Notes: Yeah, it's been a while. How goes it? Anyways, this chapter is a bit more serious than the previous ones. I know it's strange, especially from Sain's point of view, but you'll understand once you read it. In my personal opinion, Sain is a very complex character, and that's how I will portray him in this fic. Yes, Kent and Sain do finally have a "moment" together in this chapter, although it's not really all that romantic. I explored their friendship a little more deeply in this chapter, and made a couple things up about their past lives, since we don't know much. So sit back and relax and…happy reading!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem, or any of its characters. Now there's a new one.

Warnings: Do I even have to warn you people anymore? Shounen-ai, yaoi, drinking, violence, and…cross-dressing. Heh. Gotta love it. Oh right, and don't ask about the wig…it's just something random I decided to add in there. Sain's story is a tad bit unbelievable, but we still love him, right?

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Chapter Four

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---Sain---

It was well into the night when Kent and I made our way back in the dark alley behind the inn, where Kent had previously cared for me while I was just a little bit…tipsy.

"I'm so glad you agreed to do this, Kent," I whispered, my breath tickling the nape of his neck. I imagined some sort of harsh expression was forming on Kent's face as the result of that remark.

"Hold your tongue, Sain. Let's just get this over with," he replied as he tightened his grip on the wall. I began to slowly trail my hand over the exposed skin of his back, teasing him just a little bit before I reached the final button.

I tilted my head a little to get a good look at the embarrassed expression on his face. "Aren't you glad I chose a secretive place for us to do this?" I asked, grinning as I imagined what I was about to see.

"I can't believe we're actually, you know…" Kent said with a hint of irritation and embarrassment in his voice.

A couple jolly drunk men walked past the alley, laughing merrily as they moved down the cobblestone street. Luckily, they had not noticed us.

"I can. After all this was my idea." I said slyly. (1)

An awkward silence followed my reply, giving me more time to ready Kent before he became annoyed as he usually did when he followed along with my plans. I'm still not quite sure why he is always so hesitant in trusting my obvious genius.

"Are you done yet, Sain? I don't think I can take much more of this…" said a very displeased Kent before I beckoned him to turn around. I smiled, satisfied with myself as I marveled over my creation.

"Hm," Kent was obviously fuming inside, but he decided not to show it as I examined him, my eyes critiquing his feminine costume. "Something's missing…" I decided. I took a moment to ponder over just what that "something" was.

Kent leaned up against the cold brick wall, resting his back against its hard surface; it was then when I realized what was wrong. The scarlet fabric hung much too loosely around Kent's muscular figure (after all, I do recall taking that dress from a slightly…robust woman), making it clear to anyone that the dress did not belong to him (or on him, for that matter). Luckily for Kent, I knew just the thing to solve that problem.

"Sain, why are you looking at me like that?" Kent inquired, that same irritated look on his serious face.

Without any response, I walked over to Kent's abandoned armor and picked it up, my tired arms straining from its weight. Quickly, I carried it over to Kent and commanded him to lift up his dress. Kent complied, pulling the dress over his head. He then took his armor and began to fasten it around his body. Once he was done, I helped him slide the dress over the armor.

I critiqued the new look. "Much better, " I said to myself. "You really fill out that dress nicely, Kent. But wait; one more thing!" I came to this sudden realization and promptly rushed over to my bag, pulling out a brown wig.

"A wig! Sain, why on earth would you, of all people, have a wig?" Kent's eyes widened as he eyed the odd looking hairpiece.

I threw the silly thing over to Kent, motioning for him to put it on his head. He hesitated as he waited for my reply.

"Kent, do you remember that huge bath that the castle had…you know, the one where only females were allowed to go in?"

"Yes, and am sure that I don't want to hear the rest of this story." Kent sighed, placing the wig over his fiery hair and tucking in the extra pieces that were exposed.

"Fine, fine, suit yourself." I answered. It was his own fault for missing out on a great story; well, it was a great tale, until it reached that point in which I was kicked out of the bath and forced to run naked down the castle hall. I immediately blocked the memory from my mind and tried to focus on Kent and making him look as feminine as possible.

