So Much to Prove

Jina: Hey everybody! Guess what: I'm doing another story! Yay me! Only thing is, I'm kind of worried that it won't be as good as my last one seems to be. I just hope I'll get as good reviews for this story as I did for my other one, When Wishes Come True. (p.s. check that one out to if you haven't already! And for those of you who already have, two things: 1- thanks again! And 2- im still working on that one, just lacking inspiration). Oh well. Anyways, I hope this one is just as good! crosses fingers I've gotten tired of muses, so I won't have this story (I can just see you all now: thank god, what a relief). Anyways, (there I go again with the 'anyways'! I say that a lot…), here's the story!

"Stay back, Florina. I'll take care of that coming bandit. You need to be careful," said the calm voice of a teal-haired Pegasus Knight, the former commander of a whole squad of Ilian mercenaries such as herself and the other young Pegasus Knight she was speaking to. The young girl it was directed to merely sighed, and said, "Yes, Fiora. I'll…go report to Thom, I guess."

Walking her Pegasus a few steps away and leaping lightly onto its back, the girl and the Pegasus became airborne, soaring through the cloudy skies with ease. The rider blew her lilac-colored hair out of her eyes as they flew, and then smiled for what felt like the first time in days. She didn't get to fly much outside of battle anymore, and it was a relief not having to constantly swoop down and kill enemies. The small group of mercenaries she and Fiora (with whom she had been speaking earlier) belonged to called themselves as "Hector's Horde" (although outsiders generally called them, "That crazy bunch of suicidal mercenaries"), had been fighting almost non-stop lately. Just like they had been even as far back as when Florina was by herself in "Lyn's Legion", and they had been trying to save Lady Lyndis' uncle Marquess Hausen of Caelin. Lady Lyndis, along with Florina herself, and a few other people from the Legion, were all together again; but with many new people, including Lord Eliwood of Pherae and his companions, and Lord Hector of Ostia and his. They had been traveling and fighting and over-working themselves for several months now, working hard so that they might achieve their goal of defeating Nergal, a crazy and evil man who had killed many innocent people, and was bringing destruction to their land of Elibe.

Florina was becoming quite weary of it all, the fighting, the killing, the traveling. But she couldn't stop now; she still had so much to prove. She had to prove to everyone that she was not a weak and defenseless little girl who depended on the others for protection. They never really noticed, she was sure, but Florina was actually quite a skilled lance-user, and was dependable in battle. But Lyndis, and Fiora, and all the rest of them only saw her as little quiet Florina, the timid girl who was terrified of men and needed to be protected. She had to prove them wrong.

Sailing through the air, Florina didn't let her deep thoughts endanger her or Huey, her Pegasus. She kept a sharp eye out for enemies, especially archers. Archers were deadly to Pegasi and their riders, so all archers, even the ones who were her allies, frightened her. Florina wouldn't dare let anything happen to Huey, he was her best friend. He never tried to shove her behind him and keep her safe when she didn't want to be. He was also one of the few males she felt comfortable around.

Finally sighting the tactician Thom, she urged Huey into a downward spiral, touching down to the earth gracefully a few feet away from Thom and the people he was speaking to, Lord Hector and Lord Eliwood.

"Thom, F-Fiora sent me to report on the situation from her where she is p-posted in the mountains." Florina said as clearly as she could as she trotted up to them, fighting the instinct to run, or at least to stutter, not completely succeeding. Stupid nervousness! Stupid fear! She thought angrily.

"Okay. Hector, Eliwood, I'll talk to you two later. Get ready for another battle, since by the look on Florina's face, the number of enemies isn't pretty."

"Very well. We'll continue our discussion later, Sir Thom." Eliwood agreed, and walked away to his tent to prepare. Hector instead moved closer to Thom, standing right next to Florina. Terrified, she fought the urge to flee and stood as calmly as she could, though she twitched a few times.

"I'll stay to hear what Florina has to say; that way, we'll all know how to best get ready. I can help spread the word to the troops." Hector said by way of explanation.

"Good idea, Lord Hector." Thom said, grinning at him. However, when he turned to face Florina, his grin faded to be replaced by a much more subdued and solemn expression. "Well, Florina? How bad is it?"

"N-not that bad, Lord Thom," Florina said, mentally cursing herself for stuttering, "There's at l-least sixty of them, with possible r-reinforcements coming. The b-bandits are all m-mainly axe-users, but they have s-several archers as well." Florina told him, staring resolutely at her feet. She didn't dare look at Hector for fear of blushing, and Thom would see this and set her up with Hector like he had done with many other couples in the small army, like Fiora with Kent, and Lyn and Rath.

