Truth

Inigo's POV

"Hello, there!" I flashed my most dazzling smile at a young lass. "How would you like to-" Just as I was about to deliver an excellent one-liner, if I do say so myself, I felt myself being pulled away from her! I twisted around to see my 'assailant'. I sighed when I saw who it was.

Chrom, the prince of Ylisse, and also my father, was dragging me by the ear, away from the village our camp was set up by next to. Honestly, he had no reason to be so rough! "Ugh, Father!" I complained. "That gorgeous girl was just about to say yes to a date! JUST about to!" I wrenched myself away from him. "Did you really have to drag me off like that!?"

Father spun around to face me. "We have a battle to prepare for, Inigo. Everyone else is ready to march. If you're mad, be mad at yourself for losing track of time."

I rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "Oh, heh heh heh... Whoops... All right, time to go trounce some enemies and find a village lass to reward my efforts!"

"..." Father stared at me.

"You're staring, Father. Is there something on my face?" I tilted my head.

He shook his head. "No. I just... I was wondering if you were like this in the future as well."

I did an epic hair flip. "Depends on what you mean by 'like this' I suppose."

"For someone who came from an apocalyptic hellscape, you're awfully carefree. Seems like you haven't a care in the world. Lucina's so driven and serious... It's strange you don't have any of that purpose."

The comparison to my sister stung me. "No purpose!? I'll have you know I'm EXTREMELY driven!"

Father asked skeptically, "Oh, is that the case?"

"Indeed! I will not rest until every women in the realm swoons at just hearing my name!" I declared proudly.

Father looked taken aback. "...You're purpose in life is to be popular with girls? You literally travelled across time...to be popular with girls!?"

I flushed slightly. "To be popular with ALL girls. Genius, I know. But stop, Father. You're making me blush."

Father started walking away, back towards the camp, and I hurried to keep up. "I... I don't even know what to say," he muttered.

"What? It never bothered you when Mother would blush in front of you!" I protested.

He groaned. "No, that's not what... Where do I even begin? Suddenly I'm feeling very tired... I'm going on ahead."

With a swish of his cape, Father quickened his pace and went to march next to Frederick and Robin.

My good mood gone, I scowled. "Not a care in the world, huh? Not a thought in my head, he means! For being such a softy with everyone else, he sure doesn't pull any punches with me..."

With that cheery thought, I went to go annoy Gerome or Owain or someone.

The next day, we were in another fierce battle with the Risen. Same old, same old. Unfortunately, what was not the same was that my leg nearly got ripped off by a particularly vicious Risen. I winced as I examined the wound. "Ow! This one's pretty bad. I can't go back to camp like this..."

"Something wrong, Inigo? Everyone has already headed back."

I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard his voice behind me. "F-Father!? Er, I just...thought I saw a cute milkmaid at the edge of the battlefield!"

"...You're a worse liar than your mother. It's obvious your leg is wounded," he deadpanned.

I scrambled backwards. "It's fine, it's- GYAAAH! Ow! Ow, ow ow! No, don't touch it, don't touch it!"

He quickly withdrew his hand. "This is a serious injury, Inigo! Why didn't you say something?"

I hitched on a smile. "What, and ruin my reputation? The ladies want Inigo the Invincible."

Father clenched his fists. "Damn you! Gods, ENOUGH, Inigo!"

My eyes widened. "...Father?"

His eyes were blazing as he shouted at me. "You can barely walk, and you're still thinking about girls!? Be serious for once! Really, why did you travel back from the future? Lucina fights so hard, but you... Honestly, I'm disappointed. You have no idea what it means to be at war."

He glared at me, breathing heavily. I stared right back at him.

Finally, I smiled coldly. "You don't know a damned thing." I was rapidly growing more angry, and my smile turned into a scowl. "You're the one who's clueless, Father!"

He narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Do you think I'd be out here if I were ONLY after girls? Out here fighting every day, wondering if this is the time I don't make it home!?" I barked.

