Part 1-White Clouds: Garland Moon- Family Ties

R:

Everyone ended up hearing about what had happened after our punishment run. The only problem is that each story is different then the last. I am not one for rumors but one point stuck out to me so I wanted to investigate it more.

A rebellion against the church.

I'm unfamiliar with who Lord Lanato is but I know he is the adoptive father of Ashe. I felt bad for him.

Another thing caught my attention after last night. Catherine is coming to Garreg Mach.

"Richard?"

I haven't seen her in 2 years.

"Hello?"

I think I can finally prove to her that I'm a better-

"Are you trying to upset me?

Hilda grabbed my face with both of her hands and she stretched my face outwards. I quickly grab her wrists and she releases her hold on me.

"What was that for?"

"I was calling your name but you ignored me."

I feel like this isn't the first time that this has happened. I rub my cheeks as I apologized to her.

"Sorry, I have a lot on my mind right now."

"Look I don't care about that, I need your help with something."

I raised an eyebrow at her. I have heard that she is a very lazy person who uses others for her gain. I had a bad feeling that I was going to be one of her ever growing list of victims.

"Which is?"

"I need you to tell me…"

She stopped speaking and turned her head away from me. I was very confused by her actions until I saw her ears. They were red.

I tried not to laugh at her so I also moved my face away as well. I couldn't believe I got to see the princess of laziness and no shame get embarrassed from asking for help. After a quick second, my composure returned.

"Well I'm waiting, Hilda."

"I need you to tell me more about Leo."

Her face was still red which made it difficult not to laugh. I decided to mess with her more.

"I don't know anyone named Leo so, sorry."

I turned around and started to walk away. She grabbed my shoulder with such force I thought she was going to break it. Her face reminded me of a demon.

"Are you seriously messing with me right now? Are you really going to ignore an innocent young girl's request?"

Innocent? She has a death grip on me. I hate to admit it but her grip was too much for me to handle.

"I get it so just let go alright?"

"Say you'll help."

"I'll help you!"

She released her grip and I could hear my shoulder sigh in relief. Her face returned to normal as if nothing had happened. This girl is scaring me. I moved my shoulder so I could get the feeling back as I talk to Hilda

"So what did you want help with again?"

"Like I said I want to know more about Leo and seeing as you two are buddy buddy I thought I could ask you. I mean I know Leo and Claude are close but there is no way I'm asking him for help."

"You know you could ask Leo himself. I find that a better idea than asking others."

"You don't think I tried that. He just avoids the question everytime I ask about him."

I never really thought about it but I don't know much about Leo as well. At least not about his childhood or his family. Then again I never told him anything about my family so I guess it's understandable.

Hilda had a look of a maiden in love which I thought was quite a funny visual. They only just met recently yet here she is. I never knew Leo was such a catch. Maybe Leo and Sylvain could have a competition on how many girls they could get in one night. I decided to ask a question that I've been wanting to ask for a while.

"So why do you like him anyways?"

"What!?"

Her face turned beet red as she yelled at me. I almost flinched at her scream. She continued to yell at me.

"What do you mean like?! I don't like him?! I just thought that I should-"

I placed my hand over her mouth so I could prevent anyone from becoming deaf.

"Yeah I get it, you don't like him. Could you stop screaming for a minute?"

She merely nodded and I released my hand from her mouth. Is this what Leo felt when he covered my mouth a couple days ago? Sorry Leo. Hilda was going to speak but I contentiously held my hand over her face.

"Let's just pretend that you don't like him for a minute then. To go back to your original request, what do you want to know about him?"

I could tell she wanted to get angry with my first statement but she held it in. She just sighed and answered me.

"You know, his likes and his dislikes. The only thing I know about him is his family."

Her last sentence piqued my interest. She knew about his family while I didn't. Maybe next time I see him I'll ask about it.

"To be honest he is a simple guy. If you take away his likes for training he doesn't have a long list of interests. Tea is definitely one of his favorite things. I know recently he started to read books since he said he never had a chance to read books before. I'm pretty sure Ashe is Leo's supplier of books. Hmm."

That was all I could think of which made me feel a little guilty. How could I call him a close friend if I didn't know much about him? An idea came to me.

