"Hmm." Robin said in deep thought staring over a small piece of paper. His brain desperately trying to decipher the message from any angle he could think of. Perhaps the message was in code with the key to unlocking it depending on the phrase at the bottom. Maybe it was meant to be read using every third or fourth word. He could not rule out the possibility that there was a hidden message somewhere on the back, or a signal in between the lines. One by one he tried to think of ways to understand the carefully crafted riddle at his fingertips. They offered a clue somewhere, but he couldn't place it. Nor did he understand how Morgan picked up on it so quickly.

"Still trying to figure out that letter?" Lucina asked as she straightened out her hair with a comb. During the time it took for her to get dressed and prepare for the day, her husband mulled over the contents of the message with little progress. The word fireball stumping him to no end on what kind of meaning it had. The princess even had to suppress an urge to laugh at her husband's befuddle look, because she could not remember the last time she saw him like this. It was eating away at him for the past two days that he couldn't figure it out.

"Yeah. It's weird. Sumia didn't use any of the codes that we use to encrypt messages. It also doesn't appear to be a numbering system. As for the 'friendly face' that came for a visit, it could literally be anyone. From Say'ri, to Virion, to the second grandson and heir to the throne of the Blueberry Muffin Kingdom."

Believing him to be joking, Lucina smiled and said, "Don't be silly dear. I highly doubt it is Virion. He would send a notice to everyone in the country about his magnificent return."

"...True, and Say'ri would have scheduled an appointment ahead of time." He pondered it for a moment as the suspects were slowly diminishing from his list. Taking a large collective sigh, he resigned from his plight and said, "So by logical deduction, it must be Prince Mack Muffin and his entourage of pastry chefs."

"That must be it." The princess nodded happily while placing her tiara on her head. With the final part of her wardrobe complete, she was ready for what surprises the day held in store. "It is strange though. You think my mother would be a little less ominous or cryptic. She is usually so excited that she gives too much detail."

"Well, at least from the tone it doesn't sound like anyone is in trouble." Robin muttered grateful for that. He had enough of fighting in wars or battling political disputes. "I will need to talk to Sumia about the meaning of this madness when we get back. If you are going to hint at something, you have to give some details!" He grumbled as the letter mockingly hid its secrets from him.

Lucina covered her mouth and giggled unable to hold it in any longer. Robin looked agonizingly troubled and she couldn't help but laugh at his plight. Her genius husband stumped over a simple note that seemed to mean nothing. It was Lucina's guess that it was just another one of her mother's playful jokes. Despite her innocent look, Lucina knew her mother could be quite mischievous at times. Something that passed down to Morgan as well. Yet, the exasperated disappointment on Robin's face for not uncovering the riddle was too much for the blue princess. She felt an overwhelming need to scoop him up and hold him in her arms so she could ease his worries. Unfortunately, she knew she would have to wait until later to do so.

"Don't worry. I'm sure it will make sense eventually." She replied encouragingly "In the meantime, there is no use stressing over it."

"Yeah, you're right." He shrugged back. "Anyways, what did you and Morgan want to do today?" He muttered back trying to take his mind off of things. Since his wife had a bye in the next round of the tournament, it meant that they had the day to themselves.

"Morgan suggested going to the city park. It's supposed to be dedicated to Emmeryn."

"Really?" He asked interested. "I never heard about that."

"They only built it recently." Lucina informed while attending the matter delicately. "The old king never made any effort to honor her, so Gregor made sure that she would be remembered for her great sacrifice."

"Good." Robin nodded soberly. "She deserves to be remembered for the great things she did."

"Indeed, without her, I don't know where any of us would be now." Lucina trailed.

The tactician also frowned with regret. It bothered him at times how he had failed to save her. Never had he felt more helpless in his life than that day. No doubt Lucina harbored some of those feelings as well. However, not wanting to damper the day with sorrow, Robin shrugged it off. Emmeryn wouldn't want to see them mourn, but instead celebrate the things she did. So he cast the bad thoughts out of his mind and said, "Alright. Let's go to the park to pay her a visit. I'm sure she will be happy to see us."

