Fire emblem 25.

"Eliwood we've got to stop." Serra whined from the back of our company.

"Huh?" Eliwood said, barley comprehending Serra's whining, but he started listening nonetheless.

"Eliwood she's right." Matthew piped up. "We've been going non-stop for almost a fortnight now. If it wasn't riding it was fighting the black fang and Laus soldiers and mercenaries." You warriors might be fine, but we… less robust people need a break."

"You're right." The red-haired prince acquiesced. "I'm sorry. Kathelet is only a half hours ride from here we'll rest for the night there and take a day off. After all we really have no leads on where to go."

"Thank you milord." Matthew said, unable to hide his relief even with his years of practice at hiding emotions." While I'm grateful you haven't ran us full out to nowhere, I, and I'm sure most of the team could use the time off."

"That sounds ideal." Lyn said. "While I do feel a little anxious to get back to my grandfather, we run the risk of burning out without a little bit of a break every now and then."

"It doesn't look like that we can head to the springs, too far away for now" I said sadly.

"Oh relax for once Ken!" Sain said. "Have you never spent a day lying about, not doing anything?"

"No… no I haven't. I like doing things. Maybe I'll do some training or hit up the coliseum – Gah!"

"No Ken…" Lyn said after poking my sides. "You're going to relax tomorrow and not fight anything unless absolutely necessary. That's an order."

"Umm…. Yes ma'am…" I blushed. And this is why I fell for this girl. I thought to myself.

"A-ah…" Lyn said, blushing as she took in the knowing looks of many of the people around us. "I'm just looking after my body guard. That's all."

"Milady that's contradictory." Kent said with a smile. "Usually the body guard takes care of the princess."

"W-well… maybe. But everyone needs a time where they get taken care of."

"And what might be ailing our dear Ken?" Sain said with a snarky grin. "He seems hale and healthy in every aspect of the word. No bleeding wounds, broken bones, damaged or tired eyes. He doesn't seem faint, weak, or sore or anything that would cause some concern."

"B-but that's… that's not the point." Lyn stuttered, turning a very attractive shade of red.

"Lyn. It's fine. I'll take it easy for tomorrow if that is what you want." I said discreetly giving her hands a little squeeze. "I should relax more anyway."

She smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. Thankfully, the rest of the team had the heart not to embarrass either of us any farther and began to talk amongst themselves. "Aiya… these fights are taking a lot out of me." Lyn mumbled in my ear.

"Yeah. But don't worry about that now. Take a rest."I replied gently. She smiled and relaxed over my back, arms around my neck. 20 minutes later, she was out like a light, gently holding onto me as we moved on towards Kathelet. When we did eventually get there, she was still sound asleep. So while everyone else was out settling rooms, I slipped a foot over the horse and hopped off, making sure Lyn was still secure on my back. Actually getting off the horse took next to forever since I didn't want to wake her, so by the time I had gotten off the horse the rest of the team had already tethered their horses and gotten inside the lobby.

"Hey" I whispered to the stable hand, taking out a gold coin. "Could you tether my horse up? Near the rest of our group's if you would." He nodded and took the reins without question, the moment he had bitten the gold coin testing it. Man do I love having money.

I walked up to the inn's lobby and the clerk waved me over. "You're Ken Senki correct?"

"That's right." I replied.

"Well sir. Lord's Eliwood and Hector have paid for rooms for your party. But it seems we have a slight problem. We only have one room left."

"Ah… I see. Then I guess there's nothing for it. I'll have to bunk elsewhere." I shrugged. "Give me the keys, I'll drop of this one here then find somewhere else to go." He bowed slowly then gave me a brass ringed key.

"Room 210"

I took it and with a nod of thanks, began to walk up the steps to the rooms. On the way up Lyn decided to wake up.

"Mmm… Ken? Where… what's going on." She mumbled sleepily.

"Hmm? Oh you fell asleep on the horse. We're in Kathelet now. I'm just dropping you off and gonna find somewhere else to bunk."

"Huh? But why do you have to leave?"

"There aren't any more rooms left in this inn." I replied, stifling a small yawn.

"So?" she asked. "Why can't we share a room? It's not like we haven't slept with each other before."

