~Based on Fire Emblem Engage~

"Nice shots!"

Four people were standing on the sidelines waiting for her to finish up. The white-haired one, the one who had complimented her probably, was smirking. They looked like a weird bunch. She didn't recognize any of them, and they definitely didn't look like they were from around here.

"Uhm, thank you." She answered, very confused. There was no need to be rude. She didn't know why they were here yet.

"Are you Takeba Yukari?" The older man with glasses and shaggy brown hair asked. At her nod, he smiled. "Great! This will only take a moment."

"My name is Ikutsuki Shuji. I was an old friend of your father's during the war." The mentioning of her father and the war in the same sentence was enough to make Yukari freeze up. Her bow creaked as her fingers tightened around its handle. People talking about her father was something she thought she escaped when she left her home village and moved here.

"If you're here to ask about my father's involvement with the Emblem Rings, I don't know anything."

"We aren't here to talk about that," the red head shook her head. She had the aura of a woman of business, all work no play. Her arms were folded across her chest too, adding to the frostiness she was emitting. "We're here to ask about that ring on your finger."

Don't panic. "This ring?" She motioned towards the ring on her finger: a simple silver band with a blue, oval cut lapis lazuli. An ordinary ring to the common eye.

"We know it's an Emblem Ring." The man who had complimented her said.

Time to go. "I have nothing else to say."

They hurried after. "We aren't accusing you of stealing the ring."

"I can't give you this ring."

They stopped. They must not have gotten this kind of response before. It was almost comical. She started to leave before they could recover from the shellshock.

As she walked away, a masculine voice spoke from the ring on her finger.

"Your hand is bleeding." In her anger she had been squeezing the arrows in her hand, breaking the intact one and crumbling the broken ones even more. The jagged edges dug into her skin, cutting her hand and causing blood to seep out.

"Let's go home, Yukari," the voice smoothed her. "A warm bath could help."

A hot bath did sound nice, relaxing even, after her morning workout was ruined.

At least it did before a scream pierced the air, quickly alerting the two.

"That sounds like it came from the village," Minato said.

She started running towards the village, and she's pretty sure we heard multiple footsteps running behind her too.

The village was overrun with these… things. Undead creatures seemed to be held together only by pure malice. The sight of them brought cold shivers of dread down her spine.

"So Eberus really is back."

"Yukari!" Minato's quick warning helped her dodged the oncoming spear jab, pulling an arrow out of her quiver and letting it fly deep into the head of the corrupted gunning for her. It disappeared into a puff of hazy smoke.

"We have to help the others!" Minato materialized beside her. This time his sword was ready at his side. One thing about the spirit was that he was always read to take up his sword whenever anyone was in danger, even if people don't do the same for him. It's one of the thing she loves but also hates about him: his martyr tendencies. At least in this form, physical attacks can't do anything to him.

"Ready?"

And this time, she can fight beside him.

"Ready."

Midway into the battle she ran into three of the recruiters. The white haired one was separated from the others. He was fighting the monsters by himself with his fists. He was fairing well too, hitting them with clean jabs and swift kicks. But the numbers were vastly in the Shadows' favor. She watched as they overpowered him and knocked him down. His friends were fighting their way to him, but they'd be too late. She started running towards him.

Akihiko had braced himself for the attack, but it never came. Instead, there was a clash. He opened his eyes to see the axe mere seconds away from his chest. A sword was holding it back.

A push back sent the Shadow flying and a well-aimed arrow turned it into dust.

His friends had finally reached him. The red-head fell to her knees and took the boy into her arms, fretting over him for any injuries. Seeing her reaction, Yukari could definitely tell that they were more than friends.

"Are you okay, Akihiko?"

"I'm fine, Mitsuru." He stopped her hands in their frantic search of his person by grabbing both of them in his, but then gestured with his head and Yukari knew what was coming. "But look."

Yukari hoped he'd have disappeared back into the ring, but judging by the look of surprise on Mitsuru's face, he was still standing beside her.

"The Emblem of The End."

She ran. As soon as they found out who he really was, she made a quick escape.

"Oi! Takeba!"

The gruff looking one of the four ran after her. The others weren't with him. Yukari had to admit, he was the one who intimidated her the most. He easily towered over her and his friends. The whole time they'd been talking to her and trying to recruit her he'd been completely silent too. His brooding appearance didn't help his case either.

"I already told you guys no, if-"

"No. It isn't like that." He interrupted her. She slowed down to a stop hesitantly. His sigh was heavy, and he brought his hand out of his pocket to rub the back of his neck. She thinks it's the first time he's seen his hands.

"You and that guy have a special relationship right?"

She didn't acknowledge that.