"Sixty? That isn't too bad…" Thom muttered to himself. "Alright, thank you Florina, you've been a huge help. I'll set up a battle plan right away. Go tell Fiora to come back and get ready for battle."

"Yes, Sir Thom. Right away." Florina said, and then ran back to where Huey awaited her, and was just getting ready to get on him when she heard someone call her name.

"Florina! Lady Florina!" called a familiar male voice. It was Lord Hector. He was trotting up to her, grinning in a friendly way. "Good, I caught you before you took off." He said as he caught up to her and stood next to her and Huey.

"D-did you need something, L-lord Hector?" Florina stuttered anxiously. He always made her so nervous; he was so large and strong. All men frightened her a bit, but that went all the way back to her childhood, when her father… She didn't want to think of that now. She shook her head to clear her thoughts of that vile man, and Lord Hector looked at her strangely. "No what? I didn't say anything yet." He asked, puzzled.

Florina blushed furiously; red enough, she was sure, to be the envy of all tomatoes. "No, Lord Hector, I wasn't saying that to you, I was, well, clearing my thoughts." She explained. She was so embarrassed; she didn't worry about what she was saying, so she didn't stutter.

"Oh. What kind of thoughts?" Hector inquired. Florina froze up. She couldn't tell this man about her horrid childhood in Ilia! It was too personal, and Farina and Fiora would be angry at her for gossiping about their past.

"Uh, nothing, really… I was just, thinking about, um, the battle. Yes! The battle; I'm worried about my sister, I don't know if she has an axe-reaver, so she might have to use regular lances, which are weak against axes." Florina hurriedly said by way of an excuse. Lord Hector looked disbelieving, so she quickly tried to change the subject. "So, Lord Hector, what did you wish to tell me?"

"Huh?" he asked.

"You called to me to wait before I left to get Fiora. I assumed you needed to tell me something." Florina said, her voice getting quieter and quieter towards the end of the sentence, until she noticed that Hector was leaning in towards her as though he couldn't quite hear what she was saying. While looking down at her feet, which she was staring earnestly at, she saw two much larger feet step closer to her own. A gentle but firm hand tilted her chin up, forcing her to meet his eyes.

"Lady Florina, why do you always look at your feet when we speak? Am I that dreadful to look at?" he asked in a pretend gruff voice, teasing her.

Florina blushed, a shade or two redder than your average tomato, and immediately began to apologize, looking more flustered than ever. "N-no! Of course not, Lord H-hector! I could n-never think that!"

"Easy, there, Florina, I was only teasing. Relax." Hector said, trying not to laugh at the look on the small girl's face.

"O-oh, yes, right. Of course," Florina said, looking somewhat less anxious, but still blushing; though less violently. "So why'd you wish to speak to me?"

"I just thought you looked like you could use someone to talk to besides your sisters for once. Is that a crime or something? I know Lyndis thinks it is." Hector asked, looking slightly disgruntled. Florina herself scowled, fear of men completely forgotten as she thought about the over-protectiveness of her friends and sisters.

"No, it's not. I can take care of myself just fine." Florina said angrily, not realizing that her voice had risen in volume by a lot.

"Alright, alright; Jeez, I was joking. I know they're just worried about you."

"They don't need to be! I'm fine by myself! I don't need them, or anybody!" Florina snapped. Then realizing who she was talking to, her faced paled to an alarming shade of white, in horror at snapping at a lord. She began to stutter again. "Oh! I'm s-sorry, Lord H-hector! I b-beg your pardon! I d-didn't mean t-to snap at y-you! S-sorry!" and with that final stuttered and nearly unintelligible statement, she leapt onto Huey and took off.

"Florina! Wait! Lady Florina, I… Oh, never mind. Drat…I was finally actually talking to her for once, and she wasn't running away in fright or stuttering that much. Blast." Hector said to himself, watching as the little dot that was Florina and her stupid flying beast disappeared into the mountains.

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"Florina, do you have a vulnerary?" Fiora asked after Florina had fetched her and they had headed to their tent to pack up and get ready for the oncoming battle.

"Yes, Fiora, and I have my lance and javelin as well. Please, sister, don't worry about me so much…" Florina said softly, and Fiora looked up at her with a sheepish smile

"I know you can take care of yourself better now. You have gotten much stronger than you were before, I can see that." Florina glowed at the praise. It was true. She had become much stronger. Her fear had even lessened a bit, though not totally.

"Still, I'm your older sister. Worrying is in the job description. You know how I take my jobs seriously." Fiora added.

"I know," Florina replied, finishing rolling up her bed-roll. Standing, she said, "Can you handle packing up the tent? I'll go prepare our Pegasi. Deal?"

