Anna thought Marth was a very strange woman.

A few days after they had left the last town, Anna woke up to the sound of running. When she went outside to take a look, to her confusion, she caught a glimpse of Marth running past the camp.

Still sleepy, Anna yawned and stumbled over to sit by the fire as she waited for Mama to wake up and make breakfast. As she did, she almost tripped over her sister, fast asleep on a log in the middle of camp.

Anna briefly considered waking her up and asking what she was doing there. Before she could move, however, she heard running again. A minute later, Marth ran past again.

That, Anna decided, was a lot weirder than her sister sleeping outside. Anna pushed off the ground and walked over to the road. Marth was already far away. Still, she couldn't go far if she was supposed to watch the camp, and sure enough, after a few minutes of running in one direction, she turned around and started running back.

As she got closer, however, Anna saw that she wasn't going very fast. Anna could probably run faster than her if she really tried. She was running, but she was doing it slowly, and Anna thought it looked stupid. What was the point of running if it wasn't to go as fast as possible?

When Marth got closer, Anna cupped a hand to her mouth and yelled, "What are you doing?"

"Running," Marth huffed out.

"Why are you running so slowly? You should run faster!"

"It's not about running fast, it's about running for a long time."

"But why?"

But Marth had already run out of range to shout a reply. Anna sighed, and sat back down.

She only had to wait five more minutes until Marth came back.

"Why do you want to run so much?" Ann asked.

Marth's eye flicked over to her, before she turned back to the road ahead. "It's none of your business."

"But I want to know."

Marth's face twitched in a funny way. Her mama said it was rude to make remarks about people's faces, though, so Anna kept it to herself. "I'm training."

"Training?"

Anna watched as Marth ran out of hearing range again. Being the daughter of a merchant, she knew many things. In their trips to Ylisstol Castle, she once saw a bunch of Royal Guards training in the courtyard. Apparently, people trained to get stronger.

Anna knew that her mama sold a lot of heavy stuff, and heavy stuff was hard to carry. Marth obviously was training so she could be strong enough to carry heavy things.

That gave Anna another thought. If I run a lot, can I help mama carry heavy things too?

Marth ran past her again. This time, Anna jumped to her feet and sprinted after her.

Like Anna had thought before, Marth was running slower than her. Anna was able to pass her in three seconds. Anna ran for a few seconds more, before she tired and stopped to catch a breath.

To her surprise, Marth just ran past her.

"Wait!" Anna cried, stumbling after her. "Slow down!"

Marth glanced back at her again. "What are you doing?"

"Helping!" was the word that came out of Anna's mouth.

Marth snorted. Then, she turned back to the road. "Help with what?"

"I'm going to help you lift heavy stuff!" Anna paused. "That's why you're training, right?"

"I'm not training for that."

"Then why are you training?"

Marth rolled her eye. "To save the world. What else?"

Anna blinked. That sounded cool! Weird, but cool! With renewed energy, Anna took off after Marth.

"Can–can I help?" she asked as soon as she caught up with Marth.

"Don't you have anywhere else to be?"

Anna shook her head. "Mama's asleep."

Marth looked back over to her and frowned. "Well, do you think you could go back? You're distracting me."

"I'm not distracting!"

"Yes, you are. It's hard to focus while you're here talking to me, and–"

Suddenly, Marth yelped and tumbled to the floor, having tripped over a rock on the road. A rock she might have seen, if she hadn't been talking to Anna. Anna skidded to a stop and rushed back to her side in an instant.

"I'm sorry! Are you okay?" she said, sitting down next to Marth.

Marth's hiss told her more than enough. "It's fine," she replied. She pushed herself to her feet and dusted herself off. "There's nothing to apologize for. Oh, that's not good."

Anna followed Marth's gaze, and she gasped. On Marth's sleeve, a hole had opened up, and blood was dripping through.

Marth hissed again. "Do you think you could find a vulnerary and some–where are you going?"

But Anna wasn't listening as she dashed back to the camp. Digging around the wagon, she fished out a heal staff and ran back to Marth's side.

"Don't worry, I can fix this!" she proclaimed as she held the heal staff above her head.

