Chapter 32 Renewal
"AH!" Emmeryn jerked upwards from her sleeping position and panted continuously—sweat dripping from her cheeks and forehead. She glanced around her room to make sure everything was back to normal. Much to her relief, she saw nothing but sunrays shining in from her window and lighting up the rest of her room. Emmeryn sighed in relief and began to slowly relax her tense muscles. Everything had went back to normal and she was finally released from her nightmare.
The silence didn't last long as her door swung open and in walked two fully armored knights with lances. The look on their faces showed concern and alarm as they scanned the former Exalt's room. "Your Grace! Are you unharmed?!" One of the knights asked, now standing next to her bedside with his back turned to her and his shield and lance in a defense stance, while the other knight scanned the room for possible threats.
"I-I'm fine." Emmeryn reassured the knight, but they went on deaf ears and continued searching her room anyways. After making sure there were no threats detected, the knights both stood at the former Exalts bedside and questioned her on her sudden shrieking. Emmeryn felt slightly embarrassed, but told them it was just a bad dream and sending them away with relieving hearts.
Emmeryn sighed and kicked her feet off of her bed. It had already been a week since the incident at the banquet and Emmeryn was still recovering from her experience. Ever since that day she had been having strange dreams and trances of her past life. Everything she saw was foreign to her, but something deep down felt very familiar about them. Yesterday while reading in the library, she didn't know when, but her mind slipped off into another world and she began seeing herself from a third person point of view. She was watching as she began walking away from the Shepherds in the mountains. Lissa and Chrom calling out her name, while Matthew held his head low and his hood over his head as if trying to hide his face from the rest of the Shepherds.
Similar dreams happened in her past when she could barely speak. She could remember dreaming about the times she spent with Chrom and Lissa (even when she didn't know who they truly were to her at the time). Even short memories of the short time she spent with Matthew.
But tonight was different. She could remember the moments so vividly. Standing at the top of a cliff, at least 500 feet in the air, with soldiers from both Ylisse and Plegia fighting everywhere around her. Death surrounded her and the sounds of screaming were poison in her ears. Just trying to think about the bodies was beginning to make the former Exalt nauseous and lightheaded. If the nightmare couldn't get any worse, she lost complete control of her body and began to walk forward and toward the edge of the cliff. Despite her best efforts, her body refused to listen to her. Before she knew it, she was at the edge of the cliff. Seconds later, she leaned off and fell. She could see Chrom running to her, Lissa shielding her eyes, and most of all, Matthew standing there; pale, shocked, and sword falling to the ground. Then she woke up before her body could hit the ground.
Are these…memories? Emmeryn pondered as she pushed the sheets covering her legs away and climbed out of bed. She fully dressed herself in her new robes, then left her room and headed down the hallway to her children's quarters. The second she drew close, she could hear voices coming from the room; familiar voices. She opened the door, after stepping pass the guards, and found Morgan and Say'ri standing in by the baby's crib; Morgan holding her infant self.
"Hi, Mom!" Morgan exclaimed from across the room. Emmeryn waved before closing the door behind her and walking forward.
"Good morning, Emmeryn." Say'ri bowed, wearing a pink kimono, something the former Exalt found out was during her wedding day, with sakura peddles as designs and a red Obi wrapped around her mid-section.
"Good morning to both of you, too." Emmeryn replied and went straight to Morgan and baby Morgan; the all-blue pajamas giving away the infant's identity. "And hello there my little angel!" Infant Morgan's face lit up with a smile as she reached for her mother. The former Exalt reached for her little girl, but the older Morgan turned her shoulder and looked at her mother with puffed cheeks.
"I had me first, Mom!" Morgan huffed.
"True, but she's my daughter, Morgan."
"And SHE'S me, Mom. I have more of a right to hold her than you!" Morgan argued. Emmeryn was going to continue, but looking over the young tactician in training's shoulder made her stop—a smirk appearing on her face.
"I don't think you agrees with you, Morgan." Said Emmeryn, watching as infant Morgan continuously tried to reach out to her mother. Morgan, catching on fast, looked to her infant self with disbelief.
"Hey! You traitor! You're supposed to be on my side!" Morgan complained, but could not stop her mother from taking her infant self away from her.
"Sorry dear, but Morgan loves her mother more than she loves herself. Isn't that right sweetie~." The former Exalt said playfully and placed light kisses on her child's forehead.
