Chapter VI

The Shepherds retreated back to Regna Ferox in safety and assembled in the throne room and Vivianne let everything that happened go through her head, once again feeling miserable. She truly has failed as a tactician, Emmeryn's faith in her turned out to be futile and the promotion seemed like an undeserved award for her.

"All of that… for nothing…" She whispered with a small voice, listening to Lissa and others cry over Emmeryn's death.

"I should have died before allowing the Exalt to be captured. I have failed as a knight…!" Frederick said, his thumb and index finger pinching the bridge of his nose.

"So what now, oaf?" Flavia asked Basilio quietly, watching the Shepherds mourning.

"Don't look at me - I'm not in charge!"

"Ugh… I picked a fine time to regain the full throne…"

Vivianne listened in to the conversations, her mouth felt dry but she knew she had to apologize. She promised she would think of a plan to rescue Emmeryn, to save her and her plan turned out to be just a joke. Gangrel and Aversa were a step ahead of her.

"Chrom… I… I'm sorry. My plan just wasn't enough. I failed you as a tactician." She said, looking at him but he only shook his head.

"You did your best, Vivi. You have my thanks. It's my own failures that haunt me now. Gods, I was just so powerless!" He clenched his fist and looked down on it and Vivianne gently put hers over his.

"It's not your fault either, Chrom."

"She did it for me, Vivi. So that I wouldn't have to live with the guilt of either choice, she chose for me… She sacrificed herself rather than give up what could one day save her people…" His voice broke and he looked down, his teeth gritted.

"Chrom… Listen to me. Look at me." Vivianne said and raised her arms, her hands cupping his cheeks to force him to look at her.

"I was powerless once, too, remember? And yes, alone, I don't think either one of us is half the person your sister was. But together… we might be something more. If you fall, I'll be there for you to pull you back up. When you fight for your sister's ideals, I'll be by your side. You don't have to become your sister, you know? You can be still true to yourself. You just have to give people hope on whatever you can." She said with a gentle smile and Chrom stared at her and though it made her feel embarrassed and her heart raced from touching him, she kept her eyes locked with his.

"And what if I can't? What if I'm not worthy of her ideals? Vivi, what if I drag you down with me?"

"If you aren't worthy, you'll keep at it until you are. And if we both fall down, well… that's what friends are for, isn't it?"

It wasn't just Vivianne's encouraging words but also the words of the Shepherds which made Chrom's gloomy expression turn to a brighter one.

"Thank you, everyone." He said turning to them. "Your words mean more than you could know. My Shepherds… My warriors… There is work to be done. Gangrel must be stopped so that peace can once again reign in Ylisse. Will you help me?"

The answer he earned was loud cheering from the Shepherds and they all gave Chrom even more encouraging words.

"Thank you all… Truly." Chrom smiled. "You honor me with your fealty. I will not falter again. We shall answer this outrage! The Mad King must be stopped!"

Olivia, the dancer who has helped them escape, also told Chrom that she would like to join and with Basilio's encouragement, Chrom accepted Olivia among the Shepherds. Basilio even went so far to call Chrom Commander.

"Commander? What happened to boy?"

"You've earned your way up from that name, I think." Basilio laughed. "Now, where were we? Oh yes! I was just about to start cracking skulls! Flavia will lead me and the other Feroxi to a head-on assault. That should buy you enough time to take down Gangrel. Hear that, boy? You get the fun part!"

"I thought you weren't going to call me…" Chrom started, but was immediately interrupted by Basilio.

"You and Vivianne have my every confidence. You're a born leader and she had a knack for guiding troops into victory. You both have some growing to do yet, but I can already see you'll grow tall!"

"Thanks, Basilio." Chrom said and Vivianne nodded.

"All right, enough talk. It's time to raise some hell!"

"Right."

"Let's go to it, then! Gangrel may try to hit us while we're still licking our wounds." Basilio said, leaving the room.

"Let him try. This time I'm ready to dethrone the Mad King. Once and for all."

