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

Nathan again.

"Morgan." I say.

"Nathan." She says.

"Do you see what I do?"

"I think I do."

"Fascinating, isn't it?"

"Indeed. Just incredible."

"Rare too."

"One in a million, or so the rumors go."

Inigo's eye twitches in irritation despite his attempts to ignore us. He can't turn to glare at us because of the woman on his arm whom he's trying to entertain.

He should have known better than to bring her close to camp. Honestly, did he expect Morgan not to poke fun at him about this? Heck, I won't be surprised to hear later that Severa or Kjelle gave him shit about it.

"Here we observe the wild Inigo outside his natural habitat." I say quietly. "This lucky specimen has gotten himself a date, a rare and fortuitous event for any Inigo. This necessitates the specimen to go outside his habitat of desperately fishing for attention into actual skilled flirtation; quite a challenge for a creature well known to be utterly hopeless in such matters."

Morgan obviously doesn't get the joke, she's never seen a nature documentary, but she's amused nonetheless.

"What do you suppose she saw in him?" Morgan asks cheekily. We're speaking too quietly for Inigo to hear at this point. "Was it the bad pickup lines? The fact that he's easily manipulated?"

"Maybe." I chuckle. "It might just be because he's handsome though."

"Oh really?"

"Really." I say, and I'm being honest here. "There were people back on Earth who liked how he looked. Cute, handsome, a mix between the two. Inigo had something going for him. He was one of the most popular future children."

"You're kidding."

"Nope, dead serious." I say. "That's why he got into Fates."

"Fates?"

"The next game. I've told you about this before, right? There was this whole contrived explanation about a god summoning Inigo, Severa, and Owain to come to his world to save it. They were chosen because they were the most popular future kids… aside from Lucina, who was number one. They couldn't bring her to the next game because she's a special case, so they went with the next best three."

"That's ridiculous." Morgan huffs. "My brother, popular? That sounds like a bad joke."

"What a supportive little sister you are." I say sarcastically.

"Supportive? Have you met me? I don't do supportive."

"Beg to differ."

"Well of course I support you, you're my boyfriend, but my brother? The point of a little sister is to be a bitch, not to be supportive!"

"I'm pretty sure that's Severa's job."

"Well she needs to stand aside then. It's my duty to antagonize him, not hers!"

I roll my eyes. "What a terrible sister you are."

"I know." Morgan says, grinning.

"Honestly though, I'm glad he found some success. I think he was getting demoralized."

"I dunno if him finding success is a good thing." Morgan says. "I don't think hitting on women is something we want to be encouraged."

"Mmm, true." I agree after a moment of thought. "But at least he's happy."

"Yeah." Morgan agrees after a moment. "I'm still going to give him shit for it though."

"I'd expect nothing less."

###

"Behold! I Owain Dark, will deal with these foul abominations with the legendary Missletain!" Owain cries. "This blade will make even the unfeeling Risen tremble in fear and beg for mercy!"

I suppress a grin as Owain spouts his lines. It was already amusing to read his lines in the game, but seeing it play out in front of me really drives home how ridiculous he is. You get used to seeing these exaggerated personalities in video games and shows, but seeing someone actually shout about their legendary blade and making people beg for mercy in person has a much more pronounced effect.

And by "pronounced effect" I mean I understand exactly why Inigo gives Owain so much shit in their support conversations, because it's impossible to take Owain even remotely seriously and it really does feel like a big joke.

Then again, I'm not one to talk. Me and Morgan do weird shit all the time, but me and Morgan don't take ourselves remotely seriously… and I don't know if the same can be said for Owain. I know his acting is sometimes a way of training himself, but in combat situations like this I don't see the benefit unless he's intentionally trying to be comedic or actually serious about what he's saying.

"How nice of you to volunteer to lead the attack!" Morgan says. "You're on point with Lon'qu and Vaike to back you up. Laurent, Nathan, the three of us need to deal with the archers as quickly as possible. Brady… uh… heal."

Brady rolls his eyes. "Yeah, I figured."

"I'm on point- I mean, of course I'm on point! I, Owain Dark, am clearly the most capable and-"

"Forward, Shepherds!" Morgan calls, completely cutting him off. "Kill 'em good!"

