In which Lucina becomes a parent and wonders how she can keep the secret a secret
Chapter 14 – Mother
"Mother!" The girl froze in place for a second, the sheer excitement reflected in her expression seemingly incapacitating her, and then lunged herself directly at Lucina to wrap her into a massive hug.
Lucina threw up her arms in surprise of the sudden physical contact, and she opened her mouth to protest but couldn't find the will to do so. The girl was still a complete stranger and Lucina's immediate instinct was to throw her off, but a feeling she had never experienced before told her to accept the embrace.
Lightening her grip slightly, the girl tore her face away from Lucina's tunic and looked up at her, eyes watery with joyous tears. "I knew it! I knew you would come back for me, Mother! I knew you would never leave me alone!" She shook her head and gave a small laugh before pulling Lucina back into the hug. "I want you to stay with me forever, Mother!"
Despite her mind still reeling from what the girl had proclaimed, Lucina found herself slowly surrendering her defensive posture. Gradually she relaxed her arms and returned the girl's... Morgan's embrace, and she was surprised at how uncannily similar the experience felt to her own reunion with Chrom. Her response seemed to comfort Morgan even more, and she sighed happily before finally releasing Lucina from her grip. She reached up to wipe her eyes, and then she pushed a strand of blue hair off her face before excitedly beginning to speak again.
"This is so great! Now that I've found you, we can both go back to Father and we can all be a family again, right Mother?"
Lucina winced in guilt at the question, having forgotten for just a brief moment that Robin wasn't around to go back to. Looking down at Morgan's expectant face, she immediately realized that she wouldn't have the heart to tell her why he was actually gone. "About that..." she began, trying to carefully phrase her response. "Your father... isn't here at the moment. He's... on a special mission."
"W...what? But... but I really wanted to see him!" Morgan's cheery expression soon became one of utter disappointment, and some of the color in her cheeks paled. "He... he's all can really remember," she spoke in a soft voice, as if she was on the verge of tears again. "I t...thought he would be looking for me..."
"Don't cry!" Lucina blurted out, frantically trying to think of anything comforting to tell her. "...Because that's what his mission was! He told me that he was going to go look for you, and that he might be gone for a few days while he searched. I... just happened to find you first." As if the guilt for not being able to bring the girl to Robin wasn't enough, the shame of lying to her innocent face was almost unbearable. From the moment the words left her mouth Lucina knew that the temporary relief that they might bring the girl would not last long at all.
"R...really?" Morgan sniffled and allowed a smile to creep its way back onto her lips. "That's my dad! He's always doing what's best for me!"
"Y...yes, he is," Lucina attempted a smile of her own despite her growing dread that her agreement was only setting the girl up for even greater disappointment.
"I can wait a little bit longer to see him. I'm okay now that you're with me, Mother!" Morgan chirped and took Lucina's hand. "Where are we going to go then? Back home I hope." She paused, staring blankly into space before asking, "But... where is home again, Mother? I... can't remember..."
"You can't... remember? Do you have amnesia? Did you hit your head on something?" Lucina asked in concern.
"I don't think so..." Morgan reasoned. "All I remember is waking up on the ground in these ruins. And a lot of things about Father too, but that's pretty much it."
"That's exactly like what happened to your father," Lucina reminisced.
"Father woke up on the ground without any memories either? Ha! That's so funny!" Morgan laughed. "Like father like daughter, huh? We're so much alike!"
She was so much like Robin, Lucina realized as she looked the girl over again from head to toe. It wasn't just Robin's coat she was wearing, but almost a perfect replica of his usual outfit, and even the girl's confident posture was just like her father's. What struck her the most was that apart from the Brand, Morgan's auburn eyes were identical to Robin's. Every time Lucina looked into them she saw not the girl but Robin's gazing back at her with the same gentle expression that she had come to associate with so many of her happy memories. Despite the pleasant feeling it evoked, it only made Lucina long for Robin's return more.
