Jade
DISCLAIMER: Fire Emblem and its characters belong to Nintendo and Intelligent Systems.
Natural ways of approaching a girl include declarations with words, a gesture, or a gift with thought. To the best of charmers, any one of these was easily accomplished.
Unfortunately for a certain narrow-eyed hopeful, he was not so great with approaching a girl. Rather than a natural lady-killer, he was one of those shy boys who watched by the sides in secret admiration and he was lucky that his narrow eyes hid his reactions.
Yet like any guy, he had an object of affection, the apple of his eye.
Since he couldn't voice his confession and he couldn't bring himself to touch her without asking her (which was just weird to him), he concluded that the only way he could express his feelings was to present her with a gift of sorts. There was only one problem with his plan, and it wasn't a lack of resolve – despite his reserved composure, he was quite a passionate young man when it came down to it.
His girl was really a lady. And ladies had… well, pretty much anything he could offer. What could a simple mercenary give her? Besides, her suitors always brought her beautiful gems, things beyond what he could ever hope to get for her.
Still, he was determined; he would tell her somehow.
-
They got along well. Sometimes, they would practise together in the shooting range. Not being a natural archer, he spent long hours working on shooting properly, running through his routines. He would notice her arrival out of the corner of his narrowed eyes and watch as she carefully notched an arrow and shot it into the bull's eye.
Her actions were incredibly smooth and graceful. He never thought that a lady could apply her usual grace when she used weapons, but his secret crush (if such a word could be used to describe his feelings!) could. He would watch in silence, awestruck, until he realized that he was gawking. At that point, his ears would redden a slight shade darker and he would try to turn his attention back to the bow in his own hand, often in vain.
But as battles went on, he needed to learn more quickly. He needed guidance in order to improve.
How could he ask her?
He spent many practice sessions thinking, shooting arrows with an unfocused aim. There shouldn't be any problem with him asking a girl a favour. That was essentially what he was doing, after all. He'd asked Mist to get herbs when cooking and he'd asked Mia to help him out in battle, so asking for some shooting tips shouldn't be any different.
At least in theory, anyways.
Finally, one night he waited in the shooting range for her to appear. She came as usual, bringing her bow and quiver. He walked up to her, slowly, as she set up her range.
"Excuse me, Lady Astrid," he said with as much confidence as he could muster. He watched her turn and meet his gaze with her own, her eyes displaying her slight surprise.
"… yes?"
"Could you… help me with my bow technique a little?"
She smiled.
-
The shooting range became a regular meeting place for the two of them.
He learned about House Damiell, its heritage, its descendants. She told him about her sisters and their fates, and how she tried to escape. The story amazed him – he had no idea that she had the courage to defy her family, to refuse a betrothal. Yet when he told her so, she only turned away with a tinge of red on her cheeks, leaving an awkward silence between them.
But they shared their lives, their cultures, and the distance between them shrank a little at a time. And slowly, he felt his confidence go up as they got closer, and that maybe this refined lady wasn't that much different from him.
One day, he came in and saw her sitting on a bench, fiddling with something in her hands, deep in thought. As usual, he walked over to talk to her, but as he approached her he saw the object catch a beam of sunlight, causing it to glitter as she turned it.
He stopped walking and pulled an arrow from his quiver. Perhaps now was not the right time to ask.
-
It wasn't going to be anything big, he thought to himself, just a small gift for all the help she had given him. After all, something big like what she had received from that whoever-it-was would make it seem like he was proposing –
- oh no, he told himself, better stop that thought.
He looked down at the pile of coins he had gathered in front of him. It definitely wasn't enough to get him anything like the dazzling jewels that nobles wore. But they were in Begnion still, so perhaps he could find a trinket in the capital's market to his liking… and hopefully to hers.
Gathering up the coins and putting them in a small pouch, drawing the string tightly and placing it in his pocket, he got up out of his room in the Begnion palace and into the streets. For him, it was a much more natural feeling to walk amongst crowds than to sit in an empty building.
Nobles must get lonely, he mused. His lady seemed so at first, too.
He walked past a display of glittering precious stones, sighing as he caught sight of their names and price tags. Ruby, sapphire, lapis lazuli, diamond…
His eyes settled on a beautiful emerald that sat at the centre of the display. She had once said to him, when he had opened his eyes in shock, that it felt like she was staring at emeralds. To see the actual shade of green, he found it hard to believe. And although he had been pretty sure that she had wanted to say something else too, she was a lady of tradition, and waited for him to make the first move. But he hadn't had the confidence to say anything, so he had only nodded in thanks, which left them in another awkward silence.
A few minutes after seeing the emerald, he reached the end of the street. On one side was a stand with some stones on it. The woman managing the stall caught sight of him, and beckoned him over.
His eyes scanned the small stones on the table one by one, furrowing as they reached the end of the table. Surely none of this could be an acceptable token of gratitude! He was letting out a small sigh of resignation when he saw a green stone at the end of the stand.
Pulling out his pouch and handing it to the woman, he asked, "Will this be enough for that stone?"
The woman opened the bag and peered inside, took out a few coins and wordlessly gave it back, gesturing to the stone.
Smiling, he took the stone, slipped it into his pocket and walked away, his happiness carrying him faster and faster until he broke into a run down the street.
-
The next day, he walked up to her at the shooting range, his hand gripping the stone so tightly he thought it would cut him if it weren't smooth. She looked up at him when he stood in front of her and immediately made room for him on the bench she was sitting on.
As was usual.
"U-um, Lady Astrid," he started, a little more nervously than usual.
"Is something wrong?" She looked up, a little concerned.
He quickly shook his head so as to not worry her. Looking down at his hand, he shoved it to her, slowly unfurling his fingers.
The stone didn't reflect in the sun nearly as much, but its green was a gentler shade – not a sparkling, vibrant green, but a shade soft and pleasing to the eye. A few white lines dashed through the green like cracks in an eggshell, adding dimension to the colour. It was in the shape of a small disc, smooth yet edged. She took it from his hand, slowly twisting it in the sunlight with her fingers.
"I… you looked sad a while ago," he began again. "I tried to get you something to thank you for keeping me company and to cheer you up, but I'm afraid it's not anywhere near what you're used to…" The words just tumbled out of his mouth as he talked until his mouth ran dry of words.
A small laugh escaped her lips. Was she laughing at his present?
"Thank you," she said, taking her free hand and turning his face to look her in the eye. "Someone just sent me something to console me over a family incident, that's all. It was their underhanded attempt at getting me to return to the House." Her gaze drifted to the stone. "But with this… I know that I won't."
He looked at her, a little in shock. So that stone he saw the other day… wasn't a proposal gift?
Wait, what should it matter to him?
She took off a necklace from underneath her clothes and detached the stone that was in the necklace's holder, replacing it with the stone he gave her. Placing it back on her neck and letting it rest on top of her clothes, she smiled in approval.
"It's a kinder, gentler colour, but it makes me feel strong," she said. "Just like you, Oscar."
And finally, he gathered the nerve to give her a hug, carefully wrapping his arms around her. With that, he knew for sure that their feelings were conveyed to each other, conquering any fear that separated them before. He didn't need to become a lady-killer...
... he just had to keep true to himself.
Oh dear, it's so cheesy at the end. I can't fix it. This story was just made out to be cheesy…
-EmbeRin