A/N: Hey guys! I had fun writing this chapter up, especially due to a little surprise at the end. Enjoy!


The Mila Tree, Part the Second

"Do not give ground to the dissenters!" Cervantes roared as loud as he could.

"A poor choice, General," Lucina's voice echoed down from the trees. With Anna's original sound tome in effect, she sounded more like a Divine Voice she was attempting to impersonate in order to inspire fear in the hearts of those that they were facing. The next instant, a lightning spear was cast down from the Mila Tree's branches to strike the loud general where he stood.

The seven warriors all charged at the wounded man and his retainers, with Klein in the lead. "Leafa!" he called as he moved to engage a female sword master. "Make sure Cynthia makes it back, no matter what!"

"I will!" the dark-haired girl said as she stood back-to-back with the young woman of interest. "I've got her back!" Her katana flicked out and dispatched an axe-wielder that got too close for comfort.

"Yeah!" Cynthia crowed as she fended off another attacker. "Together the princesses of Ylisse and Alfheim will vanquish all evil! Criminals beware!"

Leafa, otherwise known as Suguha Kirigiya, had been put in prison along with the Cerulean-haired pegasus rider shortly after her sudden arrival in Valm. She had been terrified that she was going to be killed by the rough jailers, but after talking with Cynthia for a few days, the energetic girl had managed to cheer her up somewhat. Then Klein and Sinon had come to knock down the gates to their prison, and in her heart, Leafa knew that Kirito could not be far behind. Now it was up to her to fight her way to see her brother again.


Kirito spared a moment to look back down the roots that led up to the base of the Mila Tree as the other Shepherds pressed on. They had begun the attack when Robin had cast his first bolt of magic while Lucina acted as the voice of Tiki

At the base of the wooden pathway stood Lissa, Libra, Maribelle, and Yui, acting as healers from a distance, and in Lissa and Yui's case, long-range mages providing helpful cover fire. Kirito noticed that his daughter tended to aim to wound while Lissa- though a gentle soul she was- went for the more lethal shots.

He nodded, satisfied, and turned back to face up the pathway just in time to see Asuna unleash lightning magic at a trio of foot soldiers, instantly downing them where they stood. He moved fast, his black and blue blades moving in perfect rhythm to cut down a spearman that tried to get her while her focus was directed through the magic. I hope that Yui never has to take a life, he thought as he and the Lightning Flash moved forward. It just seems to get easier every time- a thought that scares me.


Robin stood up in one of the many branches of the Mila Tree in order to get a better angle on a wyvern that was closing in fast on Klein's position. Taking careful aim, he unleashed a Thoron spear at the attacker's mount, causing them to veer badly off course and smash into the trunk of the tree.

"A fine shot," Lucina remarked.

"Thanks," Robin replied with a slight smile. "Though I really should have brought a wind tome with me. Hitting flying units- or any soldiers for that matter- is pretty hard with thunder spells."

"You make it look so easy, though," Lucina said with some surprise.

"You flatter me, princess," Robin grinned slightly wider. Then his eyes narrowed as he concentrated on casting Arcthunder at a small group of myrmidons. "I just hope that they don't get wise to us and start firing back."

As if in response to his comment, a stray fire blast shot up into the trees, narrowly missing Robin and causing him to lose his balance. His eyes went wide as he realized that he was about to fall. "Robin!" Lucina shrieked. Her hand shot out and grabbed him by the collar of his coat, preventing him from falling a long way down to a very messy end.

With a strength that belied her thin frame, Lucina yanked her partner back up onto the branch. When she was sure he was safe, the girl suddenly felt a powerful surge of an emotion that didn't seem quite like fear, nor quite like relief. Either way, it caused her to throw her arms around the tactician and start sobbing into his shoulder.

Although he was initially surprised, Robin soon put his arms around Lucina and held her close. "I'm alright," he said into her ear. "You saved me; I'm okay." She could only nod and dig her face deeper into the crook of his shoulder as her body shuddered.


When the battle was over, Klein and the rest of his group met up with Chrom's forces. "Your report?" Chrom asked the red-haired warrior.

"General Cervantes got away when one of his goons used a teleport staff. But we did manage to rescue the two girls that were being held prisoner," Klein responded. "One of them happens to be a friend of mine. Let me introduce Kirito's little sister, Suguha Kirigiya- although we usually refer to her by her nickname, Leafa."

