Freya tossed and turned. "N-no!" she mumbled, her mind half-awake, half-asleep.

Her consciousness struggled to pull itself out of the dream's grasp; trapped between a clash of images flashing through her mind, and the feeling of her body just struggling to get up.

One moment her sight took in a blurry bookshelf full of tomes and strange devices...

She heard gentle words, a warm claw or hand on her shoulder.

She could feel soft pillows and...

Under her, the mattress was firm and soft, comfortable…

Her claws grasped the silken bed sheets tightly, her breaths came harder and faster.

"RUN!" she shouted, violently flinging her arms and legs as she sat up in the bed, sweaty, breathing hard and feeling like her heart was about to explode. Someone next to her gasped and fell down to the floor with a loud thump.

Freya closed her eyes. She tried to collect herself, lifting her paw to wipe away the tears the memory had conjured.

"Hey," a strange voice said gently, and she tensed, "here, use this."

She felt a soft cloth pressed against the back of her paw. A handkerchief. She mumbled a thanks, using it to dry away the tears. "To think that anyone would see me of all people crying." She sighed, and opened her eyes, taking in the concerned look of the human in front of her. Teal eyes, red and gold hair, strange clothes… 'similar to a butler's? Not much older than me.' She gulped and looked around, taking in the room. It was spacious, not too big, but certainly not small. Several bookshelves decorated one end, where a large desk with plenty of scrolls and writing devices of various sorts rested.

A carpet, wooden floors, polished to shine. Strange portraits of people and beasts the likes of which she had never seen. Next to the bed was a small table with a half-empty bottle of some sort of wine, and a few piled books in a language she did not recognize. Two doors, one opening into what appeared to be an indoor bath. The other presumably leading to the rest of the… house? Building? Wherever this was, it was certainly upper class. The decorations and style, however did not fit Alexandrian architecture. She noticed a rack that had her coat and hat on it, as well as her lance resting against it. She looked down at herself and realized for the first time she was wearing a long, thin (and comfortable) nightgown.

"Where am I?" she asked.

"My room," her host replied, picking up her desk chair and sitting next to the bed. "You collapsed when you walked into my bar. Do you remember?"

"I—" She stopped talking as the memory slowly came back to her. Zidane had picked up Dagger and she had stayed behind to fight against the Queen's jesters alongside Steiner and Beatrix. The jesters were much more powerful than they had anticipated… then somehow the Tantalus troupe had gotten involved and managed to distract them enough to get them out…

Then it was a blur. Being carried out of the castle, the hustle and pulling as Blank jumped from building to building until they reached the ground. Being half-carried, half-dragged into an inn. She had woken up soon after to find herself in the same room as her unconscious enemy.

She had contained her anger, but looking at Beatrix would just bring back… she shuddered. 'What happened next?' sneaking out, tired, no-exhausted, but unwilling to stay there regardless of their last alliance. She had stumbled in the dirty, raining streets of Alexandria until she had found a bar and pushed the door open.

"I—" Freya shook her head. "I remember some of it but…"

"When you came into my bar, you collapsed," her host repeated gently. "You had several wounds and a high fever. So I brought you in and healed you as best as I could. I've been taking care of you for about a month here but—"

"A month!" Freya gasped, struggling to get up, but her host firmly pushed her back down. Perhaps she was stronger than she looked, but Freya feared that her own strength was lacking after such a long time bedridden. "But my friends! There's so much at stake!"

"First of all, you are not strong enough to go back out yet," her host said gently, but firmly. "Second of all, don't worry about how long you have been here. In this place, time passes differently. When you walk out of my bar, you'll be back in your world just a few seconds after you left. I'm not letting you run into the cold rain just after your fever broke, without your strength back to remain healthy."

Freya's eyes studied her host's for a few moments before relenting. "It appears I don't have much of a choice," she said, leaning back into the bed. It was then that a thought occurred to her. "If this is your room… where did you sleep?"

Sunset chuckled and pointed at the sofa nearby with her thumb, where a pillow lay on top of a folded blanket.

Freya felt heat raise to her cheeks. "I-I apologize! I took over your bed and I haven't even thanked you, or introduced myself. Not many people from Alexandria would have done something like this for someone like me." She took a breath and shifted in place guiltily, trying not to show how much she enjoyed the warm bed and soft blankets, then, wincing a little, she sat up and bowed slightly. "My name is Freya Crescent, of Burmecia."

