He was tired. Tired of it all.

It's been days but to Owain it felt like weeks, years even. It felt even longer than the time he was stuck in Valm waiting for Lucina to come.

Things just became suffocating to him. To be near his parents with the whisper of their past wishes. To face his other friends when all he could see was the disappointed looks in their eyes. And Severa who he can't help but feel the pain that cracked him.

He stopped trying to hang out with Severa, to the point where he wanted to physically leave to get away from her. Of course she was his retainer and as such she had to stay with him. But that doesn't mean all the time. So every time she walked alongside him on the road he would say he would stick with Lucina as she scoffs. At camp he would always eat as fast as he can, busying himself with training and chores, away from as many people as possible.

If the Bassilo were to see him, he would think back to the days Lon'qu was just like that. Sad, silent, a person who made his life mission to stay away from all those he grew attached to in order to become stronger. To stop hurting. From hurting others. From hurting himself.

Like father like son.

He wouldn't mind being like this. Lifeless with no sense of purpose but the will to become strong. In fact, he didn't have at all the mind to think that, he was just a walking living Risen in a way.

And he would have become one if his mother didn't come to his training grounds and talk some sense into him.

In the forest he hide himself from the camp. He was practicing the Jigen-ryu techniques (one that he saw with his father used during battle) on a practice dummy, too focused on the target on hand to hear the soft rustle of the blades of grass.

Breathing in he counted. Four seconds, hold your breath for seven, let it out for eight. Then wait one seconds with your stance upright. Then do a running start, eyes solely on the target. Raise your blade to the left and-

His hand twiched.

Reactively he stumbled, his right hand let go of his sword which made it lose its support to lean on. This is how he not only not hit the straw dummy with that stupid painted smile on its face but how he ended up face first onto the the ground. Sword just an inch away with the point of it stuck in the ground. Hand twitching uncontrollably.

In the forest still hiding a blonde haired girl gasped.

He groaned as he used his left hand to support himself, not trusting his right to do anything at the moment. After sitting up he used his still mobile hand to wipe of the bits of grass and dirt on his face to clean it from the fall. He was just about to make a grab for his sword when his ears picked on a voice not five feet away from him.

"Are you ok Owain? Do you want me to heal you?"

This time, instead of acting on instincts he act out of the fear of being found out as he yelped away from the source. This in turn ended with him falling again on his sides. At least it wasn't his face.

Lissa, who witnessed her son falling and failing, came to his side in a instaint, unknowlying tapping into her mother like tendencies that she will soon have. Grabbing her son by the shoulders she pulled him up and made him sit up once again. Wiping off the grass on his clothes and hair she spoke. "...Sorry for startlingly you dear. I didn't mean for that to happen." Pausing in her cleaning she gave him a small teasing smiling. "Do you want me to heal you with 'Owain'?"

Owain only looked at her in remorse, thinking back to the staff that had taken his place with his name. "Mother. Please don't."

Lissa only smiled, grinning at Owain as she pulled out a healing staff.

Owain only groaned.

Getting to work she started to use her magic to help heal his head that was sure to have a bruise. Adding and counting the numbers of cuts and scratches all over his body, winching and scowling herself for not trying to see him sooner. Owain, on the other hand, was quiet, wanting nothing more than to run away from hsi sign of weakness he shown his mother. It was humiliating to have one of the most important people in his life that he once failed see him fail again, not even in real battle but from a wooden doll with red paint.

Painted with a stupid red smile.

Mocking him.

He really needs to cut it down.

Finally he could feel the warmth from the staff dim, a sign to show that he was good to go.

But as he tried to get up to get away, to cut down the dummy, to do something, his mother grabbed his hand.

His still shaking hand.

He cured in his mind.

He wanted to pull away, had to pull away, but for some reason couldn't. He can't stay yet his feet were planted and his breath hitched when he felt the soft tenderness of his mother who was stroking his palm, humming under her breath. Eyes only on his uncontrollable limb. And then she kissed the back of his hand. Just like…

Hair down in waves, his mother did not make a move to move it out of her face as she focused on calming him down. During their story time his hand started to shake, his left hand, making him jump as his book made a loud thud on the floor. In turn he ended up crying, scared and not knowing what to do when he can't, couldn't, stop shaking no matter how hard he tried.

But his mother heard him from the other side of the room, looking for another book to entertain herself when she heard her child wailed. Not wasting a second she put back the book in her hand and raced to see what was wrong with her son.

The sign of his hand stretched out away from him was all she needed to know what had happened.

Slowing she placed him on her lap, careful to wipe his tears with the hem of her dress. But it was proven fruitless as new tears replaced the old ones making him red. So she abandoned the plan and did the next best thing.

She kissed his hand.

"Owain?"

