"Do you think we made the right choice? Coming back to the past?"

The look Lucina gave her was so baffled that it nearly bordered on affronted. "Of course!" she exclaimed, putting down her whetstone to list to Severa all the finer advantages of why time travel into the past was the best idea ever conceived. Though most of the advantages seemed to be centered on the glory that was her father.

Severa indulged her a few minutes more but quickly sneaked away when Lucina offered her a free sweater with the Exalt's face embroidered on the front.

She posed the same question later that afternoon to Brady during their training drills. He was so surprised that he ended up accidentally smacking himself in the head with his own staff. After a few select words, he looked up and eyed her with an expression similar to Lucina's.

"Ya serious?" When she affirmed, he guffawed out loud. "Well, uh, yeah. The past is awesome! I mean, ya don't have to worry about when the next Risen attack will be or if the crappy biscuit you're eating is gonna be your last meal or… or… whatever!" Brady scratched at his head. "Heck, I'm surprised more people didn' hop in with us, ya know?"

They probably would have. If they hadn't all been dead that is. "But forgetting all the… y'know, bad stuff." Severa gestured vaguely with her training sword. "You think it was salvagable?"

Brady however, looked considerably unconvinced. "There was a whole lot of this "bad stuff," in case ya forgotten. And I dunno about you, but I like the past. I mean, look!" He reached into his robes and pulled out a small white cloth. "Check this thing out. They call 'em doilies. Just look at how frilly the blasted thing is!" Brady enthused, a little too taken with a bit of cloth in Severa's opinion. "You an' me both know, ain't much getting' this sort of thing in the future. Everyone too busy fightin' for their lives, wonderin' if the next breath they draw is gonna be their last, that sort of thing. But here and now?"

Brady gestured widely with his arms, looking as if to seize all the opportunities before him. "They've got all the time in the world to dream. Dream big, dream small, dream up silly things like this."

For now, Severa thought darkly, but Brady was too taken with the cloth to notice the scowl on her face. He waved the doily again.

"I mean, look at this stitching! And the detail. Betcha it ain't easy gettin' it done like that!"

Severa spared it another glance. The embroidered rabbit on it was a little cute, she had to admit. But only a little.

"Oh most definitely." Inigo drew his shirt from the water basin. He eyed it and shrugged, and resumed scrubbing. "All these beautiful maidens, and all the time in the world!" He chuckled to himself. "Just watch me woo them all, ha ha!"

His triumphant laugh turned into a rather high pitched shriek when Severa pitched the water basin over his head.

Kjelle wasn't much better. Actually, in hindsight, the keen knight may have been the worst possible person Severa could have posed her question to. Kjelle didn't look at her like she had grown another head like everyone else had, but she did sigh as she put down the potato she had been peeling.

"Alright, what's wrong?"

"Wha- nothing! Nothing's wrong. Can't a girl ask another girl a question?"

"Not if the question is daft enough that a babe could answer it." Kjelle retorted, glibly ignoring the glare shot her way. "And I've seen your shopping bill. It's enough to make any father want to cry."

"Wh-what do my spending tendencies have to do with anything?!"

"Maybe the fact that you love shopping. And the fact that you actually HAVE shops to shop at, here in the past. That alone should answer your question. So I'll ask again. What's wrong?"

Severa sniffed haughtily and went back to peeling her potato. "Nothing's wrong. I just don't see why everyone is so happy with the past," she said, tossing the potato aside, deeming it good enough to join it's brethren in the stew. "We all know that stupid dragon's coming back yet everyone goes on all happy with their silly lives as if everything is going to be fine. It's nauseating."

Kjelle gingerly picked up the potato and peeled the skin that Severa had missed. "Of course, Grima's return is certain, that's for sure. But that's the reason we all agreed to come back into the past. To warn our parents and unite ourselves for his coming."

"Well goodie for teamwork." Severa remarked with a snide clap.

Kjelle glanced at her friend and came to a realization. "Ohhhh. I get it. This is about them, isn't it? It's your parents."

"What?! NO."

"Really?"

"Totally."

"Uh huh," went Kjelle. "Out of random curiosity, when's the last time you even talked to one of them?"

"Okay first off," Severa jabbed the peeler at her. "You and your snide implications can go buzz off!" She sniffed and picked up another potato to eviscerate. "And secondly, for your information, I had a perfectly pleasant chat with Mo-Cordelia just the day before!"

"Mhmm. Let me rephrase. When's the last time you talked to her where you didn't mention how nice the weather was in your conversation?"

"That's!" Severa paused. Her nose scrunched. Blast. "That's- none of your business. And so not the point!"

"Now that I think about it, when's the last time you even talked to your father?"

"Da-Henry's been- I've been- we've all been busy, okay! We haven't been able to talk since we got Holland back to his family."

Kjelle stared. "That was two weeks ago."

"I know."

"Two. Whole. Weeks."

"I. Know."

"The Valm Empire fell in less time."

"I know!" Severa slammed the potato into the board, startling Kjelle. "Yes, I haven't talked to D-Henry. Yes, all my conversations with Cordelia are about the weather. And yes, I'm the absolute worst, failure of daughter who's better off in our future than here in their past!"

"Keep your voice down!"

"You keep your-!" Severa stopped and took an angry breath. It wouldn't do any good throwing a tantrum, and especially at Kjelle when she didn't deserve it. But she wasn't going to get off scott-free either. "You… can have fun peeling the rest." Severa said as she untied her apron. "I have to go."

