WARNING:

RANTING ALEART! FOR STORY, SKIP PAST AUTHOR'S MINDLESS GIBBERISH BY MOVING YOUR EYES DOWN TO THE WORD "ONWARD!" AND FROM THERE, READ THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE LIKE YOU WERE TAUGHT IN SCHOOL, (and "school" does not include that creepy substitute you had when you were 8 years old, who told you homophones and homonyms are an abomination to God and are ruining the sanctity of marriage.)

Well, here we are at the second part of the fic that I loved writing so much that I simply had to make a sequel that continued and finished it's story. The incredibly devout Kent/Fiora fan that I am can only hope that this fic will please everyone who reads this as much as the last one did. Besides, Kent and Fiora are such a great couple that it was a shame to just leave them with yet another story that explained no more than how they got together and almost nothing of what followed afterward.

So essentially, this fic is all about the rest of the journey from Kent and Fiora's perspective. Unlike Irony, this fic isn't really based around any theme of what I thought happened during this or that, rather it's just a uniformly polished off group of ideas that I put together to make a really good romance/war/tragety/revenge/drama/philosophical Fire Emblem fanfic. (Wow, I'm touching a lot of bases here, aren't I?) In other words, to the best of my abilities, I've tried to come up with what I believe to be canon material. (look that word up if you don't get what I mean.)

BTW, the main reason for my posting of this story NOW, is because I've been working on it for a bit over a year, and at first, I didn't want to post anything before I had it all completed. But it's gotten to the point where I'm thinking, "It's good enough, just post the damn thing already! You're not a god, you can't mass produce perfection! At least polish off the first chapter!" In other words, expect possible delays of the posting of additional chapters some time in the future.

Also, a bit of informative notes here...

#1, morphs in this fic shall not be referred to as 'he's or 'she's, but instead will be referred to as 'it's, because they... well... aren't really people you know.

#2, the rating of this fic is only threatened with going higher by the level of violence in it, and yes, perhaps a bit of what the MPAA refers to as "adult situations" (a vague term which encompasses anything a 5-year-old can't comprehend) though there will be no lemons, so those of you who may have been expecting some masturbatory aid can step aside. Glares at the wicked ones!

And #3: DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fire Emblem, or it's respective characters. But in this piece of fanfiction, a story that I will make no money off of, I can do whatever I want with the Fire Emblem universe. And in this fic I shall not deface the name of the FE series with excessive foul language, mindless lemons, (or lemons in general for that matter) insanity, or fart jokes. (even though I think that last one can be funny on occasion! xD) Enjoy!

ONWARD!

Kent slowly peeled open his eyes as he awoke from one of the most comfortable night of sleep he'd had in a long time. Guest rooms at Castle Ostia after all, did tend to be a bit on the luxurious side. His most primitive and instinctive thoughts were the first to surface and they momentarily took control of him. Want more sleep... He thought lazily as he quickly closed his eyes, just a bit more... I'm comfortable here... He rolled over to find a slightly more preferable sleeping position. He felt some warm air blow gently upon him. He opened his eyes, and found himself nose to nose with Fiora's peacefully sleeping face. His eyes burst open and he quickly jerked back, Wha-! Why's she-!? ... Oh... right... Now I remember. His pounding heart swallowed back down into his chest, he quickly took note of how well he could see her face, and glanced back over his shoulder out the small window in the stone wall. He couldn't remember which direction this part of Castle Ostia was facing, nor could he see the sun, but he could tell that it must be between mid and late morning. He had overslept. He turned back over to Fiora and found her eyes looking right at him. "Hello, Kent." she whispered with a small smile.

His expression softened as he saw the two sparkling blue oceans that were her eyes. "Good morning, Fiora." He replied, with a bit of a yawn, trying his very best not to let his eyes linger upon her features for too long. When he looked back at her though, she was right in the middle of the contagious jaw-stretching action. When her mouth finally closed, her eyes followed suit, she moved some of the hair out of her face, and laid her head back down. She's so beautiful... He quickly banished the thought from his mind, and it was no more. "Did you sleep well?" He asked.

"I was beginning to forget what a real bed felt like." She spoke as she closed her eyes and stretched her neck. She subconsciously reached beneath her shirt and scratched her right shoulder like she did every morning, perhaps as an effect of the bones in it once being so thoroughly shattered. Her sight plunged down into the pillow and she muttered as if in regret, "I'm... ummm... sorry I had to bother you last night."

