This chapter has been delayed long enough. So here it is! Chapter 10!

While These Days Last

"Lon'qu, have you always been afraid of women?"

"...No."

The blonde princess tilted her head and frowned in deep thought. She furrowed her brow a few times before finally asking another question, "So... Why are you afraid of women anyways? Did something happen?"

Lon'qu sighed. He knew that he would have to explain everything some day, but he did not expect that day to be today. "Yes... It was a very long time ago. But it's also kind of a long story– "

"Tell me, tell me, tell me!" Lissa clasped her hands together and bounced up and down. "Maybe if you tell me, I will be able to help you get better! Plus, I've never actually heard you tell a story before, so this is kind of exciting."

"...Well, for starters, a long time ago when I was a kid living in the slums, I had a friend named Ke'ri. We were very close and spent a lot of time together as kids."

Lissa nodded, letting him know that she was paying attention.

The swordsman grimaced slightly as he continued his tale, "However, one day, we were attacked by bandits... I-I tried to protect her, but I failed... Instead, she was the one who protected me. And because of my weakness... she died. Her parents also blamed me for her death. Because of that, I ran away from home in shame and guilt... Never looked back since... I ran away to Ferox, and Basilio raised me ever since. And because of all of that, I've been afraid of getting close to women. I'm afraid that if they get too close to me, they'll end up getting hurt like she did..."

He sighed and slowly leaned back onto the tree they were sitting under. He awkwardly glanced at Lissa waiting for her to say something. Lissa glanced at Lon'qu and sighed, "Lon'qu... So that's why you're uneasy around women... I would've never guessed– No! No one would've ever suspected that something like that had happened!"

"Did you assume that I was always naturally strong or something along those lines?"

The blonde pouted and puffed her cheeks in a child-like manner, "...Maybe..."

He tried to suppress a smile, "...Well, now you know..."

"Well, how is your gynophobia... these days..."

"A lot better than what it has been in the past. Thanks to you." Lon'qu gazed up at the clear sky and began to absentmindedly ramble, "However, I think it really started to get better after I foiled that assassin plot... I mean, all of my problems were caused by the fact that I failed to protect Ke'ri, and when I succeeded in protecting you... I don't know... I felt like a huge weight was lifted off my shoulders." He turned his head to face Lissa, and he felt his lips curl into a small smile, "...Plus it's nice to know that all those years of training paid off..."

Lissa giggled, "You know, Lon'qu... It's funny how we can talk like this now."

"...How so?"

"Well, for starters, when we first met, you yelled at me!" Lissa's face contorted into into an extreme frown, and she narrowed her eyes before yelling in the deepest voice she could muster (which really wasn't that deep), "AWAY, WOMAN!"

"I do not sound like that!... Nor do I look like that..."

The princess snorted, "Yes you do! You always sound really grumpy."

"No I don't!"

"Yes. You. Do."

They stared down each other in silence for a good minute or two. Right when Lon'qu was about to say something, Lissa quickly interjected, mischievously smiling, "Grump."

Lon'qu opened his mouth as if he were trying to say something, but he quickly shut it. Instead, he grumbled to himself, causing Lissa to triumphantly grin. Although he hated to admit like, much like how he hated to admit many other things, he enjoyed letting Lissa win every now and then. Lon'qu hated defeat, but seeing Lissa smile like that made him feel somewhat elated. Her self-esteem was now also much improved. Though he doubted that it was actually because of him that she saw herself in a more positive light.

She gazed at Lon'qu and gave him a warm smile. For a second, Lon'qu thought that she was staring at him almost... lovingly. However, he quickly dismissed the thought. After all, why would someone like her feel that way towards a grump like him? He hesitantly locked eyes with her, and surprisingly, she didn't look away. However, things started to get kind of awkward for Lon'qu, so he nervously cleared his throat, causing Lissa to jump slightly and turn red.

He nervously rubbed the back of his neck and propped himself up, "Ahem... I think it's about time that I go and see Vaike..."

"A-Ah... I almost forgot that you two were sparring today."

Lon'qu helped her up, and watched as she brushed her dress off before dashing off and waving good-bye, "I'll see you later, Lon'qu!"

He waved good-bye and headed towards the castle training grounds.

"Hey, Lon'qu, say... You mind if lil' Donny here joins us today?"

"...I have no objections."

Donnel sprinted off to grab his sword, and he quickly returned with a goofy smile on his face, "Well I'm mightly glad y'all are letting me train with y'all today."

Vaike roughly patted him on the back, "No problem! And Teach'll gladly teach you a few tricks if you'd like."

"Really? Well, shoot! I think I'm gonna have a darn tootin' good time then! Oh, and if ya' have any time after this, be sure ta' thank Chrom for me. I really appreciate him letting me stay here."

"I can relay that message for you later on if you would like."

Everyone turned their heads to see Frederick slowly emerging from the darkness.

"What are you doing here?" Vaike questioned.

Frederick's grin grew wider and much more eery, "Well, it just so happens that you are just in time for Frederick's Fanatical Fitness Hour!"

"Wait you're still doing that?!"

