The world reforms around me as a forest. Back home. Not that I ever belonged here more than I did in Fódlan. Brown, bi, aromantic, nonbinary, and scorned by family isn't a good combo for having this world accept me. But I should be practical right now. My muscles are still sore from the fight. I should stretch them and find some place to take a nap.

When I move my arms, I realize I have an assault rifle in my hands. Oh, right. I appear back in the spot where I left, keeping all the same equipment. And five years ago, I was defending my high school from…

Shit. I forgot that I'm a wanted criminal here for standing against Thales' corrupt cops. Good thing I only promised Byleth not to fight them in Fódlan and said nothing about returning as a noncombatant. Not that I want to be a civilian in an active war zone, but my chances might end up being better there than here.

I check my cell phone, which has the date as being five years ago, the same day that I jaunted over to Fódlan. My signal's weak out here, and I'm not connected to the internet so I'm guessing it will recalibrate once I get back into the city. It couldn't hurt to explore a bit. I leave my assault rifle by a tree that has another smaller tree grafted onto it and make note of my path out of the woods. I don't feel great about leaving a dangerous weapon where anyone could find it, but I feel worse about walking around town openly carrying a military-grade weapon.

I emerge next to Garreg Mach high school. Or, at least, what should be the school. Instead I'm confronted by a shopping center with various general-use stores. I'm confident that the school was here, and the surrounding buildings are still the same, so what gives?

I see what looks like a straight couple walking towards the mall. Both of them are wearing face masks, which makes me pause. I guess they're sick and worried about spreading their cold or flu? I know countries in East Asia are big on that, but I've always assumed that Americans were too selfish to follow.

I put on my smile face as I approach them. Good news is that I somehow don't have any blood on me this time, and I guess none of my bones broke from that fall considering that I'm still walking without pain. So without the dirt on my face, I bet I look normal. The couple crosses the street when I walk towards them and continues on the other sidewalk. Whatever.

Another person approaches, also wearing a mask. Huh. Again, I do my best to look non-threatening. She furrows her eyebrows when she sees me. Oh boy, here we go again.

"Please put on a mask when you go outside," she says.

I blink. "The air quality doesn't seem that bad."

She scoffs. "Don't try to play this off. And it's wrong to joke about something like that when the air quality is dangerous on the west coast."

"What's happening there?"

She stares at me. "How have you not heard? The wildfires. People say that the smoke is coming our way."

Something to look into, at least. And considering that I doubt I can get information from her about why I should be wearing a mask, I think that's about all I have to ask. I thank her for her time, and she gives me the stink eye as I walk past her.

There was something odd about her annoyance with me. I'm used to racism, and it's usually easy to tell when people are being an asshole to you as a power move. Even when people say they're "scared" of us, it's easy to see what's going on in their mind. But that woman seemed genuinely appalled about the mask bit. I find an out of the way bench and start googling based on what's happened in the past five years.

And despite what happened in Fódlan, I'm not prepared for what I read. Worsening tensions between North and South Korea. A hurricane that devastated Puerto Rico, and the government refused to send aid that could have saved thousands of American lives. The US military abandoning our Kurdish allies and letting Turkey hunt them down, same as our Hmong allies in Vietnam 45 years ago. The US government starting concentration camps where civilians continue to be abused, starved, and sterilized. I can't say I'm surprised considering how the US threw Japanese immigrants into similar concentration camps in the 40s, but my fingers are shaking after I finish reading articles.

And then comes the bombshells of what's been happening over the past year. A virus that's killed 200,000 Americans with testing and response being intentionally slowed down. Police brutality being recorded and broadcast leading to people protesting in the streets.

The events do make sense. The pandemic response has shades of how the US treated the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, and large-scale protests and resistance demanding racial justice are hardly new. But taking it in all at once is still hard to come to terms with. There's even more material on controversies involving the president and supreme court that I scroll past because I can't deal with everything right now.

So I guess this world went up in flames like Fódlan soon after I left. I wonder if the state I saw Dimitri in reflects how he's doing here. I dial up his number and get no response. I call a second and then a third time. Nothing. I wonder if he switched phone numbers, but that doesn't seem likely. More probable is that he has it off for whatever reason right now. Maybe he has a job and is in an important meeting. I don't know if I believe that, but it's what I'm telling myself.

Next down the list is Dorothea. She should still be in good health, since the Fódlan version of all the Black Eagles students decided to side with Byleth. I dial her number and after a few seconds I hear someone pick up.

