Ugh… work and life in general, especially during the holidays, are the bane of my writing existence, apparently. I'm so sorry that it's taken me so long to write and upload this! Only Day 2 even though it's technically the last day already!

Even though the week will be over tomorrow, technically, I'll still be uploading slowly to finish up the rest of the prompts since I've already gotten them planned out!

Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem.

Season of Warmth

Day 2: Winter/Spring

Summary: Two different nations, two different seasons, two different festivals, and two very different people. But one thing was the same: the warmth that they felt as they walked hand in hand.

Spring was honestly Leo's least favourite season, which some people found odd since, other than winter, there was very little variance between seasons in Nohr. The scenery was always drab whether it was spring, summer, autumn, or winter. Summer was slightly greener than the rest of the seasons, as the wild grasses – mostly weeds – grew out of control. That is, until an inevitable forest fire burned them to the ground. In autumn, more browns started to seep in as the leaves of the few non-coniferous trees changed colours and the grass that had survived finally started dying. Winter, meanwhile was a blanket of white as far as the eye could see. Snow fell in droves in the harsh Nohrian winters and the only colours other than white were the dashes of murky green from the conifers that always managed to survive the cold and peek through the snow.

And then there was spring. Spring was just a mess, in Leo's opinion. The melting snow covered the ground in a dirty slush that got everything wet – he felt as if he would never have dry feet – and the weather was never quite warm enough. Nothing really started to grow until it was almost summer time, and what few flowers that did manage to emerge were always stout little things that he always accidentally trampled under his feet, much to his sisters' chagrin, because he never noticed them.

And then there were his damn allergies. He didn't know what it was that triggered them, but invariable, every spring, when the snow began to melt and free up whatever dregs were buried under the snow, his eyes would turn red and puffy and constantly water and he would sneeze non-stop. (Un)luckily, his symptoms only lasted a month at the most, when the thaw was at its peak, and the healers were able to concoct a special potion for him that relieved the effects of his allergies. But, he still hated spring. Give him winter any day.

Or so Leo had always thought. However, as he stood under the lights of the delicate paper lanterns lining the Hoshidan street that was bustling with people, he began to think that spring might not be so bad after all.

Just a little over a month ago, the royals of Hoshido had issued a formal invitation to the Nohrian royal family to visit Hoshido during its most famous and biggest spring festival. It took place during the peak of the cherry blossom season and great food and entertainment had been promised.

Both out of curiosity and out of obligation, the Nohrian royal siblings had set off to Hoshido several days ago and, now, it was the first night of the festival, and he was in awe.

It wasn't as if Leo had never seen cherry blossom trees in bloom before. There had been several small groves of them in the astral plane, but they were dwarfed by the ones in Hoshido's capital, especially along this riverside road. The canopies of the trees reached far above his head and draped delicately over the street and stray petals – of every imaginable shade of pink – fluttered down as a breeze ruffled its branches. And then there was the warmth. This was a spring of the likes that he had never seen before in Nohr.

As he gazed at the cherry blossom boughs, pale against the darkening sky, he found it almost contradictory that he could be looking at such an ethereal thing yet be surrounded by such vigorous lights and sounds and life. For the festival that surrounded him was exactly that. It almost reminded him of the secret underground city under Windmire – but on a much grander scale – and he didn't quite know what to look at first.

Or, to be more precise, he didn't know what he wanted to eat first, because the smells that wafted through the air were making his mouth water, and he unconsciously took a step forward towards one of the food stalls. He was stopped short, however, when he tripped over his own feet and nearly fell flat on his face. He had forgotten that he was wearing traditional Hoshidan garb – Oboro had called it a yukata when she had forced him into it – and that he needed to take smaller strides to accommodate how the unfamiliar garment wrapped around him. It also didn't help that the wooden geta sandals on his feet were the most difficult and uncomfortable footwear he'd ever worn.

"A-Are you all right, P-Prince Leo?" a soft voice gasped next to him, a gentle hand grasping his arm to keep him upright.

And the other thing that he nearly forgotten when he had been overwhelmed by his first glimpse of the festival: Princess Sakura.

"Yes, I'm fine! Completely fine! I'm just… not quite used to walking in this…" Leo gestured vaguely at his body, trying to suppress his blush of embarrassment.