Kent fidgeted around with the wig until he finally looked satisfied (or as satisfied as the man could be with a woman's wig on his head) and stared blankly at me, waiting for my critique of his wardrobe.

"You look…stunning," I exclaimed. "You're possibly the prettiest man I have ever seen!"

Kent looked a tad bit annoyed, but when is that a surprise? He walked past me, ready to take on the challenge of getting us a free room at the town inn.

…Although, there was one more thing I had to do.

"Kent, wait! I have one final touch to add!" I exclaimed, and he stopped walking to give me yet another cold stare.

I rushed over to a nearby haystack behind a stable and grabbed two handfuls of hay to fill up that extra space in the front of his dress. Kent looked confused at first, but more so shocked once I had thrust both of my hands down his dress and was moving them around, trying to make his "breasts" equally bumpy.

"There, now you're perfect!" I felt awfully proud of what I had created out of my very un-ladylike friend. If I hadn't known he was a man, I probably would have hit on him; well, maybe after a few drinks…

"I feel incredibly foolish in this…thing. How do women breathe in these dresses? …And Sain, for Elimine's sake, will you stop groping me?"

I chuckled and removed my wandering hands from Kent's dress. (2) Linking my arm with his I said, "Let's go get us a room!" and we walked briskly down the alley and out onto the empty street.

---

The smell of rum and smoke filled my senses as we entered the inn. A disheveled old man was sitting at the front counter, his head resting on his right palm. He looked up at us as we entered, smiling a bit when he noticed that my arm was wrapped around Kent's waist. His tired eyes glistened in the dim lights and the candle by his face flickered with each small breeze that came in through a partly opened window.

I pulled Kent closer to me and whispered in his ear, "Just pretend like we're a couple…lovers if you will." Kent gave me a look as I tightened my grip on his waist and moved us forward.

When we approached the desk, I noticed an emptied bottle of ale that I had not seen before. Maybe that was why the old man was so tired.

"Good sir," I began. "My darling…wife and I have been traveling on horseback for many days and are quite weary. Could you possibly supply us with a room, just for tonight?"

The "tired" man smiled crookedly at us. "With all due respect, sir knight, I would just like to inquire as to why you are walking around without any pants."

I felt my cheeks heat up a bit; I suppose it was a bit unusual for me to be shamelessly walking around pant-less. I couldn't wait for tomorrow to come for it was then when the tailor would finally give us each a pair of new pants.

Following my slight hesitancy to respond, the man continued to stare at my curiously. Staring a bit too much, it seemed. I was beginning to get a weird feeling about the man. To prevent him from staring at me for any longer, I thought up a suitable response.

"Well, I love my wife dearly, and I'd like to love her tonight, very soon, if you understand, good sir," I answered, my lips curling into a sly grin. "You could say I'm a little anxious."

This response seemed to make Kent even more uncomfortable, if that was possible.

The innkeeper nodded and smiled his odd smile again. "I understand most completely, sir knight. Tonight, our inn has a policy that all happy couples get free rooms, however-"

Kent suddenly interrupted him, and in his normal voice said, "Yes, one room for us is fine." I pinched him in the side, hard, and he coughed and continued, in a typical falsetto: "What I mean to say is, we'd be happy with any room you can supply us with, kind sir."

The innkeeper looked at us, and he seemed slightly confused; who wouldn't be when a manly looking woman and a man without pants are presented before you?

The innkeeper sighed and decided to speak again.

"Well, what I was trying to say before is that we only have one room left, and it's quite small and only has one window, which is completely open. But since your…er, darling wife said that she would accept any room, I suppose that room is suitable for the two of you."

Kent nodded, not saying anything for he seemed afraid that his voice would be different.

I decided it was my place to respond and said, "Why, of course! If my wife is happy, I'm happy." I gave Kent a loving smile, and took his hands in mine, forcing him to face towards me. "Isn't that right, darling?"

