Mia walks down the streets of Salbad with a cloak tightly wrapped about her. She sticks close to the shadows and travels in the alleys. She finally reaches to port and searches for the ship to return her to Lodoss. A familiar dark elf appears, one of Kiran's friends, vainly, she hoped he wouldn't notice her. She summons an invisibility spirit and tried to stay quiet. Bandor senses the spirits and summons a spell to counter them. Then he says to her, "Come on half-breed, you know you'll never leave this place". He smiles grimly in her direction. She draws the pair of daggers on her belt and leaps out toward him. He had no idea she had stolen her weapons back. She slashes across his chest and face as she knocks him to the ground. Mia speeds away toward the ship, and as expected, there was another of Kiran's friends. Derim grabs at her, catching her cloak. She swings around and cuts the cloth and continues running. Kiran appears in her path, she leaps to the top of a low building, but there was yet another elf, Jaron. He begins to chant a spell and Mia begins to feel faint. She turns to run, but Derim catches her and Jaron finishes his spell. Mia is nearly unconscious as Derim jumps down from the roof clutching her, and presents her to Kiran. "Do you actually think you can leave?" he asks. She glares at him defiantly as she internally fights to keep her strength. He slaps her, but she hardly feels it. She knows it left a brilliant red mark on her cheeks. Kiran goes on berating her, but she doesn't hear as usual. As he talks, Bandor returns, clutching his wounds. Mia smiles, seeing the blood running down his face. She had cut across his forehead, down the bridge of his nose and across his cheek to his jaw line. Kiran grabs her face, "...Do you understand me?" he growled. Mia's face is stoic. Bandor places a dagger at her throat. "Listen to him or I slit your pretty little throat," he really wasn't that great with threats. Mia smiles morbidly at him. For her death was probably the only freedom she will ever feel. Kiran knew this, and pulled Bandor's arm away from her. The smiled faded from her face. It was the same thing every day. A game for them. This escape was almost a habit for her. She never felt the rush of adrenaline anymore; she never really felt anything. She just hoped that one day soon Bandor would actually follow through with that threat. * * * Fou-Lu wandered through the streets of Salbad looking for a good job for a mercenary. After his current jobs he had earned up a little gold but he needed more to keep moving on. He walked through looking around the town. If I don’t find a good job soon I’m going to have to move on, he thought to himself. * * * Kiran and his friends began to walk into the city with her back to Kiran's home. Mia was busy looking for her next chance to escape. They didn't realize that she had regained most of her strength. She remembered she had dropped her daggers on the roof of the building, so she searched for any weapons she could quickly grab of her captors. Bandor had been too worried about his wounds to think about hiding his dagger. Mia grinned a little and quickly struck out with her hand and snatched the weapon from Bandor's belt. She stabs Derim, who was still holding onto her, through his ribs. He releases her and clutches his wound moaning. Mia runs away from them as fast as she could, soon she realizes that she hadn't fully recovered from the spell. She stumbles as she turns out of an alley and crashes into an armored man... Fou-Lu continued to walk staring at the streets of Persei. I guess I’m not going to find any good jobs for a mercenary here. he thought to himself. He wasn’t paying attention until he felt an elven woman slam against him. He looked down at her. "I’m sorry I wasn’t paying attention...are you alright?" he asked helping her up gently. "No," she said weakly as she pulled herself up with his help. Kiran and Jaron soon appeared out of the alley she just ran out of. "Get your hands off her!" Kiran yelled at the new dark elf as he walks forward, drawing his sword. Mia glared back at him and tried to stand, steadying herself against the man's arm. She closed her eyes for a second and took a deep breath, trying to stop her head from spinning. "Please help me," she said weakly, looking up at him. "Are they after you?" he asked looking down at her. "Why are you chasing after her, she has done nothing wrong." he said to Kiran. He grabbed the hilt of his sword and drew the ruin's fate. He looked down at Mia and smiled. "Don’t worry I wont let them take you." "Do you have a dagger