It was raining heavier than usual in Burmecia as raindrops fiercely toppled on the building and ground. It was late in the evening as the sun had already set. Thought for Burmecia this would be hard to tell at times. Lightning raced through the sky as booming thunder claps followed. Most Burmecians were either inside their homes or running to find some form of shelter from the downpour. Inside a regular-looking building was a female Burmecian, one with a rather distended stomach, laying on a large bed. This woman was Freya Crescent, one of the most renowned Dragon Knights in Burmecian. Not only were her skills thought to be unmatched by most in the kingdom, but around two years ago Freya helped save the world from certain destruction. She became one of the most well-known Dragon Knights across Gaia. This fame led her to being named the captain of the then newly-formed Burmecian Dragon Knight squad. At least, that's what she used to be.

In recent months Freya had to take a temporary break due to bearing the children of her then long-lost lover and husband Fratley. Nowadays, she would stay at home in order to make sure her unborn mischiefs were safe. The pregnant Burmecian played with her tail and hair as attempts to entertain herself. To say that Freya was bored out of her mind was the understatement of the century. Her husband had to go out early in the morning to help with some trouble down at Cleyra. Apparently grand dragons were terrorizing the place.

Don't worry I'll be sure to make it back home. I promise. That's what Fratley had told her. So now she was left by herself. While she knew that the temporary retirement was for the best, this didn't stop her from missing days of action. Freya sighed as she looked at her stomach and rubbed it. She couldn't help but smile. Years ago Freya could only dream of getting together with Fratley, let only bearing his children.

"At least I'm not completely alone. I've got you and your father to keep me company." Freya felt some movement in her stomach as the children kicked and giggled. "Alright settle down in there. You all will have plenty of time to jump around when you get out." The motherly Dragon Knight continued rubbing her stomach as she turned to lay on her right side. "Maybe a nap will help pass the time." Freya closed her eyes and took a deep breathe to relax herself. Within a few minutes she was halfway asleep when there was a loud knocking on the front door. Freya's eyes shot wide open as she tried sitting up, which proved kind of difficult with the added weight.

"Hello? Freya? Are you home right now?" Freya recognized the voice as it belonged to Wei, a survivor of Queen Brahne's attack on Burmecia almost three years ago. The two had gotten along rather well after Freya returned from stopping Kuja. Wei would even help Freya with her own pregnancy from time to time. Freya struggled to sit up on the couch. She noticed that there was a lot of panic in Wei's voice.

"Yes, I'm here Wei. The doors unlocked, so you can come in." Wei wasted no time as she slammed the door open and dashed towards Freya. "Wei, what the hell is the matter with you!?" Freya looked at the other female Burmecian with a frown. "You could've broken the door!"

"I'm really sorry Freya, but something terrible has happened to Sir Fratley." With that Freya's frown dissolved into an expression of pure concern.

"W-What happened to my husband? Is Fratley alright?"

Wei looked at her pregnant friend with sorrow. She inhaled and exhaled before she replied, "Sir Fratley got injured while fighting an antlion close to Cleyra. He's in the medical building right now. That's really all I know. We should hurry." Freya felt conflicted on whether she should press on further, but she knew it wouldn't do any good so she chose to be compliant. "Let me help you up." Wei stood to Freya's left as she wrapped the soon-to-be mother's left arm around her shoulder. "Alright on the count of three we're going to stand up."

"Okay."

"1... 2... 3..." With that the two Burmecian ladies stood up as they walked over to the door. Wei closed the door behind them, being careful to be more gentle this time. Wei nodded at Freya with a sheepish smile, while Freya replied with a pouty sigh. Walking over to the two ladies was Wei's husband Kal, another survivor of the attack on Burmecia. He had to retire momentarily from being a soldier after an injury from a fallen idol statue. The male Burmecian held up the umbrella over the women as he helped his wife carry Freya. The three Burmecians walked in the direction of the healing building.

"Freya, thank goodness you were home," Kal exclaimed. "I'm so sorry. The other Dragon Knights dragged Fratley to the hospital."

