Fie grinned as her partner twitched after the silver-haired girl let out a very loud and very obnoxious yawn in the middle of Legram. Earning such a reaction from Laura was half the reason she did it in the first place. The other half... "I'm bushed."

"I seriously doubt that." Laura countered, acting as if she could understand her exhaustion, "The Nosferatu was not that difficult a foe to overcome."

"Yeah, but we barely had a chance to rest after the Spirit Shrines..." Much to her delight her team had in fact won the race. That the others didn't know there was a competition and that Rean found himself facing a far more dangerous foe didn't matter to the girl. Team Fie number one!

"...And after that we had to deal with the surprise mission to Alster." What was supposed to be a simple request to deliver supplies to the remote village ended in a battle against a bunch of jaeger dropouts and even a panzer soldat while fighting alongside Toval and Altina. "Sure they were a bunch of scrubs, but I am so far behind on my sleep cycle right now..."

At least Kai and Tilia were cute kids. Altina too now that she had gotten a good look at Millium's 'sister'. No wonder Rean seemed so ambivalent towards the little girl despite her having commit the cardinal sin of laying a hand on his sister.

"Oh you poor baby." Laura teased, "I had no idea that you were suffering so profusely. You have my deepest sympathies."

"Sarcasm does not suit you. Stop trying to be like Sara."

"In that case, how about my gratitude? Thank you very much for helping me resolve the situation in Legram."

Fie couldn't help but avert her eyes from Laura's genuine smile. Snark and sarcasm she could deal with easily enough, but honest praise was something she still struggled with. The older girl definitely knew what she was doing with a move like that considering she wasn't even attempting to hide her amused laughter. Something which caused Fie's blush to grow a little darker.

"...Shut up." Once again she allowed herself the luxury of a yawn, but this one was solely to give her a few seconds to recompose herself, "It's a shame the ghost kinda sucked cause I was hoping to see your new super move in action."

"Oh? You heard about that?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes I heard about that. Did you really think to keep it a secret when the others saw it? Everyone gossips, you just need to know when to listen. I know you have a new move. Rean has a new move." Laura's eyebrows arched in surprise. Guess she didn't know that Rean had perfected his fancy new move. "...Even Jusis and Emma pulled out new techniques in the shrines and I'm sure the others have similar moves ready to go."

"Afraid you're falling behind?" Laura teased.

"Naw. I already got my new move ready. Just haven't had an enemy worth using it on yet."

That was actually a colossal lie. For the longest time she had always relied on her Sylphid Dance. It was the most powerful move Boss had taught her, so of course it would be good enough for her. She hadn't even considered creating something more powerful.

But now things were different. Sylphid Dance was a powerful move, yes, but it was also one simple enough to be taught to a small kid. She was older now. More powerful, more experienced, and most importantly – a lot quicker. It was time to create a finisher that could keep up with that growth.

To say she hadn't frantically spent the morning trying to brainstorm an idea would be a terrible lie, not that she would ever admit that to anyone. It was a good thing she wasn't some sword nerd who obsessed over perfecting the same techniques that some fossil had created years prior and instead could simply wing it. Winging it was what she did best, after all.

Already she had an idea in mind. Instead of simply going fast she could instead go even faster. She knew that at her absolute top speed she was starting to create after images, so why not take advantage of that to do something cool? And even if her form wasn't technically perfect it didn't matter 'cause not even Rean was quick enough with his eyes to notice any mistakes she might make, unless he was using Spirit Unification.

Shock and awe never fails.

"Hmm..." It was a struggle keeping her face from giving anything away. Normally she was confident in her flat expression giving nothing away, but the girl next to her was one of the few people capable of reading her, "If you say so. I am looking forward to seeing it for myself. Perhaps we should celebrate the end of the war with a duel?"

"Only a weirdo like you would want to celebrate like that."

"Ah. I understand. You know you would lose and don't want to look bad, is that it?"

Fie narrowed her eyes. She knew exactly what Laura was trying to do, but it still bugged her! "Fine, but just remember that you asked for it." The younger girl couldn't help but grin slyly as an idea came to mind, "...Just remember – I'm a jaeger. We take what we want by force."

She didn't need to specify what she wanted with words, as her roving eyes were enough to cause Laura to color. The Arseid heiress was quick to recompose herself, however, "You make a compelling case, but I think I would prefer a prize earned through a hard-won victory."

Both girls shared a laugh. While that initial duel in Heimdallr had been exciting, their promised future duel promised to be exciting in a very different sort of way. "You're lucky we are in the middle of town right now." Laura was too damn famous around here! It was impossible to have any fun with her when there were eyes upon them wherever they went!

