First things first, I suck at romance okay. Plain and simple I just do. That's why it took me a while to write this chapter and there is also the fact that I had a lot of stuff to put and so much of it was actually related to the actual focus of this Chapter. I REALLY HAD WANTED TO DO A LOT WITH IT BUT I JUST COULDN'T FIND THE TIME WITHOUT TAKING AWAY FROM THE WHOLE PURPOSE OF THIS CHAPTER. With that said please enjoy.

Mimosa was waiting outside a small town in the Forsaken Realm in a form-fitting light green thin-strapped sundress and white shoes. Her grimoire was concealed inside the medium-sized light tan handbag she was carrying. On her head was a simple but elegant straw hat with a black band around it, and she had on white shoes that complimented her dress nicely.

]

Asta had asked her to meet him here to go on a date a few days ago.

“I hope this isn’t too much,” she said to herself, “I may not care too much for his stupid antics, but my older brother does have a knack for clothes. I’ll give him that much…”

“Hey, Mimosa,” Asta said as he dropped down from his sword dressed in a nice shirt, pants, and shoes with his hair slicked back. He then took a good long look at the girl and blushed a good bit. “Wow… ah… You look… aha… really pretty in that,” he nervously chuckled.

“Oh… ah… thank you!” she smiled as she felt her cheeks heat up, “My narcissistic older brother help me pick it out.”

“Well, seeing as how you refer to him as such, I won’t ask about him,” Asta nervously chuckled as she emitted a bit of a vile aura.

“I appreciate it, Asta. You look good, too,” Mimosa sighed in a bit of relief, “If I’m being honest though… I was a bit put off that you asked me out.”

“I hope I didn’t put you off,” Asta sighed.

“Oh, not at all, I was just surprised, as I was trying to build up the courage to write to you and ask you out myself the same time you sent me the letter, is all,” Mimosa assured him, “I just couldn’t get my head together, as every time I even thought about you, I’d-”

“Have a meltdown or overthink things,” Asta chuckled, “Yeah, it never stops when having a relationship, Mimosa. Don’t feel bad about it. If you think you were bad, then think about how Twilight reacted her first time.”

Mimosa pictured the purple-haired mage in her mind's eye and immediately burst into laughter.

“Yeah, that’s pretty much my reaction, too, but the best part is she does it every time, ah hahaha!” he laughed alongside her.

Meanwhile, at the Blue Rose Headquarters, a certain copy mage sneezed.

“I do hope you’re not coming down with a cold, dear,” Puli Angel remarks as she handed Twilight a handkerchief.

“Nah,” Twilight took the cloth and wiped her nose, then applied a cleaning spell before returning the cloth to its owner. “Someone is just talking about me somewhere,” she sniffed.

“I’ve never heard of that saying,” Puli chuckled slightly, “On another note, has Sol still not returned from her the visit to her village? Her leaving was quite abrupt. She seemed very upset when she… well, I’d say more, but she ran away and left.”

“No, I haven’t seen her since then,” Twilight said but then sighed, “But I think I know why she ran off in the state she did…”

“Does it have something to do with you?” Puli raised a curious eyebrow.

“Not directly,” Twilight closed her book and stood up, “But it most likely has to do with the advice I gave her a few nights ago.”

“When she was trying to convince you to break off the engagement with Asta?” Puli looked back, “I still find it hard to believe you can share a man like that so easily.”

“It comes with being raised in that sort of society,” Twilight rubbed the bridge of her nose, “But to make a long story short, I cut her off at the source and told her to go out and try having a relationship before trying to undermine one, more importantly, mine.”

“You know she’s not going to date a man just cause you say to,” Puli crossed her arms, “The captain is the only one she takes orders from.”

“I’ll tell you the same thing I told her,” Twilight said as she walks past, “Who says you have to date a man?”

“But if she took your advice, then who’d she go ask that would cause her to run off like she did?” Puli tapped her chin as Twilight looked at her with a deadpan stare, “Ohhhhhhh… Oh, dear…”

Back in town, Asta and Mimosa were currently having a great time as they went around and saw shops and vendors, just enjoying each other’s company.