"Is he... going to make it?" Freya found it difficult to ask that question, fearing the answer she would get. Kal found it even harder to answer the question since even he wasn't sure of how likely his friend would survive.

Come on Kal, say something to her. "Right now we have some Cleyrans and Burmecian doctors and healers helping him, so at the very least he has a chance of living." Kal bit the inside of his cheek as he realized how vague the answered sound. "Besides, you know how tough Fratley is. Guy's been through the wringer, so he should pull through." The male Burmecian hoped he did a better job at comforting his friend. Freya could only stay silent as she was being carried. Thankfully, the three were closing in on the hospital where Fratley was being looked after.

"We're almost there Freya, don't you worry," Wei said as she too tried to comfort Freya. "I'm sure Fratley will pull through. Remember what Kal said. Our friend has been through much worse in life." The pregnant Burmecian continued to stay quiet as she looked down, dejected. This worried Wei a lot. Poor girl. She's probably scared out of her mind about losing him again. Oh Fratley, please don't die on us. Please survive for the sake of Freya and your children. The three ratfolk entered the hospital. The building had four floors, one after the other connected by flights of stairs.

"There you three are," said the receptionist as he walked to them. "Sir Fratley is on the second floor. Take the stairs right over there," he said as he pointed to the stairs to the right. "First room on your left is where Fratley is being kept. There should be some chairs right outside."

"Thank you very much James," Wei exclaimed as she and Kal helped Freya over to the stairs. After going up the three ratfolk arrived on the second floor and looked at the door on the left. Freya couldn't help but feel a pit in her stomach and lump in her throat as she was scared out of her mind to see the state that her husband, the father of her children, was in. Wei and Kal looked at Freya as the two weren't exactly sure what to do. Clearing his throat, Kal decided to speak up.

"Uh Freya, would you like to sit down," the Burmecian asked. Freya was silent as she continued to stare at the door. All she did was nod which prompted her two friends to help her over to the chairs. Noticing that there were enough chairs for them as well the couple decided to sit with Freya. They sat there with her for a few minutes when a voice unexpectedly broke the silence.

"Oh thank Reis you guys made it!" Limping with a pair of crutches from down the hall was Ricard, a fellow Dragon knight who was in the same group as Fratley. Something noticeable was the vast amount of bandages covering his head, left arm and left leg as well as casts on his right arm and leg. "I was wondering when you would all arrive."

"Ricard, thank goodness you're alright," Kal said.

"Well, relatively speaking," Ricard said. He became less jovial when he looked at Freya. "Freya, I'm really sorry about Fratley. He did a lot to keep us safe." Freya tensed up a bit as she found herself gripping one hand with the other. She breathed in and out before speaking

"What happened to Fratley?" The couple blinked for a bit as they looked at each other. They were a bit worried about Freya hearing the full details of what happened to her husband. Even Ricard looked uncomfortable, but he knew Freya should know what happened.

"Well..."


Ten hours prior

Fratley and the rest of the Dragon knights were close to the Cleyra Restoration Site (Cleyra for short) as they traveled on separate chocobos. There were typically five members of the current Dragon Knight squad: Freya, Fratley, Heinrich, Ricard, and Georgette; however, with Freya's pregnancy the squad was done to just four members. They received word that Grand Dragons were terrorizing the area and its residents. Ever since the destruction of the tree Cleyra rested on, efforts had been made to help rebuild the place even without the tree. With the help of the kingdoms of Lindbulm and Alexandria great effort had been made to construct a town for Cleyrans to reside in. While some of the survivors of Brahne's attack chose to stay in Burmecia, others decided to stay in the town while Cleyrans from across the globe began migrating back to what was left of their home.

"How many Grand Dragons do you think there are at the place," Ricard asked.

"From the sounds of it, we might be dealing with around two this time," Georgette interjected. "Doesn't sound like too much though."

"Yeah, doesn't much different than what we deal with at Popo's heights," Heinrich added.