"Hmm... Perhaps we should relocate to somewhere a little more secluded?" Laura's suggestion sent a thrill of excitement through the former jaeger. Just what kind of thoughts were going through the blue-haired girl's mind right now?

She was very much looking forward to finding out.

"...This wasn't what I was expecting." A dejected Fie muttered after they arrived at their destination.

"Oh? And what exactly were you expecting?" Laura asked innocently as she struggled to keep the grin off her face.

"Not this!" 'This' being a secluded spot on the dock behind the inn, giving the two a quiet place to sit on the edge and appreciate the majesty of Lake Ebel. Laura had even taken the time to borrow a pair of fishing rods.

The Legram native giggled in amusement, "I wonder what you could have been thinking? You certainly couldn't have been expecting us to leave Emma and Gaius behind in town, could you? And with the Courageous due back here in an hour it isn't as if we had much time to spend regardless..."

"Hmph!" The silver gremlin looked away with a pout, causing her to laugh a little harder. She could be so adorable when teased!

"Relax." She chided soothingly, "I am certain the time will come again when we will again have the freedom to do whatever you want."

"Don't act like you don't want it too." Laura couldn't deny those words. It would be nice to have an opportunity to further explore her sexuality without fear of someone interrupting them. Or overhearing them. Or teasing them. Or gossiping about them.

...Wow. The more she thought about it the more it depressed her how things had turned out.

"Either way!" Since she couldn't deny the words she simply changed the subject, eliciting an amused look from Fie, "I thought it would be nice to spend what time we have enjoying the water and doing a little fishing."

"...You've really let Rean corrupt you with his weird fishing obsession."

"Don't act like don't want it too." Laura parroted Fie's earlier words, causing the girl to grace her with a flat look.

The agile girl glanced between the offered rod and her face before eventually shaking her head, "Nah. I got a better idea."

Fie's better idea entailed Laura fishing while sitting while the younger girl laid down and used her lap as a pillow, something which the Arseid didn't mind at all. For some time things progressed like that, with the only sounds being the occasional noise of her casting the line into the water and Fie's rhythmic breathing. She didn't mind at all as it was a very companionable silence. The only question on her mind was if her partner had fallen asleep or-

"You're lap's pretty comfy." Or not.

"Is it now?" Laura glanced away from her line in the water to gaze downward at the lime eyes looking up towards her in return.

"Yup." She confirmed succinctly. "Might even be better than Rean."

Despite herself she couldn't help but be curious, "And how exactly does that work?"

"You're softer. He's funner to tease..." To reinforce her words the younger girl buried her head further into her lap, "...but it gets uncomfortable once he starts reacting."

"You are a terrible human being."

Fie grinned, clearly taking her words to be praise – which it definitely wasn't, "Aww. Thanks. Why isn't he here, anyways?"

Laura paused for a second as she recast her line, "You know full well that we all decided he and Jusis would help Elliot prepare for the concert since those two need the rest more than anyone."

"Oh yes, cause we're doing so much work right now."

"We were just in Lohengrin Castle fighting a Nosferatu!"

"He could've stayed behind! We handled it easy enough!"

"Uh huh." Laura muttered dryly, "And he's the kind of person to stay behind while we fight in his stead?"

Fie looked like she wanted to argue further, but no words formed. Instead the girl pouted in frustration, ceding the conversation to her. Laura couldn't help herself – the girl was just too adorable for her own good. Leaning down she stole a kiss from her girlfriend, something which Fie happily returned.

And in doing so she made a colossal mistake.

She was so focused on the other girl that her focus had shifted away from the thing she had previously been doing. So when a rather large fish decided at that instant to take the bait she was caught completely off guard. Instinctively she leaned forward to secure the rod before it could be yanked from her hands. Now she was completely unbalanced, sitting at the edge of the dock, with a confused looking jaeger on her lap, and a fish that gave a second big tug at that moment.

All it took was a single rege. That slight movement was enough to send her plummeting off the deck. And with her came a very bewildered Fie.

"I'm so sorry!" Contrary to what others might claim, Fie Claussell was definitely not a cat. However she shared one similarity with those adorable felines – a deep loathing of being unexpectedly wet. Thus she could only glare angrily at Laura's continued apologies.

"You are the worst fisherman ever. Rean will be so disappointed in you."

"That was only because you were being so distracting!"

She shrugged, "Not my problem. You messed up, now live with your shame."

Laura had assured her of the prospect of dry towels at her mansion, but that was comfort for another time. Right now as the two walked through Legram the dominant sounds were the squelching noises their boots made after each step. A truly miserable experience which would need days to resolve itself.