Her host smiled. "No need to thank me, Freya. I get the feeling if the situation was inverted you'd made sure that I was safe and comfy as well. My name is Sunset Shimmer." She motioned to the room. "And this is my bar outside of space and time… well… my room in the back of my bar… outside of… space and, well, my room anyway." Sunset cleared her throat and stood up, rolling her shoulders. "Don't feel bad about taking over my bed either," she said, chuckling a little. "I do have other rooms," she admitted, "but when I saw the state you were in I panicked and brought you to mine first. And then… well, it just seemed pointless to move you around, and I'm more comfortable taking care of you here than leaving you on your own in another room." Her smile faded a little. "Plus I have a bathroom right here and levitating you there is a lot easier than others." She rubbed her arm with her hand uncertainly. "I… hope you don't mind that I changed and cleaned you up. You were doing pretty bad for a while there, and I had to redress your wounds and clean your clothes. My business partner, Rarity, fixed your uniform."

"Oh." Freya said, looking down at her calloused paws. She was unused to this much kindness from humans. It wasn't unheard of—Tantalus had plenty of humans in its group, and they would never bat an eye. But someone with the amount of money that Sunset would have, living in Alexandria? That was too much to believe. This was too much for a stranger in an enemy city.

It was then that something that Sunset said started dawning on her. "Outside of time and space? Are we currently not in Alexandria?"

"Not… exactly," Sunset said, then stopped when a gurgling sound made them both stare at Freya's stomach. "But how about I get you some food and we can talk about it then?" she asked.

Feeling very self-conscious, Freya nodded to her host, unable to meet her eyes after that disgraceful sound she had produced.

"Right, I'll be right back," Sunset said, heading towards one of the doors. "I think we should have something in the fridge… worst case I guess I can order something from Nekoya..."

Her voice faded away soon after the door was closed, and Freya took a moment to let her shoulders slump. She couldn't help but be on guard, despite the help offered so far. Sunset Shimmer seemed to be honest in her intentions, and if she had been here a month already… well, she'd had more than enough time to kill her and no reason whatsoever to treat her so well if she had bad intentions.

Sunset had said to stay in bed, but the thought that she had been lying down for so long bothered her, so she carefully slid off the alluring embrace of the bed-sheets and mattress and stood up, having to keep a paw on it to stop herself from losing her balance.

Thankfully, she wasn't so weak that she couldn't get it back quickly enough. Dragoons were trained and conditioned to be quick on their recovery, which meant that if she had been that sick… 'I might have been much closer to death than I thought.'

She didn't feel like she could really do much other than very carefully make her way around—shuffling and wobbling, more than walking—so she started exploring the room. As she had noticed earlier, Sunset's bedroom was large, but it didn't have too much clutter. The tall, five-leveled book shelves, were made of thick, dark wood, and contained more books in languages she had never seen. Some of them bound in leather or even wood, ancient-looking and obviously arcane, others had surprisingly white paper, with neat, tiny letters printed out better than anything she had seen so far, even in Lindblum.

There were plenty of devices, both familiar and not on them, small gems, some sort of green-glass device attached to a metal part that seemed to go over one eye and ear, a small globe representing a world she had never seen, a sextant...

Framed paintings and pictures rested on top of a chest of drawers, and she even had a couple of what could only be posters for some sort of show or event, some with horse-like creatures of all sorts—winged, horned, winged and horned—or even some she had never seen before. She didn't know why, but the room felt young despite the general feeling of it being inside something old. It made her oddly jealous and also oddly wanting to take part in it.

Just as her body was beginning to ache, Sunset Shimmer came back in, holding a large plate of food under a metal cloche. Her host blinked and shook her head. "I thought I told you to stay in bed?"

Freya chuckled. She had time to relax. For the first time in years… if Sunset had said the truth and nary a second would pass back home… she could… "Perhaps." She grinned. "But I got curious."

Sunset shared her smile and with a wave of her hand made a small table float over to the more open area of the room, followed by two chairs. She set the meal down on it, and motioned for Freya to sit down.

When she was, Sunset removed the cloche, presenting her with a familiar-looking dish. Vegetables, meat, a thick, milky broth all contained in a casserole under a flaky crust. Freya felt her eyes go wide and slightly watery. "I-is that roast pot?"

"I wasn't sure what to make for you," Sunset said, "so I consulted my menu and… well, this came up. I hope that's okay?"

