Brighter

[royaltyjunk]

Summary:

[Mod!AU] It's not the way he laughs, or the way she smiles, but it's the way they enjoy each other's company that makes the world seem a whole lot brighter.

Author's Ideas: HOLLAH HOLLAH GUESS WHAT MY FIRST LEGIT (NOT A TWO-SHOT) MULTI-CHAPTER FIC IS

IF YOU GUESSED PERCEVAL/CECILIA YOU'RE RIGHT

Jokes aside this has been sitting in my WIPs since like… March? To be fair, there's another WIP that's been there since June last year, but we're going to ignore that ha ha ha ha ha

*hint hint that might be my next one-shot hint hint*

Also, I tried out a new style of writing with this chapter, and I like it a lot. It's a little more casual and a lot more playful, but since all my fics are so somber [as y'all know], I'll hardly get to use it. Ah well :p

As always, readable on FanFiction, Tumblr, and AO3.

Disclaimer: What's owning Fire Emblem? Obviously something I'm not a part of.

---

Brighter

---

~ / . / . / ~

I: Sunrise

~ / . / . / ~

She shoots up like a sprout over the fifth Christmas break of work, and Perceval's genuinely shocked that she can't serve as his armrest anymore (yes, she used to be that short, and yes, she is a really late bloomer).

He didn't know what to say when she appeared on that first day back at work and marched over to him, her nose touching his cheek as she grinned up at him, standing tall on her flat feet.

Cecilia changes in more ways than her height, though.

Perceval always knew her as Miss Alessandra's daughter, who was his father's friend. She was the girl who worked hard for everything she got, and loved nature more than anything. She was the girl who helped him on his literature homework when he'd almost flunked the class on accident, the girl who sat under or, Miss Alessandra forbid, in the tree, flipping the pages of books containing medieval stories. She was the girl who had that sort of natural hand in economics and business, she was the girl who had always had her sights set on the Elibean Leagues. Yet, when did she start to grow into a woman?

Her voice gets deeper. What used to be a high and soft pitch turns into a sweet, slightly deeper tone. Her eyes grow wiser, more attentive. The curves in her body grow more obvious, and she looks much more feminine, like a real woman, and not like a short girl who tries her best to look like one.

She can do makeup like a pro now, and often does it in his car on the way to work, although she's always done that. What's changed is how well she wears that coral-colored lipstick, how nice her eyes look under that thin eyeliner and mascara she's known for. Her taste in fashion doesn't change, but she wears her clothes more naturally.

It takes more than a while for Perceval to register it: she's a woman.

There's still downsides to her growing up, though. There always are. First and foremost, he doesn't get to tease her anymore. He used to grin and muss her hair, laugh whenever they went shopping together and she had to get the smallest things in the petite section, or buy larger clothes hopefully. He doesn't get to do that anymore, and scrunches up his face whenever she stands on the tips of her toes and ruffles his hair, or how comfy she looks in his sweaters whenever she comes over, instead of looking like a mess of cloth and limbs.

Everyone takes her so seriously now. They look nervous when they approach her, and they stammer when they talk to her. She's expected to act mature, she's expected to present herself appropriately when Perceval knows that she's the same as before.

He becomes worried for her, though. When they walk down the sidewalk, he can see men, staring at her ravenously from the corner of his eye. Their hands twitch, and he doesn't want to think about what would happen if he wasn't there.

"It's ridiculous," Pent interrupts Perceval's aggressive train, or multiple trains, of thoughts.

He nudges Cecilia, who's sitting beside him. "What were we talking about?" he whispers.

"Promotions and business trips," she answers, glancing at him beneath long lashes lined with thin mascara. "Were you not paying attention?"

"No," he mutters back, and she gives him a playful punch on his leg under the table.

"Well, pay attention."

"Actually…" his mother's voice interrupts their banter, and Perceval looks up. "There is one more thing I would like to bring up in the Security Department."

"Go on," Douglas nods from his seat beside her. Amber Eques stands, a determined look in her eyes.

"At the urging of my husband," she lifts her head courageously, "I wish to step down from my position as the Head of Security-"

Perceval is on his feet at once, slamming his hands on the table in front of him. "Mother-"

"-And pass my post on to Perceval." Amber interrupts him.

He shakes his head as everyone's eyes swivel to him, pursing his lips together.

"Amber is right in appointing Perceval." Cecilia speaks up then. "He's experienced in the field, and will serve well."

Perceval looks at the green-haired woman, who stares at Douglas. Pent nods from his place next to the brunette.

"I trust Perceval. I've known him long enough to know he'll do better than any other candidate."

Louise smiles. "Pent is right, Perceval. I'm sure you're reluctant, but we all believe in you."

Cecilia places a hand on his then, ignoring the blatant stares. He stares down at her pale hand, and glances over at her. Her face is glistening with a smile, and he bites his lip before nodding hesitantly.

"Very well. If my mother believes me to be the one most capable for the job, I will accept it."

He gets a round of standing ovation, and Perceval shoots Cecilia his best "please help me what have I gotten myself into" look.

Amber Eques is waiting for her son outside of the meeting room, and she grins, snagging Perceval's elbow and reaching up, ruffling her son's hair.

"Don't let me down, kiddo."

"Thanks, Mom," Perceval rolls his eyes. "Way to put on the pressure."

Cecilia jabs her elbow into his bicep, and he glares at her playfully, a smirk on his lips. Amber lets out a boisterous laugh, rubbing her son's back.

"You can do it, Perceval. Your dad and I believe in you."

Perceval groans. "Right. Dad persuaded you to do this."

Cecilia grins. "Just shut up and be happy."

He doesn't see her for the rest of the weekend, too busy to meet up with her because of his new responsibilities that warrant attention from the public media. She sends him paragraphs and broken messages between interviews, wishing him luck and reassuring him it'll be okay.

The first day in Elibean Leagues on Monday is a circus. The minute Perceval pulls up in the parking lot, he's showered with "congratulations" and presents. He's pulled into a party, then piled up with work, and all this time, he's never seen Cecilia, only catching a glimpse of green behind Douglas's grinning face.. Eventually, he shows up in her office through the connecting door of their offices, and the reaction he gets from her is interesting, to say the least.

"Cecilia? Douglas said something about needing documents in a red folder, I think. I'm here to get them."

"Hold on, let me…" she spins around in her chair, then trails off. "...get through these…" She looks him over once, a grin on her face before turning her back to him, sorting through her cabinet of files and folders.

"I didn't know the first day of being Head of Security required cufflinks and a suit," Cecilia teases. Perceval rolls his eyes.

"I didn't either, so you're two for two for not knowing about how formal we have to be on the first day of work."

"Hey, my first day was your fault and you know it."

Perceval gives her a doubtful look that she knows he's giving her, and she sprays her bottle of perfume in his general direction.

"Cecilia!" he scolds, scowling. She turns to look at him, a red folder in her grasp.

"Great! Now I get to tell everyone how I made the Head of Security smell like peaches on his first day!" Cecilia beams, then pushes the spinning chair in front of Perceval, dropping the folder into his hands. "Now go on! You have work to do now, don't you?"

"Shut it," Perceval brushes off his suit, but grins. She smiles back and stands, giving him a tight hug.

"Congratulations," she murmurs. He rests his cheek on the top of her head and pulls her closer.

"Thanks."

When he goes to Douglas's office, the older man takes the folder from him and asks him, in an insinuating tone of voice, why he smells like the peach perfume that Cecilia uses so often. His only response is to flush as red as a ripe strawberry and swear incoherently under his breath. Douglas snorts and tells Perceval to scram and pick up the pieces of his scattered love life. Perceval glares at the older man before exiting his office, leaving Douglas hollering over how "young'uns these days don't seem to know what love is" and how "Perceval is the most oblivious bloke I've ever met".

That little episode elicits a response in Pent and Louise, who pull the new Head of Security out of a meeting one day to give him The Talk. Cecilia's mother, Miss Alessandra, takes an hour off of work just to join them, and by the time the trio are finished with Perceval, he is an unimaginable shade of crimson, from his face to his neck, even to his hands and feet, and there's a mental image in his mind that doesn't go away for the rest of the two hour meeting he clambers back into clumsily, muttering "I'm fine" to anyone who asks questions as to why the Head of the Financial Resources department, his wife, and Miss Cecilia's mother were lecturing him in said Head of Financial Resources's office.

"What were they talking to you about?" Cecilia raises an eyebrow over her lunch, and Perceval coughs, swallowing.

"I'd rather not think about it right now."

"What did they do now?" Cecilia rolls her eyes, standing. "I should go talk to them…"

"No, wait, Cecilia, you don't have to-"

She ignores his half-protests and stalks over to her boss, a fiery look in her eyes.

There's a collective moment of silence, then Pent bursts into laughter.

"Perceval, I thought you were tough!" he yells, and the Head of Security rolls his eyes, adjusting his tie.

"Technically, this is all your fault!" Perceval calls back, cupping a hand around his mouth. Pent waves him off, covering his mouth with his hand.

"Shut up and come get your girl!"

That hits both of them, and Cecilia kicks Pent in the shin, making a face while Perceval covers his face with his hands. Louise laughs.

The whole time, they're being recorded by Mildain, who's working the register at the Western Isles Café.

The next day, when everyone gets the video in a company inclusive e-mail, Perceval feels like curling up under his desk and never coming back out. He knows he's never going to hear the end of it, but his co-workers drop the subject as soon as the Elibean Leagues announce their next project at the annual company wide meeting.

"We're going to be starting a branch of Elibean Leagues in Lycia. They've agreed to send in candidates for employees and leadership positions, but for now, we're going to need some people to go over there and make sure the company can run itself while some people need to teach them," Pent clarifies.

"Which brings us to our current situation," Mordred rasps. "I have a list of people who will be going to the new branch in Ostia. They have already been informed of their qualification, and have agreed to go along. They will be leaving one week from today, on May 4th."

Some intern sitting behind him shouts out, "May the fourth be with you!"

Perceval pins him with his best glare, and he quickly shuts up. Perceval sighs, turning around, and Cecilia stifles a giggle beside him.

"Eliwood Pherae, Hector Ostia, Lyn Sacae. You have served us well, and I'm pleased to tell everyone that you three will be heading the development of the new branch of Elibean Leagues, and are thusly allowed to move from Etruria."

There's a large round of applause for the three veterans of the company, who scuffle on stage looking a little more than intimidated by the task laid out in front of them.

"At least you get to yell at your kids again," Pent murmurs offhandedly into the microphone, and everyone laughs.

"You will not be alone in your efforts, I promise," Mordred chuckles reassuringly. "Guinivere Desmond, Melady Sarkan, Zealot Sniegs, and Cecilia Icae."

Perceval's head shoots up at the mention of Cecilia's name, and he stares at her.

"You're going?" he whispers. She nods, standing to take to the stage.

