Disclaimer: I don't own Virgil, Febronia, or Xenosaga, AS MUCH AS I WISH I DID lol.

A/N: Thanks to all of my reviewers! Don't worry. Virgil will get his act together, or Febronia will have a say about it. Heh, heh.

So from now on, I'll be writing my stories in order of importance. If you want to see more of this story, please review and tell me so, or vote in the poll on my author's page. Thanks much!

\/\/\/

Nothing Like Romeo and Juliet

Chapter Four

\/\/\/

She tried twice more that day to feed the soldier, but he refused her and her tray of food. Quite desperate at this point, she ventured out to find the man in green, who was stationed at his large, green ship behind Dabyre Mine. She pleaded for him to come out to tend to the soldier again, for he was unwilling to be around her at all.

"He'll have to learn," the man's eyes narrowed with irritation, "that all forms of life must be treated with consideration. However, for now, I'll come out to tend to him because he has only just awoken and I won't treat his body unfairly because he refuses to cooperate."

"Thank you very much," Febronia bowed slightly.

He followed her out to the church that night and prepared food for the soldier, Febronia, and himself. She talked to him for a while about little things, but never about anything that concerned his name or personal life. She understood that his privacy was important to him and that he wanted to keep it that way. She talked little of herself just because she found that her identity was not of question to his thinking. He treated her just like a woman and nothing less.

As she had expected, the soldier would eat the man's cooking, and she watched him eat from the shadows, noting how impatient and quick his movements were, as though he had been starved for a long time. It made her feel guilty that she could not be of more service to him and his recovery, but she did not hold any resentment towards him. His hatred of Realians was a personal issue that he had to deal with himself. She could not possibly understand what drove him.

The man in green informed her a few days before that his name was Luis Virgil, a Federation soldier sent to the frontlines to prepare for the oncoming war. He did not go into much detail or explain how he knew the man's name, and Febronia didn't ask either. Luis, on the other hand, was a name that she found very nice and repeated it to herself several times. She thought that perhaps she'd begin to call him by name and that he would finally understand that she treated him as an equal, hoping he would see her the same way, too.

Before the man left, Febronia heard him talk to Luis through the door and scold him for his behavior towards her. Luis merely grunted and said nothing.

"She asked me to come here because she knew that you would have nothing to do with her," the man in green told the soldier. "If she had wanted to, she could've left you this way, but she knew that you wouldn't recover properly. She is worried about you…"

"Tell her I don't need her concern," Luis barked back.

When the man left the door, he appeared angry. His cheeks were a swollen red and his eyebrows were greatly arched.

"Tomorrow is the last day I'm coming here to feed him," he told Febronia. "If he wants to act like a child, then a child he shall be treated as." Shaking his head, he said, "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do."

"It's all right," Febronia replied, though a bit saddened. "I can only hope that he comes to accept me before he starts to suffer too badly…"

Giving her a weak smile, he left her alone.

For those past few days, Febronia had spent her nights in the front room of the church, taking to a bench close to the front so that the large statue of the angel was looking down upon her. Before settling herself under her single pillow and blanket for the night, she'd kneel down to pray. She prayed for Shion and her happiness, despite the absence of her mother. She prayed for peace for her sisters, in which her heart wrenched in sync to their pain and cries for the experiments of man. And she prayed for Luis.

She prayed that he would find his way, whatever way that might be, and that he would be happy. She prayed that he would recover healthily and be able to walk about again and see his companions. But, most of all, she prayed that she and him could become friends. She wished for that ever so much. She was intrigued by this newcomer, despite his harsh attitude towards her. She knew that, deep down, there was a side to him that no one else could see. It was a kinder, gentler side that perhaps he, himself, was unaware of.

Febronia wanted to believe in this side of him.

She was curious to understand what had turned him so cold. It had to have been something painful, she was sure, but it hurt her to think that all of his anger had been sparked because of Realians. She wanted to know why. She hoped that before he left this church forever that he would tell her. It would be nice, she thought, to as least understand that.

Though she never showed it and never told anyone, she got lonely living in the little church by herself. It was hard to be at Labyrinthos most of the time when the place reminded her of where her sisters were forcefully taken from her side. A man named Sergius XVII, a holy man as he called himself, ordered that the two transgenic Realians fulfill their duty as the core of the system in order to control U-DO. That was almost a month ago.

