It was an early morning in May when Morgan decided to wake up earlier than she usually did. But this wasn't just any morning in May. It was May 5th, Morgan's birthday. It was her sixteenth birthday today. But what made it really special, is that it was her first birthday where her father, Robin, wasn't working on the road. He'd been getting more time to himself which he would use for a day trip to visit, for a reason Morgan wasn't aware of, but she didn't question it, since she loved it when her dad was around. It was no secret that she was attached to him. Not to say she doesn't love her mom, Lissa, to the Outrealms and back. It's just that when you don't get to see your parents all too often, it's an amazing treat when you get to spend that one day with them.

Morgan woke up earlier than she usually did. She wanted to get the full experience today. She decided to wear her purple summer dress. She didn't have to wear her normal tactician outfit since it was Sunday, so she didn't have school. But no matter what she wears, she always brings the purple robe that is identical to her father's. It was probably her favorite thing from her wardrobe. It was perfect in Morgan's eyes. It was snug, one of her favorite colors, not too hot, protects from the cold, and of course, it has the hood. She'd loved wearing hoods ever since she was little. Although, it usually caused her getting bullied around, since it wasn't what was "trendy".

When Morgan had gotten downstairs, it seemed that her mother wasn't in the castle, and Owain was already gone.

'No birthday breakfast, I guess...' Morgan thought to herself. As big as the Ylisstol Castle was, it was always lonely when her family wasn't around. Although there were plenty of people there, Morgan just wasn't close with any of them.

Morgan decided to look down the halls just to make certain whether her family was home or not. She searched every hall, corridor, room, everything. They were not at the castle.

'Guess I can go out too, then. No reason in starving myself.' She thought to herself.

She grabbed a small bag that was big enough for her book, but small enough that it wasn't an inconvenience. It was the closest thing to a purse she'd ever use.

As she was walking out, the castle staff all wished Morgan a happy birthday. Some went on about knowing her since she was born and at how much she'd grown, or commented on how she'd grown to be an amazing young woman.

She finally got out of the castle after what had seemed like an hour of birthday wishes and talking. It was a beautiful spring day with a few clouds, so Morgan noted it might rain later. Something she didn't mind, though. Rain was soothing and calming to her.

She started walking into town to find a place for breakfast. 'Maybe I'll eat at Donnel's.'

Donnel had a small little restaurant. Since farming was a talent he was raised to perfect, he used fresh ingredients and food. He also had his daughter, Nah, work there from time to time.

But before she could start heading towards the right direction, she felt a tap on her shoulder. It startled her so much that she let out a scream. She caught her mouth and turned around to see the one and only, Inigo.

She was very happy to see him. Not only because it wasn't trying to mug her, but also because it was Inigo. Inigo had been her crush since she'd started going to school. So handsome, funny, charming, and kind, how could she not like him? That was how she saw it, anyway.

"Calm down there, Morgan! It's just me!" He said with a small chuckle. "Happy birthday." He said with a wink.

Morgan laughed a bit. "Thank you, Inigo." She started blushing as she said it. Then she noticed him holding his hand behind his back. "Whatcha got there?" She asked with a small grin.

"Looks like I was found out pretty fast." Inigo said while rubbing the back of his head. He pulled his hand from behind his back and revealed a white rose. "It's your birthday present." He brought the flower towards her forehead and put it in her hair. "No thorns, I promise!" He said with a small laugh.

Morgan's blushing continued. The rose fit snugly in her hair. "My first birthday gift. Thank you! I'll wear it all day." She smiled towards the orange-haired boy. She'd never worn flowers in her hair, but there's a first for everything.

She went over to the fountain in the town square to see her reflection in the water. It looked really good in her hair she thought.

"Do ya like the look?" Inigo asked with a smile, seeming hopeful that the answer was yes. Morgan nodded almost instantly with a returning smile. "Good. I didn't have money for anything else, haha. Sorry, I would've gotten you something better."

"Hey! I love it, thank you. You didn't even need to get anything for me, so I'm super thankful that you decided to." Morgan pondered on giving him a hug, but decided it might be too much of a giveaway.

"Anytime! Well, when I have money, that is." Inigo started as he put his hands into his pockets then pulled out the inner lining of them. "I should probably spend less time betting with the guys on Joseph's magic skills…" Inigo finished with an ashamed smile.

At the school they go to, there are a lot of divisions for main classes, then they have the normal classes, such as math, writing, history, and science. Morgan and Joseph attend the tactician branch, where on occasion the students will duel with magic or swords. A good attraction for the other branches of the school to bet on. They were mostly all good friends, so the teachers didn't mind. Unfortunately for Inigo's case, his friend Joseph was more skilled with a sword than he was with magic.

Morgan and Inigo laughed at the statement until Morgan stopped and jokingly said "Wait! You bet against me?" She gave a small nudge to his shoulder, but then instantly regretted it, and hoped Inigo wouldn't respond to that as if it were odd.

"Umm, maybe… I did get thirty gold from betting on you, so maybe I should change my strategy." Inigo winked, though he sounded half serious.

"Haha, maybe." Morgan swiftly replied. "Hey, I'd better get to breakfast before they stop serving. Thank you for the gift." She ended, once again considering a hug, but ultimately decided against it.

"Well, do you-" but before Inigo could finish, he saw that she had already taken off. "...want to eat together?" Inigo let out a sigh and continued to talk to himself. "Well, maybe I can guess where she's going."

