HAPPY BIRTHDAY R.K.!

Bold is emphasis

'This is a thought'

And no, I don't own Fire Emblem…so unfortunate…

11 HOURS

LUCIA

"Did we just see…?" Kieran began nervously. "…Geoffrey naked…"

"We saw nothing!" Lucia whispered harshly

"Okay…but now how are we going to give him the message?"

"I'll…" Lucia began but she sighed as he poked her head in Geoffrey's tent again. "Geoff…rey..."

Lucia had been initially shocked to see her (shirtless) brother in his bed with someone. But now that she was seeing him kissing and cuddling her…it was almost too much to bear. There were only two possible yet very unlikely explanations. First, he had already gotten over Elincia, ('Yeah, right…' Lucia snorted to herself). Second, he was only using his new friend to get back at the Queen, which would make sense as she caught a glance at his clothes on the floor and figured that hers where underneath. The fact that a pair of female boots were near Geoffrey's only confirmed her suspicion that Geoffrey had gone the whole nine yards. 'So very uncharacteristic of you, brother…'

"Yeah…?" he grunted. Lucia just knew that he was annoyed.

"Um…if you're…" Lucia began, not knowing how to continue. She held back a gasp as Geoffrey's friend turned in the bed.

"…finished…?" Kieran had whispered so helpfully.

"…there's an urgent meeting going on…"

"I'll be right there…"

Kieran and Lucia pulled each other out.

He shrieked suddenly, "Queen Elincia?!"

Lucia turned and instinctively blocked the entrance to the tent as her friend approached them, "Good morning, Queen."

"Good morning to both of you." She said as she turned to stare at Lucia. "Why do you look so nervous?"

Lucia wasn't sure what to say but was she glad when Micaiah suddenly called out Elincia's name.

Elincia turned as Lucia poked her head back in the tent. The girl gasped and covered herself again with the blanket.

'Oh dear, she really has no clothes on…'

"Lucia!" Geoffery said harshly.

'But at least he's wearing his pants now…'

Lucia was now standing halfway through the flap with her head facing out, trying to be able to know what was going both inside and outside.

"Who's missing?" Elincia asked Micaiah in concern, outside.

"Don't move until I get them away from here." Lucia heard Geoffrey say, inside the tent.

"A good friend of ours," the silver haired girl said, "We've been searching for many hours but we have yet to find her."

"Is that Lady Micaiah…?" Lucia had barely heard Laura speak, since she was still underneath the blanket.

Lucia was not stupid and she rationalized that the missing person was with Geoffrey but before she could speak, her brother pushed her out. Unable to keep her footing, Lucia ended up pushing Elincia, although very softly.

"We'll sound an alarm…" Elincia turned to face Lucia, frowning, "…what's wrong?"

Lucia was caught off guard, "Excuse me?"

"You just pushed me…"

"Oh that…no…I didn't push you, Your Majesty. Um, it's just that I think it's premature to sound an alarm…"

"What? Why?" Micaiah asked softly.

Everyone was now staring at her, "I'm sure your friend just slept with someone else…I mean…somewhere…else…"

"But she wouldn't! Laura isn't like that." Miciaiah said loudly.

"Oh, yes she is…"

Sothe touched Micaiah's shoulder (to prevent her from speaking) as Elincia continued to frown at Lucia. She in turn, looked over at Kieran but the red headed knight looked away.

Sothe spoke up, "We know Laura and we also know that she speaks only to us…"

"…and Commander Geoffrey…" Kieran piped up. Lucia felt like hitting him.

"Whose tent is this?" Micaiah asked out of the blue.

Geoffrey's head popped out. "What is everyone doing out here?"

It went dead silent until Micaiah spoke up softly, "Someone is missing, Commander…"

Lucia saw how Geoffrey frowned, "Who?" he asked…

"Our friend, Laura."

…and then she saw how his face changed to surprise, nervousness and maybe guilt (in that order) only to disappear back inside. Lucia also tried to walk in but was pushed once again by her brother. A few moments later, he walked out, opening the flap, Laura cautiously appearing, her eyes looking at the floor.

"Laura!" Micaiah yelled out as she pulled her forward, hugging her. "You're all right."

Lucia turned to face Elincia and saw how her best friend stared at the raven haired girl. Micaiah bowed and thanked them before pulling Laura away. And when the girl turned to wave at Geoffrey, who also waved back, Lucia could've sworn that Elincia's eyes got wider.

"Commander Geoffrey…" Elincia said softly.

Geoffrey bowed his head at her, "Your Majesty."

"Who is that?"

Lucia's eyes opened wide and grabbed Kieran before he could run away.

"She is Laura, a very dear and special friend."

"Did she spend the night with you?" Elincia asked bluntly.

Lucia knew she had to step in, for Elincia's sake, but something stopped her. Loyalty to her brother? Maybe. Not wanting to meddle in an affair that didn't directly involve her? More likely.

"That, Your Majesty, is none of your concern."

Lucia gave Geoffrey a death glare as she tried to grab Elincia by her shoulders, failing when the Queen tried to hug Geoffrey.

"It is…"

"…not…" he interrupted, stepping away.

Lucia had turned to grab her friend once more and mentally cursed when she saw that Kieran was long gone.

"Anyway, let's go to this meeting!" Lucia said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible.

A/N: Sorry about not finishing on the 22 like I had initially promised but there is a very good reason for it. Another friend has decided to add her own spices to the story. This was written by Star and slightly edited by yours truly. To make this an even more special gift, Star and I are going to end it on the next chapter, together.

P.S. if something doesn't make sense, please let me know.