Disclaimer: I don't own Fire Emblem Awakening, all rights to the owners.

Those of you familiar with the first version of this story will notice the difference in how I'm handling Nathan's combat capability. Originally I gave Nathan a sort of auto-aim so he could contribute something to a fight if need be, but I've decided to remove that because it really isn't necessary.

I don't like my new body. It's stronger than my old one and more attractive, but it's not mine so I hate it.

At the very least my new body is convenient for traveling. I don't feel tired nearly as quickly as I would with my old body. I can last more than two hours of walking around, and do so through cold temperatures with uneven terrain at that.

Morgan and Noire are fairly endurant too, but Noire is malnourished and Morgan just doesn't have as much physical ability as I do. It feels strange to be the most physically able of the group though. That's never been me before.

That's why I end up giving the girls piggyback rides. Morgan eagerly accepts when I offer, but Noire is hesitant. I guess I don't blame her. I'm still a weird bandit-looking guy. I wouldn't be eager to accept a ride from myself either, or any sort of that physical contact for that matter, even if I am somewhat responsible for saving her.

Eventually, after some prodding from Morgan, she reluctantly accepts a ride. Morgan was a squirmy passenger. She couldn't sit still and constantly chattered in my ear as I walked. Noire is the opposite. She's as still as a board and totally silent. She doesn't rest her head on my shoulder like Morgan did, instead choosing to keep her head resting against the back of mine.

She's also keeping her upper body arced away from mine, which cannot be comfortable.

"Noire, I get that you think Nathan is scary, but seriously, you're going to give yourself a back ache like that." Morgan interjects. "I was fine, right? You'll be fine too."

Noire's grip on my shoulders tightens. "But…"

"Look, if you really were really worried about it, you wouldn't have accepted a ride in the first place right?" Morgan points out. "And you've already got your legs around his waist. So, again, if you were really concerned about something sketchy, you're already past the point of stopping that."

I blink and process that information. Something sketchy? From me? I already helped save Noire's life, what makes her think I'd hurt her now? What does having her legs-

Oooh, that sort of sketchy…

Morgan glances at me and raises an amused eyebrow. "You just figured it out, didn't you?"

"Maybe."

"See Noire, nothing to worry about. Didn't even cross his mind."

"Well now it has. Thanks for that Morgan." I think, and scrunch up my face at the girl. She rolls her eyes and sticks out her tongue in response. "If anything, the fact that you thought of it means you have a dirty mind."

She gasps in a way that's obviously fake. "Me? Never! I'm just a child! Look at this innocent face." She frames her face with her hands and smiles sweetly, though in her amusement she can't quite keep it up and it quickly turns into something closer to a smug grin.

"Your smugness is showing." I say. "All I see is the grin of a devil."

"First you accuse me of being lewd, and then you call me a devil!" Morgan gasps. "My reputation will never recover! I'm forever despoiled!"

"Despoiled? Now you're just overacting." I scoff. "And isn't it defiled, not despoiled?"

"Defiled? Now who's being lewd?" Morgan teases back, dropping her act.

Noire watches all of this silently. I wish I could see her expression right now to know if she's horrified, disgusted, or something negative like that.

"So anyhow, point is, don't worry." Morgan addresses Noire. She really can change subject on a dime, huh? "Relax…"

Noire shifts in place, probably uncomfortable, but reluctantly rests her head on my shoulder and her upper body against my back. I think it would be best I don't comment on this whole exchange, so I don't.

"No comment Nathan?" Morgan grins.

Oh, so you're trying to make everyone uncomfortable, are you? I mean, that's par for the course considering what I know about female Morgan from the game I guess, but… "perhaps we should drop this, at least for the moment? While I might tolerate your teasing, Noire's clearly less comfortable with it." I'm not even sure what Morgan was trying to insinuate with that comment, because her tone suggested an insinuation.

Morgan balks, hesitates, then nods. "Alright. I'll wait until my next ride."

"You assume you're getting another one." I huff.

"Of course I am! We still have weeks of travel, and you aren't about to pass up the chance to have a cute girl wrapped…" She trails off. "Sorry, stopping."

"Thank you." Oh, so that was the insinuation. Maybe I was more accurate than I assumed when I joked that she was a lewd girl.

