Chrom took it upon himself to spend the afternoon with Lucina, if only because he was honestly impressed. For kids who didn't have a lot of experience fighting people that weren't their parents, it was good to know that they lasted more than a few seconds. At some point, he was reminded of a specific thing and he looked at his daughter.

"Hey, do you want an early birthday present?" Chrom asked with a little smile. "I'd say you deserve it."

"It's September," Lucina pointed out. "And all I really did was follow Morgan's lead. If you want someone to—"

Chrom chuckled. "Oh, come on. Just follow me, all right? I'm curious."

Chrom led her down to what the castle dwellers called 'the basement.' It was off-limits to a lot of people—if only because of what they kept down there.

Falchion was occasionally put on display, but Chrom only ever carried it around during reunions or when he left the castle. Ever since future Lucina left, they had two—one that her father used, and one that was Chrom's. Lucina's Falchion was typically claimed as a duplicate so people wouldn't get worked up over two treasures of Ylisse (and then they'd have to explain where they got the second one, which was another matter entirely).

Lucina seemed to recognize where they were going—she paused at some point before quickly catching up. When they got to where Chrom wanted to be, he looked at her. "Can you pull out an old training dummy or two?" Chrom asked kindly.

Even if she was hesitant, Lucina did she went on a search for the requested objects, Chrom went into the little room where they kept both Falchions. She didn't outright tell him, but he believed that one Lucina left Falchion behind for the next—and he knew that when he was ready to see Lucina wield Falchion, it would be the sword of her older counterpart.

He brought out Lucina's Falchion, smiling as Lucina pulled two old training dummies over to him. "I was going to try this when you were eighteen," Chrom said proudly. "I had this grand scene in my head where you'd go around with the actual Shepherds when I gave them missions, sending you out with Falchion as you get ready to take my place. Since you already lead your own group, it won't do any harm to test this out now."

Lucina seemed ready to protest, and after a few moments she did. "Father, I really can't say that I–"

"Lucina." He gave her a firm, reassuring smile. "Just take the sword and hit the training dummy. If you're afraid of being unworthy, then make yourself believe you are—I'm not convinced the thing doesn't pick up on uncertainty. No one has to know but you and I."

She still seemed hesitant, but after a moment she did take the sword. With her eyes closed, she slashed at the closest training dummy. Falchion cut straight through it—Lucina didn't seem to expect it to be so effortless. To stop her from hitting the floor, Chrom took hold of her arm.

Lucina winced, and he immediately let go. "...You got hurt in Ferox?" Chrom asked.

"It's just a cut," Lucina immediately said to her defense.

Chrom frowned. "Your definition of 'cut' and mine are a bit different. Let me see."

She obeyed, albeit without looking at him. She let him take Falchion, and she pulled up her sleeve to show him. She had it covered in bandages, so she pulled it back some so he could see. At the very least, it didn't look extremely serious; but at the same time, it also didn't look like something you could dismiss as 'just a cut.'

"You should probably try to get your aunt to look at this," Chrom said, trying not to sound too concerned.

"Please, Father, I've heard this twice already," Lucina replied, moving her injured arm closer to her.

"Only twice?" Chrom asked. "Why not three times, or even six? Why mention a number at all?" She just turned away a little more, and he sighed. He never figured out why she didn't like to admit when she was hurt; Robin had once guessed that it came from the same root as why she avoided attention as some kind of unspoken rule, with that being that she grew up generally receiving less attention from Robin. After a while, it could have either become belief that she didn't need that attention, or it could be that she opted to put on a strong front instead—or maybe a combination of both, since Lucina would occasionally admit that she saw other tasks (with Robin's issues at the time being a possible option) being more important than people taking time to praise her. Of course, Chrom could never confirm it—Lucina remained stubbornly silent about the matter to this day. "You won't say who you were fighting against, will you?"

Lucina shook her head. "...And I've asked them not to tell. Of course, whether or not they do is another matter—but I was with one of the other Mini Shepherds and I was just training with someone we fought against later in the tournament Basilio wanted us to participate in. I'm not sure who went too far first, but I'm willing to take the blame for the incident."

"Well, unless you'd like to explain it yourself, I can figure out how to tell your mother," Chrom said with another sigh. "She…won't be happy. If you haven't told Morgan yet, he won't either. But…" He was able to put a smile back on, giving her Falchion again. "You did manage to cut the training dummy."

"I did, didn't I?" Lucina quietly murmured, glancing back at the training dummy. "It…feels like I don't quite deserve the honor, given the conversation we just had."

"Even with your flaws," Chrom said kindly, "You're still an upright young woman. You should be happy—I only know of one other person, aside from myself, who could wield that fickle thing."

Lucina looked at him curiously, taking Falchion again for now. "Who was that?"

"An old war friend," Chrom explained. "She officially joined the army during the Valmese campaign, but she started helping us…almost as soon as she arrived in Ylisse, actually. I can't say her name here, but for a while we knew her by what she called herself—she had made an alias based on the hero-king."

Lucina almost perked up a bit. "I wonder…" Pausing for a moment and noticing that Chrom had looked at her for silent explanation, Lucina shook her head. "It's not my place to speculate. The woman you talk about is gone, isn't she?"

"I like to say she's home," Chrom said with a little smile. "I don't know where she'd be if she wasn't."