So, if anyone feels like looking for some spoilers for the end of Re:AST, parts of An Echo through Time, or the spin-off that Dante has started me on, go look for Aeon Reighn's thread 'No, don't do that, why are you doing that?!' on the NaNoWriMo site. It's funny. It's all my comments about the shit these guys pull on me (and other people's problems of course) and there's plenty of fun little spoilers... And one not-so-nice little thing that popped up... So yeah. Go look... if you dare.

"You people are sidetracking us." -Kairi

Chapter 8.3 - Syncopation
Part 76

Travelling with Sync again after so long of Ion was an interesting but comforting experience. While he was just a little out of shape, it seemed that Rialle and Cantabile had managed to keep his skills from getting too dull.

We walked back into Sheridan just in time to catch sight of a familiar shade of green. I grinned.

"Ion!"

The replica turned and grinned when he saw us, running back toward us. "You're all okay! You know, Iemon was really annoyed with you guys," he said. I just laughed.

"That's what they get for arguing over very pointless topics. Now then, is everyone at the inn?" I asked. Ion nodded, then finally noticed what Sync was wearing. The look Sync was giving him said, quite plainly, 'you are giving me my coat back as soon as we get there.'

"I'll go take the frequency counter to the meeting hall," I said. "Meet you guys at the inn."

They nodded and started to walk off, and I headed for the meeting hall. All five of the old people were there, and they looked up as I walked in.

"Who are you?" Iemon asked.

"Iemon! That's no way to treat a nice young lady!" Aston said. I grinned and held up the frequency counter.

"Even though I'm the one who snagged this while you boys were arguing?"

Henken and Aston looked amused, while Iemon snorted and crossed his arms. "What I want to know is how you managed to slip around us," he grumbled. I grinned, walked over to one of the potted plants to the left, and climbed up to the main level silently. I put the frequency counter on the table exactly where it had been when I'd picked it up, headed up the stairs on the other side of the room, and slipped out through the pipe on the second level.

Surprised grunts met my choice of escape route, but I was spat out next to the inn before any of them could come after me.

Jade was waiting outside, and he jumped as the plate over the door opened. He looked at me like I was crazy, and I just smiled back. With a resigned sigh and a small shrug, he turned and headed into the inn, leading me to where the others were waiting.

"Oh good, you two are back," Guy said. Anise raised an eyebrow.

"That was fast."

I grinned. "The meeting hall has a back door. So, were we doing something?"

It took everyone a moment to get settled, most of them looking toward Guy. Ah, right. He remembered.

Guy took a deep breath. "You all remember that there's a part of my memory that was missing, right?" Most people nodded. "While we were in Daath... I remembered. And... I know some of you already know this, but... There's something I've been hiding for a long time now. My full name... My real name... is Gailardia Galan Gardios."

A few people looked shocked. Jade looked surprised that Guy had decided to tell everyone about it now, but aside from that the reactions were pretty anti-climactic. Guy took a deep breath.

"Sixteen years ago, Duke Fabre led an attack on Hod. He murdered my entire family, and laughed as he did it. The thing is... I never could remember my sister dying. That was the part of my memory that was missing. And I was right. The cause of my phobia did lie there," he continued. He paused for a moment to take a deep breath. "My sister, all of the maids... They died to protect me. I was buried under their bodies... By the time Pere pulled me out, my memory was already gone. Heh. I'm pathetic. They gave their lives for me, and I just remember them as 'scary'."

Luke crossed his arms. "Don't talk like that, Guy!"

All eyes turned to Luke.

"You do realize this means he likely entered Duke Fabre's service with the intention of getting revenge, don't you?" Jade asked. Luke sighed.

"Yeah. But... Guy's come through for me time and time again. Even after what I did at Akzeriuth. He's given me his trust. The least I can do is return it."

Guy scratched the back of his head. "Luke... Thanks."

Asch crossed his arms. "You know why I'm not saying the same thing he is. But... I'm willing to trust you too."

Of course, after that, a nice round of apologies came around from most of the girls in the group for teasing Guy about his phobia. I didn't apologize. I know the only time I'd sent Guy scrambling away from me was in the factory, when I was too preoccupied with my own phobia to notice how close he was.

