To begin, I am not against any of the other pairings available in this game. I am a lover of Moses/Jay and Norma/Jay, and if you're daring the ever pleasant triangle of the three. Unfortunately, the lack of any real Norma/Moses stories that tickled my fancy has driven me to attempt to write fanfiction once more. Maybe, this couple will be just the fix to get me back in my groove. If you read this piece of work and believe that you would like to be a beta reader, by all means I am open to your offers. Enjoy the first chapter!

-AFS

Disclaimer: I simply love the work of the Tales of Series, I own nothing and no one but the situation I place the characters in.

The Nickname

It was hot. The kind of hot where you sweat so much the fabric of your pants stick to the inside of your thighs. It was the kind of hot where you look at the sun and think for sure that Hell is actually in the sky, laughing manically as it rained down little heat beams to make your pants stick to the inside of your thighs. It was the kind of hot that had one very irritated Bandit cursing his overly baggy pants that were sticking to the inside of his thighs while also cursing the floating ball of Hell above for shooting beams of heat down at him. Oh, not to mention that he was cursing one very whiny Norma Beatty; or more fondly known to him as Bubbles. Sitting together under the shade of one God-sent tree, the Bandit and the Treasure Hunter were spending the day doing what they had done forever since they had finished their biggest grand adventure, nothing.

Now don't get them wrong, they had done the usual pick-up things people do after they have a life-changing experience. Moses had returned back to his life as a Bandit Leader and nursed his wonderful boys back into butt kicking good health. Norma had returned to her traveling of the world, searching for rumors and chasing dreams. Unfortunately; both had come to figure out that the life before their grand adventure wasn't satisfying anymore. And sadly enough, they looked foreword to days like this where they would sit together and do nothing, soft attempts to get back the flair and spark that had highlighted their young lives. Now that Moses thought about it, it was Norma who had started this little tradition of sitting together under the tree. He could still remember the first day she had arrived at his Lair. It had been a Month since they had gone their separate ways and he had heard little from his past companions. It was a day much like today, hot and sticky, and Moses had decided to sleep in to avoid the angry heat outside. He had been dreaming of what young men dream about, all soft curves and soft whispers, when a very annoying and familiar voice cracked like lightening through his dreams. "Red, oi Red! Wake up, let's do something!" Red, only one person openly referred to him as that, and upon cracking open his one good rust colored eye he uttered a groan and rolled over, hiding from the bright sunshine little Ms. Norma Beatty had brought in with her obnoxiously bright outfit. Unfortunately for him, Norma told him she didn't understand his 'Caveman guttural sounds' and continued to bug him till he pulled out of bed, only to end up sitting under the tree next to his cabin; eating red bean buns and talking about whatever that came up, of course with the witty Norma and Moses flair.

That night she had asked if she could stay over and sleep; but Moses had seen how some of his boys had eyed the smaller girl. So he had out right refused her and instead sent her to town; saying it was to save her from his ruffians. In truth, he believed she could easily had taken care of herself; but the thought of Norma sleeping with his bandit boys made him uneasy; mostly for the safety of his bandits. Of course he hadn't made her go to town at night by herself though, he had escorted here there. That part, he regretted, wasn't so smart. As soon as he returned the teasing had started and in the end Moses had ended up hurting a few comrades. At least his ears had been spared from the bantering. But that didn't mean that he hadn't been effected by some of it, after all the poor boy wasn't deaf. He hadn't understood why he wasn't uncomfortable around Bubbles, just that with her getting huffy around him and he mocking anger at her remarks towards him he felt more at home then he had in a long time. So that night he had dropped her off, he had told her to come by again. Soon after that day her visits had become more regular, showing up about once every other week to just sit and enjoy red bean buns. Today just happened to be one of those days, a Bubbles and Red day.