Kjelle started. "Oh no, don't you dare-!" The knight trailed off as she watched her friend brush past her and storm through the tent flaps. She sighed viciously and eyed the spud mountain with no small amount of trepidation as she rolled up her sleeves. "Oh, there will be payback for this…"

Unknown to the knight, a lanky figure suddenly materialized from the shadows of the tent, having heard most of the conversation. He watched Severa storm off, an unreadable expression on his usually cheerful countenance.

Severa woke up late the next morning, feeling disgruntled and her hair smelling vaguely of potatoes. The stale scent brought back yesterday's conversation with her friend and she groaned aloud. She'd have to apologize to Kjelle later and make it up to her if she wanted to avoid turning into a walking bruise come next training session. But that was neither here nor now, as her stomach pointed out to her with a fierce growl.

"Food first. Then an apology…" Severa thought, then added, "Maybe."

After brushing her hair and putting it into her customary twin tails, Severa set off towards the mess tent. A few soldiers were milling around in the open, a good portion of them getting the jump on their day. Gerome passed by, a scowl on his usually stoic expression as his wife pestered him about letting her ride Minerva. (Nah, you do realize that you can turn into a dragon yourself, right? Yeah, but it's not the same, c'mon, please?)

Further ahead sitting on a log stump, Noire looked up from the bow she was stringing and gave Severa quick smile, one that Severa returned with an amiable wave. The archer turned a funny shade of red before looking away. Odd. Severa hoped that her friend wasn't coming down with something. As needy and bipolar as the archer could be, Noire was still a good friend and an even better listener. Thinking about it now, it probably would have been a better idea if Severa had talked to Noire first rather than Kjelle. The knight could be a little too know-it-all for Severa's patience.

When she finally reached the tent, Severa first stuck her head in and looked around carefully, hoping to avoid a confrontation. Unfortunately, that hope was shot once she caught sight of the familiar red hair. She let out a frustrated sigh.

The first time she had gone to the mess tent she had walked in on her parents sharing a moment. They had been sitting next to each other, heads leaned in and voices low, imperceptible over the din of the mess tent, but Severa could easily make out their figures.

Cordelia had her back to Severa but Henry's expression was visible from her position. He was smiling; well, he was always smiling, as Severa found out. But this one was different from the one she had first seen, it lacked the childish glee. It was… softer. Softer and serene. Severa wasn't even aware that her father even did serene.

Her own memories of a father were hazy images at best, or whatever senses a small child could remember in their brief time together. She could remember a warm hand and a feather light touch on the head. And laughter. So much ecstatic laughter that was filled with unbridled joy that it sent a sharp pang through her chest to even remember it.

The man before her wasn't laughing now, too busy twining a lock of his wife's hair round his finger, talking quietly all the while. He leaned in closer to whisper something and Severa saw Cordelia's shoulders shake with laughter. His own smile widened in turn.

Then he noticed Severa simply standing there. Cordelia turned around to see what had caught his attention.

It was an intimate moment, to be sure, but hardly scandalous. There was no need to flee like she did at that moment. But flee she did, bolting out of the mess tent as if the fel dragon itself was chasing after her. She couldn't explain why she did it and why the feeling of loneliness was so strong in her chest at the moment.

From that day on, Severa noticed that her mother would always be sitting by herself at the table. It brought an unpleasant feeling in her gut when Severa realized that maybe she was the reason Henry was nowhere to be found. Most likely, Cordelia had asked him to stay behind so as to make Severa feel less uncomfortable or intimidated, either or. The thought was laughable. As if she could ever be intimidated.

Breakfast was harder to eat though, no thanks to the unpleasant lump settling in there.

Well, no point in dragging it out. Severa straightened up and went to collect her plate from the chef. She passed by Cordelia, who didn't even look up from the log she was reading.

The first few times, when Severa finally went back, Cordelia would always be on the lookout for her and every time she found her, she would visibly perk up. Severa would always pretend not to notice the silent invitation and would simply walk faster and take her breakfast outside, ignoring how Cordelia would slowly deflate in the edge of her vision.

Over time, she simply stopped looking up and Severa would be able to go on with her day with just a little less guilt. Guilt was preferable to the pointed awkwardness that would no doubt ensue if she even tried conversation. Things were better this way.

Or so Severa thought. But today, for some annoyingly unfathomable reason, she found her feet moving in the direction of Cordelia's table. Maybe it had something to do with Kjelle's words hitting closer to home than she would have liked to admit. Or maybe it was the blasted sense of guilt rolling around in her head all night. Either way Severa found herself slinking over to the table and unceremoniously dropping her bowl down with a loud clatter. Cordelia started with the bang and her eyes widened in surprise when she was who it was.

"S-Severa?"

"Hi," she muttered, avoiding eye contact as she crossed an arm across her chest. She gestured to the papers. "D'you mind…"

"Oh, of course! Let me just clear a space." Cordelia hastily gathered the papers together and threw them into a slip-shod pile, some of them slipping to the ground in the process. "Drat. No, I've got it," she insisted when Severa bent down to help. She disappeared under the table, reappearing a few moments later with an eager expression on her face.

"Good morning."

"Mornin.'"

There was a pause. "How are you doing today?"

"Fine." No good. Too quick to even her own ears. Severa coughed and tried again. "I'm fine. You?"

