Welcome back! I got this updated quick!
Quickening: Yes, because when you last updated, you had this written already.
Nino: -shoves- Be quiet.
Miss Daisy: -from other room- WHY DON'T YOU JUST ALL SHUT THE FLUX UP AND LET ME TAKE A NAP AND LET THE PEOPLE READ THE FLUXING FIC!
Quickening: O.O;; She sounds like she's in a bad mood today.
Nino: -sweatdrop- Yeah, now if Sonia starts, it's going to get even worse.
Woodbark: -quizzical look- Te-te?
Quickening: Yes, good Woodbark. –scoops him up and runs-
Nino: -runs-
Miss Daisy: -mumble- glmpfh...-rolls over in bed- (yes, even if she is a pony, she has a bed) XD
A couple of hours later, I waited idly, concealed behind some mountains with the rest of the group. The three Lords and Mark had gone to the palace, instructing us to stay here.
Farina was shoving money at Dorcas, who was looking bewildered and kept trying to refuse. I grinned in spite of myself. Fiora...where was Fiora? I glanced around. Come to think of it, where was Kent? That wasn't good; if Sain tried to advance on me again, the other knight wouldn't be there to stop him.
I forced the thought from my mind and looked around for Fiora again. Where was she?
It was so nice to have my sister with me. And now that Farina was back, I had both of my sisters.
Funny, I could still remember perfectly the day that Fiora had joined us . . .
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I was hovering on the edge of a river, watching nervously as we fought nomadic mounted archers, afraid to venture forwards in case I was shot, when I heard an all-too familiar voice, one I had not heard for a long time...
"Florina?" the voice asked in disbelief.
I whipped around sharply, and my mouth fell open.
The pegasus knight before me was too familiar: long turquoise hair, large blue eyes, that same, friendly face...
"Sister? Fiora!" I cried.
She shook her head disbelievingly, amazement showing plainly on her face. "Why are you here?"
"I'm here with Lady Lyndis," I said proudly. "What are you doing here?"
She paused, and looked down, and her face turned bitter. "I...was investigating the Dread Isle for someone."
"By yourself?" I blinked. Usually, pegasus knights were not sent out by themselves; they were too vulnerable. Usually, they traveled in squads.
"No..." she murmured, fingering her lance. "There were others... a full unit of pegasus knights. We were –" Her voice broke. "attacked..."
"You can't mean..." I breathed, my eyes wide.
"I misjudged our situation," she whispered, eyes filled with pain and regret. "All of my knights are dead because of me. I'm a failure."
No! How could she say such things about herself? "That's not true!" I blurted out. "You're a splendid pegasus knight! I chose this path because I admired you so!" I quieted, aware that I was talking rapidly and hurriedly. "Please..." I whispered. "Don't do this to yourself." A single tear rolled down my cheek.
"Florina, please don't cry," she sighed, flying over closer to me.
There was a long pause, then I finally whispered, "I'm sorry..."
"No, it's my fault," my sister said. "The pain of being the sole survivor...It had me trapped. Thank you, Florina., I can see clearly now."
She was so brave, so strong. I admired my older sister greatly, in all ways. If only I could be like her...I had become a pegasus knight because of her and Farina.
"Fiora!" I cried, on sudden inspiration. "Come and travel with us! It's better to travel with
friends than to struggle alone."
"You're right," she answered, after a pause. "I hate to admit it," she muttered, closing her eyes. "...but I can't do everything alone. Nor can I render my companion's sacrifices moot by going home. Florina," she whispered, and turned her face to mine, and for the first time since the beginning of our conversation, it was filled with joy, "please introduce me to your commander. I'll see if I can offer my services for a short while."
Happily, I flew off, my sister following...
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I smiled fondly at the memory. I had many fond memories of Fiora, but that one would always be one of the first. And only a while later, when we had arrived at the Dragon's Gate...
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"Florina?" asked a kind voice behind me. I turned, surprised, to see my sister.
"Yes, Fiora, what is it?" I asked puzzedly. It better not keep me too long; this was a crucial battle.
"Try not to get too far ahead of the front line," she said worriedly, hefting her lance. "You can always ride behind and back me up, you know..."
I gave her a weak smile. "Thanks, Fiora. But..." I paused, and swallowed. "I... I have to do it my way. You can handle it out there alone, right?"
She nodded, confused.
"Well I need to make sure that I can, too."
"Oh..." she murmured, smiling fondly at me. "But I worry about you, my little sister. When we were in training, you used to get so scared..."
"Yeah, but I'm fine now," I assured her, maybe a little too hurriedly.
"Really?" she asked worriedly. "But the Caelin Knights are all men, aren't they?"
"Well...yes," I muttered, thinking of Sain and Kent, and many others.
"I just think of you, all timid and scared among them..." She trailed off, looking off into the distance. Finally, she turned back to me. "So, Florina... You really don't mind it? Didn't they give you a hard time for being a woman?"
Yes, they did, I wanted to say. I wanted to tell her how they had spent days following me around, whistling whenever they caught sight of me, how many of them, notably Sain, had waited for me around corners, snagged me by the waist and whispered improper things in my ear...But that was over now. I had told Lady Lyn, after many days of enduring this, and she had set things right.
"Now if they did," continued Fiora worriedly, "I want you to let me know. Because I will tell them a thing or two..." She gave me a worried, knowing look, with raised eyebrows, and I felt so grateful to have a sister who really cared about me.