Now she lived here in their memory, wishfully thinking and hoping that they would come back. Though she was taking their absence hard, Shion had taken it harder. When she came to this part of Miltia to treat her mother, she knew no one. She had met Febronia at the church one day when she wandered off from her father and the Realian was picking flowers in the garden.

She taught Shion many things, as she had her sisters, like to pray and how to garden. For a while, Febronia was the older sister of all of the children, and she wasn't lonely. She was scolded, yes, by Joachim for not tending to her duties as she should, but Febronia was different from other models. Her creator often spoke of dismantling and rearranging her program, but he never went through with it. It was because he had other things to tend to, such as his daughter, Sakura, and her wellbeing. Besides, she was certain he knew about her relationship with the three girls, even though he never admitted to it.

Joachim Mizrahi was not the martyr he portrayed himself as.

In fact, he had been somewhat reluctant to proceed with the terrible experiment involving Cecilia and Catherine, her sisters, even though he had known from the time of their creation what they were going to be used for. He knew of Febronia's sadness, but there was nothing he could do.

"You are a special transgenic Realian designed for the Zohar connection experiments," he reminded her after she had been forced to cruelly watch her sisters be taken away. "You must understand, Febronia. Cecilia and Catherine have their roles to fulfill. Learn the same for yourself."

She spent more time away from Labyrinthos after that, despite Joachim's orders. She and Shion still were together all the time and she tried not to be sad for the child's sake. Shion was taking her friends' leaving much harder than Febronia. It was the way of the child, the Realian knew. She had to be unselfish and more supportive during these hard times. But it did not ease her loneliness any less.

Now that the soldier was here, it made her happier. Even though he was distant and harsh, he was still here. He was still somebody. He appeared hurt and perhaps even betrayed. Sometimes, she felt that way, too. They weren't so different after all…or, at least, she thought so.

Maybe one day he'll think so, too, she thought as she tucked herself into bed.

One day things would be different and time would heal those wounds. She hoped so in order to belief in the future of that "one day."

But it would be hard, as she realized all too early. She was awoken by a terrible scream and it didn't take long to realize that it was coming from her bedroom where Luis slept. Febronia threw off her covers and dashed through the door, becoming witness to his thrashings and shouts. Oblivious to what had happened the night before, she seated herself beside him, holding her arms around his chest and calling out to him to wake up.

His nightmare must have been extremely upsetting and full of torment to make the man cry out as he did. She could only hold his sobbing form close to her, rocking back and forth, gently raking her fingers through his blonde locks. It warmed her heart when she felt him reach around her to grab back, burying his face into the fabric of her dress like a broken little boy who had fallen and hurt himself.

He was dreaming, she also knew, and she kept in mind that she was an unwelcome guest in his territory. But it didn't matter. She couldn't stand to watch him suffer from an inescapable world that tore at his already wounded heart. Despite what he thought of her, she would not leave him in that world to be alone. She allowed him to cry into her lap, holding her so tight, she wasn't sure if he was ever going to let go. He was like that for a while longer before the sobbing stopped and his face lifted.

And she wasn't surprised when he tore himself away from her, screaming for her to get out of the room and to never come back in. It didn't hurt her in the slightest. And the reason was because she had already seen him for what he really was. No matter what he said now…no matter how he tried to act in front of her, he was still human. He could cry and he could feel pain, and he could long for comfort and warmth just as any other human could.

When he held her in his nightmare, it was genuine. There was no hatred for her for who she was. She was warmth. She was his warmth. He had needed her because he had been in pain. And she didn't mind. Febronia closed the door behind her and sat down on the other side of it, listening to his heavy breathing and coughing. She imagined that he was wiping tears away from stained cheeks now and straightening his disheveled blankets. And she was almost certain that he wouldn't sleep again for the rest of the night.

She didn't, either.

\/\/\/

"Like this, Feb?"

Little Shion was wearing her pink gloves and squatting down above the dirt to dig in it with her tiny hoe. The Realian stood above the child, seeds in her hands.

"Yes, that's a wonderful job, Shion." Febronia held out a packet in her hands, "Make sure you scatter them all over the plot so they grow up together and bloom all alongside each other. Even flowers need friends."

"Yeah! I'll plant them all right here!" The little girl took the open packet, turned it upside-down, and sprinkled the seeds into the dirt. Febronia watched her, smiling. When Shion looked back, she handed the child another packet.

"There will be plenty of colors here," Feb said. "Afterwards, we'll plant some on the other side of the gate, all right?"

