TITLE: Sacrifices for Love

AUTHOR: NexustehULF0o

DESCRIPTION: The request was something he was unsure he could manage. Adell/Rozalin. Oneshot.

RATING: K.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DISGAEA 2. All I own is a copy of the game. :3 And the love in my heart for it.

Nexus: Decided to write some cute little Taro into the story. He's just so adorable, I can't pass him up! Heehee, enjoy! :3

Adell sat quietly in his house's dark kitchen, listening to the creaks and moans the house made with the wind blowing against it. He leaned his head against his open palm, resting his elbow on the kitchen table with a drawn-out and pensive sigh.

Just how long would this search go on? Overlord Zenon, real or fake, rarely made appearances in the storyline, and when he did, Rozalin didn't even get to know anything about where her father was or why he was acting so strangely. He almost began to feel for the princess – she wanted to desperately to know her father, but every time she was disappointed and had to continue through more and more suffering.

But he wouldn't give up. Adell never broke a promise. She would be reunited with her father, the real Overlord Zenon, or he would die trying. That was just his style.

A small padding on the wooden floor caught the redhead's attention. His head snapped up and he glanced around warily, only to relax at the sight of a gray-haired boy, aged around ten or eleven – Taro, his younger brother. The small boy fiddled with his cow-print tabard when he noticed Adell staring at him, explaining in hushed tones that he couldn't sleep.

Adell smiled and motioned for him to take a seat next to him, which he did. The two sat in silence for a moment, thinking respectively about there their journey had taken them thus far and where it would take them from here. It seemed to be all there was to think about.

Adell almost lost himself to his pent-up thoughts when his name was said softly and questioningly, as if someone was asking if he was still there. He looked over to see Taro studying his face curiously, waiting for recognition.

"Yeah?" he replied, donning a questioning look of his own. Taro folded his hands in front of him and looked down at them, twiddling his thumbs cutely.

"You know how I'm Princess' servant, right?"

"…Yeah."

He looked over at his older brother out of the corner of his eye. "What are you to Princess?"

There was a question that stunned the teen into silence.

What was he to Rozalin? Well, according to her, they were enemies, rivals even. Certainly not acquaintances, much less friends. She always said that the moment Adell fulfilled his promise, that would be it. They would never see each other again.

So…maybe he was her guide…?

But it felt like more than that. He wanted it to be more than that, at least.

Explaining the feelings he couldn't even explain to himself to a little kid wasn't something he was exactly eager to try, however.

"Well…" he began, scratching his nose, "I guess that would make me the brother to the servant of the only daughter of Overlord Zenon."

Taro managed an airy chuckle and scratched at the Band-Aid on the side of his face.

"Do you really think that helping Princess meet Overlord Zenon will help you break the curse, Adell?" He asked, wiggling his toes.

"Um…" his older brother started again, flattening his hair before feeling the cowlick on his head bob back into place with a silent boing. Taro sure was asking a lot of questions. "I made a promise to her that she would meet her father, and you know that I never break a promise, so…I don't really think it matters anymore. Breaking the curse that Overlord Zenon put on Veldime and helping Rozalin meet her father are two completely different things now."

The young demon trailed off with a pondering "Hmmm…"

"I mean sure, they involve the same person, but…" The demon hunter stopped there and leaned over onto his knees, heaving a worn-out sigh. He paused a moment before starting again.

"Truth is, Taro, I just don't know. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. But it feels like the right thing to do. And that's enough for me." He smiled and nodded at the boy, who managed a small smile of his own for his older brother.

Another awkward silence enveloped the brothers as they sat thinking of their topic of conversation and how she had somehow become a part of their lives.

The redhead cracked a smile, lifting his head from his hand as he glanced devilishly over at the eleven-year-old.

"So, what's with all the questions about Rozalin, eh, Taro?" He asked sneakily, leaning towards the other boy while plastering a huge, suspicious grin across his face.

The young demon instantly flared up a dark shade of red and began to turn his folded hands over each other, quicker and quicker until they were tying themselves into knots.

"Well…well, I…" Taro stammered and then looked over at his older brother, who's sneer was getting out of hand. "Adell! Stop smiling!" he said a harsh whisper. The redhead snickered quietly before ruffling the boy's gray locks.

"So, you've got a thing for the Princess, huh?"

"Princess is so nice, and smart, and she cares about her servants! She saved me from all those monsters! And she's pretty too – she's really really pretty,"

Adell looked away from Taro to stare at the floor. A faint smile manifested itself upon his lips and he folded his hands, fiddling with his fingers in a mixture of idleness and anxiety.

"She certainly is something, isn't she…?" He mumbled to himself. "She's certainly not like any girl I've ever met…"

"Adell?"

He looked up, snapping himself out of the weird trance he'd put himself under.

"Yeah, Taro?"

"Princess is gonna be my girlfriend, so can you not be like all the other main characters and get her to be your girlfriend at the end?"

The demon hunter felt a prickle shoot up his spine, sitting him straighter than usual. Rozalin…his girlfriend? How could Taro possibly…? What could he have been thinking to make him even -? He hadn't even…entertained the thought until this moment, and here was Taro, planning his own future with Rozalin and making sure he didn't have to compete with him! The very thought of Rozalin being…his girlfriend...

Well…

Adell vigorously shook his head. He didn't like girls. He didn't like demons. She was both. It went against everything he stood for. It was just a promise. That was all. He was just…taking her back to her father.

He stifled a laugh. "I think that can be managed." He reassured the boy, who grinned at him.

"Really?" He exclaimed with a small hop in his seat. Adell shushed him, but nodded.

"You kidding? Rozalin wouldn't be caught dead with a human. Plus, she hates me. And I don't exactly adore her, either." He shrugged. "Something tells me that demons like you are more her style."

Taro hopped off the seat he'd taken and gave his brother a quick hug, which made the demon hunter perk up a bit. Being born demons, hugs were rare for Taro and Hanako, so anytime he got one from them, he savored it.

Although he could do without the horns poking him in the arm.

"Thanks, Adell." The boy whispered before tiptoeing off to bed.

"Night." The redhead trailed off while waving, but continuing to keep his eyes on the floor. He sat there silently, eyes following the grain of the wood.

Had that been…a promise?

More importantly, could he keep it? He wasn't sure.

Silently, the boy stood, stretching his arms before returning to his own room.

Rozalin quickly peered around the corner to ensure the siblings had gone. When she found the room empty, the princess heaved a sigh of relief, resting her back against the wall.

The princess gathered her hands close to her chest, crimson eyes falling to the wooden floor.

"Adell…"

Nexus: Review? :D Thanks for reading!