Lucina and Inigo split up with Odin and Selena, heading to the north of the continent. There, the snow lies on the ground, and they have to stop in a small village to buy more layers. Soleil complains the whole time about the cold- she never really experienced that in Nohr. While it did get cold, the sheer amount of snow was no match for the freezing temperatures of Regna Ferox. Lucina and Inigo, on the other hand, are used to the cold, having traversed their way through the snow laden country multiple times in their youth.
"Where are we even going?" Soleil complains, dragging her feet through the slush, pulling her cloak tighter around her.
"Home," Inigo says vaguely, and she sighs loudly at his non committal answer.
"The capital," Lucina says, and Soleil nods, her mother's answer slightly more helpful.
"How far do we have to go?" The pink haired girl asks, squinting off into the distance.
"Another ten miles at least. It's just over that next hill," Lucina explains softly, and her daughter nods again, falling into silence at last.
Inigo forges ahead, with his wife and child following behind him. He walks too quickly for them to properly keep up, so they trudge through the snow behind him. Soleil often turns to her mother and whispers about her father, and why he won't talk. Lucina tells her to leave him alone, but she knows the reason. He's nervous. It's not like the usually confident dancer to feel like this, but he hasn't seen his mother and father in over five years, and the prospect of seeing them strikes fear into his heart.
They reach the hill at midday, and to their surprise and gratitude, they find a small cabin. Upon entering, they discover it's a small resting stop, and they order tea and sandwiches to tide them over until they reach the hub of Feroxian life. The fire blazes, melting the snow on the roof and keeping the inhabitants warm. A few other lone travellers are there- a huge man with a long beard, and a quiet girl with red hair, counting money out a leather pouch. Soleil excused herself to use the bathroom, and Lucina glanced at her husband, placing a hand gently on her own.
"How are you managing?"
"Lucina, what if we get there and they're dead?" He asks bluntly, and she gasps, for the thought had never entered her mind. "We haven't kept in contact- in fact; we avoided contact at all costs."
"I think we would've heard if father or mother, or Olivia, had passed away. They're high up people," she comforts, although it's of little effect to either of them.
"And father?"
"They're only a little older than us," she reassures, "they'll be fine."
"What if there was a plague?"
"Inigo, get a hold of yourself!" She exclaims, finally losing her tether. "Excuse me!" She calls out, and both other customers glance in her direction. "Is Kahn Olivia still alive? We've been away from Ferox a long time," she laughs.
"She is alive and well!" The man answers, his voice booming. "Our country does well under her rule."
"And her husband?"
"He's as dreamy as always," the red haired girl sighs. "I'd say he improves with age!"
"See?" Lucina says softly, and Inigo smiles, his mind finally put at ease. Soleil returns, disturbing the quiet moment.
"So, old people, are we ready to go?"
"I'm only eight years older than you, thank you very much," Inigo says, standing up and tossing some coins on the table for the waitress to pick up.
"Let's go, let's go! I want to see Ferox properly!"
The market place of the capital was buzzing with people when they arrived, with hundreds of stalls set up for this, the busiest day of the week. Soleil ran off at the sight of pretty girls hanging around one of the clothes stalls. Lucina and Inigo make their way through the packed market, squeezing through the hordes of people to get to the office of the Kahn. They feel slightly guilty about leaving their daughter behind, but she is an adult now, and is well capable of looking after herself.
"What do you mean, she's not here?" Inigo demands, after Lucina asks the receptionist if they can meet with Olivia.
"Just what I said, sir. She's not here. She went to the school to see her son's play today."
"When will she be back?"
"She took the whole day off, sir. You'd be best trying to catch her again tomorrow morning, but she is in meetings all morning..." the receptionist apologises.
"She'll reschedule for me," he declares.
"Does she know you?" She asks sceptically, raising an eyebrow. "I don't think I've ever seen you before."
"Oh yes. We've known each other for a quite a while."
"Your name...?"
"Doesn't matter. We'll be back tomorrow," he says quickly, before marching out of the room. Lucina follows closely behind him, sighing quietly at his refusal to leave a message.
"We'll find her, don't worry. We probably will have to wait until tomorrow, though," she comforts, but he shakes her off.
"I wanted to see her today, though," he answers, and she has to laugh.
"You sound just like you did as a child."
"My apologies, dear. I'll try to keep my temper."
"Why don't we wander around for a bit? We can pick up some food, and try to find Soleil while we're at it. Gods only know what trouble she's got up to."
