A/N: Yes, a heterosexual pairing from me... shock, but that's how the cookie crumbles. Darn Awakening, its marriage system, and making me ship a heterosexual pairing (just kidding Awakening, I love you).

Alice's features : Build 1, Face 4, Hair 5, Hair Color 5, Voice 3.

Hope and Despair

The skies were clear. The torrential downpour that had transpired many an hour ago left the earth moist and muddy, but tents were set up despite that. You couldn't be picky when the world's destruction loomed at your feet.

Alice knows that. She knows more than anyone. Grima is her. Her alternate self is, to be more precise, but she ignores that fact. All she focuses on is that she's the reason the world is teetering on the edge of ruin.

She's the reason the children lost their parents in their future. It was her who stole their families and friends from them, leaving them to fight. To try and save their world that she destroyed.

Again, more precisely, it's an alternate her who brought about so much death, so much destruction, to both this world and Lucina's. It doesn't matter; not to her. The fact remains that it was some form of her that's caused so much pain, done so much damage.

Her mind won't let her think otherwise.

Once she learned the knowledge that she was born solely to be the heart of Grima, that she WAS Grima, Alice fell in a pit of despair. Unlike many others in their army, she never had a husband who reassured her when her thoughts took the darkest of turns.

For a period of time, she stopped eating as much. Her sleeps were plagued with nightmares, so her sleep schedule was hectic at best. She still led their army; her tactics never suffered because of her mental state. During that time, she refused to let anyone else suffer because of her.

Again, being more precise, it was an alternate her that was Grima. However, in her mind, it was her. Even after months passed, her mind never let her think otherwise.

Chrom, her beloved best friend, noticed weeks later that she stopped eating as much. At that point, Alice poked her food, ate a few bites, and shoved her plate away. She used the excuse that she was feeling sick, but that excuse ran dry after constant uses.

Her body, while it was always thin, was to the point that she had almost no substance to her. The exalt of Ylisse noticed that fact after she reached out to grab something (Alice forgot what it was now) and saw her arm.

Alice giggles a little at the memory of Chrom practically force feeding her once she admitted her horrible eating habits. Olivia, his wife, often joked with her that her husband was going to do that until she ate that much food on her own.

The dancer had been right on that account. The exalt force fed her for a week until her eating habits were back on track. Olivia and he always had a strong bond. They seemed to know each other like the back of their hands.

Alice remembered that she wished she could find a love as strong as theirs. She thought it would be impossible to; the final battle was at their feet two months later and she was still the same, alone.

She was one of the few people in their army who were single. No one could understand why. She wasn't an unattractive person by any means. Her chocolate brown hair, spiked in various places, concealed her forehead and part of her eyes. Her wide eyes, a darker shade of her hair, were deemed by many to be "adorable".

Alice didn't mind being single. After her dark thoughts passed, she found it easier to be alone when studying tactics. Even with that mentality, she still suffered bouts of loneliness. Who wouldn't when you were surrounded by so many happy couples?

She laughs a little, pushing her bangs out of her eyes. She remembers that when she would feel the emotion, she would bury herself in her various books of tactics and many other subjects.

They delayed the final battle by visiting the Outrealms and places that they never knew existed on the continent. Naga reassured them that Grima wouldn't do anything until they made a move. That reassured them to do other things, to become stronger, so that they would be prepared to fight the fell dragon.

It was through visiting various places they never knew existed before on the continent that they gained new allies. The former conqueror of Valm, Walhart. The dark flier, Aversa. Say'ri's brother and king of Chon'sin, Yen'fay. They were to name a few of the strong allies they gained.

It wasn't until their final stop that they met Priam, the (apparent) descendant of the "Blue Flame". Fighting against him and his soldiers proved to be their strongest challenge yet, but with Alice's tactics, they were the victors. After the swordsman fought against some of his soldiers from places all over the continent as a goodbye, he joined them.

In the beginning, Alice thought he was a strong ally, but nothing more than that. After she got over her shyness (which was, for some reason, even worse around the older man), she asked to fight with him, to which he accepted with a nod of the head.