Freya closed her eyes and allowed herself a smile. "This is a traditional dish from my city of Burmecia," she whispered. "It wasn't… it was never high-cuisine, but it was a dish loved and enjoyed equally by all, rich or poor." She gulped. "Thank you."

Sunset's smile could've lit the room. "My pleasure. After you're eaten though, it's back to bed for you."

Freya hiccuped as she laughed. "I'm sorry I'm usually not… I just didn't expect to see this after—" She took a shuddering breath, and forced herself to change the topic. "I don't know if I can sleep more after all that I have. I'm not that tired."

Sunset shrugged. "I'll read you a story."

Her stomach once again grumbled, and this time Freya didn't raise a fuss when Sunset served her a plate.

It tasted like home.

They had eaten in mostly silence, which Freya had appreciated. As much as the circumstances allowed for her to rest a little, her mind kept going back to unpleasant thoughts. In the end, however, she had actually been that tired.

Shortly after eating, exhaustion had settled in and Sunset had helped her back into bed, despite her insistence and yawn-interrupted complaints that—now that she could walk—if Sunset insisted she stay, it should be in one of the guest rooms.

Despite herself it felt nice to be fussed over, and she had drifted to sleep while her new friend settled down on the chair next to the bed and started reading her book.

A few hours later, Sunset looked up when the door opened and Rarity peeked in. "How is our guest holding?"

"Much better," Sunset said, resting her book on her lap. "She woke up earlier and was a bit confused, but that's expected."

"Huh-huh," Rarity said, stepping in and walking to the heavy coat she had repaired to inspect it, then, seemingly satisfied, she glanced at the bedridden dragoon. "I'm still amazed that someone with the body-build of a dancer is able to carry so much weight." She smirked, turning her eyes to Sunset. "And how does my favorite nurse feel?"

Sunset rolled her eyes. "I'm fine. Neck is a bit stiff, but fine."

"Such a varied clientele we have here, don't we? Cats, krogan, ponies, ducks, demons…"
Rarity chuckled and walked over to the bed, brushing one of Freya's silvery strands of hair from her face. The sleeping dragoon didn't stir, so gentle was her touch. "Giant anthropomorphic mice."

"She seemed very sad," Sunset said, "And she had nightmares all the time… at first I thought it was just the fever but…"

"Freya Crescent," Rarity whispered. She looked up at Sunset with a sad smile. "Sometimes a life is full of tragedy, Sunset, and all we can do is stand strong by our friends and allies to make sure that even if we fall… when we fall… we are remembered. Sometimes being forgotten can be a truly hellish fate, don't you think?"

"I think myself and quite a few of our visitors would agree on that."

"True." Rarity straightened up and headed out the door. "I'll be heading out. Since we're here I might as well take a look at a few things. It's been a while since I went to Lindblum. I wonder if Cid is still regent..."

"Alright, Rarity," Sunset said, "see you later!"

It wasn't long after her friend had left that Freya started stirring. Her long ears and tail twitched, her muzzle scrunched up cutely, and slowly her emerald-green eyes fluttered open, peeking under her long, silver hair.

"Welcome back," Sunset said, watching as her guest stretched and sat up, rubbing her eyes. Even though she could tell that Freya was more at ease, her guest was still formal in her posture, resting her hands on her lap as she nodded. "Hope you're feeling better?"

"Thank you," Freya said, dipping her head slightly. "I feel much better now."

Sunset stood and dragged her chair closer to the bed so she could sit across from Freya in a more companionable mood. "It's my pleasure." She paused. "So… do you want to tell me why you were so badly injured?" she finally asked. "When I cleaned your wounds I was surprised that you could even drag yourself away from the battlefield."

Her guest was silent for a moment. "It was a close call." Freya looked over at her lance and coat. "I had to fight side by side with my hated enemy to save a friend… after losing so much… it was hard, but I managed… and yet, we were severely overwhelmed. Queen Brahne's jesters… Zorn and Thorn, are not normal creatures. They are… something darker."

Freya visibly forced herself to relax her shoulders and looked down at her paws. "These monsters… the Queen and her minions, they committed atrocities that… I can never forgive. They attacked my kingdom, killing many of my people, civilians and soldiers alike, forcing them to evacuate… and when it seemed we had found a new home with our distant brethren in Cleyra…" She trailed off, grabbing the bed-sheets in her fists. Her body trembled with anger and grief. "...she destroyed it. The king… the high priest and the maidens… the prince and all the civilians… the last place where my people could be safe…"

Sunset scooted closer and placed her hand on top of Freya's balled fists and smiled encouragingly, making the dragoon look up with a start, only to give her a small, hesitant smile of gratitude.

