AN: Wow, school started a week ago and I'm already tired of it. But I had a good labor day weekend so I was able to write this out.

Enjoy!

Edited on 9/14/2016

The princess still hasn't learned from their last encounter on the battlefield, and yet at the same time, she has.

There are tears in the corners of her eyes, yes, but Leo can see a fire in them. They are passionate – determined. They look right into his own darker, colder ones as she readies her bow and arrow. "I won't let you pass!" She speaks, her tone authoritative and firm, even though her fingers are jittery and her bottom lip quivers terribly. "The people of Hoshido are too p-precious to me!"

It's the love and compassion for her homeland that drives her to stand here before him; that motivates her to pick up arms against her brother. His brother. With great accuracy, Sakura fires an arrow towards him. All of her pain, her anger and her sorrow charges it. And Leo blocks it, just as he blocks out her sorrow, her anger and her pain.

Instinctively, his hands reach for Brynhildr, and although the magic begins to tingle his fingertip and surges all throughout his divine tome, he can't find it in himself to strike her down. He clenches his fists, tucks Brynhildr underneath his arm, and steers his mount away from her. There are more pressing matters to tend to than to spend time on the Hoshidan princess, and like his other siblings, he'd like to get this war over with as soon as possible.

He remembers thinking how irritated she makes him when another arrow whizzes right past his ear. Firing at him while his back is turned? "How cowardly," he speaks, readying his tome once more. She looks frightened – intimidated by him even, but she still looks into his eyes with unwavering determination.

"I…I said that you will not pass," she reiterates. "I mean that."

His eyes narrow at her. It's a threat, but he isn't intimidated by her in the least. He wants to scoff at her. Does the Hoshidan princess truly think she can take him down? But the air of confidence that surrounds him dies in an instant. Of course she doesn't believe that she can win, but it doesn't stop her from trying to save the place she's always called home, and it doesn't stop her from trying to save the people she loves so dearly.

"Very well then," says Leo.

Though they stand opposite of the battlefield, he finds himself almost at awe at her willpower. Maybe if fate turned out a bit differently, they could have been great comrades; friends even. But thinking on that sentiment is rather useless, because it isn't the case, nor will it ever be.

The thought runs through his mind as she fires another arrow, and it sinks into the flesh of his shoulder. He thinks of how horribly she cried when Corrin picked himself over her as the divine tome ensnares her and knocks her down on her knees. The shrill crying of pain and defeat rings through his ears when he ultimately wins in battle.

Her body, which lies on the dirt floor and breathes heavily, is forever engrained in his mind when she mumbles to herself, "I failed... I guess I'm still just a p-powerless princess..."

She's far from it, but he doesn't feel the need to say it to her. He instead turns his back on her, eager to defeat the enemy commander and push forward to the throne room. But he can't help but think back on their encounter, even as Elise heals his wounds, and as more Nohrian troops come to their aid.

The Hoshidans are bound by their wrists and escorted to the prisons with their heads hung low in shame and defeat. Their weapons lie haphazardly on the ground. The Hoshidan princess' healing rod is just ways away from them. He watches as she walks past him, her droplets of tears decorate the ground where little blood is spilled.

Her cheek is scratched up, her fingers have blisters, and her wrists look to be bound a little too tightly. He can see her grit her teeth when Xander's authoritative voice gives orders to soldiers who guide their prisoners away from the battlefield and into holding cells that are used for those they call criminals.

The sound of metal ripping through flesh startles him out of his thoughts, and the bloodcurdling scream of a Hoshidan soldier causes the princess to lift her head. The soldier falls to his knees as his blood gives a vibrant, sickening color to the bland-looking ground. The princess gasps, her skin is a porcelain white. Her voice is hoarse and raw. "Please untie my hands!" She begs with all her heart. "I swear I won't try to escape! Please, let me help them!"

But her pleas fall upon deaf ears. There is another sound of someone's body split open, and then another scream and cry for help. The tears fall freely down Sakura's face. A whimper and a sob escape her as she begs for Iago and Hans not to kill anymore of her countrymen.

And they're trying. Xander is trying hard to save her people. Corrin is trying his hardest too. For once, Leo listens to her pain, anger and sorrow, and the melody it produces is guilt riddling. This is wrong. This is all wrong. His father doesn't understand anything, he doesn't understand how much everyone's hurting – how much she's hurting.

It's hard to ignore her crying now. She won't stop. The tears keep falling, her shoulders heave – someone tell her to stop before they make her stop. Be gentle with her – the ropes are digging into her skin. He can't look at her anymore, but all he can see is her tearstained face, a little bruised and terribly pale.

