Note To Readers: A one-shot of Karla/Karel childhood. This is the first Romance one-shot I am going to try. My humor one is progress. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoy this short writing I thought of one day. Please do not based all my writing on this one fanfic alone for I usually write long chapters and not usually one-shot. Thanks, and review!

Note To Readers (Improve): I had time so I decided to improve this one-shot and make it better. Thank you for all of you who reviewed the first time, I love you all! Also, I do not own Fire Emblem or any of its characters.

We will be known by the tracks we leave behind.

-Dakota Proverb

The Sword in Two ( Improved!)

By Potter29Vo

Rain…Rain was pouring down, hitting hard against the ground. Never did the plains look so far away. The chocolate-eyed young girl, around the age of six, was sitting all alone in the meadow. Her eyes were absorbed in her knees as her arms were wrapped around her ankles.

Tears were rolling off her eyes, her dark black hair moving with the harsh wind. Her hair was wet from the endless raindrops pouring down. Karla blamed herself for losing her way and separated from her own parents. The tears won't stop even when Karla tried her hardest to stop it. The hardest feeling inside was loneliness. No one was by her side; she was all alone in the middle of the night.

Nothing, nothing at all was stopping her from getting up and finding her own way home. But Karla couldn't get herself to get up and move anywhere. All energy inside her small body was lost. Karla hated herself for crying when she should be looking around for any sign of her parents. She was weak. A simple excuse for someone like herself. She wanted to be stronger like her brother. She didn't want to go searching for her parents for she knew that she would just end up in the wrong place at the end. She cried some more. Her parents must be worried sick about her and trying to find her right now, but she could do nothing about it.

Karla pulled every once of courage she had left and got up on her wobbly feet. The tears were still there and the rain was just making it worst. Karla looked around, not willingly to speak a single word. She wanted to shout and scream and try to contact her parents in any way. This is what she wanted, but the courage was never there.

Karla took one step and immediately retreated it. She shivered. She was wet, and cold, and lost. Karla's wet bangs were in her eyes as she could barely see through this heavy rain at all. But her ears were working, and she can hear footsteps moving closer and closer to her. She tried desperately to look at the person, but failed. She knew she wasn't supposed to talk to strangers, but…

The stranger removed Karla's bangs out of her eyes, as she looked up deeply into his eyes. His wonderful coffee colored eyes matched hers closely as they embraced each other in a tight hug. Karla felt easier and more relaxed by the minute. His body temperature warmed her up bit by bit. Karel, her brother, was never good at soft hugs or anything that has to do with physical intimacy as he carefully pulled away from her. But she could tell that he was blushing a bit.

"Brother…I'm sorry." Karla managed to regain her voice again as she climbed onto his back. Her clothes were as wet as his, and her skin was as icy as his. But she can feel the warmth from his body transferring into hers once again as he held her tight on his back. After much adjusting, Karel got up with his sister on his back and started to walk slowly.

"Karla…do not worry…I am here for you." He said reassuringly in a soft whisper as he can feel her nod from his back. She was fully relaxed on his back.

Karla never wanted the moment to ever end. She wanted to be on her brother's back forever and live forever in this dream. This must be a dream, it must be. Her brother was never this close to her before, and she would treasure this moment forever, a moment that might never happen again in her lifetime. Her brother walked slow and steady, not trying to drop his younger sister in any way.

After what felt like an eternity, Karla was gently to her feet at the edge of their home. Karel walked inside, without a thought of her needing the warmth first. Karla, who didn't mind, walked in after her brother. Soon, she was found in her parents' arms and fully recovering from her lack of warmth. Her other two brothers came over and hugged her as well. Karel just walked away. Karla was the only one who noticed this.

Karla had lived through much. She watched the endless days her three older brothers learned the way of the sword. The art of the sword was to kill people and only to kill people. Her parents taught her brothers this. Karla loathed the sword and its evil ways. But something in her heart was drawn to it, the feeling that she still remembered from that rainy day. She not only wanted to show her brother that she can be independent, but she wanted his respect and love.

Watching her brothers' swordsmanship helped her teach herself the ways of a sword as well. She kept on practicing late in the night when the rest of her family was asleep to be better and become stronger. Nothing did she want more than to be stronger and win her brother, Karel's respect and love for her. With this in her heart, she soon became very good at the sword in no time. Karel was her inspiration.

The days went by fairly too promptly. She soon adapted to her new schedule that her parents would catch her sleeping in the middle of the day especially after lunch. They did not know why she was so tired the last few weeks. There must be a reason why. Karel eyed the younger sister suspiciously. He also had his eyes on the family's sacred weapon, the Wo Dao. Karel knew there must be a secret reason why his sister is so tired lately and he must find out.

That night, Karel stayed up and waited at the edge of the house in shadows patiently. As expected, Karel saw Karla sneaking out of the house with a sword in her hands. He knew someone had been touching his blade lately, he can feel it. He thought it was one of his younger brothers, but it turned out to be his only sister. His sister started practicing with the ways of the sword. Karel was a bit impressed. She used the sword very well for a beginner who taught oneself. But she wasn't good enough yet, unless she gets more practice with someone else as in a spar. Karel walked out from the shadows and saw the shock on his sister's face.

"Brother! What are you doing out this late?" Karla asked politely, trying hard not to show the alarm in her beautiful gentle face. But inside, there was anxiety far more than anyone could ever imagine. Her brother wouldn't tell her parents, would he?

"Karla…I saw everything…" Karel began to speak when Karla already fell to her knees in front of him.