"Maybe we'll be done with this just in time for lunch." Fratley said. "Heck, maybe we can have some dragon meat for lunch." Fratley chuckled as his teammates joined in the laughter. Even if his memories never really returned, the other Dragon knights were happy to find that their friend was still the same guy he was years prior. However, the laughter stopped as the team arrived at Cleyra as they saw two grand dragons causing mayhem, one trying to eat a store and the other trying to eat a young Cleyran couple. Each rather far apart. Fighting the dragons and evacuating the citizens were Lindbulmian soldiers. The four Burmecians got off the chocobos as they ran towards the dragons.

"Alright guys, two of us should try to handle one dragon each," Georgette suggest. "Ricard, you and I take the one trying to eat those poor folks. Fratley, you and Heinrich stopped the other from making a meal of that building." The female dragon knight's companions nodded in agreement as they went into their respective duos. Georgette started the attack by using jump to stab the Grand Dragon in the right eye. Blood began gushing out of the eye socket as the beast roared in pain. Ricard decided follow up with a stab to the dragon's left eye.

"Go take those two to safety alright," Ricard instructed a Lindbulm as he nodded and escorted the Cleyran couple. Ricard then turned his attention to Georgette. "Think maybe we should finish beast off."

"Don't have to tell me Ricky," Georgette replied.

"Hey! What did I say about calling me that," Ricard replied defensively, prompting a laugh from his partner.

"You make messing with you way too much fun," Georgette said as she prepared to struck the Grand Dragon.

"Whatever you say Georgie," Ricard remarked back, causing Georgette to roll her eyes.

"Alright fair enough," Georgette replied as she Ricard ran to the dragon. In synchronicity, the two slashed the Grand Dragon's throat leaving an X mark. Slowly, but surely, the dragon's head detached from its neck as a fountain of blood came out of the stub.

"Gross," Ricard remarked as he stepped away from the bloody stream.

"Oh grow up Ricard," Georgette said with exasperation. "You should be used to this by now."

"Hey, have a small critter be cut up is a lot different than having a geyser come out of a dragon's neck." Georgette sighed as she began walking in the direction of the other dragon.

"Whatever. Let's just see how Fratley and Heinrich are doing." Ricard followed after her. Meanwhile, Fratley and Heinrich were faring well against the dragon as well. Fratley decided to start things off with slashing one of it's front legs, impairing its mobility. Heinrich followed suit by puncturing the dragon's windpipe to prevent it from breathing fire.

"Well looks like we might actually get home in time for lunch," Heinrich remarked as he readied for one final blow.

"Wonder if I should bring Freya back some dragon meat," Fratley added. "She's been craving it lately."

"Pregnant women have some of the strangest cravings," Heinrich stated.

"Well, to be fair dragon meat is pretty tasty when you use the right herbs and spices," Fratley replied as the dragon tried (and failed to roar). "Maybe we should save the culinary chit-chat for later my friend."

"Indeed," Heinrich said as he and Fratley prepared to aim at the dragon. Spears pointed at the Dragon's chest, the two Burmecians jumped as they landed their weapons at the location of where the dragon's heart should be. They waited a few seconds as they felt the dragon's heart slowly die out.

"Bullseye," the two shouted in unison. With that the Dragon knights jumped down to the ground as they landed gracefully. The dragon stood still for a while right until it dropped dead, thankfully away from any buildings or civilians.

"A job well done, if I do say so," Fratley remarked.

"I have to agree with you here," Heinrich replied. "Though it looks like the dragons caused quite a bit of damage. Shame too since it looks like the folks were making good progress on fixing up the place." Heinrich looked at the buildings that were crushed.

"Sad, but true," Fratley said with a lamenting frown. "Hopefully they can make up for the damages made."

"Oh hey you guys killed it!" The two Dragon knights looked to the direction of Ricard's voice as they saw him and Georgette running over to them. "I guess we shouldn't be too shocked."

"Good to see you two were victorious as well," Fratley said as his mood lightened.

"Sweet Reis, look at all the buildings the bastard destroyed," Georgette stated.

