December 31st, 1205

7:36 am

That was easily the best night's sleep Fie had gotten in months, and the first time in as long that she woke up with a smile on her face. Her eyes remained closed as she focused on the steady heartbeat that had lulled her into slumber last night. Wrapped in the arms of her lover, it reminded her exactly why she had been so afraid of their separation yet simultaneously why they had succeeded despite the distance.

His scent, his warmth, everything about him brought back so many memories but the memories weren't what made her smile. It was the way his hands knew exactly how to hold her, how all it took was the slightest motion from her and he would so perfectly adjust himself to increase her comfort. If she paid attention to herself, she could notice how she did the exact same thing. If his knee moved like this, she should move her leg like that, if he squirmed like this, she should adjust her weight like that, all without thinking.

They had both grown since Thors, she knew that from their daily conversations, but the implications of that fact hadn't truly hit home for Fie until she was looking for a boy around her height and been greeted by a young man who had to bend to kiss her. It had honestly scared her, realizing that her eyes had passed over Elliot multiple times while she was looking for him. The kisses they greeted each other with had helped but only a little. It wasn't until her hand so easily found his, just as automatically as it had when they'd done it every day, that she realized she had nothing to worry about. They had changed, yes, but what was between them hadn't.

Her eyes finally opened and she looked around the room. There were the framed daffodils, a reminder of her first awkward attempt at affection, right on his desk next to his violin case. Under the windowsill, bathed in the morning light, was the grand rose bush she had given him, transplanted into a new pot over the months to accommodate its growth. It had been the first thing he showed her when they got to his room. He was so proud of it, beaming at her while she looked it over, she couldn't help but chuckle.

She pushed herself up and looked down at him. Fie had to admit that doubt sometimes snuck into her heart, when she was at her lowest and needed someone to pick her up the way only a lover can or at her highest and needed to share it likewise. But all that doubt was eradicated in the radiance of Elliot's sleeping smile. It was more than just a work around of her neuroses; Fie was his.

Her stomach growling reminded her why she had woken up in the first place. She leaned down to kiss the area just behind his jaw, making his smile grow as she got out of bed.

She was the second person in the kitchen.

"Morning," groaned Sara. She was holding her head up with one hand while trying to eat cereal with the other, all while looking like she would welcome the embrace of death.

"G'morning," said Fie as she started to open cupboards, trying to be quiet as possible out of consideration for Sara.

"Bracer time is hard to shake, huh?"

"Sure is. Where did you get that cereal?"

"Oh, I'll get you some," Sara said as she pushed out from the table. The sound of her chair dragging across the floor made her wince.

"That's okay. You look like you have other things to worry about."

"I insist." Sara gave her a small smile, the biggest she could muster with how badly her head was throbbing. "It's the least I could do after interrupting cuddle time last night."

Fie waved her off. "It's fine. I was expecting something like that anyway."

"Really?" Sara asked, a strange note in her voice. She pulled her chair back in and busied herself with swirling her spoon around the bowl. "I guess it's pretty par for the course for me." Her appetite was suddenly gone.

"Did you have fun?" Fie asked as she found the cereal.

"Huh? Oh. Yeah," Sara said while Fie got the milk and made her breakfast.

Fie sat across the table and ate. "You feeling alright?" she asked as she neared the end of her cereal.

"You mean besides the obvious?" Sara said in a weak attempt at a joke. "Just had some trouble sleeping. I swear that couch has only gotten lumpier in the last two years and it already felt like a sack of bowling balls."

"You sure?"

Sara nodded. "I just need to get into a real bed and sleep off this hangover."

Fie stood up and put their dishes into the sink. "Let's go."

"Hmm?"

"Back to the hall."

"Oh. Don't worry about it, I can get there on my own. Trust me, I've stumbled between Fiona's couch and that bed more times than you could count." And more than Sara would care to.

Fie looked at her with concern. "...Ok."

Sara was too old to be having someone that young look at her like that. She averted her eyes from Fie's, trying to play it off with a grin. "Now, come on; you see me every day. Go back to Elliot."

A ghost of the smile Fie had when she walked into the kitchen reappeared on her face. "Later," she said as she went back upstairs.

"Yeah, later." Sara's expression dropped as soon as Fie was out of sight.

3:49 pm

Holidays in the capital city meant one thing: tourists, and lots of them. This left Elliot and Fie with precious few date options that weren't absolutely swarmed. Elliot may have lived in Heimdallr his entire life, but even he had been taken aback by just how many people there were. Having never previously tried to go out during such a time, he couldn't have anticipated this.