The rest of the meeting is a blur for him. There's something pounding in his heart, growling at him whenever he sees Cecilia up on that stage.

Pent and Louise jump at the chance of sending their pretty much second daughter off to a new branch of Elibean Leagues, and the last time Perceval sees her is when they're at her house, head-deep in her closet and her wardrobe.

Cecilia disappears from his life for an hour, and then a day, and then a week, and that's exactly when Perceval realizes he has no clue how long she'll be gone.

It's also while she's gone in Ostia that he realizes how boring his life is without her, and he tells Douglas, who just pats him on the back and says, "Congratulations, Perceval, my boy, you've discovered love."

His workspace seems so lonely. The wooden door inside Perceval's office that connects to her office in Financial Resources gets rusty, and he can't help but want to clean away all the dust that's settling on her shelves, chairs, and books whenever he looks inside. He takes home the bomber jacket that she'd accidentally left on the coat hanger, and isn't surprised to discover that it smells like lavender and peach with a dash of vanilla, her favorite smells.

His weekends are suddenly free. Every Saturday afternoon, he usually goes up into the mountains for a hike with her, they go out to dinner afterwards, and then head to the Reglay house for Movie Night. Instead, his mornings (which were already dull because he spends them in the café at the office) become even duller when he realizes that he has nothing to do during the afternoon. He finds himself staying at the Western Isles Café longer than he usually does, and Mildain grins at him.

"You've been here for a while. Don't you usually do something with Cecilia in the afternoon?"

"She's in Ostia. Business trip. She's teaching a class or something," he shrugs angrily. "I couldn't be bothered to listen in on what she was doing. Something about Roy and Lilina was all I caught."

"Oh? Is Perceval being a lovesick boy?" Mildain asks, and Perceval reaches over the counter to swat him with his folder of paperwork.

"Just get me my damn coffee," he grumbles, scrunching his face up as he looks down at the paper in front of him.

"Echidna!" Mildain calls, and a few seconds later, a tall aqua-haired woman pokes her head out the backroom. "Get the grumpy Head of Security his coffee, please."

"Aren't you nice?"

"When did you rediscover your sassiness?" Echidna asks as she reaches for his mug.

"I don't think it's him rediscovering his sass, but it's more so the fact that Cecilia isn't here to tell him to be nicer and not sass everyone."

Perceval just sighs, and everyone's laughing when Geese walks in and promptly asks, "Did I miss something?"

Cecilia stays in Ostia for three months, and Perceval thinks the three months she's gone are the worst thing he's ever been through, and it's like his cat Calico agrees because every morning when Perceval wakes up, Calico's always in the guest room because Cecilia always stays over during her late-night business trips to Chanchester even though her house is only an hour away in Valkin.

Thankfully, she's called back to Aquelia before he loses his sanity, and he tells her over the phone that she's going to be taking Pent's place as the Head of the Financial Resources Department and that "Narcian looked like he had swallowed a live fish" when Galle was also to be promoted alongside her as the Vice Head of the Department. She tries not to laugh because she's stepped out of class to take his call, but he keeps jabbing at it and she ends up having to hang up on him mid-description because she can't teach class with the image of "just swallowed a live fish Narcian" in her head.

He's assigned to go pick her up from the airport when she arrives, and for the rest of the day, every time he walks by his subordinates, they all whoop and cheer like he's trying out for the god damn Olympics, when all he's really going to do is pick up the girl he's loved for twenty two years from the airport. Sain tries to get him to write some fancy poem, and he vehemently denies it in favor of his wife's advice, who just looks at him and says, "Tell her, you prick."

Turns out her advice was actually a message from Mildain.

Douglas sees him off like he's going to college or something, and even insists that he come along (to which Perceval denies). Perceval honestly doesn't know how to feel about it the entire ride towards the airport until he pulls up and sees her, waiting under the shade of the airport, and then he's suddenly grateful that Douglas didn't come with him.

She's beautiful, he thinks, and it's the only thought buzzing through his mind aside from the whole "I love you" thing.

She's wearing the white trench coat they bought in Europe together, and underneath is the open-sleeved, shoulder-cut black silk shirt that he gave her for her birthday. She has on the white jeans they found while cleaning out her wardrobe, and the slip-on black heels he bought for her while they were finding outfits for the class reunion just months ago. Her green hair still looks the same, but it's grown longer, frames her face perfectly, and he loves it.

She spots him and smiles, and he's suddenly seeing stars. She makes her way through the mass of cars towards his and slips her suitcase into the trunk of his car before getting into the car. He has to chide himself mentally that "you're not a kid, goddamnit, just tell her".

He blurts out "I love you" when she shuts the passenger door, and she stops and looks at him, and he's so scared that he can't breathe until he sees that familiar look in her eyes, that look of "I know, damn it, why didn't you tell me earlier", and then she smiles and whispers "I love you too", so he kisses her and kisses her until the cars behind them honk, and he never lets go of her hand during the drive back to Valkin.

[royaltyjunk]

Author's Ideas: The nerds are back and better than ever

*flashes a V*

End me now this ship is taking over my life

Disclaimer: No, I don't own Fire Emblem, no, I am not Shouzou Kaga, and no, I am not rarepair trash. ...No. I'm definitely not. Totally not. I swear.

---

Brighter

---

II: Sparkle

~ / . / . / ~

Cecilia pulls open the drawer to her dresser, stacking two binders and folder into her bag. She shuts her laptop and tucks it under her arm as she stands, going to open the door.

Perceval steps back as the door is pulled open, and Cecilia starts before smiling, letting go of the doorknob.

"I wasn't expecting you here," she slips her computer into her bag.

"Neither was I. I thought you'd be inside overworking yourself again," he teases, and when Cecilia scrunches up her face, he laughs, leaning down to press a kiss on her cheek. "I got you dinner."

"Mm hm," Cecilia hums in thanks as he hands her the bagged food. It's still warm. "You know, you should really let me go get my own dinner sometimes."

"It's more convenient," Perceval smiles. "Besides, I get to see you."

"You get to see me all the time," Cecilia points out, but stands on the tips of her toes and gives him a gentle kiss on the lips.

"Would you rather I didn't come see you?" he raises an eyebrow.

"No," she licks her lips, "but I'd rather you don't come see me right before I have a meeting."

There's a moment of silence, and then Perceval grinds his teeth. "Shoot. That meeting is today, not tomorrow…"

Cecilia blinks. "You know about my meetings?"

"Of course," he replies incredulously as he takes her bag. "Why do you think I always visit you when you have free time?"

"Oh…" Cecilia starts with realization, then shakes her head. "The meeting's in A45."

"I know," he laces his fingers with hers, and Cecilia shuts the door to her office. They walk down the stairs to the first floor, and as they round the corner, Gale appears from a nearby door.

"Cecilia, Perceval." Gale smiles as he notices them.

"Did you just come from a meeting?" Cecilia frowns. Gale waves off her worry.

"It's normal. Melady and I are trying to balance out our schedules, but for now, we're rather busy."

"Gale…"

"Don't worry, Cecilia. We should probably get going."

Cecilia nods, letting go of Perceval's hand. He kisses her temple gently.

"Come to my house afterwards, okay?"

She blinks. "Why?"

"Do I need a reason to invite my girlfriend over?"

Cecilia shakes her head, smiling as she brushes his hair from his forehead. "No. I'll come over."

"I'll see you, then." Perceval laces his fingers with hers, squeezing her hand. She gives him a squeeze back, smiling.

"Yeah."

Cecilia falls into step with Gale, and they enter the meeting room.

The meeting passes, a boring matter that involves her a little too much than she wants it to. Eventually, she and Gale leave, and Gale gives her a sympathetic look.

"I feel sorry for you. You have so much to do, even more than I do."

Cecilia shakes her head, smiling. "I like my work. It's not gruesome or tiring, at least to me."

Gale nods, pushing open the door to the parking lot. He holds it open for her, and she thanks him softly.

"Where's your car?" Gale asks, and Cecilia points at the car a few spaces down the first row. Gale rolls his eyes. "I forgot, you get first priority with parking."

"At least you get second priority," Cecilia jokes, making her way to her car. As she gets closer, she squints her eyes, making out a strange shape behind her car. She turns around the trunk of her car, and Gale's eyes widen.

"Cecilia!"

His warning comes too late, and Cecilia stumbles backwards, holding her cheek which stings from the slap that echoes through the parking lot.

"I thought it'd be just you. That's fine, though. I can deal with Gale," Narcian sneers.

"Narcian, what the-" Gale cuts himself off when Narcian brings up his hand, revealing a switchblade in his grip. Cecilia can feel her hands growing cold, and she shudders.

"He's…"

Narcian advances on them, and Gale curls his lip. "You prick!"

Narcian slashes at Gale with his knife, and grins when Gale dodges right into his punch. Gale reels backwards, and Narcian is so caught up in his smugness that he doesn't notice Cecilia is behind him.

Cecilia clamps her hand against the side of his neck, throwing a punch to the side of Narcian's head. Narcian screeches.

"You bitch!" Narcian elbows at Cecilia, but she jumps back, dodging his strike. Narcian throws Gale to the ground, raising his knife as he rushes to attack Cecilia. Her hands dart upwards, clasping around Narcian's wrist.

"Stop… it…!" she growls, as she presses herself against the trunk of her car, clenching her hands around Narcian's wrist. She's struggling to still his assault, and when Narcian knees her in the stomach she doubles over, leaning against the car. Narcian slashes the knife down, but as Cecilia crumples to the ground, the knife's edge cuts her right arm. Pain explodes in her arm, and she hisses.

"Narcian! Stop it!" Gale yells angrily, hooking his arms under Narcian's armpits, hauling him away from Cecilia.

"You vile piece of…!" Narcian spits, kicking violently, and Gale throws him to the ground behind him.

"Get out of here, Narcian," Gale growls, his fist clenching together in rage. "Get out of here!"

Narcian bares his teeth at Gale and Cecilia like a wild wolf. "You wenches… you-"

"Go!" Gale bellows, and Narcian scrambles to his feet, stumbling away.

Gale clenches his fist, watching the brown-haired man disappear into the darkness of the parking lot. He takes in a deep breath, and then turns to Cecilia, who's standing, her left hand clenching her right wrist. Her arm are flecked with blood that's still flowing.

"Gods… I'm so sorry, Cecilia. This… it's all my fault… I'm so sorry…" Gale shudders, and Cecilia shakes her head.

"No, it's not your fault…"

"But Cecilia-"

"Please, Gale, stop blaming yourself," Cecilia murmurs, smiling wearily at him. "I… I'm going to Perceval's. If you need anything, call me, okay?"

