Hey guys, MT here!

Merry Christmas guys! I wanted to get this chapter out in the morning but hot damn was I busy getting the house ready for festivities.

Anyways, I hope you all are having a good Christmas Eve (Or what ever holidays you celebrate at this time of year), and I hope you're excited for this chapter.

ENJOY!

Chapter 73

The sun was nearly in the middle of the sky now and Louise groaned a bit, wincing at the pain in her throat, as she woke up. She glanced out the window to see the light after she opened her eyes and then realized she wasn't in Saito's study. She looked around, disoriented, before remembering what had happened last night and her eyes widened before she spun around to look for Saito.

"Saito, where-!" began Louise before freezing. When she turned around, she found Saito, sitting up in a chair, snoring as he slept. Louise looked at him, still some disbelief in her eyes, and she crawled across the bed to touch him. She hesitantly poked his knee and flinched back when she confirmed he was in fact there. She bit her lip a bit, trying to hold back the tears that threatened to come out again.

Instead of crying, she crawled up onto his lap and hugged him, burying her face into his chest.

"Saito…I love you, Saito," said Louise, softly, trying not to agitate her throat. After a moment, she felt hands wrapping around her, pulling her tight, and she glanced up to see Saito looking down at her, his eyes filled with sadness but also relief that she was okay.

"Good morning, love," said Saito, softly. "Does your throat hurt? You sounded a little hoarse."

Louise just nodded, weakly, before curling back into Saito, taking in a breath of his scent before sighing a bit in relief.

After a few minutes, Saito spoke again, breaking the peaceful silence they had been having.

"Louise, I'm sorry, for waiting so long to come back to you," said Saito, holding her tighter. Louise peered up at him, her eyes worried.

"I don't…care anymore, Saito. Just don't leave me again," said Louise, wincing a bit at her sore throat. She stretched up and placed a light kiss on his lips, to which he returned. After a moment, though, the kiss became more passionate, initiated by Louise. She kissed him harder, Saito returning the kiss with the same ferocity and passion with which he received. The kiss continued to escalate while Louise moved to straddle Saito, pressing her body flush against his, his hands moving lower to press her to him. "Saito, I want you now."

Louise groaned that after Saito's hands had reached her waist and Saito was about to push her down on the bed before they heard a light knock on the door, snapping them out of their trance.

They froze, and listened to the door.

"Um…Saito-san, we should probably get going if we're going to visit the others. It's almost noon," said Gwen from the other side of the door. Saito sighed a bit and looked over at Louise who nodded after a moment, signifying it was okay.

"Are you sure, love? We won't be alone like this again for a while," asked Saito, a bit of worry in his eyes.

"I'm sure," croaked Louise, smiling at him before pecking his lips. "Just don't leave me alone, okay?"

Saito smiled at her after a moment and then hugged her to him.

"I stay as close as you want," said Saito, happily, before turning to respond to Gwen. "We'll be right there, Gwen. Make sure you and Siesta are ready."

"Alright," said Gwen from the other side of the door before her quiet footsteps could be heard walking down the hall.

"So we are headed to see Henrietta-sama first?" asked Siesta as the four of them rode in a carriage to the capital.

"Yeah. I want to see her first before we go to Gallia to see Tabitha. I want to reassure them first and then we can pass by Romania on our way to see Tiffa and then Tenshi," explained Saito.

"Ah, but don't forget about Asuna-nee, Saito-san. We need to see her before we go east to Romania," said Gwen, a bit scolding.

"Ah, yeah, sorry. Albion should be passing near Gallia in a couple days, right? That's what one of the townsfolk said we I told them I was going traveling," said Saito, curious.

"Yes, Saito-san, that is correct. I do think, however, that it would be faster to use a World Door to get there. We shouldn't dillydally too much since the Dwarves may attack soon," said Siesta, worriedly.

"That's true. After visiting Henrietta, it might be better to just use the World Door to get around. Traveling by cart takes too long," said Saito, partly to himself. He glanced over at Louise who was clinging to his arm, tightly, as if for support and he leaned in to kiss her forehead. "Are you up to it, love?"

Louise nodded in response, her throat still not up to par, while giving a small smile. Saito returned the smile and nodded.

"Then that answers that," said Saito.

"My Lord," said the driver after knocking on the window. "We are nearly at the gate to enter the capital. Would you like me to take you to the castle gates or leave you in the market?"

"The castle gates, please. I don't want to walk too much," said Saito, calmly, while glancing over at Louise. The driver nodded and he turned back around.

"Thank you. You can return to the mansion in the meantime. We'll be leaving via magic after this," said Saito, waiving the driver off. "Alright, now we can-."

"Who goes there?!" shouted a familiar voice, startling the quartet and silencing Saito. The group turned to find that it was Agnes, sword drawn as she approached them. She froze at the sight of Saito, shocked to see him. "Duke Hiraga, you're…you're alive?"

"Yes, Agnes, though you don't need to be so formal," said Saito, a bit embarrassed by the way he was addressed. "We came to see Henrietta."

"Yes, yes! Please come. It must be some kind of miracle that you returned. Maybe milady can finally be broken from her trance if she sees you alive," said Agnes, hopeful. She the group into the castle and they quickly ascended before stopping front of Henrietta's room. Agnes knocked once and then leaned in. "Milady? I am going to enter with guests."