Then, once Guy's spiel was done, he sighed and looked over at Luke. "Are you gonna speak up, or not?"

Luke looked uncomfortable. "I know we're planning to stop the vibration in the core so we can lower the rest of the Outer Lands without worrying about them liquefying, but... Is it really right to lower the lands without permission?"

I crossed my arms. "I get it. You want to talk to Peony and King Ingobert about arranging a peace conference."

"You are a lot less formal with the Emperor than you are with Uncle," Asch noted. I smacked him upside the head for his effort.

"Given the way the Emperor acts around my family in general, he might as well just be another big brother as far as she's concerned," Jade said. He got smacked too.

"You people are sidetracking us," I announced. Many of us laughed.

"Iemon said it would take about three weeks to get the Tartarus ready for the trip to the core," Guy said. "I don't think it'd be too much of a problem to go visit the two rulers, but we'd need to pick someplace to hold a conference."

"We probably shouldn't go to Daath," Ion and Sync said. The two exchanged looks, and for the first time, I realized that they'd already switched clothes. "Fon Master or no, Mohs is the one in charge there," Sync continued.

"Chesedonia and Yulia City, the next best options, are both in the Qliphoth. Which means we'd have to restore the Albiore's flight capabilities," I said. Ion nodded.

"Yulia City is probably our best choice," he agreed.

"Then it sounds like we're going to have to go talk to Uncle..." Asch said quietly. Ion looked up at him.

"I've still got a set of my robes. If all else fails, I can threaten to remove Daath's support from Kimlasca. That should at least get us an audience."

Sync gave Ion an incredulous look, and the other replica turned an interesting shade of pink when he realized that his 'brother' was staring at him.

"Um..."

Eyes turned to Natalia, who fidgeted a bit. "Do you all mind if... if I take a while to think?"

Asch closed his eyes. "Alright. The rest of us need to double-check our supplies, anyway."

Natalia breathed a quiet sigh of relief. "Thank you."

She left then, and I watched her go without a word.

The rest of us split up, after making sure our bags and wing packs were left where the people restocking could find them. Dark and Sorylle stayed at the inn, for obvious reasons. Guy wandered off with Luke, talking about swords. Ion went with Sync, telling him all about Florian, it seemed. Asch, Jade, and Seth stayed at the inn temporarily to deal with the restock.

Natalia had disappeared, and the Dark Wings were nowhere to be found. Tear, Flick, Anise, and Selenia wandered off in a flock, and I avoided them. Tear may have been something of a tomboy, but I was quite happy to not get involved with that particular crowd.

Twilight stood next to me as I wondered what to do, and I smiled at the liger, reaching over and running a hand through his mane. I frowned at all of the tangles I was encountering, and prodded him with my mind.

*Would you mind if I brushed you?* I asked. Twilight seemed confused, so I sent along a mental impression of me brushing my own hair. He seemed mildly surprised, but then seemed to shrug it off.

*Why not?*

I stepped over to the table where Asch was already counting out gald and picked up a few coins. He frowned, and I smiled.

"What? I like Twilight, but I'd rather not share a brush with him."

Asch rolled his eyes and went back to counting, and I left, Twilight behind me. We stopped at a general store to get the brush, and then found someplace to sit near the cliff Sheridan was perched on. Twilight laid down, and I got to work, methodically attacking his mane first. It amused me when Twilight started purring after a few minutes.

I also kept track of how many baby ligers' worth of fur I'd de-tangled.

It was relaxing, really. I think Twilight fell asleep after about half an hour. All I really know is that I finally finished with his mane as Luke and Guy walked up to us. Luke sat down next to me, Guy on the other side of the liger in front of me. Both of them were giving the mound of fur next to me some rather odd looks.

I raised an eyebrow, silently challenging them to comment on me brushing my liger.

Luke sighed, shook his head, and then looked at me, suddenly very serious. "Guy said... you know how to flush miasma out of your body?"

I blinked. Well, that hadn't gone the way I'd expected it to. "Yes..."

"Can you do it for someone else?"

"Yes..."

Luke bit his lip, and I realized suddenly what he was getting at.

"How many?"

"Just Meggiora Highlands."

