At least Akira had only been half right.

Sure, it seemed like the whole world was spinning sometimes, and his legs felt like jelly and it was a constant struggle to keep himself from throwing up. But it still wasn't unbearable. He wasn't really seasick...just a bit discomfited, that was all.

Rai retched and almost threw up over the railing into the ocean.

"Are you okay?" Genis lounged against the side of the ship nearby, taking his eyes off the frothing blackness of the night sea for a moment to glance at Rai. He seemed to be in equal parts amused and concerned. Rai didn't bother to answer him, and after a few moments his younger brother let out a sigh.

"Well, we'll be there soon, anyway," he said, obviously trying to sound reassuring. The effect was ruined a bit by the thinly veiled laughter in his voice.

"Not until tomorrow morning," Rai groaned. "There are a good few hours - " He cut himself off, afraid that he'd throw up if he tried to so much as utter another word, and braced his forehead against the cool metal of the railing, breathing slowly. It'd taken them all day to find a boat willing to take passengers to Palmacosta, and they'd only pushed off a few hours ago. Most of the trip was still to come.

Genis said nothing, but Rai could practically feel the grin he was trying to hide. "What?" he snapped finally.

"I'd never have thought the mighty Rai would be taken down by something as trivial as seasickness, that's all," Genis said offhandedly, shrugging his shoulders. The twinkle in his eyes gave him away.

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Rai managed through gritted teeth.

"Only a little bit," Genis said quickly.

"You like seeing your older brother weakened, is that it?" He swallowed back bile as the boat rocked suddenly to one side. Genis didn't meet his eyes.

"Eheheheh...maybe?"

"God, how can Lloyd and the others be asleep?" Rai despaired. "At least Lloyd is entertaining, I'll give him that much. I could use him around a distraction."

"Maybe you get too distracted by him these days..." Genis muttered.

Rai gave his brother a surprised look. "Excuse me?"

"Oh, nothing."

He narrowed his eyes. "Don't get any funny ideas, little brother," he warned. Genis widened his eyes innocently.

"Would I ever?"

Rai only groaned and turned away again, shutting his eyes.

When Lloyd came to with a jolt in the dark cabin, it took him several moments to remember that he was on a ship, sailing to Palmacosta. He wasn't sure what had woken him, but when he sat up groggily and glanced around him the others appeared to be asleep. Genis, Raine, Colette, and even the newcomer, Aalissi, curled up in a corner...

But no Rai.

Lloyd deliberated for a while. Rai probably just wanted to be alone, anyway, and Lloyd's eyelids still felt heavy. He could just go back to sleep...

But the niggling feeling that he really should check on the half-elf anyway wouldn't go away, and so he sighed and got to his feet, a little unsteady as he adjusted for the rocking of the boat.

He got his bearings and made his way out of the cabin and up some stairs to the main deck. After emerging into the open air, for a few moments he just looked around and blinked, trying to adjust to seeing anything in this darkness. For a second he thought Rai wasn't there. Then his vision cleared up and he noticed a figure leaning against the railing on the left side of the boat, his pale skin standing out in the moonlight. Rai was almost glowing, Lloyd thought. He stared for a few more moments before Rai noticed him - actually, now that Lloyd thought of it, that was odd for Rai, since he usually sensed mana signatures far quicker than that - and turned his head slightly to acknowledge him.

Lloyd walked forward, a bit apprehensive. Rai might be annoyed with him if he'd come out here to be alone, or something.

"What're you doing out here?" he asked carefully.

"Being seasick," Rai grumbled weakly.

Ah. Now that he looked, he could see that the half-elf's complexion was slightly green and his bangs were plastered to his forehead. The bruise on his cheekbone stood out more starkly than ever, sending a pang of guilt through Lloyd's stomach as he remembered how he'd punched Rai at Ossa Trail. He probably shouldn't have.

"Have you tried lying down?" Lloyd ventured. "I heard that sometimes helps." He did have a feeling that he'd heard that somewhere, though he had no idea where.

"Didn't help," Rai said immediately. "And the air in there is stuffy. I can't stay inside."