"I-It's alright," Kent quickly assured her, the faintest hue of red creeping into his cheeks, "I'm... actually glad that you did."

She looked back up, "Really...?"

"Y- yes." It was his turn to look downward. He still couldn't figure out how to talk to her. After nearly a month... ... it happened almost a month ago, and I still didn't know how to talk to her!

While they had not seen battle for quite some time, Kent and Fiora had been crossing from one end of the continent to the next with the rest of the party to find some of the legendary weapons for Hector and Eliwood. It was mostly simple traveling, fast paced at times, almost always on the move, but for the most part Kent and Fiora -- as well as the rest of the company for that matter -- were given a bit of a lucky break from the ways of war. It had been a little more than three weeks since the night Kent and Fiora had had their little encounter. Three weeks since the night that they let their emotions run wild and free. Three weeks since a ripple the size of a mountain had torn through the still pool of their lives. And today, it had been a bit under three weeks since they had so much as held hands. The ecstasy and almost impossibly heated love and desire they shared for each other had cooled quite quickly. In fact, it wasn't long before they reverted back to the they had before; one based around working together, following orders dutifully, and having a rather close-knit friendship beneath all that. But both of them knew all to well, almost fearfully, that there was more to it than that.

They kept the entire incident a secret, of course. They acted like friends in front of the others, and when they were by themselves as well. In fact, the only thing about them that really changed, was that now they did do a lot more talking. Not just the casual talk they made before, but long, engaging and fulfilling conversations that they could be completely open to each other about. They talked about the battles they had won along the journey, of the ways in which they had learned how to fight and become the warriors they were, and even their childhoods from time to time. They got to know one another better than they had before, but that was it. It was a rather carefree time for them and the rest of the party, untainted by the war that they were apart of, and it was a time for them all to get a well-deserved break from the bitter ways of battle.

Then Ninian died. It was a shock to every member of the party, especially Eliwood who blamed himself for her death, and everyone once again became suddenly aware of how treacherous their journey was going to be. It was a hard, cold, slap in the face of reality that reminded everyone just how far Nergal would actually go to make this journey difficult for them.

It was decided that they should travel to Ostia to regroup and stock up on supplies that they were quickly running low on. Everyone had been given their own separate rooms in castle Ostia; and as late as they arrived, everyone just went straight to sleep. Fiora however, was troubled. As quiet and timid as their relationship (if it could be called that) was, she had gotten used to having Kent close to her; always nearby for not much of any reason other than just being there. And at night, it was a very comforting thought that he was always in her sight, and never more than a few steps away. So when Fiora had been given a room of her own, she found that being at peace was almost impossible without Kent's presence. She traveled the cold, tall hallways of the castle when the night was still young, and crept to the entrance of his room, and when she came to his door, it opened before she could lay a finger upon it to revel Kent just inside; surprised, yet at the same time glad to see her there. He offered for her to stay before she could even ask. She knew that it was a bit much, and both of them had been hesitant to take such a step, but they crawled into bed together, albeit as far apart as was possible, and somehow finally found sleep.

"Don't worry about it Kent." Fiora replied after a sigh and a wee bit of silence. She sat up and stretched her arms up high, trying to get her mind focused on other things.

"I know I'm not fully used to it yet Fiora," He said as he mimicked her stretching, "but I must admit that your being near me is not a... discomfort..." He new it sounded feeble. What was he doing? Hiding from her, or himself?

She felt a light touch on her shoulder, and she lowered her arms. "Kent..." She whispered so quietly that he didn't hear. What's he doing? Why is he touching me?

He's not hurting me. There's nothing wrong with this... is there?

He shouldn't be touching me... not like this. This is wrong!

Her eyes closed and for a moment there was an awkward stillness that seized the air as if holding it for ransom.

Finally, in the blink of an eye, Fiora jumped out of the bed and landed her feet on the stone floor. Her hair landed in a twirl about her face and she raised a hand to her forehead to clear it. But the blush on her face was turing out to be a difficult thing to hide. Almost unfazed by the explosion of movement that had just taken place before him, Kent looked back at her with solemn eyes and said, "I... I'm sorry Fiora..."

With a deep exhale, she relaxed her body some more and whispered, "No... It's O.K..." The morning peace hopelessly broken, they remained sitting and standing for a while. The silence became unbearably awkward. "I should... umm..." She muttered as she ran her fingers through her hair, "probably get back to my room before someone finds me missing."

"I'll walk you there..." Kent offered.

