Elfheim in the world of Paramecia, the kingdom of the Elves sitting inside a great forest on the southwestern side of the world. The Prince of the Elves ruled from his castle and the city was peaceful and prosperous.

The city was calmly going about the business of the day amidst the life of the trees, quite blissfully unaware of the oddest circumstance going on in the village cemetary. A little girl with pale pink hair that fell to brush the backs of her calves was walking from one flower to another and gathering them into a small bundle in her hand. Beside her a winged cat followed, though the cat was colored the same royal blue as the girl's clothes and her large eyes.

She appeared to finally content herself with the size of the bouquet in her hand and walked over to one of the gravestones where she knelt down and laid the flowers on the grass. She couldn't read the words on the gravestone, didn't know who this "Link" was that she honored, but when she had paused for a moment, she stood up again and began gathering another bouquet for the next slumbering elf.

She had already decorated three such graves and seemed quite intent on her work.

She was an adorable child, dimpled knees and dimpled cheeks, probably about five years of age, though she could have been older if she was small for her years. She wasn't watching her environment, was just gathering flowers for those who had passed beyond even the power of her healing kiss, though she didn't know that.

Sometimes, what you don't know, can't touch you.

Kichi walked calmly through the forest. His feet brushed against the ground ever so gently as he put one foot in front of the other. He giggled every now and then, because it tickled him. He smiled gently as he walked onward. The sunshine gleamed off his wobbling pompom. He looked so overly adorable. He looked like a little puppy a little girl would just want to hug. His fur had recently been brushed and it shined as result. Kichi looked better than ever. His armor had even been shined; yes his vest had been shined.

The wind brushed gently against the little moogle’s fur, causing the furs to move in a timed motion together. It was a rather nice feeling, Kichi was enjoying it. He walked on and spotted all different shorts of creatures. He saw a deer drinking from a nearby pond. He saw a bear trying to grab honey from a beehive, which was too high for the bear to reach. He even saw a bug on the ground. He saw so many things that made him in such a peaceful mood.

While he was walking he noticed something in the distance. It was a rather small girl gathering flowers. She was a rather cute little girl. She had pretty big blue eyes that stood out right away. Kichi wanted to run up and hug her like would normally but he decided he would do something different for once.

Kichi slowly walked towards the little girl, making sure he did not make a sound while he did so. He stopped right behind the little girl. He leaned towards her to say something but lost his balance. He went forward falling into a nearby rose bush. The thorns on the bush were sharp, like an arrow head. They dug into Kichi’s flesh cutting him deep. He screamed out in pain. He tried to get out of the bush but every move he made only drove thorns deeper into his flesh. A smell of iron entered the air; as small amounts of a reddish color liquid started to ooze out of a few cuts on Kichi. Kichi screamed out in pain once again.

Mairi-chan turned at the sound of the screaming Moogle, her eyes filling with tears at the sound of another person in pain. "Oh oh oh!" She reached out and tried to pull the Moogle out of the rose bush, her eyes sending tears streaking down her face.

The kitten at her side blew through his nose once and drew on the magical energy that linked him and Mairi-chan. He lowered his head to the ground and then grew to a huge size, as large at the shoulder as a grown hume was to the top of his head. The great beast raised his head and then reached down delicately with his maw to lift Kichi up from the rosebush.

He set the Moogle down again next to Mairi and she smiled up at Cuddles through the tears flowing down her face. Then she wrapped her little arms around Kichigai and kissed his face, murmuring. "Is okay. All safe now. Tisses make the bobos go away."

She couldn't help it, the moogle was so cute and so cuddly.

((Okay, 50 MP to activate Cuddle's Summoning, 10 MP for the Tiss-Tiss. 60 MP used, 40 left for the topic.))

Kichi let out a little whimper as the rose bush dug deeper into his flesh. He looked around frantically for a way out. His eyes came upon a little girl attempting to pull him out. She was having just as much luck as he was.

Kichi heard a sound escape from the kitten by her side. Within moments the creature had grown larger than Kichi. He approached Kichi and reached down and pulled Kichi out of the roses bush and placed him on the ground gently on his feet. He smiled at the creature and was about to thank him when someone hugged him.

Kichi looked to see it was the little girl, Mairi. He smiled gently and wrapped his arms around her and hugged her tightly. While hugging he noticed that the pain he had felt was gone, the girl had held his wounds. He hugged the girl even tightly out of happiness than let go and step back.

“Thank you, Kupo! I am so grateful you helped me, kupo. Words can not express my…” He ran up to her and hugged her again tightly. Let go and reached into his pockets and pulled out a cookie. He looked at the cookie for a moment before deciding it was the best he could do. He looked away shyly. “I usually do not do this but here” He said extending the cookie out in his hand.

