Part II
Five years later.
The conflict between the empire and the church raged on. The entire continent had been torn apart by war. Villages had been destroyed and pillaged, countless lives had been lost and both sides now found themselves brought to a staunch deadlock. The kingdom army had no choice but to retreat back to Garreg Mach to regroup, plan and amass more soldiers before they could even hope to launch another attack on Edelgard's strongest army.
Late one afternoon, Ingrid had been walking from the marketplace, she leisurely walked through town, making her way back toward the monastery. As she approached the town center, her ears were flooded by the soothing sounds of a woman singing. It was a beautiful, angelic voice that she immediately recognized and knew very well. It was an enchanting voice that could only belong to the Mystical Songstress herself. As Ingrid continued walking toward the sound of her girlfriend's voice, she noticed Dorothea and Mercedes tending to the wounds of a pair of children in the street near a large fountain while Dorothea sung to them. The children's clothing was tattered and dirty, they were both shoeless and quite obviously very severely malnourished. Ingrid guessed that the children were likely orphans as Dorothea and Mercedes had made it a point over the past five years to care for as many orphan children displaced by the war as they possibly could.
"Dorothea. Mercedes." Ingrid said, approaching her friend and girlfriend. "Hello."
"Ingrid. I didn't expect to run into you here. I thought you would be in the strategy meeting all afternoon."
"We finished a bit earlier than expected today so I volunteered to come into town for some supplies. We were running low on vulneraries and antitoxins and Hilda asked me to pick up some resin for her." Ingrid said. "I also picked up some other very important supplies for the two of us...for later tonight." Ingrid smirked.
"Great." Dorothea said, winking at Ingrid and giving her a sly grin.
Mercedes smiled and quietly chuckled to herself.
"So...um..." Ingrid cleared her throat. "Is everything all right here?"
"As good as can be expected." Dorothea said. "These two precious babies lost their parents when a group of bandits destroyed their village a few weeks ago."
Dorothea sat down on the ledge of the fountain and lifted the little girl up into her lap. She dipped a clean handkerchief into the water and gently dabbed the dirt away from the face of the small child.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ingrid asked, looking at Dorothea then over to Mercedes who was now cleaning a small wound on the arm of the little girl's slightly older brother.
"We're going to take them back to the monastery." Mercedes said. "Give them a bath, some clothing and feed them a nice, big meal."
"Yes. Poor things are practically starving." Dorothea said, running her fingers through the little girl's dirty, tangled hair.
Ingrid reached into the leather bag she had been carrying at her side and pulled out two small sweet cakes. "It's not much, but at least it's something until we can get back to the monastery."
"Here. I hope you like sweets." Ingrid dropped down to one knee and handed one of the cakes to the little girl who gave her the biggest, most appreciative smile she had ever seen.
Ingrid then turned to the girl's brother and happily gave him the other cake.
"Thank you." The little boy happily accepted the cake, smiling brightly at Ingrid.
"You're welcome." Ingrid placed her hand on top of his head and ruffled his shaggy hair before standing up.
"Are you a real knight?" The girl asked, tugging at Ingrid's tunic as cake crumbs tumbled down over her tattered clothing.
"Uh, yes. Well, s...sort of." Ingrid nodded.
"She is." Dorothea said confidently. "And a good one too. She's very brave and very strong."
"See. I told you girls can be knights too." The girl said, looking at her brother. "Mommy told me girls can do anything boys can."
"It sounds like your mommy was a pretty smart lady." Ingrid smiled.
"She was the smartest. I miss her." The girl frowned and a few tears began to slip down her cheeks.
"No. We have to be brave." The boy walked over to his sister and tugged at her dress. "We can't cry."
"It's okay to be sad." Mercedes reassured the boy. "You can cry and still be brave. Even the bravest knights cry sometimes."
"Mmhm. That's right." Dorothea nodded. "And you know something else, I understand exactly how you feel right now. I'm an orphan too."
"You are?" The boy asked. "Really?"
"Yes. My mother passed away when I was about your age. I cried a lot and I still do sometimes when I think about her. I know it's hard, but I got through it and so will both of you. I promise."
"I'm sorry your mommy died." The little girl wrapped her arms around Dorothea, squeezing her tightly.
The boy then climbed up onto the ledge of the fountain and wrapped his arms around both Dorothea and his sister. Ingrid placed her hand on her girlfriend's shoulder as she noticed her eyes beginning to fill with tears.
