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Before the fall of Garreg Mach, Dorothea remembers constantly trying to make Petra feel at home. She offered to cook Brigid meals, sing her lullabies, Dorothea wanted Petra to feel safe. Dorothea knew that nobles looked at her with pity, as if she had done something awful to be called a commoner, and frankly she hated it. She hated everyone treating her differently, which is why when she noticed people give these looks to Petra, looks of disdain, Dorothea realized maybe they weren’t so different.
Dorothea tried her hardest to help Petra make Garreg Mach her new home, but Petra only brushed her offers aside. She felt discouraged, but Petra kept telling her, “It’s the thought that matters.”
Unfortunately, it took Dorothea five years before she realized the perfect way to show Petra she cared about her culture.
During a battle, Dorothea’s hair had been whipping around like snakes, and they constantly were getting in her eyes and mouth, making battle and spell casting difficult. Brushing the pesky hair away, her eyes landed on Petra, and realized, braids. Not only would that solve her hair getting in her face, but it was a perfect opportunity to show Petra she cared about her. And, some part of her brain whispered, you can spend more time with Petra.
Shaking her head in an attempt to shake off the crush she had been developing these past few years, Dorothea tucked her hair behind her ears, in an attempt to look somewhat put together, and approached Petra.
Petra was scanning her surroundings, tensed as if she was expecting enemies to jump out of the bushes. In an attempt not to scare her, Dorothea made her steps heavier to alert Petra she was approaching.
Petra's eyes zoned in on Dorothea, and her body tension relaxed slightly.
“Hello Dorothea, can I be helping you?” she asked, giving Dorothea her striking smile.
“Yes Petra, I was wondering, when we get back to the monastery, do you think you could braid my hair? I’m afraid battling and long hair don’t mix together, and your braids are just so unique and,” Dorothea sighed, knowing that she was rambling, “It would be nice to spend some more time with you.”
Dorothea swears that Petra melted. She gave Dorothea this smile of pure happiness, before responding, “That would give me much joy Dorothea. We could meet in my room?”
Dorothea knew her reasons were slightly selfish, mainly giving Petra a reason to run her fingers through her hair, but the sheer amount of joy Petra displayed made Dorothea glad that she thought of this.
When they got to the monastery, Petra told her that she was going to clean up a little, but it would only take her ten minutes max. Glad that she would be able to clean up, she looked in the mirror and sighed. There was a streak of blood on her cheek, and Dorothea couldn’t wait for the fighting to be over. Edie says she hates to be optimistic in the midst of war, but their old professor returning really does make the war tip in their favor.
Dorothea changed to one of her more comfier dresses, and washed the blood off her face, staring as the water became pink, then proceeded to brush her hair. She knew Petra was likely to brush her hair before braiding, but she didn’t want to come to Petra with knots the size of gold coins.
When her hair looked much more like it’s usual silky self, Dorothea grabbed one of her quilts, and made her way to Petra’s room. It was a quick walk, their rooms being right next to each other, but Dorothea took a breath before knocking.
Petra was quick to answer, and Dorothea barely was able to say hello before Petra grabbed her wrist and dragged her inside. Petra was dancing around her room, picking up brushes and pins and throwing them onto her bed. There seemed to be two different brushes, a thick comb and a standard hairbrush, and Petra noticed her staring at her materials.
“Combs are used generally for the curly hair kind, and since you have the wavy hair, I pulled it out just in case.” Petra smiled sheepishly before placing her desk chair in front of the bed and making a blanket nest on the floor.
“Sit on the floor please, and we can begin with braiding your hair.” Petra took a seat on the chair and motioned for Dorothea to sit as well.
When she sat, Petra took the comb and began to brush out the remaining tangles at the nape of her neck that Dorothea missed. Petra’s hands were so warm, and every time Petra would finish one long stroke through her hair, her head would pull back along with the stroke, and when Petra finished the section of hair, Dorothea’s head would move back to where it started. The silence was comfortable, and Dorothea began to doze off. It felt rude falling asleep when Petra was taking care of her, but the atmosphere and the soothing way Petra would scratch her scalp if she pulled too harshly at a knot was calming.
