"Are you ready Morgan?" Tiki asked as the two tacticians sat across from each other with their hands bound to the chairs so they would not accidentally break free during the transfer.

Among those watching from the back of the infirmary were Lucina, Chrom, Sumia, Lissa, and Frederick who all offered their support to Robin and Morgan during this difficult process. Those who couldn't make it gave their best wishes and Tiki made a point to say that the Shepherds across the continents gave their support behind her too.

Morgan looked back at her father encouragingly knowing he would be safe after this and said,"Yes. I'm ready."

Tiki nodded and turned to the older tactician. "And you Robin?"

He sighed and looked back at his daughter before nodding back "Reluctantly, yes."

The divine dragon shared some sympathy for the torn father and then turned to rest of the group supporting from the sidelines. "Once this is all over you will notice a change in Morgan. She won't be the same person you've known since you met her.

"How so?" Sumia asked worried at this new piece of information.

"My repressed memories will come back." Morgan said a little afraid. "All of them."

Lucina had already been informed of this, but Tiki hoped to clarify for the rest of the group. "As you've heard before, Morgan lost her parents from a failed transfer attempt when she was fourteen years old and that has had a lingering effect on her when she traveled back in time. Ever since then most of her memories have been lost and she has only managed to reclaim the ones that occurred when she was younger. This has left a two-year gap between her memories and her physical age "

Morgan sighed before saying, "Since I can't remember anything for the last two years, I've reverted my behavior back to how I use to act when I was fourteen. Which is why guess I seemed so childish sometimes."

"Childish?" Sumia whispered back. "I hadn't noticed. You are always so respectful and polite around me. I'm very lucky to have such a mature and kind granddaughter."

Chrom felt an overwhelming need to disagree with that statement, but decided against it as he saw a smile grow on Morgan's face.

"Thanks grandma. But it isn't like I will be an entirely different person afterwards. I will still be me. Just a more mature version of me." Morgan smiled enthusiastically at her grandparents.

"One that stops calling me an old grandpa?" Chrom snickered.

"Hehe, I don't know about that." Morgan laughed. "You will still be pretty old to me."

Sumia reached over to cover her husbands shoulder and said, "Relax dear. There is nothing wrong with being old."

"Right. It only means you are more distinguished father." Lucina smiled encouragingly.

Chrom covered his face and said, "Because twenty-two qualifies for old these days."

"Well both your child and grandchildren are already young adults" Morgan smirked evilly. "Which in a normal world means you would at least be pushing fifty or sixty. Which is old."

"My life has been anything but normal." Chrom shrugged and shook off the attempts to turn his hair gray. "And one of these days I'm going to get back at you Morgan for all of your jabs."

Morgan laughed and countered with. "One of these days I'll be calling you great-grandfather too!"

The Exalt's face contorted in horror and he started twitching again.

"Hopefully not any time soon." Robin added with a skeptical glare.

"Hehe, probably not. But it's still fun to see grandpa make that face."

Sumia, Lissa, and Lucina gave a small chuckle before the pegasus knight said, "We are going to have such great family reunions."

"Especially with two Owain's at the table." Lissa added

"Oh gods." Chrom said in terror at the thought of so many people who had a habit of teasing him all at one place. "What have I done to deserve this?"

"You mean, what have we done to deserve such a great family?" Sumia said happily.

"No, that's not what I meant." He cried in dismay.

*Ahem*

Tiki interjected and saved the poor king from his tormentors for a brief moment, "I don't mean to sour this moment, but the rituals are set up and we need to perform the transfer now or else we will need to wait another week to set them up again."

"Right." Morgan smiled back to Tiki with her determination renewed to get this over with. "There will be plenty of time to harass grandpa after this is over."

Robin looked back at his daughter and said, "Just take it easy Morgan and don't strain yourself."

"We will be here for you." Lucina smiled very lovingly. "Always remember that."

"Thanks mom, and thanks dad. I will."

…

Moments later, Tiki closed her eyes and clasped her hands together to begin the process. Within a few seconds her hands turned a white luminous color as they nearly blinded all of those in the room. Then, with her eyes still closed she walked forward to Robin and said, "Open your mouth."

