"Speech"

'Thoughts'

Once Upon a Festival

Squatting in the remains of an old, burned out house, Setsuna looked down at the ground, where the map of the local region was laid out, Feldt scanning over it. Setsuna's chainmail, shield and sword rested against one of the walls, leaving him in his tunic and pants. Feldt kept on her loose, blue cleric robes, intent on seeing if a village she had heard about a couple years ago was nearby.

Setsuna smiled slightly at her intent studying. He had met her a few months ago when he helped defend her village from mercanaries. The two had grown close and despite Setsuna preferring to be alone, her company had been welcome, and he even grew to romantically like her, though both of them were still figuring this whole thing out. Granted being able to only have to pay for one room was welcoming, and he liked the warmth when holding her in bed, not that he was comfortable admitting it yet.

Feldt let out an excited noise as she looked up at Setsuna, "I found it!" Setsuna looked at her confused, so she continued, "When I was growing up, the town of Brekfeld had a famous harvest festival that local villages flocked to. And it's only a day away! And it's the harvest!"

Setsuna frowned, "We need to keep hunting Ali. We don't have time to rest."

Feldt pouted, puffing her cheeks, "We can take one day off. They will have food, games and probably people who can fix your armor." Setsuna looked contemplatively at her, and Feldt could tell the last thing she had said got his attention. Smiling, she continued, "And festivals always have competitions with small prizes. We can make some spending money."

Setsuna narrowed his eyes, blushing at Feldt's cute pout, "And we will only be there for a day?" Feldt vigorously nodded and Setsuna weighed the pros and cons of going versus stopping at another village. They were a bit short on money at the moment and they hadn't had a good rest in a long while. But Ali was constantly on the move and if they lost the trail, he didn't know if they would find it again.

But a feeling a guilt washed over him at seeing Feldt looking at him like a dog begging for food, and part of him didn't want to disappoint the redheaded woman that he had just begun to care and fall for. And Feldt just pouted harder as she saw Setsuna begin to break. 'Just a little bit more…' Her parents had brought her to this festival when she was young, but she never went again after that. To bring someone who she really liked to this would be amazing for her.

Letting out a sigh, Setsuna nodded, "Fine. We stay for one day and by the next morning we are leaving. And remember that we don't have a lot of money right now."

Feldt'e eyes widened and she stood up, tackling Setsuna as she pulled him in a tight hug, "Thank you! Thank you!" She kissed him on the lips, showing him her happiness with him, and he kissed her back, smiling into it. To be able to make someone so close to him happy filled his chest with pride. Feldt was the first woman besides his mother he had been so close to, so it seems he made the right decision. The two had never kissed like this before, most holding hands or chaste kisses. Setsuna couldn't help but moan into the kiss, which Feldt seemed to match.

As the kissing tapered off, Feldt took in a deep breath, her face burning, Setsuna's face matching her hair color. She giggled, "That was nice. We should do it more."

Setsuna spoke breathlessly, "Yeah."

"How about right now?"

"Right now?" Feldt gave him a coy look before she bore down on him, pulling him to a world of pleasure and happiness. 'I think I can live with more of this.'

The mood was joyous at the harvest festival. Children ran around smiling and laughing, adults yelling at them sometimes if they knocked into something. Carts and stands were setup, selling anything from sweet breads, trinkets, various other foods along with more practical goods. To Feldt and Setsuna, it felt like all the surrounding villages had flooded into the town, the streets full of people. Setsuna had handed off his sword and armor to get fixed by a blacksmith who lived in town, an extra couple gold encouraging him to make it a priority.

The raven-haired man had mostly been passive, following Feldt as she excitedly explored the festival. He admittedly realized this wasn't the worst, but being around so many people put him on edge. 'Being a mercenary for so long would do that.' For the last several years he had either worked with mercenaries or had been hunted, so a crowd just meant someone could approach from any direction. But Feldt looked happier than he had ever seen her and he didn't want to disappoint her.

Meanwhile with Feldt, she felt like she was a kid again. All the things that she remembered as a kid were here. Plenty of wonderful food, games for children and adults to play. A competition for the largest pumpkin and largest live stock at the far end of the town. Games that were clearly rigged by the stall owner to get an extra copper or silver. But more than anything she wanted to see Setsuna smile. He looked so dower and on edge, and she just wanted him to relax and enjoy himself. She was vaguely aware of his past, though he was still not willing to spill it just yet.

