#pallerva

[tinsil]

min/pal but nohr/hoshido armor

[archaneanscribe]

Big Girls Cry

I wanted some MinPalla childhood sweethearts, inspired by their mini-alts in FEH. Part of the Archanea Chronicles.

When their mother died, Palla did not cry.

Est was one, but due to their mother’s illness she had seen more of the local midwife and her sisters than she ever did of their mother, so only cried as much as a baby normally cries.

Catria was five, and she cried a whole, whole lot. She gripped Palla’s skirt and wailed, snot and tears dripping down her face. She woke up and cried, and went to sleep crying.

When you’re eight like Palla, you’re a big girl- so that means no more crying. That’s what she reminded herself over and over when the tears threatened, anyway.  She knew Mother wouldn’t agree, would tell her that it’s okay for big girls to cry, that it’s okay for anyone to cry.

But Mother was gone. They had lost Father only a year ago, and now she was gone too.

It was just the three of them.

So she was going to be the best big sister ever, and be super tough. If she cried, they would know that there was a chance things wouldn’t be okay. She was going to work to be so strong that nothing could ever hurt her little sisters ever again.

The captain of the pegasus division of the Macedonian army, Mylla, had always told her she was too young to follow in her mother’s footsteps, that she had a few more years to grow.

But the day after the funeral, her mind had changed. 

First thing in the morning, training lance gripped in hand, Palla approached her again, mouth knit into a tight, determined frown.

“Lass, look-” the older woman began, as always, but now she paused, expression stricken with an emotion that Palla couldn’t yet decipher, “That’s quite the face you're making. Not the face of a young girl anymore.”

Her grip tightened.

Sighing, the captain’s shoulders slumped, “If you’re so determined, you can train with the Princess. Normally only the royal family start this young, but I suppose she wouldn’t mind a sparring partner her own age. Follow me.”

Her face perked up at the mention of Princess Minerva, “Oh, thank you!”

Of course, she had known about the first princess for some time. Her mother had been the queen’s personal vassal before both their deaths, so Palla had been told from a young age she would likely inherit a similar duty. She followed close at Mylla’s heels, into the castle walls. Another place she had visited briefly with her mother, but she had never gone through this way, into the royal guard’s training area.

When they arrived, they found a girl who couldn’t be any older than she was having her footing be critiqued by an older man.

“Oi, Odger!” Mylla called out to catch his attention. He turned to look at them, his grizzled but not unfriendly face reminding Palla of her father in many ways. The girl, who she realized must be Princess Minerva, looked at her with curiosity. Maybe she didn’t get to see a lot of other kids?

The man named Odger relaxed his posture, gesturing to Palla, who was overcome with a sudden wave of shyness and hid behind the Captain, “What’ve you got there? New recruit for the guard? A little young, ain’t she?”

Mylla stepped aside and gave the young girl a gentle push, sending her stumbling forward into focus. Mustering her courage, she stood up straight, holding her lance in the way she remembered seeing her mother do when speaking to the late queen, deferential yet confident, “I’m Palla, sir. Atheleys daughter. I want to become a pegasus knight like my mother was.”

He gazed at her impassively, “What if I said you’re not old enough? Isn’t that what Mylla has been telling ‘ya?”

She knew that she shouldn’t say what she was about to, that with the strict way the Macedonian military operated, she could ruin her chances of ever getting a position in the corps, but the repressed feelings from her mother’s passing bubbled to the surface as she replied, heatedly, “I would say that I am old enough. I watched my Mother my whole life. Give me time and I’ll surpass everyone!”

For a moment following their outburst, there was silence, but it was quickly followed by raucous laughter from Odger, who pat his belly jovially, “Careful talking to yer superiors like that, little lady! If I was anyone but a retired knight turned combat instructor, there'd be some real consequences,” he calmed down, settling his face into a soft smile, “I see you’re truly serious. It won’t be easy, and you won’t get any special treatment- just like this one here doesn’t.”

The Princess nodded gravely.

“Show up tomorrow at sun up, and be ready. I won’t be teaching you the basics.”

“Thank you, sir! I’ll do my best!”

