Chapter 21

The next day, the shepherds continued on their journey to the Mila Tree. On the way, they encountered and aided Cynthia, Chrom and Sumia's daughter and also Lucina's sister, who had been helping a band of rogues. The leader was impersonating Chrom, and Cynthia, not exactly the brightest of people, fell for it, thinking he was her father. After they had convinced Cynthia of the real Chrom, and defeated the impostor, it took another day of travel before the group finally reached the Mila tree, bright and early in the morning. The base of it was heavily guarded by Valamese soldiers.

Owain was off talking with Cynthia (The two cousins were apparently very close in the future) and Morgan had gone to find them, while Lissa was off with Maribelle for some tea before the battle to come, giving Nathan some rare alone time. The tactician was scribbling notes on a rough sketch of the terrain ahead when Frederick burst into the tent.

"MILORD! FANTASTIC NEWS!" He cried.

Nathan jumped slightly in surprise once he entered, and quickly turned around and glared at the man. "More subtlety next time, okay? Oh, and inside voices might be nice too…"

Frederick ignored the tactician as he walked up to him, eyes gleaming. "This is the place!" He declared.

The black-cloaked man scratched his head. "The…place? Uh…yeah, it's where we've been travelling to…"

The great knight shook his head. "No, NO! This is the place…for my proposal! Here! It must happen here!"

Nathan let out a sigh. "It is pretty breathtaking here, isn't it? This tree is massive…"

"So?" Frederick asked impatiently. "Can we do it? The dinner? The proposal?"

The tactician nodded. "After the battle, I'll get Chrom and the others together and we'll start planning it out. Sound fair?"

The great knight nodded emphatically. "None shall get between me and my proposal! I shall crush all who oppose me!" He cried, before rushing out of the tent, presumably to inform Chrom of the news.

Nathan turned back to his map, scribbling 'Frederick tonight, think about plans' up in the corner of it, before folding up the paper and slipping it into one of the many pockets inside his cloak. Before he could get up, however, it was Chrom walking into his tent next, with Lucina following close behind.

"…Care to tell me what's got Frederick looped up all of a sudden?" The prince asked.

Nathan laughed slightly, waving it off. "We'll talk about that later," He replied, as he got up from his desk and picked up Mystletainn, strapping it to his back. "I would assume you being here means we're ready to move in?"

Chrom nodded. "Lon'qu and Gaius just returned with a scouting report, so once we have our strategy briefing from you, we'll be all set to go."

"Right," Nathan replied as he stuffed his Thoron tome into his cloak. "Let's get going, then."

As the three of them exited the tent, Nathan grabbed Chrom by his cape, holding him back. As Lucina turned around to see why they weren't keeping up, Chrom called to her, "We'll catch up with you later, honey!"

Lucina smiled to him, waving goodbye before walking off.

After she was gone, Chrom turned to Nathan. "Something I can help you with?"

Nathan shrugged. "Kind of. It's more of a question for you, to be exact."

The Exalt raised an eyebrow. "Which is…?"

"Why is Lucina following you around everywhere?"

Chrom rolled his eyes. "Because she's my daughter? Why, do you have a problem with that?"

Nathan scoffed at his friend. "Right," He muttered sarcastically, "Cuz Morgan follows me around all day like that too."

The Great lord folded his arms and frowned at the man. "Okay, so it's different than normal. What's wrong with that?"

His tactician paused for a moment before throwing his arms in the air in exasperation. "I don't know, to be honest, but I guess it's just…weird, is all! I mean, us, we're parents to teenagers who are close to our age! I guess I'm just confused by it."

Chrom sighed. "Yeah, it is pretty weird, isn't it?" He admitted. "And it's a lot less responsibility than I thought it would be, in a weird way."

The two began to walk towards the front of the camp where the other shepherds were assembling as they continued their conversation.

"It's uncanny, how they're so similar to us…this is not how I imagined parenthood at all! I should be changing underclothes on Owain, not sparring with him to help test his sword hand!" Nathan ranted.

Chrom laughed, nodding vigorously. "I know what you mean. But do you know what I think?"

Nathan turned to the Exalt. "What's that?"

"Sumia said this to Cynthia once we found her. They may be our kids, but in this timeline, we're equals. They're just as strong as we are, if not stronger, and just as old. It makes more sense to treat them as friends and allies than as our children. At their age, we just need to steer them in the right direction, instead of bossing them around."

"Huh. Wow, I guess I never thought of it that way," Nathan mused.

Chrom grinned at his friend. "Look at me, I'm opening your mind to new possibilities!" He teased. The two shared a laugh as Morgan, Cynthia, and Owain approached them from afar.

"Speaking of our kids…"

Morgan rushed up to her father, puling him into a hug. "Hey daddy!"

Nathan wrapped his arms around his daughter, squeezing her before he turned to the others. "Is there something we can do for you?"

Owain shook his head. "Nay, Father, there is a question on our collective minds, but it can wait for after our battle. The enemy draws near!"

"Yeah, what he said!" Cynthia added with a bit of a giggle.

Nathan shrugged. "All right, we'll talk more after this," He told them. "As for right now, we have a Manakete to free."

Chrom nodded in agreement. "Round everyone up, and tell them to meet us at the base of the Mila tree, just before where the Valamese are gathered. Let's get this done!"