I can use?" she asks. Her strength was beginning to come back. "This doesn't concern you!" Kiran yells at the dark elf. Kiran is standing directly in front of him now, glaring into his eyes. "Give her back to me." "Yes I have a dagger," he said reaching into the back of his belt and handing her a dagger." "Well it seems unfair for you all to team up on her, and I hate for men to try to hurt a woman." he said staring at Kiran with his sword drawn. "If you want her back you’ll have to go through me first!" he yelled at Kiran Mia takes the dagger and gets in a defense posture. Bandor appears from the alley, he had a band tied around his forehead, but the rest of his face had stopped bleeding for the most part. Kiran glances back at him and Bandor draws his sword also, as does Jaron. Kiran returns his attention to Fou-Lu. "Return her to me," he says through clenched teeth. "Stay out of this before you get hurt," he warns. "Well if you want her back, you'll have to go through me first. and if you desire to do so then bring it on." he said getting in his attack stance. He looked over at Mia and then back at Kiran. "I should be the one saying that to you fool." he said to Kiran reading his sword to attack them. "Like hell you're getting me back," Mia growls at Kiran. Kiran looks at her, the only way he could reach her was through this stranger. "Get Mia!" he yells to Jaron and Bandor then attacks Fou-Lu... Bandor turns toward Mia. She grins as he runs toward her with his sword drawn, still angry over his previous wounds. He swings at her, even though he knew it was against Kiran's wishes. Mia easily parries his attack and moves close to him. For the first time in a long while, she felt the adrenaline rush, which gave her the necessary energy. She moves close to Bandor quickly, as she holds his sword away with her dagger. She rips the band off his face and whips him with it almost playfully. She moves away and he touches his face to find it bleeding again. He swings at her and now she fights back seriously, blocking the sword again, then slashing his chest across the opposite way she had earlier. Fou-Lu readied for Kiran and Bandor's attack and he parries Kiran's attack and slices the side of his stomach slightly. He turned to Kiran and guarded his attack and clashed swords with him once again. Kiran grabs his wound and curses. He was too angry to allow the pain to get to him, so he attacks again. Bandor looks down at his wound and readies to attack again. Mia launches herself forward onto Bandor, knocking him to the ground as she stabs through his ribs. She withdraws the dagger and Jaron swoops in to keep her from escaping... Fou-Lu jumped in front of Jaron and knocks him with the handle of his blade. "Are you ok Mia?" he asked her. He looked at the people who were attacking him and Mia. "I think its time I started fighting at my full potential!" he yelled. She nods. Derim appears from the alley holding his wound. "Kiran! It's not worth it!" he yells seeing the situation. Kiran glares back at him. "Shut up!" he returns his attention to Fou-Lu and attacks again. Fou-Lu looked at Kiran. "So you wish to challenge me then you got it." he said running at Kiran clashing swords with him. "Kiran! Enough!" Jaron yells. Kiran holds his sword against Fou-Lu's with all his strength, which was beginning to fade. He steps back and drops his blade. As he begins to calm down, the pain from his wound hits him. He winces and grabs it again. "This isn't over Mia," he glares down at her. Jaron helps Bandor up and the four elves back out the alley. Mia looks over at him and leans back against a wall. She inhales deeply and again, the weakness hits her. That spell was stronger than she thought... Fou-Lu looked at Kiran still in his attack position breathing deeply somewhat. "Man that almost took all of it out of me," he said breathing deeply. He looks over at Mia and walks over and helps her stay up. "Are you alright?" he asked her. He looked at her face. "They summoned a spirit to drain my strength. I've been fighting it for a while," she looks up at him. "Who are you?" "A spirit to drain your strength, stand still maybe I can break it." he said. He summoned a spirit and it broke the spirit casted on her. He breathed a bit deeply. "My name is Fou-Lu, might I ask what your name is?" he asked She sighs as she feels her strength return. "Thank you. As you heard, my name is Mia. I need to go back to the docks, I left my own weapons there." she wipes the blood off his dagger and hands it back to him. "Well it’s a pleasure to meet you Mia. Why were they after