After everything was said and done, after camp was set up and all their injured were tended to, Hector and Lyn slept like the dead. She wound up in his tent the first evening after the battle to check up on him – Hector sprained his ankle in the fight and didn't notice until Lucius pointed out his limp afterwards – but after sitting down and talking for a few minutes, they both fell asleep, and barely woke at all for the next two days.
By the third day, they both managed a somewhat normal sleep schedule, but spent the time in between rest in each other's company while Eliwood busied himself with visiting the other convalescing members of the army. He didn't seem to mind at all that Lyn had moved into their tent. After all, she was his friend, too, and he probably understood that Hector wanted to be with her, even if most of what they did together was sleep – both were a long time coming.
On the fourth day following the events at the Dragon's Gate, Hector awoke to pale sunlight filtering through the fabric above him, but neither Eliwood nor Lyn by his side.
Groggily, he looked around and pensively ran a hand through his hair. Being alone felt peculiar. He attempted to do what he thought was logical – to get up and go see where everyone had gone – but forgot about the ankle he'd successfully disabled and fell back to his bedroll when he put weight on it.
His strategy, however, worked in reverse, and Lyn came rushing into the tent in the next moment. "Hector!" she shouted, her eyes wide and panicked at the sight of him grumbling a stream of curses on the floor. "Oh, Father Sky… did you try to walk on that? You know Lucius said that you'd have to be off it at least a week because of how badly you injured it!"
"Ha… I was wondering where you and Eliwood went."
Lyn sighed through her nose. "I went to go see how everyone else is doing after the fight, but I heard something fall in here as I was coming back," she said as she walked over to Hector and sat down with him. Unlike him, the only physical memento of the battles at the Dragon's Gate Lyn had was a burn on her arm, which was currently protected with a wrap of white bandages – she was free to move about. "Eliwood is with Ninian. She just woke up today, and it looks like she's doing a lot better… it goes without saying, but she was exhausted after all that stress."
"I can imagine." Hector chuckled. "It isn't everyday a girl rises from the dead and takes out a couple of dragons."
With a gentle expression in her eyes, Lyn smiled. "I'm really happy for her and Eliwood. He's giving her a home in Pherae… she deserves a peaceful life, after all that happened."
Lyn's words reminded Hector of a conversation he hadn't had with her – a conversation he knew he needed to start, but wasn't sure how to do so. He wasn't sure how she'd react if he just said it, but then again, since when was he one for being subtle?
"Lyn, when we get to the mainland, you'll be returning to Caelin, won't you?" he asked.
She took his hand in hers as a response, understanding what he was implying. "Yes. Before we left Badon, I received word from one of Grandfather's messengers that he'd taken ill again, so I'm going to see about his recovery."
"Lyn."
Silently, she matched his gaze, a question written in the deep viridian of her eyes.
"I'm going to Caelin with you."
"What? I assumed you would be returning to Ostia," she said. "I know Oswin must want you to go back to handle the affairs there."
"Hmph. Oswin can hold down the fort for a while – Uther knew what was coming and made arrangements ahead of time for the aftermath." Arrangements Hector didn't know about until his knight told him after the fact, a will written and executed while he was adventuring around the continent. It was just another one of the things Hector had no control over, but had gotten angry with himself for being incapable of acting on. Eliwood was right. He always became frustrated when he was powerless.
So if there was anything he did have power in, he refused to delay action on it. There were political implications, of course, but they didn't matter to him now – with Lyn, he refused to fall in the same trap.
"I'm going to go to Caelin to ask Lord Hausen for his blessing. To marry you."
Lyn opened her mouth in a gasp, which then settled into a smile. "That's… that's some kind of a proposal!" she exclaimed, hiding the redness of her face with her free hand. "I didn't expect…"
"What, did you really think I was the type of man to steal a bride? I'm not some kind of bandit or anything…" But he took no offence, and leaned in to press a kiss to her lips.
"You could at least propose properly."
Hector opened his mouth to retort, but could tell by the unmistakable grin on Lyn's face that she was teasing. "Lyn, will you marry me?" he asked.
She responded by closing the space between them with another kiss, this one long and sweet and unbroken until she managed to whisper one word: "Yes."
So he kissed her still, running a hand up her back and into her hair to free it from the ponytail she'd put it in, allowing the long green strands to fall freely down her back. He held her close as she let her better arm explore his chest, and it took a great deal of resistance to not explore her more, because the way she felt against him and the way she smelled like clean air and fresh grass was enough to drive him mad.
Lyn found a comfortable place for her hand in between Hector's neck and shoulder, and he gave into the temptation to move from her lips and began trailing kisses down her chin and neck. When he got to the collar of her dress, he attempted to unbutton it himself but fumbled too much with the overly intricate clasps, so Lyn undid them herself, letting him explore her chest with lips and tongue. His hands slid down from her hair to her waist, with one settling on her thigh – which Lyn wound up holding in her own again, as an unspoken later.
She pulled her knees up and curled against him as he nipped at her collarbone. "Hector…" she mumbled. "You're a really messy kisser, you know that…"
Against her skin, he smiled. "I'll work on it."