The house was quiet except for the rain that was pounding against the roof. Edward and Mia had slept all day. It was dark outside and there wasn't a candle burning in Edward's house right now. Edward stretched his arms over his head and pulled himself up. He looked around the dark room wondering what time it was.

"Mia? Are you awake?" He asked his voice sounding mostly recovered at this point. If Edward would have known, he probably would have never put his hand on Mia's back. She was just waking up…but at some point between the morning and now Mia had managed to strip herself down to her bra and now Edward's hand was right in the middle of her mostly bare back. He had no idea if she was still wearing her pants or not. He really, really hoped she was or this situation would get a hundred times worse than it already was.

"Mia?" Edward started nervously. "When did you take your shirt off?" Edward asked her.

"Hmmm? Oh…I have no idea." Mia said calmly. "I wonder where it is?" She asked. Out of all the panicking Edward had done in his life, this was the one time he could not totally freak out. Her skin was soft and as much as he didn't want to find her shirt…that was the only option right now that would completely prevent Edward's mental collapse. This was a situation that could get out of control quickly if Edward didn't find her shirt fast.

"Uh…let me…see if it's over here." Edward said leaning over the side of the bed to check. He couldn't see anything but he remembered what it felt like. "Here, here, here, here!" he said a little too frantically.

"Oh, thanks." Mia said obviously not noticing that Edward was having a moment. "You know, I feel a lot better now."

"Me too." Edward laughed. He suddenly felt much more relaxed than he did 20 seconds ago. "I think we drank way too much…but it was worth it."

"Yeah, it was. I just thought of something…all my clothes are at Noelle's and I've been wearing this same outfit for over twenty-four hours." Mia said.

"Oooh don't go get them right now, it's warm in here!" Edward said scooping her up and slightly pinning her underneath him. Obviously he hadn't remembered a thing Leonardo had said about NOT coming to Noelle's to get any of Mia's clothes.

"You're right, it is warm in here." Mia said wiggling around to hold Edward against her.

"When I get the motivation, I'll go get us a glass of water. I'm really thirsty." Edward said kissing the side of her head. Mia laughed.

"I'll get it. I don't care to actually do something…but I'm kind of underneath you so that's my excuse." Mia said.

"Do you realize this house is so dark that I can't even see you?" Edward said just noticing this darkness.

"Yeah…but that's okay. I'm so comfortable right now." Mia said. Now she had Edward completely on top of her. She tightened her arms around him and let her lips touch his. Edward could feel Mia's hands under his shirt. It made him shudder all over. Her hands felt wonderful. "How did you get this scar?" Mia asked softly as she traced her fingers over Edward's ribs.

"I got hit by a steel lance…I was being reckless…and I paid for it." Edward said his voice filled with both sadness and sentimentality. "It was bad…Leonardo gave me his last vulnerary that day. He saved my life. I was so mad at him for giving it to me. He was hurt too…and it was all because I rushed in too fast and he was trying to protect me from behind. I'll never forget it because I remember screaming at him for giving me the vulnerary." Edward laughed. "I couldn't understand why he wouldn't just use the damn thing and leave me to my fate. The only fight we've ever had was over a vulnerary." Mia kissed him again.

"I would hardly call that a fight, Edward. I think you just let your emotions take control of you." Edward laughed.

"You don't understand Mia. I called Leonardo every word I could think of for giving me the vulnerary and when I used it he blacked out and I thought he had died. I remember screaming and crying and screaming even more at him. Sothe dragged me away to get me back to our base even though I was hysterical." Edward said. "At the time I didn't know that Laura had gotten to him. She stopped his bleeding. I remember both of us laying on the same cot at the base camp. That may have been the only time I've ever hugged another guy that tightly. But you know what? I wasn't sorry for calling him a sorry ass this that and the other…he should have used that vulnerary." Mia laughed at Edward pushing brown hair out of his eyes even though she couldn't see him.

"I understand Edward…I'm so glad the war is over. I hated being away from home, always having to watch my every move and enduring so much intense fighting. It was a miserable time wasn't it Edward?" Mia asked saddened by the memories of the war.

"It was a miserable time. But hey, there was at least one good thing that happened amidst the fighting and that was that I met you." Edward laughed. "I told Leonardo that I thought you were really pretty." Mia laughed and kissed Edward again.

"You're sweet, Edward." Mia said before pulling his shirt up over his head. She wasn't sure why she did it so impulsively but she did. Let's face it…Edward didn't mind at all.

Unlike Edward's house where it was virtually pitch black, there were four candles burning in Noelle's house along with the fire. It cast a soft amber light throughout the room. Leonardo and Noelle had fallen asleep on her couch. She could feel tender lips on her neck. The more she felt the more she wanted. Leonardo could feel her squirm against him and that drove him crazy. It made him wonder how she would react if…no. No, no, no….no matter how much he wanted to there was no way he would dare touch his lips to her shoulder. He put his hand on her face and tilted her head so her eyes met his.

"Did you sleep well?" Noelle smiled.

