Jowy passed through the outer gates of Muse, lost in thoughts of a conversation he had with Riou in the Inn, just minutes ago, as he looked for Nanami.

"Jowy," Riou had said, "have you noticed Nanami acting… differently lately?"

Jowy thought about it for a moment and replied, "Well, she's been more subdued lately, I suppose. I figured she was just adjusting or something, because of all the changes since the war."

Riou furrowed his brows and looked up at Jowy thoughtfully. "Maybe you ought to speak to her?"

"Me?" Jowy said, eyes widening in surprise, "but you're her-"

Riou cut him off, "I think," he said pointedly, "That you should go talk to her."

Jowy puzzled at this, but didn't argue. "Alright, Riou. If that's what you think would be best… but I don't really know- What should I say?"

Riou smiled softly. "I'm sure you won't have to say much at all. I'm going to go downstairs and have some lunch," he said, placing a hand lightly on Jowy's shoulder as he walked past. "I'm sure you won't take long so I'll save you some, okay?" he said, leaving Jowy to stare blankly at the door.

And so Jowy left the Inn and wandered around town looking for Nanami until he spotted her under a tree just outside the gates.

He approached her cautiously, but quite curious, despite himself. He tried to think of what he could say to Nanami about a problem he didn't even know she'd been having.

"I still don't see why Riou couldn't…" he mumbled under his breath, while staring at the ground.

It wasn't that he didn't want to help Nanami. He would do anything in his power for her. But when it came to talking to girls about mysterious problems, Jowy became slightly awkward.

He took a deep breath, prepared himself mentally for what was to come, and lifted his head to look toward Nanami. And as he walked closer he noticed that her head was down, shoulders slumped and she looked to be lost in thought.

At that moment, any feelings of awkwardness were replaced with concern and Jowy jogged the rest of the way and reached the shade of the tree when Nanami lifted her head and smiled brightly.

"Hi Jowy! What's going on?" Nanami asked, all traces of anxiety or sadness gone from her face.

"Nothing much, Nanami. I- I came to talk to you, I looked all over." He said, slightly taken aback by the instant change in her persona.

"Oh, I'm sorry Jowy! I just like to sit outside, it's such a beautiful day." Nanami plucked a flower from the ground and smelled it. "Spring is the nicest, isn't it?"

"Yeah, sure Nanami. It's just, well…" He paused trying to find the right words to express himself, but he wasn't even sure exactly what he needed to say.

"Is something wrong, Jowy? Sit down and tell Nanami about it," she said patting the grass next to her.

Jowy sat down and leaned against the tree trunk, looking up at the leaves as he asked, "Nothing is wrong with me, Nanami. I'm okay, but well… are you okay?" He glanced at her from the corner of his eye to see her reaction and saw her smile falter.

"Why would you ask that, Jowy? Of course I'm fine, did someone say otherwise?" she asked suspiciously. And Jowy knew exactly which 'someone' Nanami meant.

"No!" he said, rather too quickly and loudly.

Nanami cocked an eyebrow.

Jowy cleared his throat and corrected himself, "I- I mean no, of course not." He smiled weakly, "I just noticed that you've been looking kind of down lately, that's all."

Nanami still looked skeptical, but Jowy smiled kindly and said, "I just thought maybe you'd like to talk about it…?"

"That's really nice of you Jowy, but I'm really okay! Really! So don't fuss about it." She plucked some long strands of grass and began to tie them in knots, avoiding Jowy's gaze.

Jowy shuffled over to sit directly in front of Nanami, instead of beside her. He took the grass from her hand and said, "Look, Nanami, I'll be honest with you. Riou approached me and said that I needed to talk with you." He stared at the grass in his hand and felt mildly ashamed. "I mean, well, I knew that you hadn't been as cheerful as normal but I was so caught up in being back with Riou and you that I guess I just overlooked it. I'm sorry."

Nanami touched Jowy's shoulder lightly and he looked up from his hand. 'Don't be sorry for that, Jowy. I can't blame you for being preoccupied. Not to mention that I haven't been crying all over the place or anything. Riou just picks up on those things better. It's okay, really."

A sly look came over her face and she said, "The person you should be sorry for is Riou. Once I'm done with him for blabbing he won't be talking for a month!"

A wave of panic rushed through Jowy, but he was relieved when Nanami giggled and said, "I'm only teasing. Don't make that face."