"How about this, I gather some intel and tomorrow I'll report back to you."

Her face dropped before she spoke.

"Why do you have to make it sound like it's a mission?"

"You literally don't have to do anything except wait till tomorrow. This is a perfect mission for you."

She stopped looking at me as if to tell me she was upset.

"Fine but you better learn everything about him."

I think that is a tall order for me but I just nodded my head at her.

"You got it Commander Hilda."

"Eww, don't ever call me that again."

She walked away after that. She didn't even say thanks or please once. Good luck with her Leo.

Since it was noon, I knew where Leo was. I found him at that place where people sit down to drink tea. I don't know the name of that place but I don't really care. I was never a tea drinker.

"Hey Leo got a minute?"

"Hello Richard. Sure I don't mind. Please have a seat."

He was sitting alone which is normal for him during noon. After his training session he likes to sit down and clear his mind with some tea. I felt bad since I was going to interrupt that but our friendship was more important.

"So Leo, I have something I want to get off my chest and I was hoping if now was a good time?"

Leo raised an eyebrow before answering me.

"Of course, tell me what's bothering you."

"Well it's a little embarrassing to say but I began to realize that I don't know much about you yet we are friends. So maybe you could tell me a bit about you?"

My face got slightly red after asking him. It does feel embarrassing to ask someone point blank about them. Leo's reaction was surprising as he just laughed lightly at my request.

"I'm sorry for laughing but that was not what I was expecting you to ask me. Of course I don't mind telling you about me."

He stopped laughing but his face still had a small smile on it.

"Before I arrived here, I was scared. I was going to attend the Officer's Academy with complete strangers. I never really interacted with people my own age. On my first day Claude helped me fend off some bandits and he quickly made me feel comfortable here. I was happy that I was in the Golden Deer house. Then I met you since we were neighbors. You were the first person to talk to me outside of my house so I was happy to have you around. You helped me talk to people outside my house while Claude helped me talk to people within my house. You two were the ones who helped me cross the bridge to talk to others. So I consider you a close friend Richard."

My eyes widened at his story. I had no idea he had those thoughts. I had no idea I had such an impact on him. I didn't know what to do so I remained silent. Leo continued to speak since I didn't say anything. His face became more serious.

"To be honest, I never told Claude this but I feel like I could confide in you. I never knew my father. He left my mother and me when I was still a baby. Everytime I tried to ask about him my mother just avoided the question. I couldn't tell if she hated him or if she still loved him. To help me cope with his absence, I just imagined he died when I was young. It was easier for me. It wasn't until I received a letter from him. The letter was pages long. He told me a lot of things that my mother never told me. Apparently my father was arrested when he went to the city one night. There was a riot and he was stuck in the crossfire of it. Turns out my mother was not a simple merchant. She was a daughter of House Daphnel."

Leo noticed my face of confusion and quickly told me about the House Daphnel. I tried my best to understand what he was saying.

"So your mom is a noble but why did she become a merchant?"

"My father. She fell in love with him but he was a commoner. She knew that her family was going to marry her off to some noble so she left her home. She abandoned everything for my father. My father was a merchant so we just traveled with him instead of settling down somewhere. When my father was caught in the riot one of the knights recognized him and captured him. They tried to force him to tell them where my mother was but he never spoke a word. He has been imprisoned since."

"Then how did you get the letter if he has been imprisoned?"

"He told me he didn't want to go into detail about it but that this was going to be the only letter I was going to receive from him. The last thing he told me was to enroll in the Officer's Academy. He told me that I could help him out of imprisonment if I became a knight. That's why I'm here to help my father. My mother doesn't know any of this. My father told me to keep it a secret from her. She was the one who trained me to be a sword fighter. I had wondered how she knew so much about swordplay but her being a noble explains it."

I try to digest everything Leo just said.

"So you're a son of a noble but no one knows this?"

"No. You are the only one I have told this too. Everyone just assumes I'm a son of a merchant just like Raphael and Ignatz. To be honest I was set that I wouldn't tell anyone this but keeping it in for so long became unbearable. I wanted to find someone I could trust and that's you."

"What about Claude? I mean he could actually help you out with this since he is going to be the next leader of the Alliance. This is actually perfect for you."

"I can't tell Claude this."