Cordelia nodded. "Things are going well," she said, before adding belatedly, "Splendid, even."

"That's good."

"Yes."

"Mhm."

Annnnd now they were stuck in the rut again. Wonderful. Just wonderful. Severa poked moodily at her porridge. Gag Kjelle and gag her inane feelings of guilt. Around her, the tent was filled with the sounds of chatter and hub bub, yet the noise failed to pierce the awkward bubble around mother and daughter.

"It's nice weather-" Severa began before realizing that she was making pointless conversation about the weather. Again. Just like Kjelle predicted. Grima blast it. She changed tracks mid-sentence. "How's D-Henry doing?"

"The weather is rather pleasant today," Cordelia agreed, nodding absently, before she actually caught up to what was said. "I mean, pardon?"

Ooh the urge to just throw her hands up and leave was strong but Severa gritted her teeth and plowed on regardless. "How. Are you. And Henry?"

"Oh." Cordelia leaned back and raised her brow but made no comment at her speech. She regarded her for a few seconds before her brows furrowed. "Why do you ask?"

Why did she ask? Why didn't she just eat outside like she normally did? Why did she do a lot of stupid things? Severa stabbed viciously at her porridge. "Just wondering. Or whatever. You two could be splitting up for all I care, which I don't."

Cordelia frowned at that but she answered anyway. "Henry and I are doing well, so you needn't fret." She waited a beat before adding almost hesitantly, "He'd like to talk with you some time. Whenever you're free that is."

Severa snorted without meaning to and craaaap, now her mother really was frowning. That disapproving mother frown that spelled trouble and chores. Just drown me now before I do anything else stupid.

Before she could say something though, there was a loud clanking crash from the entrance. All chatter stopped as everyone turned to look at what caused the commotion, Severa and Cordelia included.

"Whoopsies! Sorry Nebula, this thing's a lot harder to walk around in than I thought!" An indignant cawing could be heard, followed by the sound of ruffling feathers. "Oh, your feathers are fine, you big baby. You want bad, you should see the arm I ripped off yesterday!"

"Caw! Caaw!"

"Nya ha, you're right! Good times!"

Severa's eyes widened. "Please tell me that isn't… is it?"

Across from her, Cordelia had already put her face in her hand out of embarrassment. "How many people do you know that keep a pet crow called Nebula?"

Good point. "I should probably just…"

"Oh hey! There you guys are." Just like that, Henry clunked into view, wearing what looked to be a knight's heavy armor and looking absolutely ridiculous. The crow perched on his shoulder ruffled its wings in a sort of disgruntled fashion and it shot everyone who was sitting down a judgmental look, as if to blame THEM for the dark mage's caprice.

"Hi…" Severa mumbled, wondering if it was at all possible to drown herself in a bowl of congealed porridge. Cordelia stood up and regarded Henry incredulously.

"Henry, what in Naga's name are you doing?" She looked him up and down and put her hand to her forehead. "And is that Frederick's armor you're wearing?"

"Ah yep! Funny story about that. Did you know that me and Freddie are like, the same height? His shoulders are huge though, way bigger than mine." Henry shrugged, upsetting the crow perched there. "Ah, whoops! Sorry Nebula!" He apologized before noticing the food on the table. "Ooooh you saved me some chum! Thanks, honey!"

"Focus, Henry."

"Right, right! So you're probably wondering why I'm decked out like this."

"Among other things," said Cordelia. "Was this the reason you disappeared all last night?"

"Ehhh, in part. The other part is… oh wait, I had it written down somewhere. Hang on a sec."

Henry began patting the armor and this time Nebula took off with an indignant squawk, fluttering off Henry's shoulder and perching itself imperiously on Severa's, surprising both Severa and Cordelia. Henry, however, was too distracted to even notice his familiar's sudden capitulation.

"Did I leave it with the thumbs? I sure hope not." he muttered. "Oh nope, found it!" He whipped out a small scroll from inside the armor and unfurled it. He cleared his throat. "Ahem. Lady Cordelia Highmoon of the Ylissean Royal Knights!" Henry paused and looked at her. "That's you. I, Henry Highmoon, deserter and branded traitor to the Plegian Army, (that's me) challenge you, tomorrow at the break of dawn, with honor, pride and life on the line, to a knightly duel to the death!"

Kjelle looked like she was having trouble deciding whether to laugh or grimace sympathetically. "He said that? Every word?"

"Every. Single. Word. Trust me, if I wasn't there to hear all of it, I wouldn't have believed it myself," said Severa. On her shoulder, Nebula crowed once in agreement. "Shush, you. Anyway, Cordelia and I had the same reaction you had when we found out he was actually serious about his stupid challenge."

To the side of the two, Henry pouted and crossed his arms. Or at least, he tried to as much as the armor would allow. "I'm right here, you guys! And last I checked, squires were supposed to assist their knights, not potty mouth them."

Severa clipped him on the back with her training sword, mindful of the blasted crow. "Consider it this squire's duty to tell you that you are obviously, absolutely, insane! You do realize that Mo-Cordelia is going to wipe to floor with you, right? As in, you WILL be the floor after she's done."

Kjelle clapped him on the shoulder. "Don't take her words to heart, sir. That's just her way of showing she cares."

Henry beamed. "Just like her mother!"

Severa threw her hands up. "Gawds, forget this. I take it back. You're ALL insane and when Cordelia turns you into a bloody pulp don't expect me to lose any sleep over you because you had this coming!"

