(sniff, sniff) I'm such a weakling. (sniff, sniff) Five sweet, wonderful reviews and I'm writing the next chapter already. Sorry; I meant it is a sequel (whacks herself for being so, well, dorky). Thanks for the correction, Raiknii. And RianneHime, you're right, I have noticed that Guy stutters a LOT around Matthew. (smiles to everyone else) I might add a Kent/Sain pairing. I'm not sure I'm up to it, though. And the thought that Amethyst Bubble is working on her next chapter is keeping me writing, too. Thank you all! (drowns herself in tears of happiness)

(sees R Amythest's review) Ch-chapter 29? Chapter 31? (sobs) I haven't gotten near that far yet! (cries) No wonder I know next to nothing about him... But thanks for that information anyway. (smiles)

Guy: There you go again, with that d-d-dork joke.

Me: (blinks) Hello? What are you doing here? (hugs him)

Guy: (yells and jumps back into my Game Boy)

Me: (grins) That always gets them back into the Game Boy. Too bad it doesn't work on Serra.

Guy: (head pops out of GB) I do not stutter more around Matthew!

Matthew: (appears next to Guy's head) Hello, Guy!

Guy: (look of shock) Wh-why h-h-hello, M-m-m-matthew...! I-it's v-very n- nice t-to s-s-see y-y-y-...

Me: (rolls eyes) Right.

The warning was written on the first chapter. If you need to read another warning, go back to Chapter I because I'm too lazy to write it in all the chapters. (whacks herself for being lazy)

And I don't own Fire Emblem.

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Chapter Two

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Nino was laughing happily as she ran up to Jaffar. Who knew? Wyvern riders, indeed. Her Uncle Legault sure had odd tastes. She decided that Jaffar was a good person to let this in on. After all, Jaffar listened and didn't tell; he'd most likely forget about it, knowing him. An assassin like Jaffar usually remembered things more important than a young girl's matchmaking quest. As she approached him, she waved casually. "Hey, Jaffar! I want to talk to you!"

The quiet assassin turned his head toward the sound, recognizing the young girl's voice. As usual, he didn't answer, just gave a nod at her to show that he had heard. Nino, who was used to this by now, continued to run next to him and try to start the conversation.

"Say, Jaffar. I wanted to know what you think of Raven and Lucius. You know, about them being together?" She looked into his face, and as expected, didn't receive a verbal answer from the constantly sealed mouth. She crossed her arms, bored with just swinging them around and continued as if he had answered. "Well, I actually think it's rather cute... And you know what I think? I think other people are starting to realize their own feelings, too. You can see the way Erk is always glancing off in some direction; no doubt to Priscilla, and Serra's been slipping her act lately. Too bad I can't figure out who she has eyes for; she's really good at masking. And you know what?" She leaned closer to Jaffar, so that he could hear her whisper. "I kind of suspect Hector of liking Lyn; he doesn't really argue with anybody else quite as much, does he?"

Jaffar wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying. After all, he usually remembered things more important than a young girl's matchmaking quest. But his mind wasn't occupied with another assassination attempt; he was only noticing just how close Nino's face was from his own, and it made him feel a little more light-headed than he thought safe. He tried to keep all thoughts of Nino out of his head and blamed it on the curse that Nino was mentioning at the moment.

"And you know what else, Jaffar?" Nino continued, not really caring that he was obviously not listening. "I know a little secret from Uncle Legault."

This somewhat caught the assassin's attention, as he was so desperate for something to get his mind off those amazingly adorable sky-bright eyes. "...... Hurricane?"

Nino grinned, happy that Jaffar was actually listening to her now. "Yeah! Well, he accidentally let slip this morning that he found wyvern riders attractive." Nino was giggling hysterically, and Jaffar was blinking, blank look on his face replacing his usually serious expression. Jaffar couldn't believe that the Hurricane could find anybody attractive. But, then again, if he told Hurricane about Nino...

Jaffar made a mental note to hit himself later. He had no emotional interest in Nino; it was just some hallucination that was spreading throughout the castle... right?

Nino let out a breath. "Well, I'm glad I got that out of my system. I can't keep it bottled inside me forever." She grabbed Jaffar's arm and stared into his eyes, innocence dripping off her smile. "Promise me you won't tell anybody, okay? Uncle Legault would hunt me down if he found out I had told someone. Okay? Promise?"

Jaffar was currently listening to his own pulse quicken, throbbing at the spot Nino was touching. He dizzily nodded an agreement, making the young mage laugh and run off to who-knows-where. Though the Angel of Death had no idea whether he was glad of the absence of her touch or mourning it.

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Legault had finally calmed himself down and was, at the moment, located in the castle library, looking for something to help him forget what had happened that morning. Something else, however, did the job (somewhat).