I won't pretend the Risen are particularly challenging. It's a few undead villagers and hunters, they're basically irrelevant. No, the reason I'm drawing your attention to this battle is Owain. He's… he's something.

"Ike's Raaaaage!" Owain cries, swinging his blade in a wide arc to lop off a Risen head in dramatic fashion. He strikes down the next few Risen with similarly grand strikes. He's quick to twirl out of the way of counter-attacks from the other Risen, but it seems to me to be an unnecessarily flashy way of fighting. He could use smaller, quicker strikes and achieve the same effect and not leave himself as open.

Then again, what did I expect from Owain?

Even Vaike's attacks don't have as much follow-through as Owain's, and he's using an axe which lends itself to follow-through much more due to the weapon being so top-heavy. Out of worry, I focus my attention on the Risen around Owain after dealing with the archers. I'm worried he's going to get a pitchfork in his side during one of his dramatic attacks.

I think my shots are taking the wind out of his sales a bit though. There are a few times where he turns in a direction, expecting a Risen to be there, only to find that my bolt defeated it a moment earlier.

He spares a glance back at me with a look that's either confusion or annoyance, and I wave politely before returning to shooting things.

The battle warps up quickly, and as we head back to camp I quickly forget about Owain's potential recklessness. Morgan makes for an excellent distraction. Owain is not so quick to forget.

"Are you moving on to arcfire soon?" I say

"Probably. Miriel and Father think I'm close to being able to handle it, and I'm already looking into the theory behind the spell and the actual spell circles." Morgan says. "I should be able to cast it by the time we get to Valentia, actually."

"That's great!" I praise. "It-"

"Hey!" Owain cuts in. "Uh, Nathan, right?"

"That's me!" I say. "And you're the infamous Owain Dark!"

"Infa- yes, I am! I'm glad to see my legend-! Wait, how do you know about me? I don't bring this stuff up outside the Shepherds and the kids."

"Outworlder~!" I hum.

"Right." Owian says, and briefly furrows his brow. I think he doesn't know how to deal with that information. It's not like he didn't know about it before; all the new future kids were told about me to some extent, but he was never so directly confronted with the fact that I might know some things about him that he'd rather I not. "So, uh, a question my noble friend."

"I'm not a noble, but ask away."

"Your archery from you… erm… device, is quite impressive, yet I could not help but notice that your fearsome arrows struck home close to mine own blade many times, defeating foes with which I was engaged. I am not one to turn down assistance, but I am not the only individual who needs your support!"

What a diplomatic way of him saying he didn't enjoy me kill-stealing. I can also tell by Morgan's slight nodding that she also noticed what Owain is talking about, though the way her lips purse and her eyes flick to Owain I think she knows my reason.

"I was merely concerned that your fearsome strikes might be rudely interrupted by opportunistic Risen who don't appreciate your display." I say. I think Morgan would prefer if I was more direct about this based on a slight eye-roll, but she doesn't say anything. I don't have your confidence Morgan! I don't like confrontation!

"Indeed, though I can't say I exactly expected Risen to appreciate me." Owain says. "Perhaps you could give your support more evenly next time, unless directed by our tactician?"

"I- well-" I say hesitantly. I want to point out he was being reckless, but I'm not an expert at combat or anything so maybe I'm just missing something? I don't want to tell him off only to be proven wrong… "Okay."

"Great!" Owain says, and starts to move away.

"No, not great." Morgan huffs, and grabs Owain's sleeve. "Nathan…"

"What?"

"Don't just let it go, you knew something was wrong." She scolds.

"I mean, I didn't know for sure. I'm not an expert on swordplay." I say sheepishly.

"What? What's wrong?" Owain asks.

"You were being reckless." Morgan says bluntly. "You were making these huge attacks and leaving yourself open."

"I gave myself plenty of time to dodge other Risen!" Owain insists. "Owain Dark would not let his magnificence devolve into recklessness!"

"Combat is not something you can toy around with Owain." Morgan scolds. "Even simple enemies can be dangerous. I don't want to have to tell your mother that you got killed because you tried to do… uh… Xander's angry pink pommel strike on a Risen and you got stabbed in the throat because it took too long."

"I would never be so callous!" Owain protests. "...and I don't have a move called that."