The tactician did as he was told and he soon felt a cluster build up in his lungs making it challenging to breathe. That is when a strange black presence started to emit from him as a dark aura swirled out and into the air above him. It formed into a very small ball the size of a coin and it grew the more the dark magic swirled around it. As it expanded, the dark orb looked pitch black and it seemed darker than the night sky when the clouds covered the stars. Just glancing at it made it seem like you were staring into madness. Soon, it was the size of Robin's fist and the dark magic did not stop circling around it until it reached the size of his head.

It was a perfect sphere with no defect or flaw. The dark aura it gave off eclipsed the candles and torches in the room as the room progressively dimmed. Tiki's hands remained the only light source capable of shining through its fierce taint and with great care, she raised her hands to the grab the ball.

It howled in response to the shining light and dark sphere screamed to break free from Tiki's grasp. The divine dragon had to take a deep breath to clear her mind and keep her strength up as the rebellious orb cried out with a hideous and venomous roar. It desperately tried to blacken out Tiki's hands, but the divine dragon fought back just as hard and her hands glowed brighter to counter its prisoner.

"Morgan, I need you to close your eyes and brace yourself. You are going to feel a very strong shock."

"Okay."

…

Tiki moved over to Morgan and released some of her grip on the orb releasing it upon the younger tactician. The curse made a fainting attempt to return to its original host, but Tiki refused to let it as her hands acted as wall.

What happened next could only be described by Morgan as a sledge hammer to the chest. It knocked the breath out of her and she coughed uncontrollably gasping for breath as the orb's dark magic separated itself from its spherical form and flooded into Morgan's mouth.

"Be strong Morgan." Tiki whispered as the dark energy flooded through the brave child. The size of the ball had dropped back down to the size of a fist and over half of its energy had poured its way into Morgan's lungs. However, Tiki would ensure no more would get through as she closed her hands around the remaining dark matter and squeezed her hands together. With half of its power gone, the cursed ball was not able to put up a fight as the divine dragons hands crushed it into pieces. The bright light and pressure was enough for her to break apart the remnants of the powerful taint before it could enter Morgan's body.

….

"Morgan!" Robin cried out as the lights returned and the tactician got a clear picture of his daughter's fate. She was having a severe reaction to the curse entering her body and she started seizing up with her fists tightly held together as she struggled to hold on. Black spots were starting to form on her face and she gritted her teeth in what appeared to be severe pain.

"Ennng" Morgan whispered and tried desperately to break away from her chair only to be forced back in her seat by the straps bound to her wrists. The curse then went in for a second wave of attacks against her, but Tiki placed her hands on Morgan's cheeks to ease her suffering,

"Be at peace. It's past your bedtime and a young girl needs to get her rest."

"Is it-" she winced in pained and coughed as the air around her seemed like it was thinning. "That late already?"

"Yes Morgan. It's very late and you have a big day ahead of you tomorrow. You parents will be waiting for you and you should get some sleep so you can greet them."

"Mom … dad." She spoke softly lessening her tight grip on her hands. "Are they safe? ...I-I thought they died."

Tiki frowned and said, "No, they are alive and are very excited to meet you again. I promise they will be here when you wake up so sleep well. You want to look your best for them tomorrow."

The young girl eased back in her chair and lowered her head. "Ennnh." she groaned as the pain slowly subsided. A moment later she nodded off to sleep and her body loosened up entirely. She was still taking heavy breaths, but for the time being the pain seemed to diminish.

"... Morgan." Robin whispered as a single tear fell from his eyes. Seeing her suffer so much pain was one of the most horrifying sights he had ever seen in his life and the cuts on his arms from fighting his restraints only showed his frustration and terror.

"Is she alright?" Lucina quickly asked Tiki as the divine dragon herself looked incredibly fatigued.

"She will be fine. I forced her body to fall sleep so she wont suffer any more pain." Tiki replied wearily while carefully removing the leather restrains that kept Morgan's wrists to the chair.

"Thank you." The two parents said extremely grateful.

Tiki shook her head and said, "Save your thanks for your daughter. She will be enduring the curse for a while until she can break it off.

Robin lowered his head in sorrow and whispered in horror."...She thought we were dead."

"Her old memories are crossing with her new ones. It will take some time for her mind to sort it out."

"As for her condition?" Lucina asked as she moved forward to unlock the leather straps holding Robin in place.

"She is stable. She has passed through the worst of it, but it will take some time and courage for her to break away from the rest. Something I have faith she will be able to do."

"Me too." Robin nodded. "Can we move her so she has a more comfortable place to rest?"

"Yes. She should be fine."

