A/N: Hello everyone, welcome back to Unending Fates!

Seriously wasn't expecting this much feedback. Thanks so much to the six people that reviewed!

I still don't own Fire Emblem Fates, but enjoy the next part of this interesting ride!

Chapter 1 - In the White Light

Sky blinked rapidly several times, and even bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. The pain, there was no way she could feel this sort of pain in a dream without waking up. And she was still here despite dying. Every inch of her body grew rigid—this was impossible, she was dead, Ryoma was dead, Takumi was dead, they couldn't be here right now. Unless this was some cruel twist to the afterlife? But… her other siblings were all…

"This way," Ryoma said, his arm stretched towards her. Looking past him, she saw Takumi, Hinoka, and Sakura, all waiting for her to make her decision, hoping her choice was Hoshido. Her true family… the one she'd fought against…

"B-Big Sister?"

"She's my sister!" Elise shouted in response to Sakura. Leo and Camilla stood behind her, with Xander off to the side on his horse.

"We're your family," Xander said, stretching out a hand just like Ryoma was.

("No, Sky is no sister of ours anymore.")

Her lips twisted into almost a scowl. For everything they had fought for together, everything they had sacrificed, they still cared about their father more than her. More than the truth. The only one of her Nohrian siblings that tried intervening was Elise, and that was only because she didn't want her to die, not that she agreed with her decision to "betray" Nohr. Camilla had done nothing, Leo had severely injured her, and Xander… Xander had killed her.

(Family…)

She would not walk that path again. Could not fight for Nohr. Regardless of how real or not real this was, she would have to treat this as a second chance, a way to fix her mistakes. And the biggest one of all was…

Sky spun around, her blade in hand as she stared at the Crown Prince of Nohr. "Xander, withdraw your troops."

He looked genuinely shocked by her reply, hurt even. But she knew better, he would throw away all that in an instant for the monster he called a father. "Sky… Don't tell me you're siding with Hoshido."

"I am," she replied bitterly. "I've seen how rotten Nohr truly is…"

Images danced in her mind. Of Garon striking down her birth father, Sumeragi, right before her eyes when she was just a child. Of her mother throwing herself in the way of the shattered pieces of Ganglari and dying in her arms. Of the innocents in Cheve cut down mercilessly at Garon's orders. Of Yukimura cursing her name after many of the Hoshidan soldiers that had surrendered were killed anyways. And… of Ryoma's death, just to keep her hands clean even though it meant nothing now. All of that, all of that was his fault, that monster wanted nothing more than to cause as much pain and suffering to everyone it came across.

Sky took a deep breath; she was almost shaking and needed to keep herself composed. "I can't go back there, Xander. Not as long as Garon remains king. He is a coward, a liar, and a monster—I've witnessed enough of his destruction first-hand. Tell me, what kind of person causes an explosion in a crowded city center with no regard for innocent life?!" And that wasn't even the half of it… "They're the actions of a madman, Xander. Face it—Father is long gone, descended too far into evil to be worth fighting for."

That genuine shock on her brother's face turned into slight anger, his brow furrowed and teeth clenched tight. "Father… evil? How could you say that, little princess?"

Sky closed her eyes, shaking her head. Of course there would be no reasoning with Xander, how could she have thought otherwise? Her heart twinged in despair; despite everything, she did still care for Xander—and Leo, Elise, and Camilla—like her family. They were the only family she truly knew… that sentimentality must be why she still wanted to believe in them all. But… there really was no way to deny the truth that was in front of her.

"You don't believe me, then?" she asked, masking her grief.

A second later she had to twist back, holding up the Yato. The Siegfried clashed with her blade, a burst of dark energy scattering into the air around the impact. Xander—all sense of shock gone—glared at her. "There's my answer, traitor."

"Brother… please, if you would just—"

"Silence!" he shouted, swinging his sword at her again. "I never thought you would turn your back on your kingdom and your family. Your betrayal will not be forgiven." He paused for a moment. "You insist on slandering Father's name? You want to side with Hoshido? Fine. Over my dead body!"

She jumped away from her brother, narrowly dodging his next attack. But him being on horseback gave him an advantage—this was nothing like when they'd fought in the Hoshidan palace. The pink-haired woman swung her blade, attempting to catch Xander's arm, but he was quicker and returned the favor with two blows in rapid succession. One hit her arm, the other her side. Sky screamed in pain—she couldn't help it—and dropped to the ground, holding the injury over her side.

She looked up at her brother—no, her enemy. "Go ahead, then. I won't change my mind…"

Xander shook his head. "You've clearly been brainwashed by the Hoshidans. Surely there's some part of you that remembers your true family!"

Sky gripped her sword tightly, using it as a prop to help her stand back up. Her side protested the movement, but she couldn't back down now. "My true family? Yes, there is a part of me that remembers them—the family I was torn from as a child by the monster you call 'Father'!"

"I see… then I will end this quickly."

The princess readied herself for another attack, but none came. Instead, the red-clad samurai jumped in front of her, blocking that one and quickly returning the favor with four of his own strikes. "Just try it, Nohrian scum," Ryoma taunted.

(Ryoma…)

The edges of her vision started to fade, and her head felt awfully light. Had she already lost so much blood…? No, she was injured far worse than this before…

She was unconscious before she hit the ground.


She opened her eyes to the inside of the chamber just before the Hoshidan throne room. The one where she'd watched Ryoma kill himself right in front of her. Looking around, she found it empty… the entire place was silent, too. But she couldn't walk; her legs refused to move her from that exact spot. How had she gotten here? Hadn't she just been fighting Xander on the plains of Hoshido…?

