Chapter 17) Festival of Flowers

So, we head north, towards the ruins of some shrine. To get there, we have to pass through an area known as the 'Grand Gate', a ruined fortress of some kind. No one really lives there, aside from the odd bandit, but there are plenty of villages and towns nearby. The largest of them holds a giant festival this time of year, the Festival of Flowers. The original plan had been to use the chaos to slip through unnoticed, but one of Say'ri's contacts found us and revealed some troubling information. The lord around here had finally thrown his lot in with the winning side, aka Walkhart, and now let the 'soldiers', aka bandits, run rampant, doing whatever they wanted.

Seeing that we were an army filled with kind hearted people, it was quickly decided we would oust the lord and liberate the people. Somehow. Why do I love and adore these people again?

I pitied the people who had to clean everything up once the festivities were over. There were flower petals everywhere. On roofs of buildings, flying through the air, coating the roads in a thick layer… everything smelled amazing, but seriously, the clean up was going to be a disaster. Though, no one here seemed to care. THey were all smiling and laughing, though I could see how thin and drawn they were. These were a people who were pretending everything was okay for a day, while being well aware that things weren't.

I remained convinced Walhart was nothing more than an idiot, with far more balls than brains. People just didn't last when you put them through so much terror. Either they fought back or they killed themselves to escape. Either way, 'conquering' wasn't sustainable. I was also convinced that the Grimlea was using the idiot. Worse, the idiot probably thought he was the one in control.

Sighing, I brushed my hair behind my ear and reached up to fix my ponytail. Introspection was not why I was out here alone. I had wanted to get a read on the people and the area, so I left with the other 'scouts' to wander through the town. It wasn't like I was needed in camp. There were no chores at this hour. Chrom, Say'ri, and Flavia were discussing what to do, with Robin coming up with the plan. Same old, same old. Gathering gossip and the like was a far better use of my time, and gave me some time to settle myself. I had a horrible nightmare of a shadowy beast eating all the children, both my babies and the grown ones traveling with us. Not a good way to start the day...

"Now, that's too sad of a look for such a beauteous flower!" It took a few blinks to realize there was a person addressing me, even though they had stepped out in front of me. "For you," he said, giving me a bouquet of flowers. I took them automatically, studying them absently. Blue clothes that were more functional than fancy, light armor, good sword… probably a wandering mercenary. Fine face, I supposed. Black hair, brown eyes… there was something familiar about him, but I didn't care enough to try and determine why. "Flowers almost as pretty as you!"

"That's kind of you," I murmured. I glanced around, wondering if someone had dared the boy into doing this before shrugging. "Though, I do warn. I am very happily married."

"Darn, so no tea?" He grinned, not bothered in the slightest. "Ah, my luck continues. But neither here nor there. Truthfully, I saw you looking sad and hoped the flowers might cheer you up a trifle."

"Did you?"

"Of course! Everyone should smile. Life is beautiful, after all!" He laughed and gestured around. I found his comment so… odd that I couldn't help but join in on the laughter. "Now, there's a smile. Lovelier than I could've guessed. Your spouse is very lucky indeed."

"Not sure on that one, but I will appreciate the thought. And your gesture."

"I'm gladdened you enjoyed." He winked and left, disappearing easily into the crowd. I stared after him, utterly baffled before shaking my head. You met all sorts when you were out and about. He must've been one of those types who saw how bad things could be, yet still kept on being happy. That took a special sort of strength, one that I sadly didn't have.

Still smiling though, I studied the flowers, softening when I realized they were white, light red, and pink carnations. I didn't necessarily have a favorite flower or anything, but I did have a soft spot for carnations nowadays, since my wedding bouquet had been filled with them. So, I walked through and thought of Virion's lessons on flower meanings. White carnations for pure love and good luck. Light red for admiration. Pink… that one escaped me for a moment, but I had to smile sadly when I did remember. 'A mother's undying love.' How… fitting, I supposed.

I half thought of passing them out to people on my way back, but I found myself holding onto them, remembering how kind the boy had been. So, I still had all of them when I finally returned to the empty storage house we were using as our main base of operation. Chrom, Robin, and Say'ri were sitting at the table, still in discussions, but they looked up with smiles when I walked in. Chrom's faltered briefly, but Say'ri laughed and clapped her hands.

