Filling In The Blanks

Disclaimer: I don't own FFIX or any of its characters.

Chapter 134: Target Practice

"Was I right?"

Fratley cringed. Where had he gone wrong coming into the room? He tried to be sneaky – quieter than ever these days – as he tiptoed to bed.

And yet, Freya's senses had gotten better – much better over these past few years.

He sighed and squared his shoulders, staring in the darkness. "You were right. I would be impressed by how you knew, but I have to say it should not surprise me that Marcus spends all of his time in Bermecia at the library these days."

She shifted and he heard the light patting of the bedspread. "Come to bed. Do you need a light?"

"I am alright." He wandered his way through the dark, ungracefully kicking an abandoned boot across the floor and cussing under his breath. He heard the lightest of laughs from his partner sitting up in bed, and when he knew he was near enough, he flopped down on the mattress. "I do not understand how you do it."

"You have forgotten how to feel where you are being president now."

He made a face she couldn't see.

It was true. Fratley didn't have time to be training anymore. While he was still an excellent fighter, surely Freya far surpassed him. She was his right-hand guard – the captain of the new Dragon Knights and a better fighter than he had ever seen. Sometimes he felt a little like a damsel in distress, but he sort of enjoyed the swap of typical gender roles. He knew Freya certainly enjoyed it as well.

"I think you might have an unfair advantage."

It was her turn to make a face; he could see the silvery outlines of her expression as his eyes adjusted to the darkness.

"You speak of my blindness like it is a gift," she raised an eyebrow, "it should be you with the advantage for having sight."

He shot her a lopsided grin before reaching out and pushing her hair behind her ear. "You have always been especially gifted at seeing without looking."

She sighed and pulled his hand gently away from her face. "Quit that, now."

Times of war had not been kind to their relationship. There was much damage in Fratley's abandonment for Cleyra that had to be undone once Kuja was vanquished, and while it was slow moving, there was progress.

Freya's injuries during that last battle left her without her eyesight, but if there was anyone who could propel forward after such a handicap and excel in their training, it was her. Fratley liked to try and blame her injuries for the stress in their courtship but knew better than that. Freya was well adjusted just a few short weeks afterward, the scars on her face all but vanishing. Dagger was able to save her eyes in the same way she saved Beatrix's eye; they still held all of their beautiful, icy color.

That, paired with her uncanny ability to sense where things were and where movement was coming from, made it seem like she wasn't even blind at all.

The two of them went through a mourning period. He watched her mourn Amarant for a long time, and as he watched her sit at the memorial stone in silence for hours on end, he wondered how and in what ways they had grown so close.

For just a single moment, his stomach twisted in knots; had Freya fallen in love with someone else? He would never forgive himself if his actions turned her away.

But the period of mourning had ended and eventually they grew close again. Her anger at him slowly melted away and they fell back into a tender and strong relationship of equals once again. Despite everything that happened, he did notice that she had never once taken off her ring.

Whatever anger she'd had at him – whatever had happened in his absence – she still loved him.

They never talked about it, and he hardly ever thought about those times in his life anymore. However, it did leave a lingering habit that drove Freya absolutely insane. Every chance he could get, he was complimenting her – showering her in an overabundance of love to make up for time lost.

If the end of the war had done anything to change Freya, it had made her far more independent. She was already a woman who enjoyed silence and space, and now that feeling seemed to double. Fratley sometimes felt silly for lingering after meetings to wait for her, even though she always suggested that she didn't mind.

Usually, she would start with gentle reminders – like the one she had just given him – to stop insisting she was perfect. Fratley always tried to bite his tongue; it was never intentional doting, but something he had picked up long ago in guilt and had a hard time breaking the habit.

"Sorry," he apologized quietly, squeezing her hand.

"It is quite alright," she said softly before leaning into him. "I do hope Marcus makes it back alright."

"Usually the moogles running the chocobo rental stations are very good with sending word that chocobos and riders have made it alright."

She nodded sleepily, agreeing with him. "That is good to hear."

"Let us sleep, my dear. Tomorrow we depart for Madain Sari and it will be long."

"Yes… indeed," she slurred as she slipped down on the bed, her head resting on the pillow.

Fratley felt wide awake but did not want to miss these moments with her in their bustling world. He laid down as well and clasped her hand in his. She squeezed it lightly before she drifted into a restful sleep.

They were lucky – they were lucky that they had come out of the other side of that war with each other. He would never, ever take this woman for granted again. The heavens had gifted them a chance at a second life together and he wasn't planning on wasting a single second of it.


