A/N: This is...a bit darker than what I normally write.

There are some bits of Awakening which have always stuck with me - in the official Awakening comic there's a part where Lucina mentions she had friends in the future who died, became Risen, or were left behind, and in the Harvest Scramble DLC there's the conversation between Owain and Inigo about killing other people - so I decided to write a short piece combining both of them. It turned into a character study for Lucina and to a lesser extent the future children as a whole.

I hope you enjoy.

Hope

Lucina had always valued her life above others.

She held no delusions of grandeur, nor did she want it; no, she would give up her value in a heartbeat if possible, but Owain could not wield Falchion and Cynthia was hopeless with a sword. It didn't matter how desperately Lucina drew the Risen's attention, screaming and brandishing Falchion to entice them towards her. It didn't matter if she watched in horror as blades meant for her and her alone were intercepted, sometimes by weapons but more often by the bodies of friends and strangers alike. It didn't matter, for in the grand scheme of things they were inconsequential. If humanity was to have any hope of survival then Lucina must live.

The old guard, the last of the Shepherds, had been the first to fall. After Grima's rise they had been determined to atone for their failure by taking the hardest missions, the least guarded positions, the most dangerous patrols. They shielded the children until childhood was no longer possible, then spread out their already thin ranks in order to best protect the younger generation.

Chrom and Sumia had died together on the field of battle, far away from home. Their bodies, along with those of all who had died with them, had never been recovered; Lucina had once been determined to bring them back for a proper burial or, if they were already beyond her reach, put them to rest once and for all with her own hands.

Then Lissa collapsed just outside the gates with a shattered staff and mangled chest; Gaius threw himself between Morgan and a Risen's lance, Maribelle used the last of her strength to heal Cynthia, Stahl was dragged from his horse and trampled by Risen hooves, Henry held an entire horde at bay to allow their scavenging group time to escape, and barely a day later the reanimated Henry was hunted and swiftly put down by Say'ri.

When they brought in Say'ri's body, cleaved nearly in half by a blow meant for her son, Lucina bowed her head and guiltily thanked the gods that her parents had died so far from home.

Say'ri's son was a quiet boy, quick on his feet and skilled with his blade. He was a master of infiltration and finding openings where there were none, easily slipping past Risen to find valuable supplies and trapped survivors who he guided to safety. There were times when Lucina looked at him and thought it was a pity Naga's blessing hadn't gone to the royal family of Chon'sin, for even in their hardened community there were few people more resourceful and respected than Ka'tar.

Then he proved himself to be a true son of his mother by throwing himself on top of a wounded Lucina and shielding her from a rain of arrows.

Lucina forced herself to watch the body burn and personally collected the ashes to be scattered; then she went to her room and rubbed her eyes until the tears stopped running before returning to her duties.

The next to go was a gentle girl with freckles and a sense of humor that had faded only slightly with time. The daughter of Gregor and one of Sumia's handmaidens, her father had never taught her combat the same way most of the other Shepherds did with their children and she had no talent in healing; instead she served the castle in other irreplaceable ways, organizing supplies and cooking food and helping dispose of bodies before they decided to Rise.

It was the first time the Risen breached the castle walls; Lucina had been caught by surprise and barely managed to duck under a javelin, only to glance back and see it lodged in her companion's head.

One week later Morgan's brother fell in an ambush, and two months later Morgan herself vanished while on patrol. That same day Yarne found himself the last of the taguel when none of his five littermates made it home.

It had taken the Shepherds decades to disappear; their children, this younger generation with nothing to their names but misfortune, seemed destined to be wiped out in merely a few short years.

Twenty-four became twenty; twenty became fifteen.

Lucina looked around at the determined faces of her friends. They were her lifelong companions, her most trusted allies; their hopes and dreams rested on her shoulders and she'd never felt more alone.

The Awakening was imperfect, weakened by the presence of four gems where five were needed, but it granted them an opportunity they couldn't refuse. Fifteen people set out from the castle and fought through countless Risen to reach Naga's portal; when they reunited in a happier time, surrounded by war and a peaceful world, there were thirteen.

If Lucina had moved faster, sent this team out sooner, been there instead of there...could there have been one more face here today if she'd done something just a little differently?

Perhaps. Perhaps not. But if given the opportunity to go back and redo it, Lucina wasn't sure she'd be able to change a thing. After all, in the end she had survived - and for the sake of humanity that was all that mattered.