This was it. The awakening was a success and Chrom's sword Falchion had been imbued with the power of the Divine Dragon. Now with the help of Naga, they were teleported to Origins Peak. The army stood ready to engage the enemy in final combat.

"Here we are Morris. Today we end things once and for all."

"This technically isn't the ending. Do you remember what Naga said? Falchion can only put him back to sleep. In 10,000 years he will awaken again and terrorize the land like he does know."

"Gods you're right. I wish there was some alternative. We can't just keep resealing him and leaving him for future generations to deal with. Naga, is there not something else we can do?"

"Nay. He and I do not possess the power to fully destroy the other."

"There has to be something."

"There is. The only thing that can kill Grima is his own power. He would have to destroy himself. And we both know that will never happen."

Chrom turned to Morris and noticed that his tactician friend had a puzzling look on his face.

"Morris, what are you thinking about?"

"I think I know how to end this for good. You remember when the me from Lucina's time told us that the fell dragon and I were the same. It that's true, then if he were to fall by my hand then that should be enough to kill him."

"Naga? Could this plan of his work?"

"Perhaps. But there would be consequences."

"Consequences? What consequences?"

"Grima's hearts in linked to Morris's. Dragon and man cannot be separated. Therefore, slaying Grima would also kill Morris."

"If that's what it takes, then I'll make that sacrifice."

"No! Morris, I can't ask you to throw your life away and die like this."

"There is a chance he could survive, but it is very small. You have bound your heart to those of your companions. If those ties prove strong enough, they should keep you in this reality. But the truth is you are almost certain to be erased from this existence."

"Morris I can't let you do this. We'll find another way; just give us time."

"Chrom stop this at once. You clearly are not thinking about this rationally. After all, what is one life when weighed against millions?"

"No you stop this! Morris, you're one of us. You'll always be one of us. I promise we'll find another way to end this. Now promise me you won't sacrifice yourself for us."

Morris knew this was a difficult decision to make. But in the end he knew that he couldn't give up this chance to rid the world of its biggest threat.

"Very well Chrom. I promise."

"Good. Now let's ready the army."

Chrom and Morris turned to face the rest of the Shepherds. At any time in the past they could have left and yet they stayed. That was the mark of true companionship. Morris gave the speech he had prepared.

"My fellow Shepherds. Today we stand against the Fell Dragon himself. Today we cancel his reign of terror and suffering. Today the world will be returned to peace. I could not have done it without any of you. Know that you have my thanks and I will always cherish our friendship."

Morris and Chrom both gave quick glances to their respective wives and children, as if to reassure them that everything would be okay.

"The time is now Awakener. Grima hase sensed our presence. I can teleport you to where he is now. The rest will be up to you.

After being teleported onto Grima's back, the Shepherds prepared themselves for battle. But to their surprise there was no Risen. Suddenly Morris felt an incredible pain surging through him.

"Morris! What's wrong?"

"It's Grima! He's in my head! Trying to take over!"

"No! Fight back! You're stronger than this!"

"I'm trying!"

Eventually it was too much for Morris and fell to the ground. His consciousness floated to a dark place filled with shadows.

"Where am I?"

"A place where your pathetic gods will you to be. I'll deal with you soon. But first I have some bugs on my back to eradicate."

"No! I won't let you!" Struggling to regain his strength, Morris desperately tried to stand back up and fight Grima. But all his efforts were in vain.

"You still resist me? Then perhaps I shall kill you first?" And with that Grima summoned a massive sphere of darkness which engulfed Morris and robbed Morris of the few bits of strength he had remaining.

"This can't be. I've run out of strategies; no cards left to play. He has won. Chrom, everyone, I'm so sorry."

"And so ends your pitiful existence and the only real threat I have ever known.

"No! Morris, you have to fight back!"

"How is this possible?"

"Morris, you're stronger than this! I know you can beat him! Now get up!"

Almost as if it were fate itself, Chrom and all the Shepherds appeared in his head giving him their support.

"Come back to us Phoenix!"

"I know it will take more than this to stop you!"

"You gonna let that ugly snake get the last hiss? Get up!"

"Morris, remember all the days we spent together!"

"Get up right this instant, or suffer a swift smack from my parasol!"

"Morris, you can't close up shop on us now! We still need you!"

I thought I was your favorite dragon! Forget about Grima!"

You are not Grima, nor is he you. Remember that, Morris!"

"Get up, Morris! No one goes down without my say so!"

"We're all right here by your side!"

"My friends…..thank you. I now know what must be done." With his new resolve, Morris stood up and faced Grima.

"No! You should be broken! How is it you still resist me?"

"By having the things you will never have. Friendship and love."

Morris pulled out the tome he had kept hidden in his cloak.

"Thunder!"

Morris cast thunder spell after spell in rapid succession. Each one seemed to hit home and do a lot of damage to Grima. Unfortunately his tome broke and Grima was still standing.

"Did you honestly think that would be enough to defeat me?"

"No. But that's what a tactician does: he prepares for everything."

Chrom leapt up from behind where Morris was with Falchion drawn and pointing right at Grima. He tried to retaliate but Chrom attacked at the right angle, where the sun shone bright enough to distract his vision. When Chrom landed, he delivered a slashing blow to his mid-section.

"No! I will not let it end like this! Must gather my strength for one final attack."

"Morris, this is it! Let me end this once and for all!"

Before Chrom could begin another charge, Morris knocked him out by hitting him in the back of the head with his last tome. He then began summoning a giant ball of energy.

"You know, for once I'm glad you and I are the same. Now I can give my life to protect those dearest to me!"

