It takes only a few days for Lucina and her family to arrive in the capital, where Ophelia meets them, leading them to the house they've been staying in. Lucina has procured a cloak, and she pulls the hood down over her eyes to cover her brand. They've been walking almost solidly for a week altogether, and she can feel her feet sore and her legs weary. As soon as Ophelia opens the door to the small house, Lucina hurries the extra few steps inside and collapses onto the sofa, squeezing herself in the small gap between Severa and Owain. The redhead shoots her a look, but Lucina puts her feet up on the footstool, pulling her boots off.

"You alright there?" Severa asks, a hint of annoyance evident in her tone.

"You try walking from the port to Ferox to here, Severa," Lucina sighs, too tired to argue with her. She pushes herself off the seat momentarily to take the cape off, and folds it up, setting it on her knee.

"So, when are we going inside," Severa asks as soon as Owain leaves the room to make coffee for them all. Inigo falls into his abandoned spot, lazily slinging an arm around Lucina's shoulders.

"You make it sound like some sort of spy novel," Lucina giggles. "In a few days. I think we all have to recover from the walk."

"That's fair. You'll have to stay down here though, since we only have to rooms upstairs. I guess Soleil won't mind sharing with Ophelia, though," Severa suggests, and Inigo and Lucina share a worried look.

"They'll be fine," he says, informing Severa and reassuring Lucina.

"And Inigo, you can make dinner. I'm not cooking, and I'm not eating any of Owain's food." She gets up in a huff, and heads to the kitchen following Owain.

Inigo pulls Lucina closer to him, and she yelps at the sudden movement. She rests her head on his shoulder regardless, enjoying the moment of quiet before Soleil barged into the room, a hot cup of tea in her hand. She perched by the fire, and Ophelia followed soon after with a small plate of biscuits. Owain comes in with a tea tray, four china teacups balanced carefully on top. He sets it down, and both Lucina and Inigo dive forward to grab cups. Owain settles on the floor, beside Ophelia, while Severa squishes in beside Lucina. The two families sit in silence for a while, merely enjoying the comfort.

"So, we're heading to the castle the day after tomorrow?" Owain checks, and Lucina nods, swallowing her mouthful of tea.

"Yes. I considered writing ahead, but I think if we turn up as a surprise it'd be nice."

"What're we doing in the castle?" Soleil asks, grabbing another biscuit off the plate. "Guided tour? Are there pretty girls there?"

"None for you to be courting," Inigo says hurriedly.

"Shame," Soleil grins, and both her parents shoot her the same disapproving look.

"Something like a guided tour," Lucina explains, and this seems to satisfy her, since she's quiet after that.

It rains all of the next day, and Soleil, Ophelia and Severa venture out in one of the breaks between the showers. The roof of the house begins to leak, and Lucina puts a bucket under the small hole in the roof in hope of catching the water. She heads back downstairs to a heated game of poker between Inigo and Owain, and she smiles, moving out of their way. She makes another pot of coffee, standing in the kitchen, listening to the watery sounds of the boiling water and the rain pelting against the window pane. Owain and Inigo yell out occasionally, one in victory and one in defeat, but she can drown them out, listening only to the rain.

She now understands how Inigo felt that time in Ferox when he couldn't speak to either her or Soleil for almost a whole day. A sinking feeling has settled in the bottom of her stomach, and she feels slightly sick permanently. She understands that's how nerves work, but another part of her is annoyed. She's only visiting her parents, and she would've heard if anything happened to either of them or their children. It's only now that she thinks of Morgan- she hasn't seen him in years, longer than when she last saw her parents. She makes a mental note to ask them where he is, and make an effort to go see him.

Another thought that annoys her is that they might not want to see her. Chrom and Robin have their own family now, their own children that were born of them in this timeline. They didn't need her, or Morgan, since they had their own Lucina and Morgan born now. Lucina must be nearly nine, she reckons, making Morgan four or so. Chrom and Robin were busy people- what was to say that they had time to see them? She's sure they'd get inside, though. Lissa and Ricken would be there, and she couldn't imagine that both of them would be busy. She sighs, slightly malcontent, ignoring the feelings that set her on edge. She brings the coffee pot into the living room.

