Secret Santa for nagasasu. I just completely forgot to post here. Or I was just too lazy.

The summer had been unbearably hot; the harvest had been worse than ever (though it had never been good) and there had been several great accidents in the iron mines. Natasha thought that might be an omen. It was a little more than one year; then the great earthquake would come. Prince Lyon had foreseen it less than four years ago. Many towns and cities of Grado had been deserted and the people were moving northwards. Natasha and other helpers were building new towns – they couldn't just send the people somewhere and not give them a new home – but the progress was slow, tiring and sometimes unbearable.

Work never seemed to end. As soon as one town was finished, another hundred of people would arrive and ask for shelter. Natasha had built several churches, dozens of houses and a handful of schools by now.

Still, despite the tears and many dreamless nights, she was happy. When she saw the hope and relief of the people who found a new home, she felt that what she did was right. Yet, sometimes she was lonely. She was travelling from place to place quickly. She had no fixed home in Grado anymore. She rarely worked together with soldiers, craftsmen or clerics for more than a few weeks before she was called to another place.

She wished she could spend some time with a friend, not just an acquaintance.

That was the reason why she was elated when she saw a young, blond knight in bright green armour ride into the new town of Sefia.

"Franz?" she asked, stunned, and handed the wooden planks she had brought to today's job-site over to a boy.

"Well met, Lady Natasha," Franz called and waved, smiling broadly. Walking towards him and shielding her eyes from the sun, she smiled back. He dismounted swiftly.

"What are you doing here?"

"I wanted to see how it's going?" he asked and slightly lowered his gaze. His face looked flushed from the sun.

"Everyone is full of energy." Natasha sighed lightly – there would be several wounded tomorrow; cuts, callouses or overstretched muscles. But she was glad that she didn't have to see any more arrow wounds, inch-deep cuts or rotting limps. "We have just finished another two houses. Now we're taking care of a meeting house." She threw a quick look over her shoulder. About twenty people – men, women and children – were erecting the walls and already part of the ceiling.

"You're working really hard," Franz said with a sigh and grabbed his horse's rein. "Is there an Inn in this town already?"

"No, but you may sleep in the church. Everybody who has no home yet is welcome there. I live there too."

"Thank you." Franz smiled broadly.

"I'll take you there," Natasha said before he could excuse himself. "I'll be back in a few minutes," she called over her shoulder. A craftsman waved to her and then quickly returned to his work.

"Thank you."

Natasha shook her head. "There's no need to thank me." Franz beckoned his horse to follow and together they crossed the new town square. "Has General Duessel or King Ephraim sent you to check on us?"

"Ah, yes. I'm supposed to observe your progress."

"Oh, but aren't you stationed in the capital? Aren't you needed there?"

"Don't worry," Franz said and waved her off, "there're enough great knights in the capital. They can spare me."

"Franz," Natasha sighed.

"I didn't mean it like that," he quickly retorted – he was blushing lightly. "They truly have enough commanders there at the moment." Natasha sighed, this time obviously good-natured. He smiled like a cheeky boy who was caught plotting a new prank. "How are you?"

"I'm well," she answered quickly. "But some of the children are suffering from heat strokes. They're playing too wildly." She chuckled. She immediately sobered up, though, when she saw Franz' concerned expression. She smiled again and put her hand on his arm. "I'm happy that you're here." Franz' cheeks reddened and Natasha laughed lightly. He quickly joined her.

"Thanks."

###

"Over here!"

"Give me the hammer there."

"Hey, watch out!"

Natasha was sitting in the shades of a tree, gulping down lukewarm water. She watched how the others were heaving strong and heavy planks up on the house's ceiling. Franz was up on the house as well, his sleeves pushed up high, his forehead damp with sweat. He and two other men shouldered the plank and carefully crept up the ceiling construction. With a loud 'plonk', wood met wood. Natasha watched as the red-faced Franz slowly slid back to the edge of the ceiling and prepared to accept the next plank.

Natasha sighed, finished the cup of water and stood up; her legs were still wobbly and unsure. Her head was throbbing; the rest in the shadows hadn't helped much.

