Rydia put a hand on Edge's shoulder.  "Look, if you're leaving
because of what happened down at the pond..."
	Edge turned around to face Rydia.  Her face, her eyes, who couldn't
love her?  "Rydia, I cannot explain why I must go."
	Rydia frowned.  "Sounds to me like you WON'T explain why you're
leaving... and don't give me that 'It's my duty as a Ninja' speech,
either... I may have fallen for it once, but not twice."
	Cecil approached Edge.  "Edge, Rydia is right.  You're way out of
line here.  Be honest.  You have absolutely no reason to leave us, do you?
What problems could you be having that all of us couldn't help you with?"
	Edge sighed.  "Fine, you're right, I'm guilty."  Edge took his
bedroll off his back and hurled it on the ground.  "Now, can we PLEASE get
on with finding this Cardia fellow before I die of boredom?"
	Tucker pulled Edge aside, and asked in a hushed tone, "Edge, old
man, level with me.  I know we haven't done the big bonding thing like you
and the others have, but you can trust me.  It's Rydia, isn't it."  The last
sentence was a statement.
	Edge stood there, montionless for several seconds, staring at the
ground.  Slowly, he then nodded.  "Not here, Tucker.  Later."  Edge
cancelled any notion of a guy-to-guy chat with Tucker.  Edge just wasn't in
the mood.
	Golbez watched Edge speaking with Tucker, nodding silently to
himself.  "I almost envy the man," he noted to himself.
	Tucker brought Edge back to the group.  "S'okay now, isn't it, old
man?"  Tucker playfully punched Edge in the shoulder.
	"Yeah, fine,"  Edge said in a monotone.
	Rydia didn't know what to say, what to think about the whole
situation.  She just stood there, quietly dealing with her own inner
struggles.
	Cecil nodded.  "Okay then, maybe we'd best be getting on, then.
There's no telling where Cardia could be."

*****
	The party had been travelling for days in the direction of Kefka's
Tower.  It was there that the whole mess with Cardia had begun, and was
agreed that there would be the ideal place to begin.
	The red beam of light that once flowed skyward was no longer
present.  Only charred fragments of the tower remained.
	"I guess we might as well go in,"  Tucker said.
	The party entered the remains of Kefka's Tower.  Little was to be
seen here.  Empty treasure chests lay splintered all about the ruin.
Ancient documents laye scattered and burned across the floors.  Magitek
equipment lay far beyond the state of repair throughout the debris.  The
party searched the ruin high and low, and by nightfall they had come up
empty.
	"I don't understand it," Edge exclaimed.  "How could the source of a
powerful magic beam suddenly vanish, leaving nothing in its wake?"
	Golbez growled, "We can search again tomorrow.  We might as well
rest for the evening."  The others agreed.  The camp was set, and the party
crawled into their bedrolls.
	All except two people, that is.
	Edge, not being able to sleep, left the campsite to wander the
woods.  There was too much on his mind to allow any comfortable sleep.  In
the moonlight, Edge trained his body in ways he had not done since
adolescence.  Edge always felt that those exercises were unnecessary, that
he was too talented for need of exercise.  Now, Edge was worried.  Edge felt
weaknesses he had never felt before.  He was dealt defeat by a woman he
barely knew.  His magic had left him for good.  His emotions were taking
control of his life.  And now, he was being counted on to help rid the world
of another ultimate evil.  Edge didn't know what to think.  His entire life
had changed so drastically, nothing came clear to him anymore.  Everything
was a jumble of events that didn't seem to connect.
	Edge doubted himself, and this doubt would surely be his downfall,
if he didn't do something about it.
	Golbez, during the night, quietly slipped away from camp.  No one
saw him leave.  Not even Edge, who didn't sleep a wink.

******
	Morning.  Edge sat a good distance away from the others in a
clearing which he had made by his training.  Trees were torn in half by cuts
delivered by his twin blades.  The ground was packed down with endless
pressure supplied by the Ninja's deadly dance.  Rocks were strewn about,
once boulders, but shattered by the force of Edge's blows.  Edge was
returning himself to nature.  It was in this clearing that he meditated and
awaited an answer to his dilemma.
	Cecil awoke with a start, a victim of a bad dream.  He had dreamed
of fire and quakes, famine and plague, a world that would be dominated by
Edgar's cruel and vicious heart if there were no one to try and stop him.
It was not a pleasant sight.
	Looking around the campsite, Cecil saw Tucker and Rydia quietly
sleeping in their bedrolls.  Golbez and Edge, however, were nowhere to be
seen.
	"Wake up!  Tucker!  Rydia!"  Cecil urged frantically.
	Tucker mumbled something, then rolled over to look into the face of
a worried Cecil.  "What's wrong, Cecil?  You look as though you've seen a
ghost... and you probably did, too, you and your kooky adventures..."
	"Tucker, this is serious.  Golbez and Edge are missing."
