Thick as Thieves

By Dixxy Mouri

Chapter Fourteen: Midnight Walk

Note: Please read the Author’s Notes at the end of the chapter.

Even if he never saw the shores of El Nido again, Dario decided that he could be happy here. The tavern didn't usually have much trouble – especially not with the local bandits spreading rumors about his defeat of Francis' gang. When bandits did show up, it didn't take much for Dario to bring him down the with the small amount of Dragoon swordsmanship he had learned from his father before Curtis kidnapped Glenn. It was decent job, and he liked the idea of staying there for a while.

And it was honest work.

Dario and Rachel were also becoming good friends. He often escorted her around town when she needed to go shopping for the tavern or for herself, and she would keep him company while he practiced, having cold water and towels nearby when he needed them. She didn't have the history he had with Karsh or Glenn or even Norris, but she was still a good friend. And considering all of the awful things that had happened with his prior group, he liked having a fresh start with Rachel.

One night, about three months after Dario had arrived, Mr. Sparks went to bed early from a headache and had his daughter and bouncer close the tavern. She counted up the money while he was cleaning up behind the bar. Things had gotten quiet before Rachel cleared her throat. “It was a good night,” she said. “We made a decent profit.”

“That's good,” said Dario. “No trouble, either.”

“None,” Rachel agreed. Finished with the day's earnings, she sighed and looked around. “Dario. . . I've been wondering. . .” she said, turning to the bar. Dario put down the mug he was wiping and gave her his attention. Rachel coughed a little into her fist. “Um. . . I was kind of curious. . .”

“Rachel?” Dario asked.

“Where. . . did you come from?” she asked.

Dario raised an eyebrow. “Um. . . what?”

“If you don't want to say anything that's fine but. . . you're not from Guardia, are you?” she said. Rachel put down the money and sighed. “I'm sorry, I'm probably prying into your personal life – a lot of people have had a hard time since Porre took over but it's just that you don't say anything at all.”

“No, I'm not from Guardia,” Dario said, leaping over the bar and walking towards Rachel. He sat at the table she'd been counting at and sighed. “If I tell you where I came from, you can't tell anyone – I'm afraid of what might happen.” Rachel sat up and nodded. “Good.”

“Are you sure you want to tell me? Because of you don't-”

Dario shook his head. “No. You've been a good friend. I don't mind telling you.”

So Dario told her everything.

And Rachel listened.

Dario felt as if his sad, twisted little story was spilling out of his mouth like an uncontrollable flood. He told her about the war, about Curtis kidnapping Glenn and taking him to Porre, about how he and Karsh had followed him and realized what was going on. He told her about Norris and his attempts to help them, choosing to forsake his country for people he'd just met. He told her about their enslavement in Medina and their subsequent escape, only to be captured by Red Beard and enslaved yet again.

By the time Dario told Rachel about Glenn's fate, part of him felt numb.

Rachel took Dario's hand. “Dario. . . it's okay to be upset.”

“I know, but I miss him,” he said. “I miss Karsh and Norris, too, but I'm afraid of what I'll do if I'm around them. I know it's not their fault, but I don't think I could control myself around them if I had to.” He put his head in his hands. “They were my best freakin' friends and I can't even be around them because I'm too angry.”

“He was your little brother – of course you'll be mad.”

Rachel squeezed his hand. “You just need some time. Then you can see them.”

Dario nodded slowly, still depressed. Rachel hugged him as he started to sob.

The next two weeks at the tavern passed without incident.

Dario had fully intended to go to sleep when he heard movement in the hallway outside his door. Dressing quickly, he grabbed his sword and poked his head out the door. He saw, much to his surprise, Rachel standing in the middle of the hallway, fully dressed and staring at him like a caught thief. “Rachel?”

“I'm just going for a walk.”

Dario raised an eyebrow. “At this hour?”

Rachel turned away. “I can't sleep.”

Looking forlornly at his bed, Dario sighed. “Let me go with you.”

“That's not necessary.”

“No, it's fine – you shouldn't be out on your own this late at night anyways.”

Rachel frowned, but nodded as Dario grabbed his boots and pulled them on. “Are you sure you're not too tired? It's very late and my restlessnes shouldn't affect you like this. You'll need to be awake to work tomorrow.”

“I've done harder work on less sleep,” he said, closing the door behind him. The two proceeded down the hallway and to the stairwell. “My enslavement in Medina made anything your father has had me do here seem like a vacation. Trust me when I say this is no big deal. Besides,” he said with a yawn, “I enjoy your company.”

Rachel blushed. “I enjoy yours as well.”

The two stayed silent as they crossed the main room of the tavern – Dario opened the door for Rachel and the two stepped out into the crisp night air. Locking the door behind him, Dario looked around to ensure there weren't any men of ill intent around and then started to walk.

The two had raised interesting points when they'd last exchanged words. Without question Dario liked Rachel and Rachel liked Dario. She probably enjoyed having someone around her age working at the tavern and he enjoyed having someone who was stable to talk to.

The question was. . . did it stop at friendship?

No one was out that night, so they virtually had the town to themselves. The moons provided enough light to see where they were going, and the quiet was both relaxing and disturbing. Neither spoke during the walk, Rachel shuffling her feet and Dario iddly kicking a rock along the way.

They stopped at a fountain at the center of town. It had been made in honor of the hero of Guardia's past, Sir Glenn, the one who had defeated Magus after being forced to live in the body of a frog. Two stone statues – one of a knight, and one of an anthropomorphic frog – stood at the center as the water shot up from behind them.