"That's fine. See you in a bit."

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"Oh, Huey. She says she knows I've grown up, and that I am stronger, but…does she really? I doubt it. She's been a mother to me since...well, for a long time. I don't think she'll give it up now." Florina told Huey in a quiet voice as she readied him for battle, putting on his saddle and bridle and giving him an extra carrot.

"Hmm, why are you talking to that horse? You know it can't talk back, right?" said a deep voice behind her. Florina jumped at least half a foot into the air, whipping around with her hand coming up to rest over her heart, startled eyes wide.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," Hector said, in what she supposed was meant to be a soothing tone of voice. It didn't quite make it.

"It is n-not your f-fault, Lord Hector. I should have b-been more aware of my surroundings. Yes," Florina added, "I do know Huey can't talk back. But he's not a horse."

"You're right. It's a dumb horse with wings."

"He's not dumb!" Florina could take many insults directed at her, but insult Huey…

"He's a beast! He isn't intelligent!"

"Neither are you, apparently, Lord Hector!" Florina hissed, her anger making her usually gentle blue eyes snap with fury. She hated when people insulted her Pegasus, or hurt him. Only once had she been anywhere near this angry, in Ilia when she had caught some local village boys throwing rocks at Huey. She had been furious.

His eyes widened and looked angry for half a second, and then the anger faded to turn into an emotion she couldn't quite put her finger on. Florina didn't understand. Hector beat up other people for less than she had just said to him, such as looking at him the wrong way and the like, yet he now found her…what? Interesting, maybe? Florina had thought he'd be angry for sure. Angry like her father, maybe even…

Noticing the Pegasus Knight's bewildered stare, Hector shook himself out of his sudden trance-like state. Wow, was he acting strange. Why? Why now, when he was talking to one of the few girls he actually cared about? At least he could hear her when she yelled at him.

"I really do prefer you like this," he said, a bit randomly, in a ponderous tone of voice rarely heard from him. Florina blinked a few times, startled by the sudden change in subject. Not only was he not mad, but he liked it? "What?"

"You're much easier to understand when you're angry. Your voice actually reaches a volume normal people can hear, and you don't stutter." Hector explained, and then he grimaced as Florina's expression fell.

"That's-not-exactly how I meant that. That was supposed to be a compliment. Perhaps Eliwood is right, and I am an ill-mannered oaf. I'm…sorry," he concluded stiffly, as though the words "I'm" and "sorry" didn't generally stand next to each other in any sentences of his. More often it was something like 'I'm gonna make you sorry,' or 'you'll be sorry for making me mad'.

"It's alright, m-milord. No offense taken. I'm sorry I yelled and called you unintelligent. That was v-very out of line and uncalled for. Please accept m-my apologies," Florina replied hurriedly, wincing as the stutter came back. She decided the moment when it would be advisable to flee was right then, and pulling Huey and Fiora's Pegasus behind her, she ran off.

"Lady Florina! Wait! I didn't mean… Blast, why am I always left calling after her, wondering why the heck everything that comes out of my mouth is gruff, insulting, and rude?" Hector grumbled. Why, every time he tried to have a conversation with the pretty Pegasus knight who had somehow caught his eye in a way no other woman had, did his attempts always end with him insulting her and running off?

'It's her fault she's too blasted sensitive about that blasted beast!' he thought angrily, then sighed. No, it wasn't her fault.

Eliwood had once told him what Fiora had once said, how a Pegasus Knight was always emotionally attached to her steed, that that bond was what made them such a threat on the battlefield, because they were two lethal enemies acting perfectly as one. They had little need of vocal communication, and flew almost silently, so they made terrific ambushers. Plus, they had a larger range of movement than almost any other fighter. Pretty much the only difficulties with training and using them in battle were getting them strengthened up and keeping them safe from archers.

So Hector understood why Florina and her winged beast were close. They needed to be, to be an effective unit in battle. He had to admit the truth to himself, though.

Hector was incredibly, insanely jealous of that stupid winged beast. Why, oh why, was he so envious, do you ask?

It was because Florina talked to it and spent time with it and cared for it and…loved it. And for reasons he really didn't know much about, Hector would give almost anything to have her treat him like that.

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End of Chapter One

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Author's Note: Hey everyone. I need some feedback! Muy pronto! (which means very soon for those of you don't speak Spanish). I need to tell me if you like the story so far, any ideas you might have for the coming chapters (though I've already got chapter two almost complete), and if you have any suggestions for anything else I didn't mention. Please please please please be nice to me and review! I will go mad with depression if you don't! Just kidding. I will be pretty upset though. So please review?

Until next time, dear readers!