"O-Oh, yes, it takes a bit of practice to walk in geta… E-Even I don't like w-walking in them when I don't h-have to…W-Why don't we get you a pair of those bamboo sandals over there? I-I promise not to tell Oboro on you," Sakura said with a small smile and a light giggle that made butterflies flutter in Leo's stomach.

"That would be wonderful… I feel like my toes are going to chafe off at this rate…" Leo answered with a relieved sigh. As he hobbled behind Sakura towards the sandal booth, which was conveniently located near the entrance of the festival grounds – a shrewd sales tactic, no doubt.

Now that he had changed into more manageable footwear, Leo turned to Sakura. For the umpteen time that evening, he couldn't help but marvel at how pretty she looked. She wore a soft pink yukata, decorated with dark pink cherry blossoms, and her short hair was free from its usual headband. Instead, a beautiful cherry blossom hairclip with dangling golden beads was pinned above her left ear. He just couldn't believe that he was able to spend the evening with her. Alone. He must have the devil's own luck – though he had to grudgingly admit that his nosy, meddling sisters had lent a huge hand as well.

"So… I guess you're the guide for tonight, Princess Sakura. Where do you think we should go first?"

"Um… h-how about we try some of the food? I could s-see you drooling earlier," she replied with a shy, teasing smile.

"W-Well! I wouldn't say I was drooling… but, that does sounds like a great idea," he conceded with a small smile of his own.

As he and Sakura started walking towards a nearby stall, he noticed that there were several couples around them and that the women tended to hang onto the sleeves or arms of the men accompanying them.

Returning his gaze to Sakura, he found that she had stopped in front of a food stall where skewers of meat were being roasted on a small grill. The slight charred smell of the smoking meat was absolutely mouth-watering.

"Here you go, Leo," Sakura chirped, handing him a skewer of meat, practically glistening with its juices. As enticing as the meat was, it wasn't enough to distract him from the fact that she had dropped the title from his name. Secretly, he savoured every time that she lapsed out of formality with him, as it made him think that maybe – just maybe – she was as comfortable around him as she was with her friends and family.

As he tossed the finished skewer into a nearby can, Leo cleared his throat and tapped Sakura on the shoulder. She turned to look at him with a tilt of her head.

"I was just thinking… The crowd is rather dense, and well… we're going to be doing quite a bit more walking, and I don't really know my way around… So, um, I was thinking that maybe you should, er, hold my hand. So we don't get separated," he said, trying – and failing – to keep a blush from creeping up his face.

"O-oh! I-I-I… u-um…" Sakura blushed furiously and her hands unconsciously went up to cover her cheeks.

"Unless you don't want to!" Leo blurted out, scared that he had frightened her off.

"N-NO!" Sakura squeaked, her eyes widening at her outburst. "I-I m-mean, I'd l-like that... T-Thank you."

So, with Sakura's hand in his, and a goofy grin on his face, the two of them hopped from one food stall to another – and he wasn't sure if the warmth that seemed to burn through his entire body was the result of walking around surrounded by so many bodies, or if it all radiated from the connection of their hands.

Before long, the two had sampled thin yellow noodles, which were stir-fried in front of them on a giant slab of iron with thin juliennes of vegetables. And at the next booth, they had watched in awe as the talented cooks used a fascinating cooking instrument – iron moulds of half circles – to deftly turn simple batter into round balls of hot, soft and savoury goodness. Then they had tried grilled squid, corn on the cob and even a whole fish cooked to sizzling perfection.

Then, when he thought he couldn't eat any more, Sakura cheerfully announced that they absolutely had to try all of the desserts – because all of them were her favourites – and she was sure he'd love every one of them. They sampled at least ten different desserts, including, much to his surprise, Nohrian ones, like doughnuts. As for the Hoshidan desserts, he found that he did indeed quite like the refreshing shaved ice and the soft, yet crispy fish-shaped pastries that were filled with their choice of filling (she liked the red bean paste best and he preferred the sweet egg custard). And, much to Sakura's delight, he discovered that he actually enjoyed the honey dumplings – which were apparently her favourite favourite. In fact, he ate two skewers on his own after he had gotten over the confusing, chewy texture – he didn't think he had ever eaten anything quite like it. However, he had blushed furiously when she mentioned that she wanted a chocolate-coated banana and he quickly dragged her away by saying that he was tired and wanted to sit down.