"This had better not be an elaborate prank." It's Dorothea's voice.

"Those are the first words you have for an old friend?"

"Claude. Where the fuck have you been in the past five years? We were all worried sick about you."

Aww. In Fódlan, even my friends didn't worry about how I was doing. That wasn't their job, and I couldn't be weak around them when they were expecting me to lead them into battle. And honestly, I have no idea how I kept up that act for so long. I'm still closer to the crying child in Lucina's arms than the Alliance Leader I was supposed to be. I want to melt into Dorotha's arms and have her tell me everything's going to be okay.

"It's a long story," I say. "I've been off the grid. I did a quick google search about what's happened in the past five years and stumbled on some… interesting results."

"Oh god, you have to take in the last four years at once. I'm amazed you're capable of speaking after that."

"It helps that I was somewhere worse."

Though… was I? Even as a bloody war consumed Fódlan, none of us threw civilians into concentration camps. Not even Cornelia. America has always been the timeline where forces like Those Who Slither in the Dark won, and it's finally revealing its true colors.

"Oh you poor thing," Dorothea says. "Where are you right now? I have an apartment in Austin. If you're close at all, you can crash at my place for as long as you need. I don't have any roommates, so no need to worry about pissing them off."

"Living the good life, huh? I'm in Iowa. Right by where our school used to be. It got replaced by a shopping mall, looks like."

A pause. "Where exactly were you these past five years?"

"Like I said, it's a long story."

"Does this have anything to do with you being covered in blood even before the police raided the school five years ago?"

"Okay, who did you get that information from and how much context did they give you?"

"Lysithea. I know Ignatz and Ashe were close to getting hurt, and they were traumatized by it. She was the only one who kept cool through the whole situation. Well, other than you."

"And what about Dimitri?"

"After the situation calmed down, he disappeared as well. None of us have heard from him since."

I take a deep breath. If he's alive in Fódlan despite being declared dead, he should be in the same position here. No need to panic.

"I don't know if you'll believe me, but I've been travelling to a different dimension," I say.

"Oh, so she was right."

I frown, and then remember that Dorothea can't catch the motion. "What did Lysithea tell you?"

"Well, that you've been going to an alternate reality, and that the person who attacked our school is from there. She thought you went over there to escape being prosecuted after you disappeared and we couldn't find you."

"She's a smart cookie. I should send her sweets to thank her for helping me out in that situation. Given how aggressive the cops were acting, she probably saved my life."

And Dimitri's as well, since I can see him lunging at the cops after they shoot me. And as the cops have shown, nothing "scares" them more than an unarmed teenager.

"I can send you her address. She's from the Pacific Northwest like you, so you could even visit her in person. Though probably not a good idea with the pandemic."

"Yeah. I heard that 200,000 people died?"

"It's been brutal in Texas, though Austin's not as bad as some other places. Like I said, you're welcome to crash here if you can make it."

I'm pretty sure I can never get on a plane again, but taking the bus could be an option. That is, assuming that my mom didn't empty my bank account that she had legal control over, which she probably did. I don't have a home here, and Byleth sent me back anyway. So what's the plan now? Do I try to change my identity and look for a job while being homeless?

"Oh, you should probably call that chick that stalked me and was asking me about you," Dorothea says. "Seriously, you're popular with a bunch of beautiful women and it's like you don't even care."

"I care about my friends a lot. And who's this person?"

"Some gorgeous Asian girl. Lucy? "

"Lucina?"

"Yeah, that's the one. She checks in with me any so often asking if I've heard anything from you. A lot of the time it seems like she's off the grid, though. Leave a message and she'll get to it."

Is Lucina really that hot? I guess she is, but it's weird to think about my babysitter that way.

"So you're attracted to her, but you didn't hit it off."

"You know how it is. Girls are too nice to each other and it's hard to tell when someone's into you." I hear a sigh to the other end. "Actually, that's a lie. She was business the whole time. Where's Claude? What do I know about Claude? What other friends does he have that she can get info from? You're lucky to have someone like her who's so devoted to you."

"Yeah, I'm grateful to have her watching over me. And your support means a lot to me too."

So Lucina's been looking for me, but no sign of Dimitri. Tracking him down might be harder than I think.

"Aw, thanks. I wasn't trying to farm gratitude, I promise. When I'm down I still think back to our homecoming dance to cheer myself up."

"You mean the one where I abandoned you in the middle of it?"

"I leave out that part when I replay it in my mind. But thanks for reminding me about that."

