Chapter II: Reunion

A/N: Thank you for all the reviews and follows. I wish I could deliver these chapters at a quicker pace, but this story likes to clog up in my mind. I don't like to rewrite the game (since I'm sure we've all played it) but at the same time if I skip those parts, things seemed rather rushed. Hopefully, this chapter was worth the wait. Oh, and though I know this is mainly a Lon'qu/Olivia/Inigo story, Robin and Chrom do play a major role since I've decided to spruce up the game's storyline. Thanks for reading, and enjoy.

After battling their way across the seas; such events involving them to swim at one point, Chrom and company eventually reached the continent of Valm, which, in comparison to the raucous of the skirmish they had recently endured, was eerily quiet. Not a person was out to greet them and every village resembled a ghost town.

As they walked through the port town they encountered, searching for any soul who could aid them with their quest, Chrom couldn't help but feel as if he were patrolling the streets like a dictator would; ready to slice down any unfortunate person who was out and about. Perhaps in the eyes of those who were currently spying on them from their windows, that's what they believed him to be.

"Look at this, Robin," Chrom muttered to his wife, his face reading frustration, "Walhart has thrown his people into a state of fright. How can he possibly call himself a leader when all he radiates from his followers is fear?"

Frederick, who was never beyond an earshot of Chrom, caught wind of his conversation. "I agree with you, milord," he whispered back, "But though they have my sympathies as well, my concern lies in the fact that if we can't get these people to open up to us, we will be running headlong into death."

"What do you mean, Frederick," Chrom asked, turning to face his subordinate.

"Most of our weapons," Robin reluctantly answered, "went down with the ships… If the Valmese army is truly as enormous as they say, I fear we are ill-equipped to fight such battles." Knowing that she was the one who had devised the strategy to abandon ship, she felt especially guilty and kept her eyes on the stone pavement she walked.

Chrom, however, would have none of it and immediately placed a comforting hand upon her shoulder, causing her to raise her eyes to meet his gaze. His face had softened from his latest scowl as he passed her a smile. "Don't you go blaming yourself," he chided gently. "During these times, a sacrifice is necessary, but with you, the cost is never a fellow soldier. I'd rather head into battle with my bare fists long before I would ever consider heading in there without you or my brother-in-arms." He tucked a long strand of black hair behind her ear. "We'll find a way around this. We have a crew made up of very…enchanting people. I'm sure one of them can convince these people to lend us some of their services."

Despite the Shepherds' attempts at giving off good, harmless impressions, doors were shut in their faces or were otherwise ignored as they asked for help; their charm having gone unnoticed by the townsfolk. It appeared, at this rate, that it would be best to leave this port town behind and proceed onto the next; hopefully to one whose residents haven't been thrown into a similar state of fear. Olivia, however, would not be so easily deterred from her quest and continued to persist where her allies had quit.

"Please Lon'qu," she begged, her vice-like grip around his wrist unwavering, "There's one more store we haven't tried."

Exhausted from being turned away so many countless times, Lon'qu grunted and stood his ground. "What's the point," he asked her grumpily. "All these people have been scared into hiding. We shouldn't waste our time."

"But..." Olivia frowned at his pessimism and gradually weakened her grip on his arm while shifting her eyes downwards.

She had been at this for quite some time now which Lon'qu found to be rather odd considering that she was the last person, he thought, who should be concerned of their supplies. So long as she had use of her body and its appendages, she had no need to worry about whether or not they had weapons. The rare frown on her face made Lon'qu grimace as he averted his gaze. "Why are you so persistent about this anyhow?"

Fiddling with her hands, she whispered back shakily, "Well…I'm not really of much use to the others on the battlefield, so the least I could do is help during times like these…"

"Don't say that," Lon'qu chided softly, brushing gentle fingers along her jaw and raising her chin. They made eye contact and Lon'qu passed her a small smirk to erase the frown that had marred her pretty features. "But if you're going to be so stubborn about this," he continued, "then we'll give this last store a try."

As a smile grew on her lips, Olivia nodded before embracing him tightly.

XxxxxxX

Together, the couple approached the small store Olivia had spotted earlier and upon admiring the well-crafted tools that lined the walls behind the counter, one could tell at a glance it was an armory. Looking over the counter, Olivia called out shakily, "Uh…Hello?"

