight.

"How do you all do that?" She demanded angrily.

"Do what?" I asked, confused.

"The eyebrow thing!" She gestured at my face sharply, "Everybody keeps doing it!"

I stared at her blankly for a few moments before bursting out into laughter, which prompted her face to look even darker, only making me laugh more.

She's nuts. She's definitely crazy.

"You're so weird," I managed between the laughter, shaking my head.

Suddenly the pressure in my leg eased. When I looked down it was completely free of the ice. When I looked back up she was walking away, her arms crossed. At least she's not just going to leave me here.

I caught up with her easily, though I took care not to stand too close lest she lose her patience again and start attacking me.

"I'm sorry," She said suddenly, tucking a strand of gold hair behind her ear.

I frowned in confusion, "Why?"

She looked embarrassed, "For… everything?"

"And everything is?" I prompted, still confused.

"Coming here," She bit her lip, looking down and twisting her shirt, "Embarrassing you, dragging you around everywhere…"

That surprised me, then made me feel even more guilty. Of course she feels sorry for coming to the South. The first thing she woke up to was me screaming at her to go back to the North. Damn it, Grisia! If you're going to fix her, at least do it right… Sob.

"Don't be," I said gruffly, not looking her in the eye as we entered the empty corridor, "It was… fun."

You shouldn't be having fun. Live for the Church, right?

"But I made you angry," She said quietly, sounding like a child, "I must have done something really bad to make you that scary."

"It's my job to be scary," I said casually, hoping it would spark something other than sadness out of her. Even her being angry was better than this.

She frowned, shaking her head and sending golden hair drifting from side to side, "It shouldn't be."

"I chose this," I said tightly. Really? Every other time you choose blatant anger, but now you're going to try and speak calmly?

"It's stupid," She said bitterly, "Everybody always acts so scared, like you're some kind of dragon. You're more like a lamb."

I frowned at that. I know you were trying to make a comparison, but can't you find something a little bit more manly than a lamb?

"None of your friends even seem to know you," She continued complaining, sounding huffy.

It wasn't ten minutes ago that you were throwing stuff at me and calling me an ass. What changed? Jeez.

"What about your family?" She asked, still frowning, "Do they at least act normally around you?"

I was silent, not knowing how I was supposed to reply without making her feel guilty for asking. My silence was enough of an answer.

She looked devastated as she made a little 'Oh'.

"It's nothing," I said quickly.

Instead she looked pissed, slapping my arm and snapping, "You're a terrible liar."

"It really is nothing," I said, feeling embarrassed, "It's not like I have anything to miss. I have a good life here."

"But you seem so isolated," She sighed, "Why would you enter this kind of life?"

"Because it's all I've ever had," I replied as we entered the deserted corridor, "And it's really not so bad. Somebody has to do the job, and it's not like-"

One second we were walking, the next I was face down on the floor.

This seems to be happening more and more often with her around.

I turned to look at her slowly, my expression incredulous as I asked, "Did you just trip me?"

She nodded quietly, looking away with raised eyebrows.

"Hey!"

Shi-!

I stood quickly, straightening my uniform and trying to salvage my 'Judgment Knight' demeanour just as Ignal began to storm down the corridor to us.

Phew. If anybody had to see that, at least it was Ignal. If one of the clerics had seen me being tripped...

Still, what surprised me the most right now was Ignal's face. He was always calm and collected around me, his stance formal and respectful. Right now he was sporting a dark scowl, his fists clenched and his eyes dark.

Oh god. What did I do?!

"Ignal," I said, using all my years of training to keep my face nonchalant and my tone calm, "What is it?"

He gave a belated salute, stopping in front of me and frowning deeply, "Captain..."

I've never had one of my platoon members frown in front of me. I wonder if the temple is on fire? Or maybe Grisia is back...

I resisted the urge to shudder.

"Is there a problem?" I asked seriously, hoping it was the former rather than the latter.

He hesitated, looking unsure of how to proceed. Eventually he seemed to resolve his determination, saying loudly, "Yes, Sir! The other Platoon members were going to stay quiet, because we didn't want to interfere, but..."

He trailed off, face reddening in apparent embarrassment. I couldn't understand why before I realised I had raised my eyebrows. I forced them back down, asking, "Yes?"

"T-That is..." He stood straighter, "We can't sit by calmly while you're being disrespected, sir!"

Huh?

"Aw," Kadence sounded amused, "Your knights in shining armour, eh? Who is this 'disrespecter' then?"

Ignal looked at her blankly for a few moments before saying, in a voice used to explain simple matters to small children, "You."

"Ha?!" She crossed her arms, frowning at him, "And what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Ever since we found you, you've been taking advantage of Captain's tolerance!" Ignal snapped. It was the first time I had heard him snap at anybody. Even Grisia.

"How so?!" She growled, sounding dangerous.

I suddenly felt very worried that she would attack my Vice-Captain.

"You've been pulling cheap shots!" Ignal replied indignantly, sounding offended that she didn't know what he was talking about, "You keep hitting him! All because he's too tolerant to get angry with you!"

Is he... defending me?

My head felt light.

"I've been hitting him because he's been acting stupid!" She pouted, turning away with a huff.