Marth, however, didn't seem happy with that, frowning instead. "I appreciate it, but do you think you could bring me a vulnerary, too?"

"Why?"

"I'd like to clean it first. That's all."

Huffing, Anna dropped the heal staff and ran back to the wagon. The vulneraries were a bit harder to find, but after a few seconds more of digging, Anna pulled them up and rushed back to Marth.

Marth thanked her, pried off the cap, and dribbled a few drops onto her arm. After rubbing it with her sleeve, she held it out toward Anna. What she wanted was not lost on Anna.

Picking up the heal staff, Anna held it over the bleeding spot on Marth's skin. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath.

"What are you doing?" she heard Marth say.

"I'm doing what you taught me, remember?" she replied.

"What I–" Even though Anna couldn't see her, she could imagine the confused look on her face. She did stop talking, though, and Anna was thankful for that. That made it easier to imagine everything in the right place.

Anna took another deep breath, and let the healing magic run out of her and into the staff. When she opened her eyes, the cut was gone.

"I did it again!" Anna raised her hands over her head and cheered.

Marth smiled back. "I suppose you did."

"Now–" Anna turned back to Marth, clutching the heal staff close, "Can I help you with your training?"

Marth's smile slowly faded into a frown. She looked at the camp, then back to Anna. "You're not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope!"

"This will be difficult. Are you sure you want to help?"

"Yep!"

Marth ran a hand through her hair. She looked up at the sky, and she sighed. After a pause, she looked back at Anna. "I suppose I owe you one. Return the vulnerary and the heal staff, then I'll let you come with me."


Her last defeat had been an eye-opening one. Lucina would have thought that her time in the past would have toughened her up considerably. Apparently, she'd thought wrong.

If she couldn't defeat Uncle Gregor, how could she hope to save the world? Clearly, something needed to be done about that, and that was exactly what she planned to do.

All my time spent in Ylisstol's dungeons must have made me rusty. If I am to stop Aunt Emmeryn's assassination and change the fate of the world, I've got to make sure my body is up to the task, she thought.

It was that line of thinking that had stirred her from her nightwatch to take a jog. Lucina preferred to train with a sparring partner, but for what it was, it would have to do. After all, what good was a weapon if one did not have the strength to use it?

An hour had passed since then. The sun was up now, which meant the others would be stirring. One of Anna's daughters had already come to bother her about joining her. That same daughter was now clutching her back, trying not to pass out. If there was one good thing Lucina could say about Anna's daughters, it was that they were persistent. Boot Anna had managed to last three laps before she had collapsed, leaving Lucina to carry her back to camp.

As she got closer, and the sounds of Anna rousing her daughters from their beds reached her ears, she thought, My birthday is in two weeks. It isn't every day a girl turns seventeen. I should celebrate.

Except... was there really a point to celebrate it? Before, she had friends to cheer her on. Now, her birthday would pass to everyone else completely unheard and unseen.

"Hey Marth! Up bright and early again, I see?"

Lucina was snapped out of her thoughts by Anna's voice. Glancing over, Lucina gave her a tired smile and replied, "Well, you know what they say. There's no better way to start the day than bright and early."

"Don't you know it!" Anna said, smiling back.

Lucina was hardly surprised. That had been what her Anna had said to her all the time, whenever Lucina had come across her in the early morning. Lucina began to make her way over to the wagon, perhaps to catch some sleep before they left for the day, when Anna stepped in front of her and cut her off.

"By the way, we're just about ready to hit the road, by the way. Won't you be a dear and help pack up?"

Lucina frowned. "Why couldn't you ask Gregor?"

"I already had Gregor go out and catch breakfast from a nearby stream. I don't think he'll be back for some time, so you'll have to handle it by yourself. You think you can do that?"

Lucina wanted to say no. A quick glance over her shoulder, and she found Boot Anna already asleep. It was a little petty to be jealous of a child, that she was willing to admit, but Lucina was tired from staying up all night, and she was tired from all that running she'd done. She wanted nothing more than to curl up and find somewhere to sleep.

Anna's sharp gaze told her that she wouldn't be taking no for an answer, and however much it pained her to admit, the woman was paying her. Her hands were bound to her word.

With a sigh, Lucina nodded. "I'll have everything cleaned up right away."

