Morgan waited anxiously. It was bad, and to say she was worried would have been an understatement. Her mother was ill. The doctors said that she had overtaxed herself. The entire family had urged her to slow down, but she refused in the face of the latest Valmese complications insisting on protecting her father's peace.

That peace had cost her. Working herself to exhaustion, she had become weak. It was just a matter of time before some disease found her.

Morgan looked up when she heard a door creak. She saw her father standing there sullenly.

"She wants to talk with you."

"H-how is she?" Morgan asked through a dry mouth, but Robin's expression and mannerisms told her what she needed but oh so desperately did not want to know.

"Not good," Was all he said, and it was more than enough. Her mother would not be with them for long. With that in mind, she put on a brave face and entered the room where Lucina had spent the majority of the past two weeks.

"Mother," It was still hard to keep her emotions in check seeing her usually strong mother withering away in bed.

"Morgan," Lucina attempted a smile which was marred by pain and exhaustion, but it was still genuine, "Please, come here."

Morgan got on her knees beside her mother making her only slightly higher than eye level with her mother. Lucina in turn put a weak and all too boney hand on her cheek, "My precious baby girl."

"You need to conserve your strength," Morgan said quietly despite knowing it did not matter.

"Morgan, you know the truth about my past," For a long time, Morgan had been in the dark about most of her mother's life. Even after being told that her life had been hard growing up, she had not been told the full story until her fifteenth year. Coincidentally, she had just turned sixteen a few weeks earlier.

"Yes, Mother," Morgan responded with increasingly wet eyes, "You don't deserve this, Mother."

"Shh," Lucina moved her hand and moved some hair from her face. Lucina loved her longer hair, but she loved just about anything her daughter did, "These past years with you, your father, and your siblings have been more than full. I have achieved so much more than I thought possible in these few years.

"I know my time is short, but I wanted you to know that I believe that you will do well. You have matured so much, and I'm so very proud of you. I believe you will surpass me in every way."

"B-But," The tears were about to break free as Morgan kept an uneasy control over them, "I'm still not sure about which fork to use."

Lucina gave a weak laugh that broke into a coughing fit. Once she had stopped coughing, she smiled again, "Okay, maybe not every way."

Morgan let out a half giggle, half sob at her mother's words, "I don't want you to go."

"It will be okay," Lucina looked adoringly at her precious daughter, "You'll do fine. You have your father's wit and your grandfather's tenacity."

"What about you? Did I get nothing from you?"

Lucina smiled again, "Of course dear. You got my love."

Morgan sobbed again as her mother brought her in for a hug. It would be the last time mother and daughter would speak.

Months later, the Valmese unrest had been handled peacefully. It ended about a month after Lucina's passing. It may have ended sooner, but it took a while for Morgan to gain the respect needed to guide the negotiations toward peace. Fortunately, her mother had insisted Morgan be involved after she became ill so she had a head start.

However, the royal family was not the same. Robin had been overtaken with grief and combined with his intensive care of Lucina, he too became ill by the same disease that had taken Lucina. He only lived six weeks after Lucina's passing.

Chrom became angry following his mother's death, but he had since tempered that anger into fueling his intense service to the halidom earning him the respect of noble and peasant alike. Rumor had it that he was considering military service.

Lissa had taken after her great aunt in making those around her happier. It was an important thing to have after Lucina's death, and she became acutely aware of how others were feeling making her all the more incessant in her attempts to cheer people up.

Morgan though, Morgan had locked herself away researching…something. She kept very quiet about what she was actually researching, but it had become her consuming passion. For a long time, it seemed like a pointless fantasy, but she finally had a break through a week before the anniversary of her mother's death.

While others were gathering to pay their respects, Morgan was covertly assembling materials. This included traveling to the royal vault and smuggling out the completed Fire Emblem which had been left in the Ylissean royal family's care until the world calmed down enough for the gemstones to be separated once again.

She eventually had to pause to give an address at the event, but she was much more interested in what she felt she was finally able to do. She wore her father's cloak in preparation and had cut her hair so that it would not get in the way out in the wild. She also had a sword and tome with her.

However, as she was preparing for the ritual, someone noticed that the Emblem was missing and sounded the general alarm. This forced Morgan to expediate her preparations.

"I thought you might have taken it."

Morgan looked up and back at the voice. Tiki had provided a source of wisdom throughout her short reign, and Morgan considered her a friend. That said, she may have been one of the last to approve of what she was trying to do.