you?" he asked. "Oh your weapons are at the docks then we should go get them. I’ll go with you if you don’t mind, they might come after you again," he said taking the dagger and putting it back in his belt. "Thank you. I doubt they will come after me again today. Jaron was the only one not seriously wounded, he can’t take me on his own." She walks back to the docks. "Kiran has kept me trapped here for the last 7 months. I'm not sure why. Maybe because he feels like he needs me for some reason. I've wondered that. He tells me he loves me sometimes. Obviously it's not love." "‘Tis nothing, if they want to team up on a woman they will have to team up on me too." he said looking over at her. He walked by her side to the docks. "I see so that’s why he kept you here, well from the way I saw him act he doesn’t love you, he seems really possessive. Well if they try to come back after you they will have to deal with me first." he said holding the hilt of his sword. She smiles at him. "No one has ever tried to help me before." They walk out onto the dock and she retraces her steps and leaps up on top of the building where she dropped them. She found them and returned them to their sheathes on her belt. She stops for a moment and looks out at the sea. The breeze picks up from the north and she can smell the air from Lodoss. "I want to go home..." she says softly. "Well I guess I’m the first then huh?" he said smiling slightly at her. He watched her while she looked for her daggers. He walked over and stood by her looking out at the sea. The breeze blows his hair in the wind. "Where is your home?" he asked her. "I grew up in Kanon, but Lodoss is my home," she looks over at him. "I'm assuming you're from Marmo," she smiles a little. She looks back out at Lodoss in the distance. "I think it's finally over." "I see, Lodoss is your home," he said looking over at her. "Yes I am from Marmo, I’ve lived here my whole life, unfortunately there is no one I know here anymore, not after my parents at least." he said looking down slightly. "You think its finally over, what is?" he asked. She looks at him. "Kiran. I think it's over now," she smiles. "I'm free of it." She enjoys the breeze for a moment, "What happened to your parents?" He looks over at her. "Yes it probably is, if he comes back after you he will have to deal with me first." he said smiling some. The breeze blew his white hair in the wind. "My family...they are dead...killed by soldiers attacking our village, they hid me when they attacked, and all I have is this to remember them by." he said unsheathing the ruins fate and the necklace around his neck. "I'm sorry to hear that." She looks down for a moment. "I came here to find my father, but found out he had died years before. I never knew him." "Yes, I’m planning on heading to Lodoss, would you want to go with me?" he asked looking over at her. "I see, you never met your father." She smiles at him, "Yes, I have no other way of getting there. And I think you would need a guide." she smiles a little broader. "You know? I think this is the first time I've really smiled in a long time." He smiled back at her. "Well then well call it a plan, we could stay at my house for tonight if you like, I’m heading to Lodoss tomorrow." he said looking over at her. "Hmm you haven’t smiled in a long time, then why now?" he asked She looks over at him. "I guess because this is the first time I've talked to anyone in a long time. Because I'm free finally. I hope at least. I guess because I trust you." "I guess so," he said smiling at her. "Well if you want to be free, ill try my best to make you free. You can trust me I would never hurt you." She smiles at him, "Are you sure you're from Marmo?" "Yes I’m sure I’m from Marmo, why do you ask?" he said smiling somewhat at her. "I've never met anyone here as kind as you," she smiles back. "Why are you so kind to me?" she asks, still smiling "Well I guess I have resisted the way Marmo can change people," he said looking over at her. He stood silent wondering what to say to her about her question why he was so kind to her. "Well, why don’t we go somewhere? I'm really not that comfortable out here." "We could go to my house if you like." he said smiling at her. "Its just a few blocks down this way." he said pointing down one of the streets. "All right," she jumps down off the building. Fou-Lu jumped off the building by her and began to walk toward his house. He looked out of the corner of his eye at her as they walked. They arrived at the door of his house and walked in. A Wolf jumped up in an attack position as