Chapter 19
Life's a Beach
Author's Note
A special guest from another Fire Emblem makes an appearance.
Hotrealm beach/pool resort
Thanks to Chrom, he helped me prepare the wedding in the "Hotrealm" as one of the Anna's say. It had been a month after Plegia, Ylisse, and Regna Ferox recovered from the war, and much to my surprise, Basilio and Flavia was eager to help in the wedding. The whole week had mostly been preparation in the "Hotrealm", but Sumia and I had other plans.
Because of the hot weather, I wore a white short sleeved button shirt with green designs, green shorts that reached up to my lower thighs, complete with black sandals. I wore a pair of those shades I bought with Lissa back then. I was waiting for Sumia to get out of the changing stall. When I looked at my fellow Shepherds, almost all of them were easily embarrassed.
Lissa had her hair down and wore a white one-piece swim suit. She played with a beach ball
Chrom's shorts were really short, as if he was wearing boxer briefs, and boy was he flustered.
Olivia was flustered wearing her special white bikini.
Frederick wore a short sleeved version of his dress shirt and he unbuttoned it, revealing his muscular chest and blue shorts. He still stood in his usual position and acted as the usual supervisor.
Ricken wore normal shorts with his family crest on the right part of his shorts. Because he was still kind of a kid, he was playing tag with Donnel and Nowi, with the latter wearing the same thing minus the cape, boots, and garterbelts.
Donnel took off his tin hat, letting his fuzzy purple hair flow freely. Due to the many experiences in war, his body has considerably toughened up, yet remained slender.
Virion still wore his cravat, and he wore swimming briefs, as if he wore underwear. I feel uncomfortable from guys wearing that.
His wife, Cordelia wore a blue frilly bikini, but being outside in that caused her to constantly cover her breasts as if she was holding up her bikini. I think she has A-cup angst.
Kellam stood in the water with swim trunks colored white, adorn with a yellow stripe. Though he's usually unnoticed by the rest of the Shepherds, he was carrying Sully on her back; the latter wearing a white one-piece swimsuit.
Panne replaced her usual armor with a purple bikini, with her lower bikini having a pink frilly skirt. She questioned why she wore the garbs, even after Cordelia insisted her to.
Gregor wore green knee-high shorts. His jolly smile is bigger than before.
Maribelle wore a pink one-piece swimsuit like Lissa and Sully and she used her parasol to block out the sun. Her husband, Vaike wore brown speedos, much to the horror of Maribelle.
Stahl and Lon'qu were talking, wearing shorts with color schemes similar to their armor.
Tharja wore a tight red bikini, with her boyfriend, Gaius wearing black swim trunks with candy designs. Tharja seemed embarrassed, but smiled eerily when she saw me eye her figure. Gaius didn't seem to like the lack of pockets his new threads have, as he's holding his candy storage in his hands.
Miriel wore a black bikini and she discarded her hat for this outing. She still wore her glasses and carried a purse containing notes.
Libra wore more conservative clothing, wearing a short sleeved white dress shirt with white shorts. He smiled gracefully from the joys of beach day.
The lifeguard was a bulky young man wearing a bandanna with a striped tank top and blue shorts. He sat on a very tall chair and wore a pair of shades that made it hard to distinguish his real eyes.
"Alec~" my wife called out.
I turned to her and outstretched my right hand to the side. Frederick passed me a small towel and I used it to wipe the sweat on my brow.
"So, how do I look?"
Sumia wore a purple bikini, which perfectly accentuated her fit but buxom body. What made her sexier was styling her brown hair into a ponytail. I dig ponytails.
"Well... uh," I was pretty nervous, "Y-you're very sexy. That's for sure."
"Gotta say, your wife looks very delicious," Gaius commented before being pulled back to Tharja by her hand pulling her ear.
"Heheheh, thank you, Alec," she covered her breasts.
"Hey, Alec," the lifeguard called out, "Come here for a second."
I walked up to Dart, as he's called. He says he came from Elibe, and right after a huge war, he was suddenly washed up here after his ship crashed while travelling with his wife. His wife works at the stall to sell beach souvenirs.
"What's up, Dart?"
"My wife usually sells this stuff, but I'll give you a free trial on these babies," he handed me a pair of water pistols, "And, I heard from ye little thief friend that you're the biggest mischief."