"I see you received some flowers while you were out!" she cheered, standing. She skipped to my side and peered at them, counting. "Seven, huh? During this festival, giving a bouquet of seven flowers says 'I wish you good fortune'."

"That seems to fit the young man who gave them to me," I replied, dropping my pack to the ground. I quickly went through it and found a book to press the flowers. "So, is it traditional to give flowers to strangers?"

"Tis not uncommon, though most receive them from friends and family." She leaned forward and 'loudly whispered' the next part. "King Chrom was asking about a suitable flower to get you."

"Oh, was he now?" I grinned at Chrom, who looked away. However, he was red all the way to his ears, and Robin was snickering. "Wait, dear, are you jealous?"

"No, not at all," Chrom replied quickly. Too quickly. He was jealous. "Did you have fun?"

"Well, perhaps a little," I answered coyly, grinning. I pressed the last one and then went to hug Chrom. He still didn't look at me, though he did smile goofily when I kissed his cheek. "That said; I would very much like a flower from you, my love."

"Really?"

"Yes, of course."

"So sad that Lucina isn't here to see you being cute," Robin teased. He smiled broadly and leaned forward a bit, resting his elbows on the table. "Though, truth be told, he was asking because we were waiting on you before we finalized the plan of attack."

"Really?" I asked, intrigued. I rested my chin on top of Chrom's head, refusing to sit even when Say'ri silently offered her chair. "What is it?"

"Well, what do you say about guarding Olivia? She's already agreed, but…"

"Guard her?" I frowned and sighed. "Oh, what insane plot did you all concoct this time?"

The insane plot was remarkably simple given my twin. There was a dancing competition. Those who did well were invited inside the palace to personally meet the lord. We had a very talented dancer. As I said, simple. The hardest part of prep was helping Olivia get ready for the performance. Mostly because Maribelle insisted that Olivia wear a new outfit for the competition and somehow made one quickly. It suited her well, despite being mostly blacks instead of her typical whites, but still. Still.

I shook my head and focused again on Olivia's dance from my place against a building. She was using a very special fan for this one instead of her normal 'dancer rings' or whatever the proper term was. Despite not having her normal equipment, though, her dance was captivating. I didn't know much beyond 'she spun quickly', 'twirled beautifully', and the like, but it was very beautiful. It was a bit of a bolder performance than her normal one, probably because the whole point of this was to gain attention. I was a bit worried it would get very unwanted attention, but that was part of the reason why I was her guard. And why a guard was necessary.

When she finished, the crowd roared with applause, loud enough to actually shake a few petals off the rooftops. Olivia smiled serenely and bowed, stepping off the stage. I made my way over with a towel for her, and she grinned at me, flushed and sweaty and very, very nervous. I wanted to reassure her, but there really wasn't much time as the next person stepped on the stage and I got distracted. It was the boy who had given me the flowers before. He fidgeted nervously as the crowd cheered in encouragement for him and I noticed a couple of things that struck me as odd. Though the colors were different, his costume actually was rather similar to Olivia's normal dancing costume and he carried 'dancer rings' much as he did, though his had two blue scarves tied to them instead of the one large white scarf that Olivia would use. It just… stood out to me.

Then he began dancing and I noticed similarities between his dancing and Olivia's. Though, that could've just been similarities in general between different dances and I could see just as many differences. He danced well, but it was clear there was some discomfort. He was less skilled than Olivia, but his movements were stronger. He handled sudden stops better. Tiny little things, really. I mostly focused on how he danced very well.

The crowd roared in approval for him too and he stepped off the stage on the opposite side of us. I got on my tiptoes to make sure someone was meeting him, and saw him talking with a young girl with pink hair, not unlike Olivia's. Which… all made me wonder something, but there were far too many people between them and me for me to justify pushing my way through to figure it out. So, instead, I kept close to Olivia, making sure no one bothered us while she watched all the performances with rapt and giddy attention. As soon as the last one was done, and the crowd had settled down, someone representing the lord declared that Olivia and 'Inigo' were invited to have dinner in the palace with the lord, who I didn't catch the name of. It took only a second to see that 'Inigo' was that boy, based on the activity.

