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Flowers in the snow.
When it melts.
Let’s embrace each other.
Sylvain asked Marianne to accompany him going to the town. She refused to go till she had practised her smile. Eagerly waiting and practising.
Well, that was five years ago.
‘I want to go practice my smile. If I keep practising, maybe someday I'll be ready to go into town with you.’
Sylvain never once stopped thinking about that.
Every cold winter was spent in the Kingdom. He watched the blue flowers that reminded him of her, be covered in snow. He could not wait till the snow melted and he could see those flowers again. But he waited.
~
In Garreg Mach’s stables is where Sylvain found her again, tending one of the horses.
“Marianne!”
She turns around upon hearing her name and smiles at him.
The smile she was practising all this time. The smile that could make the heir of house Gautier melt.
“If this were the smiling tournament of Garreg Mach, you’ve already won it,” he says and she quickly covers her flustered face.
“I practised…”
“You sure did! So how about going to the town for some tea?”
Marianne smiles and nods in reply. She is ready now.
~
They talk about various things for hours over some lavender blend tea. About how their lives have been and such. Sylvain throws some compliments directed at Marianne, to which she responds in bashful ways, smiling a bit each time. And every time he can’t help but think she’s the most beautiful girl he’s seen.
“You know I did say I can tell a lot about someone by their smile, right?”
“Oh! You did say that”
“I’ve made my mind about you” he declares suddenly making Marianne incredibly confused.
“What does that mean?”
Sylvain smiles widely before telling her “I want to always spend time with you”
~
It’s been a few months since they always hang out together. To the point, Hilda has been worried but Claude is reassuring her he would know if something suspicious was going on.
“That man is no good for our Marianne!”
“Calm down, Hilda. I don’t think they’re doing anything…for now”
“For now!?”
It was a known fact Sylvain played with girls' hearts, moved too fast with them then might also have the possibility of cheating on them. Marianne knew this as well, Hilda had warned her plenty, but she believed people could change. After all, it’s been years and he hasn’t made any moves on her.
And in the end, Hilda knows that they can’t get together because Marianne hates Gautier Cheese Gratin.
On the other hand, Sylvain hated jealousy but he knew Marianne was not the type to get jealous. They both hated Crests too, which was established long ago. Sylvain thought, even though he suggested to her before that their families would approve of each other, that they would probably elope in the end.
But that was something crossing his mind only, never brought it up to Marianne during their conversations. He was also mentally ready to be the one doing the cleaning, as Marianne was known to be bad at it. Again, didn't bring it up to her.
~
Spring arrived once again in Fódlan and Marianne had gotten even braver. To the point, she had suggested Sylvain take a walk with her around town. He obviously said yes, excited about how she was the one asking him.
Around the time they had walked about half of the town, when they were reaching near their favourite tea merchant Sylvain noticed Marianne really had gotten braver than before.
All of a sudden, she moves her hand and reaches out for his. Once realizing what happened, both of them heat up.
"Is this okay…?" she asks, looking away.
Sylvain looks at her and wants to yell that it is okay that he loves her and that she's beautiful. He knows now that Marianne must be feeling the same way as him to an extent. And Goddess, waiting for the snow to melt so he could see such a beautiful flower was worth the wait.
"Please, it's my pleasure"
~
The young Gautier had asked his now lover to accompany him to the Kingdom in order to show her his favourite blue flowers.
“Wow! A white wagtail!” Marianne points at the sky in excitement.
“Motacilla alba, they travel from the southern parts of the Empire to the northern parts of the Kingdom when it starts getting hot. I get them, heat is annoying”
She looks at him with a gleam in her eyes upon his reply and Sylvain can’t help but blush.
“You sure like birds, huh, Marianne…”
They exchange gentle smiles before Sylvain points at a garden full of blue flowers in bloom.
“So pretty!” she exclaims.
“Be careful! They’re toxic to humans. Everything about them is toxic actually…”
“Just like my Crest” Marianne smiles bitterly.
“I’d say they're similar to you but not in that way…In the coldest parts of the Kingdom, Scilla siberica blooms in early spring. I’ve only been able to look at them, but they sure are beautiful. Just like you”
She blushes upon hearing the last line. He sure had to throw that in right there. As wide as his knowledge surprisingly is, he can’t help but compliment a beauty.
“Sylvain…” she says quietly and before she realizes his face gets closer to hers.
“Everything about you is beautiful,” he says before softly pressing his lips against hers.
Marianne is taken by surprise at first but before Sylvain can back away and think about what he did, she kisses him back.
~
They are now back at his house, inside one of the rooms he uses as his personal library, showing her his art history books.
“Ah! I’ve heard of this artist before, Ignatz admires him”
“Seriously? I need to talk more with Ignatz”
“You do. He’s nice”
“Speaking of your friends, Hilda’s going to kill me now. And she’s scarily strong…”
“Huh? Why would she?”
Sylvain presses his lips against Marianne’s once again in reply.
“Because of this,” he says looking into her eyes.
“Then she’s definitely killing both of us later…” she says before pressing herself on his chest and hiding her face.
Sylvain is taken aback by this, “What do you mean?” he genuinely asks.
“I thought maybe we could make love…” she says, face still buried in his chest and Goddess he can feel himself fainting.
Marianne really has bloomed.