"That's too bad," Lloyd said. He didn't know what else to say. Thankfully, he didn't have to.

"It's probably stupid of me to stay near the edge of the boat," Rai continued. "I should probably be trying to stay near the center so I'll feel less of the boat's motion. But there's nowhere to sit over there and I'd probably topple over without this railing." He cast a look of disgust at the deck. "And the floor here is disgusting."

Lloyd had to agree with him on that. "How come you'd fall?" he asked. "You feeling dizzy?"

"Dizzy, nauseous, my head's aching, ... " Rai counted them off on his fingers. "And I'm sweating bullets. The sea air was already disgusting enough without all this." Lloyd hid a smile. He felt like the next moment Rai would start complaining about how the sea was ruining his hair.

"Well, you could still stand in the center of the boat if you think it'll help. I mean, you could hold on to me so you don't fall," he offered. Rai eyed him consideringly.

"Aren't you going back to sleep?"

"I can't sleep with you out here sick!" Lloyd exclaimed, then rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "I mean, and, uh, I also couldn't sleep anyway," he added quickly. Rai still looked pale and unwell, but the corners of his lips turned up slightly.

"I don't know if it'll even help, you know," Rai warned. "I've read that once motion sickness really starts, the only way to stop it is to get away from the motion. Not something I can do right now without jumping overboard. ...Honestly, that doesn't seem like such a bad idea right now..."

"Don't do that!"

"I was just joking," Rai amended, and Lloyd blushed a little, feeling stupid for not picking up on that.

"Yeah, well...you sounded serious," he defended himself. Rai snorted.

"When do I not sound serious?"

"...Okay, good point." There was a slight pause, during which both of them stared out over the ocean into the inky blackness. Then Lloyd said, "So are you sure you don't want to try going to like the middle of the deck, or whatever?"

"I told you it probably won't work."

"I still think you should at least try," Lloyd insisted. Rai sighed and looked at him.

"Why did I have to mention it? Fine. But if it doesn't work, then you have to go get some sleep."

"No promises there," Lloyd said. He wouldn't put it past Rai to pretend it didn't work just to get him to leave. Rai gave him a weak smile.

"I think I'm rubbing off on you," he said. "Fine, but don't blame me if you're tired tomorrow." He straightened up, pushing away from the railing, then stumbled and almost fell. Lloyd caught him by the arm to steady him.

"Woah, be careful."

"I'd forgotten how dizzy I get when I change position," Rai groaned. "Martel. I told you this was a bad idea." He didn't go back against the railing, though, just continued to unsteadily make his way towards center deck. After a moment Lloyd took Rai's arm and slung it over his shoulders to help him upright. He thought maybe the proud half-elf would pull away, but Rai just leaned into the support and kept on, even as beads of sweat trickled down his brow. Even the tips of his ears were green.

They made it to roughly the center of the deck and paused, standing unsteadily. "Maybe we should go against the wall of the cabins," Lloyd suggested. "It's a bit off from the center, but it might be better than being against the side of the ship." Rai just nodded, looking greener than ever. Lloyd helped him quickly to the wall and Rai slumped against it.

"I think I'm going to throw up."

"Well, look on the bright side; the floor's so dirty already I doubt anyone will even notice," Lloyd pointed out, earning a half-smirk from Rai. Then he sobered up again.

"This is terrible," he moaned. "I can't wait to get back on land."

"They said we'd arrive tomorrow morning," Lloyd reassured him. "So...it shouldn't be that long now."

"About four hours left until dawn," Rai managed, wiping his forehead with the back of his hand. Lloyd stared.

"How did you know that?"

Rai shrugged. "I've been counting hours. What else was I going to do with my time?"

Lloyd shook his head in wonder. "We don't even have any of those...time-keeping things, whatever they're called. You're amazing."

Rai shook his head. "That's hardly even a compliment coming from you, Lloyd. You think saying multiplication tables is amazing, too."

"Yeah, well, this is more amazing," Lloyd insisted. "I think you're even smarter than Genis."

"I'm also older than Genis."

