"Ah, there you are, Nino! What are you reading?"
Nino jumped, whirling her head around to see the owner of the voice.
"O-oh. You're...Princess Eirika, aren't you?" Nino had fought alongside the blue haired woman a few times now and admired her rapier skills from afar, but had yet to speak to her properly. She hadn't expected to meet her in the library, of all places.
"Just Eirika is fine. Besides, we're both a long way from home, aren't we? My title doesn't mean anything here."
"I - I guess so." Nino felt the warmth in her cheeks and hoped Eirika would have forgotten her first question, but...
"So? What are you reading?"
"Uh..." Nino wet her lips and showed her the cover. Eirika's eyes widened, as she knew they would.
"Oh...if you don't mind me asking, isn't that book...a little young for you?"
"Yeah..." Nino looked down. "I...I can't read very well."
"Oh!" Eirika clapped a hand to her mouth. "I didn't know that! I'm so sorry!"
"It's okay!" Nino waved a hand in front of the not-a-Princess-right-now, "It's fine, really! My mother just...never really bothered to teach me."
"Oh..."
"Oh! And I was always really busy helping my father and my brothers, so I didn't have much time anyway!"
"...I - I see."
Eirika chewed her lip. She thought she'd seen people from every possible walk of life back in Magvel, but coming to Zenith had opened her eyes. There were such different people from such different worlds. There were so many different ways to live. She'd met royals with wealth she couldn't even fathom, mercenaries who'd lived lives to make her brother salivate...
And people like the poor girl before her, who couldn't even read.
Oh, you poor thing...
"Didn't...didn't anyone ever offer to teach you?"
"Yeah!" the little girl brightened up and it felt like a fire had been lit in Eirika's heart. "Guess what? When I was travelling with Lord Eliwood and Jaffar, I found my uncle! ...at least, I think he's my uncle!"
"Oh?"
"Yeah! And he helped me a whole lot!"
"Wow! Is he here now?"
"No..." Nino's face fell and it felt like the room had gone dark too.
"Oh...he hasn't arrived yet?"
Nino shook her head.
The power to summon people from other worlds was a random one, as she understood it. While the Summoner could estimate which world they would summon a "Hero" from, they could only access certain worlds at certain times. To make matters worse, if a given opportunity passed, they would need to wait for another window to open if they wanted to call people from that world again. Not only that, the time in the other world they called Heroes from was also in flux. On one hand, this power could reunite deceased parents with their children or rekindle friendships by summoning two people from different moments in time (she herself prayed every day for a certain someone to arrive, healthy and of sound mind again). But on the other, there was no guarantee that Nino's uncle would answer the call the next time the summoner could access her country - Elibe, if she recalled correctly - nor that he would even be alive when it arrived.
"Eirika? Are - are you okay?"
The Princess started. "Oh? Oh! Oh, yes. Yes, I'm fine." She swallowed, not knowing why had she gotten choked up all of a sudden. "I'm sure he'll be here soon."
"I hope so..." Nino looked back down.
Eirika had the fierce urge to wrap the little girl before her into a hug. She fought it down and instead asked "Until he gets here though, would...would you like me to teach you in his place?"
The green haired girl looked up at her in surprise. "A - are you sure?"
"Of course!"
"I'm not very good..."
"I grew up teaching my brother everything except fighting," Eirika rolled her eyes and laughed. "No one's as bad as him."
Nino giggled, then looked mortified. "I'm really slow..."
"I don't mind. Everyone has their own strengths and weaknesses."
"Wouldn't you rather be with your friends?"
"Like I am right now?"
Nino blinked at her a few times until her eyes went wide from realisation. Her face turned beet red and whipped downward. "...really?"
"Of course!" Eirika couldn't help beaming. "So? Do we have a deal?"
Nino looked up after a moment's silence, cheeks still red, with a small smile of her own. "...okay."
Eirika fought the urge to hug the little girl again.
She settled instead for a simple pat on the head.