"Excuse me, Your Grace." Say'ri interrupted, catching the former Exalt's attention while older Morgan pouted and went to retrieve infant Naomi. "'Tis good to see that you are doing well. My apologies for not confirming if you were alright after what happened a week ago. Work with your brother and the other nations."
Emmeryn shook her head and replied, "It's alright, Say'ri. You are not at fault for what happened."
"Even so, I feel I must say this," Say'ri took a bow to the former Exalt before speaking from the same stance, "I would like to personally apologize to you for how one of my own acted at the banquet. T'was truly disrespectful and a shameful act and measures have already been taken. The noble in question has been stripped of his title and will never again step foot in a royal audience or palace. This I assure you."
The former Exalt didn't believe such drastic actions needed to be taken. Yes, she was furious with the man at the time, but that was then and this is now. But what was done was done and Emmeryn doubted anything she said would have made any difference with foreign punishments, so she kept quiet.
"But enough of that. There is something else I wanted to speak with you about. It concerns Plegia."
"Plegia?" Emmeryn said confused. "Wouldn't anything that has to do with nations go to Chrom and not me?"
"True, but this concerns you more than it concerns him—mainly your husband and his children." Said Say'ri, seriousness illuminating in her eyes. "As you know, it has been nearly 2 years since Validar's demise and the throne is yet to be claimed due to a lack of an heir, or at least ones that are old enough to rule a country." Say'ri motioned her gaze to infant Morgan, then back to the former Exalt. "As you know, Matthew was the last heir to the throne of Plegia. Most of the nobility during the time Validar was in order were either killed at the Dragon's table or earlier on in his ruling. The few that are currently alive have no ruling experience and are of lesser nobility. The only conclusion to this problem that they could come up with is Matthew. But, seeing that he is currently," Say'ri tried carefully to place her words while continuing, "absent, they are turning to Matthew's spouse and her children for their solution… I'm sure I don't need to say any more than that."
"That makes me the next queen and Morgan and Naomi the next heirs, right?" Emmeryn pieced together and Say'ri confirmed with a nod of the head.
"Fie, has Chrom already spoken to you about this?"
"No, he hasn't. Knowing my brother he probably wanted to keep me away from royal duties like he has since I've returned. I doubt he was ever going to tell me about it, but I figured this would be the case ever since Naomi and Morgan were born." Emmeryn knew this day would come sooner than later. Time was the only thing against her and it came faster than she wanted it to.
"…Then you are aware of the current situation?"
Emmeryn's gaze was turned from the Chon'sin princess and to the infant in her arms; a solemn expression on her face. "I…don't think I'm the right one to rule a nation." Emmeryn said honestly.
"Fie! You were once a fine ruler! Arguably one of the greatest ones that ever existed!"
"That was the previous me—the me before I lost my memories. Right now I know little to nothing about political affairs or politics. Even if I would be assisted in ruling, what's the point of a ruler if she knows nothing of ruling? It would be a waste to put the current me on the throne when I know so little about the real world." Say'ri knew there was truth in the former Exalt's words. Taking over a nation is no easy feat; she knew that from experience. A ruler must be able to make sound decisions and have the knowledge to deal with problems both inside and outside the nations. Emmeryn is a good political figure in site with her kindness, but that will only get her so far without her previous knowledge on ruling.
Say'ri let out a long sigh before speaking again, "I understand. But, please, at least give it some thought. T'would not be good for the fate of Plegia to fall into the wrong hands again. If you do decide to take over, then I swear we will have everyone, if need be, help you with your daily duties as a queen again."
Emmeryn nodded. "Thank you, Say'ri. Though I am not sure if I will accept or not, I will at least give it some thought."
"I would ask for nothing less, Your Grace."
…
After the conversation with Say'ri, the former Exalt decided it was time for her to head out to her next destination—the pre-school. According to Say'ri, today was the final day she and her nation were to be in town, so she wanted to leave a good impression on the younger generation by having one of her best jesters and bards entertain the young ones for a day; she being there as well. It was honestly exciting to the former Exalt. She didn't have the chance to teach like she wanted due to her lack of teaching experience, but the times she did visit always filled her with so much glee.
