"I can't do it," Ilyana hung her head in disappointment, clutching the bow tightly.

Soren's red eyes softened at her disheartened tone. Titania had insisted that the caravan's members train with different types of weapons, a precaution in case they ever needed to defend themselves in an emergency. So far, it wasn't working very well. Boyd couldn't handle a bow to save his life, Oscar had no idea how to pronounce half the words in the magic books, Shinon was helpless with a sword (though he would never admit it), and Mia complained that the lances were way too long to keep her balance properly.

"Let me see your stance," his velvet voice commanded, stern but still in that soft tone that she had come to associate with him.

Ilyana lifted the bow up once again, a hopeless look in her lavender eyes. She was useless with all types of weapons, having a secret fear of landing accidentally on her own sword when a fainting hunger spell took over. That was why she was a magic user. Nothing would happen until she commanded it to.

She heard Soren come up behind her, his robes swishing. She felt her breath hitch as she felt his body heat near her. He reached forward, laying his hand on top of hers, his other resting on her shoulder. Ilyana was sure she would melt from the intense heat she felt, both from Soren's body warmth and from the fierce blush in her cheeks.

"Let go," his soft voice whispered into her ear. She did, eyes widening when the arrow hit the bulls-eye. Her mouth hung open for a few minutes in shocked surprise.

"I did it," she looked up at the wind sage, her voice laced with wonder. She felt a stab of disappointment when his hand dropped from her shoulder, the lack of it leaving her skin cold. He nodded, a barely perceptible smile playing on the corner of his lips. Ilyana was temporarily dazed by that ghostly smile, her knees going weak and her breath escaping her lungs.

'He really is handsome,' she thought dreamily. His silky, ink-black hair was shiny, framing his pale face. His red eyes were calm and warm.

It was so strange.

She had always associated the color red with suffering and pain.

The color of blood.

Soren's eyes made her feel warm and happy, not dread or horror.

After Ike had left, everyone had gone back to their respective lands and mercenary groups. But Ilyana had found that she was unable to leave the grieving dark wind sage. She knew that Ike and Soren were great friends and it had hurt him deeply when the blue-haired commander left suddenly. He had seemed so vulnerable when he had asked her to consider staying, the fear in his eyes clear as day. And she found out that she couldn't resist him when he looked at her like that, couldn't bring herself to hurt him like Ike unconsciously had.

Feelings that she had thought she'd squashed from their first adventure were returning and had grown the more time she spent around him. He had changed her. She was no longer the frightened lightning mage and he was no longer the stoic and cold wind sage. At least, not to her.

The rustling of his robes brought her attention back to him and her heart picked up in speed as she noticed just how close she was to him, close enough that she could see the flecks of dark crimson in his vibrant red eyes. An unreadable expression shone in his brilliant eyes, making her skin tingle. She found herself leaning into him, her lavender eyes locked onto his red ones.

"Hey guys! How's it going?"

Ilyana's reaction was immediate. She jumped back, a blush on her pale face. Soren looked apathetic, though his hands clenched into fists.

"Do you need something, Boyd?"

Ilyana flinched at the cold tone in Soren's voice. He was angry, that was obvious from his stance and the iciness in his tone.

'But why?'

She wondered if Boyd had done something to irritate the usually stoic sage. She giggled inwardly in amusement as she figured Boyd's mere existence probably irritated the red-eyed wind user.

"Whoa, calm down, Soren. Just here to tell you that lunch is starting," Boyd put up his hands in defeat, a slight smirk tugging at his lips, "Sorry if I interrupted anything."

Soren glared, his eyes resembling two flames and making Boyd's blood turn to ice. Ilyana flushed, shaking her head. Boyd was quick to make his escape, muttering about creepy sages. Ilyana's stomach grumbled, and she remembered she hadn't had breakfast. It was hard to concentrate on anything but Soren nowadays. She reached over, tugging on his hand.

"Come on," she urged, her hunger giving her confidence. He offered her a small, amused smile, letting her drag him by his hand. Her heart beat uncomfortably in her chest. She rarely saw him smile like this. He usually smirked or frowned, depending on who he was currently talking to. She loved it when he smiled and would do anything to see it.

They had a nice lunch before returning to their practice, this time with a few lances. Soren was a patient teacher and Ilyana enjoyed the time spent with him.

Unfortunately, after their quick training session Ilyana had to go help Mia polish her many swords. She had been somehow tricked into doing so by said Sword master, much to her dismay. She had always been somewhat afraid of the sharp objects and tried to avoid them whenever possible. Mist was also helping, though the healing mage was strangely quiet throughout the whole thing. The young girl had decided to stay with the mercenaries though you could tell she missed her older brother terribly. But she hadn't been able to part ways with Rolf, her longtime friend and, most recently, fiancée.

"You've been spending a lot of time with Soren, haven't you?"

Mist's question startled Ilyana out of her thoughts and she flushed, not being able to deny that she had been spending an unusual amount of time with the dark wind sage.

"Aa…yes, I suppose so," she answered shakily, not sure where this was going. She knew that it probably wasn't good, with Mist staring at her with a satisfied smirk on her face.

Mist's smirk turned mischievous, "Do you like him?"

"WHAT?"

Mist´s eyes shone with mischief, staring down the lavender-haired thunder Sage. Mia sat up, completely interested in the conversation unfolding before her.

"O-of c-c-course! He's my friend," she stuttered out, hands shaking. Mist shook her head, her smirk widening.

"No, do you LIKE him? Like, as a man?" Ilyana felt her face heat up even more, stuttering out but not saying anything. Mia laughed out loud, amused by Ilyana's red face.

"Who'd have thought? Ilyana having a crush on Soren! Soren of all people! The emo magic user of our strange little group!"

