After Marth left, Malin offered to help Lucina bandage up whatever cuts she received from Marth—she tried her best to decline, but Kjelle insisted on it as well (with Kjelle herself only receiving dents in her armor). Lucina had to sit there, then, as they cleaned the cuts up and bandaged them.
"I'll have a talk with Marth about this," Malin promised. "She might not have noticed, and if she did I'm pretty sure she didn't mean it. We fought in the war to protect kids like you, not to hurt them fifteen years later."
"It's all right," Lucina said. "The cuts don't bother me much, and I know she might not have intended it."
After a few minutes, Malin stepped back and said, "All right, that's all I can get too without getting too close—your arm and shoulder are patched up, at least. Go ahead and bandage up that cut on your side and get changed; come to the dining hall when you're done."
Both of them nodded. "Thank you for helping," Lucina said—even if she didn't want the help.
Malin offered a smile in return. "No problem! Just try not to get hurt again in the future; the best way to avoid getting fussed over is protecting yourself well against attacks."
He gave a little wave, and Lucina and Kjelle went to the girls' room to finish getting everything bandaged. Kjelle maintained a frown as she continued to refuse to let Lucina handle it on her own, and after changing into something that looked a bit neater they went to the dining hall.
No one noticed that she had come a little late nor that she occasionally winced or glanced at her arm; Lucina could enjoy the meal without being questioned. She wasn't asked to explain it until after dinner, when everyone went to their rooms for the night. Cynthia, chattering on for a little while, took notice pretty quickly.
"What happened to you?" Cynthia asked, curious more than anything. With all of them sitting on their beds, she pointed at Lucina. "You kind of look like a puppy that got in trouble and is just sitting in front of its owner waiting to get yelled at."
Kjelle opted to explain before Lucina had a chance to deny it. "We pushed Marth over the edge, apparently," Kjelle replied. "Being the delightful idiots we are, we asked after Marth's past and such, then accepted a challenge when she offered it."
"…Can I see?" Cynthia asked hesitantly. Lucina nodded, pulling up her sleeve and removing some of the bandages. Cynthia winced. "Yikes. That's definitely going to scar. Are you gonna tell the boys?"
"Preferably not," Lucina said simply. She reached for the bandages that they had brought in the first time, deciding to change them out while she had some of the bandages already off. "They'd worry—all of four of them. Morgan would work me out of every single battle we may be in, Laurent would watch to make sure I wasn't hurt more, Brady would keep an eye out for anything else, and Owain would be the first to tell anyone else."
"But you'll tell Chrom and Robin, right?" Cynthia maintained with a worried frown.
When Lucina stayed silent, it was Kjelle who protested. "Lucina! What, do you think they'll all conspire against you?"
"If you can honestly say that I won't be the subject of concern for the next two months, I'll tell them," Lucina said firmly. "And I would prefer it if that included you two, as well—I'm not a child that needs to be watched over. I'm fine. I'd say that everyone has better things to worry about than whether or not I can handle three cuts."
The other two fell silent, and it stayed like that until Morgan knocked on the door asking for their opinion on some argument or another that the boys had gotten themselves into. After a little while, the boys joined the girls so they could all go over strategies for the tournament the next day. Not particularly one with a mind for the best course of action, Lucina was satisfied agreeing with what Morgan proposed.
…
The next morning, Cynthia at least seemed to have put their conversation after dinner out of her mind—either that, or she respected Lucina's choice to stay silent about it. Heading to the training area after breakfast, Morgan continued explaining how they would go about the battle.
Lucina more-or-less stood in the corner, listening with a little smile as her brother proudly put his training to good use. It sounded like almost complete nonsense to her, but…he was happy, at least. Amidst Morgan's explaining, Lucina noticed Marth coming towards them. Opting to meet her on the way there, Lucina offered a greeting. "Good morning," she said kindly.
Marth almost seemed surprised by her words. "Yes," Marth replied. With a little frown, she asked, "I apologize for what happened yesterday. Are you…too badly hurt?"
"I can still fight," Lucina said. "That's what matters in this situation."
"You're not a soldier in a war," Marth pointed out. "You don't have to fight—you can rest, if you need to."
"Perhaps," Lucina mused, "But I am Chrom's daughter, and the leader of this group. I can't honestly say that I believe I have the qualifications for one who can rest." She offered her hand and a smile. "Whatever the outcome, we'll fight hard. Agreed?"
Marth gave a small smile in return. In a kinder, more familiar tone, she said, "I look forward to seeing how your group does."
They shook hands, then returned to their separate groups. If nothing else, Lucina believed she may have found another person to admire—because for all her flaws, Marth still seemed noble and strong. Not unlike Chrom, really, and not unlike what Lucina strived to become.
(A/N: I wanted to focus on the scars a bit more in this story since it's brought up in literally every other Mini Shepherds story, including an unposted sequel I wrote that has OCs in it. That's why this chapter is a regular one, and not a bonus.)