Warning: This fic contains references to Ike and Marth in a romantic relationship, though it is not the main pairing. If homosexual/bisexual relationships discomfort you, read with caution (or don't read onwards at all).

Sword-Crossed Lovers

I ran towards the edge of the Battlefield stage, extending forwards Ragnell, the golden blade blessed by the goddesses of both chaos and order. As a cartoonish mayor riding two balloons appeared over the edge, I swiped Ragnell through the balloons, popping them and sending Villager mercilessly down into the blast zone.

Lucina approached me from behind, apparently having finished off Villager's partner, Charizard. Wordlessly, we stared into the void until we heard a satisfying yelp, signaling Villager's disappearance into the blast zone where he would be teleported back to safety.

We turned towards each other. For a moment, we were silent as we were also teleported back to a central room of Smash Manor. Then, Lucina's face broke into a brilliant smile, and my heart gave a little leap. "That's it, isn't it?" she asked.

"It is," I said. "We've won ten matches in a row together. We're the first pair to achieve this."

And with that, she let out a squeal, wrapping her arms around me and hugging me. I squirmed a little bit at the close contact.

"…Lucina?" I managed to choke out.

"Oh!" She immediately let go and backed away, blushing lightly. "Um… sorry, that was a little awkward. It's just that I'm so happy! When I came here, I never would've thought that I would achieve something this great, when my competition is comprised of people like the Hero-King Marth, or even you, the Radiant Hero of the Blue Flames. And yet here I stand, having completed an as-of-yet unparalleled task."

"You shouldn't doubt yourself," I said, leaning Ragnell against a wall and taking her hand. "Your swordsmanship is incredible."

"No, but I must thank you as well, Ike. You've helped me a great deal during these ten matches, sparring against me, and watching my back in battle. I wouldn't be nearly where I am without you. I daresay I've even fallen in love—"

She stopped herself suddenly and her face turned a bright red. "Um—excuse me." She hastily untwined her fingers from mine and turned to leave.

I stood there dumbly for a moment. …Did I hear her correctly? Fallen in love?

Then I realized that she had made it out the door. I dashed after her into the hallway, calling out her name. Fortunately, Lucina heard me and stopped, spinning back around to face me. "You said that you've fallen in love with me," I said unambiguously.

Her face became an unreadable mess. "No, I was just… I mean, it was just that… that is, I didn't really mean… I mean, not that you're unlovable, but—I mean, it just sort of came out…"

"Lucina." I grabbed her two hands gently. "I think… I think I feel the same."

She looked up sharply at me. "What?"

"Training with you, battling with you these ten matches—more than ten matches, including the ones we've lost—I've… grown fond of you, just as you have of me."

I fell silent, having nothing more to say. I stared into her blue eyes, which were still blinking in confusion. Then, all at once, her expression dissolved into joy. "Ike…" she said quietly, "I… I love you." She started to lean in towards me, as though to initiate a kiss. I tilted my head towards her as well, her innocent-looking face reminding me so much of…

Wait.

I suddenly drew back, her look of betrayal driving pain into my heart. And yet this was not the first time that I had felt such emotions.

"Before anything happens between us," I said a little uncertainly, "you need to know something."

"Ike, what is it?" Lucina's voice had an edge of panic.

Before I could respond, we were interrupted by another voice. "Hey, Lucina, Ike!"

Surprised, Lucina and I both turned towards the source of the voice—and I was greeted with the sight of the exact person I did not want to see right now: the Hero-King Marth, Lucina's ancestor.

"Marth!" Lucina said. "Uh… hello."

"Lucina, Ike," Marth said, "I saw your last match. Congratulations on being the first pair to win ten consecutive matches!" When we just gave half-hearted mumbles in response, he frowned. "Uh, is there something wrong? You two look… unusually upset, considering what you've just accomplished."

"Oh, it's nothing," Lucina said too quickly. We glanced at each other for a moment before looking pointedly back at Marth.

Marth's frown deepened. "OK, you're definitely hiding something from me. You two really think that I wouldn't be able to read the facial expressions of my own descendent and ex-boyfriend?"

At that last word, my heart skipped a beat. I looked over at Lucina, whose expression remained calm, but I could tell that she was forcing it.

"'Ex-boyfriend'?" she repeated. "Ike, you and Marth were…"

"Yes," I said, somewhat reluctantly. "I was just about to tell you. In the days of Brawl, Marth and I were dating."

When I didn't continue, Marth said, "Did you not know this, Lucina? I would've thought the history books would've mentioned that I've had a relationship with another man. It's not as though I've tried to hide it from Caeda or anyone else."

"That's not the issue!" she yelled out. Marth jumped a little at the outburst, but she ignored him and instead turned towards me. "The issue is that you've had a relationship with another person who looks just like me, except male!"

"No, Lucina—" I tried to say, but she continued barreling on.

