#fefemslashweek

It was spring in Valentia, and with balance restored to the land, that meant lush grass and flowers everywhere. The bell tower behind her was covered in crawling vines, and the fences were adorned with pearly white roses, still shining wet with dew. Wildflowers along the path danced happily in the breeze, pastel shades of pink and blue. Faye couldn’t ask for a prettier day for flying.

Still, she couldn’t help but tug at one of her braids nervously. It would be her first time seeing Silque in ages. She’d been in Rigel acting as a traveling healer for almost a year now, and you couldn’t exactly exchange letters with someone who never knew where they were going next.

When Silque did arrive, Faye almost forgot how to breathe. She looked the same as she always did, graceful posture and well-groomed hair and the faintest hint of dark circles under her eyes, but there was something indefinably different that made her radiant. Maybe the air in Rigel was just that refreshing, or maybe it had just been that long.

“Silque!” Faye surprised even herself by going in for a crushing hug. Physical affection wasn’t usually her strong suit, since most of her experience with physical contact growing up had been from rough-housing with Alm and the others, not with hugging them. Silque didn’t question it, though, returning the gesture without hesitation.

“It’s good to see you, too. It’s good to be missed, you know.” They shared a smile at the familiar phrase, the old inside joke about their first real conversation, when Faye had finally gotten some sense. “Thank you again for coming to pick me up.”

Faye pulled back, face oddly warm. “Well, it’s not like there’s much work for us knights to do right now, anyways.” And there she went, being dismissive and rude. Too much nostalgia. She made another effort. “Besides, I never got the chance to fly you around during the war, you know.”

Silque raised her eyebrows, amused. “Yes, you were too busy falling off your pegasus to ferry passengers. I’m not sure I would have been brave enough to take you up on that offer back then.”

Faye huffed. “I was learning! I only fell off and hurt myself once.” That Silque knew of. She’d started going to Tatiana to patch her up after the first embarrassing time Silque had found her in a pile of bruised limbs on the ground, pegasus neighing smugly as it flew circles above her.

“Of course, of course.” The light in her eyes told her that she hadn’t been fooling anyone. Silque had always seemed to know everything that went on in the Deliverance, though she was never one to gossip about it.

“This horse is much nicer than that one. Clair helped me pick him out.”

Silque approached him slowly, holding out a hand for him to smell. He nuzzled into her palm, sniffing for treats.

“Ah, I’m afraid I didn’t bring anything for you. How thoughtless of me.”

“He can earn his treats by giving us a smooth, easy ride.” Faye looked at him sternly, locking eyes with the beast. He tossed his head back and neighed in response. She held up a hand to the side of her mouth and whispered carefully to Silque. “I have plenty in my bag, but if he figures that out, he won’t ever leave me alone.”

Silque chuckled, stepping back from the pegasus. “He seems clever enough for that.” He shook his mane primly at the praise, neighing as if in agreement. Faye rolled her eyes.

“He acts like I never feed him. Ungrateful!” She swore he stuck his tongue out, an unmistakably human gesture, but it was too fast to prove.

Silque’s gaze drifted to his saddle. “Will there be room enough for the both of us?”

“It’s bigger than it looks. And he’s plenty strong to handle two riders. I tested it before I left. If you broke a bone, I couldn’t exactly patch you up.” Silque had once tried to teach her the basics of healing magic, just in case, but it had been a disaster. She clearly remembered, hiding a giggle behind her hand in a poor attempt to spare Faye’s ego.

“All you’ll need to do is hold on tight and not panic.” She looked over Silque’s clothing, considering. “You know, it can get pretty chilly up there… Here.” She reached up to unfasten her cape.

“Ah, you don’t have to do that! What about you?” Silque protested, gesturing at her robes. “I have plenty of layers already.”

Faye moved closer, brandishing the cape. “I’m used to it, though. You just came from Rigel, you don’t need to go right back to being cold. Rider’s orders.”

