"So wait, you're saying that you can't help me flatter someone until I tell you who I have my eye on?" Sain exclaimed incredulously. Florina nodded. "But…but…how do I choose?" Florina smiled to herself at the exasperated and flustered expression on Sain's face.

"Who do, uh, you like the most?" She asked him. He thought this over for a few seconds, his brow furrowing in deep concentration.

"They're all really pretty and-" Florina placed a shaking hand on his arm, a sign of the improvement of their relationship. He looked at her like a child who could not choose between the red and green lollypops and, frankly, just wanted both.

"Think beyond looks," She advised him. He looked away for a split moment before returning her gaze to her. He opened to say something, then changed his mind and shut it. "Well?"

"I don't know any of them beyond looks," He admitted sheepishly. "But you do! Tell me who I should go for." Florina shook her head.

"I-it's not that easy," She said. "You c-can't just, oh, choose, no… You can't just pick a girl, well, out of the, um, crowds and say you want to love her. That's a personal decision." It was hard for her to explain. In a way, she did not even understand why she was explaining this to him. She had no experience in the matter. All she knew were of the old cliches and fairy tales.

"No, I meant perhaps you could tell me a bit about each of them," He said. "Most of them won't even let me get to know them on a comrade basis."

"You don't, er, know about a-any of the w-women?" She said. He shook his head.

"Only you," He mumbled. He crossed his arms across his chest and stared down at the ground. "Maybe this isn't a good idea. My curse has doomed me to eternal loneliness." Before Florina could interject with a kindly word, Hector's booming voice echoed across the camp, summoning all the soldiers to his side.

"Here's the plan," Mark announced once almost the entire had gathered around him a large mob. "There are several ballistas up ahead. No flyers that means. We have a good feeling that we'll be attack. Lord Hector, Lord Eliwood and Lady Lyn will go up ahead with selected troops while the rest of you protect and maintain camp back here." Mark gave the duty of broadcasting the troops that would ride. With his voice projecting in every corner of the surrounding mile, there was no doubt that a soldier would miss it should his name be called.

Florina slipped away. No flyers meant she was not on duty today; she did not need to stick around in the throng of people listening for their name. Fiora joined up with her, her typical small, gracious smile on her lips. She seemed to know something, yet she was waiting for just the right time to bring the matter up.

"So…you and Sain have been spending a lot of time together lately," She introduced the topic casually. Florina tripped over her feet but regained her balance. The way her sister said it, it was as if she was suggesting…oh no, Fiora couldn't mean that!

"Um…h-he's n-not that b-bad of a, er, man once you, uh, get to know him," She stuttered.

"I never said he wasn't," Fiora defended her claim. "I…I'm just surprised…and pleased that you have grown up. You were once so scared of men, and now you've befriended a man that would have otherwise been at the top of your danger list."

"Well, actually…Fiora…I'm still kinda, well, scared of most men," She confessed.

"But Flor-"

"I know! Sain…he has, um, a reputation," She said. "He flirts and he flatters and he sweet talks every girl." She felt herself rise to a little bit of hysteria. "But…but…but…" Then just like that, she was at a loss for words again. Fiora slung one protective arm around Florina's slim shoulders.

"Florina, it's not a bad thing," Fiora assured her. "Kent has told me the same. He might be a little chivalrous, but overall, he has a good heart. I was just a little shocked to see you hanging around him and being so friendly with him. You don't close up so much around him as you do with other men and even the other women the company. It's kind of like the way you converse with your friends back in Ilia."

"He is my friend," Florina whispered very quietly.

"Just out of curiosity though, is there any particular reason for this sudden change?"

"N-no!" Florina squeaked.

"Just asking."

---

As it turned out, Sain was selected to accompany the Hector. Since Kent was still healing, Lyn needed a good paladin to back her up. Florina spent the day with Fiora, tidying up the camp and preparing to pack it up at a moment's notice. After a light lunch prepared by Rebecca, who turned the meager vittles into a satisfying meal, Florina briskly patrolled the perimeter of the encampment.

While the Lords and Mark were away, either one of the Ostian or Pheraen knights were put in charge. This time it was Isadora, who nodded a slight gesture of acknowledgement as she strolled by. The same grin was on her face as she watched Florina. The pegasus knight felt her face grow hot. Could she, too, have noticed the growing friendship between Sain and her?

She tried to shrug it off. Nothing was going on between them. She should just let them think what they want, but Florina was never good at that. She was a very insecure girl, and she always cared what people thought of her. Her reputation of a timid little fighter bothered, and if anything, it made her retreat further into the comforting shadows of her soul.

By late afternoon, weary figures emerged over the hill and towards the camp. The soldiers were back, and they were victorious. It had been a long, tedious fight against Pascal, as Lord Eliwood soon revealed to the army. Florina looked around for Sain, but he was nowhere in sight. He couldn't be dead; Eliwood had just said there were no casualties. Maybe he was injured, or perhaps it was just that she was too short to peer over the heads of her allies to pick him out from the crowd.