---

He was serious when he said it wouldn’t be easy. Every evening when she came home to her sisters, it was in a state of exhaustion and ache, every muscle complaining at once.

That doesn’t mean she wasn’t enjoying herself.

Every lance swing, every knee scrape, made her feel closer to her mother, which in turn made her stomach churn less when Est looked up at her and called her “Mama!” before being corrected,

And, of course, there was her training partner.

Princess Minerva was a serious girl, in much the same way Catria seemed poised to become. There was a look on her face that Palla knew meant she planned to be a fighter her whole life, and that this training was not just exercise- but might one day keep her alive. 

But if you got her talking about her brother, baby sister, or the pegasus she had been working with, it was an entirely different story. Her eyes would light up and she would laugh and swing her arms around recounting the story of the way her little sibling finally said her name for the first time.

“She can only call me ‘Min’ right now,” she recounted as they took a break to eat some lunch, smiling as she wiped some crumbs off her face, “But the nursemaid told me that in a few months she will likely be able to say my full name.”

“I remember when Catria used to call me ‘Pal’,” Palla replied, swallowing her bite of bread, “Its’ nice that you’re a big sister too. I get lonely sometimes when I only get to see my sisters.”

Minerva nodded, “I understand. I love my brother and my sister, but I enjoy speaking to someone close to my own age. Father said it would be good for me. He wants me to be strong, but,” she leaned in conspiratorially, “He’s actually nice. Him and my brother can be scary, but they’re both very kind.”

Palla giggled, “My mother was the same way. Everyone said she was so serious, but she always played with me and read me lots of stories.”

“...do you miss your mother very much?”

Her head snapped up at this abrupt question to look at Minerva, who was turned away to hide her face, “I miss my mother.”

She sometimes forgot that the Princess had lost a parent as well, “...Yes. I miss her a whole lot. But,” she reached out to pat her companion’s knee, “I’m doing just fine! I’m going to be just as strong as she was. So you don’t have to worry about me!”

Because she was a big girl! Big girls didn’t think about their mother and cry into their pillows, or want to scream whenever they saw someone holding their mother’s hand!

Minerva moved to face her now, face twisted in confusion, looking like she had something to say but just didn’t know the right words, “Palla, I-”

“Times up, kiddos!” Odger’s voice shattered the tense atmosphere between them. So the conversation was left behind- but not forgotten.

---

It was many months later, nearing Palla’s tenth birthday, that Minerva stopped her before she headed home. The sun was setting and it’s final rays were streaming into the open area of the royal training area. Odger had already left, so it was only the two of them.

“Palla.”

“Yes, Lady Minerva?”

Minerva’s hand was on her wrist, holding her in place for the ensuing silence, before the Princess finally gathered her courage, “I was thinking about... when we get older.”

“When we get older?”

“Yes,” she took a deep breath, and spoke in that serious, assured tone she always did, “We should get married. That way, I can always make sure you’re not lonely or sad.”

Palla’s eyes widened, cheeks reddened, and jaw dropped, “Married!?”

Minerva’s face twisted like it had that day nearly a year ago, but this time, she was able to voice her thoughts, “When you leave, my heart hurts, because I know that you are sad- you always smile when you come here, but there are times I see you nearly in tears. The thought of you being lonely makes me quite angry. I want to make sure you’re always actually happy. Marriage seemed like the easiest way to do that.”

This never happened in any of her mother’s storybooks. There was usually an epic adventure and love story before the princess decided she was to defy her station and be with the knight she loved. 

And they usually weren’t nine years old, either.

However, the offer made Palla’s stomach warm. Minerva was strong, and reliable. She never expected Palla to be more than she was- just a girl her own age, a peer, a friend. Sometimes she even thought that it might be okay to share how she really feels to her, to open up, to... to cry. Even though she was a big girl. 

She thought that maybe, she didn’t have to be a big girl around Minerva.

“You mean it?”

“Yes. I want to make you happy.”

The tears started coming down, and big girl Palla was gone. All that was left was Palla- a not-quite-ten year old child who missed her mother, and just wanted to be a kid. The quiet crying quickly became hiccuping sobs, dragging her forearm across her eyes to dry the deluge as it came.

