Sky opened his eyes and realized that they were in the forest outside the squid base. He blinked and looked around to see Void and the others standing not far away, staring at them. Then Sky heard a dull thud and several members of his team gasped in alarm.
    Sky's head snapped around, and his eyes widened. "Seto!"
    He ran over to the Sorcerer and rolled him onto his back as Ty ran over. "Is he okay?!"
    Sky quickly felt for a pulse and sighed in relief. "Yeah..."
    "What happened?!" Mitch asked.
    Sky stared at Seto for a moment before he picked him up carefully and sighedb. "Let's get the hell away from here and make camp for the night, and maybe by then I'll have been able to to sort out everything that just happened."
    The others nodded uncertainly before they headed out again.
    They kept walking till nearly dark, when they set up camp. By then they were well away from Base Beta.
    Everyone was exhausted, without exception.
    Sky focused on making the fire as the others put up their tents.
    His eyes drifted to the still unconcious Seto.
    How the hell had that happened? Didn't Seto not know how to use external magic?
    He looked pretty surprised when those flames appeared. Sky remembered back at the hospital, when Seto's hand had fizzed but nothing happened. Did he not know any magic at all?
    He simply couldn't make sense of it. He'd just have to wait for Seto to wake up and explain himself.
    Hopefully he'd wake up soon.
    Sky jumped as Void suddenly sat beside him with a huff, snapping him from his thoughts.
    Sky looked at him. "Are you alright CV?"
    Void stared at the fire. "Yeah, I'm alright... Tired. But alright."
    Sky nodded and looked away.
    Void nudged him. "What about you Rookie?"
    Sky shrugged. "Tired too, I guess." He chuckled weakly. "I don't know. I... I'm kinda in shock. I didn't think we'd get there in time..."
    Void smiled sadly. "You should rest..."
    "I'm not really tired..."
    "When's the last time you slept?"
    "...Few days ago..."
    Void blinked. "Oh. Oh! Ha! I thought that would happen soon. Ha..."
    Sky looked at him with confusion.
    Void smiled proudly. "You've started your first crash cycle."
    "...Crash cycle?"
    "It's when you stay up for weeks on end because you have something to stay awake for and then you suddenly just pass out after its done because your brain says you can. Then you sleep for a few days and then get back up and do it again."
    "...Damn it."
    "Lillian used to do that. I did too, but I kinda grew out of it when I was in my fifties."
    Sky snorted slightly. "So I'm gonna have this until I'm fifty?"
    "Not necessarily." Void said. "You could end up having it till you die."
    "Oh. That's a nice thought."
    Void merely shrugged in response.
    Sky chuckled weakly, then fell silent for awhile. Then; "Commander?"
    Void raised an eyebrow, still looking into the fire. "Hmm?"
    "...Did you have faith in me?"
    Void hesitated before replying. "...Yeah." He looked at Sky. "Yeah, I did." Sky looked up at Void. Void smiled back at him, and patted his head. "You're a good kid, Rookie. I'm proud of you."
    Sky smiled shyly and looked down. "Thanks..." He muttered, surprised.
    Void smiled a bit bigger, then looked over his head in surprise. "Oh, look who's up."
    Sky looked up in sighed in relief. "Seto!"
    Seto smiled a bit groggily from where he'd half sat up off the ground. "Hi..."
    Sky moved to his side. "How do you feel?"
    "Fine, fine... Um... What the hell happened?"
    "I was hoping you could tell me that."
    "I don't remember..." Seto hesitated, then sighed. "Oh wait... Nah, nah, that was a dream..."
    "No, it was real Seto. The fire and runes? You saving my ass? All real."
    Seto looked up with wide eyes. "What?!"
    Sky nodded.
    Seto stared at him for a moment before he looked at the fire, then at the team, who were sitting and chatting together. "Hey Husky?"
    Husky looked up, and while the others were surprised by the Sorcerer's consciousness, Husky didn't seem to mind one way or the other. "What's up Potter?" He asked nonchalantly.
    "Can you douse the camp fire, please?"
    Husky blinked. "Why?"
    "Just do it."
    "Uh... Okay."
    Husky lifted the water from his canteen and dumped it over the fire, and the clearing was filled with darkness.
    He lifted a hand, everyone watching in anticipatory silence as he concentrated.
    Then, all at once, the fire burst back to life, the flames a fierce purple before they faded back to orange.
    There was a few moments before everyone cheered loudly.
