I received some encouragement to write another one-shot. I just wasn't sure what to settle on at first. Then, looking over the moment at the end of Episode 25, this idea came to mind. It's a little short, but I'm looking at it as practice. So I hope you all will find this to your liking.

Disclaimer: I don't own the show or the characters.

A Fresh Start

Naofumi, Raphtalia, Filo, Melty, and everyone else in the village stared up at the Church Tower. The moment they had all been waiting for was about to happen.

"Ready. Tada." The young demihuman Keel said happily as he raised the town's flag on the church flagpole for the first time in years.

The villagers down below cheered happily at seeing the symbol for their hometown raised once more. Some had tears of joy coming down their face. Others were hugging their loved ones. Thinking about how they had been waiting for this moment to happen for so long. The moment when their village would be restored to them.

Raphtalia sniffed. "Are you watching, Rifana? Can you see the flag flying over our village again?" Raphtalia asked the sky nostalgically, standing next to Naofumi. A tear fell down the side of her face at how happy she was in that moment.

"And it's such a beautiful flag too," Lecia said in awe. Standing back next to Filo and Melty to admire the rebirth of the village.

"I know, right," Melty said with tears of her own coming down her face.

Naofumi was looking at the flag that Keel had just raised. Smiling at the fact that his friends around him and the villagers down below were so happy. They deserved it. After having to deal with the wave, the grief that came from losing family, friends and loved ones. Not to mention the barbaric treatment from corrupt soldiers that sold the survivors into a cruel life of slavery.

'This is all I could ask for my friends. Seeing them this happy…'

His line of thought trailed off. A small gradual gasp escaped his lips. His eyes slightly widening as he saw the flag unfold itself in the wind.

Flashback:

It had been a bad day for Naofumi. He had almost gotten himself and Raphtalia killed because of him wanting to get some light metal ore from the mountains. His shoulder had been hurt pretty badly in the fight. And almost as if the universe was mocking him, he had gotten all this food to reward Raphtalia for overcoming her fear and taking down the two-headed Cerberus, and he still couldn't taste a single thing from anything he ate.

'So much for buying all this food if I can't even taste it.'

He shrugged to himself as he forced himself to eat a bite of something. 'Oh well, she can taste it. And as long as it helps her to get healthy.' He thought as he looked up at Raphtalia, who was mowing down the food in front of her with gusto. It made him feel a little better. After all, if she was this happy after having to go through a traumatic experience like that...

Naofumi looked back down at his plate. His head hanging down. The last few days hung particularly heavy on him in that moment.

'Why am I even doing this… the King doesn't want me here. The people don't want me to be here. Hell, this world doesn't want me to be here. What's the point in trying if I can only make a slave girl happy…' He thought despondently.

"Master Naofumi."

Naofumi looked up from his bland meal down at a younger version of Raphtalia. She had paused in her eating and was smiling widely for him. "No matter what happens, we're going to survive." She said happily with determination.

Had that comment came from anyone else in a different tone, he would have taken it with a grain of salt. Hearing it from Raphtalia though... he had to admit it lifted his spirits the littlest bit. "Of course we are." He replied in an emotionless tone. 'After all, I'm going to need to stay alive if I want to protect you and help you to grow strong…'

Thinking on it, he then grabbed the little flag that had been on her meal and poked a finger into some red sauce. Raphtalia looked in childlike curiosity at him. "Hmmm?"

"Here, a kids lunch isn't complete." He said after he dabbed a little red dot on the center of the white square of paper. "Without this." He said, before showing her it.

"Huh?" She said confusedly.

Naofumi almost smiled at her childlike curiosity. It was so much better seeing her look like a kid than like an abused child. "You see Raphtalia. This flag represents my home where I'm from." He started to explain to her.

"To me, it represents that no matter where I go or what I do, I'll still have a family, friends, loved ones… a home to return to. It helps me to remember that I have a reason to continue living despite the hell the world puts me through. So no matter what happens, I know that everything will be fine since I know there's one place in the world where I'm accepted."

He gave it to her. She looked in childlike wonder at it, again almost causing Naofumi to smile. Almost.

"Why such a simple flag?" She asked.

His almost smile turned into a frown. "Hey, that flag represents the rising of the sun in my world." He said defensively.

"It looks like all you did was dab a red circle on a piece of white paper. "Raphtalia giggled to herself.

Naofumi's frown deepened. The look on his face only caused Raphtalia's giggles to turn into childlike laughs. He rolled his eyes and looked glumly down at his tasteless food. "It's not like any flag here would be any better." He muttered to himself as he raised another piece of the bland tasting meat to his mouth.