Her face softened, as if in relief more than anything else, "Thanks..." Kent got out of bed and walked up beside her. They shared a lasting glance before quickly turning away and their eyes became focused ahead of them. The door-handle lifted from it's hinge in the wall. They stepped away from each other on instinct, but the door flung wide open, revealing a red-clad soldier flanked by three golden-eyed archers who let loose a small volley of readied arrows at them. Kent and Fiora jumped off to the side as quickly as they could, banging into the wall in the process. Kent ran for the door, kicked the soldier back, slammed the door shut before the archers could notch more arrows, and locked it's bolt closed. Fiora was already pushing a large dresser against the wall over the door. Kent helped her, and they shoved it in place as best they could before a thumping was heard on the only way in or out of the room. They both leaned against the crude bulwark and Fiora looked to the corner of the room where the arrows had been shot, and saw only two lying on the floor. "Kent," She spoke, her heart racing from the surprise attack, "how many archers were there?"

"Three." He grunted below her. Fiora looked down and gasped when she saw him sitting on the floor, holding his leg in pain. An arrow was lodged in his thigh.

She knelt down beside him and looked at the wooden shaft; it was half way through his right leg. "It has to come out!" She said hastily, grabbing the end of it and causing him to instantly spasm and cry out in pain.

After a bit of hyperventilating and convincing himself of what he had to go through, he answered her through clenched teeth, "Do it." the pounding on the door became more persistent, "Do it now, quickly!" She grabbed the end with the arrow head and swiftly snapped the slightly barbed end off, causing his body to tense in pain and his voice to utter a short grunt. Fiora quickly ran over to the bedside and tore a long strip off one of the sheets before returning to him. She knew what she had to do, though she didn't want to do it.

"This is going to hurt..." She said. The banging on the door grew louder.

"I trust you..." He responded, closing his eyes as she yanked the arrow out, causing more blood to come from the wound, and this time a full yell to burst from his mouth. Fiora quickly wrapped the opening in his leg in the cloth as tightly as she could, and tied it off.

"My equipment is still in my room!" She said as she helped him to his feet.

"Then at least take my sword!" Kent said as he pushed his weight against the dresser, favoring his other leg. "It's sheathed by my armor under the bed!" he explained quickly, but she was already tightening the belt of the scabbard around her waist. Once she had finished, she brought him his gauntlets and tightened one fastening as he adjusted the other with his free hand. They did this with his left arm and then his right, and then proceeded to strap him into his breastplate; all the while their bodies were pushed against their crude barricade that was perpetually being rammed into and left a ringing in both their ears.

Fiora had just finished with the last of his shoulder guards and was about to start applying his greaves, when they both heard the thumping stop. They turned around in the direction of the dresser, and it rocked forward slightly as they heard the sound of shattering wood. Fiora drew the steel at her side as they both backed away from the door, knowing that a wooden barricade could not stand against their attackers if they had axes. As Kent picked up his shield he looked at it with worry in his eyes. This is going to be my only weapon... He looked over to Fiora and noticed that she had used his sword to chop off two of the wooden bed posts, and was offering them to him. They were thick and blunt at one end, but narrowed into a point at the other that was only intended to be used as decoration. They would be much better than next to nothing. "Thank you." he said as he took one in each hand, and mounted his shield on his forearm, "Who do you think they are?"

"I'm not sure how they got here," Fiora responded with her sword at the ready while the chopping and thrashing at the door intensified, "but, by the look of their golden eyes, I'd say they were morphs." Kent sighed. This would be a difficult fight. He looked to her and she to him. Without warning or hesitation or even a drop of reason, they embraced. This is the first battle I've faced since... they both thought, and though your being here is an encouraging thought, I also fear the possibility of loss... They leaned back in their hug and looked each other right in the eyes. "Be strong..." Fiora whispered.

Kent smiled in spite of the scant traces of uncertainty looming inside both of them and replied, "We are..." Both the dresser and the door smashed down.