Kent blushed (he seemed to be doing that a lot lately) and looked at me with an embarrassed stare; his hands felt sweaty and he began to fidget with my fingers.

"O-of course…my…….uh, my dear."

I wanted to slap him across the face; why was he being so awkward? Was he not comfortable being intimate with another person? The thought amused me.

I smiled again while tugging roughly on his hands as a sign for him to stop fidgeting with mine; it was starting to tickle. "I'm glad."

"Your room is right up the stairs and at the end of the hall," the innkeeper explained. "But first, would you do me the favor of giving each other a loving kiss to confirm the fact that you two are, indeed, husband and wife? I don't want to be cheated out of my money, you see."

Kent looked horrified at this idea, but I pretended like this was not an unusual thing for us to do at all. After all, if we actually were lovers, it would be nothing.

"Of course we will!" I exclaimed, and pulled Kent close to me, unfortunately, a little too close, seeing as his armor clanked against mine noisily.

Following this sudden noise was an even more horrified look on Kent's face and a very, very confused look on the innkeeper's.

I knew I needed to think of a good cover for this little predicament, and it suddenly dawned on me.

I tried to laugh it off as I spoke. "Haha, oh, that…that's just her chastity belt, sir. She's, ah- well, she's a lady of…modest means."

The innkeeper still looked confused but bought my lie. "Of course…well, proceed." And with a wave of his hand, I finished what I had begun to do seconds before.

I pulled Kent even closer, putting my arms completely around his waist. Smirking a bit, I closed the distance between us. His lips quivered a bit at first, but he relaxed eventually and began to act like he was actually enjoying it. His tongue brushed lightly against mine, and I began to wonder if he had actually done this before; the idea of Kent passionately kissing another person was a tad bit unbelievable. His hand made it's way into my hair, fiddling with my bandana as I made the kiss even deeper by placing my hands on his behind. He opened his eyes, startled at first, but began to act again when I gave him a small glare. We continued to kiss, much to the innkeeper's delight, and stopped once Kent nibbled gently on my lip, notifying me that it was time for this to end, and that he had had enough.

I released my hold on Kent's behind and draped one arm around his waist, waiting for the innkeeper to have some sort of a reaction.

The drunken man clapped his hands together in delight. "That was amazing…the love you two share, don't ever let it fade away. You two seem like complete soul mates; and that kiss was proof!" He said, his eyes shining happily. Kent let out a sigh of relief and motioned toward the stairs.

"We'll be off now," I hinted, and the innkeeper nodded in understanding. I lifted Kent up into my arms, much to his discontent, and, although I was staggering from the weight, managed to carry him upstairs and to our room.

"Kent, would you get the door?" I pleaded for both of my hands were quite occupied. He nodded and turned the knob, letting us into the cramped room. There was only one bed, and it couldn't have been larger than the single beds that Kent and I normally slept in. There was a large open window on the wall to the side of the bed, and it made the temperature in the room drop quite low.

"That'd be nice if you put me down now, Sain." Kent stated, giving me an annoyed look. "I'm not used to this kind of thing."

I chuckled and placed his feet back on the floor and closed the door behind us so that we could change. I walked over near the window and began to take off my greaves, allowing Kent time to undress as well.

By the time I had taken both of my greaves off and was starting on my boots, Kent spoke up.

"Say Sain?"

"Yes?" I inquired.

"Could you…well, help me with this…thing?" Kent gestured to the dress, and I noticed that he had been trying to get the buttons undone for a couple minutes now.

I laughed. "Ah Kent, you are so wonderfully naive. Obviously you haven't undone a woman's dress before, judging by how you're struggling over there."

Kent looked like he felt ashamed for a moment before I walked over to where he was standing, in front of the bed. I took off his wig and threw it aside and began to unbutton the back of the dress. It didn't take me long, and once I was done, I beckoned Kent to turn around so I could start on the front. Once I got the first two buttons undone, I removed his "breasts" and continued unbuttoning. Once I had a few more buttons undone, I helped him pull off the armor he had been wearing underneath and placed it on the floor beside the scattered hay.

