Chris: I'm bored, once again. And I'm conflicted about what I should update next. So, as always, I make a new one-shot.

Disclaimer: Don't own Fire Emblem.

Childhood Friends

Lyon paced back and forth across the garden of Grado Castle. His purple-white hair whipped across his face as the wind blew across the landscape. He frowned worriedly, looking for the emissary's from Renais. And for two people he hoped would be there as well. The prince of Grado wrung his hands nervously as he continued pacing.

"Ohhh….I'm so nervous…What if they don't like me?" He continued his pacing and fretting, looking for any signs of the twin children of Renais. His silver cape brushed against the grass as he turned again. He remembered what his father told him.

"Listen son, it is vital that you develop a good relationship with Fado's children. I hear they are smart and charming children. And Renais is our ally and our neighbor. Having good relationships is vital to country politics. And I'm sure they will like you, my son." Vigarde patted his son encouragingly on the shoulder. "Get ready. They'll be here any minute."

"Okay, Father. I will try my best!" Lyon clenched his fists and looked at the sky, hoping to calm himself. He heard footsteps behind him and the prince turned, only two find two people, around his age, staring curiously at him. 'Oh! It must be them!' He smiled nervously at them.

"H-Hi…You must be Prince Ephraim and Princess Eirika." He saw the two of them nod. "I am Prince Lyon. Ah…Uh…Well, I was wondering since I never had any friends of my own before…Would you two like to be my friends? It'd mean a lot to me."

"Well, sure, Lyon. I can call you Lyon, right?" Eirika, the sister of the two, looked quizzically at him, her teal hair draping over her shoulders.

"Y-Yes. Of course!" Lyon smiled happily.

"Well, since we're new friends, how about you show us around? This place looks amazing!" Ephraim laughed and shook Lyon's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lyon."

"Same here!" Lyon nodded rapidly and looked back at Eirika. She was kneeling on the grass, smelling one of the flowers that were planted there. Lyon walked up to her and kneeled beside her.

"Oh! I'm sorry, but this flower has such a pleasing scent!" Eirika stammered, blushing self-consciously.

"No, there's no problem! If you enjoy it so much, feel free to take one! We have a lot of those in our garden." Lyon smiled.

"Hah hah! You two sound so much like each other!" Ephraim let out a guffaw. "It's like you two are the siblings and I'm the stranger!"

"O-Oh, brother!" Eirika stood up, huffing. "T-Thank you, Lyon. Perhaps when we leave…"

"Yes, yes, of course." Lyon muttered before looking at the teal-hair lord again. A stray thought crossed his mind. 'Yes…Maybe we are more alike than her and Ephraim. And she does look lovely-'

"Lyon?"

Lyon shook his head rapidly, blushing self-consciously. "Uh, oh, I'm sorry about that. Just…daydreaming." He brushed an invisible piece of lint off of his clothes.

"Hahahaha! Eirika does the same thing sometimes!" Ephraim tickled his sister, teasing her.

"E-Ephraim! S-Stop it!" Eirika couldn't restrain her laughter and she giggled helplessly as Ephraim continued to tickle her. Lyon looked at them, feeling a longing in his heart.

'How I've wanted friends like this…' Lyon coughed in his hand. "Uh…Perhaps you'd like me to show you around the castle now?"

"Oh yeah!" Ephraim stopped tickling his sister and brightened. "Let's go!" He grabbed Eirika's shoulder and rushed towards the castle. As Eirika passed Lyon, she mouthed the words, "Thanks."

Lyon nodded distractedly and followed after him. Something in his heart felt wrong…But then it felt better when Eirika had said thanks. He shook his purple-white hair. 'Enough of this. They're my friends and I need to show them around before they get lost.' He looked up. "Hey! Wait for me!" Lyon, prince of Grado, ran towards his new friends.

---

"Your son is quite the charming one." Fado turned to his lifelong friend, Vigarde. "I'm glad to see that young Lyon has gotten along with Eirika and Ephraim."

"Yes, same here." Vigarde stroked his chin. "Your children are quite attractive as well. Must run in the family, huh?" He cracked a joking smile to Fado.

"Hah! I'm just glad they don't have a mug like mine!" The king laughed. "Now, how's about we break open one of your cases of rum and have a toast to good times?"

"Perfect idea, Fado!" Vigarde slapped his friend on the back and then walked downstairs, getting ready to drink.

---

Two months had passed and Lyon found out that Ephraim and Eirika went to the same school as he did. How he didn't notice earlier, he had no idea, but the prince was overjoyed to see that his friends were in his classes.

"Hey Eirika!" Lyon huffed and he plopped his books on his wooden desk. He slid into his seat, sighing happily.

"Oh…Hey Lyon…"

"Huh?" Lyon looked up at Eirika. "What's wrong?" The prince looked worriedly at her. Eirika's hair was slightly ragged and she looked extremely tired and sad. The princess turned to Lyon and smiled wanly.

"Nothing…Nothing."

"Don't give me that. Come on, you can tell me."

Eirika looked at him again and sighed. "Eh…It's nothing important." She nodded half-heartedly. "Really. Nothing important."

"To me, if something is bothering you, it's always important." Lyon looked at her, concerned. What he said was true, of course. To the purple-white haired prince, Eirika was one of the bright moments in his life. Lyon truly cared for her, although he was unsure whether Eirika knew about it.