Someone help.

"Sakura!" Leo cries out into total darkness. Sweat slides down his face and drips down from his chin, and stains his bedsheets. His fingers are trembling and his breathing is erratic. He runs a hand through his hair, and tries to piece together what just happened. Was that a dream? He felt everything.

The arrow that plunged into his shoulder, the feeling of irritation – he felt all of it. Then Leo gasps. "I… I hurt her…" Was he some kind of monster? How could he do such a thing to her? But he'd never meant to do it. He never wanted to do that to her. But he even tried leaving but she's the one who called him back.

She even hurt him too. But this is different. She cried. He made her cry… just as he did at Xander's wedding. Their faces looked almost identical, save for the bruises he'd given her. There's no excuse for what he's done.

Leo practically watched as her heart, barely pieced together, ripped in two at the sight of her countrymen slain in cold blood. He was sure it ripped the same way a few months ago, when she'd run away from him, as did his own. Leo flops back onto his bed, unable to go back to sleep.

How can he when images of her sobbing face resurfaces as soon as he closes his eyes? Leo can't bear to look at her anymore, he just can't. Not with the knowledge that he's hurt her oh so horribly.

It's the only thing that replays in his mind the entire night.

Leo's return back to school is different. Elise isn't there to barge into his new apartment and help move his stuff in. She's had her own dorm room to move into and decorate with posters, framed pictures of kittens and puppies, and stuffed animals. He misses her exuberant energy – move in day doesn't feel the same without it.

When Garon is finished helping Leo move in, he leaves the unpacking to he and Camilla, who doesn't mind at all. She did seem a bit more chipper when helping Elise move in, but only because Leo never allows her to help decorate. He watches as she cleans the window in his bedroom with a raised brow.

"The window is practically sparkling Camilla," he says. "I don't think you need to clean it anymore."

She turns to face him with a frown on her lips. "Darling, how can you not see how dirty it is? Look at it," she says, and Leo obliges her. "Tell me it doesn't look streaky. I dare you."

It looks good enough to him, and Leo doesn't really look out his window to begin with so this is all pointless. Especially since the view of the nearby parking lot isn't the most breathtaking thing he's seen. However, there is something, or rather someone, there who takes his breath away. Leo isn't sure if being breathless is a good thing, because from the pit of his stomach, he loathes seeing her.

Her hair is a little longer since he's last seen her almost three months ago, and her smile is just as broad as it was back then, but Leo can tell that Sakura has lost some of her radiance. She and her eldest brother carry boxes across the parking lot back to wherever she's living this year, and although they seem to be having a good conversation, she looks tired.

Is she having those nightmares too?

He doesn't want to think about it. He doesn't even want to look at her, but his eyes follow her until she's out of his sight. Leo's heartbeat is irregular and his nails dig into the palms of his hands. Just seeing her reminds him of that godawful nightmare he had of her last month. It's so odd seeing her and being unable to call out to her and say hello all because the thought scares him a little.

"Was that her?" Camilla asks suddenly. "Sakura?" Her question throws him off guard so much that his nails cease digging into his hands and his eyes widen in shock. Has he been staring too long? His sister folds her arms underneath her chest. "She's very cute."

Leo says nothing, and steps away from the window to unpack some more of his clothes into his dresser. They never got the chance to talk about her after the wedding like Camilla wanted to. She pried, but Xander was the one who told her that Leo and Sakura had somewhat of a falling out. It could hardly be called a falling out, since the two of them never argued about anything, but whatever it was, it seems as though it's led to the end of their friendship.

"Do you want to talk about it?" She asks, but he doesn't respond. "I'm here to listen if you need it."

"Has it occurred to you that maybe I haven't said anything to you because I don't want to talk about it?" Leo snaps, and Camilla's hardened expression, mixed with hurt and annoyance, makes him regret his words. "Sorry, I didn't mean to lash out. I'd just… rather not talk about it… and about her."

"No, it's fine," says Camilla. "I shouldn't have pried. If anything I should be the one apologizing. But, if I can just say one thing, I hope the two of you do rekindle what you had. It'd be a shame to let that go."

Leo opens his mouth to say something, but immediately closes it. Whatever it was that he and Sakura had, with the book sharing, the Valentine's Day chocolates, and their linking of arms each time they walked side by side, it's all over now. Instead, those sweet memories are corrupted by her beautiful face stained with her own blood and tears, and the terrible sounds of her sobs.

"Yeah, I hope so too," Leo finally says. Those words are more to placate Camilla than himself, but there is a small, more whimsical part of him that wishes so badly to talk to her again. It's overtaken by his more cynical side, who wants to scoff at the thought. There's no way he can face her.

