I know, I'm cheesy. But I've never done a "topical" fic before,but the second I found out it was Lucina's birthday, this idea hit me. Now, with a whopping 8 minutes until midnight (where I live), I'm wishing I had found out earlier so I'd have had time to make this better! XD
Also, Frederick interaction.
Just what on earth was that wretched noise?
Lucina was drawn from her sleep by a high-pitched peeping, like a squeaky wheel running its course just outside the flap of her tent. She buried her head in her pillow once more, savoring its warmth and never once opening her eyes. She should still have another hour or so to sleep.
Peep. Peep peep.
With a groan, the princess rolled onto her back, weakly propping herself up on her elbow to look out towards the tent flap, annoyed and groggy. Though her squinted, tired eyes very suddenly found themselves widened in shock. One look at the light pouring in under the canvas and realization began to dawn on her.
That sound was no wheel squeaking... Those were songbirds!
She shot up in her bed with a panicked gasp. Just how long had she been sleeping that the sun had been allowed to rise and the birds to begin their morning songs?
Hastily, she brushed her covers off to the side of her pallet and rushed to her wooden chest. She lifted the hood and pulled out her typical garb – tunic, gloves, stockings, boots – before throwing them down in front of her, allowing the chest to slam shut with a thud. With no regard for the order of her tent, her arms pulled her nightgown over her head, not bothering to fold it and store it in the chest. She opted, rather, to throw it to the side and began pulling on her dayclothes before it had even hit the ground.
She was sure to grab Falchion as she rushed out through the flap on her tent, breathing quickened and eyes wide and worried. How could she have let herself sleep so long?
Outside, she was met rather suddenly with the bright light of a fully risen sun, a stark contrast to the light of early dawn which she was used to waking up to. She shielded her eyes, allowing them to adjust before she scanned the camp in front of her.
Everyone was already going about their business... Knights on horseback were on their way to the fields, some of the fighters had already built up a sweat and were returning from the training grounds, archers were busy shooting arrows at the targets in the distance.
Why had no one woken her? She should've been training as well! A pit formed in her stomach when she thought of her father. Oh, would he not be angry when he found out she was slacking and sleeping through her training?
"Ah! I see milady is awake."
A deep voice drew Lucina's attention to her right. Approaching her was a familiar suit of clanking, blue armor, its owner's back poised and face wearing a polite smile. His hands were tucked neatly behind his back, prim and properly stiff as usual.
"Sir Frederick." Lucina nodded at the palace knight. Her voice maintained its composure, but inside, her heart was racing as though the hours lost to sleep had been hours lost from her very memory. Heavens, was this anything like how Morgan felt all the time, missing lost hours? "May I ask what time it is?"
"Midmorning," replied Frederick coolly. His smile remained collected but kind as he asked, "Did you enjoy your rest?"
Lucina's mouth hung slightly agape. That Frederick, of all people, was so casual about her missing training was a mystery in itself!
"I ought have been at training! I've missed my session with Father!" Her voice reached a small shout, her tone incredulous and disappointed. Her eyebrows sunk, a look mirroring her father's, as her lips became pursed. "Why did he not wake me?"
She was startled to hear Frederick let out a rare chuckle. "Ah, alas, it was on your father's wishes that you were allowed to rest 'til so late an hour. I saw to it that activity around your tent was kept to a minimum, as well, so as to reduce any raucous that may have disturbed you."
Her father had... requested she be allow to sleep so long? That she might miss training, even? Lucina had been made aware many times over the course of the last week that she had been looking tired, moreso than usual. However, she'd thought the nap Brady had demanded she take had cured her of that! What reason would her father and Frederick have to give her the pampering of a longer sleep than everyone else?
Lucina raised the question to the knight, to which he simply replied, "Have you forgotten what day it is, Princess?"
What day? Even on the weekends everyone was required to...