"Can I water them, Feb?" Shion reached over for her little pink canteen that had a cute bunny on it. "Can I?"

"Of course."

"You two seem to be having a good time."

At the sound of a third voice, Febronia glanced up to see the familiar man in green approaching them from behind. He was carrying a bag.

"Hi, mister!" Shion waved her dirty gloved hand in the air.

"Oh, hello there," Feb welcomed and left Shion's side for the moment. "Your friends aren't with you today."

"Yes, I thought I'd make the journey here by myself. I'm just doing the normal checkup anyway." Then his face became more serious. "How has he been?"

Looking over at the child, who had just begun to work at her tiny garden again, Febronia's eyes dimmed and her face fell. "He's been…having nightmares," she confessed. "I'm almost certain that they have to do with the time that he was brought here. His friends must have died."

"It's not uncommon for soldiers to have nightmares," his face looked distant and melancholy. "I wouldn't be surprised if your prediction is right."

"He won't let me help him through them," she continued, the subject touchy to tread upon. "He continues to push me out of the room."

"I see." His eyes closed. "There's probably more to this than we understand, but it's still no excuse for his behavior." He walked past her, "I'll see what I can do."

"Be easy on him," Febronia called out. "I know he doesn't mean what he says."

Giving a low whistle, he nodded. "I know he doesn't either." He left the two outside.

She watched him retreat inside, many thoughts weighing heavily on her mind. Part of her naïvely wished that this man could talk Luis into finally giving her help a chance. But part of her also knew that wishful thinking was just that—wishful thinking.

"Your vows you've broken, like my heart. Oh, why did you so enrapture me? Now I remain in a world apart, but my heart remains in captivity."

Startled, Febronia whirled around to a humming Shion, who was blissfully digging in her small garden, happy as a clam. She was patting down the dirt, nodding her head from side to side. She was just so happy that it was soothing to look at her. A child who could be so innocent and carefree in the world that was around her while everything else refused to be as happy, it made Febronia remember what it was she was living for. Not because she was created for a purpose, but to live for a purpose she created for herself.

"Come on, Feb," the little girl called out. "It's your turn to sing the next verse. You said you were gonna teach it to me, remember?"

"That's right," she breathed, closing her eyes, mind reeling backwards. It will be a good distraction, I suppose… "I have been ready at your hand," she sang, "to grant whatever you would crave. I have both wagered life and land, your love and good-will for to have."

\/\/\/

For two nights afterwards, Febronia was at Luis' side, his nightmares still as harsh as before, and for two nights she was thrown out of the room by his consistent rage. She didn't mind. Every night, in the midst of his troubled slumber, he would cling to her waist, crying, and he would wake up, screaming. She knew that he needed someone more than he thought.

"Stress levels have risen twelve percent, performance is down by six percent, and vitals are slowing. Febronia," Kevin turned his head from the monitor, "what's going on, anyway? This isn't the report I want to give Professor Mizrahi."

"I'm sorry, Kevin," Febronia lowered her head in shame. "I suppose I've been so busying tending to the soldier that I haven't been paying my body much mind lately."

"Well, this needs to improve," he gestured to the screen with his hand. "If anything seems out of the ordinary, they're going to get suspicious."

"I know."

"Gah," rolling his eyes, Kevin folded his arms over his chest, his legs apart slightly. "Febronia, I know that you've been more entertained with taking care of that soldier and it makes you even happier to know you have an excuse to stay at the church all the time, but could you please try to pretend that you care about this organization?"

She gaped a bit, trying to think of something to say, but the younger boy moved past her.

"I'll be so happy when that guy leaves. He's caused us nothing but trouble by having you take care of him. Don't be so foolhardy, Febronia. U-TIC can catch on real quick if you're playing behind their backs. I don't want to be the one who gets into trouble, but I don't want to be the one who has to turn you in, either."

"I'm terribly sorry, Kevin," she apologized again. "I promise I'll give you a better report to transport to the Professor next time."

"You'd better," he told her. "Tell the girl that her father wants to see her."

Shion…he means Shion. "Right. I'll do that."

When she left the city and walked back to the church, she was alone. Shion went home with her father, and the man in green was no longer there when she had returned. He must've told the soldier that he isn't coming back this time… It was a dreadful thought. She didn't want Luis to starve, but she knew that there was no other way to get him to eat unless the food was human created.

She wandered into his room to clean, and he was already awake, looking groggy and irritable.