Suddenly, not far from them, a scaffolding’s bolts broke, dumping building supplies and several heavy stone bricks on the nearby bystanders. Asta and Mimosa didn’t even have to think about it and immediately rushed over. Asta began to dig the people out of the debris, while Mimosa went to work healing them.

“Well, that happened,” Asta remarked as he dusted off his pants.

“It was still nice that no one was seriously hurt,” Mimosa smiled as she fanned herself, “Though, it did take a good bit of magic with so many.”

“Hmmm…” Asta stretched, “How about some lunch?”

Mimosa’s stomach then gave a low growl, causing her face to turn pink from embarrassment.

“Hahaha!” Asta chuckled, “I’ll take that as a yes then. There’s supposed to be a great cafe near the center of town, next to the water fountain. It wouldn’t be a date without a meal anyways.”

“Sure,” Mimosa smiled, and the duo headed off.

While they made their way to the cafe, a certain female earth magic knight roamed the streets in utter misery not far away from them. Her hair was a mess, and her clothes showed stains of various coloring in tan or brown from food or sleep outside.

“Why?” she mumbled to herself, “Why, Char…?”

”CHAR, PLEASE BE MY GIRLFRIEND!” Sol blurted out at her captain, as the two were in Char's office.

Char just stared in shock from behind her desk.

Sol eagerly awaited her captain’s answer.

“Ah… Sol, I’m flattered you’d ask me something like that but,” with the words from Char, Sol’s smile fell immediately. “I like strong women, but I’m not physically or emotionally attracted to them at all. Don’t get me wrong, Sol, you’re a great girl, but just not for me. I have someone I love already as well, so I’m sorry, but I can’t return your feelings.”

Tears started to fall down Sol’s cheeks.

“Sol…” was all Char could say before the earth mage ran out of the office and headquarters entirely.

Then, an image of Asta and Twilight, then the other girls, flashed in her mind.

Sol grit her teeth and slammed her fist into the building next to her, forming a small crater. “Why does he get to have all the girls he wants, but I can’t have mine?” she snarled to herself, causing those around her to take notice and back away scared.

That’s when she heard a very familiar but yet so irritating voice.

“Come on, Mimosa. I think it's this way,” she heard from a bit away. Zeroing in on the voice, she looked at Asta, while everything else around her turned to silhouettes.

“Oh, I see it,” she heard when Mimosa, who she recognized from the dungeon they’d cleared together, came up next to him.

That’s when Sol’s blood boiled, and she started to make her way towards them, or more specifically ’HIM’.

In the meantime, Asta and Mimosa were seated outside the cafe at a table, just in front of the town’s central water feature: a fountain. The waitress came up, ready to take their orders.

“Coffer, please,” Asta said, “With a side of cream and sugar, and could we order a plate of dusted beignets, please?”

“Yessir,” the waitress said, a bit shocked but bowed and then turned to Mimosa, “And what will you have, young miss?”

“Oh, ah…” Mimosa replied and looked over the menu, “I guess I’ll have some tea and cookies, please.”

“Yes, ma’am,” the waitress again bowed slightly before taking the menus and leaving.

“What are beignets?” Mimosa immediately asked, “I’ve never heard of them before?”

“Not surprising,” Asta said with a slight smirk as the waitress brought out their food and drinks and set down a plate of what looked like square cakes with white powder on them.

“Please enjoy, and let me know if you need anything,” the waitress said before leaving.

“Basically, it's pillow pastry,” Asta motioned to the plate, “I was really surprised when Twilight said there was a place that sold them.”

“Oh…” Mimosa looked down, “So, you’ve been here with Twilight before…”

“Nope,” Asta said honestly, “This is my first time coming here. I wanted to do something with you, and this place came to mind, cause I also wanted to talk with you about what the future holds for us.”

“Oh… ah…” Mimosa started to fidget in her seat, “I wasn’t sure we’d move this fast.”

“Okay, have some tea, before you become too nervous to speak,” Asta let out a low chuckle, holding up a hand, “I don’t want to hide this detail from you girls, as we’re now in somewhat of a relationship, but at the same time, I can’t tell you a lot about my circumstances without going into detail about it. Are you alright with being with me, and do you trust me?”

