My apologies for the wait, but I assure you it is for a good reason!

This is both the longest short story I've written, and the short story that has taken the most time to write! It has 5 chapters, with a total of 7 parts, and will be updated every few days to a week at most, until it is finished. I hope you enjoy it!

I suppose you can call this a slight AU. There is an extraordinary amount to remember when dealing with the Awakening timelines (whose parents die when, when Grima comes, when Chrom dies, etc.). So please don't freak out that some things may not agree with canon; I am only mentioning what is necessary to tell my story.

Please enjoy the introduction to:

Sisters

Prologue:

Let's get this straight.

Severa and Noire are not sisters. They don't share a drop of blood, they don't call each other sis, and they definitely don't braid each other's hair at sleepovers. Well…they did once—but only to prove how ridiculous it was.

The way they met wasn't typical, either. In fact, the first time they met, Severa had made Noire cry.

It wasn't her fault. Not really. Okay, it kind of was, but any six-year-old who still sucked their thumbs had it coming.

You see, Severa didn't want her daddy talking to an "old friend" when he should be out buying her a new dress. And she definitely didn't want to be in a rickety house that smelled like smoke and dead bodies and herbs that didn't smell at all like the lavender that Mommy washes her hair with.

But Severa stiffened her lip and bore it. After all, she was six and a half. Almost a grownup. And she wanted to be like the grownups, even if that meant listening to them blab about how the price of coal was absurd.

So it was only natural that she got upset when Daddy ruffled her hair and said: "Why don't you go play with Noire, honey? She looks like she could use some company."

"Naga knows she could," the 'old friend' said. "My little girl's shy, but I'm sure she'd make a good friend if someone were to coax her out of her shell." He smiled suggestively at Severa.

She frowned. It wasn't that he was mean or ugly or anything. He seemed nice enough, in that way boring sort of way. It was just that Severa had been expecting more from the husband of a crazy dark mage. Where was the pointy hat, the suspicious red stain, the crooked but dashing smirk? She wanted that; not someone who looked so…ordinary.

Severa peeked around the adults. She had hoped his wife would live up to the rumors, but there was no sign of her. The only things that might hint at strange happenings were the stinky herbs and an occasional boom, followed by a billow of smoke rising from the floorboards that everyone but her seemed to think was perfectly normal.

Daddy patted her on the back, interrupting her investigations. "Go on, then. Have fun."

Severa huffed. She was tempted to put up a fuss, but decided it wasn't worth it. Adults were boring, anyway. She stood and tilted her head back. Her nose furrowed as she took in the girl huddled at the top of the staircase with a ragdoll clutched to her chest. Severa could see her shiny red lips puckering around her thumb from here. When the girl caught Severa's stare, she gasped and shrunk into the shadows. Severa scowled. Great, just what she needed. A little mouse.

She dragged her feet to the first step. When she looked back, Daddy was still talking to his friend. She stomped up the staircase, making sure that each step was louder than the last as she checked behind her. About halfway up, Daddy turned around and gave her a disapproving look. It lasted only for a second before he turned back to his friend. Severa scowled, and blew at her bangs. She went the rest of the way up without (much) delay.

When Severa reached the top, the girl scooted away from the handrail and to the corner. Severa frowned and stared down at the girl, who immediately looked away. Most of her face was hidden by her hair, almost as long and shiny as Severa's. Not that she cared.

"I'm Severa."

The girl didn't look up.

"Hellooo? I SAID 'I'm Severa'. Didn't you hear me?"

The girl gave the tiniest of nods.

Severa snorted, and flicked back her long hair. "Didn't your mommy ever teach you that it's polite to give your name after someone gives you theirs?"

The girl muttered something under her breath.

"What? Can't you talk? Or are you too busy sucking on your thumb?" Severa scowled, balling her hands on her hips like Mommy does whenever she catches her sneaking from the cookie jar.

The little girl slid her thumb away. "I said 'my name's Noire,'" she whispered so quietly that Severa had to lean forward to hear.

