Hello, Hello. I finally got time to finish this. Enjoy! Also, this and next chapter are going to be the feels chapter. Now, I'm not really good with emotional stuff and my dialogue isn't exactly brilliant, but I tried my best.

Emotional Chapter in 3,2,1...


Chrom sprinted through the thick woods, chasing down the Shimei impostor. Every now and again he would swat a stray branch that crossed his path, but it didn't slow him down. The route itself was dimly lit. The two had distanced themselves from the fair, and the comforting lights from the torches couldn't be seen let alone used. Dew drops reflected the moonlight and the occasional lightning bug would flicker, but nothing note-worthy in luminosity.

The air was chilled and would feel like nails in your lungs if you ran in it for too long.

Chrom didn't care. He had too much on his mind to be concerned with lighting or weather.

As the Lord continued his dash, he noticed a figure appearing. The figure was wearing a long cloak, the tail being seen flowing around against the motion and wind.

Chrom immediately knew who it was.

"Hey, wait!" Chrom yelled to the imposter. To no avail, they seemed to move faster when Chrom had called out to them.

"Don't think you're getting away from me!" Chrom yelled hoping to coax the person into surrendering.

The figure adjusted their head, as if they were lost in thought for a second. Suddenly, the looked back up as the lighting of the forest intensified. They reached the lake that the forest engulfed. The reflection from the water gave off more light than the dew in the woods, and the lack of trees in that area allowed the moon to give its undivided attention, like a spotlight.

The figure halted realizing their trapped situation. Chrom finally reached the end of his pursuit and stood behind the Shimei imposter.

The two of them stood quietly, as if they were collecting what they would say and argue back. Finally, Chrom took a deep breath, and began to speak.

"So…It's safe to assume I was right about who you are." Chrom said realizing he had the person's attention. "You aren't Shimei."

The figure turned toward Chrom, they still had their Shimei look perfectly. Chrom had almost forgotten the likeness during the chase.

"That's right." The figure said. This time the voice was feminine, proving that it was a woman posing as Shimei.

"So…who are you really?" Chrom asked.

The woman only began to give a chuckle. It wasn't a funny joke chuckle or one you get from watching your friend do something stupid. It was that chuckle you get when you try and fight back tears. Chrom merely stared in confusion at the random laughter.

"You really haven't figured it out? I thought the fact that I was taller AND a girl would give it away." The woman said reaching for her hair.

She revealed that it was a wig made in the likeness of Shimei's hair when she removed it from her head. In its place, scruffy brown hair with two pig tails that rested on her shoulders.

Chrom merely gave a dumbfounded stare. "Ayaka…?" he asked in confusion.

Lissa, Owain, Lucina, and Morgan travelled through the woods. They had managed to find footprints from fresh mud, revealing the path Chrom travelled. As the group pushed forward, each had their own reaction to the prior events.

"So, how do feel about this?" Lucina asked Morgan. "You were excited to see him again, so…" Lucina continued but as she finished she felt the awkwardness silence her a bit.

Morgan looked at the scenery for a bit. She then turned her attention to Lucina.

Morgan gave a slight smile. It wasn't anything like she usually did, but she felt the need to remain a tad optimistic.

"If it really is father, then I'm sure he'll have an explanation to why he did all of this…" Morgan explained. When she finished, she paused for a brief second, as a small amount of doubt began to fill her head.

"Though for the life of me, I can't figure out why."

Lissa listened to the entirety of the conversation. She wanted to stop, pull her daughter into a hug, and tell her everything would be okay. At the same time, however, she didn't want to accept that snarky, confusing person as her Shimei. Owain was the only one remaining in dapper spirits.

"Everyone! I feel the blood of Chrom and father growing! We must be close." Owain declared with gusto.

Lucina merely sighed in annoyance. "We all see the footprints, Owain." She said pointing out the REAL reason they could track the two.

Owain hung his head downward. His fun dampened by Lucina's correction.

Everyone looked up as the light began to intensify around them. They had reached the lake where Chrom and Ayaka had stopped at. When they arrived, Morgan immediately took notice of who Chrom was speaking to.

"Aunt Ayak-" Morgan wanted to yell in surprise, but Lucina covered Morgan's mouth with her hand and gave a quiet shush.

Lucina motioned everyone to hide behind the trees to listen in from afar.

"So, why did you do this?" Chrom asked angrily. He wanted a good reason that Ayaka would try and sully Shimei's name with this stunt of hers.

Ayaka merely stood quietly.

"This is a day in honor of what Shimei did! And you decide to go and insult him?!" Chrom yelled. He was growing more furious by the second from Ayaka's difficulty.