Frederick nodded, "Why of course. After all, I must stay in perfect shape. Even though the war has ended, I must retain my current physical shape in case something may happen. Since I also train new soldiers, I must also set a good example.

Vaike sighed, "Well, Frederick, you see... We were about to spar a bit– "

"We'll do it." Lon'qu interjected. "I agree with your reasoning."

"Good. We'll begin... now!" Frederick smiled.

Suddenly, Chrom's voice echoed from a nearby corridor, "FREDERICK!"

"Yes, Milord? What is the matter?! Did something happen?"

Chrom sighed and massaged his temple, "My office... You cleaned it..."

"Why... Yes I did. I organized all of your documents, files, writing utensils, and books. I also polished the desk, dusted the shelves, and cleaned the floors. Are you unsatisfied? If you would like, I could clean again– "

"No, Frederick... That will not be necessary."

"Then what is the problem?"

"Well, remember that chat we had a few months ago? Well, you're doing it again." Chrom frowned, "I really appreciate you doing all of this for me, but it's really not necessary. Plus, now that you have reorganized everything, I can't find anything anymore! It wasn't a mess. It was organized chaos."

"I-I'm sorry. I'll see that it never happens again!"

Chrom smiled, "Thank you, Frederick. Please don't misunderstand me! I really appreciate everything you've done for me and my family, but you need to worry about yourself sometimes! Have some fun every now and then."

"I... will try, milord."

The bluenette quickly returned to his office, and Frederick cleared his throat, "Ahem! We shall begin now."

He firmly placed his hand on Lon'qu's shoulder as if trying to reassure him about something. Lon'qu awkwardly turned his head to find that Vaike and Donnel had fled the area.

Frederick simply smiled.

Lon'qu was no where to be found for a whole week, and Lissa was starting to grow worried. She paced back and forth down the hallway before finally deciding to barge into Lon'qu's room.

"Gods, Lon'qu! What have you been doing?!"

Lissa saw Lon'qu resting in bed and frowned. "Why are you in bed?"

"...Frederick's... Fanatical... Fitness... Hour..."

The princess simply nodded her head, finally understanding the situation. "It was intense, wasn't it?"

"...Very... I was so set on staying in good shape, so I took up his offer without hesitation... Vaike and Donnel abandoned me without warning... It was... terrible."

"Was it really that bad?"

Lon'qu weakly nodded his head. "I think I pulled or strained a few muscles, and I was instructed to rest until I fully recovered... They said that I was not allowed to do anything extremely physical, which meant no training."

Lissa giggled, "M-Maybe you should've..." She tried to suppress her laughter and snorted, "Picked a god and prayed!"

She burst out laughing at her punchline and wiped a tear from her eye. "Whew! Oh, Gods... That one was good."

Groaning, Lon'qu propped himself up and frowned at Lissa. "...That was far from amusing!"

"Pfft. That's only because you have no sense of humor." She then laughed and insisted that she was joking before continuing, "Anyways... Have you been taking warm baths?"

"No. I prefer cool water."

"H-Huh? Why? Warm water is so relaxing!"

"It's just what I'm accustomed to..." Lon'qu sighed, "In Ferox, the weather changes very haphazardly, so there isn't an abundance of warm water. Plus there are no hot springs in Ferox."

Lissa slowly nodded, "Ah... I see. Well, you should start taking warm baths for the time being. It may relieve some of the pain."

"...I see."

The princess pulled up a chair so she could sit and asked, "Have you eaten anything yet?"

"No."

She frowned, "Fine. Wait here, and I'll be back with something for you to eat. I know you were ordered to rest, but it doesn't mean you're not allowed to get up and do anything."

"...I go on walks sometimes."

"Are you sure you weren't just catching butterflies? Oh and I don't know... Having fun?"

"For the last time... I do not do that!"

Lissa slowly left the room giggling, "Sure you don't." After leaving, she turned around stuck her head into the doorway, smiling, before leaving again, "There's nothing wrong with having fun every now and then, Lon'qu."

Upon entering the kitchen, Lissa fumbled around looking for plates and utensils before looking to see if there was any food spared.

There was absolutely nothing.

She groaned in frustration, "I should've known they wouldn't have any leftovers. This is a royal palace for Gods' sakes. This isn't like back during the war when we saved everything."

Lissa opened and closed all the cabinets over and over again. She let her current situation slowly sink in. Then it hit her.

"I have to... cook something edible."

She frantically paced back and forth, her heels clicking against the tiles over and over again, imitating the sound of a clock, which started to increase her paranoia.

"But I don't know how to cook! Well, it's never too late to learn, right? In the end, I'll be more lady-like, right? I mean, this is for Lon'qu, and I promised that I'd get something for him to eat." She paused then quickly grabbed a few pots and pans and spatulas and a multitude of ingredients. "Okay, Lissa! You can do this! I can make something simple... Like soup! Beef stew? Potatoes can't be that hard to prepare either, right? Lon'qu likes potatoes..."

