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[Sirus]

: "Fer you, maybe. Fezz and Julius are probably doin' fine. Preacher's safe unless Sheila decides to kill him. I don't think anything else is gonna attack us tonight. What else is there to worry about right now?"

[CrimsonEon]

Alec looked up to the ceiling of the cave they were in.
: "Chances are it might not be that way... Given the current state of the world."
: "But, alright. If you're more concerned with the future, I wouldn't dare stop you. After all, we're quite the motley crew already, and I'd say you're doing quite well for yourself now."
Alec stared on for a couple more moments, letting the ambiance of the outer cave stir, before making some idle talk.
: "Heh. I wonder what my folks would think of you. I can probably see it now... Dad would be all over your knight training, Eve and Mewt would be fawning over your pegasus... Mom would probably just ask about Kretos and try and angle at getting themselves unbarred from going to port there."
He half chuckled and shook his head before glancing at Ciera again.
: "It's been quite the misadventure, hasn't it? Our trip all this way. In a way, I'm grateful I got to meet you and the rest."

[Swordstar]

"I'd really like to meet your family. The little you've told me of them makes me think they're wonderful. It's clear you love them a lot. And... I'm glad I got to meet everyone. And you."

She hesitated for a second, before continuing.

"I... This is probably going to seem weird, what I'm about to say after the things we were just talking about. But... remember how I told you that there was something I wanted to talk to you about?"

[CrimsonEon]

: "Heh, y'know maybe they would help us out. I wouldn't bank on it entirely, but if the cards were down and we needed an ally..."
Alec angled his head.
: "Hm? Yeah, of course. Ask me anything."

[SeriousConcentrate]

Leo grit his teeth as the punch connected.

"...You've gotten stronger."

He took her hands between his again.

"Sheila, look at me. Maybe I can mend wounds and make sure people live when they should die. But it hurts to see that happen to the people I care about more than it hurts to have it happen to me."

He sighed and looked down.

"...I wasn't always a 'good' man, Sheila. I've told you where I'm from, and what my peers were like growing up. I suppose it's time to admit the truth... that I lied to your father when I said I left because I wanted to help people. I was forced to leave because I was worse than the people I grew up with. You know how Fezz gets sometimes, when he's hurt and scared?"

"I was like that almost all of the time. Where I come from, you have to be tough to survive. Tough and mean."

Leo took off a glove and showed Sheila his bare left hand for the first time. His knuckles were covered in old scars.

"I hurt... so many people. I was angry all the time. At the people I knew, at the city, at the empire, at the world. It wasn't fair that the people in the slums were treated like animals while others lived prosperous, easy lives, and even if I was beaten until I could no longer stand sometimes I was going to make someone pay for it. Joining the monastery wasn't my idea... it was my parent's. I'm... grateful, now, that they made that choice. But at the time I was bitter. I... didn't see what a bunch of spineless old men could teach me."

He put his glove back on as he spoke, the words coming slowly as he forced himself to tell the woman he loved exactly who he was.

"I wasn't a good student at first. What changed me was... being forced to confront the things I had done. We went back to Anteos, maybe a few months after I was initiated, for a funeral. It was someone I'd... had a run-in with. He... died of complications I caused. And his family..."

Leopoldo trailed off, staring at his hand. He was silent for several seconds.

"...I swore off violence. I didn't want to ever do that to another family. I can't help but wonder how much wrong I did in my youth. There's a lot I have to make up for. ...I hope you understand."

[Powder Miner]

:"Well... you know... the emperor's ghost, but mainly Julius being a prince? Heh, it's... going to be a change going from raging against Imperial royalty to helping someone become one..."

[Swordstar]

"It's... it's not really a question. I mean... I guess it sort of is. But... I've been too scared before now to tell you. But after telling you all of that... I guess I have some courage after all? And... I... I really like you, Alec. I mean, one of the first things I thought when I landed near this group that first battle was how cute you were. And I was crushing on you pretty hard. But... as we've spent more time together, I've just... It hasn't gone away. It's grown. That's... that's why I reacted so strongly to stabbing you. Because I thought I might have killed you and... and I couldn't deal with the fact that I almost could have lost you like that. And I just... I know you probably knew all of this. But... I still felt like I needed to tell you. Because it meant I could ask you if... if there's any chance that you might feel the same way?"

