Why does everything have to fall apart at the last minute? Ike sighed to himself as he walked through the line of tents that formed the massive base camp just outside of the Begnion capital. The Goddess tower was still lit up almost as brightly as the sun; gold beams radiating from the large structure. He tried not to look at it; it just reminded him of the upcoming battle the following day. No one wanted to have to go up against the Goddess Ashera herself; in fact, no one EVER had to go up against the Goddess. He had no clue what the hell they were supposed to do. Who were they going to encounter? What was going to happen? Would they win? What would happen if they lost? Would all of Tellius just go straight to hell? There were so many questions circulating around it was starting to make his head hurt. He briefly rubbed one temple in an attempt to ease the pain. If he could just find one quiet place where someone wasn't calling for his name to go over battle plans one last time, or someone wasn't calling for him to go over inventory one more time. He had done it at least a dozen times in the last few hours; it was pretty certain to say that none of it had changed since the last time he checked.

He paused briefly to reminisce in the fumbling scene around him. Some soldiers were feverishly going over weapon counts and making sure that armor plates were still durable; others were holding up nervous conversations as they tried to forget about their situations for just a few moments. He didn't exactly know what he was going to do when the moment came to lead the forces, but he did know that he had to appear confident with every decision despite the fact that he was going in blind. Sure Yune would be coming along with them, but he doubted the Goddess could do much else aside from give them information.

"Ike." someone called behind him. He turned to see Titania heading towards him through the faint crowd of soldiers rushing around. Her armor had been removed to just reveal the black clothing she wore underneath it; it was slightly odd to see her without her horse, weapon and armor. She almost looked normal. Her red braid bounced behind her and swung side to side as she walked.

"Ugh Titania, if you make me go over battle plans one more time I have a feeling I wouldn't be able to restrain myself from lighting that tent on fire." he replied.

She only chuckled at his remark. "Oh believe me, I'm surprised I haven't ripped apart that map yet."

"So what is it now? Did Kieran get another axe stuck in his head? Because I really don't want to deal with that again."

"No Kieran's fine, don't worry and even if he wasn't, I'm sure Geoffrey would have it under control." Titania assured; resting a hand on her hip. "But I think there might be a young lady here who needs you."

"I just saw Mist a few minutes ago, she seemed fine." Ike replied.

Titania sighed and rubbed one temple before playfully smacking the side of his head. "I meant the other one." She watched as he only gave her a questioning look. "I know these past few days have really been stressful on you but I think you can manage just a few minutes for her." she emphasized; turning his head towards the small field just outside the circle of their base.

The dark outline of a tender figure was perched on a small boulder just a few yards from where they were standing. The circle of lanterns around the base gave just enough to highlight her luscious green locks that were pulled away from her face and adorned with a jeweled headpiece. The shadows didn't give that much detail but he had already memorized every inch of her. Her white-and-gold plated shoulder pieces and chest plate were removed, along with the translucent blue cape that usually flowed out behind her.

"Elincia."

"I think she could use a little company at this moment." Titania suggested; patting his back. "I'll finish up with the last-minute run throughs and inform the team that they need to get a good night's rest."

He watched as the red-headed Paladin left before he turned his attention back to the Queen of Crimea. Sighing quietly, he slowly started towards her. What was he suppose to say? They had rarely seen each other, let alone spoken to each other during this entire war. It had been three years since the last time they held up a decent conversation... that was a long silence to break. He was almost certain if the Goddess hadn't intervene, they probably never would've spoken to each other again. He stopped just a foot or so away from her, still unsure of what to say.

"'To my last breath, I will do all that I can to ensure your dream.'" She spoke; catching him slightly off-guard. "Do you remember saying that to me?"

"Yes." he answered; noting his lack of hesitation. "It was on a cold night like this; we had just finished with the battles and were setting up camp. I was trying to comfort you the best I could and I meant every word I said."

She leaned back slightly on her palms; allowing him to catch the slightest smile on her lips. "It worked."

"Well at least now I know I did one thing right." he chuckled; taking a seat beside her on the large rock. "I mean, look at you. You're running Crimea and holding up strong against rebels and opposing forces like us. You're true to the people and you're not willing to back down from your position. Your confidence is clear when your mind is set." he paused for a moment as a flood of memories rushed back to him. "I remember when you were a Princess. You were so nervous about everything. Then again so was I. We were both so young to have to deal with responsibility like that. And yet, here we are, sitting at the edge of the Begnion capital just about to go defeat a being I never thought would take physical form."

"What happened to us?" Elincia questioned; brushing aside a piece of hair from her face.

He sighed lightly at the question. "Well, put the title Queen in front of your name."

"And put the title Hero in front of yours." she replied. "But that still leaves us with the same names. They're just titles after all; it's just what other people see us as."

"Do you see yourself as a Queen?" Ike asked.

"Some days but not all the time." she remarked. "Do you see yourself as a Hero?"

"No. It's more like I was just in the right place at the right time." he commented. "I mean, honestly, Titania should be the one out here leading. She's a way better fighter than I am; I've never seen her lose. I've never seen her get nervous or second-guess herself. She's the Hero."

Elincia turned towards him some. "That's not true. You were the one who took the risk to save Crimea. You were the one who reformed Tellius. You reunited old alliances and brought us together to be unified and to fight for a better future."

"And look where we are now." Ike replied. "Can you say this is any better? Daein was abused by Begnion for years before they finally rebelled; Crimea was in turmoil and close to revolt. The place was falling apart when I came back and nothing's changed now. We're on the battlefield against the Goddess. How do we fix this?"

She moved her hand and rested it on his leg. "Just like we did before. We go out there and we kick ass."

He couldn't help but to laugh at how serious she looked when she spoke. His hand overlapped her own as he intermingled his fingers with her own. "Your enthusiasm never fails."

"Well at least it's something." she smiled. "So do you know anything about the battle tomorrow?"

"From what I heard from Yune, we'll only be allowed to bring in a certain number of fighters. She's not sure how many, but it doesn't sound like it'll be enough." he answered. "Just a handful of fighters really, which you know, at this point will be hard to choose."

"We have fighters from all over Tellius here, even the Laguz Royalty are all gathered around." she nodded. "But I think you'll do a fine job choosing the ones to enter the Tower."

"Would you go?" he asked.

"No. My duty is to my country." Elincia remarked; looking up into his eyes. "Your duty is to everyone." she placed her hand against his cheek. "I have faith in you and I believe you'll make right with everything that's gone wrong. You'll fix this."

He smiled as her golden eyes softened when she spoke. "To my last breath..."

She felt his warm touch brush against her cheek as well as she leaned in just enough for their foreheads to meet. The cool night continued to get drop in degrees around them but she made no move to get out of its way. If she could've stayed as such for the rest of the night, she would've chosen to. He was gone for three years...she didn't want him to leave again. She didn't want to go through a day without him. As weak as it sounded, she needed him. She wanted him. The thought of kissing him brushed her mind but she decided it would've been best to keep that motion to herself. They were too close to crowds and she didn't want to make a scene.

"It's getting late." he spoke after a few moments; reluctantly pulling away as he got to his feet. "We should both get some rest."

"You're right." she nodded; following his motion. She watched as he turned to head back into the camp before she gingerly reached out and grabbed his hand; causing him to turn back to her. "Ike, just promise me one thing... make it back alive. Please."

He took her words to heart as he pulled her into his arms. "I'll come back and I'll never leave your side again."