"Oh, good, it worked!" Olivia whispered, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm surprised they liked it. I just flailed about and pretended to dance. I think you'd get better coordination from rolling a ham down the stairs."

"One of these days, we need to have a talk about our anxiety issues," I murmured. I took her hand and guided us through the crowd to the palace. "Not surprised in the slightest on both of you."

"Both… oh, right!" Olivia got on her tiptoes to make sure 'Inigo' was heading that way too. "Good! I had hoped to talk to him!"

"Really?" I frowned, skeptical. "Shy you wants to go talk to someone?"

"W-well, I wanted to ask him about his dance." She ducked around someone's reaching hand and pressed closer to me. "The first half was part of my favorite dance, and Robin's favorite of mine if I must be truthful." She sighed gustily, smiling sweetly. "But the second half was such a departure. A little stiff, but it was beautiful. Though, his spins lack his conviction, and he really needs to extend his focus to his fingertips to help with the tricky transitions…"

"I am going to remind you that we wanted you to impress the lord for reasons beyond teaching another dancer."

"Drat." She whimpered and I had to laugh. "M-maybe after? I really am curious."

"Fine, fine." I couldn't wait to tease Robin about how Olivia was charmed by the same boy who gave me flowers earlier. Though perhaps I would tell Chrom first, just so that he could get some revenge. "Have you signalled the others?"

"Oh, no, not yet." She opened up her fan and let the sunlight bounce off the gold bits. Hopefully, our people could see and begin slowly taking out the guards while we kept the lord busy. "I hope I don't mess this up."

"If you do, we'll blame Robin." I pulled her a bit closer to me as we made it out of the crowd and towards the guard waiting for us. "Here we go."

The castle was almost gaudy in its decorations. While the lord of the place, who I still didn't get the name of, praised and gushed over Olivia and Inigo, I looked about the large room, amusing myself by imagining Maribelle's reactions to it. For instance, she'd be squawking over the eye-stabbing yellow curtains, for instance, or the equally bright green rugs by the windows. The painting of… well, I assumed it was supposed to be a warrior woman of some kind or something, but according to the painter, this woman had boobs bigger than her head, a face more like badly kneaded dough with currants placed awkwardly, and had backwards legs, based on how the feet were positioned in comparison to the hips. And a broken spine based on how much the woman was twisted. And that all was just what I could stomach looking at.

Shaking my head, and desperately biting my tongue, I checked that Olivia was doing well and noticed her smile becoming stiffer and stiffer. She caught my eye, though, and shrugged, so she was just a bit uncomfortable by the attention. It seemed Inigo was the same, based on how rigid his posture was. The young girl he was with patted him on the back, and I focused on her, rather curious due to my earlier suspicion. A suspicion that gained more weight when I noticed her jacket. It looked like Robin's, though it had been tailored to her smaller form. But what were the chances? What were the odds that… of course, what were the chances of encountering your children from the future? Seriously, once that came into play, all logic went out the damn window.

"I… have to refuse your gracious generosity, my lord," Olivia suddenly murmured. I focused on her and noticed both her and Inigo looked distinctly uncomfortable, and not the 'I have social anxiety and this sucks' uncomfortable. "My fiance is expecting me back this evening." That alone told me just what this lord had suggested and I stepped forward, a hand dropping to my blade. I noticed the jacketed girl did something similar and Inigo reached his hand back towards her.

"Now, now, don't be like that," the lord replied. He stepped forward and grabbed Olivia's arm. "I'm sure he'll be quite understanding."

"I think he's going to see you dead, actually, but that is part of what we're doing here anyway." And Olivia gloriously stabbed the lord straight in the throat with her fan. Because the fan was actually a very clever dagger. "Er… oops…" She looked at me guiltily. I just grinned. "I'm sorry. I should've waited."