Eiko was awake long before the sun touched her back. When the rays finally peeked over the tall canyons of Madain Sari, she had to blink herself out of a deep meditation. Her shoulders sagged in exhaustion as she finally looked around.

The Summoner's Cove was, for the most part, the same. All of the abandoned documents had been moved, and Eiko had been working to restore the ceremonial and spiritual art on the walls.

Standing and stretching, she moved slowly to the entrance and peered across the bridge. It was hard for her to sleep in to a normal time; most of her childhood had been rotations of light sleep and up to move before dawn. Old habits die hard, I suppose.

Mog and a newer moogle, Moano, stood watch outside the entrance, just as moogles always had. Many moments from her seven-year-old mind before she met the resistance were faded, but that had always been a constant in her life.

"Hey guys," she chirped, though she sounded much more enthusiastic than she felt.

"Long night again, kupo?"

She shrugged her long-time companion off before waving to them and crossing the bridge. The wind, that she knew would be stifled as soon as she crossed into the canyon, felt cool against her cheeks despite the already-burning sun. Her hair tickled her arms, falling halfway down her back now.

When she reached the other side, she turned on the worn path down to the docks. As she descended down the rocky slope, her feet found themselves planted on wooden planks. They were still in progress, but stairs were being built for travelers.

Travelers.

Eiko couldn't believe the word even existed.

Her grandfather used to tell her that Madain Sari was pretty explicit. Not in an aggressive or rude way, but the sacred village had much to protect and didn't take well to outsiders, no matter their reason for traveling.

Now, however, travelers were how they were refunding the restoration process of Madain Sari. There was a lot of lore – all of which had come back into circulation once the war had ended – around the destination, and apparently, the home of a rather rare gemstone. They allowed collectors to come and browse the area to find them, though the sacred places in the village, such as the Summoner and Healing cove were off limits.

The moogles were still living there and more had joined them. The place had seemed almost lonely the first time Eiko stood there again after the war had ended. But she used that feeling to propel her into restoring the sacred city.

After the defeat of Kuja, the white mage felt like she wasn't sure what to do. No longer did she feel the desire to be isolated with the moogles, no matter how much she loved them. She spent some time with Ruby in Lindblum, for the both of them struggled with the loss of Amarant for a long stretch of time.

Very suddenly, Eiko's hand shot up to her necklace. She felt the dull edges of his tiger fang claws hanging around her neck. Cinna had surprised her and Ruby with matching necklaces about six months after the war. He had removed the claws from the knuckle of the weapon and shaved them down into dull fangs, short enough to hang comfortably from their necks. She remembered sobbing when he presented them to her and as she hugged Ruby, she felt silent tears fall onto her bare arms from one of her best friends – from her sister.

They had looked a little awkward on Eiko then, but she was fifteen years old now, and they hung at a perfect spot in the middle of her chest, always protecting her. It still hurt to think about, but she remembered the time when the memories of Amarant, no matter how few, became more fond than painful.

She scrubbed at the side of her cheek, pushing the thoughts away. Despite her young age, Eiko was now leading Madain Sari. As the last remaining summoner who was able to inhabit the village, a lot of pressure to uphold traditions she barely remembered from her grandfather sat on her shoulders. It wasn't the time for thoughts of the past.

As her boots hit the docks, the smell of salt from the sea hit her nostrils. The breeze picked up again by the water and she welcomed it with a deep breath. The smell of the salt tingled in her nose, but it pulled her back into the present.

"Miss Eiko! Miss Eiko!" she turned to see a small group of people tripping down the slopes in a haste to get down to the water.

Eiko raised a hand in a gentle hello as the group tumbled to a stop in front of her. They all bowed. "How many times do I have to tell you guys to stop bowing?"

"It's tradition!" they insisted in unison, like it had been practiced a million times before.

She had to resist from rolling her eyes.

"We didn't forget," the oldest said excitedly. Rhina was her name. She was tall and lanky, three years Eiko's senior. Her hair was cropped just below her ears and she seemed to always have a sheen of sweat on her face, despite living in the canyon for over a year. "Pakku was worried we would be late."

"We almost were late," he sniffed haughtily, "the boats come in at seven o'clock every four days."

"You're right on time," Eiko insisted, gesturing them to follow. "I think I will leave you guys to do the traditional first greeting to see how much you've practiced from last time!"