"Take care of yourself," Gale mutters, and Cecilia turns, opening the door to the driver's seat. She collapses into it, sighing as she forces herself to shove the keys into the ignition and start up the car. Only when she pulls out of the parking lot and onto the roads can she let her guard down, let her fingers loosen around the steering wheel, let her eyes blur up with the pain and despondency she's bottled up.

She wipes her eyes, gulping as she stares at the blood trickling along her arm. Slowly, her eyes drift to the rearview mirror, and Cecilia flinches at the sight of the large and ugly purple bruise on her cheek.

"How am I going to explain this…?" she whispers, then shakes her head. Perceval will understand - as long as she tells him. She'll go to his house, take a shower, go to bed, and explain everything the next morning. That'll work.

Slowly, she navigates the roads and highways, on her way to Chanchester, where Perceval's house is located. His house comes into view as she turns one more time, and she lets out a shaky breath. As she pulls up into his driveway, she reaches up and hits the control to the garage, given to her due to her frequent visits. The garage opens, and she pulls in on the left side of the garage beside Perceval's car. A jittery feeling sweeps over her as she closes the garage with the remote and removes her keys from the ignition. She takes a deep breath, and pushes open the door.

Calico, Perceval's cat, meows as Cecilia steps into the kitchen, and Cecilia smiles as she spots the tortoiseshell cat padding through the kitchen to meet her.

"Hi Calico," Cecilia coos, running her hands through her hair. She brings her bangs to cover her cheek, barely concealing the bruise on her face. Slowly, she kneels down, petting Calico.

"Cecilia?" Perceval's bleary voice drifts from the kitchen doorway, and she looks over to see the blonde standing in the doorway.

She stands, carefully folding her hands behind her back. "Did you fall asleep?"

"I didn't, but I have to admit I'm drowsy," he grins and walks forward to meet her. "You're late." He tilts his head, and she smiles.

"Sorry. The meeting went on longer than I thought it would," she replies, and Perceval smiles back, kissing her forehead and cupping her face.

She freezes, realizing the dilemma she's gotten herself into. If she pulls away from his touch, he'll know something's wrong. Yet, if he keeps going-

Too late.

Perceval's fingers brush the hair away from her cheek, and his eyes grow dark as he sees the purple bruise blotching her pale cheek. She reaches up tentatively, touching his hands unsteadily. He cups her hands, examining the gashes on her arm.

"Who did this to you?" Perceval finally asks, his voice harshly quiet.

"...Narcian."

He's halfway out the door before she can say another word, slamming the door behind him so angrily that the glasses in the sink rumble and clatter. She can hear him starting his car. Calico is startled so badly that she dashes into the basement and doesn't come back out.

Cecilia waits for him throughout the night, smearing ointment on her wounds and bandaging them, scrunching up her nose at the bitter scent that ends up following her around. She ends up spending her time sifting through piles of paperwork from her bag on the couch. Eventually, she cocoons herself in his blankets that smell so strongly of his musky scent (mint masked with coffee, honey, and the faintest scent of peaches) and changes into a pair of loose sweatpants and a camisole, wiping off the makeup from her face. She can feel her eyelids growing heavier as the clock ticks away, but she shakes it off, forcing herself to pull open her laptop in an attempt to stay awake. At some point, Calico awakens from the slumber she had once been in and pads into the living room, jumping up onto the couch Cecilia is sitting on and curling up against the woman.

"Do you think he's coming back soon?" Cecilia murmurs. The cat just meows, rubbing her cheek against Cecilia's hand which is stroking her fur.

She brews herself tea stored in Perceval's cabinets, her favorite blend that always comforts her, but when Douglas calls her and asks why she's using her work laptop to watch cheesy movies from the '80s and '90s at 12 in the morning, she breaks down.

"He what?"

"He left. He hasn't come back yet…"

"No, Narcian. He what? Drew a knife on you and Gale?"

Cecilia swallows, remembering the terrifying expression in the man's eyes. "Yes." Her hands are trembling. Calico notices, and the cat curls up in Cecilia's lap, meowing reassuringly. Cecilia smiles.

Douglas swears, and she can hear him flipping through papers with a violent urge in his actions. "I'm sorry, Cecilia. I didn't notice the tension between you two before it was too late."

"It's okay, really," she promises. "I've already heard enough apologizing from Gale… since he thinks he's the main cause of this…"

"Well, I'll bring this up tomorrow to Mordred."

"Thank you, Douglas…" she grins, her eyes blurring again. She swallows, and Douglas shifts the phone, most likely holding it with his shoulder against his ear.

"Are you sure you're alright, Cecilia?"

"I…" she shakes her head mutely before realizing she's talking over the phone. "I'm just… worried…"

"About Perceval?"

"Yes…" she strokes Calico, her hands shaking.

"I know you're worried, but trust in him," he reassures. "He's a smart young man. He wouldn't dare do anything that would upset you."

Cecilia smiles, wiping her eyes. "He's… a little too compassionate for his own good, isn't he?"

Douglas snorts. "That's certainly a way to put it. I can remember more than a few occasions where he got rather heated. Most of them involved you."

Cecilia lets out a little laugh. "I can certainly think of some."

Douglas lets out a low chuckle. "I'm sure he'll be just fine, Cecilia."

"Thank you, Douglas."

"Of course. Get some sleep, girlie. It's 1 AM."

"You too." She hangs up and lets her eyelids fall down. She drifts asleep listening to soothing orchestral music, her hand curled on Calico's pelt.

Cecilia wakes up when she gets a call from Pent an hour later, who exasperatingly tells her when she picks up, "Control your man, damn it."

In her drowsy state, she can barely make out Narcian, who is shouting in the background. Pent gives the phone to someone because his yelling gets quieter and quieter, and then a guilty Perceval mutters into the line, "Sorry."

"What were you thinking!?" she squawks, fully awake now, and Perceval coughs.

"I wasn't thinking," he admits.

"Reassuring," she mutters sarcastically, glancing at the clock in the corner of her laptop. "It's two in the morning. What in the world did you do to end up with my former boss this early?"

"Drive to Aquelia to yell at and threaten Narcian," he replies. "Pent caught me and dragged me back to his house. I'm staying the night."

"Did you do anything else?"

"...I might've slapped him."

"Narcian?"

"And Pent," Perceval adds. He doesn't sound sorry at all.

"What were you thinking!?"

"I said I wasn't thinking!"

"Well, think!"

"I can't think when something's happened to you! That just makes me angry, and then I feel like shoving my foot down Narcian's throat."

"Did you try that? Because that was oddly specific."

"No! What do you take me for, Cecilia? A barbarian?"

"A dork."

"Stop derailing my argument with opinions," he grumbles.

"I'm not. I'm stating facts," Cecilia smiles, and Perceval sighs.

"Look… it's 2 AM, and I know you're really tired, so… I'm sorry."

"What are you apologizing for?" Cecilia asks, confusion laced into her words.

"For worrying you. Douglas told me you stayed up all night waiting for me to come back. I didn't mean to, but I just got so angry, I found myself on the road to Aquelia before I could stop myself. So, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. I promise, I'm okay."

She'd completely forgotten about the sensation of worry that had been haunting her just minutes ago. Tears blur her vision again.

Cecilia sniffles, rubbing her eyes. "You should be sorry… you worried me so much… I didn't know if you were even alive…"

"And I'm sorry for being an idiot." There's a pause, then he's sputtering. "Wait, don't cry! I promise I'm okay, Cecilia."

"I know you're okay," Cecilia presses herself against the couch, pulling the blankets tighter around her as if they can replace Perceval's arms. "I worried you, didn't I?"

"...Yeah," he murmurs, then laughs. "It's funny, how we're caught in a cycle of worry."

Cecilia giggles along with him, and Calico meows loudly.

"Calico, are you keeping Cecilia company?" Perceval questions teasingly. Calico meows again, and Cecilia smiles.

"She's keeping me very happy, unlike you."

Perceval sighs, and she can only imagine he's rolling his eyes. Cecilia laughs.

"Perceval, can I have my phone back?" Pent yells, his voice distant.

"Sure," he calls back, then brings the phone back to his ear. "I'm staying the night at Aquelia, in Pent's house. I'll be back tomorrow."

"I'll see you tomorrow then," she murmurs. "Come home safely, okay?"

"I will." He pauses, then whispers, "I love you. I'll see you tomorrow."

"I love you too," she breathes, and the phone beeps, signalling the end of the call. She shuts down her laptop, closing it and standing. Calico hops off the couch and follows Cecilia as she makes for Perceval's bedroom.

Sluggishly, she lays down on his bed, draping the blankets over herself. Calico hops up onto the bed and curls up next to Cecilia. She falls asleep breathing in the scent of coffee and honey, thinking of his lips which always taste like sweet mint, and the faint scent of his peach shampoo.

Eventually, Cecilia wakes up to the angry buzzing of her phone against her cheek, shoved under her pillow in her sleepy state last night. She groans, reaching under pillow for her phone.

Cecilia rolls her eyes upon noticing the source of the buzzing: her 7:15 alarm which usually wakes her up for work. She hits "snooze" on the alarm and sighs, but perks up as she sees the text on her screen.

Douglas - 5:12 AM

I've excused you for the day. Gale will be taking over your duties for today. Feel free to stay at home. Use your time wisely. Give Perceval a scolding for me when he gets back home.

She's less worried about getting excused for the day and more worried about the time he sent the message. She frowns.

"Goodness… did he stay up all night?"

Calico purrs blearily, pushing her nose into her paw and curling up tighter.

Her phone buzzes, and Cecilia blinks. Her home screen displays the caller ID, and she hurries to pick up, a big grin spreading across her face.

"Good morning," Cecilia hums with a singsong tune in her voice.

"Good morning," he reiterates, sounding as if he's smiling. "Did you sleep well?"

"Mm… yes, even though I only had five hours of sleep."

"That's nice to hear. I just finished up at Pent's house. I'm on my way back."

"Do you want me to cook breakfast for you?"

"That'd…" he hesitates, "That'd be nice."

"Okay. When will you be back?"

"Eight thirty, at the latest."

"Okay. I'm waiting." she pauses. "Bye. Love you."

Perceval chuckles. "Love you too."

Cecilia ends the call before sitting up, bringing her arms over her head and stretching as she lets out a little sigh of happiness. Calico meows, and Cecilia smiles.

"What is it, Calico? Are you hungry?"

The tortoiseshell cat meows again, and Cecilia laughs.

"Okay, you little rascal. Come on," the woman swings her legs over the side of the bed, standing. Calico hops off the bed, brushing against Cecilia's legs. She leans down, stroking the top of the cat's head before snatching up one of Perceval's folded sweatshirts in his dresser, throwing it over her head and pulling it on.

She hurries down to the basement, picking up Calico's bowl at the bottom of the stairs and ducking into the closet to refill it. She sets it down by the stairs, and Calico ducks her nose into the bowl, crunching away. Cecilia leans down, a warm feeling in her heart as she scratches the cat behind her ears before walking back upstairs.