Thank Naga the guards aren't here. Emmeryn thought as she pushed her room door open and quickly ventured inside. "Well if it isn't my favorite Exalt." Emmeryn stopped half way from closing her door and stared at the man standing with a book in his hand by her nightstand. "You should really fix that whole in the garden area of your castle. It made getting in here a lot easier than it should have been."
"Gangrel, what are you doing here?" Emmeryn said as she quickly closed the door behind her. "I doubt the guards just let you walk freely around the castle."
"Psh, getting in was the easy part. Getting pass the guards was even easier." Said Gangrel as he closed the book and placed it down on her the nightstand. "I've just come to see how you were fairing is all. I heard you were recovering after what happened a week ago."
"Emmeryn nodded. "Yes, I have fully recovered from the experience…And thank you for helping me and my sister that day. I want you to know that we truly appreciated your help." Emmeryn said while taking a short bow to the Mad King.
Gangrel let out a mad laugh before speaking, "Never thought I would see the day where I would be thanked by the mature and headstrong Exalt of Ylisse! It truly brings joy to my ears hearing words of gratitude coming from your lips."
Emmeryn tilled her head to the side in confusion. "I remember you saying you saying once that you didn't want me thanking you."
"That was back then when you were more…feeble. Your mature side makes me believe that you are the Exalt that I once tangoed with 4 years ago…But enough of that. I'm here for another reason." Gangrel quickly closed the distance between the two and was now standing before the blonde. His usual carefree atmosphere was now gone. Instead, the Mad King began to constantly look away from the former Exalt's gaze and began making multiple signs of nervousness like constantly rubbing the back of his head. He tried speaking many times, but the words were always "listen" or "I umm".
Emmeryn, not understanding the sudden change, finally spoke up. "What's wrong, Gangrel? Is there something you need to tell me?" Emmeryn asked, but seemed to not get through to the man constantly shaking like a leaf before her. "Your nervousness is honestly making me nerv-" She was cut off by the Mad King letting out an annoyed growl and pointed directly at the confused woman.
"Listen well woman, 'cause I'll only say this once!" He barked. "I will be leaving the Halidom very soon and I would erk me to no end if I didn't say a word to the woman who changed my life! No one believed in me like you did from the very beginning and even gave me a second chance to redo and pay for the sins and agony I have created! If it was not for you, I would be still washing dishes for pirates and scrubbing the rest of my life with agony and regret! So I guess it is only right that I thank you for everything you have done for me till the very end and don't you DARE take this as an act of weakness from! Understand, woman?!"
The only thing Emmeryn could do in this situation was laugh; quite loudly. She knew the former king was embarrassed, and furious, without even having to open her eyes from how hard she was laughing right since she felt he robes being yanked forward. Gangrel, hand full of the Exalt's robe, glared at the woman who continued to laugh at his vulnerability.
"Are you laughing at me, woman?!" Gangrel growled at the blonde who did not seem to cease her giggling. "I'll have you know the last man that even smiled at me had his head on a stake only moments before a chuckle would leave his lips!" The threat didn't scare the former Exalt, but it did slow down her laughter all the way to a stop.
"Sorry," Emmeryn apologized. "It's just, that was so unexpected from you. Your behavior really had me worried for a minute there."
Gangrel huffed and released the blonde. "It is you Ylissean's fault that I have changed so much. Being around you happy-go-lucky people have made me soft… but Now that I have said my peace, I have no more reason to dwell on this."
"So you are able to thank me but I'm not allowed to thank you? I find that very unfair, Gangrel." Emmeryn poked at the Mad King who sent her a glare in response. "But in all seriousness, why are you telling me all of this? Is something going on right now in your life?"
Gangrel didn't answer right away. His eyes and facial expression showed no sign emotion, so it was impossible to know what he was thinking. After a few more seconds of silence, the redhead turned away from the blonde and spoke. "I'm here to say my goodbyes." Gangrel said as he walked toward the window.
"Are you moving somewhere perhaps?" Emmeryn questioned, brows raised. "If so, then I hardly think this will be the last time we meet."
"Serra is moving to Valm to be closer to her family. She has asked me if I would go with her…and I guess I don't need to tell my answer."
Emmeryn smiled at the Mad King's announcement. It brought a weight off of her shoulders knowing that her friend was finally finding his place in this world. She could finally scratch this off of her conscience. "Congratulations, Gangrel. I think you two make a great pair. Does this mean you are to be wedded soon as well?"