“Of course I trust you. I trust you with my life, Asta,” Mimosa said with a steel resolve as she placed a hand over her heart. “Now, what’s on your mind, Asta?”

“Okay then,” Asta said, as he took a sip of his coffee, “You already know Twilight and I aren’t from this country, and that’s the major gist of it.”

“What does that have to…” she started to ask but then realized, “You two have to go back, don’t you?”

Asta let out a sigh. “Yes, but we don’t know when that is exactly,” he explained, “And all we know is that when it does happen, there will be no waiting. We don’t know if or when we’ll get that chance again either, and there are people back home who are counting on us to come back. I wanted you all to hear this from me, and I wanted to ask you if you’d be willing to come back with us?”

“That’s a lot to tell, and a lot to ask of a girl, Asta,” Mimosa admitted, “I’m not against going back with you, but at the same time, I have duties here to my own country as a Magic Knight.”

“I understand that, Mimosa,” Asta nodded, “I wanted to let you know, but at the same time, I’m not just going to disappear on you one day in a puff of smoke. I’ll be here until that day, okay? Just think about it and decide when the right time is for you.”

“Would you come back to get us?” Mimosa asked with a heavy lump in her throat.

“Of course, I would,” Asta held up a tightly clenched fist, “But that’s only if you girls want to come. I’m not going to force any of you to leave. When you’re in a relationship, each one of us does what we can for the other to achieve what will make us happy as a whole, after all!”

Mimosa just stared at him and then started to laugh uncontrollably, “I’m sorry, Asta,” she caught her breath. “I believe what you’re saying is true and just find I can’t have any doubts when it comes to you,” she sighed and sipped some of her tea, “Well, that, and it's just the way you speak sometimes. It makes it sound like you’re way older than you are.”

“Oh… ah… really?” Asta gave a bit of a nervous chuckle.

“Course, you probably have more experience in the relationship department, having two more girls back home, right?” she eyed him.

“Heh…. Twilight always tells the details before I can,” Asta sighed, looking off to the side as he leaned back, “Want to know about them?”

“Oh, no,” Mimosa shook her head, “I just wanted you to confirm it and be sure you were going to tell me yourself.”

“The whole point of today was to tell you the truth, or what bits of it I can,” Asta sighed as he rubbed his head, “I’m sorry I can’t tell you everything, Mimosa. I really do want to, but right now, I can’t…”

“It's okay, Asta,” Mimosa reconfirmed her confidence in him, “I know you’re doing what's best, and that's all I need to know right now, okay?”

“Thanks,” Asta gave a small smile, “Now that that’s all off my chest, let’s get back to enjoying our date!”

“Yes,” Mimosa said with a smile as her cheeks heated up.

(Sol’s Theme)

The two sat for a while, enjoying their date and sweets until a ball of mud was sent flying at their table, knocking off Asta’s plate of pastries.

This action thoroughly urked his nerves.

“Only one mage I know who uses earth magic,” Asta said as he stood up and looked over to see a thoroughly peeved Sol. “Sol of the Blue Rose. Christ, you look like shit!”

“SHUT UP, YOU BASTARD!” Sol yelled.

“Sheesh,” Asta said, taken back a little, “What the hell did I do to you?”

“YOU SHOWED YOUR DAMN FACE TO ME IN MY HOMETOWN WHILE ON A DATE WITH ANOTHER GIRL WHEN YOU HAVE TWILIGHT!” she shouted, “HOW MANY GIRLS ARE YOU GONNA LEAD ON?”

Asta looked around to see everyone staring at them and talking, ‘Crap. I didn’t think anything like this would happen here in an outskirt town. I definitely don't want to muck up Mimosa’s reputation with something like this either. Maybe…

“Okay,” Asta said, “If you are so set on me, then how about we head out of town for a place where we can discuss whatever it is you think I’ve done.”

“Oh, I know you’ve done it!” Sol shouted in disgust, “And fine with me! I don’t want my hometown a mess, cause I beat the crap out of a worthless piece of filth like you!”

“Geez, she is really on a tear,” Asta sighed and looked at Mimosa, “Sorry, but it can’t be helped.”