"I didn't call for room service," he pointed out.

"This is my room, too," she answered softly. "I'd like to keep it clean as much as possible."

He snorted and turned his head to look at the fire.

"Are you cold?" she asked, diverting her attention from the washcloth in her hand. "If you'd like, I can add more wood to strengthen it."

"No."

"All right," she went back to what she was doing. Febronia dusted the top of her desk and the sides of the bookshelf, humming all the while. After some time, she had grown used to his presence and found that she was no longer uncomfortable to be in the same room as him. Unfortunately, he did not feel the same way.

"Could you stop that?" he spat out, hunched over near the screened fireplace.

"You don't like my singing, Luis?" she asked.

His eyes widened and he stared at her with utmost disbelief, like he couldn't believe what she had just said. "What did you call me?" Before she could reply, his eyes darkened and he bitterly said, "I've told you before, do not call me by my first name. You aren't any friend of mine, and you don't have the right to call me by name. Do you understand that, Realian?"

Something went through her, like a dagger. It was cold and cruel. "A-All right…" she broke her eyes from his, feeling extremely ashamed. "What can I call you then?"

"Nothing. I don't even want you talking to me."

"O…Okay…" her voice was reduced to a frail whisper and she went back to cleaning. Somehow, she couldn't bring herself to look at him again for the rest of that day.

But that night, during his usual nightmare, she was back in his room, holding him and calming him, and he threw her out of the room once again without surprise. It went on that way every day and every night. If anyone went in at all, it would be anyone but her. The man in green kept his promise and did not come back the next day to feed the soldier. However, Shion came over and brought some warm soup her father had made her.

"I'll give it to the soldier," she told Febronia when she first arrived. "Daddy made it special, so I'm sure it tastes wonderful."

"That's very sweet of you, Shion," the older woman told her, patting the girl's back. "He'll like that very much."

Shion wandered in, leaving the door open, and Febronia peeked inside, unable to resist temptation.

"Here," the child held out the thermos to him. "This is for you."

"What's inside of it?" he asked, almost warily.

"Chicken noodle," she responded, watching him take the warm container from her hands. Then she offered him a spoon. "My daddy made it for me."

"Then maybe you should take it back," he gave her a hard look. "I don't need any trouble for taking a kid's lunch."

"No, no," Shion stepped back. "I want you to have it. Besides, Feb and I always cook together on Friday nights."

"Is that so?" he cocked an eyebrow. "Whatever, I'll eat it later." He handed the thermos and spoon back to her. "Just put it on the desk over there, okay?"

She slowly took it from him and shuffled over to the table.

Febronia stared at Luis in wonderment. He appeared indifferent to such matters, but she caught a flicker of appreciation in his eyes. She slid in a little closer to watch him.

"Thanks," he mumbled after a moment.

"You're welcome!" Shion skipped back to his bed and looked at him. "Say, Mr. Soldier, wanna watch me play a game my daddy taught me? It's an ancient game that used to be played long ago, but he said that it's a fun game. Wanna see? Wanna see?"

He sighed and shook his head. "Do I have a choice?"

"I'm really good though," she danced around his bed, much to his annoyance, it seemed. "No one can beat me!"

"Tch…" he propped his chin on his hand and watched her. "Well? Less talking, kid. You'd better be able to put your money where your mouth is."

"Huh? Money?"

"Never mind. It's just an expression."

Shrugging it off, she moved back to the table and reached for a blue, porcelain vase that was slid all the way in the back. Febronia's eyes followed Shion's small form, standing on her tip toes and stretching her fingers in order to reach it. She felt the need to help the child, but if she was caught, she was afraid that she'd anger Luis and ruin the child's chances of becoming friends with him. He hates me and that's enough.

"Don't break it," he told her. "If you do, you'll have to clean up the mess."

"I won't break it," she finally clasped the base and brought it towards her, the sound of porcelain scuffling against wood resounding in the room.

Lifting the lid from the jar, she turned and dropped everything inside of it to the floor. A small, rubber ball bounced onto the floor and several metal objects dropped, making an echoing clank.

"Jacks," Luis voiced, though it was slightly muffled by the hand in which his chin was perched upon. "My father taught me this game."

"Really?" she whirled around, vase in hand still. "What's your record? Mine's seven."

Rolling his eyes at her words, he replied, "Fourteen."

"What?" her jaw dropped and eyebrows lifted high in wonder. "No way! You're not telling the truth!"

