A little bit of love

by Flare Haynekie

Disclaimer: Star Ocean: Till the End of Time (or Star Ocean 3 for the other lazy people out there) does not belong to me. The copy I bought and the strategy guide do, and does the idea for this, but seriously, I don't own the actual concept of the game. So don't sue me. I'm broke anyway.

Warnings: OOC-ness, shonen-ai

Author's note: Okay. There are million of fics like this one. I don't care. I wanted to write one too. Only that, there's a slight twist. And children do act like this. They're idiotic creatures, I should know. But they're completely adorable to boot!

Read the notes at the end. PLEASE! And, R&R if you want. (OMG, Waka Laka is on! XD)

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Chapter 1: It's all in the soup.

The creature known as Albel the Wicked, look down into the large deep pools of green that were Fayt's eyes.

He twitched. Then he closed his eyes, silently praying that this was only an illusion. But when he opened his eyes, there were the green eyes again. This was either a horrible nightmare, or a practical joke from the idiots in the next room.

There was a knock on the door, but Albel refused to get up. The door opened, Cliff entering with Mirage trailing along.

"Is he alright?" Cliff asked, scratching the back of his head.

All Albel did was turn around and growl at him, both Cliff and Mirage taking an instinctive step back. Fayt gave a slight giggle, drawing the attention of the other three.

"Oh my!" Mirage managed to gasp, before she ran and scooped up the small child in her arms. Because that was what Fayt was now, a small child. Probably four or five years old.

With the child now off his lap, Albel got up. Fayt on the other hand had allowed Mirage to grab him and snuggle him before he started fussing and pushing her face away with his small hands.

Cliff laughed at the sight and grabbed Fayt from Mirage. "Clearly he doesn't want you to grab him."

But Fayt made an even bigger fuss in Cliff's arms. "No…" he whined as he pushed Cliff entirely away from him as much as he could.

Maria, Nel, and Sophia took that as their cue to enter the room. Sophia was quick to make a squeal and grabbed Fayt from Cliff. Not even having time to question who was holding him now, Fayt was then taken by Maria, who made baby noises at him. Fayt only frowned and then started to push her away.

"Down!" he managed to exclaim.

Maria chuckled and placed him on the floor, holding his hand. "This is so cute! Look, it's a mini Fayt!"

Fayt gave a slight twitch, unnoticeable to everyone but Albel. Fayt pulled his hand from Maria, who let him go after a while from fear of hurting him. Once free, Fayt ran to the other side of the room and his behind Albel's legs, his little hands holding one softly. A large silence hit the room before Sophia went and grabbed him, giving Albel an apology. Fayt, noticing that no one was leaving him alone, gave a sniff, his large eyes filling with tears. Nel sighed and left the room. She really didn't want to have anything to do with children, even if the current one was Fayt, being much younger than Roger or Peppita (currently under Adray's care). Cliff on the other hand, stood by the door. He wanted to run away, but he didn't want to leave Fayt alone with all the crazy girls in the room with their motherly instincts, and Albel, who was capable of killing Fayt in this vulnerable situation.

Albel made a quick grab for Fayt, the girls giving a slight whine in protest before walking away to join Cliff at the door. Away from Albel's death glare. Albel, though, look down and Fayt and opened his mouth to tell him not to cry like an idiot. Only that Fayt was looking at his curiously, one hand near his face. He probably dried his tears already. The other four near the door only stared quietly. Albel was scary when he was calm, but to get near him when he was glaring was plain suicidal. They were also wondering why Fayt was so calmly. Until Fayt smiled at Albel, then they wondered if Fayt's mind had also turned to that of a child.

"That would explain why he was fussing so much." Mirage whispered to the other two girls.

But Sophia shook her head. "When kids are always picked up and cuddled and such, they tend to like that a lot so they seek it out, not reject it like Fayt did." She reasoned.

"Where the hell did you hear such an idiotic thing?" Cliff growled at them.

Sophia pouted. "I heard it on the radio once. And it's true."

At that same moment, they noticed Albel take a step back. They looked at him to see that Fayt had circled his arms around Albel's neck and was smiling as he held the swordsman like he would his mother.

"I told you." Sophia stated, looking at Cliff with a smug grin.

"That still doesn't explain why he's like that." Maria finally said.

Peppita and Roger arrived into the room giving a loud gasp when they saw Fayt. They muttered a big "uh-oh", before running off to their room.

Mirage sighed. "There go the culprits." She said.

Maria just nodded. Then she turned to Albel. "If you don't mind, give us Fayt so we can all leave you alone and find out what happened to him." She said to the bi-colored haired man as she approached then and extended her arms to Fayt, seeing if he would catch the bait as any other kid would.

But Fayt only frowned, Albel silently and mentally arguing that he wanted the smile back. The small blue haired child extended his hand to Maria, and hit hers, resuming to hold onto Albel.

