Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem, but I do own this little idea that popped into my head.

A One-Shot

What is Kissing?

(Set before, and then after Split Second.)

The sun was high in the sky, and it was a warm day outside in Caer Pelyn. Thanks to the mountains, there was a nice, warm breeze that ruffled through the village, and many of the inhabitants were taking advantage of it.

People such as Gerik and his sister, Tethys.

Ewan was confused. He'd been watching the two from within his teacher's hut for the past hour, now, and he still didn't get what they were doing. They were really close, and their hands were all over each other, and he could hear his sister giggling a lot. He just didn't get it at all.

He watched as, once again, their lips met. The redhead had the grace to pale. Geez! Was Gerik trying to eat his sister? It sure looked like it. But he didn't get his sister's reaction; she wrapped her arms around the chief's neck and played with his hair.

Just what the heck was happening with them?

"Teacher?"

Saleh looked up from his book calmly to look to his student's curious face. He raised a brow at the confusion he saw in the boy's expression, and closed his book to give him his undivided attention, as he always did. "Yes, Ewan?" he asked.

"Um…my sister…and Gerik…they're doing something really weird…"

The sage's brows furrowed. "'Weird,' you say? In what way?"

"W-Well…" Ewan grabbed his cloak tale, and pulled him to the window. At first the teacher stumbled in surprise, but he regained his balance quickly. "J-Just…they're over here..."

The redhead pointed out the window, and Saleh followed the direction.

What greeted him was the sight of the couple kissing each other under the shade of a tree. They were both pressed against each other, their lips meeting softly, though their hands roamed one another's bodies fiercely. From where the sage stood, he could see that the braid that Tethys usually kept her hair in was undone and messy.

Ah; now he understood. Saleh stifled a chuckle.

Ewan stared at him intently, the same confusion still on his face.

"It's simple, Ewan," he told the boy as he ruffled the eleven-year-old's hair. "They're kissing."

"What's 'kissing'?" the redhead asked. "Is it just a fancy way of eating each other's faces off?"

This time, Saleh couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping him. "To some, maybe, but to your sister and her husband…not so much. Ewan, kissing is a way to show that you love someone more than just a friend, or a family member."

Ewan was watching the couple again, his eyes intent now, for whatever inexplicable reason. Personally, the man was just happy to have grown from that insatiable curiosity that every child had. At least he had learned how to control it a bit.

"So…when you love someone, you kiss them?" the boy questioned, still observing his sister.

"Yes, I do believe that's the original intent," the teacher mused with a chuckle.

His student was silent, then, and the sage went back to his book.

That night was nice and warm with crisp breezes blowing through. Tethys had come an hour earlier to request that Ewan stay the night with his teacher, since she and Gerik were going to…ahem. She had left it at that, and the things unspoken left the rest glaringly obvious.

Saleh broke out his thoughts and chuckled. At that moment, Ewan was getting ready for bed, and was changing out of his usual clothes and into his undergarments for sleep. The sage was on the other side of the hut, near the fire, and was taking off his cloak and extra clothing for the night. He would leave his pants on, but everything else would be neatly folded and ready for the morning to come.

The man turned around to see that Ewan was already snuggling into the small cot and watching him with those curious eyes of his. He smiled and also got in, happy that there was still a lot of extra space left. He had made it like that, when he found out that Ewan was going to be living in the village from then on.

"Goodnight, Ewan," Saleh murmured, ruffling the child's hair as he rolled over.

"Teacher?" the boy asked after a moment of hesitation. His sounded apprehensive.

The sage rolled back over to face his student, and was shocked when Ewan's lips pressed themselves softly and quickly to his own. His heart spluttered a couple beats, speeding up in both shock and something else. He'd always found his student to be adorable, and this was too much for the man to handle. It was only made worse when Ewan snuggled in against his bare chest, closed his eyes, and murmured:

"Love you, Teacher."

Saleh still chuckled over that moment in time, even eight years or so later, as he slept his with student in a bed much larger than that cot and in an inn that wasn't their home. He looked down at the young man whose eyes were languidly lidded and watching him. Those eyes were still as curious as they were when he was a boy, and Saleh loved the man all the more for them.

Ewan smiled, raising one hand to the sage's cheek, and kissed him softly, leaving him breathless all the while. Saleh kissed him back, and it was too soon when they broke apart.

"Goodnight, Ewan," the sage murmured softly, his heart pounding. He rested his head on his pillow, letting his eyes close.

"Love you, Teacher," he responded, snuggling against Saleh's chest.

The elder smiled as his mind drifted slowly into slumber. "I love you, too, Ewan."

You want the truth? I don't really know where this came from. I was thinking to myself this morning, and then I saw this scrolling into my mind like a movie clip. It was just so fluffy that I had to write it down. And now, I've decided to post it.

And, don't worry; Split Second will continue. I want the story to get to this point. There is another one shot with Ewan and Saleh and, though it is a little sad, you should read, Inevitable. I'm also working on a story for FE7, with the Tactician.

Hope you enjoyed this as much as I did.