Morgan was bored.

The Lucky Golden was an interesting enough ship, sure. It was, in fact, a marvel of modern engineering. Assuming good weather, the Lucky Golden required only a single person to steer for its full crew. Anna took care of the "steering" part. Robin, meanwhile, had found an interesting ritual in Lute's tome, and was currently deep inside the ship taking care of the "good weather" part. So Morgan was left alone. And bored.

That is, until the Lucky Golden was struck with a catapult.

"Dear Gods!" the young girl shouted. She ran towards the steering wheel, only to bump into Anna on the way.

"Pirates..." muttered the redhead, pulling herself off the ground. "You okay, Morgan?"

"Yeah... Yeah, I'm fine."

"Good. That was a warning shot. They won't be trying to sink this ship; they'll want to capture it. Go and get your father."

Morgan nodded, then charged her way through the innards of the ship to find her father in a deep trance, apparently unaware of what had just transpired.

"Father!" she cried. No response. She ran up to him and shook his arm. "Father! We're under attack!"

"Wha-?" Robin quickly fell back into consciousness. "Morgan!? What is it? I'm sorry, but this ritual really shouldn't be interrupted."

"Yeah yeah yeah I get that... But we're under attack! Pirates!"

Robin stared blankly for a moment, apparently registering the fact that he was no longer in any sort of trance.

"...Damn! What kind of armaments do we have?"

"I don't see how that's relevant when we have a crew of three to operate it."

"...Right..." he said, shaking his head. "Grab your tomes and your sword, Morgan. Tell Anna to continue sailing due west, I'll join you in a minute."

"Do you have a plan, father?"

"Of course I do! Be ready for battle. I don't know if Anna can fight, but if she can, tell her to be ready."

Morgan charged back up to the bridge of the ship. "Anna! Can you fight!?"

"I'm not half bad with a sword, if it helps!"

"Great, grab your sword, and then continue sailing west!"

The ship continued its course, until it was eventually hit with another cannonball, this one aiming to tear a hole in the sail. No mere warning shot.

"Morgan, I hope your father lives up to the legend!" shouted Anna.

Boom! Another cannonball.

Anna held steady to the wheel, while Morgan flipped through her tomes.

Boom!

"Dammit, dad... Where are you!?" Morgan muttered to herself.

"Sorry I'm late!" Robin called out, running onto the deck of the ship. "Anna! Turn this thing around! Raise the white flag!"

"Surrender!?" she yelled back. "That's your brilliant plan!?"

"I would never surrender! I would, however, fake a surrender! Be ready to fight!"

"Isn't that a bit dishonorable?"

Boom!

"If you have a more honorable plan, I'm all ears!"

Anna sighed and raised the flag as told. She spun the ship's wheel around. Robin marveled as he watched the ship's hundreds of mechanical pieces turn the sails nearly instantly. Then, he turned to his daughter.

"Morgan, this is Valflame." he said, handing her a tome. "It is a very powerful, very dangerous fire tome. When I nod towards you, I want you to use it. You'll know where to cast it."

"Got it!" she said. "What are those tomes? Is that Mjölnir?"

"This is just my trusty Thoron. This, however," he declared proudly, holding up a tome Morgan had never seen before, "is quite possibly the single most useless tome in existence in a battlefield setting."

Morgan, by this point used to her fathers unconventional plans, shook her head. "I certainly hope you know what you're doing..."

The Lucky Golden was fast approaching the pirate's ship. Robin made a point to conceal himself behind a few barrels, while Morgan stood near the front of the ship. It didn't take long at all for the pirate ship to catch up to the Lucky Golden.

It had a crew of perhaps twenty, but was roughly the same size as Anna's ship. On the deck of the ship, several archers trained their bows on Anna and Morgan.

"Hello there, gentlemen!" Anna shouted in an all too cheery fashion. "How can I help you?"

"Shut up." said the captain bluntly. "Hands in the air, no funny-"

"Ha!" screamed Robin from behind his hiding place, extending an arm for a spell. The pirate archers aimed their bows at Robin and were about to fire... Until they realized that nothing had happened.

"Erm... Ha!" screamed Robin again, making the same movements. Nothing.

"That... Wasn't supposed to happen like that..."

"That all you got, mage?" asked the captain. "You know-"

"Look!" exclaimed the pirate ship's first mate, pointing downward.

At the base of the captain's feet was a minuscule rainbow.

"...A rainbow?" asked the bewildered captain.

"It... Uh... Was supposed to be light... Magic..."

The captain started laughing. "Pffffffft! You did a bang up job on that one! Boys! Come and check out this guy's 'light magic'!"