After procuring cups of iced barley tea, the two of them found a secluded area, decorated with more paper lanterns and benches.

As they sat side by side, with Sakura's hips and arm just barely brushing against his own, he snuck a glance at her from the corner of his eye. He couldn't help but drink in her flushed face, her slightly mussed hair and the displaced collar of her yukata – which, ever so slightly exposed a sliver of her creamy shoulder – as she innocently sipped her cup of tea.

"Th-Thanks for going around the festival with me, Leo," Sakura spoke up suddenly, disrupting his thoughts. "I-I had a lot of fun! I h-hope we can spend time together like this a-again!"

The smile that she gave him was dazzling – more bright than all of the lanterns of the festival combined.

And Leo couldn't help but think that, if every spring could be like this one, it would be his favourite season.

Sakura had always thought that her favourite season was spring, or maybe even summer or autumn. But never winter. Winter in Hoshido never seemed particularly interesting, especially when the other seasons offered so much more. True to her namesake, she much preferred the balmy weather of spring, which was full of flowers and greenery. One of her favourite pass times was to lounge under the blooming cherry blossom trees as she played her koto. Meanwhile, even though summers were humid and hot, the multitude of festivals and delicious fruit that grew during that season more than made up for the temperature. There was nothing better than sitting in the garden – preferably under the shade – while eating sweet cherries or some chilled bean paste dessert. And autumn! Where did she even start! For Sakura, autumn meant beautiful foliage in shades of yellow, orange and red, and delicious roasted sweet potatoes and chestnuts.

But, winter… just never felt quite as exciting as the other seasons. While she knew that there was more snow farther to the north, there were only ever a couple of inches of snow on the grounds of Castle Shirasagi, and it often melted several days later. Without the wonders of snow to enchant her, winter was often a countdown of the days until spring as Sakura waited for the weather to be warm enough for her to go outside, warm enough for the flowers to bloom, and warm enough for her to take out her delicate koto from its protected case.

Not to mention, Sakura always felt like there was a draft in the castle during winter – she vaguely remembered Yukimura saying something about how the architects had failed to build enough insulating walls – and often felt herself falling sick during those cold months. She couldn't remember a year of her life where she hadn't been confined to her bed with a perpetual runny nose and cough at least once every winter.

However, winter in Nohr was a completely different experience. When Sakura had arrived in Nohr several days ago for her diplomatic visit, she had felt invigorated by the bone-chilling cold – it didn't seem to seep into her skin like the dampness of the Hoshidan winter – and the vast ocean of blinding white snow that seemed to stretch on and on took her breath away. There was a serene calm to it all that she had never experienced in Hoshido, which always seemed to bustle with sound.

Now that her diplomatic duties were over, she had been invited out to attend a Nohrian winter festival with Leo before she returned to Hoshido.

The carriage that they had been riding in for the past hour finally pulled to a stop outside a large town just to the north of Windmire. Unlike the capital, this town did not appear austere and cold. In fact, the quaint wooden homes practically exuded warmth, with gentle smoke rising from the stone chimneys that adorned each house and strands of magical, glowing stones decorating the eaves. Each doorway was decorated with rich green wreaths and lamps flickered on every corner. With the sun now beginning to set beyond the horizon, the entire town was awash in a warm orange glow even as the sky began to darken into a deep blue.

"Sakura, shall we go?" Leo asked as he stepped out of the carriage. His hand was proffered in front of her and she flushed with happiness as she took his hand and let him help her down.

"Thank you, Leo," she replied as she settled on the ground and smoothed out the long Nohrian coat she wore. The wool coat, trimmed with fur, felt rather constricting when compared to her usual Hoshidan coats, but it was certainly the warmest article of clothing she had ever worn. Though, she wondered if a part of the reason it felt so warm was because Leo had picked it out for her – and the rich purple of the dyed wool was identical to his own.