The girl faced Chrom and bowed politely, aware of his stature as a prince. "It's nice to meet you," she said. "Thank you for sending Klein and the others to save me."

"It's not me you should be thanking," Chrom said with a shake of head. "Thank my Grandmaster Tactician, Robin, when you get the chance. I also understand that Kirito played a part in planning your rescue as well."

Before Suguha could reply again, one of the stragglers came over a taller root. When she saw Chrom, she immediately took off on a full sprint, shouting, "Daddy!" Just before she reached him, however, she tripped on a root and fell flat on her face in front of a very surprised Chrom. "Ow…" she muttered as she got to her feet and rubbed her nose. "That one's gonna bruise…"

"Um… Daddy?" Chrom repeated. Then it clicked and he turned to Klein, looking very angry. "Did you know about this?"

Sweating lightly, Klein replied, "Uh… Well… See, we kinda thought…" Chrom started advancing on the warrior.

Before he could strike him though, Cordelia interposed herself between the prince and Klein. "Lord Chrom, Klein is not to blame here," she said firmly. The Shepherds that were close by watched with a keen interest. This was the first time any of them had ever seen Cordelia talk to the man of her affections without becoming tongue-tied. "I am the one that suggested the information be kept from you."

Before Chrom could demand an explanation, Cynthia started giggling, surprising those that were nearby. "You made the right call, then!" she laughed. "Knowing Daddy, he would have just charged in to save me without a second thought!"

"I would not!" Chrom protested.

"Yes you would," Robin said as he and Lucina approached. Her eyes were red for some reason, but Chrom was too distracted to notice at the moment.

"Robin, did you know that this girl was my daughter?" he demanded.

"My name is Cynthia," the blue-haired girl interjected.

"I did," Robin nodded. "And Cordelia was acting under my orders when she did not share that particular piece of information. I know you better than anyone, except for maybe Sumia, and I know that you would have just gone in with reckless abandon to try and save your daughter. The only way that you would have been able to fight properly on the field today was if you did so in ignorance."

Chrom's eyes narrowed. "Who else knew?" he said sternly. "Kirito?"

"If you're going to be dishing out punishments, let them fall on me, Chrom," Robin replied tersely. "But leave the others out of this."

Here, Chrom shook his head. "You know as well as I do that I can't reprimand you," he said. "You're the best we have. But someone has to answer for keeping secrets from me, and I'm pretty sure I know who to blame here."

"Hey!" Cynthia snapped, catching everyone's attention. "Your friends just risked their lives to come and save total strangers as far as they knew, and now they're going to be punished for it?"

"Cynthia…" Chrom said warningly.

"No!" the girl shouted with a stamp of her foot. "My father would never punish someone for helping others! He wouldn't punish them for being Shepherds!"

"Cynthia is right, Father," Lucina said quietly, yet forcefully. "I have seen how you act when a family member is in danger, and it is not appropriate for the commanding officer of an army. The others were right in their decisions today."

"Listen here, young lady," Chrom began, but then something unexpected happened.

Thock! Sumia's fist slammed into her husband's face, knocking him to the ground. The prince rolled over to see her glaring down at him, and he groaned, "For the love of Naga, Sumia! You're supposed to slap with an open hand!"

"No, I meant to punch you that time," she said rather stiffly. "Here we are with another daughter, safe and sound, and all you care about is how it was done! What is wrong with you?!"

"Yeah!" Cynthia said, pumping her fist in the air. "You tell him, Mom!"

Sumia turned with a smile to face her younger daughter. "Hello, dear," she said as she moved to hug her daughter. "Cynthia, was it?"

"Uh-huh!" the girl nodded excitedly. "I've always loved my name- you're the one that picked it, after all!"

"Did I?" Sumia said with a smile. "I'm not surprised- my Grandmother's name was Cynthia after all. She always made the best rhubarb pie."

"Uh-huh!" Cynthia nodded excitedly as more of the Shepherds gathered around to look at their newest member. "You taught me how to make them before you… uh… before you left." Her eyes suddenly seemed downcast, and her parents could guess why.

Chrom finished getting to his feet, and he put his hand on the girl's shoulder reassuringly, using the other hand to rub his sore jaw. "Don't worry, Cynthia," he said. "We're not going anywhere this time. And I'm sorry if our reunion had to be tainted by my stubbornness."

