Robin had planned to be finished work by now, but there were a lot of distractions throughout the day. Perhaps the most unexpected one came with an eventual knock on the door and Morgan's voice.

"Mom? I know you're working, but there's someone here to talk to you and Dad."

"Who is it?" Robin asked kindly.

"One of the mercenaries that helped us," Morgan replied.

Intrigued, Robin said, "Can this mercenary say their name? Just out of curiosity."

In response was another voice, which Robin could recognize easily. "I'm Malin. Would it be too much of a bother if I talked with you now?"

She immediately stood up and started clearing a path. "It's all right, sir. Give me a minute to clean up—and Morgan, can you get your father? I think he's in our room."

There was a murmur of agreement from Morgan, who left shortly afterwards. When she had sufficiently moved some of the stray papers out of the way, she opened the door and looked at the mercenary. He looked like the same person he sounded like, and with that in mind she let him in while Frederick stood at the door.

"There's a seat over there," Robin said, gesturing to one of the two chairs in front of her desk. "Take a seat—and don't be surprised if you see a dark mage pop up. She likes to watch me work." The stranger nodded and obeyed; Robin sat down behind her desk. "It's a pleasure to see the person my son talks about so much. He holds you in high regard, I'd say."

"Does he?" Malin asked, half curious and half cautious. It was an odd combination.

"He trusts the people who help him," Robin replied. "He told me a lot of the story, and he's grateful for it. You have my thanks as well; they could've gotten hurt if you and your friend hadn't helped them."

"Honestly, we didn't know that they were anyone special," Malin admitted. "We just heard fighting and came down to help."

"No matter what drove you there, you helped them," Robin maintained. With a little smile, she said, "At least for now, that makes you a friend."

Silence fell for a moment before Chrom came in, looking a bit tired—of course, he probably did just wake up from a nap (or an attempt of a nap, at least). It took him a moment before he recognized the stranger, and when he did he glanced at Robin. She could only frown, shrug, and gesture for him to sit in the other seat.

"So…" Malin ventured carefully, "I have a request for you, and it's going to sound a bit weird. You have two Falchions, right? The actual one and a 'fake' one?"

The other two both tensed slightly. "Why do you ask?" Chrom said cautiously.

"I need the fake one," Malin replied. "I just need to take it—it'll go to its previous owner, I promise."

"How will you know you give it back to the right person?" Robin asked.

Malin smiled—almost sadly. "It will. I can't say how I have that guarantee, but it will. You'll have to trust me about that."

"It's not exactly something we can give away," Chrom pointed out. "Not on the spot, at least."

"Well, I'd just like it before the end of the month if at all possible," Malin said. "It won't get damaged, but it probably won't come back."

"Give us some time to think it over," Chrom reasoned. "We can make a decision…likely within the next few days. Until then, I don't have any protests to you wandering around the castle as long as someone's with you."

"Nor do I," Robin said. "And saying that's all we can decide for now, I'd say it's time for you to wander or leave? Frederick can come with you."

Malin nodded and stood up. "Thank you for giving me the chance to speak with you. I'll check back in another day or two."

When he left, Chrom opted to help Robin finish her remaining work. As he did so, Robin cautiously said, "Can we agree that he…sounded like Morgan? Looked like him?"

"We can," Chrom said. "It would be best if we didn't ask after it, though; he might seem to know them, at least, but we shouldn't openly question it. We could always be wrong."

"At least I wasn't the only one," Robin replied. Finally doing the last of her work, she sighed. "That being said, though…do you think it would be unreasonable to accept his request just based on that?"

"Why don't we talk it over with Lissa first?" Chrom offered. "I want everyone to agree before we give Lucina's Falchion away, whether or not he's somehow acquainted with her. She left it here for those who remained…if we can agree that she needs it, I'd be willing to let it go."

Robin nodded. "All right, then. We'll talk with Lissa about it when we can."

Their opportunity came after dinner, where they explained most of the situation once the kids had left (Tharja was also there, so they had an outsider's input as well…however indifferent it actually was). They came to an agreement that night, but waited a full day to mull it over. On the third day when Malin came, Robin invited him to the training area where Lucina, Morgan, and Noire were already practicing.

"We've decided on your next mission," Robin declared to the children, "And it might be the last one for the winter. This mercenary needs to take the replica Falchion; I know it hasn't been too long since you came home, but if you're willing to head back out, we were considering letting you come with him." When neither Lucina nor Morgan protested, Robin nodded and looked at Malin. "Just let us contact the rest of the Mini Shepherds, and you'll have a seven-person group to make sure you don't do anything that could cause harm."

"Thank you, ma'am," Malin replied. "It's a big help."

Robin managed a little smile. "Just visit again once you've done what you need to. I have the feeling you're more than just a fellow soldier."

Although Malin returned the smile, it was sad. "If I can, I will."

She nodded and started helping Morgan with sword practice while she was already here. Lucina pitched in while Malin and Noire watched, and the day passed like this.