For the first time in Evan's life, he would go to school with other children. See, as a young grimalkin, Nella had instructed him in everything from swordfighting to Ding Dong Dell's ancient history. Those lessons had only increased in intensity before his would-be Coronation; and on his journey, Leander, Bracken, and Roland had picked up where Nella had left off. Leander had taught history and spellwork; Bracken led math and science lessons; and Roland filled in the gaps.

(Tani had complained, of course, asking what she needed school for - but Bracken had smiled and reminded her that her beloved plane needed physics and something called 'differential calculus' to fly. That, Evan had realized, had been the end of the conversation.)

Lessons had been fun, when Leander remembered Evan's age and when Roland loosened up a little, but they had never been in a room full of kids his age, and never with enough people to truly compare notes or ideas.

Then, of course, Time Compression had swallowed him and Roland whole, spitting them out on the edge of Balamb Garden's campus. The two had been admitted into the mercenary academy on the spot, receiving personal meetings with its Headmaster.

"Evan, just in case - you shouldn't tell them you're a king," Roland had whispered in his ear prior to their meeting. "I know I'm being paranoid, but I have a feeling this world may not be so kind to royalty. When they ask, just say you were a prince. That's technically the truth."

Evan's face had fallen even as he nodded along. While this world was full of otherworldly strangers, they seemed as human and ordinary as the campus. The nobility that walked these halls must've been dukes or princes, or of much lesser status than a King.

His expression must've spoken for him, as Roland's expression softened and his hand ruffled Evan's hair.

"I don't think anyone's out to harm you," he promised. "In this case, I would rather be safe than sorry."

Evan had squeezed Roland's other hand in a silent promise before they walked in together.




Headmaster Cid hadn't batted an eye at their story. In fact, the old man had noted that previous students had also been royalty.

Pangs of guilt filled Evan's stomach. Maybe he should confess that he was a King and Roland his Chief Counsel, not that it mattered much in this world. The Headmaster seemed compassionate to a fault. Maybe he could -

"- with other students," Headmaster had finished.

Evan blinked back surprise, "Huh?"

Headmaster laughed, not unkindly. "This seems like it will be the first time you'll have class with other students. I wish we could get you home, Prince Evan, but here, at least you'll be close to those your age."

Other students...? Evan's eyes lit up, "You mean, I get to make friends? Friends that're my age and everything?"

A weird, sad smile had crossed both Roland's and Headmaster's faces. Evan swallowed, trying to forget that melancholy - he must've said something, even as the men continued talking, but he didn't know what. Maybe, he could keep Roland's secret too. Just so he wouldn't have to see that expression again.





His first class, Criminal Justice, had been taught by a very pretty woman named SeeD Fey. His classmates were of all ages, too. Some were young like him; namely, a pair of twins sitting in the front of the room. They both had black hair with matching scowls. One was listening; the other was more focused on Evan's ears. Their eyes met - the kid caught sight of his ears, and his scowl vanished.

"Akhi!" The other twin hissed, seizing his brother's arm. "Absolutely not! No petting!"

The kid practically snarled, "Tt, I wasn't going to!"

Evan actually squeaked in fright, and before he could see just what those twins were like, he seized the furthest-back desk, right as poor SeeD Fey slammed her hands on the twins' desks.

"They do this a lot," a feminine voice sighed beside him, resting her elbows on the table and watching SeeD Fey lecture the twins. Although she was wearing the school uniform, she'd worn plenty of purple, with a pair of sunglasses over her long, black hair. "You might as well get used to it."

"Oh," was all Evan could say as he stared ahead. "I didn't know school could be this loud."




Compared to Criminal Justice, every other class had been just as exciting. He talked to a kid his age named Aang in Math, and the Fire Prince Zuko helped him with a map in World Geography. Lunch had been one dodge after another with the Twins (they were both named Damian, somehow, but everyone called them Bilal and Akhi). Then World History had assigned him a group project with two friendly kids, Hope and Izuku, and his homework actually started to seem doable.

After all that mayhem, his last class, Ballroom Dancing, had been a literal breeze. Evan sauntered and salsa'd with his partner, the young girl from Criminal Justice, with a practiced air. He could imagine Nella's voice as he twirled and stepped, careful to count with the steady rhythm -

"Careful now," Nella would tell him every time he stumbled upon his own tail, "Slow down, and you'll make your father proud."

Oh, he so desperately had wanted Father to see how good he had become! Him and Roland!! Even now, there hadn't been many opportunities to dance in a formal, royal setting. Evan focused on the music, on the space between him and the other students, and kept moving. So much, in fact, that the school bell had become white noise, and students flitting out of the classroom had been another temptation altogether.

