I'd like to Take a little time to thank the three reviewers on this story *Glares at my fans*

Gespenst23 had a good point to make and I'd just like to clear it up:
"Just to let you know, Florina's Pegasus is referred to as both Huey, a male Pegasus, and Makar, a female, in FE7. Most likely a mistake. You should call Florina's Pegasus Makar if you want it to be female. . ."

I'm very happy that someone brought this up, I wanted to tell everyone this, but I forgot.

I know that Florina's Pegasus' gender and name are debatable. She calls it both "Huey" and "Makar" in FE7. I personally don't care what you prefer, but when I got the idea for the fiction, I had heard the Pegasus' name was Huey. Now Huey sounds like a guy name, so I assumed it was male.
Now after a little research and a support or two, I noticed that she called the Pegasus Huey, but then later on (two turns or so after calling it Huey) said "Don't you touch her!"
After that, I just assumed that Huey was just a masculine sounding name for a female Pegasus. Besides we've got a guy named Dorcas, which I don't know if you knew this, but. . .Dorcas is a FEMALE name! I'm not kidding! XD

I am in no way intending to make anyone look dumb, or prove anyone wrong. I'm just saying that I'm going to toy around with what Fire emblem left me! XD
(This person had a good point, and in the future I probably will make mostly only Makar a female.)

If I ever write more Fire emblem stories, I will almost positively mess around with the name and gender of Florina's Pegasus, just to keep things fresh.

Anyways, have fun reading!

Chapter 2

Slow Recovery

After a while of struggling, the two of them managed to get Hector back to camp (and the pony helped too). And finally took a breath. Florina heard Eliwood growl something about "Telling Hector to lose weight next time he's seen with his eyes open".

"Alright, I'm glad we got him back. Hopefully a cleric can get a look at him soon. In the meantime. . ." Eliwood placed a hand on Florina's shoulder. "Would you do me a great favor by taking care of him?"

"Wh-what?" She stuttered. "B-but Lord Eliwood! I-I. . ."
"I know you're scared of him." Eliwood's voice faltered a bit. ". . .But he's my best friend. Please Florina? Only until a cleric can see him?"

Florina was ready to slap herself. What was she thinking? She actually said yes! How could she? Now she was taking care of the man she was so deathly afraid of! But she had made a promise to Eliwood. . .so she couldn't worry about her choices now. She sat in the quarantine tent, looking at Hector's limp body. He may have been heavy, but right now he was so weak. And Florina had to take care of him. She looked at his armour and bit her lip. She had to touch him. She most certainly did not want to touch him at all! But she found herself unstrapping his arm braces and inspecting him arms. A long and very nasty gash ran up one arm, which she quickly poured a vulnerary on, then bandaged. She quickly put the armour back on, not wanting Hector to ask questions if he woke up to find she had removed it. She quickly looked over the rest of his body and decided promptly that if he had damage in any "other places", someone else could check. She then looked at the slash on his face, his face would have been otherwise peaceful had that cut not been stinging so badly. She soaked a cloth in warm water and wiped his face free from blood. Hector's face relaxed once that wound was tended to. His bangs drooped right above his eyes, a little damp with sweat. She curled in her legs and huddled by the unconscious lord.

"Oh Lord Hector, It's all my fault. . .I'm so sorry. I'm so, so sorry. . ." Florina echoed those words for at least twenty minutes while crying. She stopped when she heard the rumble of horses' hooves again. She knew that it was probably not Huey. Huey wouldn't turn up unless someone found her and forced her to come. She recognized the pounding of the fine stallion's hooves anyways. Only Marcus could ride his horse with such a rolling thunder. She heard his voice ring though the air, signifying their victory. Now the bustle of many people could be heard outside. She heard footsteps approaching the tent, and prayed that it was her tactician, or a cleric. She released her breath on seeing Priscilla enter the tent.

"Alright Florina, it's okay. He'll be fine; it's not your fault." Priscilla smiled softly. She held out her staff and concentrated. Hector let out a gasp in his sleep, which of course startled Florina. Priscilla frowned and looked at her staff. She placed a hand on his torso, which caused him to let out another yelp. Her eyes became worried and she rushed out of the tent. Florina was so confused. What was wrong? Didn't Priscilla say he'd be okay?

"Serra! Help! Something's wrong with Hector!" Now both clerics were in the tent.

"Hm. . .HM!" Serra thought out loud. "Priscilla, have you ever heard of 'Internal bleeding'?"

"Yes?"

"Good."

"Why?"

"He has it."

"Well what spell should I use to cure it?"

