Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Zestiria, Namco - Bandai does.

Chapter 1 – Sweet Dreams

Rose could not help but stare at the sight of Hyland's Knight – Princess as she worked on her form, her skin slick with sweat, and her modest bosom rising and falling heavily. She felt goose bumps break out across her skin as she watched agile and flexible form perfectly execute moves ingrained through long practice. The Princess' training clothes stuck to her wet skin, and even from where she stood she could see the muscles working underneath; the sight alone sent a tingle down her spine.

There was no one else around, they were all alone, it was almost like the world had ceased to exist except for the two of them.

Suddenly the Princess stopped, frozen with her legs splayed and her arm extended, before she slowly dropped her form and turned in Rose' direction.

Rose briefly panicked, wondering how the Princess would react to being watched by her. That panic turned to relief as the princess smiled brightly and waved at her. She waved back, feeling an unfamiliar lightness rising in her chest, yet at the same time it set her heart racing. Then the Princess beckoned for her to come closer, and Rose eagerly began to make her way forward. As she drew near she could hear the sound of the Princess breathing, laboured after long exercise, and it sent another pleasant jolt along her spine.

Once she was close enough the Princess pulled her into a tight embrace, and Rose felt herself burn at the contact. The feel of the Princess' breath against her ear was almost enough to make her melt.

"Rose, I am so glad to see you," the Princess said.

The genuine excitement in her voice set butterflies loose in the pit of Rose's stomach.

"Y – yeah," was about all the response she could manage.

"Rose, is something wrong?" the Princess asked. Her eyes were a vibrant green, and conveyed such genuine warmth and concern.

"No, nothing," Rose replied. It was the truth, for even if she felt all of her strength leaving her, there was nowhere she would rather be than right here.

Suddenly those green eyes darkened, and flickered with mischief. The Princess leaned in close again and whispered in her ear.

"Good."

That little word was enough to to strip the last of Rose's strength from her, and her knees buckled from underneath her. The Princess held her tight and guided her softly to the ground, lying her gently atop the dewy grass.

Now Rose found herself lying on her back, with the Princess above her, straddling her waist. From this angle the sun struck the Princess' hair in such a way that it shimmered. Rose swallowed thickly as the Princess leaned in to whisper in her ear again.

"Rose, I want you," she said. "Do you want me too?"

Rose could not summon the will to speak, so she simply nodded her assent.

She barely had timed to notice the princess' grin, before those lips were pushing hungrily against her own. It was only a moment before she was kissing back, her arms coming up to wrap around the back of the Princess' neck, so that she could pull her in closer.

As the tension built up inside her she could not hold back a cry, as the Princess' name tore past her lips:

"Alisha!"

Her voice was barely above a whisper as the name passed by her lips, but to Rose it was more than loud enough. Even as she lay there looking up at the wooden ceiling above her, she could feel the sweat trickling over every inch of her skin making the blankets cling to her, and their was an intolerable heat between her legs. Her own breathing was heavy, and seemed to echo in the emptiness around her.

She tossed aside the the bed-covers, and felt the cool night air brush against her skin. She shivered, but it felt good, soothing. She lay there for some time staring at the ceiling, waiting in vain for the heat to fade away, but it never did. Then she groaned as she forced herself to sit up.

This was the third time this week she had had that dream, it was becoming ridiculous. Not to mention it left her with an immense feeling of tension that refused to leave until she'd dealt with it.

Slowly she pulled the blankets back over herself, and after a quick glance to make sure her room-mates were still asleep, she lowered her hand between her legs. She bit down on the pillow to muffle any noise she might make.

Afterwards she lay in bed, relief coursing through her body and the terrible heat between her legs satisfied. She could think clearly again, but naturally the only thing she could think about was her dream; of Alisha's smooth skin, her brilliant eyes, her taste...

She needed some air.

Carefully, so that she didn't wake the others, she slipped out from beneath the covers and rose to her feet. After groping about for her clothes in the dark she slipped them on and headed towards the door. At this time of night the front of the inn was empty, and she was able to slip outside through the front door unseen.

She had no idea where she was going as she wandered the streets, she just knew that she needed to get some exercise, dispel some restless energy and breath the crisp night air. She put some effort in to keeping her mind away from drifting back towards thoughts of the princess, but it was no use.

It took almost half an hour of wandering in circles before she felt calm enough to stop and rest. She found herself a low, stone wall and sat atop it, then simply stared up at the sky. There were no clouds tonight, she could see the stars.

She wondered briefly if Alisha was watching the stars too, then she sighed. Ugh, that thought had been unbelievably sappy, what was wrong with her? It was like she had become some kind of mix between a pervy, old man, and a hopeless romantic.

She wasn't sure how long she was sat there for before a voice interrupted her:

"Comfy?"

She jumped, and almost fell from the wall in surprise.

"Lailah!?" she exclaimed.