Silque tried to argue further, but Faye barreled onward, channeling all her childish experience at wrestling with Tobin, bundling Silque up before she could get any words out. Her hands caught in the fabric and Faye had to untangle them as she smoothed out the wrinkles. Her hands were calloused and so very warm, and Faye’s fingers buzzed where they touched.

“There, now you’re all ready to go.”

“I suppose I am,” Silque agreed, cheeks flushed.

Faye offered a hand, feeling herself go red, too. Silque accepted it, hiding her face in the cape, and Faye tugged her over to Soren, helping her into the stirrups and onto the saddle. It was a bit awkward to seat herself in front of Silque, but she managed, freeing the reins from where they were tucked under the front of the saddle pad.

Silque placed her arms tentatively around Faye’s waist, glancing around curiously. Faye counted down for her, and then she pinched in her heels, and it was go-time. Soren whinnied happily, taking off at a trot, then a canter, and then moved into a gallop as he spread his wings and flapped once, twice. They rose steadily, the bell towers and ruins beneath them shrinking smaller and smaller. Silque gasped, her arms going tight, her chin digging into Faye’s shoulder.

Faye grinned. It was magical, flying for the first time, but also stomach-dropping scary. The adrenaline of it all would kick in soon and clear her head. The first time she’d managed to get into the air proper, she’d stayed so long that Clair had flown up and forced her to come back before her pegasus passed out.

The countryside below was beautiful, full of the same wildflowers that had dotted the path, but in far more abundance. There was more color, too, splotches of purple and orange blended in to the fields like an abstract painting. The wind rushed past them, but Faye didn’t even shiver, kept warm by Silque’s body pressed against hers.

“It’s lovely,” Silque breathed into her ear, barely audible. “Breath-taking.”

Faye nodded in agreement, not wanting to break the atmosphere of Silque’s first time in the sky. There would be plenty of time for talk later. Silque had said she was here to stay for at least a few weeks, getting her bearings in the new Zofia and soaking in the sunlight. Her heart beat faster at the thought, of getting to show Silque around town, of seeing her every day again like back with the Deliverance, but without the stress of a war. It was something warm blooming inside her, spreading and blocking out the chill.

Elise was quite glad she'd followed her big sister to Hoshido this time. She hadn't seen Sakura in over a year, and was really starting to miss her. Even if they hadn't been able to be as good of friends as they wanted, Elise still missed Sakura. Elise managed to convince those mean soldiers to let her play with Sakura, and she did so every time she could. They talked about how different their countries were, but also how similar they were. Even if Sakura was always so shy, they both cared deeply about all of their siblings, wished more than anything that all of this fighting could just stop.

Elise was jolted out of her memories by a painful, burning feeling on her leg. She'd gotten careless with her parasol, and the sun was now on her skin. Elise quickly shifted her parasol to cover herself, and hoped she wouldn't be burned. She couldn't see Sakura with a sunburn! Luckily, Elise and her big sister were close to the castle. Elise wouldn't have to worry about the sun much longer.

When Elise got to the castle, she closed her parasol. She was glad to inside, where it wasn't so horribly bright. Her big sister handed over her axe and gave her wyvern to the stable hand. Elise tried to do the same thing, but the guard only took her tome, and told her to keep her staff. Camilla went upstairs to go talk about important things with Queen Hinoka, so Elise went out to find Sakura. Elise didn't have to do much, because Sakura walked out into the hall not a second after Camilla had left.

Elise ran to Sakura as quickly as she could, and noticed that Sakura was just as excited to see Elise, even if she didn't show it. Elise jumped into a hug, sending both girls to the floor. Elise noticed that Sakura was blushing, and that all of the castle guard were staring at them. Elise got off the floor, and helped Sakura up to her feet. Elise wanted to go someplace where the guards wouldn't be staring at them, and she could tell Sakura wanted to too.

"Can we go to your room?" Elise said, trying not look at the guards.

"S-Sure," Sakura said, hesitating less than she usually did.