"Yes, we were talking about that," Heinrich replied. "Hopefully Lindbulm and Alexandria can send more forces to help fix the damages. Maybe King Francach can send some builders to help as well."

"Well they did do a great job with helping rebuild our own place so that might help things out," Fratley added. The four Dragon Knights were then approached by the Chief oracle of the town, Siegfried.

"Thank you all very much for your assistance," the old man replied. "Any later and this place would be destroyed."

"It's no problem Siegfried," Fratley said. "We're more than happy to help our brethren in times of need. By the way, will you need any assistance with getting rid of the dragon corpses?"

"Oh well if you don't mind with helping than go right ahead."

"It would be our pleasure sir," Fratley replied. With that the four Dragon Knights went to the dragon slain by Fratley and Heinrich. "Alright Georgette, do you wanna do the honors?"

"Glady," the female Burmecian focused on the corpse as she used Blizzaga on it, turning it into solid ice. She knocked on it to verify its status and with one fell swoop she swiped the chunk of ice as it broke into microscopic pieces. "These shouldn't be too last long under sun."

"Many thanks for you excellent skills," Siegfried said as he bowed his head leading Georgette to blush a bit.

"It's nothing really," Georgette said a little flustered by the compliment.

"We should actually be heading back soon," Ricard said as he put his arm around Fratley. "Lover boy here has an expecting wife waiting for him and she's probably long for his sweet, warm embrace and for some smooching." Ricard did some pretend kissing. Fratley responded with a light jab at his friend's side, prompting him to let go to hold his hurt area.

"Oof!" Fratley walked over to Siegfried as the two bowed heads with each other as means of farewell, with the others doing the same.

"We will try to tell King Francach about the damages. Hopefully he can send some carpenters to help repair the damages," Fratley stated.

"We would very much appreciate that. Many blessings for all your help," Siegfried said as the Dragon Knights departed for the other corpse. They arrived as Georgette prepared to cast another Blizzaga; however, she was interrupted by Fratley.

"Actually I wanted to try saving a piece for Freya," Fratley said as he used his spear to cut out a big piece. "Uh Georgette if you wouldn't mind." The female Dragon Knight rolled her eyes as she casted Blizzara in order to keep the piece of meat good for the next few hours. After that she focused on the rest of the corpse as she repeated the same things: freeze it solid and break the chunk of ice. With that the dragon knights got on the chocobos as they rode back to Burmecian.

"Man, I can't wait to get back home to relax," Ricard said. "I don't get how anyone can live in this desert."

"Well, I imagine for some folks the blistering heat is quite pleasant," Georgette responded.

"Well, I guess I ain't some folks," Ricard remarked when suddenly his and the other's chocobos suddenly stopped in their tracks. "Huh, what's wrong big guy?" All four chocobos began trembling. Soon the ground itself followed as a huge tremor started.

"What the hell is going on," Heinrich shouted. Right then an antlion emerged out of the ground as it roared. It began its attack by using its tail to swipe at Ricard and his chocobo.

"Auugggh," Ricard grunted in pain as he and his chocobo flew in the air.

"RICKY," shouted Georgette. She gave her chocobo relaxant herbs to calm it down and motioned her chocobo towards her fallen ally. Meanwhile, Fratley and Heinrich already gotten to work on fending off the creature.

"Dammit, what the hell is an antlion doing out here," Fratley exclaimed. As far as he remembered there weren't any antlions living near Cleyra ever since Freya and her friends helped decrease the flow of Mist over three years. Now's not the time to think about that. We need to fight this thing or escape from it. Thinking things over Fratley got an idea. "Heinrich, I'll try to distract the antlion why go help Georgette with Ricard and his chocobo. Heinrich's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets at his friend's idea.

"Have you gone mad Fratley!?"

"Look, it's going to be hard for Georgette to help Ricard all on her own. Plus, I'll just try to create enough time for you guys to escape. I'll try to stun the beast long enough to escape myself. You have to trust me my friend." Heinrich couldn't help but give the plan multiple thoughts. He wanted very much to argue with his friend, but he realized that now wasn't the time for that. Heinrich could only say as he said one word.