"I-I'm fine," I reassured her again. "Lady Lyndis took good care of me... And everyone was really nice..." My voice trailed off.
"Oh?" She grinned at me. "Well, I still worry."
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And she probably worried about me even now, I realized, breaking out of my reverie. Oh, Fiora...
How long had it been since Lords Eliwood, Hector and Lyn had gone to the palace? How long would it take them to return? From my memory, court matters in Caelin usually took hours.
I didn't have to wait long.
The Lords burst out of the palace gates, racing towards Ninian and Nils – I realized with a shock that the two siblings had been wandering away from our camp – who were surrounded by wyverns! What was happening?
"Hurry up!" shouted Oswin, waving us over. "We must aid Lord Hector!"
I nodded meekly, and grabbed my lance. Quickly I stuffed my fingers in my mouth and whistled sharply. Huey took to the air from where he had been cropping grass a distance away and landed right next to me, where I mounted hurriedly.
Fiora! Where was she? We needed her.
Moments later, Fiora raced out of a nearby patch of forest, hair tousled, cheeks pink. I couldn't remember ever seeing her so flustered-looking in a long time.
"Fiora!" I called, and she turned her gaze towards me.
A little while later, Kent emerged from the forested area as well, cheeks just as red as my sisters. I blinked. Fiora had never talked about having romantic relations with anyone else of the camp, but Kent? Well, he was nice, at least. And way more sensible than Sain.
Our small group, armed and ready in a hurry, split up. A few of us headed north to help Mark and the Lords, who had been joined by Lord Pent and Lady Louise. Some of us, including me, stayed in the area where we had started out, ready to defend. The remaining troops headed south, to protect a village.
Luckily, the battle was passing relatively uneventfully. I didn't need to do much; Oswin and Hawkeye were battling wyverns around me, and I threw in an occasional javelin. But mostly I was free to do whatever I wished, which was mostly practicing my thank-you to Lord Hector.
"Okay," I began to Huey. "Um...Th-Thank you for saving me! Do...Do you remember me?"
Huey snorted, and I rolled my eyes, cheeks pink, and continued. "I am Florina, servant of House Caelin...I said it!" I cried joyfully. "I did say it, didn't I! Huey, I said it!" I exclaimed, flinging my arms around his neck from my perch on his back. We weren't in the air; at the moment we were still on the ground.
Now comes the hard part, I thought, grimacing. "Now, if I can just..." I stroked Huey's neck absentmindedly. "I can say it to Lord Hector's face now, right? C'mon, Florina! Chin up!" I told myself, remembering Serra's advice wryly.
"Take a deep breath...you have to speak loudly remember," I reassured myself, trying vainly to calm my racing heart. "J-Just once more...for practice. Breathe deep..."
Someone bumped into my side. I turned as best as I could on my pegasus's back, and gasped. "Lord Hector!" I practically screamed, cheeks burning.
"Yeah?" He turned, looking puzzedly at me. His blue hair was matted, and sweat beaded on his forehead. He must be exhausted, running like that from the palace with that heavy armor and axe, I thought wildly.
"Ack!" I choked, reining Huey backwards.
He squinted at me. "Say, aren't you one of Lyn's..."
Lord Hector never had a chance to finish. I was terrified now, out of my wits, not even noticing he mentioned Lyn. "Aaah! S-Sorry!! I beg your p-pardon!" I choked, and kicked Huey into the air, trying to escape from all of this mess.
"What was that all about?" I could hear him mumble in confusion as I ascended. "Am I some kind of monster? Huh."
Oh, if only he understood!
A/N: Yey, more of Hector! There will be lots more of Hector in chapters to come, too! XD And for those of you waiting for the romance, be patient! –evil grin- And as for the FioraxKent-ness, that was just hinted at. It's not really part of the story, FioraxKent is just one of my absolute fav pairings. :D
Lord Telecontari: yeah, I totally agree with you, I used to be big on LOTR too. Thanks for the review. XD
Malignant Plate: Feh, yes, short. Serra is fun, isn't she? Gotta love that personality. And the references to Erk...maybe...XD I do like ErkxSerra, and onesided ErkxNino. Sain's reaction, yes, I just thought that was so Sain-like to do. XD As for FarinaxDart, the evil grin tells you nothing, however, I'll tell you that this IS a HectorFlorinaFarina story, so...yeah. Thanks for reviewing! Oh, and I love your "Higher Price" fic! :D
lzn64: Yeah, that happens to me at the library. XD Serra is funny, isn't she? And yes, I like adding a few things to the script, or tweaking it a bit. It works on a game screen, but when you're writing a fic, sometimes it just doesn't exactly work. And Sain..:D Isn't that just so...well, Sain of him? XD And as for more Hector, satisfied by this chapter? You'll be seeing more and more of him as the story progresses, I promise.
Macross-Green: I actually only have 5 percent of supports, I'm too lazy...I read them all on Gamefaqs. Xx I'm a sucker for things like that. Thanks for reviewing!
Quickening: And please review again! Please! –puppy eyes-
Miss Daisy: That does not become you. Your irises are black, woman. It doesn't look cute.
Quickening: -annoyed- Recovered from your nap, are you?
Miss Daisy: -.-;;
Nino: -puppy eyes-
Miss Daisy: Augh! –backs away- There we go!
Nino: -best cute voice- Please review? Please? Reviewing motivates Winty-sama!
Woodbark: -nods- Te-te!