Off they went, deeper into the island. Florina was following the pegasus happily, saying comforting words to the mare. The pegasus was whinnying every so often, as if in response to the girl. Lon'qu lingered behind, away from what might have been called a conversation between the two. His vision was coming and going and he was being led by the sound of Florina's voice, the pegasus's whinnies, their soft steps. As they continued he grew more and more confident he was going to collapse.

After a walk that seemed to drag on for days, Florina and the pegasus stopped. "Right here?" Florina asked. "But what's right here?"

They were in a forest. The vegetation was a vibrant green and the sky above seemed to be a cloudy grey. The pegasus sniffed at the ground before biting off some grass and chewing. Florina giggled beside her. "Just stopping for a graze?" she asked, then patted her on the neck.

Lon'qu looked up at the two with eyes to kill. "We do not have time for this," he snarled.

Florina glanced over at him. "She's just stopping for a minute to fuel up," she said quietly.

"How long has it been since we have had food? And you allow this beast to graze away?" He was reaching his boiling point. All the pain and hunger and anguish were coming to hit him. He took a deep breath and turned away, not wanting to say anything else.

Once the pegasus finished they were off again. She pranced along happily, belly now full, while Florina and Lon'qu seemed to be growing only more sluggish. When their grazing spot was out of sight, the pegasus stopped again. They were still in the forest, but it seemed much darker in this new location. Florina questioned the pegasus, but the creature seemed confused. She looked around, then sniffed at the ground and looked up again.

Lon'qu watched the scene, his fists balled. No. This was not happening. "It's lost," he said, his voice free of any inkling of emotion. "Isn't it?"

Florina looked panicked and turned to the pegasus. "You know where we are, right?" she asked. "You can get us to safety?"

But the pegasus didn't respond. She kept sniffing and searching frantically, giving Florina the answer to her question that she did not want.

That was it. The past weeks had caught up to him. The aggravation at having Florina part of the Shepherds, the fuss she had made over supper that day long ago, the way she'd caused him to take a Falchion to the side, this crazy journey to unfamiliar territory, taking directions from a pegasus just as lost as they were; everything was catching up. Lon'qu could feel himself snap. He lost grip of his sanity, and he could feel his hands tighten around the sword at his side. Suddenly, there was nothing stopping him. His gynophobia, his manners, his common courtesy were all gone. "This is all your fault," he growled.

Florina looked up to see enraged eyes on her. "Just give her time-"

"This is all your fault," Lon'qu repeated, and suddenly he had a sword to her throat. "All of this, this entire trip. I knew Chrom should have never let you join us. What was he thinking? You look like a strong wind could knock you over, and you've just been an inconvenience for me and the Shepherds as long as you've been here. If you'd never been at Arena Ferox that day, whenever it was, I would have never been so distracted. I would have never lost to Lucina, but because you were there, I couldn't focus. I know you have something to do with why we're here, and you can't even fight for yourself. You've made me fight for you and look, I've nearly gone and killed myself just trying to protect you. And now you're making me follow around a damn horse who has no idea where it's going. You are worthless to me. Why don't you go back to where you come from? You are not wanted here."

There was silence on the entire island. The pegasus moved to charge Lon'qu but Florina stopped her with her hand. The girl took a step away from the man, tears already beginning to stream down her face. "I'm sorry I can't do anything right," she mumbled. Her injuries, her exhaustion, her starvation and fear were all surfacing. "I'm sorry I've done nothing but make your life worse. I'm sorry we're probably going to die here and it's all because of me." Her legs started shaking. "All I wanted was to get stronger, but I was only ever weak little Florina, even for Lady Lyndis. I hated it. I hated being so weak. She, she was like you, always protecting me when it was supposed to be the other way around. And I hated it. So I talked to the gods and prayed and prayed and eventually she-your Naga-she took me to this era, and she told me to train among the Shepherds. She told me they would teach me what I needed to best protect Lyn. But she was wrong, okay? She was wrong because I can't protect Lyn, and I can't protect you-I can barely protect myself! Fiora was right; I can't do anything by myself. I'm just a big baby and now I'm going to die away from my friends and my sisters and my Huey."

The words were just spilling out of her mouth, and by the end she was sobbing. Lon'qu lowered his sword and watched her. He, too, started to shake, and soon the two were collapsed on the floor. Lon'qu felt horrible for making the girl cry, especially when she had only come here to improve her skills. She never would be able to now, and perhaps that was his fault. Perhaps, if he'd taken to her earlier, if he'd been a little more accepting of the girl, they wouldn't be in this situation. After all, wasn't that how Grima had been defeated? Through an army of nations that had stuck together?

He cleared his throat, and his next words seemed to pain him. "I'm sorry," he said quietly. "I did not know."

Florina didn't bother to look up. The pegasus nudged her gently, but not even that was enough to make her stir.

Lon'qu looked away and continued in a low tone. "When I was a kid, I lived in the slums of Chon'sin. One day, my home was attacked by bandits, and my best friend Ke'ri died protecting me from them. Her parents blamed me for it, and I blamed myself. I set off to become stronger for her, and I vowed I would never get close to anyone again. I trained for years on my own, hoping to ensure I would never again be powerless against anyone." He wiped at his eyes, as if to wipe away a tear. "I suppose both of us were disappointed in this journey."

Florina looked up, as if she had remembered something. "Ke'ri," she said quietly. "Is that... Is that why you fought so hard for me? To kill all those bandits?"

Lon'qu looked up at her and nodded weakly. "You reminded me of her," he admitted. "I could not stand to let you both die while I was powerless."

Florina smiled a small smile. "I wish I could do something like that," she said. "Save someone. I always thought it would be really cool to fly down and save someone from danger on Huey. Instead I just cause trouble. Once, I flew into the leader of the Ganelon Bandits. That was really scary. And another time, I flew right into the face of a Lord. I make too many mistakes. I should have wished for that, instead. To not mess up so much."

Lon'qu smiled a sad smile, and the two looked away from each other. They sat in silence, as if to reflect on and accept their fate. Suddenly, Lon'qu perked up and turned to Florina. "You said you flew?"

Florina looked up, surprised. "Huh?" she said. "O-oh, yeah, I'm a pegasus knight. It wasn't my proudest-"

Lon'qu turned to the pegasus beside them. "So you can ride this?"

Florina's hands flew to her mouth. "I hadn't considered that," she breathed. "Do you think you might know where we are if you had a bird's eye view?" With some difficulty she got up and turned to the pegasus. "Would you mind giving us a little ride?"

Once both on the pegasus, they shot up in the air. Lon'qu held on firmly to Florina's dress, his eyes wide as they left the ground. Florina turned to him. "Nervous?" she asked. "It's not that scary once you get used to it."

He let go of her and tried to keep his balance as they went up. They passed the tallest trees, the fluffiest clouds before they stopped. Now, they could see the island, see the forest and the huge mountains overlooking the land and sea. Between the mountains they could see a town. Lon'qu tried hard to concentrate on it, then looked at the island as a whole. "Is that Mountain Village?" Florina flew closer to it, confirming Lon'qu's thoughts. "Mountain Village, where we found Emmerynn after the war. Ylisse and Regna Ferox are both east." He could not hide the smile on his face. "Home is just across the ocean."

Florina was smiling wide as well. "Let's go to the Mountain Village," she said. "We can rest up, and maybe they'll know how to get us home. Plus," she added, "we can get our helper home."

The pegasus, at her mention, whinnied loudly and flew them straight towards the village and their salvation.