"Fine." With that Fratley nodded as he decided to cast Dragon's Crest in order to cause immense damage to the antlion. This gave Heinrich enough time to give his chocobos relaxant herbs as they head to their other friends. Fratley looked on as Georgette and Heinrich carried their friend and his chocobo and managed to escape. He turned his attention back to the antlion. "Freya, I'm going to make sure I get back to you. I promise." With that Fratley lunged at the creature as his two conscious looked back. They could only feel immense anxiety as they turned forward.


Back in the Present

"I told afterward we managed to find a nearby town to let us rest for a bit. Heinrich decided to head back to see how Fratley was doing. He found him, but it... ended up being a fierce battle. Heinrich said he found the antlion dead with Fratley next to it. He probably" Freya couldn't help but grimace as she heard her colleague's tale.

Dammit Fratley! Why must you always be so stubborn and careless!?

"Ricky there you are!" Everyone, even Freya turned their attention to another voice from down the hall. Walking down the hall was Learie with her six-month old daughter Felicia in her hands and her two sons Jack and Adam walking beside her. Learie walked over to her husband to scold him. "You know that the healers told you to take it easy. Just because you managed to survive a swipe form an antlion doesn't mean you can try your luck some more by going out and about instead of resting."

"Yeah Ricky. Don't you wanna get better," Jack said to his stepfather. jumping up and down.

"Yeah. If you don't get better than how are we suppose to play games together Ricky," Adam repeated. Felicia said gibberish that vaguely resembled lecturing. A bit flustered, Ricard couldn't help but shake his head with his left arm.

"Oh well you see I saw Freya and the others here and I wanted to talk to them," Ricard replied with a bit of embarrassment. Learie was about to say else before she processed what Ricard said. She looked over to Freya.

"Freya, oh honey. I'm so sorry," Learie said with immense sympathy. "I'm sure Fratley will make it. He's a very tough fellow." Freya had to force a smile as best as she could as she felt the presence of the children compelled her to do so.

"Thank you Learie." Learie smiled as she turned to her husband. "Alright Ricky, let's get back to your hospital bed. You need some rest and relaxation if you want to heal up."

"Y-Yes Learie dear," Ricard responded as he walked back with his family with his two stepsons helping him out. Wei and Kal smiled as they watched the family walked away.

"It's really nice to see Learie find a new love after Dan was killed," Wei said. Freya herself tried to at least be happy that Learie and her sons wouldn't have to deal with losing another husband and father. Thinking about Jack and Adam made Freya realize something.

"If you don't mind me asking, where are your children during all of this," Freya asked. She remembered that after the coupled escaped to Lindbulm Wei had given birth to quintuplets. It had just hit Freya that the kids weren't with them at all through all of this.

"Oh, well Shannon was kind enough to watch over them while we tried to get her," Wei answered. Freya recognized that the name likely belonged to one of the Cleyran maidens that had survived Brahne's attack on Cleyra. Thinking back to that horrid did nothing to help Freya feel better in any way. Suddenly the door to Fratley's room opened as white mages, healers, and doctors stepped out of it, totally to around eight individuals. Freya stood up with the help of Wei and Kal as she watched the medical workers either walk to elsewhere or stay to converse with one another. Freya recognized one of the healers as Sharon and Shannon.

"Ok we managed to get Fratley in a stable condition. He should be fi-" Sharon said, right before she turned to Freya and the others. "Freya! There you are. Thank goodness you're here." Walking to the pregnant Burmecia Sharon gave a hug as a means to comfort her. Freya decided to return the hug as she was desperate for reassurance of any kind right now. "Listen, don't worry about Fratley. We've managed to heal up most of his injuries. He's going to make it. I promise!" Freya managed to smile a little bit, but she still felt a pit in her stomach. Seeing so many people that were helping Fratley somehow made Freya feel better... and feel worse at the same time. While it was reassuring that her husband was getting the help he needed, it also made her wonder just how badly injured he was.

