{-Sharena-}

Henriette smiled when she saw them. "Good afternoon, girls!"

"Good afternoon, Mother!" Sharena returned cheerily.

Fjorm walked up to Henriette. "It's nice to finally meet you, Qu—"

"Just Henriette is fine, dear. Think of me as you would everyone else," Henriette corrected gently. "I was glad to hear you decided to come. You don't really know anyone outside of the Order, do you?"

"Not really…" Fjorm chuckled sheepishly.

"I'll show you which ones aren't worth paying attention to," Sharena promised. She waved Henriette goodbye for now, then took Fjorm's hand and guided her through the noble's house.

The ball had the kind of air of something formal but nothing too suffocating. That was what most events held by the host were like, which was the main reason Sharena agreed to go with her mother and ask Fjorm to come as well. Compared to the other things she had to go to when she was younger, this was actually casual. It was a much friendlier atmosphere, too, and after a couple of introductions Fjorm seemed a bit more comfortable.

"You've known all of these people for a long time, haven't you?" Fjorm finally asked when they went to a quiet corner together to watch the dancing.

Sharena shrugged. "Pretty much. Most of them are friends of Mother's so I've been around them since I was little."

Fjorm continued to watch the dancing until the song started to end. "Would you… care to dance?" She paused when she made the awkward realization. "Wait, I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. No one really cared who I danced with, but we're in Askr, and you're—"

"No, no, it's fine!" Sharena rushed to correct it before she could be left with any misunderstandings. "I don't mind at all. I don't think anyone here would care, either. I'm not the king, what I do doesn't matter nearly as much as anything Alfonse does. I'll be happy to dance with you."

Fjorm smiled and guided her to where the other dancers were and got ready for the new song to start. In a minute they were following the same slow steps as the other couples.

"Have I ever actually thanked you for what you did for me in Nifl?" Fjorm's voice was soft and quiet, fitting in with the mood of the whole thing. "I feel like I've done so little for the one who saved me…"

"I wouldn't really say I saved anybody…"

"You were the one who found me, weren't you?"

Sharena quickly tried to shake away the sense of dread and carefully replied, "I only noticed you because Lekra appeared near where you were. Honestly I don't think any of us would've realized you were there if it wasn't for them."

"So not only did I almost go through with something that hurt you but would also kill the thing that saved me?"

"Neither of us hate you for it, though! You didn't know what you were doing and you were scared of what would happen if you didn't. I don't blame you for it. Lekra almost always immediately finds a reason to not like someone so you shouldn't listen to what they think about you. It feels like you've been caught up in this since it happened, even after all the time we spent together showing that it didn't matter anymore. My opinion isn't going to get worse the longer it's been. I've already forgiven and am ready to forget if you are."

"I… suppose I'm overthinking it, aren't I..?"

"Just a little," Sharena replied with a small smile. "What matters is that everyone's okay."

"Well, rescuer or not…" Fjorm hesitated. It was clear there was something more she wanted to say, but she finished it with, "I'm glad we're friends."

"You sound like you plan on leaving soon."

"After Mother and Gunnthrá… perhaps I realized that one never really knows when they're going to die. I wanted you to know in case I never get another opportunity to do it."

Sharena was ready to ask so many questions until something caught her attention.

"They've already found her?"

"That's right, and I'm going to show you to her."

"But don't you get sleepy staying here?"

"I follow my orders from the king. You don't have to worry about anything else, okay, Iztali?"

She knew one of those voices; it was one of the people she kept dreaming about. The other was completely new to her, yet still brought some sort of emotion with it. Or maybe that was Lekra, given the rush of dizziness that soon followed.

Fjorm gave her a worried frown. "Sharena..?"

"I need to sit down."

They continued to follow the crowd long enough to reach the edge, stopping without drawing too much attention to themselves. Sharena sat down and glanced at Lekra.

"That's you, isn't it?" She was as loud as she dared to be; Fjorm was, technically, close enough that they could say that was who she was talking to, but she still didn't want to risk it.

Lekra didn't even bother trying to hide it. "I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting to hear him—I wasn't expecting you to be able to hear him. It was just a little shock."

"This is a lot of worry for a 'little shock,'" she remarked. "Please make it stop soon."

"I'll try to pull myself together. The night's nearly begun, I don't want you to have to leave because of me."

((A/N: Fjorm's crush in this AU iiiis… Sharena! Why is it not Fauna, to mirror Kiran in canon? Well, Fauna's fifteen. And Fjorm is twenty. That does not work for obvious reasons. You won't have to worry about it too much though; romantic subplots aren't really my thing.))