Morgan rolls her eyes. "Whatever. Don't be reckless. Nathan was trying to make sure you didn't get killed while showing off, right Nathan?"

"Yeah." I admit sheepishly when Owain looks at me in surprise. "I wanted to make sure you were safe."

"Oh." Owain says, suddenly quiet. "Thanks, sorry to cause worry. I'll be more careful in the future."

With that sudden turnaround in attitude, Owain quickly retreats to the back of the group, leaving me surprised.

"He completely changed tune." I say to Morgan. "Did we say something right?"

"Not really." Morgan hums. "I'm pretty sure he's just embarrassed."

"What?" I frown. "Why?"

"Nathan, we just called him reckless to his face."

"Ah, right."

"But why the quick turnaround?"

"Oh, that was you."

"Me?"

"Yeah." Morgan shrugs. "His grandstanding means nothing if no one is impressed, right? At first it just looked like you were watching his back because you thought he was cool, so he stood up for his theatrics, and then you eventually said that you thought he was going to get himself hurt, and suddenly he sees that we both thought he was being dumb and you were just being polite."

Okay, I can see how that might be a tad embarrassing, and why he might suddenly crumble and back out.

"Also, in case you haven't noticed, you're sort of seen as this cool outsider with future knowledge, and he maybe sorta wanted to be impressive in your eyes? You know, because it would be awesome to know someone from another dimension thinks you're great."

"Cool?" I say, raising my eyebrows in frank disbelief.

"Okay, maybe not cool, but you're still sort of… exotic." Morgan says, though she's clearly struggling for the right term. "You're from another dimension! That's cool, even if you…"

"Aren't?" I supply.

"Yeah." Morgan says reluctantly. "I mean, you're great in other ways, but-"

"You don't have to reassure me Morgan. I'm well aware you like me."

"Good." Morgan says. "Because in the past you definitely wouldn't have been."

True. Thank Naga I'm mostly past the worries I'll be abandoned.

###

I do just about every miscellaneous task around camp in some capacity, and that involves repairing clothes. Now, strictly speaking that's not a chore that is actually assigned. People are responsible for their own clothes. However, not everyone knows how to sew, so the Shepherds that do know how to sew do that work in exchange for small favors, or sometimes just out of the goodness of our hearts.

Whenever I have to do any significant amount of sewing, I usually seek out Noire. Not because I need her help, but because she does a lot of sewing too, and she makes for a good conversation partner who won't be completely distracting like Morgan.

Love you Morgan, but I can't focus when you're around.

"Are things going well with Tharja?" I ask. "Have things gone well in the year and a bit since your introduction to her?"

"It's been… well…" Noire mumbles. "It's been okay. Mother is strange, but she's nothing like Mother was in the future. Nothing at all…"

"You sound disappointed." I note.

"Well…" Noire fidgets with her thread. "I wanted my mother to get better, not for her to be a totally different person."

"She's that different?"

"Yeah…" Noire says quietly. "She… she's obsessed with Robin for some reason, she hasn't even looked at Father, her curses are all petty and small, and she's not just better to me it's like she's actually trying to be nice."

"Isn't that a good thing?"

"I- well yes." Noire blushes in embarrassment. "But it seems so… wrong. Out of character even! I was expecting her to be a bit callous but to be trying to improve, but right from the start she was kinda nice to me, and it's like she's actually trying to be a mother and it's just so weird."

That's a very unique problem to have. Also, Noire is so used to Tharja being an asshole that Tharja actually being a good mother is considered completely out of character? Yikes. "Do keep in mind that what you remember of your mother was post-war. A lot can change in even a single year, much less a single year in a warzone."

"I know, I know." Noire says. "But I can't shake the worry that this world is going to turn out too different, that I won't have my Father…"

"If Tharja never deals with him, you can always go talk to him yourself." I murmur. "As much as we're trying not to make the first generation feel obliged to marry, that doesn't mean you can't ever talk to Gaius."

"I know." Noire says. "I- I have talked to Father. N-Not telling him that I'm his daughter of course! But I think he might suspect anyway."

"Because you don't really talk to the first generation outside of your mother, do you?" So her choosing to talk to Gaius among the first generation gives away her interest.

"No." Noire admits. "S-So I think he knows, even if I haven't directly revealed anything."

