The Pond Behind the Kitchen [Ashe x Dedue]

The Feast

After a silent trip back to the monastery, everyone made an unspoken agreement to spend the first full day back recovering on their own. Ashe stayed in his room the whole day, sneaking out at night only to grab food and drop by the infirmary to take care of his leg. He planned on spending another day the same way until he heard a knock at his door.

"Hey Ashe! Come here for a sec!" someone called from outside.

He got up and walked to his door, opening it to be greeted by a bundle of fiery hair. "Ah, hello Sylvain. Is everything alright?"

"Nothing is on fire, and nobody who wasn't injured has died, so don't worry about all that. Professor said they wanted to do a little Blue Lions feast now that everyone is back. Told me to go around and gather everyone if they wanted to be a part of it. You in?" He jumped straight to the point, sounding a little out of breath.

Ashe thought for a minute before nodding. "A little celebration has never hurt anyone."

"Great! Everyone is already gathering in the dining hall, I just need to run and grab Felixs from the training grounds. See you there!" He smiled and started running down the path.

"Do I need to-! He's already too far," Ashe sighed before closing his door to clean up a bit, for he was still in his night garments. Once he felt presentable, he headed out and towards the dining hall. It was the first time everyone was together in at least five years, so a celebratory feast was a wonderful idea. And that it was, for as soon as he walked into the doors of the hall, he could feel his spirits lift.

Everyone was like they were five years ago. Mercedes and Annette were handing out appetizers to Ingrid, who was hiding some in her bag for later. Flayn was talking with the professor, it seemed as if their bond had grown over time. Seteth and Gilbert were chatting in the corner, most likely wondering their next attack. The two of them had always planned ahead, looking for any loopholes that may occur in the process. Lastly, Cyril was walking in and out of the kitchen, setting up the table, where a man the size of a bear sat, for the feast that was planned to start soon. Annette summoned Ashe over, and welcomed him when he joined in on their conversation.

"It's so nice to have everyone here again," Mercedes said with a smile, waving at Sylvain as he dragged Felixs into the hall behind him.

Ingrid nodded, "I can't believe it's been five years since we've all stood in this hall with each other. To think of how much has happened since then."

"Where's the boar and his retainer?" Felixs said once he joined them, looking around the room.

Annette pointed to the table, where Dimitri sat alone. "We tried offering him some food, but he turned down the offer. Mumbling about how this was no time for a celebration..."

"I'll try talking to him again, see if he wants to join us now that everyone is here," Ingrid said before walking off to go join him at the table.

Sylvain shrugged it off. "I'm sure he'll warm up once he eats some of Dedue's cooking again!"

Ashe choked on the appetizer, "Dedue is the one cooking??"

Mercedes patted his back in an attempt to calm the choking. "He insisted on cooking since none of us had the "true Duscur experience" in so long! It's a very sweet gesture, especially since it doesn't seem as if he has had much rest lately"

As if on cue, Dedue stepped out of the kitchen and cleared his throat, gaining everyone's attention. "The meal is done, please come get your plates and sit at the table."

Everyone in the room stopped chatting away and had moved to stand in a line to receive their plate. Ashe waited patiently until it was his turn to step up. He gently grabbed the plate from Dedue, avoiding eye contact, and headed to the table, taking a seat between Ingrid and Flayn, Sylvain sitting across from him. It may have been the worst spot to choose, but he stayed where he was when he noticed Dedue had sat diagonal from him. And with everyone seated, the feast began.

Nothing could prepare any of them for how nostalgic the meal was going to be. Within minutes, everyone was acting as if they were not in the middle of a war, but as if they were still in the officers academy five long years ago. Even Dimitri was joining in on some of the conversations with Seteth and the professor. Annette and Flayn were laughing together, reliving old memories, while Merecedes was talking about her plans for dessert to Cyril, who had a childish sparkle in his eye when hearing about all the sweets she planned on making. Ingrid was calling Sylvain out for his flirtatious ways, which were not as bad as they once were before. Felixs had rolled his eyes one too many times at the two of them, but a smile crept along his face occasionally when Sylvain was roasted a little too hard. Ashe took pleasure in listening to all the conversations around the table, remembering all the memories this hall had because of them. He looked over at Dedue, wondering how he was doing being back in this environment after so long. Dedue's face was hard to read, as always, but Ashe swore he caught a glimpse of a smile in his eyes, or maybe that was the way the light reflected off his eyes as he turned to look at Ashe. Ashe felt his cheeks warm up a little as he quickly turned away.

The rest of the meal went similarly: Everyone chatting and remembering the old days, Mercedes blowing everyone away with her well known sweets, and Dedue and Ashe glancing at each other ever so often. Slowly everyone had started finishing up and heading back towards their rooms. First was Seteth and Flayn, followed by Dimitri, and so on until the few remaining people left were Ashe, Dedue, Gilbert, and Cyril.

Ashe decided to help Cyril collect the dirty glasses and bring them to the kitchen.

"Thank you for the help, Ashe," he said before taking the plates from him.

"It's the least I could do," Ashe smiled. "Is there anything else you need my help with?"

"Could you grab the last few plates for me? I'll start cleaning these up."

He nodded and headed back to the dinning hall, grabbing the last few plates that were left on the table. He turned around to start heading back when he ran into someone.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."

"Let me take those for you," the person said before gently taking the plates from him.

He looked up and saw that the person he ran into was Dedue. "Oh! T-Thank you, Dedue. Is there anything else I could assist you with tonight?"

Dedue shook his head, "No, it's alright."

"Ah, yeah, of course..."

Dedue had already turned around, heading back to the kitchen with the rest of the plates. Ashe knew that if he didn't tell him his thoughts tonight, he may never have another chance to tell him at all. No other opportunity would land so easily into his lap, for he knew they'd be busy after today with preparations for the next march.

"Dedue!"

He turned around to look at Ashe, who was pink in the cheeks, standing in the middle of the dining hall.

"Meet me at the pond behind the kitchen when you're done, please."

Dedue paused, but nodded after a minute. Ashe could've swore there was a slight smile in his eyes, but it could've just been the way the light reflected on them when he turned to go back towards the kitchen.