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After a flurry of snipping and small adjustments, Jandelaine stood back to admire his handiwork. He procured a sizable hand mirror and handed it to Jenna to take a gander at her new hairstyle. He could see surprise and wonder in her eyes and knew that his work here was done.
“I see that you like it,” Jandelaine said.
“I do,” Jenna said, turning her head to the left and to the right to get a better look in the mirror. “Thank you, Jandelaine.”
“Color me surprised when Tataru contacted me.”
Jenna smiled. “I know. I would only ask for a trim every so often.”
“You made a very bold decision, but I like it. It suits you well.”
She ran a hand through her hair, moving the bangs that covered her left eye and watching them fall back into place. “I think so too.”
Once Jenna arrived at the Crystarium, she called upon Feo Ul to inquire Ryne’s whereabouts. Feo Ul didn’t give her the answer until after she gushed and complimented on her new haircut. With a thank-you and a wave, Jenna left towards the Cabinet of Curiosity or else she felt Feo Ul wouldn’t let go of her.
While making her way towards the Cabinet of Curiosity, she recognized a girl with strikingly dark hair and clothes heading in the same direction. She noticed the girl was carrying a box and called out to her.
“Gaia!”
The girl turned, and her eyes widened a little as Jenna jogged over. “Jenna, you cut your hair.”
“Does it look weird?”
“No, it suits you.” Gaia nodded approvingly. “What brings you here, though?”
“I figured I’d ask for your and Ryne’s help in choosing a present for Thancred.”
“Oh?” Intrigue flashed across her face. “I’m sure Ryne would gladly help.”
“And you?” Jenna asked.
“Well, if you need a second opinion, then I don’t mind.”
“Thank you, Gaia.”
“Don’t thank me yet. You still need to ask Ryne.” Gaia then motioned to the box she was holding. “And I’m sure we could use your help in eating these pastries. The baker gave us some extras since we order from her quite often.”
“Sure.”
Jenna followed Gaia into the Cabinet of Curiosity and to the table where Ryne was currently stationed at. Ryne looked up at the sound of their approaching footsteps, and her face lit up when she laid eyes upon Jenna.
“Jenna!” Ryne ran over to give her a hug.
“I’m not disturbing you, am I?” Jenna said with a smile.
“Not at all.” She looked up and smiled. “It looks great on you, by the way.”
“Thank you. I figured I cut off the part of my hair that turned white.”
“Did you also decide to style it so that it would cover your left eye?” Gaia asked.
Jenna nodded.
“Has Thancred seen it?” Ryne said, motioning them to sit down.
“Not yet,” Jenna said with a shake of her head. She opted to take the seat that sat across from the girls and leaned back in her chair. “None of the Scions has seen it yet.”
Ryne opened the box that Gaia had brought and pulled out one of the pastries. “Are you nervous?” She handed Jenna a pastry then pulled out another to give to Gaia.
“A little.” Jenna took a small bite of her pastry.
“Don’t you have a favor to ask of us, Jenna?” Gaia said, tearing her pastry in half and beginning to eat one of the halves.
“A favor? What kind of favor?” Ryne asked, tilting her head.
“I wanted to see if you and Gaia would be willing to help me find a present for Thancred,” Jenna said.
“Of course we will! Won’t we, Gaia?”
Though Jenna knew Gaia was going to help, she couldn’t help but smile when she watched Gaia sigh and shrug.
The sun began dipping below the horizon as Thancred hopped off the Chocobo he borrowed when he neared Revenant’s Toll. He grabbed its reins and led it to the nearby Chocobokeep, where the Chocobokeep gladly took it off his hands to lead it back to the stable. He leisurely walked to The Seventh Heaven, relieved that he wasn’t too late for the small celebration party that Tataru had planned. She wanted to celebrate everyone’s successful return as well as G’raha and Estinien joining the Scions despite giving everyone quite a scolding after they returned to their bodies about the state that Jenna came back in. He couldn’t blame her. He would be upset too if he found out they had almost let Jenna die on their watch.
Speaking of, he hadn’t seen Jenna at all today. When he inquired Tataru about her whereabouts, she only told him that Jenna had an early appointment and wasn’t informed of anything else. It made things easier for him though. Thancred, after helping out with party preparations, made a small trip to Ul’dah to pick up a linkpearl he requested to be made for Jenna with Cid’s help. He had wanted to give it to Jenna before but having his soul taken to the First delayed that quite a bit.
He reached inside his coat and could feel the box sitting in one of his inner pockets. He just needed to find the right time to give it to her. He only hoped that she liked his gift.