    Seto smiled wide. "Yes, I did it! YEAH!"
    Sky ruffled his hair. "Great going!"
    Seto looked at him and beamed. "I can be useful!"
    "You always were." Sky smiled.
    Seto hugged him tightly.
    Void cleared his throat. "If you're feeling well enough, Seto, would you mind maybe making sure the General isn't dead or dying?"
    "Oh - yeah of course!" Seto hurried to Amanda's side.
    He pulled a bunch of objects out of his satchel and started to check her wounds. But as he touched the major one, his hand started to glow and his froze. "...Ooh..." He said as he got an idea.
    Seto pressed both hands down on the wound and slowly, it healed. He smiled before he wrapped bandages around the rest and put a hand on her forehead. After a moment, he stood. "She's okay."
    Void sighed in relief. "Thank god..."
    Seto smiled wide. "Well today has certainly been a very good day in my books."
    Sky chuckled. "Same here, aside from the fact that we almost got killed many times."
    "Keyword: almost." Ty said.
    Sky snorted.
    When Amanda woke the next morning she felt remarkably normal. They were able to walk the full day back, and by the day after that, they were finally home.
    Tom had the most smug look on his face when he saw them coming back.
    Sky grinned and rolled his eyes as he saw it.
    He was just happy to be home; as were all of them.
    The first thing Sky did was go to tell Alesa he got back alright. But as he headed towards the animal adoption center where he knew she would be, Void put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey kid, you going where I think you're going?"
    Sky glanced back at him and nodded hesitantly.
    "You want some advice?"
    "Uh... Yeah, sure."
    "Get her a flower."
    Sky blinked and looked away. "Yeah... Yeah, okay." He smiled. "Thanks CV."
    He walked off and Void smiled a bit after him.
    Alesa had found a very good book in the library. It was about a Sealord and a Skylord who, despite their great differences, fell in love. The book was filled with action and wonder and romance, with great description and the most fun characters ever. It was called, "A Tale of Two Captains". It was so terribly good, she didn't put it down as she was sitting at the cash register and heard the bell chime, signaling the front door had opened and someone new had come in.
    She heard footsteps that she didn't really care about before there was a voice, right in front of her.
    "Good book?"
    Alesa froze and looked up before she smiled wide. "Adam!" She closed her book, setting it down as she stood and hugged Sky tightly.
    Sky smiled warmly as he hugged back. "Hi~"
    Alesa giggled softly as he put the daisy in her hair. "Thank you!"
    Sky just smiled a little wider, kissing her cheek.
    "So, how did it go?" Alesa calming over the desk, sitting on the edge.
    Sky told her the whole story as he sat down beside her as well. At the end, he huffed. "You know... It's weird. When I first came here, CV didn't matter to me at all. But I realized he's really important to me on this mission and... I don't know why."
    Alesa hesitated, staring at him. "You know, my mother always warned me to stay away from guys whose fathers were dead, or not in their lives... But the thing is, your dad isn't dead..." Alesa looked over at Void, who was holding a bag of cat food to be bought and petting one of the cats in the pen, and she smiled softly. "He's just over there."
    For some reason, this was extremely comforting to Sky and he smiled, hugging her again, a little tighter. "Yeah..."

It was a strange night. Sky had never thought that it could snow and thunder at the same time, but there they were. He was in his room, sitting up on his bed, listening to the wretched booms and cracked. He was exhausted from the long journey to retrieve the Commander and the General, but with the storm outside and the chill from the cold. It was December first today. Christmas would be coming, and the cold and showed up early. But thunder? That was just mean.
    Sky wasn't fond of thunder. He wasn't scared, but it was certainly not his friend. He jumped as a particularly loud one boomed and he climbed to his feet. He took his blanket with him and shuffled down the corridor, her shoulders trembling just slightly. He knocked on Void's door timidly when he reached it. No answer. He knocked again. "CV...?" He said quietly.
    Down the hall, Void yawned as he walked towards the bathroom. Only minutes before, he had woken from a nightmare of an old friend, in an old town, in an old life. He had gone to get a glass of water to clear his head.
    Sky knocked again, harder, which caused the slightly open door to creak open more. Sky's eyes widened slightly, before there was another crack of thunder and he hurried inside. He looked around, turning on the lamp. Void wasn't in his room, but this time - thank god - there was no hostage note. Sky had never really been in Void's room many times; not enough to really look around. So as he shivered lightly, that's what he did. First he noticed a few pictures, and that unlike many recruits, Void didn't have a television in his room. On the edge of his bed, up by the pillows, a young brown tabby cat was curled up. Void had mentioned his cat before, gotten him a few months before Sky and Ty arrived at the base. His name was simply Brad. Brad Void for formal events.
