A/N:

I seem to write a lot of emotionally heavy things when I'm feeling down, myself. Well, I hate being unable to make much progress on my works, but know that I have not abandoned anything. So, this is in the Bonds Through Time universe I've established before. So that means male and female versions of Robin (their pairings are some of my favorite), and Lucina's an only child (Because I can only handle one Morgan at a time). Anyway, please enjoy this emotional one-shot. (Also, if anyone seems out of character, that's on purpose on my part)

There she stood before him, the woman who prevented his attempt to put the fell dragon to sleep for another thousand years by landing the final blow. She was one of the twin tacticians who led the Shepherds to victory over the course of these past years, his wife, and the mother of his little girl back in Ylisse. Raven, her snowy hair, whipping around her face from the winds around them. Her own brother had stepped between her and the king, forcing the man away from the scene.

Chrom struggled in his friend's grasp as he fought his way towards his wife. "Let go! That's an order!" The king commanded as he continued his struggle.

"Chrom, I'm sorry…" Robin tried saying. "I-I can't…"

"You can't? That's your sister!" Chrom shouted as he watched Raven gather an orb of energy above herself. "That's my wife…" He continued as tears cascaded down his face. He couldn't let Raven sacrifice herself like this. Not after all they'd been through. The two promised each other that they'd return for their little Lucina. She needed her mother. "RAVEN!"

The orb of energy flew forth, striking Grima. The fell one let out a horrible cry before her body dissipated before them. The female tactician looked back to her brother and husband. Tears ran down her face as she looked back to the two. She accepted her fate. She raised her hand, bidding them all a farewell; she was turning to ash as the fell beast before, to be carried off in the wind. Her eyes locked with Chrom's, a silent exchange being made. It was the last Chrom would see of his wife before she disappeared completely.

A warm light enveloped the Shepherds, bringing them to safety as the Fell Dragon's body crumbled beneath them. Chrom soon felt soft grass below his feet as they came to contact with solid earth. "How… could you…" The king choked out as he clutched onto his friend.

"This was… h-her choice… C-Chrom." Robin tried to explain through his own broken sobs.

"Her choice… Her choice?" The exalt shoved his friend to the ground, casting a cold glare down to the man before him. "And you couldn't do a-anything… to stop her? You couldn't do anything?"

"Chrom," Robin started to explain as he made his way up. "I tried. You gotta believe me h-" The male tactician was silenced as a fist connected with his jaw, sending the man stumbling to the ground.

"You tried?" Chrom choked out. "She's gone now and all you can say is that you tried?" A hand grabbed the king's shoulder, trying to pull him away from the tactician. In response, Chrom whirled around, blindly slapping the person away from him. As he saw the person holding her reddening cheek, tears streaking her face, his rage subsided. "Lucina, I…"

The future princess looked up to Chrom. She'd lost enough, and to get this reaction out of her father… no, not her father, but a man of another time. "If this is how you want to honor Mother… maybe our bonds won't save her."

"I…" The exalt stared down at his hand. How could he raise this against his own like this? Lucina was right. He didn't deserve Raven.

Chrom sat by a desk in what used to be his wife's private study. The documents he was looking through, scattered about as if someone came through with a Rexcalibur. Five long years, and still no sign of her. Lucina, the time-travelling one, had left to travel the world with her husband, leaving Chrom to search for Raven by himself. He didn't blame her, not after the way he snapped back then. The search for his lost wife was a lonely one.

The other Shepherds offered their support, when they could. After all, they had lives and families of their own now. Frederick still stayed close by, for it was his family's duty to look after the royal line. The knight talked quite often of his own child, and how excited he was to teach everything he knew and continue the tradition. Robin stayed close by, though he still had his little Cynthia and Morgan to look after. He would occasionally bring the two by to play with little Lucina and Owain.

Chrom got up from the desk. He'd been here long enough, always bogged down with memories of Raven. The way she laughed, the pranks she'd play on him and Robin while she was with Lissa, the way her eyes lit up as she came up with new plan, the smile she carried around her family… Before Chrom knew it, he'd walked into a suit of armor in the halls, the crash of metal to the ground, bringing the king out of his reveries. The king hurried in picking up the pieces, only seeming to make a bigger mess as he rushed to hide this before-

"Milord!" Frederick called out as he came upon the scene. "What happened? Are you uninjured?" He started as a wave of questions came about the incident.

Chrom kept a hand to his forehead as he waited through the knight's barrage. "I'm fine." He finally burst out, as soon as he found an opening. "Just… lost in thought."

"I see." Frederick said, seeming to understand what his lord was referring to. "Ahem. Well, your daughter should be somewhere around here with her cousin. She'd been asking for you."

The king nodded, slowly taking in the knight's words. He left the scene, and Frederick's cleanup, behind. He knew his little Lucina's hotspots and where she'd likely be if Owain was along.

It wasn't long until the king found his daughter. There she was, in the courtyard, with Owain of course. Lissa was with them, and by the looks of things, playing the villain, and having quite a bit of fun with it.

"Your terror ends today, witch!" Owain shouted.

"As long as we of exalted blood stand to fight, evil will never prevail!" Lucina continued as she held up the branch she was using as her sword.

"Muahaha. We shall see about that, children!" Lissa added, quite into her character.

Little Owain frowned at his mother's mention of children. "Hey…"

Lissa was laughing at her son's reaction, but before she noticed, Lucina had already run up and "stabbed" her with the branch. "Ack!" She exclaimed upon noticing her niece. "Aren't little heroes supposed to play fair?"

"No one else has been fair…" Lucina muttered, looking off to her side.

