Lucina's heart almost stopped beating after hearing her mother's last sentence. She almost wanted to believe her ears malfunctioned. That meant her mother not only knew about her secret child with Robin, but also the fact she tried to kill him. That latter incident was something she hoped nobody would ever have to find out. Both Robin and Lucina agreed after that incident it was to stay a secret between the two. There was no telling what the consequences were if the other Shepherds knew. Knowing her mother to be the gossipy type, that information will surely be news by the time dinner comes around with the Shepherds today.

"I have to do damage control." Lucina told herself. "As much as I want to run away, I have to make sure this situation does not become any worse. I will never hear the end of this from the others, especially Tharja, if she finds out I tried to kill her secret lover. Or if she found out Robin and I slept together. She'll probably find out about the latter sooner or later, but I can't let her know I've tried to kill Robin." Thinking about Tharja, Lucina couldn't help but feel sorry for that Plegian dark mage. Tharja tried so hard to win Robin's love and affection, but Robin never loved her back. Instead, he had eyes on Lucina the moment they locked eyes three years ago, trying to stop Emmeryn's assassination. All of Tharja's work was for naught.

To accomplish such a task, Lucina had to make sure her mother and the manakete did not spill the secrets to the others. Getting ready for a long and awkward conversation, Lucina looked up and saw her mother's warm smile. That seems so out of place. She just found out I tried to kill the grand tactician of Ylisse. How could she still be in a happy mood?

Lucina started off by turning her head towards Tiki and saying, "Excuse me, Lady Tiki, I don't mean to be rude, but can you leave me and my mother alone in the room for a while? I want to talk to her about my meeting with Robin. Also, please keep my dreams a secret. I don't want the other Shepherds to know unless it is on my terms."

"Of course! I'm sure you two have a lot to talk about. After all, I wouldn't know what Naga would have said to me had I tried to kill Mar-Mar back in my time. Also, don't worry about me telling the others, I'm pretty tired. I think I will go back to sleep for a while. I'll probably forget about it when I wake up." Tiki gave a wink to Lucina and left.

As much as Lucina wanted to look at her mother in the face, she was too embarrassed. Lucina simply turned around to face her mother, but kept her head down looking at the floor. Lucina started off her words with:

"Mother. I'm sorry… for everything. But, your smile… and your tone… You're... you're not mad at me?"

"Why would I be mad at you, sweetie?"

"You said you know of my conversation with Robin, correct?"

"Yes. Lady Tiki told me everything."

"Then how can you still be cheerful? I never wanted for you to find out about any of this. I.. I revealed some of my innermost secrets in the conversation, and Tiki told you all of it. So you know… that.. I… I tried to harm Robin. I… did other things with him behind your back. Yet, you... you still have a bright beam on your face as if I have done nothing wrong. I betrayed your trust. I am a terrible daughter."

"Lucina, I don't know the details of why you would kill Robin, and you can tell me later what happened in detail, but I am pretty certain you regret trying to kill your boyfriend. I doubt you would have actually killed him."

"No, I don't regret it. I did it because I was sure he was my father's killer in the future. Validar's control over him proved it. I thought by killing him, the future could be easily averted. I just never went through it because I realized I loved him way too much. I had expected him to fight back, but he… he just openly dropped his weapons and allowed himself to be killed. He… He knew how to manipulate my emotions. I couldn't do it in the end. Also, now that I think about it, killing him would not have actually made a difference, because Grima also followed me back to this time and the Fell Dragon would have been summoned whether or not Robin was alive. I'm.. I'm actually sort of happy I did not kill him, in hindsight. "

"Lucina, that means you regret it. You tried to do it but in the end you realized you could not. Also, you said you were happy you did not kill him in the end. That is a textbook definition of regret. And that already makes you not a 'terrible daughter' to me."

"I'm not so sure. I might have still killed him if he didn't even try to manipulate my feelings."

"I am pretty sure you would have never done it anyways no matter how he reacted. You loved him way too much. It is obvious from your story you told me yesterday. Even though you left that part out, which I don't blame you for, I know in your mind that you secretly wanted to spend the rest of your life with him after everything was over. You couldn't afford to lose him."

"That… that might be true, but I'm still not so sure. I could have just not thought about it and stabbed him with one thrust of my Falchion before he could have done anything."

"Lucina, just don't question how I know about this, but I know. I have way more experience with love than you do, and I know you would have never harmed your boyfriend."

"Okay, I am not sure I understand, and I know love was never my strong suit. Can we move on, Mother? I'd like to believe we never talked about this. It's just so cringe worthy. Also, he's not my boyfriend mother! We're.. we're.. we're just two good friends who happen to enjoy each other's company."

"Really? Perhaps that explains why you two slept together? I know my daughter wouldn't just do that to someone she considers just 'a good friend'. That sounds as believable as Lon'qu overcoming his gynophobia."