"Where did we put my shirt, again?" the now half-naked Kent inquired. I motioned towards my bag and he nodded in understanding. I then continued to unbutton the front of his dress, the straps slightly falling off of his exposed shoulders. Before I could finish, the door suddenly swung open, surprising both of us and leading us to fall back onto the bed, (3) Kent first and me on top of him, lying awkwardly between his legs.

Someone coughed from the doorway, and we both turned to look at who it was. The innkeeper was staring at us, wide-eyed. I quickly covered up Kent's flat chest with my arms and kicked the wig to the side and out of the innkeeper's view.

He seemed to be fascinated with the floor as he spoke to us.

"Well I was going to tell you that I would come to wake you in the morning, but you two seem to be…engaged so I'll leave you be. Goodnight, sir knight and your…wife, too." He slammed the door behind him, and we could hear him running down the stairs.

Poor man.

I broke out into hysterical laughter, but when I looked back at Kent, he seemed less than amused.

"Well, that was something, wasn't it, Kent? Hahahahaha! The look on his face!" I continued to laugh merrily before Kent broke the silence.

"Sain, what-" His gaze bore into mine as he tentatively placed two of his fingers on his lower lip, perhaps questioning my earlier actions. He then abandoned his train of thought and remained quiet for several minutes as I stood us back up and left him alone to finish undressing by the bed.

There was something in Kent's eyes when he had looked at me earlier. Confusion, or maybe fear? Did he actually think that there had been something behind that kiss? But that seemed so foolish of me to wonder things as absurd as that. Kent knew I was joking; after all, we were both pretending to be lovers. Just acting as a couple. And that was it. Simply…acting. (4)

---

We had finished changing and I plopped myself onto the bed, turning over on my side to stare at Kent. He was standing near the corner of the room, looking out the window to stare at the full moon.

"A bed, Kent! A bed! I cannot begin to fathom how many nights I've slept without a bed to cushion my strong frame."

Kent smirked. "Don't get ahead of yourself, now." He stretched his arms up the air as he yawned; he looked exhausted, I noted. "But I suppose you're right, for once. It has been quite some time now."

I nodded in agreement and pulled the covers over my body and rolled onto my stomach, my favorite sleeping position.

"I still don't understand how you can sleep like that, Sain." Kent said, scrutinizing my current position. I felt his eyes roam over my body for a quick moment before he turned away and walked over to where his sword was lying, perhaps to give it a quick polish before he went to bed.

"Are you coming to bed soon?" I asked him, moving over slightly to try and make room for my companion. "There's some space left, surprisingly. I think we can both fit."

"I just want to clean my sword off; those filthy bandits from before dirtied it quite a bit. I'll come to bed shortly, if there's enough space for me to sleep next to you. If worse comes to worse, I'll just sleep on the floor."

How did I know? Kent's always so worried about his weapons…and always nagging me to take better care of mine. Of course I disagree with him completely; there is absolutely nothing wrong with leaving your sword on the ground, as long as you'll be back to pick it up later! Kent worries far too much, in my opinion.

But Kent, sleeping on the termite-infested floor…well that was just nonsense; although he would never admit it, a lot of the time it's yours truly that has to worry about that silly cavalier.

"Kent, that's nonsense! This floor is as hard and cold as stone. Just sleep in the bed…or are you afraid I'll try something?"

Kent blushed, yet again. "I-I never said that."

"Well sleep in the bed then…I'll be gentle, I promise."

He gagged and looked like he was deciding whether or not to stab me through the heart with his sword as he stared at it in his hands. "I know we've slept in beds together before; that's not what's making me uneasy. It's just…well, what you do when you're asleep."

I turned to look him in the eye once more. "What do I do in my sleep, Kent?" I really was curious; Kent was probably just worrying over nothing, though. It's not possible for me to have taken advantage of him in my sleep, is it?