"Lady Laura!" Her miserable wet experience was interrupted by the arrival of three newcomers. Fie blinked, immediately recognizing the trio as Laura's fanclub, "Tell us it isn't true!"

"What isn't true?" The blue-haired native asked warily.

"That you did it with some boy!" The eldest of the three yelled with a furious blush on her face.

Fie blinked in surprise. How did that information already make it to here of all- "Oh. Right." That time when she came here to recruit Vivi.

Sadly for her that exclamation of surprise caught her partner's attention, and based on the narrowing of Laura's eyes the other girl had put the pieces together. "O-Oh... That." The baleful glare she sent towards Fie could have melted steel.

...Which made it all the more impressive when the swordswoman turned back to the three girls with a shy innocent expression on her face.,"I... Yes, I did. I know it was wrong, but I was coerced by my girlfriend into doing it."

Credit where credit was due. Laura was an absolutely terrible liar. Everyone knew it. It made sense given her honest and just nature. But what she could do really well was twist the truth to suit her own purposes. And given how trustworthy of an individual everyone knew her to be...

Three horrified gasps ensued. "No! W-Who would dare do such a thing to you? What kind of depraved girl would ever-" The youngest fangirl trailed off as she seemingly noticed something important as her and the other girls eyes all lowered before focusing on a singular point.

Curious, Fie followed their gazes. The answer surprised her. Had she really gotten so accustomed to holding hands that she hadn't noticed Laura take hers? She certainly didn't mind-

The former jaeger froze. That intimate gesture spelled her doom, didn't it?

Sure enough, looking back at the Legram girls confirmed the open hostility in their eyes. Fie let out a sigh as she knew her little prank had backfired terribly, "Nice one." Her words were quiet enough for only the girl next to her to hear, which caused her to grin victoriously.

"You! How dare you lead our Lady Laura into the depths of depravity!"

"Fiend!"

"Vile temptress!"

They were civilian girls. Absolutely the least threatening thing in all of Zemuria. For a veteran warrior like her they were nothing.

...And yet her fight or flight response was telling her that she needed to start running and get out of town. Now.

With an amused grin the silver-haired girl pulled her hand away from Laura before taking off in a rush. The grin faded when each noisy step reminded her of her soaked status, but she couldn't allow that to stop her. Not when three bloodthirsty beasts were chasing in hot pursuit.

"Lemme tell you about the other depraved things I got Laura to do!" ...If she was destined to be banned from Legram for life she would at least make sure to go out with a bang.

"Today has been an entirely fruitless venture." Jusis complained as he placed a seven card on the table.

Even though the high value card gave his foe a large numerical advantage, Rean couldn't quite keep the victorious smirk off his face. Since the technical cards like bolt and mirror couldn't be played as the final card he knew that whatever Jusis had couldn't counter his next move, "Yeah. While I appreciate the sentiment, I would much rather be out there with the others instead of sitting around uselessly like this... Also, Force."

While Jusis stared in annoyed disbelief at the purple card just laid down, Rean couldn't help but reflect upon the day he had had. It was decided by everyone but them that he and his fellow nobleman would be assisting Elliot while he prepared for Celdic's upcoming concert. A noble mission, except the musician had been far more interested in working with his club over his class. And given the timid boy had gone full General Craig mode to ensure everything was perfect the two elected to remain as far away as possible.

Offers to help around the Courageous were met with little success as Towa seemed to agree with the others that they should take it easy for the day. A kind gesture, but one that left him sitting around uselessly while worrying about his classmates. Laura, Fie, Emma, and Gaius had departed for Legram while Instructor Sara had led Alisa, Machias, and Millium to deal with a monster extermination request.

So outside of a brief time in the morning helping a newly arrived Professor Schmidt get situated on board to begin creating Valimar's new weapon – something for which he was quite excited for – the two were left to their own devices for the entire day. Chess, pool, Blade, and whatever else they could come up with were the name of the day.

"Want to go again?"

Jusis shook his head tiredly, "Not against you. Your luck with Blade borders upon the supernatural."

It was true. He could proudly say he won in almost every card game they had played. Of course his opponent had dominated him at chess, but that was to be expected from Machias' rival, "...How about some light sparring?" The others had made it clear he was supposed to relax, but surely they wouldn't mind a little light exercise, right?

Before Jusis could respond the Courageous' loudspeaker hummed to life, "We're coming up on Legram now! Everyone be prepared for landing!"

Towa's words caused the blonde noble to smile knowingly, "Looks like we will have to shelve that idea for now as I am quite certain you wish to greet the others."