…

"Wow, it's amazing." Morgan marveled in wonder.

Once the trio made it to the park, they were surprised to see the park was built like a large oasis. In the middle there was a pool of water that shared the same shade of blue of Ylisse's colors. In the center of the pond was a life-sized statue of Emmeryn made of limestone rising from the water. It pictured her high up in the sky looking down on everyone with open arms. Around the calming waters was a vibrant green circle of fresh grass that did not perish under the blazing desert sun. Almost as if Emmeryn was protecting it

"It's like she is here with us." Morgan smiled warmly.

"I'm sure she is." Lucina replied sweetly. "She's probably looking down over from the clouds."

Robin nodded in silence thinking about the past. At the time, Chrom, Lissa, and Emmeryn were the ones that took him as part of their family. Now, as crazy as it seemed, he had his own family. One that he promised to protect with every ounce of his care. Under no circumstance would he ever become like his father. He would protect and take care of his family the best he could and put them first like Emmeryn and Chrom had done for him.

"So, what do you want to do first?" Robin asked to youngest member of their party.

"Um, I dunno." Morgan replied blankly.

"Huh? But didn't you want to come here?"

"Yeah, but I didn't really think of anything to do. I kinda figured it was a good excuse to hear more of the story." Morgan gave an innocent and sweet smile back.

"... Of course you did." He replied half expecting that response. "What are you going to do when we finish? By now I'm sure you know we are near the end."

"Don't worry. I'll find something else. But since we are already here, why miss out on the opportunity?"

"She's got a point dear." Lucina added encouraging her daughter's antics.

"Very well." He relented and the three made their way to a nearby park bench. However, there was something bothering him as he took his seat.

On the opposite side of the pond there was a woman with dark black hair reading a book while sitting on a large rock. There was nothing particularly strange about that because a lot of people spent time at parks to read since it was so peaceful. What was disturbing was that she frequently glanced in his direction. It sort of reminded him of Tharja, but she was different. When he did look in her direction, she immediately covered her face with the book she was reading. Even stranger was the green attire she was wearing. It was very foreign and unsuitable to the type of climate they were in. Not to mention the bright green color stood out compared to anyone else.

"Dad?" Morgan asked impatiently waiting for their story.

"Huh? Yeah, sorry." He snapped out of it and turned his head towards them.

"Something wrong dear?" Lucina asked concerned.

"No, it's just, there is something strange about that woman over there." He murmured wondering if his imagination was getting to him.

"Hmm?" Lucina asked curious and looked over to see. The moment she did the woman immediately covered her face with her book.

"Hehe, she must be really shy." Morgan mentioned while trying to take a peek at her face.

"Or a really bad spy." Robin murmured back. "I don't know. Something about her seems … familiar. I can't place it. It's nagging me at the back of my head like I should know something that I don't."

The princess' curiosity heightened as she noticed her husband's anxiousness. He seemed more tense since he got that message from her mother. Whatever was hidden inside of it must have hit some sort of nerve. "That letter must really be getting to you. I haven't seen you this stressed since our battles."

Robin covered his head and shrugged, "Yeah, I guess so. I don't know what is coming over me, but maybe we should just start the story so I can take my mind off of things."

"That's fine with me." Morgan eagerly approved.

...

He eased back on the park bench and gathered himself. He didn't need to look to know the woman across the way had her eyes fixed on him. The only solace he could take was knowing Lucina was there next to him should something happen. So, he settled down a little and said, "About two weeks later your mother and I stumbled upon someone who-"

"Woah! Hold on a second." Morgan called out while scrunching her brow. "Two weeks? Why are skipping so much time all of a sudden."

"It took the shepherds roughly two weeks to return by foot after they heard news of my safe return." Robin explained hoping not to go into too much detail.

"But what did you and mom do with all that time in between?" Morgan asked not wanting her parents to start cutting corners on their storytelling. They had made it this far already, so now was not the time to be leaving out any details.

Meanwhile, Robin looked back at Lucina to see her blushing the same shade of red he was. Her eyes barely making contact with his before the two parents looked away from each other.

