Disclaimer:

If anyone ever gets confused about this, I don't own Marth or Roy. :D

Author's note:

While things are being taken very slowly at present, this story will become shonen-ai. If this doesn't float your boat, I advise you to jump ship pretty quickly. :D

Feel free to hit me with any comments you have, positive or negative - anything constructive is greatly appreciated! "Thank you"s to Joh, Setsuna and Riku, for reviewing the first chapter.

When Roy awoke, he found himself wrapped up in his bedroll, snuggled up to his cape. Marth must have put him to bed, as he didn't remember doing any of this for himself.

He pushed himself upright with his elbows and glanced over at Marth; the young prince was still sleeping, hanging half out of his sleeping bag, his chest rising and falling gently. The fire between them had burned itself out in the night, leaving just a smear of charcoal and a few sticks remaining.

Quietly slipping out of his bedroll, Roy stretched, yawned and sleepily weaved his way down the shore of the lake to splash some water on his face. The reflection on the glassy surface showed that he had a serious attack of bed hair, which he attempted to slick down with some more water. Seconds later, however, it all sprang back, and he decided to just surrender to it and return to the camp.

Marth still wasn't up, so Roy sat down on the log they'd used as a seat the night before and waited; he was in no hurry to go anywhere, and he hadn't the heart to wake the prince when he looked so peaceful. This was the first time Roy had seen Marth look happy. He had been smiling, last night, but they had been the smiles of a man who couldn't quite remember whether he was allowed to or not: self-conscious and on guard. The loss of his kingdom had very obviously affected him in a way that Roy knew he could never fully understand.

Marth had come an awfully long way, too. Altea was across the sea, on a whole different continent. Either he had run out of places to walk, or he'd failed to pay attention to where he was going, to come to Pharae. It was a lot of walking.

What would happen once Marth was awake? Roy had had nothing planned for this day before the prince had joined him the night before, and it sounded as if Marth was just drifting as well, but would he want to be alone again? Marth was troubled with many things that required thinking upon, and he didn't want to get in his way.

But he didn't want to leave him, either.

It wasn't something he could properly explain, but Roy didn't want to watch the prince just walk away and disappear. Marth intrigued him: he wanted to make him happier, wanted to help him realise what it was that he needed to do to set his life moving again, and he wasn't quite sure why that was. It wasn't pity, it wasn't because he felt he had to… it was just because he liked him. Yes, he liked him. He'd known Marth for only an evening, and already he had left his mark on him as someone he didn't just want to write off as a pleasant acquaintance.

I wonder what he's really looking for, Roy thought, as he twiddled a piece of grass between his thumbs, in preparation for trying, as he always did, to make it squeak. If he doesn't find it, he's going to be walking for a very long time. It was an unenviable position, not knowing what you wanted. All Roy required was a rest, a holiday, before taking up the duties expected of him. He had a home to go back to at the end of his journey.

Typically, the grass refused to squeak. Roy let it fall to the ground, wondering whether he was ever going to get the knack of it. Grass-blowing was hardly a life skill, but he felt that he should at least be able to whistle through his fingers or blow grass if he were to become an army general: it would be useful in the field, and, well, what kind of soldier couldn't do either? The answer was, of course, this soldier, but it wasn't the kind of answer that suited the question very well.

There was movement from beside the burned out fire.

"I never got the hang of that either," Marth said, wriggling out of his bedroll. "I'm glad to see you haven't given up yet, like I did. I hear it suddenly clicks with you and then you never forget." He walked over to Roy and sat down next to him on the log. "I didn't sleep too much longer than you, did I?"

After they had eaten breakfast and packed up their belongings, the two swordsmen walked back up to the edge of the forest where Marth had come from the day before.

"Thank you for sharing your camp with me," the blue haired prince said, adjusting the straps on his pack. "It was a pleasure to meet you, Roy. I hope being a General full time suits you."

"I…" Roy paused. He'd worried earlier about Marth leaving. "If it isn't too forward of me, I'd quite like to continue travelling with you, for a little while. I enjoyed your company last night. If it wouldn't be too much of an imposition, that is." Why did he feel so worried that Marth would say no?

"I enjoyed last night too, Roy," the prince replied, a small smile playing over his lips. "I would very much like to journey with you a little longer." He wasn't sure, but Roy thought Marth looked relieved about something. "I just hadn't wanted to distract you from your vacation."

"A new friend would be very welcome. A holiday all by myself would get boring. And… I want to help you, if I can."

"Help me?" Marth said softly.

"To find what it is that you're looking for." It sounded a little strange, actually voiced aloud, and Roy could feel heat radiating from his cheeks as he wondered what the prince would make of it.

"You are very kind, Roy," Marth said. "I just hope I don't prove to be infuriating to aid. When I say I don't know what I'm doing, I'm not jesting."

"That's part of the challenge, my friend." On impulse, Roy reached out and clasped the prince's shoulder, to try to make him feel more at ease, but snatched his hand away as his brain caught up with his body. He wasn't quite sure why he'd felt the need to do that; Marth, however, seemed to have taken it in his stride, and looked more mollified than he had done before.

"Let's go somewhere, Roy," he said eagerly, hoisting the straps of his pack up again. "I wish to see more of Lucia, if you'll show me."

"I'll show you whatever you want to see," Roy said, as both young men began walking parallel to the forest, along the shore of the lake. Neither really knew where they were going, but somehow, it didn't matter.