"And? How has he been dealing with you?"

"He's been nice. He's just like I remember." Noire says wistfully. "He even gave me my favourite candy, like he used to before he left in the future."

"That's nice." I say. I remember that Gaius didn't seem to change all that much in his endings in the game, so I'm not surprised he's mostly the same. "He likes you?"

"I think so." She says. "He always has more of my candy on him whenever I talk to him…"

Yeah, Gaius definitely knows. He doesn't usually share his sweets for nothing in return.

"H-He's also been teaching me how to be sneaky." Noire says. "A-And because he taught me lockpicking in the future, I might be able to start helping with some of his solo missions, because I'll be able to do everything I need for the job."

Training your daughter to be a thief, are we Gaius? Ah well, I don't see Noire using her skills for anything criminal, not without a good reason. "That's fantastic. I'm happy for you."

"Th-Thanks." Noire says with a tentative smile. "It's much easier to talk to you about this. Severa… well… she tends to get passionate about certain things when I discuss them."

"You mean she rants."

Noire blushes again and looks away. "Yes. I love her, but…"

"I get it." I chuckle. "My father was like that. He was great, but he was terrible at listening sometimes. It's not that he was mean or anything, but he would offer a solution to everything when sometimes I just wanted someone to listen."

"Yeah!" Noire nods rapidly. "Just like Severa! Sometimes she'll tell me that I shouldn't be complaining about something because it's a good thing, and I know, I'm not saying it isn't, it's just odd, but-"

"She doesn't seem to understand the difference between odd and bad, or why you might want to talk about something odd?"

"Yes!" Noire says. "Exactly! When I talk to her about Mother she keeps saying I shouldn't worry and that this is a good thing and I know, I know that, but that doesn't mean it isn't odd, that it doesn't make me think."

The conversation lulls from there, but it's a comfortable lull. The rest of our time repairing is spent in much less serious conversation.

Noire makes the mistake of asking about how things are going with Morgan, which naturally leads me gushing about my girlfriend for ten minutes. Noire is amused.

###

I have projects. I don't get to work on them often because most of my free time is spent on Morgan, but I do have projects.

My current project is folding chairs and desks. I know that sounds weird, but currently Morgan and Robin and all our leadership are forced to use stools and basic tables, so some collapsible furniture might be appreciated. It's not vital or anything, just a quality of life upgrade.

The chairs are pretty simple all things considered. It's the desks that are problematic.

I have to make sure the legs can be folded under the desk, yet the desk isn't too heavy, but I also want it to have drawers, but I can't make the desk too fragile because it has to be relatively durable. The design process is difficult enough, but actually creating the desk is another matter, and I scrap several attempts when I realize something is more flimsy than I thought, or that I've put something in an inconvenient place, or any other number of problems.

I settle for a design that folds in on itself, and can be stored as a waist-high, but relatively thin box. I remember back on Earth seeing some videos about this really creative (and probably very expensive) space-saving furniture, and this desk is basically my attempt to re-create one of those. When compacted, it's only about the size of a night-stand, but the trick is that you can basically unroll the interior of the night-stand to align with the top and make a full desk.

It's hard to explain this in words, so just trust that I'm not crazy. The hardest part is making a system capable of lowering or raising parts of the desk while still keeping them attached to the parts that allow the segments to rotate.

It takes a lot of time, and some help from Miriel to design the more technical parts, but I'm eventually successful. It's not as compact as an actual folding table, which is very thin and can be slid into cracks between crates in wagons, but it's not unreasonably large, and actually having drawers is much appreciated by Morgan, and eventually the other Shepherds who actually need desks.

Yay for taking advantage of other people's knowledge from Earth! Sorry whatever company came up with that super compact desk I'm thinking of, I've taken your idea and you're getting nothing from it!

My business shall be entirely built upon the ideas of others which I shall shamelessly steal! And I can actually get away with it because no one from Earth will stop me! I laugh in the face of copyright!

Maybe someday I'll actually use my own creativity rather than ripping off others' ideas, but that day is not today.

###

"Nathaaan, nooo." Morgan whines.

"I have chores Morgan." I say, and pry her arms off me. "We go through this every morning."

"But it's cooold!"

"You can borrow my blanket then."

"But I want yooou!" She says, stretching her arms out.

