Part XII


Frey and Leon reached town together, they were closer to each other than usual. When Leon arrived at the inn without Frey, Lin Fa asked Leon if something good had happened. Leon was honest with her, and before he knew it everyone in town knew that Frey was now Leon's girlfriend. He was glad he didn't have to go around and inform people of such a personal situation.

It was officially winter, although Frey was cold, her heart felt heated beats every time she visited Leon to study together with him. Although it was always interrupted by Kiel, she focused her attention on learning so she could impress Leon in the future. Kiel had left and it was getting late, Leon was still working on more definitions. Frey's head was starting to sway, she was feeling sleepy but wanted to stay by Leon who hadn't noticed how tired she was.

"Hmm, I'm done for the night, how about you Frey?" He glances at Frey, who fell asleep on his desk. He laughed to himself as he tried to shake her awake. It was not working.

"…" He thought to himself a bit. "Alright fine, I'll take you." He began to pick Frey up to try to place her on his back, but it turned out easier to carry her princess style. As he did, he placed a blanket on top of her, since it was cold at night and began to walk towards the castle. It was really late so they went on unseen, as he reached her room. As soon as he reached her room, she began to stir.

"Hrrmm…L-Leon?" She rubbed her eyes.

"Why, good morning there." He said as held her.

"U-Uuwaahh!" She began to struggle as he held her.

"F-Frey, you fell asleep so I carried you." He said attempting not to drop her.

"Th-this happens often?" She said as she began to blush.

"Ha-hahaha, often enough yes. Although it's usually not me carrying you. This is the first time you wake up too so I was unlucky."

"A-Am I heavy?" She asked.

"Do you really want me to answer that?" He said looking at her face.

"G-Geez! So rude Leon." She looks away from him.

"Ha-ha-ha, I apologize. You are light as a feather." He continues to laugh.

"Th-that's not enough, you owe me now." She pouts.

"Say's the girl I am currently carrying now?" He begins to walk towards her bed.

"…Go on a date with me."

Leon pauses in front of the bed, and then places her on the bed where she sits up.

"I'm free tomorrow, I'll take the day off from the translating." He said as he crouched to meet her eyes.

"R-Really...where should we go?" She said nervously.

"Ha-ha-ha, we can decide that tomorrow. For now you should get some sleep. I'll meet you in front of the castle in the morning." He began to pet her head.

"Good night Leo…" She said as she smiled.

"I'll see you tomorrow Frey." He smiled back at her and left.

The next morning, Frey woke up extra early to get her chores done before she went out with Leon, she thought about all the places they could go. She finished brushing the monsters in the barn and headed in front of the castle.

"Good morning Leon," She said as she waved.

"Good m...no, you know what? No. Let's go with 'bad night' instead." He said without smiling.

"What? Hahaha."

"I see you couldn't wait for this." He said as he fanned himself even in the winter.

"I could hardly sleep…but I managed!" She said with determination in her voice.

"Ahem, where did you want to go today?" He asked her blushing a bit.

"Hmm. I wanna go on a joyride on the airship."

"Well that's ambitious, will I be driving?" He said with a worried look.

"If you must, then that's good, I could use a chauffeur." She said as she laughed.

"Ah-ha-ha, yeah, yeah, let us go then." They began to make their way to the ship. The day was a bit cloudy but it didn't bother Leon nor Frey.

They boarded the ship and began to let its auto cruise take place. Once they were above the clouds they began to watch them.

"Back in my time period, I always longed to fly like Venti did, I never imagined it would actually come true someday." Leon said as he watched the clouds.

"There was magic in your time right?" Frey looked at Leon.

"Yes, but very few machines to take us anywhere."

"What was it like in your time Leon?" Frey asked innocently.

"Hmm… I had friends who would have loved to fly as well." Leon seemed to look far away as he said that.

Frey took the chance, and grabbed Leon by his hand. She squeezed his hand a bit as she closed her eyes.

"H-Hey. You do this type of thing without even looking?"

"W-Well we are flying, he-he. But fine I'll open my eyes." She begins to smile when she sees Leon blush.

Just as Leon was about to say something the ship began to hit turbulence, Leon began to hold Frey by the shoulders but it was too late. The ship suddenly stopped and they lost their balance. Both falling to the ground. As they opened their eyes, Frey was on top of Leon looking straight at him. There was a pause that seemed longer than an eternity between them.