*Ahem* Robin cleared his throat not able to find any solace, "Oh, well, um. You see, naturally, Lucina and I were very grateful and emotional now that everything was over. We no longer needed to worry about the past, the future, or anything else. For the first time, Lucina and I could sincerely relax without anything to get in the way. So we spent a lot of time together."

"Even when we were outside we were never really more than an arm's length apart." The princess murmured in a quiet tone.

"Anyways!" Robin said trying to change the subject before they explored it in too much detail. "For two weeks your mother and I were inseparable, which eventually led to us whispering sweet nothings like two hopeless love-struck children. So, as you can see, we don't want to bore you with the details. I'm sure you're not interested in hearing about how lovey dovey we were during that time."

Morgan laughed and said, "I'm guessing the two of you were fawning over each other while saying really corny lines."

"Yeah … There was a lot of that." He hesitantly admitted.

"We spent so much time laughing and doing silly things that your father and I were worried our smiles would be permanently fixed on our faces." Lucina replied cheerfully.

"So like I said, we don't want to bother you with the details." Robin stressed. His daughter did not need to hear about them cuddling or kissing for two weeks straight. Among the other things they did during that time. He already felt like he was giving too much detail in their earlier retellings.

"Hehe, it can't be any worse than how you two act now."

"... What do you mean?" Lucina asked caught off guard.

Morgan looked up to her parents and said, "You do all that stuff already. Smiling and always whispering things when you don't want me to hear. I practically grew up with you two being fixated on each other."

He gritted his teeth and said, "... I suppose that would be difficult to deal with."

"You can only imagine. Still, it was nice growing up with you two being so close. Embarrassing, but nice."

Lucina fidgeted around with her hands as she could only imagine the things her daughter had to endure. In some respects, she felt guilty for putting her daughter through all that, but another part of her wanted to smile knowing that Robin would stay by her with such great memories. Granted, even now the future changed because of Morgan's action. She would not be able to predict what could happen ten years down the line, let alone tomorrow. Yet, it brought her great joy knowing Robin would likely be with her through it.

"So for the sake of your sanity we will just skip those two weeks." Robin muttered very tense. "No sense in mentioning it since you have lived through that stuff most of your life."

Morgan nodded while seeing the heavily embarrassed look on her father's face. If he wasn't tense before, he certainty was now. "Okay, but don't skip everything! There has to be something you can share."

"... Um, I guess there is one thing that isn't too bad." He murmured lowly. Just wanting to find some peace, he decided to get it over with before Morgan rattled him even more. For some reason, he was very on edge today, and any chance to relax was a welcome one.

Two weeks later, life almost returned to normal. We could expect the shepherds to return any day now, and for the upcoming celebration to begin. The news of peace being the sweetest thing the country heard in a long time. Lucina was also gradually becoming more accustomed to the idea of living in the castle.

Despite this, there was one habit that we could not break. It was like an internal clock that Lucina and I woke up at six in the morning. We would then get dressed, say embarrassingly corny lines, and plan our day accordingly. It had been that way for two weeks, but today would turn out very differently.

...

"So what's on our agenda for the day?" Lucina asked happily as she wrapped her arm around mine.

"I have a little work to do for the castle. Nothing major."

"Oh?" She tilted her head and said, "What type of work?"

"The worst kind." I shrugged as a hollow feeling sunk inside of me. "Paperwork. It's not bad yet, but once the army returns I'll have stacks piling up over twice my height."

Lucina frowned as she pictured it and said, "Isn't there any way you can lighten the load when it arrives?"

"Not really. A majority of the documents are very sensitive so they need to be signed and submitted. And since Chrom has enough to deal with on the political side, I take the brunt of the blow."

"What if I was to help?" She asked with her eyes glimmering. It wasn't so much a suggestion as it was a statement. "It shouldn't be too difficult for me to adjust to filling out forms and shifting through documents."

"It's okay Lucina. I'll be fine, and there is no sense in dragging you into this." I replied halfheartedly. When she had that determined look in her eyes, it was nearly impossible to change her mind.