"Of course not!" Henry said cheerfully just before his expression turned serious. "You think you can get Libra to sketch a picture of my bloody pulp afterwards? It'd be awesome to hang it up at home after the war, don't ya think?"

"Let's just get you ready for tomorrow first, sir," Kjelle hastily cut in before Severa could go over and strangle him. "Then we can go ask Father Libra for a portrait of your inglorious defeat. I only wish you came to us sooner. You say you've never fought with anything besides your tomes and magic before, correct?"

"I once bludgeoned a Risen to death with its own hand, if that counts."

Kjelle regarded him flatly. "…You know that saying about beginner's luck, sir? You're going to need a lot of it."

"Or a miracle," Severa muttered.

Henry tapped his chin in thought. "Does it count as a death if the Risen is already dead?"

"Not now, sir." Kjelle steered him over to a weapons rack and gestured to the assorted instruments of war. "Now, which one tickles your fancy?"

"Oooh, gimme that pointy one!"

"…That's an arrow, sir."

"…The pointy things have names?"

Severa turned around and screamed bloody murder into her hands.

The duelists met at sunrise the next morning at a small clearing outside of the main camp. Unfortunately, nobody was available to officiate for the duel other than Morgan, who was somehow roped into it by chance. Severa would have preferred Chrom instead in the vain hope that the Exalt would distract Cordelia into going easier on Henry but no such luck.

Cordelia was already waiting for them, cutting a rather impressive figure in her full pegasus rider regalia. Henry, on the other hand, looked like a scarecrow stuffed into a metal suit that he could barely move around in, though that didn't stop him from trying to bounce around in it.

Severa was honestly baffled at how much energy he had; both she and Kjelle had spent all of last night and a bit of the morning just to drill into him some sort of basic sword play and the only thing he really learned was were to hold the sword and the direction to swing it in. It was exhausting and Severa was sure there were bags underneath her eyes that wouldn't be going anyway anytime soon.

Cordelia fingered her collar, looking quite uncomfortable with the prospect of fighting her own husband. "Are you sure you want to do this, Henry?" she asked. "I mean, what even brought this on?"

Henry chuckled. "Well the answer to the first question is, as sure at the blood that keeps me alive and kicking, nya ha!" He winked and Severa was mystified and dryly amused that she could actually tell that he was winking. His eyes were essentially smile lines, after all. "And the answer to the second, well, I'd tell ya, but then I'd have to kill myself."

"Er, doesn't the expression go, 'then I would have to kill you?'" Kjelle asked.

"That too!"

"D-HENRY." Severa planted herself in front of him before he could continue on blithely to his imminent execution. She fixed him with her best glare. "For the last time, just stop! M-Cordelia is going to slaughter you. As in, there won't be enough of you left to bury after the duel."

Henry scoffed, looking far too comfortable for a man about to face certain death in Severa's opinion. "Nonsense. Your mother won't hurt me." A beat. "Too badly." Another beat. "I hope." Henry shrugged before perking up. "It'll be fine! Besides, I have you as my trusty second, nya ha!"

"Yes, but…" Severa stopped what she was going to say. Now would probably not be the best time to tell him that she had never been able to actually beat her mother in anything, and especially not in a duel. And what chance did she have against her mother who was younger, faster, and stronger than her future counterpart?

The frustration was overwhelming at this point and she muttered, "I'm too young to be orphaned twice."

She realized too late what she had said and scrambled to correct it. "I-I mean, just… Whatever! You two do whatever stupid thing you want!" She crossed an arm over her chest and focused solely on her feet. "If you want to knock each other around silly, then go ahead and be my guest and maybe then…!"

A warm pressure descended on her head and Severa looked up in surprise. Henry smiled back, a softer smile from his usual happy go lucky one.

"W-what?"

His smile widened and he ruffled her head (hazy images of a warm hand and a feather light touch on the head) before leaning down and whispering something in her ear.

Severa's eyes widened.

Just as quickly, he straightened back. "Well, wish me luck!" he said, loud enough for everyone to hear and set off into the ring.

Kjelle walked up to her friend who was as stiff as a board. "What did he say?"

"He said…" Severa turned to the knight, her expression lost before quickly changing into fury. "He said that he was going to make me proud. That…! That! IDIOT! Why would he say something so stupid like that?!" A horrible thought dawned on her as she realized something. "Oh nonononono, crap, crap, crap!"

"What?"

"He must have heard us talking yesterday about the past and all that junk!" Severa grabbed Kjelle by the shoulders and shook her violently. "Think! Did you see anyone come in after I left? Anyone?!"

"N-n-n-n-nooooooo?" Kjelle looked unsure of her answer so Severa stopped. "Wait no, I think I remember someone coming in about an hour later asking for chum. Wasn't really paying attention."

"Kjelle!"

"What? Oooohh, you think that was him?" Kjelle's face twisted into repulsion. "What in Naga's name does he need chum for?"

"It's what he calls food. He's morbid like that." Severa groaned. "Just drown me in a sack right now!"

"Come now, it can't be that bad. He's obviously never held a sword a day in his life and your mother loves him." Kjelle paused. "I think?"

Severa scoffed. "You don't know Cordelia. Sure, she'll probably feel bad for the first few hits but when she gets focused then all she'll see is an opponent."

