Keiji shares a heart to heart moment with Felicia after a hard day's work.
Sunset
Your duties today are done. For now (or at least until you're next called upon) you're free to relax. And what better way to do just that than sitting down by the Mess Hall with Felicia as she struggles through her odds and ends. Throwing knifes and a healing staff aren't a problem for the lassie; she's quite the battle-maiden. Carrying tea and shining shoes are completely different stories, unfortunately. Such typical housekeeping tasks cause her grief to no end.
"Need some help over there, Felicia?" you chuckle. "It looks as though you're having a hard time."
"No, it's fine, I promise," the maid replies hastily. Setting Corrin's seldom-worn shoes aside, she screws the lid tightly on the glass jar of leather polish. "I'm about ready to put these away, anyway." She doesn't put them away so much as she throws them - tactful as always.
Looking skyward, you bask in the sight the full moon's glow with a smile. A collection of magical twinkling stars dot the expanse above. It's been a long time since you've enjoyed a sight so calming - seldom since leaving your hometown of Izami to join the army at Fort Jinya. You remember one of those moments. It was couple of years back, in the fall. You sat on the porch of a small tavern in the company of Miss Hana - one of Lady Sakura's retainers.
A cherished memory from a very different time in your life.
"You always look so lonely, Keiji," she told you with a peck to the cheek. "It's like you're searching for something."
The two of you joined hands, your marriage fingers each adorning matching bronzed betrothal rings. A bittersweet memory.
"Lost," you whisper, gazing into the ripples in your tankard of wine.
Felicia's touches a hand to your shoulder. Such a comforting gesture pulls you from your musings of the past. The maid is so gentle in her manners. Her blue eyes are deep and sincere - like sapphires. Nobody else in camp gets these warm looks from her: not even Corrin as her mistress. "How are you feeling, Keiji?" she asks with a hint of concern. "You seem awfully distant tonight... There's something wrong, isn't there?"
Felicia is a strong judge of character. She's short-sighted in some ways, but considerate in others beyond compare - especially when it comes to her friends and comrades. She's emotional too. And something of a crybaby, even - but tirelessly loyal and loving regardless.
"I'm fine," you assure Felicia with a terse, glassy smile. "Just... thinking."
"I hope you're being honest with me..." Felicia's expression turns dour and rainy, almost like a cat left outside in the cold without her owner. "You wouldn't be drinking if you weren't troubled. How long have you and I known each other now?"
"A year or so," you recall. And unlike plenty of the transient individuals who've come and gone over the years, you remember exactly how many months it's been since Felicia fell (literally, after tripping face-first out of the mess hall doors) into your life. It was an amusing affair, in hindsight. The maid's been by your side ever since -moreso now that you're both in direct service to princes Corrin.
"What are you, my friend or my nursemaid?" you tease, going in for another mouthful of much needed drink.
"C'mon, Keiji," Felicia sighs, whipping her hand from yours and across the rickety table and taking away your tankard. "I'm worried, and you've had enough. Subaki even asked about you the other day. I didn't quite know what to tell him. Talk to me, would you? Lately you've been so gloomy."
You've done enough soul-searching over the passing weeks. In your tent this morning, (while alone with Corrin) you finally found an answer. "Very well, if you insist. Light Dragon spare me." You roll your eyes. "I swear... you're like a wife with the way you fret."
"Wife?" Felcia stammers, falling out of her chair and thumping backside-first onto the decking. She groans in pain - curled up in little ball across the Mess Hall's wooden floor. Wincing, she rubs her behind and crawls slowly and painfully upright. Wine stains the front of her dress.
You offer a helpful hand. Felicia accepts and you help the booze-drenched girl into another chair. One that isn't smashed to splinters.
"Beneath those clothes you must be covered in cuts and scrapes, given how you fall over all the time," you presume worriedly.
"Owwie," the maid winces, rubbing her behind again. "I'm such a darn klutz..."
You'll offer her a little support, lest she gets too upset. "A clod, yes. And one of my dearest friends, too. Speaking of which..." Heaven smiles upon you. Now is the perfect time to change the subject before Felicia ties herself into a bundle of nerves. You know just the subject to keep her from fretting needlessly about you. "I'll take it you still haven't had any luck telling your crush how you truly feel. Am I right?"
"I-I-" Her cheeks washing red, Felicia hides her face in the mask of her hands. "No... I haven't. You make it sound so simple... but-"
"But what?" You keep up the conversation, unwilling to let your dearly hopeless friend back out like the last time you talked with her about this. "Love is a simple game." Not that you've always had the purest lovelife in recent years, but Felicia deserves to be happy. Whoever this enigma is - this mystery man - he needs to know how she feels. "You should let your heart be known, my dear lady."
"I caaaan't," Felicia whines, holding her head in her hands and nearly knocking over your wine.
"And why not?"
"Because I'm an oaf, Keiji," Felicia pouts. "A dreamy-eyed oaf. Mother once japed that I'd stumble and head-butt the first man I kissed... and- She was right."
Your raise a concerned brow. "You actually head-butted him...? Truly? 'Tis not some sort of practical joke you're playing?"
"Nooooo... I was seventeen. His name was Enward. We were in the kitchen making Lady Corrin's dinner. I'd had my eye on him for a while. He confessed to me first," Felicia recalls with a saddened exhale, bumping her head against the table in defeat with a 'thunk'. "We'd finished cleaning up after desert was served. He came close to claim my lips... and I stumbled; broke his nose."