"And when he goes off and marries Lady Caeda, you find someone who looks identical to him, and you try to date this Marth clone! Am I but a backup choice to you?"

"No, Lucina—" I repeated, but this time it was Marth who cut me off.

"Wait, what's this about dating? …Ike, are you trying to date my eighty-three-times-great-granddaughter?"

"Yes, he is!" Lucina responded.

And like that, I had two blue-haired members of the exalted family staring at me angrily. And both had their swords on them, while I had left Ragnell back in the teleporter room.

I took a step back and said, "I need to explain myself. Lucina, yes, I dated Marth back in Brawl. But when Brawl ended, we decided that, since we would be separated by who-knows-how-many miles and years, we couldn't try to continue our relationship. We didn't know when—or even if—we would meet again; we ended our relationship with the express intent that we would find others to court and marry. When I came back to find that Marth had indeed married a woman, I was neither surprised nor upset—well, not unreasonably so.

"And Marth, yes, I have fallen in love with Lucina. It wasn't consciously because she looks like you, but… if I happen to like a certain type of person, of course the people I date will have similarities. But no, I fell in love with Lucina during our paired matches. She's just such a graceful fighter, and such a strong swordswoman, and—"

"That's enough," Marth said in a quiet tone. "You don't need to shower me with my descendant's praise when you used talk about me in the same way."

For a moment, the three of us stood awkwardly, not sure how to continue.

And—of all ways to break the awkwardness—Lucina drew her blade and pointed it straight in my face. "So Ike. Do you swear by the name of Naga that I'm not just some replacement goldfish for your lost love life with my ancestor?"

I stared at the blade for a moment before bursting into laughter, drawing strange looks from both lords. I gently pushed Falchion aside. "No, Lucina, you're not. Case in point: I don't think Marth has ever threatened me, even jokingly. It's a wonder how such a kindhearted man is Altea's famed warrior prince."

Lucina looked at me for another moment before sighing and sheathing her sword. "Fair enough, Ike. I'll take your word on this." She took my hand. "If there's one thing I've learned about you since I came here to Smash Bros., it's that you're brutally honest in any situation."

We held our gaze for a little bit, starting to lean towards each other, until Marth cleared his throat. Lucina and I jumped a little, blushing lightly, and we turned towards him.

"So, Ike," he said with a stern expression. "You're dating my eighty-three-times-great-granddaughter. And although you just said I'm a kindhearted man…" He placed his hand on his own Falchion and let those words hang ominously in the air for a moment. Then, his lips suddenly cracked into a smile and his hand fell from the hilt. "Sorry, I can't keep up this charade of being an overly protective father-figure. Congratulations, you two! Lucina, you have a wonderful partner; I know from experience. And Ike, I know you'll treat Lucina well, just as you treated me. I'm so happy for you two!"

"So you're not upset at Ike for dating your descendent?" Lucina asked. "Or, for that matter, at me for dressing like you and taking your ex-boyfriend?"

"Not at all!" Marth said. "I have Caeda, after all, and—no offense, Ike—I think she really is the one for me. And on the overprotective father side, I'll just leave that to your actual father… who, by the way, has been standing behind you this whole time, wondering what the heck to do with you, Ike."

With that, he sauntered off, while Lucina and I turned nervously around to find that, indeed, there stood Chrom, an angry expression on his face.

"Ike…" he said in a low growl.

Lucina grasped my hand tighter. "I would suggest running right about now."

This was not a good day to leave Ragnell behind.

Author's note: So after the Legend of Zelda fic I posted about religion/atheism, I thought I might tackle another controversial topic: homosexuality/bisexuality/"slash." That said, the fact that Marth and Ike are both bisexual in this fic is more of a sidenote to the main idea behind this fic. The premise was a love triangle between Marth, Lucina and someone else—what would be interesting about this kind of relationship is that Lucina is a descendant of Marth, and they look the same but have different genders. Naturally, however, such a love triangle would necessitate two bisexual characters. Frankly, I do believe that Ike is bisexual in his original game (he and Elincia have hints of a romantic relationship in Path of Radiance, and he and Soren are similarly hinted at in Radiant Dawn). And apparently, the Ike/Marth ship was by far the most popular pairing during Brawl. Thus, this fic ended up being a Lucina-Ike-Marth love triangle, though ultimately it ended up that Ike/Marth was just a pairing that happened in the past.

I'd like to note that I am rather unfamiliar with Marth's games. I've played Awakening and seen let's plays of both of Ike's games, but I had to manage on Google searches to find information about Marth. Hopefully, I haven't gotten anything too wrong about him (or Caeda). Incidentally, the eighty-three "greats" between Lucina and Marth was arbitrary, but assuming that a generation is twenty-five years apart, two thousand years is about eighty generations.

A final thought: as far as I know, Marth is the only Smasher who's confirmed to be heterosexually married (or indeed married at all), and yet he's in the most popular slash ship in Smash. Just thought I'd point out the irony.

Published June 28, 2015