"I think stabbing someone planning on forcing himself on you is a perfectly good reason to go off the plan," I replied. I couldn't wait to tell Basilio about this. "Though, we are in a bit of a fight." There were, after all, guards. Not many, since the lord hadn't expected danger, but… "

"Oh, they're staring…"

"You kind of killed their lord." And they were preparing to attack. "Olivia, you might want to duck away, unless you're confident in using that dagger in a real fight! And you two!" I glanced at Inigo and the jacketed girl as I drew blade. "Hide or fight. Your choice, but make it quick."

Olivia, of course, ducked away. I didn't see where. I didn't see what Inigo I focused more on making sure the soldiers focused on me. I made sure my back was to a pillar and focused on having them come to me. That was a bit of an advantage to fighting alone, providing you could take advantage of the environment. Like watching their strikes and timing it so that they'd hit their comrades instead. Blocking and countering. Swinging around the pillar so that they missed and overbalanced themselves. If there were more guards, then this would be difficult, but any reinforcements they had were… well, they were hopefully busy. Otherwise, Olivia and I were in trouble.

Actually, I was honestly in trouble anyway. I was still not quite at my full strength, mostly because I had been too damned tired to do much of anything, and I was feeling it badly. I was tiring far sooner, and could feel my limbs aching from the strain. I could keep going, but I was definitely fading faster than I wanted. I got in my kills, of course, but the last two were proving rather difficult, particularly the lance user who was very insistent on going after my less armored legs.

"Sorry, but this is your last dance!" However, that guard went down in a veritable explosion of blood, revealing Inigo, who wielded a sword with practiced ease and whose dancing outfit was splattered with gore. "Oh, goodness, I suppose I should've asked if they wanted to dance first," he joked, still smiling. I found myself focused on how he gripped his sword and how he stood at the ready. They were like mine. "Ah, this is a little… um… d-do you mind not staring?" Unfortunately for him, I did, in fact, continue staring. But this time, I focused much more on his face than I had before. His eyes. Now that I looked, I could easily see Robin in his features. I could see me.

And that just made me smile, a touch bitterly. "You're Robin's son, aren't you?" I asked quietly. "My nephew."

"Oh uh… that does make things easier. That you apparently already know, I mean." He smiled awkwardly and I felt like crying. Because it was Robin's smile, but not the smile Robin had now. It was the smile Robin had back when he remembered everything, back before all of this. "Um… you might have heard it before, but my name is Inigo. I'm… very glad to see you again, Aunt Kestrel."

"I taught you how to fight, didn't I?" I gestured to his stance. "I use that one."

"You did! Severa and me. We wanted swords, but didn't want the fancy royal swordsmanship, so you taught us." He laughed sheepishly, looking away. "Not all that good, mind."

"We'll work on it. After this fight." Though there was only one left now. "Let's get this one and-"

Fire magic suddenly erupted from the ground, scorching the soldier into ash. Andin the remains was that pink haired girl I saw, clutching a fire tome. "Whoa, that worked!" she gasped, shaking out her hand. "I mean; of course it… wow, I didn't think that would actually work. Especially when those reinforcements got here… but it worked!" The girl spun towards us and grinned. "I told you the plan would work! Plus, we got money from your performance. Win-win~"

"You literally just said you didn't think it would work, and I'm not sure it was worth my embarrassment," Inigo instantly retorted. I looked around for Olivia and saw her double-checking that the soldiers were actually dead. There were some by the doors, away from me. The reinforcements the girl mentioned, then. They'd appeared sooner than anticipated. "I'm really not."

"Well, I enjoyed myself." The girl giggled and Inigo rolled his eyes. "And, seriously, we made a lot. Or, well, I think it's a lot. I don't actually know. But still!"

"Yes, yes." He ruffled the girl's hair and nudged her a little closer to me. "Morgan, this is our aunt, Kestrel. Aunt Kestrel, this is Morgan, my little sister." He rested his hand on her back and Morgan beamed up at him. Though I saw a bit of worry in her eyes, and he smiled reassuringly. "She was one of the last through, so I think it messed her up a bit. She doesn't remember much of anything."

