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“Have a drink, Leo.” The older man motioned over Jakob, smarter than to catch Felicia’s eye while she was serving, to pour them some wine.
“Brother, I’d really rather not,” his words did nothing to slow Jakob’s movements. “All alcohol does is slow the mind and remove inhibition from their owner.”
“In large quantities yes, but in small it is considered a social interaction. If you wish to treat with other nations you’d best learn the custom, lest you come across as rude.” When Xander spoke like that it was hard to refuse.
“Besides,” Camilla cut in from her seat at the table in between them, “it’s only one glass, darling. I’m sure you can hold your liquor better than that.” She smiled over at him.
Sighing and running a hand through his hair, Leo conceded, “Alright, fine. But just one.” He picked up the glass in front of him, took a sip of the dark red liquid, and gazed across the table at their cheerful companions.
It was the one year anniversary of Nohr and Hoshido’s conquer of Anankos, king of Valla. Since then, Corrin had taken up the throne, and reversed many of the mad king’s effects on all three of their nations. Scorched plains turned to fields of grain, trade was flowing freely, and the loss of those they loved became a little easier. On this special day, both royal families found themselves in Izumo celebrating together with whichever citizens of either nation that could make the journey. Today was a day of peace.
Scattered across the hall were tons of round tables where happy people sat eating their feast. At the very end of the hall was the table completely full, maybe even a little cramped, of both royal families, Corrin, Azura and Izana. While peace had filled the nations, they still felt slightly divided. The nohrian royals sat on one side, while the hoshidan royals sat on the other, with the Valla and Izumo heads sitting between them.
“Ryoma, we really must have a meeting next month to cover changes to the amounts of goods to be traded. The seasons are changing and so too are our people’s needs.” Xander’s voice rose over the din as he addressed the other king. It was very like the two of them to never leave business behind. Once Ryoma had nodded his agreement, Xander immediately launched into his ideas for revisions.
Camilla on the other hand was leaning towards Hinoka, bosom on the table, with a flirtatious smile on her face. Hinoka was sitting there with wide eyes and a bright blush across her cheeks. Takumi, who for some reason was also involved in their flirty conversation, looked in disbelief and distinctly grossed out.
Leo was taking another sip of his wine when Sakura and Elise caught his attention. They were sitting next to each other and Elise was talking a million miles a minute while making wild gestures with her hands. Poor Sakura couldn’t have gotten a word in had she wanted to, and she looked as though she might have forgotten just how talkative Elise really was.
“Elise! I know you missed Sakura, but you really shouldn’t frighten her off,” Leo said, and Sakura blushed and Elise pouted.
“I won’t frighten her off, what are you talking about?” Elise asked indignantly. “Isn’t he so mean, Sakura?” She turned her attention to the pink haired princess, who’s face only started to match her hair even more.
“O-oh, um. I don’t know about that. I always thought h-he was pretty nice.” Sakura looked down, not making eye contact. Leo wasn’t sure if it was the wine, but he felt heat in his face. Leo looked away, too, and down at his wine glass. It was still mostly full.
He was just about to open his mouth to speak when something hit him in the arm. “He’s only trying to trick you!” Elise protested, “I’m much nicer than he is!”
“I don’t know if that’s true, you just hit me,” Leo retorted. Sakura giggled. Both Nohrian siblings looked up at her again.
“What’s so funny?” Elise asked.
“You j-just remind me of T-Takumi and Hinoka a little. I’ve never r-really had a sibling to banter with.” Sakura said.
Leo deadpanned. “Trust me, it’s less fun than it looks.”
“Hey! It’s fun and you know it!” Elise stated, only to realize what she’d admitted to. “I mean, it’s really awful. Leo’s really awful!” Their conversation went on like that for a while. The Nohrian siblings bantered, and Leo tried his best to get Sakura to contribute to the conversation, not wanting the sweet princess to feel left out.
Leo went to go take a sip of his nearly empty wine glass and only to find it was full when he nearly spilled it upon himself. Elise snickered, and Leo looked around to see Jakob bustling away from him with the bottle of wine. “Ugh, I don’t even want to drink this stuff, Xander’s making me.” He complained then immediately felt bad as Sakura went pink and he saw a mostly empty glass in front of her.
“Lucky! He won’t let me have any,” Elise whined, “If you don’t want it, I’ll take yours!”
“Go find your own wine,” Leo stated, after taking a big gulp of his, hoping to make Sakura feel better. He really hadn’t meant to offend her.
“Jakob won’t slip me any, and I’m too afraid to ask Felicia; she might alert the whole hall, what with her accidents.” She huffed. “Please?”
“No way,” he said, and took another big drink.
“Why do you keep drinking, I thought you didn’t like it? You just like to complain!”
Sakura didn’t touch her wine for a while, and Leo’s guilt persisted, as did his large drinking. He almost felt like he was drinking his guilt away, but he figured the more he drank the more likely it would be that she’d start drinking again, too. Then he’d feel better. About the time he finished his second glass, she’d picked hers up and finished it. Jakob was over in a flash to refill both of theirs.
After that the wine didn’t seem to taste as bitter, and Leo went from determined not to drink any more to drinking it without really noticing what he was doing. He felt like he was glowing, the celebration really kicking in. The war was over, they were all feasting, and he had a beautiful blushing girl talking with him. Startled by the latter part of his thoughts, he shook his head, took another sip of wine, and jumped back into the conversation.