“It's fine, but I'm coming with you,” Mimosa said, “We’re still on our date, after all.”

“So,” Asta said, across from Sol, “Terms of this duel?”

“When I win, and I will,” Sol emphasized with great anger, “You’re going to break up with your little girlfriend here and officially break off your engagement with Twilight.”

“Simple enough,” Asta shrugged.

Sol gritted her teeth, “And furthermore, you’ll denounce any further involvement with females if it has to do with any type of relationship other than being a slave!”

“That’s taking it a bit far, don’t you think?” Mimosa said.

“Fine with me,” Asta said, to his girlfriend’s dismay. “As for my terms, you have to stay out of my relationships with the girls.”

“Keh, this is gonna be an easy fight with your attitude,” Sol smirked while cracking her knuckles.

“Oh, and I almost forgot,” she pointed at Asta, “You can only use one grimoire! You’re strong enough with one that you don’t need to be overpowered with two!”

“I’ll do you one better,” Asta said as he took off the holsters containing his books, “I won’t use either of them.”

“But Asta, if you do that, you’ll be defenseless!” Mimosa said as he handed her the books.

“I’m not as defenseless as you think,” he smiled with a reassuring grin.

“Yeah, this is going to be a cakewalk,” Sol wiped her nose. “No grimoires means no spells for you buddy, and you’re gonna regret not taking me seriously!” she shouted as she jumped back and activated her grimoire. “Earth creation magic, Earth mother goddess!”

A huge earthen feminine figure arose from the ground, with Sol standing on its shoulder. The giant raised its right fist up and then brought it barreling down hard on Asta. The blow kicked up a huge cloud of dust that had slightly obstructed everyone's view.

Sol had a victorious smirk plastered on her face, and looked over to Mimosa, “You better get one of those healing spells ready for your former man, cause after this, you two won’t be dating anymore!”

Mimosa just had an air of calm about her, “You’re an even bigger idiot than you appear to be if you think a single punch from a giant mud ball is going to stop him. You’ve seen what he can do, after all.”

“It doesn’t matter what I saw, cause at the time he had his grimoires, and now, he doesn’t!” Sol laughed, “Well, I’ve had my fill. Better…” she started to say as the goddess’s fist shakily rose on its own.

“Mimosa is right,” Asta remarked as the dust cleared to reveal him easily holding the goddess’s fist above his head with one hand, “You’re an idiot if you take me lightly, even without my grimoires.”

“No, you can’t… You've strengthened your body with your magic!” Sol cried out. She looked over to Mimosa to see neither grimoire had opened, let alone started floating or glowing with magic power, “How… no one should be this strong without using magic!”

“That's where you’re wrong, Sol,” Asta raised his free hand, “Cause I’m standing right here!” He shouted as he thrust his hand forward, and a pillar of rock shot out from the ground directly at the head of Sol’s goddess, effectively decapitating it.

The figure fell over to the ground, lifeless as Sol tumbled off it in front of Asta. “Don’t think I’m not taking you seriously cause I’m not using my magic,” he said with a serious undertone as he raised both hands to be in line with his midsection, causing two boulders come up from the ground on either side of him. “Cause I very much am. I grew up without magic for the majority of my life, so I don’t ever rely on it like you do. My people learn how to wield power outside that of magic. Now,” he leaned in and looked Sol right in the eye, “Tell me why you so brazenly interrupted my date with Mimosa, and don’t give me that bullshit of thinking I’m scum, cause I have three girlfriends and a fiancee. I wholeheartedly know how you feel about me. So, tell me the real reason why you attacked me out of the blue!"

“Sol,” Mimosa said as she came up next to Asta. “What is wrong? Just from taking a single glance at you, anyone could tell you’ve been through something. Why did you just attack us like that?”

“And if you lie, I’ll know,” Asta pointed at the earth mage.

Sol quickly hid her eyes under her bangs while angrily gritting her teeth.

“IT’S ALL YOUR FAULT!” Sol looked up with tears running down her face, “YOU! YOU! YOU HAVE NOT ONE BUT FOUR GIRLS THAT YOU CAN BE WITH, WHILE I DON’T EVEN HAVE ONE!”