As Olivia was working on luring the blacksmith out, Lon'qu leaned back against a nearby building and watched her; admiring the determination she had within. Unfortunately though, he doubted her quest would find her much aside from disappointment, but from what he had learned through experience, as her husband, it was his duty to pick her up afterwards.

Sitting in his workstation just beside the counter Olivia stood at, an older man, his bald scalp surrounded by the few tufts of hair he had left, heard the gentle voice of the girl that called and cautiously took a peek out the window. He had heard the rumors of the arrival of soldiers and had thus retreated to the safety of his work station so as to keep his vow of offering no help to them. But at the sight of Olivia, he found he was having difficulty keeping with his promise. Surely he couldn't turn his back on a damsel like herself, could he?

The man's niece, who was tending to the fire in the back, watched as he rose to his feet and began making his way for the door. Alerted by his actions, she whispered fiercely, "What are you doing?"

"We have a customer," the blacksmith responded back dully, turning the knob and opening the door.

Before his niece could stop him, the man stepped outside where he came face-to-face with the goddess in disguise. Without the window between them, she was even more majestic as she seemed to sparkle with the sun.

"Can I help you," he said, almost regretting his actions and wishing he had stayed hidden.

"Uh…" Still amazed that her efforts had actually paid off, Olivia was at a loss of words as she suddenly became aware of his eyes that took her in. Shifting her eyes downwards towards her fiddling hands, she decided that in order to avoid sinking further into an air of awkwardness she would skip straight to the point. "Um…Actually, we were wondering if you would kindly lend our troupe some weapons..."

With a cold face, the man crossed his arms and asked sternly, "You expect me to believe a fragile thing like you is fighting in a war like this?" Before she was given the opportunity to speak, the man continued speaking. "Who sent you? Him?" Following his finger, Olivia found herself staring at Lon'qu who just now found it was the appropriate time to enter the scene.

"Actually," Olivia said more comfortably as she felt Lon'qu join her at her side, "he's my husband and we're marching with Chrom's Shepherds."

"Chrom's Shepherds?" The man repeated uneasily. He opened the door to his workshop and took a step in. "I'm sorry, but I can't help you."

"And why not?" It was Lon'qu who stopped him in his tracks. Olivia had worked hard to get to this point and he would be damned if he was going to watch her leave empty-handed. "We didn't come from overseas to raid you or your people. If anything, it should be I who is untrustworthy of you. Your people are the ones who attacked Ferox, after all."

The man grimaced and reluctantly turned to face the swordsman. "You don't understand. If Walhart hears that I'm supplying weapons to the enemy, he'll have my head."

Lon'qu scoffed. "You'd rather live like a dog than die with pride? I've seen even the most cowardly of men stand alone in the face of danger. Show some backbone, won't you?" He turned back to Olivia and grabbed her hand with his own; a clash of smooth and rough. "Let's go, Olivia," he whispered, gently tugging her along with him.

"But…" Olivia saw that her words were of little use now as her husband's face reflected his unyielding determination. She looked over her shoulder just in time to catch the blacksmith retreat back into his workshop; disappointment laced in his features.

XxxxxxX

Hand in hand, the couple made their way back to the others who were anticipating the results. They stood among their allies with frowns on their faces, and in those frowns, they were able to relay their disappointment. Chrom, expecting nothing more as the result, simply passed the two and gentle smile and commented, "At least you two didn't completely come back empty-handed." He motioned towards their entwined fingers bringing about a blush to both of the meek lovers.

After giving a slight chuckle at the embarrassment he caused, Chrom returned solemnity back to his face. "I think it best we move on from this town. Clearly our presence isn't making these civilians any more comfortable to opening their doors."

Frederick, standing at his rightful spot beside him, agreed with his Exalt and said, "The scouts have just recently come back and have news that there is a village not too far away. Perhaps that is where we should head next?"

"What say you, Robin?" Of course, Chrom always needed a second opinion from his chief tactician – and now, wife.

The tactician seemed startled out of her thoughts, her mind clearly absent from the recent conversation. "Um, sorry?" Having no clue as to what words had been exchanged, she asked for a restatement. Of course she would receive no such thing as her husband immediately grew worried for her.

"Robin," he proceeded to ask her, wrapping an arm around her slender shoulders and guiding her to a more secluded area away from the curious eyes of the Shepherds, "Are you alright…?"

As the two spoke in private only a few feet away from prying ears, Vaike, who stood beside Lon'qu, muttered, "You think there's a rift in their marriage?" Of course, no one took to heart his comment as they were all conscious of the bond between the army commander and tactician.