"Idiot! You can't heal that with your crummy ol' staff! You can only fix that by flushing it out or using a special staff!" Serra bopped Priscilla over the head with her own staff.

"How do you do that?"

"He has to be nursed back to health." Serra folded her arms. "Good thing I was here to help you out Florina, I was able to fix up most of his other wounds, so now you'll have to just nurse him back to health!"

"You? I took care of his other wounds!" Priscilla barked.

"Maybe it wasn't you, maybe I helped in spirit!"
Florina wasn't even listening to their conversation; she was horrified over the fact that she'd have to take care of Hector even longer than before.

"Wh-why me? I. . .I already took care of him!" She felt her tears coming again. She had seen enough of Hector for one whole day.

"Well your Pegasus is gone, and until we find her you can't fight! That gives you the time." Serra pointed out. Sometimes it felt like Serra was fighting against her just to see her in misery.

"But I don't like being near him!" Florina sobbed.

"Well that's not very nice!" Serra huffed. "I'm glad I'm not you! If Hector heard that he'd break your little neck!"

"H-h-h-h-he w-would?" Florina was nearly having a tremor. Little waterfalls cascaded down her cheeks and her face was burning. She buried her face into her hands and bawled.

"Serra! Stop it!" Priscilla growled. "She's already scared of him!"

"Whoa! No need to get angry!" Serra held up her hands in defense. "I'm going where I'm wanted!" She stormed out of the tent. Priscilla wrapped an arm around Florina.

"If only she did that more often." She joked. Florina wiped her eyes and let out a sniffy giggle. "Don't worry though; he wouldn't get mad at you for not wanting to be near him. As much as you don't like to be around him, I think she's right. But we'll try to make it more bearable for you, okay?" Florina nodded. She was thankful that her friends cared about her. Lyn tip toed into the tent and bent down beside Florina.

"Oh Florina." She rubbed the little Pegasus knight's shoulder gently. "You poor thing." Florina hugged Lyn and sniffled a bit. "I heard about what happened. . ." Lyn spoke softly. "We're trying to see if we can buy a special kind of staff that can heal the bleeding, but it might be a few days before we can get to a shop to buy it. Just hang in there, alright?" Florina nodded, everything was okay when Lyn was around.

Florina finally had a chance to leave the tent to get something for both herself and Hector to eat. It was Lowen's turn to cook tonight, so everyone was in a good mood. She actually didn't mind Lowen; He was shy too, and doubted himself, so she related to him.

"Hi Florina." He smiled a bit and handed her a bowl of hot soup.

"Hi. . ." She waved. She ate her meal first; she finally had a break from sitting with Hector and wanted to savor it. "C-could I have some for Hector?"

"Sure, here you go." Lowen gave a nod, his bangs covered his eyes even if he shook his head. He handed her a second bowl. "Make sure Hector doesn't guzzle it down all at once, orders from Priscilla and Serra."

"Okay." Florina tried to appear happy, but her face was obviously flushed red from crying and her eyes were still a little puffy. She took a breath, which hurt her throat, and made her way back to the tent. Hector was still unconscious, but his face was greatly contorted in pain. He was sweating and breathing hard. Florina got down on her knees and with a trembling hand, shoved Hector's shoulder. "H-Hector? L-Lord Hector?" Hector groaned and slowly opened his eyes.

"What happened. . .?" He murmured. He tried to sit up before jerking back into a reclining position.

"Oh. . .Y-you're awake. H-how are you feeling?" She drew her hand close to her once his eyes fully opened.

"Pretty nasty." He moaned. "I got knocked out, didn't I?"

"Y-yeah. . ." Florina bit her lip and nodded. "Y-you have 'internal bleeding'. . .o-or something."

"Great. . .just great. . ." Hector muttered to himself.

"I-I'm sorry. . ." Florina shivered. "I should've been fighting with you I didn't mean-"

"Sheesh, it's my fault Florina, Oswin's gonna have my jaw busted, not yours." Hector rolled his eyes.

"S-sorry. . ." She trembled. She looked around for a distraction. "A-are you hungry?"

"A little." Hector wriggled until he had propped up his upper torso a bit. Florina took the bowl in her hands and stirred the hot soup a bit. She blew on it to make sure it wasn't too hot and then brought it to Hector's lips. She continued to spoon-feed Hector until the bowl was empty. Hector let out an exhausted breath, while Florina thought to herself of how voracious an eater he was (Having gone through a bowl twice as big as the one she had eaten from, when she was getting full halfway through). She kept quiet though; even if she had the courage to say it, she had the intelligence not to. She looked at Hector, and felt a pang of gentle sympathy. She wasn't heartless, so she despite the fact that she was afraid of him, she also felt sorry for him in his current state.

