Taking a deep breath, Laurent sighed as he leaned back in his chair. Spending hours upon hours cooped in a tent, taking down records of the camp's supplies into a log book had taken their toll. His arms were stiff, and as he stretched, his joints groaned in protest at the sudden movement. It was a clear enough sign that he should take a break, and go out into the fresh air before attempting to dive back into his work.

Standing, he neatly stacked the finished piles of paper, binding them with a length of twine. The yet to be logged papers he hefted into his arms. He could take them to his own quarters to look over later. Nodding to himself, Laurent gathered the papers and headed towards the tent's entrance. But as he shouldered past the flap, he walked straight into another person. They bumped into each other, and in their collision, both lost hold of their stacks of papers.

"Oh!" Lucina's face was comically surprised, and both she and the mage watched as dozens of sheets fluttered to the ground. Both stooped down to pick up the papers, only to knock their foreheads together in the attempt.

Laughing, Lucina rubbed her forehead, offering an apologetic smile before resuming her efforts to gather the papers. "And here I thought I was going to help you. Seems that I've only helped create a mess."

Sending a wry smile her way, Laurent began to take the papers in hand. "Think nothing of it. Accidents will occur. I was wrapping up for the day if it's all the same."

"Still, I have to apologize." Offering a pile of papers to the mage, Lucina waited for him to take them. "It must take an awful amount of patience for you to be able to work through all of these."

Taking the parchment with a nod, Laurent made sure he had them safely in hand before getting to his feet. "Patience is a virtue I learned through the years I spent in this timeline. I'm no stranger."

Dredging up unpleasant years alone for Laurent was one of the last things Lucina had wanted to do, and she was quick to address it. "I'll also have to apologize for that. It hadn't been my intention.." Trailing off, she found that she didn't have an apology sufficient enough for her to put to words.

"The portal was beyond either of our control. And I had motivation to continue waiting." Offering his hand to Lucina, Laurent pulled her to her feet. "I owe you my thanks."

"For helping pick up the papers? It was my fault to begin with." But as she caught the look on Laurent's face, she realized that she'd missed the mark.

Shaking his head. Laurent gently squeezed Lucina's hand. "More than that. For being my motivation to keep waiting." With a final smile, he excused himself.

As his words sunk in, the weight of what Laurent said hit her. Turning, Lucina tried to catch the end of the mage's robe, only to draw her hand back at the last moment. As she debated chasing after him, she spotted a long sheet of paper caught under the boot. Picking it up, she resolved to confront Laurent. He'd waited long enough.

AN: Request for Revilen.

I'd just like to mention that I've reset the requests, and may not go back in order to the pairs that were requested a few months back. But I will keep working on them! Feel free to mention which characters you'd like to see together, romantic or not, and I'll try to get back to you.

Revilen: I'm glad you like the chapters so far! :

ajani's apprenice: I'm always going to find an excuse to sneak a crit quote in, haha. And I take it that was a request for a Robin/Lucina chapter?

BubbleTea-Chan: That crit quote is definitely my favorite.