"Well, that's what the heavy armor is for. Bet you it's good enough to take more than a few hits for him!"

Henry chose that moment to trip and fall over his own feet. He quickly sprang back up, a bruise forming rapidly on his chin.

"…Or maybe not." Kjelle patted her sympathetically on the shoulder and said with all seriousness, "He's a dead man."

Severa was about ready to tear her friend's arm off, but Morgan cleared her throat and brought all the attention on her. "I hate to interrupt, but father promised to train with me later, so if the duelists are prepared…"

"Yep! Yep! Ready as ever!" said Henry. Cordelia murmured affirmative as well, though hers was considerably less enthused.

"Very well." Morgan drew her blade and lifted it above her head. "As requested by the challenger, Sir Henry, the duel will only end when one party forfeits or is rendered completely incapacitated."

Severa's heart sank. Incapacitated could mean anything from a sprained ankle to wheelchair ridden for life. Grima blast it, why did he have to be so vague?

"With that in mind, may the duelists please get into position."

Henry shifted his stance and Cordelia did the same. They both nodded to Morgan when they were ready.

"Then, let the duel…" Morgan brought down her blade. "Begin!"

"Nya ha!" Henry made the first move, cackling gleefully as he leapt towards his opponent. Or tried to leap as best he could in a suit of heavy armor.

Cordelia gracefully side stepped and Henry went face first into the ground. Again.

Morgan coughed awkwardly. "Uhm, point to Lady Cordelia."

"Aw no fair!" came the muffled reply.

Cordelia quickly rushed over to her husband and helped him into a sitting position. "Sorry! Are you alright, Henry?"

"Right as rain!" said Henry as blood dripped from his nose.

"Why are they even keeping track of points if the conditions for winning are forfeit or incapacitation?" Kjelle wondered.

Severa resisted the urge to tear out her pigtails.

Thankfully, the first few rounds were relatively tame. Cordelia visibly held back, looking far too uncomfortable to deal any sort of decisive blow and Henry was too busy trying not trip over his own feet. The blows that they traded were halfhearted at best; Severa actually started to feel hopeful that maybe Henry would simply tire himself out until, out of sheer dumb luck, he managed to knock Cordelia's lance straight out of her hands.

The shocked look on her face was actually kind of funny. Until her brows drew down and her expression turned serious. Severa had to bite back a whimper. She remembered that expression well in her future; a glare that could even make Risen cower.

From that point on, Cordelia went on a full out offensive, barely pausing in her barrage of relentless attacks. Henry tried his best to retaliate and even managed to deflect a few stray hits but it was visible for all to see that the duel had turned very one-sided.

Yet every time he fell, he would pick himself back up with a smile and wave off Morgan's offer of forfeit.

"One more!"

Kjelle shook her head in bewilderment. "I don't get it. Why doesn't your mother simply surrender herself? There's little point on besting an opponent when there's such vast differences in skill."

"She's not that type of person, "Severa muttered absently, focusing on the duel. She winced as Henry fell down again. "She can't do anything half way because her stupid perfectionist streak won't let her."

Kjelle frowned. "Regardless, this is looking horribly one-sided right now," she pointed out, a bit redundantly in Severa's opinion.

"Oooh, blood!" Henry paused. "No wait, I need that in me, not out."

"…I take it back. This is a slaughter."

Morgan sighed wearily as Henry went sailing into the dirt for the umpteenth time. "Does the challenger wish to concede the match?"

"Op, hang on!" He sat up and cracked his neck once, twice. Everyone winced at the sound. "Nah, I think I still got a few shots in me, nya ha!"

Morgan groaned softly.

"Henry, please." Cordelia implored him, crouched low in her defensive stance. "Just surrender. Surely we can talk out our problems rather than resorting to this."

"Oh, I know." Henry picked himself off the ground and dusted his leg. "Don't get me wrong, I like pain and dismemberment as much as the next guy but only when it's not done to me!"

"Then why are we even fighting in the first place?" Cordelia asked, frustration seeping into her voice. Even though she was untouched, Severa noticed that she actually looked rather drawn and haggard. And were those bags under her eyes? Had she actually lost sleep over this?

She'd never say it, but at that moment, Severa's heart went out to her mother. Until Henry uttered his next words.

"Because fighting is all I know about being a dad."

What?

…WHAT?

Cordelia caught Severa's look and her eyes widened in understanding. Her posture slipped. "Oh."

"Surprise attack!"

Henry leapt at the opening and what happened next went in slow motion to Severa. Cordelia reflexively blocked the attack with her lance, and then moved with her free hand to deliver a stunning haymaker to his temple.

He went sailing like a rag doll and when he hit the ground, he didn't get up.

It took a few seconds for everyone to realize what happened. But when they did…

"DAD!"

"Oh gods." Cordelia threw her lance to the ground and rushed over to her husband, followed closely by Severa. "Oh Naga, Henry, Henry!"

"Here, let me." Morgan gently nudged Cordelia to the side and placed two fingers near the base of his neck. "Pulse is steady. He's just out cold. Kjelle get a healer," she barked.

"R-right!" Kjelle started and rushed off.

"Oh gods," Cordelia repeated again. Her legs collapsed beneath her and she took up one of Henry's limp hands to hold. "You stupid, stupid man. You- You- idiot!"

