“Miss Florina!”

Florina looked up from where she was repairing a gash in her
saddle with quick, even stitches. Ninian was walking towards her across the
open ground. Florina gave a small smile and waved.

“You have good timing, Ninian. I need to thank you.” Florina
gestured to the ripped leather under her hand. “If it hadn’t been for you, this
would have been in me or Huey instead of just my saddle.”

“Oh!” Ninian put her hand to her chest, as if she was
surprised. “But…that isn’t right….”

“Huh?” Florina put down her needle. “What do you mean? I
never would have seen that assassin in the dark like that…it was only you
sensing danger that let me get out of the way.” Florina smiled again. She had
taken it upon herself to protect the dancer on the battlefield, but it had
worked out the other way – Ninian had ended up saving her countless times and
Florina had done little other than keep her company. “You really are amazing,
you know?”

“No…” said Ninian. “I mean, I came to thank you.” She dipped into a quick half bow.
Sunlight glinted off her pale hair in the same way it did off the snowy fields
of Ilia. “You’re so kind, and so strong too. You’ve made me feel stronger than
I was before. I want to protect people important to me too, like you do. I want
to protect Nils, Lord Eliwood and his friends….and you too, Miss Florina.”

Ninian straightened up, and she was smiling, but it didn’t
reach her eyes. In fact, despite the smile, she seemed more melancholy than
usual.

“What’s wrong, Ninian?” Florina asked. “Is something going
to happen?”

Instead of answering, Ninian looked up, studying the
cloud-studded sky with an intensity that it didn’t deserve. “I wish….I wish I
could have been on the mountain to meet you that night, Miss Florina. Maybe
things would have been different. I would have liked that.” She turned then,
and hurried away.

“Ninian, wait!” Florina tried to stand as well, but was
burdened by the cumbersome saddle. By the time she set it aside and stood up,
Ninian had vanished among the hastily set-up tents of their makeshift camp.
Florina stared after her. She wasn’t a seer like Ninian, but she couldn’t shake
the feeling that something terrible would happen at their next battle. “I won’t
let it,” she said quietly to herself. “No matter what…I’ll do my best to
protect you.”