Lucina barely sleeps that night. It's difficult enough to sleep on the sofa as is, and Inigo, being the gentleman he is, has taken the floor. She tosses and turns, trying to make herself comfortable on the sofa, with only a thin blanket and a cushion to help her sleep. The thoughts in her head have settled slightly; she decided that it wouldn't matter if she saw her parents or not. She would definitely be able to speak with Lissa, and at least that was someone from her family. Although, upon thinking more, she starts to cry. She misses her parents a lot more than she'd care to admit, and all this pretending she wasn't a royal was really beginning to drain her.

She covers her sobs with her hands, hot tears running down her face. It had been a long time since she'd cried about being in the past, she realises with horror. She stopped crying as much after she admitted to Chrom about his relation to her, and only cried once after that, when her mother sacrificed herself to Grima (which anyone would do in such a situation). She cried almost every day at the start, but had managed to not cry for a long time after that. She realises that, perhaps, it had something to do with Inigo.

He insists on putting a smile on her face, forcing her to smile even when neither of them felt up to it. Inuigo is an expert in the art of 'fake it till you make it', and has taught his skills to his wife and daughter. Inigo turns over in his sleep, and Lucina watched his peaceful face through bleary eyes. She threw her cushion onto the floor beside his head, and took her blanket off the sofa, crawling beside him. She slightly untucked his own blanket covering, wriggling close to him. He opens his eyes slowly, a sleepy smile taking over his face.

"You okay?" He asks, not awake enough to know what's going on.

"Yes," Lucina answers through her teeth. "I'm fine."

It's a lie and she knows it, but hopefully in his arms she'll get some sleep, and the sickly feeling in her stomach will have disappeared by morning.

Thankfully, when she awakes, the sickness is largely gone, and she can sip her way through a cup of coffee until everyone else is ready. Soleil is bouncing about the walls, as usual, and Inigo sits subdued in the corner. Severa joins him with a plate of toast a few moments later. It's not their day today, and they know it, but they'll support their spouses in any way they can. Ophelia arrives with some sort of herbal tea, and perches on the arm of the sofa, whispering to her father, who holds his head in his hands.

"We should go," Lucina says suddenly, standing up. "We won't know anything if we just mope here all day."

She makes for the door, and slowly everyone else follows her, trudging out of the house. Inigo takes her hand and she smiles to him. He always knows when she needs comforting, which is what makes them such a compatible pair. They continue silently through the streets. It's still fairy early, and the only people about are the traders and their earliest of patrons. The sun is in the sky, no trace of the pouring rain from yesterday. Lucina sighs quietly as Owain leads the way up the lane to the castle, taking her place beside him as he hammers on the door.

Inigo and Severa and their children wait behind, a good few feet to give them space. They have to wait a few moments- clearly, the fact that the gates were open this morning was just luck. Finally, the door opens with a creak, and a guard comes to the door, glaring at the two who stand on the doorstep.

"You do realise this is the home of the king, right? You can't just barge on in here," he says, folding his arms defensively. "What business have you got?"

"I want to see Chrom," Lucina says defiantly, stepping forward. She's not sure where this surge of confidence came from, but she's not going to complain. It'll take a lot for her to step down now, especially when she knows this is her rightful place.

"He won't see some commoner."

"I am no commoner," she says, trying her best to keep her hair in front of her eye. As the guard shifts his weight from foot to foot, she can see two children in the background, passing through with their nanny, their hair the same colour as hers. Her heart pangs, and she turns her attention back to the guard, who has been talking the whole time.

"Who are you?" He demands.

"A friend of the king's. I helped him during the war."

"You wouldn't be the first person to say that," he laughs.