With that, the Shepherds scattered to prepare for the final battle against Gangrel until only Chrom and Vivianne were left in the throne room.

"What's wrong?" Chrom asked, watching Vivianne who has hung her head.

"Basilio said he has confidence in my skills… but I don't know anymore if I should have confidence in them. My last plan has failed miserably…" She murmured and then felt Chrom's hand grab her and he squeezed it.

"It did not fail and neither did you. You did a great job and your plan would have worked, if not for the Risen. It's the same with a fight, you learn through your losses. I have experienced it so many times before and Emm's loss will also teach me more. Now you know what you can do to make the next plan flawless." He said with a kind smile and Vivianne slowly nodded, she knew he was right and and tried to look more positive even when it was hard.

"You're right."

"I'm glad you understand. Now come, we'll discuss our new plan." He said and kissed the back of her hand which made her heart jump and she blushed.

"Y-yes…"

The Shepherds started their campaign to their final battle against Gangrel the next morning. Vivianne was gripping her tome Orion tightly, this time determined to win. She wouldn't let Gangrel win again.

Chrom next to her was more tense than she was and she did want to comfort and reassure him but found no words.

Eventually they reached the battlefield and Vivianne could see the Mad King among the few Plegian soldiers. There were less soldiers than Vivianne had actually anticipated.

"Milord." Frederick approached Chrom on his horse and both he and Vivianne stopped in their tracks. "I've a report from Khan Flavia. The Plegian army is in disarray."

"What do you mean?" Chrom frowned.

"It seems many of their soldiers are opposed to further violence. There has been infighting, desertion... Gangrel is trying to stamp out the mutiny by force, but with little success. Outside of a few faithful who serve him directly, his army has all but collapsed." Frederick informed them and Vivianne found herself wondering why but Chrom did already answer for her.

"This is incredible news, but why?" He paused. "Emmeryn."

"Yes, Milord. Emmeryn. The report says Gangrel's men chant her name as they abandon the field. Her words, and her sacrifice, have made her a folk hero of sorts."

"Emmeryn... Why did it take me so long to understand? She believed all people desire peace. She knew, deep down, the Plegians wanted it, too. It just took her to bring it to the surface." Chrom smiled, his hand hiding his eyes as he looked up to the sky. Vivianne smiled at his realization, she could see that Chrom was overcoming the events of the last few days, though slowly.

"I hope she can see this, wherever she is... Today we put an end to Mad King Gangrel and bring peace back to the land." Chrom said, pumping his fist and looked over to Vivianne who still kept smiling. "Ready for it, Vivi?"

"Yes."

Chrom turned around to the Shepherds and shouted that the battle has begun before he and Vivianne rushed into the battle ahead of them and aimed at Gangrel. If the enemy's leader falls, the rest of the soldiers would most probably stop fighting.

Their plan was to pair up and fight Gangrel together – as a team as the Mad King tends to fight very dirty and as such two more pairs of eyes were more helpful.

"Good day, my little princeling! Still dreaming of your squashed sister?" Gangrel laughed and eyed Vivianne next to him but Chrom blocked his sight by standing in front of her.

"No more talk, Gangrel. Today you die, and peace returns to Ylisse and Plegia." Chrom hissed which caused Gangrel only to laugh more.

"Pah! Such hypocrisy! You despise me, wretch! You want to cut me down! You don't know the first thing about peace. No man does!"

"I know more than you ever will."

"More than me? More than me?!" Gangrel put his hand on his forehead and put his head in his neck. "You are me! When life asks you a question, you answer with blood!"

"Maybe you're right... I will never be my sister. I cannot forgive men like you—men who sow nothing but evil. All I have left are her words, and her memory. Were I alone, I might be driven to madness. ...Or worse. But I'm not alone. My friends and brothers-in-arms stand behind me!" Chrom shouted, raising his arms to point with his palm at the Shepherds fighting Plegian soldiers.

