Author's Notes: Back fooooooor chapter two. I hope some are enjoying my story; eventhough, I've only got one review from Katmillia. XD I don't mind not getting reviews...silence is an answer as well. I hate leaving reviews until the story is done. )

Title: Connections

Author: KaBunny

Rating: Teen

Disclaimer: I don't own FFIV or its characters, but this idea is mine.

Chapter Two: Getting Down to Business

The shimmering sun awoke the young Summoner from her peaceful sleep. She rolled over,g roaning slightly as her lids fluttered open to blink into the sun. The chirping birds seemed to bring her annoyance to another level as she sighed lightly, pulling the covers over her head. She knew that she had to get up and finally get down to business today, but the bed she was laying in was just so comfortable and warm. She wondered, briefly, just what time it was as she shuffled the blankets off the top of her body. She glanced back out the window, the curtains waving a bit as the wind moved through her room. Rydia noted that it was a windy day outsides before tossing the blankets off of her and climbing out of bed.

She moved over to travel bag that she had brought with her, pulling out a long sleeve shirt and a heavier skirt. She slipped on the shirt, the long sleeves hugging her arms down to a little past her wrists. It was black in shade with wisps of varying shades of green embroidery. The skirt was also black and long with a single slit up her right leg to the lower half of her calf. It had matching embroidery. It shaped her thin form nicely and allowed her to move swiftly in case the need arose. She slipped her feet into the sandals she had worn the previous day before opening the door and skittering down the hall. She found her way down the stairs and into the main dining room where Rosa was perched at the table, reading a book. "Oh...," was all the green haired woman said as she entered the room.

"Good morning, Rydia," Rosa said, as soon as she had noticed the summoner had entered the room. "Are you ready for breakfast now?"

"Uh...sure!" Rydia replied, taking a seat at the long table before her. She sat a few seats away from the white mage on the opposite side of the table.

"I'm sure as soon as you're done, Cecil will be ready to talk business. He's in a meeting right now," the blonde woman explained, reaching out for the small bell on the table. She rang it, the tinkling sound easily reaching the ears of the girl across the table from her. "You slept well, I suspect?"

"Yeah. The beds are rather comfortable here," Rydia said, suddenly feeling as if she had nothing to say anything to the woman before her. This was the same woman with whom she had saved the world a little more than a year ago. This was the same woman that she had come to think of as her surrogate sister. The summoner knew that she should have a lot to say to her, but her mind was drawing an utter blank. Maybe, she was still tired after all. Maybe, she was just hungry. Maybe, she was just reading into it too much. Rydia chose the third option just as a servant appeared with a plate full of fruits and another, smaller, plate with some crackers with cheese. He placed them on the table infront of the young summoner just as Rosa gestured to him. "Um...thanks...," she said, feeling her comfort level dropping again. She hated being waited on hand and foot.

"Oh!" Rosa exclaimed, glancing down at her watch. "Sorry to leave you so suddenly, Rydia, but I have to go teach my class. I nearly forgot!" She gave a small laugh at this as if it was an absurd thing to do before she closed her book, scooped it up into her arms, and moved out of the room as quickly as an eight month pregnant woman could do. Rydia glanced after her as she reached out for a strawberry. A small smile graced her features at Rosa's forgetful moment before she plopped the sliced fruit into her mouth. She sighed lightly, the weight of uncomfortableness falling away. Her attention moved back out the window as that was where the only moving things seemed to be.

"Mind if I join you for a bit?" a male voice asked from across the room. As Rydia was turning around to see who it was, a single thought was running through her head; at least he didn't scare me like Edge used to do. Her green eyes set upon the King of Baron, who appeared to be wearing a happy expression despite the fact that he had just gotten out of a meeting. Rydia shrugged and waved to a seat near her.

"Like I can deny the king in his own castle," she said, smiling brightly at him.

"You could. I just wouldn't like it very much," Cecil replied, laughing a bit. He moved over to the seat directly across from the summoner. Rydia slipped a few more pieces of fruit into her mouth as the small amount of comfortable silence continued. "I suppose we should get down to business..."

"Should we be in a more formal setting?" she asked, taking a few grapes. She popped one of them into her mouth as she stared down at the table.

"Naw," he said, rather unroyal-like. He leaned across the table a bit, placing his elbow and arm on the table as well to hold up his weight as he grabbed a few pieces of fruit for himself. "So what exactly are the stipulations that the Queen of Summoned Monsters wishes upon us?"