“I remember once hearing that the Great Garai of the Acacia Dragoons was a descendant of Sir Glenn – is that true?” asked Rachel. Dario nodded, sitting on the edge of the fountain and looking at his ancestor's two forms.

“We lost the Masamune at some point – my family line, that is – but once we arrived in El Nido we became the favored family of the Einlanzer,” said Dario. He frowned. “Kinda stinks that the Masamune vanished, but the Einlanzer – as far as I know – is still okay. Then again, no real news has left El Nido in a while.”

“It's probably fine – El Nido is probably one of the last sane places left,” said Rachel.

Dario closed his eyes. “But is it really?”

“How so?”

“Viper closed the port. I would have loved to have had a chance to go back there, and I'm sure that a lot of people would have tried to escape to the islands to get away from Porre, but that won't happen,” he said. He looked up at the sky and sighed. “Like Norris.”

“Hmm?” asked Rachel.

“I know you don't pay attention to them, but I do – he's got a wanted poster.”

Rachel's eyes widened. “What did he do?”

“Treason,” said Dario. He looked down. “Probably for saving us.”

Rachel frowned. “You gonna be okay?”

“As long as they leave the posters up I know he's safe, let's put it that way,” he said. “It's a little comforting in a way – I don't know where he is but I know that as long as they're looking for him, he's probably alive and out of Porre's hands. Karsh is probably with him, I'd say.”

“They really loved each other?”
Dario sighed. “I don't know. I know they were really close but I always thought they were just friends. I didn't realize it was that serious,” he said. “Still. . . Karsh told me that he loved him. I just. . . it's so hard to judge when you haven't really seen it. They didn't DARE show it around Red Beard, and it wasn't until after I knew that I started noticing the little things. A look here, a look there. . . not enough to know how serious it was at the time.”

“So you do care.”

“Of course,” said Dario. “Karsh and I were kids together. Norris saved my life.”

They sat in silence for several more minutes.

“Like you said – he may be running, but he's alive and safe for now.”

Dario nodded. “Yeah.” He smiled. “It's good to know.”

Rachel leaned her head on Dario's shoulder – he tensed. Rachel. . . what are you doing? She reached over and grabbed his hand. His eyes widened. Is she flirting, or hitting on me, or something? This was unexpected – though, then again, they were teenagers, and he remembered seeing teenagers in El Nido and even in Zenan dating and what-not. Maybe this was. . . something.

Deciding to find out if it was “something”, Dario turned his head to kiss Rachel.

And under the light of the moons, he realized that maybe this was “something”.

Rachel pulled away and looked into his eyes. “Dario. . .”

They started to kiss again, this time a bit more fevered, embracing each other and gasping a little. Dario leaned a little too far into the kiss, sending them both toppling into the fountain with twin screams. They stared at each other for a few seconds, each soaked to the bone, before laughing it off.

“Maybe we should head back home,” said Rachel.

“I agree.”

Dario stood, helping Rachel to her feet – he didn't let go of her hand as he helped her step out of the fountain as well. And he didn't let go of her hand as they ran through the streets back The Mad Griffon, laughing as beads of water flew off their bodies and out of their hair and their clothing, leaving tiny drops of mud in their wake.

By the time they had arrived at The Mad Griffon, they had become all but inseparable entities. Dario fumbled with the keys to the front door, still holding and kissing Rachel as he managed to open it, bring them both inside, and shut and lock the door. He pressed her against the door, she running her hands through his hair.

Dario stopped, gasping a little as she looked into her eyes. “Rachel. . .” He put a hand around her waist – the hem of her skirt was still damp. “We're still all wet,” he said. He laughed, pressing his forehead to hers. Their eyes met – her eyes showed noting but love, which he returned by kissing her lips and caressing her cheek. “We both probably need to get out of these clothes.”

“Yeah,” said Rachel. She looked down. “We should probably head to bed.”

Dario nodded. “Yeah. It's late.”

“Can't you at least give me a goodnight kiss?” asked Rachel.

Dario willingly complied, only to have the goodnight kiss refuel their passion as they fumbled up the stairs of the tavern, stopping in front of Rachel's bedroom door. The sound of her father's snoring could be heard down the hallway as they continued to exchange saliva and let their tongues dance.

Rachel reached behind her, grasping the doorknob and turning it. She stepped backwards into the room, leaving Dario on the outside with a bewildered look on his face. Their eyes locked. Someone had to say or do something. “Well,” Rachel said softly, “do you. . . want to come in?” She raised a curled index finger, beckoning him inside.

Dario gave her a low growl. “Do you want me to come in?”
“Well,” she said, smirking, “we need to get you out of those clothes anyways.”

Their lips locked, Dario stepped inside, and gently closed the door with his foot.

Dario would not be returning to his bedroom that evening.

Author's Notes

DARIO/RIDDEL FANS PLEASE DO NOT KILL ME!!

Please keep in mind this is a HUGE alternate universe fanfiction and under no other circumstances would I mess with this pairing. That said, during the early phases of this story, I realized that Dario was going to end up a freakin’ snooze fest with very little spotlight or personality. If I didn't start doing thing like this he would have ended up a generic leader type.

There's an exciting announcement for the next chapter, but we have a special guest all the way from the year 3000 to deliver the message to you! Here he is, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth!

Professor Farnsworth: GOOD NEWS EVERYBODY! Dixxy tells me another canon Chrono Cross will be appearing next chapter – one who hasn’t appeared in this fanfiction thus far. And I've just invented the iSmell, which lets you smell all of your favorite MP3 music files! Now you can listen to Keith Richards AND smell him at the same time!

. . .

Special thanks to Triple C for beta-reading. Which she does a lot of.

Dixxy