The small group that tagged behind her like a fanclub were Madain Sari's band of acolytes. While Eiko was the only one in residency who could actually summon, Hilda had helped her in her final months in Lindblum find individuals who were willing to dedicate their life to nurturing the culture of the white mages so it wouldn't be lost. At first, Eiko wasn't sure what to think – especially after meeting the highly eccentric group of history junkies who had shown up to Hilda's region-wide request.

But when she got back to Madain Sari, that feeling of unease lifted. She wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, letting outsiders immerse themselves in this sacred, protected culture. But Eiko couldn't have been expected to uphold it by herself, right?

When she returned to Madain Sari for the first time since the war was over, the first few days were filled with overwhelming amounts of joy at seeing the moogles again. It had been a long three years without them.

However, the weeks following that celebration were what proved the acolytes to be the best decision she had ever made. The weeks were filled with sorrow and pain; Eiko was finally in a position to uphold her heritage and the feeling of isolation was overwhelming. She wished for nothing more than Dagger or her grandfather to help her, but knew it laid on her own shoulders. She coul feel herself buckling under the pressure.

In the Healing Cove she sat, sobbing one night with all the incense she could find lit around her. She had sent all of the moogles away, but very faintly she could hear them bopping around outside, fussing and worrying.

It was Rhina who braved entrance into the cove.

"You can't enter this place," she insisted roughly, forcibly wiping her eyes and jingling the claws that hung at her neck.

"Just let me sit with you. I like the smell of the incense."

Eiko snorted, believing that to be the lousiest excuse in the book. She shuffled, turning her back towards the girl.

"Sage," Rhina said after a few minutes of silence.

Eiko's sore and swollen eyes snapped open. "What?"

"Sage," the girl said again, tucking a short strand of silver hair behind her ear. "That's the herb of Fenrir. According to legend, Fenrir held a bundle of sage in her jaws as she descended into Madain Sari for the first time, warding off the evils who threatened the land. We think that's why the burning of sage keeps mist monsters at bay."

Eiko turned around, wide eyed.

Rhina smiled, not looking at her. "And I smell fire weed. That's the herb of Phoenix. It's lit at white mage birthing ceremonies. It represents life, despite the popular belief that fire weed symbolized demise. Fire is believed by both red and white mages to mean rebirth of the soul instead of death."

"What about the tarragon?" Eiko quizzed before she could stop herself.

Rhina gave a light laugh, always smiling. "That is symbolic for Ramuh. That's Pakku's favorite story. He always says that if he could summon, he would learn how to summon Ramuh first. Tarragon is the embodiment of Ramuh. Many think there's something super religious to this, as all of the others, but it's mostly based on how it grows. Sterile, light loving and nothing can match it in taste, Ramuh's power came from the light, no magic, spell or seed could match his, making him one of a kind. The summoner's suspect that Ramuh himself started this legend, out of a touch of well-deserved arrogance."

Eiko actually let out a laugh in the form of a breath. "Where… where did you learn all of this?"

Rhina finally turned to her with a smile. "The library that Doctor Tot kept while he was stranded in Lindblum during the war consisted of a restricted section. That section came about because he wanted to preserve the books on Madain Sari's culture and the history of the eidolon lore safe from Kuja's ever-probing eyes. Lady Hilda lifted the ban and brought them back out to the public as soon as Regent Cid was reinstated in the city."

"But… what made you want to read about Madain Sari?"

She shrugged, "It's not too often you hear about a place that has already been discovered in the word, yet no one knows anything about it. I worked at the library and of course that helped too. I introduced it to Pakku and Zoen stumbled upon the books on a mission for Tantalus. Hilda's invite actually prompted him to leave the troupe."

"Why does it mean so much to you?"

"Kuja's rule took its toll on the world, that much anybody knows. My mother was a red mage before she was killed in a raid, and she always instilled in my sister and I that no culture should be forgotten – no persons should be annihilated and alienated from the world."

"Your mom… she sounded like a smart lady."

She nodded, "The smartest."

Eiko smiled, the feeling of the gesture foreign in her muscles. "I've doubted you. I have alienated you from the culture I am so insistant on saving."

"But we're here," she told Eiko, her wisdom showing through in her words. "We're here to learn and to help heal. So use us."

The weeks following, Rhina and the small group of acolytes slowly began to clean up the village. Not only did they exchange stories about Madain Sari they'd read about in scrolls and books, but finding forgotten memorabilia from the war sparked interesting stories of their own. Eiko was delighted to share her stories with people who were eager to learn, and she realized that despite not being white mages, they were just as enthusiastic about her heritage as she was.