A few minutes passed before Petra set down the comb, and lightly began to scratch at Dorothea’s head. Petra’s nails were not long, but just long enough that the massage felt heavenly. Dorothea slouched so that she was leaning on Petra’s legs, and she looked up at Petra, taking in the way Petra seemed so at ease. Petra noticed her staring, and her cheeks tinted pink before smiling back.
“I am going to start braiding, I give my apologies if I pull too tightly.”
She began by her left ear, braiding a small section and moving it towards the top of her head. She clipped the braid down, and she took another section a few inches away from the other braid and began the same process three more times. Once she finished with the four small braids, she gathered up all of the hair and put it in a ponytail. She made a few small braids with the hair that was gathered in the ponytail, and then began to braid everything together.
“Please turn around for me Dorothea, so that I may add the last few touches.” Petra’s voice was so soft as to not disturb the quiet. She turned around, so that she was facing Petra, and Petra began to pull at the smaller braids.
“We have to give the braids more volume, apologies if I hurt you.” She pulled at the hairs, and then she took the two small pieces she left out of the braid and positioned them so that they framed her face.
“You are looking beautiful Dorothea.” Petra said, her face becoming slightly red. She turned around and took the mirror off of the bed, and showed Dorothea her reflection. Dorothea gasped, because she had never looked this beautiful before. Her hair was done the same way Petra always did her hair before the war, but the braids seemed more intricate. Dorothea never thought that braids would fit her style or make her look good, however, Petra proved her wrong. She looked up when she heard Petra moving, and saw her taking a flower from off her bed. Petra tucked the flower behind her ear, and left her hand resting on Dorothea’s cheek.
“Thank you Petra. The braids, they are beautiful. You’ve outdone yourself.”
Petra turned away, slightly bashful before whispering softly, “The braids are only beautiful because you are as well Dorothea.” Petra looked embarrassed, and Dorothea can only imagine her face was as red as Ferdinand's hair.
Dorothea took Petra’s hand and squeezed it. “Thank you Petra. I really needed this. Thank you.” She stood up and cradled Petra’s face before pressing a light kiss on her forehead. “We should go show off your skill to everyone! We can’t let your work be for nothing.” She offered her hand to Petra, who took it before standing up. Dorothea linked their hands together before walking out the door.
They headed to the dinning hall, Dorothea talking about a song she wanted to write once the war was over, and before they stepped inside, Dorothea let go of Petra’s hand and opened the door for her.
They spotted the rest of the Black Eagles, including their professor, and Dorothea loudly exclaimed, “Look at my hair! Petra did it, isn’t it amazing!”
“Dorothea! You look lovely as always. Petra, you have really outdone yourself! Would you consider braiding my hair sometime?” exclaimed Ferdinand, in his usual boisterous tone. The rest of the Black Eagles gave Petra their praise as well when Edelgard said, “Why don’t we all head to the old Black Eagles classroom, and if Petra is willing, she could braid our hair? Almost all of us have long hair except for Hubert and Caspar. “
Petra looked shocked at her friends reactions, and she smiled before saying, “I would be liking that greatly! And I might be able to braid Hubert’s hair if he would be allowing me.”
Hubert sighed and Ferdinand nudged him in the ribs, replying for him, “Hubert would love to Petra!”
Edelgard laughed before saying, “Perfect, bring some blankets to the classroom and we can all just relax. It wouldn’t be good for us if we were working all the time.” She gave a pointed look at Hubert while saying that.
Petra took Dorothea’s hand and led them back to her room, picking up the brushes and pins as Dorothea picked up the blankets and quilts. Petra handed her one of the decorative pillows, and they headed to the classroom together. When they arrived at the classroom, Byleth and Edelgard had pushed all of the tables to the sides, giving them more space. Bernadetta noticed them and walked over to them shyly asking, “Do you think you would be able to braid my hair Petra? I mean, it’s ok if you can’t! I just-”
“Of course I can Bernie! Do not have fear, I know just the braid for you.”
