Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem or, for that matter, the tactician in this fluff-shot. The tactician, Melody, belongs to my 'hey-why-don't-you-write-a-book' friend, and I'm just writing this for her.

A Fluff-Shot

You Won't Have to Wait Long

Erk didn't really understand her sometimes; she was so kind, and yet she was so different. The sage knew that he could watch her for hours on end, and he still wouldn't understand anything about her.

How would he know this? Because he did watch her for hours on end as she meandered about the campsite, worrying and fussing over the occupants. It was a wonder why he hadn't been caught yet (though his pretending to read the book in his lap did seem to be a very convincing disguise).

Today was no different from the rest of the group's travels. She strolled around the camp in her normal routine, asking around and checking to see if they had enough supplies. He could tell that they were running low, because she bit her lip often when something was wrong, and that was what she was doing that the moment.

She looked up, and he was suddenly aware of how bright her green eyes were, of how they shined with her curiosity. Immediately, he dropped his gaze back down to his book, seeing the text but not really reading it. His cheeks burned as the blood rushed to them.

"Hi, Erk," greeted the indigo-haired girl. Twitching, the young man lifted his head, pretending to just notice her standing in front of him.

"Hello, Melody," he replied in what he hoped was a composed tone. He frowned, because he noticed that she was biting her lip. "Is something wrong, Melody?" he questioned, causing her to lift her eyes to meet his.

"I — what makes you say that there's something wrong?" she asked.

"You're biting your lip. You always do that when you're worried about something," he answered. He quickly regretted it, because she looked surprised, almost shocked, at his statement.

"I do? But…how would you …how would you know something like that?"

"I thought you were supposed to be observant, m'lady," he mused with a ghost of a smile. "After all, you are our tactician."

Melody's cheeks flushed with embarrassment. "W-Well, yes, Erk, but…" She shook her head. "Anyways, I was just going to ask what you were reading."

"Just an Elfire tome," the sage replied with another slight smile. "So that I don't have to rely so much on the tome if it's destroyed."

The green-eyed girl sat down beside him, tilting her head at him. "I thought you always have to rely on the tome when you do magic."

Erk bit his lip in thought.

"If you don't want to answer that, you don't have to, Erk," Melody quickly added.

"No, no," he interrupted her. "I'm just thinking about how to go about explaining this."

"Well…I can wait as long as you want," she said softly.

For a moment, the sage was sure that his heart had skipped a beat. He looked up in surprise to see that the tactician wasn't looking at him. Her cheeks were pink, and she was biting her lip.

Unsure, Erk reached out and took the girl's hand. She snapped her head to glance at him, and he smiled. "You won't have to wait long for an explanation, Melody."

Melody's green eyes shined brilliantly, and she bit her lip again, but it seemed to keep herself from smiling. It showed through, though, because Erk could see it just below the surface. "Really?"

"I promise that you won't have to."

They held hands for the rest of the day.

I rather liked this. The funny thing is that I read this to my friend over the phone, and she practically burst my eardrums apart. In the background, I could hear our other friend, Ashley, laughing.

Well, I' m just glad she enjoyed it.