"I think," Lon'qu responded gruffly for the others around them, "the problem lies more in the fact of what they witnessed at Plegia's castle..." That Robin had come face-to-face with a woman who possessed features just like hers must have definitely set off warning alarms. Then to later learn that she may be the daughter of Validar himself, must have really sent her mind reeling and leaving much on her plate to consider.

"We should continue on to the next village as planned," Lon'qu said to his blonde friend.

"Hear that Frederick?" Vaike clapped the general on the shoulder.

"I'll be sure to relay that to his majesty." Frederick responded absently, his eyes focused on his Exalt and his wife.

XxxxxxX

"Boo! Get off the stage!" The rowdy men in the crowd raised their mugs in preparation to chuck. The unfortunate dancer, conscious of the threat upon them, wisely scrambled backstage to meet his newly found friends who were all chuckling at his antics.

"Ah Inigo," the carriage coach said, clapping the young man on the back, "You sure do know how to put on a show."

Inigo didn't know how one could consider it a "good show" when said show ended with the performer being booed off stage. He spoke his mind with a puzzled expression on his face which earned him another pat on the back. "It's not the contents of the show that determine the quality, but the reaction it evokes," a fellow female dancer said. As if to emphasize the point, she pulled open the curtain they hid behind to reveal the men out in the pub.

Despite earlier threats of chugging mugs filled with booze and alcohol, smiles softened the men's gruff, hard-working faces as they laughed at the male dancer's performance. "He looked like such a clown," Inigo heard them sniggle.

Though this wasn't the particular way he wanted to be appreciated, he couldn't help but form a little smile of his own. "Oh well," he sighed, closing the gap in the curtains. Even with a war still waging around him, to be surrounded by so much laughter and smiles, he had to admit it was probably the most fun he had experienced in his whole life.

Of course, during such times, moods could easily be changed as it did when Inigo and his crew – with the exception of the female dancers – were booted from the pub. While laughter and happiness wafted from inside the pub, outside was a whole different environment.

"Leave him alone!" A little girl, no more than the age of six, covered an older man, no doubt her grandfather, who lay on the paved road. Three ruffians, armed with swords and axes alike, surrounded them, chuckling to one another in their sick way.

Sometime during the performance, bandits had made their presence known in the town. Helping Inigo off from the ground, the leader of the dancing caravan whispered into his ear, "I'll go get the girls. You should head back to the carriage; there's no point in getting mixed up with these folk." Inigo paid little attention to his orders as he continued to watch the scene play out only feet before him.

Another villager, a young lady this time, entered the fray, taking her spot between the ruffians and her family. Arms held outwards, she acted as the shield for the blades. "Please, don't do this," she pleaded. "We'll give you whatever you want."

Looking the young lady up and down, one of the bandits smirked before shoving her aside, closing in on her sister and grandfather. Desperate, she tried pushing them back only to find herself lying back on the ground. They were mocking her, she knew that, and frantically she looked around, hoping to gain help from any of her neighbors. The few that had remained to watch the brutes were frozen in fear and were in no position to offer any assistance.

It would be easier to turn the other way as the caravan coach advised, Inigo knew. But even with the sickening feeling in his gut, fear coursing through his veins, he knew he could do no such thing. There was a determination he had within his heart that overpowered the fear and pushed him into doing what his father would refer to as "dumb." "Dumb…But brave," he edited, chuckling.

As the girl made one final attempt to stop the bandits' advance towards her family, the tallest bandit, having lost his patience, decided this time to backhand her. "Get out of my way," he growled and raised his blade, preparing to send it crashing down on her.

It was at this time that Inigo made his presence known. Stepping behind the girl, he stopped her collision with the ground and while she was wondering how the ground had gotten so soft and warm, he blocked the oncoming sword with his own.

"Now this is no way to treat a lady," he lectured, gingerly pushing the girl aside and swiftly cutting his opponent across the stomach. Unbeknownst to his onlookers, he cringed as the sight of blood met his eyes, but his smile quickly returned.

Aware of their fallen comrade, the remaining two ruffians shifted their attention to the new arrival, allowing the elderly man and his younger granddaughter to stagger off. "Some people should learn to mind their own business," one of the men grumbled as they made a move to surround him. With the two big, burly men advancing on him, a sensible man would have tucked tail and run, but Inigo's feet remained firmly planted in place.