"I challenge you again! There's no way I'll lose this time; I've been taking lessons from Karol!"

"Karol? The one who obsesses over that fool blade of his? You'd never best me with lessons from that crackpot."

Legault snuck toward the voices, spying through a gap in a bookshelf. He could make out the images of Matthew and Guy, doing another one of those challenges over that oily oath paper. Legault could just choke on the stupidity of it. Someone should just do that poor swordmaster a favor and burn the stupid thing. After all, the entire group knew that Guy was property of the mischievous thief... though that was probably why Guy wanted the oath paper. Nobody really knew why Guy was concerned with his debts; Matthew sure was taking his time with issuing his demands.

"You- you spout trash talk like that all the time, than attack me in my sleep! Why can't you ever face me and fight like a real man?"

A sigh, some dusting imaginary lint off a dark red cape, before the impatient reply: "We went through this last time, and the time before last time; it's a thief's duty to be... what do you call it? Cowardice! Thieves aren't proud men like you myrmidons, they're runners!"

Legault nodded in agreement. This was the code of thieves; hit and run. Or in some cases, take and run. Guy was not quite as agreeing as the scarred thief, though.

"Grr... I don't care! It's never a fair fight!" His fists were clenched in frustration. Why doesn't this stubborn... coward ever face him in daylight? Other than when they're busy saving each other's butts out on the battlefield?

Matthew strode powerfully out of the library and chuckled. "Remember, you attacked me in my sleep every night after I." He then strode out of the library, most likely looking for a place to escape the swordmaster. Guy was obviously taking Matthew's last statement as a personal insult, as his face swelled in anger and embarrassment. He muttered something about stupid thieves and marched off the other direction.

Legault stayed still for a few more seconds, blinking, then stepped to another section of the library, acting as if he hadn't heard a single word of the conversation. But by now he had forgotten why he was in the library at all, so he just strode around the aisles, inspecting the volumes with more questionable titles.

After spending half an hour in the library, Legault looked up from Counterfeit Chests of Lycia and How to Find Them and spotted a flash of green. He closed the book and shoved it back in the place in the shelf the thought it belonged and headed toward the deserter.

Legault moved soundlessly toward the rider and stood directly behind him. "Hello, Heath."

Said man jumped slightly and whipped around, relaxing about three hairs when he saw whom it was.

"I someone chasing you or something?" Legault asked, curious to know why Heath was so jumpy.

Heath blinked, though sweat was forming on his forehead. "Me?" He asked, though it was an odd question to ask, as he was the only other person in range of sight. Legault raised an eyebrow at his jumpiness and desperate act of playing dumb.

"Yes, you. You are going to tire yourself out staying on guard all the time." He remembered what Heath had said that morning about being ready to go in case Bern's soldiers came.

Heath was looking at Legault again. This morning he had been easy; a dizzy enemy didn't fare as an intimidating opponent. He angered himself for giving away information to someone he didn't know very well, but took it that the poor thief hadn't remembered the information too well, as he was still at questioning him. That didn't mean he would take any chances. Though, he admitted, most of Bern's spies weren't quite as good-looking...

"You aren't a spy, are you? Or an enemy?" Heath asked, hoping against hope that Legault would slip a position. He wasn't exactly expecting the answer he received.

"Well, I am from Black Fang, but- "

The reaction was immediate. Heath's eyes widened, staring at Legault, and started looking for means of escape. Legault grabbed his wrist to stop him from going anywhere. "Relax, I'm not after you. I'm not with Black Fang anymore."

The wyvern rider didn't sound convinced. "How am I supposed to know whether you're telling the truth or not?"

Legault had opened his mouth to reply, but something caught his eye. It was Sain, tearing through the library, closely followed by a rather angry looking Kent.

"You get back here and apologize to lady Rebecca... if you may!" Kent called impatiently.

"I said I'm sorry, you don't have to make any attempts upon my life!" Sain called back, tearing through the desks. Two of the desks bumped into one of the shorter bookshelves, which toppled over. Two pairs of eyes widened in shock as the bookshelf toppled over, crashing onto the unknowing Heath and Sain.

Or so it would have, if the other two hadn't moved fast enough.

Legault dove underneath the shelf and grabbed Heath out of the shelf's way; at the same time, Kent grabbed Sain out in a much closer save, as the cavalier wasn't as fast as the thief. All four of them stood heavily breathing for several minutes, before Sain gave Kent a frightened hug.

"Kent! You... you saved me..."

The serious cavalier huffed and looked away. "I only saved you so I could kill you myself later." Kent dumped Sain off, dusted himself for a long time, and walked away, dragging Sain with him by the collar.

Legault was just lost in his own realm. That... womanizer! If they hadn't toppled over that shelf, this would have been avoided...