Freya's ears flattened back. "I'm sorry, the loss is too recent."

"Hey, don't worry, I'm here to listen," Sunset said. "I'm very sorry for what happened… I can only imagine what you must be going through."

Freya choked back a laugh. "I'm—it's not funny, I know but… I'm glad to talk about it. Zidane and the others… so much is happening, we've been moving at an insane pace. Surviving the destruction of Cleyra, being captured, rescuing Princess Garnet, fighting those monsters… joining forces with the person that conquered my country… it's been non-stop. The only rest I got was a brief respite in a prison."

Sunset squeezed Freya's paw. "Well, you have time to rest here," she said.

Freya nodded, taking Sunset's hand in her paws and looking down at it ponderously. "I can't thank you enough. It's the first time I've slept—really slept—in over three years. Not to mention the imposition on your generosity."

Sunset nodded, knowing that arguing how it was not a problem wouldn't change her guest's mind. "You said over three years?"

Sighing, the dragoon looked to her coat and weapon. "Yes… I left my home of Burmecia to search for the love of my life, Sir Fratley. He had left with a promise to return, but… two years after he departed, I heard disquieting news." She sighed, closing her eyes. "Word reached me that he had disappeared. That… he had perished."

"I'm sorry."

Freya shook her head. "Do not be." She looked suddenly vulnerable, letting go of Sunset's hand and wrapping her arms around herself. "He is not dead." She looked away. "Though I wish I had been when I learned the truth."

"Why?" Sunset asked quietly.

"When all seemed doomed… when my city was destroyed, my people scattered, my last attempt to protect what was left of them nothing more than a failure… he came to our rescue." Freya licked her lips, her pink tongue a stark contrast with her light gray fur.

Sunset wasn't sure what to say. 'If he came to help them… that's a good thing right?' Freya looked at her with hurt eyes and seemed to sense her confusion.

"He fought them off, but when I spoke to him… he had no recollection of me." The dragoon's eyes watered, but she drew a shuddering breath, holding the tears back. Sunset reminded silent while she composed herself and spoke again. "I begged him to remember me, but there was no recognition in his eyes. Our life together before his travels was… gone." She closed her eyes and lowered her head, letting her hair cascade over her face. "A life together. Our hopes and dreams were dead. The man I knew was… he was somehow still himself and yet not… all the fights, the excursions, the search, it was all for naught. I was forgotten, with no chance of bringing his memories back… I had built my life and identity around him and his promise… and suddenly I was nothing to him." She leaned down, hugging herself tighter. "To be forgotten is worse than death."

Sunset moved to sit on the bed next to Freya, wrapping her arm around the Burmecian's shoulders.

"But I can't look back," Freya whispered, leaning ever so slightly into her. "Even though the past has always been a part of who I am… I have never let it rule me. Even if nostalgia tugs at my heart, and yearning threatens to break me… I persevere. I must. For Fratley, and Zidane, and Dagger… for little Vivi and Eiko. For the memory of my people as their last Dragon Knight… I move forward, my spear steady and my heart at the ready."

"That sounded a bit poetic," Sunset said gently.

Freya chuckled, still looking down. "I suppose it would. It is part of our oaths as Dragon Knights, or Dragoons as people call us." She sighed. "In a way, whoever Sir Fratley has become certainly follows that creed."

Sunset sighed. "Isn't there a way to recover his memories?"

Freya shrugged. "Time, perhaps. But he has no intention of doing so… he does not remember me. Does not remember his people. He is still a good man, and willing to protect others, just not the one I remember." She sighed, resting her head on Sunset's shoulder. "What are we, if not the sum of our experiences… of our memories? If those are gone forever, can we claim to be ourselves?" Her voice lowered. "Do others still hold the right to force us to be who we were before? To hold us to those same standards that, as far as we know we never agreed to? To commit to a relationship that once existed?"

She chuckled. "I admit—by the time I met again with Zidane, I had practically accepted his loss. I would keep an ear open, but my eyes were again to the horizon, not the road behind." She gulped. "It was a shock… and a stab to the heart. He was there when Cleyra was destroyed. And again, hope seems lost and yet I'll keep my eyes open, and my ears at attention."