Her eyes catch sight of the mess she left on the couch, and she collects the scattered paperwork on the floor and across the cushions, stacking them into a neat pile on top of her laptop and tucking both of them into her bag. She picks up the empty mug barely filled with cold tea and walks into the kitchen, dumping it out.

Cecilia flicks the switch on the boiler and gets to work, completely forgetting about the anxiety and anticipation brewing in her stomach until her phone buzzes. She starts, looking over at the small mobile device.

Perceval - 8:23 AM

Almost home.

The nervousness and apprehension she'd lost during cooking suddenly comes back, and she gulps, going to dry her hands on a towel.

Calico dashes up out of the basement as soon as she hears Cecilia opens the garage, and Cecilia laughs as the cat dashes past her legs, looking around wildly as she skids to a stop by the edge of the garage.

"Over here, Calico," Cecilia urges as she sits on the stairs from the door that leads between the kitchen and the garage. Calico jumps up into her lap, and Cecilia smiles, slowly petting the tortoiseshell she-cat's pelt.

A sparkle of silver at the end of the road catches her eye, and she looks up. Her pulse gets quicker, and she can hear her heartbeat thundering in her ears. She stands unsteadily, and Calico jumps to the ground and sitting, looking up at the woman curiously.

The sparkle of silver turns into a Porsche, a familiar car that pulls up onto the driveway and into the open garage, parking next to Cecilia's car. Calico perks up, and Cecilia steps forward as the engine stops, and the car stills.

She's ready to scold and chide him, but when he comes out of that familiar silver Porsche of his and she sees that shyly proud, yet shit-eating grin of his, she settles for running forward and hugging him as tight as she can, and he hugs her back until Calico meows in protest, brushing against both of their legs. They spend the rest of the day binge watching old action movies and taking turns dozing off and petting Calico. Sometimes Cecilia will wake up, find Perceval's face centimeters away, and he'll smile, cheeks growing red when she leans in and kisses him while soaring music from the movie rises. Other times, she'll laugh softly when Perceval drifts asleep and his head ends up falling against her shoulder. Sometimes, they'll both fall asleep, and then Calico will meow loudly, batting at Perceval's hands until he groans and scratches her behind the ears as Cecilia wakes up blearily, smiling.

"Perceval?" Cecilia murmurs after the fifth movie, pressing herself closer to him. He tightens his arms around her waist, leaning forward.

"Yes?" he asks, resting his chin on her shoulder and kissing her cheek.

"I should go back home."

Perceval tenses up, and Cecilia squeezes his hand. "I'll be fine."

"...If you really want to go," Perceval murmurs, and Cecilia looks at him.

"I didn't mean it like that. I just… maybe I shouldn't spend another night at your house when all I have is a set of pajamas."

Perceval laughs. "Maybe. For now, it's our day."

Cecilia smiles. "Yeah."

The next day, when people clamor over her absence yesterday and ask about the bandages over her arm and the bruise on her cheek, Perceval gets a dark look in his eyes, and Cecilia smiles, squeezing his hand before telling the painful story for the hundred and first time.

Eventually, though, she stops explaining the faint scars on her arm to others, and Perceval just closes his fingers around it, wrapping his arms around her and smiling.

[royaltyjunk]

Author's Ideas: Wow hi yeah sorry this took so long

The first two chapters had been half-finished by the time I decided to publish this but this one I had to write from scratch, and I've had busy weeks lately. Yeah, I know it's a shitty excuse, but I got some work in on the next chapter, so that one should be published fairly soon. At least, I hope.

Knowing me, probably not :p

Also we're halfway through this disaster of a fic (read: just fluff about nerds I love too much)

As always, readable on FanFiction, Tumblr, and AO3.

Disclaimer: Ha ha ha ha ha yeah no I don't own Fire Emblem

---

Brighter

---

III: Sunset

~ / . / . / ~

He's somehow roped into helping Roy propose to Lilina, and she has to bite her lip through the entire meeting to make it out with a clean slate.

Perceval is waiting for her by the meeting room's entrance, a bewildered look on his face as he stares at his phone. Cecilia walks up to him, leaning against his shoulder as she peeks at his screen. She breaks into a grin upon seeing the huge blocks of texts Roy has sent him.

"Why me?" Perceval asks, lifting his head to look at Cecilia. She smiles.

"Do you think I know?"

Perceval opens his mouth to retort, but thinks better of it, and settles for shaking his head, chuckling as he slips his phone into his pocket and takes her hand.

"Are you going to go?"

Perceval gives her a strange look. "Why would I refuse? It wouldn't do me much good to refuse, and it clearly wouldn't benefit Roy in any ways either."

Cecilia purses her lips, her face scrunched up in thought. Perceval kisses her cheek.

"Don't do that. Your face will get stuck like that. Or you'll get a ton of wrinkles."

Cecilia rolls her eyes. "Perceval 'Perfect Face' Eques to the rescue," she remarks sarcastically, using her hand to make air quotes.

"I'm flattered," Perceval murmurs, and she nudges him.

"Smart alec."

"You know you love me," he teases. She rolls her eyes, but beams.

"Yes, I do." Perceval opens the door to the cafeteria, holding it open for Cecilia. "So, do you mind helping me with this little predicament I've found myself in?"

"Well, of course," she hums. "Why wouldn't I?"

"He did ask me to go to Lycia," he raises an eyebrow at her as they both grab a tray.

"So? I'd like to go there again. I'm sure Mordred will be fine with us taking a few days off, especially if he's planning for it to be on Saturday. It won't affect us that much."

Perceval acquiesces at that point, just shaking his head and smiling. "You're too stubborn for your own good."

"Says you."

Cecilia just nudges him, grinning.

Mordred excuses them for a week, and even when Perceval insists they just get Friday and Monday off, Mordred fixes him with a steely look, and Mildain hisses "just accept it" so worriedly that Perceval accepts Mordred's excuse without even thinking.

They spend Thursday evening packing after they come back from work, and crash at Cecilia's place.

"Why'd you pick a flight at 7 in the morning?" Cecilia complains, but Perceval kisses her on the forehead and Cecilia presses herself against her, her irritation forgotten.

They hitch a ride with Douglas to the airport, and he ends up teasing both of them so often that they threaten to throw Lalum (who was going to a dance competition and was sitting in the back with Cecilia) out of the car. He shuts up afterwards, but from the coy look he and Lalum are both wearing, Cecilia has some idea of where her reputation is going to go while she's gone.

They check their bags into the luggage, and Cecilia sighs as she plops her carry-on bag into the security check.

"I hate this part," she mutters, and Perceval looks at her sympathetically.

Thankfully, they make it out of security alive, and they make it to the gate as the airplane begins boarding. They slip into their seats and Cecilia runs a hand through her hair.

"...I forgot how stress-inducing flying can be," she admits, and Perceval smiles. He lifts up the armrest between their seats, and Cecilia lays her head on his shoulder.

"We should sleep when the plane takes off."

"Yeah," Cecilia agrees, and the engines start after a long silence. The pilot begins to speak, and the plane jerks, rumbling down the runway.

Cecilia laces her fingers with Perceval's, and he smiles, squeezing her hand reassuringly as they ascend into the sky.

"Perceval?"

"What is it?"

"What's the basic schedule going to be this weekend?"

"We're meeting Roy at the airport so we can surprise Lilina, and the proposal is going to be tomorrow," Perceval murmurs, and Cecilia nods.

"Mm hm. And then… we're coming back on Monday? Yes…"

"So…" he begins his sentence, but stops.

"So?" she inquires, and Perceval laughs, shaking his head.

"No, it's nothing," he whispers, leaning over to kiss her on the cheek. Cecilia makes a face at him, and he laughs again. She tilts her head up, and he smiles, tilting his head to kiss her on the lips. "Thanks for coming with me."

Cecilia gives him a strange look. "It's not that big of a deal."

"It is to me."

"Well then, you're welcome," she beams, but when she yawns she presses herself against his side and rests her head on his shoulder. He wraps an arm around her, carefully setting his cheek on the top of her head. Slowly, with a few begrudging adjustments to their positions, they drift off into a deep sleep.

The plane jolts, and the intercom buzzes to life, pulling Perceval out of his slumber. Cecilia doesn't stir, but when the pilot begins to speak, reporting their arrival at the Lycian International Airport, she groans. Perceval blinks the drowsiness out of his eyes, and Cecilia sits up, sighing. She stretches, grumbling about how her waist hurts.

Slowly, they stand and file off of the airplane. Perceval's phone buzzes, and Cecilia pulls it from his jacket pocket, looking over the notification.

"It's Roy. He's at the baggage claim, waiting for us."

"Then we should hurry," Perceval smiles, and she tucks his phone into his pocket, taking his extended hand and shouldering her backpack. They exit through the gate and follow the signs leading them through the airport, though Cecilia doesn't even bother looking up at the large signs pointing them in the correct direction. He reminds himself that she's been here many times.

Roy is waiting for them at the baggage claim, and a look of relief washes over his face as he spots the two of them.

"Oh thank gods you're here," he breathes as Cecilia pulls him into a warm hug. "I feel like I'm hyperventilating every second, I've been so nervous."

"You're just feeling jittery. You'll be fine," Cecilia reassures, leaning back to look him in the eyes. He flashes her a wavering smile and a weak thumbs up, and she laughs. Perceval pats Roy on the back, and starts when the young man hugs him.

"Thanks," Roy smiles when he pulls away, and Perceval squeezes his shoulder.

"Of course."

"How's Lilina?" Cecilia asks when they've collected their luggage and have piled into Roy's car. Roy grins as he pulls out of the parking lot.

"She's doing great. She thinks I'm going to a conference meeting, so she won't be expecting us at all."

"What a great idea! Give your soon-to-be fiance a heart attack," Cecilia exclaims sarcastically, and Perceval coughs. Roy laughs, and soon they're driving down the highway, sharing stories and doubling over in laughter (except for Roy, who's forced to hold back his laughs so he doesn't jerk the car all the way over to the wrong lane).

Carefully, Roy parks the car outside of their house, and they sneak up to the front door. Roy rings the doorbell, and bites back a laugh as they all hear Lilina scream and throw open the front door.

"You idiot!" Lilina cries, kissing Roy. "Why didn't you tell me!?"

"I wanted to surprise you," he grins. She pouts.

"Well, clearly, it worked!" she scowls, and pushes past him. Perceval and Cecilia hug her, and they all laugh, awkwardly pressed together in a three-way hug.

"I missed you," Cecilia grins, and Lilina smiles back.

"I missed you too. It's nice to see you again too, Perceval!" Lilina looks over at the blonde, and he lets go of Cecilia to reach his hand over, ruffling her hair affectionately.

"Hello again," he laughs gently.

Lilina pulls away, gesturing at the house. "I was just about to make lunch. Why don't you come in?"