"No." he simply said.

"Come on, Fayt." Maria cooed at him. "We're just going to take you to, uh, play with Peppita and Roger, okay? While us grown ups can have a talk about what happened to you."

But Fayt shook his head. "No." he repeated, holding tighter to Albel.

Mirage gave a sigh. "Why don't you let Albel care for him? At least until he falls asleep?" she suggested, Cliff giving a nod in agreement. He didn't want to leave Fayt alone with Albel, but he didn't want to have the small child to cry like he had almost done before Albel had grabbed him.

Sophia quickly turned to the two blonds. "Are you both insane!" she questioned, her voice rising in pitch.

Fayt made something close to a whine and looked up at Albel, giving him a pout. Albel clearly didn't mind the child. He wasn't an idiot. Even if this was Fayt, if the blue haired one was in danger of dying he could unleash something far more dangerous than a few tears. But he didn't want to take care of anything under the age of 30. Or above it if that was the case. He didn't want to take care of anything, period. But he couldn't stand to see the small innocent child sad. And he did what he swore was the only insane thing to consider doing, given the situation. "I'll take care of the idiot." He declared, a force in each word.

Cliff almost chocked, probably on his own saliva, Sophia's eyes turned into huge, round plates. Maria and Mirage just paused whatever they were doing to stare at Albel in less shock than Sophia, but clearly trying to digest what they just heard. Fayt was the only one that smiled and happily gave a short squeal before holding onto Albel.

"Now that that idiotic thing is settled…" Albel stated, trailing off before regaining the topic. "Get the hell out of my room, you bunch of maggots!" he growled this last part, all four scurrying out the room, one of them closing the door.

With everyone gone, Fayt sighed and looked up at Albel. "Thank you." He said as he gave Albel another smile.

Albel just placed him on the nearest bed. This was not easy. This was disastrous! He had agreed to take care of the small child!

"Albel?" Fayt questioned, grabbing Albel's nearest hand, which was the claw.

Albel looked down with a glare. "Let go of me. I only agreed to that so they would finally leave."

"So what are you going to do then?" Fayt questioned. "Leave me to die, kill me, or what? I may look like a kid, but you know very well I'm not… ooh! What a fluffy pillow!" Fayt had been stating a few things before he had touched the pillow and pounced on it, cuddling it like he would a teddy bear.

Albel just took a few steps back. What just happened? He wondered. "What?"

"Pillow! Soft and fluffy!" Fayt giggled as he sat down, the pillow on his lap as he petted it. He looked up at Albel, pausing the petting. "Yes?"

"Why the hell didn't you let the other fools to take care of you?" Albel asked, completely against his nature to ignore the simple things in life that could cause trouble. Like women and children. Oh, and pants too.

Fayt just frowned. "If I let the others take care of me, they will baby me to no end. I rather stay with you, where I run the chance of dying, than to be cuddled and babied by the girls, Cliff, and worse of all, Adray." And so Fayt resumed petting the pillow, quite content with the silly action.

Albel had to agree with that. There was more comfort in death than in the care of a children loving, overprotective Adray. There was a knock on the door before Peppita came into the room with a tray. There was a bowl of soup, and near it a bottle with brown liquid. She left it on the bed.

"Um, the soup's for Albel… and the milk's for Fayt. Sophia and Mirage made it. It's warm." She offered, fidgeting and then running away, closing the door hurriedly.

Albel grabbed the bottle, giving it to Fayt, before grabbing the soup and starting to eat it. He watched as Fayt gathered the pillows and placed them in a corner of the bed before sitting down and leaning against the pillow to drink the warm chocolate milk, closing his eyes in satisfaction. Albel on the other hand, wondered the little one's actions before finishing the soup and, grabbing the tray, leaving everything outside the room near the door.

Fayt was content. He hadn't been given milk in a long while. Specially warm one. He loved hot milk, but right now, the warm one was making him drowsy. He managed to open his eyes when he felt a tug of his bottle. Looking up, he saw a very pissed off Albel, now a year older in size, who grabbed the bottle and sat next to him to drink the milk.

"Albel! Gimme it!" Fayt growled taking the bottle back and managing to drink the rest.

Albel just gave a huge yawn, which Fayt reciprocated a couple of seconds later. There was a knock on the door and Albel stood.

"Open that door and die, maggot!" he screamed in his childish high pitched voice.

Whoever it was stopped in mid-knock. "Is everything alright in there?" It was Mirage.

"Yes, now go away!"

"Are you sure?" Mirage questioned. "You sound funny."

Albel growled. "Funny! Why you…!" Little Albel was about to jump off the bed and give a Mirage a piece of his mind, but Fayt had circled his arms on Albel's waist and pulled him. "Let go of me, Leingod!"

"No!" Fayt quickly replied. "Stay here…" he pouted.

Albel could only stay still. "But the maggot…"

"She might leave if you leave her alone." Fayt suggested.

