Chapter 4: Truths Revealed

"I suppose you're wondering why I left..." Relm trailed off.

"I figured it was an emotional break down. Is there something else that you want to tell me?" Gau asked her.

"It's horrible. I'll never forgive myself..." Relm said.

"What did you do?" Gau asked her.

"I said and did some horrible things..." Relm said as tears stroked her face.

Relm went to the kitchen and poured up a glass of water for Strago, who was coughing madly. She went back upstairs and gave it to him. "Will you be OK?" Relm asked him with worry.

"cough I don't think so, Relm..." Strago said weakly.

"What do you mean? What will happen? You have to get better! You were healthy a few months ago!" Relm said as a few tears scattered on her cheeks.

"Time has to catch eventually..." Strago said.

"No! You have to stay with me! I need you! I love you Gramps!" Relm sputtered in shock.

"Relm, I love you too...but I fear you won't feel that way for long..." Strago said quietly.

"What do you mean by that?" Relm asked him.

"Relm, I have something to tell you before I die..." Strago said.

"But you're not going to die, you're going to get better!" Relm said.

"No, Relm, I am not. You have to face reality," Strago said.

"Well, what do you have to tell me? What is it about?" Relm asked him.

"It's about your father," Strago said.

"What is it?" Relm said in astonishment.

"Relm, you may hate me for keeping it a secret from you for so long, but, your father was really right by your side while we were fighting Kefka," Strago said.

"What? Who? Who was he?" Relm asked him anxiously.

"Shadow. It was Shadow. He died in Kefka's Tower. He never left there. I...never bothered to tell you," Strago said.

Relm's tears became tears of rage and hurt. She couldn't control what she might say. "How could you! How could you keep that from me for three years!? I hate you! You liar! All you ever do is lie! I really hope you die now! I don't need a liar in my life!" Relm yelled as she kicked the chair over and knocked things off tables.

"By the time my rage was over, he had already died. I couldn't even get a chance to say I was sorry. That I didn't really hate him..." Relm said before bursting into tears again.

"It's OK, I'm here for you. I'm just glad I got here in time to make sure you didn't kill yourself..." Gau said thankfully.

"I...I don't know...Something came over me...I didn't want to have to take anymore. I'm sick of all this pain. I just want it to end..." Relm said quietly as the tears started to flow again.

"It will eventually. Just let me help you. I want to be with you, Relm. Now if only you would let me..." Gau said to her.

"I just don't like having to count on others. I've already lost one person I counted on...I don't want to lose you too..." Relm said to him.

"You will never lose me, Relm. I would never let that happen," Gau aid trying to assure her as much as possible.

"I...want to forget for a little while. Please, Gau, make me forget...Please make me forget for just a little while?" Relm pleaded with him.

"How do you mean?" Gau asked her.

"Just...love me..." Relm said to him.

He saw passion into her eyes. Passion he had always felt for her. A need to feel something. Something...comforting. Gau looked at her as serious as his eyes could be. "Relm, are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. I couldn't be anymore positive," Relm said to him and kissed him lightly. She had just given him permission to whatever he wanted as long as she felt comfortable with it.

"OK, as long as you say so. Just tell me if you don't want me to do something," Gau said to her.

Relm nodded, only wanting to feel him close to her. She felt peaceful and safe in his arms. She didn't know why, but she liked the feeling he gave her. She didn't want to lose him. She couldn't bear it.

"Are you OK now?" Gau asked her lovingly.

"Yes, I'll be fine. Thank you. I love you," Relm said as she walked out of the house with him following her.

"I love you too," Gau said to her and then kissed her cheek.

"Hey, Gau! Come over for a sec!" Sabin yelled out to him.

"Will you be OK?" Gau asked her.

"Yeah, I'll be OK, go on," Relm assured him before walked over to Sabin.

Relm looked around for the priest. What he had said a few days ago lingered in her mind now. What was it that he wanted to wait to tell her? It must've been about her father. She had to know.

"Hello, child, how are you?" the priest asked from behind her.

"Oh, Father, I was just looking for you," Relm said.

"Oh? For what?" the priest asked kindly.

"I want to know what you wanted to wait to tell me about. I think I'm ready to know now. Please tell me?" Relm asked kindly.

"Oh, yes, of course. Well, it is about your father and mother," the priest began.

I knew it had something to do with that... Relm thought to herself.

"Well, your father, Clyde, came here injured one evening. Your mother, Carol (A/Njust using a name for reference) found him and decided to try to nurse him back to health. She succeeded in this and also fell in love with him in the process," the priest said.