Luckily, he was not the son of a revered military strategist for he'd told his father that Fie was coming for New Years, the first– well, second, after being smothered by a hug and being told how proud his dad was– thing Olaf had done was warn him about how crowded things would get in the more obvious places to go.

He'd honestly thought his dad had been exaggerating. What a fool he was. Fortunately Elliot was not enough of a fool to just outright ignore fatherly advice, not anymore at least.

So here he was, across the city from Dreichels Plaza sitting on a bench in a park barely bigger than the block he lived on, stomach full of food from a place he had only found a few days ago and Fie's head in his lap.

She was telling him about a very troublesome dog she'd had to catch during a recent mission.

"I thought I had him cornered. Then he jumped over the railing into the river," she said.

"Oh no! Was he okay?" Elliot asked as he stroked her hair.

Fie nodded/nuzzled his thigh. "The water was warm. The current was fast though. I had to run along the river until it slowed down enough for me to wade in and finally grab him."

"Good job," he said with a smile.

"Thanks. He chewed up my scarf all the way back to his owner."

"That scarf's been through a lot. There are so many holes in it; Is it even still warm?" Elliot asked.

Fie shrugged and rolled onto her back to feel the sunshine on her face. "Your legs have gotten harder."

"Oh. Uhh… sorry?" Elliot said, blushing lightly.

"It's okay. It means you've gotten stronger. I have too. See?" Fie tensed her stomach, showing her abs. "Feel."

Elliot took the invite, running his fingers around the outlines of her muscles. Her skin was soft but everything below it was like iron. "Wow. That's amazing."

"I'm sure you're starting to get some of your own." Fie slid her hand under Elliot's shirt, putting her palm directly onto him.

He recoiled from the contact. "Ah, ah, cold hand, cold hand."

"And you have a warm stomach," Fie said as she turned onto her side to put both of her hands on his skin. The second freezing sensation was a bit less severe but still enough to make him suck air in through his teeth.

"Oh, so that's what this is?" he said, smiling down at her. "Using me for my warmth?"

"Always. I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out," she said. Fie pulled his shirt up a bit more and put her face directly against his stomach. She sighed with contentment. "So warm."

Elliot giggled and stroked her spine. "You're going to wake up with neck pain again."

"Worth it." She planted a soft kiss right in the middle of his stomach. "I was right by the way, you are starting to get abs. I didn't know they taught phys ed at music school."

"They don't," Elliot admitted. "I just missed the exercises they had us do at Thors, so I started going to the gym." He laughed. "You should have been there when I told my dad about it over the phone. I've never heard him that happy! Neithardt had to stop him from scheduling an early leave day to go with me."

Elliot could feel Fie's smile against his skin. "I like your dad," she said as she put her head back in his lap.

"He likes you too, asks about you a lot."

"How nice of him," she said.

"I think Fiona likes you too. She was asking me a lot about what my plans were for our date."

Fie made a non-committal noise. Her eyes opened. Elliot playfully waved at her.

"Hi there," he said.

Fie's small smiles were always a treat, no matter how many he saw. "Hey." She sat up and stretched her arms out, popping her neck as she settled into sitting next to Elliot. He put his arm around her shoulders.

"What do you talk with her about?" Fie asked.

"Fiona? Uhm… I don't know. School. Music. Stuff, I guess. Why?" Elliot asked, confused.

"I think I want to go talk with Xeno and Leonidas while you're cooking. But," Fie said, her eyes downcast. "I don't know what to say to them. It's been a long time."

"Yeah. You've changed a lot since then."

Fie nodded. "You changed a lot at Thors."

"I did." He held her closer. "When I came back, I tried to keep on talking with Fiona like I had before I left and it just didn't work. I think my dad noticed."

"What did he do?"

"He took us to the beach. We had a little family barbecue and… I don't know. Fiona and I just started talking. Catching up."

"Hm."

"You are a different person now," said Elliot. "But you're still Fie. They still care about you. You just have to reintroduce yourself, I guess. Let them get to know who you are now."

Fie smiled. She turned her head and kissed the corner of his lips. "I'm yours."

"I love you too."

"I know," she said as she stood up. "C'mon, you're late."

"I am?" Elliot checked his ARCUS. His eyes widened. "Oh."

"Yeah," Fie said as he stood. "I'll walk you home." She took his hand, lacing her fingers through his.

"Thanks," he said with a smile.

"No problem. Hey, Elliot?"

"Yeah?"

"Is bowling fun?"

5:12 pm

"I think we need to add some challenge," said Xeno after his fourth strike in a row. "It's gonna be boring if we all wind up tying, again." He took a seat on the hard green bench and resumed eating his nachos.