"Good." Robin glanced back at the unconscious daughter in front of him and gently kissed her on the forehead. "Stay strong Morgan." He whispered and picked her up with one arm around her legs and the other on her back. He then began the short trek back to his daughter's room where he would tuck her into bed and hope for the best.

...

Two days went by after the transfer occurred and there was still no sign of Morgan waking up anytime soon. Every once in a while she would mumble something in her sleep or scratch an itch, but her pale face and limp body only showed the ravage effects the curse placed upon her.

While this all happened Robin never once left her side and Lucina only left a couple times to get the two some food or to update those who asked about Morgan's condition. It was a trying time for everyone and the guilt running on Robin's conscious was weighing on him heavily every hour where his daughter did not wake up.

The two parents sat next to each other through the agonizing wait, but very few words were exchanged as their top priority was Morgan's health.

"How is she?" Chrom asked as he entered the room to check up on Morgan. Despite all the joke thrown at him, he really did care for her and treated her as pat of the family.

"The same as yesterday." Robin replied wearily. He had not slept a wink through the past 48 hours and his blood shot eyes continued to focus on the sleeping daughter in front of him. His hands had started shaking a few hours ago and a strong gust of wind could probably knock him to the ground if he was not already sitting, but he held on to his wits waiting for her to wake up.

"Tiki said it might be a while for her body to recover." Lucina mentioned sorrowfully. She too was running on little sleep and her hair was a mess.

"I see." Chrom nodded and raised his hand to show a signet ring with the Ylissean engraving etched in gold, "Can you give this to her for me when she wakes up then?"

"A ring?" The tactician replied too tired to make any jokes about the odd gift.

"An Exalted ring." Chrom clarified. "It symbolizes that its wearer is part of the royal family and I want Morgan to know that she will always have a place here when she wakes up."

"I'm sure she will be honored." Lucina replied grateful and took the ring from her father's hand.

Chrom nodded and walked forward to get a better picture of his sleeping granddaughter and frowned when he saw how pale she was. "Sumia sends her well wishes too."

"She was just in here an hour ago." The princess whispered half asleep.

"Well its been on her mind and she is anxious to see Morgan back to her old self again." Chrom replied sincerely.

"Yeah." Robin murmured.

"Anyways, I was wondering if there is anything I could get for you two. Perhaps some food, milk, blankets, or pillows."

"Heh, I appreciate the subtle hint Chrom." Robin scoffed and shook his head. "But I'm not going to get any rest until I see my daughter wake up."

The royal lord sighed and said, "I figured as much."

Despite how tired they looked, Chrom knew he would be in the exact same position if he was in their shoes. So he decided it was best not to upset the two while they waited for Morgan to recover.

"Some tea would be helpful." Lucina asked politely as she covered her mouth to hide a yawn.

Chrom winced knowing that would help them stay awake and said, "What kind of tea?"

"Anything works." Robin muttered half asleep. "As long as it has one of those colored leaf things."

"Yes, a color would be nice." She mentioned pinching herself to stay awake.

"Er okay." Chrom said concerned. "I'll see about making some black tea."

"Eng, black is not a color." Robin informed his friend with a scratchy voice. "It's a shade."

"A what?"

"Black and white are shades, not colors." The tactician whispered with a clever smile on his face. "A color is a combination of red, blue, yellow, or polka dots. Personally, my favorite color is a triangle." Robin informed Chrom not realizing his own errors in his logic.

"... Alright then." The Exalt said very confused. "Green tea it is."

Lucina looked back at her father bewildered and said tiredly, "But I thought you were getting us black tea."

"Well uh, Robin just said black wasn't a color."

"So?" The princess asked unable to connect the dots in her sleep deprived state.

"You said that you wanted a colored tea."

"Did I?" Lucina gave her father a blank stare and tried to recall what she asked for. "I guess tea does sound nice. Could you get some for us father?"

"Um." He stuttered unsure what to say. "Sure, I'll go get some tea for you."

"Okay. Thank you." She smiled weakly.

"Make sure it has one of those colored leaf things." Robin added adamantly.

Chrom shook his head sorry he asked what they wanted in the first place and said, "Sure. I'll get you some triangular colored tea."

Robin didn't register the sarcasm and happily said, "Thanks."

…

Another hour would pass and the parents were not in any better shape despite their drinks. Robin had complained that his tea tasted like a square, not a triangle, but he drank it anyways hoping to restore some energy to his deprived body. It wasn't the fact that they stayed up two days in a row that was so tiring. The two had done that countless times in the past and it never affected them this severely. Instead, what was so tiring was the constant simulations running through the couple's mind while they waited.