"Do you remember last time, when you woke in the bed and couldn't find me? Well that was because you had kicked me onto the floor, Sain."

I laughed heartily, recalling the incident in my mind. "Yes, I do remember that, Kent. So maybe I'm not a 'calm' sleeper, but it's better than sleeping on the floor. So just sleep in the bed, Kent. And if you end up on the floor, just think of it this way: at least you weren't sleeping there the entire night."

Kent sighed, giving up his argument. "Fine. After I finish cleaning my sword I'll come to bed, I promise."

I smiled and let my eyes slip closed, letting my tired limbs relax as I drifted off into a peaceful sleep.

---

I awoke in the middle of the night, perhaps out of a bad dream, but I couldn't remember. I tried to fall back asleep, but my efforts were fruitless. It seemed that I had fallen asleep when I had laid down on the bed, although I was not aware of it at the time. I continued to lie on my back, staring at the slightly cracked ceiling, until I noticed something was missing. Where was Kent? If he had been beside me, I would have been warmer and practically hanging off of the side of the bed.

Did I kick him off by accident while I was sleeping?

…Oops.

I quickly turned to my side and looked over the edge of the bed, but there was no Kent to be found. The moonlight shined in my eyes as I looked up, and it was then when I discovered where, exactly, Kent was.

My fellow soldier was sitting in the open window, his sword clutched tightly in his hand; he seemed to be on guard and ready to jump up and attack if an enemy of some kind felt like intruding. His eyes were closed and I could hear him breathing softly, but something told me he was still awake. It made me angry at first; it annoyed me that he always was the one trying to protect me, always putting his life on the line for me. How could one person always be so generous in action and yet so cruel in words? It bothered me. But I couldn't stay angry as I stared at his still form…it became almost admirable. But I wouldn't admit to finding Kent admirable to anyone, especially not him.

I was curious as to whether or not he was awake, so I called out his name.

"Kent."

His eyes remained closed but he spoke, as proof that he was awake. "What is it, Sain?"

I continued to stare in awe at him; the way the moon was shining on him, giving his skin an ethereal glow all over, it made him look almost like an angel. I shook the comparison from my mind and interrogated him further.

"Why are you sitting up there? Aren't you cold?" He was wearing no pants, after all. If only that damn tailor could sew as fast as he could drink…

"A little bit. Go back to bed."

He was ordering me around. I hate it when he does that.

"Why? I won't be able to sleep knowing that you're sitting up there in that window like a bloody fool, freezing to death!" I argued, my eyes narrowing into a firm and angry stare. "Get down from there and come in the bed. It's a hell of a lot warmer and I doubt anyone will randomly decide to jump into our window on the second floor of this inn."

Kent sighed and opened his tired eyes, and he slowly made his way down from the window, depositing his sword neatly by mine, and climbed into the bed beside me. His cold skin rubbed against mine as we lay, back to back now, sharing the small covers between us.

A large amount of time passed, and I still couldn't go back to sleep. I wondered if Kent was having the same trouble as I was. However before I could ask him anything, he asked me: "You still think about it, don't you?"

I played dumb, although I knew exactly what he was talking about. "Think about what, Kent?"

He turned towards me, so I shifted over, too. I raised an eyebrow, awaiting his response.

"Earlier tonight, after I had dragged your drunken form out of the bar, you told me that 'you've been beaten before.' I assumed you were referring to-"

I stayed silent; truthfully, I was not in the mood for discussing my childhood…I didn't have the normal happy experience that most kids got to have, and it wasn't something that I liked to reminisce about.

"Kent-" I cut him off. "Let's not talk about that right now."

He said nothing, but the look he gave me showed me that he understood.

"We've had quite a day, haven't we, Kent?" I joked, to lighten the mood of our conversation. I could hear the crickets chirping outside as we stared at each other in silence.

Kent smiled a little. "We certainly have. Hopefully tomorrow we'll encounter Lady Lyndis on the plains."