The pirate crew gathered around the tiny rainbow Robin had conjured, staring at the strange, if entirely worthless phenomenon.

Robin smirked to himself as his enemies crowded around it. Easier than I was expecting! I told Laurent I'd find a use for that tome!

He looked towards his daughter to see the same knowing look in her eyes. "Like fish in a barrel," Morgan mouthed.

Robin nodded and mouthed back "now."

"Valflame!" cried the younger tactician. The side of the pirate ship, and most of its crew, was engulfed in an enormous explosion. The captain fell back, reeling from the pain.

"Hell, what was-"

"I've no desire," called out Robin, holding a small flame in his hand to draw attention away from Morgan, "to hurt any more of you. Should you be willing to surrender, we'll be glad to help treat your injuries."

"Kill the man!" barked the pirate captain, still clutching his head. "As for the girls... Well... It's a long way back to shore! Suppose we'll need some... Entertainment?"

The remainder of his crew began laughing and steadying their weapons.

There were really very few ways to make Robin angry.

Threatening Morgan was one of them. It was, in fact, by far the most reliable way to make Robin angry, right next to threatening Lucina.

Of course, making Robin angry was among the dumbest things the pirate captain could have done. This was a lesson he would have learned, had he not been killed by a sudden bolt of Thoron to the chest.

Instantly, the remaining members of the pirate crew began throwing whatever attacks they could at Robin. The tactician silently brushed off every arrow, every axe, and every javelin with his wind magic. A small tornado had formed around him for protection. His hand cackled with electricity, and his mouth contorted into a small frown. Without a word, he sent another bolt of Thoron through the heart of a pirate.

He was the eye of his own storm.

Morgan, meanwhile, was being far more conservative with her magic. "Arcfire!" she cried out, extending her arm. A fireball shot from her hand, killing another pirate.

By this point, the pirate crew was getting desperate. The remaining members were attempting to swing by rope to the Lucky Golden. Anna quickly found herself in a sword duel with one, as Robin cast two bolts of Thoron at once to kill two more before they landed on deck.

Was... Was Thoron always this hard to cast? he thought to himself. He felt his right arm begin to tremble... It didn't matter. At this point, he cared only about one thing, and that was protecting Morgan.

Six more left. Morgan had switched to using her rapier, with an Arcwind tome in her left hand. She was fighting two at the same time, and actually winning. She jumped over and around the pirates, using wind magic to power her acrobatics. A powerful blast at her feet knocked her opponent off balance and sent her directly behind him - the perfect position to run him through with her sword. A quick stab, and the pirates were down to five.

Robin found himself face to face with three remaining pirates. He cast another Thoron forwards, killing one, but for some reason, causing an enormous pain in his stomach. He doubled over in pain, giving another pirate the perfect opportunity to kick the mage's tome from his hands.

Robin rolled out of the way to face two pirates with axes advancing slowly towards him, and he was unarmed. Still, the man smirked knowingly to himself.

In theory, a tome was not an actual requirement to cast a spell.

In practice, even the most powerful mages needed tomes to perform basic combat spells. It helped them focus their magic. Sure, one could light a fire or create a gentle breeze without a tome, but few mages would dare cast a spell as powerful as Thoron without something to channel their magic.

Robin was one of those few. During the wars with Valm and Plegia, he'd surprised at least a dozen troops who'd thought they had the upper hand by casting his spells with no tome in sight. It was a tiring thing to do, but he was more than capable.

At least, he thought he was.

"Thor-AAAAGHHH!" Robin wretched back in pain as his right arm brimmed with electricity.

"Father!" called Morgan. She'd just won her duel with the pirate and rushed over to help Robin.

Suddenly, the world began spinning before him. He saw Morgan, then a bright flash of red, then... Nothing.

Thunder cracked loudly outside of the ship as Robin opened his eyes to see the ceiling of his room. The pain in his head caused him to close his eyes again almost instantly.

"Ugh..." he moaned. "What happened?"

"Father!" he heard Morgan cry out. He heard her footsteps approach.

"Morgan? Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah... Yeah, everyone is fine..." she said. "Ugh... This is all my fault..." she muttered to herself.

"What do you mean?"

Robin heard her sit down on the end of his bed.

"...I mean you. Being hurt. You exhausted your own magical abilities. That last Thoron you tried to cast with no tome... It uh... Backfired. Hitting you. There's no permanent damage, thank the Gods, but still..."

"...Morgan, wouldn't that be my fault?" he asked weakly.

"No... See, the reason you were so reckless with your magic was because during the war, that would have been nothing to you."