Those questions they asked themselves about Morgan and her health replayed over and over in their heads sapping their strength and their wits. No even the caffeine in the tea allowed them to see things clearly because all their energy went into finding ways to help their daughter.

...

"Augh." A cry came from the bed as the young tactician winced in pain.

The two parents simultaneously rose from their chairs hearing their daughter stir in her bed and quickly rushed over to see her with a new life in their tired shells.

"Morgan, are you there?" Robin asked concerned.

"Enh" Morgan opened her eyes very slowly and saw two blurry figures surrounding her. They looked very familiar and it soothed her in a way to see them there. She tried to lean forward to get a better view but was quickly stopped by a hand touching her shoulder that forced her back down to her pillow.

"Easy dear." Lucina said very gently. "Tiki said it is best to save your strength and not move."

*cough* *cough* "Mom? Is that you?" She asked very weakly as her dry throat scratched her voice.

"Yes it is sweetie." Lucina smiled very gently. "And your father is here too."

"D-dad?" Morgan called out hopeful.

"I'm right here Morgan."

She gave a small smile as the picture of her two parents started to become more clear. *cough* *cough* "You're safe." She cried happily.

"Thanks to you." Robin reached over to grab her hand and gripped it tightly.

Morgan smile grew as her eyes started to water. She opened her mouth to say something else, but her scratchy throat only allowed a small pitched squeal to break through.

"Try not to talk angel." Lucina whispered very calmly. "You don't want to agitate anything."

Morgan nodded slightly and whispered, "It hurts."

"I know it does." Robin voiced sorrowfully. "But it's only temporary. When this is all over we can do anything and everything you want. You hear?"

She gave another weak smile and hummed in approval. A moment later the weight on her eyes forced her to close them but the warm feeling from her father's hand was still there confirming that she wasn't dreaming. In the next moment Morgan was back to sleep with a smile on her face as the two looked at her from the side of the bed.

After confirming that she was indeed safe and back to sleep, the two reached their breaking point. Lucina could not stay awake any longer and she fell on to Robin with the last of her strength gone. Robin in turn fell like a domino as the weight of Lucina leaning on his shoulder was too much for him to steady himself.

He made a small thud when he crashed to the ground with Lucina on top of him and neither could move as Lucina had already drifted to sleep using Robin as both her pillow and mattress. Whether it was intentional or not, she had burrowed her head into his chest and straddled her legs across his. Effectively using him as a bed and preventing any chance of her husband from getting up.

…

The next few days passed a little quicker and with some better news. Robin and Lucina now took shifts staying awake while the other slept on a sleeping bag. If Morgan made any movements then one of them would shake the other awake and let them know that their daughter regained consciousness. Which Morgan did briefly five times which each awakening lasting longer than the previous one.

During this time the room had changed as well. There were stacks of papers piling next to the doorway as Frederick had moved some paper work to Morgan's room. Frederick's theory was that working would allow the parents to pass the time while they waited for Morgan to wake up and his theory seemed to hold true. Robin and Lucina had already completed three weeks worth of work in three days and they were quickly running out of tasks to do other than sleep when it was their turn.

The room was also decorated with a plethora of 'get well soon' cards and flowers addressed to the young tactician. More cards came each day as the word spread to the shepherds across the country. Although it had not arrived yet, even the new leader of Plegia sent his best wishes to Morgan when he caught word of her condition.

"How are you feeling today Morgan?" Robin asked carefully as Morgan slowly opened her eyes.

"The pain isn't as bad today." She replied dryly.

Robin smiled faintly and said, "That is great to hear."

Morgan coughed for a moment before regaining her hopeful eyes and smile.

"Can we get you anything?" Lucina asked sweetly as she grazed her hand across Morgan's arm.

"Some water please."

Lucina reached over to the drawer next to Morgan's bed and brought it over to her daughter. It took some effort and her hand was shaking making it hard to grasp, but Morgan took the water and sipped it as if it was a warm beverage.

"Anything else?" Robin asked ready to move a mountain if necessary.

"Story." Morgan whispered in between sips.

The two looked back to each other in surprise and he said, "Are you sure you are feeling up to it?"

"Mhm."

Not going to question his daughter's request any further, Robin leaned back into his seat and took a deep breath trying to recall what he said after an extremely hectic week.