"You two have to try Lilina's cooking. It's amazing," Roy says as the two of them step into their house.

"And here I thought I'd have to make lunch and eat it alone while I talked to Roy through a screen," Lilina comments, casting a blaming look over at Roy. He smiles sheepishly, and she sighs, shaking her head.

"Sorry?" Roy says questioningly. Cecilia laughs.

"Here, I'll help you, Lilina," Cecilia says, and Lilina turns to look at her, eyes wide with shock as she shakes her head.

"No, I couldn't possibly-"

"It's okay. I like cooking. It's not a burden on me."

Lilina gives her a dubious look, but nods tentatively. "If you insist."

"I'm going to go put our stuff in our room," Perceval says, and Cecilia kisses his cheek.

"Okay," she nods, then pauses. "We're sharing a room?"

"Would you rather not?" Perceval asks, his eyes filled with worry. She shakes her head.

"No, I was just surprised. I'm fine with it." When Perceval stares at her, she makes a shooing motion with her hands, and he gives her a small smile. He leans over, and Cecilia sighs, standing on the tips of her toes and kissing him gently. "There. Now go."

Perceval leaves the kitchen with Roy, and Lilina lets out a soft laugh. "How sweet," she comments, and Cecilia snorts as she notices the red blush sneaking up along Perceval's ears.

"He's a charmer," Cecilia replies, loud enough for Perceval to hear. He climbs the stairs, his face as red as Roy's hair. The green-haired woman smiles, turning to Lilina. "What would you like me to do?"

"Hm…"

The rest of their time in the kitchen flies by, and Cecilia is so preoccupied that when two people walk into the kitchen, she doesn't look up until one of them waves their hand in front of her face. Cecilia yelps when she looks up, and Lilina laughs.

"Gale? Melady?"

"Roy invited us here," Gale murmurs, and the glint in his eyes tells her the rest of the answer. Cecilia hides her smile, putting down her spatula and giving him a hug over the counter. "It's nice to see you again," Gale chuckles.

"Yes, it is," Cecilia pulls away, then hugs Melady. "How have you two been? Is Bern treating you well?"

"Thankfully, yes," Melady smiles, hugging Cecilia back.

"That's nice to hear."

"When did you guys get here?" Gale asks. Cecilia blinks.

"How did you know I wasn't alone?"

"If I remember correctly, Perceval is never more than forty miles from you."

Cecilia laughs, and Melady snorts. The green-haired woman picks up her spatula, stirring the contents of the pan. "We just got here."

"Oh, that makes sense. We were sleeping in the guest room downstairs," Melady smiles, "so we probably slept through all that."

"I'm not sure how you slept through Lilina screaming, but I'll buy it."

"That was a pretty tame scream compared to her other ones," Roy remarks as he descends the stairs. Perceval lets out a huffy laugh.

"See? I was right," Gale grins, looking at Perceval. Cecilia rolls her eyes, but grins as she scrapes the contents of the pan into a bowl.

"What's going on?" Perceval questions, offering the two of them a hug.

"Nothing, nothing," Gale smiles. "It's nice to see you again though, Perceval."

They set the table and spend the rest of the day eating and lounging around as they catch up with each other. Sometimes they watch cheesy movies from Bern that Melady and Gale brought over, and other times it's cards, where Cecilia wins every game and Perceval is this close to calling off their relationship (of course he wouldn't, everyone knows he'd never dare to do that).

Roy throws down his cards, shaking his head. "I give up. There's no way I'm winning this."

Cecilia laughs, fanning her deck out in front of her. "It's true. You couldn't have gotten out alive."

Roy groans. "I was so close too!"

"Wait," Perceval says, looking over Roy's cards. He glances over at Cecilia's cards, and then up at Roy. "You could have just played your spades. Spades are above everything else, and you have more spades than she has cards. You could have beaten her."

There's a moment of silence, and then the room erupts into pandemonium. Roy buries his face in his hands and screams, and Lilina falls onto her side, face covered.

"Roy…" Lilina groans. "Why!?"

"I'm sorry!" he yells over Gale and Melady's laughter. Cecilia pouts at Perceval.

"Why'd you point that out for him?"

"That's enough cards!" Perceval says loudly, and Cecilia laughs. "We should get to bed."

"Oh gods, when did it become midnight?" Gale asks, and he stands. "We're going to our room then."

"We should too," Cecilia murmurs, reaching to collect the cards. Roy gets them first, and smiles.

"You two retire for the night. We're going to clean up a bit, then go to sleep."

"Well… okay." Cecilia nods, standing. Perceval stands with her, taking her hand. He takes the lead, taking her up the stairs and down the hallway. He opens a door on their left, revealing a large room.

"This is our room," Perceval states, and Cecilia smiles tiredly.

"It's better than staying at a hotel," Cecilia says truthfully. Perceval snorts.

Cecilia opens their suitcase, pulling out one of Perceval's sweaters. He raises an eyebrow at her, but she shuts the door to the bathroom connected to their room, and comes out ten seconds later, wearing nothing but her underwear and his sweater.

"I'm tired," she murmurs, falling onto the right side of the bed. Perceval sighs, shaking his head as a smile crawls over his face.

"Yeesh…"

"I see you smiling."

They both end up falling asleep in each other's arms, and Cecilia only wakes up because Perceval pulls away as he sits up. She groans, rolling away from him and covering her face.

"Come on," Perceval smiles, pulling her close to him again. "Today's the big day."

"Yes, it is… Just let me…" she rubs her eyes and pulls her pillow over her head. Perceval laughs, pulling the pillow away and kissing her.

"Come on."

"Fine," she sighs, sitting up. Cecilia places her hand on his chest, leaning forward and kissing him again. "Good morning."

"They're brewing coffee and tea. We should go downstairs."

Cecilia sighs, swinging her legs to the side of the bed and standing. Perceval kisses her on the cheek and closes the door behind her, presumably to go downstairs. Cecilia sighs, sleepily getting dressed before washing her face.

She walks down the stairs, and the five people crowded in the kitchen look up.

"Good morning," Melady smiles, and Cecilia smiles back.

"Good morning," she echoes.

"So, we're going to the beach today, yeah?" Roy asks, grinning coyly.

Perceval and Melady nod, and Gale grins.

"Of course," Cecilia smiles, and Lilina sets down two last mugs on the table. The smell of coffee and tea wafts through the house, and Cecilia thanks her, ruffling Lilina's hair. Perceval and Roy echo her, and Gale hums.

"It tastes much better than anything I could ever brew."

Lilina laughs. "Thank you. I'm going to go get ready."

Perceval looks at Cecilia, and she shrugs. "I suppose everything we have in our backpack works." He nods.

"I think we have all our stuff in our backpack too?" Melady inquires, and Gale nods.

"So once Lilina gets back and we finish all our drinks, we can get going." Roy smiles.

They all end up having to cram into the minivan, but Perceval wasn't going to complain about Cecilia squished against him, especially not when she leans against him, so close that he can feel her every movement.

They stop at a restaurant and take a quick brunch, where everyone but Roy and Lilina order all the seafood on the menu. Cecilia ends up with a lox sandwich which she ends up being unable to finish.

"It's so good, but I'll probably just take it to go," she comments.

Before she can stop him, Perceval takes her plate and finishes the rest of her sandwich.

"Perceval!" she whines, and he smiles. She rolls her eyes, standing. Perceval snorts, and they walk out of the restaurant and through the parking lot. Roy unlocks the door to the car, and everyone clambers in. As Cecilia goes to step inside, he takes her by the hand, turning her to face him.

"I love you. You know that, don't you?" he asks, resting a hand on her cheek.

"Yes, I do," she murmurs, smiling as she holds his hand.

"Just kiss and get in the car!" Gale yells from inside the car, and Perceval snorts, pulling the door to the minivan open. Cecilia tilts her head up, kissing him gently. He smiles, then pulls her into the car.

They spend the rest of the afternoon driving down to the boardwalk, slamming buttons at arcade machines and screaming on roller coasters. Eventually, they pile into the car, all laughing as Roy drives them down to the beach.

"We're here," Roy announces as he parks the car, and when Lilina pushes open the door and steps out, he glances at the four of them in the back of the car. "I… it's finally time," he whispers.

Gale grins, zipping up his backpack. "Don't worry. I have the champagne."

Cecilia snorts, pulling open the door to the minivan. She steps out, revelling in the way her flip flops sink into the sand. "It feels so nice…"

Perceval steps out beside her, and Roy rounds the front of the car. Perceval shields his eyes, glancing at the ocean. "She's already got her feet in the water," he murmurs, smiling. "Though I think she's running back to get us."

"Well… no time like the present," Roy grins. "Here I go," he whispers, looking back at the four of them.

"You can do it," Perceval murmurs reassuringly, and Cecilia gives him a short hug. Gale and Melady each give him a squeeze on the shoulder and reassuring words. Roy smiles.

"Thanks." He takes in a deep breath and smiles, walking up to meet Lilina. Cecilia squeezes Perceval's hand, and he holds her hand tighter. Melady inhales sharply, and Gale rubs her back gently.

"Lilina," Roy smiles, and she takes his hand, pointing at the ocean.

"Isn't it pretty, Roy?"

"Yeah," he nods. "Hey, Lilina?"

"Yes?" she questions, tilting her head.

"Can I see your necklace? The one I made for you?"

Lilina gives him a strange look, but doesn't object, unclipping the blue crystalline pendant from her neck.

"Lilina…" Roy falls to one knee. "The moment I saw you, I fall in love with you. You were my angel. You had always been more than my friend." Gently, he pushes against the pendant. It slides into two, revealing a sparkling object inside the space. "You had always been my love, and you always will be." Lilina presses her hand over her mouth, and Roy holds up the ring that was inside the pendant. "So from now on… I want us to walk to the future together. Lilina Ostia, will you marry me?"

"Yes…" she sobs, nodding. "Yes… of course!"

He stands, taking Lilina's hand and sliding the ring onto her ring finger. "I love you," he murmurs, and Lilina stands on the tips of her toes, closing the distance between them.

"How lovely…" Cecilia whispers. Perceval just kisses her softly in response.

Their hearts are warm with the feeling of love, it seems like it's just the two of them, and they're reminded of how much they love their times together.

[royaltyjunk]

Author's Ideas: WOW THIS ONE ACTUALLY TOOK REALLY LONG I'M SORRY I WAS WORKING ON OTHER WIPs AND I DIDN'T REALIZE I HADN'T FINISHED THIS CHAPTER orz

I need to get better at setting deadlines holy moly

Also… is it just me or is it taking me a lot longer to write something these days?