Thancred entered The Seventh Heaven, where he found a couple of patrons at the bar already drunk and too occupied with their drunken squabble to notice him, and waved to the barkeep, who silently cleaned a glass and waved back. He continued to the door that led down to the Rising Stones and could already hear some familiar voices. He quickened his pace in the hopes that Jenna had returned but found that she wasn’t there amongst their friends.
Tataru and Krile were busy assisting F'lhaminn with the drinks and food while Estinien and the twins were chatting about the various things that happened back on the First. Y’shtola and Urianger were setting up the tables, and G’raha seemed to be stuck cleaning up the place.
“Thancred, thou hast returned,” Urianger said, placing the last of the plates down.
“Looks like I didn’t arrive late enough,” Thancred said jokingly.
“Jenna might beat you in that department,” Y’shtola said.
“She hasn’t returned?”
“No. In fact, we figured she would be with you,” Krile said, bringing over a tray of food to set on a nearby table.
Slightly worried, Thancred shook his head. “I haven’t seen her at all.”
“Surely, Jenna said something, right, Tataru?” Alphinaud said, chiming in.
Tataru paused, looked at F'lhaminn, and also shook her head. “I’m sorry. I only knew that she had an appointment in the morning.”
“Aren’t you guys a little too worried about her?” Estinien asked. “I bet she’s just running late.”
“If she still doesn’t arrive, I’ll go find her and drag her here,” Alisaie said.
“I’d rather you didn’t,” they all heard Jenna say with a laugh.
The Scions turned to the entrance and found Jenna leaning against the doorway with her arms folded across her chest. Thancred’s eyes widened at her appearance. She had cut her hair pretty short, getting rid of the white hair that remained with her from the First, and was now sporting bangs that covered her left eye.
“Oh, Jenna!” Tataru exclaimed, running over to her. “I love it!”
“Even if you didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to do much about it,” Jenna said, rubbing the back of her neck.
“I think it looks especially good with the clothes I had tailored for you.”
“It’s scary how well you do this.”
Tataru giggled. “It’s the least I can do for you.”
F’hlaminn walked over and had Jenna turn around for her. “Goodness Jenna, I didn’t realize you can pull off short hair so well.”
“Oh, uh, thank you, F’hlaminn,” Jenna said then glanced at everyone else, who seemed to still be at a loss for words in regards to her new appearance.
Tataru, on seeing this, grabbed Jenna’s hand and led her to the bar counter while F’hlaminn hurried back to the bar to pour drinks. “Let’s get you started with a drink!”
“Yes, what would you like, Jenna?” F’hlaminn asked, bringing out several bottles.
“Hmmm . . .” Jenna began, looking over the labels of the bottles.
“This one should be fine to your tastes,” Thancred said, picking up the bottle of apple wine.
“I thought we were starting off with ale,” Estinien said, coming up to the bar to pore over the many alcoholic options.
“I’m sure we have those too,” Krile said with a giggle.
“It’s a shame we can’t join in on the fun,” Alisaie said, taking a seat at the table and huffing.
“Your time shall come forthwith. You need not be so impatient,” Urianger said, smiling.
“I am most certainly not looking forward to that,” Alphinaud said with a sigh.
“Would you like any of the non-alcoholic options we have then?” G’raha asked, patting the twins’ shoulders.
“Any fruit juice should be fine for us,” Alisaie said with a reluctant shrug.
“And you, Y’shtola?”
“A nice red wine should suffice,” Y’shtola said, sitting next to Alisaie and crossing her legs.
G’raha nodded and walked up the bar counter, where Tataru helped him in sorting out the drinks. In the meantime, F’hlaminn poured a glass of the apple wine for Jenna and passed it to her. With a quick thanks, Jenna walked over to the table where the others sat at with her glass. Thancred’s eyes followed her as he waited with Estinien to get their ales. He watched her sit as the twins began conversing with her about her haircut and noticed her sneaking glances his way. He smiled to himself and looked forward to handing her the gift.
Jenna let out a sigh of relief as she leaned back on the stone bench she found that wasn’t too far away from The Seventh Heaven, giving herself a moment’s respite from everyone else. She moved her head back to get a good view of the night sky, and the sight of the glittering stars relaxed her. She had been nervous about her appearance when she returned from the First, but it seemed to be for naught given that everyone’s reactions looked positive. She ran a hand through her hair and still needed to adjust to how short it was. At least her hair would dry faster after a bath now.
“I knew you’d be out here,” she heard Thancred say.
