Disclaimer: Fire Emblem was created by Shouzou Kaga, developed by Intelligent Systems and published by Nintendo. I own nothing nor do I claim to. Please support the official release.

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The barracks were, for once, quiet. To say that the Shepherds were normally a busy lot would be an understatement; there was always something going on. There'd be people talking in the camps, folks carrying who-knows-what from someplace to another and overzealous warriors trying to improve their skills, be it with swords, spells or tactics, against target dummies or one another.

But not tonight, and Gaius loved it.

He and his ragtag bunch of heroes had emerged victorious from a pretty nasty conflict near their headquarters not too long ago, so when all was said and done, they had all wordlessly headed 'home' for some well-earned rest.

Gaius walked silently through the corridor towards his room, careful not to make any sound and get cursed, slashed or punched as a result. Unlike the others, Gaius had at least had the energy to take a proper bath before calling it a day; who could go to bed drenched in blood, sweat and plenty of dirt? Seriously, some people...

However, once he got to the door he noticed something peculiar; the room was dimly lit. Someone must've lit a candle, but who, and why?
I don't suppose I've finally gotten a fan? Gods know Chrom has his fair share, it's time for the rest of us to get some attention. Gaius thought with a smirk before he opened the door.

Inside was Nah, sitting by the creaky old desk, engulfed in a book, seemingly unaware of his presence. Gaius cleared his throat to rectify that.

She practically flew out of the chair and spun around. "Gods, you scared me! What are you doing here anyway?"

Gaius eyed her suspiciously. "I believe that's my question, little future child. This is my room."

Nah groaned and fell back in the chair. "Okay, first of, my name's Nah! N-A-H, and don't you dare make fun of it. Secondly, I believe these are my quarters."

Without saying a word, Gaius approached the bed, picked up the pillow and showed her a secret stash of different kinds of sweets. He gave her a triumphant grin. "I don't s'pose those are yours too?"

Nah bit her lip and stayed silent for a while. "I believe I must've entered the wrong room. I apologize, I'll be going now." She said quickly, as if it would hide her embarrassment. She picked up the book and prepared to make her leave.

"You know you could stand to relax every once in a while." Gaius said, sitting down in the chair Nah had just vacated. "You're always so serious. Come on, do you really have to read on a night like this? We just won a fight, after all."

Nah stopped before she reached the doorknob. She turned around and gave the sweet tooth a look of disbelief. "We only JUST survived because everyone here is always giving it their all! I can't afford to relax or stop trying to improve if I want to change the future!"

Gaius shrugged, apparently not concerned with the semantics. "Sure, but you won't be able to help us if you die of a heart attack."

"Why you..!" Nah began, but stopped herself when she realized she had almost started screaming. "How can you act like you're not afraid of the apocalyptic future that's constantly hanging over our heads?! Are you unfazed by all that's happening here?! People are DYING, Gaius!" She continued in an almost-hissing whisper.

Gaius started unseathing his weapons and put them all on the desk and yawned. "We can't be everywhere at once, and we've got so many bloody heroes here that it's impossible for us to fail. Thinking about everything we can't do won't get those people back."

Nah just looked at him. "H-how can you be so confident?"

Gaius gave her a roguishly charming smile. "Easy. I trust my friends."

The young Manakete closed her eyes and nodded, and Gaius expected her to walk out and finally let him sleep, until he noticed tears falling down her cheeks.

"Uh, are you alright there, buddy?"

Nah opened her eyes and quickly tried to dry her cheeks with her sleeves, but gave up and instead let the tears fall. "No...I mean, yes...I mean...I don't know!"

Gaius softly put his hand on her back and lead her to his bed. Once she sat down, he brought out some old candy wrapper for her to dry her nose with. It would have to do for now.

"I-I'm sorry!" Nah croaked. "It's just that...even though I've always tried to do my best at everything, no one has ever respected me! I grew up with people who hated me even though I protected them simply because I'm half-Manakete! I just recently got to meet my mother for the first time and found out she doesn't care about anything other than playing. And it always feels like, just because I can turn into a dragon, I have to live up to everybody's expectations and, and..."

Gaius listened to the crying girl's sad, slightly incoherent story, but offered no response immediately. Instead, he reached for something under the pillow and picked up what looked like a candy bar protected by sickeningly pink paper.

"Here." He said, offering her the piece of candy. "Trust me, it's good."

Nah eyed him and the bar skeptically, but accepted it anyway. Once she had started eating, Gaius began talking.

"Look, I won't pretend to know what kind of crap you've been through, nor will I try to compare it to my own, but what I damn sure know is that you're here with us now, and you're a valuable asset to the team."

Nah's chewing slowed down as she appeared to be mulling something over. "No one even knows I exist outside of battle. I'm always in my room all alone, reading..."

"Yeah? Well maybe that's because you keep turning into a dragon or something? People might not know exactly what you look like." Gaius offered, sitting down on the bed next to her with his arms crossed. He wasn't used to playing psychologist, but he thought he was doing okay so far.

"Well...I guess that could be a reasonable explanation..." Nah admitted.

Gaius lay down with his hands behind his head and his feet still on the ground. "Look, why don't you try socializing a little? Go talk to Lucina or something, you're from the same timeline after all, right?"

Nah nodded absent-mindedly. "But what if I don't study enough? What if I cause us all to fail or..."

"Listen, cupcake." Gaius interrupted, not sure where the nickname came from but he found it oddly fitting. "It's true that we all have our fair share of work ahead of us, and that we all have to pitch in, but you'll kill yourself if you keep it up like this. Even Chrom enjoys at least an extra glass of wine every now and again. This is the sort of thing you won't survive without surrounding yourself with friends."

"But I..."

"Cupcake, I swear we will survive even if you forsake your studies for a few days."

The barracks grew quiet again as Nah appeared to be thinking about what she had been told. She tried going for another bite of the candy bar, but realized she had eaten it all already.

"Oh, sorry! I ate it all!" She burst out, placing her hands on her cheeks dramatically.

Gaius just chuckled. "It was good, wasn't it?"

Nah smiled for the first time that night. "Very! Thank you so much!"

"Don't mention it. Now then, kiddo, do you feel any better?" He asked .

She gave him a nod and another radiant smile. "I can't thank you enough! It's like I can finally breathe normally again...or something. I think I needed to get that out of my system."

"Damn straight you did." Gaius agreed happily, her smile proving to be contagious. "How about you come back tomorrow and tell me all about your social escapades? If your stories are any good, I might even share some more of my sweets."

"How can I say no to that?" Nah asked as she stood up and headed for the door. "Hey, thanks, I mean it. I'll see you tomorrow, Gaius!"

"Sleep tight, cupcake."

And just like that, Gaius was alone again. The sound of Nah's footsteps eventually disappeared, and all he could hear was the wind blowing through the trees outside. He sighed contently; he'd be lying if he said he wasn't proud of himself. He was used to making the world a better place by killing evildoers, not helping good guys, but it sure felt nice to add something good to the world instead of just removing the bad.

And with that thought, he drifted off to sleep with a smile on his face.

AN: Well, that was fun to write. What did you guys think? Who should I write about next?