A grin comes to my face. Her dry tone tells me that she doesn't actually mind. I've missed having friends I can joke around with. Fódlan might be where I'm capable of making a difference, but here is where I can be myself.

"All right, I might give Lucina a call right after this. Thanks, Dorothea. If I run out of ideas I might take you up on your offer. Let me know if you get any sign of Dimitri, okay?"

"I'll keep my eyes peeled, but don't expect anything. I'll want to talk with you later but for now it sounds like you have some planning to do."

We exchange goodbyes and I hang up. It takes me a few seconds to pull the phone away from my ear. I can't keep extending the length of a cold call or else I'll come off as desperate and clingy. And hey, maybe I am, but that shouldn't be her problem.

Next I dial Lucina's number. One ring, two rings, three rings. Right as I'm about to give up and hang up, I hear someone pick up on the other end.

"Hello?" The intensity in her voice makes me pause. "Claude, is it you?"

"I finished this whole thing with Dorothea. Yes it's me. I've been catching myself up on what's happened over the last five years."

"Claude. You're alive. I was so worried…"

I could stop her here since I heard this all from Dorothea, but I let her keep going. Maybe I shouldn't need her words, but it's nice to feel cared for. She goes on for a while about how happy she is that I'm here and safe. I know the stereotype of gruff men who turn into total softies around their mothers, and now I get it. There's nothing that can replace having somebody to lean on and look up to.

Lucina asks where I am, and I give her a run-down of the situation.

"I am going to fly right over there and pick you up," she says. "We're living in upstate New York right now. The pandemic's pretty bad, but our county is doing its best to stay safe even with college kids piling in."

Huh. A college town might not be a bad place to crash for a while. I still need to figure out if I can carve out a life here despite being a wanted criminal, and being surrounded by dumb partying kids is a good of a choice as any. It's funny that the last time I was here, college kids represented the next step in my life. Now most of them are younger than me.

"I don't want you to rush," I say.

"And where are you going to stay if I don't?"

"Out in the woods, I guess."

"Exactly. Oh, look. There's a flight that takes off from the Ithaca airport in a few hours that still has empty seats. I can go through Chicago and end up in Des Moines. I've already bought a ticket for myself."

"Thank you so much, Lu. If you need me to pay you back at any point I can try to work something out."

"Don't worry about it. I don't let people I care about sleep alone in the woods."

"But sleeping in the woods when you're with someone else is okay?"

"Hey, that's what I had to do when apocalypse was raining down from the sky. See you in a bit, Claude. I'll text you with updates."

After saying goodbyes, she hangs up to go pack. I close my eyes and press my phone up to my heart. If I didn't have Lucina, then…well, I'd be another kid whose brains got blown out by a killer who was too powerful for justice to reach. And I'd also have no life here.

My stomach growling tells me it's time for food. Being hungry during war is a special type of hunger. It's physically painful to the point that I can barely make a coherent plan. But in the end, I manage to cobble together a series of steps to tide myself over until Lucina can get here.

Step one is to obtain a mask. After trying a few different stores who won't let me in without wearing one, I convince one of them to let me cover my mouth and nose with my shirt. I don't exactly smell great after going through a battle, but it's far better than walking over the bridge covered in corpses. Did Dimitri's forces have to be so brutal with those Adrestian soldiers? I guess there's nothing I can do about it now.

After I acquire some masks, I think about the best food for the moment. Considering that I'm starving, I could go for a whole pizza. But I don't want anything too greasy after five years of eating medieval food (aka mush), so I decide on an 18-inch sub instead. From its size I'm not sure that it can physically fit inside of my stomach, but I'm confident I can eat the whole thing. I take the sandwich back to my spot in the woods. My assault rifle is still there, thank goodness. I could dispose of it by tossing it into a stream if I want to avoid the trouble altogether, but I might have to defend myself from more cops in the future and this country looks like it could devolve into an all-out war any moment.

Step three is to eat the sandwich. I force myself to take small bites and chew for long periods of time so that I don't overwhelm my stomach. It's hard and my brain is begging me for more, but I stay strong and eat the whole thing without giving myself a stomachache. During this time I do more reading, but try not to surf the web too often since I don't want to drain the battery of this phone. Just in case, I text Lucina my GPS coordinates.

I smirk to myself. So reliant on technology, but if I didn't have this phone I'd be dead meat right now. I have no idea how people functioned before instant messaging and calling existed.