„...Are you done? May I vomit now? Bwa ha ha! What a flowery harangue! Men are beasts! Nothing more! We fight! We kill! We devour our prey! Beasts do not stand behind beasts, little prince... They use each other only so long as it suits their own selfish purpose!"

"Perhaps this explains why your own soldiers refuse to stand behind you? You are a poison. A festering wound. And I will do what my sister could not." Chrom said and put his hand on Falchion, pulling it out of the scabbard.

"Such a clever tongue you have, little prince... It will look quite fetching hanging on my mantle, next to your sister's corpse!" Gangrel took out his sword, looking similar to Vivianne's Levin Sword. He looked at Vivianne who gripped her tome even tighter, feeling a little bit sick after hearing Gangrel's words. "Or maybe I should scar you pretty tactician's face to make you come at me with rage?"

"Don't even try." Chrom said with a composed voice and pounced at Gangrel and the two of them exchanged blows, Vivianne did notice that Gangrel was not a great fighter and tried to find an opening in Chrom's stance and saw him throwing something at Chrom. She reacted faster than the prince and pushed him to the side, catching the shiny object before throwing it high in the air where it exploded. The Mad King then attacked Vivianne but Chrom defended her and the battle continued with Vivianne's magical support.

Vivianne was astonished how much endurance Gangrel had or maybe his insanity just let him fade the pain out, he had such deep wounds from which blood was gushing out and he has lost enough blood for a normal person to die.

In this case the battle would drag on endlessly and the most Plegian soldiers were defeated or fled, only a handful of them were left standing on the battlefield. Vivianne thought about throwing her most powerful spells at Gangrel when she felt her tome heating up and once she looked down, it was glinting and small azure lightnings were encompassing it. A new spell has appeared on the pages, something that happened the last few times and Vivianne had a feeling it only happened when she grew stronger. It was a completely new spell, manipulating a different kind of element than usual.

Vivianne raised her hand and started to gather magical energy in her palm and threw it at the Mad King.

"Lumen!" The light turned into a huge arrow which pierced through Gangrel's upper body and charred his organs and Chrom used the chance to kill Gangrel.

"F-fool of a prince..." Gangrel coughed up blood as he slowly stumbled to the ground. "Your people care... not for you... You are... alone. As every man lives and dies:... alone..." His voice grew quieter until he went entirely silent. He was lying there, his eyes opened but without any sign of life in them. His mouth was distorted into a last maniac grin.

Chrom and Vivianne were gasping, but both of them showed each other a satisfied smile.

Seeing their leader fallen, the rest of the soldiers left the battlefield and a loud cheer echoed from the Shepherd, alongside shouts and singing of their victory. Vivianne giggled hearing her friends being that ecstatic about their victory and Chrom wrapped his arm around Vivianne's shoulders, both of them cheering with them.

"Thank you, Vivi." Chrom said and pulled Vivianne closer to him. "Thanks to your tactics we won."

He was chuckling and Vivianne felt her face getting hotter when she felt his skin against hers.

"Uhm... you're welcome?"

"Heh, right. Now come, let's go meet up with the others." His hand slid down from her shoulder to her hand and he kept holding her hand while they walked back; something that made her feel embarrassed.

After the battle the Shepherds returned back to the camp, all of them agreeing on celebrating and getting their wounds healed. The only ones who stayed behind were the Khans and Chrom and Vivianne. An Ylissean soldier informed then that all the Plegian forces were surrendering en masse so Chrom ordered him to order the Ylissean forces to cease fighting.

"Then it's finished." Flavia chuckled, playing with her sword in her hand. "Once their messenger delivers out terms, that's it. We put an end to this bloody business, once and for all."

"We've won..." Chrom went quiet for a moment. "...Somehow I don't feel like celebrating."

"Victory can be bitter as well as sweet, boy." Basilio sighed. "It's good you learn that now.

"Regna Ferox has lost many good soldiers today. We need to see our dead. Then it's time to attend to the living and rebuild our army."