"F-Frey…" Leon watched Frey who was becoming more red, but somehow he could hear her heart beat accelerate. He became concerned that she would also hear his. He was still holding her shoulders, and her hands were firmly planted on the wood floor beneath them.

"Th-this is quite the change in power…" She murmured. Leon began to blush as well, as he had somehow become powerless, he was unable to move as he watched Frey.

Frey began to move her face closer to Leon, her hair slowly brushing against his skin as well as his ears. Leon was beginning to shake when…Frey suddenly grabbed his ears.

"Uwah! They're softer than I imagined!" She began to rub them.

"H-Hey—ah-ha-ha—s-stop! Hahaha!"

"Oh? Have I found your tickle spot Leon!?" Frey was now sitting on Leon and completely annihilating him in a tickle battle. He continued to laugh and beg for her to stop. Suddenly he grabbed her wrists and pinned her on the ground.

"A-Ah. Well this isn't fair, you're stronger." Frey looked away.

Suddenly Leon was frozen, he began to become red again and his hands were beginning to perspire. His heart was beginning to race against time and all logic. He managed to keep his face from contorting, as only a flush of red painted his face, as well as Frey's. He let her go and stood up. He gave Frey a hand and helped her stand up.

"Phew. I thought you were about to seek revenge! I guess I got lucky today." She smiled with a triumphant smile.

"Humph. You just got lucky it is late, also we left the ship unattended." Leon began to drive the ship back to Selphia. He kept trying to focus on navigating back, the incident a few minutes ago had shook him up. He didn't know what to do with himself in these moments, he knew they were bound to happen. Yet he underestimated the power of such situations, his heart was still raising and his breath was a bit short. Leon navigated as he tried to blame it on the elevation. Frey stood next to him, and watched him drive sweaty palms and all. She was also feeling nervous herself, but a smile still painted her face when she remembered how close they were.


Part XIII


The next day Frey had made plans with Dylas to go fishing, she was running out of fish to grill and had not given Leon any gifts since White Day. She covered herself correctly for winter, wearing gloves and everything, when she met Dylas who was wearing the usual.

"What are you doing?" Dylas asked confused.

"Um. It's cold outside."

"You idiot. We're going outside of town, even I wouldn't fish in this cold weather." He began to explain. As he said this Leon was looking out his window when he saw them chatting.

"Ehh? You mean I bundled up for nothing?" She sighs. From afar Leon approaches.

"Yo. You guys going fishing?" Leon said with a smile.

"Leon! Um. Yes, but I gotta go change I'll be right back!" Frey waddles away.

"You don't mind if I tag along? Do you Dylas?" Leon says as he hides his face behind his fan.

"Erk. I guess not…" Dylas says without looking at Leon.

"I'm baaack! Does this mean we're all going? I brought Leon an extra fishing rod I made." She said excitedly.

"Why I wouldn't miss it." Leon says as they began to walk off together to the outskirts of town.

They walked peacefully without speaking, Frey was enjoying the different weather. They were heading to the summer lake, Dyla's favorite spot for fishing. It was also the area where the fish Frey was looking for were often found. As they approached the lake, they set up near the rocks they usually fished by. The shade wasn't reaching them yet so they were bearing the sun for now. Frey sat in between Leon and Dylas, as she happily began to bait the rod, Dylas was mixing some chum and throwing it in the lake. Leon was setting his line just right, he happened to be proficient at fishing as well, although it had been a while since he last fished. Frey and Dylas threw their lines in first, then Leon followed.

"Hrrm. It's so hot today Dylas, wasn't like this usually." Frey complained.

"It's because we don't have shade today, it'll be fine in a few minutes." Dylas watched the tree's shadow slowly move.

As they said this, Dylas was reeling in a fish already, it was quite the large mackerel he managed to bring in. They placed in a cooler they had brought. Frey was beginning to reel one in as well, she caught a crucian carp. Leon glanced at them when he felt small tugging at his line, he reeled it in with all his might, so much that he fell on his back. Leon caught a shrimp.

"Pfft. He-hehehe, nice catch Leon. We just need twenty more to make a dish out of them." Frey began to laugh, as Dylas remained silent but let a smile slip.