Fiora quickly ducked behind Kent as he crouched down as well, with his shield far out in front of him, deflecting a second small volley of three arrows. Kent immediately stood up and threw one of the pieces of wood at one of the archers, smacking it hard in the head. A soldier with a lance in hand stepped forward, followed at the heels by a hulking berserker that easily stood a good eight feet tall and at least half as broad, holding a large axe. The soldier took a powerful thrust at Kent who sidestepped the obvious attack, grabbed the shaft of the lance to hold it in place, and repeatedly bludgeoned the armored morph in the head with the remaining piece of wood that he had at his disposal. The berserker brought it's axe down on Kent, but Fiora blocked it with her sword, and quickly stabbed the large enemy in the unprotected gut, but that only made it turn on her. As Fiora swiftly evaded her enemy's attacks, Kent landed an elbow in the soldier's face before he finally drove the point of the piece of wood through it's eye, and the morph silently died. As he grabbed the lance from the dead hands, Kent suddenly felt two arrows deflect off his chest, and for the briefest of moments he contemplated on how badly he would have been wounded if Fiora hadn't helped him apply his armor. He brushed the thought aside, and as quickly as his injured leg would allow, he charged at the two remaining archers. As they backed away, each trying to notch another arrow, Kent stabbed through the body of the archer on the right with the new lance, and kicked away the bow of the other. He yelled in pain when his entire body's weight briefly fell on his wounded leg, but this was not a very convenient place to curl up on the floor and bawl his eyes out. The last remaining archer unsheathed a small knife at it's side, and was about to attack when Kent brought the lance around and stabbed for the heart, piercing through it's thick leather protector, but lodging his lance in there at the same time, causing him to lose his weapon for the moment.

"Kent!" Fiora called, and he whipped around and saw the bleeding back of the berserker who was still, amazingly, hacking away at Fiora. Thinking quickly, Kent grabbed one of the discarded bows and snapped the back in half. He ran to the last enemy, leapt from his good leg onto the morph's shoulders, looped the thin bowstring around his enemy's neck, and pulled it so taut that the skin broke without a single splash of blood. As the berserker dropped it's axe and reached for the one who was strangling it, Fiora chopped it's shin, and it fell to it's side. Kent continued to pull on both ends of the bowstring long enough for Fiora to stab right where a human heart would be. Just after the tip of the sword made a ringing contact with the stone floor beneath the morph's body, there was a moment of total silence and stillness. It's golden eyes faded out, and Kent and Fiora both let loose their pent up breath.

After Kent wiped some of the blood off his hands and sweat from his forehead, he finally uttered, "Thank you."

"Thank you." Fiora sighed as she wrenched her grip from the sword's handle. She closed her eyes for a moment, trying her best to take in all that had just happened. She started to stand up but quietly cried out in pain as she clutched her side. Kent quickly looked up and saw blood seep from between her fingers. "Ouch..." she muttered as Kent stumbled over to the bedside and tore a large strip off the sheets and began to wrap it around her abdomen. He could tell she was hiding most of the pain, perhaps as much as he was hiding his own pain now. "I thought it was only a glancing blow..." Fiora breathed as the makeshift bandages were wrapped around her.

"We can't stay here, more may be on the way." Kent said as he cautiously got to his feet. He closed his eyes intensely as he stood fully upright on his wounded leg. The blood had long since leaked through it's wrapping. He lent Fiora his arm and she took it as he helped lift her up. Too much weight! He collapsed to the floor in a heap, feeling weak and feeble. Fiora grabbed whatever whole pieces of bedding there were left, and then picked up the very same arrow that had punctured Kent earlier.

"Come on," She said as she helped him sit up on something that had at one time or another been a recognizable wooden furnishing, "you need a tourniquet."

"There's no time." He quickly insisted as he attempted to sit up. She pushed him back down and gave him a stern look.

"Then why do you keep stalling?" she asked, her eyebrow cocked. She wrapped the rag around where his leg connected with his hip, tied off an end, stuck the arrow through, and started to twist.

"Careful!" He couldn't help but cry out, as he grasped the other end of the arrow, "Something's going to come out of it's socket."

"Kent... It's me." She smiled, "Besides, I'm just stopping the blood-flow."

"Yeah..." He said with a half-hearted, single laugh, the best improvised response to humor he could ever come up with. She pulled the lance just outside the door into the room, and handed it to him before going back to fetch her sword from where it still stuck out of the corpse on the floor.

As he propped himself up on the long staff, Fiora placed his other arm over her shoulders. "Lean on me, we'll go faster this way." They ambled clumsily out of the room, using each other equally for support, and looked down the hall to the right, and then to the left. "If my memory serves me right," Fiora stated as she turned herself and Kent to the right, "the castle garrison should be this way."

Their pace was slow, but they were making progress. They had traveled a total of about 20 meters, half the distance from the intersection at the end, when Fiora looked up.

Oh, no...

There were four shaman and twice as many archers that had just appeared out of nowhere. They didn't come from the left or right, they just appeared. We have no choice... we have to fight... ... No... suicide... ...!