I fondly roll my eyes and throw my blanket at her. "Yes, I know, needy girl."

"I'm not needy." She pouts, and pulls the blankets around her body like a burrito. "You're needy."

"I won't deny I'm needy, but that doesn't mean you aren't." I tease. I roll her over with my foot and get changed. The cold Feroxi air is unpleasant in the morning. I miss my blankets already, but at least I have winter clothes. I repurposed my old furs from the outfit I had when I first got into this world into a new outfit, which I'm wearing now, but it's not as good as having a blanket. "I'll come get you for breakfast, okay?"

"Fine…" She says, still pouting. "I'll go back to sleep, but I won't be happy about it."

Yes she will. She loves being able to sleep in. "Don't roll into any fires while I'm gone."

That gets a glare from her, and I smile unabashedly. It's such an old joke by this point, but I love it. "If you stayed-"

"Yes, yes, I know." She tends to roll towards heat sources, so that's usually me since we share a tent. I lean down and kiss her forehead. "Go back to sleep Morgan."

"Fine." She grumbles. "Don't take too long."

"I'll try." I murmur. It doesn't actually matter, she's going to be asleep until I come back to get her, but I'll try to hold the promise anyways. It's the principle more than the reality that matters.

Today isn't anything unusual: make sure Sumia is awake to start breakfast, get water from the steam for soup and drinks, feed the animals, make sure the bathing tents have soap and fresh towels, all sorts of miscellaneous things. I'm just nearing the end of my morning chores (getting more water, this time for a bath for myself) when I notice something usual…

...and by "something" I mean "someone".

She's trying to be sneaky. That's probably why she's hiding behind a tree. I think it's just a coincidence that I happened to be at the stream, and therefore she missed me leaving and doesn't know I'm behind her.

It's Lucina, by the way. She's the one hiding behind a tree. I can't see if her mask is on or not, so I don't know if she's in disguise right now or not.

It doesn't really matter I suppose. She's already aware that I know who she is. I'm surprised she didn't hear me come back, considering I'm holding two big buckets of water.

Well, I should probably stop staring at her and actually say something. "Hi Luci!"

"What-!?" Lucina spins around, fumbling for her sword for a second before managing to draw it. She does have her mask on, good to know. Despite the fact that I clearly don't have a weapon on me, she keeps Falchion pointed in my direction and grips the hilt with two hands. "Who are you? How do you know who I am? How did you get around me!?"

"I mean, I was just bringing some water up to the bathing tent." I say calmly. "I didn't get around you so much as you were along my path when I was coming back."

"I… see." Her shoulders hunch just a bit in embarrassment over her mistake. "But do not dodge the rest of my questions. Who are you and how do you know me?"

"Nathan, outworlder. Morgan told you about me with the communication spell."

"Ah." Lucina says, and lowers her sword. "You're Nathan?"

"Yep. Nice to finally see you Luci. I was worried you weren't going to show up! The timeline is already pretty messed up considering the future kids gathered so early and we dodged the need to get Plegian ships, but I think you not being around might have been bad. You're sort of an important piece of the timeline."

"I see." Lucina nods seriously. "And that is mostly your doing."

"Guilty as charged." I say. "Though, I have no idea if Morgan would have woken up sooner or later if I hadn't shown up. The paralogues only open up after the timeskip."

"Timeskip? Paralogues?"

"Uh, right, there's a lot I need to explain." I say. "Look, I was going to take a bath, so how about we go wake up Morgan and she can explain the basics while I clean up? Actually, breakfast is soon, so either way we're going to have to wait until after then to talk, so…"

"I think I would prefer to remain unseen." Lucina says. "I don't know if I'm prepared to face my parents."

"They already know they have a second child." I offer. "They don't know it's you, as in Marth, but they'll only be so surprised."

"Truly? I suppose I should have expected as such if the others are here." The Princess says. "Very well, I shall gladly meet Morgan, though I think it may take some time before we can speak more. I expect my parents will be eager to take up my time today, after I reveal myself."

"Good point." I say.

I lead Lucina into camp, taking a moment to leave my buckets in the bathing tent. Stahl, who is standing guard, raises his eyebrows in surprise at seeing "Marth" walk into camp, but in seeing me leading her around he doesn't raise a fuss or rush to tell someone else.