"I did…I don't think I even moved. I'm not at all surprised that we've been asleep all day." Noelle said pushing soft blond hair out of Leonardo's face. "I hope it's early. I want to sleep longer. What are you doing tomorrow?" She asked wrapping her arms around Leonardo.

"I'm going on a completely useless recruiting effort…no one wants to enlist in the Daein army now." Leonardo said already feeling a bit bummed by the whole idea of a recruitment effort. "And you know, me and a few other guys did an exhibition at the last recruitment we did. A fifteen year old told one of the snipers that archery was quote 'gay'." Noelle could feel Leonardo shake his head against her. "I give up…I'm taking Sothe the next time. He can….stab things and then maybe a few people will want to join the army then." Leonardo sighed. "Archery isn't gay…is it?" Leonardo asked completely second guessing his entire military career. He didn't really give Noelle a chance to answer and instead continued his rant. She couldn't have answered him anyway, she was still laughing at him. "I should have been a carpenter…or that guy who picks people up in the horse drawn coach and takes them to wherever the hell they need to go around town. Why does the Daein army even pay me!? I haven't gotten anyone to enlist in six weeks!" Leonardo mumbled. Noelle tightened her arms around him as she continued laughing at this fuming. She managed to push herself over to her side. She kissed him. But it wasn't just any kiss…it was a kiss to prove once and for all that archery was so not gay. It left Leonardo breathless and frankly…thoroughly convinced that this was the appropriate career path. "Okay…that's the hottest thing ever. Let me feel it again." Leonardo told her. It didn't take any convincing. They had to be careful; it was like walking on thin ice. This could go pretty far but their relationship was still pretty new so it couldn't go too far…yet.

"How did you survive? When Begnion attacked Nevassa…how did you stay alive?" Leonardo asked her holding her against him. Noelle thought about that dreadful day that was now four years past.

"It was awful. I can remember we learned of the impending invasion of the Begnion army just days before it happened. I went to the tavern one night and Wesley and Johann told me to leave with them…to get my father and leave with them. I was reluctant at first. I thought it would be easier to just take my father to the cellar and protect him instead of leaving Nevassa until the invasion was over. I will never forget how serious Wesley was that night. He said that if I didn't leave the soldiers would come in…take what they wanted, kill who they wanted. He said if they discovered my father and I that they would have their way with me, kill my father because he's not of able body and take whatever they wanted from the house before burning it to the ground. He said the soldiers would gladly break ever bottle of wine in the cellar before burning me alive in this very house…" Noelle paused. "That was enough to convince me to leave. So...Johann, Wesley and I spent eight hours packing up all of our valuables." Noelle laughed. "We packed away 89 bottles of wine and disguised them in beer crates. It's funny looking back on how we did that." Leonardo stopped Noelle there.

"Oh my god…you have 89 bottles of wine down there?" Leonardo asked shocked.

"Well, four years ago I did….now I have 115 bottles. Remember, my father started the collection. I've only added about 25 bottles to it." Noelle said.

"Where did you go?" Leonardo asked, his eyes full of sadness.

"About thirty miles north out of town where Johann was born, Groserhn. It's a rural dairy town; we knew we'd be safe there. Looking back that was the easy part…packing up our life and taking my father north that is. The hard part…was coming back to Nevassa." Noelle remembered that traumatic time. She shook her head. "Do you remember how everything looked?" She whispered.

"I wasn't here when it happened. I was east with Edward, Nolan, Sothe and everyone else. We were in pursuit of the Pelleas rumor." Leonardo said. Noelle closed her eyes.

"Be glad…that you didn't see this city. They completely burned the south side to the ground. There was nothing left except for hundreds of poor, homeless people with no skills. All the bridges and some of the roads were destroyed. They killed livestock. They looted everything they could get their hands on…this very house was nearly empty when we returned." Noelle shook her head. "I slept beside my father on a mattress on the floor on our first few nights back. Our furniture had been destroyed since it couldn't be taken. All the windows in here were broken out which made it quite unsafe since crime had risen amongst the chaos. But the worst part….were the bodies…the dead…everywhere. My neighbor was my closest friend….Ninah. She had a javelin through her when I found her in the back of her house. People were starving including my father and me. Eventually, the police and a force of relief workers from neighboring towns intervened and things slowly, slowly started to rebuild." Noelle said. That was her story of how she survived war times. It was sad, yes. But she survived.

"I hope we never have to see another war like that. So what are you doing tomorrow?" Leonardo asked her remembering how they originally got on this subject.

"I have five fittings to do in the morning. I'll be finished up by noon for sure. Then I'm going to make a chicken pot pie. What time will you be back tomorrow? You can stop by if you want and I'll have dinner ready. I'm assuming Mia is going to come by at some point either tonight or tomorrow." Noelle said.

"Actually, I'm not sure what time I'll be back in town. These things usually don't last more than three or four hours. How about I just come when I get back?" Leonardo said.

"I'll look forward to it." Noelle said softly.