Nicknames are funny things. Usually they are made for fun, indicating some sort of affection for the one appointed the nickname as well as the appointee. Other times, it's to hide the blunder of not being able to remember the poor party members actual name. In either case, they are almost always a clue as to how a person views their companion. This simple fact was all to obvious by the actions of the Master of Nickname Giving, a bouncy brunette by the equally bubbly name of Norma Beatty. Just listen to the name for a second there, Norma Beatty, there are so many jumpy syllables there is no other way to describe the name but bubblyy. In truth, it fit the girl quite well. Her ever lasting smile seemed to only flip over to a frown when angry, only to flip over once more at the sound of anything that made her happy. She never dwelled on one emotion long enough to keep up with her, and her witty comments were always accompanied by some sort of pose that caused her to jiggle and bounce about in a 'cute' manner. But you would never hear him say anything like that out loud, because if he did she would never let him live it down. Nope, you would never hear the word 'cute' pass by his big boy bandit lips. It just wasn't very manly in his own opinion. But then again, ever since he had met the bright yellow clad treasure hunter his MP, or Manly Points as she would refer to them as, had slowly been decreasing. It was all her fault to. He snorted lightly to emphasize the fact as he turned to look over his shoulder, watching the sulking girl as she bit into one of the buns she had brought. Her cheeks puffed up as she scowled while chewing, probably thinking of some way to insult him. He felt a smirk tug at the corner of his lips he was almost urged to comment on her cheeks to irk her even more. But instead he opted for sliding down to lay in the grassy patch beneath the shade of the tree and fold his hands behind his head, giving a content smile, his eyes shifting closed for a moment.

The shifting of weight beside him caused his eye to lazily open, his sight greeted by his companion kneeling over him, giving him a suspicious glare. She pouted, the crumbs from her latest treat hugging around her pursed lips. "Oi Red, you better not think of napping and letting me suffer the heat by myself. I'll smother you if you do." He chuckled a bit, and reached a hand up, flicking the girls forehead.

"Get yer face outta mine, Bubbles. The boys may start talk'n bout your hard on crush for me. I ain't gonna sleep, honest men don't lie." She didn't seem satisfied with that remark, but had flushed a tad at his comment, settling back in a huff and crossing her arms over her chest, turning her back to him.

"The sun has fried your eggs, Red. A couple, us? How weird would that be?" He could tell the edge in her voice was forced, but instead of pushing the issue out he simply shrugged and looked back out towards the sky, glaring at the ball of hell in the sky. Them being a couple did sound weird. For a moment, he wondered why Bubbles and Red didn't.

Dinner had come, and with it the Booze had broken out. Sitting on the stairway up to the porch of his Cabin, the Bandit Leader was watching contently the groups of people having a damn good time. Meat, beer, and friends; that was a dinner at the Bandit Lair. A smile graced the corners of the rough youths' mouth as he watched his comrades having a good time, amused by the fact that in this world that was purely masculine in form one bouncy Bubbles seemed to thrive in the firelight. From where he sat he had a front row seat of the treasure hunter, sitting among some of the veterans of the group. Her eyes where wide in awe at the tellings of some story from an undoubtedly drunk bandit; his hand movements slow but expressive as he dove into whatever tale he had chosen. Every now and then the bandit would say something that would cause the others to break into laughter, the small girl falling into the happiness with them. She would stand then, grab a drink of what he could only hope was water, and flounce on over to the next group to hear their tales. She had become so common among his boys that they accepted her in with no worry, sometimes even seeming eager to share their tales with her. Most of them weren't true, but that didn't matter to anyone. It was fun after all. It must have been her third mug of the mystery liquid when Moses noticed his second, Csaba, plopping down next to him with a knowing mischievous smile. Instantly, the Bandit Leader's own smile turned into a frown, "What'chu grinning about, you drunk fool."

His second simply shrugged innocently and turned his eyes to the laughing girl before them. "She's like candy to the boys, boss. Filling them up with sweet feelings and happy times." Turning his smirk back to Moses the young man arched an eyebrow, "You so sure you're willing to share her like that?"

Share her? What the hell was Csaba going on about now? Sure, he had been watching the girl all evening, but that was for the protection of both her and his bandits. It wasn't like he was eying her or nothing. Plus, she wasn't his to share. Scowling at his comrade he shrugged, "If they can tame her, I ain't got a problem with her bouncing around like that. She's a big girl, Csaba, she can take care of herself." The second's smirk grew just a tad.