they walked in. "Calm down Lucied, she is a friend." he said looking back at her. Lucied looked at her then laid back down. Mia walks in and touches Lucied's head. He relaxes, sensing her elven nature. "I expected you lived in the dark forest with other elves, or do you prefer to be alone?" she says. "Well I have been living on my own for a long while, so I guess I have gotten used to it." he replies. He walks over to a desk and takes off his armor setting it down. He takes his sword and sets it by his armor. He turns around and sits down at a table looking at her. She walks over to the table and sits across from him. "It's been awhile since I've really talked to anyone," she says He looks at her and smiled. "Yes I know, I haven’t talked to anyone in quite some time, is there anything you would want to talk about?" he asked her. She laughs a little, "I don’t know. After all this time, I don’t know." She lays her head down on the table. "What about you?" she smiles at him. He smiled at her. "Well I can see your point, well how about you tell me about yourself Mia, id love to hear your story." he said looking at her smiling. He laid his head down on the table looking at her. Mia looks across the table at him, catching a glance of his eyes. She looks into his eyes for a moment, then realizes that she is and looks away. "Well, where should I start?" she asks Fou-Lu looked into her eyes seeing her looking across the table. He continues to look at her even after she had looked away. "Wherever you want to start Mia," he said smiling at her. She laughs a little; "I'll just start at the beginning, ne?" she looks back at him. "Well, I was born in Kanon. My mother was a common elf and my father a dark elf. She told me they fell in lust when he came to Lodoss once. He left a short while before I was born. While I was growing up, I was disrespected because of my heritage. However, eventually people learned that i was more than my blood. I've lived my entire life fighting that hatred. I don’t hide it though. I'm half-dark elf, I'm proud of it. But it doesn't mean that I'm 'evil' or whatever labels people want to put on me." "Well its fine with me, wherever you want to start." he said looking into her eyes across the table. He listened to her story closely never taking his eyes off of her. "I see you have been through a lot before this," he said smiling at her resting his head on the table. She continues on, telling him about working as a mercenary and living in the Mirror Forest. She talked until her throat was sore. She felt more and more at ease with him as he listened intently to every word she said. She continued on to tell him about Zira and Kiran in Raiden. Then about coming to Marmo He listened in closely hearing every word she said. "I see how this started with you and Kiran, I wish I could’ve helped you long ago." he said to her. He smiled looking into her eyes. "Yeah," she looks down for a moment, trying to avoid his beautiful blue-green eyes. She leans back in the chair and stretches. "Do you have a place for me to sleep tonight?" she asks. The sun had gone down not to long ago and she was tired after all that had happened today. He looked at her, his eyes not being able to avoid her beautiful face. "Yes I have an extra bed in my room if you don’t mind sleeping there." he said. He walked down the hall and into his room showing her the bed. "All right," she smiles nervously. "Thanks." She sits down on the bed and takes off her belt, laying it on the floor next to the bed. Fou-Lu looked over at her and smiled. "If you need anything just ask me." he said looking over at her. He walked over and sat down on his bed looking over at her admiring her beauty. She reaches down and pulls off her boots. Feeling his eyes on her, she looks up at him and smiles, blushing a little. "I will," she smiles and looks down as she takes off her other boot. "Thank you for all you've done, Fou-Lu," she says as she looks up at him again. He looked at her smiling his eyes never leaving her. "Its nothing Mia, I am glad to help you," he said looking at her then looking down a bit nervously. Mia lies down under the blankets and looks up at him. She smiles slightly. Fou-Lu smiled staring at her. Lucied walked into the room sitting down by Mia. "I think he's getting used to you already Mia." Fou-Lu said looking at her. She laughs a little and reaches out to pet him. "How long has he been with you?" she asks Fou-Lu "He has been with me since I was with my family back then. He has been by my side since then," he said looking at her then at Lucied. Mia leans her head