Heath, meanwhile, was looking up at this rescuer with a different feeling. "You... you..."

The two small words broke Legault out of his trance, as he looked down at the wyvern rider. He looks so helpless... "... Saved you, I know."

Heath now seemed very embarrassed. "Well... sorry about before. I trust you now."

Legault raised his eyebrows. "Oh? Well, that's good. Don't scream the next time you see me, alright?"

The wyvern rider nodded, and Legault put him down. Heath quickly ran away for unknown reasons, but Legault stood around the library for several minutes, reflecting on the last few minutes before taking his leave in the other exit.

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Nino watched from the top of a very high, very sturdy bookshelf. She had seen the whole thing, right from the part when Legault had approached Heath. She was smiling.

"Uncle Legault... you like Heath, don't you?"

The young mage giggled and jumped off the shelf, running to an exit. She's going to be doing a lot of planning tonight.

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Kent, in the meantime, was giving Sain another one of those lectures that always came after a good flirting.

"Now, Sain, we all know you like women, but you have to know when your limit is. You have to know when you're going to set everyone off, and you don't want to wait until it's too late until you stop."

Sain wasn't listening, of course. He was playing with a little dandelion that was growing next to his right leg, as they were sitting in one of the many castle training fields. There were a lot of dandelions around, and Sain was wondering if there were enough of them to make a bouquet for his next victim- uh, I mean, for the next time he starts a flirty conversation with somebody. He picked the dandelion and started picking off the petals.

"They like me... they like me not... they like me..."

Kent had stopped his speech when he realized that Sain wasn't listening. "Sain! Are you listening?" It was a rhetorical question, of course, because any idiot could see that the playboy cavalier wasn't paying the least attention. Kent sighed, rubbing his forehead. Sain had been right, with all his worrying, he was going to grow old well before his time. But if the stubborn goat would give him less to worry about, he wouldn't have to worry...

"Sain, what are you doing?"

Sain jumped, dropping the flower, and looked into Kent's face. "Oh, you stopped the lecture. Sorry, I didn't notice..."

Kent picked up the flower and examined it. "Sain, what were you doing? I believed you stopped playing with dandelions a while back."

Sain laughed uneasily. "Well, you see, I was just... playing the little love game, you know..."

Kent raised an eyebrow. "The little love game? What is that?"

Sain stared at him, shocked. "You mean to tell me you don't know? Everyone knows that game." He picked another dandelion and held it up for Kent to see. "See? You pick a flower and pick the petals off one by one, like this." He picked a petal off. "They like me..." he picked the second petal off. "They don't like me..."

Kent closed his eyes, frustrated. "And who's 'they'? The women? I'll have you know that Louise is married, so you can't go after her, let alone all of them..."

Sain smiled. This smile was different than all his other smiles; it was a sad smile. "Who said anything about women? I can act just as well as Serra, and it seems even you were tricked." He dropped the dandelion and rested his hands on the grass. "I'll tell you, because you're my friend and I can trust you... but I only chased after women to lead others away from the truth. The fact is... I don't even like women."

Kent sat there in the grass, dumbfounded. Then he laughed and slapped Sain on the back. "Oh, that was a good one, Sain. Truly the actor, you are... you nearly got me for a moment there." His forced laughter died away when Sain's smile didn't change its emotion. Sain had closed his eyes, the sad, uncharacteristic smile still on his face.

"No, Kent... I wasn't joking..."

Sain's eyes opened halfway. "And you know, I already fancy someone..."

Kent still couldn't believe it, but he couldn't bring himself to laugh again, either. So, feeling like he was going to regret it, asked the question that was on his mind: "...Who...?"

Sain looked into his eyes. He caressed Kent's soft hand, leaned forward and whispered into the other man's ear. "... Care to guess...?"

And Kent knew.

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There! Chapter Two!

There are always thing I want to say, but I never remember to say them. (sighs)

Kent and Sain were really hard to put together, so they're the first couple together (other than Raven and Lucius).

I'm putting more Nino/Jaffar, more Legault/Heath (that pair is fun to write!), and more Erk. I might add more Hector/Lyn, but that's kind of more of a background pairing. For Matthew/Guy fans, don't worry; I'm putting them in soon! There's no way I'm leaving my favorite couple out! (laughs uneasily)

Also, something I thought was kind of funny: I had already written up to the part when Legault was eavesdropping on Matthew and Guy when I read Amethyst Bubble's second chapter. It was so funny how similar the beginnings were! And yes, it was completely coincidental. That was the main reason why it was so funny. Again, if you haven't read 'The Troubles of Matchmaking' by Amethyst Bubble, go read it now!

And as was last time, reviews would be appreciated, corrections and flames are accepted, and another chapter in 'The Troubles of Matchmaking' would be appreciated! Thank you!