I wanted to ask why but his face told why. Leo was conflicted about something. I think there is more to the story than what he is telling me. Right before I could say anything I saw someone in the corner of my eye.

"Catherine?"


Rs:

I was stuck with greenhouse duty and kitchen duty today. Since we all decided to give Ashe some time off, all of his tasks for the week had been distributed to the rest of the Blue Lions. Who knew he had so many jobs.

"..."

"..."

I am currently in the greenhouse tending to the plants. I would have rather done the task alone but I didn't have a choice. We had one expert in the Blue Lions but we were both quiet.

"Rosaline, you are over watering those plants."

I shot a glare at Dedue. He merely stood in front of me without any emotions on his face. Since he didn't get my nonverbal message I spoke instead.

"I got it."

My voice was seeping with anger. I tried to coexist with Dedue since Dimitri chose him as his retainer. This is the first time I had been forced to be in the same room as him alone.

"You say that but you are still watering the plants."

My grip was crushing the handle of the watering can. I stood up and I stared at him in the eyes. He was taller than me but that didn't stop me from wanting to throw my watering can at him.

"Have I said something wrong Rosaline?"

"You know what Dedue, it's not what you said. It's your presence that upsets me. I said that I could handle this on my own but you had to follow me here."

"Our Highness ordered me to help you since you don't have a lot of experience with plants."

"And what you can't refuse him?"

I already knew the answer to that question but I wasn't thinking straight. I shook my head before speaking again.

"Whatever, I don't care anymore. Just go back to watering those plants or something Dedue."

He just turned around and did what I told him to do. No complaint. I walked to the opposite corner to where Dedue was and I started to water those plants. Dedue spoke right before I could tilt the watering can.

"Not those Rosaline."

"And why not?"

"Those are from Duscar. They require a dry environment. Their roots will rot otherwise."

"That doesn't sound so bad."

Dedue didn't respond to my comment. I didn't mean to say it but it just slipped out. The fact that Dedue didn't say anything upset me even more.

"Why don't you get angry Dedue!? I threaten to kill these plants from your home and you didn't even lift a finger!"

"I knew you wouldn't do it Rosaline. Our Highness has spoken very highly of you. I find it difficult to believe that you would kill a plant."

"Damn it Dedue!"

I threw my watering can on the floor in pure anger.

"What's your deal Dedue!?"

"My deal?"

"How did you convince Dimitri to let you be his retainer?! Your people are murderers! They killed his family yet here you are! You're the one who caused all of Dimitri's pain and sorrow!"

"I did not kill any of Dimitri's family. I didn't kill anyone until I was 16 years o-"

I slapped his face. My hand stinged but I didn't let it show.

"All of you people from Duscar are at fault. You people killed his family and so many others that night. Not only that, your people killed my family as well. If it was up to me, I-"

"What's going on in here?"

I turned my head and I saw Claude and Marianne standing at the door of the greenhouse. In actuality, Marianne was standing behind Claude while he opened the door. I couldn't say anything since I was shocked by their arrival. Claude explained himself.

"Marianne came to look at the plants but she saw you two fighting. She came to me to check it out and now I see two housemates fighting."

"Shut up Claude this has nothing to do with you."

I started to walk away from the greenhouse before Claude stopped me.

"C'mon Rosa don't be like that. I know you aren't the kind-"

"I said shut up Claude."

Right before I left I grabbed his shoulder and spoke once more.

"And if you call me Rosa one more time."

I squeezed his shoulder with force. He winced and I left him behind with everyone else. I walked to the dinning hall since I also have cooking duty.

As I was walking I started to regret some of the things I said. I went too far with Claude. He had nothing to do with why I was angry. I should be thanking him for helping us recently but I guess it went down the drain with what happened with Dedue. What's Dimitri going to say to me now?

Once I walked into the kitchen I noticed someone who shouldn't be here.

"Ashe, what are you doing here?"

"Hello Rosaline. You see I felt bored so I decided to help in the kitchen."

"But we told you we can handle your tasks."

"Yeah, but I actually enjoy helping in the kitchen so this is a nice distraction."

After he said that I saw his face look sad. He quickly shook it off and held an apron for me.

"Well c'mon. We can't cook until you have your apron on."