"Thanks a bunch! I'll go see if Gregor needs any help. You make sure the girls don't wander off, okay?"

And just like that, Anna scurried away, leaving Lucina to pick up her mess. Lucina watched her go, before walking back to the wagon and gently letting Boot Anna down to rest on the wagon.

Anna's other daughters were already up and sitting around the smoking fire pit. The Anna who had kept watch with her was awake too, albeit more tired than the rest. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes, she saw Lucina approach and smiled at her.

Lucina decided to call her Sleepy Anna.

Smiling back, Lucina walked over and began to take down the tent. Once she had pulled the stakes from the ground and wrapped them in the cover, she dragged it back to the wagon and packed against the side.

The bed rolls were next. Lucina rolled them up and hauled them over and nestled them next to Boot Anna. As she tucked the last roll into the wagon, her fingers brushed against something small and soft. Curious, Lucina unfurled the bed roll on the wagon to see what it was.

Nestled on the crumpled straw mattress was a teddy bear the size of her palm. Lucina picked it up and inspected it. The bear looked surprisingly clean for something traveling around with a family of merchants. As Lucina lifted its arms and looked over the stitching, she noted that the seams were very well put together. Older stitching would have been more frayed and tattered, so it was safe to say this bear was new. Lucina also couldn't shake the feeling that the bear looked somewhat familiar.

"That's mine," a quiet voice whispered from behind her.

Lucina looked to her left. Standing on the wagon right next to her, Bear Anna stared down at her with a frown. Her eyes were set on the stuffed bear. It didn't take a genius to figure out what she wanted.

That also explained why it looked so familiar. Lucina recalled seeing this bear sold by a vendor back when she had been in Ylisstol. It had seemed like a vendor that would be popular with children, so it was no surprise that one of Anna's daughters would have one.

Lucina also noted that it was similar to a bear her Anna had kept with her at all times. It was possible that it was just a coincidence; there could be many children with bears like this one, and Ylisstol's marketplace was a popular place. It was possible another Anna had the very same bear that she carried around. Possible, but not something Lucina would gamble on.

Lucina held it out for Anna to take. Bear Anna did so with a pout.

"Is this bear important to you?" Lucina asked as she did.

Bear Anna huffed. "My mama gave it to me for my birthday."

"Really?"

"Yep. I turned four two weeks ago, so mama bought me a cake too."

"I see."

Bear Anna nodded, and she turned around and walked back to the end of the wagon. To Lucina's amusement, however, she did not jump off immediately, sitting down at the edge and swinging her legs as she eyed the ground as though it was made of lava.

"Do you need help?" Lucina asked, making her way over.

"No," Anna replied. She inched forward, then stopped, then inched forward, before she pushed herself back.

Clearly she did. Lucina grabbed her under the arms and brought her back to the ground.

"Thanks," Bear Anna muttered, before she ran back to her sisters.

Her mother bought her a cake and a present, did she? Lucina thought, a smile creeping up on her face. I suppose I don't need anyone else to know it's my birthday. It's not as if Anna had any friends to invite to her celebration. Having someone to share my happiness with would be nice, but as long as I can be happy with my celebration, that is all I need.

It wasn't every day she turned seventeen, and she needed something to look forward to. She would be out here alone for who knows how long.

The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps shook Lucina out of her thoughts. Lucina's gaze traveled down the road, where she found Gregor jogging toward them with a large fish in his hands.

As soon as he reached them, he held the fish aloft and said, "Rejoyce, children! Gregor has returned, and he arrives bearing breakfast!"

"Where's mama?" one of Anna's daughters piped up.

"Anna?" Gregor threw a glance over his shoulder. "She was walking. She will catch up soon. Fear not, for Gregor shall cook while Anna's daughters will wait!"

He headed over to the wagon to retrieve the matchbox stashed inside. As he passed by Lucina, she called out to him, "You like running too, Gregor? If you wake up early, you could join me for my morning run. I could use a partner."

"Gregor appreciates offer, but he is afraid he will have to decline," he said, brushing past her. "Gregor runs when he feels like. Early morning is much too early for him."

"Okay," Lucina said. "Just let me know if you change your mind."