"Run Kent. RUN!" She yelled as he looked up just in time to see the archers pulling back their arrows, and the shaman conjuring up dark magic in their hands. Not good, not good, not good! Faster, go faster! We're moving too fast for them! We'll be out of range by the time they-! They turned around and had barely taken one step when they heard the whistling of a single arrow, followed closely by a volley of them. Fiora clutched Kent's hand, and he held her close to him. They had stopped moving. There was no longer any point. Fiora waited for the pain to come, waited for both their bodies to be pierced countlessly and then to be torn apart by magic. She had no choice but to accept her fate. But at least...

It never came.

They waited for only a second or two before they heard a crack of thunder, and for only an instant, the high corridors of the entire hallway were totally flooded by light. They turned around to see Pent inspecting the steaming corpse of one of the fallen archers who had an arrow sticking out of it's head. Louise followed him with an arrow at the ready and noticed Kent and Fiora off to her left. She trained the bow on them at first but after a quick double-take, during which she didn't take her eyes off her target once, she realized who they were and called to her husband, "Look Pent! They were aiming at these two!"

Pent looked up and, noticing the way they were leaning on each other like a pair of synchronously chopped down trees, pulled out a mend staff as he ran towards them calling, "Well if I had known that we had injured comrades waiting, I would have been quicker with my smiting of these intruders!"

Louise followed in at his heels with an arrow still at the ready and replied to her husband, "But dearest, you are always quick with your smiting!" and she laughed almost happily despite their surroundings, which were for the most part furnished with corpses.

More than a bit overwhelmed by the sudden near-death experience, closely followed by such an unexpected rescue, and to say nothing of their injuries which were still quite severe, Kent and Fiora both nearly telescoped as they fell against the wall. "You two certainly look a pretty mess! It looks like you really gave them some hell though! Ah! What am I going off on? Time is short. I'll have to heal you both at once. Just sit down and relax, I'll do the rest." They obeyed and adjusted themselves into slightly more comfortable positions as Pent began muttering the incantations under his breath. Soon, a blue light covered both their wounds.

"Do you have any idea what's going on here?" Fiora asked Louise as she lost all feeling in her side.

"Well," The purple-eyed sniper replied, "I'm not sure exactly, but I believe that these morphs are somehow teleporting in and causing havoc throughout the castle. It's the most impressive siege tactics I've ever seen! I suppose that it started this morning when Pent and I had our door smashed down while we were sleeping. I mean really! No warning, no heads-up of any kind, they took us completely by surprise! These morphs have no honor if they would break down the door of a sleeping couple and then let loose some arrows upon us! Fortunately, my wonderful hero of a husband," She hugged Pent warmly as he continued to mutter the incantations with a new smile pulling at the corners of his lips, "torched all their arrows before they could reach us. He held the rest of them off long enough for us both to get fully equipped and readied for battle. We had actually just left our room when we saw quite a large group of archers and shaman off to our left, aiming down a hallway. We heard someone yell, so I immediately let loose with an arrow or two before Pent finished off the rest. And here we are!"

"There, finished." Pent said, right on cue, "Now usually in a situation like this, I'd have you both relax for a bit, but we must be off to see if we can be of aid to the others. Oh, and Kent, the next time you put on a tourniquet, it needs to be tighter if you expect it to do you any good, and also, be a bit more careful when you apply one right there. If you're not, you could loose a good deal more than blood-flow in your leg!"

"Well, I'm not fully equipped yet," Kent declared rather quickly after such a comment, as he and Fiora got to their feet, "I'm still missing some of my armor, not to mention my horse."

"I'm ill prepared as well." Fiora added, "All of my equipment is all the way over in my ro-"

"Actually," Pent interrupted, "that's one thing I was puzzling over just now, Fiora. How did you end up all the way over here at this end of the castle? Your room is located in the East Wing is it not?" Needless to say, this simple question was followed by a silence that was a good deal more than awkward for at least one party involved.

"Well... Er... I..." Fiora's mind was franticly trying to come up with a plausible answer, at the same time doing her very best to suppress the intense blush welling up inside her. Here she was, all alone with no one, not even Kent, to help her out. After a moment of trying to 'remember' she stated in a rather hurried, yet not very improvised sounding voice, "Well... to be honest, it's really quite a long story. Maybe I'll tell you some time later, but for now it would be best if I were to get back to my room and more properly equip myself. Kent, you should do the same. Pent, I'm afraid I'll need to borrow your wife for a moment to protect me as I get myself prepared. We'll all meet up near the stables, find the others, and fight back these attackers. Come on, Louise!" She drew the sword at her side and ran down he hallway with Louise following her lead, leaving the two wide-eyed men in their wake.

