It was good to see the Shepherds smiling again, Stahl thought. At Chrom's and Sumia's wedding, it had still been too close to Emmeryn's death, and no one had been very much in the mood for celebrating.

Now, six months later, the Shepherds were nearly as happy as Robin and Maribelle themselves… though in Vaike's case, that might've just been because of the buffet. (To be fair, it was very good.) There was punch, too, around which people seemed to be gathering – except for the punch bowl Sully had claimed for her drinking contest with Vaike. Frederick was glaring at the two of them. Wait, no, Kellam was there as well. He seemed to be trying to join in, but no one was listening to him.

Stahl decided to avoid eye contact before he could get roped into something messy.

He spotted Cordelia across the other side of the room, talking to Gregor. He had a lot of good stories to share, but some of them could go on for a while. Maybe she was hungry? Stahl picked up a tray of appetisers as he made his way over.

"Oh, thank you, Stahl," Cordelia said.

Stahl's heart lifted a little, even though it was such a small thing. I've got it bad. Sully is going to lay into me hard for being so sappy.

"Ah! Food is tasty," Gregor said, popping one in his mouth. He chewed for a moment. "…But very small."

"Apparently Robin had to talk Maribelle out of a big banquet," Stahl said. "And a theatre troupe."

Cordelia laughed. "To be fair, I think Lissa suggested that one."

"Robin get lovely lady to play music instead, eh?" Gregor waggled his eyebrows.

To Stahl's surprise, she blushed. She even blushed prettily. "Don't, it was only a little thing on the harp. Oh, Stahl, I borrowed your idea for playing in a different tempo. I hope you don't mind, it's just that with all the last-minute practise, I forgot to ask you…"

He brightened. "Don't worry about it, Cordelia, I'm happy to help in any way! I thought you played wonderfully."

Cordelia smiled and ducked her head. Stahl caught a glimpse of someone sitting by themselves over her shoulder. He stood on tiptoes.

Is that… Tharja?

Unlike Gregor, Tharja hadn't integrated quite as merrily into the Shepherds, although her abilities in dark magic and knowledge of Plegia had proven useful. Stahl had only been briefly introduced to her at one of Robin's strategy meetings. She had mainly stayed at Robin's shoulder, occasionally glancing the rest of them out of the corner of her eye.

Cordelia laughed again at something Gregor said, startling Stahl out of his thoughts. She didn't seem to have noticed him momentarily staring off into space, but he politely excused himself anyway.

Tharja had tucked herself into a dark corner. She had her hands crossed over her chest, glaring at Stahl suspiciously as she approached. He tried not to be put off – it must be hard, coming to a different culture. Not everyone in Ylisse would have given a warm welcome to a Plegian like Tharja, either. She probably had reason to be defensive.

She didn't immediately say anything when he sat down next to her, stubbornly looking away.

"Have you tried the food?" Stahl said.

"I'm not hungry."

"Well, are you thirsty? I can get you some punch—"

"I don't want anything," Tharja snarled. "I only came because… because Robin asked."

She seemed to fold in on herself even more. Stahl began to get a sense of what the problem was.

"Oh," he said. "Well… I'm sure Robin appreciated you coming."

She perked up a little and actually turned to look at him. "…You think he did?"

"Sure!" Stahl said. "I mean, he asked you specifically, right? And everybody wants to share important moments in their life with their friends."

"Friends," Tharja repeated, in a stilted tone.

She looked across the room. Stahl knew she was watching Robin twirling Maribelle around. Something about Maribelle seemed more relaxed since she and Robin had gotten engaged.

"Well, sometimes, you can't mean as much to someone as you would want." Stahl thought about the way Cordelia's smile seemed to light up a room. And then about the way she'd blushed at Gregor's compliment. Stahl must have given her a hundred compliments whilst they practised the harp together, but she'd never reacted like that. "But you can still mean a lot to them, and that matters."

Tharja didn't say anything, but her posture relaxed a little. Stahl smiled.

They sat in silence for a few moments.

"...Nowi is going to overturn that table soon out of boredom," Tharja said suddenly. "If you bring her over here, I can keep her entertained until Robin and Maribelle leave... heehee…"

Tharja's chuckle sounded a bit sinister, but Stahl was pretty sure he'd seen her playing with Nowi before, so he put the brief feeling of unease aside. Nowi was a friendly and cheerful young… old… girl? Either way, if anyone could cheer Tharja up, it would definitely be her.

Cordelia had said she wanted a small, quiet ceremony. But all of the Shepherds were in attendance, plus dozens of people from the court and a few who were just curious about which man Cordelia had chosen as a husband, so it probably wasn't as small or as quiet as she had hoped. Still, the temple was decorated in a beautiful, understated elegance – naturally, as Cordelia had made all the arrangements herself. She really was perfect.

Stahl sighed, tugging at his itchy formalwear. Cordelia might be perfect, but even she couldn't control the weather. Outside, it was a beautiful day, but inside the temple was unbelievably hot and stuffy. He was sat at the very back of the room, near the open doors, and still felt like he was being slowly baked. At least everything seemed to be running on time, and the… the bride and groom should arrive soon.