"I have to agree," said Leonidas, standing up to take his turn. "Perhaps using our other hands?"

"Nah, I've been doing that. What do you think, Fie?" Xeno asked.

Fie looked up to the ceiling as she thought. "What if we take turns setting up shots? The first person gets one shot to try and make it as hard as possible for the next to knock out the rest of the pins, and then that person does the same for the next in line."

"Impressive," said Leonidas, handing Xeno the ball.

"Sounds like fun," said Xeno as he got back up to make Leonidas stare down a seven-ten split. "Nice thinking, Fie."

Fie frowned. It hadn't been that good of an idea. Ever since they had gotten to the bowling alley, something had been feeling off and it was starting to bug her. She had told her brothers stories about the missions she went on as a Bracer and even some of the things she had done at Thors. Their responses were just like when she used to tell them about her jobs as Jaeger. But now? Now there were no warm feelings when Xeno taunted her about getting her blade stuck in a rock while he smiled and ruffled her hair, nor when Leonidas told her she did a good job fighting the golem in a desert before gently pointing out how she could have done better. Honestly, it kind of annoyed her.

Leonidas just managed to get both pins and set Fie up with three pins standing, all spaced far apart from each other. At least they weren't going easy on her. She grabbed her ball and pushed her thoughts to the side while she stared the challenge down.

"Gotta say, this is one of the nicer bowling alleys I've been in," said Xeno. "Probably one of the perks of being right next to the royal palace. Need to make sure the diplomats and delegates have all the newest and nicest toys to play with while they visit. Probably just behind that one in Roer, eh Leonidas? The one with all the screens that played videos for strikes and shit and the Reinford Group logo plastered all over everything."

Leonidas nodded. "Indeed. Though I must say, I have never before been in one that took payment at the end."

"No, you pay first here too," said Fie. "I paid them while you got the balls and Xeno ordered the food." Fie bowled her ball and managed to curve it sharply enough to knock two pins over, sending the second ricocheting into the third.

"Nice shot," said Leonidas as he pulled out his wallet. "How much was it?" he asked her.

"Ten thousand two hundred mira to book the lane for two hours and rent the shoes for all of us."

Xeno whistled. "Pricey."

Fie shrugged. "Holiday, plus probably higher regular prices than most places to skin those diplomats and delegates who want to throw money around and impress people." The machine reloaded the pins and put them up again. Fie used a tight curve to set up a complicated shot for Xeno to handle, then turned around to head back to the bench.

"Here you go," said Leonidas, holding money out for her as she took her seat.

She tilted her head at him, confused.

"To cover the bowling costs," he explained.

"Why would you pay for that?" she asked. "It was my idea."

Leonidas blinked at her. He opened his mouth like he wanted to say something, but apparently couldn't figure out what it was. The money was put back into the wallet.

"Hey," Xeno said as he tapped Leonidas on the shoulder. "Buddy. It's your turn."

"Hmm? Ah." Leonidas stood up and went to the line.

"You should have taken the money," said Xeno as he sat down.

Fie shrugged. "Aren't you the one who always told me to stay out of owing anyone anything?"

"Eh. It's different when it's your big brother."

"Would you have taken it?" Fie asked.

"No, probably not."

"Why not? He's your brother too."

"Ah," Xeno said, holding up a finger. "But he's not my big brother. Want my advice?"

"Not really."

"He'll probably sti-" Xeno cut himself off with a loud laugh when he realized what Fie had said.

Fie frowned. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing," he said, still smiling.

"Liar."

"You're right, I am," Xeno said, holding his hands up. "It's your turn by the way." He laced his fingers behind his head and leaned back.

Fie stood up from Xeno's left and Leonidas took a seat on his right. The elder brother sighed deeply.

"Yep," Xeno agreed. "Two years, huh?"

"Such a long time at that age," said Leonidas. "I had forgotten."

Xeno nodded. "Hey Fie," he said after she knocked down the pins Leonidas had left for her. "If you win, I'll tell you what I was laughing at."

Fie closed her eyes. "You're on." She threw the ball in a way that left the remaining pins in a pattern requiring three ricochets to hit. "And what do you get if you win?"

"I stop having to hear about your boring job," he said in a teasing tone as he got up.

Fie felt a smile spreading across her face. "You wouldn't have to hear about the job at all if you'd told me what was going on."

"Ooh, tempting."

"Nope, too late. Have I told you about when I had to find the same cat three times in one day?"

"Oh no, Leonidas, help," Xeno plead as he rolled the bowling ball behind his back, knocking everything down.

"I quite enjoy hearing about her work," said Leonidas. He looked at Fie through half-lidded eyes. "It's so… quaint."