Her hand still held tight in Leo's, the young prince and princess continued deeper into the town on foot for several minutes, the road steadily getting more crowded with people. Unused to her heavy fur-lined boots and having to walk on packed snow, Sakura slipped on the icy path and yelped. Luckily, instead of hitting the hard ground, she felt her back collide with a firm, but soft surface.

"Are you all right?" Leo asked, his arms gently supporting her back from where he had caught her.

"Y-Yes, I'm fine. Thank you," she replied.

"Here, hang on to me like this," Leo replied, pulling her arm through his own, so that they were fitted snugly against each other and so that her weight was practically supported by him.

Sakura had a feeling that the warmth she felt spreading through every limb of her body wasn't just from her warm fur coat.

Finally, the two young royals passed through a large stone archway, arriving at the town's central plaza, and Sakura couldn't help but let out a small gasp as she took in the sight before her. Though she had never been to a Nohrian festival before, she would have recognized in a heartbeat that the scene before her as one. There were large wooden booths and several makeshift huts and tents lined up around the plaza in a large circle. The inside of this circle was filled to the brim with people, young and old, milling around as they visited the booths or chatted in small groups while sipping from large mugs. And right in the centre of it all was one of the most magnificent sights that Sakura had ever seen.

A large conically-shaped tree stood in the middle of the plaza, its branches, plump with small green needles, reached high into the sky and seemed to stand impossibly tall – Sakura could just make out the top of the tree if she craned her head all the way back. The tree was accented with snow here and there, but was otherwise covered from top to bottom with glittering gems, beautiful glass spheres – some of which held tiny flickering candles – and beautiful carved ornaments made of both stone and wood. Garlands of gold and silver beads weaved its way in a spiral all the way around the tree and, though it made her dizzy, Sakura couldn't help but follow the garlands' path up the tree.

"Breath-taking, isn't it?" Leo murmured beside her. "The townspeople spend an entire week decorating this tree every year."

"I… I wish that I could t-try decorating a tree like that too! It looks like such f-fun!" Sakura replied as she finally tore her gaze away from the tree.

"Actually, you can," said Leo. "If you look at the base of the tree, you can see that it's barely decorated, except for a few ornaments here and there. It's tradition that those attending the festival can place their own ornament on the tree. Some people make their own ornaments, and some people buy one to hang on the tree. In fact, we could even look around the stalls and I'm sure we could find an ornament for you to hang on the tree yourself, if you want to try?"

"R-Really?" Sakura gasped.

"Of course," Leo replied with a smile, before taking hold of her hand again and leading her towards the circle of stalls.

Sakura couldn't help the colour from rising to her cheeks. The smile he gave made her heart beat faster and made her stomach flip. Before she had gotten to know him, she had thought he wasn't capable of such a genuine smile – but slowly she had realized that this smile was only reserved for those he thought most deserving. It hadn't been until the end of their adventures in Valla that Sakura had learned she was one of them. And, though they both lived in different nations, they visited each other often enough. With each meeting, she had found that they grew closer. She could scarcely believe that, just this past spring, she had felt like a nervous mess at the thought of holding his hand at the festival in Hoshido, yet now feeling his large hand clasped around hers was as natural as breathing.

Though their goal was to find a tree ornament, Sakura soon found herself distracted by all of the food, drinks and knick-knacks that the stalls offered as they made their way around the outer circle of the town square. She had sampled at least five different types of hearty meats and sausages – she couldn't quite tell the difference between the sausages, though Leo claimed they all had a distinct taste – and had eaten an entire piping hot baked potato, lathered in butter and herbs. Sakura had especially enjoyed all of the delicious breads that had been available as well and had tried one of each flavour of the chewy, twisted bread that Leo called a pretzel. Then they had found several drink vendors and Leo had bought them mugs of mulled wine – which she found too strong – and spiced apple cider and delicious, rich hot chocolate.

Of course, the desserts were her absolute favourite. Though Nohrian desserts were certainly richer in taste and different in texture than those she usually ate in Hoshido, there was not a single one that she had not loved. There were more types of cookies than she could count – she liked the slightly spicy ginger cookies best, though she also loved the crumbly buttery ones filled with raspberry jam and covered with a sweet icing. Then there were the flavourful cakes with bits of fruit and dusted in sugar and the buttery tarts filled with every cherry jam. And the sticky cinnamon buns that seemed to melt in her mouth and the decadent chocolate truffles. However, the most memorable desserts were the beautifully decorated cakes shaped like logs. The details had been so intricate that she had thought they were made of real wood. Thankfully they did not taste like wood at all, but were moist, sweet and delicious.

