[Knowing that in the future Machina no longer has that Focus, that he's completed it but it doesn't help the one who's here now. Maybe, when they aren't both hurting so much, they can talk about it more fully.]

I suppose it'd more accurate to say we thought we left him behind. Maybe he was already there or maybe he showed up after we got there and just got ahead of us.

[As a l'Cie, Machina has a lot more power than they do and even Chichiri said that the brothers had flown away from the sandwyrm. All he knows is that the other teen had been there in crystal stasis near the end and helped them with the Marshal.

Ace's eyes are instantly on Izana at the hiss, heard even over the rain. Then casually casts a healing spell on the man.]

We didn't really get the opportunity to talk. It was in the middle of a mission and we had half the world on our tail.

[Both Milites and Concordia. As for that - Izana's ideas of the whole situation - Ace isn't surprised to hear that.]

I wouldn't doubt it. Someone set us up to take the fall for assassinating the Queen of Concordia and afterwards they kept sending us on even more dangerous missions. Even our commanding officer died in the process.

[And yet the higher-ups were the ones who died first. Whoever they are.]

Though the blame is not entirely on them either.