Rydia glanced up at Cecil to make sure that he was utterly serious as he spoke to her. She noted that there were no others in the room with them and this would be a rather informal meeting. Perhaps, he just wanted to get a general idea about what her society wanted so that he could bring it back to his council to make his own stipulations. Whatever the reason, it brought an odd bubble of curiousity up in the green haired woman, which she just swallowed back down. "Queen Ashura wishes to bring alive the lost art of summoning within the world. As you know, I am the last remaining of the only village that had the ability to summon monsters. The art is much like regular magic and can be taught to others with the correct teacher. Ashura wishes to start a school in the Land of Summoned Monsters for summoners. She wishes for me to choose candidates, a boy and a girl, that appear promising from each kingdom to send to the Land of Summoned Monsters. They will be returned in two years time, completely ready to begin school of their own to pass on the art that was lost when my village was destroyed. Upon agreement of this, the returning summoners are to be granted a suitable building with correct funding to make schools to pass along the art through the generatiosn to any of those willing to learn."

"What does Baron gain out of all of this?"

"Two well-trained summoners for no cost," Rydia replied, finally glancing up from the top of the table. She wasn't hungry anymore. Business tended to ruin anything that was normal in her. It was probably the stress, but she knew that whenever things came down to business, that's all it ever was, business. She could see that Cecil was mulling over the idea, but really saw nothing wrong with it. Ashura was trying to breath life into her people and Cecil would benefit by gaining the lost art. "Also keep in mind, summoners are good for protection, but all summoners will not fight against other summoners. If it comes to war, the summoners will be utterly useless against others of their kind. That is a pact that is made when you are gifted with summoning other creatures. But, all summoners come with a gift of black magic or white magic. So, they will be useful either way."

"Hmm...I see," Cecil said, after a long pause. "I'll have my council write up a contract that'll be ready for signing in a couple days." He smiled at Rydia as he reached across the table to take a bundle of grapes before he stood moving out of the room, munching on the green orbs. The summoner blinked after him, utterly confused as to just what had happened. The meeting had been completely informal and he had just accepted her proposal on the spot without any meeting with even his WIFE! The green haired woman sighed, flopping her head down into her arms on the table. How utterly arrogant of the man that was a older brother figure. Rydia could feel a headache forming.

The excursion for the evening included a visit to the garden that Rydia had just found that morning. She figured that she would enjoy the fireflies that evening after spending much of her afternoon in the library. She had spent most of her time researching. She wanted to know what Baron knew about the summoners- their past, their abilities, and most of all just how to use the art of summoning. She found just about nothing. The only thing that was noteworthy was a small children's book about a boy that knew how summon a monster because he had befriended it at a younger age. That scrap of evidence was so insignificant that it was nearly ridiculous to even think about it. Even in the other kingdoms there had been mention about summoners no matter how small. Mist was a village in Baron's territory, so the fact that it had completely fallen off the map made the summoner believe that something was twisting around here that shouldn't be. However, she could just be overreacting. There could just be another library.

There was another thing troubling her as well. She knew that Cecil was an old comrade and he was like an older borhter to her, but the fact that he agreed to her terms so quickly seemed to annoy her. There was certain protocol that had to be upheld and their informal meeting was unstirring. Her fears were completely unfounded as she knew that everything would be just as she said and that she was worrying for nothing. The contract would come out, she would read it over, find nothing out of place, and she would sign it. There would be a celebration of their pact and she would go home. It just seemed far to easy to comprehend for the green haired woman.

A sigh escaped her lips as she opened her eyes to stare up at the fireflies dancing around her. She had found a secluded spot with a large willow tree that she had taken shelter beneath. The tree's wide expanse fell partially over the lake that surrounded the castle. She sat on the dry land, however, with the small, flickering bugs dancing around her as she leaned against the massive trunk of the tree. "Rydia?" she heard just as the long tendrils of the tree began to shift about. Kain appeared, still brushing aside the long branches of the willow, his long hair tied back. He wasn't wearing his armor and it was the first time she had seen him ever do that. "I thought I saw you come out here...mind if I join you?"

"Not at all," she said, not really sure of herself. She still had all the lingering questions about him and his behavior the previous evening had been just as weird. It didn't bring any satisfactory answers and Rydia was afraid that if she opened her mouth, some rude question might just slip out. So, instead, she tilted her head slightly again to begin watching the dancing insects as they played their mating game. Kain seemed to agree as he moved to sit against a different side of the tree. He slouched against it much like she was currently doing, but his eyes watched the calm ripple of the lake that was barely visible through the tangled tendrils of the willow.

"Something on your mind?" he asked, breaking the silence after a long few moments of silence.

"What makes you think that?" she countered, hoping to satiate some of her curiousity by throwing out useless questions. It didn't seem to waver in the slightest.

"Whenever you used to need time to think, you went off by yourself. Edge, usually, followed close by, so I don't think much thinking was done, but still," he explained. He was right. She did tend to wander off when she needed some time to clear her mind. She'd rather sort through it herself that express anything until she was sure. Kain also brought up memories that Rydia had hoped everyone else had forgotten along with her. It seemed that he remembered just as clearly.