Not after the way he's hurt her.

Life has a funny way of working. The woman he wants to avoid so badly seems to show up everywhere. On his first day of classes, Sakura happened to stroll into one of them and the two of them made eye contact for all of two seconds before he looked away. And then, as if it hadn't been clear that she hated him now, she happened to sit on the opposite side of the classroom from him.

At the library, he tries his hardest not to look at her, but how is he supposed to keep tabs on her if he doesn't? She's looking for some sort of book, he presumes. The look of concentration and slight confusion on her face as she walks past the aisles of books says it all. She must've thought to ask for help at the front desk. She wouldn't have looked his way otherwise.

Sakura immediately turns away from him as soon as they see each other, and he can hear her ask someone else for help.

But the cherry on top is when the two of them see each other over the cobblestone bridge. His heartbeat quickens when he sees her on the other end of the bridge, yet he doesn't turn away. Neither does she. They don't look at each other, and keep their eyes straight forward. They're getting so close that he can easily reach for her hand, look into her eyes and ask where he went wrong. Where they went wrong.

Instead, Leo clenches his fists when the two of them walk right past each other. He stops for a moment to look back at her. Is she really going to walk past him and pretend like nothing happened? Not quite, because she looks back too; her eyes filled with anxiousness and just a hint of fear, if he's reading her correctly.

She looks just as wary of him the first time they met at this exact spot, and she does the same thing she did a year ago. She turns her head, walks away from him, and doesn't look back.

All of a sudden, he's frustrated. Why is she running away from him? What has he done wrong this time? She was the one who called out "Marx." She was the one who ran away. So why is he getting the silent treatment? It's because of those damned dreams, isn't it? He really did hurt her didn't he? Those bruises, those tears – they're all his fault. He didn't mean to do it. Leo's never once thought of laying a finger on Sakura. Ever.

But then why is she ignoring him? It's not as if he's actually hurt her in real life! It's not his fault, right? It shouldn't be, because he never intended on hurting her.

It doesn't matter if he never intended on it. It still happened, and it still affects her, just as it affects him. She has the right to run away from him, just like he has the right to yearn for her. All this longing makes him sick. He reminds himself that the bond the two of them shared is broken, and they're no more than two people who used to know each other.

Leo doesn't think that admitting it to himself would make him feel so hollow, and yet, it does. Would things have played out differently if Leo told her how remarkable he thinks she is, or if he told her how much she makes him smile. Maybe if he'd figured out how much he cared for her sooner, the two of them would be able to talk about all of this sooner.

Maybe they'd still be friends.

He wants to laugh at himself. All this over thinking and unwanted stress over a girl? Never in a million years did he think this would happen. The more he thinks about it, the more he realizes that Sakura isn't just a girl – she's someone Leo has grown to care about in a span of a year. But it doesn't matter anymore. None of this matters anymore. After his graduation in the spring, they'll never have to see each other again.

Leo accepts this – embraces it even.

This means that everyone around him has to accept this as well. Camilla doesn't mention her anymore when Leo chats with her. He instead listens to some of her gossip, just like he always has. Since Xander is a married man now, there's not much she can say about him. However, she does tip him off that he and his wife are thinking of having a baby.

Leo wonders if he's sure about having one so soon. Children are a handful. Doesn't he want to spend time with his wife for a year or so? He shrugs it off. Xander's always been a little impulsive anyway.

When he talks to Elise, she tells him about all the cool friends she's made on her campus and how different college is from high school. "It's like one big, never ending sleepover," she beams. Despite being happy, she does mention being a little homesick. Leo can relate. Freshman year is always weird.

Something she says makes Leo Skeptical however. "So, you find any other cute girls to talk to?" It implies something that makes Leo positive that Camilla opened her mouth about something she wasn't supposed to.

"Other cute girls?" Leo asks. "You make it sound like there was someone else."

He doesn't even need to see his sister's face to know how tense she is. "Wh-what? I'm not saying that there was another girl."

"But that's exactly what 'other' implies," says Leo.

"Uhhh…"

He sighs. "I don't know what exactly Camilla said to you, but can you do me a favor and drop it?"

Leo can practically hear her pouting as she mumbles a small apology. He forgives her. He appreciates that everyone wants to comfort him in their own way, but he doesn't need the pity. It's fine. Leo is fine. Everyone just worries too much.

Over time, not being able to mention Sakura has become somewhat of an unspoken rule in Leo's apartment. It had gotten to the point where he'd ignore anyone who asked about her, and after withstanding the silent treatment for so long, his roommates just stopped asking about her.