"It's okay, Daddy," Cynthia smiled. "I know you were just worried about me."

"Come here, dear," Sumia said soothingly as she pulled her daughter and husband into an embrace. Looking over at her other daughter, who was currently grasping Robin's arm, she smiled and said, "You too, Lucina."

"Yeah, Lucy!" Cynthia chirped happily. "Are you going to make me wait any longer for a Big Sis hug?" Lucina smiled brightly and joined her family. Owain, Lissa, and even Lon'qu smiled at the sight of the whole family coming back together. Unfortunately the moment could not last.

"Chrom!" A voice familiar to Suguha echoed across the wooden pathways to the tree trunk. "We need to go up fast!" The voice was accompanied by the sudden arrival of Kirito, who was flushed and slightly out of breath from running. "There's a bunch of reinforcements coming up in the distance, and- holy crap, Sugu?!" The last words were drawn out as he saw his sister standing in the circle of Shepherds.

Then his sense of priority reasserted itself. "Sorry sis, but we'll have to do a reunion later. Right now we need to get to the top of this tree." With that, he turned right around and started running back to where Yui and Asuna were, along with Henry, Miriel, and Maribelle.

"Nice to see you too, Big Brother," Suguha muttered sarcastically. Turning to Klein as they began to move to follow him, she added, "He hasn't changed at all, has he?"

"Not a bit," the katana-wielder said cheerfully.


Suguha managed to catch up to Kazuto and his family as they headed up the internal staircase of the Mila Tree. "Some brother you are!" she scowled at him.

"Sorry, Sugu," he said with a breathless grin. "But we're kind of trying to save the daughter of a dragon goddess. Kinda takes priority, you know?"

"Kirito!" Asuna scolded her husband. "This is your sister! You couldn't at least say hello before you ran off to catch up with us?"

"Yes, Daddy, you should be nicer to Aunt Leafa!" Yui added with a small frown on her delicate features.

"See?" Suguha grinned. "They agree."

"Oh, come on!" Kazuto groaned. "Everywhere I go, I end up as the whipping dog…"


Lady Tiki was groggy from many long years of slumber, but she managed to speak with Chrom long enough to give him the second of five gemstones needed to unlock the full power of the Fire Emblem. When she had done that, she surprised the Shepherds by asking to speak with the other-world people.

Kazuto and the others obeyed hesitantly, unsure of what to expect from the ancient manakete. She regarded them with gentle eyes as they did, easing their apprehension somewhat. When they were close enough, she nodded thoughtfully and murmured, "There can be no doubt… This is mother's handiwork…"

"Sorry, but I don't follow," Kazuto said with a slight frown. "What do you mean by you mother's handiwork? Are you talking about that Naga lady?"

"Yes," the young-looking woman replied. "There is no doubt in my mind… My mother is the one who called you here…"

"What?!" Asuna gasped. "Why would she do that?!"

"Even with the help of the future children, the battle against Grima has very little chances of succeeding," Tiki mumbled drowsily. "Mother must have known that more help would be required… And so she must have summoned you here…"

"Well, can she send us back when this is over?" Klein asked eagerly.

Tiki shook her head slowly, and the group's spirits sank. "I… do not know…" the dragoness said. "Perhaps when I am… more awake… I can tell you more… But for now…" She stumbled wearily over to a makeshift shelf that held a number of vials, each containing liquids and marbles of varying colors. Picking up one, she presented it clumsily to Kazuto, who took it gingerly, unsure of what the pale green marble-like objects inside were to be used for.

Sensing his confusion, even in her exhausted state, Tiki roused herself enough to say, "Much of your power was taken when you came here… Eat of that, and you should find that at least some of your own world's powers will return… Although, I cannot guarantee perfection…"

She sank to a sitting position, exhausted. Not a moment later, she was fast asleep. Seeing her, Chrom declared, "We can't leave her here. Lady Say'ri, is there some place we can take her where she may recover?"

"Aye, there is another sacred place that the Divine Dragon still holds sway over," the Chon'sin princess nodded. "'Tis a journey that will take some weeks to reach, but if we are to win this war, we must have the Voice able to speak."

"All right," Chrom nodded. "And while we're on the way, maybe we can engage in some guerilla warfare with the Valmese. Robin?" He looked at his tactician, who nodded back instantly in agreement.

"Sounds doable," he said. "I'm sure Kirito and Klein can help me out, right?"