"Lady Natasha?" a fine voice asked.

"Yes, Jonathan?" A small boy with the biggest and most expressive eyes Natasha had ever seen had walked up to her.

"Mama asks if you want to help her with the food."

"I will. Tell her I'll be there in a few minutes."

"Yes." He grinned broadly at her, his eyes shining brightly, and sped away. Natasha chuckled, patted the dirt off her clothes and slowly followed the boy. When she stepped into the surprisingly cool mess house, she felt better already.

Jonathan's mother, who had volunteered to take care of the workers' meals, was a former priestess with a sweet temper. Natasha had immediately liked her and had found a good conversation partner in her. After greeting her, Natasha took over the place at the potato pot and serviced the already waiting people.

Time passed without Natasha noticing it until she saw Franz and his co-workers enter. They were among the last and so, after serving the last of them, she grabbed food for her own and went over to Franz' table. He greeted her with a smile and stood up to pull back her seat.

"Thank you." After she had sat down, he did the same and dug in again. "You're working very hard," Natasha remarked as she cut up her vegetables.

"Hmhm," Franz answered with a full mouth. He swallowed quickly and took a deep gulp of water. "But I can't just sleep here and eat their food without working for it."

"You're a good person." He blushed lightly, though it was hard to see it as he was still red from the exertion, and threw a short glance at her. Natasha chuckled inwardly and for a few moments, they ate in silence. Eventually – after Franz had seemingly stilled most of his hunger – he started to chat; he told her about the progress in Renais, the situation in Rausten and the Darkling Woods, and whatever else he could think of. Between these rather grim news, he told of his brother's 'adventures' as a professional painter or sweet anecdotes of himself.

Natasha was quite disappointed when Franz' co-workers asked him to get back to work. But Franz waved at her with such a sweet smile and promised to eat supper with her so that she was still in a good mood. For the rest of the day, work seemed easier.

###

The sky was slowly darkening and most people had already left for their new homes. From the bench outside of the church, Natasha had a good look on the town square and the circle of houses around it. Many windows were still lit. The sight warmed her heart so much; to know that these families finally had a home again, a warm hearth to return to…

Sighing happily, she pulled the thin blanket she had brought with her around her shoulders. It was still warm, but it had suddenly grown windy; colder air was coming down from the mountains.

"Lady Natasha." Franz had just stepped out of the church.

"Franz, come and sit with me." She patted on the bench. "It's so wonderful here." He nodded and sat down. Quite close to her, Natasha noticed.

"Soon the work is finished, isn't it," he asked as he threw a long look over the town.

"Yes." And Natasha was happy about it. But the question had reminded her of something that she had wanted to ask Franz for a while. "Franz, may I ask you something?"

"Of course," he said, smiling, and turned to look at her.

"How long are you going to stay here?" His face fell slightly and his gaze as well. Natasha frowned confused. "You've been here almost three weeks now. A few days would've been enough to check on us." There was little light, but Natasha could still detect that Franz' face darkened. "What are you not telling me?" She leaned forward, putting her hand on his knee.

"I'm sorry," he said lowly. Her hand on his knee twitched surprised.

"For what?"

He looked up and smiled sheepishly. "I'm actually not here on official business." Taken aback, Natasha straightened and pulled back her hand. "In reality I'm on vacation. General Seth said that I was allowed a few weeks of rest after almost four years of constant service." Franz smiled fully and embarrassed.

"But why didn't you tell me?"

"I thought you wouldn't let me help you if I told you."

"Of course I wouldn't have," Natasha protested gently. "You're supposed to rest."

"See, that's why I didn't tell you. I wanted to help you." He licked his lips, nervously. "Well, I wanted to visit you and when I saw how much there was still to do, I thought I would help you so that I can spend more time with you." He looked her in the eye.

"Franz, that's…"

"I'm sorry for lying to you."

Natasha closed her eyes, smiling. She shook her head. "No, it's alright. I'm just happy that you're here. I missed you and my other friends."" She opened her eyes and found that Franz was smiling broadly. On the spur of the moment, she leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. He blushed brightly. As Natasha chuckled, he grabbed her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles.

"I missed you too."