Now they were practicing the traditions every chance they got. Eiko had found a journal consisting of a "welcome home" ceremony extended to high summoners when they came back from their journeys. After a long talk with the rest of the group, Eiko and the moogles made the decision that this ceremony should be extended to all visitors of Madain Sari, as there was always a part of every mind, even if widely unexplored, that was linked to the spiritual world in some way.

This way, the practice would be put to use. Eiko knew the next high summoner wouldn't walk that path again until her children or Dagger's children grew up, and by then, it might be too late for some of these lesser traditions.

That ceremony was what they were going to practice that day. Every four days a boat came in. Usually it was just supplies, as Madain Sari was now the port to deliver to Conde Petie too, to strengthen their neighborly bonds. Every once in a while, a shipment would come in – of supplies or mages – for Black Mage Village to the south, and those nights were celebrated, as the opposite of both cultures came together as one.

Every four days, Eiko and the acolytes (and sometimes a moogle if they weren't feeling too shy) welcomed in the crew to practice the tradition. Usually, the men who inhabited the boat loved to take part, but those who weren't as comfortable (as many superstitions still laid heavily on Madain Sari's nature) stayed on the boat with a polite and quiet pass.

Every sixteen days, however, a boat would come in with travelers. This was when the real show was put to the test – all traditions they were learning and practicing were pulled out.

However, when she saw the Bermecian sails, the crest of the dragon adorning its sails, coming in fast to dock, she pushed past her acolytes to stand on the edge of the dock, feeling much like she did when she was a child.

Her whole body seemed to shake with anticipation and only did she back away, the toes of her boots coming back onto the solid edge of the dock, when the ramp was slammed down, wood clapping on wood, to allow for the passengers of Cid's latest model of the Garnet Forge to exit the craft. Eiko grinned at the name, etched largely on the side of the ship. The regent named all of his airships after the love of his life – Hilda - and all of his ships after the light of his life – Dagger.

The group behind her gasped as the first figure emerged. They dropped to bow, "Lady Freya!" But their formalities were all but drown out by Eiko's high-pitched, girlish squeal.

"Freya!" she hollered as she leapt onto the ship, slamming into the arms of the Bermecian.

To this, the usually poker-faced Freya laughed in delight, never taking advantage of the fact that she had watched a youth from the war grow all the way up, and she grew up well. For Freya, this meant there was still hope for the world, and in that powerful way, it brought her unbelievable joy.

"Eiko! It is wonderful to hear your voice!" She smiled and her eyes fell to the girl, despite not being able to see out of them. The color had drained from them – her irises being left the palest of blues. Her eyes were frightening and beautiful all at once, though it wasn't far off from how her eyes looked before she lost her sight.

"How was the journey? How is everyone back home? How long are you staying? What –" her bombardment of questions was interrupted by the same amount of gusto that had just landed her on the ship in the first place. "Fratley!"

Everyone around them had bowed, for Fratley was the Regent, or more commonly known to those who didn't care for such modest wordage, the King, of Bermecia. Many inhabiting Madain Sari at this time had never even met him.

He laughed as he caught Eiko in his strong arms. She hugged him with all of her might, not realizing how much she had missed her family until she'd been away from it for so long.

"Before you dive into all of your questions," Fratley began, interrupting her. Freya wore a pleasant smile – too pleasant. Something was up. "We bring a gift for you."

She looked taken aback, her excitement finally subsiding. "A gift? But what could –"

Dramatically, as though they knew Eiko would want it that way, Vivi's form rose into view, clomping up the stairs from below deck.

His eyes shined brightly. She knew his face without being able to see his expression. The acolytes behind her, knowing all of her energy, expected her to bound forward like she had with her two other old friends.

But now she stood, dumbstruck.

Vivi met her, seeming still shy, but confident in his steps. He was still clumsy, she could tell that by the way he walked, but he didn't physically trip over every step he took and that was a huge improvement.

"Hi Eiko," he said softly, gripping the soft edges of his worn hat. It looked the same – dust ridden and patched – like it had years ago. "You look…" he sucked in a breath. "You look beautiful. It's good to see you."

Her eyes softened. She stepped forward gently and hugged Vivi tightly. He was shocked at first, at her insistence to clutch him while not making a sound. But he hugged her back, squeezing her lightly. It had been a couple of years since she had seen Vivi.