against Lucied's. Sometimes, she could understand animals on an empathic level. She soon was able to touch the wolf's mind and she could sense his feelings toward Fou-Lu. She smiled, now she knew she could trust him. Fou watched Mia as she leaned her head against Lucied’s and watched her closely. "Is something wrong Mia?" he asked. She looks up at him. "Not at all," she says softly. She lies back in the bed, still scratching Lucied's head with her fingertips. She yawns, covering her mouth with her other hand. "I'm so tired, it'll be good to finally be able to sleep safely," she says. He looked at her closely. "Ok I was just making sure," he said smiling some. Lucied moved closer to Mia feeling the scratching on his head. "Well if you need to sleep go right ahead, Lucied and I will be here to watch over you." "Thank you," she laughs a little. "I'm saying that too much huh? Well, you have done a lot for me," she looks over at him. She watches him for a moment as she absently scratches Lucied. She looks away then pets Lucied one last time. "Well, goodnight guys," she says and rolls over, turning her back to Fou-Lu and Lucied. She sighs deeply and closes her eyes. "Well its nothing don’t mind if you say that." he said smiling at her a little. He looked into her eyes while she was looking at him. "Goodnight Mia." he said as she rolled over looking away from them. Fou still didn’t take his eyes off her. Why...why do I feel like this? he thought. * * * Kiran sits in Mia's room. Staring at his knuckles, bloodied from punching walls repeatedly, he thinks. What he did to Mia was wrong, he knew that. But he couldn't stand to lose her again. She was the only thing that keep the darkness from swallowing him in this cursed place. It seemed as though it already had though. He moves a little, stretching his back against the wall, then realizes the pain in his side again. He puts his hand on the bandaged wound. That elf...Kiran had to know who he was. He would pay dearly for all of this. "Jaron!" Kiran yells. Jaron appears in the entrance of the room, leaning against the wall. He folds his arms across his chest, "What?" "Can you track down Mia and that dark elf that helped her?" Kiran asks. "Maybe," Jaron nods. "For your information, Derim has left, he said he's had enough of this shit." Kiran nods. "What about Bandor?" "It doesn't matter to him whether or not he stays in the gang, he just wants revenge on Mia." Kiran knuckles his eyes as he stares at the floor. "I don't want him to hurt her. If he hunts her down, I'll kill him myself." he looks up at Jaron. "What will you do?" "I may help you out, for the right price..." he grins a little. "So what, you're a fucking mercenary now?" Kiran glares up at him. "Get out of here." "Fine," Jaron shrugs and walks away. "Hey!" Kiran calls. Jaron returns. "What?" "I'll pay you if you track her down tonight." "All right, how much?" He assumes his previous position against the door frame. " 5 raiden pieces," kiran replies with a sigh. It was worth it. "Only if you find her though." " Two pieces if I don't. I want that now." "All right." Kiran nods and reaches into his pocket and finds some gold and Raiden pieces. He tosses Jaron two. He catches the money and nods to Kiran with a grin. "I'll be back then." Jaron exits and leaves Kiran to his thoughts Jaron had found Fou-Lu's home with the aid of spirits. He quickly stored away the information and returned to Kiran's home. * * * Mia slept lightly as usual, her were dreams weak and barely left an impression on her mind.... Fou-Lu stared out the window looking at the night sky. Then he looked over at Mia. "Lucied you like her don’t you." he asked him. Lucied wagged his tail. "Heh ill take that as a yes." he said smiling at Lucied, then he looked at Mia. He walked over and sat down by Lucied. "We must protect her at all costs Lucied." The wind picks up outside, blowing a few twigs to the ground. Mia's ear twitches and she wakes up with a jump. In an instant, she was fully awake and aware. She then quickly realizes her surroundings and lies back down. She looks over at Fou-Lu, smiling slightly... Fou looked up at Mia and smiled. "Is something wrong Mia?" he asked. He got up and sat down on the bed by her. "No, I'm just used to being on edge. I haven't really slept for a long time," she smiles up at him. "I’m glad, there is no more need to be on edge, Lucied and I will watch over you while you rest." he said smiling at her. "If you need to sleep then go right ahead." "I know, it's just a hard thing to get over," she says softly as she settles into the pillow