We walk in silence for a few minutes before Morgan speaks up. "Incidentally Noire, I'm an adult. No need to look so worried."

So Noire was making a face… people thinking I'm taking advantage of Morgan better not be a running joke. I mean, I don't mind when Morgan jokes about it, but she knows it's a joke. Otherwise it's is really inconvenient.

Well, I guess I am taking advantage of Morgan, but I'm taking advantage of her kindness, not… her body.

I don't like this train of thought. Moving on.

###

I kinda forgot the medieval ages had a lot less music variety. When I started singing quietly to myself, Morgan and Noire instantly took an interest. My singing voice is awful, but I guess the novelty of new styles of songs outweighs that.

I try and go through as many styles as I can, but I really only listen to pop and rock. I have to wonder how they'd take to heavy metal if they could hear it, or techno for that matter.

I sing as many songs as I can remember before my voice gives out. Proper songs, parody songs, video game songs, anything. Lost in Thoughts all Alone and both versions of Edge of Dawn are a given, but I throw in about a dozen Sonic songs, multiple themes for television shows, and a few proper songs like You Don't Mess Around with Jim and American Pie. I sing various things for about an hour before my voice is hoarse and I have to stop.

At the very least it seems to make Noire less cautious of me and lends some credibility to my claim of being an outrealmer.

I feel a sense of melancholy after I stop singing. If this is real, if this isn't a coma, I'll never be able to hear those songs again. It's not the same to sing them as it is to hear them. The internet, the internet, I'll never get that again. Books and plays just don't compare. There's a reason the internet is so addicting, it's awesome. I wish more than anything now that I was good with music or electronics so I could at least recreate some of my world here, but I don't even really know how a lightbulb works. I know you push electricity through a coiled wire, but I don't know why or how that does anything.

"What's up?" Morgan asks. Of course she noticed. I'll have to learn to be more subtle. No one likes angst from other people. I know I find it annoying. I mean, if it was something important I'd be sympathetic, but something as pointless as not being able to have internet? That would be irritating.

"Nothing."

She raises an eyebrow, not convinced.

"Nothing important." I clarify. "Nothing you could do anything about either, so don't worry."

"If you're trying to get me to ignore it, you're doing a terrible job." Morgan says bluntly. "Let me be the judge of what I can and can't do."

"Unless you can invent electricity, implement it into numerous instruments, invent an incredibly complicated system of devices to make a computer, or know how to make a portal to a world that may or may not be connected to the outrealms at all that I have no idea of being able to really direct you towards, you can't help." I say bluntly.

Morgan blinks slowly. Noire is staring at me. "So… you're not from the outrealms?"

"Hell if I know." I shrug. Adrenaline is starting to pump in my veins as my frustration spikes. "In my world magic doesn't exist. Also, I'm not sure if this is a hallucination or if I'm in a coma or something right now. Regardless of if this is real or not, I want out."

Morgan thinks it over. All of us are silent for almost two minutes. The world is quiet except for slight wind and the faint rustle of grass as Noire shifts from foot to foot with unease scrawled on her face.

Didn't I resolve to not tell Morgan about my situation? I just outed myself because I was frustrated. Great self-control there Nathan.

"You know, you being an outrealmer was a bit unbelievable before." Morgan says quietly. "I didn't discount the idea, but I was also taking under consideration that you might be a little insane. Then you sang all those songs, and I realized there's no way you could have just made all that up. You sang styles that don't exist here, you used words and referenced things that don't exist. I believed you were an outrealmer at that point, so believing that you're from somewhere outside the outrealms, especially considering your future vision that you won't explain, isn't too much of a stretch."

So she believes me, yay. Doesn't solve my problem. Then again, my problem is petty, I shouldn't have reacted so strongly. It was a dangerous choice to show my hand. I had refuge in Morgan not understanding where I was from. I didn't have to explain that they're characters from a game. There was safety in keeping Morgan in the dark. I made a mistake because I'm too emotional, as usual.

"Look, it's nothing. You can't help." I say bitterly. I'm aware of the venom in my voice, but it's hard to keep out. I've never been good at emotional control. "Not your fault, not your problem. If this is real, I don't expect there to be a way back. I'll just have to deal with how archaic this world is. That's ignoring the fact that I won't see my family again either."