These days, Leo seems different. A little harsher and a bit more moody, as Niles likes to put it. With all that Leo has been through the past few months, he could care less. It's this attitude that causes the two of them to butt heads more often. Usually, a few offhanded comments are thrown at each other, and the atmosphere in the room is awkward and just a little tense when it's all over in a minute or two.

Tonight is different.

From his bedroom, Leo can hear his roommates' incessant chatter ever so clearly. He ignores it for the most part, that is until Laslow mentions Sakura's name. It's bad enough Leo has to be with her in the same room once a week for classes, but he has to hear about her here too? And despite not wanting anything to do with her, Leo doesn't put on headphones to block Laslow's words out. He listens to him.

"I thought this apartment was anti-Sakura," says Odin.

Laslow scoffs. "Leo is at work isn't he? No harm done if he isn't here to listen to it."

"Okay, so what about her?" Asks Niles casually. "Did you ask her out instead? Wine 'n dine her and take her back here?"

His words make Leo so angry. Because yes, Sakura, who's been wary of Laslow since last year, would come back to their apartment and spend time with him between his sheets. Of all the ridiculous things he's ever heard, this takes the cake. And through this rage, Leo's mind isn't clear enough to see that Niles is being Niles – as he always is.

"You and I both know that didn't happen," says Laslow. "Actually, I wasn't sure if I mentioned that we have class together."

This is the first Leo's heard about this, and he's surprised to know that Laslow never mentioned it in the beginning of the semester where the three of them still talked about her freely. It seems Niles and Odin are in the same boat as Leo, because the two of them are genuinely surprised as well, and urge Laslow to continue.

"Okay, so this is a history class we have together, and we have presentations due a little later in the semester in pairs of two. And guess who I got paired up with?" Laslow asks. Leo can practically hear him grinning.

Odin makes an, "Ohhhhh" sound while Niles lets out a chuckle and waits for Laslow to speak. "I didn't think we'd get much of anything done since she's so shy, but when she did open up to me, I was surprised. She has such good ideas and is open to all of my ideas but –"

She second guesses herself a lot when she really doesn't need to, Leo finishes Laslow's sentence word for word in his mind. For some reason, there's a small twinge of jealousy in him. He used to be the only one who knew how brilliant Sakura was, and how badly she'd been wrapped up in her insecurities.

Now Laslow is the one who'll get to see how bright and bubbly she is. He'll be the one who gets listen to her speak for hours if he wants to. And why wouldn't he? She's honestly –

"– amazing!" Says Laslow, who unknowingly finishes Leo's thought. "Hah, I can see why Leo took interest in her."

"Took?" Asks Odin. "You mean like in past tense?"

"Well yeah," he says. "I don't think they talk anymore, so whatever it was is over."

"You mean like some kind of fling or something?" Odin asks.

It was anything but a fling! Leo wants to shout, but he restrains himself. They're all starting to piss him off at this point, talking as if the know anything about his situation.

"Maybe? I'm not too sure," says Laslow. "I can't tell who broke what off though… I thought it was her because Leo seems so… different lately, but when I mentioned his name in passing, she looked kind of strange – all jittery and whatnot. Then soon after, she said she had to go." Leo winces. He can't listen to this anymore. Just the thought of her trembling at the sound of his name is enough to make his stomach ache.

Finally, he swings his door open and steps out, startling his roommates in the process. He takes one good look at the three of them, and they all stare back. Odin is the first to speak. "…I thought you were at the library," he says.

Leo shuts his door. "Someone else needed the hours."

"So then where are you going?" Asks Niles.

"Out."

"Leo!" Laslow calls out. "I'm sorry about… bringing her up. I know you don't like to talk about it, and I'd never do anything like that on purpose. And I wouldn't have said anything if I knew you were here."

Leo's eyes narrow at him. "You're bringing her up again by apologizing. Seriously, let it go."

"Wow, I never think you'd sink this low, but here we are," says Niles with a terrible smirk across his lips. "So because of your relationship troubles, we're not allowed to have a conversation? Come the fuck on, Leo."

Odin quickly places a hand on Niles' shoulder and tells him to cool it, but Niles shrugs it off with ease. Leo glowers at Niles. He isn't worth the time or effort right now, but man, does he need to get all this pent up anger out of him. "Watch your mouth when you speak to me. I don't ask you guys for much but holy shit, is it that hard not to do the one thing you know that I don't like? It is not complicated."

Niles lets out a dry laugh. "What? Are you kidding me? You're joking, right? You have to be. We didn't know you were here, what the hell? You've been acting like this ever since we got back to school and it's starting to annoy me. We can't mention her whether we're in your presence or not? You know what? Go on Laslow. What were you saying about Sakura now?"