If there was one thing Lissa knew how to properly do, it was boil water, so she did that first. She found a ladle and put it off to the side. Lissa scrambled around the kitchen to find some unused beef. She found a decent-sized chunk and cringed the moment her skin came in contact with the raw meat. She stuck her tongue out in disgust and chucked it into the sink. "Blech! Gross! It's all slimy..."

While she was cleaning the meat, she heard a strange bubbling noise from the pot and rushed over to slightly lower the heat since it was finally boiling. Lissa took in a deep breath and grabbed a cutting board and knife. After she prepared the meat, she put it off to the side and grabbed whatever vegetables she could find, and she attempted to peel the skin off. She hastily threw them all into the boiling pot of water along with the meat.

Lissa took a seat in a nearby chair and slumped down, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead, "Whew... That went... okay– " She let a gasp escape her mouth, and she quickly got up, "I forgot to add in salt and seasoning!"

The princess scrutinized all the spices and seasonings before finally eying the salt. "How much am I supposed to put in?"

She haphazardly threw in an unmeasured amount of salt along with many different kinds of powders she ravaged from the pantry. Lissa then eyed the potatoes sitting at the end of the counter. She rubbed her chin before deciding to make roasted potatoes.

"Peeling potatoes should be a piece of cake! I mean, Lon'qu does it all the time. I wonder what his fastest time is."

Lissa sat down and started to peel the first potato but kept failing miserably. However, she paused when she heard footsteps right outside the entrance. When she looked up, Lon'qu was in front of her.

"...What are you doing?"

"Getting you something to eat?"

Lon'qu sighed, "I thought you would be back soon since you are one of the few people who manage not to get lost in this place... But when you didn't return, I was... worried..."

"O-Oh... I see." Lissa began to absentmindedly continue to peel the potatoes, not paying attention to what her hands were doing. She stuttered, "W-Well, I came down here to see if there was anything extra for you to eat, but turns out, they already threw all the garbage and leftover out. I thought that I could be of some use if I made you something to eat."

"Lissa, watch what you're doing!"

Lissa jumped at his sudden change in tone and felt a sharp searing pain on her index finger. "Ouch!"

She looked down and saw a thin trail of blood trickle down the length of her finger. Lon'qu quickly grabbed her hand to inspect her wound, "Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah..."

"Go wash it in the sink, and I'll go get some gauze from the medical room... Do not leave this room."

She nodded her head and quickly washed her hands to prevent any infection before plopping back down into her chair. When Lon'qu returned, he hastily kneeled down and gently cupped her hand in his palm. He slowly wrapped the gauze around her finger. Lon'qu let out a deep sigh when he finished. He glanced up to see a sullen look on her face.

Lon'qu let out out another deep sigh, "...If you want... I can show you how to properly peel potatoes... But only if you want."

The swordsman noticed a sudden change in her demeanor and slightly smiled to himself. He pulled up a stool and asked Lissa to hand him her knife. They were so caught up in their potato-peeling lesson that they completely forgot about the stew. When they finally realized what was happening, the pot was already over-flowing, and the stew got all over the floor. They exchanged an apprehensive glance before quickly cleaning the mess. However, when they finished, Lissa asked Lon'qu to try her stew. It smelled okay to him, so he took a large gulp.

Big mistake.

It was the worst thing he had tasted in his entire life. However, he couldn't bring himself to tell her that, so he lied and told her that it was delicious.

A decision he greatly regretted.

Ever since that day, Lissa constantly barged into the kitchen and insisted on borrowing it for "only a little while." She tried to make a large variety of things. Lissa would make curry, different stews, casseroles, and she had recently begun to take an interest in baking. Because of this, Gaius started to hover around the kitchen, but after one bite, he never came back.

This went on for many months, and every once in a while, Lissa would take a break for a few weeks, which was a blessing to Lon'qu. Eventually, another month passed, and every single day was a new experience for both of them. However, one day all of this ended.

Chrom was called to a meeting in the throne room by Virion and Cherche. They were going to wage war with Valm. When Lissa heard the news, she was outraged and locked herself up in her room, occasionally letting Maribelle and Lon'qu in once every few days. Eventually, Lon'qu talked some sense into her, although it came out a bit harsher than he intended it to be. She promptly apologized to her brother, and everything was somewhat stable again. In a few days, they were to pack and begin to march to Port Ferox.

"What do you think about all of this?" Lissa asked.

"I don't really know..."

Lissa let out a depressed sigh before mumbling under her breath, "An era of peace, huh? I have a bad feeling about this..."

A/N: So now we're getting back into plot-ish stuff. I want to focus on battle scenes more often in this half of the story since I really need more experience in writing those, haha. I've been really busy with schools, but thankfully, I have finals in two weeks which means two weeks until Summer! Once Summer comes, I'll have much more time to write. I would also like to thank everyone who has been following this story and leaving comments and reviews. I really appreciate everything you guys have to say although I rarely reply to them. I just never know what to say. I'm also really looking forward to introducing the children and including interactions between characters that aren't Lissa and Lon'qu.

edit: 06.04.13: Totally forgot that Lucina doesn't join until the next chapter. Whoops.

06.12.13: I accidentally forgot that they went to Port Ferox before meeting with Validar, so I adjusted that minor mistake.