"No really, I could help." She insisted with the idea already cemented inside her. "I have nothing else to do, and it's perfect when you think about it. This way you get done in half the time so we can have the rest of the day to ourselves~"

"I only have about an hour or so of work today though. Most of the heavy stuff doesn't come until the army gets backs." I weakly tried to play it off.

"Then we can treat it like a trial run to see if it works." Lucina added excited.

"... I don't know." I shrugged. I didn't like the idea of putting her through any more work after she spent most of her life doing just that. A part of me also knew she would not sit around and do nothing even if she had the ability to. Resting wasn't a word in her vocabulary.

"Please Robin." She asked endearingly with those two big blue puppy eyes begging back at me. The ones that sucked the life out of your soul and pleaded for one little favor. "I just want to help my dashing husband. He means so much to me."

"That's not fair and you know it." I grumbled back unable to turn away from her gaze.

Her grin widened as she reached around to hug me. Giggling, she knew she won the discussion before it even began. I could adapt to a lot of things and survive perilous situations, but overcoming my wife was not one of them. Despite my crippling weakness, I had to admit it was nice to see her acting so playful. I had only seen that part of her once or twice during the war. Now, it seemed like the inner child inside of her finally had a chance to break out. Revealing yet another side of her that I quickly fell in love with.

…

At my office in the barracks, Lucina scooted over a nearby chair so we were sitting directly besides each other. I then showed her a few examples of what to look out for, and what she needed to do. It didn't take long and she seemed to follow along well. We had done something similar to this before when we worked together in the war room, so she picked up on things very quickly. Carefully, Lucina read over the contents of varying documents and signed her name neatly on the form when needed. Lucina then proceeded to the next set of papers without any trouble. It remained that way for a good ten minutes. Each of us putting a small dent in the stack of papers in front of us with little trouble.

"Robin?" Lucina asked puzzled.

"Hmm?"

Referring to the item in her hand, she said, "I can't seem to read the symbols at the bottom of this letter. I've never seen anything like them before."

Leaning forward to get a better look, I noticed a strange array of symbols that blurred against each other. Each craftily written in archaic text. "That means it is from our scouts. It's their code to prove it's not a forgery. " I informed her as I glanced over the note. "The characters are blurred so it looks like a smudge instead of a code."

"I see." She nodded while inspecting it over more carefully. "So you probably want to look this one over instead."

"Yeah, if you see any with a code on them then just set them on my stack."

"Alright then." She shifted forward in her chair and stretched out her arm to reach my pile of paper work. Her beautiful feminine form brushing against me as she did so. It was distracting to say the least.

"Hmm? Something wrong?" Lucina asked noticing my flushed face.

"No." I quickly responded back. "I was just wondering how things are going."

"So far I'm not having any problems." She smiled warmly. "In fact, it is very interesting to see some of these papers."

"How so?"

"Well, in my time we never kept records. We didn't have parchment readily available for these kinds of things. So it is interesting to see the affairs of the country like this. It makes me feel a little closer to the people knowing more about our trade and the events taking place within our country."

"And soon those people will be calling you their lovely princess." I replied warmly.

Blushing, she said. "Are you sure about that Robin? Do you really think it would be wise for me to be involved like that? I have learned to call this world my home, but I don't think I can claim the title of princess here. It wouldn't be fair to others."

"Nonsense." I replied sternly. "Grima stole away your birthright from you. It's only fair that you have a chance to get it back. Once Chrom announces you as his sister at the celebration, I'm sure the people will clamor to see you. I'll admit it will take some time to get used to, but at least this way it works best for everyone. Besides, I can tell you care a great deal about our country and the people inside of it. So you will make a great princess."

"Still I …" She lowered her head and said, "I'm not sure if it would be fair to my younger self."

"I don't think Lucia would have any problems with it. I'm sure she is more grateful that her parents are back."

Lucina smiled fondly and said, "Yeah … Did you see the look on her face when father came walking in?"

I chuckled and said, "I never knew a three-year-old could run that fast."

With her cheeks reddening slightly again, she smiled and said, "Her future will be a happy one. That is what matters most."

"I intend to see that your future will be a happy one too."