After they had sated their appetites, they ducked into a large makeshift tent. Inside, it bustled with children and their parents as they went from vendor to vendor looking at tables of beautiful toys and hand-crafted ornaments.

There were a dozen craftsmen selling ornaments of all kinds. She could see wooden ones, stone ones, metal ones, glass ones – some of which were painted in bright colours and patterns. The selection was overwhelming.

"Th-There's so many to choose from! They're all so beautiful!" Sakura gasped as they slowly wandered from table to table. "I-I feel almost bad choosing one over another..."

"Well, why don't I pick one and you can see if you like it?" Leo asked. "Because I saw one that I think would be perfect."

Sakura looked up at his face and she could see that his cheeks were red – but she wasn't sure if it was a blush or if it was from the cold.

"S-Sure, I'd like that."

Letting go of her hand, Leo strode off to a nearby vendor selling wooden ornaments and quickly exchanged a few words and coins with the older man before returning to her with his hands wrapped around a small ornament.

"Here," he said, taking one of hands and placing the ornament in the palm of her mitten. "It, ah, reminded me of you when I saw it."

Examining the wooden ornament, Sakura saw that it was carved into an intricate blossom with five petals. It was a cherry blossom, painted in painstaking detail.

"I-It's beautiful, Leo!" Sakura gasped. However, as she gazed at the ornament, she suddenly remembered seeing an ornament that had caught her eye. "Wait! I remembered seeing one that would be p-perfect to match this!"

Sakura then quickly rushed back to one of the booths they had passed, one that had been selling delicate glass ornaments. Once she found the booth, it did not take long for her to pick out the ornament she wanted. It was an intricate snowflake, tinted in varying shades of purple. She quickly paid for the snowflake ornament and returned to Leo, feeling her heart palpitate in excitement.

"H-Here! S-Since you bought one that reminded you of me, I-I wanted to buy one too… So that we could have a p-pair… and this one reminded me of you," she said, handing the snowflake ornament to the blond prince.

Leo's eyebrow quirked as he looked at the ornament, turning it over in his hand.

"Not that it isn't beautifully crafted, but why did this remind you of me?" he asked quizzically.

"U-Um…. w-well… I know that purple is your f-favourite colour… and the snowflake made me think of you, b-because when I first m-met y-you seemed really c-cold b-but also very b-b-beautiful," Sakura began to explain, stuttering more and more as she grew more and more embarrassed with every word. She couldn't believe that she was saying all of this out loud! "B-but… s-snowflakes can melt… and, well… I th-thought about how… n-now that I know you b-better, I realized that y-you're only a like a sn-snowflake on the outside. B-because, once you dropped your c-cold front, y-you're one of the n-nicest people I-I've ever M-MET!"

Sakura yelped in surprise as she realized that her voice had risen into almost a yell and she immediately ducked her head in embarrassment, hoping that her hair would cover her burning face.

After a moment, she realized that Leo still had not said a word. Gulping, Sakura peeked up at his face from beneath her bangs. As she met his eyes, she saw that they were wide in shock and that his face was also red like a tomato. However, a moment later, Sakura suddenly found herself buried against his chest, with his arms wrapped tightly around her, the warmth of his body seeping through into hers.

And Sakura couldn't help but think that, if every winter could be like this one, it would be her favourite season.

I had way too much fun writing this, especially since I love festivals of any kind, especially when there's food involved. As an aside: I was always curious as to what a "honey dumpling" was (which, in Sakura's supports with Hayato, are apparently sweet and salty), and I found out through the Japanese script that it's actually supposed to be mitarashi dango (which don't have any honey in them, but are indeed sweet and salty, haha). But, anyway, to stay true to the English script, I stuck with "honey dumpling".

But, anyway… I am currently working on my Day 3 entry… Hopefully it will be out within the next couple of days. Thank you to those who stuck around and hope to see you next chapter as well! This "week" will wrap up eventually!

FireEdge