A part of him wished that he could have skipped the ceremony, but that wouldn't be fair to Cordelia, who had been nothing but a kind and considerate friend to him. It wouldn't even be fair to Gregor. Stahl didn't know the man well, but he seemed like a good person – he'd saved Nowi during the war with Plegia, at risk to his own life, and he'd stayed with the Shepherds in the ensuing peacetime, even though there were probably much more exciting jobs that a man of his talents could take up.

And he'd made Cordelia happier than Stahl had ever been able.

The noise level outside suddenly increased. The people around him began to chatter excitedly. Tharja swooped in through the grand double doors, hunched over and glaring at anyone who looked at her. She spotted Stahl after a moment and let out a sigh of relief, before running over and sitting at the end of his row.

"I didn't think you were coming," Stahl said, giving her a smile.

Tharja didn't return the smile, but she didn't seem as dour as usual, either. "I had to look something up."

It was nice to have her there. Stahl had deliberately been a little late, himself, because he knew the other Shepherds were delighted. Not only would it be hard to watch everyone celebrating Cordelia marrying someone else, but everyone would realise he wasn't himself, and he didn't want to detract from Cordelia's day, or anyone else's happiness. Tharja didn't know Cordelia, though, so she had no reason to be so excited. Besides, Stahl thought Tharja would understand if he was a little upset.

A hush fell over the room.

Cordelia and Gregor walked in, arm in arm. She looked beautiful in a long, flowing, pale pink dress. Even Gregor seemed at ease in his formal suit, although maybe not handsome. The couple walked past Stahl's row to the front of the temple, to exchange vows before the priest and the clerk. He could see the beatific smile on Cordelia's face. Something inside him shrivelled up and died away.

Gentle flute music began to fill the room, courtesy of the musicians Maribelle had hired as a gift. It felt slightly oppressive. Now, Stahl did regret Tharja coming, because he could no longer quietly slip out the doors.

Suddenly, he heard, "You're much more handsome than he is," from beside him.

He looked at Tharja, genuinely baffled.

"And he's nearly twice her age," Tharja added.

"Thank… you?" Stahl said.

Tharja let out a breath and looked down at her hands. There was a piece of paper gripped in them, but Stahl couldn't see what was written on it. "What I mean is…" She paused and wrinkled her nose. "...this isn't due to any inadequacies on your part."

"Oh. Well… it's nice of you to say so, Tharja."

He kind of wished she hadn't said it, though; it reminded him a little too much of his bitterest thoughts. It might be true, but being handsome and of a similar age wasn't enough of a reason to fall in love with anyone. And surely Cordelia could have married almost any man she'd wanted. If she'd chosen Gregor… it must be because she really loved him.

They sat in silence for a while. Stahl tried to face forward and look like he was paying attention whilst also blanking everything out. The clerk had a very dry voice as he led with the legal formalities, so it was surprisingly easy to let everything wash over him without really taking any of it in.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Tharja unfurl her piece of paper and bring it up to her face.

"Do you like fishing? The Fishing Club has a headquarters on the high street."

"What?" Stahl blurted. It came out louder than he meant and he got some dirty looks from the surrounding people.

Tharja didn't seem to have noticed, still holding the paper up to her face. After a moment, she made a small, thoughtful noise. "Ah, I get it now." She turned to Stahl and said, very seriously, "There are lots of women. I'm sure one of them will have you."

What in Naga's name…? Stahl looked at the paper Tharja was holding, which had a list of things written on it in untidy handwriting. 'Reassure your friend of their good qualities', 'remind them, plenty more fish in the sea!', 'tell them that heartbreak doesn't last forever'…

"Tharja, is that a checklis—"

She abruptly stuffed the paper down the font of her robes and crossed her arms over her chest defensively.

Stahl stared at her. Tharja's face started to redden until it resembled a tomato.

"Um," he said, feeling like he had to say something. He kept his eyes firmly fixed on Tharja's face, resisting the urge to cast his eyes downwards. It might be misconstrued.

Tharja cursed under her breath and slumped in her seat, facing her knees. She was still red-faced. "I knew that stupid advice was no good. I should've just cast a cheering hex on you like I originally planned."

"Wait, no, I was just surprised!" Stahl tried. She snorted and didn't look up. "I mean… it's not really the advice that matters. It's having a friend there who cares enough to give it."

Tharja glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. He gave her an encouraging smile, and she sat up a little straighter. "None of the books said that."

"Well, books can't tell you everything," Stahl said. "Now you know for next time."

They sat in companionable silence, although their neighbours probably thought they were both unspeakably rude. Cordelia and Gregor exchanged their 'I do's, but Stahl's heart already felt so trampled that he didn't really feel it.

"Say, Tharja?"

"What?"

"Have you ever been fishing?"

A/N: Written for a prompt from the Fire Emblem subreddit. This officially doesn't work with Tharja and Stahl's support chain, although I did throw in a reference to Stahl and Cordelia's supports. I like the idea of Tharja and Stahl being friends but you can also read this as pre-relationship if you want!