"I wouldn't go so far to say that we are getting married yet, but we are headed in that direction I guess." Gangrel stopped at the window of the room. There was a short lull before he spoke again. "This might be the last time we ever meet, you know. I came here to get everything off of my chest before leaving Ylisse. Now that I have everything off of my chest, I have no more regrets about leaving. As far as Plegia is concerned, I leave everything to you and that tactician when he returns." Gangrel went to climb out the window, but stop when Emmeryn called out to him. He turned his head and was surprised to see Emmeryn with a smile on her face and a hand outstretched to him.
"Let this not be our final goodbye. Promise we will meet again in the future." Gangrel looked down to the pale hand outstretched to him, then took it into his hand. Her hands were soft compared to his rough hands and they made him feel…good? A smile (or more like a smirk) came across his face as he said, "I don't usually make these sorts of things, but I guess you will be an exception."
"Then it's a promise that we will mee-" Emmeryn wasn't able to finish her sentence since Gangrel pulled her forward. One minute she was just feet away, the next she was centimeters away from the Mad King's her lips meeting. Her eyes were wide and her heart was pounding, but air would not leave her mouth. For what felt like forever, Emmeryn stared into the made Kings eyes as he made no attempt to complete the action she knew he was trying to perform, but he never did. Gangrel quickly caught on to the former Exalt's behavior because he slowly backed away and looked out the window.
"It's honestly a shame." Gangrel whispered. "If the tactician never came out of his cloak when he did, then I would have definitely claimed you for myself." Those were his final words before he released her hand and jumped out the window. Emmeryn finally allowed herself to breathe again as she placed a hand over her beating heart. Once was calm and everything blew over, she looked back to the window where the Mad King once stood only to see clouds and sunlight. She knew Gangrel, and she knew that after what he just did there was little to no chance that she would ever see him again, but there was still hope left in her heart. One day, she hoped they would meet again and he would finally look to her with a genuine smile.
"Goodbye, Gangrel."
"If you won't rule, Mom, then I would be happy to take your spot!" Emmeryn turned to her daughter, who currently walked alongside her on the walk way to the pre-school, and gave her a blank stare. The look of determination illuminating from the young girls face told the former Exalt that she was dead serious about this declaration.
"Morgan, as much as I think the people would love your enthusiasm, I can't honestly see you running a country, yet alone a Plegia since you hate the heat."
"Hmph! I can be a GREAT leader!" Morgan shot back. "I have many leader qualities that you don't know about!"
"Oh, this I have got to hear." Said Emmeryn with a playful smirk. "And what are these 'qualities' you possess?"
Morgan lowered her head in thought with her index finger pressed against her temple. Seconds later her she shot back to life and replied, "I can read and memorize the contents of any strategy book I pick up AND I can manipulate my parents to give me whatever I want."
That last bit actually made the former Exalt laugh out loud. "As impressive as both of those are, I don't believe you will get far in the reigning of a country." Emmeryn said playfully. "A ruler must be someone who is willing to put there people before themselves. It must be someone who thinks what's best for their countrymen and is a leader that leads their people down the right path. You must gain the trust of the people and have them look up to you and not down on you. Knowledge is important when ruling, but so is leading and gaining the trust of your subjects. Understand, Morgan?"
Morgan looked to her mother with puffed cheeks before turns her head away and crossing her arms. "If you know so much about ruling then why don't you just do it yourself…" Morgan pouted in almost a whisper.
"I-I'm just not ready for the throne is all." Emmeryn said nervously. "Besides, if I am the next in line to be on the throne of Plegia, then that would make young you and Naomi the true heirs to the throne by their birthright. If you take the throne, then you would be robbing them of their birthright when this is originally your time. Could you live with knowing you took that right away from yourself?"
It might have sounded slightly harsh to say, but Emmeryn needed to make sure that Morgan understood what it meant to take the throne. There were consequences for actions and she wanted to make sure her daughter didn't regret the decision she made; jape or not.
"I guess you're right." Morgan sighed. "I wouldn't want to steal anything away from the me of this time."
"I'm glad you understand." Emmeryn smiled and faced forward to the road.
About five minutes later they had finally arrived at their destination. On the Far East side of Ylisstol was the pre-school in question and, as she thought, the second the former Exalt stepped on into view, all the children who played on the playground stopped what they were doing and bum rushed her like bees to honey. In a manner of seconds her ears were filled with the voices of excited children and the instructors telling everyone to head back to the playground. After the mob cleared out, one of the instructors showed Emmeryn to the room where she would be reading a book to the kids. When she got there she was not surprised to see two men and Say'ri standing by one of the many doorways in the wooden building.