Lucina's face turned bright red. She felt as though if she could die from embarrassment. "Yeah, about that... Mother... I'm... I'm sorry about…I can explain…It's not what you think…. Please don't get mad at me."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Lucina. And quite honestly, there is nothing for you to explain. I will admit I was maybe a little disappointed when I first heard the news from Tiki, but getting mad at you? I would never do such a thing. Thinking back, this is absolutely not your fault. I never taught you about this. After all, both of you were at that age when your hormones run wild, and you wanted to experiment with someone you loved. It was pretty much inevitable something like this was going to occur. I don't know what happened in your future timeline, but I am pretty sure I never talked to you about this because you were still too young when we died."

"No mother, that is not true. I.. I.. know enough about this topic.. to know this is my fault."

"Lucina, where else could you have learned about this? Hearing your stories, survival was your first priority. you only knew about basic survival skills, how to scourge food, and maybe how to fight Risen. I know my husband would never talk to her little daughter about this when she was still a prepubescent girl, and I know I would have probably never said a thing about this either because I did not want to upset your father."

"Mother…as I was saying, I accidentally learned all of this from your best friend Cordelia and Tharja. Cordelia could not stop talking in vivid detail about this from her romance novels. Heck, I think she must have been the one to accidentally teach me everything just because she spent a lot of time talking to herself about the most romantic night she could have in bed with my father. Whenever we went on long marches, she always started daydreaming of my father, and was always talking to herself about Chrom. Even though she was trying to be discrete and say all of it to herself, I could hear her very clearly. She was also super descriptive in her thoughts, no doubt inspired from her favorite novel "Make Him Fall for You in a Fortnight". As for Tharja, she was always following Robin, and she always said under her breath she had all these dark hexes she couldn't wait to try on Robin. I think she was planning on using a hex that forced Robin to fall in love with her and guaranteed her to bear his children. It would then force Robin to stay with her until death. From these two pieces of information, it was pretty easily to connect the dots."

"Uhh... I really need to talk to Cordelia about this if what you just told me is true. Yes, it's accurate that she is obsessed with my husband, even after we married. I just think she should have gotten over it by now. After all, her future daughter is Severa, and I know she is smart enough to figure out that Chrom is not her father. She doesn't have the Brand of the Exalt anywhere on her body. And Tharja. What she wanted to do to Robin was downright abusive and manipulative. I should also have a talk with her about healthy relationships and consent later."

Sumia continued, "But back to our topic: Yes, that is the basic gist of it. But darling, like I said, I am not mad at you. Maybe a little disappointed, but I can't be mad at you even if I tried. This is absolutely not your fault. And even if you knew about the risks, why did you go for it?"

"What do you mean? This is totally my fault. I knew the consequences but yet I was foolish enough to still take a chance with Robin. Also about why I would have taken this chance if I knew the risks. I… I really don't know why. I couldn't really stop myself. I can't really explain why, I'll be honest. Please don't yell at me for not really having a reason."

"Dear, please don't beat yourself up too hard about this. I already told you I am not upset at you. I know it isn't fair that you got stuck with all the repercussions, but please do not blame yourself. If you want somebody to blame, blame me. Blame your parents. Also, Tharja might have talked a lot about a hex that forces someone to fall in love and a hex that guarantees conception, but did you know there was also a hex that prevents conception? You probably didn't know about the existence of that hex because Tharja keeps spending her days trying to force Robin to stay with her. If she had an ounce of respect left for Robin, she should have been talking about the birth control hex instead."

Lucina seemed shock to hear this.

"No, I did not know about the birth control hex, Mother."

"So there you go. You didn't know there was a guaranteed way to prevent this situation because I never taught you. You can clearly blame me for this."

"Oh mother, you don't have to make excuses for me."

"No Lucina, I'm not making excuses for you. I will repeat this again: you were curious, and you are at the age when you wanted to explore yourself. It's a natural tendency to do. Even I am not sure how hormones works, but I know you can ask Miriel for that information if you feel comfortable asking her. I think there was something she either called centripetal force or estrogen in females that increases your hormone output when you see someone you love? She uses so much jargon that I never understand what she is talking about, so I could be wrong about my previous statement. You will have to ask her if you want a better explanation."

"Okay, I might do that later Mother, but I still can't believe you are not even angry with me. I was expecting a literal yelling contest when I heard you found out."

"Lucina, I already told you: I can't even be mad at you even if I wanted to. No matter what you did, I would have probably still loved you the same no matter what. And I am talking about things way worse than actually killing your boyfriend."

"Why?"

"Because I am your mother, Lucina. You will understand when you get older, but as your mother, you are my precious angel. You are perfect in my eyes, and nothing you do will ever convince me otherwise."

"But that does not make any sense mother. If I did something wrong, the other children might forgive me, but they will definitely get angry with me. Heck, I argued a lot with Severa that one time when I…"

"Yes, but does she love you as much as me? I know you don't understand how a parent's love works Lucina. You will probably understand after that child of yours is born, but a parent's love is not the same as your friend's love. But let's just sum it up like this: My love to you is so great that any of your faults could not replace your accomplishments. Look at yourself Lucina, after we died in your time, you managed to stay alive, train the other children how to survive, helped us prevent the apocalyptic future, and actually defeat the Fell Dragon. You lead your friends out of the bleak future and changed their lives for the better. I am very proud of you for all of that Lucina, and that accomplishment holds more weight than any terrible decision you may have made with your boyfriend."