"Dorothea is one of the strongest women I've ever met." Ingrid smiled and leaned down to place a kiss to the top of Dorothea's head. "Even though things seem difficult now, I'm sure the two of you will grow up to be just as strong as she is."
"My daddy used to kiss my mommy like that." The little girl said, looking up at Ingrid. "Is Thea your wife?"
"Well, no." Ingrid blushed a little. "But, she is my girlfriend and I hope someday she'd like to be my wife."
"Would you?" The boy asked, looking at Dorothea.
Dorothea smiled. "I think if she ever asked me to be her wife, I'd have to say yes. She's cute enough and I've already put up with her for over five years. I don't think I'd mind a few more." Dorothea laughed.
"Five years?" The girl said. "Wow. That's almost as long as I've been alive!"
"You're so silly." Dorothea laughed, gently tickling the little girl's stomach, causing her to giggle.
As Ingrid stood next to her, the little girl reached out and touched the wing shaped piece on Ingrid's boot armor, near her knee.
"You like my armor, huh?" Ingrid asked.
"It reminds me of a pegasus wing." The girl said.
"She loves horses." The boy added.
"Oh yeah?" Ingrid knelt down until she was on the same level as the little girl. "Is that true?"
"Yes. I love horseys." The girl said excitedly. "They're so pretty."
"I love them too. I have a big horsey friend back at the monastery." Ingrid said. "He's my best buddy. Would you like to meet him?"
"Can I? Really?" The girl stared up at Ingrid, her eyes wide and bright.
"I'll tell you what. When we get to the monastery, after you've had something good to eat. I'll take you for a ride. Would you like that?"
"Can we go now!?" The girl exclaimed as she excitedly jumped into Ingrid's arms almost knocking the blonde over as she hugged her.
"I'm guessing that's a yes." Ingrid laughed, happily returning the embrace.
Dorothea smiled and stood up from the ledge. "This is absolutely precious." Dorothea turned toward Mercedes. "I never knew Ingrid would be so good with children."
"She has a kind heart. And she did grow up with many younger siblings." Mercedes said. "She must have gotten used to being around young children."
"Should we start to head back to the monastery?" Ingrid asked, looking over toward Dorothea and Mercedes.
"Yes. Let's get going." Dorothea said. "It's a fairly long walk from here."
"It'll be a much shorter trip if we take a shortcut through the woods." Ingrid said. "Since neither of them have shoes, I'll carry them."
"Are you sure, Ingrid? Both of them?" Mercedes asked. "I can at least take one."
"It's all right. I can manage." Ingrid bent down, scooped up one child in each arm. "Hang on tight, okay?" Ingrid said, gently positioning each child so that they were facing back over her shoulder.
Mercedes began following behind Ingrid, but quickly noticed that Dorothea hadn't yet moved from where she stood. Mercedes stopped and looked back over her shoulder at the former songstress, she noticed Dorothea's eyes were heavily focused on Ingrid. Dorothea smiled as both of the children clung contently to her girlfriend, taking turns playfully batting at the blonde's cape with tiny hands as it fluttered behind her in the light, late afternoon breeze.
"Are you two coming?" Ingrid turned around to speak to her friend and girlfriend who were lagging behind.
"Just a second." Mercedes called out. "Dorothea? Is everything all right?" Mercedes asked, walking back toward the former songstress.
"I'm fine. It's just that lately I've been doing a lot of thinking about the future. And...seeing Ingrid like this makes me wonder if we'll ever get the chance to live a happy, peaceful life and raise a family of our own...I'd love nothing more..."
"Of course you will, I know it." Mercedes said, confidently. "I've been praying every day for an end to this war and I truly feel that it's coming soon. Prince Dimitri will find a way. Have faith."
"I'll try. I know it's selfish of me to be thinking of my own happiness in the middle of a war...but I really can't help it."
"It isn't selfish at all. Everyone deserves peace and happiness." Mercedes placed her hand on Dorothea's shoulder. "You and Ingrid are going to find it."
Later that evening, Dorothea was in the room she and Ingrid shared, sitting in front of the mirror brushing out her long brunette hair and quietly humming to herself as she usually did before bed. A few minutes later, Ingrid entered the room, with some pastries in her hand.
"Hi." Ingrid said, closing the door behind her.
"Hi, sweetheart." Dorothea said, glancing over her shoulder at her girlfriend.
"I brought up some left over pastries from the dining hall. Not quite as good as the sweet cakes I was planning to surprise you with tonight, but at least they went to good use."
Dorothea smiled. "Very good use. Thank you for doing that...it meant a lot to me and I know it meant so much to the children too."
