Author's Notes: Well, I'm a little late for Valentine's day, but here it is. A personal favorite of mine, and requested by many people, so I hope this lives up to the expectations.

Rest

(Dreamshipping/Heroine x Hanbei)

"Hey."

"Hey," was not really a good way to start a conversation with the person who just conquered your castle, she added on mentally, but it certainly got her attention.

She recognized the warrior standing before her as one of Hideyoshi's tacticians - Hanbei, she believed his name was. Granted, it was only due to process of elimination: he wasn't Kanbei, and she doubted she'd forget someone as intimidating as him so soon - at least Hanbei's mien was easier on the eyes. He was a handful of inches taller than her, but she still managed to look down at him like the victor she was.

"Something I can help you with?"

"Actually," Hanbei replied with a lazy smile. "It's about what I can help you with."

The Auroran raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything.

"I mean," he explained with a yawn. "You're still pretty green and your army's small. Actually it's not even an army; it's just you, your friend, and a fair amount of luck."

"Are you offering to join Aurora's army?" came the Warlord's hesitant reply - she was still trying to figure out whether or not to be offended.

"Why not?" Hanbei said with a non-committal shrug, folding his arms behind his head. Were his sleeves any bigger, the brunette mused, they might have actually been able to cover it. "Hideyoshi's released both of us from his service so he can do some soul searching - you know, the whole 'crushing his dreams' thing by taking Ignis - and I don't really like the idea of being homeless and unemployed."

Well, that was about a good reason as any. And they would need to start somewhere in conquering the other kingdoms, and a tactician was-

"Oh, but you'll have to take in Kanbei, too," she blinked at the addendum.

"What?" the Ignite smiled.

"We've always looked out for each other, and in your case I think two recruits would be better than one."

He wasn't wrong, the voice in the back of her head said. But the Warlord settled for crossing her arms; he might have looked barely awake resting his head in his hands, but she could see why Hideyoshi had made him one of his advisors.

"And what would Kanbei think about it?" it was asked to see his reaction more than anything else. Hanbei just dropped his arms and shrugged.

"I'm certain he'll come around to it," the Auroran nodded, more to herself than the tactician; Hanbei hadn't talked with his comrade in advance, so he probably had no ulterior motives in asking her.

"All right then, welcome aboard."

"Thanks," Hanbei replied, crossing his arms and putting on the biggest smile she had seen on him yet. It looked good on him, she thought absently. "And I won't disappoint; I'll have you know I'm a genius!"

And that clearly helped you back there, the Auroran thought wryly, but she just found herself with a small smile in turn, and then looked up at the massive keep that dwarfed the rest of Ignis. A new castle and two new warriors at her side; she felt on top of the world. Nothing could stop her now!

"It wasn't that bad of a loss, milady," says the person whose partner got knocked out first, Aurora's Warlord thought.

"We had both numbers and a type advantage, Oichi," she said quietly as they continued walking down the broken road that led back to Aurora.

"And Motonari knew the terrain of his castle better than us," Hanbei piped up with a yawn from behind her. "No need to make such a big deal about it. We can always try again later with a different strategy."

The Warlord felt a frown etch itself onto her features. "Easy enough for you to say."

Because he didn't have a castle or neighbors to worry about, because he wasn't still a greenhorn warlord who had to prove himself to his people, because-

"I know how it feels to lose badly," Hanbei stated matter-of-factly. "Doesn't mean you have to beat yourself up over it."

The brunette took a deep breath and rubbed her temples. "And if I don't learn from my mistakes, Hanbei?"

She didn't need to look over her shoulder to know that the same small smile he wore when going over battle plans had crept up on his face again.

"Then me and Kanbei will learn for you. They're our mistakes as much as yours, anyways," she shook her head - Hideyoshi had lost because he had been too content to rely on his retainers, hadn't he?

"Your mistakes are my mistakes," the Warlord swore she heard a barely-stifled snort from behind her.

"If that was the case, milady, you wouldn't still be a greenhorn," the Auroran tried and failed to come up with a retort, and settled for just dropping her head and looking gobsmacked as they continued their trek; she had a feeling that her tactician still had that dopey grin across his face.

She found herself having many more talks with Hanbei over the next few months.

"Still disappointed about losing Violight?" Hanbei had stopped referring to her with honorifics after a half a year of service. She didn't mind.

"Yeah..." the Warlord didn't bother to look up from the shade of the tree she was under; it was her refuge, on the fringe of Aurora, where she could be and plan her next move without every pair of eyes around her looking up at her. She could still see Hanbei's shrug out of the corner of her eye.

