Sylvan Woods

"Speach"

'Thought'

"Delfflinger"

Saito awoke, his head pounding like it was being hit with a jackhammer. As he tried to get up he found he couldn't, he was feeling rather cold, but it looked to be a warm day out. He tried to look down and couldn't, he decided to try to go to sleep. Sleep sounded so good to him, and he did just that.

"Wake up…" A voice called out. He just laid there, comfy in his numbness.

"Please wake up…" He wanted to say something, but nothing came to mind.

"Please...please let this work…" He weakly smiled as the last light left him. As he lifted up he saw a beautiful girl, blonde hair and blue eyes. She was dressed in a one piece outfit of a thigh high skirt and top that barely held in her "F" cup chest. The strangest part about her was that she had long ears.

"Please...please come back…" She cried a single tear as something on her ring merged with his forehead.

"Go...go to her." A female voice, soothing and gentle coaxing him back into his body.

"W-who-"

"Time is running out...please, go to her." The voice urged.

"Alright…" He gave in and found himself cold again, but felt a warm sensation inside his body.

"Ugh…" He groaned.

She looked in shock to see his wounds heal up, but he still needed attention. She slowly and gently picked him up and took him to her small cabin. 'I won't let him die a second time...I WON'T!'

xXXx

The second time he woke up, he felt pain all over. He groaned as he felt the wounds he used to have. He slowly looked around to realize that he was in a bed. When he lifted the covers he saw a lot of bandages, and his clothes was nowhere in sight. The bandages were a little bloody, but not too much.

"Glad to have you back, ya know, you died." Derfflinger said in an ominous tone.

"I...died?" He slowly looked to the talking blade, because it hurt to move.

"Yeah, you died, here's the 'bad news, good news, bad news'. Bad news, you died, therefore your contract with Louise is ended. Good news, since your contract with Louise is ended, you're a free man! Bad news, since you died, you still have the Gandalf's abilities, but at a minimum. Understand Partner?" The sword seemed cheerful.

"Sorta...Imma sleep now…" He closed his eyes, but the pain kept him up.

"Hey...Elf girl, you might want to get him something to kill the pain…" The sword got the attention of the other occupant of the cabin. She came from the kitchen area with a steaming mug of something.

"Here, have some." She helped him drink the warm liquid.

"W-what is it?" He looked to her and found that he couldn't look away.

"Something my mother made for me when I was hurt…" She smiled as he coughed, knowing the remedy was going to work.

He felt the pain leave him as he drifted off to sleep.

"How long will he need to sleep?" She looked to the sword.

"I don't know, but he should be fully healed in two days, at a guess." The sword seemed to have a thoughtful tone.

"What should I do about his clothes?" She looked thoughtful.

"The white shirt and the blue shirt have had it...besides theirs way too many holes to fix. His pants are salvageable." The sword gave the news.

"So...I should make a shirt?"

"For starters, but...you know that I can sense you right?" Delfflinger told the girl.

"In what way?" She looked confused.

"As in you're a void mage."

"But then he was…"

"A void mage's familiar."

She looked down to him in awe.

"Things happen for a reason kid, he was meant to meet you. And since he isn't from this world, he doesn't hate elves."

"Was his old master bad?" She was feeling pity for him.

"Oi...you have no idea, always getting riled up when another female looked his way. Especially if she had a large bust...which was almost everyone around her. She didn't trust him, and the whipping…" If Derfflinger had a head, he would be shaking it.

"She whipped him?!"

"Almost on a daily bases." Derfflinger had a matter of fact tone.

She just held his hand.

xXXx

Louise was in her room, crying her eyes out. Cattelya Yvette La Baume Le Blanc de La Valliere, her second oldest sister wore a white long sleeved shirt, and a floor length dress. Her pink hair was done nicely, but her pink eyes held sadness as she petted her younger sisters pink hair. Eleonore Albertine Le Blanc De La Blois De La Valliere, the oldest sister of the three sisters, was dressed on a long sleeved white shirt and a floor length dress. Her blonde hair framed her beautiful face, but there was no pity in her pink eyes.

"He was just a commoner, no real big loss." The Blonde adjusted her glasses.

"Eleonore…!?" Cattelya looked to her older sister for her callous remark.

"But..but he was special...and kind, he made sure to get me out before he went off and did that stupid thing!" Louise looked to Eleonore with hate radiating from her tear stained face.

"As any good commoner would do, but he was never worthy of you." The eldest sister looked down to her youngest sister.

"...Please, just leave...let her mourn his death." Cattelya gave a hard look to the eldest sister.