I nodded, handed the brush to Guy, and closed my eyes. Brace yourself. This'll be painful, I warned Luke. He just nodded, and I got to work. It really only took me about ten minutes. Unlike me, Luke had a relatively tiny amount of miasma in his body.

Once I was done, I went back to brushing Twilight. Luke ended up leaning over and curling up on his side. I didn't blame him. At least I was used to it.

"He's gonna be okay, right?" Guy asked. I nodded.

"It's just really painful," I said. Twilight shifted slightly, finally coming back around, and I smiled, pulling the brush away, removing the most recent mat of fur, and then went back to my brushing.

Twilight woke slowly, but after stretching and yawning, he finally spotted the mound of fur. I laughed at the way he stared at it.

He finally stood up and shook himself, and looked down at me in surprise. *Are you going to complain if I ask you to do that more often?*

I just threw my head back and laughed.

"Nope. Now then... Everybody want to move so I can get rid of this?" I gestured at the purple and silver pile nearby. Twilight and Guy moved away a bit, and I moved the fur over near the edge of the cliff.

Then I lit it on fire.

It took a little more work than it normally would, since western ligers had some immunity to fire, but once I was left with just ashes, I used a handy little wind trick to send the ashes into the water below.

"Nice," Guy commented. "Very efficient."

I smirked. "Yeah, I try."

With the sun going down behind the high cliffs of Meggiora, it was quickly getting dark, so the four of us headed to the inn. Three beds to a room, and fourteen people, which meant one room was going to be a person short.

Asch met us out front. "Luke, Guy, you two are sharing with Seth," he announced. "Kairi, you're with Tear and Flick."

I made a face. "Do I have to...?"

He sighed. "Your other option is me and Jade."

"I'm bunking with you two."

Guy gave me an odd look. "What's wrong with Tear and Flick?" he asked. I gave him a look.

"Nothing, when they haven't been running around town with Anise and Selenia all afternoon." And they had. I hadn't really been paying much attention to what they'd been doing, but I'd had a telepathic field down all day so I could locate everyone if I needed to. Also, it helped me with forcing my range to expand again.

Asch just rolled his eyes and headed back inside. Twilight and I followed him, and while Jade raised an eyebrow at our intrusion, he didn't bother to question me as I curled up in the third bed.

After dumping a few bags on the ground, that is.

*-.-*-.-*-.-*-.-*

I glanced over my shoulder. Asch? That was strange. He wasn't usually up early enough to see the sun rise.

He stopped next to me, and I realized suddenly that this was supposed to be different. It was supposed to be Natalia here, not me. It was wrong... But it felt right.

The two of us were quiet for a time. The bottom edge of the sun was barely still hidden when Asch spoke.

"Some day, when we're grown up, let's change this country. Change it so that no one has to be poor. Change it so that war never happens. Let's work to change our country, for the rest of our lives. Together."

His voice was soft, and it sounded more like he was lost in a memory than anything else. I choose not to speak. Asch sighed, letting his head drop. "I didn't say that because she was a princess. But... I can't help but feel like I was a fool. Not for wanting to fix things. For thinking that I was the best choice to help her."

I frowned. "She still loves you."

"Natalia's heart is torn. And... so is mine," Asch admitted.

Something welled up in my throat, and I turned my head slightly to look at him. Asch sighed, doing the same. His eyes caught mine, and I couldn't help but turn away.

This wasn't my world.

This wasn't my real body.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have brought it up."

Asch turned to leave, and rather than thinking it through, I just reacted.

Of course, as soon as we pulled apart I realized what I'd just done, and I turned and ran. I needed time to think, and Asch wasn't helping that at all.

I stopped after slipping into a small alcove behind the meeting hall and raised a hand to my lips. Nathan, Damon, Chris...

None of them made me feel the way I did when I kissed Asch.

I sat down and buried my head in my arms. It was official.

I had fallen in love, and I still didn't even know if I would be able to stay in Auldrant.

Fun Fact: And while we're on the subject of uncooperative characters... I wasn't going to do this. I really wasn't. It was going to be Asch and Natalia and a really strange conversation that ended with Natalia finally accepting that Asch didn't really love her anymore.

Then Dark and Dante and the shit with Natalia getting replicated happened, and Asch decided we needed to do this instead. -dies-