"The classic love story..." Relm said.

"So it seems...but your father had a very bad reputation. He was a thief that had stolen from others. Those thieves came after your father, that is how he was injured. No one knew this at the time and were quite kind to him. He really seemed nice enough to tell the truth," the priest said.

"I see, so what happened then?" Relm urged him to continue.

"Well, you were born of course. They had fallen in love and they wanted to show each other how much they cared. You born out of love. They wanted you. Your father, however, knew he shouldn't have done this in the first place. This is because he was endangering people's lives. Yours and your mothers especially. This is why he decided to leave after a few years of visiting and such to see you. He left for good when you were close to four years old. You probably wouldn't remember this," the priest said.

"Go on," Relm said.

"Well, after this, your mother was heartbroken, but she went on living in hope of seeing him again. However, her life ended in tragedy. Nobody really knows how she died. Some people think the thieves after Clyde came and killed your mother. She hid you in a very smart place. If she hadn't, you would've been killed as well," the priest said.

"So that's how I survived..." Relm said.

"Because of your mothers shocking death, the people of Thamasa became less trustworthy of strangers. This is why we don't take kindly to strangers. Strago didn't want to take any chances of anyone harming you. He hd promised your mother that he would guard you with his life. He had found her right before she died and took you in after that. He never told anybody what he saw in that house. He just said that it was too horrible to speak of. He took the secret to his grave," the priest said finally.

"It seems that way..." Relm said.

"Well, I've told you all I know. I hope it eased your mind just a little," the priest said to her.

"Do you know if he...loved me? Did he have any intentions of telling me who he was?" Relm asked.

"I know he did love you, child. I don't know if he had any intentions of coming back," the priest said before taking his leave.

"I see that you've decided to be less cold towards others as long as they respect you in return now. A wise compromise..." Relm heard from behind her.

Relm turned to see that same jet black haired man. "I never saw you ever since this morning. I don't think I even saw you at the funeral. I don't recall ever hearing or seeing you around Strago. Were you friends with him before I was born or something? I'm sure I would've heard about you any otherwise," Relm said to the man who stared at her with a half smile.

"I have been mentioned. I am just not what I seem," the man said before walking off.

"Thank you for coming..." Relm said to him as she thought of whom he might be.

All of a sudden, Interceptor barked. The man seemed to slow and was about to look back, but decided not to. Relm looked down at Interceptor, who was staring hard at the man.

Interceptor only interacts with Shadow and I...my father...unless he's trying to get help... Relm thought.

"...Shadow..." Relm finished her sentence of thanking him for coming.

All of a sudden, the man came back to her in a very fast pace and stopped behind her. He bent down and whispered in her ear. "Some things are better left unsaid."

Relm blinked and was about to turn and look at him, but he whispered something else. "Relm, your father has always loved you. He would never abandon you. He left for the good of your life. I will see you again. Stay well. I will always watch over you. You may not notice, like today, but I will. Take care of Interceptor..."

All of a sudden, she heard someone call her name.

"Relm," Gau said from behind her.

Relm turned around. "I thought I seem you talking to someone. Who was he?" Gau asked her.

Relm turned to look at her father, but saw no one in sight. "You must've been seeing things...there's no one there..."Relm said, deciding to follow what he had said. "Some things are better left unsaid anyway," Relm said.

Gau looked confused for a moment but got over it. "Sabin told me that the airships are leaving in about twenty minutes. I can either take one out of here, or stay here, or you can come with me," Gau offered.

Relm shook her head. "I think I'll stay here a few days and get things straightened up. You can leave if you want to. I'll be fine on my own," Relm said to him.

"Hey, Gau, are you coming or not?" Sabin asked him impatiently.

Gau turned and shouted back, "No, I think I'll stay here for a few days."

"Gau, you don't-" Relm was cut off by a kiss.

"I want to. I love you. Anyway, I'd miss you too much if I did leave," Gau said with a grin.

Relm smiled and kissed him again. "I love you too," Relm said to him.

"...Let's go back inside," Gau said after a pause.

"Yeah, sure...Gau?" Relm said.

"Yeah?" Gau asked.

"Tell me about yours and Strago's relationship?" Relm asked.

"Sure, if you think you can handle it," Gau said.

"I think I can...I'm sorry for running out on you earlier..." Relm said.

"It's OK, I understand," Gau said and then shut the door behind him.