"I have no doubt about that love. And if you insist for me to be a princess, then you are going to be my prince."

"Oh, er. I don't know Lucina." I rubbed the back of my head nervously. "Politics really isn't for me. I like it better being on the sidelines."

Unphased by my response, she said sternly, "Well I'm sorry Robin, but I'm afraid I can't allow that to happen. As long as you are my husband, then you are going to be next to me in front of the public. I can't have you hiding in the shadows behind me. It's much more difficult to hold your hand that way.

Not wanting to fight her on that, I bowed humbly and said , "Very well princess. I am always at your service."

Hearing that she glowed with a bright luminous smile that literally took my breath away.

*Cough* *Cough*

I squinted my eyes as I suddenly felt a rock sink in my throat. Strangely enough, as quickly as it came, it stopped. I figured I must have swallowed my saliva down the wrong pipe or something to that effect.

"Are you okay dear?"

"Of course." I shook it off and said. "Just a small cough. It happens every once in awhile."

"I suppose so." Lucina replied hesitantly. "Oh, but forgive me. I'm afraid we got a bit side tracked."

"Ha, yeah. It appears so." I nodded back. After a few more exchanged glances, we set back to work.

...

Reading over one of the pages on my desk, I briefly sorted the information in my mind. It wasn't difficult work, but it required my full attention. Which made it nice that Lucina was there next to me to relieve some of the work load.

Let's see. We have a request from Plegia to send fifty thousand gallons of fresh water. They are wiling to pay twelve gold coins for every ten gallons so that means- !

I suddenly lost focus as Lucina's shoulder grazed against my arm. Unknowingly, she bumped into me while she was reading over the contents of the document in front of her. So shaking it off, I returned to the document and thought it over.

Hmm, maybe we could offer it at a discount as a sign of good will. We obviously need to improve our relations. Although, we can't break our budget either. I have to see how much - !

Just then, Lucina's leg brushed up against mine. I involuntarily twitched from the gentle touch of her strong and agile limb that curved down with such power and beauty. With those two legs of hers she could move so gracefully, and with great precision. They were marvelous, just like she was. However, I quickly snapped out of it and said to myself.

Focus Robin! You have work to do!

…

Doing just that, I managed to get through three or four papers without much trouble. I kept telling myself that as long as I focused on my work then everything would be fine.

Although everything was not fine. Whether she noticed it or not, Lucina continued to gently rub her leg back and forth while merrily humming as she looked over the papers in front of her. Her smooth and gentle touch making it increasingly harder to concentrate as time passed. So I placed my hand on her lap and pushed her away slightly.

Immediately, she stopped dead in her tracks with her cheeks reddening. She blinked a couple of times unsure how to respond before she said, "Please Robin. I can't concentrate if you hold me like that. It's bad enough that you keep brushing your leg against me."

"Me?!" I asked in disbelief. "Try telling that to my leg that you keep hovering over."

"Hmm?" She asked tilting her head while looking at me fumy. "I did no such thing."

"Yes. You did. That's why I had to push it away." I remarked back as my leg still felt fuzzy.

"Don't be silly." She shook her head earnestly and smiled back, "I would know if was doing something like that."

"Apparently not." I motioned with my hand while it was near her knee. "It was like this."

"Eep!" She cried blushing a deep red. "Stop it Robin! That tickles!"

"Not so easy to concentrate when the tables are turned, are they?" I snickered back.

"Hmph!" Her eyes furrowed as she clutched her shoulders with her hands in a desperate attempt to ignore her ticklishness. The more she tried to ignore it the worse it got. "P-please Robin. We are in the middle of something. There is no need to do something so immature."

"Says the woman who keeps brushing against me."

"I told you I did no such thing!" She cried adamantly pretending that she was not bothered by the tingling sensations running through her leg.

"Did too."

"Honestly." Her voice cracked in a high pitch tone. In an effort to retaliate, she slipped off her shoe and hovered it over my foot.

My eyes rose in surprise as I felt her foot press against me. The linen of her sock touching above my ankle. "You wouldn't dare..."

"If you don't remove your hand I will."

