Hello everyone who stumbled on to this new piece of fanfiction!

My name is Ariaeris, and I will be your host for the evening.

Today's special includes the first portion of a Hector/Ninian fic, requested by the lovely Ms. Platerair Queen. She requested as part of my offer in my other fic, "A Moment of Mercy," and I have delivered - or at least I have begun to deliver.

As you may notice as you begin your meal, this fic comes with a side of Lloyd/Eliwood. Now, I know this side dish might be a bit experimentational, but I would heartily suggest that you take it for a taste test. It is my own personal recipe; in fact, you might even grow to like it! If so, I am preparing it as a main dish over in the piece entitled "A Moment of Mercy," which you can find on my profile.

In any case, enjoy your meal, and hopefully you'll leave a generous tip for you waiter.

Bon Appétit!

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem, nor do I own anything in conjunction with Fire Emblem. I am most certainly not making a profit off of this work, save that for knowing that somewhere out there, someone might find this fic a little bit enjoyable.

Warnings: Some mature material, a little bit of OOC-ness (explained at least), some sad feelings, but no bashing whatsoever - no one is going to be intentionally bashed in this fic. Also, more café puns are on the way. They're too much fun to stop!

Pairings: Hector/Ninian (main), Lloyd/Eliwood (side), Ninian/Eliwood (one-sided), Hector/Eliwood (one-sided), and some peeks at some others.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Stand and Walk

Chapter 1: Dance not for Me, but for Yourself

I would not know what the spirit of a philosopher might wish more to be than a good dancer.

-Friedrich Nietzsche

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ninian laughed as Eliwood made another light joke, her smile brightening as she thought of the day they had spent together. There had been an abrupt lull in the constant, never-ending fighting, and Mark had let the army off for the day, allowing the tired soldiers to let loose for the first time in weeks. The army had not been slow to accept the gift, and they had parted with farewells to wander around the large town they had landed in.

She had not meant to meet Eliwood during her journeys, but when she had been admiring a crystal necklace that one of the merchants in the main plaza had been selling, Eliwood had come up behind her and bought it for her. She had been surprised and had said she would pay the noble back, but Eliwood merely laughed off her repayments and declared that it had been a gift for her, and that it looked beautiful on her.

The two had left the plaza with soft whispers of young love from the merchants they left behind, and Ninian's heart lightened at the words. Truly, if even strangers could recognize the bond between them, then maybe, maybe if she hoped and prayed and loved hard enough, Eliwood might deem her worthy of his notice.

Ninian shook her head with a rueful smile, her light blue-green hair falling around her shoulders. That had been almost two weeks ago, and nothing had changed. Eliwood still treated her like a friend, a close and dear one at that, but it was the love she still hoped it would some day be.

"Ninian? Did you hear me?" Eliwood asked concernedly, standing in front of her. The dancer's eyes widened; when had they stopped walking? "I suppose that is a no," Eliwood chuckled faintly.

"I'm sorry, my lord," Ninian stuttered, clasping her hands in front of her chest. God, how was she supposed to win his affections if she kept acting like such a dolt?

"It's fine, Ninian," Eliwood smiled softly, though his brow was furrowed slightly. "If I could ask you a favor, would you please stop being so critical of yourself? It hurts us; it hurts me, when we see you thinking of yourself so harshly."

"My lord," Ninian murmured, her soft green eyes locking with concerned blue.

"I have told you more than once, Ninian, you look beautiful, even more so than you normally do, when you smile," Eliwood said, his sapphire eyes lighting up in a manner that took her breath away. "So please, smile. Your smile, your dances, everything about you is a balm for the army, and none of us can stand to see you upset."

Possessed with an odd strength at his words, Ninian stood up straight, staring directly into those eyes she loved so much. "Eliwood," the addressed lord's eyebrow rose at the dropped honorific, but he did not interrupt. "I have something very -"

"Eliwood!" A low voice rang out, startling her into silence as she watched the vaguely familiar man approach them. A quick inhale at her side drew her attention, and she was startled to see Eliwood practically glowing at the sight of the other man. His soft smile had widened and those eyes that had sparkled so affectionately for her were overcome with a blazing rush of passion.

Ninian felt her heart drop into her stomach as a sense of dread began to creep upon her. No…

"Lloyd!" Eliwood exclaimed, and Ninian unconsciously winced. Had he ever addressed her, addressed anyone, in such a fond manner? Her heart quickened and she felt as if she were about to cry for a moment. Maybe she was reading too much into things, her frantic mind wondered as it grasped for straws so that she would not have to face reality.

No. As Lloyd drew ever closer, anyone who wished to could see the pure devotion shining from his gold eyes. A foreign feeling clenched her heart, and Ninian mused detachedly over when she had learned to hate.

Lloyd nodded politely at her before stealing Eliwood's attention away from her. Her heart clenched once more, and though Eliwood made attempts to invite her to join their conversation, Ninian was well aware that, once again, she was an outsider.

Eliwood was smiling at her again (trickster, seducer! her heart cried and then cried once more as she realized how fickle she was being – had she lost faith in the man she loved already?) and even Lloyd was looking a bit amused. Ninian reached up to grasp her throat, whether to stem her sobs or the litany of accusations that begged to be hurled at the two she did not know.

"You were in another world once more, Ninian," Eliwood chuckled (it sounded so hollow now, even though she knew that nothing had changed - and maybe that was the worst part) the light playing off his eyes, the damnable things. Ninian could tell that Lloyd was just as ensorcelled as she was. "Lloyd and I are going to meet with Legault in that tavern over there," Eliwood said, pointing to the building across the street. "Would you like to join us?"