"Gaius?!"
Dammit, Nowi and him were the mischiefs. Whatever, this was going to be fun.
"But yeah, why me? Why not Gaius or the others?" I asked with a raised brow.
"Well, you remind me of a good ol' friend who did tactics. And from what I heard from Lord Chrom, you managed to lead all your troops not only to victory, but to safety. Ah, reminds me of the time young Mark told me to bring Farina by my side."
"Well, thanks, Dart," I said with a smile, "From the time I saw you, I already knew you'd be a cool guy."
"Have fun, friend. And don't tell anyone where you got the water guns."
I went to Sumia and showed her my guns... then showed her my water guns. She was quite inquisitive of my newly acquired toys, but I have a feeling that we're not the only ones with these water guns.
A few sneaking around later. Beach area.
Sumia is my support grenadier, holding a bucket of water balloons. I taught her how to use her Wind Tome aside from just blasting a gust of wind. She would use it like an artillery, with the water balloons being the ammo.
"Remember the plan?"
"Yep!"
"You got your tome, right?"
She held it with both hands and presented it to me. With a smile, I snuck up to my first prey: Lissa, the Prank Mistress. Utilizing the pockets on my shorts, I hid my water pistols in my pockets and approached Lissa.
"Hey, Alec, how're you doing?" she said as she waved at me.
"Oh nothing much," I knelt down to match her height, "Are you wet down there?"
"W-wha?" she said in surprise, "But aren't you wet down THERE!"
We brandished both of our water guns at each other. Both of us were surprised from our acquired wares.
"Where did you get that from?" she asked me.
"Where did you hide those water pistols?" I asked.
"In my swimsuit, duh?"
"Sorry, but I'm the fastest gun here," Both of us pulled out triggers, but Lissa was the first to be wet.
"Stahl! I'm hit! Prepare the heavy artillery!"
"Sumia, bombard the area!"
Stahl carried a larger water gun that needed two hands to handle. The water gun spewed an extremely powerful jet of water, enough to tear some dirt. I quickly ran away from it, only to avoid the water balloons about to drop on the field.
"Hold, friend," Virion revealed himself from behind a tree and aimed at me with a slingshot armed with a water balloon.
"Oh my gosh, are you affiliated with Lissa's Platoon?" I asked.
"No, I'm part of Cordelia's Confederacy," he said with a smile, "Now duck!"
"Huh?!" I quickly ducked and I saw the water balloon shoot through the air. The water balloon was headed toward Sully, who carried a belt of water balloons and a water gun similar to Stahl's, only lighter. Kellam leapt through the air and took the blow for his wife.
"I'm guessing Sumia made an alliance with Cordelia?" I said to Virion.
"Um, no," Cordelia was already behind me, aiming a water gun to my face. She had a confident smile on her face as she found me trapped.
"Have you forgotten I'm a Master Tactician?"
I used my left hand to swat her gun hand and threw a water balloon at her face. She backed away from the soak, but I heard a water balloon gliding through the air. Virion's marksmanship is powerful, and I already fall victim to the water balloon hitting my back. With the balloon hitting me, I dramatically fell to my knees as if I suffered a massive injury.
"Agh! You got me, but I'm not defeated yet."
I pointed up to the sky, with the couple looking to the skies. A salvo of water balloons filled the sky. I used this distraction to flee from the scene, but not before spraying some water on them.
"Nyahahahaha!" I laughed evilly as I saw Red and Blue get showered with rubber cases of water.
"You call yourself 'The Fastest Gun'?" a low voice said.
The voice came from Lon'qu, who held two small water pistols.
"Oh crap."
"The fastest blade can also mean he's the fastest gun, right?" Lon'qu smiled with grim confidence.
I put both water guns in my pockets, and Lon'qu did too, knowing the occasion. I smiled mischievously, as I looked to the bushes to my left. Sumia gave a thumbs up.
If he's faster at drawing his gun, then I'll have to use my last water balloon to make a wall of water to block his shot.
"Draw!"
I used my left hand to pull out a water balloon. Lon'qu shot before I even threw it into the ground. The chilling water hit my chest, and as if I got shot by an arrow, I flinched from the impact.
"Hmph, even a childish person like you can't compete with the fastest drawer," Lon'qu said proudly.