"Don't insult him. Soren's a great Sage and an amazing person," she quietly defended the silent wind Sage, her voice strong, clear and just a little bit dreamy, her face tinted a light pink. Mia quickly stopped, her expression surprised.

"Wow, you've got it bad," Mia said in wonder. The clueless sword user had suspected that the lilac haired female admired and respected Soren, but she hadn't known that her friend had fallen that hard for the sage.

"You should tell him," Mist advised, voice soft. Ilyana's eyes widened and she shook her head furiously.

"Why not?"

At Mia's inquiry, her eyes darkened in misery and hopelessness, her whole body slumping in defeat.

"He won't feel the same," she mumbled sadly. Mia and Mist exchanged a glance. It was common knowledge around camp that the two sages had feelings for one another, though they weren't sure how deep the feelings were. The only ones who didn't seem to know about the other's interest were the two in question. It was almost too much for the other mercenaries to watch the two love-struck magic wielders. The way they looked at each other was almost nauseous. Mist was the only one that guessed that the feelings between the two were probably deeper than a simple infatuation.

"You never know," Mist encouraged softly while Ilyana looked like a deer caught in a trap, "Try telling him."

Mist smiled reassuringly and Ilyana finally nodded, albeit a bit hesitantly. She would tell him, she decided, or faint trying, which at that moment seemed like a better alternative.

That night, Ilyana could barely fall asleep, thinking of all the possible things that could go wrong. When she did sleep, her dreams haunted her, and she ended up tossing and turning the whole night through.

The next morning, Ilyana, who was feeling sick to her stomach and quite tired, set out to find Soren. She was determined to tell him everything, not being able to stand the uncertainty any longer. She had to let him know of her feelings for him. She found Soren out in the nearby forest, meditating. She took in the sight of him, the soft morning light giving him an ethereal glow. The green mark on his forehead stood out on his pale face and she had a sudden urge to go up and plant a soft kiss over it. Her weariness was soon forgotten as she focused on the dark-haired man, butterflies flitting around in her stomach.

After a few more minutes, she knew she could not delay any longer. If she didn't do something soon, she knew she would chicken out.

"Soren?"

Her voice broke the still, morning air and his eyes opened at the sound of her voice. She felt her breath catch as he looked at her, the deep red of his eyes entrancing her.

"Aa…good morning, Ilyana," he tilted his head in greeting, a ghostly smile playing on the corners of his mouth. She nodded nervously before taking a breath.

"Soren, I need to tell you something," she shifted from foot to foot, her eyes focused on the forest floor. She heard him get up and brush off his robes before hearing his soft footsteps come towards her. She glanced up at him then looked back down, not sure how she should say it now that he stood in front of her. She looked up again and saw him nod, his red eyes showing his confusion but they were still warm with that mysterious emotion that Ilyana found she could never quite place. She flushed as red as a cherry before bending her head down, her eyes trained on the floor.

"Soren, I think," she hesitated a minute, then took a deep breath, looked up into his warm eyes and continued, "I t-t-t-t-think I l-l-love y-y-y-you."

She breathed a sigh of relief at finally having said the words that weighed her down every day but the relief was short lived as she noted that Soren was awfully quiet. She looked up anxiously at the dark haired man, scared of what his reaction to her deepest secret would be. His eyes were wide, his mouth open into a small 'oh'.

She flushed, "I just wanted you to know that. I'll leave you to your meditating. Sorry to have bothered you," she could feel the tears prickling at her eyes, threatening to spill. 'Stupid, stupid, stupid! Now he'll avoid me like the plague,' Ilyana could feel her heart shattering into little pieces.

She took a step backwards but a soft tug on her wrist made her stop. Her heart lurched back to life at the feeling of his hand around her wrist, her skin tingling where it came into contact with his. She kept her head down, not wanting him to see her tears.

"Do you mean it?"

She looked up at him. His eyes flashed with different emotions. Relief, disbelief, amazement, happiness, and hope. But the strongest emotion she could see in his eyes was the one that she could never quite figure out. She nodded, ducking her head. His pale hand came up and stroked her cheek, before his long pale fingers grasped her chin and forced her to look up at him. Her heart was beating painfully loud in her ears.

"Even though I'm half laguz?"

His eyes were pained now, as if remembering the consequences of being a half-beorc and half-laguz, a cursed being. She nodded, tears running down her cheeks. He smiled softly and leaned down, capturing her lips with his own. She immediately responded, standing on her tiptoes and tilting her head to deepen the kiss. One of her hands made its way into his silky black hair while the other rested on his shoulder. His arms made their way around her tiny waist, supporting her. They broke apart for air, breathing heavily. She glanced up at him, puzzled but happy by the show of affection. He smirked seductively, bending down until his lips were near her ear.

"I have to admit that I have also fallen in love with you, Ilyana," his velvet voice whispered huskily in her ear. She felt goose bumps rise all over her skin. She understood now what that mysterious emotion had been.

It was love.

She felt as if her heart was going to burst from all the happiness she felt at that minute. She felt like she was the luckiest woman in the world, knowing that her love was reciprocated.

She lifted her face up to his and he chuckled before submitting to her wishes and kissing her passionately, taking her breath away. She responded eagerly, letting her pent up emotions break free.

Mia and Mist smirked as they made their escape from the two Sages, creeping away from the small clearing and toward the camp. They spoke not a word until they were safely in Mia's tent. As soon as they entered the swordmaster's tent, Mia turned toward Mist, pleased and a bit awed by her friend's brilliant plan.

"How did you know that would work?"

Mist smiled knowingly at the astonished Mia, "The feelings were already there. They just needed a push in the right direction."