What do Kent and I have to hide? She thought as she traveled the corridors, Would it be so unacceptable if the others knew how things were between us? Would it be so unacceptable, especially in the eyes of a married couple such as Pent and Louise?

Probably. The others would treat us differently. They'd think, 'So THAT'S why they've been sharing a tent all this time: just so they could sleep together! Interesting how they would lie to so many just to have a relationship that we would have undoubtedly accepted!'

In her mind Fiora knew her theory was far-fetched, but it was not worth taking the risk. She kept on running; her room wasn't far. If there were any enemies along the way, then the best thing her and Louise could do would be to run, but the corridors were devoid of life thus far. Fiora smiled inwardly; realizing that for the first time in what must have been almost a year, her leadership instincts had kicked in and the strategic and tactical aspects of battle suddenly became extremely vivid to her.

Fiora eventually came to the doorway of her room and found it's door was wide open, and a few arrows sticking out of her bed inside. Louise was close behind her and muttered, "I trust you left this door closed?"

"Yes." Fiora replied, "They must have come to kill me as well." They cautiously entered the room, Louise pointing her strung arrow here and there. After a thorough inspection of the room, they concluded that there were no hidden enemies and Fiora pulled out all the components of her combat suit, and quickly began to change out of her leisure clothes.

"By the way Fiora," Louise said as she kept watch at the doorway, "how did you get all the way over at that end of the castle?"

"As I said," Fiora started as she began fastening the string in her hair, "it's a rather long story-"

"And you now have time to tell it." Louise finished for her with a honey-sweet smile, "Please tell me, I'm rather curious. I mean, the only assumption I can make so far would be that you were in Kent's room with him when you were both attacked. But that could not be, could it?" Fiora had been in the act of putting on the main part of her uniform when she heard these words, and it caused her to freeze for a moment as her heart skipped a beat. She quickly continued getting her suit on wordlessly. "Fiora?" Louise asked as her gaze landed on Fiora, "Is something the matter?"

Fiora looked up at Louise, for a moment trying to ask for her, with her eyes alone, to understand the situation if she had figured it out already. It didn't work. "N-no." Fiora stuttered, a rare habit for her, "Nothing is wrong... I'm fine." She continued getting dressed, pulling up one of her combat boots, and reaching for the other.

Louise thought for a while, and Fiora was so close to finishing that she had only to strap on her shoulder plates when Louise gasped, "Oh, my..."

Fiora lost her concentration and dropped the piece of armor she'd been holding, but grabbed it before it could hit the floor and began fastening it's strap under her shoulder. "What is it Louise?" She asked as she felt her body temperature rise sharply.

"Fiora..." Louise started as she looked at her with traces of shock in her eyes, "Are you... and Kent...?"

Fiora wasn't even looking at the gold haired woman at the doorway, but she still closed her eyes and took a deep slow breath; her mind racing. For a moment she felt blinding frustration and an almost mild hatred towards Louise for putting together the pieces of an all too obvious puzzle. She knows! Fiora thought, She must have figured it out by now. Is it even worth lying to her? What's the point of keeping it a secret at all? Oh, how I wish that I had talked with Kent about this more! After five second that lasted for what seemed like two hours, Fiora stated flatly with her eyes still closed, "Louise... It's... complicated... It's not what it appears on the surface... but Kent and I are..."

"Say no more." Louise breathed, her suspicions confirmed, "If you wish to have it like that, then I have no quarrel, nor scold that I could possible give you. If you so desire secrecy, then neither Pent nor I will tell a soul."

"Pent?!"

"Well, if I know my husband, and I do," Louise explained with an indistinguishably feminine chuckle, and a slightly devious smile, "then he's probably pieced together the same conclusion as I have, and is assuring Kent of the same secrecy by now."

"Well then..." Fiora replied as she fastened the last of her pauldrons on securely and grabbed her lance that had been leaning against a wall, almost in anticipation of being used, "do be sure to keep it like that. Let's go!"

FIN!

Wow! That certainly picked up quickly, eh? Please! Tell me what you thought!

Don't know when I'll be able to post you all another chapter, but I hope it'll be soon!

R&R, or give me a flame,

For I shall read them all the same!