Looking around, she spotted a stand that had a small circle with a red dot in the center, probably being moved by a simple mechanism. There was a balding, middle-aged, skinny man looking bored as he tried to advertise people come to his stand, a throwing knife in his hand. To his left was several small wooden carvings of animals, magical or mundane. Grabbing Setsuna's arm, she excited pulled him, Setsuna letting out a groan.

When they reached the stand, the man looked over at them, sounding tired, "It's one silver for three throws. If you can hit the red dot in the middle, you get one of these carvings." He gestured to his left, emphasizing the prizes.

Setsuna gave her an annoyed look, which she responded to with puppy eyes, holding onto his arm, "Please? For me?" She knew Setsuna was better with throwing knives than her, and she had to admit him potentially winning something for her caused her to blush.

Setsuna pursed his lips, and the stall owner added on, "Don't you want to win something for your lady? I bet she would love it." Feldt kissed him on the cheek, pressing against him

Setsuna, blushing, placed a silver down on the counter, which the skinny man scooped up quickly, putting three throwing knives on the counter, "Good luck." Feldt let go of his arm and could see Setsuna going into focus mode. Setsuna took one of the knives, carefully observing the moving target. It certainly wasn't an easy target, but to some of these people, it would be an interesting gimmick to draw them in. The paladin did note that while many did hit the bigger target, there were only a few that actually landed in the middle.

Taking a deep breath, he loosed the knife, but it hit the backboard of the stand, missing the wooden target by a few inches. The stall owner just grinned, "Aw, so close."

Setsuna huffed and picked up the next knife. 'Alright, at least I got the pattern.' Setsuna had been drilled ruthlessly when he served under Ali in how to throw knives, the cruel man commenting you never know when you needed to use one. 'I can't believe I'm using those skills to win a prize at a festival' Keep track of the motion, he threw again, this time clearly hitting the wooden circle, but was only halfway to hitting the red target.

Feldt squeezed his hand, knowing he could do it. She smiled at him, and Setsuna's eyes shone with determination. She could see his desire to win one of these little wooden statues for her, which cause her face to heat up. Silently nodding, she let go of his hand, and his eyes narrowed.

'Remember, aim for where it's going to be, not where it is.' Focusing on the red circle in the center if the wooden target, he let out a breath and with the flick of his wrist, the knife flew through the air. With bated breath, all three of them waited for the impact. The knife struck wood as it landed dead center in the middle of the red circle.

Setsuna smirked and the man nodded, speaking to the couple, "So which one do you want?" Setsuna looked at Feldt, silently telling her this was her choice.

Feldt nodded and looked at the options. There were creatures like wolves, bears, sheep and other mundane animals, but the magical creatures drew her eye. Dragons, wyverns, griffins and other assorted creatures were there. 'This guy must carve them himself or know someone who does.' Silently debating, she smiled at the man, "The griffin please!"

The stall owner walked over and grabbed the griffon statue, which fit in the palm of his hand. Handing it to her, he smiled at the couple, focusing on Setsuna, "You got lucky kid. Don't let a girl like this go. And enjoy the rest of the festival." A family walked up the stand, the stall owner moving his attention to them.

Feldt glomped onto Setsuna's arm, smiling brightly, "I knew you could do it!"

Setsuna scratched the back of his head, laughing nervously, "I just wanted to win you something." His face was rapidly matching the heat of the sun, not helped by Feldt's happy expression. Feldt then pulled him down for a quick kiss, not helping with the blush.

"I now get why my mom wanted my dad to do this for her so long ago." Her blush matched Setsuna, though she was less embarrassed and more ecstatic. She was happy to see Setsuna actually smiling. By tomorrow they would be on the road again, but right now they could relax and be normal people.

Setsuna stuttered, "I…uh…You're beautiful." Setsuna, not knowing what to say, he defaulted to complimenting her.

She smiled warmly at him, "C'mon, let's explore more. I want some of that sweet bread."

"We need to budget…"

Feldt rolled her eyes, but couldn't help but laugh, "I know." With that, she dragged him further into the festival, though Feldt could tell Setsuna had relaxed a bit. He no longer looked around like everyone around them was a threat. 'I hope someday I can see more of that.'

Author's Note

This was combining two prompts I did for my Gundam 00 week. This is the remnants of a fantasy AU I thought of a long time ago, but that has been dropped. But I thought it would be fun to at least try out a little of it! Please review and comment, and I hope you enjoyed!