"It's…a friend of mine, actually. She and I…Well, we got into a big argument and now we aren't speaking anymore." Eirika sighed dismally. "And now that I think about it, it was such a stupid reason too…"

Lyon frowned. He hated to see Eirika beating herself up like this. "Perhaps you could talk to her again and straighten things out? I'm sure that if she was really your friend, you two would be able to make up for a simple argument."

Eirika brightened. "Yeah…That makes sense." She smiled happily at Lyon. "Thanks a lot, Lyon. I really appreciate it."

"Y-You're welcome…" Lyon blushed.

"…Now to wait for the teacher. I can't believe you have straight As in class, Lyon." Eirika sighed. "You're really smart!"

"R-Really?" Lyon scratched the back of his head, embarrassed. "I don't know…I just seem to understand this stuff."

"Hey! How about you tutor Ephraim and I? That way, we'd do better at school also!" Eirika smiled.

"Uh…It's 'Ephraim and me.', not 'Ephraim and I.'." Lyon quickly corrected her.

"See? You're starting already. Please, Lyon?"

"Well, okay. Sure!" Lyon smiled widely.

"Great! Then, how about we start after school! I'll see you at Renais Castle, okay?"

"Okay!" Lyon nodded. 'And…I'll be able to see more of you…'


---

"So, you see, it was because of the gallant actions of your father that we are able to live in the world that we have today." Lyon recited from their history books at his first tutoring session.

"Zzz…"

"Ephraim!" Lyon poked the sleeping prince on the head. "Don't sleep when I'm busy!"

"Huh? Wha? The answer is the Civil War of Jehanna!" Ephraim blinked his sleepy eyes and whipped his head around. "Oh…Oops."

"Brother, you can be such a pain!" Eirika pushed her brother jokingly, toppling the blue-haired prince out of his seat.

"Ow…" Ephraim rubbed his head. "Sorry about that Lyon. I must make a terrible student."

Lyon smiled. "Well, you're not that bad. But please try to stay awake."

"Okay, teacher!" Ephraim scrambled back into his seat.

"Seriously. I don't know how you can deal with someone like him." Eirika frowned at her brother.

"Well, you're his sister, so I assume you'd know more about that than me." Lyon smiled again.

"You know…" Eirika stared at Lyon. "You…look really handsome when you smile…"

"Wha-!" Lyon's eyes widened and he gaped at Eirika.

"Uh, uh…I'm sorry!" Eirika bowed her head low.

"Smooth, Eirika! Smooth! How about next time you tell him you love him?" Ephraim laughed loudly.

Eirika flushed madly and poked her brother on the ribs. "That's not funny!"

"Y-Yeah, Ephraim. You really shouldn't joke about things like that." Lyon chuckled nervously. "Uh…I think now might be a good time to end it…Since we really aren't going anywhere now."

"Sweet!" Ephraim jumped out of his seat and rushed off to the armory, presumably to perfect his lance technique. "Have fun, you two!"

Ephraim disappeared, leaving a very flustered sister and an embarrassed prince. Lyon closed the history book and was about to leave when Eirika grabbed his arm. The prince stopped and turned to her.

"Huh? Eirika?"

Eirika looked up at him with her blue eyes, the moisture in them threatening to become tears. "Lyon? Can I speak to you?"

"Well, of course!" Lyon placed his books on a desk.

"Let's go outside…" Eirika stood up from her seat and led Lyon towards the bright, green grass of a nearby park. Yes, Renais Castle is sooooo big, it has its own park.

---

When they reached the park, Eirika sat down on the grass, motioning Lyon to sit next to her. Eirika brushed back her hair with her hands and straightened out her skirt and blouse. "Lyon…I'm sorry about what my brother said earlier."

Lyon sat down next to the princess and fidgeted nervously. "Well, it's really nothing, actually."

"No, it isn't! I mean…What if…Someone actually did have feelings for you?" Eirika flushed and looked at the ground.

Lyon froze and looked at her. "Eirika?"

"Well, Lyon! I-I just don't know! I mean, you've helped me out at school, you've helped me out with Ephraim, and you've helped me with my problems! And you're not bad to look at either…I can feel it within me…I-I love you, Lyon!"

The purple-white haired prince of Grado froze, heaving those words repeat endlessly in his mind. She…loved him. This was almost too much to take.

'S-She…She loves me! Me! A-And…I love her…I know that! Yeah…'Lyon looked at her, looked at the teal hair that shone like the waters of a tropical island, looked at her eyes, which shined with caring and passion, looked at her body, which was built like a dancers with all of its curves and lines, looked at her lips, which seemed to grow closer…

Lyon leaned in and kissed Eirika on the lips lightly. Eirika's eyes widened as she felt his lips and then she gave a small sigh of longing when his lips moved away.

"L-Lyon? D-Do you-"

"Eirika…I must be frank with you…"

Eirika's eyes widened and she sobbed softly, already dreading the words that would reject her.

"I…have loved you ever since I saw you at Grado Castle. You were so kind of me and you've stuck with me for such a long time, although I'm such a loser. How…How can I not have feelings for someone as sweet and beautiful as you?" Lyon kissed her again, deeper this time, and Eirika returned his emotions, holding him closer to her, kissing back with all of her love.

Chris: Yes, it's shorter than usual. Other than that….Nothing different. Have fun. Oh, and review please.