Time and Tides Archives

Once Eiko managed to get away from her 'handlers' who were trying to instruct her on the proper ways to behave like a lady at her own birthday party, everything picked up in a wonderful way. She talked with friends, she ate far too many snacks, and she'd unleashed a packet of oglops under some boring bird lady's dress. And in her escape from the vicinity of her crime is how she spotted the very odd appearance of familiar blue armor leaned up against the wall.

"Hey Kain!" she called out, waving an arm over her head. "Thanks for coming to my party! But what are you doing over here?"

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Kain looked at Eiko and attempted not to seem as apathetic as he had been. The party was for her sake, after all, and it wouldn't reflect well on him or the dragoons for him to carry on with the miserable mood in front of a child. So he stepped away from the wall and stood a lot straighter.

"You're welcome, Eiko. And I'm... waiting for others to arrive." The explanation was true enough, even if not the entire reason for him hanging back from most of the crowd.

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"You should meet Father then, and Mother! And dance with pretty girls." That last fact was stated with a firm nod. "There's plenty of them around. Pick one." Part of the point of her party was so that everyone could mingle and he shouldn't have to stand alone just because his friends weren't here yet. "Can I meet your friends when they get here?"

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Kain stifled a disturbed expression at mention of dancing. Not that he couldn't dance, after his upbringing, but he definitely wasn't willing to walk up to just anyone and ask for a dance. There was only one who he truly wanted to dance with, and that was sadly impossible...

So he ignored that part about dancing as best he could and then grudgingly nodded afterward. "You already know Rydia... but if you haven't met the others, you could." Although he could only use the term 'friends' loosely with some of them...

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"Great! I want to meet them all." Naturally, it didn't occur to Eiko that Kain wouldn't want to be the one showing her around. Rather she took it for granted that everyone should just do what she wanted, an unfortunate by-product of raising herself for a year and then being overly spoiled since her adoption.

Without any further dithering, she grabbed hold of his hand and started tugging impatiently. "Well, come on. I want Father and Mother to meet you." More she wanted to show them off to the dragoon, but to her child's logic, those were the same thing.

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Cid and Hilda didn't want to play the aloof heads of state for long. After the usual introductions, they quickly got into the spirit of the party. They were currently both flushed from dancing and chatting to a group of guests.

Cid saw Eiko approaching with another guest in tow and smiled indulgently.

"Eiko. Who is your friend?"

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Kain didn't appreciate being dragged along by a child like this. Yet, what could he do? He held back his own opinions and went along with her. He didn't want to appear more the child than her, after all.

But being bought so suddenly to meet the Lindblum heads of state was definitely not what Kain had had in mind. He resisted the impulse to glare at Eiko. Instead, he straightened immediately, well-ingrained soldier instincts making him need to act properly toward them.

"Kain Highwind, dragoon of Baron."

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Eiko's small head bobbed in a nod, and while she was at it, she sneaked in a quick hug for Hilda too. "Right, Father, Mother, this is Kain. He was the guy with me and Rydia in Memoria. Kain, these are my parents." It was obvious she adored her family and was proudly showing them off to someone she really wanted to like them. Unfortunately, her eagerness to do just that overrode her coaching in how to make formal introductions properly. At least she almost got it right.

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Kain shot Eiko a slightly panicked look when she mentioned Memoria. How much had she told them about it, or anyone else, for that matter? He started to feel a growing sense of unease thinking about that. But he bit that back for now, making a mental note to ask her whether she'd told anyone of those experiences some other time.

"...Pleased to meet you," he said, direct and formal since the situation called for it.

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"Likewise!" Cid replied, smiling warmly. "I am Regent Cid, and this is my wife, Lady Hilda. Of course, on this occasion, we're mostly known as Lady Eiko's parents." He chuckled, patting his daughter's shoulder indulgently. "I'm sure you took good care of Eiko in Memoria, am I right? We're most grateful."

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"Yup, he did!" the child assured her father. Except for that grand moment of maturity where she hit him for killing Rydia's mother, Eiko more or less decided that she really liked him, even if he was quiet and sometimes grumpy. He was like an interesting blend of Freya and Amarant. But now was the time to really brag about what a score she'd gotten in a new family. "Father makes the bestest, fastest airships in the world!"

Without missing a beat, she changed topics back to Cid. "I figured out what I want for my birthday!" The list was ever growing, every time she saw or heard about something that interested her, she just had to have it. Only this one she really wanted, so Eiko was banking on not being told no in front of someone else. "I want to rebuild Madain Sari. We can do that right? There's more summoners now, so they can live there." Not that she had any concept how large an undertaking that was. In fact, despite all the dull history lessons she'd been forced to endure to date, she still couldn't comprehend why these stories talked about taking years to fix a place. Quite obviously they had been doing something wrong and didn't have an amazing father on the job.

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Well... Kain had spent most of Memoria brooding over what he'd seen, but he felt it not worth mentioning that detail. He just nodded slightly in agreement to Cid's question, and then listened to Eiko go on about her birthday wish. He wondered about that idea, however, and if it would be possible for them.

"The summoners... deserve to reclaim their home." If Rydia couldn't have Mist, perhaps she could have something very close to it here.

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"Rebuild Madain Sari?" Cid replied weakly. "The presents we got you weren't enough?"

Hilda kicked him discreetly, and Cid cleared his throat at once. "Ah! I mean... Well, that would be a very daunting task, very daunting indeed... You understand that it would take a very long time to rebuild properly, don't you, Eiko? A long time, and a lot of work, and a lot of money. Perhaps it would be fully rebuilt and thriving again by your next birthday..."

He trailed off, thinking about it. Lindblum had already poured in millions of gil to various projects around the world, but none as big as this. But Cid loved his daughter, and Kain had a good point. With the number of summoners arriving in Gaia, maybe it was worth restoring their village.

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Kain had to agree with Cid, but it was a goal he wouldn't oppose. The Summoners really did deserve it. "It certainly wouldn't happen right away, but perhaps given time..." Realistically, it wasn't completely impossible. They'd never reclaim all that was lost, but they could at least restore the place in some ways.

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The part of it taking a year was lost on the child, thanks to the excitement of being told yes. "Thank you!" was delivered with a tight hug for Cid, and then another for Hilda, and then a third for Kain for taking her side. "We can start tomorrow!" she decided, firmly nodding her head.

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Cid hugged her back, laughing. "Tomorrow, eh? We can start planning tomorrow, how about that? We'll have to decide how to raise funds and all kinds of boring things, but you don't have to worry about that. Leave it to me."

He nodded at Kain. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Kain. Enjoy the party!"

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That was rather quick. But if Cid was agreeing to such a rapid timeframe, then it really wasn't Kain's place to say anything against that. He stood still and somewhat awkward as Eiko hugged him.

Then he returned his gaze to Cid and nodded in return. "Likewise... and thank you."

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"I have to tell Terra! Bye!" And just like that, the little summoner was scampering off to tell her summoner friends the great news. "Tell me when your friends are here!" she called out over her shoulder.

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