Nanami hugged her knees to her chest and sighed. "I guess this talk was inevitable, I just needed a push from Riou."

"This… Talk?" Jowy asked, beginning to feel anxious again.

Nanami blushed and looked away, "but you have to just let me get it all out, okay? Otherwise you might misunderstand."

Jowy's little bit of anxiety turned into full-blown panic. He wasn't naïve about These-Sorts-Of-Things like Riou was, and he could sense what was coming. "Have you spoken to Riou about this yet?"

"Well, the first part I'm going to tell you he knows. That's probably why he sent you to me, because he misunderstood too. But he doesn't know everything, not the important parts. The parts about you that are happening right now. You'll understand when I'm finished, don't worry."

Jowy couldn't do anything but worry at that moment, and Nanami, always doing her best to be attentive to others said, "Please don't fret. I didn't tell him the things about you, you'll have to do that yourself."

"I'll have to… what?" Jowy pinched the bridge of his nose. The longer this conversation went on the more confused Jowy became. Did Nanami want to get married to him, or something? "Nanami, are you sure we have to have this talk?" Jowy knew now why Riou had sent him out. He could be so sneaky when he needed.

"See Jowy, this is why I have to tell you everything now, before you jump to conclusions, or give yourself a panic attack." She looked right into his eyes, "this first part is going to be hard to talk about, so just bear with me, okay?"

"Okay, Nanami," Jowy said, turning his face to the ground, realizing he'd been grasping onto his boots without noticing. He relaxed his hands and was careful to avoid eye contact, sure of what was about to come.

"Well, Jowy when we were younger you remember the three of us, you, me and Riou all used to play together, right?"

"Right…" Jowy said, wishing that Nanami would hurry and say what she needed to.

"You and Riou were always so close. Best friends. And well, I know that you both loved me like your sister, but you still had secrets and you did everything the same and you joined the Unicorn Brigade together and all sorts of things and sometimes I felt kind of left out."

"I'm sorry Nana-"

"It's okay Jowy, I didn't mention it to make you feel guilty, you'll understand in a minute," Nanami said, drawing patterns in the grass with her finger.

"Anyway, you and Riou were always together and I was alone sometimes. Even though I know you tried to include me."

She paused and her face began to flush. She hugged her knees tighter, "I just have to get this out quickly, I'm sorry if it upsets you. You see, because you and Riou were really my only friends, well, I sort of, well…"

She paused again and Jowy could feel his face burn as well. He knew what was coming, and he equated it to death. When you knew it was coming it was best to just get it done and over with, rather than having it done slowly and painfully.

"I… liked you Jowy. You were the only boy I knew besides Riou, and you can't have feelings for your own brother, even if he isn't blood related."

Jowy eyes widened when Nanami said "liked". And a small flood of relief washed over him. She "liked" him. Not, "likes" him.

"Of course, I'm sure I might've liked you even if there were a hundred boys around, just because you're Jowy. But, but that isn't really the point!" She lifted her eyes slowly and looked at Jowy. "There is a point to this, I promise." She smiled weakly.

"I was never bold or confident enough in myself to believe that you liked me too. And I'm glad that I never had to courage to tell you because things might've been much different than they are now, and the way they are is really the way they need to be."

Jowy wrinkled his nose, "The way they are?" he said softly.

"I'm getting to that, don't worry. The hard part is pretty much over now," Nanami said, sitting up and looking much more relaxed.

I realized, when you and Riou left with the Brigade, that I missed you both dearly, but I missed you the same way –like brothers- because I began to realize something else."

"What was it?" Jowy asked.

"I realized that my feelings for you were just projected onto you because you were with me much of the time, and you cared for me. Something I'd only received from my family before, Riou and Grandpa Genkaku. It was sort of nice, having a boy care for me, even if it wasn't the way I wanted.

"And that's fine, because I know that even if I had told you then, you'd never have returned my feelings because you always cared for someone else more than any other."

Butterflies began flapping in Jowy's stomach. He was certain he knew what was coming this time.

"When you left us to go with Highland we didn't see you very much anymore. But when we did all your attention was focused on Riou, wasn't it? I know you never wanted for me to be hurt either, but it was always, 'I don't want to hurt you, Riou.' Or, 'I'm sorry, but I'm doing this for you, Riou.'"

Jowy's head snapped up violently, his face flushed from the top of his head to his neck. "What, what do you mean, Nanami?"

