Author's Note: This was conceived entirely for Beyond the Emblem's Valentine's contest, but it takes place in the same continuity as my other Lyn and Florina stories, though I don't feel like they're required reading to understand (and hopefully enjoy) this one. I'd definitely love any form of feedback anyone's willing to give though, and I hope you find my entry to be cute!

Edit: Also, it seems this site doesn't like my preferred partition, so my apologies for the incomprehensible PoV switches. I've added the dumb horizontal line in place of my pretty partitions.

"I didn't know you could use a loom," Florina commented as she came to a stop beside their cart. Her arms were still laden with burlap bags and bolts of cloth.

Lyn gave one of the rawhide ties a final tug and reached out with one hand to rock the contraption, and was satisfied when the entire cart tried to shift, reluctantly, instead. 'Tight enough.' With a grin, she reached out to take some of the things from Florina to load into the cart. "Haven't in a long time. I've never had the patience to card wool, but I enjoyed weaving, when I was younger." Her smile grew a little bit. "Mother never had the patience, either, so father ended up doing most of it. He taught me, along with mending and such."

She arranged the packages in the cart with a care that they would not shift and crush part of the loom. "And of course, no-one would allow the Marchioness of Caelin to do her own weaving or mending. I've itched, a little, to work on some. It's relaxing."

"Relaxing?" Florina asked, edging a little closer from the other side of the cart. She reached out a small hand to lay it over Lyn's where it rested on the rough-cut wood. The plainswoman's eyebrows rose in surprise and she turned a soft smile on the shorter girl, her head cocked in silent question. Florina's cheeks were tinged pink, a sign of the effort the little public affection had taken, but she didn't shy away. "Is there something wrong? You don't seem tense usually, not enough that you would need something to help you relax..."

The pegasus rider shifted her weight anxiously, delicate brows furrowed with concern, and Lyn could only guess the worries playing through her mind. She rested her other hand on top of Florina's and gave it a squeeze, then leaned in to press a kiss to her forehead. Her long hair, unbound today, fell around them like an obscuring curtain. "Everything is perfect, Florina. Everything."

Florina blushed harder and Lyn gave her hand another squeeze before standing back up straight again. She was helpless to stop the broad smile she wore. "Now, is there anything else we still need to purchase? You picked up the grain, the nails, the cloth, the thread, the blocks of glue..." Lyn ticked off each of them on a finger. "And I found the essential foods and such..."

She glanced into the cart, taking mental stock of it all while Florina did the same. "I can't think of anything else..."

Lyn shrugged in agreement. "I think we have it all." With a show of gallantry that Sain would have found commendable, Lyn bowed her head to Florina and offered her a hand. "Would my lady care to dine in Bulgar, or to ride on an empty stomach?"

As she would not have a scant few months ago, Florina reached out and accepted Lyn's hand, allowing the taller girl to draw her closer, into a loose embrace. "I am a little bit hungry..."

That was answer enough. Lyn slipped an arm around Florina's waist and steered them both onto the side of the street, then took up their donkey's reins in the other hand. "I think I know just the place." To Lyn's immense pleasure, Florina rested her head against her shoulder as they walked the few blocks to their new destination.

"We're home," Lyn murmured, grinning at the way Florina shivered in her arms. She seemed awfully sensitive to lips against her ear.

Florina looked up drowsily at the little building, then peered around Lyn's shoulder at the cart. "I slept the whole way?"

"Ever since we left Bulgar. I'm glad of it, though. You enjoyed lunch, I take it?"

Florina grinned back at her and nodded fervently. "I can't believe there was someplace like that there!" With enviable ease, Florina slipped off the donkey's back and turned to Lyn, reaching out immediately to place her hands on her hips and help guide her down. Since Lyn didn't need the help, she just enjoyed the gesture instead. "How did you find out about it and I didn't?"

As her feet settled on the tamped-down dirt in front of their half-built cabin, Lyn slipped her hands around Florina's waist and drew her in closer, bending a little so their foreheads touched and her view was filled with beautiful blue-green. She rubbed the tip of her nose playfully against Florina's and laced her fingers together behind the shorter girl's back. "I asked around, talked to a few people who knew me from when I still lived alone and went up every few months to purchase supplies and sell what I'd gathered or made."