But Gregor didn't hear her, already crouched over the fire pit and striking the match against the box.

Lucina thought nothing of it. Gregor had always been carefree, so his rejection didn't surprise her. It did, however, disappoint her. She would have liked to spend a little more time getting to know him.

But she did not expect him to warm up to her quickly. She would have to be patient, and wait for the right moment to befriend him.


Thunk.

Lucina's axe cleaved through the log and buried into the stump it rested on. As she picked up both halves and tossed them into a pile nearby with one hand, she reached over with her other and plucked another one to take its place. When it came down to it, chopping wood was never a bad way to pass the time.

Without a sparring partner, it was her only way to pass the time, too.

Eying the axe as she raised it above her head once again, Lucina noted with mild annoyance at how rusty the blade was. For someone who prided herself in high-quality goods at a low price, Anna certainly didn't seem too keen on spending the time to maintain her own tools. It was one of her many quirks, being very picky on what to spend her time on.

Lucina would have asked Anna to be her sparring partner, had "cheating" not been one of the things Anna considered worth her time. Fighting a trickster's patented brand of cheap tricks and tomfoolery was not something Lucina considered fun, especially in a spar, so she had stuck to chopping wood.

Perhaps I might ask for other things from her, Lucina thought as she placed another log on the tree stump. Time off for my birthday, maybe? Surely she would not mind if I asked for a day of rest a week and a half from now, would she?

Then she thought back to that morning a few days earlier, when she'd been out for a jog. Boot Anna had been pretty stubborn on joining her, and nothing Lucina said had seemed to dissuade her. Anna could be stubborn like that, even over something like asking for time off. It would have been a waste of time, anyway.

It seems I will have to find spare time to celebrate my birthday. Lucina wiped a sleeve over her forehead and sighed. That, and I'll have to celebrate it alone. This is looking less appealing by the second.

Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted Gregor hauling the bed rolls out of the wagon, helping Anna to set up her camp.

A thought crossed her mind. Her Uncle Gregor had always loved birthdays. Perhaps...

"Gregor," she said, waving at him as he passed her. "Once you're finished with that, would you like to help me chop wood for the fire pit?"

Gregor frowned, and he shook his head. "Gregor is busy. He cannot aid Marth."

"I can see that, but I was asking if you could help me when you were done."

"Marth appears to be handling task very well. It does not seem like she needs Gregor's help."

Lucina made to call out to him again, but he had already turned away and resumed his task. Frowning, she turned back to hers.

Had she done something wrong? Was there a reason why he had rebuffed her twice? She knew she and Gregor were not on the best of terms, but she couldn't particularly recall an instance when she had insulted him.

Before she could let that line of thought go any further, she felt someone tug her sleeve. She looked down, and her frown only deepened.

"What do you want?" she asked.

Scarf Anna pouted and crossed her arms. "Mama told me to come help you."

"I have this handled on my own."

"Yeah. But mama doesn't want me to eat all the caramels, so she told me to make myself useful if I wanted more." Scarf Anna flung her scarf over her shoulder and reached out for Lucina's axe.

Lucina really didn't want to give it up, but when she glanced over at Anna, she saw her wave a bag of caramels at Scarf Anna. It seemed Anna was stubborn when it came to her children, too.

At the very least, it would give Lucina a chance to talk to Gregor. Lucina held out the axe for her to take, and as soon as Scarf Anna grabbed it out of her hands, Lucina began to make her way back to where Gregor was setting up the tent.

"Ow!" She hadn't even taken five steps before she heard Scarf Anna cry out in pain.

Lucina glanced over at Anna, but she seemed preoccupied with the fire. She didn't seem intent on helping her own daughter anytime soon, leaving the responsibility to Lucina. She sighed, and walked back to where Scarf Anna was clutching her hand, the axe lying in the grass beside her.

"What's wrong," Lucina asked, kneeling down to inspect her fingers.

"I hurt my fingers."

"How did you hurt your fingers? They shouldn't be near anywhere dangerous."

"I hit them on the log."

That wasn't nearly specific enough. Lucina pinched the bridge of her nose. "Could you pick up the axe and try again?"

"Do I have to?"

"Please, just try."