"Okay. There used to be a stall before that sold the best honeycomb..." he drifts off, holding her hand absentmindedly.
They buy the sweets Inigo so wanted at the stall he was so excited to see. The shopkeeper seems almost to recognise him, and he scurries off quickly, Lucina in tow. She drags him into a clothes stall, and holds a garish orange dress with emu print on it up to herself. Inigo grimaces, and sets it down; dragging her out in the same way she brought him in. Suddenly, from the other side of the square, a fight breaks out, with two high pitched female screams, a child crying and a low pitched male voice. Instinctively, Lucina and Inigo run towards the source of the sound, knowing the sound of their child's voice anywhere.
"I was just admiring her hair!" Soleil explains as she comes into Lucina's view. A young child is clinging to his mother's hand- clearly the owner of the hair Soleil was admiring.
"Well, she's my wife, so get your hands off her!"
"I said, I just like the way her hair was done! She's way too old for me!" She says, backing away slowly.
"Soleil!" Inigo calls, pushing through the crowd that had quickly formed.
"Father, I didn't do anything, I swear!" Soleil excuses.
"Lucina?" The woman asks, turning round.
"Olivia!" The princess says in shock.
"Father?" Inigo hisses, edging towards Lon'qu. "What are you doing out here?"
"Is that girl with you? Do you know her?"
"Uh. Yes. We'll explain later."
"Dear," Olivia says, approaching Inigo, the younger version of himself still clutching her hand. "It's good to see you."
"It's good to see you too," he answers, concentrating hard not to add the 'mama' he usually would at the end of the sentence. She throws her arms around him, pulling her son tight to her. He laughs, and returns her embrace; finally back in the warmth of his mother's arms.
"Mama?" The younger boy asks, and Olivia kneels down in front of him.
"These people are old friends of ours, and when they come over, you're going to go upstairs and do your homework, okay?" She says, pressing a finger to his nose. He giggles, and when she stands up, the eyes of the square are finally off her, bored, having moved on. "Let's go home then?" She questions, directed towards Lon'qu, who still stands beside Inigo, arms folded. He nods silently, and the younger Inigo takes his hand to walk home.
Their house is still in the centre of the city, only a few hundred metres from the market place. Olivia makes tea, while Lon'qu makes sure Inigo starts his homework. When he returns, he sits in silence, eyeing up Soleil, who hasn't made eye contact with anyone since the square. Olivia comes in with a tray of tea, and Inigo and Lucina take their cups, while Lon'qu continues to stare out Soleil. She takes her tea slowly, still not looking up.
"So," Olivia says, breaking the uncomfortable silence. "Care to introduce us?" Inigo and Lucina share a look, and Soleil finally lifts her head.
"This is Soleil," Inigo says, waving a hand at the pink haired girl. "Our... our daughter." Lon'qu splutters into his tea, and Soleil shrinks back in her chair, as far away from the swordsmaster as she can manage.
"We can explain!" Lucina says. And they do, detailing the deep realms and the war in Nohr and everything that happened in their five years away. They sounded almost like ashamed teenagers explaining why they were caught canoodling. But realistically, Inigo was in his mid twenties, and to be married with a child wasn't uncommon. The fact that Soleil was eighteen yes did seem a little strange, but Olivia was in tears by the end of their story.
"It's so wonderful to meet you," she says, holding her arms out to her. Soleil gets up upon her mother's signal, and hesitantly heads over towards her grandmother, who hugs her, placing a hand on her head. "You admired my hair in the market, but you have it too! And Inigo gave you my hair band... You are such a beautiful child."
"You were in Nohr?" Lon'qu asks.
"Yes," Inigo nods. "I was working for the now king as his retainer."
"...I'm proud of you."
"Thanks, dad."
"But you need to keep your girl under control," he warns. "Someone like her doesn't do well in Ferox."
"You hear that Soleil? Why don't you apologise for scaring your grandfather?" Lucina says, trying her best to do the scary mother act.
"Sorry, pops," Soleil laughs, trying to make light of the situation.
"Do you fight?" He asks her.
"What?"
"Do you fight?" He reiterates slowly.
"I can use a sword, yeah," she says casually.
"Let's fight, then."
"All because I touched Olivia's hair?" She asks, narrowing her eyes.
"No. Any relative of mine must be able to fight."
"Alright then! Let's tussle, old man. I'll be able to beat you any day."