"I'm sure you'll remember soon," Lucina reassured. "But I'm not sure if we'll be able to go home right away..." She turned back in the direction from whence she had come, danger senses tingling. "We may have to fight our way out. Do you know how to use a weapon?"
"I know magic!" Morgan reminded her, pulling her tome out of the inside of Robin's coat. "Father showed me how to cast it. He said to focus really hard and to channel the energy through your whole body all the way out to your fingertips, and then you release it all at once! Pretty cool, huh?"
"It is a fascinating skill," Lucina agreed with a smile and motioned for the girl to follow her as she started walking. "A skill quite difficult to master." She was beginning to find the girl's cheerfulness to be infectious.
"Yeah! It was really tough at first, but I think I get the hang of it now. Do you know how to do magic, Mother? I bet Father could show you if you wanted to learn. He's a really good teacher." Morgan tucked the tome away again and hurried over to Lucina's side. "Has Father taught you anything special, Mother?"
"He has..." Lucina replied after some thought. How to fall in love was just one of things that he had showed her. How to not act out of prejudice and attempt something awful wasn't. "I don't think that magic is my cup of tea though," she told the girl, trying not to dwell on Robin too much for the moment. "I much prefer the art of the sword."
Morgan peered at the sheath that Lucina had strapped to her hip. "You have a really powerful-looking sword, Mother," she mentioned. "Where did you get it? Was it a gift from Father?"
"No," Lucina shook her head. "My blade is the divine sword Falchion." She withdrew the sword and held it up for the girl to see. "It was forged thousands of years ago, and after it was imbued with the power of the Divine Dragon herself, it was granted the ability to never break or dull. It's been passed down through the Exalted Bloodline ever since. It was inherited by my father, the current Exalt, who passed it on to me." She took a few short swings at the air with Falchion before sheathing it again.
"Wait, your father is the Exalt? So that makes you a princess?" Morgan's eyes widened in awe.
"Yes, I'm the princess of Ylisse," Lucina confirmed.
"Wow... My mother is a princess! That's so cool!" Morgan exclaimed, squeezing Lucina's hand tighter. "I bet you're the nicest and most thoughtful princess that the world has ever seen, because, I mean, you're my mother, so you've gotta be."
"Thank you, Morgan," Lucina smiled but wasn't entirely sure that Morgan's flattery was justified. And being called "Mother" wasn't getting any easier to get used to. "That technically makes you a princess too you know," she added.
"Oh yeah, it does doesn't it? Will that make me the world's first princess tactician?" Morgan asked excitedly.
"I don't see why not," Lucina laughed softly. Emerging from the corridor, she found that they had arrived in the large, open room again. She found nothing after quickly surveying the room, but didn't like the feeling it was giving her. "Stay close," she whispered in a more serious tone, to which the girl dutifully obeyed. Lucina expected to hear the enemy approaching from the other hallways, but the only sounds were those of her and Morgan's footsteps echoing off the walls as they walked.
"Watch out, Mother!" Morgan cried out in surprise and let go of Lucina's hand, giving her a powerful shove away.
"Morgan, what..." Lucina began to ask angrily why the girl had pushed her until she realized that they were no longer alone. A massive form crashed into the ground behind her, sending her sprawling forward and knocking Morgan to the floor. Lucina rose to her feet immediately and turned to find a Risen mount with an armored griffon mount standing where she had been a split second ago.
The animal shrieked and unfurled its feathery wings to make itself look larger and more menacing. Lucina's mind was consumed by the single realization that it had cut her off from Morgan, and she immediately drew Falchion and charged. The Risen that sat on the griffon's back twisted its head at her, and then it commanded its mount to pounce forward, covering more distance faster than Lucina had anticipated. Mid-sprint, she crouched to build up power then leapt off the ground, holding Falchion over her head to strike the rider. Just as she was about to bring her blade down into the monster's skull, the Risen lashed out with a surprisingly accurate swing of its axe, easily countering her attack in mid-air and forcing her to land.