"Inigo, I didn't-"

I didn't let him finish. "You may think me a dandy and a fool, but a lot of people depended on me in the future. Every day, I was out there fighting Risen and risking my life. With everyone looking to me to be strong, I had no choice. I HAD to be invincible. I couldn't complain or show any weakness. Not with everyone else struggling in that damn war-torn wasteland... Even with you and Mother gone, I had to pretend I was fine. That I wasn't hurting. I had to fight every day of my sorry life and wear a smile while I did it!" I spat vehemently.

"..." Father regarded me, his expression unreadable.

"...You said I looked like I didn't have a care in the world? Well, I'm sorry to tell you, but that's not the case at all. I smile and joke around because I don't want to show the world any weakness..." I ducked my head, avoiding his gaze. "If that disappoints you...then I guess you'll just have to be disappointed."

He made to put a hand on my shoulder. "Inigo, listen..."

I dodged his hand. "That being said, I do appreciate the concern... I'll get the leg looked at."

I limped away, leaving Father kneeling in the same place. As I left, I heard him mutter, "I... I had no idea..."

Yes, I thought. There's a lot you don't know about me.

Chrom's POV

After Inigo's rant, he left me with my thoughts. My head was whirling. This was a side of Inigo I hadn't known about... and I would have preferred not knowing. His words made me think about what it must have been like for the children. Orphaned in a world where compassion didn't exist... Forced to fight every day just to make it to the next one, and then just having to repeat the process. Day after day, moth after month, year after year. "I'm a terrible parent..." I muttered. I stood up and went to to my tent to dwell on what happened.

A few days later, I found Inigo resting in his tent. "Inigo? I wanted to speak with you."

He brightened. "Hey, Father! Here, have a look! My leg's all healed, see?"

I nodded. "That's good, Son."

He chuckled. "Thanks for making me get it looked at. ...And...I'm sorry to have worried you."

"No, I'M sorry. For what I said. It was...insensitive... You've been fighting with all you've got. I had no right to criticize you."

Inigo waved his hand around nonchalantly. "Pfft, you still thinking about that? Ancient history." He hesitated. "Plus... it was my fault, too."

"Still..."

He stopped me. "Seriously, it's fine! Cheer up!"

"Huh?" I asked.

He smiled at me. "You always seen so gloomy lately. Let's see a smile for once!" He smirked deviously, then began to tickle me!

"Ah ha ha! Stop that! S-stop! It really tickles! Ha ha ha!"

"Ha ha, there it is! That's better!" Inigo laughed along with me. "I didn't come all this way to see you mope around, you know?"

"...That was why you came back? To make me happy?" I asked.

"Well...yeah. You, and me, and everybody. The whole world, I guess." He ran his hand through his hair thoughtfully. "Anyway, I suppose I'm okay telling you that now."

I put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You can tell me anything."

He narrowed his eyes playfully. "You can say that now, but I don't want to hear any complaints when I get going! I may be all smiles on the outside, but I'm actually pretty sensitive. And pessimistic. ...Oh, and I cry at the drop of a hat. Whenever a girl turns me down, I'm a complete mess for days."

I chuckled. "Ha! You can stop kidding now, Inigo. I'm already smiling."

He shook his head slowly. "Oh, I'm not kidding... All of the stuff about the girls- it was never part of the act."

I sighed. "Well, that's fine...in moderation of course. You're a strong man, Inigo, and I couldn't be prouder of you. But no one is invincible, and you shouldn't pretend to be. If something's wrong, come to me. We'll figure it out together."

"Father... I knew you loved me, but... Oh, thank you!" He threw himself on my neck, hugging the life out of me.

"Waugh! N-neck! Inigo, my neck! Too tight! C-can't breathe!"

"I-it's your own fault! I don't think you've ever said anything like that to me before!" he cried happily, almost crying tears of joy. "And listen- the same goes for you. Whatever the problem, I'll help. I'll be damned if I'm going to lose you twice."

I relaxed and hugged him back. "And I'll be damned if I'm ever going to lose such a wonderful son."