It was rather uncommon for someone to rouse Nicola from his dreamless slumber before he naturally came to. It was even less common for said person to be a princess that rose later than he did.

"Is something the matter, Lissa," he yawned, rubbing his eyes with one hand while his other pawed around for his brush.

"Today's a holiday," the blonde princess chirped, far too spritely and bright for the time of day. The summoner's internal clock told him the sun had yet to fully rise, which meant it was time to get up and practice.

"What sort," Nicola finally asked, shaking off the remainder of his sleep as he styled his hair in the dark. Such was his daily routine.

"It's the Day of Devotion silly!" Few words managed to stun Nicola into silence. "Er... you alright there, Nic?"

"You celebrate the Day of Devotion?" He was still processing that. He'd thought that was only a holiday on Zenith. All the heroes he'd seen celebrating it had been in Askr or neutral grounds between the varying nations of his second home. Not once had he expected another world to just outright celebrate it.

"Yup, it's been a thing since the reign of the First Exalt," Lissa nodded. "So hurry up and get dressed! We've got a long day ahead."

""W-we do?"

"Remember when I asked you if you'd escort me through the capital a few days ago?"

He did, he'd just thought she wanted to travel without getting pestered by Frederick. Pestered too much, really. Frederick was going to worry about her regardless of who escorted her.

"Ah. Then give me a few minutes. I'll need to throw something together."

"Sure, just don't take too long." The princess was out of the room without another word, leaving Nicola to sit for a moment. Once that moment passed he scrabbled out of bed and emptied the room's wardrobe as if his life depended on it. Traveling clothes, training clothes, night clothes, his old attire. Nothing that looked particularly fanciful or appropriate for the day ahead. Wait, didn't Maribelle give him another set of clothes not too long ago? After the first set she'd bought him had been rather unfortunately destroyed? As he threw his parcel from Regna Ferox overhead he found that she had. Thank goodness, he could make things work then.

One vest and dress shirt here, a pair of grey dress pants there, tied together with a cloak—when did he even get that?—and his usual boots. This would do. It didn't take long for him to get dressed and brush himself off a bit more. He didn't want to be too wrinkled or messy looking... Not that he could really tell since he moved the mirror to the wardrobe. He probably looked fine as is.

A bracing chill greeted Nicola as he left his chambers, promising fairer weather than the past few days in the halidom. Lissa leaned on the wall beside the door, humming quietly to herself as she waited. She beamed once she noticed the summoner.

"C'mon, we'll miss the full sunrise if you take too long!" She wanted to see the sunrise, did she? They were a bit late for that if she planned on walking and there were few good places Nicola could think of that would let them enjoy the sight to its full extent. If they walked.

The princess yelped as Nicola picked her up and sped down the palace wing.

"Sorry for how sudden that was," he apologized as they rather quickly reached the palace courtyard, weaving through servants and knights as they crossed paths. Once outside, the summoner looked towards the sun and saw it was just below halfway over the horizon. They had minutes to reach a good spot then. He could work with that. "Hold on tightly, I'm going to go a bit faster."

"How much is a bit–eeeeek!" Lissa hardly had time to wrap her arms around Nicola's shoulders before he shot off like a loosed arrow. The stained glass and marble scenery of the palace courtyard quickly gave way to smooth stone then grassy fields as the summoner practically flew, each step of his pushing them further and further than the last as the world became a myriad of merging colors. Then, almost abruptly, that came to a screeching halt as Nicola leapt high into the slowly reddening sky. The jump took them higher and higher, above the tree line and almost to the highest spire of the castle before the summoner began to dip down, pulled back to the earth below as gravity took hold.

What should have been a sharp and terrifying descent was slow and measured however. Not that Lissa noticed for the first few seconds as her stomach flipped over itself several times. Her eyes being screwed shut also didn't help matters much.

"You'll miss the sunrise if you don't look now," Nicola breathed, voice measured as he took slow calm breaths. "Just don't look too far down or forget that I've got you. You're safe."

That was enough for the princess to gingerly open an eye and peer directly down. She regretted it, tightening her hold on the summoner as she realized how far below the ground was. Her eyes snapped shut once more and she felt her breathing hitch before Nicola spoke again.

"Easy. Take slow and deep breaths. Once you're calm, watch the sky."

Easier said than done the princess would have retorted, but she was hyperventilating. It took precious moments for her to gain her bearings once more and longer still for her to open her eyes. For a moment she dreaded having missed the last moments of the sun's rise, but was instead greeted by a picturesque sight.

The sky was painted vividly, the last dredges of the violet and starry knight giving way to deep red, orange and golden hues as the near white sun crested about the horizon, Once grey clouds were splashed with vibrant reds and bright oranges as pink and lavender light spread over those further out. The sea of trees and rolling hills beyond the training field were dyed yellow, their shadows faint and small under the sun's brilliance as snow and grass both were illuminated.

Then there was Nicola, still floating by grace of the wind. The summoner's green hair had grown more and more light in areas, silvery almost, and took to the sun's glow beautifully as his eyes danced with their own myriad lights. His normally pensive and worried way of carrying himself was gone, replaced by a sort of melancholy calm she'd grown to expect from him.

He was thinking of her—his princess rather than Lissa herself—again. The princess within her dreams truly had meant the world to Nicola and losing her had broken him, almost irreconcilably. He'd mentioned her name once, Sharena, before he'd broken down and having seen what the spirit wanted to show her she knew why. Nicola had loved her and she loved him just as much before her death. That loss ate away at him. It was why he kept himself so distant and far from others: he didn't want to lose anyone else like that, he didn't want to hurt as badly as he had when he first arrived. Still, it wasn't Lissa's place to tell him to move on. If anything, even thinking of that made her feel ugly inside. Nicola needed time and patience to heal, not for another person to throw herself at him for saving her.

That was what he would have thought if she confessed her feelings, she imagined: that she felt enamored with him simply because he'd saved her. He would have been wrong, her affection had come from seeing each side of him that he was willing to show. She loved his protective streak and his loyalty, his awkwardness when it came to acting his age and how shy he was beyond his brave exterior. She loved how intelligent he was, for all that he would downplay himself or judge himself as less than his worth. She loved his smile, the genuine one that peeked out when he told stories and truly laughed, and his commitment to working at his own pace. But most of all, Lissa loved him for treating her like a person beyond her title and supposed bloodline. He didn't trip himself up to speak with her or think less of her when she made mistakes or acted unladylike, he treated her as a regular person.

Her heart was his in full she'd long realized, after she started making more time to spend with him and Maribelle. Even Emmeryn had picked up on that, mentioning as such when they had tea. That had been an awkward conversation and a broken tea cup in the making, but Emmeryn had encouraged her to be true to herself rather than lock her feelings away. That had been why she invited him to be with her on today of all days, though it appeared the implication of her actions were yet lost on him.

As the sun fully took its place in the sky, Lissa made a choice. She would not force herself upon him and she would not tell him to forget his lost love, She would make memories with him that were just as fond, but not as painful. She would be more of a rock for him when he cracked or felt like breaking. She would repay what she felt she owed him and then let her true feelings be known.

After another moment's deliberation, eyes locked on the sky, she made another choice.

"Thank you," Lissa whispered, pecking Nicola gently on the cheek. She would not try to force Nicola's heart towards her, but she would be true to herself. The thing about being true to oneself was knowing that sometimes a person needed to indulge themselves just a bit. Watching the pink race across the summoner's features was enough for her.

At least until he returned the favor and left her a blushing mess as they drifted towards the ground like a feather on a breeze.