"Is it alright if we go inside to see him," Wei asked.

"If Freya wants to I suppose," Sharon replied. Everyone looked to Freya.

"Yes. I want to see how my love is doing," Freya answered with a tone showing just how awful she was feeling right now. Wei had decided to guide the rest of the healers away from the room to give the others privacy.

"If anything happens, just reach for us from down the hall," Sharon stated.

"Will do Sharon, thank you all for your help," Wei replied. With that Kal and Wei once again helped the pregnant Burmecian walk as Wei walked over to open the door as her husband helped Freya enter the room. Almost immediately the smell of blood hit the Burmecians' noses. Freya couldn't help grasp at her dress and she winced at the pungent scent. However, it the stench did not prepare Freya for the sight before her. What she saw made her heart dropped a thousand leagues under a sea of despair. Fratley was laying in a hospital bed unconscious. His breathing was heavy and labored. He was bloodied and lacerated, with patches of fur either ripped off. The exposed skin revealed several bruises and even more cuts. Wrapped around Fratley's body were several pieces of bandages already soaked with his blood. Freya's hands began to tremble heavily as her eyes began to well up.

"Freya," Wei said with immense sympathy for her friend. She tried to put her hand on Freya's shoulder, but the pregnant Burmecian spoke.

"I would like to be alone." Wei withdrew her hand as she looked at her husband. He quietly sighed as he let go of Freya and walked over to his wife and held her hand.

"We should respect her wishes honey," was all Kal could say at that moment. Wei could only look down as she complied with Freya's wish and walked out along with Kal. Once the other couple were Freya walked closer to Fratley's bed. She couldn't help but lay her hand on his right cheek. Surprisingly it was one of the few areas of his skin that was somehow left unharmed.

"Dammit Fratley," Freya said as she began to choke up. Tears began to fall down on her cheek as she found it harder to stand. "Why the hell couldn't you have been more careful?" At this point Freya was full-on crying. Her hand had moved to holding her husband's hand. "D-Didn't you sniff think about what you would be leaving behind choke if you perished? What about hic the promise you made to me before you left this morning?" Freya gone on her knees as she continued to cry. "I can't stand the thought of hic losing you a second time." The poor Burmecian wept into the bedsheets as she continued grasping her lover's hand.

"...F...re...ya..." The pregnant Burmecian's head shot up as she heard her name being called. Freya looked at Fratley as tears continued streaming down her face as she wiped them down with her sleeve. She watched his eyes flutter open as he began to speak again.

"Love?" Fratley had tried to say something else, but Freya stood up as quickly as she could before stopping him. "Don't say anything Fratley. You need to conserve your remaining strength." Freya wasn't exactly sure what to do. Should she stay by Fratley's side or should she inform Sharon and the others about him waking? However, before she could do anything she felt Fratley's hand grab at her dress.

"I'm sorry Freya," Fratley said as best as he could as he tried sitting up. She saw a green light surrounding him as his energy seemed to have been returning.

They must have used Regen. Freya thought.

"I should have been more careful." Fratley then let out a heavy cough followed by some light wheezing. Freya held on to her husband as she tried sitting him down.

"It's... it's alright my love," Freya said. "All that matters now is that your recovery." Once Fratley laid back down, Freya decided to take one of the chairs placed next to the wall and put it near the hospital bed. By the time she sat down, Fratley somehow managed to stabilized his breathing to a degree. "Just focusing on resting."

"Yes my love." Fratley decided to relax his muscles. At that moment, Freya had felt their unborn kids begin kicking in her belly. Something clicked in her mind as she decided to take her husband's hand and place it on her stomach. Fratley looked to his wife's stomach as he felt his children play around in it.

"I guess the kids are happy to see their father is going to make it," Freya said with a genuine smile as she rubbed Fratley's hand. Fratley couldn't help but have a gigantic grin on his face.

"I'm sorry for making you kids worry as well."

Freya felt peace for the first time since she left the house. She knew that things would still be rough for the foreseeable future, but at least she still had Fratley by her side.