"So, Boss, you won't mind then if another snatches up little Ms. Norma then?" A snort was all the answer Moses gave, but Csaba seemed to take it none the less. Springing up from his place next to his friend he started to make his way towards the girl in question. Moses felt an odd itch starting at the back of his mind, his eyes watching as the dark haired man touched her shoulder and greeted her. He said something else, and her eyes widened in surprise before she laughed. The itch grew. They sat down next to each other, sure they were in a group of others but he only noticed that they were next to each other, and started a conversation all their own. With each giggle she made and each comment he made the itch grew, turning into a mad buzz. Then, he saw Csaba's lips form a word that broke his nerve. Bubbles. He had called her Bubbles. Hell no.

Launching from his place he all but stalked towards the couple, dropping down besides Norma in such a hurry that she seemed slightly startled at his appearance. He gave her a once over before frowning, "Oi, don't cha think it's time to head back. It's getting late, my boys are getting drunk." As the word drunk passed his lips his eyes turned to Csaba, only to have his irritation slip. The damn fool was smiling, and Moses realized he had just been played. Curse his second to feel the heat beams from hell! Scowling he took the girl by her arm and pulled her up as gently as he could before starting to drag her away, his ears deaf to his threats. Csaba had fooled him!

He had taken her just passed the cover of their normal tree before she had yanked her arm back. Turning to look down at her she rested her hands on her hips and glared up at him. "Oi Red! What's your problem! That hurt ya know!" He should have apologized, he knew he should have, but her reaction only caused his irritation to return.

"Well, if you weren't flaunting yourself at my boys then I wouldn't have to be so rough wit ya!" He raised his voice slightly, knowing his reasoning wasn't totally true but using it as his base anyway. "You know their drunk, you ain't gotta tease them! Or maybe you want to go back to Csaba, you seem to be getting awfully close."

She wrinkled her nose at him, the anger in her eyes flaring up, "What the hell! He's a friend, I can talk to him all I want. And I wasn't flaunting anything Red. What makes you think he and I are getting close?!"

He scowled, "Because he called you Bubbles, I saw it." He knew he started to sound like a little boy now, but truly he didn't care.

She rolled her eyes at this, "That's it? Why would you be so upset over that? He can call me that if he wants to you know!"

His scowl deepened, "No he can't!"

Her hands fisted, "Why the hell not Red!"

Suddenly Moses found his hands on her arms pulling her closer as he leaned his head towards her, shaking her. "Because it's what I call you. You understand! It's what I call you." Couldn't she understand? Csaba, Sennel, Will, anyone else, they couldn't call her Bubbles because that is what he had named her. It was his name for the bouncy wonder that was Norma Beatty, and no one had any right to call her that but him. Just him. As suddenly as the words left his mouth though, he wanted to snatch them out of the air and swallow them down again.

Norma was simply looking up at him, her eyes wide at his confession. He noted that her cheeks were lightly flushed, the stuff in her mugs must have been booze. Noticing his hands on her arms once more he dropped his grip, his anger seeping away as he turned his back on the girl muttering an apology. Honestly, he hadn't known why seeing Csaba call the girl Bubbles had irritated him so much; but he was pretty sure that Norma wouldn't care either way. To her everyone had a Nickname, why would his be any more special to her? And now he had to go and make an even bigger fool of himself and say all those things. In truth, she was right, it wasn't that big of a deal. But to him, he just didn't like it. She was Bubbles to him, it didn't feel right seeing other people use the name.

A shifting behind him had him look over his shoulder at the Bounty Hunter. Her eyes were down casted, her hands folded behind her back. She pushed the toe of her boot through the grass before looking slowly up. He felt the blood crawl up his neck before turning his eyes away so that she wouldn't see. He wouldn't say it either, nope, he wouldn't say she was cute. He stiffened though as he felt a hand spray against his lower back, followed by a cheek resting under his shoulder blade. Turning to look over his shoulder, all he could see was the mop of brown that was the smaller girls head. "Sorry." A soft whisper only he was meant to hear. "I won't let him call me that again. Just you Red." He felt the blood rush even higher up his skin, "Only you can call me Bubbles." Moses thanked the night for hiding his blush. Little did he know that Norma was doing the same.

-AFS