His mother, Lissa, was looking at him in worry. While he still felt the feel of warmth wrapped around some of his fingers another small push of pressure was on his cheeks. They were wiping of his tears. He was crying.

He not supposed to cr-

"It's ok. It's ok to cry sometimes Owain."

He stopped breathing.

Lissa only smiled as she brought his head to her chest, humming again as she rubbed his back with smooth circles.

She silently shoush him as he cried. Not judging or frowning at his lost with his cousin at all. Only giving out her love for him in return for his tears.

And she smiled as she brought his eyes to look at her.

Tilting her head down Lissa, mother, smiled down at him with so much love .

"It's alright Owian. It's alright to cry."

"It's alright Owain. It's alright to cry."

He can't, he can't, he ca-

He can.

So the son of the Khan and the Princesses weeped on his mother's warm hug, letting every bad emotion that he had out.

Hsi failure to protect his father.

His agony on seeing his mother die.

To break when his uncle never came back.

To feel helpless as his cousin broke down.

To curse when he heard his future family member never made his first moment to live.

To damn all the Risen that killed his comrades.

To scream as he fell through the portal away from his friends.

To wail in loneliness as a walking husk in the past.

To hold to the horror as history repeat itself with an arrow coming to burin itself on his father flesh.

To realize the harsh reality that the one person he gave his heart to already broke it before he could even tell them they hold it.

He cried.

And his mother, his sweet kind caring innocent mother only hugged him, shielding him from the world as he cried his bitter tears of heartbreak that he held on for so long.

And all she could do was tighten her grasp as time went slowly ticking by with a weeping son and a comforting mother holding onto each other like the world was ending.

And soon it will be.

o~0~*~0~o

Peace is a struggle to find peace… comfort on the way to comfort. And if I shed a tear I won't cage it I won't fear love. And if I feel a rage I won't deny it… I won't fear love.

-Sarah McLachlan

o~0~*~0~o

Shifting a bit, he moved the blanket away from underneath him to cover up the front part of his body, clutching it tighter to his chest. He, after given such a warm hug, wanted to keep feeling that warmth even when her arms were not around her anymore.

After that bit of crying, or long hours of it as the sun was near close to setting, he finally looked up to his mother who bared it all. He winched at the amount of water that covered her dress and was about to apologize when all she did was kissed the top of his head and talked to him as she rubbed his back.

And to be honest, he was fine not talking at all. It felt way better to get a kiss from his mother then to get cuts and bruises from training any day.

But soon he listened to her. Not just to her voice but what she had said. She spoke on how she was worried over the fact that the attack on her Lon'qu had scared him. How many times she tried to talk to him only for him to run away. She talked about how she followed him to the clearing with the idea of what he was doing only to be right. Her voice when sad when he talked about the wounds on his body but had a teasing sound when she said he acted just like Lon'qu when they first meet. An alpha wolf in a pack of bears, an animal that stands out and fights to be strong enough to leave but knows that it can't outrun a bear or its strength. Its funny, she said, that how he reacted just how Lon'qu did when she almost got hit.

That piped his curiosity.

When he asked he was more than a little surprised.

The same thing that had happened to him had happened to his mother. She was in the woods with father when he jumped in to protect her from greater harm. And she too was driven by guilt by it. But she, unlike him wanted to try one more time before leaving. And to her surprise, he left the door open for her to come back again. To become his friend that he would not mind having around so much.

And something much more.

In the end they walked over to his tent. Lissa tried to tuck him in bed but he only moved the pillows to the corner away from the flap and sat there. She understood what he was trying to do and got a blanket and wrapped it around his shoulders. With that she said that she would be in a war meeting with Chrom if he wanted to see her and left with another kiss goodbye, giving him the space he needed in order to recover from today's events. And for that he was ever so grateful for his mother for doing so.

It's been an hour at best and yet he refuses to sleep, his mind on the words his mother said and the gentleness that he felt from her as they parted. Still in his corner with his match made bed.

As he was enjoying the silence of the night and his thoughts, he heard something, or more like someone right outside his tent. Someone he really did not want to invint inside.

"For the love of… Chrom just called in an all-hands meeting. What does that man-chiled thinks he's doing?!"

Back then, when he was broken, he would have frozen from the sound of her voice. Maybe even get scared and run away again. Or perhaps just start to cry if the situation called for it.

But after his talk with his mother, he did not feel any of those things. In fact, he was livid.

Where this burst of anger come from he did not know. But if anyone though he would not use this anger then they are dead wrong.

He glared silently as the flap of his tent opened, revealing a more than frustrated Olive-head in its wake.

"Ugh, could he make this place any darker," she sneered in disgust. Looking from the opposite of where he was she spoke to herself in a softer tone. "Is he really even in here…?"