"Wh-Why, Big Sister?"

Sky spun around—at least she could do that—to find Sakura there, her hands bound tightly in front of her, and her dress bloodstained and torn in several places. That wasn't right…!

"I c-could have saved them… Why didn't you d-do anything? Why did you let those soldiers k-kill our people?"

"I—" she blinked, and Sakura was gone.

Instead, Elise stood there, eyes wet with tears. "Big Sister, did I do something wrong?"

Sky frowned, shaking her head. "N-No, Elise, it's just…"

"Then why do you hate me?" The younger princess started crying again, her cheeks puffed out. "You, you turned your back on us again. I thought we were your family!"

Sky tried to voice a reply—that Elise was wrong, that she didn't hate her, just Garon—when the entire scenery around her shifted to a grassy area, where a forest met with a large wall; the Great Wall of Suzanoh. At her feet was… was… "Oh gods…"

Her knees gave out beneath her as she stared at the broken and bloody form of her younger brother, the Fujin Yumi ever clutched in his hands.

"Look what your betrayal caused!" The body of Takumi in front of her stood up, his eyes filled with hatred. "You let me die, you let Ryoma die, and you let Mother die!" The Fujin Yumi's bowstring appeared, as did an arrow, as Takumi raised and pointed it at her chest. "I HATE YOU, TRAITOR!"

Before the arrow could pierce her heart, the scenery changed again—back to the foyer before the throne room—and it was her other younger brother that was staring at her. Leo shook his head at her. "I don't believe it… I already told you what must be done to traitors, and you betray us again? Do you want to die again, Sister?"

"Leo, please—"

But he was already gone. Instead, Hinoka was there, staring at her with betrayed eyes. "Sister… you promised you would save Ryoma. What happened to being a family again?!"

"I couldn't—"

Suddenly, she found herself trapped in a monster hug—from none other than Camilla—her face pressed precariously into her older sister's chest. "Oh, darling. How I wish you hadn't betrayed Nohr again. But… I love you too much to let you go on like this. I'll make sure that you don't suffer…"

Sky forced herself out of her sister's grasp, only to find herself stumbling over something. Someone.

Ryoma's body sat up, and he stared at her sadly. "Sister… I gave my life for Hoshido. For you. And yet you threw it all away… Tell me, why?"

Tears flowed down her face. "I… I couldn't… you…"

The castle once again faded away, leaving her standing in the middle of the same field she'd made her choice at. And, as she suspected, Xander was there, his back turned to her. "Little princess…" He turned around, and she noticed he was unarmed. "I've always known that we lack common blood. Even still, we treated you as kin since the day you arrived in Nohr. Does that really mean so little to you that you cast us aside not once, but twice?"

"I've done nothing of the sort!" she screamed back. "The only one I've betrayed is Father—and you would too if you would just see the truth!"

The crown prince faded away before her eyes, just like all of her other siblings. Now, the blue-haired songstress stood in front of her. "You were so close to the end, Sky," Azura said, taking a step towards her. "Should you walk the same path, I have no doubt that you could save those who were lost. But if you choose to walk in the light rather than embracing the dark, your knowledge of the future will do you no good. Are you absolutely certain that you stand with Hoshido rather than Nohr?"

She hesitated for a moment, then immediately regretted that hesitation. Of course she was sure. "Y-Yes… I'm certain."

"I see." Azura turned her head to the skies and began to sing. "In the white light, a hand reaches through…"


Red eyes snapped open as their owner gasped in pain, abruptly sitting up from the small mat she was lying on. (Wait, what?) She looked around, gasping for air. Her surroundings were unfamiliar—looked like Hoshidan architecture, though—and there were many injured Hoshidan soldiers on similar mats around the large room. (What's going on?)

"B-Big Sister, it's alright!" Sakura's quiet voice cried to her, a hand grabbing her arm. "Y-You were just having a n-nightmare…"

Sky blinked several times. A nightmare. Right. That's what that was… (So then why does my heart ache like it does?) "Ah… alright."

"Lady Sky, I'm so glad to see you are unharmed." To her left sat Jakob, a slight smile on his face. He was here too?

"Jakob, but this is Hoshido. You followed me here?"

"Of course, I will follow you no matter what."

She smiled back at him. (If only Xander and the others could be more like Jakob. Then I wouldn't have to fight them…)

She cleared her throat. "Um, Sakura… what's going on?"

"We're at Fort Jinya. Y-You collapsed in the middle of the battle, so we b-brought you here."

"I see." Sky pressed a hand to her head, it still felt… strangely light. "I remember that… Ryoma was just about to engage Xander in combat. …W-Wait, what happened then?"

Sakura told her of how the Nohrians had been forced to retreat—Ryoma had been the victor of the confrontation between the two princes—and how he, Takumi, and a majority of the Hoshidan army had gone after them to make sure they retreated all the way back to Nohr. It was then that Sky had been brought to Fort Jinya… alongside Jakob, who had refused to leave her side after discovering where she was.

She was about to respond when Azura ran in, nearly out of breath. "We have trouble. Nohrian soldiers have surrounded this place."


A/N: So, this is a thing. Yes, the nightmare sequence was necessary, sorry if it came off as cliche. As for the dialogue, well, I've tried to stay as close to the original script as I can, but obviously that isn't entirely possible.

i still hope you enjoyed this chapter. Please, drop a review saying what you thought! And if not, then at least favorite/follow this story if you liked it!