"F-feel any better. . .?" her voice was quiet and a little shaky.

"A bit. . ." Hector mumbled. His chest rose up and down as he breathed. "That helped, thanks." Florina's face flushed. Whether he expected a "you're welcome" or not, she couldn't answer. Her heart was beating so fast, she felt it might come out of her chest. Hector stared up at the top of the tent. Florina decided to use returning the bowl to Lowen as an excuse to leave for a while. She left as quickly as she could and slowly made her way back to the fire. She found Lyn and sat down next to her.

"Florina? Shouldn't you be with Hector?" Lyn asked as soon as the Pegasus knight sat down. Florina took a breath and looked at Lyn sadly.

"Do I really have to take care of him?" She asked Lyn miserably.

"Oh Florina," Lyn rubbed her shoulder again. "Hector wouldn't dream of hurting you, he hasn't the reason, the heart, or the stupidity." Her voice was so gentle. "And if he actually did have all of those, he'd still have the knowledge that I'd kill him." Florina giggled a bit at that, and let out a sigh.

"But still. . ." She mumbled.

"I know you're not used to his behavior, but he's nice deep down inside." Lyn encouraged Florina. "You go back in there and make sure he's doing alright." Florina nodded, but still felt a little sick to her stomach.

With Huey gone, not only could Florina not fight, but most of the time she would normally spend taking care of Huey was gone. She had no excuse for not tending to Hector, aside from a few precious moments that she simply had to leave the tent for. "I have to go to the bathroom" "I need Lord Eliwood's opinion on one of Hector's cuts" "I'm getting breakfast" Small things that only took a little amount of time. She didn't overuse excuses though, that would just be obnoxious. Unfortunately, when she wasn't tending wounds, she was left with one of two options: Reading, or Talking with Hector. In reality she wasn't a big reader, but she'd certainly bring a book in and lock eyes on it, no matter how boring it really was just so she didn't have to talk to Hector. Depending on how Hector was feeling, he would either not mind at all, or be left very bored. He didn't mind when he was sleeping or just tired, but when he was wide awake, he'd tend to get fidgety. Florina knew this, but she was just so timid, she would rather look at that silly book and pretend to be reading. Eventually he couldn't take it anymore and asked Florina if he could talk with Eliwood. Florina was greatly pleased by this idea, and suggested that she let them talk alone.

"Well! Well! Well! If it isn't Sir Two-Ton!" Eliwood gave a snarky remark.

"I already told you, I didn't know you had to carry me. I'm sorry." Hector growled. "Thanks for coming though, I was dying of boredom."

"So how are you feeling?" Eliwood sat down on the ground next to Hector.

"My stomach's still a little sore, it will be for a while." Hector explained. "But I don't know if I can last, Florina is so quiet, and I get so bored!"

"She's not that quiet. She's actually a very talkative person. You just have to get to know her." Eliwood replied.

"Is she really? Well I would have never guessed, she barely says a thing!"

"Well when she's with Lyn she's a chatter storm." Eliwood chuckled. "She's so funny, and very sweet."

"Another one to add to your collection?" Hector mused.

"Excuse me? I'm not in love with Florina! I only love one girl anyways!" Eliwood blushed madly.

"Who?" Hector prodded.

"I'm not telling you!" Eliwood continued blushing.

"Alright, alright. I'll leave you alone." Hector chortled. The both of them became quiet before Hector opened his mouth. "Niniaaaaaaan. . ."

"OH SHUT UP!" Eliwood screamed. Hector let out a laugh. "Well I'm glad to see you're in a good mood." Eliwood pouted. "Alright, you got it. Just don't tell anyone."

"Not a problem." Hector nodded. Just then, Marcus called for Eliwood.

"Oh, I gotta go. Great talking with you buddy! I'll see you later!" And with that, Eliwood was gone.
Florina was back in the tent within minutes, now she was checking up on Hector's arm and washing it with warm water.

"I-it's closing up a bit. . ." she stuttered, trying to think of something to say, but she immediately regret opening her mouth.

"Yeah, it is." Hector looked over at his arm. "You've been taking good care of it." Her whole face began to burn up.

"Uh-huh. . ." She squeaked out. She could barely say anything. 'Oh gods no, don't try to talk to me. . .' she thought, feeling that she might tear up if he lit into her.

"If I didn't know better I'd say you were a cleric!" he chuckled. She began to shake.