She finally caught sight of the setting sun reflecting off green armor. She pushed her way past Wil and Lowen to reach her friend. She wished she could tell everyone that they were just that, but her denials would most likely provoke more rumors and suspicious.

Indeed, there was Sain. He was chatting with a tall, pale girl with short dark blue hair. Florina's eye bulged at the sight. The girl laughed; it was a very familiar, boastful snicker.

"F-F-Farina!" Florina cried out, half in joy and half in shock. Farina turned and beamed at Florina, opening her arms wide to invite a warm hug. Florina rushed into them and squeezed her sister tightly.

"Hey," She greeted. "Look at you! You've grown." Florina doubted it, but she made no comment on it. "Sir Sain here was telling me that you were fighting in this army." She held Florina out at arm's length to examine her more closely. "But I figured out my own anyways after I heard Lady Lyndis was here."

"Fiora is here too," Florina told her.

"Yeah, I heard," She dismissed it off quickly. "I guess I better go find her and tell her I've joined." She then close to Florina and whispered so that only she could hear. "Twenty thousand gold! Lord Hector's is made me a very profitable deal!" Florina shook her head; Farina had not changed one bit since she last saw her.

"She's interesting," Sain said with a smirk after Farina was out of earshot. Florina gaped at him.

"You c-can't p-possibly-" He laughed. Florina did not know whether to take that as a good sign or a mark that he was making fun of her.

"Well, it's nice she talks to me since she is unaware of my reputation," He said, another cryptic remark. Was he saying it because it was true that it was a relief to have another female besides Florina speak to him or did he really think that Farina was nice? There were few people that truly thought of her that way, but Florina knew that her sister had a good heart where it counted. Money just got in the way sometimes- well, alright, most of the time.

"S-she care about reputation," Florina said, trying to keep her cool. It was true; after all, Farina did have quite the standing in her youth. "B-but she doesn't like commitment." Unless there was gold involved. "A boyfriend w-won't interest her." Florina thought back of a time, years ago, when Farina stated just that.

"They're useless, terrible creatures," Eleven year Farina spouted. "Women are the only reason Ilia is sustaining an economy. Men don't do anything." Florina watched as her sisters disputed. Fiora was home for a short time, and they all agreed to take a walk together in the bitter Ilian countryside. Thought Florina was used to the cold, she still marveled at how Fiora never shivered once in her revealing Knight attire. She, herself, lay bundled in a coarse woolen coat that had been passed down from her siblings.

"Farina, don't say that," Fiora hissed. "Yes the women make the money, but the men farm the land and-"

"Bull," Farina snapped. "Damn it Fiora, you know as well I do that we get most of our food from the south anyways. The ground is too frozen for anyone to farm."

"Don't curse in front of Florina," Fiora warned her.

"Shut the hell up! You don't know anything!" Farina screamed at Fiora. "You're away at the academy; you don't how much he's changed."

"I understand-"

"No you don't!" Farina accused. "You don't understand anything, Fiora. I hate him! He does nothing, and then he tells us that we should be doing more. I'll never have a boyfriend because I'll be too afraid of him turning into that!"

"Well, that's too bad," Sain remarked wistfully, bringing Florina back into reality. She nodded her head. "Are you alright? You look a little flushed." Florina nodded, forcing a smile onto her lips.

"Sain, do you really like my sister?" Florina asked him. Something seemed to dawn on him as a smug grin found it's way onto his face. Florina felt the blood rushing back to her face. What was he thinking!

"She is pretty, very very pretty," He said. "But her mind is too focused on money. I've decided that I don't like that in a girl." He quickly added the next part so he would not offend her. "But, she's not bad, a good person and-" Florina giggled.

"I see you've decided, um, that not women are, well, worthy of you," She said.

"Well, yes, but when I do find one, I swear I will sweep her off her feet, dazzle her and-"

"Sain, I think most girls would appreciate more thoughtful gestures," She cut him off. He cocked a curious eyebrow at her. "I mean, well," She sighed. "Smaller things even will build to, er, a happy relationship."

"Like what?"

"Like…getting a girl flowers that she likes or helping her pack up her tent," She said.

"What kind of flowers?" He inquired. Florina stumbled around for an answer.

"Well…uh, there's the Ilian Rose, which is my favorite," She suggested. "It only grows in high altitudes, even in Bern, so you may be able to find it." He nodded.
"Hmm, well I shall try to find them. Thank you as always." He bowed to her and left. Florina watched him go. At least he was not pining for Farina anymore.

----

Author's Note: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Just wanted to get this out before I help with the cooking. And if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving, then have a very nice…Thursday. Well, review everybody! I'll reply using the new feature now. Buh-bye for now!

Standard disclaimers apply.