Asta and Mimosa both looked at each other, a bit surprised by the responses before turning back to Sol.

Sol was still weeping and enraged, "WHY CAN YOU HAVE WOMEN THAT YOU LOVE AROUND YOU, BUT I CAN'T EVEN HAVE ONE!?! THE ONE I WANT…"

“Turned you down,” Mimosa finished, “After you told her how you felt, she rejected you, right?”

Sol just stared in silence.

“It makes sense,” Asta sighed, “But want to know what I heard? All I heard was ‘why me? I attacked him cause he has what I don’t! So, if I can’t have it, then he can’t either,” he scowled.

Sol’s gaze just kept staring.

“All you’ve thought about is what’s best for you and your happiness,” Asta pointed out. “That’s not how a relationship, or even love for someone else, works, you idiot. Yes, I’m with four girls,” he motioned to Mimosa, who blushed slightly, “BUT I ALWAYS PUT THEM FIRST!”

“Sol, a relationship is a two-way road,” Mimosa added.

“In a relationship, both sides do what they can to support each other, but first, you have to be willing to accept each others’ feelings,” Asta said, “Yes, half the time you can confess your feelings and automatically start dating, but there are the other half that you can't. First, it remains up to the one you’re confessing to will accept your feelings in kind, and it doesn’t seem like she did to me.”

“You asked Captain Charlotte didn’t you?” Mimosa knelt down and pulled Sol into a tender hug.

“S-s-she s-said she couldn’t, c-cause she was already in l-love with someone else!” Sol cried as she held Mimosa.

“I wish I could tell you something inspiring, but I can’t. Sometimes,” Asta sat down and then laid back on the ground to stare up at the sky, “That’s just the way things work out in life. I’m sorry that this happened to you, I really am, but you can’t just go after me cause I have relationships while you don’t.”

“Isn’t there anything you can tell me?” Sol asked as she rested her head on Mimosa’s lap, days of pent up fatigue finally setting in.

Asta hid his eyes under his own bangs as a gentle breeze blew through the plains.

“If you can’t be with the ones you love, then love them from afar as best you can and while supporting them with all your might,” he said, “It's a saying my older brother told me when we first went our separate ways. These words aren’t only family but all those you hold dear to your heart, most of all those you share a great love for and or with.”

“She’s asleep,” Mimosa said, as she stroked the older girl’s hair, “I think she heard you though.”

“Hmm….” Asta said, looking up, “She’s had it rough few days before meeting us, all that pent-up rage. Let her rest for now…”

“Asta,” Mimosa says, “How is it that you’re so wise?”

“I’m meant to lead others one day,” Asta smiled. “He may have said so himself but being the Wizard King isn’t all doing missions, but also being someone the people can count on to be there for them, after all,” he smirked.

“I’ll accept that,” Mimosa smiled., “For now, anyway,” she said to herself.

A week and a half later…

Asta rode through the air on his personal broomstick, while Noelle was comfortably seated behind him. She was more than a bit surprised at his sudden request for her to accompany him out to his home village. He wanted to spend some time with her outside a mission or training, which is all they seemed to really do together as he bluntly put it, and quite frankly, she couldn’t deny that point either. So, she relented and said yes, and here they were, on their next day off. It was safe to say she was a little more than excited to be spending some alone time with Asta, even if it was just a broom ride.

“There it is,” Asta said.

Noelle leaned over slightly to look over his shoulder and saw a quaint little village in front of them. That was what she saw second at least, as the first thing she saw was the giant skeleton in the distance.

“What is that?” Noelle asked.

“The skeleton?” he asked, not looking away.

“No, the stone wall, stupid,” Noelle lightly bopped him on the head.

“Well, I guess you could say it's both a part of the history and the legend of the Clover Kingdom, alongside the legacy of how the wizard king came to be?” Asta chuckled, “You can even see a statue of the first wizard king standing on the skull. As for the skeleton, it's the remains of an accent demon that the first wizard king defeated.”

“So, this is where a lot of the old folk tales started then?” Noelle asked.