again. She closes her eyes. "Maybe I can sleep a little better though." "Yes I know the feeling." he said silently. He watched her as she closes her eyes. "Yes please do try to sleep well, and if you need anything just tell me." he said smiling at her. She opens her eyes and smiles at him again. "I will," she says softly and closes her eyes again, quickly falling asleep again. He smiled at her seeing her fall asleep. "She seems to have gone through a lot with those other elves." he said silently. "Well ill make sure that they don’t come after her again." he said looking down at Lucied. He walked over to the window. "Watch her for a moment Lucied." he said. Lucied nodded his head and Fou-Lu appeared on the roof. He took out his flute and began to play a soft, serene tune. Mia wakes again, not as suddenly though. She smiled, knowing Fou-Lu was the one playing the flute. She looks over at Lucied. He walks over to her and lies by her bed. She didn't have to reach down to touch him, she just reached out and her hand was on his back. Comforted by her surroundings, she fell asleep again. Fou-lu continued to play his flute and finished playing. He then appeared inside the room again to see Lucied by Mia. Fou walked over and sat down by her on the bed and looked at her closely. Mia had fallen into a deep sleep that she hadn't known for nearly a year. When Fou-Lu sat by her, she wasn’t awoken by it. Fou-Lu reached out to touch her face but he stopped and pulled back. "Why, why am I feeling this way towards her, I’ve never felt like this my whole life." he thought to himself. He looked down and saw Lucied looking at him with a concerned look on his face. "I know my friend, ‘tis a new feeling, I guess I finally feel this now." he said touching her face gently. Any other time Mia would have awoken to his touch, but now she was so deep in sleep that it hadn't. Fou-Lu stared at her. "She seems so at peace now, well its better than she being chased down by those elves." he said smiling at her. Lucied stood up and laid his head on the bed. "Well Lucied I suggest we get some sleep, tomorrows going to be a long day." he said yawning some. He walked over and lay down on his bed, getting under the covers. Lucied lay by Mia's bed and fell asleep. Fou-Lu looked over at Mia and slowly fell asleep. * * * Mia wakes early, as usual for her. She looks across the room at Fou-Lu to see him asleep. She smiles and sits up, stretching. She looks down to see Lucied lying by her bed. He wakes and looks up at her. She smiles at him and scratches his head Fou-Lu moved around making a slight noise in his sleep. His eyes open slowly as he looks toward the window seeing the light shining in. He looks over at Mia seeing the sunrays emitting her beauty. He stares at her not knowing what he was truly doing Mia looks at him, catching him staring. She looks down, blushing and focuses her attention on Lucied. "Good morning," she says, glancing up at Fou-Lu again. Fou-Lu continued to stare at her until her words caught his senses. "Good morning Mia." he said smiling getting up from bed. "How soon do you want to leave?" she asks, looking at him again. "Whenever you desire to leave is fine by me." he said smiling at her. "‘Tis your choice, not mine." She smiles back. "It's as much yours as it is mine," she says, "Is there anything you need to pack?" "Well I guess well head there after a little while." he said smiling at her. "Well all I need to pack is a few healing herbs and some food, would you want anything to eat right now?" he asked "Yes, I haven't eaten since yesterday morning," she says as she gets out of bed. "What would you want?" he asked looking into her eyes the sun emitting a gentle glow off of them. Mia looks into his eyes and trembles slightly, not enough for him to notice. "I don't really care," she says a little weakly. Am I falling for him already? she asks herself as she looks at him. He smiled at her not taking his eyes off of her. "Well would you want some bread." he said handing it to her. He sat down at the table and looked over at her. Why cant I take my eyes off her? After all she is truly beautiful. he thought to himself "Sure," she says and takes it. She sits down across from him, slowly eating it. She is speechless for a while, not sure of what to say He smiled as he saw her eating. He laid his head on the table looking across at her smiling some. She smiles at him and blushes a little. Lucied choose this moment to come into the room. Mia reaches her hand out toward him and pets him. He smiled at her, a new feeling entering his body. He looked at Lucied