Fate, Friends & Feelings (part 2 of the Bound trilogy) - by Shade-Duelist
disclaimer: if you still read this... Lufia is copyrighted to Taito. I don't own it, nor do I own anything from it. But I do own this story, so ask me before using it elsewhere.
Tia sighed as she closed the door of her house behind her. It had been about three weeks after she had started training with the long sword, and she had come to the conclusion that it was infinitely more difficult than using a short sword. She had progressed much slower, and was now battling orcs and wisps, who had a nasty tendency to use her sword as a target for their Flash spells. She had blisters from the fights of that day, and she had the feeling she wasn't getting anywhere. But then she remembered Dekar's announcement at the end of the day, and she smiled again.
"Tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, you don't need to come to training. I trust you, however, to not forget your exercises, since you can't afford to skip those. …What's with the surprised faces? It's a holiday tomorrow!" He had then dismissed them from their exercises with a wave of his hand and had started his own exercises. Tia had stayed and watched, which she had done ever since she had seen him do his exercises for the first time, a week ago.
At first, she had been shocked to see he could lift about 100 kilos with ease. Then she saw him complete a series of exercises she would never be able to do even if she trained all her life, like doing push-ups in full equipment, and she was dumbfounded. Dekar had noticed her gasp: when he looked her way, she saw his big goofy smile and realised she must be staring. When she had turned her head away, blushing fiercely, he had walked up to her.
"Tia? No need to look away, no need to blush either. Those're just my kinda exercises." Then, when he noticed her looking back slowly, incredulous, he had added: "By the time your training is over, you'll be doing these exercises with me – and as easily as I am. I won't promise you that you'll be able to lift 100 kilos like I do, maybe you'll be able to lift 50. But the push-ups in full armor, those'll be a piece of cake to you…"
"R-really?", she had said, disbelief apparent in her voice. He had nodded with a smile and had then accompanied her to the soldiers' mess hall, where they ate a simple meal. He hadn't spoken of it since, but it had lingered in Tia's mind.
Suddenly, someone knocked on her door. Tia sprang out of the chair she had been sitting in and went to the door. To her surprise, it was prince Alex.
"Hello, Tia.", he said as he walked in. "Is Dekar around?"
"N-no…", said Tia, blushing slightly. "Isn't he in his quarters?"
"Oh, I'm not looking for Dekar, Tia… but I was hoping he wasn't here.", the prince said, and Tia looked at him, surprised. Why would he want to be sure Dekar isn't around?, she mused. The prince had guessed her unposed question, apparently, for he continued: "It's just that people in the castle are a bit gossipy and, um… Well… let's just say Dekar isn't the brightest star around…" Tia smiled softly as she remembered how forgetful and clumsy Dekar had been when she first met him, and then shook her head: the prince wasn't right at all.
"He may not look like it, but…"
"Shh…", the prince silenced her, and Tia felt disgruntled – though only for a brief moment. "I didn't come here to talk about Dekar… but I'd much like to get to know you better. I was hoping that you'd like to spend some time with me tomorrow." She looked at the prince in surprise, not believing what she heard.
"Spend time with you?", she asked, feeling elated. Why would a prince want to spend time with me? I'm not that special..., she thought.
"Oh, I would certainly understand if you already had plans, but I would feel honoured."
"W-well... I'd love to.", Tia said with a faint blush. He said he would be honoured to spend some time with me tomorrow..., she mused, and then returned to reality. "What did you have in mind?"
"Oh, nothing much... I was just hoping I'd have the honour of asking you to dine with me in the castle tomorrow. Not in the soldiers' mess hall, but in the royal dining room."
"Okay... should I dress fancy?", Tia asked, after which the prince chuckled.
"No need to. Just wear what you'd usually wear around the house on your day off, and it'll be fine."
The next day, Tia awoke early and immediately got excited about her 'date' that evening. She was looking forward to her supper, mostly because she wanted to see what the royal dining room looked like – the chance to see any royal room only came once, she knew – but also because she was curious about the prince. He seemed nice enough: charming smile, sparkling eyes, very gentlemanly... a bit different from Dekar, who was just himself, Tia thought.
She was so distracted about it during her morning run around the castle that she didn't even notice Dekar joining her after her first lap.
"Hey, dreamy, time to wake up... unless you feel ready to run around the castle a third time..." his voice brought her back to reality, and she smiled apologetically.
"Hi, Dekar... Sorry about that. I've got a lot to think about, so..."
"Oh? Got plans for the day, I see.", he said with his usual goofy smile. Tia smiled back, glad he found it good she had something to do that day.
"Prince Alex came by and invited me to have dinner with him in the royal dining room.", she said excitedly. She thought she saw a hint of disappointment pass over Dekar's features, but it was over in a split second and he responded.
"Oh, that's nice of him. Ah well, I wanted to ask you if you'd like to eat with me tonight, but I guess I can always ask if you'd like to eat with me tomorrow?"
"In the soldiers' mess hall?", she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Actually, at my place. I've finally gotten that transfer I wanted. Since prince Alex is training, he won't actually need me as a bodyguard anymore, so I applied for a reassignment as an officer in the Bound army and I've become exercise master of the soldiers." He smiled proudly and Tia clapped her hands.
"Congratulations Dekar. So I'll be calling you 'sarge' in a few months' time or what?"
"Huh?", he seemed dumbfounded, so Tia clarified with a small smile.
"Alex and I are supposed to be training with the soldiers in about four months' time, remember?"
"Oh yeah...", he said slowly. "Sorry, you know what I'm like..." He seemed a bit ashamed of himself.
"That's allright. You may not be the brightest man, but you're certainly the strongest man!", she said. "Plus, you do have the best battle tactics I know."
"Flatterer...", Dekar said. He then continued on a more serious note: "But my reassignment also means that I'll be moving out of the castle and into that other house my parents left me. Which happens to be as cosy as yours. So, will you come over for dinner tomorrow? Look at it as a house-warming dinner."
"Sure.", Tia said. Dekar had cooked for her on a few occasions, which were all great meals. "I'd be happy to!"
That evening, Tia had dressed her best – despite prince Alex' telling her not to – and was about to spray some perfume on her when a knock on her front door startled her. She opened it to reveal the prince, standing there with a bouquet of flowers a bit anxiously.
"Can I come in?", he asked, sounding nervous, and Tia giggled despite herself.
"Of course...", she said. "You're too kind, bringing me flowers..."
"It's just a gesture...", he murmured, a bit undone by her openness. Then, he restored and gained back his polished manners. "Are you ready to go, then?"
"I sure am!", she said as she took the arm he extended and walked out with him. "Now, I've been dying to know what kind of people your mother and father are...", she commented jokingly.
"Oh, but I only introduce them to girls after we've been on a date four times or so...", the prince answered in the same playful tone. Tia smiled.
"I think I'm going to like getting to know you...", she said with a contented sigh as she walked a bit closer to her companion, still conscious of the cold of the desert nights.
"I think I like it already...", the prince answered in a half-whisper.
But Tia was oblivious to his response.