From behind the door, Febronia smiled. She had seen Shion play the game a few times before, though she had no idea how to play herself. She wondered if Luis' record really was fourteen, or if he was just telling the child that.

"If you're going to play, hurry up and do it," he commanded.

Continuing to stare at him for a moment longer, little Shion turned to put the vase back onto the table and she squatted down, collecting the rubber ball and the jacks. She set them up accordingly, bounced the ball, grabbed the jacks, and looked back to Luis.

"That's pathetic," he told her. "You're slower than a snail."

"I can do better," she tossed back in a huff. "I'm still warming up."

"Sure," he blew air through his lips. "Listen, kid, if you want to do it right, take your hand through a sweeping motion. The movement is more fluid and you'll be a lot cleaner in your swipes."

Shion bounced the ball again, tried to do as he said, and asked, "Like that?"

"No," she watched him. "More like this," he curved his arm and brought it through the air. Then his eyes met with hers, making sure that she was paying attention. "Try again."

She did. When the ball bounced and Shion swept her arm, she knocked the jacks all over the place.

"You're trying too hard." Virgil bounced an imaginary ball and then quickly followed it with a sweep. "It's as simple as that."

Determined to master Virgil's "secret sweep" maneuver, little Shion gathered up all of the jacks, grabbed the ball, and tried again. She bounced the ball grabbed the jacks, and realized that she had captured one more than the last time.

"Good," Virgil nodded. "It's a start, I guess."

Febronia found herself smiling as she observed them together. Shion would play and he'd point out how she could be better. The child begged him once to play, and Febronia was stunned to hear his response.

"I'm sort of mangled up right now. But once I get out of this bed, I'll play a round with you."

"Promise?"

"Yeah, all right."

Eyes shining, the woman turned to leave them to their entertainment while she ventured out to her garden on the hill to pick flowers.

\/\/\/

She thought her arrangement would look lovely in the vase in her room, but she wasn't sure how Luis would react to them. He kept Shion's flowers stuffed under his pillow, strangely enough, but he hadn't discarded them yet, so it had to count for something. However, he wasn't fond of anything she brought him, so she decided to keep them out in the front of the church where everyone could see them.

Febronia pushed herself back down the hill, humming to herself as she carried the bundle in both hands. The shade from the leaves above kept her cool from the beating sun above in the cloudless sky. From all around her, birds chirped and small land animals crawled about, scurry to find food or just to play with each other. The view of the crushed gates leading to the church was up ahead, followed by the newly born garden plots that she and little Shion had created.

Wandering into the church, Febronia opened to the door leading into where Shion and Virgil last were. A sudden thought passed her mind that the child might have already gone home with Kevin. If that were so, then she would be left alone with Luis, which could be a good or very bad thing. Slowly walking in, her eyes drifted to the corner of the room where she knew that he'd be, sleeping most likely.

But he wasn't there.

The bed was disheveled, the blanket pulled back, and Luis was gone. Febronia dropped the flowers from her hand, sudden thoughts overwhelming her. Was he okay? Did something happen? Was he even still alive? Whirling around, she darted from the room, looking around frantically for the missing soldier, whom, she assumed, had gone outside.

There weren't any signs of a break-in or a fight, so Luis had probably left of his own will. But he shouldn't be out of bed right now! He's still wounded!

She stared out into the aisle of benches, worriedly searching for the life form that was the injured soldier, but seeing no one.

She felt prompted to call him by name, but remembered his sudden anger. Instead, she thought of what little Shion had referred to him as earlier. "Mr. Soldier?" she called out. She waited for a moment, but expected the silence. Even her sensors weren't picking up his waves. Slowly moving to the side door of the large room of the church, she unlocked it and stepped outside, the brightness of the sun overtaking her eyes.

"Where are you?" Febronia held her breath as she scanned her surroundings. Her sensors read nothing beyond the pine trees and fallen stone wall. A lone, broken bench was out by the newly constructed gardens, and the grass around the church slightly swayed with the passing breeze. Still, there was no sign of Luis.

Walking out into the grass, ignoring the soft sound that her boots made while she crossed the side of the church, she searched behind the sycamores and vines in the forest. She wasn't sure if he would dare to go out very far in the condition he was in, unless a comrade of his had already found him. She felt her heart fall with the thought. Still, she pushed herself forward, following the crumbling wall that held the church in its cozy vicinity until she finally found its break and was gazing out beyond the flowing river and bridge.