"Victory requires... sacrifice."
Thanks to the lack of restraint in these shorts, I managed to do a back flip with ease and comfort. A series of water balloons pelted Lon'qu like a rain of arrows on an army of wyverns and pegasi.
"Thank you once again, Sumia," I said as I panted.
I saw Nowi run away really quickly, with Donnel and Ricken in her tail (she's not in dragon form as her stone got confiscated).
"Run! The Khan's are wrecking the water fight!"
Basilio and Flavia carried extremely heavy water guns. Basilio carried some sort of water gun with multiple nozzles confined together in a large barrel. As it fired water, it spun madly, spewing out water in rapid intervals. Flavia carried a water gun that fired a strong water bursts of three shots with a water balloon launcher underneath the barrel.
As with most of us, they wore fitting swimwear, with Basilio wearing speedos, and Flavia wearing a red bikini.
"Hehehehe! Kneel before us, pals!" Basilio said proudly.
"We're here to make a scene."
"Sumia! Operation Danger Close is a go!"
"You got it!"
Water balloons rained down the skies like a meteor storm. I charged toward the Khans with both of my water pistols ready. With a mighty battle cry, I jumped up high and aimed at both of the Khans before they could get a clear aim.
A few minutes later
Well, Farina caught us, and boy was she mad for us "borrowing" her water guns. She was nagging at her husband, Dart, who secretly stole them and gave it to the Shepherds.
Despite the confiscation, we were still allowed on beach and pool grounds. Everyone went back to their normal activities and conversation, while Sumia and I (with some Shepherds) went to the pool. I can swim on shallow water, but I get scared of extremely deep water. If I can see the bottom of a deep end part of a pool, then I feel confident, but if I don't, I'm very scared.
"Man, I think I just remembered how much I love swimming in such a warm sunny day," I said with a relaxed look.
I put on a pair of goggles that Dart personally kept (he's not lying this time, as he always hung it around his neck). I dove into the water and swam like through the shallow waters like a fish. Swimming is fun and refreshing... that is until I found someone's misplaced water pistol on the floor of the pool. Oh, this would be fun.
I managed to find Sumia's legs kicking the water. I rose up the water and pointed my water gun at her. My wife surprised me as she held two water guns.
"Don't worry, I legitimately bought these babies," she said with a smile.
"If I win, maybe you can make my babies," I smirked.
She blushed crazily from my reply. Her embarrassed look from my little jape made me laugh like a mad man. When I finally regained my breath, I dropped the pistol and lunged toward her, embracing her.
"What does it matter, we're wet anyway," I said with a smile, "I'm just kidding about the baby part, you know. We're not legally married yet."
A giggle came out from her mouth as she dumped me into the water. With a snicker, I grabbed arms and pulled her with me. I hugged her as she was closing her eyes to prevent water from staining her eyes. We rose out of the water and breathed deeply from that little dive.
"Who taught you how to swim?" I asked Sumia.
"Phila taught me," she replied, "When we're above the sea and if we somehow fell of our pegasus, we had to know how to return back to shore."
"I see,"
"Aye, I was the best swimmer in my team, pal!" Dart said as he sat on the edge of the pool.
"What were you back then?" Sumia asked.
"I was a mighty pirate before I crashed into this here resort," Dart said, "My wife and I were trying to look for treasure, but it seems like we're in a different place."
Typical pirate. Despite that, Dart is still a cool person to hang around with. A woman with short blue hair entered the pool area.
"Dart~, it's time we changed our shifts."
"Aye, Farina," he said as he stood up.
Dart left the pool area and entered the shack. Farina took her seat on the lifeguard chair and watched over the pool. The pool is quite large to be honest, and a good amount of people were lounging around the waters.
"I'll go take a drink, honey," I said as I emerged from the pool.
"Alright, honey."
I walked up to the shack and met Dart, who was running the shack at the moment.
"What will it be, lad?" he said in his usual energetic voice.
"Can I have the Hotrealm special Cola?" I asked.
"That will be 10 gold."
I juggled my money pouch with one hand and put 10 gold coins on the counter. Drinking the cola covered most of my frontal view. As soon as I consumed the beverage, I suddenly saw a barbarian and a warrior staring at me threateningly.