:thinking:

Eh, probably just me

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem

---

Brighter

---

IV: Light

~ / . / . / ~

A year after Roy and Lilina's engagement, and a few weeks after their (in his opinion, somewhat extravagant) wedding, Perceval asks her to move in with him. He stumbles over his words a bit, and Cecilia has to stop him multiple times to chase off people trying to record them or snap pictures of them, but he gets his point across, and of course Cecilia agrees.

"Why did you even bother asking her?" Mildain asks, pushing Perceval his wrapped sandwich over the café counter. "She basically lives with you anyways. And you know that her mother is supportive of you two no matter what. Well, unless you cheat on her."

Perceval rolls his eyes, handing Mildain his work ID. "I just don't know if Miss Alessandra would have been okay with taking over Cecilia's house again. I know she almost went crazy last time because Cecilia's father did such a poor job of keeping Miss Alessandra's house clean."

Mildain frowns, pausing his tapping on the cash register. "Wait, what?"

"Miss Alessandra had to go live in Cecilia's house, so she got Cecilia's father to look over her house. When Miss Alessandra got back to her own house, it was in all sorts of disarray. The only people she trusts to look over the house now are Cecilia and I. And only if we're together."

To that last statement, Mildain makes such a suggestive noise that Perceval wonders how he ever became friends with him (he knows how, though - but only because it was also the time he became friends with Cecilia).

Perceval takes a few days to get a copy of his keys though, so they're constantly trading hands even before Cecilia officially moves in. At one point, Cath nabs them as a joke, but causes them so much stress that everyone learns never to mess with either of them when on a frantic search for something vital - or else they'll get threatened by both the Head of Economic Enterprises and the Head of Security.

Or course, Miss Alessandra agrees to their moving in together, and she takes a good chunk of Perceval's time making him promise not to do anything Cecilia wouldn't want, or not to break any of her possessions on purpose, and especially to respect her boundaries. He vehemently agrees, and Miss Alessandra believes him when he says he'll uphold them. He hears that Cecilia gets the same treatment from his mother, but knowing how much Amber Eques absolutely dotes on her potential daughter-in-law, she's probably prepared a list of Perceval's weaknesses for her.

(Unfortunately he's proven right when, while he has his back turned to Cecilia while unpacking her belongings, she drapes her arms around him and uses her foot to tickle the sole of his. What results is the worst tickle fight in the history of tickle fights.)

Still, the moving in goes well, and the busy Saturday afternoon turns into a calm Saturday night, where Klein, Clarine, Lalum, and Mildain crash their house without announcement. After apologizing to Perceval and Cecilia for the heart attack, they promise to cook dinner. Cecilia quickly declines Clarine access to the kitchen, but lets the other three in.

"Why won't you let me in the kitchen?" Clarine complains, pouting.

"Because you almost set our house on fire last time you tried to bake a pizza," Klein yells from the kitchen.

"But now I'm the third wheel," Clarine counters, staring with mock anger over at the other side of the couch, where Perceval and Cecilia are cuddled against each other.

"You should have brought Rutger then," Perceval replies.

"He's in Sacae!"

"Oh well," Cecilia grins, and Clarine crosses her arms.

"Meanies."

"You're welcome, Clarine. I just don't want you burning down my house."

"Who said that? You two moving in together is going to make it a lot harder for me to distinguish who's saying what while I'm trying to read everything I wrote down while eavesdropping."

"Good gods, Klein. You can't even tell the difference between Perceval's voice and Cecilia's voice?"

"Wait, what do you mean by eavesdropping!?" An indignant sputter from the living room sends Klein into hysterical laughter, and they end up losing their best chef from the laughing fit he's having.

Eventually, they all settle down for a comfortable dinner, and spend the rest of the night flipping through old photo albums Cecilia and Perceval dug out that afternoon. At one point, Klein points out that Perceval was wearing nail polish all throughout his elementary school years, and all Perceval can do is point to Cecilia. Another time, they count all the times Mildain had actually smiled for a picture outside of class photos. The answer was, unsurprisingly, zero.

Cecilia and Perceval chase them out of their house when it's close to midnight, laughing when Clarine makes a face and threatens Perceval loudly from the car about doing "unsavory things to Cecilia when they slept" as they drive away. Perceval rolls his eyes, but he obviously takes Clarine's words to heart because he doesn't do anything unless Cecilia agrees. He even asks if he can hug her, and Cecilia looks at him so incredulously that he just shrugs and says, "They're scary."

"I don't care if they're scary," she smiles, patting Perceval's cheek. He squawks in protest, and Cecilia laughs. "Whoops. I forgot."

"You know my skin doesn't react well to that lotion…" he mutters, wetting his hand towel and wiping off his cheek. Cecilia just flashes him her picture perfect smile, and it's hard to be mad at her after that.

The night that follows doesn't seem like any other night since they've spent so much time together, except when Cecilia wins, she's struck with sunlight, and the other side of the bed is empty. She sits up, rubbing her eyes and stretching.

"Perceval?" she calls.

"In the office," his voice comes from a distant part of the house, and she slips out of bed, pulling on actual clothes and tossing her pajamas on the bed. She makes her way across the hallway to the propped open door of Perceval's office.

"You're working this early? On a Sunday?" she frowns.

He shrugs. "It's not really work. It's more legal paperwork about your move."

"Oh. Do you need anything?"

"I'm… actually pretty hungry," he admits, sifting through the piles of paperwork in his office.

"Why didn't you say so?" she grins and skips downstairs, opening cabinets and pantries to collect the ingredients to prepare for breakfast.

It's then that she finds a green box in his kitchen cabinets, tucked away under the boxes and bottles of spices and dried herbs. What's suspicious is that the box is the same shade of green as her hair, an iridescent green that would catch his eye from anywhere.

She's still trying to figure out what could be inside it (ignoring the nagging thought in the back of her mind) when he walks into the kitchen, a wad of paperwork in his hand.

"Cecilia-" he pauses, his eyes wide when he sees the box in her hand.

"Oh, Perceval," Cecilia smiles, setting the box down. "Is that more legal paperwork?"

"Yes," he croaks, his gaze not leaving the box on the counter. She takes the papers he's holding, and he snags the box, tucking it into his pocket. Cecilia gives him a strange look as he slips out of the kitchen, and he gives her a nervous smile over his shoulder.

"So? What is that box all about?" Cecilia asks him eventually, when she goes into his study to return the bundle of papers. He's standing in front of his desk, and when she asks the question, he freezes up. With an annoyed pulse behind his movements, he takes the papers and sets them down on his desk, sighing as he turns and looks at her.

"Cecilia… what do you think it is about?"

"...I thought so." Cecilia closes her eyes. A smile spreads across her lips, and Perceval touches her shoulder.

"Yes," Cecilia murmurs, breaking the silence.

Perceval blinks, and it takes him a moment to realize what she's trying to say. "...Really?"

Cecilia opens her eyes, staring at into his brown eyes. "I've loved you for as long as I can remember, and I probably will keep loving you. Why wouldn't I marry you?"

He runs his hands through his hair, a distant yet joyful look on his face. "I… to think, I had a whole speech written out."

"Was that what you were annoyed about?"

"Yes," he admits sheepishly. "I was annoyed I didn't get to say my speech. I had it all memorized too."

Cecilia gives him a gentle shove. "I love you. Did you really think you needed a speech to convince me to marry you?"

Perceval rolls his eyes, and she smiles. He leans his forehead against hers, and her smile grows wider. Cecilia's fingers find the edge of his shirt, and she clenches his sweater. He cups her cheeks, and she leans forward a little, their noses touching. "I love you too," he breathes, and Cecilia laughs at the smell of mint in his breath.

"Can I have my ring now?" Cecilia questions, smiling. "I'm curious to see what you picked out."

He kisses her gently, his lips lingering against hers. "As you say," he murmurs, his lips brushing against hers.

Cecilia grins, detaching herself from Perceval when he pulls away and walks around his desk, pulling open a small drawer. He withdraws the bright green box, flicking open the box and taking the ring. He places the green box down on his desk and walks back to Cecilia. She folds her hands behind her back.

Perceval opens his fist, revealing a thin silver ring decorated with one emerald.

"Lalum and Lilina both agreed that getting something simple was better for you," he states, and Cecilia smiles.

"I think it's perfect."

She stretches out her hand, and Perceval takes it. He slips the thin ring onto her finger, and she grabs his cheeks, kissing him as hard as she can. His lips curve into a smile, and his hands rest against her waist. He pulls her closer, and she savors the gentle touch he has, the unspoken words behind his actions.

Cecilia's eyes are bright and her cheeks are rosy, and Perceval can't help but let his smile grow bigger.

"What is it?" she asks softly, brushing her fingers against his cheek.

"Nothing. Just… thinking."

"About what?"

"About how I love you."

Her only response is to pull him in and kiss him again.

[royaltyjunk]

Author's Ideas: Man I'm really dead inside ahahahahaha

My dudes I'm dead, I'm so close to finishing this fic that I hate writing but I love the ship, good lord. Next chapter is last chapter, here we go.

Also I've only been to like one wedding so I have no experience writing these but I sure as hell can try for my OTP

Disclaimer: Nah I don't own Fire Emblem.

~ / . / . / ~

---

Brighter

~ / . / . / ~

---

V: Sunlight

~ / . / . / ~

She looks like an angel, and he honestly believes she is one.

He stares at her as she walks down the aisle, arm linked with her father and her white dress trailing behind her. Her other hand is tight around a bouquet of cherry blossoms, ume, and camellias, something that represents who she is so perfectly. They stop in front of Perceval, and Cecilia's father smiles as he and Perceval share a hug.

"Take care of her," he whispers into Perceval's ear.

"Of course," he murmurs back, smiling. Cecilia's father lets him go and hugs Cecilia.

"I love you."

"I love you too," Cecilia murmurs, and pulls away, giving her bouquet to Clarine, her maid of honor. She looks at Perceval, her bright red lips lifting into a smile. Perceval takes her hands in his, and she squeezes his hands back. Mildain, the officiant, begins to speak, and the audience laughs along with his telling of Perceval and Cecilia's love. Amber Eques and Alessandra Icae read them poems, and Cecilia smiles, dabbing at her eyes when Amber reads the two of them a poem of love and caring for each other, and she feels a rush of affection and slight sorrow. Perceval hugs Alessandra tight, smiling sadly as she walks away.

"Now then, we come here to the most important moment," Mildain smiles. "I know that you two are probably itching to get on with this ceremony, so here we go."

Perceval makes a face, and laughter drifts up from the audience. Mildain flips over his paper, smiling as he begins to read the official sentences of marriage.

"Perceval Tristan Eques, do you take Cecilia Nicole Icae as your lawfully wedded wife? That you will support her from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death does you part?"

"I do," he says firmly, and Cecilia curls her fingers tighter around his.

"Cecilia Nicole Icae, do you take Perceval Tristan Eques as your lawfully wedded husband? That you will support him from this day forward, for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and health, until death does you part?"