and then at her. "I see he really likes you, your the first he’s ever liked this much." he said smiling at her. She laughs a little nervously. "He does," she says then pets Lucied one last time before she stands. "I'm going to go get ready," she returns to the bedroom and puts on her boots and belt. He smiled at her. "Yes he does." He watched her as she went back to the bedroom and he followed her into the bedroom putting on his armor and putting his sword at his side. Mia watches him as she combs her fingers through her hair. "I assume there's not much you're taking," she says, still watching him intently without even realizing it. Fou-Lu looked at her while she combs her hair. "Well I don’t really need much." he said watching her intently. He stared at her not knowing what he was doing. She looks away and walks out of the room and the situation. "Well, I'm ready," she says, then turns around. "Do you have a cloak I could use?" Fou snapped out of the trance of staring at her. "Yeah I have a cloak." he said walking over and getting one out of his closet. He walked over to her and handed it to her. She takes it from him and her hand brushes against his. She smiles at him a little, blushing. She looks away. "Are you ready?" He felt her hand brush against his and he looked up at her slightly and nervously. "Yeah I’m ready, do you want to go now?" he asked with a slight nervous tone in his voice. She nods, "Yeah." She walks to the front door, Lucied followed her. Fou-Lu walked over by Mia and Lucied at the front door and walked out slowly. He looked over at Mia out of the corner of his eye as they walked towards the docks. * * * Kiran set out that morning alone. The wounds he sustained yesterday still hurt, but he did his best to ignore them. His goal wasn't to bring her back here, he knew he couldn't. He didn't really know what his goal was. He just wanted her, that was all. But also, to get revenge on that dark elf... * * * Mia walked close to him, partially for protection and partially because she wanted to be close to him. She looks up at him as they walk. He is handsome.... she thinks to herself. She was tempted to take his hand at this moment, but she felt nervous. This was strange for her. She was always so bold when it came to men, but he was different than anyone she had known. He was close to perfect, she smiles thinking this. She should get to know him a little more before she made a move. Fou-Lu looked over at Mia for a slight moment. Thinking of how beautiful she was. "So Mia you’re finally heading to Lodoss after all the things you had went through here, but I don’t really have a plan on what I’m going to do on Lodoss." he said looking at her then to the sky. He looked back over at her and smiled admiring her beauty. "You can stay with me," she says abruptly. "I'm going to find my mother first, then join a mercenary guild and find some work." He looked over at her and smiled "Thank you Mia, I was hoping I could go with you once we got there." he said looking down with a smile on his face. "Well I could help you find your mother and the mercenary guild." he said looking up into her eyes She smiles, "Alright," she says a little weakly. His gaze seemed to touch her in a place deep inside. She looks away before she did anything too soon... He smiled back at her and looked away from her feeling emotions inside of him that he had never felt before in his entire elven existence. He took one last glimpse at her as they were approaching the docks. They approached a ship preparing to leave. "Excuse me, would you be willing to allow us passage on your ship?" Mia asks one of the men loading the vessel. "How much?" the man asks her. She had no money and she looks up at Fou-Lu. "How much would you want for the trip?" he asked the man. "Is 100 gold enough?" he asked taking out his bag of money. The man grins, "Yeah that's fine, come aboard" Mia looks up at him "I don’t think THAT price was necessary," she says with a half smile as they board the ship. Fou-Lu nodded at the man's words, then he looked at Mia. "Well we needed to get onboard and I know how much these people love money so I offered them a little bit of what I had." he said smiling at her as they boarded the ship. Mia sits on the deck in a comfortable place. She looks up at the sky and smiles. Somewhere deep inside, there was a fear that she would never escape. As the ship pushes off, she smiles even broader and excitement builds inside her. "Fou-Lu, I'm free now," she says to him. Fou-Lu stood on the deck letting the air from the sea blow his hair. He looked over at