Scarf Anna grumbled, but she picked the axe off the ground and held it over the log. Before she could swing it down on the log, Lucina held up a hand.

"Wait. You're holding it wrong."

Scarf Anna looked back at her, confused. "How am I holding it wrong? I thought you were just supposed to hold it!"

"You're not supposed to place your hands so close to the blade. You might cut yourself, you know. To properly hold an axe, you must keep your hands near the base, like this."

Lucina pinched the blade of the axe, and slowly, she dragged it up until Scarf Anna's hands were nestled at the end of the handle. Still, Scarf Anna frowned, and she looked at Lucina with a pout.

"But it's hard to move the axe like this."

"You'll figure it out yourself. I have faith in you," Lucina said. Then, she turned and walked back to camp.

"Hey, Gregor," she said. "Is there–"

"Miss Marth?"

Lucina held back a groan, and before Gregor could even notice she was calling out to him, she returned to Scarf Anna's side. She was hardly surprised to find the axe only half-buried in the log.

"Is there a problem?"

"It's not working," Scarf Anna huffed.

Planting a foot on the log, Lucina yanked the axe out and handed it back to Scarf Anna. "Here. Try again."

Scarf Anna took it with a little more eagerness this time. She held it like Lucina had shown her, and she raised it above her head. Then, with a cry, she swung it forward and into the log.

Again, the blade buried itself halfway into the log and stopped.

Lucina sighed. She motioned for Scarf Anna to move aside, and she pulled the axe out of the log. "Your posture is improper, and you're putting too much effort into your swing," Lucina said, hefting the log over her shoulder. "You'll wear yourself out if you swing like that."

"Then how am I supposed to do it?"

"Watch. I shall demonstrate for you." Lucina moved to stand in front of the log, and raised her axe. "First, make sure your feet, are shoulder-width apart. Second, when you swing, don't force the axe to go down. Let the earth pull the axe into the log. Do that–" Lucina swung, and the log cleaved in two. "–and you will see success."

Scarf Anna's eyes flew wide. She glanced at the log, then back at Lucina. "I want to try!" she said, and she reached for the axe.

"By all means." Lucina handed the axe back to her, and she placed another log on the stump. "Now, keep your legs shoulder width apart–yes, like that–and as you swing, let the earth pull the axe down."

Lucina expected her to make a cut, but she did not expect her to get far. She expected her to have to pull the axe out again, and show her how to do it again. Cutting firewood had not been one of the things Anna had put much stock into, given how rusty her axe was.

To her surprise, Scarf Anna cut straight through. As the log split in half and tumbled to the side, Scarf Anna looked eagerly back at Lucina.

"Wow," Lucina said, her mouth in a thin line. "That's impressive."

Her Anna had never been so quick to take up chopping wood. When Lucina had known her, she had complained every time it was her turn to do it. Lucina could even recall a few times she had paid Owain to do it for her.

Somehow, her daughter had turned out different. Even if she would become the Anna Lucina knew, right now, she was a different person.

The same, of course, could be said for Gregor. Lucina's eyes flicked back to Gregor, and as she watched him stumble over a tent pole he had left lying on the ground, a brief sadness flashed in her eyes.

A memory resurfaced, one from Ylisstol. She could remember how Emmeryn stared her down in that dungeon, how fierce and how ready to fight she looked. That Emmeryn was not the same Emmeryn her father had told her countless stories of.

Coming back into the past, she'd thought she knew everyone. She thought, by coming back here, she would be able to easily find familiar faces. She couldn't have been more wrong.


Another chapter, another Sunday. This is just great, since I'm considering making this fic bi-weekly again to squeeze room for another long fic that I've had brewing for a while, but I can't do that if I don't trust myself to not slack off and die for a week and force everything back.

Anyway, apparently Google docs does not like the word "axe". It keeps trying to set the spelling to "ax", which is apparently the American way of spelling it, but like, who decided that? Axe looks prettier, and I don't think I've ever seen anyone in America spell it like "ax". This is undeniable proof that we are living in a cyberpunk dystopia.

The next chapter will be up by next week. I can't say when next week, I just hope I can get myself to start uploading on Saturdays again. Until then, take care of yourselves out there, and stay safe!