"Oi, what's a petite fellow doing here in this sissy playground?"
"Wait, Plegians? Dude, the war is over!"
"We're just hired mercs, but right now, we want some blood money... and the whole beach to ourselves."
"Oh geez, I hope you're ready to get knocked out."
"Lad, let me take care of it," Dart hopped into action with two Killer Axes on each hand, "Sometimes, a bunch of bandits or sell swords are here for a little brawl, and Farina and I double as bodyguards too."
The two bandits were instantly cut down by a certain holy sword. Chrom, now clad in his armor, sheathed Falchion and sighed.
"Shepherds, to battle."
During the middle of the war.
Well, here I am, with Sumia. We're both in gear, and luckily for us, Dart and Farina took care of some of the other bandits at the pool area. We just defeated a few brigands here and there, so we decided to take a break. I'm wearing only my armor underneath this golden breastplate, and as usual, I wore my Grandmaster cloak like a cape. Sumia took a break too, reading the book I gave her.
"Sumia, I see you're reading the book I gave you," I said, surprising the pegasus knight.
"Yeah, this really does deserve to be a best seller, you know."
"...Yeah, honestly, the only books I've been reading are mostly non-fictions; the classes of the soldiers in the army."
"Oh, but-" she was clearly distraught from the news.
"H-hey, it doesn't mean I hate the books you gave me. I actually loved reading them. They help me to write our stories and Verdant Nocturne," I said, comforting her distraught face.
"Oh, thank you, I really thought what I did was wrong. Y-you know, you, not being interested in my books and all."
Sumia sat between my legs and lay her head on my chest. I sat up and hugged her while both of us felt the wind of Tana's wing beats.
"So... um, hey, I wanted to kinda... um replicate a really romantic scene..." Sumia said with a cute smirk, "I really want to make a cute epilogue of the hero with his wife having fun at the beach."
I blushed and looked away in embarrassment.
"...Fun?..."
"I mean look at this place, Alec. It's so perfect for such a romantic scene. All those confessions, those juicy compliments..." she sunk deeper into my chest, making me feel quite discomforted. I think she read my face spot on, as shown through that grumpy face.
"Alec? Oh, I'm such an idiot!"
"S-Sumia?!"
"I guess you're just too committed to sex after marriage, huh?" she puffed her cheeks.
"H-hey, not right now, we're in a war here..."
"Y-you don't love me that much, do you?"
"Sumia, we're in a war, we can't just make a romantic scene right now."
She immediately ran away, but not before tripping on the sand. She immediately dusted off the sand and rode on Tana then flew into the air.
I sighed in defeat as I brandished my Rexcalibur tome. I swung my hand to the right, felling an approaching berserker to my right.
"Just... wait up, Sumia!"
A few defeated bandits later
Sumia sat on one of the beach chairs with the parasols, pulling petals of a flower. Oh man, she's doing her flower fortunes again. She was mumbling to herself, so I snuck in to hear what she's mumbling about.
"... Loves me. Loves me not."
"Sumia..." I said softly.
"Kyaah!" she hopped in fright from my sudden entrance.
"Alec! What are you doing here?"
"I came to console and to reconcile our relationship," I replied.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, I guess you were to caught up in the moment, right?" I said, "You know, with us about to be married and all."
"You kinda have a good point, in fact, you're the best at always being right," she said with a sad voice, "I mean, look at you. Even when Chrom was in low strength, you still managed to command him to both safety and victory. It's like you always know what's right, and it seems easy for you..."
"... Sumia, I guess you're feeling a bit left out, aren't you?" I said calmly.
With a sigh, she gave me her answer: "Yes. Ever since Cordelia, Lissa, and my other friends got married, they've been being very chummy with each other, always doing romantic gestures like kissing, going to shops, and going out to eat. Ever since I've had a break from repairing damages, you were at War Council with Chrom and also talking to the carpenters on our wedding. Cordelia even said that Virion took him out for the last few days, and... and."
She started sniffling as tears started to show. She stood up and dug her face into my chest. She was full blown bawling now, and I knew I should do something about my sweet pea.
"Look, I may be a busy man, but today, I'm putting your needs first. But we don't really have to be like Virion and Cordelia to have a good relationship. We've always had."