Only Roland's laugh broke his concentration. He swerved on his heels, right to see Roland's applause.

"Oh, hello, Dad," Evan found himself saying with a grin. "I didn't see you there."

A strange, panicked expression had crossed Roland's face, "Evan?"

He must've said something wrong again, like when he told Headmaster that he'd never been in a formal classroom before. Evan closed the distance between them, standing on his tip-toes. "I'm sorry, Roland, did I do something again?"

Again, because this wasn't exactly the first time that Roland held that melancholic expression and stiff, rigid shoulders. Evan just hoped that maybe, it would be the last.

"Not at all," Roland had lied, with a big smile that didn't reach his eyes as he looked down. "I wanted to see how your first day was going."

That wasn't the truth. How Roland expected him to buy such a flimsy attempt, Evan wasn't sure - but he knew better than to press the matter. Without evidence, as SeeD Fey put it, one cannot cross-examine the witness. As far as Evan knew, all he had done was greet Roland and call him... Dad...

"I-I see," Evan squeaked, his ears and tail shaking as realization hit him. "It's great! Really, really great!"

(Could Time Compression come and swallow him up again?)

If Roland caught onto his obvious lie, Roland didn't show it as he turned towards the cafeteria. "I'm glad to hear it."

"This isn't much like your world, right?" Evan's ears perked up as they left, listening to snippets of conversation as they wove in and out of various groups of people. Their outfits were strange, reminding Evan more of Roland's unusually-cut trousers and jacket than anything he would've found in Evermore. "I bet it's a lot for you to take in too."

"Ah, well..." Roland allowed himself a sheepish laugh as he pulled Evan away from a particularly rowdy group of students. "It's not as if I'm alone. As long as we're together, I'm sure we'll make it home again. See, sun-"

The chattering stilled, though Roland must've not realized it. Evan gave him a curious glance, waiting for the rest of Roland's sentiments when -

"I KNEW IT," Aang called from behind, dragging one of the twins with him. "Told you they were father and son!"

Evan stared, his jaw practically hitting the floor, as all he could say was, "Oh, golly......"

The literal wind must've been knocked out of Roland's sails, as his hand was meeting his face (like it did anytime Batu said something phenomenally literal-minded), but - but -

"We're not, I mean -" Evan coughed, staring up at Aang with burning cheeks. "It's not what you think!!"

"It really isn't," Roland had to add, though his face was weirdly red too, like something Aang said actually struck a nerve. "We're from the same world, but Evan had a father."

"You don't have to be blood to be family," One of the twins (Bilal?) pointed out, with a rather bemused expression. "Unless... that's not how things worked on cat-person-world?"

"Evermore," Evan corrected, feeling his spine hunch over and his tail stand straight up on edge. "My home's called Evermore!"

"Sorry, Evermore," the twin relented, his eyebrows nearly meeting his hairline. "Is he an uncle, then?"

Evan tilted his head, "Uncle?"

"Yeah, that's what you call any sort of grown-up who's close to you," Aang added, loosening his old on the twin. "Like, if we knew Mr. Crane that well, we'd call him Uncle Roland."

"Hm," Roland tapped his chin, actually mulling this over. "Not quite, but I get where you're coming from. Evan, why don't you go ahead and grab dinner with them?"

Evan stared back, wanting to protest. He wanted to have dinner with Roland, not his classmates! Sure, they were the same age, and he was starting to realize that the twin and Aang would keep things entertaining, but - he wanted to catch up with Roland, figure out where they stand, and maybe actually define things in a way that they didn't have to in Evermore.

After all, he wasn't a king anymore, and neither was Roland a chief counsel. Politics and world affairs didn't tie them together, so why was he still looking out for Evan...? His duty was effectively finished.

Deep down, he knew why, but articulating it - admitting what that feeling was - didn't feel quite right.

"We'll take good care of him," Bilal promised, holding onto Evan's hand and pulling him away.

Right as Evan was out of Roland's peripheral vision, he could see Roland's shoulders slump and his expression falter - and he wasn't in a position to really do anything about it.




Dinner was loud, as expected, but Evan didn't pay his new friends much attention.

The twins squabbled about some card game; Aang and Izuku were trading 'hero tips'; and Zuko was engrossed in some book he'd bought the week before. Others still were chattering about mundane, every day things: homework, weekend plans, something called 'memes.'

Evan sighed, peering down at his mashed-up dinner. He didn't know what a hot dog was, but even with relish and ketchup, it didn't look that appealing.