I have Lucina wait outside my tent for a moment as I wake Morgan up. "Hey, Morgan."

"Nathaaan." She yawns, and rolls onto her back. She shrugs off her blankets. "Breakfast?"

"In a bit. I've actually woken you up for something else." I say. "Get dressed. There's someone you need to meet."

"It better be Naga if my sleep is getting interrupted for it." She grumbles. She starts to pull off her nightshirt, so I politely turn my back.

"Unfortunately it's not." I say. "Though it's someone equally interesting, perhaps moreso."

"Grima?"

"No."

"Anankos?"

"Not a god."

"Demi-god?" Morgan asks. "I'm dressed by the way."

"Not a demi-god." I say. "Luci? Come in."

There's a small pause, and Lucina hesitantly pokes her head into the tent. "Hello?"

"Ooh, you look cool!" Morgan chirps. She looks at me. "Is this Gerome?"

"I just said "Luci" Morgan. It's Lucina." I know she's wearing a mask, but seriously.

"Ah, right, right." Morgan nods. "Awesome…"

"And I have to take a bath, so you need to give her the basic explanation of everything."

"Handing off the hard work to me, huh?" Morgan huffs. "I see how it is."

"I know, I'm terrible." I say, and press a kiss to her cheek. "Thank you."

"No problem." She says. "Go get clean. I'll handle it."

"Okay."

Lucina watches this with curiosity and a bit of a blush on her face. It's just a kiss on the cheek Lucina! You're not even involved! Are you that actually bashful about this? Your parents are going to embarrass the hell out of you. Maribelle isn't so uptight that she won't accept affection from her husband.

That aside, I leave Morgan and Lucina to talk so I can clean myself up.

###

Lucina causes a bit of a stir at breakfast. She removes her mask before entering the tent, but even without being easily identifiable as Marth she's immediately swarmed by all the other future kids.

"Lucina! Our fated leader has returned! Rejoice all ye with Naga's favor, for my cousin has returned!" Owain cries dramatically.

"Lucina! Hiii!" Cynthia shouts, and tackles the girl in a hug. "It's been too long! Are you okay? What have you been doing? Did you get into cool battles? Ooh, did you make any cool entrances that I can use!?"

"Uhh…"

"Hey! Sis! Ah, move aside you lot!" Brady grunts, and muscles his way through the other kids. "Luci! What took you so long? The rest o' us have been around for months!"

"Sorry Brady, I had other things to take care of." She says, and embraces her brother. "I'm here now though."

"Lucina! How dare you leave us for so long!" Severa shouts as she stomps over. "What could you have been doing that's more important than finding us!?"

"Nice to see you too Severa." Lucina says in a tone that makes it very clear she's used to this sort of attitude from the redhead.

"Lucina! How fortunate it is to have your beautiful face returned to us!" Inigo says. "Perhaps you'd care for some tea later?"

"Perhaps another time, Inigo."

Kjelle, Noire, Nah, Yarne, and Laurent are all much more quiet about their greetings, and don't shout for the whole tent to hear. Not that it really matters, because everyone else has stopped what they're doing to watch and listen anyhow.

Also, Chrom and Maribelle absolutely heard Brady call Lucina "Sis", so naturally they've risen out of their seats to come see their daughter.

That also means that everyone but Brady quickly gets out of the way. I'm sure there's going to be questions later about how she got here, how she knew were to find us, and I'm probably going to have to explain a thing or two to Chrom, but that's a concern for later.

For now, I can sit back with Morgan and be relieved that almost all of the main cast is assembled. Henry, Cherche, Virion, and Gerome will be collected on the way to the front lines, and we're likely to meet Say'ri and Tiki along the way too. Lucina and Henry were the only people I was really concerned wouldn't come along with the Shepherds, and Lucina is by far the more important of the two.

We've got our key players. With a bit of luck, the rest of the timeline should be (relatively) smooth sailing from now on.

We've got Lucina on board now. I've got to get my notes in order now, because so far I've been coasting by with Nathan having mostly inconsequential interactions with others. Lucina is a bit more serious. I might have to deal with… PLOT.

I know, scary. I've been avoiding the dreaded PLOT for two dozen chapters, but it's finally catching up.