I closed my eyes and reminded myself of the times Sumia and I were together.
"Waking up together on the same bed, both of us cooking meals for each other, the time when you thought I cheated on you, the times where I'd scold you and vice-versa. Being close to you was what mattered. We're both happy, and that happiness makes me happier than kissing or what other lovers do because I can feel your heart close to mine."
"A..Alec..." she was welling up more tears as if she was a dam about to break.
"My point is that I love you no matter what, and being close to you is what matters..."
She immediately pounced on me, mounting me on the beach sands. She embraced me and discharged her tears on my chest. She chanted my name as if I was her deity that she worshiped on a daily basis. I'm no God; I'm her husband.
"Oh, Alec, I'm so sorry for being selfish. I'm really glad I married you and grew to love you."
"Love is being together no matter how harsh the storm is. As long as we're here to help each other out, we can overcome storms and be happy in peace, knowing we did it together," I said, "I'm sometimes a selfish person, but sharing moments like this is what makes me the happiest man in the world."
"Me too, Alec," she said softly as she inched her head close to mine, "Me too."
We pecked each other quick and stared at each other lovingly before going into another kiss. The latter was longer than the first one, and the primal feeling from the kiss during our proposal returned. I wanted to continue this wild sensation, but sense overcame primal instinct. I gently pushed Sumia off and despite the separation, we smiled softly. I think we both feel our senses return.
"Now, let's finish this battle so we can continue that kissing scene," Sumia said confidently, "But of course, it's not just for selfish reasons."
"Yeah, I want to continue too," I said with a smile, "Seeing you cute like this makes me remember that I married the cutest wife in all the realms."
"Oh, stop it, I'm not that cute," she replied with a curt giggle.
"Deny all you want, you're the only cute wife I'll have my eyes on," I chuckled, "Everything about you, even if you're clumsy or just not strong. I'll love everything about you with my all, and that's a promise."
"Oh, thanks, I'm so glad you love my perfect imperfections. I love you the same way."
With that, we got up and went to arms. This battle wouldn't take long. The thieves could be easily overcome by Sumia, who has grand skill, especially with the lance. With both of us together, this fight wouldn't last too long.
"Now let's go, Estella of the Pink Flames," I said in a dramatic voice, "Victory hinges upon us!"
Somewhere away from public
After the whole battle with the space hogging brigands, everyone returned to play on the beach as peace was restored... for now. The merchants allowed us to have a free stay in their inn. The rest of the other days were paid, courtesy of some of the Ylissean treasury (and "some" gold that Gaius stole off of zombie Plegian Elites).
Tonight, I feel like taking a bath. After that little swim... and that unnecessary war, I need some time to relax and chill. My sword arms ache from all that swinging and violence, so a well deserved break was needed.
*knock knock*
"Alec? Are you here?"
Should I let her in? Why not no? She's my soon-to-be wife.
"Yeah, it's unlocked," I replied.
She opened the door, revealing her in her stark naked form. I covered my eyes to respect her comfort until she enters the tub with me. It was large enough to fit around one person, but Sumia and I were a perfect fit, as she lay down on me. She played a gentle song: Lullaby of Open Eyes. The mere melody was already enough to give us a gentle smile. We lay there for a few minutes, absorbing the refreshing water and gentle music.
"Bathing is so refreshing, especially when my wife is with me," I said.
"Well, the battle has ended, so um," she turned to me, and as if coincidence, the music changed to a gentle romantic song, "You promised to continue the kissing scene, right?"
Her soft chest cushioned my war toned chest and her face was so close to mine. When I look into her eyes, it was a look of longing. She had a cute frown and her eyes were trembling gently as if she was on the verge of tears. I stroked her back, causing the beautiful brunette to moan in surprise. We both blushed from this sensation; the warm feeling in my face is proof.
"Please?"
"..."
Should I bump up the rating?
Author's Notes
Should I? I'm not putting up a poll for it, but I guess you can message me about it. Well due to a bunch of strikes happening in my school, the day I'm graced with my report card is gonna happen next week.
I decided to start a new game as a girl in FE:A. Who should I get myself hitched with?
The Valm arc will start in 1 or 2 chapters. And here's to 7.6k views. I've never had this much views in my entire life. If I reach over 50k views, I'm going to cry tears of joy.