Lucina furrowed her brows as she analyzed the problem before her. She had looked at it from every angle she could think of, and yet no solution was becoming apparent. She was wondering if there was even a solution. She had come so far, but she feared that she could not best this challenge. Was there no way for her to succeed?

Meanwhile, across the table Robin was mentally making note of how the face the princess made when stumped by a problem was…kind of cute. She had come to him the day after the encounter with the Valmese fleet and asked that he help her attain a better grasp on tactics as a whole.

She had proven herself a quick study. After he was satisfied that she had a firm grasp of the basics, he began more advanced training. Several times he even had her operate a scenario thinking of the pieces as the Shepherds themselves. She stayed true to her talk and had been forced to sacrifice a few on occasion, but always as few as she thought possible. He had even purposely set up a few with Sumia in the obvious position to be sacrificed with a much less obvious solution. She found the less obvious solution every time, but he was not sure if it was because she was bright and wanted to keep as many alive as she could, or because of familial attachment.

However, this scenario was different. He had given her a situation – a dire one – and told her to get all the Shepherds out alive. He was trying to make something clear to her. He wanted her to know that, while it might end up being necessary to make hard calls, one of his main objectives was to minimize casualties. While it was unrealistic to expect an army to avoid any during a war, special forces might have been possible to at the very least keep low. She already seemed to do that in most cases, but he wanted to make sure she did not get the wrong impression of his intent. Just because he strove to be able if the time came, he ideally wanted to avoid such a situation.

"I cannot figure it out," Lucina finally admitted reluctantly.

"Don't feel bad," Robin began to clean up the pieces from the mess hall table, "It was a hard one."

"Tell me, was there a solution?"

"Of course," Robin replied, "Perhaps I'll even tell you one of these days."

Lucina was about to retort when they were interrupted.

"How are you two lovebirds doing?" Lissa bobbed up and down. Despite Robin's efforts, he did not make it to Lucina before she had been spotted the other night. The incident had resulted in rumors, especially with the young princess, but Robin had learned to tune stuff like that out. Lucina, however, seemed to be having a harder time with it.

"Nothing," Robin finished packing up, "We were just wrapping up."

"Aunt Lissa, please stop teasing us. I told you, there is nothing going on like that."

"Don't waste your breath," Robin recommended, "Reacting just fuels her. Just ignore her and let her get bored."

"Hey!" Lissa stomped her foot indignantly, "I'm right here ya know!"

"I'm well aware. Really though, if anyone actually believes that there is anything scandalous going on between me and Lucina, then perhaps they are the ones you should be making fun of."

With that, Robin turned and left.

"How rude!" Lissa crossed her arms. Lucina wondered if she had any room to talk, but she elected not to voice that thought.

"Could you please stop saying stuff like that, Aunt Lissa. I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea."

"What's the matter? Don't you find him attractive?"

"A-attractiveness is not the issue here."

"So you do?"

"Aunt Lissa."

"Okay, okay," Lissa held her hands up in defense, "But, seriously, maybe you two could lighten each other up."

"I'm not so sure that either of us are suited to…lighten someone up."

"Okay, fair enough. So if our tactician isn't your type, who is though?"

"I…don't know. I did not give romance much thought in my world," Lucina sighed, "Most men probably would not find me too appealing anyway."

"Are you kidding? What's not to like? You're beautiful, strong, and smart!"

"What makes you say I'm smart?" Lucina chose to ignore the first accusation which she wholly did not believe.

"Well, Robin let you play with his toys, so you must be pretty smart," Lucina had not considered being tutored by him as such an honor. Though, she had a suspicion that no one really asked before. "Just think of how smart your kid would be!"

"Aunt Lissa!"


Sumia gently brushed her mare's mane. She hated having to keep her locked up during the voyage, so she tried to spoil her as much as she could. That, and it gave her time away. Time to try and forget about her apparent failings as a mother.

No matter how much Chrom insisted that that was not the case, she found it hard to get past the fact that Lucina wanted nothing to do with her. She even went as far as to ask for a transfer away from her. How was she supposed to take that?

"I thought I might find you down here," Sumia jumped a little at the approach of her longtime friend.

"Cordelia!"

"I thought you could use some company," She grabbed a brush and gestured toward her pegasus, "Do you mind?"

"No, of course not."

They groomed their mounts in silence for several minutes before Cordelia addressed her friend again, "I take it you haven't talked to Lucina."

"How could I? She seems to be quite intent at avoiding me. You know, I was never sure about how I'd fair as a mother, but this certainly supports some of my worst fears."

"Come now. I know you, and I've seen the way you coddle baby Lucina. I don't believe for one second that you were a bad mother."

"Then why does she hate me?"

"I doubt she hates you. Maybe she's just uncomfortable because you died in her world?"

"Maybe," Sumia brushed once more before deciding to change topic, "But enough of that. What about you? Think you'll find any kids from the future?"

"I don't know. Stahl and I want to start a family, but we've both been so busy since the last war ended that we just haven't had the time."