Surreptitiously she slipped her hands beneath the wide sash Florina wore at her waist, a simple grass-green strip of cloth that was common design for Sacaeans. In the last few months she had adopted Lyn's style of dress. Having been without any of the materials or tools to make it themselves they had traded with the Kutolah for someone to craft a few outfits for Florina. They were of a similar cut to Lyndis' own, though in shades of blue and green that complimented her eyes. Unlike Lyn's, they were sleeveless, and ended halfway down her thighs, rather than continuing to her ankles. Her silhouette was not so different than it had been in her pegasus knight uniform, but the effect was much different, and she had stopped wearing the thigh-high boots that came with that office, trading them instead for a pair of short soft-soled boots that were as comfortable in the house as walking outside.

"Well, I'm very glad you did, Lyn," Florina answered, and of her own volition closed the distance between them to reward her partner's thoughtfulness with a soft, but no less passionate, kiss. Lyn hummed an answer and grinned against Florina's lips, tugging her close enough that her body was flush against her own.

When they parted, Florina's chest rising and falling heavily against her own, Lyn nuzzled the top of her head and stroked one hand up and down along her back. "So am I." Her voice was soft and breathless, and Florina flushed darker and buried her face against Lyn's chest. With a laugh, Lyn hugged her tight and leaned back against the sturdy side of their donkey. "Maybe we should go there more often."

Florina looked up at her, a little shyly, correctly sensing something else in the comment, for all that Lyn had tried to make it sound as simply conversational as possible. In response, Lyn grinned back at her and leaned down to capture her lips again, this time slipping her tongue past them to meet Florina's, who squeaked in pleasant surprise. It was brief though, before Lyn pulled back, still grinning. "Definitely have to go back; the lamb stew you had was wonderful."

With a noise that Lyn couldn't quite place, Florina pushed her away in a show of anger and crossed her arms across her chest as she turned away from her and towards the setting sun.

"And, of course, because it makes you so happy!" she added with a hint of desperation for comic effect as she moved to catch up with Florina, wrapping her arms around her and pulling her back to where she belonged again. The Ilian eatery was definitely one of her better recent decisions.

Florina looked up at her hesitantly, more out of feigned indifference than any of her old awkwardness. They stared at each other a few brief moments, pleading and laughing blue to amused and pouting sea green, before Florina smiled and leaned back against Lyn again, her eyes going back to the sunset. "We should bring the food and things inside," she mused, sounding reluctant. Lyn sighed at the statement as well, the teasing feeling between them beginning to flee. It would be dark soon.

"If you want to unload the food, I'll unload the rest and see to Francis' food and grooming and such," she offered, opting to give Florina the easier task.

Still a little sleepy, Florina did not protest, but instead nodded and slowly pulled away from the embrace and back to the cart to begin unloading it.

By the time Lyn had finished currying Francis and carried all of their things inside, Florina had already changed into her bed clothes and gotten the food put away. Though that largely meant it was laying around in neatly ordered piles. With only two rooms thus far completed, their cottage was little to look at on either the inside or the outside. The tiny front room, eventually to be made into simply a foyer and receiving area, was currently still their main living area. The newly finished main room still lacked a fireplace, a more expensive piece than walls or floor, and they still found themselves mostly staying in the foyer that had been their home for the last month and a half. It was cramped, but Florina was perfectly fine with that.

Lyn closed and locked the door behind her when she was done and reached for a little towel hanging near the door to dry her hands with. In a heartbeat Florina was up and bringing the older girl her own nightgown, which Lyn accepted with a quiet smile. With much less trepidation than she had in the past, Florina helped her undress, unwinding the long red sash and folding it up into a manageable size, then hanging up the thicker outer robe when Lyn had slipped out of it.

Despite having seen it all before, Florina managed to find things to busy herself with when Lyn undid the long bolt of soft cotton that bound her breasts. It was not until Florina heard the sound of her pulling the nightgown over her head that she looked up from the contents of the crate she had taken to idly rearranging. "Do you want me to fix anything, Lyn?" she asked as she turned back around, taking the cotton from her and folding it much as she had the sash.

The swordswoman looked up from the corner where her loom sat, unassembled, and blinked at Florina before smiling and shaking her head. "No, thank you, I'm still full enough from lunch. And I'd like to get this put together and test it out before I go to bed..."

Watching her push her sleeves up past her elbows so they bunched up beneath her armpits prompted a giggle from Florina, and the shorter girl retreated to their pallet and sat down cross-legged to watch her.