"Just accept the compliment," Lloyd told him. Rai sighed.

"And everyone calls me difficult," he muttered.

"Yeah, well, I can be plenty stubborn too." Something else occurred to him. "Do the others know you're sick? How come nobody else stayed up with you?"

"Genis did, actually," Rai said. His voice was shaky again. Man, the seasickness must be pretty bad. "For an hour or so. I ordered him to go to sleep after a while, though. And Raine wouldn't have come out on deck for anything, and at any rate I wouldn't have made her. The ocean - well."

"Wait, what?"

Rai gave him an incredulous look. "You mean you haven't - " He paused. "Never mind. Anyway, there's that, and then Colette asked me if I was okay but I told her to leave. Actually, I might have been a bit more snappish than I should've been..."

"You were rude to Colette?" Lloyd wasn't sure if he was annoyed or not.

Those green eyes looked at him steadily. "You know it's hard for me to deal with her."

And somehow, Lloyd did know, even if Rai's sometimes obvious contempt for Colette annoyed him. He knew Rai still tried to be considerate of her feelings. He sighed. "Yeah. I just don't understand why you don't like her."

"She acts all happy and fake all the time and it just annoys me."

Lloyd couldn't even deny it. "She just doesn't want to burden us," he said a little sharply.

"Yeah, well she should stop thinking of herself as some sort of superhuman, noble goddess when really she's just a person like the rest of us," Rai growled, then gave Lloyd an apologetic glance. "Sorry. There's no point arguing about this. We're not going to agree. I know Colette is important to you."

"...Okay," Lloyd sighed after a moment, shaking off the annoyance. "What about...your new friend? Aalissi?"

"She did ask if I was feeling okay," Rai admitted. "I told her I just had things to think about."

"Why didn't you tell her the truth?"

A bit of color came into Rai's pale cheeks. "I couldn't outright admit I was sick to her," he admitted. "Though she probably guessed anyway. It's not exactly subtle."

Lloyd watched him carefully. "Do you...like her or something?"

Rai gave him a surprised glance. "I hardly know her. But I guess she is pretty amazing. Yesterday - "

"I think you should be careful with her, Rai," Lloyd interrupted him. "I mean, like you said, we barely know anything about her."

"This coming from you, Lloyd?" Rai seemed amused, forgetting he felt sick for a moment. "You're one of the most trusting people I know. What's brought this on?"

He wasn't sure himself. "I'm just not sure about her, that's all," he argued.

"Just out of curiosity, Lloyd. What's wrong with liking someone you barely know?"

"Why her, though?"

"She's gorgeous, powerful, intelligent. And she's an elf," Rai listed off. "What's not to like?"

"We've got people in our group that are plenty smart and attractive, too," Lloyd insisted.

"Like who?"

Lloyd's argument fizzled out. The Professor was Rai's sister.

"If I didn't know better, Lloyd, I'd think you were jealous," Rai teased. "What, do you have a crush on Aalissi?"

"What? No!" Actually, when he'd first seen her at the inn he'd felt something like dislike towards her, though the feeling had been gone a moment later.

"Are you saying you like me, then? I guess that's why you're so eager to hang out in the middle of the night like this."

It took Lloyd a moment to understand what he was saying. "W-w-what?" he stammered. "Rai!"

Rai laughed, actually laughed. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. It's just so easy to mess with you."

Lloyd couldn't decide whether to be angry or flustered. He settled for glaring.

"I'm sorry, okay? Don't be so sensitive." There was still laughter in his voice, even if he was apologizing. Lloyd smiled too despite himself. Why couldn't he stay angry at this maddening half-elf?

"Feeling better?"

"A bit. You have a way of distracting people, Lloyd," Rai smirked. "You're just so good at being a total idiot."

"Thanks - hey!"

Rai laughed harder and Lloyd tried hard to glare at him. The effect was ruined by the smile still tugging at his mouth. "You're insufferable," he said finally. Hell, he didn't even sound annoyed.

"You learned a new word."

"Okay fine, I guess it's 'make fun of Lloyd' day?"

"It's always that day."