At which Albel only gave a frown. He turned around, placed his hands on either side of Fayt's face and gave the blue haired child a cute kiss on the lips. Fayt was so shocked by the simple action that he forgot to hold tight to Albel, the red-eyed one taking the opportunity to jump off the bed and open the door, giving Mirage the best glare he could manage without knowing that his cheeks were tinted with a slight red-ish color.

Mirage stared. And stared. And then stared some more before ushering Albel into the room again, and closing the door. She stared at the door with wide eyes, before she uttered an "Oh, my…" and ran down the hall.

Albel was totally clueless as to what happened, but he locked the door anyway. There was no way he was going to have annoying idiots interrupting his sleep. With a sense of slight accomplishment, he returned to the bed, moving the pillows into another different way that he thought would be comfortable. Fayt was covering his face with his hands, trying to hide his blush. Not that he was doing a very good job since he was covering it in a childish way. Albel grabbed Fayt's shoulder and pushed him onto the pillow before lying down next to him.

"It's bed time." Albel said, to which Fayt nodded, rolling to his side to face Albel.

Apparently Albel had given a timer to the light because after a while they turned off. Technology, according to Albel, was very annoying but made life easier.

After what seemed like a long while in the dark, Fayt spoke up. "Why'd you kiss me?"

To which Albel just replied, "Because you wouldn't let me go."

"But there were lotsa other ways to make me let go…"

Albel scoffed, glaring at Fayt even though he couldn't see the other. "So? What so you want from me? A poem?"

"Maybe?" Fayt's voice had a hint of hopefulness.

Which Albel picked up. It couldn't be. Fayt didn't feel that way towards. He knew that better than anyone. Which is why he partly regretted kissing him. But those lips had looked like they were begging to be kissed. "No."

"So you don't like me?"

Albel hit Fayt in a general direction, glad when he felt hair instead of skin. "Stupid. Of course I do."

Fayt grabbed the hand Albel had used to hit him with. It was the hand that usually had a claw but was currently healed. Probably because he didn't have it as a child, Fayt thought quite pleased. "Really? So, do you love me?" he then asked, holding the hand tighter.

Albel blushed, his cheeks a bright red, glad that no one would see because of the darkness. "Of course I do. Stupid maggot. But you don't, so let my hand go."

Fayt gave a chuckle. The things they talked about in the body of children. "Yes I do! I love you the most, Albel!"

"That's not true! You like that stupid childhood friend of yours more than me!"

Yes, they noticed. Whatever it is that turned their bodies back to their child-like state was also affecting their minds in a slight bit.

"No I don't!" Fayt argued. "Sophia is like a sister to me! Besides, sometimes she's really annoying."

Albel nodded, Fayt feeling the movement. "That's true. She's an airhead too."

"Hey! She's still my friend, you know!"

Albel grinned. "I know." He pulled Fayt to him and tried to kiss him, only managing to kiss Fayt's nose. "Bah. Whatever."

Fayt smiled, calculated the distance and placed a proper kiss on Albel's lips. But to them being kids, a simple kiss like that was enough to make them giddy. They cuddled closer, drawing the covers over them and finally going to sleep.

Other another room, Mirage was telling Maria what she saw, and they both gathered everyone in Sophia's room to explain the current situation. They were oblivious to the fact that it was already midnight, and that the ones they were worrying about were already sleeping without a care in the world. Of course, Albel had locked the door, so he didn't have anything to worry about as he cuddled Fayt in his arms, both sound asleep.

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To Be Continued?

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(Author's rants)

I am crazy. It's freaking one in the morning! And I have class tomorrow… Anyway. Yeah. There's a question mark on the "to be continued" for several reasons. One being that I don't know if I'll write more to this, so it might stay as a one shot. If I end up deciding that it stays as a one shot, I will remove the "chapter 1" bit at the beginning. On the other hand, if I do write more, it'll be in between my Kingdom Hearts fanfic, work, and all my university crap. Enough said.

(Things you should know)

Kids are cute and annoying creatures that tell you things straight to your face. This I noticed out of the stories my mom told us of my sister when she was little. I swear she lived to embarrass our mom, but we love her evil ways anyway. Also, there's a slight fact that warm chocolate milk is really good for making little kids drowsy. Been there. And what Sophia mentions that she heard on the radio… I did hear that on the radio. I also heard that giving really small kids soda and chocolate makes them hyperactive when they're older. But really. I don't believe that. I'm not hyper!

Oh, and this has not been beta tested. I just wrote it and left it like that. Plus, you should also know that English is NOT my native language. It's my second one. Which I use as a great excuse to pardon my horrible habit of eating WORDS… well, the whole thing's in my head and sometimes I think about it one way and when I write it I forget to write some words in it (even though I believe I typed them or wrote them anyway).

That said, thanks for reading! Reviews greatly appreaciated!