"Master Naofumi?"

The bite of food was left hanging below his mouth, and he sighed. "Yes, Raphtalia?" He asked as he set it back down on his plate.

She was smiling again and holding the flag close to herself like a treasured possession. "One day, we'll have a flag of our own raised up somewhere. That way, no matter where we are in this world, no matter how many waves you have to fight, you'll know that you'll have a place you can call home here Master Naofumi." She said brightly.

Naofumi stared at Raphtalia for a long moment. Studying her expression to see if there was any hint of her lying to him or not. After everything the world had done to him, he couldn't possibly believe that there would be anywhere where he'd be welcomed. But the happy look on her smiling face told him that she was being sincere. Maybe a little naive, but sincere nonetheless.

A small smile finally appeared on Naofumi's lips. "Eat up Raphtalia. Otherwise, your food will get cold."

Raphtalia's eyes widened in surprise before looking down at the food she had almost forgotten. After being spoiled the way she had with nice warm food, she didn't want to be reminded of the cold tasteless food she had to eat while she was a slave. With gusto, she went to devouring whatever was on her side of the table.

Naofumi's small smile stayed on his face. 'You know, maybe I don't need a whole kingdom to approve of me. I'd be just happy with a small home in a small village.' He thought somewhat happily... up until he finally took a bite of his meal.

His expression soured. 'Damn, why can't I still taste anything!?'

End Flashback:

Naofumi continued to stare up at the flag. His eyes were wide with unbelief. The memory of his conversation with Raphtalia before played like a loop over and over again in his mind.

'There's no way…'

It was a mostly green flag waving in the wind. The hue of it matching the cloak he always wore with his Barbarian Armor. And in the center of a red hollow heart-shaped design was a shield. The Legendary Shield.

It blew him away.

'Raphtalia told me a flag used to fly in her village before the wave destroyed it... but is this really the same one…'

He looked down at Raphtalia, then up at the flag again. A small pessimistic part of him wanted to think it was just a coincidence after everything this world had put him through. The past Shield Heroes were favored by the demi-humans after all.

Yet the majority of him wanted to get teary-eyed. He wanted to cry from how much joy he felt inside him at that moment. Raphtalia had been smiling, and he had a feeling she remembered their conversation from that day. Even if she had been a kid back then.

'One day, we'll have a flag of our own raised up somewhere. That way, no matter where we are in this world, no matter how many waves you have to fight, you'll know that you'll have a place you can call home here Master Naofumi.'

…

'A place to call home…'

…

It was like the blank pages of that book he'd read long ago were turning back. The pages now filled with memories of his journey. Which, if he was being honest, had mostly sucked. He couldn't picture a time in his life where he had had everything gone so bad. But he also couldn't remember a time when he'd made such good friends. Done such amazing things. Had really been something of a… a...

A Hero. The Shield Hero.

Tears leaked into the corners of his eyes. All the cheering people around him faded to background noise. It was like internally he knew that he belonged here. More so than in any other place he had ever been. Even in his own world.

For once, he felt at home. And he felt so happy...

Raphtalia looked up, noticing the expression on Naofumi's face. "Master Naofumi?" Raphtalia asked.

He turned to look down at her.

The dream he had after using Blood Sacrifice on the pope came back to him. How the village had been in ruins around him. Yet Raphtalia had been there next to him, with Filo and Melty nearby. All of them looking up towards the flag flying in the wind on the Church's flagpole.

Before today, before Raphtalia pled with him in that exact spot to stay, he had thought his only purpose was to fight the waves. He had only thought that he'd return home after it was all said and done.

Yet as time had passed, that little flag he'd made long ago seemed more and more insignificant. And now he found the image in his mind had been replaced with the new flag up above. And attached to it was the faces of all the friends he'd made. All the people that he'd met and helped. All welcoming him to his home.

And yes, with Raphtalia and the others there beside him, he felt what the world had put him through didn't matter anymore. As long as he had this place, along with Raphtalia and all his other friends, he felt that no hell this world could throw at him would ever be like hell anymore. Because now he had friends, he had loved ones, and he had a home.

He had a home.

"Yeah, our story begins anew." He said, the smile remaining on his face. Raphtalia smiled back up at him.

"A fresh start for the Shield Hero."

Author's Notes:

So that's that. I enjoyed this little one-shot too. I've also enjoyed reading a couple of the fics as well since last time. Doing this also made me think of another one-shot I could do. So here's to hoping that everything goes well!

Till Next Time

Allen