Jusis' words were meant to be a tease, but they weren't wrong. Still, Rean knew his friend had been just as concerned about their well-being as he had – They were both part of the field study that drew them to Lohengrin Castle, after all. Wordlessly the two made their way to the entrance of the ship to await the arrival of their classmates.

Much to his relief all four of them were quick to embark right after the Courageous landed. Gaius and Emma appeared to be in high spirits as they boarded, with the latter happily informing them of mission success. What caught Rean's attention, however, was the arrival of the other two girls. Neither of them looked harmed, but their mood seemed distinctly lower.

...And was it just him or did both of them look quite damp?

Laura must have noticed his confusion as she flushed before looking away, "I uh... I have something I need to get done real quick. If you will excuse me." In a rush the noblewoman scurried off, avoiding eye contact the entire time. Eventually Jusis and the others all dispersed too, leaving the confused swordsman by his lonesome.

Actually, that wasn't quite true. He almost didn't notice that a sneaky someone had elected to remain until she spoke up, "She's just embarrassed cause she sucks." Were it anyone else he would have frowned at the nasty comment, but he knew that Fie meant her harsh words in the most affectionate way possible.

"Tell me about it?" He asked hopefully.

"Sure, but not here." The former jaeger looked down at her still wet boots before glancing back at him with an excited glint in her eyes, "I'm sick of walking around in these wet boots. Carry me somewhere so I can take em off."

The request caused him to blink. Sure it was understandable that she wouldn't want to walk around like that, but to be carried? "Uh, alright. Want a piggyback ride?"

The girl looked at him like he was a moron, "Really? A piggyback ride? Are you that lame? Aren't you supposed to sweep me off my feet and carry me like a princess?"

Rean rolled his eyes with a wry grin on his face, "Fine, but don't complain if I bump your head into a door or something on the way." He wouldn't do that of course. Not to his silver-haired princess.

With Fie in his arms he decided to retrace his steps and head back to the break room knowing that it should still be deserted. The lightweight girl didn't make a single noise, causing Rean to glance down at her. With her eyes closed and her breathing steady a lesser person might have fallen for the ruse, but he knew better.

Since the girl was continuing to feign sleep even after he set her down, Rean let out a dramatic sigh, "I guess she was more tired than I realized. Oh well. Guess I should just leave her here for now and go see how Laura is doing..."

"Jerk."

With her ruse discovered Fie wasted little time in sitting up and stretching. After that she immediately began the process of taking her boots off. After that went her socks, leaving the girl barefoot.

Rean frowned a little. It was clear that whatever happened had occurred some time ago as her feet were starting to turn red. As someone born and raised in a cold climate he understood the dangers of leaving ones feet in such a state, and even if she still seemed well enough he saw no need to take the chance, "Let me see them."

The girl rolled her eyes, "They're not that bad." And yet despite her words she still complied, raising her legs and letting her feet rest on his lap. Rean was entirely unsurprised when a teasing grin came to her face as he began massaging the extremities with his hands, "Soooo... Is this your fetish?"

"Hush." He chided gently as he continued his ministrations, "So what happened?"

"First you tell me to hush and now you want me to tell you what happened? Getting some mixed signals here."

He narrowed his eyes at her cheeky grin. "Fine. If you want to be like that..." He wasn't entirely sure where he was going with this, but a solution presented itself quickly enough. With a malicious grin the Schwarzer stopped massaging her feet, instead opting to use a hand to pin them on his lap.

"W-Wait! Rean-" Fie realized what he was about to do, but was powerless to stop as he used his free hand to begin tickling the trapped limbs. His efforts were rewarded as the younger girl immediately began squirming around, but with his superior strength he was able to keep her from escaping.

"Pffft!" She was desperately trying to keep from letting out any noise, but he was persistent in his torture. She thrashed, she fought, and she struggled, but in the end... "Hahaha! Stoooop! Hahaha!" ...She broke. Seeing the usually stoic girl laugh so hard that tears began to form on her face made his actions all the more worthwhile.

...Or at least it was until she nearly fell out of her seat. The swordsman would never forgive himself if he hurt her, so he saw that as his cue to finally relent. It took a few seconds for the girl to recover, but as soon as she did she hastily pulled her legs away from them, instead opting to fold them under her body and sit on them for protection. "...I knew you had a feet fetish" She glared half-heartedly even as she worked to recover her breath.

"Do I? Sure they are cute, but I think the rest of you is just as cute... Maybe I simply have a Fie fetish?"

"That was so lame!" And yet the silver girl couldn't help but look away with a heavy blush, "...You need to give Laura better fishing lessons." Fie mumbled meekly.