She straightened herself out once she saw Thancred heading towards her way. “What brings you out here?”
He smiled as he sat down next to her and positioned himself so that he would be facing her. “You.”
Jenna blinked then turned her face away to hide the fact that she blushed a little. “I thought I would be used to this by now.”
Thancred chuckled then tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear. “Was your appointment this morning when you got your haircut?”
“Yeah.” She quickly glanced at him. “Do you . . . not like it?”
“No, you look beautiful.”
Jenna felt her cheeks warm up a little too fast and was positive that it wasn’t because of the alcohol she drank. She cleared her throat and said, “Thank you.”
Thancred smiled. “You definitely took me by surprise when you made your entrance back there earlier.”
“I hadn’t planned on doing that.”
He brushed her bangs aside so he could see both of her eyes. “Did you plan to be considerate of us?”
She nodded briefly. “I thought it would help a little.”
With a smirk, Thancred leaned closer to her and gently nibbled the side of her neck, causing her to squirm and back slightly away. “It will definitely help me do that in bed.”
Her cheeks turned a bright red. “Please try not to tease me too much tonight.”
“I’ll try but it’s not a guarantee.”
She laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Then I’ll have to do the same on my end.”
He was stunned for a bit. She seemed to always know what to say to rile him up. “Is that a challenge?”
“Perhaps.” A hint of playfulness tugged at her lips as she stood up. “We should probably head back inside. I’m sure Tataru will need help in cleaning up.”
“Wait,” Thancred said, quickly grabbing her hand and standing up as well. “I want to give you something.”
Jenna looked at him puzzled.
“I had wanted to give this to you earlier, but certain circumstances happened.” He pulled out the box that had been sitting in his coat pocket for most of the night. “Well, I suppose now is a more appropriate time given everything that happened.” He placed the box in her hand.
Her eyes widened a little at the gift. “May I open it?”
“Of course.”
She lifted the lid of the box, and her breath hitched when she saw what the contents of the box were. Inside laid a well-crafted earring that was made to look like a couple of white carnations. She carefully touched the earring and lifted her head to look at Thancred.
“I love it.”
Thancred sighed in relief. “I’m glad you do.”
“Can you help me put it on?”
“With pleasure.” He smiled and picked up the earring out of its box, gently putting it on Jenna’s left ear.
“Thank you.” Jenna gingerly touched her ear where the earring was. “How does it look?”
“Perfect if I do say so myself.”
She laughed.
“It also doubles as your new linkpearl.”
“I did lose mine back on the First.”
He nodded. “It’s a little special, though.”
She tilted her head confused.
“I asked Cid if he could add a special channel in addition to the ones we’ve been using.”
“Oh?”
Thancred activated his linkpearl, and Jenna recognized the familiar notification sound coming through her ear. The moment she brought her fingers up to receive the call, his voice came through.
“I had him create a channel for just the two of us,” he said, startling her as she heard him speak twice. He lowered his hand and pulled her into a tight hug. “That way, wherever I am, I can be by your side.”
Jenna was surprised but found herself smiling as she hugged him back. “I guess we were on the same wavelength.”
Thancred pulled away, and it was his turn to appear confused.
With a small laugh, she fetched her gift for him from her jacket and revealed a simple yet smooth green crystal with a beautiful light emanating from within that pulsed steadily. “This is my gift to you.”
He took it and examined it, entranced by the light. “I’m assuming this is different from any regular old crystal?”
She smiled. “I paid a visit to the First earlier today and asked Ryne and Gaia to help me get a gift for you – for all that you’ve done for me.”
“You didn’t have to.”
Jenna shook her head. “I know I can worry you quite a bit, so Gaia suggested I infuse my aether into something with the help of her and Ryne’s magic.”
“This crystal is holding some of your aether?”
“Well, it took some time.” She awkwardly rubbed her left shoulder. “Ryne wanted the crystal to be complex-looking, but every time I would infuse my aether into one, it would shatter.”
“I can imagine,” Thancred said, laughing. “So, why did you infuse your aether into it?”
“That way, I can also be by your side no matter where I am.” Jenna took his free hand and squeezed it tightly. “And it’s connected to me. So if anything were to happen to me, the crystal can show that to you.”
“You do realize that can make me worry about you even more, right?”
“Yeah, but unfortunately, your lover is the Warrior of Light.” She gave him a half-smile.
He sighed and pulled her into another hug. “Thank you. I will keep it on me, always.”
“I love you,” Jenna said, her heart feeling full.
“I love you too,” Thancred replied, holding her even tighter.