"At least she'll be able to summon something new…" The blonde left the room in a huff. 'I'll write father, he'll at least side with me...worthless commoner...'

The two pinkettes stayed in the room, one crying herself to sleep and the other comforting the small girl. The second daughter of the household took the Eclair D'amour, which was dead, and took it with her as she left the room. 'She had love and now she's lost it...she needs no more reminders of him, I'll be sure to have someone clean up the hay in the room.'

xXXx

He awoke again, this time in less pain as before, he was able to move now without feeling like he was getting stabbed by a thousand tiny daggers. He also noticed that the bandages had been changed, which means that she had seen...everything...he looked over and seen through the window that the blue and the pink moon was out, guessing that it was close to midnight. The blonde hair that came into view framing the beautiful face of the girl that had been taking care of him. She was laying next to him, sleeping soundly as some drool came from her mouth. 'Ya know, I'll actually miss her...if I leave...' He then noticed that she was very naked, her nude form as close to him as possible. 'When I get better, would I want to leave?' He looked back to the lovely face and smiled. He shut his eyes and tried to get some sleep. 'Maybe I'll take her with me...I can't just leave her here...'

He finally was able to sleep.

xXXx

She woke up and looked to the man that she had been taking care of, most of his wounds have healed. She found that she was holding him him close, like she never wanted him to leave, like she wanted something more from him.

"Morning…" His voice cracked as he looked into her blue eyes.

"G-Good morning…" She looked into his blue eyes.

"When I'm able to move...I'll repay you for all you've done for me." He smiled to her genuinely.

She blushed as she slowly got out of bed, letting him see all of her. He didn't take his eyes off of her as she swayed her hips as she walked over to where her clothes was.

"You already have." She dressed herself in her usual outfit, letting him watch.

She went to the kitchen area slowly.

"Man oh man...I think she likes ya…" Delfflinger had a knowing tone.

"I will have to leave eventually...but should I take her with me?" He looked to the ceiling.

"Why not, she has a lot to offer you, more than the Maid, and definitely has more to offer than Louise…" The sword brought up.

"Delf, why don't I feel any...loss?" He looked to the sword confused.

"Why do you think the bond between familiar and master is so strong? The bond made you more...compliant. The issue with having a human familiar is that there is still free will. So if the master does something so wrong...you could still forgive the master. It makes it easier to love the master, no matter the treatment." The sword gave the secret freely, knowing that the elven maiden was listening intently.

"So I returned to how I was before?" He seemed to look for the answer.

"Essentially, yes."

"Will I forget Louise?"

"Much more of...you would think of her as you would've without the bond."

"So...as a stuck up brat that needs to be taken down a peg or two?" He smiled at the thought.

"Yup. You thought you fell for her, but all that was was the bond. Besides, knowing Louise, her father probably made her summon another familiar." The sword agreed.

"What if I...fall in love...and I become a familiar again?"

"Well, that lucky girl would own your heart, but your mind would have loyalty to your new master. And if your master told you to get rid of your love, that would be the breaking point."

"So its either have a master and be at full power...or be a freeman with all of my free will…" He stared off into space.

'What is it I feel for him?' She leaned up against the wall of her home, listening to the conversation. 'Would he feel anything for me? Does he know why elves are hated?' She looked down and then decided something.

"M-My name is Tiffania Westwood...I've been living here alone since my mother died. My father is the Arch-Duke of Albion. My mother was his mistress, but since she was an elf, she had to go into hiding...I have both human and elven blood. Elves are hated by Brimirists because they kicked the humans out of the southern lands. They called this land the holy land and Brimir swore that he would take it back." She took a breath as she showed herself. She looked him in the eyes as she found the strength to continue. "So...if I went with you...-" She stopped as he looked at her.

"I would tell them to knock it off...after all, wasn't it you that brought me back?" He smiled at her.

"Even if I'm a half-elf?" He beckoned her and she sat on the bed.

"It's not your race that makes you good or evil, it's your actions." He took her hand and squeezed reassuringly.

She started to cry as he just held her hand. 'Thank you...mother, thank you...' He twitched in pain as she touched his side.

"I-I'm sorry…" She pulled her other hand back.

"Don't be, I still feel like I've been put through a meat grinder." He smiled at her and squeezed her hand. "Can I have some more of that pain killer?" She shook her head no.

"I'm sorry, but too much can kill you...Mother always said to only give one once a day." She held firm.

"Alright." He nodded as he still held her hand.

"Whats your name?" She looked Intently at him.