I stared at him in disbelief. How could he be so energetic after what had happened recently? I slowly walked toward him and I grabbed the apron. I tied it on and I decided to try to forget about what had happened earlier and help Ashe.

"So what are we making today Ashe?"

"Pheasant Roast with Berry Sauce."

I gave him a look of confusion but he merely laughed at me.

"Don't worry Rosaline, I will tell you what you have to do. It's not that hard as long as you listen to me."

Even though he said that, I messed up more than a dozen times. Ashe looked at my monstrosity of a plate.

"I didn't know Pheasants could turn green."

"I'm so sorry Ashe!"

I bowed to him.

"Please Rosaline stop that! Not everyone is perfect at cooking on their first day."

I stood straight and I avoided eye contact with him.

"I'm still sorry Ashe. I wasted your time and this food. I guess today's not my day."

I dryly laugh but Ashe placed his hand on my shoulder.

"What's wrong Rosaline? I noticed that you looked down when you entered the kitchen."

I couldn't believe what Ashe said. How does he have time to care about how I feel with everything happening to him? I just shook my head at him.

"Don't worry about it Ashe, I don't want to waste your time more than I already have."

"Nonsense Rosaline, what is a friend if you can't discuss your worries to one another?"

I smiled at his question. This guy is tougher than I thought. I ruffled his hair and laughed.

"Wow Ashe, you looked really cool there. Where has this Ashe been this whole time?"

I noticed that he blushed at my actions which made me laugh slightly more. I started to untie my apron before I spoke again.

"I'm going to go find someone more suitable for helping you because you are not going to make any progress with me here. I'll be back real quick."

I gave him my apron and I ran out of the kitchen. Ashe really helped my mood. After I find someone to help Ashe I should apologize to Claude.

And I guess Dedue as well.

Once I ran out of the dinning hall, I noticed Richard and Leonardo talking. Maybe one of them could help. Right before I could call their names I heard Richard call someone's name.

"Catherine?"


L:

"I can't tell Claude about this."

I was still thinking if I should tell Richard about the last part of my father's letter. Maybe Richard won't tell anyone but should I break my promise with my father? I mean I already told Richard everything else so why not. Yet some part of me stopped me. Before I could think about it anymore I heard Richard speak.

"Catherine?"

I noticed that he wasn't looking at me but someone behind. I turned around and I saw a knight walking around as if she was looking for someone. She made eye contact with Richard and she smiled. She walked towards us and Richard stood up.

"Catherine it's been-"

"2 years if I remember correctly. You have really grown since then."

I couldn't believe it but Richard's face started to blush after she spoke. Who is she? I also noticed that Rosaline was standing behind us as if she wanted to speak to us. I was going to say something but Richard spoke.

"W-Well of course I grew."

I never heard Richard stutter like that. He cleared his throat and continued as if he didn't just stutter.

"I can prove to you that I've grown. There is a training ground here so will you spar with me?"

"Of course, I wouldn't want to miss a chance to beat you merciless again."

Richard had a big smile on his face when she agreed to his request. I'm not one for interrupting someone else's conversation but Catherine did just that to me. I decided to cough to get their attention.

"Who is this Richard?"

Richard eyes widened at my question.

"I'm so sorry Leo! I didn't mean to drop our talk just now! It's just I haven't seen Catherine in a long time and I-"

"That's enough Richard. I'm sorry I interrupted your conversation. My name is Catherine and I'm a knight in the Knight's of Serios. I also want to apologize to you as well, young lady. It seems like I stopped you from talking to them as well."

Her other apology was directed to Rosaline which she just shook her head. Richard turned his head to Rosaline.

"Rosaline! I didn't see you there. I'm sorry did you need something from us?"

Rosaline kept shaking her head.

"No it's fine I didn't want to interrupt your reunion with Catherine. I'm sorry."

Catherine laughed at Richards' actions.

"Who would have guessed that you would make two friends from the Kingdom Richard?"

Richard gave her a confused look.

"What?"

"I mean both of you are from the Faerghus right?"

She pointed at Rosaline and me. I was also confused by her words. Rosaline spoke first.

"I am from the Kingdom but Leonardo isn't from the Kingdom."