"I'm sorry, Flavia. Your sacrifice will not be forgotten. Ylisse will compensate your nation in whatever fashion..." Chrom started and Flavia immediately interrupted him.

"Oh? In that case, how about you hand over the Fire Emblem and we'll call it even?" She laughed but Chrom glared at her. "Just a little Feroxi humor. Don't worry about our finances, Chrom. Reparations will fall to Plegia, and I've seen their treasury. They can well afford it."

"Yes, pity the man who stands between Flavia and a full coffer, boy!" Basilio laughed and held his stomach but Chrom only smirked.

"Heh, I'll have to remember that when you come to visit Ylisstol."

The two of them left towards their own troops to look for the dead but Basilio made them promise to drink with him and Flavia later.

"I'm glad it's over." Vivianne nodded and put her hand on her hip. She noticed Chrom nodding but he looked lost in thoughts and though she was curious she decided to return to camp. She just turned around when Chrom called out to her.

"Vivianne?"

"Yes?" She stopped in her tracks and looked over to him.

"I...I have to apologize. This was not your war to fight."

"But I chose to fight it. I have chosen to follow you and be by your side, remember? I did it because without you, I'd have no idea what to do. You gave me a home, a reason to live." She smiled softly, watching the handsome man in front of her. Back then she would have never thought she would ever fall in love with Chrom which only strengthened her loyalty towards him.

"Vivi…" He muttered with a touched expression and Vivianne soon found herself wrapped in his arms, pressed to his strong chest. She winced at the feeling of his warmth and scent surrounding her. He had a nice scent and the realization he hugged her made her heart go overdrive and her face flushed. She had to fight back cuddling against him. He was the army's general - a prince - she couldn't be with him neither should she have romantic feelings towards him and yet she couldn't stop her affection from growing and she sometimes found herself hoping, hoping he might feel the same.

"Vivianne, there's something I'd like to say." He then whispered and she turned her head up to look at him, his expression was serious even though he blushed.

"G-go ahead."

"Well… uhm… you see, during all this time I was just focused on stopping Gangrel, no matter what. Even my own life would not have been too high a price to pay." He frowned but Vivianne shook her head and raised her arm - though it was tricky with his arms around her - and she cupped his cheek with her hand.

"It would have been for us!" She scolded, pausing for a moment. "...And for me."

"I've also been thinking a lot about everything, Vivianne. About you as well. We have known each other for quite some time now and we are always fighting side by side. At first I thought of you as a comrade, later as my best friend. But you are more than that, you're a special woman… and I have thought if… you know, you think more of me as your leader?"

His blush went down to his neck and yet his expression stayed serious, patiently waiting for her answer, and Vivianne found herself hoping. Hoping he might reciprocate her feelings. However, she was afraid she might say something she'd regret and ruin their friendship and receive a rejection so she answered vaguely.

"I think of you as a great man…" She smiled. "And… dear to my heart."

She watched his face, his eyes have grown wider for a moment but then his lips broke in an excited smile, his arms growing tighter around her.

"Vivianne, I've tried to keep this bottled up but I can't do this anymore. My sister always followed her heart, so now I'm going to follow mine." He cleared his throat when his arms slid off her and his hand grabbed Vivianne's. "We met under unusual circumstances, but lives have been made from far less. And uhm… what I want to ask… to say… er…" He took a deep breath and knelt down on one knee in front of her, still holding her hand and it seemed like the time has stopped, everything around them disappeared. "You are the wind at my back and the sword at my side, Vivianne. I love you. Will you grant me the honor to marry you?"

Vivianne stared at Chrom for a moment, unable to say anything but she felt his hand holding hers tremble. Her eyes teared up in joy and she cupped her mouth with her hand.

"...Yes…" She sobbed, unable to hold back her emotions and smiled while crying. "Yes, I'll marry you."