…
"I can't do it!" A voice squeaked. Emmeryn turned her attention to her left to see a small, blonde haried girl in a tall tree clenching the trunk for dear life. Emmeryn examined the area around her and saw she was no longer in the classroom she was in not too long ago. Instead, she was surrounded by a clear green field with the one tree in the small girl was currently stuck in. "Please help me! I'm so scared!" Her sobs were loud and the fear in her tear-filled eyes made the former Exalt's heart shatter.
"D-Don't cry, Lissa! Just trust me and jump! I swear I will catch you!" A small, blue haired boy at the bottom of the trunk swore with his arms outstretched. What is going on? Emmeryn thought to herself as she walked up to the tree to see if she could lend some assistance. It wasn't till she got right next to the blue head by that she realized who they were.
Young Chrom and young Lissa. Judging from how Chrom only reached to her mid abdomen, Emmeryn deducted that he could not have been more that 6-8 years old at the time and Lissa was probably 4-5. Another dream. Emmeryn deducted. Or is this…a memory?
"Lissa? Chrom? What are you doing?" Emmeryn turned her head and was met with a slightly shorter version of herself. She wore her old green robes and tiara and looked to be in her early teens.
"Lissa got stuck while climbing the tree." Chrom said, pointing up to his younger sister.
"*Hic* E-Emm, p-please get me down *sob*" Lissa cried.
Unlike the Chrom whose face was flooded with worry, his older sister was a lot calmer and only smiled instead of showing negative emotion. "Lissa, calm down and listen to me. We can't help you if you are not calm, okay?" Just listens to those words seemed to calm down the crying Lissa. There were still huffs, but the girl was able to calm down even just a little to listen to her sister. "This might sound scary, but you need to jump down. It's the only way we can help you."
Lissa shook her head furiously. "No! I can't do it! What if you don't catch me?!"
Emmeryn looked at her previous self to see the smile of a mother looking down at her child on her face. "I know you are scared, but you have to be strong. We can't get you down from there if you are not strong." Emmeryn said and extended her arms out. "I promise, Chrom and I will catch you. Please believe in us." Lissa looked opened her eyes and looked down to see her older siblings with their arms out stretched. She was still scared, but the smiles on their faces gave her hope. She nodded her head and slowly stood up on the branch she sat on. She balanced herself as she tried looked down.
Unfortunately she wasn't paying attention to her footing and one of her legs slipped off the branch. The young girl tried to grab the branch, but only caught air as she fell from the tree. Horror filled the older siblings as they rushed to where their younger sibling was falling. The former Emmeryn Exalt feared for her previous younger sister at the moment and wanted nothing more than to rush in and catch Lissa herself, but her younger self and Chrom were much fast and slid straight to the spot where Lissa would have landed. Lissa used her siblings as body cushions and landed safely without injury. The small blonde looked up to see both of her siblings covered in both grass and dirt, but smiling.
"Told you we'd catch you." Emmeryn cooed. Lissa's eyes teared up again, but this time not of fear, but of joy. She wrapped her short arms around her sibling and laughed.
"I don't know what I would have done without you guys!" Lissa said between sobs and laughter. "I really love you, Emm, Chrom." The former Exalt watched a two big smiles curl on Chrom and her younger self's face as they returned the embrace from little Lissa.
"We love you too, Lissa."
…
"Your Grace?" Emmeryn shot up and looked around. She was back in the classroom with the students sitting on the floor in front of her and the instructor next to her with a worried look in her eyes. "Are you okay, Your Grace? You stopped reading all of a sudden and wouldn't answer when we called you." It was then that Emmeryn remembered where she was and what she was just doing. After meeting up with Say'ri and her servants, they entered the room an empty classroom and waited for the kids to return from the playground. After about 10 minutes of waiting, the children all entered the room and sat down in front of a rocking chair at the back of the classroom. After the bard was finished telling his story about a man falling in love with a dragon girl (which was both sweet and epic to listen to) and the jester was don telling jokes to the young ones (which also made the former Exalt laugh as well), Emmeryn was last to be introduced. She was given a children's book titled "The Little Liar". It a very interesting book that told the tale of a boy who told countless lies about himself and his family. It got to the point where no one would believe a word he said aside from his little sister that always looked forward to his tall tales. Emmeryn looked down to the current page of the book to see the little boy and his sister holding a balloon and standing next to a big tree. Are my memories coming back? Emmeryn pondered.