"Saito Hiraga."

xXXx

Julio stormed into Louise's bedroom at the academy to see a blonde haired man with a beard and a mustache. He wore very fine clothes that stated that he was someone of high stature.

"Whats the meaning of making her summon another familiar so soon?" The young Flamen looked crossly at the older gentleman.

"So that she can get a better familiar." He stated matter of factly.

"If she goes through it now she could pull his spirit back to his body, turning him undead." The look of horror on Julio's face was obvious.

"What ever do you mean?" The eldest daughter of the household looked confused.

"One bite, one scratch, and he could turn anyone living into the walking dead. In Romalia we had to put down a similar situation." The knight looked hard at the old man. "Please just give her time to mourn...so that she can move on.

"...Alright...we will...what did you do to quell that...plague?" The older man looked to him.

"We had to kill innocent people, ones that were bitten and scratched, women and children…" The horror poured from his curiously colored eyes. "I never want to do that again...we had to burn the dead."

"I see...we will leave her to Cattelya's care." The old man took Eleonore by the arm and lead her out.

"But father?!" Her pride shown in her voice.

"Would you rather endanger everyone just for the sake of pride?" He looked at her. "Look to his eyes." She did, seeing the pain and torment in them. "Those are the eyes of someone that had to do horrible things...and I wouldn't want to have to do them myself." He explained to her as they reached the carriage.

"...Yes father, I understand."

xXXx

He awoke not really feeling any pain at all, and it didn't hurt to move...till he moved his arm too much, but it was more of a dull ache. He saw her come in with firewood freshly chopped as he saw the sunset.

"What the sword said was right, by tomorrow morning you should be fully healed." She smiled at him as she put the wood down.

"...The perks of being a familiar...What all did your mother teach you?" He looked to her as a sad expression came on her face.

"How to read, write, some math. Some history…" She sat down on the bed next to him. "My mother went out when some of the local villagers found us. She tried to get them to leave, but when one of the commoner mages threw fire...there was nothing but screams and people dieing." She took his hand, as if gaining strength from that act alone.

"I see...well I would defend you. And if you came with me when I leave, it means we have to make a stop before I can go back to the academy. Henrietta would love to meet you, I know it. She is a great judge of people." His hopeful words reached her.

She got up and went to the kitchen area.

"Time for dinner…" She smiled as she swayed her hips till she left the main room.

"...You want my advice partner?"

"Sure."

"Stay here a week with her, she has already given you her life story so far, give her yours."

"I can do that...besides we need some supplies right?" He looked thoughtful.

"Yeah, supplies…"

"Eat up." She handed him a bowl of soup as she sat down with him as he ate.

"This is good!" He ate like he was starving. She chuckled as she ate her own meal.

When both of them were done she set the fire in the fireplace and sat next to him again.

"Are things in where you're from so different?" She looked off into space.

"...Where I'm from...there are no elves, no dragons, no magic. That is all safely in between the covers of books and on celluloid prints...we have cars and trains, huge skyscraper buildings, and a lot of machines...but there is war, famine, and disease running rampant. Racial inequality, and hate crimes...even death. When I first got here, I wanted nothing more than to go back home, but as I stayed here, I started to see this place as a paradise. The people I met, and how I was treated by them. Louise might have been the one to bring me here, but I got to meet the Queen of Tristain, both of them. I got to know some very interesting nobles that I turned into friends, and I got to meet you. If it wasn't for you, I would be dead now." He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it. Her heart fluttered as he did this, causing her to blush.

"I-I did nothing special…" She stuttered. '...Is it ok mother...may I...'

"Its why I offer you this, if there is anything that I can do for you, let me know and I'll do it." She heard those words and started to tear up. He pulled her close as she cried into his chest, all of the years of being alone coming out of the flood gates. He rubbed circles into her back as he looked at her.

"Now I guess you understand where she's coming from partner...and I hope you take great care of her." If Delfflinger had a face, he would've winked.

"I will." She looked up to his smiling expression with her shocked one.

"You promise?" She looked pleadingly at him.

"I do." When the last syllable left his mouth, she kissed him, pouring all of her need into it. The Gandalf rune flared for a moment, but went back to normal.

xXXx

A/n: Yes...another fic, but I had the idea rattling around in my head, and I had to put it down, I will still write on my others. But I will say this, I plan on putting up a few others with other pairings. SaitoXSiesta, SaitoXAgnes, SaitoXHenrietta, SaitoXJeanette, SaitoXSheffield, & SaitoXJessica. Which one of these would you guys like to see first? And please read and review.