I fidgeted in my chair, anxiously glancing at the door for the object of my impatience. Across the bar, laughter like a gunshot rang out as three obviously drunk guys chanted the name of a fourth, briskly chugging one of the twelve mugs that stood on the table.

"Piff, Piff, Piff," they cheered, the occasional belch thrown in.

I returned my attention to the tavern entrance, waiting for Bleary to show. "Come on, where are you," I whispered, absently setting a mug in the center of my table. The sunlight glared in brightly through the window, gossamer cracks spread across the glass from the last time someone had started spurting obscenities at the barkeep. I drew my eyes from the door to observe the mug's shadow. It was five o'clock, I figured, seeing how far the mug's accompanying shade had stretched.

"Here's yo drink," the barkeep said gruffly, a fat hand appearing in my face, two fingers jammed into a mug handle that could easily accommodate four normal sized digits. If it isn't evident, the barkeep was not an average sized man, quite the opposite in fact. "Don't know why yor drinkin' this waughtered down guff, but here it is," he admonished, dutifully trying to remove his now captive index finger.

"Well, I really can't get sloshed tonight, got important stuff to do. Here, let me help," I replied, bracing a foot against his stomach and yanking. The barkeep grunted as the mug gave up it's attempt to cut off all the circulation to his hand and flew into my hands. The cider, however, was a different story altogether. Most of what remained exited the cup at an alarming rate of speed, judiciously splattering the first thing that got in it's way.

While these events were occurring, Piff was busy outlining the social advantages of throwing dead goldfish at total strangers. "It's a...a good, dat's da wurd, way to, uh, break da ice, ya see, 'cuz twelve times outta ten dey's gonna ask ya why ya throwin' dem rottin' fishies at 'em, opuns up da convursayshun, ya see," he explained, nodding sagely and making as if to toss one of his deceased pets, succeeding only in slapping himself rather viciously across the face. "Whut," he asked, confused, "Which 'un o' ya hit me?" Milliseconds after this bewildered remark, inertia finished it's job and walked away grinning. "Whut," Piff reiterated, apple cider now dripping from the intermittent patches of grayish-black hair that sprouted out of his head randomly like weeds, ugly and out of place. One of his less plastered companions (meaning he still could see without the benefits of double vision) pointed at me, "Uh, I tink it was tat guy be'ind ya, da one dat's lookin' da ottur way, ya see 'im?"

Piff turned in his chair and glared in my direction, I noticed out of the corner of my eye. He paused for a moment then squinted. "Eh, which one is 'e? Da one on da left or da one on da right," he asked guardedly, glancing back at his friends. He stopped again, mentally calculating his chances. "Wait a sec! It don't matter, dere's eight o' us," he yelled enthusiastically and stood up, his head accidentally colliding with one of the barkeep's fist. Piff reeled backwards, blinked, and passed out, his snores cutting through the tavern noise like a buzzsaw. I flashed an grateful look at the barkeeper. "Thanks a lot, Jeehn," I said sincerely, helping him drag Piff into an unused corner. He winked at me and dusted his hands off. "No prob, Amada. I don't needs anything broken round here, gots enough bills to pay as is," Jeehn said, elbowing his way back through the crowd to the bar.

It was a pretty busy day at The Castrated Bear. Pretty busy night, I corrected myself. The sun had gone down sometime during the incident. I was about to give up hope when he finally showed up. "Where you been, man? I almost thought y...," my voice halted abruptly as I noticed the scar. It ran from slightly below his left ear to his chin, following his jawline all the way. Bleary held up a hand to silence me. "Don't bother asking. I'll explain," he said, pulling up a chair and sitting down at my table. "It happened back in South Window. I was helping a friend on a kidnapping case and I ran into some trouble with, guess who...our old Mafia buddy, Kumacho Gergun. Apparently he tried to reopen his organization there. This old inventor helped me shut him down again," Bleary paused and glanced out into the night, wearing a shaken expression, "You should have been there, some very...weird things happened. I'm not even sure what it means..."

Slowly, Bleary turned to look at me. "Congratulations, I heard Rei is alive and well. Someday you'll have to tell me all about it. So what did you call me here for," he asked, back to his old formal self. I tucked this knowledge away for future contemplation. "Wow, ruin the mood why don't you. I called you here to ask you a favor. There's a certain...thing going on tomorrow night. I've made reservations at one of those upper class restaurants and I need you to go to Kuskus and find a jeweler and give him this," I said, pulling out a folded piece of paper and handing it to my friend. He looked at me and smirked. "Oh, already? You always struck me as the kind of guy that wouldn't touch commitment with a ten foot pole," he replied, unfolding the paper I'd given him. "What is this," he asked, one brow raised in curiosity. I grinned, extremely proud of my work. "That there is the ring. See, I've drawn all the measurements, angles, diagrams, etc for it. Just give it to a jeweler, I'm sure he'll understand," I replied, getting to my feet.

"Well, if you can do that and get it back by tomorrow night, I'd be extremely grateful," I said, the grin still glued to my face. Bleary nodded, folding the paper up and slipping it inside his overcoat. "I'll do it, but after this is all over, I'll need to talk to you," he said, sounding disconcerted. Whatever happened in South Window must have been a doozy to shake Bleary up that bad, he's practically a rock as far as those things go. Anyways, I strode into the night and went home.