"You're bluffing." I declared skeptical.

"Are you willing to take that risk?" She challenged back.

"This is a declaration of war. You realize that?"

Lucina gave an evil smirk and said, "I'm well aware."

Like all political breakdowns, it was difficult to determine who made the first move. One thing was for sure though. Lucina was playing footsy with my leg. Meanwhile, both of us tried to resist laughing as we increased the ferocity of our attacks. Before long, a full-scale war erupted with no boundaries to slow it down. Our chairs flipped over and countless documents fell to the floor as the two of us dueled to the death. The echoing of uncontrollable laughter being heard throughout the room.

And like all wars, there were no winners. Only two very ticklish people suffering numerous and horrific bouts of laughter. Indeed, the price was higher than anyone could have imagined. For a full thirty minutes the world stood still as the two of us endured the perils of total war. Only for moments would we call a ceasefire to catch our breath before planning our next assault. Although, neither of us made any ground as time, and time again we succumbed to the cruel fate of laughter.

…

In the end, the mission failed miserably. What was originally supposed to be an hour of desk duty turned into three. No matter what we tried, the two of us got easily distracted. Even when we tried to do our work at separate ends of the room we found a way to lose focus. How we even managed to finish was beyond us, but thankfully we finished in time for breakfast. Lucina, my uncompromising enemy suggested we head into town for breakfast since we had to mail a handful of letters. Seeing no harm in it, I agreed and we decided to hold our hands together as sworn enemies.

"I'm really sorry dear. I don't know what came over me." Lucina said embarrassed as we crossed pass the castle gates. "I can't remember a time where I acted so … childish."

"I for one loved it. It's nice to see you let your hair down for once."

"Huh? But I always wear my hair down." She replied confused.

"It's an expression."

"Oh..." She lowered her head embarrassed again.

"Come on dear, relax. I liked seeing you that way." I replied cheerfully as we stepped foot into the main square of town. "It's nice to see you loosen up and unwind for a change."

"But I was acting so silly and immature." She lowered her head disappointed in herself. "Not to mention it took much longer to finish because of my antics."

"They say time flies when you are having fun."

"Yes, but ..." She sighed and said. "Forgive me Robin, I hope I was not this much trouble when we were fighting in the war."

"Hmm? What do you mean?" I asked wondering what worry filled idea dug it self in her mind now.

"I fear that when I was trying to help you with strategy I only delayed things ten fold. That the countless hours we spent together inside the war room was because I was such a big distraction."

I smiled and said, "Trust me Lucina, you have that backwards. You saved me countless hours of work by being there for me."

She rose her head and said, "But how do you explain what happened today? We were supposed to finish in less than an hour. Then one thing led to another and we barely got anything done at all.

Thinking it over for a moment, I said "I'm guessing it is because we have nothing to fight against. Without someone like Grima, we both sort of lost focus half way through. I mean you are so alluring, it makes sense that I would drift towards thinking about you instead. "

Unable to respond, Lucina turned away from me with a faint smile eclipsing from her lips.

"I'm afraid this means we can't work together though. Not unless we want the office to be filled to the brim with towers of paperwork."

"Right." The princess nodded to agree. "That would be unwise. We would probably kiss each other more than we would get anything done."

"Then again." I added as I particularly liked that idea. "Maybe we should work together. Everyday."

Smiling, she leaned over to give me a peck on the cheek. The soft hum of content in her voice as we strolled through the crowded town like we owned the place. It felt incredible. Ever since our talk two weeks ago, we began laughing and sharing moments like it was the first time we ever set eyes on one another. Not a day went by without us hovering over each other like two love struck newlyweds. Chrom often had to steer clear of us citing that he was too young to feel so old. Even worse for the poor king, Sumia would complain about why they didn't act like us anymore. In the end, neither Lucina or I could think things would get any better. Sharing each day together was more than enough for us.

...

"Nnngh. Stupid legs! Don't fail on me now." Someone cried out about thirty feet away from us. She stumbled forward with a limp as she looked down at the road with a fatigued face. She couldn't be more than fifteen or sixteen years old and it was odd to see someone else have such a deep set of blue hair. There also seemed to be something familiar about the clothes she was wearing, but I couldn't get a good look at them.