"Oh, but it is true!" Owain interrupts, finally helping his cousin out. "We are those from land afar, travelled here to see our old comrades!" His terrible speech pattern isn't helping matters, and Lucina can only sigh and the guard raises his eyebrows.

"I can't let you in," he says finally, and moves to close the door.

"No, wait!" Lucina cries, dashing forward to put her foot in the door. "Please, tell him to come to us. He will know us when he sees us, I promise you." She blinks slowly, sincerely, and although the guard hums in disapproval, he closes the door and tells them to wait in the garden for him to return.

It has been a while since everyone has been free in the morning to eat breakfast together. Robin has been staying up later and later in order to help finish the final financial plan for the rebuilding of the city, despite Chrom's many complaints that she should rest. This morning though, she is awake, and although she is on her third cup of coffee (it is only ten a.m.) she is coping okay. Lucina, Morgan and Owain have been taken to their classes, and Gaius is dropping Brady off at the school in town, where he will meet up with Nah and Noire and Yarne. Chrom is about to leave for an early meeting when the guard walks in, serious yet slightly flustered.

"Pardon for the intrusion during your breakfast hour sir," he says, saluting messily.

"At ease. I was just about to go. What's the matter?"

"A very strange one, sir. A woman outside claiming to be a friend of yours. She wants to see you, but I told her not to come in. There was a man with her too."

"I don't have time to be seeing salespeople who think they know me. This is a castle, not any old house you can just wander up to."

"She insisted I come and get you to see her. I've never met any door to door sale people as persistent, sir."

"I appreciate you coming to me, but I really have to be going," Chrom says finally, setting his glass down and making a move to leave. Robin, however, grabs his sleeve, a curious look on her face.

"Could you give a physical description?" She asks politely, and Chrom sits down, a frown taking over his features. "We've met a lot of people over the years, it could very well be someone we know."

"I'd say they were both late twenties, the man was blonde and had a weird way of speaking-" At that, Lissa sat up straight, and exchanged a look with Ricken, who raised an eyebrow. "The girl had dark blue hair," he recounts, "not a dissimilar shade to your own, your majesty. She wore it over her left eye, which made it difficult to maintain eye contact. They had a couple of other people with them too, but I couldn't get a good look at them."

Chrom and Robin share a look, one that they had shared many, many times before. It was look often seen on the battlefield, when they had the same idea, or when one moved in to protect the other. Robin got to her feet and practically ran past the guard, while Lissa, who clearly was on the same wavelength, followed her with a curious intent. Maribelle walked into the room, her arms folded, just as Chrom himself was about to leave.

"Chrom, the meeting is about to start," she tuts, but he grabs the tops of her arms, his face serious.

"I can't go. Tell them I can't go."

"Well why ever not?" Maribelle asks incredulously.

"She's back." It takes a moment for Maribelle to process this, but then her mouth forms a perfect o and her eyes light up.

"Oh, wonderful! I'll tell them something urgent has come up." She hurries away, a skip in her step, and Chrom rushes after his wife and sister, leaving the guard standing confused in the middle of the room.

Lucina sits on the grass, twirling the blades between her fingers absentmindedly. Owain leans against the wall, while the others sit on a bench, squished together. They watch the door intently, waiting for it to open. Severa has already commented that the guard probably won't have gone to see Chrom, and they could be sitting here all afternoon before anyone comes to them. As the watch the door creaks once again and this time flies open, and out of the palace comes Robin, with Lissa close behind her.

"Inigo!" She says, noticing him before Lucina, who is tucked away behind the bench. Robin dashes towards him, enveloping him in a hug. He notices she's still wearing the same cloak he saw her in before they left, and he smiles.

"Good to see you again, Robin," he smiles, and when he moves out of the way, she can see Lucina behind him. The woman slowly struggles to her feet, unsure of how to broach the subject. Owain has already been found by his mother, and he laughs as she showers him with affection.

"Hello, mother," Lucina whispers, barely audible. The bench still stands between them, and Robin looks on in shock at how much her daughter has grown since she last saw her. At that moment, Chrom appears behind her, staring at Lucina with the same mixture of joy and shock. "Hello, father," she adds, a little louder, a little less scared.