"I do," she replies, nodding her head with confidence.

"Very well. Now, both of you wrote your own vows beforehand, did you not?"

"Yes, we did," Perceval nods, and Cecilia can't help but let her grin grow bigger.

"And gave them to me to read, correct?"

Cecilia nods.

"Now then…" Mildain turns to Perceval. "Perceval, do you promise that you will pay more attention to the movie instead of your cat during movie nights? Do you promise that you won't eat all of Cecilia's baked goods before she has time to share them with everyone at the office? And do you promise that no matter what, you will always love Cecilia, no matter what she has done?"

Perceval hides his laugh behind his hand, which Cecilia has to let go because she's laughing too hard.

"I promise," he finally says, laughing.

"Cecilia," Mildain turns to look at Cecilia, a mischievous grin on his face. "Do you promise that you will stop loving movies more than your then fiancé, now husband? Do you promise you will change your alarm to something Perceval can tolerate? And do you promise that you will support and love Perceval, even after he has broken all of his vows in one hour after this wedding?"

"I promise," she giggles, and Mildain smiles, turning to the young boy standing at the end of the hallway.

"The rings, please."

Melady and Gale's young son walks down the aisle towards them, and offers the two of them the rings sitting on the red cushion he holds. The two of them kneel, and Perceval takes the jeweled ring while Cecilia takes the simple golden ring. Perceval takes her hand, smiling widely as he slips it onto her ring finger. He offers his hand to her, and she takes it, slipping his ring onto his finger.

"Then, with the power vested in me by you two, but more importantly, the government," Mildain pauses as everyone laughs, "I hereby pronounce you two husband and wife. You may kiss the bride."

"Finally," Perceval mutters loud enough for Cecilia to hear, and she stifles her laugh against the passionate kiss Perceval gives her. The sanctuary explodes into applause, and he links his arm with hers. "Ready?"

"Of course."

Clarine hands Cecilia her bouquet back, and she grins at Perceval. He smirks back, and they walk down the aisle. There's loud cheering and petals flying through the air, and Cecilia laughs. Perceval grins, and they walk down the aisle to the open double doors that lead them into a large room.

Cecilia turns to Perceval as the doors close, but lets out a squeak when he pulls her close to him, leaning his forehead against hers.

"We did it," he whispers, and she laughs softly, wrapping her arms around his neck. He frowns suddenly, and Cecilia tilts her head.

"Is something wrong, Perceval?"

"Are you wearing heels?"

"Yes…?"

"Damn it," he grumbles. "And here I thought I'd be able to say proudly that my wife has never been as tall as I am."

She grins. "You're still taller though."

The door cracks open, and Mildain peeks his head in. "Good, you two didn't start anything raunchy. It's time for pictures."

Perceval gives his friend an exasperated look, and the light blonde grins.

"Just get out here, you two."

They disentangle themselves from each other, and Perceval slips his hand into hers. She clenches her other hand around the bouquet as she smiles up at him, and he leads her outside. They're greeted with grinning face, and the photographer beckons them to the altar.

What follows is twenty full minutes of posing, smiling, complaining, and rushing that they've ever experienced, and by the time they're done, Cecilia feels like her face is on fire. She groans, leaning against the wall next to the door that leads into the dining hall, where everyone has congregated.

Perceval rubs his cheek, sighing. "Ow…"

Cecilia grimaces as she tries to smile. "Definitely."

Mildain pats the two of them on the shoulder. "We're done now, thankfully. At least dinner's next."

"Good. I've been looking forward to the moment I could take off these damn heels."

Mildain flips through his binder, then bites his lip. "Well, you're doing the bouquet toss and the garter toss before that, so…"

Cecilia grins. "That should be fun."

Clarine and Klein walk up to the three of them, followed by the other bridesmaids and groomsmen. Clarine hugs Cecilia, and Cecilia reciprocates.

"What's all this about, Clarine? You're not one to get emotional easily."

"I'm just happy for you!" Clarine cries indignantly, blinking rapidly. "Ah… I think I'm going to cry…"

"Don't cry," Cecilia murmurs, stroking her hair. "I'll make sure to throw the bouquet at you."

"That's not what I'm crying about!" Clarine sputters, face red. Perceval breaks into laughter.

"Don't worry, Clarine. I'll make sure Rutger gets the garter."

Clarine sticks her tongue out at the two of them, and Perceval laughs. "Come on, Clarine. Don't do that. We have to go to dinner soon, and you still have to look pretty."

Clarine makes a face, but smiles anyways, patting Clarine on the back. "Alright, you guys. Time for dinner."

"Time to give you two a grand entrance," Klein laughs.

Mildain, who has darted away from their group into the dining hall, taps his finger against the microphone. "Ladies and gentlemen, please help me in welcoming your bridesmaids and groomsmen of the wedding. First we have Roy and Lilina Pherae!"

The two doors to the dining hall opens up, and the aforementioned couple link arms, walking out to the dining hall. Cheers rise from audience, all seated at their tables.

"Gale and Melady Nikolai!"

The two of them link arms, waving at the audience as they walk down the hall, eventually walking to their assigned table with Roy and Lilina.

"Douglas Kish and Lalum Etruria!"

Father and daughter grin as they walk down the hall and people continue to clap.

"Pent and Louise Reglay!"

The two of them hold hands as Louise curtsies and Pent bows, and the audience hoots and whistles.

"Best man and maid of honor, Klein and Clarine Reglay!"

Klein and Clarine hold hands as they run through the hall, waving and laughing.

"And finally, the groom and the bride, the newlyweds, Perceval and Cecilia Eques!"

The two of them walk into the hall and are greeted with thunderous applause. Cecilia laughs, and Perceval pulls her into a gentle spin, twirling her under his arm and pulling her close to him.

"Hello," she murmurs, and Perceval laughs.

"Hi," he replies. "I love you a lot."

Cecilia kisses him gently, smiling. "I love you too."

He grins, and leads her to the table at the end of the hall, their own table. Cecilia grins as Mildain steps up to the microphone.

"Ladies and gentlemen… get ready for the long awaited bouquet and garter toss!"

Cecilia turns her back to the crowd, and, with Perceval's arm around her, tosses the bouquet. There's a loud scuffle, and above all the voices, a

They take their seats, and begin to eat. After the clinking of forks against plates ends, Mildain speaks into his microphone again.

"Now, we'll be hearing speeches from the fathers."

Cecilia's father stands from his table, a microphone in his hand. He glances at his paper, then looks at the two of them, seated at their table. "Well, I somehow knew this day was always going to come."

Then her father goes into a speech about how, as soon as he saw Perceval and Cecilia's first meeting, he had already decided he'd never accept anyone else as Cecilia's husband. Perceval laughs, and Cecilia nudges him playfully.

"Just because he thought you'd be my husband, doesn't mean I did."

"Cecilia, you told me you liked Perceval ever since you first met him," her father counters immediately, and Cecilia flushes red. Her father grins, then reaches his glass over to the two of them. "A toast to the newlywed childhood sweethearts."

Cecilia and Perceval touch their glasses to his, grinning. They stand after they've drunk, hugging Cecilia's father as he goes to sit down at his table.

They continue on with dinner until they finish their main course, and Mildain calls up Perceval's father to speak. The tall man grins at his son before launching into a speech that boils down to "thank god I don't have to tease you anymore because everyone else does it". The audience is roaring with laughter by the time his father offers his toast, and Perceval gives his father a dirty look and a passionate hug.

"Take care of him, okay?" his father murmurs to Cecilia as she hugs him, and she smiles.

"I'll do my best, but I can't promise anything."

His father laughs and hugs her tighter.

Mildain walks up to them, grinning. "We'll be cutting the cake now, so please make your way to the cake, over by the door to the patio."

Perceval takes Cecilia's hand, smiling as he leads her over to the table where their wedding cake sits. They pick up the cake cutter beside the cake, and Cecilia laughs as Perceval stands behind her, awkwardly holding his hands over hers.

"This is really uncomfortable," he mumbles just loud enough for the people watching to hear, and Cecilia grins.

"Come on."

Slowly, they cut a slice through the cake, and he grins cheekily. Cecilia places the slice on the plate. "I guess we can serve the cake now."

Except afterwards, Klein and Clarine give their speeches as the best man and bride of honor, and they apparently collaborated to make one huge, embarrassing speech about how the two of them are the biggest nerds ever - I mean, Perceval collects as many antique photos of them as he can, and Cecilia might have framed their prom photo, so I think we can all agree that they're huge nerds.

After multiple threats from both the bride and groom, the siblings finish their speech and Mildain chuckles.

"So, Perceval and Cecilia, are you two ready for your first dance together as a married couple?"

Cecilia kicks off her high heels, smiling as she walks out onto the empty hallway between the tables. Perceval offers her his hand. "May I have this dance, my love?"

Her smile widens. "Of course."

The music they've practiced alongside starts up, and they fall into a familiar dance, something so dear to their hearts because it's just like the first time they danced at her aunt's wedding, when they were just small children, when Cecilia was a flower girl and Perceval was a ring bearer, and now they're both taking the place of the ones being married.

Neither of them would have it any other way.

The song fades away, and Cecilia just laughs as people flood the dance floor and her bridesmaids drag her away to dance with them. Perceval grins, and then almost doubles over as his groomsmen ambush him from behind.

The hours fly by, and eventually the wedding comes to an end and then Cecilia and Perceval finally return home, almost collapsing into their bedroom.

Cecilia lets out a tired breath as soon as she shuts the door behind her, and Perceval's too tired to even tease her. She falls onto the floor beside him, where he's sitting by the bed.

"...Can we - "

"Don't even finish that sentence," he groans. "I still can't believe we're actually…"

"Well, it happened," Cecilia laughs breathily. "I'm your wife now."

"Gods," he breathes, grabbing her by the cheeks and kissing her. "I love you."

"I love you too," she murmurs against his lips, feeling his hands clumsily undoing the veil over her hair. She reaches up, untying the braid holding her hair together. His hands comb through her hair, and she smiles.

"What were you saying?" Perceval mutters gently when his lips drift along her jawline, resting against her ear.

"I was just wondering if you'd have the energy to do what most couples do on their wedding night," she whispers, and can't help but feel her face redden. Perceval smiles against her jaw, pressing a kiss against her neck, just under her jawline.

"What do you think, dear?"

"I think that's a yes," she murmurs, and squawks when he hoists her over his shoulder and dumps her onto the bed next to them. He runs his hands through her hair, pulls her closer, and she shivers, kissing him harder until all they know is each other.

[royaltyjunk]

Author's Ideas: WE'RE DONE

Yo that was a ride and a half, yeezus crust. First and foremost, thank you, wonderful reader, for tagging along in Part One of "Avi tries long fics and fails", another one will be coming at you in like a year (FORESHADOWING)

Also thanks to everyone who faved/left kudos, followed/subscribed and reviewed/left comments, it means a lot to me.