"Uh-. . .uh-huh." She stuttered, even when she wasn't actually saying anything. She finished soaking Hector's wound and bandaged it right away.
"I-I have to go dump this in the grass." She explained, before rushing out of the tent. Hector stared up at the top of the tent until Florina came back. She picked up her book and pretended to enjoy it.

"What are you reading?" Hector mumbled, listlessly. Florina nearly jumped out of her skin.

"Um. . .uh. . .j-just some riding-tactics. . ." She really had no clue.

"Neat." Hector mused, glancing over at her. He couldn't see her reddening face from behind the book. "So your Pegasus' name is Huey?" Florina's heart rate went up.

"Y-yes. . ." She stuttered.

"How long have you had Huey?" Hector inquired.

"Uh. . .E-ever since. . .I w-was. . .s-s-six." She quivered. It took her a full ten seconds to remember the question being asked.

"So he's very special to you?" Florina wanted to tell Hector that Huey was a she, and that her name just sounded masculine, but she had never corrected a man before.

"Um. . .H-Huey's a. . .a. . .a sh-she. Sh-she's a girl." Florina was trembling and she felt the tears building up in her eyes. She buried her face into the book so he wouldn't get any notion that she was upset.

"Oh, I didn't know that. Anyways, Huey's special to you?"

"Y-yes. . ." She felt her voice crack. Hector didn't notice, which Florina didn't know whether to think of as a good thing or a bad thing.

"Hm." He gave a nod. "I'm sorry you lost her, I hope she turns up soon."

"I-i-it's okay. . ." Florina whispered, she reached up and wiped her eyes.

"If not I'll go out and find her for you." He offered. Florina couldn't take it anymore. She knew Huey could take care of herself, but she certainly couldn't! Not with Hector around! She was so weak and helpless and terrified, and Huey had the nerve to leave her with that man! She immediately looked around for a reason to leave, she was getting good at that.

"Um, I have to go get dinner ready, it's my turn. . .I-I'll be back." She got up and left, very thankful that it was in fact her turn to make dinner.

Florina got as far from the tent as possible and shed a few tears. She had told herself over and over again that Hector would most certainly not hurt her. And yet she was still scared to death of him. After wiping her eyes and calming down, she went over to the supplies tent and got some ingredients. Soon, the scent of meat and rice had drawn much of the troop out of their tents. She ate relatively quickly; she had the appetite of a baby bird to begin with. After downing her meal, she felt the sinking feeling of having to return to her patient. Lowen had offered to serve everyone else, and though it was a thoughtful thing to do, Florina wished he hadn't done so.

"L-lord Hector?" She entered the tent with a bowl of steaming rice and little pieces of pork. She lightly held the chopsticks between her fingers.

"Hey." He murmured passively.

"I-I brought your dinner." She kneeled down on the ground next to him.

"Oh, thank you." He sat up the best he could.

"S-Serra says. . .not to eat t-too fast." She added in. Hector was slowly but surely healing, and at this point he could eat by placing the bowl on his lap and using his right hand.

"Sure, not a problem." He took the bowl and chopsticks from Florina's quivering hands. Unfortunately "Not a problem" meant "As if I care what Serra thinks" and he began to practically scarf his meal. Florina was both generally concerned, and annoyed that he was making it difficult, and got up the courage to glare at him. He took note of this and shrugged with a somewhat hapless look on his face. She softly took the chopsticks away from him and the bowl in her hand. His eyebrows narrowed and he let out a snort.
"I'm sorry Mother, I'll eat slower next time." He grumbled. Florina's face, though timid, certainly showed she was miffed.

"It's so you don't you don't make your tummy hurt even more." Hector held in a laugh. Tummy? Of all the words she could have used! Tummy was so cute and small. And Hector was neither of those things. It just seemed so silly that she'd used that word, but it was of no matter. Hector rolled his eyes and leaned back a bit.

"Open up your mouth." Florina's voice was soft, but she managed to maintain her assertive tone. Hector did so, but gave an exaggerated "Ahhh" as well. Florina felt as if this would take forever, he was not only scary to her, but he was also being so annoying! Finally he had eaten the entire bowl and she could leave for a few minutes.

"Florina?" Hector asked as she was going.

"Yeah?" She was annoyed, so her stutter had ceased for the time being.

"Could I see Matthew?" Hector lay back down again.

"Sure." She was happy to have a break from him entirely.

I hope you enjoyed this! If you have any suggestions(appreciated), tips(greatly appreciated), or praise(HIGHLY appreciated XDDD) please review!