She wondered just how much experience Lyn had with weaving as she watched her put the loom together. They had always seemed kind of simple in the past, but as she watched Lyn fit this part into that, settle this there, until the entire structure was in one piece and standing quite tall on its little side of the room, she realized that they really were not so much. And when she started threading it vertically, so that it was like a little waterfall of pale green cloth, Florina decided it was useless trying to follow her fingers (and she hadn't even started the weaving itself yet!) and instead just watched Lyn.

Absently she reached for a hair brush and began to work the daily tangles out of her own hair. It was a long process, and much more difficult than Lyn's, whose hair's natural state seemed to be perfectly straight. Florina's was prone to tangling, and the usual style of loose bouncy curls that she affected was in fact possible due only to a significant amount of brushing and a bit of fancy twirling with the comb. It had a measure of natural curl to it, but she tended to use the early morning to set each one where it looked best. By the time Florina was satisfied that her hair was without snarls, Lyn had moved on to using the shuttles, clicking and clacking as she moved them.

Her movements were somehow both jerky and slow, but hypnotic as well. With the firelight and watching Lyn's hands move back and forth, her hair shift this way and that, and her belly still full from the numerous Ilian stews that they had eaten, Florina decided she was quite ready for bed.

With considerable effort, she stood and crossed the room to where Lyn knelt in front of the loom and knelt down behind her, then slipped her arms around her waist for a hug. It was these moments in the cabin that she tended to enjoy with least reservation. Private and comfortable with just the two of them, she let her nervousness and inhibition take a back seat. Or maybe, just the two of them, they left of their own will; whatever it was, she rarely felt like she was holding back on Lyn, who was far more affectionate elsetimes.

"I think I'm going to go ahead and go to sleep." With the yawn that interrupted the statement, there could be no questioning that it was past time for such things as sleep.

Lyn's hands on the loom stopped and, without managing to squirm out of Florina's arms, she turned around in the embrace and returned it, slipping her arms around the shorter girl's shoulders and smiling down at her. That smile was quite possibly the most frustrating thing in the world; even when she was trying to be angry with her, rare though it was, that beautiful smile broke her down and made her smile, or visibly fight one. She was glad that those times were few. "I think I'll stay awake a little longer, until I feel like I remember what I'm doing." Lyn cast a meaningful glance back at the somewhat tangled threads on the loom before looking back at Florina. "Can you go on without me?"

Florina giggled and gave Lyn's waist a little tug, drawing her into a tighter hug and pressed a little playful kiss against those smiling lips. So soft and always eager. "I guess it has been a while, hasn't it?"

Her partner's smile changed to a grin and Florina felt long fingers toying with the very ends of her hair, midway down her back. "I think since our first night under a roof," she confirmed happily.

To Lyn's considerable surprise and pleasure, it had been Florina who had exchanged their two sleeping bags for a single pallet once the foyer had been finished. Florina who had clung to her when she had tried to get up out of bed that evening and fetch the sleeping bags, rather than make her uncomfortable. Since then they had gone to bed at the same time each night.

Florina moved in for another kiss, a quicker one, before scooting away and heading back for their pallet on her knees. "Good luck; just watching, you've already lost me."

To the tune of Lyn's laughter she crawled under the blankets and burrowed down into them, then peeked over their top at the other girl. "Good night."

Lyn beamed back at her, proudly enough that Florina felt her ears grow a little warm with a blush. "Good night, sweet Florina."

And so passed fully a week of Florina falling asleep while Lyn clicked and clacked at the loom with increasing speed and accuracy, then waking up and finding the other girl quite passed out beside her with no idea when she had gone to bed. Though that was nice in its own way; often Lyn was the first one of them awake, to tend the animals, to fetch water for their morning washing, or to begin preparations for breakfast. Rarely did Florina get to watch her sleep, let alone savor the moment, the little smile, the way her hands clutched at the blankets or at Florina's shirt. All things considered, it was a very pleasant week.

Partway through it, though, Florina began to wonder what it was that Lyn was doing with the loom. Each night it seemed like she started from nothing, and by morning had nothing to show for it. It seemed unlikely that she made an entire anything every night and still managed to get to bed early enough that she was up just after sunrise and not clearly fatigued.

When Lyn began to avoid answering directly, Florina got suspicious.

On the fifth night, Florina changed into her sleeping clothes at the normal time, but fetched a pot of water from the rough temporary well near the animal shed and brought it in and put it on the cookfire in the center of the foyer. When Lyn settled in front of the loom, Florina was ready for her, a mug of hot tea in each hand. With the tea to keep her awake, Florina sat behind Lyn, one arm wrapped around her waist, and watched over her shoulder as she started (fresh again!) whatever it was she was weaving.