"She'll get along great with Robin. He lost his memories prior to all of this," I deadpanned. It kept me from wincing. Inigo had to be hurting, and I wasn't sure how Lucina would react. "Ah, but yes, Lucina is with us. Cynthia and Laurent are as well. No others, yet, but somehow, I'm sure we'll run into them before long." I hesitated a bit before reaching up to ruffle his hair. He was Robin's height. "Regardless, let's make Olivia squeak, yes?" I glanced over and saw that she was done checking the bodies and was skipping towards us. "I promise it'll be hilarious.

It was more than hilarious, really. Though I did have to check the windows to make sure they weren't cracked. Her squeaks had been really, really high.

We left organizing and solidifying the 'takeover' to Say'ri and her people, mostly to make sure it was obvious that we were here to help. We were here to deal with Walhart. We were not here to take over or anything. We did have our healers assist, but that was a given. We couldn't stop the healers if we tried, and trying would've been stupid.

"Lucina, don't fidget so much," I chided, carefully brushing her hair. To emphasize our intentions, we made sure to make camp outside the city. I'd decided, once we had settled in for the night, to trim Lucina's hair and now I was trying to finish up. If she'd stop bouncing in her seat. "I'm glad you're excited, but…"

"Ah, sorry, Mother," Lucina mumbled sheepishly. Her attention, however, was fixed to the other side of the campfire, where Robin interacted with Inigo and Morgan, going through his books. His reaction to meeting his children had been hilariously awkward, with him tripping over both his words and his feet. "It looks like they're discussing strategies. Tactics. It might be tactics. Inigo is very good at tactics. Not strategy, though. He wasn't very good, and left that to others."

"Do you want to join in?"

"No, I wouldn't want to intrude." She smiled sweetly and glanced back at me. "Morgan barely got to know him. He was just starting to teach her when everything went wrong."

"Seems like everything is happening much faster in this timeline." I didn't like that. If we had more time, than maybe the Shepherds could figure out a different path. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing better. I get to be with some of my friends. And look, this time, it's family!" She giggled and looked over to the group of three again. Olivia, I knew, was helping Gaius cook, or she'd be here. "I'm surprised Morgan made it, though. She'd actually been missing for a few weeks. I thought she'd died."

"But it's her."

"Oh, definitely. Same scars and… well, her personality is bubblier. But the amnesia probably helped with that."

"...It did with Robin."

"I noticed. The Uncle Robin I knew was much quieter. Sadder. Looking back, it was like he longed so desperately for something, but thought he could never have it."

"Makes sense." I knew what it had been. Happiness. Normality. The things we had right now and… well, that I felt guilty over. If I weren't so scared, I could… but I… "Hold still."

"Oh, oops." She stopped fidgeting and sighed, still smiling, but something slightly sad about it. "I wonder where Victoria is. I miss her. We were never apart from each other long."

"You're certain she made it through."

"She was right behind me. I looked. Laurent and Cynthia confirmed that she'd gone in after me." Lucina looked over to where Cynthia was happily listening to Frederick telling a story and where Laurent studied with Miriel. Sumia was patrolling with Cordelia and Cherche. I, as usual, had no idea where Kellam was. "Maybe at the next place. We've seem to be rather lucky on that."

"We have." I glanced towards my tent, where Chrom, Say'ri, Flavia, and Basilio were discussing the next move. "We're visiting the ruins. Any of your friends interested in that?"

"Interested? Only Laurent. But still…" Lucina laughed. "Maybe I should've traveled to Valm sooner. It's easier to hide in and there's more chances to help people, both of which would appeal to my friends. Though, Cynthia and Laurent had actually been somewhere in the desert hunting for something before trailing us."

"Do you know what?"

"Nope. Laurent won't say." She sulked a bit, and I finished with brushing her hair before braiding it back to sleep. Ends slipped out, of course, since it was layered, but it served well enough. "I… ah… hope that everyone is at least coupled together or whatever the proper term is by the time we find them."

"At the moment, there's only two potential couples who are not official in our group." I only had to look up to see Lissa and Henry napping together, and… well, honestly, I wasn't sure if Virion and Cherche were 'official' or not. It didn't seem right to ask. "I'm sure they can keep quiet if not."