"I'm sorry, Brother. I know a women cannot bear swords and it's against our sacred rules…" Karla's pleading was interrupted by Karel's silence. Karel silently pulled out the blade he always carried with him.

"Karla, face me. If you can win me in this little duel, I will keep your secret. If not, you will die in my hands." Karel announced, his eyes burning. Karla, shakily, held up her sword as well. She couldn't back away from this challenge, she had no choice left in this situation.

"Brother, please forgive me." Karla started as she ran over with her blade to fight her brother. Their weapons clashed, as Karla struggled to push the weapon away from his. But he was way too strong and steady for her. He was well trained.

Karel stopped this and pulled his sword away from hers. He felt it was getting too irritating to keep a neutral battle. This was her chance to aim for his neck. But she hesitated. What if she accidentally hurt him? Karel saw her small flaw as he used his sword and knocked the weapon out of her hands. Her sword slide over the ground a few feet away from her. Karla fell to her knees, open-eyed as Karel held his sword close to her neck.

"Brother…kill me…I have failed to win." Karla implored as she look strongly into his eyes. Their eyes were so much alike, but yet, so different. His was filled with no love for his younger sister while hers were filled with the determination to be closer to him. Karla silently closed her eyes, knowing any minute now that she will be gone from this world. At least, she will die in his hands.

Karla shot opened her eyes when she saw him throw his sword out of his hands and landed perfectly besides hers. He looked away from her with disgust. "Karla, you hesitated in the middle of fight and was holding back on me. That is why you have lost. You are weak, and I do not kill the weak. I kill the strong and the ones deserving to be killed by my blade. Flee now. I will not say a single word." He said silently with harshness and content in his every words.

Karla didn't know if she should be grateful or angry. At the end, she chose neither as she got up to her feet. "Brother…this is not the last time you will see me. When I get stronger, I will find you. I will prove to you that I am strong and not weak." Karla announced as she picked up her sword from the ground and walked away without looking back at first.

Before she left though, she turned around and looked at her handsome brother once more. "Brother…the Wo Dao…please keep it safe." With that, Karla left.

After two hard years of training in stadiums, Karla knew she was ready to show her older brother how powerful she had become. Karla was so well known in the stadiums that they gave her the title of the "Sword Princess". Karla arrived on that bright morning to the plains in which her clan raised her.

The area was completely empty. The plains in which she loved so much were empty. There was complete silence, no noise whatever. There was blood everywhere. Her home was not the plains anymore, but the scarlet plains in which the grass wept blood from her clan. Something hit Karla the very next second. Karla ran over to where the Wo Dao used to be. It was not there anymore. Her clan lived for this sword, and now it was gone.

Karla was cannot believe that her parents were gone, her brothers were gone, and Karel was gone. Everyone and everything was gone, everything but the blood. They must still live somewhere. She must find them, and find her brother. Karla knew she had a mission. She was going to look for her brother to show him her worthiness. Karla set out, stopping at every stadium in sight and look for her brother.

One by one, every men who challenged her there was dead by her blade. None of them could compare to her brother. None of their swordplay was as beautiful as that of her brother. She had no more pity for any of them anymore. Her family was gone. Gone. She still hated killing people, but she cannot stop anymore.

One day, she sat down and had a drink at an inn. All the men knew her and were trying to stay far away as possible. Rumors about her talents in the stadiums had spread throughout the land. She was never even touched by a single of their weapons. It was one scary thought to all the men.

One of the men walked in talking with a friend, "Have you heard of the Sword Demon? He uses this fantastic sword in which he killed people with. I heard that he cuts people in half and leave a mountain of dead bodies behind as well as a sea of blood."

The men next to him replied, "Also, I heard that he laugh at the dead bodies and claim the swords for himself."

Karla heard everything. This "Sword Demon" was one interesting character indeed. It might be her brother, Karel. But her brother would never laugh at dead bodies and claim the swords for himself. But it wouldn't hurt to try. Karla stopped the two men's way.

"This 'Sword Demon'…where do you last known of him?" Karla asked, looking pretty deadly despite her good looks.

"I heard that he was in Bern, and now heading over to Ostia. Are you crazy girl? You can't fight him! You'll be dead like the rest of his challengers." The man warned but Karla just ignored him and walked on her way.

The two men sat down while everyone else surrounded them. "Don't you know? I heard that she is the Princess of Swords! You idiot!" They said in unison, as the guy's eyes popped open. He was so close to death than he imagined. His friend's face was blank. It was priceless.

Karla was in Bern at that time and found a swordmaster at the stadium nearby. Another easy challenger. She cut him down with ease. His swordplay can never match her brother's as she made her way to Ostia, ignoring a group of people led by a purple-haired tactician in Bern that day. Little did she know, her brother later joined that group and headed to Ostia.

That day, Karla waited patiently in Ostia at the stadium. She was longing to find her brother as well as another challenger. Karla caught sight of a Warrior, ready to fight in the stadium. Karla gripped her sword as he walked over to challenge her. Karla was ready to kill this Warrior for all his worth. "Brother…wherever you are…I will find you…after I challenge this Warrior and take him away from this world."

Karla was ready to strike down the Warrior opposing her any minute now. Karla gripped her sword, the one that held the blood of many, as he gripped his axe. Karla was making her first move towards the Warrior when she caught sight of a man with the hair color she adored and the piercing eyes she will always remembered. "Brother…"

Thanks again for reading this short one-shot. I apologize if the information is wrong because I based most of this story from the conversations between Karla/Karel, Karel/Dart, and Karla/Farina. Please R & R, love you all.