"Of course." Ingrid walked over to Dorothea and placed a kiss to the top of her head. "It was the least I could do."
"Wait a minute...when you said you picked up important supplies for us, I thought you meant condoms. Were you actually talking about the cakes?" Dorothea snorted.
"No." Ingrid laughed. "Cake is important, but I did mean condoms. Now to work on these pastries..."
"Oh my. I really don't know where you store all of this food." Dorothea chuckled. "You're always eating something."
Ingrid set the pastries down on the nightstand next to the bed.
"I'm essentially a bottomless pit." Ingrid laughed. "You should know that by now."
"Oh I do." Dorothea laughed. "I absolutely do."
As Dorothea continued brushing her hair, Ingrid began to get undressed. She stripped off all of her clothing except for her underwear and bra. She then laid down on the bed and began eating one of the pastries.
"Are you coming to bed?" Ingrid asked.
"In a minute." Dorothea nodded. "You better not be getting crumbs everywhere. You know how I hate when you eat in bed." Dorothea chuckled. "You always make such a mess. I'm forever waking up with crumbs stuck to my clothing."
"I'm being careful." Ingrid mumbled, her mouth full. "Besides, I have to eat, I'll need the extra energy if I'm to be of any service to you this evening...speaking of, I'm going to need a condom." Ingrid stuffed the last of her pastry in her mouth and got up off of the bed again. She picked up the brown leather bag she had taken with her to the marketplace earlier that afternoon and rummaged around inside of it until she found what she was looking for.
Ingrid walked over to Dorothea and gently trailed a line of kisses from Dorothea's shoulder to her neck. When Dorothea didn't respond much to her advance, Ingrid looked into the mirror at her girlfriend's reflection. Dorothea appeared to be very deep in thought, her mind a million miles away.
"You okay?" Ingrid asked. "If you're not interested in making love tonight, it's perfectly fine. We don't have to."
"It's not that, darling." Dorothea looked up at Ingrid. "I'm just finding myself a little distracted, that's all."
"What's bothering you?" Ingrid asked. "Do you want to talk to me about it?"
"I just can't stop thinking about those two little orphans from this afternoon. I feel so sorry for them. They remind me so much of myself. I know they're struggling right now. They're so young, and afraid, just like I was so many years ago.
"I know." Ingrid nodded, she knew that Dorothea often tended to feel a little sad after caring for orphans. "But, you're already doing everything you can. You bathed, clothed and fed them. Not to mention we've already reached out to neighboring villages to search for any potential relatives."
"I hope they have some family nearby."
"Me too, but, they'll be safe and cared for here at the monastery for the time being." Ingrid placed her hand on Dorothea's shoulder.
"They really liked you, you know." Dorothea said, placing her hand overtop of Ingrid's. "And they seemed to very much enjoy playing with the horses and flying around on your pegasus with you. I'm glad you were able to help put their worries aside at least for a little while."
"I'm always happy to help in any way I can. You and Mercedes have taken wonderful care of dozens of orphan children of all ages during this war. They love helping Mercedes bake cookies and I know they really love all the songs you teach them. I always hear them singing all throughout the monastery."
"I just wonder if I'm doing enough to help them." Dorothea said.
"You are. You absolutely are."
"You really think so?" Dorothea tipped her head back to look up her girlfriend.
"Certainly. I very much admire everything you're doing. I'm so proud of you."
"Thank you. Sometimes I dream of opening up my own orphanage and caring for as many children as I possibly can. Give them a safe place to stay, some security and a lot of love. I'd like to be a mother figure to them and give them everything I never had since losing my own mother. I don't want them to grow up alone and afraid, like I had to."
"I think that's a beautiful dream." Ingrid then leaned down and placed a gentle kiss to Dorothea's forehead. "You have such a big heart and so much love to give."
"Ingrid?"
"Hm?"
"Do you ever think about us raising children of our own someday?" Dorothea asked.
"Yes." Ingrid nodded. "I've thought about it before. You have as well?"
"Of course. I think about it often. I hope someday I'll be blessed with the opportunity to carry a child of our own."
"I pray that someday when this war is over, I'll be able to give you that. I'd love to know what children of ours would be like. Beautiful and sweet, like you? Steadfast and stubborn, like me?"
"Perhaps all of the above." Dorothea chuckled.
"Yes, I'm sure." Ingrid laughed. "I want you to know that even if it turns out that we can't conceive, know that we'll adopt as many children as we can and love them just as much. I want you to be happy."
"As long as I'm with you. I'll always be happy."