"Can't I get a break sometimes?"

Rai grinned at him. "I'll consider it." Lloyd almost punched him in the shoulder before remembering he wasn't feeling well.

"You should be glad you're sick, or I would've hit you."

"Not the face again, I hope."

Lloyd sighed, letting his head fall back against the wall. "Yeah, yeah. I won't hit your precious face again, I get it."

"Look, it's still bruised." Rai pointed to his cheek.

"I'm sorry."

"This bruise is honestly worse than the one on my stomach, I'm just saying. It still hurts too..."

"Rai - ! Look, okay, you can punch me in the face, too. Go ahead, anytime you like."

"Meh, I have better ways of getting back at you without resorting to violence." Rai was still smiling, but there was something in his voice Lloyd didn't like. He eyed Rai warily.

"I don't like the sound of that."

"Anyone who touches my face has to reap the consequences."

"You're so vain. I don't know why I ever even worry about your getting hurt, you obviously do it enough on your own."

"What can I say? I'm pretty and I want to keep it that way."

"Arrogance isn't attractive, Rai."

"Girls like confidence."

"Confidence and being full of yourself aren't the same thing," Lloyd pointed out.

"Eh. Details." He shivered.

"Are you cold?" Lloyd asked immediately, automatically taking a step closer. Rai shook his head.

"No. I just feel like shit." He ran a hand through his hair, slicking his sweaty bangs back from his face. "I think I might actually hate the ocean."

"You shouldn't curse," Lloyd said suddenly, before he could stop to think about whether that might offend Rai. Rai just glanced at him.

"Why not?" he asked. There was nothing but curiosity in his voice. "You do."

Lloyd struggled to find words to explain. "Because...that's..." He paused. "Like, you look so perfect, and then you say words like that and it shatters the illusion."

Rai looked amused. "You're saying curse words are too ugly for my pretty mouth?"

"Yeah - no wait, that's not what I said! Stop twisting everything!"

"Basically the same thing." Rai blinked and glanced up at the sky. "It's not that I don't understand the sentiment." He added in a low voice, so softly that Lloyd almost didn't hear, "A certain foul-mouthed voice doesn't really help matters..."

"What?"

"Nothing." Rai ran a hand through his hair again. "Damn, my legs are killing me."

"Maybe we should just give up and sit on the ground," Lloyd suggested.

"No way. I'd rather jump overboard than sit on this deck. I bet the sailors haven't cleaned it even once."

"We can like...sit on my jacket, or something. I'll just rinse it off when I next get the chance."

Rai gave him a suspicious look. "Knowing you, you'll just put it right back on after. I'm not sparring with you if you do."

Lloyd grinned. "Fair enough. So is my jacket good enough for the high and mighty Rai to sit on?"

"Hmph. Just hurry up and take it off, then."

Lloyd complied, and a moment later they were both leaning against the wall side-by-side. Rai stretched out his legs with a sigh of relief.

"Oh my goddess. That feels so good. I was standing there for hours."

Lloyd just grinned at him. After a moment Rai cut him a glance. "Hey, no judging. I have standards, okay?"

"I didn't say anything."

The sun was finally starting to peek over the clouds, and seamen walked busily all around deck, attending to something or another. Most of them gave Rai and Lloyd side glances, but said nothing, just went about their activities. Rai sighed and glanced at Lloyd. Hell...

Lloyd, who had fallen asleep hours ago with his head on Rai's shoulder and who Rai hadn't had the heart to push away. He'd stayed up with him after all, and been a pretty good diversion. So Rai had decided he'd be a good sport but god his shoulder was aching now. Lloyd's head was surprisingly heavy for having so little in it.

He wished he could've gone to sleep too, but the way his head was aching and the waves of nausea made that impossible. Maybe moving closer to the middle of the ship had helped, but only a little. But on the positive side, they were probably close to Palmacosta by now. He should probably stand up so he could look over the railing and see whether he could spot land. Only then he'd have to wake Lloyd up.