The bile in my voice has only increased. My face contorts into a snarl. It's not really directed at Morgan, just the world in general. I've always found it easy to hate and to work myself up, and this situation is unfortunately perfect for both of those things.

I make an attempt to reign myself in. "There's no point getting involved with my issues. Sometimes there's no happy ending. I've resigned myself that this world is going to suck compared to mine, for both petty and proper reasons. Just let me be bitter. I'll get tired of it eventually. This is beyond both of our capabilities by a huge margin." My voice is hoarse, my eyes are probably red.

Morgan doesn't look happy with that answer. She frowns and crosses her arms while looking in my direction. I don't meet her eyes, instead choosing to glare at a tree to my left.

I'm partially expecting Morgan to scold me for my childish outburst. That's what I'm used to. You're never supposed to show anger to anyone. No one likes anger, I know I don't. Morgan's response is different though.

"You don't know any way back?"

I shake my head silently. Speaking is a bad idea right now I think.

"I don't have a solution." Morgan says quietly. "Crossing universes? Not my expertise… even if I've done it before apparently. I can't get you home. Not any time soon anyways, and if you're right then probably not ever."

Thanks for confirming that. I guess I was hoping she'd magically come up with a solution, but that's unreasonable to think.

"However." Morgan says. Her mouth sets into a firm line. "You're responsible for saving my life-"

"Maybe I saved you." I cut in with a harsh hiss. Harsher than I intended. "I have no idea if the Risen would have come in an hour or two years. It might have been pointless for me to take you out of those ruins, and you have no proof of anything I did anyhow."

"-and I have no intent of abandoning you." Morgan continues, ignoring my words. "I know you're worried about that. It's why you make a joke of it, right? I can't send you home, but I can try and help you deal with this world and find something worthwhile."

"Don't make that sort of promise." I say sharply. "You have your own problems. Don't take on mine. You don't know if you'll be around me enough to keep that promise, or if you'll want to be around me that long."

"If you're a total jerk, maybe, but I really don't think that's the case." Morgan says firmly. "If you'll let me, I will help you. I happen to be fond of you if you haven't noticed already. This world might be worse than yours, but it doesn't have to be bad. Worse and bad are two different things."

"I'd say it's bad. There's probably going to be a war, not to mention a world-killing dragon. Everyone is pretty racist, not to mention probably sexist, and I by no means enjoy any of the activities people would expect a man to do." I reply. "All in all… bad."

"There won't always be a war though." Morgan says quietly. "And people always suck. I doubt that's changed where you come from."

Considering the state of politics at the time I left, I really can't deny that. "Yeah… maybe I'm overreacting…"

"Just a little. I wouldn't exactly be happy about being pulled out of my home never to return, especially if I actually liked my home." Morgan says sympathetically. "I may have amnesia, but that means I don't know what I'm missing. You do, and acutely."

I hate this. I really do. I don't hate Morgan of course. No, I hate that this conversation happened, I hate the situation I'm in, I hate this world, and I hate that this doesn't look like a coma anymore. I hate that I can't keep myself under control, I hate that I don't feel like I deserve Morgan's help. I know I'm useless. I'm petrified of battle, have no useful skills for living in medieval times, and only have some vague future-knowledge and a new body to prevent me from being a total dead weight.

I want to accept Morgan's help for selfish reasons, and I don't want to accept because I know I'll be more of a burden than a help in the long run. Morgan's goodwill isn't going to be infinite.

But at heart, I suppose I've always been selfish. There's no way I can pass up help in my situation. I'm not in a position to refuse unless I want to die in a gutter somewhere sooner rather than later.

"Alright…" I mutter, still feeling terrible about this whole situation.

"Good." Morgan nods.

"If there's something I can do in return then, tell me." I insist. "I don't have many useful skills, but…"

"Got it." She smiles.

To the side, Noire lets out a quiet sigh of relief. I'd forgotten she was there.

###

Camping is different now that we have Noire. For one thing, we don't have to use controlled explosions to knock birds out of trees for food anymore. Noire can just shoot them. Granted we brought food along with us, so Noire doesn't need to hunt, but we all agree it's a good idea to supplement our supplies whenever possible, just in case.