Catherine scratched her head at Rosaline's words.

"Weird I would have guessed you were from the Kingdom, Leonardo. I mean with your crest that you have that was the only conclusion I came up with.

I could feel a cold sweat run down my body after she spoke. I was paralyzed with shock that I couldn't stop Richard from asking his question.

"Crest?"

"Yeah his Major Crest of Daphnel."

AN:

Yahello! Back with another chapter. So it's sad to admit that I finally play the Blue Lions route. No matter what play through I did I never recruited Ashe or Dedue which is something I mentioned before. Now that I have play a few chapters of the Blue Lions I think I have a feel for their characters, hence there inclusion in this chapter and probably future chapters. I really like Ashe so I bet I'll add him more in the story. There was something else I noticed when I wrote this chapter. I'm pretty sure that I'm writing every girl character as just a love interest. I don't know how I feel about that so I was wondering what you guys think. Maybe it's just my imagination or maybe I'm right. Another thing I want to mention is something my brother said to me recently. I told him about a review I got recently (I'm looking at you Metal Flash), and he said something I never really thought about but agreed with. The fact that people even write a review to begin with is amazing. I've been on this website for a few years and I only barely made this account but I have never commented on anything here or in any other place where reviews can be posted. I'm a pretty shy and nervous guy so I get scared just thinking about posting my opinion on something. My usual mindset is either, I don't want to post something that is negative because people who do like it or the creator of it would get angry at me or if it's positive there is a likely chance someone else already said whatever I wanted to say. Now my mentality is different because now I'm the one on the receiving end. I want to hear people's opinion whether they be good or bad because I can improve from them. If you have something to say than say it. I won't mind. Honestly. Maybe. I plan on writing more reviews on things that I read so hopefully so you guys do as well. And I'm not saying that people who don't review things are jerks. If you really don't want to write anything that's fine too. I'm just hoping people who are on the fence on posting their opinion online can get a push to try it out. You can use me as a test dummy if you like. And speaking of reviews I have some more I like to reply to so here we go.

Einklley: The reason I slowed down on the Rosaline stuff was because I hadn't play much of the Blue Lion route but now that I have expect her to be front and center for this chapter (I mean chapter of the game not just this chapter). Well that's the plan at least. Also sorry for taking forever to reply to your review but hopefully your still here and happy with more Rosaline.

Lysers: I also would like to apologize for taking forever to reply to your review and posting new chapters. I also hope your still reading this and getting your fill of my story. Also seeing your profile pic remained me that I haven't been using best boy Linhardt enough. To quote Linhardt "How embarrassing." P.s I love me some TØP

Metal flash: Thank you for your kind words and I'm glad you liked the ending. The last chapter was going to be shorter but I realized that it was a lot of comedy and not enough serious. I like going back and forth with being serious and not but I felt like that for the big return I wanted something more so I added the Blue Lion meeting part last second. Your criticism is very correct. My editor has said the same thing to me as well. When I write I picture it in my head and I just write the dialogue that comes to me. I also realize that I don't describe the scenery of where the characters are at so I want to improve on that as well. When I write my dialogue I try not to use the same old Richard said, Leo said, Rosa said, after every line so I try to use different ways to spice it up. Obviously I need to work on that more so thanks for the review.

That's about it for now. Another question I have that I never noticed to bring up is my "comedy". I always ask my editor if they laughed at the chapter they just read and they usual respond with "When I read your story I'm more focused on finding errors not the content itself." I don't have anyone else in my real life that reads my story so I have no idea what anyone thinks of my "jokes. Comedy is very subjective so hopefully mine causes some sort of reaction from you guys. But I don't know. I love to hear from you guys. I feel my grove coming back so hopefully I will post more chapters quicker. Thank you for reading my story and have a wonderful day.-Omas125

P.s This has nothing to do with my writing so I will include this tiny bit here. I recently joined a discord and we played a smash fire emblem only tournament a few weeks back. I was pretty confident in my skills but I got trounced at the first round of the main bracket and the loser bracket. Strangely enough I had a lot of fun and it was my first ever online experience with other people other than my family so from the bottom of my heart thank you Studio Damion Discord for beating my ass in smash. That last line sounds weird but whatever I'm sticking with it. Peace