"I'm just unlucky today, and we've only just started. You'll see." Leon said with focus in his eyes.

As they continued to fish, Frey caught some Rainbow trout at last, and Leon caught girella and a few carps. Dylas had maintained focus for a while and hadn't caught anything else just yet.

"You're unlucky too huh Dylas?" Leon elbowed him a bit.

"Oh. This means Dylas is focusing on catching a hard prey." Frey said with her finger pointed.

"HIIYAAH." Dylas suddenly used all his force and pulled in a rather large Lamp Squid.

"Wh-whaat!?" Leon was thoroughly impressed with this catch.

"Hmm. Not even have been able to catch such a big one, I always get a small one." Frey sighed.

Dylas placed the squid in the cooler, which filled it up completely. Leon glanced at Dylas who was clearly showing off a little.

"Dylas, could you teach me how to do that? Pleaaaase?" Frey begged.

"Erm…fine, I'll give you some pointers." He approached Frey.

He positioned her elbow, and then held her hands and placed them on the spot that was necessary to catch. He then told her what bait she should be using, his chest was to her back as he spoke to her. Leon watched them, completely serious. After a few seconds, Dylas back away and asked Frey to hold that pose as she fished for lamp squid. Dylas then glanced at Leon who was staring at him.

"So. You teach her like this every time?"

"Whenever she asks me, yeah." Dylas said without flinching. As sparks flew, Frey didn't even noticed as she was completely focused on catching the lamp squid to impress Leon.

"Perhaps you should show me next." Leon said in a mocking voice.

"Erk. No thanks, you're adept enough aren't ya?" Dylas dodged the bullet.

"Tch. You get a pass for now Dylas."

"Like I need your permission." Dylas glared a bit, but not at Leon.

As the tension raised between them, Leon stood up and so did Dylas. Frey began to reel in a bit one, both men had failed to notice yet. Just as they were about to argue once more, Frey reeled in a lamp squid with so much force, that it hit them both on the face.

"Erk…that is…unpleasant." Leon was the first to say. "As much as I love lamp squid, it must be grilled of course." He began to wipe his face.

"Ugh…I just washed this hair too, Porcoline made me…" Dylas was removing a slimy thin veil from his hair.

"Uwah! I'm so sorry you guys! I did not see you behind me there." Frey looked at them innocently.

"I think this one is bigger than the one Dylas caught." Leon picked it up.

"What? Let me see that." He paused and looked at Frey in a defeatist manner.

"You're quite the good teacher Dylas, I'm beginning to trust your judgmenet." Leon said as he placed the squid in the cooler, attempting to make space.

"Psh. Flattery won't work now, you'll have to learn yourself." Dylas said as he smiled a bit.

"Doth my eye deceive me? Or did I just witness a bonding moment?" Frey began to laugh.

"What's with that sarcastic tone? That should be exclusive to me?" Leon poked her with his fan.

"Plus we were guardians, there's already a bond there." Dylas blurted out.

"Dylas…" Frey said a tad touched.

"I-Idiot, look what you made me say." He began to blush.

"Oh Dylas, I didn't know you felt so deeply for little old me. How did I not notice before?" Leon started to toy with him.

"Well that's great Dylas, I get Leon on the weekends though." Frey said smiling.

"Sh-shut up both of you!" He began to hide his face as they all packed.

It was beginning to get dark as they walked back, but they made it just in time. They were all very cold when arriving in Selphia, so they immediately split off. They agreed that Frey could keep the loot, as she caught the biggest fish. They quickly bid their farewells, Leon arrived to his room and lit up some candles to warm up. He thought about Dylas, who wasn't a bad person. However the closeness he shared with Frey, was beginning to irk him more than before. Somehow Frey was able to stop them from arguing, by mere chance. Leon felt bashful, he had never acted in such a way for anyone in his life. He felt he almost made a fool of himself for no reason. It was so obvious to him that Dylas had feelings for Frey, but he knew that Dylas wouldn't meddle in such a way in their relationship. He had sensed a hint of sadness in him when he found out they were dating, but only for a second. Jealously, was not a feeling that was part of his repertoire. He wondered why he had to feel all these emotions, ever since he had been awoken it has been nonstop for him. Leon decided to stop thinking, and headed to the hot springs to calm down.