Morgan, despite the seriousness of the situation, had to raise an eyebrow at that. Apparently, the apple didn't fall too far from the tree. But a glance at Severa told her that the acerbic girl was too distracted to care about her mother's uncharacteristic outburst, instead staring with a shell shocked expression at her father's unmoving figure.

"I've told him time and time again never to surprise me." Cordelia let out a ragged sigh. "I always react badly, yet he never seems to learn."

Severa spoke quietly from her kneeling position next to Henry. "He always liked to prank you. Even in the future, you said it was the one thing you could count on him doing." Her voice was distant, as if observing everything from a great distance. "He never did learn."

Cordelia chuckled sadly and then sighed again, sounding much older than she was. It was an ugly sound; it reminded Severa too much of her mother in the future.

Unconsciously, she tightened her grip on the Henry's sword as Cordelia wiped at her eyes and made to stand up. "You should go with your friend. I'm sure you'd be better off with actual people you trust than with-"

"No."

Cordelia stopped mid motion. "Pardon?"

Deep down, something was bubbling inside. What was it?

"We're not done." She picked up the sword and pointed it at Cordelia. "Draw."

Cordelia's expression went from surprised to resigned in a manner of seconds. "Severa…"

She ignored the soft tone and turned to Morgan. "I'm his second. I'm supposed to fight for him if he's incapacitated, right?"

Morgan glanced between the two and nodded slowly. "Well, technically, yes, I guess."

"Severa…" Cordelia's eyes were pleading. "You don't have to-"

"SHUT UP!"

Ah. She knew what it was now. That bubbling in her chest. It wasn't just anger. It was also shame. Loathing. Why had she waited this long for things to come to a boil? Trying to avoid getting hurt was it? Pathetic. Childish. And in the end, people still got hurt anyway.

"I need to do this." The blade shook in her hand but her voice was steady. "Because I was so bloody stupid and instead of stopping me, the two of you went and did something even stupider! So if fighting is all you meatheads know how to do then gawds, I'm going to knock some sense into the both of you!"

An array of emotions, ranging from hurt, confusion, and understanding, flitted across Cordelia's face. "Oh, Severa…"

"Don't!" Severa ground out. If her mother kept using that tone of voice then she'd definitely lose all composure right then and there. "Just… just draw. Please."

Cordelia opened her mouth and then closed it. A small smile worked itself onto her face and she sighed. "Never thought I'd be the one to be taught a lesson. And by my own daughter, no less." She shook her head in a rueful way. "We're just a family of fools, aren't we?"

Her own eyes prickled and she stubbornly blinked them back. "The biggest fools in all of Ylisse."

It was a small miracle that she didn't choke on the words, even as her mother looked at her with that gentle smile. That blasted, understanding smile that made Severa feel like a child again, looking up at her.

"I won't go easy on you, even as your mother." Cordelia lowered herself back into her fighting stance.

Across from her, Severa mimicked her stance, albeit hers was slightly higher and more weight was planted on her front foot. Different, yet at the same time, comfortingly familiar. Anticipation and a wave of nostalgia rushed over her, causing her to grin.

"Good. I'd hate for this to be over too quickly."

Morgan looked at the two of them before regarding the unconscious mage forgotten on the ground. "So, uh, are we just going to leave him there or…?"

When Severa finally came to, she found herself lying down on a scratchy cot, her head pounding and her body feeling like one large bruise.

She blinked, then winced. Why did it even hurt to blink? This was ridiculous. She made to get up and instantly regretted that decision.

"Owowowowow, that smarts."

A head popped into her vision. Noire peered down worriedly at her, but the worry quickly turned into relief. "You're awake!" Despite every part of her body hurting, Severa was still pleasantly surprised as Noire took a seat next to her cot. "Thank goodness. You looked terrible when they first brought you in."

She opened her mouth to reply but her head chose that moment to send her brain a sharp stab of pain. Noire realized this and quickly brought a mug to Severa's lips.

"Here. Laurent thought you might have been dehydrated when they brought you in." She gestured and the mage raised a hand in greeting from the table where he was sitting at.

Severa nodded her thanks and drained the cup. When she opened her mouth to speak, her voice was raspy but it quickly regained its vigor. "W-what happened? Last I remembered, I was fighting mother."

Noire nodded. "You were. I was passing by when I heard the sounds. You two were amazing!" Noire's voice dropped to a whisper when Laurent shushed them from his post. "It was nearly impossible to keep up with you two."

The archer meant well, but all Severa could feel was the loss. "Yeah, well, looks like perfect Cordelia still won in the end."

"I-I suppose." Noire conceded, looking a bit unsure. "B-but, I don't think Morgan judged it as a complete win in your mother's favor. You were in the middle of doing that really complicated move, the one with all the spins. It looked like you would have won if you hadn't-"

"-Tripped and bopped my head on the shaft of her spear." Severa finished, the events coming back to her. She groaned in mortification and fell back onto the cot. "Just drown me and hide the body."

Her voice though, lacked any sort of heat or bitterness. Losing, while disappointing, wasn't unexpected. Even in the future, Cordelia had outpaced her in skill, speed, and strength despite the toll the war took on her. What chance did Severa have against a younger version of Cordelia, with all the strength and vigor of youth? A loss was a loss.

Yet for some strange reason, the sting of defeat wasn't as sharp as she normally felt. Actually, she felt lighter almost. Maybe that bop on the head was just what I needed, she thought, then inhaled sharply as another wave of nausea hit her. Then again, maybe not.