"Do you need to take a break?" The redheaded teacher asked the former Exalt who shook her head.
"No, I'm fine. I just remembered something from a long time ago. Now, where were we? Ah, yes. It was time to ask questi-" Just when the words left her lips the door to the classroom swung open and caught everyone's attention in the room. In walked the current Exalt of Ylisse along with Morgan (who disappeared some time ago), Naomi, Frederick and Lissa. The teacher was the first to stand and immediately greet the King and princess.
"Your Excellency! Princess! It's an honor to be in the presence of the whole royal family!" The instructor said and bowed.
"It is good to see all of you here as well." Chrom greeted and looked to his sister—a big grin on his face; along with the other four who accompanied him. "I'm sorry to have interrupted your class, but we have something that Emmeryn must see immediately.
Emmeryn brows raised at her brother's words. "What is it you need me to see? Whatever it is, I'm sure it could wait until I'm done here."
"We have someone here who has travelled far to see you, Emm!" Lissa spoke, her glee showing frm the way she bounced up and down on the balls of her feet.
Emmeryn looked to the confused faces of the children in front of her, back to her family. "I really think this can wait. I'm almost done so I can see whoever it is later." Chrom and Lissa looked to each other, then out to the hallway as if someone was there. Shortly after, they looked back at their sister.
"He said he can't wait till later. He really wants to see you and won't take no for an answer." Chrom informed, earning him a sigh from his elder sibling.
Emmeryn looked to the instructor and said, "I apologize. I will make this quick, I promise." The woman looked a little distressed and shook her head furiously at the former Exalt.
"N-No need to apologize, Your Grace! I completely understand!" Emmeryn nodded and stood from the rocking chair. The second she stood, the teacher introduced Say'ri again to talk about her culture and distract the now unoccupied students.
It didn't take Emmeryn long to reach her sibling and daughters, who still had the same cherry grins on their faces since they walked in. "Who is it you want me to see?" Emmeryn asked her brother. He responded by motioning his head toward the hallway. Emmeryn looked to the empty doorway and slowly walked out the classroom. Once out of the room, Emmeryn instantly notices a silhouette of a person to her right and instantly turned her head.
And she froze.
The book she once held in her hands slipped helplessly from her fingers and echoed as it hit the wooden ground. She felt her whole body go numb to the touch and her breath caught in her throat. The sounds of Say'ri speaking in the classroom was no longer existent to the blonde and many bodies moving about behind the figure before her did not seem to capture her eye. The only thing she could see was the slightly taller figure standing in front of her. She slowly walked forward till she was looking up into his warm, brown orbs. The bright smile he gave her felt like a dream, but the warmth of his cheek in her hand was definitely real.
"Yes. It's really me."
Hearing his voice confirmed her reality that this was no dream and she immediately wrapped her arms around the man she had been waiting for for nearly 2 years. "I knew you'd keep your promise." Emmeryn mumbled, tightening her grip around her lost husband who returned the action with an embrace of his own.
"I swore not to break it, Emm, and I had no intentions on going back on that word." Matthew cooed, gently caressing his wife's golden hair.
"It's funny," Emmeryn sniffled, "I've always told others not to cry, but I can't seem to stop the tears from falling right now." Said the blonde, multiple droplets falling from her cheeks.
"It's okay to cry, Emm. I'm here for you."
"*Ehem*." The reunion was interrupted by Morgan coughing into her hand and having her parents look her way. "Can we join in? We haven't seen Father in a long time either."
"It's not nice to hog, Mom." Naomi joined in, causing her parents to chortle at their daughters' jealousy.
"Of course you can join." Emmeryn said, her and Matthew practically pulling them into the group embrace. Emmeryn smile had not been brighter since the last time he left her. She no longer had the fear of him never returning being weighed on her shoulders and she now had a future to look forward to.
For the first time in a long time, she felt alive again.