Before bed and right before curfew, Evan snuck down the hallway and knocked on Roland's door.

An unfamiliar young man opened it, with bright rainbow-colored hair that would've made him stand out in any crowd. He took one look at Evan before laughing and stepping outside, "Roland! Your kid is here. I'll take a minute and grab something from uh, Touma's... dog... digi... thing..."

Evan slipped past the roommate and closed the door after him, looking up at Roland. His counsel was already in a t-shirt and pajama pants. Must've had an equally long first day too, now that Evan really stopped to think about it.

"Hey, Evan." Roland motioned for him to sit down on his bed. "Everything okay?"

Not really, Evan wanted to say, but he thought better of it as he flopped down on the comforter and scooted close to Roland. His first day was surreal - he had classmates like Aang and Bilal that actually seemed to value his opinion, and then teachers like SeeD Fey who cared for the law as much as Roland, and of course, a Headmaster who didn't mind his royal status.

But when he had accidentally called Roland 'Dad,' and then Aang interrupted to point out that they were father and son, Roland's face had crumbled. Was he thinking about Will? About how once again, he was in another world, away from his family? Then he had denied the claims by remembering Evan's own father, but that had just made Evan's stomach twist a little...

"Everything's okay for me," he settled on saying, looking down at Roland's hands, "But what about you? How'd your day go?"

"My day was fine, just long." Roland mirrored his gaze, knitting his brow with concern. "Given my experience, Headmaster's working with me to figure out what classes I could teach for the time being."

"You don't want to go on missions?" Now that was surprising. Evan stared, "But you'd be so good at leading people, and helping them fight monsters, and all the stuff we did back home."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't be there." Roland's laugh was a small, Knowing one that felt more like Father's laugh than... well, what Roland normally felt like. "Not much point in leaving you until you're all settled in."

"I made friends today," he pointed out, puffing up his chest. "I can take care of myself here."

"I know," he reminded Evan, leaning in and ruffling his hair again. "I know you're capable, and that you'll be in good hands. I'm not particularly worried about that."

"But you're worried about something."

Roland blinked back surprised, before shaking his head fondly, "I can't get much past you, huh?"

Not anymore, really. Evan grinned, swinging his feet over the edge of the bed. "You were thinking about Will, right?"

For a few seconds, Roland grew quiet, his hand still on Evan's head. "Yeah," he admitted, his voice almost as quiet as the hum of the AC. "I was."

"Because of what Aang and the twin said?"

"Kind of." Roland let go, turning his body towards the middle of the room and averting Evan's gaze. "That, and when you called me 'Dad' earlier. Slip of the tongue, right?"

Evan nodded. He had been thinking of his own father in Ballroom Dancing, and how he had wanted to master every step like Father had, back when he and Mother used to dance. When the palace had actually been used for such grand occasions, and how he wanted to make Father proud. Then that instinct had shifted somehow, over the course of his journey to build Evermore, and... well, he still wanted to make Father proud.

He just also now wanted to make Roland proud. Evan was no replacement for Will, and Roland had said point-blank that Evan had a father. They weren't meant to fill those gaps, or more likely - Roland wasn't ready for Evan to fill such a gap. Even if fathers could have multiple children and love them all equally.

"Hey, Roland..." Evan drew in a breath, feeling the weight of each word as he looks at his Counsel. "Can I call you Uncle Roland?"

A strange look crossed Roland's face. The edges of his eyes crinkled for once when he smiled, but there was a slight, unexpected heaviness in his shoulders and forehead - almost as if he were deliberating the meaning of such a decision, and deliberating the best way to save face. After all, nothing tied Roland to Evan now that they were worlds apart. Time Compression could take Evan home at any minute, or send Roland right back to his home.

Evan couldn't expect Roland to say 'yes,' no matter how much he wanted to. They were - they weren't quite family.

Yet Roland nodded, murmuring a quiet, "Sure," as he leaned in and embraced Evan with both arms.

Evan rested his head on Roland's shoulders, returning that hug with all his strength.

"Now go to sleep," Roland said, warmth entering his voice as he pulled away. "I'm sure Chase will come back any second now, and your poor roommate's wondering where you are."

"Uh-huh," Evan said with a slight grin, rising to his feet. "Oh, but um, Rol - Uncle Roland?"

"Yeah?"

"I think this world has been a lot kinder to us than we thought."

Roland bowed his head in acknowledgement, getting up so he could properly see Evan out. "I think so too. Sleep well, Evan."

As far as schools went, Balamb definitely could've been worse. At least this one was kind enough to help define what Roland's relationship to him truly was.