Chapter 1:
"Don't worry Chrom, you'll be fine." said Emmeryn. She turned the steering wheel of her tiny sports car, which turned right into the parking lot of the local high school. In the passenger seat, Chrom sat quietly with a sour expression on his face. His little sister Lissa was in the back seat of the car, texting on her cell phone, not paying attention to the one-sided conversation going on between her two older siblings. "We all have to make changes and sacrifices." said Emmeryn, "I know you're in pain right now, but you can't dwell on what hurts you." She turned her head and smiled at her younger brother. "You'll make friends."
"I was happy with my old friends." said Chrom miserably, "And now I need a passport and an airplane just to see them."
"You can still communicate though." said Emmeryn, turning the wheel once again, "You've got phones, internet, and dare I say, letters. If they're real friends you won't lose them. And you'll make new friends here."
"Why even bother?" Chrom asked, "I'm in my last year of high school. Why should I even try to make friends if I'm probably never going to see them again after graduation?" Emmeryn pulled into a nearby parking spot and put the car in park.
"Because then this will be a very boring year for you." said Emmeryn smartly. "Try to make the best of this Chrom. You don't see Lissa moping around. I mean look at her go already." Chrom looked around to the backseat, which to his surprise was empty. He swung his head around to look out the window. Lissa had already hopped out of the car and was walking towards the entrance, looking around curiously. Suddenly she was stopped by a group of girls who began talking to her. After a few moments of talking, she joined the girls on their way to the school building. "See how easy that was Chrom?" asked Emmeryn. When she saw that he was still unamused by the situation she said, "There is light in everything Chrom. You just have to pull back the shades some time." She plucked the aviator sunglasses that Chrom was wearing off of his face and hung them on the front of his white T-shirt, which he wore under a blue short sleeved button-up which he left open. "Take those off. They make you look aloof." she said. Chrom rolled his eyes. Em always had one of those wise old sayings that sounded like they came out of a fortune cookie. But she always had a way of having them make sense.
"I'm out," he said, grabbing his black backpack and opening the car door. "I'll see you at dinner?" he asked.
"They're just getting me set up today so I should be home early today. I thought we could go out for dinner tonight." suggested Emmeryn, "You know, if you like."
"Sounds good," said Chrom indifferently, "See you later." As he began to walk away, Emmeryn rolled down the window,
"Chrom," she called out. He turned around. "Have fun," she said with her most encouraging smile. Chrom smiled and gave her the thumbs up. There was a moment of understanding between the two siblings before Emmeryn drove off. Chrom turned and moved towards the school entrance. As he walked, he stretched his arms into the air, taking in the warm sunlight. "I guess that's one bright side; no uniforms." he thought to himself. It was his first time in a public school in long time. He had been going to an all-boys private school since middle school. He had made the best of it, and had made some friends, but the formality and atmosphere of private school life was not exactly his idea of a good time. When Em had told him that he would have to go to a public high school, he had first been against the idea, however as he mulled over it more, he thought that he probably would have been equally miserable having to go back to private school. In all honesty, Chrom was starting to feel almost eager to go this new school. The whole act in the car had just been to justify the initial fuss he had made over changing schools when he had first heard the news. He felt sort of bad about making a stink over it now. He realized that Emmeryn and Lissa had to make sacrifices for Em's new job. She had recently been promoted to a high paying job in the Ylissean Embassy. And while meaning higher pay and benefits, it also meant that she would have to be relocated from the central office in Ylisstol to the embassy which was located in Southtown. Ylisstol was about an 8 hour drive from Southtown. Difficult to make on a weekend, and impossible on a school night, Chrom was completely discouraged from ever seeing his old friends from the capital in person anytime soon. He knew there was texting, Facebook and Twitter to keep in touch, but Chrom was never one to rely on social media to sustain friendships. However it now seemed that he had no choice but to use it more often now that his whole life had been uprooted. Chrom sighed. "Only for Em," he mused to himself.
Chrom revered his older sister. Everyone back home knew that. Ever since their father died two years ago, Em had become the primary caretaker of Chrom and Lissa. Being only 15 at that time, Chrom was pretty shaken up for a while. Not that his father had been the best father. He had always been working in his office job for the government, in the Ylissean Department of Defense. So basically his job had been deciding who they were going to go to war with next. Ylisse had been at war with various nations for the last fifteen years prior to the death of his father. Plegia, Valm, and almost Regna Ferox, basically every bordering country had been in some sort of conflict with Ylisse in that time. Chrom had been mortified then when he had heard that Emmeryn was going to go into a government job like his father. Conversely, he had been relieved when she had gotten a job in the Department of Justice. Somewhere righteous, somewhere true, a perfect match for Em's personality. Chrom looked over his shoulder, just in time to see Emmeryn pull out of the parking lot and on to the main road. With a final sigh, he turned back and headed into the school building.