She only wished she hadn't lost in such an inglorious fashion. Tripping on thin air? That was an Inigo pick-up line level of lameness.

"Where are they anyways?"

Noire pointed to the cot over. Henry was on his back, fast asleep, chest rising and falling steadily with each breath. Cordelia sat in the rickety chair next to him, body draped across his slender frame and holding onto one of his hands and. The sound of faint snoring could be heard coming from her, to Severa's amusement.

"She just fell asleep," Noire confided quietly. "I'm kinda surprised that she did. Your mother was rushing to your cot and then your father's and practically growling at anyone who got in her way."

"Cordelia? No way."

Noire nodded earnestly. "She was really worried for the both of you," she said softly.

Severa sighed. "I know." And that was the crux of the matter wasn't it? They never stopped caring, despite all her efforts to push them away. Even if they weren't the parents of her time, they were still Cordelia and Henry. Mom and Dad. Her stupid, idiot, loving parents.

Severa swung her legs to the side and gingerly made to sit up. Noire quickly rushed over to her side and helped her steady herself and Severa muttered her thanks. She was a little woozy but a few headshakes and the world stopped spinning thereafter.

She took a few shaky steps. "I'm okay. Honest," she said when Noire made to help her. "I'm going to go clear my head," she said, walking to the tent flap. "If they wake up, could you tell them I'll be waiting at the cedar?"

It spoke to the testament of their friendship that Noire understood what Severa meant without any further clarification. The old cedar tree was where Severa went when she wanted to be alone and wallow. If she wanted to invite her parents into her private space then something must have changed. "Sure thing."

"Thanks."

"Severa." Noire hesitated. "Good luck. Whatever it is with you and your parents… I hope you figure it out," she said sincerely, giving her hand a soft squeeze.

Severa returned it with a small smile. "Yeah. Me too."

When Severa got to the old cedar, she sat down and drew her knees to her chest. She waited patiently for an hour or so, trying to arrange the thoughts in her head into words. When she heard a pair of footsteps draw up to her, she didn't even react.

Cordelia silently came into view, looking a little tired, a little unsure, and hopeful, all in one. She sat down on her right. A second later, Henry gingerly lowered himself down to her left.

The three of them remained silent until Severa finally spoke.

"Dad died first," she muttered, voice low. "I was pretty young at the time so all I know is what they told me. The thing you had with crows made you a pretty good scout so Chrom would send you out ahead a lot of the times. Then one day, you just… didn't come back. Just Nebula, with a broken wing and feathers covered in blood and your ring in her beak. She ended up dying a few days later as well."

Henry was silent, his expression completely unreadable. Severa continued.

"You cried for the longest time," she said, addressing Cordelia. "People started to say you'd die next of a broken heart. Then one day, you were smiling again, just like that. You smiled more, you laughed harder, you made everyone think you were better. And you just about showered me in attention. Every chance you got, you'd hug me or say something so ridiculously sappy it'd give me cavities."

Severa smirked a little at the memory but it quickly faded as she went on. "I think… I think you were trying to make up for Dad's absence. Trying to be two parents in one. And I hated it," Severa admitted quietly.

Cordelia flinched.

"I hated the fact that you were trying to be the perfect parent and hiding your sadness at the same time. And you were trying so hard to be strong for me and it… it just wasn't fair."

"And then you had to go to fight for Chrom. I knew the reason why but… but…"

Leave then! Go fight your stupid war and leave like Dad did!

Severa closed her eyes and struggled not to let her voice crack. "I said some…mean things. Stuff that I didn't mean but…" A ragged sigh escaped her lips. "But by the time I came back to apologize, you were already gone."

I'm sorry, Severa. Cordelia, she… your mother is with your father. She's in a better place now.

A breeze blew past them, making the branches sigh mournfully.

Henry spoke up. "Is that why you were wondering if you were better off in the past? Because we failed you as parents?"

"What?!" Cordelia straightened in shock and looked to Severa with surprise and a painful amount of hurt in her eyes. "Is that true?"

"No! Gods, no!" Severa said quickly. "I… you two could never be awful parents."

"Then…why do you want to leave?"

"I…" That was the question wasn't it? Why did she want to return to a past that wasn't even worth living in? "You know I'm not… I'm not your daughter."

"Don't you dare say that." Cordelia whispered with a surprising amount of ferocity that made Severa's heart ache. "Don't you dare say that and… and…" Cordelia's voice broke and she put a fist to her mouth.

"No, listen." Severa swallowed, trying to push down the agonizing lump in her throat. Let them understand. Please, please let them understand. "I'm Henry and Cordelia's daughter. But I'm not YOUR daughter. My parents are dead. And…" Severa took a breath. "And you two…you two aren't."

Henry was the one to understand first. "All this time and I thought you hated us, or worse, you were scared of us. But that's not the case at all, huh?" He chuckled, the sound lacking any sort of cheer. "You aren't scared of us. You're scared FOR us."

And there it was. The truth of the matter. Severa stiffened but slowly, she nodded and when she spoke, it was in a whisper, as if she was ashamed of what she was about to say.

"I already said good bye to my parents once. I can't say it again."

Another breeze. Another mournful sigh.

Warm arms enveloped her as her mother hugged her without saying anything. And just like that, Severa broke.

"I'm sorry," she sobbed. "I'm s-sorry! I-I thought if I kept y-you two aw-away then you w-wouldn't want anything to do w-with me a-and things would be okay but all I did was make things w-worse."