"What you are about to attempt is not only dangerous, it is almost impossible for humans to accomplish alone."

"I'm willing to try," Morgan responded with confidence.

"I know," Tiki responded sadly, "You have watched your family corrode and drift apart in such a short time. Human life is so short, it is a shame that such things happen, but you should know that so called time travel does not work how you may think it does.

"You cannot save your grandparents. You cannot prevent your mother from ascending to the throne. You cannot do these things because the people you may find in that other world are not the same people as the ones you know. What is done, is done."

"But doesn't some version of them deserve to be happy!" Morgan pled unfazed by the news she had already been told by her parents.

"And what of this world?" Tiki countered, "You are the reigning Exalt. What would happen if you were to leave?"

"Chrom can handle it. He's a better leader than I am, and Valm has stabilized again."

"What of your siblings?"

"…They'll be fine."

Tiki sighed, "You are just as stubborn as both of your parents. This is a very dangerous and forbidden art for humans to attempt." Tiki paused for a moment, "So I will help you."

"You will?"

"Yes, but we should hurry."

"Right!"

"Evening, princess," The tactician grinned as he set about getting the tray with her soup in place, "Feeling better today?"

"Yes, sir tactician," She smiled as she played along. Overjoyed to be part of a joke no matter how minor, "No doubt due to your wonderful care over the past few weeks."

If it were not so dark, Lucina would have seen Robin's face light up in a blush, "It's nothing, really."

"I mean it," Lucina said after blowing on a spoonful of soup, "I really appreciate what you've done. Even going so far as to miss out on a vacation."

"It's not that great of a sacrifice, trust me. The ride up there alone would have been littered with bad jokes from your dad, and the only escape would be to ride with Lissa and Lon'qu, and I know she'd find some way to torment me during the trip."

"You seemed eager enough to go before I fell ill," Lucina pointed out either ignoring or missing his joking tone. Her humor was still a work in progress.

"Er," Robin was at a loss not really wanting to tell her why that was. Fortunately, he was saved by Lucina's coughing fit. While she was on the mend, she still had the occasional fit, and this one was particularly harsh. Once she was done, both parties became acutely aware of Robin's warm hand on her back from where he had been steadying her, yet he held it there for several moments past what was normal.

As if Lucina was on fire, Robin quickly recoiled back and ran the offending hand through his hair, "Um, sorry about that."

"No, no," Lucina replied nearly as flustered, "It's okay."

They sat in awkward silence for several minutes as Lucina finished her soup. Afterwards, Robin collected the dishes and made for the door, but stopped short and turned around, "Lucina," He started, and Lucina's heart seemed to stall in anticipation, "I…"

Two days later, the royal caravan pulled up safely if not a little late. While Cynthia and Sumia eagerly greeted Lucina, Robin spoke with Chrom.

"Running a little late, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Chrom responded with a smile, "But it was certainly interesting."

"Glad to hear it."

"So," Chrom readjusted Lucy, "How did things go while we were away? I see that Lucina is feeling better."

Robin went slightly red, "Uh, it was fine. It was no mountain retreat, but…it was pretty nice."

"I see."

"Father!" Lucina gave Chrom a quick hug, "I hope you enjoyed your trip."

"I did," Chrom responded taking note of just how close Lucina fell into stride next to Robin.

"Is something the matter?" Lucina asked after he continued staring for several moments.

His mind instantly went back to a few nights ago and the mysterious stranger who had demanded his attention. Who had insisted he and his family take an alternative route home. The young woman who had presented her brand as proof of who she was. The young lady he had offered to take back with them, but who had declined. Still, he offered an open invitation for her to come home if she ever changed her mind and he hoped that she would.

"No," Chrom finally responded after a few extra moments, "No, I think everything will be just fine."

A/N: Personally, I think I prefer this ending, but some may have called it a cop out ending, so it's the bonus ending.

Also, if Tiki had not helped Morgan, than perhaps the ritual did not go properly and she ended up off point and with amnesia. In other words, it could potentially be used with the normal game with some modifications.

As for future projects, I have plans for a remaster and to go ahead with the story with the story I teased in the collection. Hopefully there will be no prolonged breaks this time as you may have noticed a drop off in quality. In hindsight, I kind of wish I had stuck with this instead of doing the Smash thing.

Also, it may have been nice if I still had the reviews from the original stories to help with improvements.