Mairi looked at the offered cookie and smiled wide. She took the cookie from Kichi and looked at it for a moment and then broke it in half and offered half of it back to Kichi. "Share wif me? I like you."

Of course, Mairi was naturally predisposed to like anyone who wasn't taller than she was . . . and even those who were most of the time.

Behind them, Cuddles whuffed in what could almost have been a chortle of humor. He found both of these two rather humorous in a protective-older-brother sort of way. He snuffed at Mairi's hair and started to lick at her and she giggled as she munched on the half a cookie.

"Wanna ride on Cuddles? When he's big like this he's even more fun than when he's little." Then she grinned in a manner that was almost impish for how angelic her face was. "Wanna see something cool? Not even Tira knows, so be quiet, okay?"

Magic fluttered around Mairi-chan and she turned slightly so that Kichi could see the small, cherubic pink-feathered wings on her back. She giggled. "I can fly, but I can't fly like Cuddles can."

((Activation of her Enchantment, can't remember the name offhand.))

Kichi looked at the cookie and smiled happily. He did not have to be told twice to eat a cookie. He reached out and gently grabbed the cookie. “Thank you, kupo” he said smiling at Mairi.

Kichi stared at the little girl happily. She had not only saved him from the thorns but had offered him a cookie. He liked her completely, she was now his friend. Whither she knew that was behind his knowledge.

Kichi stood on the tip of his paws to look over Mairi. He was trying to look at Cuddles but having trouble doing so because of his height. He smiled and let out a little giggle as he finally saw Cuddles.

When Mairi asked Kichi if he wanted to ride Cuddles his face lit up with excitement. “WOULD I?!?” he asked. “Yes, PLEASE, kupo!” He smiled at her wagging his pompom happily.

“I would love to see something cool, kupo….and I promise on a cookie to keep it a secret, kupo.”

His face lit up with glee as the little girl started to form wings. They were so cute and small Kichi giggled. “AWW! They so pretyytyyy. Kupo” he said sounding like a five year old. He kept staring at the wings.

He walked over to Cuddles slowly and pointed at him. “May we ride him now, kupo?”

Mairi giggled and nodded. She fluttered her wings and floated up into the air slightly, reaching a hand out to Kichi to help him up so that they could settle on Cuddles' back between his great wings so that they didn't impede him.

Mairi sunk her fingers into Cuddles' fur so that she could hold on and looked back slightly to grin at Kichi. "You ready?"

Cuddles chuckled deep in his chest and the feeling of it rumbled all through his body and up into the two riders. He spread his wings with a great snap and took three bounding leaps forward before launching himself into the air, rising up on the wind and flying over the forest around Elfheim.

The view was absolutely unbelievable. The whole world of Paramecia stretched out beneath them. The mountains to the west of the forest were passable and beyond them was a ruined city to the north and to the south was the cavern that Mairi remembered from the game that Coral Q had been playing with her.

It was so beautiful.

Kichi smiled at Mairi. He was pleased to be around her. She made him feel very happy. She reached her hand out to help him up. Kichi grabbed her hand with his soft, little paw. He pulled himself up top of Cuddles back. He giggled. “He is so soft, kupo!”

Kichi pompom was wagging a mile a minute. “Ready, kupo.” He said responding to Mairi. He reached out and wrapped his arms around her waist gently for support.

“WOW, kupo!” Kichi exclaimed as they took off into the air.

He looked at the forest blow their feet and smiled. It was so pretty. “So much green, kupo!” He looked over at the nearby mountains. Fog surrounded the rim of the top of the mountains. It made it look so majestic. It was like one of the seven wonder of the ancient world. It was so beautiful.

Kichi struggled to find something to say because he was so star struck.

“This is so beautiful, kupo!” he yelled loudly.

His face lit up as a bright rainbow colored bird suddenly flew by there side. “Look at that, kupo.”

Mairi-chan grinned at the beautiful bird. It was so much fun to go flying with Cuddles, so much fun to feel the wind in her face and brushing across the feathers of her wings. She lifted her face towards the sky and closed her eyes for a moment. She knew that she could trust Cuddles completely. He was her friend. Now Kichi was her friend, too.

Making friends was the best part of life.

Cuddles felt that the best part of the whole adventure was being able to share the joy of flight with the two small ones he carried. He loved the wind and the sky and the freedom and he was pleased to share that joy, that exultation, with these two small people.

Not many could understand matters from his perspective, the simple joys and the simple pleasures. He chuckled deep in his chest again, sending the reverberations through his riders as he began a slow, sweeping turn to carry them back to Elfheim.

