They only stayed in Arena Ferox for a week, training and learning as planned. Whether Flavia decided they had learned enough or she was tired of having seven teenagers around was debatable, but regardless they were sent with Basilio as their escort back into Ylisse. He stayed with them until they got to the Shepherds' garrison, which was when most of the Mini Shepherds branched off as well. When they got to Ylisstol, Owain separated from his cousins in favor of nearby friends, and Morgan and Lucina parted ways so they could achieve separate goals—Morgan to briefly report to Robin as per tradition, and Lucina to find and help Chrom.

Morgan found his mother in her office-of-sorts near the library, where she did most of her work; the door was open, inviting anyone so long as they weren't screaming at the top of their lungs. He took a step inside the room and waved. "Mission report! Assuming you don't want to just wait until dinner."

Robin sat her work aside and gestured for Morgan to take a seat. "You can tell me the basic gist of it. Did it go well?"

"Yeah," Morgan replied. He sat down in the chair in front of Robin's desk and continued, "Basilio got us to Arena Ferox, Flavia taught us some Feroxi techniques, and then we came back."

"You answered the questions before I could even ask them," Robin said with a smile. "No problems on the way back?"

"Nope; brigand-free travels for us," Morgan said.

"That's always good to hear," Robin replied with some amount of relief. She sorted through some of her papers and sat a few in a separate pile. "Now, if you're willing to start working right after you get back, can you give these to your father? That's all I need you to do for now."

Morgan nodded, standing up to collect the papers. Dutifully carrying the pile until he found Chrom, he delivered them safely and returned to his room. He opened the window, deciding that it was warm enough outside that Lucina's old threat was an empty one, then settled down to read and take notes. He wanted to continue his research until dinner, and he thought that the next few days could be for general unwinding. He was already in a productive mood, after all—why not do productive things now instead of when it felt a bit more tedious? Not that it ever was necessarily 'tedious,' but it did become a bit hard to focus on it sometimes.

He wanted to, if at all possible, establish a connection with Malin's time before his birthday. It was January now, but Morgan also hasn't even had a full month since he set that goal; while he may have started his search late October, he wanted to strike a balance between work and play. The Mini Shepherds went out fairly often, after all, and he didn't want to spend all of his time at home reading books. Robin had made that mistake—he didn't blame her for it, but she had gone on a search for something she couldn't find, too, and it led to more than a few ongoing arguments that were still brought up to this day. Morgan, in that sense alone, didn't want to follow in his mother's footsteps; fall so deep into something to the point that he's no longer looking for his original goal, but instead looking for something that would justify the time spent on it.

He lost track of time, if only because he was partially reading and partially letting his mind wander, with the knock on his door bringing him back out of his thoughts. "Dinner's ready," Owain said from the other side. "I don't plan on waiting for you, so finish up whatever you're doing and come down."

"Sorry!" Morgan called. He marked his place with a piece of paper and closed his window. "I'll be right there!" He could hear Owain walking away, so he left his room and closed the door behind him. He went down to the dining hall, glad that he wasn't the last one there, and quickly fell into the chatter once everyone did come.

"I'm not going to ask discreetly," Lissa began when they all sat down, "Chrom, Robin, Owain—what should I expect for my birthday?"

Owain groaned ever so slightly. "Mom. We still have three months."

"Hey, I didn't get a proper birthday for years until you kids came along; the least you guys can do is make up for it!" Lissa replied playfully.

"I missed your birthday once," Chrom pointed out.

"Then you made me buy my own perfume!" Lissa retorted.

"At least he paid for it," Robin said simply.

"Look, tell me what you're giving me and I'll tell you what I'm giving you," Lissa said with a sigh. She pointed to Chrom. "For example, you're getting something so we can display Falchion again; you're"—she then pointed towards Robin—"getting a new blanket so when you fall asleep in the library you're not freezing; and you"—she turned so she could look at and point to Owain—"are getting a sword that future Owain left behind that has stuff engraved on the blade." She looked at Lucina and Morgan, adding, "I have yet to decide what I'm getting you two. It's hard to pick something out when you say the same things every year."

"I'd be fine with extra dessert," Morgan said.

"I would almost prefer nothing," Lucina admitted shortly after.

Lissa saw Chrom open his mouth to reply, but she spoke instead, "Nope! Answer my question before you insist on actual presents! You can say that you don't know yet; I just want an idea of what to expect! Dinner, cake, a nice vacation away from kids?"

"Hey!" Owain said. "We're out on missions every month! Isn't that break enough?"

"I could be in the second castle without a care in the world," Lissa replied.

"You're the only one keeping you in Ylisstol," Robin pointed out, almost teasingly. "Do you know how much times you've said 'this year I'm going to move out?'"

Now it was Lissa's turn to begin to say something, but Chrom was the one who said, "Look who's getting distracted now?" Lissa paused, then laughed before letting Chrom continue, "And I will admit, all I know for certain is that you're getting something. I can't guarantee what, nor will I say when I'll think of it."

Lissa seemed satisfied with his answer for now, and didn't press Robin or Owain for further details. As they ate, they hopped between topic to topic as they usually did, and Morgan found happiness in it, even if it wasn't necessarily different from every other dinner. Conversations were vivid, with stories ranging from innocent mistakes to battlefield legends. Morgan hoped that one day, he could see what it was like with his full family—future counterparts and all.

(A/N: Like in Mini Shepherds, this story will have arcs—it will also have intermission chapters that come between each arc. This ends off the first arc and the next chapter will be the intermission. I hope you've enjoyed the chapter and the arc!)