Using the momentum from its first swing, the creature brought down its weapon in one fluid motion on Lucina again. Holding Falchion horizontally above her with two hands, Lucina blocked the strike, but the Risen continued to force the clashed weapons down over her head. She immediately adapted her grip in an attempt to push back, keeping her right hand firm on Falchion's hilt while pressing the palm of her left hand against the flat edge of the blade, but even with her improved stance she realized that her attacker was far stronger than she was in terms of physical strength. Lucina felt her knees beginning to buckle under the sheer weight being forced on her, and in her vulnerable state hardly had time to react when the griffon lashed out and kicked her directly in the chest with one of its bird-like frontal legs. The sudden blow knocked the wind out of her lungs and threw her to the ground a few feet away.
Lucina groaned in agony and tried to roll herself over, but she felt too weak to even reach to her side and grab hold of Falchion, which had clattered to the floor next to her. The griffon was already standing over her before she could right herself, and she braced herself for another blow. Before the creature's axe could finish her off, a stream of fire sailed through the air and struck the griffon's back, causing the animal to cry out in pain and turn away from Lucina to face the source of the attack.
"Get away from my mother, you freak!" Morgan screamed loudly from the other side of the room, then let loose another fire burst from her hand. The magic soared over the griffon's head and dissipated in a small explosion against the opposing wall. Like the girl had hoped, the Risen turned its attention away from Lucina's crippled form and glared at its other attacker. The creature was motionless for a second, and then its red eyes gleamed intensely as it pointed a crooked finger at the girl.
"Future child..." the Risen growled in a raspy voice. "Must... kill... future child..."
Ignoring Lucina completely, the Risen instead commanded the griffon to pursue another target. The revelation hit Lucina harder than the griffon could ever have managed. The Risen hadn't come here for Naga's Tear. They had come for...
"Morgan!" Lucina weakly shouted, struggling to get herself back onto her feet.
"Mother!" the girl returned Lucina's call, voice reflective of her growing state of panic as the griffon approached. Like a predator stalking its prey, the animal prowled forward, forcing Morgan to retreat into a corner. Desperately she tried to cast another fireball, but had no time to aim properly and only succeeded in scorching a few of the griffon's feathers. The animal flailed its wings in front of itself in rage, knocking Morgan's tome from her hands in the process.
"Kill... Kill future child..."
The pain was nothing to Lucina now. Retrieving Falchion from the ground, she broke into a labored run.
"Morgan!"
"Help me, Mother!" the girl pleaded, finding all of her escape routes to be blocked off.
The griffon screeched loudly and rose onto its hind legs to a terrifying height, and at the top its rider held its axe ready for a killing blow on the all but defenseless girl, who could do nothing but cover her head with her hands.
"No!" Lucina screamed in both fear and anger. She couldn't allow anything to hurt her daughter. With adrenaline rushing through her body, Lucina channeled what remained of her strength into a desperate stab into the animal's hind leg, forcing her blade to drive as far into the flesh as it would allow. Immediately, crimson blood fizzled to the surface of the griffon's skin and it howled in agony, throwing its rider off its saddle. The Risen fell to the stone floor in a disorganized heap, and freeing Falchion from the griffon's leg, Lucina was not about to give it a chance to get back up. With the heel of her boot, she delivered a sharp kick to the creature in the face, causing its neck to twist around with a sickening crack. Finally, she held Falchion high in the air and brought the blade down through the monster's chest, pinning it to the ground.
"Kill..." the Risen gasped, emitting a burst of black smoke from its mouth before its body fell apart into shadowy dust.
The griffon lowered itself back down from its upright position, whimpering as it tucked its wounded leg closer to its body. As much as Lucina hated to have to hurt it, it had been her only option. When she tried to approach it, the animal looked at her fearfully and took a few flaps of its mighty wings to lift itself off the ground. With another weaker screech, it rose into the air, soaring out of sight through the caved-in ceiling. Lucina watched it leave in silence, trying to calm her heavy breathing as the pain in her chest was slowly becoming more apparent.