Fie tsked. "Not all of us can lead a thrilling life of sixteen hour rooftop stakeouts."

"Now now," said Leonidas. "Sometimes they're sixteen hour rooftop ambushes."

Xeno chimed in, "And they're still more fun than chasing a dog through a river."

Fie rolled her eyes, still smiling. "Just bowl."

In the end, it was another three-way tie.

5:20 pm

"-And then I took her to that place I told you about, Rosanna's, and she really liked it," Elliot recounted to Fiona. The siblings were wrapping bacon around tiny hot dogs, the first of many appetizers Fiona was planning on making for that night's dinner. "Then we walked around while we ate and met this old couple who told us where we could find a place to sit when we were done. It was where they had ended up after their very first date over fifty years ago, can you believe that?"

"Well, I can see how time got away from you," Fiona said.

Elliot blushed. "Sorry."

Fiona tittered. "I'm sure you'll make up for it."

"I will!" Elliot resolutely said.

"I know you will," she said with a teasing smile. "In fact, I just said so."

Elliot sheepishly grinned and focused harder on his wrapping duties, adding to the rows of bacon-wrapped sausages on the wire racks on the table.

"Sara said something interesting last night," said Fiona, breaking the silence.

"Mm?"

"She thinks you'll give her a niece one day."

Elliot nearly choked on nothing. "She did- uh, does?"

Fiona nodded. "Have you and Fie spoken about that?"

"I mean, yeah," he mumbled. "A little bit."

"You two are pretty serious, huh?"

Elliot smiled. "We are. I love her."

"That's great." Fiona smiled but something about it seemed off to Elliot. "Do you think you're going to stay together?"

"I do."

"Do you think or do you hope?"

"I- Yes?" Elliot looked at her with a confused expression. "Both?"

"What about her? Have you two talked about it?"

"A little."

"What has she said?"

Elliot shook his head. "I don't think I should tell you what she said. They were private conversations; I can't betray her trust like that."

Fiona nodded. "I understand. That's good; good job."

"Thanks?" he said. Elliot looked at his sister with concern. "Are you feeling okay?"

"No, no, I'm fine," said Fiona. Elliot was skeptical. Clearly his feelings showed, because Fiona was quick to follow up. "I'm just worried about you."

"Worried?"

"It's just… you're both so young. Isn't it a little early to be thinking about setting your future in stone?"

Elliot sighed. "Yeah. We know. We talk about that a lot. I don't know what kind of a musician I'm going to be; what I'll do with my life. And Fie doesn't know what she'll do aft-" Elliot cleared his throat to forcefully cut himself off before he revealed anything private. "Well, she has some uncertainty too.

"But, even though I don't know where I'm going in life, I know I want her there. And luckily she wants me there too."

"I know how that feels," Fiona muttered, just loud enough to be heard. "But are you sure you want her there? Her specifically?"

Elliot raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying, you're both so young," said Fiona. "You'll both grow up to be different people than you are right now; who knows if you'll still fit together."

Elliot sighed. "You're right. It's something I'm afraid of. But I can't imagine a version of Fie that I don't love with all my heart. So all I can do is be the best me that I can be and hope I keep being lucky."

"But are you sure she's worth it?"

"I'm sorry?" Elliot was certain he had misheard her.

"It's your first real relationship, granted I don't know if it's her's, but either way neither of you have really experienced what's out there," said Fiona. "How do you know she's worth the time and energy when you have nothing to compare it to?"

Elliot couldn't believe what he was hearing. "She makes me happy. She makes me feel like I could try to do anything without worrying about failure. No matter how bad- heck, no matter how good- I feel, she makes me feel better."

"I'm not saying she doesn't!" said Fiona. "I'm just saying; what if there's someone else who can do it better."

"Since when do you care about what ifs?" Elliot asked. "What's going on? Is something wrong? Please, tell me. This isn't like you."

Fiona looked away from him. "I'm just worried about you," she quietly said.

"Well… Thanks. I guess." She was lying. He knew she was lying. But what could possibly be making his big sister act like this? Elliot sighed. If she wouldn't tell him, he couldn't make her. They had other priorities anyways. "Let's just finish making this food," he mumbled.

"Good idea," said Fiona. "The oven's done preheating anyways." She picked up the racks and put them on top of the stove, loading them one by one into the oven. The only sounds were burning gas and metal tapping on metal.

"Hey, Fiona?" Elliot said as she closed to oven door.

"Yes?"

"I hope whatever it is gets better."

"...Thank you."

A/N: I also uploaded an interlude today, it's the chapter before this one if you missed it.