[Blade Master Model 42]

"...What do you expect me to say here? Do you want me to act like this is a big deal to me? I used to do things I'm not proud of too. I've killed more than a few people who didn't deserve it, and you know that. Neither of us is a saint."

Sheila stifled a chuckle. "Well, I'm not, anyway. But you became one, no matter how you feel about it. People change, you know? You changed... I changed. And I think maybe we changed each other a little. Maybe not always for the better..." Sheila reached one hand up and cupped Leo's face with it, stroking his cheek with her thumb. "But the man I love is standing right here in front of me. And I wouldn't change a thing about him. Except maybe the hair. I do miss those long locks of yours."

[Sirus]

: "Granted, that's pretty darn odd. I've talked to him a few times before and he don't exactly strike me as the emperor-type. Dunno how he's gonna manage to lead a whole country."

: "Iffen I remember correctly, you've been a rebel fer a long time, right Efa? What was that like?"

[SeriousConcentrate]

Leo looked at her, then looked away.

"Yes, that's right. Your father did put you in that kind of life, didn't he? I suppose it's fair to say I dislike him so much because... he reminds me too much of me."

He turned back to her.

"I'm ashamed of who I was. That's the simple truth of the matter. I'm trying to be a better man, for everyone I've hurt. For you. I want to be a man worthy of loving and being loved by you."

He rested his hands on her waist and stepped slightly closer.

"And if you ask it of me, I suppose I'll let my hair grow back out. I'll just deal with it being an unmanageable mess again."

His expression was annoyed, but his tone was more light and playful.

[Powder Miner]

:"...might as well tell you what happened, since it's become important... Eh, well, it was a few years ago, I was 11, so I wasn't really a rebel myself... my father had a peasant rebellion because our village wasn't very happy, and I wanted to join but... I was 11, half-blind, you know... so I just watched from the sidelines."
:"It... didn't go so well, so my mother, and... well, Morwen and I... we all left for Setine."
:"I didn't really become a rebel until we all did, it was sort of... a dream come true for me."

[CrimsonEon]

Alec made a little chuckle while smiling, just before he assumed a pompous pose and winked.
: "Oh, is that all? Do go on."
He didn't even let the joke settle before he immediately assumed a more serious tone.
: "Ciera, you're a kind person who always puts others best interests before your own. To me, that's the best damn sign of a wonderful gal I can ask for. You're right in that I did suspect that for quite some time... I'm sorry, in that I held back. Once upon a time I knew another lady who refused to decide for herself, always placing herself in the hands of whoever was nice to her on a particular day and refusing to take responsibility for her shortcomings, always blaming them on everyone else. That lady made me realize, that sometimes you need to have the strength to set your own path, and own everything that comes along with it. Ciera... I want to make sure you can take care of yourself. I don't want you to chase some floundering lout like me without giving pause to what you really want. Fly-girl, I want you to ask yourself right this second; what do you want at the end of the road, after this war is done one way or the other? What is it that you want to do with everything you've learned til' you became the woman you are today?"
: "I asked myself that question a while ago, back when I started my little adventure of wanderlust. In one sense I already know the answer, and in another, I feel like I'm still searching. You don't need to have the entire picture now... but you need enough to tell you what direction you should be heading, and tell you when you're going down a path you really shouldn't."

[Swordstar]

"I... I want to be with you. But... it's more than that. I want to be with people like you and this group. People who aren't afraid to help those in need. I... I want to help kids who have lost their parents. Either through death or like I did. I want to help people. Protect those who can't protect themselves I guess. I want to grow old with someone I love, knowing that I've done my best to make at least some part of the world a better place."

[Sirus]

Grifen winced at Efa's story.

: "Oof. Sorry yer pa's rebellion didn't go so well, but I guess I can't say I'm all that surprised. I mean, we're barely keepin' one step ahead of the Empire and we're more skilled than most folks."

: "What...what happened to yer pa?"

[Powder Miner]

:"...wasn't exactly hoping to hear that. My dad, well, he... might be alive, he fled, took the name Haul Ries, and started traveling the other parts of the Empire, but we stopped getting letters from him a couple of years ago, so I don't know if he's just hiding harder or dead and my older brother, who also participated..."
:"I don't know... he just kinda left separate from Dad and we never heard from him again."