“I never really thought about it, but I guess so,” Asta shrugged, “Ruins of an old village pretty much litter the entire forest around the skeleton. So, yeah, it makes sense that this would be the birthplace of a lot of the old stories, with the survivors settling along this area.”

“There are even ruins that old still accessible out here?” Noelle skeptically asked.

“Oh yeah,” Asta nodded, “Some of them are actually still in pretty decent shape. I stayed in a few, until I got my house built.”

“Wait, I thought you, Twilight, and that new guy the Golden Dawn,”

“Yuno,”

“Yeah, him,” Noelle deadpanned slightly, “I thought you all grew up in an orphanage.”

“Well, me and Twilight did, and we didn’t,” Asta looked up, “We would stay at the orphanage in the wintertime, but as soon as the snow was melted, we would go back and live mostly in the woods. We would still come into the village quite a bit during the week, but for the most part, we pretty much lived independently.”

“And before you say anything, I didn’t force her,” Asta said. “Okay, we’re here,” he pointed to a church. “Hmm… there are a few new buildings around town. We’ll have to check them out,” he smiled as they whooshed down.

Asta and Noelle descended to the church grounds. A familiar nun stood outside, hanging clothes out to dry on the clothesline in the daylight. She noticed a shadow steadily flying through the skies as she placed another piece of clothing on the line.

“Now, who could that be?” Sister Lily asked herself before going into the church, “Father, are we expecting anyone today?”

“What?” Father Orfari said, turning around to reveal himself wearing a pink frilly apron, “Oh, Sister Lily, it's you. I thought perhaps the children had gotten out of class already.”

“It's Saturday, father,” Sister Lily sighed, “They don’t have class today and have been helping me with chores and laundry. I saw someone on a broomstick fly overhead and wanted to know if we were accepting company or if anyone in the village was expecting a delivery?”

“Not that I can think of, for either reason,” Father Orfair said, a bit taken back as he wiped his hands and then removed his apron, “I best go see.”

They then heard the children all laughing, followed by someone trying to say wait, followed by a loud thud. There was also someone who sounded like a thoroughly annoyed teenage girl yelling to watch out.

“What are you all doing?!” Sister Lily called out as she hurried out the door but quickly grew silent as she saw the kids had tackled none other than Asta, “Asta…”

“Oh. Hey, Sister,” Asta laughs as he sits up, “It's been a while, hasn’t it? Where’s the old man at? Not wearing the frilly apron in the kitchen again, is he?!”

“My ears a burning,” Father Orfari called out as he rushed out the door and quickly got in Asta’s face, “Who are you calling old man, you brat?! Wait, Asta, why are you here?”

“We had a day off, so I wanted to bring Noelle out and show her the village,” Asta stood up and dusts off his pants.

“Us? Noelle?” Both the adults said in unison before looking behind Asta to see the younger girl and then noticing her crest, “A MEMBER OF HOUSE SILVA!?!”

“Please don’t start the whole royalty nonsense,” Noelle grabs her face with a sigh, “It really gets old after the first hundred times. I’m not here today as royalty or as a magic knight. I’m just here as Noelle.”

She smiled.

“Oh… ah… That’s a burden off my heart,” Father Orfari chuckled, “I was just in the middle of prepping for lunch. Would you two like to join us?”

“What do you want to do?” Asta looked back at Noelle.

“Actually, I wouldn’t mind a bit to eat,” Noelle placed both her hands on her stomach, “We flew for a while and didn’t really have a lot for breakfast or stop for a snack break. If it’s not ready yet, I can help out, too.”

“Oh, no. We can’t have you-” Father was quickly silenced by Sister Lily, who quickly placed a hand over his mouth, “Of course, you're more than welcome to help. I’ll show you the way. I hope you like pot potatoes.”

“We’ve had them on occasion at the hideout,” Noelle says as she is pushed into the kitchen by Sister Lily.

“In the meantime, we can chat,” Lily giggled.

“Uh… I think I might be in trouble later,” Asta nervously chuckled, “Anyways, I noticed you’re short one. Where’s Nash?”

“Oh, yes, we haven’t told you,” Orfari said as he turned to Asta, “Nash has been busying himself with work.”