Chrom smiled at her in glee, kissing the top of her hand as he slipped on a golden ring with the crest of the Ylissean royal family on her left ring finger. Vivianne looked at it for a moment and just couldn't hold back anymore and threw herself in his arms so that Chrom had to catch her and he fell back, Vivianne kneeling between his legs and her arms around his neck.

"I love you, too. I love you so much." She sobbed, her words almost incomprehensible and Chrom laughed, wiping the tears from her cheeks, his other arm around her.

"With a word you've made me the happiest man in all the realm. I never want to let you go, Vivi. Does that make me selfish?" He asked after Vivianne calmed down.

"If so, then let me be selfish, too. I would be with you, always." She grinned and felt Chrom cup her cheek and their faces drew closer, their lips meeting in a long kiss, almost as if their lips were yearning for each other and it filled Vivianne with a sense of fulfillment, knowing that the handsome man before her was reciprocating her feelings. After a while they pulled away from each other, though reluctantly.

"I'll need to ask for a bit of patience for the near future. My first duty must be to heal the scars of war and assume my role for the people. But then, we can begin our life together. My love, we shall build a peaceful world together… Just you and me…"

"That's all right. I'm a tactician, remember? I'll figure something out." She replied, cuddling against him.

"Thank you." Chrom kissed her cheek and leaned in to kiss her.

"I can't help but think about the day we have met. It's strange how fate brought us together. I can't even imagine anymore how things would have turned out if you wouldn't have found me. I am a lucky woman to have met you, and luckier still now." She told him after their kiss and Chrom reached out to wipe some lost hair strands out of her face.

"I know together we can bring joy back to the royal palace. I'll do everything to make the castle a happy home for us… my love." He kissed the top of her head and Vivianne giggled.

"My love." She cupped his cheeks and pulled him in for a kiss, this time being the one initiating it.

The two of them returned afterwards to the camp where they were congratulated which surprised both at first until Lissa told them that they have witnessed the proposal and Vivianne's face grew bright red imagining them spying on them. Yet the Shepherds continued to celebrate their victory and Chrom and Vivianne's engagement deep into the night.

And so the war between Ylisse and Plegia was ended. Chrom and Viviane worked tirelessly to restore Ylisse. This would be no easy task, for the war had taken a heavy toll on the halidom. But with Feroxi muscle and Plegian gold, they brought peace back to the people. Even so, Chrom's subjects grew eager for the prince to take a wife and so the engagement between Chrom and Vivianne was announced.

The royal wedding was a joyous occasion, attended by thousands from near and far and the royal couple was crowned King and Queen of Ylisse on their wedding day.

"Give me your hand." Chrom said, smiling at Vivianne. He looked at her over his shoulder, his hand reached out to her. Vivianne raised the hem of her wedding dress which was clearly beautiful and divine. It gave off the impression of being translucent, one could see the silhouettes of her legs. It was a sleeveless dress, the sleeves were separated from the dress and the skirt looked slightly like wings. Her veil was already taken off, only a blue rose with white lace remained in her hair which was decorated with many little white flowers.

Chrom helped his new wife step onto the main balcony and she fidgeted.

"I'm a little bit nervous…"

"Don't be. The people just want to see and greet their new queen. And I want to show off my beautiful wife." Chrom encouraged her, himself looking regal in his king garb and Vivianne nodded, blushing at his words. Taking a deep breath they stepped closer to the railing with their arms linked together and the mass of people took away the new queen's breath still she raised her hand to wave towards her people alongside her husband. She could feel Chrom wrap his arm around her waist and she looked up to him, his lips descending on hers which made the people cheer even more and Vivianne's face grew bright red out of embarrassment to have kissed in the public. Chrom only chuckled and held her hand, intertwining their fingers.

"Let's go, my beautiful wife. The carriage waits for us in the courtyard. Let me show you off to the people."

He tugged on her arm and then scooped her up into his arms though Vivianne protested and wrapped her arms around his neck. Chrom carried his wife down the stairs to the carriage, both of them going to enjoy the rest of the day.

Finally, it seemed that the last lingering wounds of Ylisse's history had healed.