"Edge doesn't know how to leave anything alone," she said, being rather vague.

"Whatever happened between you and him? I heard that you returned to the Land of Summoned Monsters instead of travelling to Eblan. I've also heard that the only kingdom you will not be visiting is Eblan," he inquired, backing up his question with the information he had easily received. He knew just as many powerful people as she did. It was quite easy to find out the information that he did, but the fact that he went to the trouble of figuring it out made Rydia wonder for a moment as she turned to stare at him, over her shoulder. He was bringing back unbidden memories, things she never wanted to think of again. She wanted the all to disappear as if they had never happened at all.

"Whatever happened to you on Mount Ordeals to bring you back here?" she asked, rather cruelly. "Don't ask questions you know others don't want to answer..."

"I found that I was a selfish person that wanted to follow the footsteps of a man that I barely knew. I realized that there was a right and wrong way of achieving goals that I want. I realized that I had lost what I never had and had to start over whether I wanted to or not," he said, turning to stare her. His eyes were deep pools of blue that seemed to bring such a wave of serenity that even Rydia felt her anger and bitterness chipping away. "Once I had come to accept just what had transpired, I returned here to make things right. Cecil and Rosa welcomed me with open arms and I took up the lance again in hopes of atoning for all that I had wrought. It's your turn."

She really been expecting him to answer. In fact, the idea that he had said more than a sentence to her seemed to completely blow her mind. He had also been utterly honest with her. She was confused by his onslaught of calm, open personality that she nearly wished that he was still the cold, calculating man he used to be. Something seemed to swell within her as she looked at the man before her. There were no words for it but confusion. She had no desire to talk about Edge, but now she owed him. He had been honest and open with her and now was her turn. "He wasn't the man I hoped he would be. I didn't want to be just another face in the crowd of women that chased after him and I wasn't ready to be pampered. I'm not royal material and I can't handle being waited on hand and foot," she explained, diverting her eyes away from him and tilting her head back the opposite direction to watch the fireflies again. "So...I returned to the Land of Summoned Monsters to escape it all. Edge knew what that meant as did I."

"Is that what has been bothering you and sent you out here?" he asked, having an inkling that it had nothing to do with why she was mulling over her thoughts alone.

"No," she answered simply. She turned back to face him, but realized her mistake all too quickly. He had moved closer to her while she had been looking away and now, when she turned, she was only a few inches away. Her nose nearly touched his and suddenly, she could hear her heart pounding in her ears, but hadn't a clue as to why.

"Then what's on your mind?"

"Cecil," she said, turning away from the Dragoon. She could feel her cheeks heating up and she thanked the small grove for its darkness. "He's so hasty and sure of himself. We had an informal meeting about the duties I can here to perform and suddenly he's drawing up a contract without even consulting anyone on the idea. I just find it reckless."

"It only seems reckless because he is doing it so quickly and because he has not asked anyone else for advice on the matter, but you seem to neglect the fact that he trusts you," Kain uttered, simply. The idea seemed to sink into Rydia's head and brushed away all the angry thoughts she had been having. It was a simple answer that she had almost completely overlooked. It was silly of her to not even see it. There was still one last matter.

"Kain...why is there nothing on summoners in the library?" she asked, not really sure he would even know. There was a lull in his answer before a small bit of laughter was heard. It was lighthearted and refreshing. Rydia had never heard him laugh like that before and it made her heart jump a bit even as she turned back to look at him. The smile still lingered there as she finally looked.

"I didn't even think you would notice, quite honestly. I removed all the books containing any information about Mist the day of your arrival in hopes of not bringing up any terrible memories," he said, softly. He turned to her, the smile gone, his face inches away from her, and with twinkling eyes that longed to be forgiven for his consideration of her. "They are currently in my quarters."

"Oh...," she said, and this time she did blush again. "May I have them?"

"Of course...we can go get them now," he said, standing up to dust off his pants. She stood up quickly after him so he would not offer any help to her. Rydia's heart still thrummed loudly in her ears adn she wasn't sure that she would be able to stand if he touched her. Something had changed within him and the green hair woman was quite sure that she liked it. He began moving through the branches of the willow and turned back, pausing to see if she was following him. She had paused to stare after him. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Kain?" she said, diverting her eyes to the ground. "Thank you."

She missed a broad, genuine smile by turning her eyes away from him. "Anytime."

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Phew. That took a bit. Hopefully, the third chapter will be out more quickly. I had this one planned slightly planned out in my head, but the next one is still up in the air, but not really. I think I know what I want to do.

KaBunny