(A/N: You know how in the original Mini Shepherds you got a chapter in Frederick's view? And as far as I remember, Lissa doesn't have any chapters with her view in any of the Mini Shepherds stories? This rectifies that. Enjoy!)

Honestly, Lissa was ready to whip out her mama bear moves whenever she needed to, but there wasn't actually any need for it—not as far as they've gone, anyway. It was fun being around someone other than the responsible people, though—even if they were all reasonably responsible. That and just being there annoyed Owain, so her 'embarrass your son' quota was always full. She might be more mature than a typical teenager, but she definitely wasn't quite to adult-level maturity yet.

When they got to the border, all Lissa had to do was chat with people to make sure they knew they were allowed in. The kids picked up on a pretty valid point when they passed through, noticing something that Lissa hadn't.

"The place isn't that far, right?" Morgan asked Lissa.

"Nope; another night and a few hours and we'll be there," Lissa replied cheerfully. "Why? Just curious?"

"Not quite," Morgan said. At that point, Lucina had taken notice of the conversation and came to walk next to them. "Does Ferox not warn people about thieves? I know we do in Ylisse, but no one said anything about there being thieves close."

"I know they warned us whenever I came with Father," Lucina mused. "It took us a few days to get here—it's possible that the thieves were already dealt with. Either that, or they think us normal passersby that wouldn't need to be told."

"But we're a large group for typical travelers," Morgan pointed out. "And they'd probably tell us if we were merchants, right?"

"Like Luce said, the thieves might've moved on," Lissa said. "It probably doesn't take Feroxi long to get rid of their thieves—unlike Ylisse, where a lot of people don't want to fight anymore." She offered a smile to both of Chrom's kids. "There's no harm in checking it out anyway. Worst comes to worst, it was just a nice excuse to get out of the castle! There's no way we can lose here, really."

Morgan nodded to say he understood, and Lucina similarly murmured an agreement. It was an interesting thought—usually they'd give a warning if there were thieves nearby, if only because merchants didn't want to lose goods and it would look poorly if anyone that the exalt happened to send got attacked and killed.

When they got to the town the place seemed pretty normal. Some of the kids were on edge at first, but there was literally nothing wrong. One of the Anna ladies even saw them and waved, which made Lissa pretty convinced that whatever thieves were here must've left already.

Miriel's kid pushed up his glasses. "...This place looks fine."

"Bit disappointing," Maribelle's kid grunted. "I was hopin' I would get to whack some people."

"And that would be a bad idea if they were here, because there's no way a staff can actually hurt people," Morgan said simply. Mainly addressing everyone else, he said, "We should probably ask around to see if the thieves actually left."

"That's reasonable," Lucina agreed.

The way the groups worked out, Lucina ended up going with Kjelle and Brady, Owain went with Cynthia and Laurent, and Lissa stayed with Morgan. She gave him a mini-tour while she was at it, knowing that he was interested in seeing what was outside of the castle. They didn't find anyone who could recall thieves—and not a lot of people could say that anything of note happened recently, either. When they all came back together again, the rest of the kids had the same report.

"At the very least, we're already here," Lissa mused once everyone said their piece. "If there hasn't been any thief activity around here recently, we don't have to stay long. We can stay the night and treat it like a little vacation."

No one really protested, but a few looked disappointed or uneasy. Lissa took charge of finding somewhere for them to stay the night, and once that was decided they ate dinner. Supposedly, the kids went to bed—but Lucina was still awake when Lissa went to get something to drink, and Morgan and Owain were still up too.

"Kind of weird to see all three of you up," Lissa noted. "Is the lack of thieves bothering you that much?"

"I suppose we all had the same questions and couldn't sleep," Lucina replied.

"The khans wouldn't lie about thieves, would they?" Owain asked. "I'm a bit skeptical. I mean… They had to be here at some point, right?"

"If they weren't…" Morgan said quietly, "I don't know why Khan Basilio would tell us to come because of thieves."

"Well…" Lissa said, trying to think of some way to change the subject. Her face lit up and she smiled. "How about we head out for a walk, all four of us? It'll clear your heads!"

They looked a bit hesitant, but Lucina sighed. "We might as well try—especially if we'll be traveling back home tomorrow, it would be best if we can get rest tonight."

"All right," Morgan said.

With Owain's nod, Lissa led the group outside. It was a normal Feroxi town, with normal Feroxi people, with normal Feroxi coldness, and… Wait.

They passed by a lady that was just…looking at them. Lissa paused to look back, and the lady looked…familiar. Granted, it was hard to tell considering that it was nighttime, but the lady looked like someone Lissa knew—and as soon as she realized who, she turned away and started walking again.

Owain noticed, giving her a worried glance she wasn't used to him wearing. "You okay there, Mom?"

"I might just be tired," Lissa said. "You kids feeling better? How about we rest up so we can head back home tomorrow?"

Since there were no protests, they went back to the inn. Lissa was up as soon as the sun was, though, and went back to where she saw the lady the night before. She was there again, seeming to hold more curiosity than before. Lissa barely realized that Lucina had apparently followed her.

"Aunt Lissa?" Lucina said. "You left before getting breakfast."

Lissa didn't even reply to her, just looking at the lady. Quietly, she spoke solely to the lady. "...How could you be here? You're Emm, aren't you?"

The lady just blinked at her and frowned. "I-I'm sorry… I don't know you…"

But it was Emmeryn. She looked just like her—it couldn't be anyone else. Even if…even if Emm had fallen almost twenty years before.