She soon found out that he was a man of few words. He spoke when it was necessary, but any other time, Alice found him training, honing his already exceptional sword skills.

She never understood why he trained when he was already such a strong swordsman, but he told her one day about the "ambident energies" that was the main element of his swordplay.

Alice, to this day, still finds the whole "ambident energies" confusing. However, even with that, Priam guided her sword. He showed her various tactics that helped her combat abilities more than she imagined they could.

Those tactics saved her life on more than one occasion. After a move he taught her kept her from being sliced in half, she fought her shyness to say thank you to him. That day, she swore that a smile tugged at his normally stoic features, but he had replied that he had taught her well.

Alice walks to her tent, feeling a drop of water hit her face. She looks up, feeling more rain hit her face when she does so. A sigh passes through her. More rain. She doesn't mind rain, but when it's been raining nonstop for the past couple of days, it gets on a person's nerves fast.

She parts the tent flaps. On her bed sleeps her husband, mumbling things that she can't quite hear in his sleep. A smile stretches across her face at the sight. She never imagined that after almost three years, she would be in this situation.

Fate works in funny ways, doesn't it?

Alice giggles a bit as she sits down. Priam moves a little but doesn't wake, which surprises her a little. The swordsman was a light sleeper, but the surprise ebbs away when she remembers that he told her that he could sense when it was her. "It is easy to tell when your love is nearby." he had said.

Despite being married, there's still so many mysteries surrounding the older man. Alice figures that Priam will tell her things when he wants to. She won't force him. Forcing someone makes them not want to say anything; at least, that's what she learnt from her years of travel.

She sighs, blowing her bangs out of her eyes. Her thoughts move to the fact she's Grima without her wanting them to. Alice wraps her tiny arms around her small frame. She doesn't want to think like this. She hates these thoughts running in her mind.

A whimper escapes her lips. Not even three seconds later after the noise, her husband is awake and his arms are wrapped ever so tightly around her. His chin rests on her head and he's asking if everything is okay. Alice can hear the worry in his voice.

"It's nothing." she utters, but despite that, she wraps her arms around Priam's larger form and nuzzles her face in his chest. It chases away the dark thoughts within milliseconds. Being so close to someone your heart always yearns for does that, Alice assumes.

"It's something." Priam reprimands. His voice holds a teasing tone to it, but laced with concern at the same time. "Taking a shot in the dark," he begins, chuckling a little at the irony of the phrase, "I assume you're thinking about Grima?"

Alice says nothing. She knows that nothing she says as an argument will work. Priam knows her too well for her to even attempt it. "…Yes." she finally mumbles after a minute of silence.

"You are not her." Arms wrap tighter around her to the point Alice thinks she might break in half, but she feels so safe in his arms that all she does is snuggle closer. "I know that you think such a thing due to you two having the same appearance and voice," Priam snakes a hand to her head to gently ruffle chocolate locks. "but you and her are different beings altogether."

For the first time, she believes those words. At first, it doesn't make sense; so many people told her the same thing, more or less, so why does it make a difference when Priam utters those words?

'Because he would never lie to me about this.' she answers her unspoken question. 'He's too honorable for lies, even if a lie would make his wife feel better.'

They stay in comfortable silence for what feels like hours. Alice focuses on the sound of her husband's heart in her ear. It's the most soothing sound she's ever heard and it begins to lull her weary mind to rest.

Always in sync with her (or so Alice thinks), Priam whispers in her ear that she should sleep, as day approaches faster than many would think.

In his embrace, his heartbeat chases away the dark thoughts. His voice scares away any potential nightmares. As he lies them down and covers them with the thin blanket, Alice knows that this night will be a peaceful one.

As her eyelids droop over her eyes and her mind prepares itself for rest, she hears her husband murmur something. "Come again?" Alice mumbles, her voice laced with sleep.

"Stay with me always, Alice." Priam repeats, tightening his hold on her. "I will protect you and Morgan until my last breath."

She nods. "I will." she promises, and with his heartbeat thudding in her ears, her weary mind lets itself rest.

Fin.