At this point, Chrom decided he should step in. He gave Lissa a quick look which already said enough on its own. She nodded and led Owain away. The king knelt down next to his daughter, placing a hand upon her shoulder. Chrom carefully lifted his daughter's head so that their eyes could meet. The Brand shone in her left eye, though he could see the sadness which lingered beyond. "Lucina…"

Her eyes shut as she ripped herself away from her father's grasp. "You said Mommy was a hero… so why didn't she come back? You told me how heroes were great people who led their people through the most impossiblest situations… and how they made everyone else strong as well… and… And… How can Mommy be such a hero if she makes you so sad?"

The exalt let out a sigh as his daughter finished her statement. Ask your older self, Chrom wanted to say. Not that little Luci would understand. "I truly doubt we could have won those wars without your mother or uncle…" The exalt absent-mindedly stated. Lucina looked up at him in her confusion. As Chrom noticed this, he quickly tried to rephrase his point. "Well… As I've told you before, your mother was an excellent tactician. Not only that, but she could bring together the strangest individuals and still find ways for us all to fit together. I'm… I'm honestly given too much credit for that," He added, reaching a hand up to the back of his neck. "Um. Ahem. Right, so anyway, your mother, by leaving us, she was able to stop a great evil that none of the rest of us could have defeated. Did that er… make sense?"

Lucina continued looking up at her father through his terrible explanation. "Not really?"

Of course, the exalt thought. Chrom placed another hand upon his daughter's shoulder, looking into her eyes. "You'll understand when you're older."

A calm day in southern Ylisse; two teenagers made their way down a small path which would lead to the nearest town. Both of noble blood, both warriors, cousins. "Ha. We showed those bandits how wrong they were to think they could best children of exalted blood." Owain burst out.

Lucina looked over to her cousin for a moment, a small smile making its way across her face. "Yes, indeed." They had just been at the right place at the right time. Thanks to them, those poor travelers had been saved. Of course, the cousins had gone ahead while Frederick stayed back to sort everything out, but he would most certainly catch up eventually.

"Southtown isn't too far ahead." Owain commented. "I remember Mother telling me stories about how she met…" He paused, looking over to Lucina, carrying a frown. "I'm sorry."

"No, don't be." Lucina stated, casting a cold look ahead.

An uneasy silence passed between the two for a while before Owain caught something out in his peripheral. He jolted to a stop, grabbing his cousin by the wrist as well.

"What the hells is it this time?" Lucina snapped as she felt herself yanked back.

"There's someone out in the field." Owain stated as he rushed out.

Her cousin's comment certainly caught the princess by surprise, but as she looked out towards where her cousin was headed, sure enough, there was some dark figure laying out there. She quickly straightened up and chased after her cousin before he got himself into any trouble by mistake. As Lucina caught up to Owain, she found herself in a position to get a better look at the stranger before them. A woman in a purple coat with strange markings upon it. While the hood was up, one could still see the strands of snowy hair about messily.

"So…" Owain started. "Should we help her?"

Lucina let out a sigh at her cousin's question. Yes, helping this woman would be the right thing to do, but what if she was dangerous? Frederick was still too far away from them and only Naga could know what might happen. "I… I don't know."

The woman on the ground let out a small groan as she started shifting. As she attempted to get up, the hood, which concealed her features earlier, fell off, revealing her dark eyes. Owain was quick to her side as she tried making her way off the ground. "Hey, settle down." He tried to tell her, guiding the woman back down to sit. "You've obviously been through a lot."

The woman groaned again as she lifted a hand to her head. "Y-Yeah… That's… one way to put it." She commented with a slight chuckle.

Lucina knelt down to join the two. Upon closer inspection of this woman, there was something familiar that the princess couldn't quite place. "Forgive me for asking this so soon but… what's your name?"

"Raven." She said, before looking up. "My name is…" Upon meeting the princess' eyes, the woman stopped. "Lucina?" She whispered out.

"Yes…" The princess commented, eyeing the woman warily. "How do you know my name?" She added, briefly looking up to her cousin, who seemed just as baffled as she was.

The woman seemed to be taken aback by Lucina's question. She reached a hand up, as if to lightly stroke the princess' cheek, but stopped short, letting it hover between them. "I gave you that name." She said, letting her hand fall. "Do you not recognize your own mother?"

No. It's not possible. The princess quickly got to her feet, glaring down at the woman. "My mother is dead. How can you possibly claim to be her?"

Raven looked over to Owain as a sign for him to help her up. A look of sadness was painted across her face as she rose from the ground. Her eyes closed as she started to speak. "I still remember that moment I first held you. So small… The Brand was visible in your eye, even then. The day we departed for the Valmese campaign was one of the worst I ever had to endure. A mother never wants to leave her child behind. I only got to spend a few days with you after our return before…" Raven stopped, casting her gaze to the ground. "I did what I had to against Grima that day. I cannot ask for your forgiveness, but know that I am so sorry Lucina, for leaving you as I did."

Tears pricked at the edges of Lucina's eyes. She was mad at this woman, yes. She left Lucina to grow up without a mother, but all these bottled up feelings had finally burst. Tears started to stream down the princess' face as she started to sob. A hand gently touched Lucina's shoulder, shortly followed by a hesitant embrace by the woman. As much as the princess hated this woman for what she'd done, she found that all wash away with the torrent of emotions she felt. Her mother had finally returned home.

A/N:

I don't like the avatar sacrifice ending. I don't, because then I start thinking, well, what if it takes a long time for them to come back, and thus this story was born. Even so, I did enjoy writing this (I like writing emotional stories, so what?)

Please be sure to leave a review, if you'd be so kind.

This is your lovely Squish, wishing you all a good day.