    On Void's wall was a black and white picture; a dark-haired woman, with olive skin. She was looking down, smiling, a glass in her hand.
    Sky couldn't help but smile a little. He didn't have to wonder who it was. Then there was another flash of lightning, which illuminated the corner of the room. Sky looked up and blinked. Void had a guitar. Sky jumped as the thunder cracked and hurried timidly over to it, eyeing it curiously. It looked nearly untouched in its stand there in the corner, between the wall and the dresser. It was red, and a very old style; perhaps even from the sixties or earlier. It had a signature on it, probably Elvis, if Sky knew Void at all.
    Sky hesitated, then slowly picked it up. He strummed it slowly and winced. It was horribly out of tune. Void hadn't touching this thing in ages. He sat on the bed and slowly tuned the old guitar, string by string, until it was finished. Then he moved the strap around his neck and played a few notes timidly to himself, like he wasn't supposed to and he was trying not to be heard. As the minutes passed, Sky played a little louder, a little faster. That's when it happened for the first time.
    "There you go! Very good!"
    Sky stopped, his hand halting with him. He swallowed slightly and after several seconds he slowly started to play again.
    "No, no, it's okay, it's okay! ...Look, how about I teach you how to defend yourself?"
    Adam looked up at his father, sniffling before he nodded.
    His father smiled and left the room. After a few seconds, he came back with a beat up acoustic guitar. "This is your brother's. He doesn't use it, so he won't mind." He set it down in Adam's lap and helped him position his fingers. Thunder crashed outside and Adam yelped, moving his hand down quickly, making notes ring through the air.
    "There you go! Very good, just like that!"
    "I-I don't understand how th-this will help me...!" Adam said, still trembling.
    "Because music fights off the scary things and the darkness, his father said, smiling.
   Sky played faster and faster, louder and louder in an effort go keep away the memories of himself and his father.
    They kept trying to come and he played louder and louder. After a few minutes Void appeared in the doorway and he blinked in surprise. But he didn't interrupt.
    "Music is the purest form of creation." Adam's father said. "Because music is art, and art is infallible. Play anything, kiddo. You can't go wrong with music."
    Then, as Sky had approached the best part of the song, thunder crashed louder than ever and Sky's hand slipped, causing sour notes to fill the air as he cringed. He covered his eyes with his hand, sighing shakily as he stood and set the guitar aside.
   Void stepped into the room. "You okay Rookie...?" He asked gently.
   Sky jumped and looked up in surprise. He opened his mouth to answer, then shut it again. He snuffled slightly.
    Void sighed and moved over to him, pulling him into a tight hug. "Nightmare?"
    Sky whimpered, nodding as Void sat them on the edge of the bed. "Look, it'll be fine... How about I tell you a story...?"
    "A... A story?" Sky asked, sniffing and looking up.
    "Yeah, a story." Void smiled tiredly. "You know, when I was a kid... Well see..." Void chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck. "See, I was a gangster."
    Sky snorted. "No way."
    "No, I'm being serious." Void said. "I was in a gang. Remi, Doctor Rent, was there too. Me, Rem, and two guys called Race and Gerard. They called me Laws." Void smiled a bit distantly. "Man, we had some fun... I was a Greaser."
    Sky snorted again. "I cannot believe this."
    "Really, it's true, ask Remi!" Void said. "That's where I learned to shook a gun."
    "You can shoot a gun?!"
    "Yeah, I still have my old pistol under my bed."
    "...Can I see?" Sky asked.
    "Some other time..." Void glanced at Brad. "He hates guns. He can smell the gunpowder and he'll wake up and get mad and keep me up all night."
    Sky smirked. "That's why dogs are better."
    "That's it, I'm putting you up for adoption."
    Sky laughed and Void chuckled softly. "C'mon, you should sleep kid..."
    Sky nodded, laying down.
    Void blinked. He'd meant for Sky to go back to his own room, but as he thought, he didn't really care anyway. It had been days since Sky slept. Wherever he went, it didn't matter, he just had to get some rest.
    Void pulled the covers over him. "Just rest, kiddo..."
    Sky murmured something probably along the lines of, "Goodnight..." Before he fell quiet and slowly, his breathing evened out.