“Ever since you left, he’d train with his sword you gave whenever he had time,” Rebecca added, “It wasn’t long after your first mission when he was getting able to lift it with one hand. After you came out to forge those new swords, he went into town and got a job as the blacksmith’s new apprentice.”

“Hmmm….” Asta looked at her.

“He says “I have to be the man and protect everyone now,” a lot. You had a big impact on him, ya know?” Rebecca said, “Though I wished he wouldn't practice with his sword so much.”

“Yes, the young ones here have taken to playing pretend with sticks,” Father Orfari picked one of the younger kids, “We best go get Nash, lest he misses out on lunch again.”

“I’ll do it,” Asta stood up. “I need to stretch my legs after that long flight anyways. Later,” he said as he took off in a gust, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Once it cleared, everyone was standing there blinking, with dirt on their faces and rocks in their hair.

At the local blacksmith shop, Nash was busy working the fires of the forge as he threw logs into the furnace. The old man who the red-headed boy worked for stood in the corner, his face a bit pink in the cheeks and a bottle of booze in his hand. He then looked out at the wind and noticed a trail of dust rising in the distance, as whatever caused it headed straight for the forge.

“I believe that’s enough for today, Nash,” the old man said before taking a swig off his bottle, “I can finish up for today on my own.”

“Are you sure, gramps?” Nash looked shocked at the old man.

“Yes,” the old man said as he took a pair of tongs off the wall and used them to place a billot in the fire. “You have company anyways.”

“I’m not expecting-” as he said that, there was a loud screech followed by a crash and the rattling of the whole house, “What the hell was that?!”

“Ow…”

“That sounded like Asta,” Nash said as he walked over to the door and opened it to reveal Asta “Asta? What are you doing here?”

“Had some time off,” Asta popped up with a pot on his face and a smile on his face. “I came to get ya for lunch.”

“Oh…. ah… let me grab my sword,” Nash said as he walked over and to the far wall.

“How’s he coming along, old man?” Asta asked the elder smith.

“He reminds me a lot of you, lad, but more controllable,” the old man took a swig. “How’s Little Twi fairing?”

“As good as she can,” Asta shrugged, “We don’t really see much of each other outside of our social lives, and even then, I’m stretched a bit thin these days.”

“Ah… doin’ what ya can to keep the girls happy as best ya can manage,” the old man nodded, as he was familiar with Asta’s situation, as the two still wrote regularly.

“Alright,” Nash said as he placed his sword on his back, “Let’s go!”

“Sure. Wanna race?” Asta smirked.

“You’re on!” Nash cracked his knuckles, “See ya, old man!”

“Later!” Asta said as they took off.

The old man just waved. “Good lads,” he chuckled before taking a billot out of his forge and starting the forging process.

After lunch, Nash challenged Asta to have a sparring match, only to lose within the first two minutes.

“I couldn’t even land a single hit!” Nash complained.

“Nash, do you know what it means when you draw your sword against someone else?” Asta crossed his arms.

“Yeah. I’m protecting those I care about and what’s important to me,” he said as he rubbed the sore spot on his head.

“That’s only part of it, but it's what you believe in,” Asta sighed, “Look, when you draw that blade, it means there is a very real chance that someone may not walk away from that battle, a chance that you may end up taking a life, “ Nash looked at his older brother a bit shocked, “That’s why you should only draw it when you really need to or have to.”

He pulled the boy to his feet. “That all said, I’m impressed by how strong you've gotten in such a short time,” Asta placed his hand on the boy’s head and gave it a rub, “Keep up the hard work.”

“Aha…” Nash nods as he looks at the ground with a slight blush of pride.

“I’ll be back to check on you again,” Asta said then looked at Noelle, who’d just finished saying her goodbyes to the others, “You ready to go see the rest of the town and then head back?”

“Yeah,” Noelle said with a bit of a mock exasperation.

“Let's go then,” Asta smiles, “Later guys!” he waves as they left.

“Something tells me we won’t have to worry about him as much anymore,” Sister Lily smiled.

“Asta, you better come back soon, you ungrateful brat!” Father Orfari balled.

Asta took Noelle around the rest of the town, and before they realized it, the sun was already setting. Asta didn’t feel like flying all the way back to the hideout either.