Not that long ago, the whimsical crush of children turned into an actual admiration for each other. But both agreed that their paths were taking them down different roads. There was too much to be done in the reconstruction of the world, and their worlds would leave them too many miles apart. Both thought that time would mend the longing. It seemed both of them were wrong.

"It's so good to see you," she told him, tugging him an arm's length apart from her, though she never took her hands off of his shoulders. "You got tall."

"So did you," he mentioned, even though Eiko had been taller than him for most of their time as friends. Though now he stood a couple of inches taller than her now, this time not including the hat.

As time stood still around them, the others had started to load themselves off of the boat. Eiko was broken from her shock when she heard the acolytes speaking the traditional tongue of the eidolons, reciting the lines that meant "we are their vessels – their representatives – and they welcome you."

Turning around, she grinned at them, suddenly so proud to show them off. Besides the celebration that happened in Madain Sari when her and Dagger had completed their pilgrimage, her friends had not been there to visit her, the world having spun too fast after the war for anyone to really see each other.

But as political involvement was on the rise again, it was important for officials to make allegiances to strengthen bonds that went beyond war. Trading, economics, common law, partners – all things that most of her friends, luckily, were going to become heavily involved in.

"I don't know how the ceremony is supposed to go, but they look like they've done well," Vivi noted to her. She jumped, forgetting he was by her side.

She turned back to him, her hair getting stuck to her moistened lips as she grinned at him. Taking him gently by the gloved hand, she pulled him forward. "Just wait until you see everything else," she insisted.

They jogged to catch up to the rest of the group.


Freya sat with Eiko in the Summoner's Cove later that evening. Incense of all kinds were burning and both of them were sitting around the coals that used to be a fire in meditation. While technical rules would not allow Freya inside, the moogles agreed that if it was for spiritual purposes, since she had been a resident of Madain Sari once, and was blind to spoiling what lie beyond the circular walls, it was okay. Eiko wasn't sure if their reasoning with her eyesight was rude or not, but the Bermecian waved it off and considered herself lucky that she could spend this time with the younger girl.

They were silent for a long time, though Eiko's mind was hardly silent enough to meditate. She imagined the eidolons grinning at her, rolling their eyes at her meager attempts. Maybe she woud light extra incense to appease them. Or maybe not – she wasn't even sure if things like that even mattered after something as bloody and intense as the war.

"You have done well her, child. I can smell it in the air."

Eiko's eyes fluttered open to watch Freya. Her eyes were shut, position uncompromised. It's like she hadn't spoken at all.

"Thank you," the girl gave a small bow, knowing Freya would sense it if nothing else. "I've been trying really, really hard."

"I know… Lady Hilda writes us with news. She and the acolytes stay in touch."

Eiko nodded, "They send letters with the traveling moogles. Sometimes by boat and sometimes by foot. Their completely dedicated to this place, but I know sometimes they miss home."

"Do you miss Lindblum?"

She smiled a lopsided smile, "Sometimes. I miss the big city if I'm being honest. But there is more of a sense of purpose here. I haven't felt that since the end of the war, and even during our resistance days, because I was so young, sometimes I didn't feel it, even then."

"I am glad you have found what you are meant to do."

"I miss everyone," she said softly, feeling like she was being prompted even though Freya hadn't said anything. "I'm sad that everyone is so far away."

"Things will get easier. I know it seems like a lifetime away, but look… Fratley, Vivi and I made it here in sixteen days."

When Eiko thought about it, she knew it wasn't that long. Technology had boomed since Cid had an actual workshop again. Before, it might have taken months for a ship to get all the way to the outer continent and Madain Sari was too far north to be considered a stop. Now things were different – for the better.

"Were you surprised to see Vivi?" Freya grinned at her. It was uncharacteristic – unsettling.

"Y-yeah, I was," she stumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. The claws on her necklace clinked together.

Freya was temporarily distracted. Eiko gave a sad smile and took the necklace off. She took Freya's hand and placed the necklace in her palm.

"The necklace Cinna made for me of Amarant's tiger claws," she repeated what Freya already knew.

The Bermecian's long fingers ran over the smoothed down metal. Her brow furrowed as she felt along the cool steel. "Cinna did well. There could not be a better gift."

"I know," Eiko responded delicately.

For just a moment, Freya wore the same pained expression as the purpled hair girl, but it resided quickly. "Your work honors him. It honors Ruby – and the rest of us."