"He's the best sword fighter I've ever met," Lucina warns. "Even better than your grandfather on the other side."
"He's like, twice my age."
"I'm thirty three."
"Whatever! Let's go."
Inigo was sure that on that day, he'd see the death of his only daughter. Soleil tied her hair back, and lifted a sword from Lon'qu's storage. He picked up his signature killing blade, and it was at that moment that Lucina too began to doubt Soleil. Lon'qu was, as she already said, the best at sword fighting that she'd ever met, and Soleil... well, only Inigo had ever seen her fighting.
"Are you ready?" Soleil asks, twirling her sword around.
"Whenever you are."
Without another word, Soleil rushes towards Lon'qu, sword carefully balanced in one hand. He shifts to block her, his sword clashing against hers in a loud crash of metal. He parries quickly, throwing her off balance. She lunges again, and again, and again, and he blocks her every time. She's quickly out of breath- the pure strength she has to put into each thrust to match his strength is tiring her out. He pushes her back just with the blade of his sword, and then she falls, finally hitting the ground. He sheaths his sword.
"Good job," he comments, holding his hand out to help her up. Olivia gasps, shocked at Lon'qu's reaction to another woman. Not only did he fight her without a trace of awkwardness, but he helped her up too. Perhaps it was his blood connection to her that made him act so differently, but Olivia was pleased either way.
"You are the best fighter I've ever met," Soleil admits, taking her loss gracefully.
He nods, and turns and heads back inside the house. Soleil hesitates for a second, but follows, him calling after to get his attention. Lucina laughs, leaning against the wall. Both she and Inigo had commented on how those two wouldn't get along, considering their vastly different personalities. But with Lon'qu's test of strength, their bond was solidified, and Soleil now had someone else to rely on for training.
"What are you three doing now?" Olivia asks kindly.
"We're off to Ylisse so I can see my parents," Lucina explains, and the Kahn winces.
"Chrom's not going to take her well, is he? He wasn't particularly happy when you two got together, and now you have a child..."
"I'm going to speak to mother first," Lucina laughs. "She'll take the whole thing a lot better than he will. As for father... well, I'll think about it."
"Are you settling down again?"
"Back to Rosanne for us, right?" Inigo asks, and Lucina nods enthusiastically, excited at the prospect of getting to their tiny cottage on the outskirts of the town. She loved living there, more so than she did living in Ylisse all that time, and a lot more than the lonely life she led in Nohr. "I have no idea what Soleil will do, but I would imagine she'll go elsewhere. Perhaps back to Nohr?"
"I wish you two all the best. Don't forget to write! And please, come and visit us! You have no idea how strange it was not seeing my boy's face for all those years."
"Your real son has grown up well," Inigo laughs. "I'm sure he'll get his good looks soon."
"Oh, shut up," she laughs, swatting his arm. "At least he'll never dye his hair," she adds, raising an eyebrow at Inigo, who blushes.
"I thought it would look cool!"
"You were the type, with your pierced ear and all. Gods forbid my Inigo wants to do something like that. I don't know how I'd feel about that."
"You're a great mother. I suppose I only did all this because I didn't have you."
"Oh, stop!" Olivia smiles. "Please, stay the night. I'll introduce you to Inigo."
"I'm not sure that's a good idea," Lucina warns, ever the voice of reason. "We were told not to meet with our equivalents in this world if at all possible."
"Oh. Well," Olivia says, slightly dejected. "I suppose you'll be on your way, then?"
"Yes," Inigo says, glancing at Lucina. "It was good to see you again, mother."
"Stay safe, Inigo. We'll meet again soon."
"Thank you for defending me like that in town today," Olivia mentions over dinner, when Lucina, Inigo and Soleil are long gone into the night. She's sad to see them go, she will admit, but trusts in their promise to return one day in the not too distant future.
"Of course I'll do that," he comments, pushing his food around his plate awkwardly.
"Who were those people, mama?" Inigo asks. "why did you bring them back for tea? And why was father fighting one of them?"
"They're relatives," Olivia says, not entirely a lie. "Your dad likes to test the strength of relatives to make sure that they're up to his standard of fighting."
"The older woman looked like Luci!" Inigo says, and both of his parents fall silent.
"Wh-what makes you say that, dear?" Olivia asks sweetly.
"Her hair is pretty like Luci's!" The boy declares, blissfully unaware of how close to the truth he hit. Lon'qu and Olivia share a look, before picking up another topic of conversation to distract from the events of the day.
.