This is a Final Fantasy IV/4 (II American) fic, set after the final battles
of the game have concluded. Please note: I own nothing! No Cecil, Kain,
Golbez, nothing. This is fanfiction! Duh. Enjoy!
The dry, rough stone blocks of Baron Castle seemed like they were meant just for her to clasp them. Her delicate fingers curled around the corner as she stared around it intently. She felt like a small child, going where she shouldn't, yet she was drawn to this spot as she had been several times before. Down the walkway, there he was, looming over the edge of this upper story of the castle, staring out into the forested distance. His grace and balance, and furthermore the total fearlessness of heights which his profession brought on, made him able to stand right on the narrow ledge with no fear whatsoever. Yet whenever she could see his face, he bore a look almost as if he wouldn't mind if he DID fall. Maybe he already was falling. Maybe he was already dead.
"Miss Rydia!" a castle guard greeted from behind. She barely kept her feet on the ground in her suprise.
Hoping that 'he' had not heard the guard's salutation, she turned and kindly replied, setting a lower standard of volume with her soft reply. "Y, yes?"
"My regrets for startling you," he answered, still louder than she would like.
She shook her head, her green hair swishing lightly. "It's alright. Do you need me?"
"Not at all," he replied. "Rather, I simply wished to ask how you are recovering from your recent ordeals, and to inform you on behalf of our castle that you are welcome to stay and rest as our guest for as long as you like."
Rydia had already assumed from the nature of her hosts here at Baron that she would be as long-term of a guest as she chose to be. She had wondered about leaving, but felt she might as well stay. Her hometown was destroyed, after all, and her more recent home in the Realm of the Monsters seemed a good choice only if she never wished to return, due to the altered passage of time there. If she went back there, she would likely return a middle-aged woman if she stayed for much more than a brief visit.
"I truly appreciate your kindness," she said.
The guard smiled proudly. "It is nothing at all compared to what you have done for us. You will always be a welcome guest here."
"Thank you," Rydia said, nodding.
The armor-clad guard walked briskly off towards the Guard's Chambers. Rydia's polite smile faded. Would she stay here forever? ...Would he? She looked again to his ledge. He stood, still in his Dragoon armor, most notable due to the winglike cape that tailed behind him. His golden hair waved about restlessly in the wind; his helmet sat abandoned on the stone- tiled floor behind him. He had no weapon in sight. He no longer needed one.
"Kain..." Rydia said to herself.
Kain's posture changed a little. Like a cat, with a little shifting and bending of its legs to allow an incredible jumping and pouncing power, Kain suddenly shot off into the air. Rydia gasped in surprise, as he had never done this before during the times she had watched him. She could not follow his movement and was left staring at the spot he had been.
"He might be back... but it doesn't matter if I wait here for him or not." Turning around slowly, taking one hand from the wall and grudgingly dragging the other along, eventually letting it slide off, she stepped inside the castle.
The dry, rough stone blocks of Baron Castle seemed like they were meant just for her to clasp them. Her delicate fingers curled around the corner as she stared around it intently. She felt like a small child, going where she shouldn't, yet she was drawn to this spot as she had been several times before. Down the walkway, there he was, looming over the edge of this upper story of the castle, staring out into the forested distance. His grace and balance, and furthermore the total fearlessness of heights which his profession brought on, made him able to stand right on the narrow ledge with no fear whatsoever. Yet whenever she could see his face, he bore a look almost as if he wouldn't mind if he DID fall. Maybe he already was falling. Maybe he was already dead.
"Miss Rydia!" a castle guard greeted from behind. She barely kept her feet on the ground in her suprise.
Hoping that 'he' had not heard the guard's salutation, she turned and kindly replied, setting a lower standard of volume with her soft reply. "Y, yes?"
"My regrets for startling you," he answered, still louder than she would like.
She shook her head, her green hair swishing lightly. "It's alright. Do you need me?"
"Not at all," he replied. "Rather, I simply wished to ask how you are recovering from your recent ordeals, and to inform you on behalf of our castle that you are welcome to stay and rest as our guest for as long as you like."
Rydia had already assumed from the nature of her hosts here at Baron that she would be as long-term of a guest as she chose to be. She had wondered about leaving, but felt she might as well stay. Her hometown was destroyed, after all, and her more recent home in the Realm of the Monsters seemed a good choice only if she never wished to return, due to the altered passage of time there. If she went back there, she would likely return a middle-aged woman if she stayed for much more than a brief visit.
"I truly appreciate your kindness," she said.
The guard smiled proudly. "It is nothing at all compared to what you have done for us. You will always be a welcome guest here."
"Thank you," Rydia said, nodding.
The armor-clad guard walked briskly off towards the Guard's Chambers. Rydia's polite smile faded. Would she stay here forever? ...Would he? She looked again to his ledge. He stood, still in his Dragoon armor, most notable due to the winglike cape that tailed behind him. His golden hair waved about restlessly in the wind; his helmet sat abandoned on the stone- tiled floor behind him. He had no weapon in sight. He no longer needed one.
"Kain..." Rydia said to herself.
Kain's posture changed a little. Like a cat, with a little shifting and bending of its legs to allow an incredible jumping and pouncing power, Kain suddenly shot off into the air. Rydia gasped in surprise, as he had never done this before during the times she had watched him. She could not follow his movement and was left staring at the spot he had been.
"He might be back... but it doesn't matter if I wait here for him or not." Turning around slowly, taking one hand from the wall and grudgingly dragging the other along, eventually letting it slide off, she stepped inside the castle.