She sighed loudly and looked at the woman. Something about their talk in Bermecia when Freya was planning to flee had kept them remarkably close as Eiko grew older and more aware of the world. "Do you think it would honor Zidane?"

Freya's face all but crumpled. Amarant was still a hard subject for those closest to him, but Zidane was worse. The mystery behind his disappearance and the tragedy of the event as a whole was crippling. She cleared her throat, "I think it would."

"I miss him," she admitted. "Maybe the most out of everyone."

Freya fiddled with the ruby on her left finger. "I miss him too," she said gently.

"Can I ask you something, Freya?"

"Of course, child."

"Do you still think he's out there somewhere?"

There was silence for a moment. The wind brought a deep inhale of lemongrass through her nostrils.

"No," Freya responded quietly. Despite it being a sensible answer, it still shook Eiko. The woman took the girl's silence as a cue to continue, "I hope," she let out a long breath, "I hope that he has met an end, for that would mean peace. If he were out there, it would mean limbo and after all that Zidane has been through, I want peace for him."

Eiko wasn't sure what she believed. The topic of Zidane hung somewhere in the haze of her mind, swaying from side to side. She wasn't sure if she truly thought he was dead, or if she still lingered with the hope of "far away, but he'll come back someday", as she had heard Dagger say during her coronation and address of the dreamers.

She wasn't sure if she was disappointed by Freya's answer or not.

"But Fratley thinks differently."

"Oh?"

Freya nodded, placing both hands on her knees, stopping herself from twisting her ring around her long finger. "He thinks that some magic of Kuja's has kept Zidane suspended here. Injured or not, Fratley believes he survived."

"Why haven't we been able to find him? Have you ever asked Fratley that?"

She shrugged, "He thinks we just are not looking in the right places."

Eiko stared at the ground, angry for a flash of a second. "We've looked everywhere."

"Fratley is one of the most logical people I know, but to that he says we need only believe. I would say it sounds like a coping mechanism, but Fratley does not take words so lightly."

Eiko wasn't exactly sure what Freya meant by that either way, so she let the words hang. They sat in silence once more. The girl traced the dirt. She cleared her mind and thought back to their earlier conversation.

"Why did Vivi come? Surely it wasn't just to see me."

Freya chuckled, drumming her fingers along her pants. These pants were navy, but still the same tapered style as the pants she used to wear when she was a fighter in the resistance. "He has some business in the Black Mage Village."

Eiko deflated. Even though she had just said it out loud, part of her hoped it was to see her.

Again, the older Bermecian laughed. "But of course, he could have simply taken an airship to Conde Petie, it would have been much faster. But that would have meant bypassing Madain Sari."

The purple haired mage blushed, unsure of how to respond. She smiled without meaning to. "How long will he stay?"

Freya hummed, brushing her short, silver hair from her face. She turned her face to catch the wind as she thought about her response. "I asked him the same thing on the way here. He stumbled a lot in his answer, but I think you would be surprised if you asked him."

Eiko pressed, "But what did he say?"

"I should think you will ask him yourself... but I assume he'll stay as long as you ask him to."

Butterflies exploded in Eiko's stomach as she shifted her weight in her right hip. She swung her legs around to stretch out in front of her, sore from being sat on through meditation for so long. She couldn't help the grin on her face. "What will he do here?"

"I cannot imagine his task is anything besides helping the rebuilding of Madain Sari. With the chocobos Conde Petie has available now, the Black Mage Village is only a day's ride. I can tell you he isn't planning on staying there."

Eiko put a hand to her nose to hide her giddy laughter. But of course it just made her breath louder. Freya grinned, but kept her face averted to the ground so she didn't embarrass the girl further.

"Vivi's still as shy as ever, huh?" she mumbled, talking more to herself than the Bermecian.

"With you, perhaps, child," she answered anyways, unable to hide the laughter in her voice.


A/N: I know… I know… It's been FOREVER! For some reason I have been thinking for a majority of these months that I've been stuck on Ruby's part still, and here I landed over half the chapter in Eiko's point of view in one night. I'm terrible, I know, but hopefully this chapter has given you a bit of a fix.

I know it seemed a bit fluffy, but I had lots of fun writing about the acolytes and the incense surrounding the eidolons. Did you like how I pulled that out of thin air.

Sorry to all of my loyal readers. I am hoping that updates will come at LEAST more quickly than this one. Love to you all, sorry for the shortness but I wanted to get something to you!

-zesty-