"Niles, come on now," says Laslow. "Isn't this this a little harsh? I don't think I should…"

"I actually don't care," Niles says. "It's Leo's fault for eavesdropping in the first place."

Leo scoffs. "Yeah, okay Niles. I'm leaving." He doesn't have to put up with Niles' crap. He shouldn't have to. Just as he's about to step out, Niles opens his mouth again.

"So you still didn't tell me about her, Laslow. She's really sweet and nice right?" He asks. "Where do you two work on that project? Is she nice enough to let you into her room then? Because who wants to work here in this depressing shit hole?"

"Niles, chill out!" Odin cries.

"I mean, she's obviously scared of Leo, so it doesn't make sense to bring her here," he says as he completely ignores Odin. "But you? You're a little gentler with ladies, aren't you? Yeah, you probably sweet talked your way into her room and into her pants too. Don't hold out on us, Laslow."

"Niles, please. Leo –"

"Huh? What about Leo? Am I hurting his feelings?" He scoffs. "Well Leo can build a bridge and get over it!"

It was as if any form of logic and reasoning flew out of Leo's head the moment his hands clamped around his best friend's neck. The words, "Don't you ever fucking talk about her like that," escape him as Laslow and Odin attempt to pry the two of them off of each other. The entire time, Niles' blue eyes look directly into Leo's rage filled brown ones. It's almost scary how he can't read them, and his grip on Niles loosens long enough for Laslow and Odin to pull them apart.

When the two of them are on opposite sides of the room, Leo continues to lash out. "None of you have a damn clue! None! You all just gossip and assume, like you all know everything!"

"As screwed up as it was for him to do that, did you ever stop to think that Niles has a point?" Cries Odin.

"A point about what?"

"We're your friends, aren't we? But you never tell us anything," Laslow says. "And of course, we got that you were upset about something and gave you your space but… we want to help you when you're not at your best. And you won't let us.

Moody, irritable, excessively tired… They're all things his friends have noticed about him lately. They ask if it all because of Sakura. When he's silent, they tell him that they only want to help. This feeling is familiar to him. Right, he felt the same way on Xander's wedding night. He only wanted to help her, to see what was wrong. She wouldn't let him.

It's a cycle, isn't it? He wants to break it. They ask again, as serious as possible, and Leo lets out a small sigh. "Can I… start from the beginning please? It'll be easier that way."

It's difficult, but he does it. From the dream of meeting Sakura on the battlefield and the atrocities of the war to Sakura's slip up at the wedding and his most recent dream of her over the summer, his roommates know everything now. Who would have thought relaying it to them would feel like reliving the experience? It truly is painful.

Niles is the one who rests a comforting hand on Leo's shoulder. "Thanks for telling us." The first thing he's said since Leo attacked him, and he still feels bad about it. He doesn't have to say anything because Niles has already forgiven him before he's even apologized.

"No, I should be thanking you for listening… and not being judgmental," he says.

"We wanted to listen," says Odin. "And we'd never judge you."

Leo's smile is weak. "Again, thank you. It's nice to get this off my chest but… I feel like I screwed this all up. She really never wants to see my face again."

"That's not true," Laslow cuts in. "I think she cares about you. When I mentioned your name, she looked uncomfortable. But then she looked at me and asked, 'how is Leo doing?' I didn't know what to say, so I told her you were okay. And then she told me she had to go. She wouldn't have asked if she didn't care."

This is true. Sakura isn't the type of person to ask something about someone she doesn't care for. But if she cares so much, then why does she ignore him? It doesn't make any sense.

"I think you should talk to her," Odin says. "I mean, this whole thing is way too freaky to just leave on its own."

"I don't think I should just walk up to her though," Leo ponders aloud. "I don't want it to seem like I'm cornering her or anything." He wants to come off as nonthreatening as possible.

Niles starts to look as if he's thought of the best idea ever. "If that's the case, then just shoot her a text message. She can respond whenever she wants. If she never does, then you've gotta see her in person." It's still hard to face her with the thought of his most recent dream looming over his head. But if it means bettering things between he and Sakura, he'll gladly confront those dreams.

In bed, he stares at his phone screen that illuminates a section of his room. He doesn't want to just say "hello, how are you"… it feels wrong. Instead he asks:

Have you ever dreamed of being a princess for the kingdom of Hoshido?

It's straight to the point, and all she has to do is give him a one word answer. With that, Leo rests his phone on his night table and closes his eyes.

Please talk to me Sakura, he thinks. I want us to be normal again.