"Look, I don't know you guys' story, but judging by the way you've been reacting I'm guessing you two have been through a lot. Both of you have been through a lot. What I'm trying to say is… it's okay to be selfish. You don't have to fight in this one. You shouldn't have to. Just… if you decide not to fight, don't have any regrets."

He walked off back to his friends after saying that, leaving her to stew in her thoughts and the coming decision she was dreading to make.

It was after the bathtub was near filled to the brim with steaming water and suds, and the refreshing, soothing fragrance of mint and lavender was dense enough to create a mind-numbing haze and when she was chest deep in the water and fully relaxed that Minato came out of the ring.

She could see the textures of her walls partially through his body. Harmless, little blue wisps floated around his body too. It's still weird to see him like this. She remembers a time when she wasn't able to see through him, when the only translucent thing about him was his despondency to the world around him.

"Until I met you." He would've said. Did say.

It was during the tail end of his corporeal life that that despondency started to dwindle and he started to see the world in a whole new light. He actually started to want to live. He wanted to live with her. But now, they had to settle for this.

She tore her eyes from his body, too many bad memories and deep set anger were resurfacing, and instead looked at his face.

To find that his eyes were trained lower than her face, staring intently at the flower-laced water which was apparently doing a very good job at concealing her womanly figure underneath it. She grinned at the blatant staring.

"Pervert," she teased. But the jest seemed to go completely over his head, wherever it was. He was deep in thought, and she knew just where they were venturing.

"You want me to give them the Emblem Ring."

"No," he answered. "But you know I'm one of the only ones who can stop it."

"You've already stopped it once." She knew that she was being stubborn, but at the moment she didn't care. There are other powerful Emblem Rings out there, and six others who could change the course of the fight just as much if not more than he could. Why couldn't they leave him alone?

"And now it's back again." He said, and maybe it was her irritation from the four earlier or maybe it was the frustration that they were even talking about this, but it sounded as if he was trying to pacify a child throwing a tantrum. "It's going to take the combined strength of the Emblems to defeat it. That includes me."

"You've sacrificed enough already!"

Minato stopped his explanation.

She didn't mean to shout, but her emotions were running loose and this conversation was bringing back thoughts and memories she had left behind after the last war. She remembers a poor boy who was ripped from his family and put through excruciating experiments against his will. She remembers a poor boy who would sit up at night scratching at his skin because he felt something crawling underneath it. She remembers a boy who locked away all of his emotions just so he could block out the torment around him.

She remembers a poor boy who when he just found out what it truly felt like to live, to love, had to sacrifice his life, his body, to save a world that had forsaken now, they were calling him to action again.

Yukari sank deeper into the water. She didn't want to lose him. She didn't want to see him go. She didn't want to see him in any more pain. What would this war also cause him to sacrifice? She also was grateful to Shinjiro-san for allowing her to feel as if she had a choice, but she knew Eberus was a dangerous threat and they'd need all the help they could get.

A ghostly hand grazed the side of her face, passing through her body but leaving behind a cool sensation. "Yukari," he muttered.

She sighed. "Yeah, I know."

A gentle smile was her response, and she's never wished more than now that she could touch him.

"You told her what, Shinjiro?!" Mitsuru raising her voice was enough to make even the most manliest of men flinch, but Shinjiro held his own. His arms were folded as he stared down the 'Ice Princess'.

"I told her she didn't have to join the fight," he repeated.

"Why would you tell her that, Aragaki-san?" Ikutsuki asked.

"What's the point of putting him through another war he may not even need to fight in? If that truly is the Ring of The End, that guy has been through a lot, and so has that girl by the looks of it."

"Shinji could be right, Mitsuru. There's nowhere in the legend that says all five of the elite rings are needed to defeat Eberus." Akihiko backed Shinjiro up. He wasn't an idiot. He knew her rejection wasn't out of laziness or cowardice. From the little interaction he's seen from them, he could tell they were close. He's never seen anyone protect someone that fiercely who were only knowing the truth behind the ring's story, that worry was definitely warranted. And here they were asking him to join another fight.

"But a war is still a war, Shinjiro-san. Akihiko-san," Ikutsuki stood up from his seat, drawing all attention to himself. A calm smile was on his face but his eyes showed a cold sheen. "Yes, fighting that fight alone was very honorable and we are all very grateful towards him, but the world is in danger again. So since he defeated Eberus once already, shouldn't he join this fight as well?"

"Sir.." Mitsuru trailed off.

They were interrupted by a door opening. All four of them turned to their new guest.

Yukari stood in the entry, a mix of determination and resignation clear on her face. The Emblem Ring on her finger glinted in the room's low lighting.

"If he has to join the fight, you'll have to let me join too."