Nanami smiled and said softly, "I wasn't sure if you'd realized it yourself yet, but I could tell all along. You obviously love Riou more than anyone or anything else, don't you?"

Jowy stammered but couldn't manage to get any words out.

"It's okay, I don't mind. Riou needs you, just like you need him. It was fate that brought you together, and fate tore you apart too. But that's alright too because look at all the people you saved. You brought together a whole country. And even through all the fighting you were devoted to him.

"And even though you had the opposing runes, and destiny wanted to keep you apart, it couldn't. Because you fought so hard for him."

Nanami patted his shoulder again and said, "You always followed the same path, even if it steered you toward death, you trusted and believed in each other more than anything. And you know why that is too, don't you?"

Jowy lifted up his head to look at the sky. Of course he knew why, though he had never really admitted openly to himself what he felt. But deep down inside he couldn't escape it. As much as had had fought for Riou, he knew Riou was fighting for him. And when Nanami said it aloud and so bluntly he was, of course shocked, but he knew it was true. He loved Riou.

"Is that why you never…" Jowy trailed off, suddenly feeling drained and tired. How Nanami knew something Jowy barely knew himself was a mystery in his eyes.

"If I had told you how I felt, even if you didn't feel the same, I know that I would have been getting in the way of something greater. So I watched you instead, and it was obvious that your feelings just kept getting stronger and stronger."

"You don't think that it's… bad how I feel, do you, Nanami?" Jowy asked in a defeated way, as though he was expecting the worst.

Nanami smiled, "Jowy, how could I ever think it was bad? It was that love that kept you strong; that made you fight and helped to unite the country."

"But Riou, how does he…?"

"He doesn't know how you feel, you know him as well as I do. You remember Eilie and how much she liked him and Riou was almost completely oblivious about it.

"We had a talk the other night and he thought that I had feelings for you. And he wanted you to talk to me about it. But he doesn't know how you feel." Nanami paused and put a finger to her chin. "Well, Riou knows that you care about him deeply, but I'm sure he doesn't know the extent of your feelings."

Jowy sighed, "But all the same, there isn't any way in the world that he feels the same as I do."

"You'd be surprised, Jowy. Riou may be sweet and gentle, but he knows even better than you did, how he feels."

"But he thinks that I like, or even love you, Nanami? That's why he encouraged me to talk to you?" Jowy smiled, amazed at just how selfless and kind a person Riou was. Despite how Riou may have felt about Jowy he was trying to push Nanami and he together.

"Of course. He gets that from me, you know!" Nanami said, giggling. "And I'm sure you've dealt with enough stress for one day, but I think you should have a conversation with Riou today. I'm sure that the consequences will be positive!" She giggled into her hand and picked another flower from the grass.

Jowy flushed and stared at the ground again.

'Well?" She prodded him in the chest. "What are you doing here sitting talking to me? Go see Riou! Go on, go!"

Jowy stood up and smiled at Nanami. "I'm sure Riou really did get his selflessness from his Big Sister, Nanami. And I really am sorry if we ever made you feel left out, because you're just like a sister to me too."

Nanami smiled back warmly. "It doesn't matter what happens; as long as you and Riou are happy, I'll be happy."

Jowy waved and walked back slowly through the gates to Muse and into the Inn, his head spinning and his legs barely able to carry him there.

Riou was sitting at a table eating a bowl of stew when he arrived. When he saw Jowy enter he waved him over to the seat across from him. "Hi, Jowy. How did it go? Is Nanami alright?"

Jowy felt the butterflies in his stomach return as he looked at Riou's gentle smiling face. "Nanami is just fine. We talked, and things are falling into order."

Riou smiled knowingly, but Jowy knew that Riou had misunderstood his sister's intentions, just as Jowy had. But Riou would understand soon enough.

"I saved you a bowl Jowy because I didn't think you'd take too long, I hope it isn't too cold now." Riou leaned across the table slightly to whisper. Jowy leaned forward and Riou said quietly, "I took all the carrots from your stew, because I know you don't like them. But don't tell Nanami, you know how she fusses when you don't eat vegetables."

Jowy sat back down and laughed, "Thanks, Riou. I don't care what I'm eating as long as I can take a break from Nanami's cooking for a little while."

Riou laughed along with him until Jowy smiled softly and said, "After we eat lunch, can we go somewhere more private? I think… I think we have to talk."