"Well that's cause we have a choice this time." I murmured half heartedly.

"No you don't have a choice." Lyn said matter of factly despite her sleepy voice. "You better not leave me alone."

"Well… only cause you say so." I smiled. By the time we got to the top floor, my back decided to give out on me and I stumbled a little. Lyn looked at me in shock but I quickly brought her over to my arms instead, carrying her bridal style.

"Ken, what?" she gasped, blushing like mad.

"You're supposed to be resting Lyn." I said with a smile. "But am I making you feel uncomfortable?"

"N-no… it's ok. No one's ever done this for me though." She said face still incredibly red.

"Oh? Well that's good. That means I get to be the first one to love you." I said, blushing slightly but feeling unnaturally confident. Must be cause I'm exhausted. Oh well Ken, just go with your instincts they've served you well in the past right?

"Mmmm. I wouldn't have it any other way." She whispered in an almost silent reply, as she started to curl up in my arms. And boy did that feel good. Turns out the door to the room was left open so I didn't have to put her down to open the door. Lucky me. "Hey Ken, Y'know in most Lycian cultures, carrying a girl over the threshold of a room is usually only done by a married man." Lyn said coyly.

"Well we can worry about formalities later." I smirked closing the door with my foot. "I'm Sacaen anyway, Lycian customs don't mean too much to me anyway."

"I dunno it's kinda nice." She said as I sat down on the bed. "No good night kiss?"She said making a pouting face.

"Well I'm here already aren't I?" I grinned and kissed her, slow and gently, enjoying our closeness. "Well I'm gonna turn in for the night." I said giving her a squeeze. "Goodnight Lyn. I love you."

"I love you too Ken." She replied sleepily. With that she hopped out of my arms and laid down on the bed. I grabbed a pillow and leaned on the foot of the bed and went to sleep.

Maybe a few hours later, I got woken up by an arm slipping around me and a blanket being draped over me. Curious at the lack of alarms waking me up, I blearily opened my eyes and saw Lyn leaning her head on my shoulder.

"What's up?" I asked concern in my voice.

"Couldn't sleep." She replied. "It just didn't feel right."

"Well I dunno how it'll work. We can't both fit on the bed. Well… comfortably…" I blushed at the thought.

"Ummm here's fine right?" she blushed. "It just feels right… like this. Don't you think?"

"Hmmm I guess so." I said. "But are you comfortable? You need to relax too."

"I'm good here." She said. "Thank you."

"Mmmm ok. Goodnight then Lyn." I replied, trying to adjust her position so it'd be more comfortable for her. We ended up with her head on my chest and my body slightly curled around hers. Best. Night. Ever.

The next morning came too quickly for my tastes. We must have been a sight, two Sacaens asleep sitting up along the foot of a fairly expensive bed. I woke up first, feeling even more content than I ever have in the past. So this is what lasting love feels like? I think I like it then. I then took a look at Lyn. "Hey Lyn. Wake up." I whispered. No luck. "Y'know for a Sacaen you don't sleep really light."

"I'm awake." She replied, her eyes still closed. "Just don't wanna get up."

"Oh is that so?" I said smiling.

"Mhmmm."

"Why's that?"

"Cause I feel safe here."

"Oh? Well that's good I feel safe with you too."

"You better."

"Huh?"

"I don't want you to leave me alone…"

"Well I could never do that Lyn. I've always got you."

"I know. That's one of the things I love about you."

"Mmmmm ok you win." I said grinning broadly. "So what's the plan for today?"

"You want me to come up with a plan? Are you sure?" she said with a playful voice. "but I don't think I can do that. You are the tactician after all."

"Fine then. First we stand up. Second. I walk out of the room so you can change clothes if you feel like it. Third we exit the door. Fourth… Ow! Man Lyn you've got a vicious right arm!"

"Ok fine then I'm coming up with the plan." She said rubbing her hand she smacked me with. "Let's stay here a while longer. Then we'll figure out the rest later."

"Fine." I said, pulling her closer to me and kissing her cheek. "I like this plan."

~Eliwood's POV~

"Huh that's funny…" I mused to myself.

"Milord?" Marcus replied, ever ready to serve. "Something the matter?"