"Lucina," he breathes, and runs towards her, around the bench, wrapping his arms around her in a way she missed so much. Automatically, her eyes fill with tears, and she resents herself for crying in front of him. Robin pushes Chrom out of the way playfully, and holds her daughter at arm's length before pulling her in close to her. Chrom goes to Owain next, offering him a strong handshake, but Owain grabs him with a cry of "Uncle Chrom!" that makes everyone laugh.

Severa stands up, apart from the crowd, her eyes scanning everyone else who seems to already know each other. Chrom has moved on now to Inigo, and is shaking his hand, while Inigo glances back at Soleil in a silent word to tell her to stay quiet. Lissa is hugging Lucina now, while Robin laughs with Owain, all old comrades brought back together. Soleil and Ophelia are comrades themselves, and they talk quietly, observing the goings on of their parents. She's brought back down to earth with a bang when Chrom stands in front of her.

"I know who you must be without even knowing," he says kindly, a fond yet sad smile on his face. "Cordelia's daughter, right?"

"Right," she says quietly.

"You look so much like her," he comments. "Is that the ring she wore?" he asks, glancing at her hand.

"Yes."

"Welcome to the family..."

"Severa," she fills in, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Severa. Your mother would be proud to see that she has a grown up daughter, you know."

"I doubt that. She spent more time pining over you than looking after me, you know."

"Don't say that," he says softly, and his face changes, a mixture of anger and pity. She shuts up then, nodding her head apologetically. Now was not the right time to be picking a fight, but of course, she did it anyway. She turns away.

"Let's go inside," Robin suggests. You can tell us all about where you've been, and who these new friends of yours are." She gestures towards Soleil and Ophelia, who giggle between themselves.

It has been a long time since either Lucina or Owain was 'home', per se. When they think about it, they haven't been inside the castle since they were in the past, when it was all but destroyed by Grima. As they walk through the corridors, they remember, old times when they were happy, more than a decade ago. They seat themselves around the table in the dining room, Owain in between Lissa and Ricken, Ophelia and Soleil on Lissa's other side, Severa beside Soleil and Inigo, and Lucina beside her parents. There's an awkward silence, and Inigo decides he'll be the one to fill it.

"In Nohr, there are these places called the Deeprealms. During the war, the soldiers in the army put their children in there to keep them safe from the horror of the war. And time passes quicker, and they grow older quicker, and..." he trails off, and Chrom raises an eyebrow at Ophelia.

"So what you're trying to say is these are... your children?"

"Yes," Lucina says quickly.

"We're grandparents. At thirty!" Robin laughs, and Lucina can't help but laugh at her faux melodrama.

"This is Soleil," Lucina introduces, mumbling over her name while gesturing at the girl who waves shyly, probably for the only time in her life. "As you can see, she got her hair from her grandmother on the other side."

"You look just like Olivia," Lissa comments, a fond smile on her face. "And, not to brag, but I think this other girl looks like me!"

"You must be the amazing grandmother I have heard so much about, then! Father sings your praises to the stars!" Ophelia bursts out, grabbing Lissa's hand.

"Ophelia takes after her father, I would say," Severa comments dryly, earning her a laugh from Ricken and Robin. Chrom still regards her with suspicion, and she's quiet again after that.

"I can't believe you have children!" Robin exclaims. "It was only yesterday that we saw you for the first time." Lucina smiles at this, but can't respond. She doesn't know what to say.

"We missed you all a lot," Ricken comments. "Chrom wondered at least once a week if you would be coming home any time soon."

"Ricken!" Chrom chastises, his face red with shame.

"So tell us," Robin says leaning forward and settling in a comfortable position. "How were your travels?"

And Lucina smiles, and divulges what happened in Nohr. She explains the war, and her story is interrupted multiple times by everyone else with their own anecdotes. And she smiles, and everyone else smiles, and for once, she has reason not to cry.

.