"Don't badmouth Captain!" Ignal growled.

He is defending me. Holy cr-

"Why?" She grinned lopsidedly, "Gonna fight me?"

He looked annoyed as he declared, "Yes! Even if it takes the whole Platoon to win!"

"Aren't you being a bit selfish?" She rolled her eyes, "Dragging the whole platoon into a useless fight just because you have a Captain-Complex."

"The only reason they haven't acted on their own yet is because I told them not to!" He snapped, "You wouldn't understand loyalty!"

Suddenly her gruff demeanour dropped, a small smile twitching on the edge of her lips until she began to laugh loudly, holding her sides and grinning widely. Ignal looked offended, and I had a feeling the only thing stopping him from fighting her right here and now was her gender.

"I t-told you!" She laughed, pointing at me, "Your face right now is priceless!"

"Uh," My brain moved at a snail's pace as I turned back to Ignal with a confused frown, "I-It's okay? She's an... old acquaintance..."

He looked blank for a few moments before his face reddened, looking like a tomato. He seemed conflicted, performing a sort of half-bow to Kadence while stammering out, "I-I'm sorry, w-we didn't realize... That is t-that we thought..."

"It's fine, it's fine," Kadence laughed, waving down the hallway, "You're dismissed."

He obeyed quickly, to my surprise. With the rate he left, I had no doubt that my Platoon's speed was definitely top notch.

I turned to Kadence slowly, face still as I asked in a quiet voice, "What did you tell me?"

She rolled her eyes before her face turned serious, her eyebrows drawing down in a mock-imitation of me, "I don't have friends," She dropped the face, laughing under her breath, "I could tell you thought they were all distant. You were always so annoyingly careful around them... Ha! You didn't even realise how much they worshipped you, did you? I heard them talking a few times... Pfft!"

The pieces started to click and I looked at her with a mix of incredulity and annoyance, "It can't be... You saw him coming just now?" She nodded silently, looking like a cheeky child, "And this morning, you did that on purpose?!" She nodded again.

"I knew they wouldn't come out and tell you, so I just started hitting you when they were around. It worked quite well, actually."

"You're an evil genius," I said quietly, feeling my cheeks redden.

"Aww," She elbowed me in the stomach, "You're embarrassed! Well, I would be too. Pfft! I can't believe you didn't notice!"

"Quiet," I grumbled, starting to walk again. She followed suit, laughing.

"What, afraid I'll ruin your big, bad J-" She stopped speaking and I turned around to see why. She was standing completely still, her eyes unfocused and her face blank.

"Hey," I shook her shoulder, feeling increasingly worried when she didn't react, "What's wrong?"

She didn't reply, much to my dismay. When I pulled on her arm experimentally she followed, and so I lead her back to Metal's room quickly. When I pushed open the door Jean, Metal and Anastasia were lounging at the table, Jean wearing his new uniform. As we entered they all leapt from their seats.

"What happened?" Anastasia rushed to the door, looking worried. Metal's face was concerned as he joined her. Kadence still didn't react.

"I don't know," I said quickly, pushing her to sit in one of the seats, "We were talking and she just-"

I gestured at her helplessly. Anastasia knelt in front of her, face intent as she asked in a serious voice, "Caelan?"

There was still no reaction. Kadence's blank blue eyes were unfocused still, a mirror of indifference. Metal shook her shoulders, snapping in a low voice, "Wake up, bastard."

Still nothing.

Anastasia continued in an even softer voice, holding Kadence's hands in her own, "Kadence?"

Kadence blinked slowly, repeating the action a few times before looking around in shock.

I sighed in relief, falling into one of the chairs and resting my face in my hands.

"How'd I get here?" Her voice was confused. When I looked up again she was frowning, looking down at her hands and then at me, "What happened?"

I stared at her like a deer in headlights, no idea how to react. She was already worried she was crazy. What would she do if I told her she was randomly blanking out?

"You fainted," Metal said suddenly.

"I did?" She looked surprised, back to frowning at her hands, "Oh. Sorry..."

"I'm happy to be your knight in shining armour any day," He joked.

I expected Kadence to hit him or say something back. Instead Anastasia was the one that elbowed him square in the stomach. His face turned indignant and I couldn't help a small smile.

Then I remembered Jean was there.

He was looking amused, his lips pulled back into a grin.

"Hey kid," Kadence said, returning a bit more to herself. She was smiling, but it was strained at the edges, "Didn't see you there."

They began to talk, Jean showing off his new uniform excitedly. Metal came to stand next to me, leaning against the wall slightly as he stated in a quiet voice, "It's getting worse."

I nodded silently. We sat for a few moments, watching as Kadence began to talk with large hand gestures, laughing as she did so. In a soft voice I asked, "Are we really doing the right thing?"

"What do you mean?" He said tightly, obviously avoiding the question.

"Wouldn't she be happier like this?" I frowned, "Maybe Anastasia was right to try and get her out of here."

He had no reply.

I sighed softly, feeling tired.

So much to do~!

Thank you all for the reviews! This story should *Cough* be coming to its finale soon. It's been so much fun writing this! And reading all your lovely reviews makes my day so much better ^-^