"Mother! Mother, are you okay?" Morgan asked frantically as she scrambled to her side. "Are you hurt?"
"It's not that bad..." Lucina replied. "I just... need to catch... my breath..."
The girl did not look convinced, nervously looking Lucina over to find any major injuries. "This is all my fault! I was careless... I promise I'll do better next time something like that happens, Mother!"
"It wasn't your fault, Morgan," Lucina spoke softly, easing her breathing rate. "I didn't see it coming either. You could have never predicted it."
"But that's what a tactician has to do... Take all possible dangerous scenarios into account to prepare for anything."
"Hey," Lucina put her hand on the girl's shoulder. "You saved me, didn't you? If you didn't distract the griffon with your magic, I may not have lived its attack. I think you handled that situation pretty well."
Morgan looked up at her and smiled. "I guess I did... Thanks, Mother." She wrapped her arms around Lucina and gave her a quick embrace just to make sure that she was okay. "But you saved my life twice already! I have to be the one to save you next time so we can make it even, okay?"
"We'll see..." Lucina laughed, and then remembered the cut she had received from the battle near the entrance to the ruins. "Will it count if you help me with this scrape on my arm?" She held it out for the girl to see.
"Mother! That isn't a scrape! That's like, the biggest cut I've ever seen!" Morgan gasped. "Um... I think Father keeps some emergency bandages in here somewhere..." She rummaged through the inside pockets of Robin's coat. "Here they are!" She withdrew a roll of gauze and a long strip of cloth bandage.
Lucina pulled back the sleeve of her undershirt, and Morgan went to work wrapping it with the gauze before very carefully securing it with the entire cloth strip.
"All better," Morgan grinned as she secured the loose end of the cloth. "Does it feel alright?"
Lucina could hardly flex her elbow, and she was about to mention that the girl had gone a little overboard with the bandages, but she decided against it.
"It feels much better. Thank you, Morgan."
"That's good. I should pursue a triple career as a princess-tactician-cleric!"
"Um, maybe stick with just two for now..."
"What were those things, Mother?" Morgan asked quietly after retrieving her Elfire tome from where it had been knocked away from her. "They've been chasing me through this place ever since I woke up. They look human, but they're a lot scarier..."
"Risen," Lucina scowled at the word, taking a cloth out of a small pouch at her belt to wipe Falchion's blade before sheathing it. "Creatures of the dead who roam the world of the living."
"That explains a lot," the girl shivered. "Let's get out of here, Mother. I don't want to run into another one of those things."
"Yes, let's," Lucina nodded and pointed out the right direction to take. "I came in through there. Come on." Morgan hurried to join her, sticking a little bit closer than she had before the attack.
"Who are we going to go see?" she inquired innocently.
"We're going to meet up with my father," Lucina replied absentmindedly, still focusing on what directions to take.
"Your father the Exalt? So my grandfather then, right? I bet he's super nice like you are, Mother," Morgan blissfully surmised.
The word "grandfather" hit Lucina almost as hard as "Mother" had. She had completely forgotten: what was she possibly going to tell her father? Morgan was physical proof that she had a relationship together with Robin, and that somehow in a different timeline had a child with him... She turned nervously to the girl, who was walking with a spring in her step and probably thinking what Chrom would be like.
There was no doubt in her mind now that Robin was Morgan's father. The two looked so similar that the only thing that could have identified the girl as her child was her hair color, a trait hardly conclusive to parentage. The Brand in her eye however secured the fact that she was from the royal bloodline some way or another; unless Robin had married Cynthia, which Lucina figured was almost impossible, Morgan was her daughter.
She couldn't possibly hope to hide the girl from Chrom, and he would find out within a day or two regardless, and leaving the girl here was out of the question. Lucina saw no way out. She had tried as hard as she could to keep her relationship with Robin away from her father for as long as she could, but Morgan's simple presence was enough to shatter that illusion into pieces.
