{-Alfonse-}

The two stopped at a nearby village—Enn was the only one to go in, however, as it was apparently where her acquaintance was. Alfonse just waited by the entrance, trying his best to look like he was doing anything but loitering.

Enn came back out after nightfall. "I've got us some food! Find any nice places to make camp?"

He nodded and lead her there.

Alfonse kept himself busy starting the fire while Enn unpacked everything she seemingly needed for the night.

"Can I, uh…can I ask you something?" Enn glanced up at him. "You don't have to answer. I'm just curious. What's your family like? Beyond Sharena, I mean."

"There's not much to tell, honestly," he replied. "Father was either an only child or the only one anyone ever talked about. Who knows about Mother's side of the family. I wasn't old enough to remember any of our grandparents but I hear quite a bit of stories about one of them." And despite all those stories, he still didn't know all the details. But Enn didn't need to know that.

"Sounds totally awkward," Enn remarked. "Do you think they even like each other anymore? I don't really see the king and queen together a lot but they never really seemed happy. Sometimes I forget not everyone in the nobility is as much of a close-knit family as mine."

He shrugged. "If they weren't then that relationship most likely wouldn't have lasted this long, even if both of them would be a bit too stubborn to just let it go. I know Mother, at least, would put up a fight should the idea be suggested." Alfonse nodded as Enn handed him something to eat. "Any particular reason for asking?"

"I was just curious. But…remember what I said earlier today? I also want to explain that and honestly I didn't know if you'd totally yell at me like everyone else does." She began talking between bites, "See, it's not particularly a very good-reflecting story. Mom doesn't like me talking about it. A lot of the people I told where close friends, but none of them really took it well."

Alfonse just gave her a reassuring look so she knew he was listening. With the admittedly odd group he spent a good deal of his time with, he didn't really think Enn's story could bother him—at least not in the way she was implying.

"Alright. I'm doing this." She took in a deep breath before continuing. "A few years ago, I was in an affair with this guy. Now, I thought he was really cute and didn't really pay attention to our lack of public displays of affection. Ellie never liked him, though, and our brother couldn't even stand to be in the same room as him. I guess I should've realized it then but I stayed completely oblivious to it. A while later, I found out I was going to be having his kid. Mom just suggested marrying him to keep both of our family's names clean. Of course he didn't like that idea—went off somewhere, dissociated his family with mine. Never saw him again after that, but if I did he'd probably be running back home with a bloody nose, honestly." Enn shrugged. "As for the kid… They were twins, actually. Two little boys. Both would be going to a family friend, though, since Dad and Mom wouldn't have it and that couple weren't having much luck. The youngest of the boys was stillborn; the other made it a good three days."

"I don't get why you're telling me this…" Alfonse admitted. He, personally, didn't feel like they knew each other well enough for Enn to be telling him these kinds of things. This was for close friends, not two people who met each other a few days ago.

"In case you haven't noticed, I don't exactly like hiding anything about myself." She waved at her clothes—or near lack thereof. "And I'm dead set on becoming friends with you, but if you turned out to react to it like everyone else did, then I probably wouldn't be. I want us to be able to be open with each other; that includes talking about stuff everyone else kinda just pretends like it never happened. I was a mom for a whopping seventy-two hours and I'm not ashamed to let the world know about it!"

"You're braver than I am, in any case," Alfonse remarked. "If I had a story like that, I'd probably deny it." He'd probably also be even more disowned then he already was, which definitely wouldn't be a very good image to have. "On second thought…I'd probably go into hiding." No one that really cared would question it, either.

Enn laughed. "However long it takes, I'm not giving up until you can tell me. Even if it takes us a couple years." She paused for a moment. "When this is done, you two can come over to my family's place any time you'd like."

"Would your family mind, though?"

"Nah. Dad won't care as long as you don't interrupt his studying, Mom travels a lot anyway, Ellie's kinda chill with everything and would probably love to get in touch with Sharena again, and my brother's still got nineteen more years of murdering the Askran soldiers' brain cells with his lack of them. Most of the time, it's like I'm the only one there. Honest."

"I'll see what Sharena thinks," he promised. Alfonse didn't want her to have to be there unwillingly.

"We've got tons of old books, too. Legends and history and stuff." Enn chuckled sheepishly. "Just, uh, don't look in anything marked 'photo album' or else I'll kill you. You don't want to see the horrors that some sorry sucker had to sit down and draw for hours." She shuddered. "I have to live with the images engraved in my head, the least I can do is save you from that same torture."

"Baby pictures?"

"Fifteen of each kid. And one of my brother naked and trying to look dramatic. Seriously I don't understand why it's even in the for-the-public part of the library."

(A/N: Seriously does Alfonse even HAVE baby pictures? I feel like Sharena would have more if not just because she was almost solely raised by Henriette...

You might be happy to know that, after this, Alfonse and Enn become book nerds together. Someone's gotta be the source of useless knowledge.)