"I guess that makes sense, but it all still seems very strange to me. You should not just say I am perfect just because I am your daughter. Also, for the last time mother, Robin's not my boyfriend. We're just…"

"Well, if I remember correctly from yesterday, you two are not married so I can't call him your husband, but you two love and enjoy each other's company. You two are inseparable, and his loss caused a lot of emotional trauma for you. Both of you probably spent a lot of time secretly together behind our backs and even made a baby together. I say that is more than enough evidence Robin qualifies as your boyfriend."

"No mother. No matter how you try to frame it, he's not my…"

"Look, let's not try to get into an argument about the nuances of lexicon, all right? Just think about what I told you. I think you will agree that he is your boyfriend. I know it's a lot to take in, but I think I have talked long enough. We can talk about this more in detail later. I know you probably have a lot of questions on your mind, but for now, you should really go get some breakfast. After all, I am pretty hungry myself. We can talk afterwards, and I will be happy to help you with any questions you may have. And just remember this Lucina, I know I said this like a minute ago, but I am going to say it again just because it is so important: You're my daughter. Nothing you do will make me get irate at you because of my love for you. I could not have asked for a more perfect daughter. If you told me that my little one year old girl was one day going to be the leader of a group of survivors on a mission to save the world from destruction and actually succeed, I would have probably cried for days just because how proud I am of her."

Sumia took a breath and continued. "What you do with your boyfriend behind my back, I literally could care less. When he comes back, go enjoy that time with him. Enjoy it. Cherish it. I'm sorry you had your childhood and early adolescence stripped away from you by Grima, and I am sorry I cannot give that back to you. However, you have a bright future ahead of you, and you just gave young Lucina the same thing. I can rest happy knowing my daughters will grow up never having to worry about the horrors of war, and I have you to thank for. In a way, you should probably be the one getting mad at me for leaving you in a bleak future. But that doesn't matter right now. Go enjoy the future. You've earned it. Make up the time you lost with your boyfriend when he comes back. I want to make sure you are happy. You should not worry about what others think. You are letting other people's thoughts, especially mine, get to your happiness. You were expecting me to be mad at you because you always think about the bad things you have done. You ignore all the good you have done. Let me just say this: One action out of love for your boyfriend isn't going to negate the fact you and your boyfriend helped save the world. You should be proud of yourself. You should not worry about me or my feelings."

Tears began to fall out of Lucina's eyes. She was still a little upset that her mother still called Robin her boyfriend after insisting it was not the case, but Lucina felt relieved after hearing her mother say she was not angry at her. The conversation went way better than Lucina anticipated. "I am also proud of myself Mother. After all, we did just save the world. But.. It's just… I still feel awkward about all of this. But we can talk later about this. And one last thing mother, can you keep… can you keep what we talked about here and my dream with Robin a secret? I want to reveal this to everybody on my terms if I choose to."

"Well Lucina, they are going to find out sooner or later that you're pregnant. It is probably better if you just got it over with and told everyone."

"No, I meant the fact I tried to kill Robin. I know I will have to tell everybody else about my child sooner or later, but you can't tell anyone about the fact I tried to kill Robin. Especially not my father. I don't know what he would do if he found out his daughter tried to killed the grand tactician of the Ylissian army."

"You got it, darling!"

"Also mother, could you help me when I break to news to my father? I want someone to be there to support me when I tell him. I… I don't think he will be happy to find out his best friend slept with his daughter behind his back."

"Of course honey. Also, I'm sure you could explain to your father about how it was all an accident. He will understand. "

"Oh thank you so much Mother." Lucina walked up and hugged her mother. "This conversation made me feel a lot better about myself. I was so nervous to break the news to you and didn't know how you would react."

"No problem. That's a mother's job, after all."

Lucina and Sumia got up and began walking towards the door. However, before opening the door, Sumia asked her daughter one last question.

"Before we go Lucina, keep this between us okay? Don't tell anyone I asked you this question. But… but… how was the experience with Robin? Did you enjoy it?"

"MOTHER!"

"How did you feel about it? Was it what you expected?"

"MOTHER! STOP IT!"

"I'm just curious. After all, I remember the first time with your father.."

"MOTHER! JUST STOP IT. PLEASE. I DON'T WANT TO HEAR THIS!"

"You don't have to tell me if you feel uncomfortable. Just treat this like this is part of normal 'girl talk' behind all the men's back."

"…"

"Come on, Lucina. Don't be shy. I'm your mother. You can tell me."

"… Let's just say it was a pretty satisfying experience overall. But Mother, we should really get going. We are going to miss breakfast if we talk any longer."

"Yes, let's go."