Fire Emblem does not belong to me, it belongs to its respectful owners. The "plot," however, is mine. The part about love returning is from the Korean soap "Stairway to Heaven."

12/25/06 Wow, this is the longest thing I've ever written! It's three pages, and it has actual paragraphs! So, consider this a Christmas present for anyone who likes this story! I think the story's a bit choppy and could be smoother but . . . enjoy!

Edited 2/18/08

(FE8:SS) Despite Seth discouraging a relationship, I'm hopeful. Because I believe one day we'll walk down that crossroad together. One-shot. SethEirika.

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"Love's something that always returns, it transcends distance, death, hate, it always returns."
-Song-Joo, "Stairway to Heaven."

The Princess of Renais, who will one day be Queen alongside her brother, has done many things. She's fought against monsters, waded through blood-soaked mud, watched her friends nearly die. She's seen battles where she thought she and her friends would never survive, witnessed things that she'd thought were only fairy tale, and watched her kingdom fall to ruin. She set aside her own personal needs in order to achieve what needed to be done. So it shouldn't be surprising that she wasn't even hurt when her One True Love (or so she thought) said things wouldn't work out between them.

. . . or that's what I'd like to believe.

To be honest, I (surely you've figured out that I'm the afore-mentioned Princess by now) was absolutely crushed when my One True Love (and you've also figured out this is Seth) said we shouldn't be together. I was young then, and I'm still young now, but I had fallen so hard for him that it was an absolute arrow through my heart. Surely, you can understand why. When everything was changing, Seth remained constant. He was something I could always rely on. Not that I'm saying Ephraim isn't reliable, but at the time, he was far away. Seth had always been there since I was young.

Seth had quickly risen through the ranks and I was a bit scared of him. He was much taller than I and looked so intimidating in his armor, that I never properly looked at him. I even had nightmares where a towering knight wearing Seth's armor would chase me. So, when Papa wanted to introduce Ephraim and me to him, I ran away. Albeit, not very far. Upon hearing the news I escaped out my window and ran for the garden Mama had planted.

The garden was full of flowers. Scarlet, violet, blue, marigold, it seemed like every flower in the world was there. It was much like a meadow in some ways. There were no carefully cultivated rows or trellises; everything ran wild. In fact, Mama had said she wanted it like that, so when the soldiers looked out, they'd be reminded of the mountains and forests they had left behind. Did I mention the garden was right next to the practice fields for the soldiers?

Anyway, I thought the garden was a marvelous place to hide away. I didn't remember that everyone knew that's where I went when I'd run away from lessons.

So, I was sitting in the meadow playing with a marigold in my right hand. I was enjoying the gentle breeze that blew my messy hair out of my face, and the warmth of the sun. I closed my eyes and let myself lie down to enjoy it. Who needed to meet the monstrous Seth anyway?

I heard someone stepping through the garden; they weren't trampling it like most people did when they came. The person made more noise than most people would after stopping; I assumed they were trying to politely inform me of their presence. I ignored them and continued to rest in the sun.

Then the person stopped a few paces to my left. I waited, and waited, and waited for them to do something. When they didn't, curiosity got the better of me. I opened my eyes and saw who was there.

He was tall, that was my first impression. His boots were the scuffy brown ones that most soldiers wore in the summer. Tucked loosely into them were tan breeches that were too big. His shirt was the off-white color white becomes when it's worn too often. It had old sweat, grass, mud, and probably bloodstains on it. Standard clothes for any soldier. His chest seemed too skinny for his broad shoulders and I wondered if someone had grabbed his shoulders and pulled to make them that way. Finally, I looked at his face that was turned away from me. Short red hair that was messily cut and very serene eyes that were a pretty auburn color. I wondered who he was.

He turned and saw me. He didn't yell or give me pleasant patronizations. He simply said, "It's quite a pleasant day today, Princess."

I responded automatically, "Eirika." He looked at me with shock. "Call me Eirika," I continued as I sat up, and then stood.

"Princess?" He asked hesitantly.

"No, just Eirika. I don't call you Knight, do I?"

His thinly pressed lips quirked into a smile. "I suppose not. But what else are you to call me, if you don't know my name?"

"Pretty?"

"Then am I to call you, fair-skinned?"

I stuck my tongue out at him; I never liked being so pale, Ephraim said I looked like a ghost. "Fine, Sir I-Don't-Know-Your-Name, what is your name?"