Rai nudged the sleeping swordsman. "Hey," he said softly. "Lloyd!" Lloyd didn't give any sign of having heard, his breathing slow and deep. ...At least he wasn't snoring.

When another man passed closely by, Rai called out to him. "Excuse me, do you know what time we'll be reaching Palmacosta?" he inquired. The sailor gave him a hostile look.

"Half-elves," he muttered hatefully.

Rai pretended he hadn't heard. "Sorry, I didn't quite catch that."

"We'll be there in less than an hour." He gave Lloyd a disgusted glance. "So you'd better tell your boyfriend to wake up." Rai opened his mouth, but the man walked off without waiting for answer, muttering, "Fraternizing with a half-elf...it makes me sick."

Rai passed a hand over his eyes in frustration. God, so now these sailors not only hated him, they seemed to think he was dating Lloyd or something. Well...who was he to correct them? He was a lying half-elf, after all.

"Lloyd," he said a little louder. "Come on. You should get up now."

Lloyd didn't stir.

Rai groaned and let his head fall back against the wall a bit harder than necessary.

"Rai! Is Lloyd out here already - " Genis cut off when he took in the scene. "Oh. How come he's sleeping here?"

"It's a long story," Rai said tiredly. "Look, can you help me wake him up? Apparently we're nearly there."

"You look terrible," Genis said bluntly. "Looks like you didn't get any sleep at all."

"Thanks, I didn't," Rai said wryly. "Are the others up yet?"

"Most of them. They'll be out in a moment." Genis shared an understanding glance with Rai. "Okay, let's get this bum up." He knelt next to Lloyd and shook him a lot less gently than Rai had been doing. "Hey! Lloyd! Get up!" the younger half-elf said loudly in his friend's ear.

Lloyd groaned and turned his face away from Genis, nuzzling into Rai's neck. "Mm, Rai...five more minutes..." he mumbled into the half-elf's collarbone. Genis raised one eyebrow and the same man who'd spoken to Rai earlier passed by and gave them a hateful look.

Rai had had enough. He pushed Lloyd firmly away from him, ignoring the look Genis was giving him, and held him upright by the shoulders. "Come on, get up."

Lloyd's head lolled to the side, then jerked up. He blinked hazily. "Wha - where...?" He finally opened his eyes fully and took in the surroundings. "Oh. Crap. I fell asleep. Sorry, Rai!"

"It's fine," Rai said wearily, rubbing his shoulder and neck. "Thanks for staying out here. Look, we're almost there," he offered by way of distraction.

"Wow, really?" Tiredness forgotten, Lloyd leapt to his feet and sprinted to the railing, where he stared over the sparkling water with wide eyes. "Rai, Genis, look! Land!"

Genis shook his head and gave Rai another look - something like we'll talk later - before following his friend. "Yeah, Lloyd, I know. That's where we're going, you know. Land."

"Hey, c'mon, you gotta admit it looks cool!"

Rai tuned out their conversation and put his head in his hands. Too bad most types of medicine didn't seem to exist here. Maybe Raine knew some sort of spell to help with seasickness, but she'd shut herself in a corner of the cabin as soon as she'd gotten here, trying to pretend they weren't on a boat, and Rai hadn't had the heart to ask anything of her when she was obviously so terrified. Why am I such a good guy? he thought to himself sarcastically.

He could hardly wait for them to land at Palmacosta, as crowded and loud and gross-smelling as the port town was sure to be. Anything - even being grilled by his little brother - would be better than this boat.

When Aalissi stepped adroitly up onto the deck, she immediately noticed land in the near distance - a busy port, surrounded by cargo ships. Palmacosta, that must be…

She'd originally meant to split from this group as soon as they got there. But that girl…

Aalissi glanced at the blond-haired girl, who was currently talking animatedly to the teenager in red. There was no doubt that this girl was the Chosen of Mana. And that meant -

"What are you thinking so intently?"

She forced herself not to be startled, turning her head towards the voice and only then noticing Rai seated near the cabin wall, his green eyes narrowed.

"What are you doing there?" she asked, countering a question with a question, and he pushed himself to his feet, staggering just a little bit. He seemed unwell.