News of the tactician's return spread fast to the Shepherds and by the time noon hit, every Shepherd that was in town came to visit the tactician. From Vaike crashing in with a huge barrel of bear to drink the tactician under the table, to Nowi demanding to take him for a ride on her backside, things were even livelier with their missing Shepherd now found. The tactician spent most of his evening being bragged around by Gaius, Vaike and Gregor—not giving the tactician the opportunity to spend time with his family. When he finally did get the opportunity to see Emmeryn again, it was almost midnight and she was waiting patiently in with her daughters in the dining room of the castle.
They would have spent time as a family, but it was getting late and the twins proclaimed that they didn't want to "disturb" their parent's alone time. When Morgan and Naomi were gone, Emmeryn quickly took her husband to the one place that he has yet to be.
The baby's room.
"Shh," Emmeryn put a finger to her lips, informing the tactician to stay as quiet as possible. Candle in hand, Emmeryn walked into the dark room with her spouse in tow and made sure to make as little noise as possible. At the far left of the room was a baby crib that held two sleeping baby twins. Matthew looked down to the two infants sleeping in the crib and felt the uncontrollable urge to pick one of them up and hold them in his arms.
"It's dark, but even with little light I can see their cute faces." Matthew commented, reaching down and softly caressing Naomi's cheek; or was it Morgan? The tactician could not tell. Matthew immediately retracted his hand when he saw the infant rub her face with her small hands.
"Careful not to wake them up, dear. It takes forever just to get them to sleep."
"Sorry." Matthew apologized. "I can't believe I missed almost 2 years of their growth. I'm really sorry, Emm."
Emmeryn went to say something, but only turned and began walking out of the room. "There is somewhere else we must be heading. I think we should get there as soon as possible." Matthew raised an eyebrow at his wife's lack of response, but ignored it. He looked back to the crib one final time to give his daughters each a light kiss on the cheek before follow his wife out of the room and closing the door softly.
…
Emmeryn closed the door to her room behind her after they both were safely inside. She leaned on the door, keeping her hand on the nozzle as her husband walked further into the moonlit room. She locked the door behind her back and thoughts rolled in her head.
Is this real? She contemplated. Is he...really standing there? Emmeryn looked up to her husband walking around the room as if it was a newly discovered world. After he was done evaluating he turned around to his wife who gazed at him.
"I've been in this room before, but it all looks so new to me." Matthew commented.
"That's because you've been gone for a while, Matt." said Emmeryn, getting off the door and slowly walking to her spouse.
"I'm glad I'm back." Matthew said sweetly as he walked toward his wife.
"I'm glad you're back too." Emmeryn stopped in front of the tactician. The blonde looked into her husband's eyes with longing and passion. They were alone. Away from everyone and away from human ears. She finally had him to herself.
Perfect.
Emmeryn's smile dropped to a frown as she reeled her hand back and slapped Matthew square across the face with a loud *smack* ringing throughout the room. Matthew's head swung to the side from the impact of the hit. He touched his now reddened cheek and looked to his wife in shock. Never in a million years would he have ever thought he would see Emmeryn with such anger on her face, but today shocked him even more than when she kissed him in front of the entire army.
"I've waited," Emmeryn started. "I've waited nearly 2 years for you. Two, long, painful years for my husband to return to me. Do you have ANY idea what I've been through? I've been talked down upon by a man I've never met, I've had to deal with situations that I had no idea how to deal with without you, AND I've had to deal with people thinking I've gone mad because of your absence! During all of that you...you weren't there for me." Emmeryn face curled from anger to sorrow as she looked into her husband's brown eyes. Tears welled in her eyes the longer she stared at the shocked brown orbs looking back at her.
"I wanted to finally show the people how good of a person you truly were. I wanted to laugh at the silly thinks you use to tell me. I really wanted to have a real smile through these 2 years with you. But most importantly," Emmeryn could no longer hold back and the tears helplessly streamed down her pale face. "I wanted you to be there to raise the family that we created." Emmeryn sniffled trying to hold back her tears, but completely failed and fell into her husband's chest sobbing uncontrollably.
Matthew looked dumbfounded. He didn't realize the actual impact he had on his wife's life due to his absence until now. It completely destroyed him to see his wife in this state. He promised her that he would never hurt her, but his decision hurt her more than any physical pain ever could.
He wrapped his arms around her and rested his chin on her head. "I'm sorry, Emm." he mumbled as he rubbed his hand on her smooth, golden hair. "I'm so sorry."