Well, after Chrom went into hysterical shock, your mother violently dragged me to the other side of town with my arm firmly in her grasp. It took a while for her to calm down, but by the time she did we were near the edge of capitol as she looked back at me with a look of guilt.

...

"I'm so sorry Robin. I was really hoping my father would be more understanding about the situation and my mother did nothing but tease you the entire time." She apologized very hurt and ashamed.

"Hey, don't worry Lucina." I smiled encouragingly "I wasn't expecting things to go well."

She shook her head and cried out, "But they are your best friends. You've known them for so long and yet they treated you so harshly. I don't understand." She sighed deeply and loosened her grip on my arm allowing me to use it again.

"Lucina." I called out sincerely and smiled back. "First of all, you are my best friend." I declared proudly which made her eyes widen in both surprise and joy. "Second, I wouldn't expect your father to act any other way in that situation. I mean think about it, his newly discovered daughter is in a relationship. Forget me for a second, that revelation alone is enough to drive any father into shock if they never saw it coming. As for your mother, well, she was just getting back at me for all the marriage jokes I made with her over the last two years.

"My father didn't have to call you such awful things though." She pouted.

"Trust me, he could have said much worse." I laughed realizing how lucky I was. "And it means that he cares a lot about you to have such a strong reaction. To be honest, I would be concerned if he was just magically okay with it."

Lucina lowered her head unsure and grimaced looking back at me. "But why did he solely blame you? He never once accused me or expressed his disappointment at my decision. The both of us agreed to do this together and yet you took all the blame."

I chuckled and said, "Because you could never do anything wrong in their eyes. It doesn't matter how old you are, they will always consider you their precious daughter who is perfect in every way. That is part of the unconditional love they have given to you, and in a way I envy it" I replied wondering what it would have been like to have my own family that cared about me.

"I'm far from perfect." She whispered lowly.

"Some would disagree with that statement." I smirked and tapped her shoulder. "But you can't beat yourself up about what happened. I highly doubt that Chrom was speaking with a clear and level head. I'm sure when he gets a chance to calm down a little he will be more accepting and less threatening." I paused at the end of my sentence thinking over what I said and added. "Somewhat."

"Are you sure?" She asked with doubt.

"There are no guarantees, but we have a long history together. This is not the first or last time he will be threatening my life." I laughed and added. "Besides, it's a risk I am willing to take to be with you."

A small smile crack in her lips despite her best attempt to hide it and soon she grabbed my hand again and looked at me happily. "You always have a way with words don't you?"

"In my profession it is vital that people understand what I am trying to say." I mentioned while tugging on my tacticians cloak. "And I've found that telling the truth makes things easier to remember."

She leaned over to me so that our shoulders were touching each other which caused her cheeks to turn a very light pink. She could no longer hide her smile as a new thought entered her head that seemed to break open the flood gates to her emotions. "You know, back there, that was the first time we said we loved each other." She blushed a deeper red and her body stiffened a little.

"Yeah... I guess we did." I felt the heat swirling on my face and I looked back at her a little nervous. "Love is an incredibly strong word." I whispered back and gazed into her hypnotizing clear blue eyes. "But I meant what I said."

"... I did too." She smiled deeply and walked in front of me with a grin that could break down walls.

"Heh. Heh." I stammered speechless. "... Do you have a knot in your stomach too?"

"I think someone double tied mine." She said embarrassed with a red face.

Both of us stood there laughing like two idiots who were lost without a map as the moment needed no words. It was one of those special times where we could literally laugh at nothing and our hands were burning just as red as our faces. We didn't kiss, but we didn't have to either.

The unspoken words that came with the moment meant just as much if not more. The reason why the word love is so incredibly strong is because you are throwing a lot of risk behind it. You desperately want the person on the other side to feel the same way for you as you do for them and when you make the declaration you can't take it back.

The fear of being rejected is enormous, but when the other side tells you that they love you back, well, it makes the thought of a thousand rejections worth it.

And for us especially, it turned us into two babbling idiots who couldn't speak another word even if we tried.

...

Robin stopped when he saw that Morgan had closed her eyes and fallen back asleep. It was still hard for her to stay awake for any period of time, but the smile on her face was enough for Robin.

Despite the time that had passed since then, there still was a little bit of a blush on the two parents faces recalling that moment. It was one of those things you never forget, and always smiled looking back on.