"Oh nothing major right now Marcus. It's just that Lyn and Ken are usually the first people awake. I think it's odd that they are still asleep even now."

"You're right. I wonder what is going on with those two?"

"Well allow me to explain." Matthew said appearing out of nowhere. "You see it was our good Lord Hector's plan to purchase rooms for us correct?"

"Yeah…" I replied to the thief. I looked over my shoulder for the aforementioned blue haired lord before continuing. "He did a surprisingly good job for accounting for our team, I mean you know how he did in numbers class."

"Yes ,well he'll probably blame this little insight on that fact." The thief smirked. "But it seems Ken and Lyn had to share a room last night. I know what you're thinking and no Ken was commendably professional about being in the same room as his sworn lady." He added quickly as my eyes widened in shock. "But it seems they both have made the leap from partners to lovers a while back."

"What, did you spy on them or something?" I said incredulously.

"It's what I do."

"Unbelievable, but that does help us understand what's going on. So we've got the day off, what do we do?"

~Bane's POV~

"Hah!" a stab, jump back.

"Sai!" Head swing! Duck!

The sound of his training blade whistling past my head reminded me once again that I wasn't fighting Ken-sensei. Whew that was close. He hadn't gotten me this round yet, I was used to defending against Ken-sensei and his two blades after all, but he was a tough fighter to be sure.

Grimacing, I charged him again slashing out low then sweeping my blade straight up. But my Sacaen sparring partner merely stepped his foot up, then flipped into a handspring, evading my vertical swing.

"Hah not bad." Guy smirked. "You are Ken's student of course." I stepped back, wary of my opponent. Then he began his attack. "But not good enough!" He charged straight at me closing the distance between us in a flash. I feinted a strike to his head, then swung a back handed swing to his side. But he jumped up, batted away my strike and, with a quick midair spin, "slashed" at my shoulder, bowling me over.

"Bane!" I heard Kura cry out in shock, before she reached for her staff and knelt beside me. "Heal!"

"Thanks" I said to my closest friend. Then I got up and picked up my training sword and leveled it at Guy. "Once more."

To my shock he took off his wrist mount and sat down. "Nope. We're done for today."

"Oh Bane, You should take a break." Kura said softly. "You've been at this since sunrise and it's been two hours."

"Hnnn fine."

"Haha we've been through a lot of rounds. Was anyone keeping a count?" Guy smiled panting heavily.

"Ummmm I think It was 41 wins for Bane out of a hundred." Kura said.

"Looks like you beat me again." I mumbled.

"Not by much Bane. You're getting better. But I think we should take Lady Lyn's advice and quit fighting for the day."

"I can't help myself." I said. "Peace is all well and good. But my blood and arm cry for battle. I couldn't be like Lyn, a ruler. I'm a warrior through thick and thin. When my blood is pounding in my veins, and my senses heighten as I fight. It feels, magical. Training with Ken-sensei was probably some of the best moments of my life." I sighed and looked to the sky. "He understands how I feel. I can tell he's the same."

"I think that's the most he's ever said in a row." I heard Guy whisper to himself.

"I wonder how Ken-sensei is taking this. He never could sit still after all." I mused, deciding not to say anything to the other swordsman.

Kura just sat down beside me and put a soft hand over the hand I had on my blade. But she didn't say a word. She didn't need to, for me to understand her. I smiled. "Well I suppose she'd be able to keep you staying put. Just like Kura can for me."

~Ken's POV~

"Wake up Ken." Lyn's whispered above me.

"Hmmm what is it? morning already?"

"She giggled. "Not quite. You went to sleep again. I told you. You were still tired."

"Ha Ha. Ok you win." I said smiling. "So what time is it?"

"Ummm I can't be sure but it looks like it's almost midday."

"Midday? Well I'm positive that the team's gonna be looking for us. Should we go down together or do we keep "us" and here a gave her a squeeze. "A secret for now?"

"I dunno about that." A familiar voice called out from the hallway. "I already know that means the Lord's know too."

"Matthew?" Lyn said, shocked. "Are you spying on us?"

"Naturally." The sandy haired thief replied. "As I have been on the other few budding couples in our group. But never mind that. You guys better come down."