"YOU WOULD NOT DARE!"

"I WILL! THE EVILS YOU WOULD VISIT ON THIS WORLD ARE UNTHINKABLE! In some way, I share the blame for everything you have done. THEREFORE IT"S ONLY FITTING THAT WE MEET OUR END TOGETHER!"

"NO!"

And with that Morris released the ball of energy towards his opponent. It struck him dead in the center and vaporized him. Morris then looked at his hand and notice he was starting to disappear.

Chrom had awakened and was horrified to see what was going on in front of him.

"Morris what have you done!?"

"I've secured our world's future. For many generations to come."

Chrom heard something and turned around to notice Sumia and Cordelia had flown in on their Pegasus. When Cordelia saw what was happening she was as horrified as Chrom.

"What is this? What is happening to my husband?"

Chrom regretted that he had to be the one to tell her. "Morris has slain the Fell Dragon. But because their powers were linked to one another, Morris will now-"He didn't have to finish that sentence for Cordelia to know what he was going to say.

"No! Morris!"

She ran up to him and took what remained of her husband's slowly disappearing body and held onto it for dear life. Unable to control herself, the tears came to her face.

"Cordelia, I'm so sorry. But I had to end Grima's reign once and for all. Now everyone can live out their lives in peace."

"I understand."

"Naga told us if my bonds were strong enough I would one day return. I know this will happen. I hate to ask this but will you wait for me?"

"Of course." Not wanting to hesitate she took her husband and pulled him in for one last, passionate kiss. When it was done she leaned in and whispered something to his ear. "I'm pregnant."

Hearing this brought a smile to Morris's face. "I promise I'll return some day. And then we can be the family we were always meant to be. Cordelia I love-"but it was too late. Morris disappeared before he could finish that sentence.

"I love you too." Unable to control herself any more, Cordelia fell to her knees, sobbing. Sumia walked up next to her and comforted her.

The rest of the Shepherds joined beside them. Chrom turned to address them.

"This war has ended my friends. Never again will the Fell Dragon terrorize our lands. I owe you all far more than words can ever repay. Especially Morris, who gave his life to save us all."

Upon hearing the new, many of the Shepherds were shocked and upset. Half of the female members began crying.

"Don't cry my friends. Naga said if his bonds with us were strong enough, then he would return one day to us. I know he'll be out there somewhere. And I'll find him, even if it takes the rest of my days."

Sumia walked up to her husband and hugged him. She was shortly joined by his daughters Lucina and Cynthia.

"We know he'll return to us one day. In the meantime we must keep strong until he does."

Hearing this caused a lot of the Shepherds to come to their senses and regain their composure.

Suddenly Lucina and Cynthia were covered in light. It was similar to the light that had engulfed Morris. The rest of the children shortly followed suit.

"Father, what is this? What is happening?"

"I don't know! Naga, is this you're doing?"

"It is. They came to the past to save the future. Now that their mission is accomplished they must return home."

"But how? I thought the journey home was impossible."

"Do not worry; though it is very difficult it is not impossible. And when you get home, you will find it a bit different then when you left it."

"Naga, what do you mean?"

Naga said nothing and Noire and Gerome disappeared. They were soon followed by Laurent, Yarne, Morgan, Severa, Inigo, Owain, Nah, Cynthia, Kjelle, and then Brady. Soon only Lucina remained.

"Father…thank your for giving me this time to spend with you. Thank you for saving my future. I only wish we could stay together."

"Of course Lucina. Just know that your mother and I will never forget you."

A smile formed across Lucina's face. She used what little time she had left to hug her mother and father until she disappeared, to travel the boundaries of time once more.

Okay so it's been a long time since I wrote any fanfiction. Let me start by saying that I cannot get enough of Fire Emblem Awakening. I brought it on a whim using a target gift card my Uncle gave me and I've been hooked since day one. I have played through the game four times and was inspired to write this story after the fourth playthrough. Out of all the people that I paired my Avatar up with (Cordelia first run, Olivia second, Anna third, and Tharja fourth) Cordelia is the one that I like the most so she'll be the one used in this story.

2013-2014 has been a busy year for me. I've had a rough year at college. Last year was also a good year for video games. We've had the new Tomb Raider, Assassin's Creed IV, Grand Theft Auto V, Bioshock Infinite, The Last of Us, Pokemon X and Y, and of course Fire Emblem Awakening. So I've been spending a lot of time playing those games. (The Last of Us was my pick for best game of 2013.) I've also been watching some new anime. Two shows that I've taken a big interest in are Sword Art Online and Persona 4 the animation. But I had some free time this summer so I spent as much time as I could writing this so I could get this published all at once. Please feel free to comment. But if you please don't question the choices I made as far as the pairings go. Everyone has their own views on who should be with whom and that's fine. These are simply my version. Also note that some characters in the story are paired up with someone else even though in game they can only be paired up with the Avatar. That was one of the few things I didn't like about the game. So for the sake of storytelling I decided to ignore that. Enjoy!

Oh also not really important but I decided to name the Avatar Morris because it sounded cool and it would be a nice name to derive Morgan from. Below you'll find the pairings that I'll be using in this story.

Ricken and Lissa

Gaius and Tharja

Lon'qu and Olvia

Cherche and Virion

Sully and Frederick

Kellam and TIki

Libra and Nowi

Gregor and Say'ri

Avatar and Cordelia

Chrom and Sumia

Stahl and Anna

Donnel and Panne

Henry and Maribelle

Vaike and Miriel

Basilio and Flavia (Not a couple)