Despite the caffeine and her best efforts to remain awake, the way the little shuttles zoomed back and forth under Lyn's hands was almost hypnotic in effect, and just as she had every day that week Florina woke up in their pallet with Lyn happily asleep beside her and absolutely no recollection of what Lyn had made.

'So suspicious!'

The week could not have passed more slowly for Lyn; the weaving kept her up later than she thought Florina suspected, and it was terribly wearing acting like she was as well-rested as she always was, in order to avoid suspicion. It was all necessary, however; she had a schedule to keep.

At the end of the week, two days after Florina's attempt to stay up with her, Lyn was already sitting up when Florina awoke. In fact, she was already dressed, to Florina's apparent surprise the way she blinked at her, and then looked up questioningly, perhaps a little concerned. Lyn smiled back and reached out with one hand to smooth Florina's hair down from its sleep-rumpled state. "Good morning."

Arranging her clothes a little more comfortably, Florina sat up as well, her legs crossed, and pulled the blanket back up to her waist again. It was unusually cool for February in the plains, such that even Lyn was wearing the black, skintight shift beneath her usual blue attire. "Good morning," the younger girl answered, visibly fighting off a yawn. She looked down at Lyn's clothing, frowning a little bit, and eventually settled on the cord that belted her robe together. Lyn had intentionally foregone the usual red sash.

Lyn took a deep breath and closed her eyes for a moment. Butterflies danced in her stomach, like they had those nights spent in restless wakefulness before an important battle. They rarely showed up when things dealt with Florina; there was little need, as she knew the other girl cared for her. This time it was simply a question of how much. And those same pre-battle instincts fought her hopes down to a manageable level, but at the same time kept her on edge with just a little worry.

'Just get it over with.' Long seconds passed and she still couldn't find the courage to open her eyes. But then she felt soft fingers wiggling into fists she didn't remember clenching on her lap, and she opened her eyes to find Florina leaning closer, oceanic eyes warm with concern, and Lyn managed a shaky smile before bundling up her worries and setting them aside as completely as she could. Lyn relaxed her hands and took a moment to thread her fingers between Florina's, then cleared her throat.

"So there's a tradition in Sacae," Lyn began, only adding to the obvious confusion Florina seemed to be feeling. She could understand that; the topic seemed not at all related to, well, anything. "The 21st day of every February is a holiday of sorts, though not a religious one. It's more a part of our culture, and...I thought that applied to you, too, starting this year." She offered Florina a smile, and though the girl was no better informed now than a moment ago she smiled back anyway.

She had such a pretty smile.

Unconsciously, Lyn wriggled a little to get more comfortable. "In Sacae, there's strict tradition about, um, courtship and marriage and such. It's all very tied to dates and things, though two people can start seeing each other whenever they like, it can only be made official at certain times." Florina tilted her head a little, violet locks falling over one shoulder and making Lyn itch to reach out and feel them.

This was the part that made her nervous. For all that they were affectionate, had each exchanged 'I love you's at different times, it was all completely informal; all action, no binding words, no clarification for what they were exactly. This would change that, would make it all very clear; this would be the chance for Florina to reject her, though Lyn knew, intellectually, the odds of that were very low.

"Today is Heartsbinding," she continued slowly, "the day that two people can announce that one is officially courting another." Lyn reached behind her and pulled a long stretch of cloth from one of the crates stacked against the wall at the foot of their pallet. When Florina's eyes widened and her lips parted a little bit in a smile, Lyn allowed herself a little smile of her own, filled with pride.

She stretched it out between them so that Florina could see the pattern. Woven of cotton so fine as to rival silk, the sash was dark green with a sky blue stripe covering the middle third of it. In the center of the lighter colored stripe was an embroidered pattern of silver and green leaves chasing each other across the sash from one end to another.

"On, um, today," Lyn paused to clear her throat, flushing a little bit as Florina turned big round eyes on hers and made her rehearsed words falter in her throat. "One declares their intent to court someone they love by offering them a hand-woven sash, to which they have the counterpart. If the person ag-"

Lyn was cut off abruptly as Florina rose up off the floor and launched herself at her in a single graceful motion, throwing her arms around her shoulders and knocking her back down into their blankets in a clutter of arms and legs and a shower of little kisses.

"Oh, Lyn! Yes! Yes yes yes!" Even if she couldn't feel it on Florina's lips with every little kiss she rained down on her, she could have heard the smile in her voice.