"Seth," he replied with a toothy grin.

And so, my misconceptions of the monstrous Seth were put to rest right then and there. And in its place was just Seth.

I gaped openly at him. He continued, "Might I ask why you're out this day?"

"Because I don't like to always be the Princess." Which was another reason I hadn't wanted to meet Seth, it seemed too much like a Princess duty.

"I see."

"Don't you ever feel that way? That you just want to be Seth and not Sir Seth?"

He was silent. And in that moment, I respected him for actually listening to what I had said.

I suppose you could say that's where the beginning of our love came from. I grew to admire and respect Seth as a valued friend only equal to Ephraim. Ephraim and I would often drag him off on our escapades outside our room because we knew our tutors wouldn't stop us if he we had him with us. But as we all grew older, rank and status started to make itself apparent. Most prominently between Seth and I. Ephraim and Seth could easily talk as equals because Seth was more experienced in the ways of battles than Ephraim was. Their relationship didn't change much; only on the occasion when Seth would demurely defer to Ephraim was there any noticeable difference.

As I was groomed to become a proper ruler, my lessons steered towards maintaining a household. The only reason I was allowed to study battles with Ephraim was because Papa insisted upon it despite his ministers' disapproval. He would say that I needed to know this in the event Ephraim wasn't there with me. But that's just what he said. He really wanted me to be Ephraim's equal in every way, and to show the ministers I was just as capable as he. But Papa couldn't dismiss the confusion that accompanied my lessons because even I wasn't quite aware of it.

My tutors would discourage any contact with Seth, and once they even forbade it. It confused me; everything they told me about my relationship with Seth contradicted everything I did with him. And so, in my young and foolish state, I obeyed them without question, and before I knew it, Seth and I no longer shared the closeness we once had. We would only nod at each other when passing one another, when before we would stop and talk.

It was Ephraim who brought me to my senses. I was practicing the "Art of Conversation" on him and said, "Is it not true that a Knight's place is serving his Lord?"

To my surprise Ephraim replied sharply, "By the Stones, Eirika! What has gotten into you? A Knight's place serving his Lord? What a load of horse manure! What have your tutors been stuffing your head with? You sound empty, foolish, and shallow like your tutors! You of all people should know a Knight's place is beside his Lord as an equal! Haven't you learned anything from Seth?"

My confusion disappeared.

But healing my relationship with Seth was something that could not be so easily fixed. It was painstakingly slow, as both of us had become stagnated with vows of duty and honor. We regained it, but never to the close extent it once was.

So you understand now, why I was devastated when I spoke to Seth that night? To me, it seemed as if he were burning the last of the bridges that lapsed our class difference. But now, in retrospect, I realize he was doing what he deemed best for me.

Yes, I cried like he had died that night, because he had died in a way. I was absolutely heart-broken but I worked my way through it. Seth and I have stayed friends, the first few times we talked were a bit awkward, but now we're back at that fork in the road. I never stopped loving him and he didn't stop either. It may sound presumptuous, but I'm certain. He still is very protective of me. He addresses me very formally because he's uncomfortable, and the only reason that can be is because he still feels something for me. And I'm hopeful that it's love. I still catch him stealing glances at me when he thinks I'm not looking. Even Kyle's noticed, although he hasn't said anything.

And my love? I'm willing to let him go, isn't that love? I can still love him without compromising my role as Princess. I still send him into dangerous battles. I still wonder how his wound from Valter is doing. I want to hold him when he gets that sad, distant look in his eyes. I want to muss up his hair when it's too neatly combed, because it just doesn't suit him. I want him to be Seth and me to be Eirika.

I'm not worried about ruining any political alliances. I think it's more dangerous for the Queen to be unhappy and politically safe than happy and politically unsafe. A Queen can't clearly think through that haze of unhappiness. Her people can recognize her unrest and morale falls. I'd rather rule a happy country on the brink of war, than a sad, safe one.

I'm not worried about bearing an heir that is of pure blood. I believe that my child deserves a father who I love, and who will love him or her. And I'm sure someone from a loveless marriage isn't that person.

At this fork in the road, we can go together, or go separately. But even if he chooses to go on separately, I won't give up. Because people who love each other always come back to each other. So we'll always come back to this crossroad. And I'll wait until he's ready to walk down one together with me.