It was a short walk, but it was cold enough to freeze snot, so I jogged most of the way. To my surprise, Rei was still awake. "Why are up," I asked, shutting and bolting the door as soon as I was inside. She didn't look too happy. "We were supposed to have dinner tonight," she said, frowning. My face froze in a look of undisguised horror. "Oh yeah...sorry, I forgot. I'm really, really sorry," I apologized meekly, helping her clean off the table. She wouldn't look me in the face at all so I tried to change the subject. "What's that smell," I asked, noticing a sweet fragrance wafting in from the other room. Rei finally turned to face me, glaring at me like something she'd found on the bottom of her shoe. "Candles," she snapped simply, very upset.

Suddenly, the floor became very interesting to look at. "Um, honestly, I forgot. It's not like I meant to," I muttered nervously. Then an idea came to me. I grinned, it was a momentary stroke of brilliance. "I'll make it all up to you tomorrow night, ok? We'll go out for dinner and everything," I suggested, eagerly clutching for any way out of my predicament. She sighed, the anger draining out of her. "Sometimes I just don't know about you, Amada," she said and went to bed.

I stayed in the living room for a short while after that, mentally finalizing my plans. At least Rei didn't suspect anything, she just thought I was a complete jerk. I had to smirk, considering what I intended to do tomorrow. That's irony for you. Not long after that, I went to bed. Rei was asleep with her back to me. I got in on my side and laid on my back, both hands behind my head. Acting on a whim, I lowered my mouth to her ear. "Good night, my queen," I whispered, brushing back some loose hairs from her forehead. It may have just been my imagination, but I think she smiled.

*The following day*

The day passed quickly in idle anticipation as I paid a visit to the restaurant and had a talk with the new chef. "Her favorite food is fried kalimari covered with shiitake sauce," I told him for the fourth time. "Sayin' it again ain't gonna do ya much good, young un. I still don't know what a kallymary or whatever is," Volvo replied, his long beard wrapped around his waist beltwise, anchoring the bright orange apron to his body. "Kalimari is squid," I said slowly, not totally sure if I was right or not, "All I know, is that it's something with tentacles, does that help?"

Volvo shook his head. "Not a bit, but hows about this. I'll jes call in a favor from a friend o' mine. Shokei's one o' them Harmonian fellers anyway" he wheezed, carelessly dropping a match into a bowl of what appeared to be pudding. "Woah," I shouted, backing up from the brief flare. The old man cackled at me until he broke off into a fit of coughing. "Don't ya worry, that's s'posed to happen, it's cherry flambroolay or some such thing," he explained, "Now off wi' ya, I've got work to do."

I left the restaurant and headed home to get ready. I dressed in the same attire I'd worn to that dinner party at South Window. It had only been a month and a half ago, but it seemed like an eternity. In the time it took me to consider this, I was back home. Rei was outside on the docks, watching the sunset. Frankly, if I hadn't been so worried over Bleary being late with the ring, I might have thought it was romantic. "Hey gorgeous, what're you doing," I inquired with honest interest, sitting down beside her. She continued to stare off into the distance. "Thinking," she cryptically responded, "Just thinking about the Temple...They won't leave us alone forever. One day soon they'll take notice that my sister and him are dead, then they will come here and finish the job they began." It was easy to tell who she meant by 'him'. Which brought up the second point.

"What is wrong," Rei asked me, concerned. "Well," I cleared my throat before going on, "Hideko isn't exactly dead...I only beat the crap out of him. And neither is Meia." Her expression could only be described as one of terrific surprise. "What," she gasped, once again, she looked to the sun, now only a fading glimmer on the horizon, "That day will come sooner than I feared, much sooner. I'm sorry, Amada, I'm only going to cause you trouble...after all you did for me." I was really getting uncomfortable. "Don't. Don't ever talk like that, it's not your fault," I said sternly, afraid she might blame herself enough to eventually lead to much worse things.

My words must have struck a chord because she nodded and forced a smile. "Shall we go," she asked, getting up. "Yeah, we probably should," I muttered, hopping to my feet. She offered me her arm and I took it. Together, we walked to The Restaurant (the owner was pretty unoriginal). We arrived right on time and got the table I'd asked for, the one on the veranda that overlooked the garden of violets and jasmine. The sun still hadn't descended beyond our sight, hesitantly hovering and enhancing the natural beauty of our surroundings. The waiter guided us to the table and quickly left to get our dinner. If there is one thing I actually do know about women, it's that deep down, they all want to be complemented about how they look.

"You look beautiful tonight," I said, meaning every word. That's the other thing. Never use the word 'beautiful' unless you mean it, it is the single most descriptive word in the whole world, expressing a deeper, more valuable truth than anything else you could possibly say. And she was beautiful. Not the insubstantial appearance of the proverbial blond bombshell, but something infinitely more complete. Undefinable by any one part, but beauty as a collection of the whole, sincere and undeniable.