"There there," you pat the teary-eyed maid's back, a tiny comfort if any. She breaks from her doldrums, at your touch, taking your hand into hers. Your heart quickens amidst the unexpected contact. How content Felicia look beside you like this. "Maybe you should embrace the next man you kiss first, for support?" you suggest. "What's a kiss between lovers if you don't share closeness?"
Felicia's cheeks surge from red-hot to a raging inferno. She stammers flustered gibberish and pulls away from you abruptly, isolated in her chair-like island in the middle of the sea, "M-Maybe I'll do that..."
Perhaps a gentle prod in the right direction will help end the maid's dwelling. "You don't want to lose him to another, do you? We're in a time of war. Commoner and noble alike search for what fragile happiness we can grasp with such dark clouds looming overhead. If you don't tell him soon... he might be gone for good. Wedded... or worse, in the bed of another girl."
"N-No!" Felicia protests, utterly mortified by the thought. "I love being in his company! I- I feel so much for him that I can hardly contain myself." Bold and brave, she stops with her sulking. Standing tall and proud from the table, she inflates her (fair-sized) chest with a deep breath in, and out. "In fact- In fact! I'll tell you what I'll do!"
The plot thickens. Now you're interested. "Indulge me, fair lady. I've never seen you invigorated like this. It suits you, I'll admit."
"I-I'll tell him," Felicia declares, clasping her hands together against her beating heart. A whisper. A prayer. Words unheard by your ears, meant for the shining stars above. "I'll find my courage and confess my love before our next clash with Nohr. You'll see, Keiji. I'll do it, really I will."
"I know you will," you encourage Felicia. Then you neck what remains of your half-spilled tankard and put it back down on the table. Your eyes dwell on the maid a moment longer, and your heartbeat quickens. You're drawn into her inner-oceans - into her eyes of deepest blue.
Foolish, control yourself, Keiji. You shake yourself free of the maid's mesmeric charm and take a mouthful of air to cool down. "I believe you," you tell her with added care. You then release the top buttons of your shirt and fan yourself to ease the alcohol-induced flush you have. "And whoever you pine for will be a very lucky man once you confess to him. Of that, I am most certain."
"T-Thank you, K- Hey!" Felicia exclaims, frowning. "You distracted me! We're supposed to be talking about you."
"That we are, milady, you've got me." You hold your hands up, your intent having been discovered. "But you know I hate talking about myself."
Felicia tries to scowl. Sadly for her, she can't look angry even when she tries. "That being as it may, I want to help you!"
Unwilling to upset your friend by refusing, you relent with deep sigh. "Alright." You nod and rise from your chair to meet the maid. "You were right... about something bothering me. In truth... I feel as though I lack direction... always have, ever since Hana and I-" You pause, a lump forming in your throat.
"...Parted ways?" Felicia offers gently, yours and Hana's long-broken relationship being no secret among those who serve the royalty.
"Right. I left home young; never found my way... not until Hana and I grew closer, and after we called off our engagement... Well, my life was naught but empty passion and fighting." You swallow your fears and hold a hand to your heart. "Until recently. Things have changed."
"Changed...? How so?" Felicia's cheeks surge with heat, her hands jittering nervously.
"I've met someone. Not my usual sorts. She's important - like Hana was - a highborn girl."
"Really?!" Shocked, Felicia stumbles. You catch her with a moment to spare and brush her down.
Once the girl steady again, you nod. "We're close, and getting closer. She fills me with a sense of purpose... hopefulness. Whenever I'm away from her the dead weight - the lack of direction: it comes back. I know it's childish... but being with her gives me all the strength I need."
"Sounds like love to me," Felicia says, coming closer. The gap between you now is but mere inches. "You, my dearest Keiji," she drapes her arms around your shoulders, blushing like a summer flower in bloom, "...are in love. Take my word for it." Felicia's rosewood perfume is intoxicating.
And if you are indeed in love once more, why does your heart thunder while Felicia is near you like this?
"Being in love is wonderful," the maid whispers, leaning in and touching her nose to yours. Her heated breaths tickle your cheek, and you smell the wine on her breath. "Which is why I really need to tell you something... Something really important, while there's still time."
You have a feeling you know where this is going. "...Go on."
"The truth is, Keiji..." Felicia pauses, and sighs. Backing away from you, she shakes her head defeatedly. "Forgive me. I got a little carried away there. I'm sorry." Red-faced and shaky, the blushing lassie retreats. "Take care, Keiji! I-I'll see you tomorrow!"
You're left dumbfounded as Felicia's hurries down the path and further from view.
Off to the side of you, the mess hall doors slide open.
Before you stands Hoshido's most skilled warrior to sally forth into battle. Tall. Handsome. Confident. Probably the only man with an ego large enough to fell a whole band of bandits with one hand tied behind his back. Not to mention the one-and-only Sky Knight who still wears his armor at this time of night.
"Subaki," you greet him, bowing. Yes, he's your superior, but that doesn't stop the two of you being friends. Gods, you once loved a retainer, after all.
"If it isn't my favorite swordsman," Subaki answers smoothly. "You're just the person I was hoping to find, in fact."
A spark flies between the two of you. You're ready for the challenge ahead.
"Drinking time?" you enquire with a smirk.
Subaki turns right back around and re-opens the mess hall's sliding doors. Glancing back to you, he winks. "You've ducked and dodged me long enough, friend. It is indeed drinking time. But don't expect you'll beat me or anything."
"Confident as always, I see."
"You know it, Keiji."
The two of you enter the hall together.
Another drink won't go amiss after your intense exchange with Felicia. Or maybe three.
To be continued...
Did you enjoy the chapter? Feel welcome to leave some feedback and share your thoughts.