"There you go again, always thinking about our job. Why can't you just relax a little?" I asked, still kind of annoyed with him for always thinking about our mission. "You're still as determined as you were back in the day when we were training to be knights. You were always practicing and polishing your weapons. But something was different about you back then; you were a bit more easy-going, I recall."

"You actually remember all that?" Kent seemed surprised.

"Well of course, my good friend!" I encouraged him. "Why wouldn't I? We grew up today! You're practically family, Kent!" And he was close enough to me to be. I had known him for so long, and I knew everything about him; we were like family, but at the same time, there was something missing from that brother-like relationship we could have shared.

We shared a friendly look before my mind began to wander back to the night's previous events. "Kent, that wasn't your first kiss today, was it?" I asked nervously.

Hey, I couldn't help asking it! I was curious! How else would he have known how to, you know… Also, I was kind of worried that there was a chance that I had been his first kiss!

Kent seemed to be growing redder by the second. "Well, no…I suppose you forgot about Eleanor, then…"

I burst out into unstoppable laughter. "E-Eleanor!" I exclaimed through laughs. "Of course I remember her! She was that young girl who took a liking to you when we were working in the castle as pages! Haha how she used to follow you around everywhere! I have to admit, I was quite jealous of her!"

Perhaps I had said too much.

"What? Why? Why would you have been jealous of that…wretched girl?" Kent seemed to shudder at the recollection of his memories of her.

"Well," I began. "I was worried she would take away my best friend. At the time, we were quite young, and I thought you two would get married and move somewhere far away…now I know that's quite impossible when you're only two and ten years old!" (5)

Kent smiled and sunk his head further down into the pillow. "I can't believe she was my first kiss." He seemed to regret ever having anything to do with that annoying girl. Oh how I used to hate her, especially when she would tag along with us wherever we went. It always amazed me that she never got the hint that Kent and I didn't really like her. But apparently, Kent liked her enough to allow her to give him his first real kiss.

"Well, Kent, who did you really want to give you your first kiss?" I inquired, trying to tease him into further embarrassment. That was becoming quite a hobby of mine these days.

He stayed quiet, and so did I. I yawned, signaling that I was tired and ready to go back to sleep. The moonlight danced across our blanketed figures, playing with the contours of Kent's face. I watched as his eyes slipped closed, and his mouth was left open slightly, leaving his lips parted.

"Thank you Kent, for tonight." I said, and then I closed my eyes, feeling a sense of satisfaction overcome me. If I had kept my eyes open for a couple seconds longer, I would have noticed the corners of Kent's lip curve up into a small smile. I let the sound of Kent's soft breathing lull me to sleep; that was what Kent had given me, my first real lullaby. (6)

---

I awoke the next morning with the sunlight almost blasting into our room, lighting up every nook and cranny of the small room. It burned my eyes as I opened them and sat up in bed, and I was suddenly very aware of the pounding headache I had gained overnight. It seemed the many drinks I had swallowed last night at the bar were getting their revenge on my body.

"Uhhhhhhnnnnnnnnn…" It seemed the alcohol had the same effect on Kent as he lifted himself out of bed and shuffled across the room like an elderly man.

"Say Kent, would you mind helping me out of bed, please?" I pleaded, extending an arm out to him. He reluctantly came over and helped pull me up; we were quite a sad sight, us two.

"Put your armor on and get ready to leave, Sain. We have to start early today if we want to get to Lady Lyndis by nightfall." Kent ordered me, pointing in the direction of my abandoned armor.

Once we were done getting dressed into everything but our pants (which we had to go to the tailor's to receive), we left the room and began to descend the stairs. What we had forgotten was that the innkeeper had seen me and my "wife," and not me and my fellow soldier; perhaps that was why he was so surprised to see us walk into the room.

"Sir knight! Where did your wife go?" The innkeeper asked, looking rather confused. He kept glancing from me to Kent, his eyes finally resting on Kent and coming to a realization.

This couldn't be good.