But slowly it began to dawn on her that Frederick wasn't referring to the day of the week. It was the twentieth of April.
"Oh."
"Allow me to be the first to wish you a happy birthday."
What a fool she was... What kind of person forgets their own birthday? She resisted the urge to drop her face to her palm.
"Thank you, Frederick," she said sincerely, though her gaze was distractedly lingering on the ground. In all of the chaos going on in the army, the search for her other friends, the war... "I had completely forgotten."
Truth be told, it had been a long while since she'd even celebrated her birthday. Her parents used to find time to celebrate with her at any cost, but at a certain age the most they could manage – what with the war and their constant traveling, gods bless their souls – was often only a letter and a small gift. In their deaths, she'd had to take the crown, and... well, the Risen did no courtesy of waiting for birthdays to be over before launching their attacks, and Lucina was no exception.
Though Frederick couldn't know these details.
He smiled and continued on, his hands still remaining behind his back, his demeanor remaining obliviously cheerful. "Your mother wishes to take you shopping for clothing in the neighboring town," he informed her, dutifully keeping up on her itinerary as though it were second nature to him. "And your father was hoping to give you your present after you've eaten breakfast with your family."
"Really?" She couldn't keep a hint of excitement from creeping into her voice. The twinge of sadness in her morphed into joy. A family breakfast, all of them together, celebrating! The idea sounded so idyllic, so reminiscent of the better days of her childhood, that she felt she could burst.
She sent a smile Frederick's way. "Thank you for letting me know," she said with immense gratitude. "I should be off to find them. Ehm... Where might I find them, exactly?"
"They're in the mess hall," Frederick answered with his patented brisk kindness. Though his smile grew a mite larger as his eyes looked knowing. "I believe there was talk of strawberry pastries."
And the excitement continued to grow. Lucina's eyes lit up.
In her past, a cook of the palace had made the most divine strawberry pastries, stuffed with berries imported from Valm and decorated with swirled, sweet frosting on top. Those were the lavish breakfasts, saved for the mornings after the king or queen had returned from expeditions. Lucina had briefly mentioned them once before – to Frederick, in fact – when he'd asked about the future life in the palace.
"Truly?" she asked happily, unable to resist the corners of her mouth pulling upwards. She could almost taste them now... When had her mouth begun to salivate?
"Indeed, milady."
She let out a contented sigh. Those pastries were a piece of home... "I can't remember the last time I've had those!" she exclaimed wistfully. "How did they know to make them today?"
With a satisfied chuckle, Frederick replied with eyes thinned in a smile, "I may have put in a suggestion to the camp's baker."
He'd remembered... She had only mentioned the treats off-handedly, a detail unimportant to her story as she'd, in fact, been telling the knight about the busy lives of her parents. But nonetheless, he'd been as attentive to detail as his reputation suggested.
"Oh, Frederick, thank you!"
"Consider it a birthday present, milady."
Lucina let out a small laugh, nodding her head as a show of gratitude. As nice as it was to have her parents back, she'd forgotten how much she'd missed Frederick as well.
"Now, your family is awaiting your arrival in the mess hall." He nodded his head toward her before glancing over his shoulder. The mess hall lay behind him, large enough to house the entire army and their food. Her family was in there, waiting for her.
They were all together and relaxed, father had a gift for her, mother would take her shopping, Frederick was smiling and had done something special for her...
It felt so much like old times, and yet so, so much better now that it was in the present.
You have no idea how hard it was to keep from making 4/20 jokes. #BlazeIt
~~ OK, can we just: Frederick was like a father to Chrom, training him and making sure he had a good male role model while Emmeryn did the whole motherly nurturing thing. Now Chrom's little girl comes along and it's only natural that Frederick would kind of be around to want to play a role in Lucina's life as well because she's the daughter of the boy he watched grow into a man and he'd just see how much like Chrom she is because in all she does, he's seen it all before and I just can't describe my love for this dynamic enough hold me