Agnes turned to Saito and nodded before opening the door. She let them in before closing it behind them. When Saito walked in, he saw Henrietta sitting on the floor by the window, staring out it. She was wearing a nightgown and had a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. Her eyes had dark rings and she looked almost as pale as Louise did.

"Milady? I've brought someone. Someone you would enjoy seeing," said Agnes, almost soothing, as she approached Henrietta. Henrietta didn't so much as flinch at her words and she frowned before turning to Saito and beckoning him on.

"Um…Henrietta?" said Saito as he approached, Louise grabbing his parka and keeping close. Henrietta seemed to flinch a bit at the sound of his voice and she raised her hands to cover her ears. "Henrietta, it's me, Saito."

"Agnes," said Henrietta in a near monotone voice. "I think I must finally be going crazy. I'm hearing Saito's voice even though he's dead."

"Milady, you aren't going crazy. Saito is right here. Alive," said Agnes, sternly. Henrietta tensed up and bit and slowly turned around to see Saito, her eyes widening as she took him in.

"I'm alive and well, Henrietta. Come back to us," said Saito, still slowly approaching. Henrietta looked at Saito, her eyes frozen as she took him in. Once Saito was close enough, he held out his hand to her and she glanced down at it before looking back at him. In one moment, many emotions blew through her expression. Pain, loss, shock, relief, elation, and some Saito couldn't even understand. She then threw herself at him, a sharp sob forcing its way through her closed lips.

"Saito-dono! Saito-dono, Saito-dono, Saito-dono," muttered Henrietta through the sobs, tears streaming down her face in mass as she clutched to his chest. Saito, a bit surprised at first, wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close while she let out her emotional episode.

It was almost ten minutes later now and Henrietta's sobs turned into muted sniffles, her hands still tightly grasping Saito's parka while she was pressed to his chest.

"Saito-dono…" cooed Henrietta, a bit unsteady. "You're alive…I can't believe it."

"I'm alive, Henrietta. It's alright now," said Saito, soothingly, as he rubbed a hand up and down her back.

"Ah…Louise is probably mad at us, holding each other so inappropriately," said Henrietta, smirking a bit, but not releasing her grip at all. Louise poked her head around Saito's shoulder to look at Henrietta. She was pouting just a bit, but was concerned for her childhood friend who had suffered like she had. "Saito-dono, you're not going to do this again, right? Not like that again."

"I'm not going to die again, Henrietta. Not in battle like I have. I promise. So don't worry about it anymore, okay?" said Saito, soothingly. Henrietta pushed away after a moment and smiled at him, her eyes still a little teary.

"Thank you, Saito-dono. I…I think I'm okay now," said Henrietta, hesitantly. Saito nodded and he released her before she got up off him and made her way to her bed, supported by Agnes. She sat down on the bed and sighed a bit before Agnes left. "I'm such a bad Queen, leaving my mother to take care of things while I mourned."

"There's nothing wrong with that, Henrietta-sama. Even royalty have feelings," said Gwen.

"I guess that's true. I hear that your Uncle is very worried about you two. I'm not surprised since he seems like the doting type," said Henrietta, giving a wry smile. A few moments of silence later, Agnes returned once more, this time with Henrietta's mother behind her.

"Oh, Henrietta, dear. And Saito, so good to see you. Brimir must be smiling upon us to have allowed you to once again return from near death," said Marianne, rushing over to Henrietta.

"Mother, forgive me for how I've been acting, I just…" said Henrietta, trailing off a bit as her mother hugged her.

"You shouldn't trouble yourself over it, Henrietta. I wasn't too different when your father passed. I am just elated to see you back to normal," said Marianne, smiling at her daughter. After a moment, she turned to Saito and her expression became a bit more serious. "Saito, I have some news for you."

"Is it about the Dwarves?" asked Saito, his expression also becoming a bit more serious.

"Yes. It seems they have made a less gruesome declaration of war. A dwarf named Reginn has become the new king and accused us of working with the prince, Otr, to assassinate the previous king. He's declared proper war on us and has officially cut off all passed treaties as well as trading privileges to Halkeginia, Elvenheim, and Freiheitus. We know not when they will begin attacking but we are already building up forces ready to defend. I ask that, while you travel around reassuring all of the many women who hold you dear, you also reassure the world leaders so that they may have more confidence," explained Marianne.

"Yes, I understand. We'll leave immediately," said Saito, seriously, before glancing at Henrietta.

"I'll be fine, Saito-dono. I'll get my strength back and be there alongside you all on the battle field," said Henrietta, giving Saito a confident grin. Saito grinned at her and nodded before asking Louise to open up a World Door.

Next stop, Gallia, thought Saito, prepared for all that was to come.

So? What did you guys think?

I know, I know, "You spent a whole chapter going over one side character's reaction. Like WTF man". I get it, it wasn't the MOST interesting. I just want to give these characters some damn feelings y'know. I plan to make some of the others a little faster, except Asuna and Tenshi's cause yeah. Julio's will probably be the shortest since he may be weird but he ain't homo xD

Anyways, make sure to Review to let me know what you guys think and until next time...byeee :D