Still, killing several hours while waiting for updates from Lucina is… well, given that I'm experienced with battles, it's not so bad. Most of the time spent at war is waiting followed by brief periods of frantic action. And as terrible as the deaths are, for me the hardest part is the waiting. It gives my anxiety all the time in the world to fester, and when the actual fight hits I don't have time to let doubt hold me back. So waiting without an inevitable battle where I might lose my life is relaxing, even though it's a little cold here in the woods.

It gives me plenty of time to reflect, which I can't decide is good or bad. My first thoughts go to Omar. All the people knew what they were doing when they signed up for this mission, but the horses, wyverns, and pegasuses (pegasi?) were forced into this without a say. It feels silly to be worrying about animals before humans, but Omar followed me through thick and thin. He risked his life for me multiple times when he could have flown away and saved himself.

And when it mattered, I abandoned him.

It doesn't matter that I couldn't have saved him after the ballista bolt hit him. It doesn't matter that thousands of other animals have lost their life in Fódlan's war. Keeping Omar alive was my responsibility, and I most likely failed.

And then of course are the people we lost at Garreg Mach, the Great Bridge of Myrddin, and Gronder Field. Marianne, Raphael, Judith, Mercedes, Leonie. If I sit back and do nothing I'm letting their sacrifices go to waste, but if I continue fighting I'm only dragging more people down with me. How are generals supposed to live with themselves? No matter which choices they make, they're getting some people killed. And nobody makes the right decision all the time.

Except Byleth, because they can rewind their mistakes. Maybe that's why I hate them so much. Why do they get access to godlike powers that allow them to wage wars without endangering the people they care about? But I suppose that's most wars. Just look at the Iraq and Afghanistan wars that the US waged. The rich people who signed the orders to get troops sent over weren't the ones who watched friends and family enlist and fly halfway across the world to potentially die in an invasion that destabilized Iraq enough to create ISIS.

The more I think about it, the US isn't different than Fódlan. We're getting what's been coming for a long time. But same as in Fódlan, the people in charge get out unscathed while the common people who did nothing wrong are forced to suffer.

I hate this world and I have no power to change it. Why did Byleth think that I could be happy here?

I'm try to keep my dark thoughts from festering by walking around in the woods. Maybe staying busy wasn't the best way to avoid hard questions. Because now that I have nothing to do, it's all catching up to me at once. And I'm as complicit as anyone else. I controlled a quarter of Fódlan's territory, and I wasn't able to break the cycle of war and violence that Edelgard started.

So what now?

The good news is that I can keep my gun on me while I wander through the woods without it being seen after taking it apart and putting it my backpack, so there's nothing keeping me from wandering as far or as long as I want to. I could do this until I drop. I've done everything I can, after all. Might as well leave my fate to chance.

Picturing Byleth's face is what lets me shove those thoughts aside. I will thrive to spite them if nothing else. And it's not even really shoving anything into their face, since they don't care what I do over in this world. But staying alive despite them using godlike powers to try and keep me down is a statement in itself.

Eventually, Lucina texts me that she's close. At this point my face is numb from the evening chill. I go out into the mall parking lot where my school used to be, and I see the rental car that she described to me. She waves me over and I open the door to the back seat. She reaches over from the driver's seat to give me a hug, and holds me for almost a minute even though the position must be uncomfortable for her. I want to say that I hold on because I'm glad to see her after these five years, but in reality I'm too tired to be the one to let go.

"You look like shit," she says.

"Better than I did last time I popped out of Fódlan."

"So I've heard. You can catch me up on the details as we drive."

I try to start talking about what's happened to me, but I fall asleep within minutes of her driving. When I awake, I see the sun rising out of the car window. Lucina tells me that I slept for a full ten hours and that we have five still to go. She insists that she's perfectly alert and awake. I know it's not safe to be driving straight through the night and into the morning like this, but I've survived so many near-death experiences at this point that it's hard to care.

For the next couple of hours, I catch Lucina up about what's happened. She asks for enough details that I know she genuinely wants to hear more, and she consoles me every time I mention losing someone close to me.

"I was trying to make sure you didn't have to go through that sort of life," Lucina says. "But I'm proud of you, Claude. You did your duty and defended the lands you swore to protect, and you limited the suffering and death caused by war. It sounds like most of the people of the Alliance are still alive and well thanks to you."

That's true. After all my strategizing and fighting, the most good I was able to foster was telling Edelgard I wouldn't raid her army if she attacked Derdriu head-on instead of scouring the countryside. Now she has a politically and economically stable providence to rule over, and I get to keep most of my people safe. But I'm still not happy.