Lucina could faintly hear some of the Shepherds' voices echoing through the hallway; they were getting close. She didn't show it to Morgan, but she was having an internal panic attack trying to prepare herself for the inevitable stares and whispers that the girl would attract and to come up with what she would say to her father. The voices grew louder until Lucina found that the entrance hall was just around the corner. She stopped walking and turned to face the girl behind her.
"Morgan, just... try not to attract too much attention to yourself, okay? Act as calm as you can," she warned.
"I'll do my best!" the girl complied and gave a little salute, dropping her bouncy walk and becoming more serious.
"Here we go..." Lucina whispered under her breath, and she turned the corner with Morgan following close by. The hall was devoid of Risen, and the Shepherds were all conversing in a group, presumably centered around her father. It was bad enough to have to tell her father, but now she would end up telling everybody... Of course...
Like she had anticipated, as soon as they emerged from the corridor a few of the Shepherds who noticed Morgan immediately started whispering furiously and giving confused glances. Lucina put on a stoic face, and doing her best to completely ignore what the rest of the army thought, she marched straight through the group directly towards her father. Morgan kept close, trailing her every footstep and curiously returning a few of the Shepherds' stares.
"Lucina!" Sumia ran over to her as soon as she saw her and embraced her tightly. "Oh, Lucina..." Her mother almost started crying as she spoke. "I thought I had lost you..."
Chrom wasn't far behind and took both of them into his arms. "We thought the Risen had taken you," he explained in concern. "Oh gods, don't scare us like that."
"I'm okay, Father. Really, I am," Lucina tried to wriggle out of her parents' grip but found her attempts to be hopeless until they released her on their own accord.
"What did you think you were doing, running off like that without telling us where you were going?" Sumia scolded. "I almost had a heart attack!"
"I'm sorry, Mother..." Lucina apologized. "I just saw someone in the other corridor being attacked, and I had to leave to help."
"Who?"
In response, Morgan cautiously emerged from behind Lucina's back and gave a friendly wave. "Hi!"
Chrom and Sumia stared back at the girl with blank faces, completely caught off guard by her appearance. Both were completely silent for an uncomfortable amount of time, and Chrom was finally the first one to speak in a slow, perplexed voice.
"...Lucina? Why is this girl wearing... Robin's coat?"
Lucina had planned a delicate response to the question beforehand, but Morgan spoke up excitedly at the mention of Robin's name.
"Robin is my father!"
Lucina cringed as her parents' jaws fell open slightly. She had forgotten to tell Morgan to let her do the explaining. More silence.
"Lucina?" Chrom asked her again. "I thought you said that Robin didn't have a daughter from your time..."
"He didn't," Lucina explained. "But he does now."
Sumia took a few steps closer to the girl, thoroughly examining her in the process. When her mother peered into Morgan's eyes, Lucina immediately knew the charade was over. "Chrom..." she motioned for her husband to come look.
"She has the Brand..." her father's eyes widened.
"Are you my grandparents?" the girl blurted out, not recognizing the tense atmosphere of the conversation. "Yeah, you have the Brand too, Grandfather!" she pointed out the Mark of Naga on Chrom's shoulder.
"Grandfather?"
Before Chrom even had time to comprehend the meaning of the word, Morgan gave him a loving hug. "Did you miss me, Grandfather?"
Chrom stood as stiff as a plank of wood, completely and utterly dumbfounded. His expression may have been funny under different circumstances if it didn't terrify Lucina at the moment. She had no idea how he was taking this news other than the fact that he didn't look too thrilled to be hugged by someone he didn't know.
Morgan tore herself away from Chrom and immediately clung to Sumia. "Hello Grandmother!" she smiled widely. "Wow, you look great for your age!"
"Umm, thank you?" Sumia wasn't really sure how to reply either, but nevertheless she returned the girl's embrace.
Lucina laughed nervously and took Morgan by both the shoulders, separating the girl from Sumia and holding her close.
"Lucina... do you mind explaining who exactly this girl is? And why she just hugged us?" Sumia asked, trying to remain very calm.
Chrom hadn't moved an inch. "...G...Grandfather?"