Puzzled, me and Lyn got up, grabbed our sparse personal gear and left. Hand in hand, neither of us were really willing to break the moment. We got down to the lobby as the Eliwood and Hector met us. Eliwood gave us a knowing smile while Hector was all business.

"Lyn. Ken. Over here. I'm afraid I've got some bad news." Hector said, a grimace on his face.

"Bad news… that's not that we want right now." I groan. "What is it?" in response Hector motioned outside. There Oswin and Marcus was tending to a bleeding pegasus and its battered rider with some of their own vulneraries.

"What the heck!" I yelled out. "Who's this guy? And how'd she get so banged up?" I gave the girl a once over and saw she was wearing the colors and emblem of Caelin. "She's one of ours?"

"Yes. It seems that this is one of the knights that Caelin had taken in, in an attempt to bolster its military force quickly. But we both know that Pegasai units never travel alone."

"They're too fragile for that, we never took in any falcoknights if I remember right." Lyn said quickly.

"Hey!" I said to the knight. "What happened to you? Where's the rest of your unit?"

"Ughh… Sir… Ken. Lady Lyn. I'm glad you're alright my liege." The soldier groaned.

"Yeah yeah we're fine, what happened to you?" I frowned, concerned.

"It was ~cough~ Laus." The wounded knight gasped out. They ambushed my unit while we were on patrol, on the borders of the canton."

"Laus?"

"Yes sir. This capital of the Kathelet canton was the closest friendly territory so our unit commander told me to fly here. So I did, but not without taking a few heavy hits. Commander… she took the rest of our wing that wasn't brought down by the archers and covered me as a flew out."

"Alright we know where we're going." Eliwood called out. "Gather everyone. We march to Caelin's aid."

"Lord Eliwood…" the wounded knight gasped out. "I'd be honored if I could fly at your side."

"I refuse." The Lord replied. "You need to rest now. Stay here and recover."

Her face fell at the order but there was nothing she could do. "As you wish, milord." She replied.

"Marcus, take her to one of our rooms and tell the innkeeper whatever you think will help them understand. Nothing more. I trust your judgment."

"Yes, My lord." Marcus replied and helped the staggering knight up to one of the rooms.

"Well I suppose we have a direction now." Eliwood sighed. "It came up at a bad time with a horrible medium. I'm sorry it came to this."

"There's not much we can do about that." I said grimly. "We've gotta get moving as soon as possible. That's all we can do."

"Right, let's go." Eliwood and Hector went off to find the rest of our men, leaving me and Lyn together.

"Grandfather." Lyn mumbled quietly, tears threatening to fall from her eyes. "Not again…"

"Lyn…" I said sadly, taking her into my arms. She didn't protest, instead she let herself be held by me.

"Oh father sky. I pray we arrive to his side in time."

"I'm sure we will Lyn. I'm sure we will."

END CHAPTER

Extra Skit

"So what did you do on your day off?"

Normal is Ken. Bold is Guy Italic is Sain Bold and italic is Gavin.

Whoo…. Good day.

Oh really? What did you do?

Had a good rest and sparred with Koneko all day.

Oi oi I thought we were supposed to have a day off, you did sparring?

Yeah… I couldn't relax. Neither could she. So we just had fun.

Lucky… I've been all tense not doing anything.

Oh yeah I bet. You've been with Lady Lyn all day. Tense is the last thing you should be. I've just been riding and sparring with Kent all day.

You too? And you got mad at me for not wanting to relax.

I'm a soldier Ken. I've got to keep a strict training regime. Same goes for everyone in Lyndis' Legion. Why I saw Wil practicing his archery and Florina was training too.

Unbelievable. So was I the only one not training today?

So it seems. I was just training on my own and Bane challenged me to a spar. We ended up fighting for 2 or 3 hours straight!

~depressed~

Oh no now he's mad he got left ou… AH!

~death glare~

THE END

A/N Well the end of another chapter. And probably the last one for a while, exams start up in three weeks and I really need to study. Makes me wonder why I'm working on and posting this during theology….

Anyway R&R even just a "hey good chapter". Although I'm not quite sure this one was all that good so tell me where I can improve that.