A/N: Well, I must have rewritten this more times than I could count, but I think it's finally done. This is just a little moment between our happy couple right after their dinner party. I'm going to have a little mini-arc to cap off the interim period before Lucina's birth, and this is part 2 of it. I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Cormag Ravenstaff for once telling me these two could be their fairy tale romance. What's a fairy tale without a little...magic?

I'd also like to dedicate this chapter to Blue Autumn Mist, who designed the cover for this piece. As you can see by it, it had the stars for Chrom to walk through.

Magic

Once upon a time but not long ago, Chrom would have thought it an ordinary summer's eve, no different from any that came before or would come after. Anyone he could have asked would have said the same and rightfully so. Twilight was giving way to the night, the summer winds blew fair, and the first few fireflies dimmed and flared as they always did.

And yet as he walked through the palace garden arm-in-arm with Sumia, he found the evening was not ordinary in the least. Something lingered in the air, something strange, something wondrous. Each passing breeze carried a scent sweeter than any flower his gardeners planted. The world around them, growing darker by the moment, appeared as bright as dawn if not brighter. But it was more, oh, much more. With every step, Chrom was convinced he no longer walked within the walls of his garden or even within the borders of Ylisse. He could say with certainty it was as if he wandered among the stars.

And Sumia - by every deity he could swear, it was as if he'd laid eyes on her for the first time.

By now, they'd found a stone bench nestled beneath a spreading tree. Sumia's eyes darted around, watching the world pass by. Chrom, however, kept his gaze fixed upon her; he could do nothing else. What would it feel like to run his fingers through her hair? Did her skin feel as soft as it looked? What might her lips taste like, as sweet as her rhubarb pie, perhaps?

"Oh Chrom, Sumia cooed as a firefly came near her nose, "isn't it magical tonight?"

The word brought a smile to his face. Magic, she said. Could any word sound more fitting than that? After all, what else could brighten the world in which he lived or bring the heavens down to him? What else could make the woman who had shared his bed for over a year suddenly appear so new, so unfamiliar, so unexplored? His peers would have told him he'd consumed too much wine at dinner but oh, how wrong were they.

"Yes," he said, never taking his eyes off her. "You are."

Sumia turned to him. "What?"

"Wherever you go, Sumia, it's magic." She looked away, but Chrom's hand brought her eyes back towards his, eyes that made his chest flutter, eyes that drew him closer and closer. The heat of her cheek beneath his palm set a similar warmth blossoming within him, and when her hand covered his, her touch sent a tingle through his skin. His lips drew closer. Whatever spell she had cast over him, he hoped it would not be broken with a kiss as in all the stories.

"Tell me you love me," Sumia whispered as their lips hovered only inches apart.

"I love you," he said softly just before their lips met in a kiss that Chrom was sure even made time halt at that very moment.

Something lingered in the garden that night, something wonderful, something beautiful, something, magical.

A/N: I hope you all liked it. Be kind if you can since I didn't get this one beta read. I wanted to see if I could manage to come up with something good on my own. Still, I do appreciate everything The Erudite has read for me and will read for me, and if you haven't checked out his work, you should.

Until the next time.