"…No, my lord," Ninian murmured, her eyes gazing steadily at the ground, unable to look at him any longer. She refused to humiliate herself any further by crying in his presence.

"If you are sure…" Eliwood trailed off, watching Ninian curiously until Lloyd gently grabbed his shoulder, drawing his attention back to him. Cautious gold eyes met her own as she risked a glance at the pair, and a small part of her felt a vindictive sense of pride that he recognized her as a threat.

"As you wish then." Well-hidden coldness greeted her, and Ninian was surprised at Lloyd's sudden shift in tone. He had seemed like a fairly nice man until now (save for the whole unnecessary grabbing of Eliwood), strong and reliable. Why would he act so rude then?

Their eyes darted simultaneously over to Eliwood. She understood. He had something protect, something to covet, with Eliwood. She wondered if what she felt was something along the lines of heartbreak.

"We will see you later!" Eliwood said brightly, and she flinched away from it. She had lost – that light was not her own; never had been in fact. So she shaded her eyes and mumbled out a farewell and let Lloyd win the contest she had never even been a contender in.

Lost in her thoughts, she was startled by a sudden voice. "He's a heartbreaker, isn't he?"

Ninian whirled around to face the man who had spoken so near to her. "Oh, Lord Hector, it is merely you," she sighed in relief.

"Come here," Hector ordered, leading her over to a bench away from prying yes with surprising gentleness.

"Lord Hector?" Ninian asked, confused as they sat beside each other.

"I'm not good at this comforting thing," Hector admitted, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "But for you, I'll try. After all, it's not every day you get your heart broken."

"Lord Hector!" Ninian exclaimed, scandalized. "I have no -"

"Save it, Ninian," Hector interrupted with an impish grin. "Everyone could tell you were head-over heels for Eliwood and, no offense to you, that was a pretty clear 'sorry, but no' back there."

"So you saw," Ninian mumbled.

"Yeah," Hector said awkwardly.

"I just…I just don't understand what I did wrong. We were getting along so well, and he was calling me beautiful, and I thought that maybe…I was stupid to think that he could -"

"You are not stupid at all!" Hector exclaimed furiously. "And this is not your fault at all! Eliwood is like that with everyone." Ninian's eyes widened in shock, and Hector backtracked quickly. "That's not what I meant at all! It's just…"

Hector sighed, rubbing his eyes tiredly. "How can I explain this? Eliwood is just…one of those people you fall in love with. He's kind and respectful, strong but not war crazy like a lot of other people in this army," Hector blushed at that admission, and Ninian chuckled weakly. "He's smart, and a great friend, and so beautiful and not just in body, but in spirit as well, and…you can't help it. He grows on you, and it is too easily just tumble off the edge into love.

"He doesn't realize he does it either; it's not innocence or naiveté or anything like that. Eliwood just doesn't notice how loveable, for lack of a better word, he is. So he goes around treating everyone like they're the best and most beautiful person in the world, and then leaves them with a broken heart once they realize that he is just treating them like a friend while they're ready to sign away their lives for him."

Ninian stared at Hector in shock, and the blue-haired lord blushed slightly under her scrutiny. "Sorry about the rant."

"It is fine," Ninian said, wringing her hands in her lap. "Your…rant; do you have personal experience with Eliwood like that?"

Hector smiled sadly.

"But, just because Eliwood does not love one of us now does not meant that he could not be able to," Ninian argued, though something rang hollow in her words. "So -"

"It's useless," Hector said dispassionately, and Ninian was shocked to see the normally indefatigable lord seems so….defeated.

"Why would you say that?" Ninian asked angrily. "Why would you give up so easily?"

"I've spent years as Hector, sparring buddy, best friend, brother," Hector replied, and there was that same tiredness that rankled Ninian's nerves that colored his voice. He sounded so old as he spoke, and Ninian was taken aback by his words. "And in all that time, I have never seen him look at someone like how he looked at that man. So I will settle for what I have; even if he never returns my love, I am content with what I have now."

Ninian had been through a lot in the past few weeks between Nergal being all around the worst person in the world, pining over Eliwood endlessly, and finally being rejected for another man, but Hector's words were the final straw. "Content? Who would want to be content? I want to be happy! And if you would settle for something less than everything, if you would not risk everything in order to win the heart of the one you love, then you are a coward in my eyes!"

"I'm a coward!?" Hector roared, leaping to his feet. "Yeah, I'm the one who stood beside Eliwood blushing and stuttering all day long. I'm the one who speaks of my love with awe and tragedy with each breath, casting myself as the main character in my own shitty little personal melodrama. And of course, I'm the one who let him go off with another man because I couldn't work up the courage to tell him how I truly felt! So, Ninian, who is the true coward here?"

Overcome with her newfound fury and pain, Ninian shot off the bench they had been sitting on and punched Hector straight in the face. The lord fell back with a pained cry, and Ninian fled, clutching her injured hand to her chest as she finally let herself begin to cry.

She was such a coward.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Welcome back! Did you enjoy your meal?

The maitre d' would like me to remind you that while Café Ari serves fics for free, a generous tip of a review is always appreciated. The various workers here all adore your reviews, and they spur us on to create the best works we can.

Also, I would like to remind you that the specials should be updated soon, and the next chapter of "Stand and Walk," as well as chapter three of "A Moment of Mercy" will most likely be up soon. Also, depending on the shifts this week, a new item to the menu might appear as well!

Until you're next visit, this is your host signing off.

Thanks for reading!

Ariaeris~