"Losing every once in a while can be good, you know," that got her to look up, and it was then that she noticed the basket hanging in his loosely in his hand. The Warlord raised an eyebrow.

"Like how?" the tactician decided to take a seat in front of the Warlord; out of the shade of the tree, but at eye level with her.

"Well, for starters," he began with a smile as he placed the basket in front of him. The brunette knew she had just lost this debate. "If I hadn't failed to defend Ignis, I would have never joined up with you."

Hanbei pulled a tea kettle out of the wicker. "And if you hadn't lost Violight to Yoshihiro, we wouldn't be able to have tea out here on such a beautiful day."

The brunette couldn't help but smile as Hanbei produced two cups.

"I guess you have a point there," she said lightly, leaning forward to grab the porcelain after the tactician had filled it. The Warlord took a sip as Hanbei poured his; the faint tastes of honey and Sitrus met her tongue, and she felt her small smile grow a hair wider.

A few seconds of small talk interspersed with quiet passed over them before Hanbei finally put down his cup and looked up.

"You know what?" she looked up from her cup. "I think you work too hard."

The Warlord of Aurora blinked, and then let out a very unladylike snort - it was the first time he had heard something like that from her.

"Too hard?" she almost giggled. "And here I'm thinking I don't work hard enough. As it is, I probably shouldn't even be here."

Hanbei shrugged and gulped down the last of his tea.

"You only live once," he raised a raven eyebrow, purple orbs turning back to his lord. "For that matter, you're only young once, too. You really ought to enjoy life while you can."

The Auroran blinked. "That's awfully grim."

The tactician smiled and crossed his arms.

"Maybe, but so is being a workaholic at seventeen," she looked down and felt a slight blush creep up her cheeks, and settled for emptying her cup. Hanbei stood up after another second.

"C'mon," he offered his hand. "It's a beautiful day out, and it'd be a shame to spend all of it sitting under this tree."

She blinked at the outstretched hand and the admittedly charming smile behind it. Maybe he was right; a few hours of rest wouldn't kill her. The Auroran slipped her hand into his and slowly got to her feet; and when she finally got eye level with him and saw the rest of Aurora in the background, for the first time since becoming it - if only for a moment - she didn't feel like a Warlord.

"Hey."

"Hey," was not really a good way to talk to your lord, she added on mentally, but since no one else was around she didn't care. Hanbei, head nestled in his hands, cracked open an amethyst eye from underneath the shade of an all-too familiar tree.

"What brings you up here? I thought you'd be back at the castle celebrating with everyone else," the Warlord shrugged and turned her gaze from the Ignite underneath the oak towards the slowly yellowing sky.

"I thought I'd take a look at the sunset," Hanbei let a small grin cross his face.

"Because it's the last one the old Ransei will see?"

"Because I'm not sure what I'll see tomorrow," the Auroran's voice dropped. She had finally reached the top, but all she could feel now was exhaustion and isolation. At least around Hanbei she didn't have to put on the smile she had worn for most of the festivities. The tactician just chuckled.

"Finally worked yourself out of a job?" the Warlord-turned-Unifier shot a half-serious glare his way, but he remained unfazed. "Well, I hope you don't mind if I stick around here even in light of that."

"Not at all; I wouldn't have been able to defeat Nobunaga without your strategies," she said quietly. "Or your smile."

"Really?" Hanbei opened his other eye and leaned forward, grin growing a little wider as he placed his elbows on his knees. "You might be stuck with me for a long time, you know."

"I don't think I'd mind," the Warlord found a small blush slowly spreading across her cheeks, and was suddenly stricken with how exhausted she felt when the yellow overhead began to make way for blue once more. She made her way over to Hanbei and sunk down next to him, looking up at the clear sky above.

"Maybe this isn't the end..." she sighed out as the last gold faded away.

"If you let it be, yeah," the Warlord blinked and look to her right; Hanbei's eyes were closed and his arms were folded behind his head again - to anyone else, he would have looked sound asleep. The Auroran let out a resigned nod.

"I know..." the Warlord found herself enjoying the silence, even as she struggled not to think about the future.

"Don't worry so much about it, not now at least," Hanbei's voice trailed off for a second. "Please?"

The brunette nodded lazily and nestled herself against the tactician's shoulder, eyes slowly dimming.

"Just for now," she muttered, a quiet yawn distorting her toothless smile.

"Just for now," Hanbei replied with a small nod, looking down at the sleeping Warlord next to him with a smile of his own.