"You know it," Klein said with a grin. Kazuto simply nodded and pocketed the vial that Tiki had given him, deciding that he'd look them over when they were back safely at camp.

Our powers will return, huh? He thought to himself. Wonder what she meant by that…?


Later on that day, the group had a lot to think about. Chrom now had three goals to work towards, and by extension, so did the rest of the Shepherds. They now needed to defeat Valm in addition to preventing Grima's return. But before they could complete the second of the two missions, they would need to gather three more gemstones, two of which had been lost for centuries. The task was a daunting one, to say the least.

And then to add to this, Robin was feeling rather confused about what lay in his heart- and that of Chrom's daughter. It had not gone unnoticed by him that she smiled more when he was around, that she seemed to want him to sit with her- or at least, her family- during meal times, and most recently, her reaction to his near-death.

Of course, that wasn't to say that he hadn't begun to seek her company more often as well. She was one of the few Shepherds that could hold her own in an intellectual discussion- although whenever he tried to talk to Miriel, he always ended up getting the short end of that stick- and she possessed an incredibly naïve sense of humor that he found endearing to no end.

What am I to do with these feelings of mine? He had to wonder. His thoughts were suddenly interrupted by the sound of something breaking and a mix of shouting and laughing. Dashing outside, Robin's first thoughts were that the future children must have done something mischievous. His next thought was that he had finally lost his mind.

"Daddy!" Yui called up to her father. "No fair, you can't hog all the fun!"

Kirito looked down with a grin before sticking out his tongue at his daughter and flapping his black wings harder, sending him soaring. "I almost forgot how cool it was to fly!" he crowed.

"What in the name of Naga is going on out here?!" Chrom asked as he stepped outside his tent. Looking up, his jaw dropped and he rubbed his eyes to make sure he wasn't just seeing things. "Is that Kirito?"

The Black Swordsman landed with an audible thud in front of the prince with a huge grin on his face. In his right hand, he held the vial that Tiki had given him. Behind him, part of his tent was collapsed, which explained the noises from earlier. But none of it explained the translucent black wings sprouting from his back. They looked like… "Fairy wings?" Robin asked, surprised.

"Spriggan wings, yeah," Kirito nodded. "Remember how I told you we used to be able to fly? These bad boys are how we did."

"Kazuto, share those things, would ya?" Leafa muttered as she approached her brother. "Yui's right, you always hog all the fun."

"Aw, come on!" he replied. "I just got a little excited is all. Here, just stop whining about it, okay?" He opened the vial and handed each girl a small pale green marble. "Just swallow 'em. They don't taste like anything."

Both girls did so while Chrom and Robin walked closer to Kirito, curious. "What are those?" Robin asked.

"Tiki gave 'em to me," Kirito replied. "She said something about how it would give us our old powers back. I didn't really get what she meant until just now, though."

"What do they do, exactly?" Chrom asked.

"Wheeeeeeeeee!" Yui giggled excitedly as she took off on a pair of white wings. Unlike in Alfheim, she did not shrink down to the size of pixie in order to use this ability, nor were her wings a shade of pink any longer.

"That," Kirito grinned at the sight. "I guess these little balls were able to restore our abilities to fly. I haven't been able to use any Alf magic though."

"Hmm…" Robin mused as he watched Leafa rise on a set of green wings. "I wonder what might happen if one of us were to eat those," he muttered. "Would we get wings, too? That could come in handy…"

Kirito shrugged and said, "You're welcome to try one. Don't know how it'll affect you, though. Might not be worth the risk."

"Perhaps," Robin nodded. "I think for now we'll let you hold on to them and give them to any more of your friends that you find. After that, then maybe I'll let Miriel run some tests on one of them, if there are any remaining."

"Sounds good," Kirito replied. Rising on his wings again, he shot into the air to catch up with Leafa. They exchanged a few words that the two Ylisseans couldn't hear before Leafa handed the vial back to her brother. The three companions then flew off in the direction of the mess tent, where Asuna, Klein, and Sinon were.

"They certainly are enthusiastic," Chrom said to no one in particular.

"Still, I can imagine being able to fly without getting saddle sore would be pretty nice," Robin replied, massaging his sore buttocks. He had spent most of the day's journey with Chrom on his own horse, talking about how to sabotage the Valmese on their travels to the Divine Dragon's grounds.