Marianne, Raphael, Judith, Mercedes, Leonie. Their deaths won't leave me alone, and I don't want that to change. My mistakes cost their lives. I wasn't strong enough to protect Judith and Raphael. I didn't trust the Kingdom army enough to provide cover for Mercedes. I didn't drill the importance of surrendering a hopeless fight to Leonie. And I didn't have the courage to abandon Garreg Mach when the church wanted us to fight while unprepared, which would have saved Marianne.

I'll never forgive Byleth, Edelgard, or Rhea for what happened to them. But most of all, I'll never forgive myself.

"Do you know what happened on Earth with my high school?" I say.

"The police ended up capturing Rhea. She was charged and convicted of murder for organizing the assassinations of a number of priests."

"Molester priests."

"As you know, the courts don't take sexual assault seriously. Even if they were found guilty, I'm guessing she still was going to receive a life sentence."

"And the police that started firing at random civilians?"

"Obviously the prosecutors either can't or won't land any of them in prison. There wasn't a lot of video footage, so most information about the police brutality was labelled as 'speculation.'"

I shouldn't be surprised. How many more cases like mine must there have been? For every recorded case of police brutality I find circulating on the internet, I bet there are dozens more lurking in memory.

"The police have also started shooting at people who try to record them, so there are fewer of those videos going around," Lucina says. "But that doesn't mean it isn't happening."

"I wish one time, we could meet on a happy occasion."

Lucina laughs. "Not much of that to be found in this world, I'm afraid. But we do the best we can. But I must admit that many aspects of Earth's global culture confuse me. If democracy is so highly valued, then why does America refuse to implement it in full?"

"You mean stopping voter suppression or allowing people in DC and the American Territories to have full congress representation and votes for the president?"

"Both. You Americans claim to act in the will of the people, but only let subsets of people vote. It baffles me."

"I mean, the powerful don't want to listen to people. If we want a full democracy, we have to protest until it happens."

"Maybe these conflicts will lead to change," Lucina says. "We can only hope."

Funny how quickly I get back into the swing of radical politics. Guess I never really left it behind.

"You should talk about this stuff with my husband," Lucina says. "He's a savant at this political theory stuff. Though he does approach it from a more theoretical angle, which I know is frustrating to some people who feel like their personal stories are being overridden."

"How long have you been married?"

"Eh, you know how it is. Time is hard to track. I wasn't when I left the first time, but when we met again in Iowa I was."

"And you didn't tell me?"

"Must have slipped my mind. I'm not used to talking to Earth people about my personal life in Ylisse. Though I guess now it's also my personal life on Earth, since he's here with me in Ithaca for now."

"For now?"

"We travel back and forth. Ylisse is in a stable position thanks to my father's efforts, so we try to relax here. It hasn't been especially relaxing of late, but the standard of living here is much higher than in my homeland. Better food, better medicine, and I'd say better art with all the great books, movies, shows, youtube channels, podcasts, you name it. As bad as this place is, it got some things right."

That is true. Technology and progress can lead to good, like food security and the internet helping people connect. I don't think I'd know what being nonbinary even is without access to search engines, and living out my entire life trying to force myself to be cis sounds like a nightmare. I wonder how much of that could be implemented in Fódlan without the blood and bones that comes along with America's past and present.

Lucina and I are quiet for the last hour or so of the drive. We pull up to a house in the middle of a town. She tells me that her husband can take the rental car back to a return station nearby and uber back. I hop out of the car with my backpack containing a taken-apart assault rifle and waddle towards the front door. I hope I'm only stiff from the drive and not from the fight, since I think my muscles have gone through enough already. Lucina turns the car off and unlocks the door. I hear feet shuffling inside and make it to the doorstep in time to see an older teenager embracing Lucina. This person presents as female, so I'm guessing this isn't the husband she told me about. Does Lucina also have a sibling she didn't mention?

"Hey, Morgan," Lucina says. "Nice to see you. I think I'm going to head off to bed soon. Is dad around?"

Wait, so Lucina's father is here too? Didn't she say that he was in charge of the kingdom back where she's from?

"Yeah, he's doing that thing where he reads social media and calls it research. I'm glad you made it here safely, mom."

Wait. What?

"This is Claude," Lucina says, gesturing towards me. "He was the one I had you make that charm for those years back."

"Hello, Claude." They wave at me. "I thought you said he was a little kid."

"And at that time, I also didn't know I was your mother. Circumstances have changed."