"Well, Noire, do you want to play with me or not?"

Noire's eyes flicked up for less than a second before they dropped down again. She shook her head.

"What?" Severa huffed. "Am I not as good as that stupid doll? Why do you have it anyway? Dolls are for babies."

Severa lurched forward and snatched the doll right out of the girl's fingers.

"H-h-hey! S-she's mine!" Noire cried. Even her cry wasn't loud. Her little hands stretched for the ragdoll, but Severa held it above her head.

"You call this a toy? It's barely more than a sack," Severa jeered.

"Give it back! Please!"

Noire tried jumping for it, but even standing up, the small girl didn't reach Severa's shoulder, never mind her outstretched arm. Her bottom lip wobbled, but she didn't jump again like the other kids would whenever Severa held their toys for ransom.

"You're not going to be a baby, are you?" Severa taunted, when the other girl's hands dropped to her sides.

Noire sniffed, but didn't sob. Instead her mousy eyes grew big and shiny, like her puppy's when Daddy accidentally stepped on its tail. Her stare was enough to make worms crawl in Severa's tummy. She crossed her arms, but the girl kept staring, and the worms squirmed even more.

"Oh, fiiiine. This is no fun, anyway." She rolled her eyes and tossed the ragdoll to her. Noire hugged it to her chest.

But those eyes didn't stop staring at her.

"It's just a stupid doll," Severa snapped, her smirk twisting into a grimace. "You don't have to be such a baby about it."

Noire sniffled.

"H-hey! That's no fair!"

A tear swelled in Noire's eyes.

"Ugh!" Severa threw down her arms in frustration. "I'm sor-ry! There! I said it, okay?"

Noire nodded, but the tear had already slid down her cheek. It wobbled on her chin.

"Look…" Severa said. "I'll give you something if you just stop crying. Okay?"

Noire blinked, and a few more tears trembled off her eyelashes. But she wiped them away as Severa hurriedly checked her pockets for something that could count as a gift. A button or some string or…or…her fingers touched something soft.

Her eyes lit up with surprise almost as much as Noire's when she pulled out a feather. She had found it on her walk here with Daddy. She had planned to keep it for herself, but then thought of how it matched the little wing in Mommy's hair. The feather was long and slender and all white, except for its soft green tip. When she brushed it against her cheek, it was as soft as Mommy's caress. Severa couldn't wait to see her smile when she gave it to her.

Then she remembered Noire. Her little hands were already reaching out to grasp it. Severa almost jerked away. But then she saw how the girl's whole face brightened when she smiled, and she let her take it.

Severa was ready to snatch it away if she was too rough, but Noire held the feather gingerly in her palms, like it was still attached to a bird.

"See? Isn't it pretty?" Severa lifted her chin with pride. "You're lucky that I let you keep it."

Noire nodded; not a small one this time, but one that made her chin bounce. "It's a swan feather," she stated.

"It is?" Severa said, then winced, because she had to ask.

"Mmm-hmm. Momma uses them in her ex-per-rah, ex-per-ri…tests," she finished. "It's so pretty… Thank you." Noire smiled, and Severa felt heat rise to her cheeks. She wondered if she would get more gifts if she smiled so sweetly. (Only one way to find out.)

Severa looked away. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. It's just a dumb feather." Crossing her arms, she pushed her lips into a pout and tried not to look like she thought it was the prettiest thing in the world next to Mommy.

Noire only giggled. She stood on her tippy-toes until she was high enough that Severa could see the faint pink in her cheeks. She tucked her ragdoll into the crook of Severa's arm. "Her name is Selena," she whispered.

"Good name," Severa said, and not at all because it sounded like hers. Up close, Severa could see the bald spots where its "hair" had fallen out and the patches where its dress had been worried thin. But when Noire smiled shyly up at her, Severa couldn't help but return it with a smile of her own.

Note: Do swans have feathers with green tips? Doubtful. Then again, this is Fire Emblem, with pink dragons and huge bunny rabbits, so…hello green swans!