"I heard that," Chrom agreed, mimicking the motion unconsciously. "Say, that was a sharp idea."

"What was?"

"Having Lucina impersonate the Voice like that," Chrom smiled. "The thunder magic was just you showing off, though."

"Maybe a little," Robin admitted with a slight grin.

"Say, Robin?"

"Yes, Chrom?"

"Why was Lucina so upset earlier today?" Chrom asked with a concerned frown. "Even at dinner, she barely spoke unless Cynthia talked to her first. Did something happen on the battlefield that's bothering her?"

"Um…" Robin blanked. He didn't really know how to tell his best friend that his daughter might or might not have feeling s for him, and it was his near-death that had sent her into hysterics.

Fortunately, Chrom took the stammering to be a sign of ignorance. "I guess I'll just have to see if Sumia can talk to her," he said with a sigh. "I'm sorry, Robin. I know she's your partner, but she doesn't open up to many people. It wasn't fair for me to assume that she would just spill her troubles out to you."

"Well… It's no problem, really," Robin muttered, not sure of what else to say. Thank Naga, but that was close.

"It's just…" Chrom sighed again, and Robin wondered what might be wrong. "I don't really have any example to fall back on," the prince admitted. "I mean, Emm was always there for us, of course, but my mother died giving birth to Lissa. And my father…" His face twisted into a slight grimace. "He wasn't around very often, and whenever he was, he would only greet us in passing. I honestly can't remember if I ever had a meal with the man."

"At least you know what not to do," Robin replied after a slight stretch of silence.

Chrom nodded and rubbed the bridge of his nose, trying to stave off a headache with very little success. "I suppose that's something," he admitted. "I'm sorry, Robin. I know you have your own problems to deal with. You don't need to hear your prince throwing himself a pity party tonight."

"No, but I'm happy to share in my friend's problems," Robin replied as he clapped Chrom on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go to the mess tent. Maybe there's some beer left from Ferox- unless Basilio already drank the whole thing." The two men shared in a laugh as they headed off to join the others.


Kirito: Man, I gotta say being able to fly again is awesome- I can't wait to go up against some wyverns now that I can keep up with 'em!

Yui: You could probably outrace them, Daddy!

Leafa: Yeah, but he'll never be able to outrace your Aunt Leafa.

Kirito: You cheated! You threw a flask at my face!

Leafa: Hey, it was agreed at the beginning, anything went in that race.

Robin: Hey guys, I didn't get to make my announcement last time! When do I get some serious screen time in this part of the chapter?

Leafa: This technically isn't part of the chapter...

Robin: Seriously? Can I just make the announcement already?

Kirito: Yeah, sure. What was it?

Robin: Okay, so our writer has not only changed his name to be Mataras- without the 7- but he also just released his very first novel, starring a Dragon Keeper named Mataras!

Kirito: Oh yeah! I saw that while I was on facebook since he uploaded the link to his profile for the book series! It looked really cool- our readers should check it out!

Leafa: Yeah, I saw that, but why is it called the Omega Chronicles if the book's name is Dragon Roar?

Yui: Daddy said that the book is going to be the first of four or five books, and together the series is called the Omega Chronicles!

Robin: You are all correct. The tomes he has written are now available through a market called amazon, and another called WestBow Press. He eagerly awaits to hear the thoughts of those that are interested in purchasing the story.

Kirito: Yeah, I'm pretty excited to read it when it comes out on my datapad in a couple of weeks.

Robin: I prefer the feel of a solid book in my hands. Also, if our audience were to meet Mataras, he couldn't exactly sign a tome that exists only as pixels of light.

Kirito: You're a nerd.

Leafa: Did the kettle just call the pot black?

Kirito: Sugu, stay out of this! In any case, Mataras would also like to make it clear that while he owns the copyrights to Dragon Roar and the Omega Chronicles, he does not own any part of amazon or WestBow Press.

Yui: Also, if you would like to follow Daddy's adventures in another story, you should check out the time that we went to the Star Wars galaxy in the story Star Sword. Or, you can even get a sneak preview at how the book character Mataras acts if you read how he and my family became friends in The Red Swordsman!

Robin: I think we might have run overtime.

Kirito: Yeah, but who's counting?

Asuna: I am! Your dinner's getting cold, and if you don't eat it, we'll pick up right where we left off when you said I couldn't go hunting with you!

Kirito: You heard the lady, guys! We'll see you next time!