Once they were within striking distance, Inigo looked up at their faces and frowned. "I'm going to give you guys one chance to walk off with your lives." He raised an eyebrow. "Any takers?"

Their drawn swords, which shimmered dangerously with the sun, showed no sign of retreating back into their scabbards; at least not until Inigo's blood was smeared across them. Sensing that they were intent on taking his life, the young man sighed. "Very well," he said hopelessly, "Let us dance."

XxxxxxX

If the plume of smoke rising from the village wasn't a sign of trouble then the round of cruelly dressed, sword wielding soldiers had to be a dead giveaway. The Shepherds caught sight of the attack from their vantage point just a distance from the small farming community and awaited their leader's orders; though knowing Chrom, they most likely already knew what said orders would be. "What's going on down there," the Exalt asked as he caught up to the others.

"It would appear an attack has been made on the town ahead, milord?" Frederick informed. "Your orders?"

It was Vaike who, in his competitive spirit, stole the words from Chrom's mouth. "That goes without saying, doesn't it? We hit back twice as hard, right Chrom?"

The Exalt passed his rival a friendly smile. "Read me just like a book," he muttered, chuckling. Looking over the faces surrounding him, he called out, "You heard him. Let's go, Shepherds!"

As his allies around him charged into battle, Lon'qu remained where he stood, surveying the grounds he would be fighting on. Being a village as the venue, he assumed there would be countless bystanders and possible hostages. Though there were many people rushing to and fro in his line of sight, one character stole all his attention.

He was a young man with hair as equally dark as his own with agility and sword skills that were oddly familiar. He would have remained inconspicuous to Lon'qu had it not been for his strange actions. He was jumping from one store canopy to another and expertly running along rooftops. It wasn't until Lon'qu noticed the trail of bandits that pursued him did he realize what the young man was attempting. "The fool!" He grimaced. Unsheathing his sword he quickly rushed down to rescue the village idiot, hoping his legs would carry him down quick enough.

Olivia, noting her husband's different route to battle, saw that he had no one accompanying him, so rather than burden anyone else with the news, decided to trail after him herself.

As Inigo ran along the ground, knocking over fruit stands to tire his pursuers or fending off the bandit that would once in a while catch up to him, he was nearly forced into a skidding halt as a man, with features strikingly similar to his own, stepped in his path. His heart jolted in his chest as he gave the man's face a good look over. "D-Dad?"

Lon'qu, oblivious to what the boy was suddenly realizing, gripped Inigo by the shoulders and shoved him out of his way before they would crash headlong into each other. "Move," he shouted.

Inigo, too excited to care of his father's brusqueness, regained his footing to watch Lon'qu take out the remaining bandits who had been tailing him, a goofy grin on his face the entire time. "Dad…" He almost couldn't believe it. His dad, who was dead just a few weeks earlier, was now up and about before his very eyes; there was no mistaking it. The voice, the looks, the fighting style…They all belonged to him. He felt his throat tighten as the sobs threatened to come out.

As he fought back the urge to cry, knowing full well how his father would take it if he saw him crying now, a gentle voice spoke to him. "Uh…Are you alright…?"

Looking over his shoulder to face the owner of the beautiful voice, Inigo found himself staring at the face of none other than his mother. At once, he was at a loss for words. In the future, before the death of her husband, Olivia looked not a day older than when she stood before him now. His mind reverted back to the days of his youth as he recalled all the times he had looked upon his mother the way he was now. He was tempted to reach out and touch her soft features; ensure himself it was not a dream, but Olivia beat him to it.

Noticing the stream of red that ran along his wrist, a consequence of having been distracted during his chase, Olivia reached out and ran a tender finger along it. The cut ran deep, but nothing a few wraps of bandages couldn't handle. She freed a jar of medicine from her waist and poured it over the wound, causing him to cringe as it took effect; cleansing the gash of any potential viruses. Inigo watched as she then prepared to tear her own clothes to create a bandage and immediately stopped her.

"No, no, no," he said, nearly forgetting his current situation as he was recalling the days of his past. He pulled his arm back and took a stepped away. "It's quite alright," he assured her, "No need to ruin your clothes over this." He passed her a wink before rejoining the battle he had handed off to his father. It was ironic, he thought, that after the attempts he had made to find his parents, they were the ones who found him in the end.

Olivia, who watched the young man walk off, stared oddly back at him. Although she had noticed the wink he had passed her direction, she didn't feel her face begin to burn from embarrassment. Dumbstruck, she continued to watch him as he fought alongside her husband and she could have sworn that at some points during their fight, she was seeing double.