Elise grabbed Sakura's hand and ran off in the direction of Sakura's room. Elise already knew where it was, and was eager to catch up with her friend. When they got there, Elise opened the door and dragged Sakura inside. Sakura's room was very nice, and the floor was almost impossibly soft, but Elise didn't see any chairs, or even a bed!

Sakura sat down on a cushion next to a very low table, and Elise noticed that Sakura was still blushing. Elise sat down across the table from Sakura, and there was a very short silence.

"Where's your bed?" Asked Elise, who was still looking around the room in disbelief that this could really be a princess's bedroom.

"I-It's outside right now," Sakura said. Elise was confused. Why would you move a bed outside?

"I-it's different that the beds you have in Nohr," Sakura added. "It's flat, and it doesn't have legs. You need to hang it outside every day to keep the m-mites out."

Elise smiled. She'd learned another thing about Hoshido! Elise smiled, and her smile spread to Sakura quite quickly.

"You have to come to Nohr next time, so I can show you my room!" Elise yelled. "My bed has curtains on every side, and is super soft! I also have chairs with pink cushions on them! And my table is -"

Elise's excitement was cut short by a cry of pain. The setting sun was shining through Sakura's window, right onto Elise. Sakura stood up, and looked at Elise with worry plain on her face. Elise scrambled out of the sun, and noticed how badly burned her legs were.

"F-follow me," Sakura said. "I-I-I think I can help," she hastily added.

Elise followed Sakura out of the room, and through the halls into a room full of herbs. "W-wait here," Sakura said. Sakura then grabbed herbs from a few pots, put them all in a bowl. Sakura then poured a bit of water into the bowl, and crushed all the herbs into a fine paste.

"T-this might hurt a little, but it should help," Sakura said. Elise wasn't sure what was happening, but she saw Sakura take some of the paste from the bowl and put it on her legs. It hurt a bit when Sakura put the paste on, but then the burns stopped hurting.

"Thanks!" Elise said, trying to be cheerful, but she couldn't really be happy. After all, Sakura had seen her with a sunburn!

"Elise," Sakura began, "I-is something wrong?"

"You saw me with a sunburn! A princess shouldn't have a sunburn!" Elise replied. "I looked super uncool!"

"I-I thought it was cute," Sakura replied, blushing.

Something about the word cute made Elise blush for a change. Elise wasn't sure why, but she wanted Sakura to call her cute again. Whenever one of her siblings called her cute, she hated it. So why did she want Sakura to call her that?

"I-it should be dark soon," Sakura said. "W-we could go outside, i-if you w-want."

Elise remembered that there was a pond with fish in it outside. She hadn't been able to properly view it last time, but this would be the perfect opportunity!

"Why we go look at the fish in the pond outside?" Elise said.

"The koi pond would nice in moonlight!" Sakura said, seeming to have caught Elise's excitement.

Elise once again grabbed Sakura's hand, but this time it felt it was something more than just to keep the two of them together. Elise didn't want to run as fast as normally did. When Elise and Sakura arrived, it was dark, and they were the only ones here. Elise felt glad that it was just her and Sakura, though she had no idea why.

Elise and Sakura walked over a wooden bridge and to an island in the middle of the pond. They both sat down at the water's edge, just in time to see the full moon rise over the castle walls.

"C-can I rest my head on shoulder?" Sakura asked, her face redder than her hair.

"Sure thing!" Elise replied.

Sakura leaned onto Elise, and Elise leaned back. The reflection of the moon in the pond was beautiful, and Elise saw that the fish were swimming peacefully, in mesmerizing patterns.

But what really drew her eyes was Sakura. Elise didn't know what she was feeling, but she knew that it was something to do with Sakura. The way that Sakura looked out at the pond, the way that she blushed whenever their eyes met, Elise knew she wanted to see more of that.

"I really hope our countries get along better," Sakura said. "I want to be able to spend more time like this with y-you." Sakura paused. "Did that sound selfish?"