Morgan checked the hours on the door as she arrived at the restaurant, and to her relief, there was roughly another hour until it closed judging by what the sky looked like. But before she got to open the door she heard a small commotion behind her and she turned to see what was going on. To her surprise, she saw that Inigo had fallen over something.

A girl that looked about her age had helped him up. "Ah, thank you! I should've known a flower like-". He stopped as soon as he saw Morgan and realized why he'd even fallen in the first place. "Er, thanks." He said correcting himself.

Even though Morgan and Inigo weren't in a relationship, it still hurt her to see him flirting with random girls. Sometimes she felt as if it were selfish of her to feel like that. Whether it was jealousy or insecurity she felt, Morgan wasn't sure.

She turned around and began to open the door before Inigo called out her name. "Morgan! Wait up, please." Inigo sounded out of breath, as if he ran through the whole town.

"Oh, hi, Inigo. What do ya need?" She asked with a smile, obviously happy that he was there to talk to her about something.

"Just curious to whether or not you'd be against me joining you or breakfast." Finally, Inigo's panting seemed to slow a bit.

"Is it because she turned you down?" Morgan laughed as she was joking with him. It wasn't a secret that he'd almost always gotten rejected when he'd ask someone for tea, or a meal.

"Morgan, you wound me." Inigo joined in with her laughter. "But for real, I think I ran more looking for you, than I ever have in my life."

"Aww, you geek. I guess if you put so much effort into finding me, then I'd be rude to turn you down." Morgan said jokingly. "Yes, I'd be happy to share a meal with you."

"Fantastic! I won't be bumming money off of you either." He started to laugh a bit. "I ran home on my wild search and grabbed some money from my mother. It should be enough to get us both breakfast."

Morgan was shocked at the last bit he had said. "Inigo, I can't accept that."

"There's a difference between 'can't' and 'won't'. Come on, it's my better birthday gift to you!"

Morgan let out a sigh in defeat. "Fiiiiine. But I'm not getting anything expensive, and you can't change my mind!"

"Deal!" Inigo winked and they both started to chuckle.

Morgan and Inigo walked in and searched for an empty table they could sit at. But before they could conclude their search, Nah found them.

"Hey, you two! Looking for a seat?" Nah asked them as she greeted them with a friendly smile. She leaned into Morgan's ear and whispered. "Finally scored a date with him, eh?"

Morgan blushed. Being as vague as possible to avoid being specific to which question she was answering, she said "Yes."

Nah had a mischievous smirk on her face as she directed them to their table. "I'll grab you the usual, then?"

Morgan and Inigo both answered simultaneously. "Yes please."

Nah once again leaned into Morgan's ear. "It's as if you two were created for each other." She smirked again and walked back to the kitchen.

Inigo and Morgan made some small talk. Mostly concerning school, and its end in the next week, which both of the children were equally looking forward to. Especially since it would be their last year as Morgan was a year ahead of her studies, and Inigo was on his last year.

"So Morgan, are you attending the festival tonight?" Inigo asked.

Morgan shook her head. "I didn't have any plans to, no. My father is coming home today, and we were planning on all staying home for the evening and just having family time. At least, that's what I was told."

"Aw, darn." They heard Nah's voice. "Noire and I were counting on you coming." Nah finished as she was placing down the meals that Inigo and Morgan had ordered.

"But I do hope you have fun, though." Added Inigo. He looked over to Nah and bid her his thanks. "But I may bump into you, Nah. It'd be quite the gift too, seeing as how your beauty always lifts the mood."

Morgan's grip on her silverware tightened immensely and she lightly gritted her teeth together in jealousy. Even though she was aware that Nah had a boyfriend already, it still hurt that Inigo was flirting with her. It seemed as if he flirted with every girl except for Morgan. Half of her wanted to make a quick remark that Nah would take as 'back off', and the other half wanted to punch Inigo. Seeing as how neither would do anything but brand her as petty, she just kept eating.

Nah decided to grab another chair so she could sit with her two friends, despite knowing that Morgan would've wanted to eat with only Inigo. Inigo and Nah talked whilst Morgan remained almost completely silent. The gift she wanted the most was taken from her by one of her best friends.

"Don't worry about paying." Morgan said as she put some of her own gold onto the table. Trying her best to contain her tears as she got up and left without even saying so much as 'goodbye'.

"Wait…" Inigo tried protesting to her, but she ignored him and walked right out the door. Inigo let out a sigh and looked at Nah. "W-what did I do wrong, Nah?" Inigo said with a sigh of immense disappointment.

Nah stared at him for a few seconds then responded "Oh boy, Inigo. There is so much you need to get straightened out before you can even think of dating her."

Inigo didn't think that was a good thing, and the last action he could do before being taken away by Nah, was a nervous gulp.

As soon as Morgan was sure Inigo wasn't following her, she slowed her pace home. Hoping that it would kill time before her father showed up. Also allowing herself to think of what she'd do with him. But no matter how hard she tried to keep the thought out of her head, the image of Inigo kept intruding her train of thought. It was eventually too much for her to contain and she decided a few tears would be acceptable. She was far enough away from people for them to notice.

"What chance do I have…? I'm not even sure my parents would allow me to court him anyway…" She thought to herself.

Morgan made a mental note to talk to her father about it later in the day. Despite it being a day off for him, she was craving "Daddy-Daughter Time" with him, even if it may concern her less than joyful emotions. Her father was an outlet to the lesser known half of Morgan. She's usually upbeat, outgoing, loving, but also mischievous. But she does have her issues, but only Robin and rarely Lissa have seen the other side of her.