XxxxxxX

When the last of the bandits were slain and peace regained its throne in the village, Lon'qu, while whipping his sword free of the last drips of blood marring the blade, sought out the boy who was fighting alongside him. There was something about the way he moved that had been bothering Lon'qu throughout the entire battle. His sword skills had not been senseless and careless, quite the contrary, which was why it had captured his attention. His sword skills were similar to his own. Too similar for his liking.

While the villagers surrounding him thanked the Shepherds for their assistance, awarding them with trips to a local bathhouse, food, and weapons, the Feroxi swordsman spotted his target lying a little distance away from the others speaking to none other than his wife. The very idea of her speaking to another man in such a secluded area made him cringe, but he was more than mature than to go barging in on their conversation. Instead, he kept his distance, keeping a close eye on them.

After the battle, Inigo, though excited to reunite with both his parents, decided to meet up with his mother first as he was unsure of the reaction he would get should he confess to his father. He imagined he would be getting slugged in the face and be told to "get lost, freak." So, he had decided to approach his more sensible parent first; his beloved mother.

At first when he had asked her for a word, she appeared a little wary as her eyes shifted from one side to the other, as if searching for someone. Dad, most likely, Inigo chuckled to himself.

"Um, all right, I guess. But…How did you know my name?"

"A little bird tweeted it out," he replied though judging by her look, he could tell she was unconvinced. Regardless, he proceeded with his conversation. After having led her to the outskirts of town where there would be no prying ears or intrusions, he stared his mother up and down while he could feel beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead. She was definitely his mother, no if's, and's , or but's about it. And perhaps it was because he knew it was his mother that he felt all the more nervous. "Let's see," he made an attempt to start, "Where do I begin…?"

As he fiddled anxiously before her trying to find the correct words to begin his conversation, Olivia looked the young man up and down, wondering what he could possibly be wanting to say that could cause such nervousness. "Er yes, you see…No, what I mean to say…" Continuing to fumble over his dictionary, Inigo passed his mother a meek smile and rubbed the back of his head. "Goodness, this is much harder than chatting up the other girls I've met. I suppose it would be quickest to show you this."

Reaching into his shirt, he retrieved from hidden beneath, a pink ring. Her pink ring. Olivia let out a gasp and took a step back as if he had stricken her. Lon'qu who had watch this scene unfold from a distance, had, unfortunately, assumed it as so. Clenching his fist and gritting his teeth, he began to approach the two, dark thoughts plaguing his mind.

"M-my ring!" Quickly, she shifted her eyes towards her left hand where, to her relief, her engagement ring remained. "But…I'm wearing it. How could you possibly…"

"Indeed." Inigo chuckled; glad that the conversation was taking the direction he had wanted. "How does Inigo have your ring when it is the only one in the world? Unless it is your ring and I brought it back from the future." He held the small item up by his eye, examining the beautiful craftsmanship of the Feroxi blacksmith who had crafted it, and prepared to give it to his mother so she could do the same. However, before he could do that, a calloused hand gripped his wrist – hard – causing him to cringe.

In a deep, cold voice unlike any he had ever used in Olivia's presence, Lon'qu whispered into his son's ear, "You better have a damn good explanation for taking my wife's ring."

Suddenly realizing who the young man was to her, Olivia jumped to his rescue. "Lon'qu, stop that." She scolded.

Both father and son, startled by the rise in Olivia's voice, turned their attention to her; Lon'qu unintentionally doing as he was told. The rose-haired dancer approached the two then extended her left hand out towards her husband. "My ring is right here," she assured him.

He grabbed her hand and led it to his eye where he could get a better examination of it. Sure enough, it was the one he had given her. "But then how…" He turned his eyes towards the ring in Inigo's palm and scrunched his face in thought. Inigo continued to stare at his father until realization finally dawned on his features. "Can it be? Are you my…"

With a grin showing off all his pearly whites, Inigo nodded. "Your one and only!"

Lucina, who was watching them from her spot on a nearby rooftop, overheard their conversation and smiled. "So I was right…" As she continued to gaze at the family, her heart warming at their reunion, Chrom, who happened to be walking by underneath her, noticed her espionage and released a sigh.

"Lucina…!" He hollered.

A/N: Pretty random at the beginning, I know. But from here on out, hopefully it'll be smooth sailing. Thanks for reading!