	Tucker sprang to his feet.  "Aw, Cecil, you don't think they...?"
	Rydia slowly drifted into consciousness.  "They, who?"
	Cecil said, "Golbez and Edge.  They're gone."
	Rydia gasped, "Oh, Edge, you didn't!"
	The three hoped that Edge didn't carry out his threat to Golbez, and
hoped that the two were still alive and not engaged in mortal combat.  But
there was no telling for sure.
	"C'mon," Tucker urged, "Let's split up!  They couldn't have
gotten far..."
	Cecil let out a moan, "Tucker, there's no telling how far my brother
could have gotten in the dark.  He is one with the darkness, and it helps
him from time to time.  And you already know it's pointless to try and track
Edge... he just doesn't leave a trail."
	Tucker grinned and pointed.  "Oh, I think he left one loud and
clear, right over there."  A path had been cut through the high bushes,
leading deeper into the forest.  "Let's go."
	Cecil and Rydia nodded.  The three followed the trail for some time,
noting the subtle changes in the path's direction.  Whoever made this path
wasn't too worried about who might be following it; it was clearly made with
no order in mind.
	Rydia was worried to her bones.  /Damn you, Edge, if you went off and
did something foolish like killing yourself, I'd never live to see another
day.  I swear it./
	By the time the group reached the clearing, Edge had awoken from his
trance, and was just getting ready to leave.  Edge looked up in surprise at
his three companions whom he did not expect to see.  The group was even less
prepared to see the destruction that Edge lay on the surrounding area.
	"D'you do all this, old man?"  Tucker was most impressed of the
three.  "Just you?  No machines, no nothing?"
	Edge only nodded.
	Rydia stalked up to Edge, anger in her eyes.  "Edge, that tears it.
If you have a problem, I want to hear it right now, or I'm leaving here and
never setting foot on this earth again!"  Edge could see that Rydia was
genuine in her threat.  /I wish I could live in seclusion,/ Edge mused, /but
that is not my way./
	Edge tore his mask from his face, and grabbed Rydia by her waist.
In one swift motion, Edge pressed his lips against Rydia's, and held her
with all the passion he could muster.  Rydia, taken totally by surprise,
pushed Edge away in disgust.
	"You... you..."  Rydia was absolutely livid.  "How dare you...?"
	Edge reached out with his mind, trying to calm Rydia down.  As far
as he could tell, the attempt was useless.
	"Edge, you've put me through hell and back, and I've stood with you
as loyal as friends can be!  I've risked my life and yours to better this
world, and I'm not going to just ignore that.  And now, all of a sudden, you
have the nerve to just whisk me into your arms and kiss me like we've been
lovers for years!  If I don't hear the absolute truth as to why you've been
acting so strangely, I will never speak to you again as long as we both
shall live..."  Rydia's rage was unstoppable.
	Edge took Rydia by her hands, and looked her straight in the eyes.
	"Rydia... I..."  Edge stammered.
	"You what, Edge, WHAT?" Rydia spat.
	"I... love you, Rydia."
	Rydia's face went blank.
	"Rydia, from the first day we met, your every move, every smile,
every word that you spoke to me, I have cherished and adored you.  You are
the kindest, gentlest, most loving creature I have ever had the privolege to
be in the same company with.  The very sun pales in comparison to the
radiance of your beauty.  Rydia, it is true.  I would give my life for
you... all you need do is but ask."
	Rydia paled.  She definitely did not expect this.  Not from Edge.
Not from egotistical, loose-cannon Edge.
	"For years I have tried to cope with the emptiness in my heart that
could only be filled by you, Rydia.  There is no other woman on the face of
this earth that I have loved more dearly, more intimately, than you.  I have
never had the courage to tell you these words, Rydia, until now.  The
thought of losing you because of my silence was unbearable.  If you'll
forgive me, I'll stop talking now and feast off the foot in my mouth."  Edge
lowered his gaze to the ground, waiting for the worst.
	Rydia stepped to Edge, placed her hand delicately under Edge's chin.
She lifted his head, forcing him to meet her gaze.  Tears were welling in
Rydia's eyes.
	"Edge," she began, "I cannot believe this to be true.  You would
tell me that you love me.  Edge, I have waited so long for you to say to me
those words, for I have felt the same way towards you for the longest time.
The Land of Summoned Monsters is a lonely place, Edge.  No one of my kind
lives down there.  That life of seclusion drove me to leave in search of
greater things.  And nothing is more greater than love.  I prayed each day
that I would somehow find you, hoped that you were alive after all this
time... and finally, finally, my prayers have been answered."
	"Oh, Edge..."
	Rydia tenderly brought Edge's lips to her own.  Edge and Rydia
embraced, and did not let go for a long time.  Cecil and Tucker could only
watch on, not wanting to disturb the tender moment.  Cecil and Tucker smiled
knowingly to one another.