Noire is quiet in comparison to me and Morgan. Me and Morgan talk about my world or this world (mostly my world because Morgan is curious, and there isn't much she can tell me about this world at the moment), I recount various media properties like Batman, Mario, Sonic, Teen Titans, and really anything I can think of. When my voice is tired from speaking so much, Morgan takes over to talk about the basics of tactics and strategy, if only to fill the quiet. Any attempt to try and pull Noire into the conversation doesn't last long. She'll speak quietly, and listen more than talk. I guess she's not comfortable with either of us. I can understand why she wouldn't like me, but Morgan?

Maybe she feels like a bit of a third wheel…

Incidentally, I take the time to explain Fire Emblem to Morgan. Now that she knows about my world, I might as well spill the details on how I know what I know. I can tell the instant she realizes that I'm talking about this world and people she actually knows because she sits up straight and listens in dead silence. Even Noire, who was mostly ignoring us while making arrows, stops what she's doing to listen.

"So that's what you mean by future sight." Morgan says quietly when I finish my explanation. "You… controlled us?"

"Well no. It's more like… moving pieces on a board that happen to have a lot of your traits. It was a game to us. A game created by people that was supposed to be entirely fictional. Magic doesn't even exist in our world and we have no confirmed knowledge of other dimensions. I don't know what sort of freak chance made a game that happens to resemble this world exist in the one I came from, but that's the fact of the matter." I sigh. "So I have no idea how accurate my knowledge actually is, and any deviations might have a ripple effect of making my knowledge progressively less accurate and useful."

"But that might be for the better." Morgan notes.

"Maybe." I agree.

"By the way." Morgan says. "I've been meaning to ask, what combat training did you have back home? Do you know some sort of super elite axe techniques?"

"Absolutely none." I sigh. "I was a civilian. My only arguable skill is writing, and not even very good writing."

"Oh." Morgan blinks. "A civilian?"

"Yeah."

"That explains so much." Morgan mutters. "I was under the assumption you were a warrior. Geeze, no wonder you're so panicky."

Ouch, but true. The conversation mostly ends there.

Today has been a heavy day. I feel emotionally and physically exhausted. Me and Morgan watch Noire cook some birds she shot over the fire. I'm slouched over with hands on my knees to keep myself up. Morgan, who's sitting next to me, leans into my side. I appreciate the contact. Something about touch is just… soothing. Maybe it's just the child in me that likes it.

"Thanks." I mutter quietly. I'm not sure if it's loud enough for Morgan to hear, but it must be because she ends up responding.

"Thanks?" She questions, and smirks. "Nathan… you know how we shared a bed for, like, three days?"

"Yes…?"

"Did you assume I was just humoring you or something?"

"Yes." Of course I did. I'm surprised she put up with it the first day, much less longer than that. "I got the impression you were indifferent to it, or doing it for my sake."

"Of course you did." Morgan sighs. "Well that's not the case."

"Oh." I guess I could have inferred that, but there's something that just seems… wrong about Morgan being okay with being around me. It feels like a joke, like there's no way it could actually be true.

"So no need to say thanks. I'm fond of this too." She clarifies.

"Right." That feels too good to be true. There's a part of me that thinks she's lying just to make me feel better. "Morgan."

"Hmm?"

"Are you telling the truth?"

Morgan hums. "You have reason to doubt me?"

"I already know you think I'm fragile, and you're not exactly wrong." I mutter. "So I think I have a reason to assume you might lie for my sake."

The girl nods, then says in a neutral tone. "You know you're paranoid, right?"

"I'm well aware."

"Trust issues too."

"That's the reason for my question."

"I can't help but feel this is just an offshoot of your self-worth issues as well."

"Probably."

Morgan rolls her eyes. "Well I'm telling the truth, chill out. Like I said, I happen to be fond of this. You're worrying waaaay too much."

"But-"

"Nathan." She cuts me off. "You know how you said to ask if I needed anything?"

"Uh, yes?"

"I need you to stop being ridiculous."

I let out a frustrated sigh. If only it were so easy to ignore my inner doubt. "I can try."

"Like, if it's a big deal we can keep talking about it, but I'm pretty sure you're having a minor doubt and unnecessarily working yourself up." Morgan clarifies.

As usual, she's right on the nose. "Yeah, that sounds like me." I admit in a mumble. It wouldn't be the first time I've done that. Working myself into a panic, or vehement hatred, sometimes both at the same time, is fairly standard for me.