Lucina nervously eyed him before explaining. "Mother, Father... This is Morgan. My... daughter..."
"Your daughter..." Sumia repeated. "And the father is..." Lucina saw a smile of understanding slowly form on her mother's lips. The same couldn't be said for her father.
Chrom's gaze shifted from Lucina, to Morgan, then back to Lucina in disbelief as the words slowly started to sink in. "Lucina... you and... Robin?" Chrom's teeth gritted in anger, and Lucina braced herself for the worst. "Did he... Is that..." He took Lucina by the shoulders abruptly. "What did he do to you!?" he growled, releasing her and placing his hands on Falchion. "I swear to Naga if that's why he ran away I'm going to find him right now and-"
Lucina's face immediately grew a bright shade of red as she began to understand what her father meant. "No! No, Father! That isn't what happened!" she protested. "He would never do that!"
"Then how did she get here!?" Chrom pointed directly at Morgan, who was taken off guard by his anger and cowered next to Lucina.
"I don't know! But nothing like that happened!" Lucina tried to figure out how she could reassure him.
"Sumia, what do you think of this?"
"Listen to her, dear..." Sumia soothed in an attempt to calm him down and gestured back towards Lucina.
"F...Father... I'm sorry that I didn't tell you this sooner... but I... love... Robin..." Lucina stammered, growing embarrassed. As soon as she uttered the three words the Shepherds broke out into more intense whispers, muttering about Robin and eying her strangely. Lucina thought she heard an "Oh my gods" from Severa somewhere in the back of the group, but figured it would be best to ignore it for now.
Chrom's anger began to fade, and he removed his hands from Falchion's hilt. Noticing Lucina becoming uncomfortable, Sumia stepped in to the conversation again.
"She does," her mother confirmed.
"Sumia? You were in on this too?"
"Only for a few days. She told me before we came here. It's why she's been so sad lately." Sumia explained, then turned to Lucina. "Is... it alright if I tell him, Lucina?"
Lucina hesitated, but nodded her head in agreement. "It would be better if he knew now. But... quietly..." she added, aware that most of the other Shepherds were listening in on the conversation as well.
Sumia heeded her request and leaned in closer to Chrom, briefly reiterating everything that Lucina had told her before about Robin in a hushed undertone. While her mother was doing so, Lucina heard another familiar voice call out to her.
"Lucy! Lucy!" An energetic hand rose up as Lucina's younger sister pushed her way through the crowd and into the small clearing that the Shepherds had formed around the center. "Lucy! You didn't tell me you had a daughter!"
"Cynthia... You don't have to shout..." Lucina mumbled, aware of how much attention her sister could draw. "...And please don't call me that. You know I don't like it..."
"Sorry!" Cynthia apologized quickly before turning to Morgan. "Hey there! I'm Cynthia! Your heroic Aunt Cynthia to exact!"
"Hello Auntie!" Morgan smiled.
"C'mon! Hero handshake!" Cynthia stuck out her arm expectantly.
"A what handshake?"
"Cynthia, no one knows your hero handshake except you and Owain..." Lucina groaned. Her sister had attempted it multiple times to different people with no success.
"I know, but I just wanted to try! It's the hero standard for greeting each other!" Cynthia protested.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Auntie, but I can try," Morgan complied, sticking out her hand as well.
Lucina was tempted to shut her eyes to spare herself the embarrassment, but as soon as Cynthia and Morgan both struck the same pose simultaneously she couldn't help but stare on in disbelief. Cynthia's eyes brightened with excitement and had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from yelling out as the younger girl matched her poses perfectly in succession, finally ending the move in a normal handshake.
"Oh. My. Gosh. Lucy...Lucina! Did you see that!" Cynthia burst as soon as they were finished. "She knows my handshake perfectly!"
Despite what she thought of as impossible earlier, Lucina began to have doubts regarding whether or not Cynthia actually was Morgan's real mother. No one else knew Cynthia's poses... "W...What?" she managed weakly. "Morgan, how did you know that?"