“I’m,” she sniffed loudly, “I’m lonely! I love my sisters, but I want my mother! I want my father! I want someone to take care of me sometimes too!”

In a flash, she felt a pair of arms around her, and realized slowly that she was being hugged by the taller girl. It was an awkward, unpracticed hug, but it was the first time she had been hugged by someone bigger than her in nearly a year. It wasn’t Catria or Est hugging her leg before they scurried off to play, it was a warm, enveloping hug that made her feel safe.

“I will take care of you. We can be together always. Father tells me that one day I shall get to be in charge of my own unit, and you can be in it. And we can get married. That way you’ll always know I will be there for you.”

Sniffling weakly now, she squeezed back tightly, “Thank you. I’ll do my best to get as strong as you so I can stay by your side.”

They stayed like that for a moment, the setting sun now having almost fully retreated, casting them in the cool darkness of the early night. In the back of her mind, Palla knew that Minerva was probably beholden to whatever marriage promises her father makes for her, but she couldn’t get herself to care.

Not when she could finally, finally, be herself.

---

It was thirteen years later when they were actually wed.

Of course Palla’s doubts had been correct at the time. The king had just laughed at his daughter, pat her head, and sent her on her way. He had several marriage contracts in talks with other kingdoms even at that time, so as much as he loved his daughter, one freedom he hadn’t planned to allow her was romance.

But, of course, before any of them could come to fruition, his life was snuffed out by his own son.

Over the years, Palla kept her promise, and was the first pegasus knight assigned to Minerva’s unit, later followed dutifully by her younger sisters and becoming the Whitewings that were known far and wide. Together, the two women had fought two wars, overcome adversity in all its forms, and a childhood friendship became... more.

So when Minerva renounced her claim to the throne, and wandered the land helping the war restitution with her own two hands, Palla followed suit. Their marriage was a small affair, done in the halls of Lena’s convent by the woman herself. It wasn’t for the public’s eye- it was just for them.

That night, as they curled together in bed feeling a peace that had been out of reach for months, Palla remembered her wife’s first proposal.

“You were ready to marry me at nine years old,” she reminiscenced fondly, enjoying the brief embarrassed tense up from Minerva, “I don’t think I could ever forget.”

“That seemed to me to be the only solution at the time,” she pulled Palla closer, “Everyone was always discussing marriage around me, so I believed it to be the solution to every ‘adult’ problem.”

“You turned out to be right, all these years later. I’m happily married to you, and I never feel lonely when you’re around.”

Minerva placed a kiss on her wife’s forehead, who hummed appreciatively at the gesture, “I did think about asking you again, many times, as we grew up, but by that point I had learned what it truly meant. And glad I am that I waited. I want to give you a peaceful, happy life.”

“And I want the same for you,” Palla replied, more certain than she had ever felt before. Happy tears welled in her eyes, just like they had when they exchanged vows.

And she let them fall.•

[mairodia]

Inktober: Day 22

My annual MinPalla drawing, love them soooo much, almost as much as they love each other 🥺💖

[fireemblemincorrectquotes]

Palla: I need you. Minerva: For? Palla: Ever. Minerva, voice cracking: Oh.

[argonavistactics]

peace after the wars

[jastertown]

12 and/or 13 with Palla and Minerva :000

12- Leaning on shoulder

13- Stroking hairYou. I like the way you think.Also this turned out. very long whoops! So it’s going under a cut.

“Commander Minerva?”

She looked up from her book, to the young woman standing at the doorway to her tent.

“Palla,” she said, “What brings you here so late at night?”

“Just a feeling, I suppose…” Palla replied. “I had a hunch that you would still be awake.”

“Here to cart me off to bed as you do Maria?” She asked. Palla laughed, gentle like a sea breeze.

“Not in so many words, no. But it is rather late, commander, and you were on the front lines during the last battle.”

Minerva hummed, looking back down at the book in her hands.

“I would rather be on the front lines than in the back where I am of no use,” she said. Palla sighed, and stepped closer to her chair, placing a hand on the back of it.