So I try to stop worrying and let Morgan lean against me. I don't miss Noire breathing another quiet sigh of relief.

"I'm really not making a good impression on her, am I?"

###

I put a conscious effort in the next day to try and chat with Noire. It goes badly. Very badly. Unfortunately, my mind is the same as before I got stuck in this world, so my social skills are just as garbage as they've always been. Morgan understands that I have the social grace of a large hairball and doesn't seem to mind all that much, but I'm fairly sure Noire just plain doesn't like me. She didn't before, and she definitely doesn't after today.

The problem seems to be that I just don't have anything to talk about with Noire. We have nothing in common, she's not particularly interested in small talk, and she doesn't like talking about herself either. She also physically shies away from me despite the fact that I am already intentionally keeping a fair distance.

I wish I could just say I'm bad at talking to women (and I am), but… this is just me being bad at talking to people in general.

Morgan keeps giving me the side-eye as I try to talk with Noire. I think she understands what I'm trying to do, hence why she doesn't try to stop me despite the fact that I'm probably bothering Noire.

Eventually I give up trying to make conversation with the nervous girl. It's clear I won't make any headway.

Incidentally, Morgan was correct when she said she'd get another ride. We still have plenty of distance to cover, and it's not like Morgan's endurance is going to magically improve to be equal to mine overnight. She wants to sit up on my shoulders this time, but after getting smacked in the face several times with branches she reluctantly transitions to a piggyback.

"So…" Morgan says in a quiet voice. Her breath tickles the back of my ear (which is actually somewhat uncomfortable, I don't like the tingling feeling it makes). "I take it your… whatever you were doing… didn't go well?"

"Unfortunately not." I sigh. "I felt like Noire was kinda being excluded, so I've been trying to talk with her, but I'm fairly sure she doesn't like me."

"Hmm…" Morgan hums. "Well, she was a slave not less than a week ago, and you are a total stranger who happens to know things about her and this world that you really shouldn't because this was literally a game to you at one point."

Yeah, fair point.

"She's probably still not sure what to do and is just following us because it's the only real option." Morgan murmurs. "Don't worry too much. It's only been a few days after all."

"Right." It still feels like a failure on my part though. "Do you think you'd have more success?"

"Probably…?" Morgan shrugs. "Do you want me to try?"

"Up to you." I murmur. "But if I would help her…"

"Alright." She nods. I think I can hear amusement in her voice. I can't see her face because it's slightly behind my field of view, but I imagine she's smirking. "And hey…"

"Hmm?"

"You were so worried about touch last night, but you're fine with this." She squeezes me lightly with her arms. "Hypocrite."

Yeah, I guess that is a bit hypocritical of-

"Or maybe you overcame your nervousness just because you really wanted a cute girl on your back." Morgan teases.

I make the decision to play along with Morgan's joke this time. "Of course. I'm actually a terrible brigand, didn't my clothes give it away? This is an elaborate kidnapping."

"Oh really?"

"Really." I say in as flat a voice as I can manage. "I'm taking horrible perverted glee from my current situation."

"Oh no. Ahh. I'm in danger." Morgan says in an equally flat voice. "Oh dear. It's not like me being on your back is an advantageous situation for me in combat."

"I could smash you into a tree." I suggest.

Morgan nods. "You could, fair point. However I have a good position to stab you from here, or to strangle you."

"I suppose." I nod. "If you were stronger than me, your situation would have almost no downsides at all. There would be no risk of me grabbing you and… slamming you on the ground? Breaking a limb? I have easy access to your legs right now."

"Very true…" Morgan muses. "Hmm, I didn't consider my legs, that's a very good point."

"It's still more advantageous for you overall though." I say.

"I agree."

"So perhaps I should beware of the dangerous sword-wielding girl on my back?"

"Well, the joke of me being in danger was under the assumption that you were a horrible pervert, so unless you're implying I'm a horrible pervert-"

"Well, considering you keep making mildly suggestive jokes, maybe you are."

"Rude!" Morgan huffs. She shifts on my back and tightens the grip her legs have around my waist. "I'm positively aghast!"

"I'm sure you are."

"Offended, really."

"Uh-huh."

"Beyond words."