Mia and smiled at seeing a smile on her face. "Yes indeed you are free now." he said staring at her. She wanted to stand up and hug him, but she didn't move. She looks over at Lucied and he walks over to her, lying next to her. He looked over at her staring at her for a slight moment then he looked out to the sea. He walked over and stood by Mia and Lucied. "Well now we just wait till we get there, might as well rest." he said looking down at them. "Yeah," she smiles up at him. Lucied lays his head in her lap and she pets him. * * * Kiran hadn't made it in time to catch the ship. He had seen Mia and the dark elf board. He didn't want to chase them down. He would take care of that in Lodoss * * * Fou-Lu looked down at her and smiled. He sat down by the both of them and looked up to the sky. His hair blowing gently in the sea wind. He then looked over at Mia and smiled at her. Mia looked over at him, wanting to lay her head on his shoulder or something. She sighs a little and continues petting Lucied. Fou-Lu looked over at Mia seeing her looking at him. "Is something wrong Mia?" he asked her. He couldn’t help but admire her beautiful eyes. He wanted to touch her face but he knew he shouldn’t yet. "Nothing," she smiles at him and leans against the railing. "I hope my mother's ok. I heard Marmo did a lot of damage to Kanon." "Ok." he said smiling at her. "Well most likely your mother got away, we will find her when we get there, trust me." he said "Yeah," she smiles at him. She leans a little closer to him, so that she just barely touched his arm. He smiled back at her. He felt her touch his arm slightly and looked over at her. He reached to touch her face but he pulled back he wasn’t sure if he should tell her how he felt about her. Mia moved away from him a little, though she really didn't want to. She wanted to be as close to him as possible. But still, she hardly knew him. She looked up at the sky and wondered if they could wait any longer before something happened Fou-Lu looked over at Mia seeing her move. He watched her the sun emitting her beauty. She truly is beautiful. he thought to himself. He moved his hand closer to hers wanting to hold it but he stopped when he got near her hand. She had seen him move his hand towards hers out of the corner of her eye. She bit her lip anxiously, she wanted him to take her hand so bad...We should wait though, she thought. Fou-Lu moved his hand closer to hers but he stopped and moved back. Something inside of him told him to wait. He looked at the sky then he looked over at her. She looked at him and smiled weakly. They still had about an hour left on the journey and it was tearing her apart! She moves her leg a little and Lucied looks up at her. He realizes what she wanted and rests his head on the ground, allowing her to stand. She walks over to front of the ship and stands, letting the wind blow through her hair. He looked at her and smiled back. He couldn’t stand not being able to tell her how he feels about her. Fou-lu stared at Mia as she stood at the front of the ship her hair blowing in the wind. She is so beautiful, the most beautiful girl I’ve ever seen. he said silently. Lucied looked up at him hearing his words and laid his head back down looking over at Mia. Fou-Lu never took his eyes off Mia staring at her beauty. Mia could feel Fou-Lu watching her. How could she be feeling this so soon? She had known him for just about a day now. She glance back at him, then looks back out at the ocean. Please come over here....she thinks Fou-Lu continued to stare at her. He saw her glance back at him then back out to the ocean. He got up and walked over and stood by her staring out into the ocean. She looked up at him and nearly reaches out for him, but stops. She just wished he would make some sort of move toward her. She felt like he was the one who should... Fou-Lu stood by her side and he looked down and took her hand gently. He looked into her eyes smiling. "Mia...I.. I." he tried to say. She felt the anxiety in her stomach as he took he hand. She holds onto his hand and looks up into his eyes, "Yes?" she asks. Fou-Lu smiled at her and moved closer to her and kissed her lips delicately. Mia kisses him back and feels her knees go weak as he does. She wraps her arms around him and holds onto him tight. Fou-Lu wrapped his arms around her and held onto her tight. He kissed her deeply. Mia pulls away and leans her head against his chest. "Fou-Lu..." she whispers and holds onto him tight. Fou-Lu ran his fingers through her hair holding her close to him. "Mia.." he said as he held her tight.