“How about we crash at my place for the night?” he suggested, “It’s a bit of a treck into the forest, off the beaten path, but it’s better than flying all the way back to base.”

“I-I-I-I-I DON’T THINK THAT’S SUCH A GOOD IDEA!” Noelle said as her face turned bright red from the scenarios that were playing through her mind.

“It’s a one-room place, but more than rough room for two. Plus, we even have a private bath,” Asta said as he led on not even listening to Noelle’s protests, “I’d have to heat the water, but it wouldn’t take that long.”

Sometime later…

Noelle emerged from the bathhouse, clad in a soft robe. “That was actually very enjoyable,” she let out a satisfied sigh as she went back to the house. She noticed Asta in the distance, doing something on the ground, “Hey, what are you up to?”

“Enjoy your bath?” he said, not looking away.

“Yeah. It was really nice. Now, what are you doing?” she repeated, a bit annoyed. ‘[i[He could at least notice I’m in nothing but a bathrobe…’ Her face lit up again as she realized what she just mentally told herself.

“I’m just doing a little bit of maintenance on some of my old training equipment. Since I’m not living here anymore, I give it a once over every chance I come in town,” Asta stood up. “I think I’ll give Nash a map to this place, so he can use it,” he turned. “You look cute in the robe, but I left a few sets of clothes out for you in the house. Some of Twilight’s stuff, but I know she won’t mind. I’m headed to the bath myself,” he stretched and left a flustered Noelle standing there mumbling.

After her head was clear, she entered the house and looked over to see several sets of clothes set out for her.

Noelle picked up the first thing and held it up with a begrudging look and twitching eyebrow,

“How old was she when she wore this exactly,” she asked herself as she held up a purple bra, “Her chest is nearly four times this size now!”

After she got over her body’s proportional disadvantages to Twilight’s own, Noelle got dressed in a purple and silverish purple dress, similar to the ones she usually wore. They were a little loose in certain areas, but nothing too overwhelmingly obvious that someone with ash-blonde hair would notice. She then took a stroll around the small house, and though it may have been small, it had more than enough space and amenities to live comfortably for those who knew how to work in their daily lives.

Noelle stopped and looked at some of the old charcoal drawings hung up on the walls near the fireplace.

“Who are these people?” she said. Upon taking a closer look, she did recognize some: those being Twilight and Asta’s mystery older brother Edward, but she didn’t know these others. She then looked over and saw a drawing of what one could describe as a dragon from the old fairy tales you would hear growing up.

“I didn’t know he could draw,” Noelle said, taking the drawing of a beautiful girl lovingly holding a baby in her arms. “These must be the people Raava told me about, the ones who are waiting for him to come home.”

“They are,” she heard. Noelle turned her head to see Asta standing in the doorway with a towel on his head. He was shirtless but was wearing a pair of shorts. “I see Raava told you some of what I wanted to talk to you about.”

Noelle turned away quickly, with her cheeks heating up from embarrassment, but the reason she turned away was that she felt a bit ashamed about Raava telling her about him instead of her asking him herself.

“I’m sorry I heard about this from Raava and not you,” Noelle looked at the floor as she bowed her head.

“No need to be sorry, Noelle,” Asta said as he dug through his pantry for anything that he had left, “If she told you she had a good reason, I won’t hold it against you, let alone her. Hope you like veggie stew. Not a lot of food out here.” He smiles as he pulled out a pot and sets it on the chain hanging down from the ceiling over the fire. “Can you fill it with a bit of water while I prep the other stuff?”

“Sure,” Noelle said, a bit put off by his reaction to what she told him.

“Good. Let me know when it starts to simmer,” Asat smiled at her before returning to the counter.

Asta fixed the ingredients up and tossed them in the pot after Noele let him know about the water. As he cooked, they sat in the center of the room.

“You know some of it already, so I’m going to ask you the same thing I asked Mimosa and Rebecca,” Asta said, stirring the pot, “When the time comes for me and Twilight to go back home, there will only be one chance, and we have to take it. Would you come with me if we’re further along in this relationship?”

Noelle looked at him wide-eyed, “I… don’t know…”