"I wanted," Emmeryn choked between sobs. "I wanted to tell you everything. I wanted to t-tell you that my m-memory is better. I w-wanted to show you that my speech has improved. I-I wanted to tell you that Naomi said her first words and that Morgan called me "Mama". I wanted to tell you that I was lonely without you." Emmeryn gripped the tacticians cloak as a new wave of sobs and tears surfaced.
The tactician was speechless. He didn't know what to say to his distressed wife. For once in his life he could not think of a plan or his next course of action. He just stood there and held his wife in his arms as she released her stress.
About 10 minutes went by when Emmeryn finally showed signs of calming down. During that time neither of them uttered a word. There was a few more sobs and sniffs, then there was silence.
"...Emm?" Matthew cooed.
"...Yes?"
"Let's get married." The tactician said, pulling his wife closer to him.
"What do you mean?" Emmeryn asked confused. "Aren't we already-"
"No, I mean let's have a real wedding this time. One where everyone in Ylisse can come, and all the Shepherds can attend as well. One with a church, white rugs, ushers, and even doves if you want." Matthew put his hands on Emmeryn shoulders and gently pushed her back so he could see her face. Her eyes and cheeks were red and puffed due to the crying, but to Matthew, she still looked beautiful. "I can't give you back the years I wasn't here, but I can try and make up for it by giving you nothing but happiness for the rest of our lives. I promise you that I will never leave you or our kids again. This I swear on my life and honor. In order to keep this promise, I can only think to renew our vows from the day we were wedded." Matthew softly kissed the brand on Emmeryn's head, then backed up and took her left hand into his while getting on one knee.
"Emmeryn, will you marry me again?"
Emmeryn finally smiled and let out a short giggle. "There's no way I can deny a proposal like that." Emmeryn bent down and cupped the tactician's face in her hands and replied, "Yes, Matthew. I will marry you again. As many times as you want, no matter how many times you ask, my answer will always be yes."
"T-That's great, Emm!" Matthew pulled Emmeryn back into a hug and she gladly accepted the sudden embrace. "We have to prepare as soon as possible! We have to go get Chrom and Lissa so they can help with the planning immediately! We-" Emmeryn placed her index finger on her husband's mouth and lightly pushed him back, causing him to break the embrace.
"Calm down, Matthew. We can do all of that tomorrow...or the day after. You just got back, and I want to use this time alone to the fullest."
"Huh?" Matthew looked dumbfounded at the Exalt's words. Emmeryn grin appeared on the blondes face as she got close and whispered in her husband's ear.
"I locked the door, so no one can walk in on us." Finally catching on Matthew's faced flushed immediately as he tried to protest.
"H-Hold up Emm! We can't do that right now! What if Chrom is looking for us and-Mmphmm!" The tactician was silenced by the blonde connecting her lips with his. All of his protest and hesitation died instantly the second their lips met and he gave in and returned the kiss from his wife. Matthew felt like it had been an eternity since the last time their lips had touched. Each second their lips stayed together the more surreal it felt.
They both separated and looked into each other's eyes as they caught their breath. Emmeryn stood both of them up with the tactician's hand in hers and walked over to the bed.
Then she stole another kiss.
Emmeryn broke the contact again and looked into her husband's glowing brown eyes. "You never got to see Morgan and Naomi be born, but I'm not against having another child. But I would really like a boy this time."
"I would love that that too, Emm." Matthew said as they fell on the bed.
"Tonight, I want to show you how much I've missed you, and how much I still love you."
And she did.
Final series chapter next, then epilogue! Can't believe it's almost been a year since I finally decided to upload this and even longer since I wrote the first chapter. I can't believe I was able to get this far and this story to actually get some love. Thanks to everyone that stuck around for this story!
EMPIRE OF JOY: I laughed out loud when I read your review. I honestly didn't think about FE: 7 until I saw this! Very true that the irony is real though lol.
Erebus13: Regarding the Sumia fic, I have done 2 chapters of thing and am stuck between if I want to finish it or not. It going t only be a 10 chapter thing and I wasn't going to post it until I was done with this story, but now I have so many ideas that I don't know what I want to post or write. After this fan fic ends I will most likely pic one of the fics I liked the most and continue with that one. Can't say if it will be the Sumia one, but it's definitely on the top list of the ones I like!
As always, thank everyone for the favs, follows and reviews! We are almost to the end!