"I don't know..." Morgan looked as confused as Lucina was. "It just... came to me I guess..."
"That's so cool!" Cynthia cried out again, grabbing the girl's arm. "I need to show you to Owain right now!"
"Calm, Cynthia..." Sumia interrupted, having finished her talk with Chrom. "You'll have time to do that later."
"Sorry, Mother!" Cynthia released Morgan's arm and took a few steps backward, sensing that her father was about to speak judging from the way he was rubbing his chin. Lucina had forgotten for a moment that Sumia was telling him everything about Robin, and she quickly grew tense again over what he would possibly say. The whole room fell silent as Chrom thought.
"That sly dastard..." he spoke at last. The smile that grew on his face provided Lucina with much needed relief. "Slipping right past me to sweep my daughter off her feet. I even know how crafty he can be, but I would never have guessed."
"You... aren't mad?" Lucina had the feeling that she had this same conversation with her mother just the other day.
"What about it would make me mad?"
"Robin and I were just concerned that if we told you that you wouldn't accept our relationship. I didn't want to tell you because you two are such good friends, and I thought you wouldn't like him being your daughter..."
"Hey, I understand why you may have thought that," Chrom grinned. "But out of all the other people in this world who you could have chosen, I'm happy that you picked someone who I know that I can trust. I can't let my daughter run off with just anybody, can I? Honestly I couldn't have picked anyone else better for you." He smirked mischievously, getting another idea. "As an added bonus it also gives me something to hold over him. If he does anything I don't like I can threaten to take you away..."
"Chrom, honestly. I'm married to a child." Sumia rolled her eyes. "Stop scaring her and just be happy for them."
"I am happy," Chrom protested.
"Wait, I just realized something!" Sumia suddenly exclaimed, turning her attention to the girl next to Lucina who had been surprisingly quiet throughout the entire conversation. "I'm a grandmother and don't have a single wrinkle! As soon as I had you Lucina I thought how lovely it would be to have a grandchild, and now that dream has come true!" She excitedly reached over to rustle Morgan's hair. "And she's so precious!"
"Calling me a grandfather makes me feel old..." Chrom murmured. "At this rate I'll be a great-great-grandpa before I hit fifty..."
"Hey Chrom!" Vaike's voice called out jokingly. "I'm not sure if I can be rivals with such an old man! The Vaike's gonna have to take it easy on ya next sparring match!"
"Not now, Vaike..." Chrom located Vaike in the crowd and gave him a disapproving stare, to which the man only responded with a massive grin.
"Don't be goin' and breakin' any of your crusty bones now!"
Chrom only groaned and turned back to the conversation.
"So, Morgan, was it?" Sumia asked. "What was your future like before you came here?"
"Future?" Morgan looked confused. "What do you mean, Grandmother? I'm from here."
"Lucina, she doesn't remember?"
"No..." Lucina replied. "She has memory loss, just like her father apparently. I... must not have brought up the future with her before..."
"I don't understand," Morgan held her head. "What are you talking about, Mother? You know me, don't you?"
"Actually Morgan, I just met you today... You... aren't from this time. You come from years in the future."
"I what? That's ridiculous, Mother!" Morgan cried in disbelief.
"Well, I guess try to think about this: do I really look old enough to have a child as old as you are?"
"...No. Not really," the girl gradually spoke after looking Lucina over another time. "But then how are Grandfather and Grandmother not older then? They don't look too much older than you either, Mother."
"That's because I came to this time from the future as well," Lucina explained. "You must have come from a different timeline than mine."
"...That's... really confusing..." Morgan thought intensely. "But I guess it makes sense if you say so."
"We can talk about it more later if you want to, Morgan."
"Okay," the girl agreed, but then frowned as something else came onto her mind. "But wait, Mother... You said that Father was gone because he was looking me, but if I'm really from the future, wouldn't he not know that I was here?"
Lucina had desperately hoped that the girl had forgotten about that. She knew she shouldn't have given her that false hope. "Yes... You're right... The truth is, he isn't gone because he's looking for you. He's gone... because I made him leave..."
