FE3H x Reader (reqs closed)

the roses - dedue // 1/s

You were one of the rare people from Faerghus that didn't believe the people of Duscur were responsible for the late King's assassination. At first you weren't able to understand what was going on. You couldn't develop a real opinion since you were still in shock from the tragedy. Your family had been caught up in it too, as you were closely associated with the royal family. Because of this, you were very close to Dimitri growing up, so he eventually told his opinion to you. You were able to understand this perspective. Therefore, you and Dimitri believed the people of Duscur were innocent. Through Dimitri, you were able to meet Dedue, who vowed to be Dimitri's vassal.

You both had a hard time maintaining conversations, especially with each other. Dedue would only speak when spoken too, and you hated talking, so you would both just sit there, unable to talk to each other. You respected each other, but you wanted to get to know him better.

One day, a few years after the Duscur tragedy, you were aimlessly wandering the castle of Fhirdiad as your father was there on some political business. It will be a while before you come back to the castle. You managed to find yourself outside in the courtyard. It had amazing rose bushes that you always loved to tend to when you were here. You always seemed to naturally gravitate towards plants. They were much easier to talk to than humans. You were captured in the beauty of a particular white rose. Your hand leaned in to touch the stem, but your fingertip accidentally brushed against a thorn.

"Ouch," you said. It was more out of surprise than pain. There's a little prick of blood. Turns out that was loud enough to attract the attention of a particular Duscan youth.

Dedue peaked around the corner of the rose bush to see you examining your finger. He approached you carefully so he wouldn't scare you. You were quite easy to frighten. You looked up to see him with a furrowed brow. You both said nothing as he took your hand gently in his.

He lowered it after carefully scrutinizing it. "It's very small. You'll be okay."

You looked up at him with confused eyes. He closed his eyes and turned his head to the side to avoid my gaze. "It could get infected. Just got to be careful." He replied.

"I'm not that delicate," you replied quietly.

"I know, but still..." Dedue said in a quieter tone. "I have a...bit of a selfish request."

You hummed in response, waiting for his answer.

"Promise me that if we get to see each other again like this, we can get to know each other better," he said. His hands are still gently holding your very slightly injured one.

"...I promise." You weren't sure how to react to that request. You felt heat rising in your chest. It was a very sudden and uncharacteristic thing of Dedue to ask, but you accepted nevertheless. You could finally get to know the person you had admired from a distance for a long time.

—

Two years later, you're surprised to meet up again at the Officer's Academy. You were of course in the Blue Lions house with your only friends Dimitri and Dedue. You hadn't seen the Duscan since the incident with the rose bush.

As you still had a love for plants, you would naturally gravitate towards places with more plants. This meant for you that you would spend any minute you weren't otherwise busy in the greenhouse. There was such a lovely thing about seeing the light streaming through the stained glass windows and illuminating the plants different colours from their already vibrant petals and leaves.

It was a normal day in April, a couple weeks after school had started. You were on greenhouse duty, much to your contentment. The other person with you was meant to be Dedue, but he wasn't there yet. It wasn't like him to be late for something like this. You just shrugged and got started on tending to the plants, as you work better alone anyway.

You heard the greenhouse doors creak open and there was Dedue, walking towards you with a pretty white rose in hand. He approached your smaller figure which was crouched down to spread fertilizer on some vegetables. He simply tucked the rose behind your ear. There are no thorns on it to prick you.

You practically couldn't move. Your face lit up crimson like a poppy. He had a soft smile on his face. He let you be, admiring how you looked with the white rose in your hair.

"It's good to see you again," he said in a bit of a softer tone. He was just attending to the flowers in front of him.

You could only nod your head. Usually it's quite hard to find words, but now it's next to impossible.

Whenever you saw white roses, they always reminded you of Dedue and his white hair. They bring back memories of the courtyard in Fhirdiad.

The two of you silently became much closer, and you had the flowers to thank.