Casual Observations

Miriel and Vaike are one of my favorite ships, for more reasons than I can count. At first glance they seemed like the ultimate crack pair of Awakening, but their support conversations quickly won me over. Two seconds in and I was like that's it, I'm doing it, you two are perfect together. I laugh every time at their silly but sweet romance, and thus this oneshot was born. This story is also my response to the future children being more like their mothers than their (interchangeable) fathers, in particular Laurent's support conversations with his father.

The tents were packed, the healing supplies in order, the food rations prepared, and the weaponry accounted for. A young man wearing glasses and a large mage hat stood close by, a clipboard tucked into the crook of his arm. He checked and double-checked each of the items on the list with a degree of precision and efficiency unmatched by anyone else in the Shepherds. He nodded with satisfaction as he noted that everything was appropriately taken care of, and moved on to his next order of business.

Vaike watched his son from a short distance away, a grin on his face. He was every bit the proud father, even though he still didn't quite get how the whole time travel thing worked. Laurent was an independent adult, more responsible than Vaike himself, and he was glad to know his kid had turned out alright. As a parent Vaike couldn't be happier.

But it did bother him that every time he saw Laurent, he felt like he was looking at another Miriel. Laurent clearly idolized his mother and her studies. Vaike felt a little apart from the whole thing, seeing as he usually couldn't understand half the things his wife said.

Of course when he mentioned this to her, she didn't get it.

He approached her as casually as he could, although a few bystanders silently noted that Vaike was rarely seen whistling and swinging his arms so mechanically. "Hey, Miriel?" He called as he waved to her. "I wanted to talk to you abou' Laurent."

Her eyes were trained on the notebook she held as she scribbled down something Vaike couldn't make out. He was once again reminded of how alike she and Laurent were, down to the way they held their books. She was probably absorbed in one of her ongoing experiments, he realized as she made no effort to make eye contact.

"It's kinda important," he said to get her attention.

She didn't look up from her work, but managed to ask, "Is he alright?"

"Wha? Yeah, he's fine. But listen, I was wonderin' if you think, well, if you think he's like me?"

"Yes," she said. He stared at her, waiting for her to say more, but she made no move to elaborate. "If that's all you had to ask –"

"Er, hold up. Like, how are we alike and stuff?"

She finally put down her pen and surveyed him coolly. "What is your implication?"

He let out a dejected sigh. "I'm just sayin' that he acts so much like you. What did our son inherit from the Vaike?"

The sudden gleam in her eyes gave Vaike the distinct feeling that she was preparing to give a lecture. She adjusted her glasses and said, "From the pigmentation of his hair, one can only assume he inherited that from you, and his above-average stature is clearly –"

"Not quite what I meant," he said before she could get too carried away. "And anyways, Laurent answered pretty much the same – somethin' abou' his hair color being the same as mine. But what abou' personality and stuff? Isn' there anything we've got in common?"

"Hm," she said, seeming to consider his statement. "I have also observed that he emulates me in a myriad of ways, down to the very minutia such as my tendency to emphasize order and detail. In some ways he excels even more, if his skill at managing the army's finances is any indication. But I digress. Your question about his demeanor and habitual behavior…"

Vaike nodded. Ever since marrying Miriel, he'd learned that she needed to talk through her thought process in order to get to the important things. He wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was picking up on some of her speech patterns and could understand more of what she said now compared to two years prior.

She was quiet for a long time, which was highly unusual for Miriel. Just as Vaike was about to ask if she was okay, she said, "He has your instinct."

He was more than a little surprised, and his response was a less than intelligent, "Huh wha?"

"For all my thoughts and theories, I lack a certain natural instinct that you possess in abundance. Our son may resemble me a lot in terms of his intelligence, but his ability to connect with others is all you," she explained with a smile. "And I'm more proud than I can say that he turned out the way he did."

Vaike wasn't the type of person to get embarrassed easily, but a blush colored his face as her words sunk in. He rubbed the back of his neck, grinning sheepishly all the while. "Ya don' say," he said. "I guess we do have a lot in common after all."

"Obviously," she said, adjusting her glasses in a self-satisfied sort of way. "He's your son through and through. I admit I was at first perplexed as to why you would inquire about Laurent in such a manner, until I gathered the reason for your concern about his parentage."

"Whazzat?" Vaike said, still reveling in the fact that his son wasn't just a carbon-copy of his mother. "You say somethin' Miriel?"

"A preposterous assumption to make, yet one that reveals the larger issue at hand," she went on as if she hadn't heard him. "I was ignorant of the signs, yet in order to correct this rift in our matrimonial union, it is quite fortunate you brought this to my attention. It is not too late to rectify the situation."

"Situation?" He repeated blankly. Vaike was starting to think that she was jumping to the wrong conclusions again, and time was of the essence if he wanted to stop things from going down the drain.

"Indeed," she nodded. "I can guarantee with utmost certainty that you are Laurent's father."

"Well, yeah," he said, thinking that was a bit of an obvious statement, even for Miriel. "I see that now. What's your point?"

She shook her head insistently. "You misunderstand. You are his father. I have not engaged in infidelity, had an affair, or been unfaithful. I have not been cheating on you."

"What now?" Vaike spluttered, eyes widening. "Well o'course you ain't. Why would you…?"

"You had doubts about his paternity and feared you were not our son's biological father. The next logical leap would be to assume that I had been cheating on you, therefore Laurent's father could be another man entirely. I can assure you that that is not the case," she said simply.

Vaike was still slack-jawed, finally understanding what she was getting at. He laughed out loud, holding his sides as he wiped a tear from his eye. "So you thought… that I thought… not his father…"

"Although upon further consideration, I cannot accurately vouch for my future self's actions, in which case Laurent's father could be another man entirely. Following that line of thinking, it would seem that neither of us are, in fact, Laurent's true parents. His biological mother and father would have been a different Miriel and Vaike entirely, in which case –"

He pulled her into a hug, effectively cutting off whatever else she was about to say. "What?" She asked, impassive as ever. "Was I mistaken?"

He had a wide smile on his face, patting her back reassuringly. "The Vaike never doubted you," he said. "Ah, who cares about all that time travel stuff. So maybe we're not his real parents. Laurent's still a great kid, and we're lucky to have him now."

"Indeed," she said, returning the gesture with a small smile of her own.

About ten other people who had been passing by at that moment looked on in amusement, Laurent among them. It was more than a little embarrassing to see his parents acting so affectionate, but it was clear that they really loved each other. He laughed a little, shaking his head as he went back to organizing the army's supplies.

They were both pretty ridiculous sometimes. But maybe that was what made them such a perfect match.

I'm currently running a poll on my profile page, and I'd really appreciate it if you took the time to participate. The question: Who are your favorite female Fire Emblem Awakening characters? As always, thanks for reading!