Masked Emotions

Chapter One: Dance E x N

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem – if I did, Marcus would have died a horrible and gruesome death from the hands of Eliwood. >D

Eliwood sighed and drew his cloak around his shoulders as a chill wind picked up, ruffling his crimson hair. Disappointed that he wasn't able to find what he was looking for, he slowly made his way back to camp.

It was the beginning of autumn, and Eliwood's band took it upon themselves to give him a surprise party. Perhaps they had noticed how grim and serious (well, even more so than usual) he was nowadays, and wanted to cheer him up.

Eliwood did not know what was wrong with himself. He simply felt unhappy and empty inside, and as the days slowly passed by, he fell into a depression. He would sit in his tent for hours at a time, or take a quiet stroll alone through the words. Occasionally, Eliwood had the urge to scream at himself, but he always decided against it. Fat lot of good that'd do.

The sounds and laughter from the celebration drifted to Eliwood even before he caught sight of the camp, which was lighted with a surprising amount of torches and candles (Eliwood suspected Matthew and Legault may have something to do with it). Eliwood grimaced and shook his head; they ought to know better than to be so loud at such a dangerous time like this. What if the Black Fang picked up their trail?

All thoughts of reprimanding them vanished, however, when Eliwood realized how much they enjoyed this little surprise party. It was a break from the endless slaughtering they had to endure over the past few troubled months. Eliwood, lost in thought, slipped past the long, wooden tables filled with food (where Lowen and Rebecca were having a "feast"), the stables (where Sain was hitting on Fiora unsuccessfully: "Ah, my dear! You cut me deeply!"), and found himself standing in front of a makeshift stage (made from a bunch of large, wooden boards stacked together and crude "curtains" that looked suspiciously like Eliwood's blankets) on which Serra was standing. Hastily he found a seat and sat down.

"Kent," Eliwood whispered (so as not to disturb Serra's singing, horrible though it was) to the serious redhead sitting beside him. Kent started with a clank of armor and saluted Eliwood, earning himself a few stares from the audience and a glare from Erk.

"Lord Eliwood."

"What time is it?"

"It is half past nine, sir," Kent replied.

Eliwood took out his scroll of programs and squinted as he tried to read Nils's illegible writing. "Half past nine.. Oh no! Another half hour of Serra's singing! I think I shall go to sleep."

"Well, sir, you should stay – it's worth it. If you leave right now, you'll miss the next program, and it's the grand finale."

Eliwood peered down at his paper and narrowed his eyes at the parchment in order to read Nils' terrible writing. "At ten… Ninian's Dance… I'll stay," he decided, after a short pause.

The minutes passed by like hours, and when it was finally Ninian's turn, Serra refused to step down from the stage, saying that she still had two more songs to sing. The sight of Erk in a remote corner upon the stage with a threatening gleam in his eye was enough to discourage anyone who had thoughts of dragging Serra from the stage, and so everyone had to endure "two more" of Serra's songs. Eliwood found himself getting drowsy as Serra sang the second verse of "Elimine's Love", composed and written by Serra herself. By the time Serra had finished singing not two but six songs, Eliwood was already deep asleep.

And so it was that when Ninian went up the stage and peered at the audience, she found Eliwood snoring gently in the first row. Tears sprang, unbidden, to her eyes, but she willed herself not to cry. She had, after all, promised herself to be strong. And she would be strong, even if it meant ignoring the sleeping redhead - who she had decided to dedicated her dance to - in front of her for the rest of her life. Clearing her throat, Ninian announced, "I will dedicate the following dance to my brother, Nils, who has gone through so much with me." She began her dance amid the cheers and applause that followed, sadness gnawing at her heart.

Ninian had thought, from the first two real conversations they've had on the battlefield, that Eliwood considered her a good friend. He even hinted that they may be more than good friends when he asked her to dance for him. Ninian twirled, feeling hopeless. So Eliwood didn't think of her as a friend, after all. If he did, he would have stayed awake to watch her dance. But here he was, purring delicately in his slumber, oblivious to the great pain he just caused her.

Eliwood woke up just in time to see Ninian step off the stage, her head bowed. Eliwood immediately felt great guilt at having missed Ninian's dance. Then he wondered why he felt guilt at having missed her dance. A little sad, maybe, and disappointed… But guilt?

Then, with a pang, Eliwood realized that the source of his restlessness over the past few weeks was Ninian. Although Ninian had never asked him to, Eliwood had always looked after her, in a sense. He was sure that she had wanted him to see her dance. And he had let her down.

In the midst of the crowd, someone else was just as troubled as Eliwood. Nils watched Ninian walk back into her tent, knowing that she did not mean to dedicate the special dance to him.

A/N: This sucks so much. So uninteresting. Review, because this is my first fanfic.

This, by the way, is dedicated to mashounotenshi, who pestered me to dedicate a fanfic to her because I pestered her to write a story. O.o Your late birthday surprise, because I know how much you loved your presents.