Chapter Three

Solution

It wasn't often she'd have to use her location spell to find him. Not since he'd stop drinking as much and wasn't passing out in alley ways after senseless brawls or walking out on her in the middle of the night, but it had been hours since he left for his "walk" and despite herself, she was worried.

For the most part, he was a typically predictable man. If he weren't with her, he would be at one of three of their favorite bars waiting for her to find him. If he wasn't there he simply wasn't in town. But he had not been at any of their usual haunts nor any other taverns, inns or bars near by or even at the guildhall. It was too late to take the train westward and it wasn't likely he'd walk back to Clover without any provisions or his knapsack, leaving her without any idea of where he might have gone. Her blood pounded in her ears as she walked up and down the streets looking for him. All of the nearby alleys were empty, there wasn't a commotion anywhere to be heard if he had gotten into a brawl, nor was there any sign he had gone back to her house when she returned to it.

An anxiety had been beginning to seep in as she shook the thoughts of him going elsewhere with someone else attempted the cloud her with more unease. Quickly she ascended to her room and pulled the book from her shelf, flipping it open to a specific page. She gingerly removed her locket, clutching it in her hand. The fear that her astral projection would find him atop another woman or worse gave her pause. With a shaking breath, she began reciting the words to the spell, hoping that her fears would remain senseless and untrue.

The vision in her eyes gave way to the street outside as she felt herself leave the heaviness of her own body. Her spirit twisting and turning down the paths, she scoured the area below her, following where the dim light of the locket led her until reaching the end of town and going beyond to the western plain and toward the hills. It was there that she spied his figure walking up an old trail and standing on top of the hill. When he seemed to notice something, he stopped and turned but could not seem to pinpoint where she was.

"Cana?" He called her name.

Unable to answer him, she inhaled and returned to her body in her room, her cloudy sight gradually returning to normal. Once able to see again, she inhaled deeply with relief. She was surprised that she had been able to shed any more tears and quickly wiped them away. After a short time of torturing and berating herself for thinking for even a moment that Bacchus would betray her, she reached for her bag, slinging it over her shoulder and headed out to him.

She found him sitting on a large stone poised at the top of the hill she had seen earlier, looking down at something she could not see from the other side. As she drew closer, a building far from anything inhabitable came into view. The walls had been cracked and were crumbling, windows were shattered and the lumber and brick broken into shambles.

He had yet to say a single word to her even as she sat on the grass beside him. His eyes were too focused on the building, shifting every now and again with a curious twitch of his eyebrow. They sat that way for a few minutes before he finally moved.

Silently he stood and walked down the hill, his pace steady. Not wanting to be left behind, she followed, waiting for him to speak. It was obvious that he had calmed from their earlier fight and he would talk when he was ready to. If he had not wanted her company, he'd have let her known.

She watched as he observed and surveyed around the perimeter, his lips going from a thin hard line to a half-curled frown. He gave her an occasional glance as if to make certain she was by his side, though his expression remained unreadable.

After a few minutes of this, he placed his hands on his hips and let an ambitious looking smile creep onto his face.

"Its settled then. This is the answer." He finally said.

"What is?" Despite whether his words had been directed at her or not, she responded.

"I'm going to move here to Magnolia." He turned to face her, his gleaming red eyes aflame. Dumbfounded Cana could only stare at him with her jaw slacked. He said it so easily.

"Wait, Bacchus. You don't-"

"You wanted an answer. Let me explain." He put up his hand to silence her. When she tightened her lips, he lowered his arm and continued. "I'm going to open up a martial arts school."

"A school? Here in Magnolia?" Her eyes narrowed in confusion when he nodded and turned to look back at the building.

"It will take time getting everything ready." He stepped close to her, his gaze still fixed on the ruin behind her. "So until it is, I'll stay here during the week working on it, if I'm not out on a job that is, and stay in Clover during the weekends, gradually transferring my things here." He was within arm's reach of her then and looking at her. "I'm not going to leave my guild, but I think it is time I stayed local a little more often." There was something calm about the way he smiled with an indefinable excitement in his eyes.

It was an answer, she had to admit, but the prospect of it was worrisome. This wasn't going to be an easy path and a portion of her felt guilty that he was apparently choosing to come to her. Although he wasn't giving up his career as a guild mage, she knew that this would mean less of him getting to do something he enjoyed doing. It bothered her, but the ambition in his voice and the determination in his face were hard to ignore. If this is what he wants... She told herself before taking a slow and deep inhale. He seemed on edge, waiting for her to respond to him. It may not have been what she had in mind, but perhaps this was indeed the answer they had been looking for.

"A martial arts school, hm?" Cana moved away from him, passing her hand over the edge of the rough remains of what had been a wall. "Good luck with that." With a light snicker, the brunette card reader crossed her arms and leaned against the crumbled pillar beside her.

"Something you don't like about my proposal?" Bacchus tilted his head inquisitively, watching her.

"Not at all." Her shoulders gave a quick shrug as she looked around.

"Then why are you wishing me good luck?" He took a step toward her, sensing her playful teasing.

"Because with your kind of attitude, you'd be lucky to keep a single student for more than a week." A giggle rose from her lips when he grabbed her and drew her in close to him.

"Wanna bet?" There was something feral about the way her grinned down at her. It was an aspiring hope mixed with mischief like she had not seen from in him in what seemed like a long time.

"You're on." A leaping joy fluttered in Cana's stomach and chest as she winked at her fiancé. She kissed him, letting him press her to the wall and sighed into his lips. Behind her, her hand smoothed over the textured exterior and a sense of peace flowed from it. It was their solution, their answer, their new world.