She shifted. "I am sorry, Sunset. I did not mean to put all of this emotional burden on you."

Sunset gave her shoulders a squeeze, then gently slid off the bed. "Don't be. As I told you… that's what I'm here for. That's the whole point of my bar."

Freya snorted, then shook her head with a small smile playing on her lips. "I am… glad I met you, Sunset Shimmer. If anything, I feel like a small amount of relief… I don't often share my feelings." She chuckled. "Usually it's me listening to others."

"Sometimes I guess we all need someone to listen to us, and to be forgotten…" Sunset shook her head, sitting down. "I know a little bit about being forgotten… a… misguided enemy of mine erased me from my friends' memories once. They were all I had in that world… all I wanted at the time, all that kept me there and validated every effort I had made. I felt like my world was coming apart at the seams."

Freya said nothing, simply nodding gently.

"I was fortunate… the spell was broken, and my friends' memories returned to them, but the fear…" she shook her head. "I've been thinking lately of what will I do when my friends are gone… if I ever lose them? When I lose them. Even when time is endless, certain things run out of it. Small moments accumulate… people change."

This time, it was the dragoon that moved. She shifted, sitting on the edge of the bed as she held Sunset's shoulder in her paw. "Different, yes, but too real. In a way, I think it has opened my eyes to the simple truth that I was beginning to accept before this crazy journey of mine began. Receiving approval and love from others is indeed something that makes our efforts feel worthy of praise. Our own as much as theirs. But by your own words… if our place in this world—or others—is simply dependent on the appraisal and memories and thoughts of others, then we can never really be ourselves, can we?"

Freya looked at her spear and uniform again. "We are allowing ourselves to be a construct of expectations and interpretations… and maybe this is what I need to learn about myself and Sir Fratley. Who he is now, is not who he was. I love a memory… and an interpretation of him that is no more. Just as it is cruel to ourselves to measure up to such, it is cruel of me to force my expectations and memories on this person who is no more who I loved."

"One day, I'll have to let go," Sunset said, closing her eyes. "One day, someday in the far future." She looked up to meet Freya's eyes.

"Just like I have to learn to let go, and look to the future as well." Freya held her look with her own, then—in a move that surprised them both—leaned forward and Sunset found herself in a warm embrace. She didn't hesitate in returning it, feeling Freya shake and sniffle finally letting it all out.

She didn't let go for a while.

Rarity pushed away from the wall next to the door, shaking her head with mild amusement as she made her way towards the bar. A small smile played on her lips, and a giggle escaped them soon after.

Freya ran under the rain of Alexandria. She barely remembered the way back to the Tantalus' safe-house, but she was sure she would find it soon. The streets were familiar, and she remembered seeing that pub over there, and that bakery next to it.

Soon, she spotted Zidane's odd friend, Blank, with his patchwork skin looking at the streets, searching. The moment he spotted her, he started, clearly surprised.

'I can't blame him, I suppose,' she thought as she crossed the street towards him. 'The last time he saw me I was almost dead.'

To his credit, Blank took her immaculate looks in stride after that initial shock. "We thought we'd have to look you up. I guess you got better."

"Much," Freya said, following him inside and thankfully out of the rain. "Thank you for your concern. How are Beatrix and Steiner?"

Blank shrugged. "The same. You left a few minutes ago."

"Hm. Well, if you have a spare room, I have some things to take care of first… but then I can help take care of them as they heal."

Blank nodded. "Sure. I'll just have Ruby set you up." He walked her to the theater's seating area. "Just give me a minute."

Freya nodded, sitting down as he ran off to look for the others. She took a deep breath and glanced around, somewhat glad to be back, and a bit looking forward to when she could go back to the Isekai. Smiling at the thought, she slipped a paw into her pouch and pulled out the copy of the picture Sunset had taken, and the small golden key hanging from the Sun-and-cocktail-glass key-chain.

She slowly put them back in her pouch and gripped her lance tight. There wasn't time to think about that. Right now… she needed to look to the future here and not just the one in her pocket.

Author's Notes:

Freya has always been (and always will be) one of my favorite characters from the Final Fantasy series. Even though her story could have been explored more in the game, I fell in love with that character for a variety of reasons. So here it is. To Freya, who shall not be forgotten.

Also! I'll keep the Q&A for Sunset's Isekai open until this Friday! (02/07/2020) So check out the rules and the questions there, and if you have some of your own... well, throw them in!