"Well considering your jokes were at my expense at first, I think I should be more offended than you."

"But I am a lady!" Morgan protests sarcastically. "To accuse me of something such as lewdness would ruin me forever!"

"Right, as if your incredible tactical knowledge wouldn't guarantee you a position in any military in the world."

"Shh…" Morgan shushes. "I'm playing the offended delicate lady! Logic ruins the fun!"

I roll my eyes. "Oh, delicate are you?"

"Shut up."

"I'm fairly sure you're too strong to be considered delicate."

Morgan pauses. "I'm not sure if I'm sarcastically offended or actually flattered…"

"Both?"

"Yeah, sure. Both." She's quiet for a moment, then says. "Where was I…?"

"Offended delicate lady."

"Right, right. Eh-hem. How dare you accuse moi of lewdness! I am pure and incorruptible!"

"So you claim, yet your current situation is very unbecoming of a lady." I counter. "May I remind you that being carried on someone's back is not lady-like?"

"Nor is walking kilometers through the snow." Morgan sniffs pretentiously. "This is not an optimal situation, but I will take being carried over an undignified slog."

Noire is giving us the side-eye again. If she didn't think I was weird before, she definitely does now. Actually, she probably thinks Morgan is a weirdo now too. I don't even know the point of this weird role-play we're doing, but hey, it's fun, and it's a way to pass the time.

"On the back of a lewd brigand?"

"So you admit to lewdness!"

"I admit to no such thing, only that you think I am such."

"Well, be that as it may, I would prefer to be carried properly, and by a proper knight, but alas I am reduced to such a horrid situation."

"Carried properly? Is this about you preferring to be up on my shoulders?"

"Oh heavens no! The mere thought gives me heart palpitations!"

Really playing this up, aren't we? "Then what is your preference, my lady?" I add as much sarcasm to my voice as I can, and try to hide the fact that I'm smiling. "Shall I toss you over my shoulder like a sack of potatoes?"

I actually grab her (lower) legs as if preparing to move her, and Morgan's grip tightens.

"Naga, no!" She gasps in exaggerated fashion. "I should be carried in the arms as a proper knight would do!"

There's no way I can do that for long, that would hurt my arms, but for a little bit I can do it. "If you insist."

Morgan squeaks in surprise when I reach around and grab her by the back of her coat. I wouldn't actually be able to dislodge her if she didn't allow me to, her position gives her a good grip, but she allows me to lift her off my back and carry her in my arms. She's not heavy, but it's simply not practical to carry things in your arms for a long distance. That's the whole point of the piggyback ride.

It's actually a bit weird to carry her bridal style, mostly because she's looking at me the whole time and it's a lot more awkward to walk like this.

"Okay, there's no way I can keep carrying you like this." I say flatly.

"Yeah, doesn't look comfortable." Morgan agrees. She slides out of my grip and stands in the snow. "That was fun."

"Yeah." It was fun. Not exactly what I expected to happen, but fun. I poke her in the nose. "Lewd girl."

"You were playing along too!"

"Oh sure, but I was just following the leader."

"I'm the leader of this group now?"

"You should be." I admit.

"Really?"

"The only reason I was in charge was because I had a vague idea of where we should be going. Though by that logic I suppose Noire should be in charge now." I muse. "But you're the tactician, someone who supposedly has leadership skills. Besides, you're also the calmest of us three."

"Flattery will get you everywhere." Morgan smirks. "I guess I'll lead."

"You say as if you weren't already leading." I say.

"Well yeah, but I wasn't really conscious of the fact I was expected to lead." The girl shrugs.

"Ah right… if you're not comfortable with it-"

"Nah, I can do it." She absently pats me on the arm. "I'm fine. It's a good point."

"Okay."

"Thanks for making sure though." She says. She looks towards Noire. "I'd say it's her turn to ride now, but…"

I glance at Noire, who immediately looks away. She was watching us the entire time as we were doing our weird roleplay.

"...maybe we should ask later."

"Yeah."

"We're weird, aren't we?"

"Just a bit." I nod.

Nathan has a bit of a breakdown in this chapter, and Morgan steps up with a declaration of protection. This is also the first time where you get a proper taste of what Nathan and Morgan's dynamic is going to be going forward. They're a lot of fun from here on out.