Ayaka clenched her fist. Chrom had something that set her off. She turned and made livid eye contact that matched Chrom's.

"Don't you, of all people, talk to me about insulting Shimei!" Ayaka retorted.

The two became silenced once again. A gust of wind rustled through before the argument continued.

"What are you talking about?" Chrom asked. His rage had subsided during the silence.

But Ayaka's hadn't.

"You're just like everyone else! You claim to have faith in him, but you've given up! You don't-" Ayaka ranted before pausing.

She needed to calm down for the next part. Ayaka took a deep breath and asked a single question.

"Chrom, you've stopped believing Shimei will return, haven't you?"

Chrom merely stood silently in shock. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Not just him, Lucina and the others were listening as well. Lucina was doing everything she could to not give away their position by yelling at Ayaka.

"What? That's ridiculous! Of course I haven't!" Chrom answered.

Ayaka merely sighed. She seemed like she was expecting that answer, but upset at him actually saying it.

"Is that so…" Ayaka asked quietly. As she did, she reached into the sleeves of her cloak and pulled out an envelope.

The envelope had the Ylissean symbol on it, showing that it was written by Chrom. Ayaka began to slowly break the seal of the envelope, and removed the letter inside.

"To the current ruler, East Khan, Flavia…" Ayaka read aloud.

"I'm ordering a cease on the search for Shimei. As much as it pains me to say, we're wasting soldiers on a lost cause. I will personally take up the task whenever possible, but consider any debts fully paid…"

"Shall I continue?" Ayaka asked.

Chrom looked downward. He thought no one would ever see that letter, save for Flavia. How did Ayaka find it?

"So, I'll ask again. Chrom, have you given up?"

Chrom remained silent, almost in a broken state. He eventually swallowed his fears and uttered a single sentence.

"I don't know…"

Ayaka stayed quiet and motioned for him to continue.

"I-It's true. I did call back all of the soldiers that were searching. It wasn't smart to have our defenses scattered in small forces. It's not that I want to give up…I just…"

"I have lost an actual reason to believe he'll return, especially not one to justify using others."

Ayaka crumbled the letter in her hands. His answer sickened her to the core of her heart. Lucina couldn't believe her ears. Her father had encouraged everyone to keep believing, but he didn't herself.

Lucina turned to Lissa, who had a stream of tears flowing down her cheeks when she heard Chrom's answer.

"…But still. Why go through all of this? Why give us hope just to break it?" Chrom asked disheartening, his voice still depressed from revealing his secret.

"That's exactly the reason." Ayaka explained.

"I gave everyone a moment to believe that Shimei had returned. He would disappear, and everyone would be willing to go search for him. Their belief would return and…and…"

Ayaka stopped as tears began forming. She tried to hold it back and remain resolute, but her emotions were ready to burst the dam of her demeanor.

"…Then…maybe he would actually come back…I-I JUST WANT MY BROTHER BACK!" Ayaka cried literally flooding her cheeks with tears.

Chrom walked over and pulled Ayaka in for a hug. Ayaka tried to push him away, as far as she was concerned, she hated the man, but then Chrom spoke.

"I miss him too. Lissa and everyone else as well…but we don't deserve the right…not when we haven't been as faithful as you. I'm sorry, not just to Shimei, but to you as well, Ayaka."

Ayaka rested her head on Chrom's shoulder. She could see the scratch that she dealt his bare shoulder as she sobbed. It's true that she wanted Shimei back more than anyone, but having someone comfort her felt nice too.

After a minute or two, Ayaka finally stopped and managed to regain her composure.

"I-I'm…I'm sorry, Chrom. For the stunt, and for what I said." Ayaka said.

Lucina, Morgan, and Owain all watched tear-eyed at the moment. Morgan and Owain wanted to run up and hug their dear aunt, but kept themselves under control. Finally, Lissa stepped back. Tears now dried she motioned for family to follow, and the group retreated to the forest.

There was a long silence from the trek back to the festival. Everyone stayed in a straight line, but eventually, Morgan ran to the front to speak with Lissa.

"M-Mother? Don't you want to talk with Ayaka? Aren't you mad?" the daughter asked.

Lissa shook her head. "No. I don't. Though a little overdone, she had every right."

Morgan looked downward. She quickly pieced together her thoughts and asked one more question.

"Is there anywhere else you'd like to go?"

Lissa stopped for a second. Immediately, somewhere came to mind. One place she hadn't visited in a while.

"Yes, I think there is. Here come with me. You too, Owain."

The mother continued forward. There was one more place to visit, and one more thing she had to do.


And just one more chapter to finish this story...