.

"To distract yourself from... unpleasant thoughts. What do you do?"

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The camp was lively, despite the early hour, as the Shepherds began the arduous task of packing up for the journey ahead. War was a mobile beast, and no one knew that better than the ones who fought it, day in and day out. Especially Lucina.

The young lord examined her compatriots and their parents, tireless in their struggle to prevent the dark future she had warned of. Despite setbacks and overwhelming odds - despite the Fell Dragon's legendary power - these men and women refused to lie down and accept defeat. She was proud to fight beside them, to call them comrades and friends... but most of all she was proud to call three of them her family.

Several tents were still up, so she set off to see where she could be most helpful. She would have asked Severa, but she was arguing loudly with her mother as a myrmidom awkwardly stood watch. I should not bother them. Kjelle was similarly occupied, hefting cumbersome cargo as she listened avidly to Gregor's disjointed cooking advice.

Lucina smiled, unable to contain her joy at the sight of her friends finally having the chances with their families that Grima had taken away. Making stew, learning traditions, sharing stories... their future had none of these things. They'd barely scraped by, surviving simply because their parents had made the first mistakes for them to learn from, and because the Fell Dragon liked to play god in his sick game. Before they had done the impossible and traveled into the past, it had seemed like a game they would lose.

But not anymore.

She paused beside a tent, already collapsed as a dark knight expertly tied his bedroll. They had all gone through the motions enough times to be able to do this in seconds with their eyes closed, yet he seemed sluggish. It was likely he hadn't slept since he took over the watch from her.

"Cydus." He paused, abandoning his task to face her. His complete attention was appreciated, although the way he had to blink a couple of times to focus properly wasn't. "You need sleep."

"...yes." His admission startled her, but perhaps it was his exhaustion that made him honest. He backpedaled at her expression, "But... not now."

"I know."

He had never been one to leave work to others, despite his own fatigue. That wasn't going to change now. After all of this time spent in the past, Lucina had learned he'd gotten it from his mother, who was equally as stubborn on the matter. It was an admirable, if sometimes dangerous, trait of his.

"Once we are on the road, however, I request you find a wagon. You cannot survive on such inadequate rest."

His faint grimace at words she'd said far too often didn't change her stance, although she understood his anxiety when he muttered, "I... need to stand guard." Ever since his father had been injured under his eye, Cydus had become the young man's shadow.

Shaking her head, she told him, "You can't hope to protect them if you're falling asleep on your feet." The hesitation on his face brought her to clasp his shoulder. "Perhaps you could convince your sister to rest, as well."

He pursed his lips, but didn't argue further. Bedroll under his arm, he inclined his head in surrender and muttered, "Where is she now?"

"With your parents, as you should be." Smiling despite her scolding, Lucina assisted in transferring his possessions to a wagon before leading him to the rest of his family at the tactics table. The tent had been packed, but this sturdy wooden table remained as tomes and maps were still scattered across it.

She patted his back in a bid to urge him forward, whispering, "Take your time, Cydus."

It was rare that the dark knight show vulnerability, but the cautious look he gave her was telling. We don't have time, he wanted to say, and she knew it wasn't just because of the march ahead. He spoke of the climactic battle approaching, and of what happened after. The clock is ticking. He was afraid of taking this time now because he didn't think they had any to spare.

"Wow, Papa! You planned all of this yourself?"

"W-well, yes, I -"

"He's been working on it for ages - haven't you, Ricken?"

"What? And you guys didn't tell me? Mama! Papa!"

The family eyeing maps and diagrams, it was his mother who finally noticed them. Beckoning Cydus over, the dark mage coaxed, "Come, look at this! Your father wants you kids' opinions on our future home."

Eyebrows furrowed, he silently asked why - why his opinion would matter, when their real son hadn't been born yet and all that he remembered of their home was death and ashes. Lucina watched this flash across his expression; with a look at the troubadour, she knew the same thoughts hid behind those shining eyes. She hated the Fell Dragon for many things, but these dark insecurities in her friends often felt like the worst of the scars he had given.

The parents shared glances, but whatever silent message they exchanged was lost on the young lord. Then Ricken stepped forward, a section of map in hand.

"Well," he began, finger tapping sketched trees, "there's a deed for land west of Roark."

Cydus stiffened.

"I don't have the gold for the building materials yet, but soon... it's a nice plot," the mage hurried, his son's stony face obviously making him nervous. "Close enough to town, has plenty of space for development. But before I settle on it, I... wanted to know what you thought."

This is a private moment, Lucina thought, more awkward the longer she stood there. I should go. Yet her feet remained where they were, and her gaze stayed on the dark knight's stormy expression.

She wasn't a fool. She knew the significance of that innocent plot of land. The real question here wasn't whether it was a good place for a house; their future had attested to that, before everything went wrong. Years of his life had been spent there. In the dark future, he had taken the role of navigator when they'd reached this part of the country, never once leading them astray.

What Ricken really wanted to know was whether or not his son trusted him - trusted all of them - to defeat the Fell Dragon once and for all. He had chosen the exact same location in defiance of this dark future, to prove that their family was stronger than some preordained fate.

A faint shudder, one that Lucina nearly missed, went over Cydus.

Finally, her feet unglued themselves from the dirt beneath them, and she gave his shoulder one last squeeze before taking her leave.

"...Yeah. Let me see..."

She smiled.

Grima will fall, the bluenette swore as she found her parents' determined faces at the head of the Shepherds, ready to lead them onwards. The horrors of his reign will end.

Morgan's grin brightened when she fell into step beside him.

Even if I have to drive Falchion into his dastard heart myself.

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"I often gaze at the stars. They seem brighter now than they did in the future."

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And here's the end of the tale! Or at least, of the twenty prompts I was given to spin it. So I can officially call this story "complete."

This isn't the end of the Maygen-Ricken family, though - oh no! A few more snippets are hiding or in the works! It may be a while in coming, but I hope you enjoy any extra scenes I may come up with for these four and their comrades. (I'll probably add them as chapters here, in case readers are following the story and not the author.)

Also feel free to suggest other scenes. I've been thinking of some of the extra recruits (such as a certain "cunning vixen" or the "ghost of a blade") and I'd love to hear what you'd like to see them discuss or do with this family. And maybe more battle scenes? Yeah, I know. I don't normally do action. I'm working on it, okay?

As for OTHER FE:A projects, I've already talked about a few, and uploaded others. You may have noticed I've written two short pieces on Gangrel. He's a fun character! I've got one or two AU/semi-canon ideas starring him. And would anyone want a follow-up to "How Pride Goes"?

Then there are the other Maygen pairings I've written things for in secret. (Am I ashamed? Not really. Writers like to play.) If you want any of those, feel free to shoot me a message.

OH. And any quotes you didn't recognize are from the character sheets I ended up making for Maygen, Cydus and Valri. Who's a dork? I'M A DORK.

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Too long didn't read? I thoroughly enjoyed this family-fluff romp, and I'll be putting up a poll soon on my profile to see what FE:A stuff you want to see next! So keep an eye out for that, maybe?

Stay awesome, everyone! And remember: Hope will never die!

-Dragon

For the curious, here's the twenty prompts! (Maybe you can name each chapter they feature in? *wink*)

Heartbeat, broken record, ramshackle, night on the town, let's play a game, high standards, summer breeze, omens, layered cake, dungeons and dragons, ghost boy, from beyond, whip cream, birds, last night, caught in the act, carrots, what would you do?, viral, gender