It took a second for Rean to realize she was answering his initial question, although he suspected it was more to change the subject than anything. He eventually deduced that a fishing accident would explain Laura's state but that left him with another question, "So why are you so wet too?"

"For the briefest of moments I doubted you. Thought someone could match you as a lap pillow. That was a dumb mistake on my part."

"...Huh?" He was so confused right now.

"Don't worry bout it. You just keep being you, kay?" The lithe jaeger let out a yawn, "I'm tired. Take me to bed."

Rean rolled his eyes. He knew she just wanted to sleep and yet that didn't stop her from turning it into a suggestive comment, "You do know we're headed straight for Celdic after picking up the others, right?"

"Plenty of time for a cat nap. You're joining me, right?"

His immediate reaction was to refuse the offer since there was still much to do, but he hesitated. The others did want him to relax, didn't they...? And taking a nap alongside Fie did sound pretty relaxing... "A nap sounds pretty good, actually."

"Great!" Fie chirped with a beaming smile. "Maybe we can get Laura to join us?"

"We'll see." Sharing a bed with two girls he cared very deeply for? He definitely was not adverse to the idea. He noticed Fie was staring up at him expectantly, "...You want me to carry you again, don't you?"

Her hopeful smile grew a little wider, "It's either that or I'm walking around the ship barefoot. You gonna let me do that?" He wouldn't and she knew it. He let out a long-suffering sigh that didn't actually reflect his true feelings on the matter as he scooped the girl into his arms before grabbing her boots, "Onward, my trusty steed!"

"Yeah, yeah..." He supposed they made for an odd sight as he carried her through the halls of the Courageous. He certainly earned a few amused stares from his fellow students.

Fie didn't notice any of this, however, as she stared up at him with a furrowed brow, seemingly deep in thought, "Hey, Rean...?"

"Yeah?" Whatever she was planning to say must be pretty deep given how hard she was thinking.

"If a monster ate Sara do you think it would get drunk?"

...Never mind.

Fie found herself in a good mood when the Courageous finally landed just outside of Celdic, allowing the fully united Class VII to disembark before entering the ravaged town.

And why wouldn't she be? She must have dozed off for real in Rean's arms cause she had no memory of ever making it to the sleep room. And yet when she woke up she found herself sandwiched between the two people she most adored in the world.

Her only regret was not being awake to listen to what must have been a hilariously awkward conversation as Rean invited Laura into joining them for a nap.

The bed was too small for the three of them and the nap couldn't have been more than an hour, but none of that mattered to her. Waking up like that with her new family was everything she didn't know she needed in life. She didn't need to cherish that special moment because she fully intended on making sure such moments would be common in the future.

According to Rean the concert would be held inside the church, which made sense given it was the building with the most seating and the request came from Rosine. It was hoped that a little music would perk up the spirits of the glum citizens and provide a little happiness in the disaster that was the war. Doubly so for the injured who were still bedridden in the building.

It was a hope that Fie shared as well. While her month outside of Celdic wasn't the happiest, for obvious reasons, it was an important time for her. That forced separation allowed her to see just how good her life had become and how important her new family was to her. It was thanks to the generosity of the people in this town that such a thing had been possible, and for that she would do whatever she could to repay them.

Elliot had really outdone himself with his planning for the event. The entire Wind Orchestra was there, as was Instructor Mary. They also had Elliot's sister and even that traveling musician they had come across a few times. That they had also acquired enough instruments in such a short time – including a piano – was just as impressive.

At first there were few people in the church, but as the music began the sound of violins, piano, and flutes spread across town and brought curious citizens in return. Fie found it understandable. While she wasn't the biggest lover of music in the world, even she could feel just how soothing the tune was. A cheerful melody that brought to mind far more peaceful times.

No amount of music would ever bring back the market manager or repair the damage done by the jaeger attack, but for a brief moment the people of Celdic could forget about war and tragedy. For a few minutes the people were at peace. That alone made the entire concert worthwhile in her eyes.

...And that was before news spread that the badly injured people regained consciousness during the event.

Afterwords, while Elliot exulted over the success of the concert, Fie couldn't help but find herself feeling rejuvenated. The war was nearing its conclusion and with one final push she and the rest of Class VII could return to their peaceful lives. The upcoming battles were sure to be hard, but with her loved ones at her side she knew they could somehow prevail. And from the rumors she had overheard at the Twin Dragons Bridge she knew exactly where the Courageous was headed next.

...It was time to return home.

Not gonna lie. I completely forgot about the events of the CS2 drama CD until now, forcing me to briefly mention it here. A shame cause it would have been a good chance to formally introduce Altina to Fie and Laura. Ah well. There will be plenty of time for that to come with how future events are gonna play out...