More Lucina/Morgan, haha... A little sadder this time though. It's also something I might want to continue someday, but as a series of short oneshots. And there are endgame spoilers!
Abandon
"I should disappear."
It was a thought that had plagued her for too long. It kept her up at night, wondering – where was her place in this timeline, really? She had none, when she thought about it. A Lucina – who was born here, was being raised here, had two parents and an entire nation who desperately loved her – already existed.
Lucina's own timeline was gone, ravaged and destroyed by Grima. She had no place there either. In this time she was merely an extra who didn't belong.
"I should disappear," she said again.
"Whaddya mean?"
She nearly jumped out of her chair. "Morgan?" she asked, turning to face the young man as he stepped into their shared room. It was a small place on the outskirts of Ylisstol – close enough that they could still visit their families (though they were doing less and less of this lately), but far enough away that they could start their own postwar lives.
"Sorry. Just got in," he said, the beginnings of a smile pulling at his lips. "What did you say about disappearing?"
"I was thinking out loud. I apologize."
Morgan was still grinning, like he was about to make a joke to diffuse the tension – but he saw the look on her face and stopped. In moments he had his bags set aside and was seated across from her, reaching for her hands.
"Something's wrong. What is it?"
"Morgan, please, I was just-"
"Thinking out loud, yeah, yeah. But you know you can talk to me if you're upset! That's what I'm here for, right?"
And there was that pleading, puppy-dog look again. It brought a tiny, strained smile to her face, in spite of everything.
"I've just been thinking lately. Since we fought Grima, actually," she said – speaking quickly now, like a dam had broken all she couldn't stop the words from tumbling out. "A Lucina already exists here. This is her time, and all I'm doing now is interfering with that. I did my part in the war. I helped secure a safe future for her and the others. Perhaps now I should go."
Something like panic flashed across his face. "Go? Go where?"
"I'm…" She paused for a moment. Thought. "I'm not sure yet. But I don't think I can stay here anymore."
"What about your family? And everyone else?"
"They need to focus on their own futures now."
Morgan frowned. "They love you. They'll worry."
"I can write to them. Occasionally, at least."
He nodded, but he still seemed down. But how could she make him understand? How could she show Morgan – bright, effortlessly cheerful Morgan – how out of place she felt now that the war was over and things had returned to normal? She wasn't needed now like she once was in the battlefield.
She knew he felt the same, though. She had seen some of that light leave his eyes when he learned that his mother was pregnant. "Maybe they'll have a girl in this timeline!" he said, trying his best to keep that smile on his face. "Maybe I'll have a little sister instead of..well, another me."
But the jokes eventually stopped, and Morgan lapsed into a silence all too similar to her own.
"Come with me," she said – more of a command than a question when the words finally made it past her lips.
"Me? What about the others?"
"They have their own paths to follow. Most of them have already gone their own way. But if you don't want-"
"No, I… I want to follow you wherever you go. You know that. I've said it way too many times now," he said, head down, his expression shy. "But I thought… Well, you grew up with them. They're your friends. I'm just..."
He trailed off with an embarrassed shrug. The subject of their friends – though he usually referred to them as hers, because they had come from her timeline, and he was from somewhere completely different, as far as they knew – was a touchy one from time to time. Some days, it was all forgotten and they were the best of friends; others, the young man would listen to them exchange stories from their timeline at a distance.
Lucina reached out to press one hand over his.
"I want you to come," she insisted. "Because I love you, remember?"
"Ahah, yeah." He nodded vigorously. "Um… Did you have anywhere in mind?"
Lucina's gaze wandered. Their travels throughout the war had led them all across their known world – from Ylisse to neighboring countries and beyond. What was left past those boundaries? What waited for them?
Anything. The possibilities seemed endless in that moment. They could leave Ylisse and forge new futures for themselves – for Morgan, who had forgotten his own past, and for Lucina, who had no place in this timeline. At least for the moment.
She looked back to Morgan, who was watching her curiously. "Let's see, shall we?"