"You've noticed Colette's jewel, I see," he said directly, not bothering with her deflection. "Does it mean something to you?"

Once again, Aalissi was impressed by his observations. Even though he lacked her abilities, even though he was Tainted - he still managed to pick up on things that most wouldn't notice or would simply ignore.

"It means she's the Chosen, of course," she admitted. "You see - I don't know quite how to propose this, but knowing what your goal must be, I want to lend my strength."

The way Rai was looking at her didn't tell her anything, but she knew he was suspicious. "I see," was all he said. "You should probably talk to Raine about that. But are you sure you're okay with setting aside your…personal journey?"

"My goals are…it is not clear how I am to reach them," she divulged carefully. "I'm traveling for that reason, but I don't have a clear destination. Perhaps my meeting the Chosen is a kind of fate."

A slight, almost indiscernible smirk of amusement curled his lips. She realized he didn't believe in fate any more than she did. "Fate?" he said lightly. "Interesting. Well, who am I to begrudge you that? As long as you aren't planning to assassinate Colette - and you wouldn't be able to get past Kratos, trust me - I don't have anything to say."

"You don't object?" she pressed him, and he shrugged.

"It doesn't matter - it's not my decision. Like I said, my sister and Kratos call the shots here. Not me."

"Rai! Rai, have you seen - " The red-clad teenager, who had raced back over from the railing, stopped short when he saw her. "Oh. Hi. You're…up."

She inclined her head politely, unable to keep from noticing the hesitation and maybe even dislike in his expression. Rai was grinning.

"Lloyd, don't tell me you're jealous again."

Aalissi could feel the irritation and embarrassment coming off Lloyd in waves, his mana nearly uncontrolled. "Shut up, Rai," he muttered. "Come here. I have something to show you." He grabbed Rai by the hand, and she half expected Rai to shake the human off. To her surprise, Rai allowed himself to be pulled away, pausing to wink at her and ignoring the glare Lloyd shot at him. Aalissi stared after them, bemused.

"Wow. I think you're the first person Lloyd's ever hated for no good reason," observed the sarcastic voice of another young half-elf from beside her.

"Why does he dislike me?" she asked, turning to him. The boy - Genis, she thought he had been called - shook his head.

"It's because you're taking Rai's attention, that's why. Just some advice, but maybe try not to spend a lot of time alone with Rai if you don't want to piss Lloyd off."

Aalissi was trying to put two and two together but it wasn't quite working. "Ah - are they - ?"

Genis grinned suddenly. "No, not quite. It's…complicated, that's all I'm going to say. Just be careful, all right?"

"Be careful of what?" came another voice from behind them, and a few moments later the half-elf woman - Raine - had stepped over to join them. She nodded to Aalissi.

"Aalissi's making Lloyd super jealous," Genis said. "I think he's afraid she'll take away his boyfriend."

Raine smacked her brother hard on the back of the head and Aalissi winced internally. "Stop it, Genis," she said sharply, and then turned and gave Aalissi a smile that didn't reach her eyes. "Don't mind him. I don't know where he gets these crazy ideas."

"Ah - it's - I don't mind," Aalissi said, then cleared her throat. "Actually, I was wondering what you think of my tagging along with you a bit longer. I want to support the Chosen, and I think you could use my abilities."

Raine looked at her thoughtfully, putting one hand to her mouth. "I…see," she said. There was a short pause, and then she continued, "I don't see why you can't stay with us for now, though I hope you know you're under close watch by Kratos and I. This may change, though. And I'll want to talk to you soon about your motivations."

"Of course," Aalissi said quickly, lowering her eyes to avoid Raine's seeing the triumph in her expression. Finally, maybe she had a chance…

A chance to put right what she'd destroyed.

A/N: So this update's quite early, as I likely won't have time to write for a little while now (read: a month or two). Thanks to the guest reviewer on chapter 24! Wow, seems like you all like Sheena quite a bit. She's still going to be a part of the story, don't worry. As for Aalissi, she's obviously got her own agenda...hmm...

Thoughts or predictions about where this is going?