"Come on legs! Keep going! You have to find where mother and father ran off to. They can't be far now."

"Excuse me." Lucina asked sincerely. Her tender nature reacting to the young girl mumbling to her self. "By any chance are you looking for someone?"

With her head still down, the young woman frowned said, "Yeah. I can't seem to find my mom and dad. I've looked everywhere for them."

"You've lost your parents?" Lucina cried out horrified. "Heavens, that's terrible!"

"Mhm. Last thing I remember was waking up in Mount Prism without them. I don't have a clue where they ran off to"

"Hold on a second!" I stopped her in dismay "You walked all the way here from Mount Prism?!"

She nodded tiredly. "I couldn't find them over there, so maybe there is a chance they are back at our home."

"Where might that be?" Lucina asked ready to carry the young child if she needed to. Her voice was gentle and soothing like what you might expect from a mother.

"The castle." She smiled back.

"You live in the castle?" Lucina asked perplexed. Neither of us remembered seeing this young woman before. Maybe she was a distant cousin or something that we didn't know about.

"Yes, my mother is a beautiful princess, and father likes to teach me tactics. It's so much fun being around them."

"... Pardon?" The two of us said in sync.

"Oh, sorry." The girl shook her head and said, "I don't mean to ramble on."

"No, it's okay." Lucina said warmly. "Could you at least tell us your name sweetie?"

"My name?" She whispered puzzled at the question. She then looked up towards us and said, "Its-"

…

Robin's eyes rose in alarm as he noticed the woman from across the pond move away for her seat and towards his family. Something about her gave him an eerie feeling. When she came closer, Robin was able to see the details of her face. With deep hazel eyes the woman looked to be in her low 40s with some wrinkles starting to form around her cheeks. She also carefully concealed one of her hands in her coat. Cautious, Lucina kept her hand close to her blade in case the woman had any bad ideas. She had nothing against the woman, but the safety of her family would always come first.

"Pardon me." The woman called out in a low tone. There was hesitation in her voice as she snuck a peek at Robin's face. She then froze for a moment leaving the three very confused. "Good sir, might you be Robin the tactician to Ylisse?"

"Um, yes." Robin nodded unsure what to make of the situation or why he felt so rigid all a sudden. "Why do you ask? Do you need help with something?"

Relieved, she smiled and said. "I believe I have something to return to you." She removed her hand from her coat and revealed a small and worn leather bounded book. The words Robin's Secret Tactical Journal of Secrets– No one touch! inscribed on the front page.

"W-what … what is this?" He asked in dismay.

Glancing back at the two ladies next to him, she smiled nervously and said, "That is a collection of notes you made when you were younger."

"When I was ... younger?" The tactician scrunched his eyes shocked and unable to process the information. "When did you- I mean. How did you get this?"

"I'm sorry." She shook her head mad at herself. "I haven't introduced myself. My name is Sarah. Your mother and I used to work together as housekeepers."

"My Mother?"" He asked with words sounding foreign to him. "Woah! Hold on a second! You knew my mother?!"

"Yes." She nodded back "Forgive me. His majesty said you lost your memories a long time ago. You probably don't even remember me, do you?"

"I'm sorry. I can't say that I do." He frowned back.

"His majesty?" Lucina asked confused. "Are you referring to the Exalt Chrom?"

Sarah nodded and said, "Yes. I was hoping to meet at the castle, but somehow I received an audience with his Lordship Chrom and his lovely wife instead. It was through them I learned about your amnesia."

"So you met both Chrom and Sumia?" The tactician asked bewildered.

She nodded and said, "Yes. The queen was most interested in hearing about the younger version of you."

Robin grimaced and said, "I'm sure she was thrilled to hear about all my embarrassing moments as a child."

"Hmm? You said earlier that you knew Robin as well." Lucina asked trying to sort things out. This all seemed so strange.

"Of course." She smiled warmly. "Everyone at the manor knew him. We used to call Robin a fireball because he was always such a burst of energy."