Breathing a long sigh of relief, Lyn let go of the sash since it was pinned firmly between them anyway and wrapped her arms around Florina's waist. She buried her face in the girl's lavender hair and inhaled sharply the the scent of wild plains flowers she used to brighten her soap. "You're mine, then?" Lyn asked, her voice muffled by the smaller girl's hair.

"Haven't I always been?" Florina pushed small hands against Lyn's shoulders and levered herself up a little so she could look down at Lyn. The swordswoman opened her mouth to answer, and her lips worked for a second to no effect, before Florina cut her off with a little gasp of surprise and a swift, much longer, kiss.

'Silly. Utterly silly,' Lyn reflected as she melted beneath the other girl. 'I knew I shouldn't have been worried. I knew it, but still...'

Florina abruptly sat back up, leaving Lyn open-mouthed and blank of expression for a moment before she recovered. The pegasus knight grinned shyly down at Lyn, and cupped the taller girl's face with both hands. "Did you think I would say no?" she asked, incredulously.

Lyn flushed and tried to look away, but Florina's hands held her steady. "Well I...don't have much to offer you, anymore. And this isn't exactly Ilia, it isn't your life as a member of the Pegasus Knights..."

Soft lips descended on her own again, and Lyn let the laundry list of reasons she might have been reasonably worried float off into the morning breeze.

When they paused for breath and Lyn silently delighted in the feel of Florina's small chest heaving against her own, Lyn made to sit up gently, and Florina scooted down so that she could straddle her legs instead of her waist. She opened her mouth to speak, but paused, distracted by Florina's lips, so pink and swollen and...

With a visible effort Lyn picked up the discarded sash between them and cleared her throat while Florina straightened her bedclothes. "Why don't you change into your normal clothes, Florina? And then come back to me."

One soft lip caught between her teeth in indecision, Florina eventually nodded and slipped backward off of Lyn's lap and to her feet. More quickly than she had dressed the last time they had slept in past noon Florina ducked shyly behind a little stack of boxes to shuck her bedclothes and stepped back out wearing the plain cream-colored shift she used as an undergarment and her light blue and green robes, hanging open without a sash to bind them.

By the time Florina had crossed the little room to stand in front of Lyn again, the Sacaean had thoroughly pondered the irony in having to put more clothes on Florina when she wanted more than ever to take the ones she was already wearing off. Carefully, completely unsure if there were some sort of ritual to how to do this or not, Lyn scooted forward and reached around the smaller girl, unfurling the sash to its full width and length.

Occasionally motioning for Florina to turn, Lyn wrapped it round and round her until she was left with a little more than a few handspans loose. She pulled it to Florina's right side, as was customarily where a sash was tucked, and looped it around and through a few folds of the material and tugged it tight. "There." Resting her hands on Florina's hips, Lyn looked up.

Florina's hands came to cover her own, and the younger girl beamed down at her. "I love it, Lyn," she breathed. Despite how soft her voice was, it carried through the little room with a clarity such that Lyn would have heard it if there were a tornado outside. She would always hear Florina. "I love you," the girl continued without hesitation, and slipped her fingers inside Lyn's to tug her up to her feet.

Rising to her feet, Lyn brought Florina's hands up and pressed a kiss against their joined fingers, never taking her eyes from the knight's. "I love you too, Florina," she whispered. Even so quietly spoken, it was impossible to keep the glee out of her voice. With any and all doubt dispelled, after all, what was there to dampen it?

"You certainly weren't easy to keep it secret from though," Lyn teased as she leaned in to rest her forehead against Florina's. Watching her flush and squirm awkwardly was an utter delight.

"It's not my fault! You were being so suspicious!" Florina's protests were met only with chuckles.

"That was part of the fun!" Lyn grinned at her as Florina harumphed in response, then stole a quick kiss before untangling her fingers and stepping away, toward the door. "Now, you go ahead and sit back down; I have a breakfast to make, and you have a day to do nothing but enjoy."

Florina clapped her hands with infectious glee and settled onto their unmade pallet with a flourish of her robe. "The whole day?"

Lyn paused just to watch her, excited, eyes alight - happy. "All day. I even managed to squirrel some chocolate away into our supplies last week," she added with a wink. Florina's thrilled gasp made the considerable cost of the rarity far more than worth it.

Yes, Lyn understood well now why her mother had always looked forward to the 21st, and why her father had always been particularly attentive that same day. 'Is this how they felt? I always told Uncle they were happy, but...if they felt like this, their lives were full enough indeed.' Certainly, Lyn had never been happier.