"Hey!" Lailah said, approaching Rose with a smile on her face.

"What are you doing here?" Rose asked.

"Well," Lailah replied, drawing the word out. "I was wondering why you decided to go for a walk in the middle of the night?"

"It's nothing," Rose responded, looking away. "I just needed some air."

"Bad dreams?" Lailah asked.

Rose almost choked on the air.

"N – no," she answered. "What makes you say that."

"Oh, well. I heard you moaning in your sleep, so I just assumed..."

Rose had bite back a groan, moaning in her sleep? Giving the context of her dream that could only mean... Oh god, this was so embarrassing.

"You said Alisha's name too," Lailah continued.

"D – did I?"

"Yep! I just wonder if you were worried about her or something?"

Rose almost chuckled.

"Not quite."

Lailah just stared at her.

"Something's bothering you," she said. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Lailah," Rose pleaded. "Can we just drop it?"

"Come on, it'll make you feel better."

"I doubt that," Rose mumbled, then she winced.

"Hah," Lailah crowed. "Now I know something's wrong. Come on, tell me what the problem is."

"Alright fine," Rose said, sighing. "I had a dream."

"Well I know that, silly," Lailah responded. "What was it about?"

Rose could feel the blush filling her cheeks even as she spoke.

"It was about Alisha."

Lailah narrowed her eyes.

"If you don't start taking me seriously I may need to resort to drastic measures."

"Oh? Like what?"

"Well, everybody breaks eventually," Lailah answered. "I hear tickling is particularly effective," she added, wiggling her fingers threateningly.

"Wait no, stay back!" Rose said. "I'll talk."

"Good, now what was this dream about?"

"It was about Alisha. And," she added hastily, as Lailah raised her hands again. "It was … it was naughty."

"Naughty?" Lailah echoed, and a second later her eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "Oh my, I didn't realise you were so inclined."

Rose sighed heavily.

"Yeah well, neither did I," she replied.

"So what are you going to do about it?"

"Nothing," she said.

"Nothing?" Lailah echoed.

"Yeah nothing," she reiterated.

"Why?"

"Well what can I do about it?" Rose asked. "She's a princess and I'm..."

"A commoner?"

"I was gonna say assassin," Rose replied. "But that works too. Besides we're both women and some people have a problem with that, and even if they didn't, Alisha probably has to have an heir or something at some point, right?"

To Rose's surprise Lailah was smiling.

"Ooooh," she said. "An exciting tale of a forbidden romance, true love conquers all."

"Life's not a story, Lailah."

"I know that!"

Silence descended on the two of them, and Rose fixed her gaze on the floor. Lailah's talk of "forbidden romance" and "true love" had left her feeling strangely irritated for some reason. Although, she wasn't surprised that Lailah had taken it so well. Perhaps it was because of the constant soothing, almost motherly aura the Seraph had about her?

"I still think you should talk to her," Lailah said, after a few seconds.

Rose's head shot up, so that she could stare the Seraphim in the eyes.

"I told you I can't!" she hissed.

"Why not?"

"I already said!"

"Even so," Lailah replied. "I still think it will do you some good. Even if Alisha turns down your advances, it will at least give you some closure on the subject. Allow you to bury things easier."

"Maybe," Rose responded. "But what if Alisha's one of those people who doesn't like the idea of two women being together? What if she thinks I'm a freak or something?"

"Rose," Lailah said, gently placing a hand on her back. "This is Alisha we're talking about, can you honestly see her hating someone for being in love?"

"I guess not," she mumbled.

"You see. Now come starting tomorrow we'll start making our way back to Ladylake and put this whole issue to bed."

Rose raised an eyebrow, she wondered whether Lailah's choice of words were deliberate or not. You could never quite tell with her.

"Rose," Lailah said. "I'm heading back to the inn, are you coming?"

"In a minute," she responded. "I just want to take in a little more fresh air first."

"Alright," Lailah responded, as she began to move away.

Maybe Lailah was right, she thought as the sound of the Seraph's footsteps grew fainter. Then again, what if she wasn't? She shook her head, it didn't matter. She'd go back to Ladylake and if she thought telling Alisha how she felt then she wouldn't tell her, instead she could just spend some time with her friend.

Not long after Lailah had departed however, something occurred to Rose and she froze completely still, perched like a statue atop the stone wall. If Lailah had been awake to overhear her talking in her sleep, then she must also have been awake for what she had done afterwards...

Rose felt the heat blossom in her cheeks as she dropped her head into her hands.

Author's Note: Well, it's been two years since I last wrote any fanfiction, so this is just a relatively simple piece I wrote to get me back into things. I must apologise for being shipping trash.

So, I am writing the characters in a situation they never really dealt with in canon, so if anybody sees any issues with characterisation or anything, please do not hesitate to mention it.

Also, rated T for the moment. Let me know if you think it needs to be bumped up.