Kichi giggled as he watched the bird fly away from them off into the gleaming sun. The sunshine kept him warm, while the cool winds kept him cool. So his temperature was perfectly fine around. It was so peaceful. He could have asked for nothing more.

Mairi did not know it, but this is exactly what he had needed. Kichi had been much stressed lately. He may be simple minded, but he knew when he had a lot to do; and how important those things are. From Brix to Shade to Garland to Genesis, Kichi was over loaded. His last fight with Garland had left him weak-minded. He needed this break.

As Cuddles chuckled Kichi felt the vibration radiate throughout the body of the creature and in return make him vibrate.

Suddenly he felt weightless and felt a rushing sensation pass throughout his body, as the wind rushed throughout his fur. He looked up and Cuddles and Marir seemed far away. He had fallen off of Cuddles when he vibrating and was now flying toward the ground.

Mairi realized that something was very wrong when she felt Kichi's arms slide out from around her. She turned her head to look just as Kichi was sliding the rest of the way off of Cuddles.

She wasn't afraid, not like some would think she would be. She was concerned because she knew that Kichi's small wings, as small as hers were, couldn't lift him as far into the air as they were. Nor could they stop his fall before he hit the ground . . . or the ocean, which was more likely because they were flying over water at the moment.

She tightened her grip on Cuddles' fur. She didn't even have to tell him what to do. He simply knew.

He turned sharply in the air and tightened his wings as he began a steep dive to get beneath the falling Moogle. Mairi could feel the wind pick up speed around her, throwing her hair out behind as they dove together. When Cuddles was finally in position beneath Kichi he snapped open his wings and Mairi caught hold of Kichi as he landed on Cuddles' back, reaching out to grab his hand so that he didn't fall off again.

"Careful!" she said over the sound of the wind and the waves beneath them. "Don' wanna fall off like that. You 'kay?"

Kichi let out a scream of terror as he realized what was happening. He was falling. Kichi was too much in shock to act. He could easily use his enchantment to make his wings larger and fly, but he didn’t have the ability to think at the moment.

The wind rushed across his fur. It was cool and forceful as he began to twirl around toward the ground. The ground was becoming closer and closer in his vision. He could see more an more green with each passing second.

Suddenly something appeared underneath him. He felt something grab him tightly. He landed on Cuddles back. Mairi was gripping him tightly.

He sighed in relief as he came to realize he had been saved. He wrapped his arms around Mairi, hugging her tightly! “THANK YOU SO MUCH KUPO!” He yelled happily. “I am fine, kupo” He responded to her. He began to kiss her cheeks happily while gripping her tightly. He was so happy to have her near him.

Mairi and Kichi would be friends for life, because of this action.

Once he was certain that Kichi wasn't going to fall off him again, Cuddles straightened out his flight path and soared up into the sky again, just not as high as he had been. He was glad that the little Moogle hadn't been harmed.

For her part, Mairi-chan flushed a bright red at Kichi's profuse thanks. She wasn't certain how to respond, but she knew that she would have done even more than that for a friend. And Kichi was her friend.

She smiled at him, and helped him get settled again on Cuddles' back. "S'okay. Friends help each other, right?" She could see the forest below them now as they flew closer to Elfheim. "Wanna go down? Or wanna see somethin' else? Lotsa cities here. Even a city almost surrounded by a lake. I got a funny feelin' when I saw that city when Sorin was flyin' the airship here."

Kichi made sure that he kept a firm grip around Mairi. He feared if he did not, he would fall again. So he wrapped his arms around her firmly.

He smiled as he noticed she was being to turn red. Her face was redder than his pompom. This made him giggle. He was enjoying his time with Mairi. She had no idea how much fun he was having with her.

He looked down at the city below. It looked so wonderful. It radiated life and Kichi loved the way it appeared from above. Kichi thought about her request for a moment than said "Well, kupo. I do not mind; as long as I am with you, kupo." He nuzzled his face in her back. "Well maybe we should check the place you had a feeling about, kupo."

Mairi-chan giggled as Kichi pressed his face into her back. She was very glad that he was alright and that Cuddles had been able to get below him so that she could catch him. She ran her fingers through Cuddles' fur as they flew and the great winged cat knew what she meant.

He veered his direction to the East, heading away from the forests of Elfheim and towards a mountain range across the ocean. They crossed over a desert area and that was when Kichi could see the outline of what Mairi had been describing to him.

There was a lake, a great lake that was shaped like nothing less then a crescent moon cut into the earth below them. Within that crescent there was a city. Cuddles began to slowly descend towards an area outside of the city gates, slightly to the east of the city, on the banks of the lake. It was there that he landed and calmly lay down so that his passengers could slide off without harm.

Mairi looked around at the water and the green grass. "This place makes me feel strange."