"That's true, but-"

"You overestimated your abilities because during the war, you and I could both draw from Grima's magic. I lost that ability a year ago when he died. You did too, but you've been unaware of it. That's why this is my fault. I should have told you, but I didn't even think of it. You don't know your own power anymore. We're supposed to be a team, and I failed you by neglecting to tell you valuable information."

"...Well..." said Robin. "You said there was no permanent damage, right? So no harm, no foul."

She sighed, obviously not wanting to accept that answer, but having no other choice.

"...A few of the pirates survived." Morgan spoke up. "Anna's got them in the brig. She's going to see if there's a bounty when we land."

"...There was nothing honorable about my strategy there." Robin said. "But we didn't have much of a choice. And after what that captain said... An honorable fight would have been too good for them."

There was a certain bite to his voice. Morgan guessed that if he were facing the pirates right then, he'd have spit in their faces at the end of that sentence.

"And a parley would have cost us the element of surprise, if negotiations turned sour. That was our only option." Morgan agreed. "...Get some rest, dad. And no magic for the next couple of days! Doctor's orders!"

"...Doctor?"

"I told you, I've been studying healing magic! Don't worry about that ritual you were conducting. I'll handle it."

Robin leaned up weakly and opened his eyes to see Morgan twirling her healing staff idly like a baton. Moreover, he noticed a thick bandage on her cheek and a bloodstain on her shirt.

"...I'm sorry you had to fight, Morgan."

"I'm no stranger to fighting, dad."

"I know. And I'm sorry for that too. ...I um... I dragged you into a war the minute I met you. But you were so enthusiastic to fight... And no matter how much I wanted to, I couldn't ask the other Shepherds to send their loved ones into battle and keep you on the sidelines."

"I'll fight to keep those I care about safe. It's what I've always done, and I never regretted it for a moment. That's why I wanna be a tactician, ya know? To protect the innocent."

On the one hand, Robin felt enormous pride in her. Morgan wanted to use her talents to help people, and that's all he ever really wanted for her. Whether she was a tactician or something else entirely, protecting the innocent was the most noble goal he could ask for.

On the other hand, it was, by its very nature, a dangerous profession, and he had always worried for her. He doubted that would ever go away.

"Just... Remember this, Morgan. A tactician's first job is not to win a war, but to prevent it. The best generals aren't the ones winning famous battles. They're the ones sitting behind a desk all day because their countries are peaceful. Because no one would dare to attack them. Do you understand?"

"...Yeah. Once we get back to Ylisse, I'm sure grandfather will be glad to give you the most boring office job there is!"

"Heh... Well, I was considering writing a book on tactics or something..." said Robin, turning over onto his side and nearly drifting back to sleep.

"Besides..." he added. "The younger version of you will probably be born within the next year or two. I won't have the time for another war!"

"That'll be weird... Meeting me in an alternate timeline..."

"...You're not jealous, are you? You know, your mother will never admit it, but she-"

"Oh, Gods no, father! I'm pretty much just gonna induct little me into the Justice Cabal. It'll be so cool!"

...Little Morgan is going to be even more Morgan than Morgan... thought Robin, grinning to himself, despite the pain he was in.

...I can't wait.

A/N: Fun fact: Magic exhaustion is a real thing in the FE universe! I didn't just make it up! See Pent and Erk's supports in Fire Emblem 7.

So here's da thing. When I started writing this I had much more free time. Now I do not. So updates are gonna be just a biiiiiiit rarer. I'd rather have one good chapter every two weeks than one okay ish chapter every week, ya know?

Responses:

Vastler75: I suppose the color changing potion would be easier, but it also seems less readily available. Also I kinda... Didn't think of it at the time.

KimranReech: Yeah... I can see where you're coming from. I really do appreciate honest criticism like that, because it's the only way I'll improve. I looked back over that chapter, and I think you're right. It's not my best chapter. (For what it's worth, I feel like chapters 4, 6, and 8 are my best chapters so far.) Chapter 9 is one I might redo if I get the time... Thank you so much!

Sean Son of Athena: As for your chapter 4 question... This is one of the only times where I can, as an author, just use "magic" as my answer and totally get away with it, so... Magic. That's how they're driving the wagon. :P

As for everyone else, thank you so much, as always! I'm glad a lot of you seem to see Chrom as not super overprotective too. I got that mostly from his support with Maribelle, in which Maribelle is trying to control Lissa's love life and Chrom scolds her for it. See y'all in like two weeks ish? Trying to get my schedule for this fully worked out still, but every other week will probably work alright. As opposed to my previous weekly schedule.