before you went and let me down

Noe

If you fail to plan, you plan to fail
Strategy sets the scene for the tale

Koa promised to come home soon, and Noe smiled, perhaps a little sadly, because she wasn't sure she believed him. Even if it wasn't his fault, he'd still been away more than he'd been present, and if he'd been sent out on missions before, wouldn't the same hold true in the future? "Just... promise you'll write, at least?" Noe pressed, squeezing his arm where it met hers. It wasn't the same as having him home, but it was better than nothing.

With their reconciliation complete, Noe brightened. Talking about her work was something she could do, and she chattered on willingly enough. "Oh, it's been great! I still haven't finished setting up my office - oops - but I've got a couple of projects I'm working on. Guess who's refreshing the Dragoon training grounds?" she bragged, holding her head a little higher with pride. "It's not a total redesign, but I guess they don't want to fix what isn't broken. There's just a few places where improvements can be made. So I put in a bid, and I got it!" Never mind that it was probably because she'd undercut her competitors, unable to charge their exorbitant prices when she was still so young and inexperienced. It was still a win.

I'm the wind in our free-flowing sails
And the liquor in our cocktails