"You're doing it wrong." I cracked open an eye to see Lon'qu sitting cross-legged in front of me, eyes shut and hands on his knees. "Your mind has to be clear; you're still thinking."
"I'm trying."
"Don't try; just do it."
"Gee, thanks Yoda..."
"What?"
"Nothing..." Several seagulls sounded off overhead, becoming just one more factor in breaking my concentration. For the last hour and a half, Lon'qu had been trying to get me to meditate in order to forget about my seasickness at my request. There had so far been very little success, only quelling the feeling in my stomach for seconds at a time. We sat in silence for a little while longer, letting the sounds of the ocean wash over us.
"...You're still doing it."
"It's a little hard to concentrate when it feels like I'm going to throw up at any second, even though I know I won't." The swordsman sighed.
"That's enough for now, anyway." I opened my eyes again to see him standing up from his previous stance. "We'll continue this later."
"Okay. Thanks for doing this, by the way."
"Hmph." He went over to the mast and started climbing, presumably to relieve the man in the crow's nest.
"He's not normally like this, you know." I jumped slightly as Cordelia came and sat down next to me, smiling at the black-haired man currently ascending the mast.
"What do you mean?"
"Ever since we found Lucina and Morgan, he's been a bit... off. He'll never admit it, but he's jealous."
"Really? Lon'qu; jealous? I didn't know he had any emotion other than stoic."
"Trust me, he does..." Cordelia blushed the instant she said that, still staring up at the swordsman. I stifled a laugh at that, lying back on the wooden deck and looking up at the afternoon sun. "So, why did you ask him to help you meditate in the first place?"
"Did you really have to remind me?" I felt my stomach rumble as my thoughts returned to the reason I had enlisted Lon'qu.
"Oh... right. I'll... I'll go see to the pegasi." The redhead hastily got up and left. Curiously, I heard a different set of footsteps approaching.
"Hi Dad!" Morgan's grinning face entered my vision, somehow slowing down the sickness in the pit of my stomach and making butterflies stir in it. "Whatcha doing?"
"Nothing now. Why; you need something?"
"Nope; just wanted to say hi!"
"Nuh-uh, I know that smile; you're up to something."
"Well..."
"See? I know my own future daughter." She giggled.
"I wanted to know if you know any good pranks."
"...What?"
"Aunt Lissa pulled a really nasty one on me this morning; she filled my shoes with flower; so I want to get her back."
"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind, you know." As her face fell, I grinned. "Thankfully, this is a prank for a prank." I got up from the deck, only to almost fall back down as Morgan gave me one of her intense hugs.
"Yay; thanks, Dad!"
"My pleasure. Besides, I still have to get back at her for a few things she's done with frogs to me... So, what have you come up with so far?"
"Glad you asked!" She pulled a folded-up piece of parchment from her robes. She unfolded it to reveal some very extensive blueprints. Thinks just like Robin. "I was thinking that we could start with-"
"You two!" Our heads jerked in Chrom's direction. "We have a problem; come on." I sighed, looking down at a slightly crestfallen blonde.
"Sorry, sweetie, but it looks like we'll have to put this on hold."
"Okay..." I wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and lead her over to the group now debating what to do. We stepped in next to Robin, who was in her all-too-familiar thinking stance.
"We're here; what's the problem?"
"The Valmese have arrived."
"I'm sorry, what?" Chrom pointed out across the bow of the ship where, in the distance, red sails could be seen coming our direction.
"Right now we're trying to devise a plan to stop them. They doubtlessly have more forces than we do, making this upcoming fight an uphill struggle."
"Ah."
"Chrom," attention turned to Robin, "how much spare oil do we have?"
"Oil? We should have plenty; why?"
"We may not have more forces, but we do have ships to spare." My eyes widened.
"Oh. That is both insane and awesome."
"It's also very dangerous."
"What is?" Morgan's gaze was switching between the two of us, an eyebrow raised. Chrom was doing something similar, though with a little less confusion and a lot more worry.
"We burn their ships with our own." Our daughter's jaw dropped at her mother's statement.
"Have I said how much I like your style, kid?" Basilio was grinning at Robin. "Just one problem, though: they'll just shoot down our ships before we can get close."
"Easy enough: take out the commanding ship. Soldiers tend to panic when the ones in charge are in trouble, which should provide ample opportunity to set our ships ablaze and send them crashing into the Valmese ones." They all stared at me. "What?"
"Where'd you pull that out of?"
"Being married to a tactician has its advantages." I smiled at Robin, who returned the gesture. "That is, unless she has a better plan."
"Nope; that was going to be my plan. Although, I have to add on that we only need a small force, probably the Shepherds if history is to account for anything, to head in, risking fewer lives and possibly making the trip easier."
"Right. I'll go inform the Shepherds. Basilio, Flavia; could you two please inform the other ships of our plan?"
"Already on it. Come on, oaf; let's go."
"Hey, you may be the Khan, but you can't order me around." The duo walked out of earshot, still bickering as per usual. With a nod, Chrom did much the same, though without the arguing.
"As for you two," I looked at Robin, who was staring at us with a very stern expression, "you will be on the boats."
"But Moooommm!"
"No buts; you and your father aren't going into this fight."
"I understand her, but why not me?"
"Punch me."
"What? Why would I do that?"
"Just do it." Noting the deadpan expression on her face, I decided to oblige. I reeled my right arm back, thrust it forward, and... barely squished the fabric of her cloak. She raised an eyebrow at me.
"Yeah, okay..."
"Wait, why can't I fight? Dad might be out of commission, but I'm not!"
"Morgan, I need you to protect your father. If anything happens, he can't protect himself right now, so I need you to do it." At that, Morgan grinned, giving her a salute.
