Faithless Memories

Part of the Family

His eyebrows went up, and his grin nearly split his face as he took the small package from her. "Thanks! I wasn't expecting anything."

She ruffled his hair a little as he unwrapped it. He swatted at her hand, but it was only half-heartedly. When he finally got it opened, his jaw dropped, and he looked at it in shock for several seconds before he looked up and pounced on her. "This is perfect! Where did you find it?"

It was a small compass, but it wasn't a flimsy one. It was solid metal with a clasping cover and pouch that went with it that you could attach to a belt. She hugged him back quickly before she pushed back and smiled. "I'm glad you like it. I asked Mr. Thomas if he could keep an eye out for something like it. He was happy to help after we sold him that gagighandi. He said he made more profit from it then he thought he would. Anyway, I figured if you're going to be leaving for Midgar someday, then it might come in handy. You don't want to get lost on the way, right?"

He gave her shoulder a playful shove before he pulled her in for another hug. "Thanks, Sis."

When she pulled back, she quirked an eyebrow at him. "Sis?"

He blushed a little and scratched the back of his head in his usual nervous fashion before he responded. "I had planned on asking if it would be okay to call you that. I mean, you're practically a part of our family."

Kris could feel moisture gathering in her eyes, but her grin was fit to break her face. "Who wouldn't want a brother like you. Just don't forget that you're the one that asked me when you get annoyed at me for not letting you skip out on chores."

His brows wrinkled in a frown, but the effect was ruined by the fact that he couldn't manage to stop smiling. She laughed at the look before she turned him around to face his bed. "Get to sleep. Tomorrow is likely to be harder since we goofed off today."

He finally lost his grin as he looked back over his shoulder when she reminded him that the chores hadn't gone away for his birthday, they just got put off. "Way to ruin the mood."

She laughed as she went back to her own side of the divider. Once they were both settled, and the only sounds were the sounds of the summer night outside. She whispered. "Goodnight, little brother."

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The next day wasn't as hard as Zack had expected, but they still took longer than they usually did to get everything finished. Luckily, it was still summer, and they had several hours of daylight left. As soon as they finished, he grabbed Kris and pulled her into the woods. They didn't go all the way back to where they were attacked, but the clearing they stopped in was similar. He turned to her with excitement in his eyes. "Ok, now the monster is just about to come in from that side of the clearing, and you told me off for wanting to protect you. What did you do next?"

She laughed at his introduction to the issue. "Well, Mr. Hero, I wasn't really thinking about who was protecting who. As soon as I saw it, I had a basic plan that would have better chances of at least one of us getting away. Besides, I hadn't planned on fighting it."

He wrinkled his nose at her teasing but paused at the last part of her statement. "You didn't plan on fighting?"

She shook her head and gave him a stern look. "No. I had hoped to lead it away and hide from it while you got away. I was only going to keep it occupied until you brought back help, but things don't always work out the way you want them to."

He had a slight frown when he asked what was on his mind. "Then why did you fight it?"

She chuckled and shook her head. "I know patience isn't really in your arsenal, but if you let me get to it, you'll see."