They got home kind of late in the month, so that mission served as one for September and October. Taking some of that extra time to rest and learn more about the war without their parents having to hide things, it was a time with a lot of stories, too. Noire was told about the whole thing as soon as Robin told Tharja, and after initial surprise she accepted it—she agreed to help Morgan find a way to talk with the future kids, too, knowing that her mother probably had a book or two that could be useful.
They still went on a mission for November, with most of the Mini Shepherds accepting that there were people that came before them. It was getting rid of more thieves, rounding them up and turning them into the local town, and by the time they got back to Ylisstol people were starting to come for the winter reunion.
Morgan was outside in the training area around the twentieth of December, when the reunion actually started. Being close to Emmeryn's birthday, Basilio and Flavia tried to bring the late exalt with them when they came, but she wasn't willing to leave the only place she knew for the past few years. There wasn't a Mini Shepherds mission for this month, but by the time the reunion ended it would be January and they'd head out then.
Outside with him was Noire and Laurent, with Owain, Severa, and Inigo just now coming in. The first two were helping Morgan figure everything out with what he had promised when Malin and Marth left, while the other three started practicing for the mock tournament that would be held soon.
"It truly is something fascinating to pursue," Laurent noted as he looked through one of the books that Noire had brought with them. "Interesting enough that my mother and Tharja both looked into it, it seems. Between our parents' previous searching and the combining of their notes, we may be able to make some kind of ground on it as long as it's possible."
"They got here the first time, didn't they?" Morgan asked. "Even if it's for a mundane purpose, I feel like that can happen again. I know that all of our parents would at least like to send a gift or a letter to them, so as long as I can do that I'll be happy. Father said that Marth described her home as a wasteland—we might be able to help, too, since Ylisse here has more than we need."
"This might take a while, though," Noire noted, scanning through the pages to judge how much is left in that section. "Especially if you guys are still going on Mini Shepherds missions."
"We can't spend all day, every day on this," Morgan agreed. "I don't want to stay in my room all day trying to figure this out—I don't want to do what my mother did when Malin left that first time. Fortunately, a lot of the other kids have agreed to help; no matter what, I'm kind of hoping it can get done by May—if not May, then definitely June."
"What, run out of ideas for birthday presents?" Noire asked with an amused little smile.
"When your parents rule a halidom and you couldn't leave the castle until last spring, it's kind of hard to give them anything," Morgan pointed out. He glanced down at the book he had and smiled. "And besides, it could double as a present for Malin, too; Mother said his birthday was the same as mine."
"You're kind of saying you're not worried about Lissa or Lucina's birthdays," Noire noted, now teasing him.
"Lucina won't let me give her anything—I've tried," Morgan replied, feigning a little frown. "Lissa isn't that hard to buy presents for, either, if they're coming from one of us kids."
Laurent sighed. "May I share something with you, Morgan?" He asked, looking up from his book. Rather bluntly, he said, "It will take years to determine this if you chat most the day away. While I'm not necessarily opposed to conversation, it still would be more productive if we kept it to a minimum."
Morgan just chuckled a bit. "All right, all right. I'll try not to say anything else until I need to announce the tournament."
This seemed to please Laurent, who went on to read the book he had; Noire did the same until Robin and Tharja came in, at which point she perked up and alerted the other two of them as well. Shortly after those who came, a lot of others did too—all of the kids and their parents. There was foreign nobility, foreign rulers, people from Ylisse and Plegia and Regna Ferox and Valm…it was more than Morgan had seen at a reunion before. They must've been told about the future kids, because they were really happy, too—although names still weren't said, since not everyone was sure which kids knew aside from the Mini Shepherds and the people they spent the most time with (those being Noire for Morgan and Severa and Inigo for Owain, since the other non-Mini Shepherds—Gerome, Nah, and Yarne, if Morgan remembered correctly—either traveled or lived in Valm).
Seeing the people filter in, Morgan closed his book, set it aside, and went to the center of the training area. Waiting for Robin's nod to confirm most or all of the guests were there, he smiled. "Welcome, everyone! Thanks for making your way here," Morgan said cheerfully. "Today marks the mock tournament between many of the soldiers, and this year is new in that many of their kids will be participating as well—albeit separately. I'm here to announce the rules, so if you're participating, listen up."
Every reunion, they held a little mock tournament; this marked the first reunion to have a 'junior' mock battle for the soldier's kids (and any castle staff kids or kids from Ylisstol who caught wind and wanted to try their hand at it). The adults used whatever weapons they were comfortable with while the kids would use training weapons. Each match would still only last for ten or twenty minutes before stopping, or until one's opponent yielded—for the kids, it went by the usual rule of three non-fatal hits (arm, shoulder, leg, and so on) or one fatal hit (head and heart, although it was rarer because a lot of them were trained to avoid attacking people in a place that could kill them).
Once he said all the rules, he announced the first match, bowed out of the training area, and sat with the rest of his family. Among the matches, there was laughing and stories. After the first round of matches ended and the adults and kids went to their respective tables in the dining hall, Lucina actually had a tiny, wistful smile—she said that it was a long time since she saw most of the adults this happy or excited. Thinking on it, Morgan actually agreed; he couldn't remember the last time Robin in particular looked so…unworried. With the assurance that an old friend—old family—was alive and well and could possibly be talked to again, it must have reassured a lot of them.
He'd figure out a way to get something through to the future kids. Even if it was just a letter, or even just for a few seconds…if this was what it looked like with just the idea, then it would be so much better with it being proven. Morgan wasn't planning to take 'no' as an answer.
(A/N: And so, the story is complete! Not that much shorter than the original, if you count bonuses. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. After this is a bonus, which you don't have to read if you don't want to.
Final fun fact!: When writing the plot summary for Mini Shepherds, I had initially decided to make the story end with the Mini Shepherds' one-year anniversary of existence—the group's birthday, if you will. When I actually wrote the story, I made it a winter army reunion instead because I didn't want to leave out so much time. I also didn't know if there would be a sequel—of course, a few months later I wrote Prelude to the Mini Shepherds, which better explained Marth and Malin's past and how they got there. A few months after that I wrote A Mini Shepherd's Promise, an actual sequel to the original Mini Shepherds. Starting this in late January/early December and finishing it in early February, Mini Shepherds: Revision is the first Awakening fanfiction I've written in a while. I truly do hope you all enjoyed it, just as I enjoyed writing it!)