She recognized the sound of the water colliding with rocks and the edge of the banks, and it inattentively brought herself forward to its base, looking down into the crystal stream below. Could he…could he have fallen in?

Then there was a splash and Febronia's attention was directed to the bridge. Hesitant, she padded towards it, staring out past it, curious as to what she would find. Her hands grasped the wooden rails of the bridge once she stepped onto the planks, and she was leaning forward. There, in the middle of the stream was a bobbing figure. Febronia blinked several times, as though believing her eyesight to be deceiving her, and glued her attention to the blonde form as it swam to the shores of the river, grabbed a rock, and began to pull its body onto it.

With a bit more scrutinizing, she realized it to be a man, and her cheeks instantly budded red when she established the unclothed human to be none other than Luis Virgil. His back was towards her, his upper torso out of the water as he held himself on the rock and violently shook his head, water spraying everywhere. Febronia quickly held her hands over her eyes in such embarrassment, but couldn't resist peeking out two of her fingers to see him try to climb onto the rock. Looking slightly to the left of him, she realized he had set his pants, boots, and bandages there.

He was an extremely shaped man for being so young. His arms were cut with near perfect definition and the strain he put onto them as he lifted himself up onto the rock was shown through his muscles, which stiffened, but appeared strong enough to hold his body weight. His shoulders shifted forward as his back rounded, the rivets of his spine surfacing through his skin as he worked to climb up onto the rock. The water dripped from his body and the ends of his hair. She gasped when the rest of his backside emerged from the water, his legs fighting for a foothold on top of the rock.

Jerking his head around, Luis saw Febronia on the bridge. He gave a loud curse and dropped back into the water, giving her the will she needed to look away. Still…he's a very handsome man. I wonder if he knows that?

"What do you think you're doing!?" he screamed at her, hugging his body with his arms, hiding under the currents of the water. "Don't you know that it's rude to walk in on someone bathing!?"

"W…Was that…" she stammered, still red in the face. "Was that what you were doing?"

"Wha?" Luis shook his head, furious. "Are you stupid!? If I'm here naked in the river, then yes, that means I'm bathing. You don't just stand there and have a spectator's fest!"

"I...I only now just got here…" she hastily defended herself. "Honest. I wasn't peeking and I didn't know you were here…" He groaned and moved towards the river's edge again. "I…I was looking for you because you weren't in your room…"

"Do you mind turning away for a moment so that I can get dressed here?"

"Oh…C-Certainly…" Febronia quickly spun around, covering her head with her hands. I can't believe that I did that. He must be so angry… She waited a moment, listening to the rustling that sounded like clothing, and held her breath. I feel so bad. I don't think he can forgive me for something like this… "I…uh…has Shion come by yet today?"

"No," he snapped.

Febronia stood there, looking back over at the church that was only a short distance away. Using it to distract her, she began to trace the outline of the back wall with her eyes. Still, she could hear the man behind her cursing and muttering things underneath his breath. She shuffled a bit, nervously, her fingers fumbling with each other. Febronia began to feel awkward, standing like that, and eventually whirled around, but at thought of him still being undressed she spun back to face the church.

Then there was a slightly different sound coming from behind her. She slowly turned this time and watched as he was attempting to wrap a bandage around his bare back. He was wearing pants, though, and that made her feel better about staring. He was struggling, and she heard him grunt with frustration.

"Oh, Mr. Soldier, you really shouldn't be doing that…" she hurried to the side of the bridge and then down to the river's shore. "Let me help you."

"I have it fine," he retorted, recoiling from her. "Leave me alone."

Febronia argued, "But you might tear the stitching!"

"I said that I don't need your help!"

Standing there above him in silence, her eyes followed his sloppy movements as he reached behind his back, holding the bandage in one hand, and began to wrap the cloth around his chest with the other. He gave a sudden jerk, dropped the bandages, and gritted his teeth.

"Ow! Ow! Ow! Son of a—"

"I told you that was going to happen." She stooped over to pick up the bandage. "Just sit still."

"Go away already!" he tried to swipe the white fabric back, but Febronia sidestepped and he tumbled over the rock he had been sitting on. "Gaaaah!"

"You're not going to get any better being like this." Her voice was calm, but slightly stern. "Stop acting like a child."