The rest of the Black Eagles came in, and they threw their blankets and pillows into the center of the room, and Petra began to braid Bernadetta’s hair. Dorothea knew Petra was amazing with hair, but actually seeing Petra do it was mesmerizing. She didn’t have a lot to work with, seeing as Bernie’s hair was pretty short, but Petra weaved the hair from the side, making a crown around her head before pinning it with clips. Bernie gave her a smile and Caspar practically shoved Lindhardt in front of Petra. Half way through braiding, Lindhardt fell asleep, to which Caspar yelled, “How can he fall asleep anywhere? It makes no sense!” Everyone laughed along, knowing that Lindhardt could probably fall asleep anywhere, but Dorothea felt she could justify him this once.
“I would agree with you, but I’m afraid I also almost fell asleep when Petra was braiding my hair, so I’m afraid I can’t judge Lindhardt.” Edelgard laughed from where she was sitting, braiding Byleth’s hair. It wasn’t as intricate as Petra’s, but Dorothea knew that Edie was trying her best to impress Byleth, even though she was already smitten over Edie.
Half an hour later, everyone’s hair was braided in some way, Ferdie had his hair almost like Marianne’s was, and even Caspar had some sort of knot that was supposed to be braid. Lindhart tried his best at least. Dorothea knew that everyone had been tense these last few months, even more so since the war might be finally coming to an end, and she realized just how desperately everyone had needed this. Everyone was chatting about random nonsense, and the war seemed so far away.
Lindhart was the first to retreat, saying how he needed his beauty sleep, and dragged along a still very much awake Caspar. Byleth smiled at the rest of them, “We can clean this up tomorrow, get some rest, we all deserve it.”
Dorothea stood up and offered her hand once again to Petra, and together they walked to their rooms. They reached Dorothea’s room first, and Petra turned around saying, “Thank you Dorothea. You have done me a great favor allowing me to braid your hair.”
“No, thank you Petra. We all needed an excuse to relax, and you worked hard to make everyone feel at ease. Plus, you made me feel beautiful.”
Petra thought for a second and said, “Dorothea you are already beautiful. My heart is filled with gratitude that you let me braid your hair. It is always a pleasure spending time with you.”
Dorothea stepped closer to Petra before asking, “Can I kiss you?” Dorothea prayed that she wasn’t misreading the compliments and hand holding, but she couldn’t help herself from asking a dangerous question that could potentially ruin a friendship. She cradled Petra’s face, stroking her thumb against the tattoo underneath her eye.
Petra didn’t respond, instead she opted to press her lips to Dorothea’s, wrapping her arms around her neck. Dorothea brought her other hand down to Petra’s waist, and Petra shivered at the contact from Dorothea’s cold hands. Petra’s lips were warm, and she kissed Dorothea so softly. Dorothea pulled away, but brought Petra closer to her, enveloping her in a hug.
“It is Brigid tradition to put flowers in loved ones' hair. And I have been hoping you will do me the favor of being my girlfriend?” Dorothea’s heart swelled at the request, and she placed another soft kiss to Petra’s head before responding, “Yes. Of course. I love you Petra.”
Petra in turn kissed Dorothea once more before asking, “Could I be staying in your room tonight? You can be saying no, but I want to sleep with you in my arms.” Rather than respond, Dorothea tugged Petra into her room, giving her spare pajamas to change into. Dorothea busied herself with making her bed, and ensuring no books or random junk was hiding in the blankets. She turned around when she heard Petra clear her throat, and Dorothea went under the covers, motioning Petra to follow. As soon as Petra laid down, Dorothea wrapped her arms around her, relishing in the heat Petra gave off. Petra soon followed suit, nuzzling her face into the crook of Dorothea’s neck.
“I love you Dorothea,” whispered Petra before her breathing evened out. Dorothea was enthralled, she hadn’t expected asking Petra to braid her hair would end up with her having a girlfriend, but there was no alternative she could imagine where she would be happier.