"Can do!" She gave each of us a hug, then ran off to who-knows-where. I moved closer to Robin, who draped her arms over my shoulders as I held her waist.
"Nice excuse."
"Well, thinking about how to get out of situations is my job."
"Oh, is that why we're in this war mess?"
"Ha-ha."
"Sorry; couldn't resist."
"So... are you really okay with being out of the battle?"
"So long as I'd be a burden rather than an asset, I'd rather stay out of it than fight in it. But that does raise the question of: what will I be doing to help?"
"Oh, that's simple: you're going to light the boats." It was my turn to raise an eyebrow. "You'll be on the main ship equipped with a Fire tome, and fire off a shot when I give a signal."
"You're having the guy who's seasick, albeit mildly, on a boat that is the crux of your plans in order to set it on fire."
"No, I'm having the person I trust most on a boat that is the crux of my plans in order to set it on fire."
"Oh. Well, when you put it like that..." I grinned at her, which she responded to by gently grabbing the back of my head and pulled me in for a sweet kiss. When we broke off, she gave me a small smile before walking away with a somehow very seductive wave over her shoulder, presumably going to help with preparations. "How come I never got this lucky before I got sent to a war-torn world?" I sighed. "At least the good outweighs the bad..."
"Dad, are you okay?"
"Oof... I'll get back to you in a minute." Morgan and I were standing on the lead self-destructing ship, looking at the battle taking place. I had a Fire tome in hand, and I was not feeling good. It might have been the stress of the situation or the much rougher waters brought on by the increased number of moving ships, but my seasickness had escalated quite a bit. Every time I opened my mouth to try and talk to Morgan, it felt like I was going to vomit out my lunch. My legs were wobbly, and it did not feel right to do anything other than try and stand completely still. Morgan was under one arm trying to support me, while the other was gripping the railing.
"Maybe I should light the boat..."
"No, I've got it." I hope. At that moment, the entire ship jolted, nearly sending the two of us flying off our feet. As soon as we regained our balance, we looked forward to see the enemy's commanding ship rapidly sinking into the water, an enormous crack running up the entire side of the wooden hull.
"Dad, I think that's the signal!"
"Right. You get off the boat; I'll light it." The blonde gave me a worried look before nodding and running to the edge of the ship, hesitating on the railing for a brief second before jumping off. With as much strength as my very horrible-feeling body could offer, I thrust an arm forward and let the magical energy of the Fire tome course through my body, manifesting itself as a fireball that shot out of my outstretched hand. It struck one of the many oiled spots on the deck, igniting around half of the ship the second fire met oil. Giving a look around to see both if there was anyone left on the boat and if the other boats had been lit yet, I saw several burning vessels headed forward alongside the one I was still on. Nodding in satisfaction, I ran over to the railing as fast as my wobbly legs would take me, and followed my daughter's example. Salt water clouded my vision as I broke the ocean's surface, attempting to stay calm amidst the roar of the fire and the rush of water. Once the violence of the water had died down, I propelled myself to the surface, looking around to see a maelstrom of fire. Every single Valmese ship was now on fire, most of them having been rammed directly by one of our empty ships. Before I could assess anything further, I heard something swimming towards me, and turned around to find a smiling Morgan.
"We did it!"
"Of course we did; did you doubt us?"
"N-No..."
"I heard that hesitation." Before Morgan had a chance to respond, a whinny overhead cut her off. Above us, Sumia and Cordelia were circling lower and lower, coming in for the rescue.
"Are you two okay?"
"Fine, thanks." Sumia pulled me up onto her pegasus, while Cordelia pulled up Morgan.
"Thank goodness." With kicks to their steeds' sides, the two ferried us over to our currently fleeing ships. Upon landing, we were both immediately inspected by Robin for any injuries, with the younger of us being checked first. When she had looked over the small blonde and given her a hug for good measure, she lightly placed her hands on various parts of my body, looking for anything wrong. There was nothing wrong with me, however...
"What's that?" I pointed to her right leg, on which a small spot of red was slowly growing.
"What's what?" I knelt down to look at the spot.
"That."
"Oh, it's nothing. Just a small splinter I got-"
"No, splinters don't cause you to bleed. Why are you being so evasive about this? It's not like you haven't been hurt before."
"I know, I'm sorry, it's just... every time I've gotten an injury, you've blamed yourself for it. I didn't want you doing that again." She knelt down. "And don't say you could have done something this time, because you couldn't have. If anything, we both would have gotten hurt."
"I suppose I do have that problem..."
"I wouldn't necessarily call it a problem." We smiled at each other.
"Aaawww!" Our heads snapped to Morgan, who was looking on with practically sparkling eyes. "My Mom and Dad are the cutest thing in the world!" I could feel my cheeks burning at her remark, and I could see out of the corner of my eye that Robin was doing much the same. I cleared my throat.
"Anyway, we should get you to a healer."
"But-"
"No, you won't be stopping them from healing everyone else. Their job is to heal the injured, and you're injured." I got up from my position, taking her with me.
"I suppose you're right." I made a sweeping motion in the direction I assumed the healers were.
"After you, milady."
"Thank you, good sir. Although," she pointed off to the left of where I had, "the healers are that way."
"That's why I said 'after you'; I don't know where we're going." She rolled her eyes, and started walking off with a slight limp. I rushed over to the side that was limping and held her arm, hopefully holding her up slightly. Her smile grew a little, and we walked off to the healers', a few troubles behind us, but an entire continent more before us.
A/N: Not much to say on this one; kinda speaks for itself. As always, if you have any questions, concerns, comments, or criticisms, don't hesitate to leave a review or PM. Until the next chapter!