Lissa aimlessly wandered the halls of Castle Ferox, with no clear destination in mind. Her eyes stared blankly ahead of her, her mind in a daze as she tried in vain to wake herself from this nightmare.
"Emm..." she whispered to herself as fresh tears filled her eyes. She closed her eyes as the tears spilled over and ran down her face. The image of Emmeryn falling to her death filled her head as her eyes shot open again. Lissa gritted her teeth and broke into a run, desperate to outrun the horrible memory that was still very fresh in her mind.
Lissa stopped running after a minute and found herself outside, in the castle courtyard. Snow was gently falling from the cloud-covered sky, and the white powder covered the ground in a thick layer. Lissa could see her breath as she panted heavily, and she probably would have been cold if she wasn't already numb from the pain of her shattered heart.
Wandering to the center of the courtyard, she came to a stop in front of a frozen fountain. Her legs felt weak under her, and she slowly sank to her knees as she buried her face in her hands as she sobbed. She felt so helpless. How would Ylisse go on without their Exalt? Chrom would have to step in and take her place, but would he be enough to get them though this war? More importantly, Lissa wondered how she would go on without her big sister. Emmeryn had always been their for her, and made time for her even though she was busy running the country. She felt sick, her heart was broken, and she didn't know what else to do but sit here in the snow and cry. Her body tensed as she heard footsteps crunching in the snow behind her.
"Go away!" Lissa yelled, her voice hoarse from her crying. She raked her hands across the ground, flinging snow at whoever was behind her. She didn't want to know who it was, she just wanted them to go away. There were a few moments of silence before she heard another step come near, and Lissa was about to fling more snow when the person's voice stopped her.
"Lissa."
She winced as she recognized the voice. He was simultaneously the first and last person that she wanted to see her like this. She sniffed and rubbed her eyes before turning her head just enough so that she could see him out of the corner of her eye. Stahl stood a few feet away, with a small frown on his face and eyes filled with concern. He stepped closer and knelt down in front of her as he placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.
"Lissa...You don't have to hold back in front of me." he said softly as he managed a slight smile. Lissa's eyes filled with fresh tears as she turned around and threw herself into his arms. He held her silently as she sobbed into his chest, releasing all of her pent up sorrow and anger and whatever other conglomeration of emotions she was feeling right now. He moved one hand to rest on the back of her head, and his other one gently rubbed her back. After a few minutes, Lissa's sobbing slowed and she finally looked up at Stahl. He reached up and gently wiped away the tears that still streaked her face. The warmth of his hand on her face suddenly alerted her of how cold she was and she shivered violently.
"Here." Stahl said as he removed the cloak that he was wearing. He wrapped it around Lissa and pulled it closed. It was a bit big on Lissa, but she didn't care. It was warm and smelled like Stahl, and she sighed wearily as she finally relaxed.
"T-thank you Stahl. I...I'm sorry you had to see me like this." Lissa whispered as she looked at the ground, feeling embarrassed. Stahl gently placed his fingers under her chin and lifted her head so that she was looking at his smiling face.
"You don't have to apologize, Lissa. This...must be so difficult for you. I want you to know that I'll always be here for you. You're important to me." he said as he reached up and brushed the snow from her hair. Lissa's cheeks flushed. He was important to her as well, more important than he – and herself – realized. He stood up and grabbed Lissa's hand to help her to her feet.
"I know, thanks. You're pretty important to me too." Lissa said smiling as she brushed the snow from her legs. She paused and smiled sheepishly. "Oh, and sorry for flinging snow at you."
Stahl laughed. "It's no problem. It'll take more than a little snow to take me out." he said, running a hand though his snow covered hair. Lissa grinned mischievously.
"Oh really? We'll see about that!" she said as she ran to the other side of the fountain. She quickly gathered some snow in her hands, patted it into a ball, and flung it as hard as she could at Stahl. Before he had time to react, the snowball managed to hit him in the shoulder.
"Hey! No fair! A little warning would have been nice." Stahl said as he laughed and took shelter at the other side of the fountain.
"C'mon Stahl. The enemy has to take every advantage they can. There are not warnings in real battle." she said as she ducked to dodge a snowball from Stahl. He just laughed again as their snowball fight raged on, and Lissa was able to forget her sorrows, thanks to her knight in viridian armor.