He stayed silent, not daring to give away his position as she looked for him the dark. When she finally turned to look at the corner he was huddling at she first meet with his vibrant green eyes that seemed to be glowing in the darkness.

Startled by this she stuttered. "O-Owain! Wha- what are you still doing here?" Apparently over her surprised she started to bear her fangs on him. "Chrom called a meeting. And why are you clutching your knees and rocking in the corner? Talk about creepy!"

To be honest he was doing no such thing. He may be clutching on to his knees but her sure wasn't rocking back and forth. A little peeved by the way she let herself in and started to insult him on sight he cooly called out. "I am creepy. I thought everyone knew."

"Hey, I was only stating the truth," she casualty looked at him. As if it was an after though she added, "Weirdo."

Owain did nothing when he heard this, only glared at the darkness.

With that she crossed her arms at him. "Okay, what is it. Did something happen? What's wrong with you?"

It was a genuine question, a question that was hiding the worried feeling that Severa had when something went amidst. And that fact that it was Owain that she had to worry about made the feeling intensify with every second she stood there that something was definitely wrong.

"Nothing happened," was his reply. "After all, I'm just a creepy creep who creeps around with his weirdo hobbies. It's a wonder how I'm still even around."

Severa, in all her power, tired not to flinch. The icy tone of his voice made her want to turn tail and run away. But to run away from Owain was ridiculed. He was the son of Lissa, a happy and fun loving person that had way too much energy. He should be back up again, back anew. But he was acting cold, distant. It almost made it seem like she was in the room with his father rather than his mother. Replaced with the warm happy of spring with a harsh unforgiving winter.

And it was far beyond unsettling.

"Your not still upset over what I said befor-"

"I'm not upset," his words cutting her off like his blade. Swift and sharp. "You were just stating the truth. Just like everyone else."

Now she was seriously worried by now. But at the same time she was pissed off at him. How dare he let off his anger at her without even telling her what she did wrong!

"Ugh!! Fine fine ok. I went to far and now you're sad, blah blah blah," she snapped, receiving another glare at her duration. Oh how she wished to flinch but kept her stance. "Are we good now? Come on, Chrom is waiting for us."

"Waiting for you."

"You…"

"Besides," he shrugged off. "What would Chrom want a creepy creep like m-"

"That's ENOUGH out of you mister!"

Owain jumped, his blanket now off his shoulders and his hands on the floor to stop himself from tumbling over for the third time that day.

Severa looked… angry. It wasn't an emotion that he did not experience with her but this time her anger was not directed to his acts or his story books personas that he likes to dress as. No… she was angry because of what he-

"Ugh… I can't believe you're actually going to make me say this," her face dusted with pink as she averted her eyes. Thank Naga it was dark in here or Owain would have seen her blush of embarrassment. Sizing herself up she breath in before going back to her snarky self. "Since when did you ever let reality get in the way of your happy little fantasy world? You never cared what other people say. You walk your own path and whistle loudly for everyone to hear! Deluded confidence and blind faith have always been one of your greatest strengths after all…"

Owain only stared at her, thinking that this must be all a dream.

"You…," he hesitated. "You really think so?"

Severa in all her glory snorted at the idotic question. "I know so. So don't let a little criticism for anyone, especially me, slow you down."

Owain was close to tears. This person that he thought had hated him was now comforting him to their best of abilities. Even if they were sneering at him in the process. It was just Severa way of showing that she cared.

"You…you…"

Oh who was he kidding.

"Whhhhhaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!"

"Oh gods," she moaned out from the ringing in her ears. "It finally happened. The weirdo has snapped."

He jumped from his pillows, now knowing what he wanted to do as he did.

"Severa, you're right," the joyful glee in his voice making Severa pause in her midwide crisis only to smile slowly his way. Oh how she missed that sound. "This isn't me," a hand placed over his chest. "I never listen to what anyone says to me! Half the time I don't know if they're even talking! Thank you Severa. I feel loads better!"

Gathering up his swords at his hip and putting on his coat, Severa had only made the sudden that she came into his tent unannounced, with only his pants and under tunic to help cover him up.

Her mother's hair couldn't even come close to rivaling her blush.

Owain, oblivious to the mental break down to his retainer only fasten his sash with a final tug before looking over at her with a big smile.

"I'll race you to Chrom's!"

And with that he left her in the dark. Alone. In his tent.

She's going to sicker punch that weirdo to next year.

Finally after trying to smoothen down the heat in her face for the hundredth time, she only looked at the flap of his tent with a conflicted face from both relief and frustration that Owain was not there.

So she sighed with a small shake of her head as she left the tent with a single thought in her mind.

'What and idiot. Still… I'm glad he's better. A sad Owain is just… sad. I hope I won't be the reason that he stops smiling completely.'

o~0~*~0~o

Information given-

-Severa and Owain Support A