"You scoundrels, using an act like that for a free room!" He stopped yelling at us for a minute to consider something. "Although you two must have been pretty desperate to do something like that just for a room in this inn. Are you out of money?"

Kent nodded and spoke on behalf of both of us. "We're very sorry, good sir, for bothering you like this. You see, my fellow soldier and I have been traveling for days without nice warm beds to sleep in, and we were growing quite weary. We're incredibly sorry, it was quite a foolish thing for us to do."

Ah that's my Kent, polite as always.

The innkeeper smiled and laughed. "That's alright, don't you worry, good sirs! I'll lend you a little something to aid your journey, okay? Think nothing of it and be on your way."

We accepted his gold and thanked him, and made our way out of the inn and onto the cobblestone path that ran through the town.

"Now let's go get us some pants!" I happily shouted, and we hurried to the tailors, where we were pleasantly rewarded with two pairs of finely tailored pants, for free! (Of course that was only because we ran out of there as soon as we had put them on, claiming that we had no more money left)

As we neared the town stable where we had left our horses, Kent suddenly remembered that he needed a new pair of boots, and so he went off in the direction of the armory for a new pair, and said he'd restock our weapon supply while he was there. I told him I'd wait by the town entrance for him, and when I arrived there on horseback, I was pleasantly surprised.

Standing before me was a young woman who was dressed in what looked like tribal garb with a sword fastened at her side, protected by its sheath. She was talking with a man who looked about my age, and they seemed to be worried about something. Her long, silky green hair swished about her curvaceous hips as she talked, mesmerizing me with every move she made.

I couldn't help but approach her; she was far too beautiful for me to let her just pass me by.

"Oh, my heart! What a dazzling vision of loveliness!" I exclaimed, surprising her for she suddenly turned around and looked at me questioningly.

"Could I trouble you so much as to ask for your name, fair maiden?"

She gave me an offended look, and replied: "Where are you from, sir knight, that speak so freely to a stranger?"

I smirked, learning that she was somewhat interested in me. So of course I told her where I was from, being the gallant knight that I am. "I thought you'd never ask! I hail from Lycia, Caelin, actually, home to men of passion and fire!"

I had to hold back chuckled when I vaguely remember Kent spouting that same line to some woman the other night.

The pretty woman still looked at me a bit funny; was she not falling for my obvious charm? Finally she decided to part her beautifully plump lips and speak again.

"Shouldn't that be 'home to callow oafs with loose tongues'?"

Although what she said, oh, how it wounded me!

"You're so lovely when you're cruel, sweet mistress!" I replied, feeling not a bit ashamed for having approached her.

She turned her back on me and began to walk away with the young man who was dressed in a long green cloak. "I have nothing more to say, Mark. Let's go."

I heard hoof steps behind me, and turned around to see Kent approaching on his horse.

"Sain! You callow oaf! Show a little respect when you're speaking to a lady, would you?"

I winced; I predicted another Kent eruption.

"Oh Kent, my dear friend, why so severe an expression?" I asked innocently.

Kent groaned, rolling his eyes. "Maybe if you acted like a dutiful knight should I wouldn't have to be so severe with you!"

"Oh Kent, even you know it would have been awfully discourteous of me to remain silent in the presence of such beauty!" I persuaded him, throwing him a pleading look.

He still looked quite upset with me. "Sain, it's not your place to speak of courtesy!"

The beautiful creature returned for a brief moment to ask us kindly to remove our horses for we were blocking her path.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry." Kent said, riding to the side of the road beside me to allow her to pass.

She smiled at him, making a small crimson blush flutter across his features. "You, sir knight, seem honorable."

Kent stared at her for a moment before responding. "You…seem familiar. Perhaps we have met before…"

I turned to look at him angrily. The sly fellow, he was trying to steal her from me, wasn't he? "Kent! Now that's not fair, after all, I saw her first!"

The woman seemed very displeased with us as she and her companion moved on forward, passing us by. I heard her say, "It seems all Lycian knights are senseless oafs," before she was too far away for us to hear her anymore.