Morgan's eyes widened in shock. "W...What? Why would you... why would you make him leave if you love him, Mother?"
The torrent of emotions on Morgan's face was making Lucina revisit all of her feelings regarding the incident. "I thought... I thought that he was the one who will kill my father in this time..."
"Kill me?" Chrom asked. "Why would you possibly think that, Lucina? Robin would never try to hurt me!"
"I... I don't know... I haven't told anyone this, but in my future, Father, you... were betrayed by your closest friend, and after I saw Robin steal the Fire Emblem I thought I had proof that Robin was that person..."
"But Lucina, you know that it was Validar controlling him. He didn't act out of his own free will."
"I know that... but I was scared that something was going to happen to you very soon, and I was angry because I thought that he had lied about loving me. I let that blind anger get the better of me, and... and I tried to kill him! But I couldn't do it, Father! Not even for you!" Lucina felt herself growing teary-eyed again. "I loved him too much to do it! And now he's gone... I'm so sorry, Morgan..." she addressed the girl beside her. "It's my fault your father isn't around to be with you... I've only been a mother for a few minutes and I'm already terrible at it!"
"No, don't say that, Mother!" Morgan cried. "You... you just made a mistake, that's all! You can fix it, right?"
"I can't..." Lucina whispered. "I can't... I have no idea where he is, or when he'll come back, or even if he'll come back..."
"We can find a way to bring him back, Mother!"
"Don't... don't call me that, Morgan..." Lucina stammered. "You deserve a better mother than me... I'm a terrible person..."
"B...but!"
"I understand now..." Lucina spoke in a somber voice. "You must not remember me because you're suppressing those memories... I must have been such a bad mother to you that you didn't want to remember anything about me..."
"N...no! That isn't true, Mother! I can remember! I can remember everything for you! You were always... Umm... I meant to say that when I was little, you..." She started to panic, frantically hitting her hand with her hands. "I can remember!" she yelled to convince both Lucina and herself. "You... you said to me..."
Morgan's inability to remember only strengthened Lucina's assumption. Even Cynthia could be a better mother to Morgan than she ever could. "I don't know how to raise a child. I... I can't even decide between what's right and wrong. First I try to kill Robin and now I lied to you about it. I can't be a mother... I just can't..." Unwilling to break down in front of the entire army, Lucina attempted to put on the stoic face that she was used to wearing to hide her feelings, and with her final conviction she began to march out of the ruins. The rest of the Shepherds said nothing and only cleared a path for her.
"Lucy...Lucina! Don't go!"
"Wait! M...Mother! Come back!" Morgan tried to run after her, but Sumia caught her by the arm.
"Just give her some time to sort this all out, sweetie."
"I... I can't lose her too..." Morgan whispered in a voice only Sumia could hear.
"You won't," Sumia soothed, hugging the girl close. "You won't."
Morgan could only watch with teary eyes as her mother disappeared from view.
Lucina didn't stop walking until she reached the camp at the foot of the mountain. She was plagued with guilt and shame and uncertainty and regret. Pulling aside the flap to her own tent, she ducked inside and covered her face with her hands. All she could think about was Morgan's terrified face when she had practically disowned her, and how much it reminded her of Robin's on that night so many nights ago.
I promised more Morgan, so I hope I didn't disappoint with this long chapter stuffed with all sorts of feels!
Auntie Cynthia got her debut as well, because I realized that she hasn't physically appeared in this story up until now! For anyone wondering, they fight a griffon because the Risen Chief in the Ruins of Time paralogue is also a Griffon Rider who mumbles something about needing to kill a future child when you engage it in battle.
Did Chrom react like you thought he would? He got a little worried at first that Robin ran away and abandoned Lucina because... you know..., but he's actually really accepting of their relationship once he gets the full story! Now Robin just needs to come back soon and everything will be fine... Right?
Poor Morgan... Her father isn't around and now her mother doesn't believe that she really is her mother...