About that time the two women were joined by another redhead carrying a bucket of feed, "Thought you might need this."

"Ah, thank you, Severa," Cordelia smiled, "I was just thinking about that."

"D-don't mention it," Severa avoided eye contact.

"Would you care to join us?" Sumia asked of the newcomer.

"N-no thanks," Severa turned around, "Why would I want to spend time around a bunch of smelly animals?" She turned to leave the two older women.

"Well, she's certainly…prickly," Sumia commented.

"Yes, but I think it's just a defensive measure," Cordelia began feeding her mount, "I think that underneath all those harsh words and sour faces is a kind person. Or at least, I'd like to think so."

After a few more moments of silence, Sumia spoke again, "Do you ever think that they're not telling us something?"

"What do you mean? I'm sure there's plenty they haven't told us, and probably for the better."

"Yes, but do you think any of them are children of Shepherds? We know Nah is Nowi's daughter. Maybe some of the others are our children too."

"I suppose it's possible, but what are the odds that all of Lucina's closest allies were also children of the Shepherds?"

"I suppose you have a point, but I think it might be possible."

"Think you might have another lurking around somewhere?"

"I don't know. You'd think Lucina would mention a sibling, but she's so closed off, I don't know for certain. With how everything is going with Lucina, I'm not sure if I'd want to meet them."

"Don't be down on yourself. Personally, I wouldn't mind meeting my child, but I suppose the mystery is nice too. Though, if they didn't come with Lucina, I think I might rather the me and Stahl of her world never had one. I'd hate to think they died in that wasteland."

"Don't think like that. I'm sure that if you had a kid, they'd be as strong and smart as you are."

"Thanks. I supposed I shouldn't let negative thoughts get me down."

Just outside the door to the hold, Severa pushed off from the doorframe.


The land invasion had gone slightly better than Robin had predicted. It seemed that the Valmese had not been expecting them to actually make it that far. Admittedly, not the most outlandish assumption to make, but one that came back to bite them nonetheless. Robin had been issuing orders to secure the harbor when Chrom pulled him away to talk to someone he had met during the battle.

"He called you here too?" Robin asked Lucina as she joined them.

"I thought she might be able to provide some insights," Chrom replied. Robin looked to the princess who returned his gaze with a hard one of her own. It seemed she had not had the same talk with her father as she had had with him about her future knowledge.

Chrom eventually led them to the north end of town where a dark-haired woman was waiting. She was dressed unlike the locals in garb reminiscent of Lon'qu's. Clearly, she was not from around here.

"This is Say'ri," Chrom introduced, "She claims to be the leader of a resistance movement."

"Resistance?" Now that certainly piqued the tactician's interests.

"Aye, of sorts at least. We strike where we can and slip away, but we are proving ineffective. We are…fractured. Divided."

"Why is that?" Chrom folded his arms.

"The usual vices of man," The woman sighed, "Greed, cowardice. Some will only help us when it suites them, some are afraid of the Empire, while others thrive under Walhart's heel." Say'ri looked down is shame for a moment before looking Chrom in the eyes, "I'm afraid I have proven ineffective at uniting the people. We need a new leader. Someone who has earned respect across Valm."

"Who did you have in mind?"

"She is known as the Voice of Naga," Lucina's ears attempted to escape their confinement at the mention of the title.

"Tiki?" Chrom raised his brow.

"You know of her?"

"Yes, we're acquainted. She helped us out back home a couple of years ago."

"Fie! This must be fate!"

"So what's the problem?" Robin finally spoke.

"Aye, perceptive of you. She is currently being held by Valmese forces at the Mila Tree. Any attempts to get an operative in have failed. I'm afraid force may be our only option."

"So you want us to be your muscle," Chrom rubbed his chin.

"We have to help her!" Lucina pleaded earning stares from the other three. Robin raised his brow but said nothing.

"Of course we will," Chrom put a hand on Lucina's shoulder, "We help our own." He looked to his tactician, "Isn't that right?"

"You're the boss. A unified resistance could be useful, but I'd advise against relying too much on it," Robin looked at Say'ri, "No offense."

"Fie, none taken. I cannot expect you to trust us to overthrow an empire after our showing, but I hope to prove our worth to you in due time."

"Right," Chrom nodded, "Then I guess we should plan out our next move."

Robin, Chrom, and Say'ri all departed to discuss their plans, but Lucina stayed behind. She mentally berated herself for that slip of the tongue. It was rash, but the thought of Tiki being in danger distressed her greatly. She was her mother after all.

A/N: I struggled a bit figuring out where to end this. If I had gone the full length, it felt kind of like I was covering too much ground at one time.

In FEH though, I managed to snag another Morgan fixing her resistance. I was tempted to try and get more, but I think I'll hold off for the upcoming Bowcina next month or fixing Bunnycina's Attack flaw later. Speaking of Morgan though, you can bet I'll be joining her team and sending out Lucina to support her daughter.