It took a while, but eventually the citizens started filing out to go sleep. The royals had ended up moving into a sitting room for final desserts. Sakura, Leo and Elise had ended up on a plush sofa, but eventually even that started coming to a close. Takumi and Azura were the firsts to excuse themselves and go off to bed. Takumi had never been big on crowds, and Azura was tired from her performance earlier. Next, the kings were off to bed, for they had to get up the next morning. Corrin followed them to bed shortly after. Leo was honestly surprised that Sakura was staying up so late. Hinoka and Camilla disappeared shortly after that, but Leo had a feeling they weren’t planning on going to bed anytime soon. It was only Leo, Sakura, Elise and Izana left.
The socializing was mostly coming to a close when Izana finally stood up, went to leave the room when he stopped and called to the sleepy looking Elise, “Come on Elise, you can all talk some more tomorrow, you look like you’re about to fall asleep on the couch.” And finally it was just Leo and Sakura. Leo felt warm, but he could definitely blame the wine this time, and not just because he was alone with such a compassionate girl.
Sakura got up, and he was afraid she was going to leave, but she only pulled a book on healing off one of the many shelves and plopped back down on the couch next to him. With her looking down at the open book, he was able to study her face once she pushed her hair behind her ear.
It had been one year since the war had ended. And the gods knew so many of them would have been dead had she not been there to protect them, both with staves and bow. Leo remembered a particular time he had received an otherwise mortal wound. He had taken a silver axe right to the ribs, leaving a horrible gash. He had been laying in his own blood, trying to call out when suddenly a shining arrow was sticking out of his attackers chest, and he fell next to him. Sakura had rushed over, slung her bow over her back and kneeled down next to him, ruining her kimono with his blood.
“Alright, you’re going to be okay.” She had said without a stutter, fierce in the heat of the moment. She took a closer look and said, “looks like you’ve broken a couple ribs, too. This is going to hurt a little, but you’ll be okay.” Sure enough, it did hurt. The usual glow of healing only did so much to cover up the feeling of his ribs moving back together. He had blanched, and grabbed for her free hand, his grasp uncomfortably tight. She had squeezed back just as hard. Despite him being hardly conscious she had continued to whisper comforts and prayers to him, no doubt in her voice.
Present day Leo felt a warmth in his face as he thought about how he owed her his life. He spoke up then, without thinking about the words coming out of his mouth, “Why are you still awake?” Cringing immediately at his words, he corrected, “I mean, it’s pretty late, aren’t you tired?”
“O-oh, I, um, I don’t sleep well. I have n-nightmares.” Her voice sounded so different here in the comfort of Izana’s sitting room than it had in heat of battle. Her statement resonated in him though.
“Oh, about the war?” She nodded and looked away. “I used to have nightmares about it a lot, too. I would have died if not for you, after all.” Heat filled both of their faces as they thought back. They were silent for a long moment.
“I-I dream about that sometimes.” She said softly, very much not looking at him. Leo went still. She dreamed about that battle? He searched her face and knew it was true.
“It’s all over now.” He said as simple comfort. His pulse quickened for a moment as he thought it through, but then ended up swallowing hard and leaning his body over just a little bit to close the distance between their shoulders. She stiffened for a moment and looked up at him. His heart stopped. Her red eyes were so close. He licked his lips then closed his eyes.
And sighed.
He looked away, and thought of all of the wine in his system. He shouldn’t be making a move on someone, Sakura especially, without being able to coherently think it through. He ran a hand through hair as he said, “I’ll stay up with you, if you want.” He wondered what she had been thinking of, a moment before. If she returned his feelings.
“O-okay.” She said and leaned back against him. He felt his cheeks go pink at the motion. A moment went by then, “Thank you,” She said softly.
He smiled at her as she tucked her feet up under her on the couch and reopened her book. He stood up, retrieved his own book on uses for magic outside battle, and sat down so they were leaning against each other again. He tried to keep his pulse even and was eventually successful as he read about how ice magic could be used to preserve food. With her shoulder pushing against his, their arms melded until the elbow, Leo couldn’t help but feel contented. It had been a while since he had done leisurely reading, as he’d become busy being Xander’s advisor. His breathing slowed and the glow from the candle light seemed to echo within him.
They stayed like that for a couple more hours. The only sound between them was the turning of pages, soft breathing, and the occasional shifting of positions. But they always stayed touching in one way or another. It was comforting in a way nothing other than quiet companionship could be.
Sakura’s head fell to his shoulder, and Leo startled for a moment. He could hear her soft even breathing; she must have fallen asleep. He took a bit longer but he finished his chapter, outlining the practical uses for modern men being able to cook with fire magic. He did his best not to jostle Sakura, but he set his book and hers down on the side table, and blew out the last remaining candle.
Plunged into darkness, Leo felt his own heart race. He could feel exactly where he was touching Sakura, and was unsure of what to do. He contemplated for a minute, but eventually temptation won out. He leaned over and gently pressed his lips to her head, kissing her goodnight. Sakura stiffened beneath him, and Leo’s heart skipped a beat. He froze. He had thought she was asleep. His internal panic ran wild for a moment only to be broken out of his thoughts by Sakura leaning more heavily against him.
He paused for another moment, then stretched his arm around her. His heart sighed in content as she snuggled up closer to his chest with a happy hum. And with that he finally closed his eyes, and slowly fell asleep to the sound of their hearts beating together.