"Shhh," went Cordelia. "You could never make it worse."

Her mother really was perfect. Only a perfect mother like Cordelia could accept such a flawed daughter like Severa. That overwhelming, simple acceptance of who Severa was, imperfections and all, made her cry harder. "I'm sorry," she said again, the tears leaving a burning path down her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. You t-two were the b-b-best parents I could have ever wished for. P-p-please don't leave again."

"We won't," said Cordelia, her voice cracking at the end of her next sentence. "I promise you, we won't."

A warm hand descended on her head, one that brought back hazy images. "Never again," said Henry, and then he smiled that familiar smile that made a bit of the pain in her chest hurt a little less.

There'd be a lifetime of apologies in store for her, for all the things she wanted to say and all the things she should have said. And a lifetime was hardly any time at all. But at that moment, wrapped safely in her mother arms and her father smiling gently at her, Severa could believe, that for now, it was enough.

When Severa finally calmed down enough, she reluctantly pulled away, a few rebellious sniffles still lingering on. Cordelia herself looked a little red in the eyes but she gave Severa a tremulous smile when she caught her eye.

Severa sniffled again. "Did… did I screw this up?"

Cordelia opened her mouth to answer but Henry chimed in before she could. "Of course not, kiddo! We all screwed up!"

Cordelia shot him such an exasperated look that Severa snorted, surprising everyone, including herself. "S-sorry that was… that was just awful," she said snickering. Henry joined in with his own cackles and while Cordelia tried very hard to glare reproachfully at him, she was fighting her own small smile. When there was a lull in the giggling, Cordelia spoke up.

"We should be the ones apologizing. Fighting amongst ourselves like children certainly didn't solve any of our problems."

"Probably," Severa admitted. "Though I'm thinking the knock to the head you gave Dad probably didn't help get rid of his childish side, huh?"

Henry gasped dramatically. "You take that back. My brain no damage is speak fine, yeah?"

"Clearly," remarked Cordelia, the amusement in her tone apparent. She turned back to Severa, looking cautiously hopeful. "It may be presumptuous to assume this so soon but… can we start over again? As a family?"

A part of Severa wanted to say no, the small, ugly part of her that was a coward and was scared of loss and heartache.

Severa was anything but a coward.

"Of course," she said, then amended quickly, "i-if you guys want to, that is."

The smile Cordelia gave her was so wide and warm that Severa found herself unconsciously returning it with a small one of her own. "I'd like nothing more."

Henry made a small sniffling sound behind them, looking suspiciously watery eyed. Cordelia gave him a sympathetic smile before turning back to Severa, gesturing with her head to Henry.

"What?"

Cordelia gestured with her head again and gave her a rather pointed look.

"Wha- oh. No. Noooo."

"Severa," Cordelia said with false gravity, though the twinkle in her eye gave her away.

Severa sighed in mock aggravation and opened her arms in a show of great reluctance. "Oh fine. Just be quick about it. I've already had enough touchy feely moments for today- oof!" Henry immediately threw her into a massive bear hug. "Okay so you're the touchy feely sort of dad. Good to kn-ow,ow,ow watch the ribs!"

Henry sniffled and laughed at the same time. "You know what'll make this even better? Turning this into a group hug!"

"Huh? Wait, Dad don't jump-!"

"Henry!"

Boomf!

Once the initial excitement died down and Henry was served a dual lecture from both daughter and wife, the three of them managed to find a comfortable position sitting by the cedar. Or relatively comfortable, since, in Severa's opinion, the armor digging into her back was anything but. Severa with her legs draw up to her chest, nestled in her mother's arms. Behind her, Cordelia was in a similar position in Henry's arms, his own back against the tree and his cloak engulfed around them like a blanket.

"We look ridiculous," Severa stated flatly. Thank the gods nobody came this way.

"True but mmmm," Henry made a show of thinking. "Don't care!"

Severa huffed and she could feel Cordelia smiling into her hair. Things were quiet for a second before Severa shifted to look back at Henry. "You know, I never did ask, but why in the world did you challenge mother to a duel."

Surprisingly, Cordelia was he one to answer, scoffing at first. "Ah, Severa. The thing you have to realize about your father is that he is a rather simple man."

"Hey!"

Cordelia continued blithely on. "And as a simple man, he has two default answers to any sort of problem that vexes him. The first is to see if he can't somehow kill it into going away."

"Kill it with copious amounts of bloodshed too! Don't forget that honey!"

"Of course, dear," Cordelia said indulgently. "And the second solution, if the first isn't allowed, is to somehow appease the problem into disappearing."

Severa stared. That sounded… honestly a lot like him. Disturbing but honest. "So let me get this straight. Since you can't kill mom because you love her…"

"I'd be pretty heartbroken, yeah."

"…Right. So you thought that the next best thing to make me feel better… was to let mom beat the stuffing out of you?"

"Hey, the sight of blood cheers me up immensely. If you're my kid in any way, it'd do the same for you, nya ha!"

"Um, yeah, but no."

"Awwww."

Severa smirked at Henry's pout and nestled further into her mother's arms. She was definitely going to wake up the next morning with a bruise on her back but at that moment, she couldn't find it in herself to care. "We're seriously all just a bunch of idiots, aren't we?"

"A family of fools," Cordelia agreed.

"The biggest in all of Ylisse!" crowed Henry.