Rei blushed, averting her gaze, and her smile, to the waiter who was balancing our dinner one handed. "Here you go, Monsieur et Madame," he said flamboyantly, darting off to serve someone else. Rei smiled at me. "This is my favorite," she commented appreciatively, taking a small bite. She chewed on it thoughtfully before, politely, spitting it into an available napkin. "It tastes funny," was all she said. "Hold on, I'll just go and have a little talk with the chef," I said, grinning, or to be more accurate, gritting my teeth. I worked my way through to the kitchen and went on in. One guy looked like he might have inquired what I was doing, but he didn't. A man my size showing that many teeth has a certain stopping power to it.

"Volvo! We've gotta prob...," for the second time in as many days, I drawled off into mute silence as I saw not the ancient rude man I'd expected, but a bumbling young woman who I'd had the misfortune to taste her cooking before. One time too many. "Hi, Amada. Well, how is it? I made it extra special for you two! Ooh, you're so roooomantic, I wish Geggy would do this for me," Maria babbled excitedly. I agreed, I wish Gegory had done something like this for her. If the food was any where near the same, it'd be an enjoyable night until one or the other collapsed from an acute case of food poisoning. "What. Are. You. Doing. Here," I said, taking each word slowly enough, distantly pinning my hopes on the off chance that she might for once understand what was going on.

"Oh, before I forget, Volvo got a little stomach ache and had to stay home, so I volunteered. He didn't seem to keen about it though," she chirped, smiling at me like she'd done the mother of all favors for me. "Omigod. It's ruined," I groaned, slumping in a chair, "Bad food, Bleary's still not back with the ring yet. What else can possibly go wrong?" "Aaggghhh," I added, purely for effect. "YOU CALLED," Death said, sounding utterly amused. I drew my face out of my hands at an imperceptible pace, afraid at what I might see. "Not you," I moaned, finding my self face-to-face with the grim reaper, "Can't you come back later?" Maria glanced around the room, looking for my current tormentor. "Are you okay, Amada? I'm the only other person in here," she stated, not aware of the way things were rapidly heading down hill. "SHE'S RIGHT. YOU'RE THE ONLY PERSON WHO CAN SEE OR HEAR ME, YOU LUCKY MORTAL. I HOPE I'M NOT INTERRUPTING ANYTHING," He asked sarcastically, really enjoying himself. Humming an uppity little dirge, he leaned His scythe against the doorpost.

I didn't answer Him, in fact, I just got up and walked calmly back to my table. "Are you alright," she inquired, uncertain of what to make of my sudden equilibrium. "Oh, me? I'm just perfect," I remarked genially, sitting down in my chair. Of course, He was over there, leaning against the rail and wearing that stupid grin. "USUALLY IT TAKES A LITTLE LONGER BEFORE THEY SNAP. AT THIS RATE, YOU'LL BE SETTING A RECORD, FRIEND," Death commented, nonchalantly fingering the farm implement that was His symbol of office. "I'm not crazy," I told my uninvited guest, taking the glass of wine in one gulp. Now Rei was really starting to worry. "What are you talking about? Is there something wrong," she demanded gently, laying a hand on my arm. I waved away her suspicions. "Nah, everything is fine," I said, looking just in time to see Bleary waving at me enthusiastically outside the restaurant, "Sorry, I've, uh, got to visit the little boy's room real fast."

"Where have you been," I shouted, once safely out of The Restaurant. "Sorry, the jeweler couldn't figure out what the heck was on the paper so he had to guess how you wanted it. Here it is," Bleary snapped, apparently nearing the end of his patience. I grabbed the ring and took off back over to Rei, determined to end this before anything more devastating to my mental health started happening. "Remember, I need to talk to you later," He yelled after me.

"Amada, there's something I need to ask you," Rei said as I plopped back down in my seat. "Okay, what is it," I inquired, the ring clamped tightly in my fist, digging into my palm. The last thing I needed right now was to lose the ring. "Well, today I was thinking, about the Temple, and I came to realize that the only thing that truly makes me happy is being with you. I know nothing on this earth is permanent and time is rarely kind. Will you...will you accept me as your bride," she asked, moving to a kneeling position.

As the meaning behind her words struck me, I tried to laugh. It's important to stress that I tried as it's nigh impossible to do when you're drinking a glass of wine. The people around us turned to watch as a rumbling, choking noise emerged from my throat, along with the wine. Rei looked like I'd hurt her feelings. "I'm sorry, I hadn't known you felt that way," she started to say, but I stopped her.

"It's...not...that," I gurgled, still trying to regain my breath, "I...brought you here...to ask you the same thing." Rei cocked her head to the side. "Truly? So that is why you have acted so strangely," she conjectured, smiling without regret, "Does that mean you will consent to be my husband?" I grinned back, glad that things were turning out fine after all. "With all my heart," I agreed, offering my hand to her. The crowd that had been openly eavesdropping for the last minute or so applauded, some laughing at the role reversal.

"LET ME BE THE FIRST TO OFFER MY BLESSINGS," Death offered amiably, wearing his trademark grin. I ignored him.

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"Amada" and "Suikoden 2" are (C) Konami. This chapter was posted before May 22, 2000