Alrighty. Y'all ready for the last chapter? I know I am. Alright, here we gooooooo -

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

~ / . / . / ~

---

Brighter

~ / . / . / ~

---

VI: Dawn

~ / . / . / ~

He tries not to look at her every morning when she gets out of bed.

She wakes up every morning when the sun seeps through the golden curtains that cover the large windows, or when he kisses her over and over until she stirs, laughing drowsily when his kisses get deeper, when he crawls onto the bed on top of her even though he's usually in his work clothes and ready to leave.

Eventually, after being reminded that he actually has work, he has to straighten out his tie (which she's generally pulled at so much that he feels like she tries to strangle him every morning), smoothen out his hair (which always looks like a tornado just ran through it and not Cecilia's hands), and calm himself down (he usually fails in doing this and shows up at the office sweating).

Yet aside from their more-than-interesting mornings, it feels nice to be married. It's not Perceval or Cecilia, it's not Perceval Eques and Cecilia Icae. It's Perceval and Cecilia, it's Mr. and Mrs. Perceval and Cecilia Eques. There's something soothing to Perceval, at least, to know that she's really his, that they'll stay like that for the rest of their lives.

Although, in Perceval's honest opinion, their lives really haven't changed much. Cecilia probably agrees too, since they both don't bother trying to change the way they act. Every day, Cecilia arrives at work to some new story about how her husband (gosh, that's satisfying to say) had shown up in another state of disarray two hours ago, and she just rolls her eyes, grinning as she spots Perceval from a crack through his office door, blushing a bright red.

Cecilia comes back from work one day, and Perceval looks up from the dinner table, taking off his reading glasses. "Good, you're back."

"Is something wrong?" she asks, setting down her bags on her chair and leaning in to kiss him softly. He kisses her back before grabbing the envelope on the table she hadn't even noticed.

"It's a college reunion. Saturday."

"Are we going?" she questions.

"Do you want to?"

"I suppose," he responds. "I'm a little curious how all our friends are doing."

Cecilia laughs, moving her bags onto the couch and sitting at her seat by the dinner table. "If you wanted to go, you could've just said so. I would've gone with you, no matter what."

Perceval smiles. "I just wanted to make sure."

Cecilia rolls her eyes, but as she slips into her heels and pulls her shawl over her shoulders on Saturday night, she can't help but feel a little nervous. Perceval seems to notice too, since he laces his fingers with hers as he leads her to the car.

Eventually they pull up in the open grounds of their old college, and follow the people trickling through the campus.

"Perceval!" Mildain calls as soon as they enter the gym where everyone is, and the two of them turn to see their friend sitting beside Lalum.

"There you two are," Cecilia comments as they sit at the table with them.

"We're hiding," Lalum says. "You two should also probably hide."

"Why?" Cecilia frowns.

"Have you not noticed that you might be a little famous, Cecilia? And Perceval?"

Perceval groans. "Please, no."

Mildain laughs. "Hey, at least Gale and Melady will be here to take some of the attention from you."

"Still - "

They're saved by the speakers, which buzz to life and start the reunion. By the time people have realized that four of the highest-ranking officials from Elibean Leagues (THE Elibean Leagues) are actually at their college reunion, they're too busy trying to catch up with other classmates to seemingly care. Many of the people who do approach them are old friends and acquaintances who truly are interested in knowing how the two of them are doing, which eventually ends in relentless teasing about how Perceval "finally grew a pair" and how "you two were so oblivious, I don't understand how".

Unfortunately, they end up having to hog all the attention during dinner, when their former class president tries to see if anyone famous is in the room, and everyone just stares at them.

Overall, though, the reunion doesn't even go that badly, and they all leave with silly grins on their faces and soaring hearts.

"Cecilia?" he murmurs when they're in bed, curled into each other's arms.

"Hm?"

"...No. It's nothing." He kisses her on the forehead. "Good night."

Cecilia laughs. "I love you too."

Still, that unspoken sentence that Perceval never finished makes Cecilia wonder what he was going to say. Thankfully, she doesn't have to imagine for too long, because a few nights later, he tells her.

"Answer me truthfully," he murmurs, placing his hand on hers. She nods, a nervous look in her eyes. His face softens. "Don't look so nervous. It's nothing bad. I…" He closes his eyes, then looks at her. "Do you want to try for a child?"

His question makes her blink in surprise. They've been married going on half a year soon - it makes sense he'd wonder these sort of things. Of course, she'd thought about it more than a few times, but…

"Yes, but… not now," she whispers in response.

Perceval blinks, then nods. "Okay. Whatever you want."

"I'm sorry," she whispers as Perceval brushes a strand of green hair behind her ear. He looks at her strangely.

"Why are you apologizing?"

"I mean, you - "

"Cecilia, I'm happy with whatever you want. If you want to wait, I'll wait."

Cecilia smiles, a feeling of warmth pulsing through her. Perceval leans down and kisses her gently, and she returns it happily.

"Thank you," she mutters.

So they wait. There's nothing awkward about it. They indulge themselves from time to time, but they both know where the boundaries are. Cecilia tells her mother and mother-in-law about their decision, and they're delighted.

"At least you two are thinking about it," Amber smiles, and Cecilia laughs.

"Truthfully, I think Perceval's the one who did most of the thinking in this department," Alessandra remarks, and Cecilia rolls her eyes.

"I've thought about it too," she replies. "It's just, Perceval was the one to bring it up."

The front door opens, and Perceval walks inside, brushing off his trench coat. A burst of cold wind follows him, and Cecilia stands, hurrying to the kitchen.

"Do you have someone over?" he asks. "There's a car in our driveway."

"How rude!" Amber calls from the living room, and Perceval almost drops his keys, swearing. Cecilia laughs, slowly unwinding the scarf around his neck. He takes off his trench coat, hanging it onto the coat hanger and giving Cecilia a soft kiss before taking her by the hand and hurrying to the living room.

"So what are you two doing here?" he asks as soon as he steps inside, and Amber grins at her son.

"Just a girls' night."

"It's afternoon."

Cecilia snorts, and Alessandra laughs.

"So where were you?" Amber questions.

"Running some errands," he responds. "Speaking of, aren't you two supposed to be at work soon?"

"Cat's out of the bag," Alessandra smiles, standing. "Ready to go?"

"I suppose," Amber grins back, grabbing her cup of coffee from the table before leaving with Alessandra. Perceval smiles, hugging them both when they open their arms towards him and laugh. Cecilia watches them leave, waving as they pull out of the driveway.

"So?" Perceval asks.

"I told them we might try for a child soon," she responds, and Perceval kisses her on the forehead.

"If they tried to convince you - "

"No, they didn't. They respected our decision." Cecilia smiles. "We have good mothers."

"We do."

And it's not just their mothers who are good. Their friends are respectful and encouraging, and a little more willing to tease them.

And like that, winter fades into spring, spring into summer, and when the leaves begin to change color and fall to the ground, she smiles and nods.

"Yes," she whispers, and he blinks.

"What?"

"I'm ready. I… want to try for a child."

Perceval stops for a second. "...Really?"

"Of course," she responds, and Perceval breaks into a grin.

"I love you," he whispers, and she laughs softly.

So it doesn't come as a surprise to either of them when, a few weeks later, Cecilia smiles and says, in front of a crowd of people, "I'm pregnant."

Of course, there's a lot of squealing and screaming that greets that announcement, but of course, there's a lot of responsibility to be passed on. The Head of Financial Resources, going on maternity leave? Who is going to take on all her responsibilities, handle all her projects, and manage the upcoming promotions in Financial Resources?

Cecilia's pregnancy takes a lot of wind out of her. She can't go to work after the fourth month passed, and occupies herself at home with all sorts of books and television shows. Her mother and mother-in-law drop by often, to make sure she is alright, but she feels useless, Perceval can tell.

"I love you," he murmurs, rubbing her shoulder gently.

"I love you too, but where is this coming from?" she questions, a gentle smile on her face.

"I know you've been feeling down," he says. "So I thought I'd try to help you."

Cecilia laughs. "Thank you," she replies, leaning on his shoulder.

The next four months seem to crawl by agonizingly slow. They decide baby names, and when Perceval cuts into a cake and finds the inside is pink, he breaks into a large grin.

"Angel," Perceval whispers, resting a hand on her stretched stomach.

"Angel," Cecilia repeats softly. "Her name is Angel."

Even though her due date draws closer and closer, and it's not a surprise when she calls him in the middle of a meeting to tell him her water broke, he can't help but feel panicked when they wheel her into the labor room.

"Would you like to stay with her?" the nurse asks. Perceval pauses, and Cecilia shakes her head. Her face is already beaded with sweat.

"I'll be fine… Please, Perceval…"

"...Okay. I'll stay outside," he murmurs, leaning to kiss her forehead. She smiles, then winces. The nurse ushers him out of the room and into the waiting area. To Perceval's surprise, Mildain and Gale are standing there.

They fall into a silent routine, both of them sitting on either sides of Perceval. Mildain thumbs through a magazine as Gale swipes through his phone. Perceval lets out a breath and begins to file the paperwork in his business bag, slowly filling them out and placing them into separate folders.

"On any other occasion, I'd be taking that work away from you, but I know that's how you deal with stress, so I'll let you keep it," Mildain says begrudgingly. Galle laughs.

"It's okay, Elffin. Even if you tried to take it away, he'd probably find some way to get it back. This is under stress Perceval we're talking about."

"I'm right here," the blonde comments, looking up briefly.

Mildain grins. "You know it's true, Perceval."

He rolls his eyes, but adjusts his reading glasses, turning his gaze back to his work. Mildain lays a hand on Perceval's, and Perceval blinks.

"Your grip is way too harsh," he responds. "Calm down."

Perceval sighs, his breath shaky. "Sorry. I…"

Mildain just smiles, squeezing Perceval's hand reassuringly.

"She'll be fine."

Perceval smiles back. "Thank you."

So they sit in the hospital waiting room, a tense and laden silence hanging over them. The clock's hands tick away as early afternoon turns into late night, and finally the door opens.

The nurse steps out, a smile on her face. "Congratulations, Mr. Eques. Your wife has given birth to a healthy daughter. You can go in and see them if you'd like."

Perceval is on his feet immediately. "Now?"

"Yes, now."

He hurries through the slightly opened door. The room is slightly stuffy, but he doesn't care. All he's focused on is the woman on the bed, the small baby in her arms. He walks to her side, and she looks up as he approaches.

"Hey," she smiles, "I love you. A lot."

"I love you more," he whispers, kissing her feverishly. Their daughter whines softly, and they turn their attention to the small baby in Cecilia's arms.

It's not the way he laughs, or the way she smiles, but it's the way they enjoy each other's company that makes the world seem a whole lot brighter.