"Might be hard. Cherche's son rides Minerva, and my dear cousin isn't the most subtle of people." She made a 'quiet' motion and grinned. "But keep that secret?"

"Of course." But I did see why she was worried. "You know; there's a place called Wyvern Valley to the south."

"I could see Gerome being there." Lucina suddenly gasped and started bouncing again. "Ah, Father! Are you done for the day?"

"Thankfully, yes," Chrom answered, walking over with a smile. I silently scolded Lucina for moving, again, and finished up her braid. "So, Kestrel?"

"Yes, dear?" I replied, more focused on my task. However, a flower soon appeared in my vision. "Hmm?"

"You wanted a flower." His smile warmed and I blushed, remembering. Lucina giggled, watching us with sparkling eyes. "According to Say'ri, irises represent hope, faith, and wisdom." He tucked it behind my ear and I had to smile. "I thought it might help."

"I appreciate the thought." I still wasn't certain, but it did touch me that Chrom was trying. And it was beautiful. "I am a bit sad we couldn't just enjoy the festival."

"We'll enjoy one when all this is over." He sat down next to me and rested his head on my shoulder. "Lucina? How does that sound?"

"Wait, me too?" Lucina asked, pointing at herself. Her face fit up when Chrom nodded. "Oh, I've always wanted to go to a spring festival! Is it true you dress up like bunnies?"

"I… well, you can wear rabbit ears, but…" Chrom began. He frowned a little, but then smiled sadly. "Oh, whatever. Here, I'll tell you about Kestrel's first one."

"Really? Yay!"

Lucina listened with rapt attention, and I continued brushing and braiding her hair. It was a strangely content moment, and I wished time would just stop so that we could live out the rest of our lives, just like this. So that there was no chance of Grima returning or anything… gods, I was so tired. But I kept believing in them anyway. I had to be the stupidest person in the world.

Notes on Laurent:

Class - Mage; Reclass - Barbarian, Dark Mage, Knight, Thief, Priest

Son of Miriel and Kellam, arriving from the future. Like his mother, he speaks as if he's swallowed a thesaurus, but he is much more personable. If rather naggy about everyone, since he seeks to use his knowledge to help people, instead of studying them simply for knowledge's sake.

Because he learned defensive techniques from his father, and quietly strove to protect the others much like his father did, he actually does rather well defensive wise, for a magic user. Still, his preference is blasting enemies apart with wind magic.

According to Inigo, Laurent is actually the third eldest of the group, being born a year after Lucina and Victoria. Libra has been quietly informed of this fact, since the ways things are going, it's quite possible Miriel is, or will be, pregnant soon. Destiny has its ways, after all.

Author's note: So, this chapter is based, a bit, on Paralogue 6, where Inigo is recruited. It also pays tribute to the Performing Arts event in Fire Emblem Heroes (to be specific, Olivia and Inigo's performance outfits are the ones from there, as is Olivia's fan being a hidden dagger). Some dialogue here (like the whole rolling a ham down the stairs thing) comes directly from the paralogue, while Olivia's critique comes from her A support with Inigo.

For convenience, I had Morgan join here as well and arrive in the future through a similar method as the other children. Inigo has black hair because, as mentioned before, Robin was born with black hair. It turned white after a failed Awakening attempt, prior to his mother escaping with Kestrel and him.

Also, as a repeat… I have to write this story slow for mental health reasons. Kestrel is a difficult character to write, because she is depressed, traumatized, and, more importantly, more than a little suicidal. Please do not send me repeated messages of "update soon." or "why the hell are you not updating THIS story?" and the like (yes, these are actually messages I have gotten, more or less in their entirety at that). I guarantee you that it won't make me update faster. If anything, it makes me update slower, because it puts additional pressure on me. I will continue to write this, at a pace that is safe and enjoyable to me. If you want to try and 'make me update faster'? Write a nice comment. In fact, whenever you review a story (ANY story, not just mine), write a nice comment. It'll make the author smile and be a little more eager to continue. (Go on and write nice comments on all the stories you particularly like. Their writers will LOVE it; I promise).

Next chapter - Noble Lineage (Paralogue 7)