“That’s not what I mean, commander,” she said. “We all want to be of use to the Archanean League. I’m more concerned about how little you’ve rested recently.”

“I haven’t lost my edge, if you’re concerned about that.”

“I’m not worried about that, either.” She stepped closer, putting her hands on Minerva’s shoulders. “You’re always so tense, commander. I haven’t seen you properly relax for a very long time.”

“…As a dragoon and as a princess, I have little time for relaxation, Palla,” Minerva said. Palla sighed again, removing her hands and stepping to Minerva’s side.

“You have time now,” she said. “Go lie down in bed- I’m quite certain you must be sore from how little you allow your shoulders to relax.”

“Thank you, Palla, but-”Palla frowned, cutting off Minerva’s objection.

“Commander, this army and your people need you at your best, and you aren’t at your best when you’re running yourself ragged,” she scolded. “As one of your closest knights, I insist.”

“And if I refuse, as your superior?”The hard line Palla had her brow drawn into softened, and she put a hand back on Minerva’s shoulder.

“Then I ask as a friend,” she said. Minerva hesitated for a moment, then finally relented, the defiance in her eyes melting away.

“You’re far kinder than I deserve,” she said. Palla smiled.

“Nonsense. I only wish I could do more to help, than force you to bed occasionally… Though, it seems I must have the strength of an ox to even do that.”

Minerva chuckled as she rose from her seat, tilting her head slightly.

“I have been known to be defiant, to some,” she admitted.

"Yes, and dare I say Maria has taken after you,” Palla said. “Did you know she stomped her foot while arguing with Ogma? Not very threatening, with her kind nature, but a fine display of her willpower.”

Minerva, sitting on her bed and busy with removing her boots, looked up to Palla. “Oh? Whatever were they arguing about?” She asked.

“Ogma wanted her to stay back beside Linde, but she wanted to be closer to the heaviest fighting,” Palla replied. Minerva’s expression twisted, just for a moment.

“That indeed sounds like Maria,” she said. “I sometimes forget what good fortune it is, that she hasn’t been hurt thus far.”

“With mages like Merric nearby, I can’t imagine anyone ever gets close enough to attempt to hurt her,” Palla remarked. “Not to mention people like you leading the charge, commander. …But speaking of fighting, aren’t you supposed to be resting?”

Minerva’s expression warmed with a smile once again, and Palla returned it. "You aren’t going to let me get away with anything less, are you?” Minerva asked. Palla shook her head, walking over to the bed and sitting down beside Minerva.

“Not if I can help it,” she said. “You may be one of the strongest soldiers in this army, but you’re still a human, after all.”

She put a hand on Minerva’s back, and both saw and felt the tension leave her shoulders as Minerva sighed.

“I know,” she said, “I know I can’t do it all on my own. That’s why I must ask you and your sisters for your help, at least until this war is over.”

“We’re more than happy to do whatever we can to assist,” Palla said. “And you’ll have to send me away before I ever leave your side.”

“Is that so?”

“It is.”

Palla moved a little closer, and Minerva leaned in against her, resting her head on her shoulder.…Was it alright, to be like this, a princess and her knight?

Palla lifted a hand to run her fingers through Minerva’s hair, and she found she cared little about whether it was ‘right’ to be like this, when Minerva relaxed against her at her touch.

“…Palla?”

“Yes, commander?”

“Thank you. For… Everything.”

Minerva’s voice was soft, far gentler than it was during meetings, or in battle, or even while conversing with most of the others in the Archanean League, and Palla felt her cheeks grow warm.

“Of course,” she said. “I’m glad to help.”

[adelle-ein]

batch two of fluffy gay Heroes edits! featuring...a whole lotta blue, red, and green hair. huh, i didn’t plan that.

these are tricky and take a really long time to make, so please don’t repost them without giving me credit! thank you :)

my other heroes sprite edits: florilyn brides // gay heroes batch one (hana/sakura, florina/lyn, celica/mae, lucius/raven)

bonus behind-the-scenes picture under the cut:

take soren out of this one and things get...interesting. you okay there, ike

[darkflierliesel]

they’ve waited so long but Pallerva Confirmed Canon ;_;