"Full stop," I say. "How do you not know that someone's your child? And how can your kid be this…" I take a deep breath. "This is more time travel bullshit, isn't it?"

"Yep," Morgan says, beaming. "Time travel bullshit is what I'm best at."

"As your mother, I'm not sure I should be letting you use those words," Lucina says. "But we can talk about it some other time."

"Like mother, like daughter." To me, "Mom told me you were going to stay with us. Make yourself at home. We have an extra room set aside for visitors, even though we don't get many."

"I am heading off to bed," Lucina says. "Claude, I'm guessing you'll want to shower first. Morgan can show you where the towels and bathrooms are." She furrows her brow. "I was going to say that my husband can unpack your stuff, but I guess it all got taken away five years ago."

Oh, right. I guess I can live like a video game character and stick with one outfit for the rest of my life.

"We have way too many clothes," Morgan says. "You can borrow some of dad's. Or mine or mom's, if you don't care about wearing arbitrarily gendered clothes."

"Hey, I'm nonbinary so whatever fits. I don't want to wear the women's pants with tiny pockets, though."

"Oh, you mean all women's pants?"

"Hey, there are some that don't have pockets at all."

"As fascinating as this discussion is," Lucina says, "I am going to pass out in bed. Goodnight."

She walks off, yawning to herself. A few seconds later, a man in a plaid shirt and khakis walks in carrying an open laptop. He shuts it when he sees me.

"You just missed mom," Morgan says. "Where were you? I hope Twitter was more important than seeing your wife."

"I'll have to apologize to her later about that," the man says. "I was getting wrapped up in researching the globalization of agriculture. I wonder if industrialized farms are the future for Ylisse. Hopefully we don't have to put animals in those tiny cages, but increasing the efficiency and reliability of our crops could help combat famines…"

"Dad, you're doing the thing again. Don't be rude and introduce yourself to our guest."

"Oh, my apologies." He turns to me. "Claude, yes? My name is Robin. It's nice to meet you. Lucina's told me a bit about the situation you got sucked into with Thales and Fódlan, and I think you'll fit in with our family quite well during your stay."

"Yeah, there's not much weirder than my dad unless you were also the vessel for an evil godlike dragon," Morgan says.

I raise an eyebrow at Robin, who sighs.

"I've given up trying to get her to stop making that people's first impression of me. I can give you the full story one you're settled in. Make yourself at home."

"Ugh, I already told him that, dad," Morgan says. "You can go back to your Tumblr or whatever."

"You know, Tumblr does have a lot of fascinating qualities," Robin says. "We don't have large-scale corporations in Ylisse, so seeing people try to cut those corporations out of their everyday lives is fascinating. Tumblr being a complete corporate failure yet creating a subculture of users with a number of notable qualities such as-"

"Dad, my ears are bleeding."

Robin blinks. "Ah, yes. It's a wonder Lucina can put up with me. Please let me know if you need anything, Claude. Lucina considers you family, which means that I do as well."

At this point they do actually stop talking. Morgan leads me over to the room where I'm staying, which is far cleaner and nicer than any place I've stayed in before. I do a double check on a safety scan for the assault rifle and put it in one of the dresser drawers in separate parts. It's weird to be doing this in front of a kid but keeping gun parts bouncing around in a backpack is not the best means of storage. Also, she seems completely unfazed.

Then she shows me where the shower is and tosses me a clean towel. She comments on how many there are, but it seems like a normal number to me. I suppose that America can seem excessive in all ways when you've lived in a medieval world for your whole life.

The shower's easy enough to operate, and soon I'm scrubbing away as steam rises off my back, trying to get all the dirt out. I think back to Robin's comment about Lucina seeing me as family. When I last saw her, she did say that I was like a sibling to her. And here she is, taking care of me like a mother.

Is this what home feels like?

After writing so many battles I needed a slower chapter like this. Hopefully it reads all right.

And oh boy is it time for more historical references and politics now that we're in the realworld. As most of us know, Claude in 3H wants to create a multicultural society that breaks down racial/cultural barriers, so I think it makes sense that he's focused on social justice when he's on Earth. But if you're not a fan of that stuff, I do plan to scale it back a bit after this chapter. This was mostly Claude getting up to speed. Robin's and Morgan's characters came to me spontaneously, but I think I'm satisfied with how they came out in the end.

I realized there were some oddities about the Awakening timeline in this fic given that Lucina asked Morgan to make Claude's charm a long time ago, but time travel bullshit is always my answer. Awakening barely explains it at some points, so I can do the same.