His blazing eyes met hers in an instant, though he was still on the ground, and he picked himself back up, nostrils flaring. "What…did…you…"

"Quiet down now, understand?" Placing her hands on his shoulders, she seated him on the rock, much to his surprise, and gathered the bandages in both of her hands. "Just let me do this." She reached out for him.

"I don't need to be reprimanded by the likes of y—ouch!" He quickly turned his head, cheeks reddening with anger. "Not so hard!"

"Don't move your arm," she told him as she took his right elbow and lifted it. "That bandage you were trying to put around your back goes on your arm." Then she paused. "These are clean bandages, right?"

She saw him roll his eyes. "Yes. I grabbed them before I came out here."

"All right," Febronia began to bandage his arm, coating it with a gel prior. "Just be still and I'll be done with this in a moment."

He blew a gust of air through his lips. "Whatever."

Febronia continued to wrap the bandage around his arm, one hand on his bicep. It was cold to the touch, and she could feel him shiver slightly. Up close, he was just as strong as he looked from far back. It was strange that he was so obedient, compared to how he had been treating her since he had come into her life, but it was a sense of gentleness that she felt. He wasn't cruel or harsh at all. When he was like this, he was like a completely different person. He allowed her to be near him—to touch him—and it made her feel slightly privileged.

There were some scars along his body, especially along his back, and she figured that they were battle scars from his time in the military. But he was so young, it was sad to see his body brutally damaged. Without thinking about the consequences, she brought her hand up to run it lightly across a scar that went from his shoulder blade down approximately four inches.

I wonder if these hurt badly. It would be sad to see him in such pain. If it was anything like the state he was when in when he first came to the church… She wrapped the other arm in nearly the same fashion, her fingers cupping around his elbow as she secured the cloth into place. When she moved to the back, she reached around his chest, catching him off guard. She heard him breathe and he suddenly stiffened.

"W-What are you doing?" he asked, obviously feeling a little threatened by the closeness of her presence.

She took a step back, removing herself from him, and said, "I…I need to wrap this bandage from your shoulder to your side. C-Could you raise this arm up for me?"

"That's all you needed to ask," he scoffed. "This is already uncomfortable."

But if it was so bad, she thought, he would've violently shrugged her off like the plague. She tried again, stepping in to reach across his chest. She took the bandage in her other hand and began to wrap it around his chest and under his arm a few times, holding her breath. He was indeed a strong man, the flesh of his body thick like sandpaper, yet gentle to her fingertips.

How can you feel this way? You're a Realian, not a little girl, Febronia. What would Joachim say? What would Kevin say?

It was difficult for her when she had to move to his lower back, remembering what it was that had made him discover her presence in the first place. She closed her eyes, reaching around his midsection to circle the bandages around him with shaky fingers, and she was relieved when she finally hooked the fabric together. She exhaled as she finished with the bandage around his head and the gauge on the side of his swollen cheek.

Patting him on the shoulder with a pink face, she said, "There you are. Good as new."

"Thanks," he halfheartedly mumbled, standing up. "I'm going back inside now." Brushing past her with a limp, she focused her attention solely onto him, holding a hand to her mouth.

Febronia diverted her eyes, looking to the flowing river and she shuddered. It was a first, feeling this way, that was. She felt foolish and she felt naïve. But, most of all, she felt happy. It was a warm feeling she hadn't experienced before, not even with her sisters and Shion. He allowed me to get next to him. He didn't push me away or scream at me. Perhaps, things were changing.

But that wasn't just it. No, that wasn't it at all. She felt lightheaded and free, as though she could run around the forest with infinite energy. She could dance and sing and be merry. But then she felt silly even thinking such thoughts. It was…absurd. Even Kevin would think so. However, she had seen him, though it was quite unintended, and he wasn't yelling or flailing his arms like he normally did. No, he was…quite embarrassed himself. The way he jumped back into the water and the way he had hugged himself while he was shivering. She thought it was adorable, though it was such an odd thing to feel about a grown man.

And he had thanked her. Perhaps he hadn't really meant it, but he did thank her. She had wanted, no, needed to hear it. It was important to her. She needed to know that she wasn't hated. She needed to know that she was doing something right. She needed to know that she was needed.

Dusting herself off, Febronia gave a bright smile with sunny eyes. She would try to make him something to eat. Without help from the man in green, it would be all up to her.

She just hoped Luis would realize that within time.

\/\/\/

Welps, I hope that this chapter fulfilled some hopes. Heh, heh…Please review and tell me what you thought (minus flames, of course)!

ML