"Oh, wait, please!" Kent shouted after her, but to no avail. He then threw me an angry glare. "You lout! It wasn't like that at all! Those eyes…she…looked, I don't know, I felt as though I recognized her."

I was confused; so he hadn't been trying to hit on her. "You-you don't mean that, Kent!"

"I'm telling you the truth! I would never sink to your level, Sain. But hurry, we have to follow her. I have this feeling that she's our mission!" Kent explained. (7)

I felt my eyes widen in shock. That curvaceous, luscious, jaw-dropping beauty was our mission, Lady Lyndis? It seemed my day was beginning to grow better and better by the minute. Kent kicked his horse lightly and he was off, with me trailing behind him, following our mission out onto the endless plains of Sacae.

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Notes:

(1) Heheh what do you think they're doing?

(2) What a sentence!

(3) …which was conveniently placed there…whistles innocently

(4) Muse Sain, muse.

(5) That's right, isn't it? I remember in Sense and Sensibility (which is not mine, of course) they said their age like this, so I just figured it would make sense…hm.

(6) I imagined Sain as this poor kid whose mother died a few years after she gave birth to him, so he barely remembered her. And then I saw his dad as this abusive drunk that would beat him and stuff. It seems to cliché, but it gives Sain a good motive for wanting to become a knight, to get away from it all.

(7) I decided to use pretty much the same writing as was used in the game. I just really like how they worded everything, and I wanted this scene to be the same. It's the only scene I'll do this with, though.

I really liked that scene in the bed. It made me smile while I was writing it. They're so cute as best buddies…wow, I sound like I'm five. Oh well. I hope this chapter was okay; I know it wasn't as funny, but that really wasn't what I was going for anyways.I wanted it to be deeper...or something along those lines.

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Only a few responses this time…I think I'm getting lazy. Don't be offended if I didn't respond to your reviews. A lot of them were sent after I wrote the rough draft for this and I just never got around to adding them. In fact, someone just reviewed yesterday, I believe. (I'm writing this little paragraph on the 23rd of January)

Sarah aka Celebi: Please, please, please write some FE fanfiction! I'm dying to read anything you write!!!

Fokkusu: Thanks for helping me out with the chapter-replacing thing. Once I'm done with this fic, I'm going to go back and fix the first two chapters up. I wrote them before allowed bold/italics to show up in Word docs, so I wrote them in html format, but accidentally deleted the web pages, so the chapters got all fucked up and stuff. Yeah, so that's why they're all screwed up. Stupid me. XD

Ilianpegknight: Really, it doesn't seem shounen-ai-ish to you? Well, I guess you could look at things in the "they're just really friendly" sense. XP I promise some action later on though, if you know what I mean!!!

Placidmage: Heeeeeeeey! You're the best! We have to work on our FE story together very soon!

RianneHime: Of course I know that part! When I first saw it, I cried tears of joy! Now you understand my obsession, right? KentxSain/SainxKent…it's so cute! sigh Sain is "quite fond of his companion" and I think that's just so…perfect. Wow, that was scary.

Rosalyn Angel: Will you really worship me now? XD Kent's in a dress, Kent's in a dress does a dance.

MagicalFish: Are you kidding me? My story is crap compared to your work! I swear, I've read both of your fics (the one posted here, and the other one) so many times; I have a scary obsession with your writing. You must write more! Thanks so much for your review!

Tali: Hiiii! Thanks so much for reviewing, and for your compliments and advice, I appreciate it. I'll be sure to contact you if you want to look over some of my writing; you rock! And send me some of your own fanfiction!!!

Thanks to everyone else that reviewed! I appreciate your comments and advice and I love hearing from all of you, too!

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Everyone, thanks for coming back and reading this fourth chapter, even after my dreadfully long delay in updating. I apologize for my lack ofupdating, and I will get the next one out sooner, and that's a real promise!!!! I love you all, and keep up with the awesome writing! Ciao!