It all felt like a dream. Or rather, a nightmare. Lucina felt detached from reality as Cordelia shook her head. Her knights were unable to even get close to the ravine due to remaining Imperial archers. She thought she could do it, but Frederick, albeit reluctantly, had to point out the risk. Chrom would have gone himself if he were able, but he would not risk someone else's life.

So Robin was pronounced missing in action.

Lucina had felt numb ever since. She had barely registered anything that was said since. They were marching along the coast to try and gain space between them and Yen'fay, but they would need to face him sooner or later.

However, Lucina did not seem to care. This war had taken her beloved. Any scouting mission, anytime an Imperial patrol dared cross their path, she was on it with a fury never seen by her allies.

She had just come back from one of these expeditions when her sister found her. Lucina's usually well kept appearance was nowhere to be found. Even in the worst of situations, Lucina always had kept up a minimum appearance. It was not due to any vanity, but a desire to help the morale of those that followed her as their leader looking unkempt did not garner confidence.

That was gone now. Lucina had not brushed her hair in days, her clothes were wrinkled, dirty and torn, and perhaps most alarmingly, her armor was dented from her recklessly taking on whole scouting parties alone.

"Hey, Lucy," Cynthia approached slowly as her sister brutally eviscerated a training dummy. She got no response though, "I just…we haven't talked since…you know…"

"What is there to say?" Lucina glared as she turned the head of the dummy to splinters and broken wood, "Words won't bring him back."

"Maybe not, but we're worried about you. You barely eat, you barely sleep, and you're throwing yourself at the enemy like you're…"

"Reckless? Suicidal maybe?" Lucina scoffed thinking of how Robin would act in combat, "I don't care."

"And do you think he'd want you throwing your life at them?"

"No," Lucina growled, moving on to another dummy, "But he isn't here, is he? He was my everything. He had become my greatest reason to save this world. I stayed away, I hurt him, because I wasn't good enough. He was my reason to fight, but I could not put him first. Now what do I have?"

Lucina grunted as she cleaved a wooden dummy in twain, "Revenge. I will see him avenged no matter what."

The pegasus knight backed away slowly. She had never seen her sister like this. Even with Grima, she kept a rational head most of the time. Now, Cynthia was not sure who was standing in front of her, or if she was even still her sister.

All she knew was that the woman before her was scaring her.

Chrom balled his fists against the table with a map of Valm on it. He had no idea what to do. They were all looking to him, but he was a fighter. He was no tactician. He knew as much which was why he never took higher ranks in the military even when his station as a prince easily could have earned him such.

"Just had to be a hero, huh?"

"Chrom?"

The prince turned around and quickly cleared his throat, "Sumia. It's late. What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing," She frowned as she approached.

"Just…trying to figure out our next move. Robin would have already had marching orders. Guess he really did keep this army running."

"I miss him too," Sumia smiled sadly, "It still doesn't feel real."

"He was willing to make the hard call, and he would not give orders he was unwilling to follow. As noble as it sounds, I can't help but be a bit angry. We could have given him support. He didn't have to make that choice on his own,"

Sumia unfurled one of his fists and clasped hands with him, "You're angry he decided for you. Like Emmeryn did."

Chrom looked down, his bangs covering his eyes, "He knew I could have taken out the warding. Maybe not as spectacularly. We could have put a team together and pushed for that point."

"And both of those options put other people at risk. You know what kind of man he…." Sumia trailed off, not wanting to finish with a past tense.

"It just makes me feel so helpless. How can I ever be exalt if everyone keeps making the hard calls for me?"

Rubbing his shoulder, Sumia pulled him close, "Maybe…being exalt also means trusting those around you."

"If it means I keep losing people, I don't want to."

"I know," She held him closer, "But he made his choice."

"I guess…I just have to learn to accept it. If only I knew what to do about this war."

"Did he leave any notes?" Sumia asked, trying to help.

"Some drafts, but they're incomplete."

"It's a start though, right? Here, I'll help you sort them."

"Heh, alright. Guess we're in for an all nighter."

The next day, Chrom was much more decisive, and knowing it was based on Robin's plans did help assuage some fears, but not nearly all. They would attack. They had to deal with Yen'fay as soon as possible. Unfortunately, Robin had not picked an ideal battlefield yet. Still, it was their best shot, so they started marching east. Meanwhile, the leaders were trying to keep everything together.

"I didn't realize how much Robin did," Cordelia sighed after finishing the mess hall schedule.

"He had made himself indispensable," Frederick nodded, "In a different life, he could have been a knight. He was even willing to give his life so that his comrades could carry on. I have the utmost respect for him, I will admit."

"High praise from you, but I find I'm not as eager to praise such actions," The redhead's brow furrowed, "I've seen far more sacrifice than I ever cared to. I'm just not certain he explored all possibilities thoroughly. Even I can see there were other options."

"Perhaps, but he did not hesitate. The mark of a true knight. While I do not enjoy losing friends and comrades, I still recognize the bravery involved."

"I'm not sure it was bravery so much as the actions of a broken man. He was hurting. Whatever her reasons, Lucina left him feeling dejected. Maybe it impacted him more than we all thought."

"I think at this point we are falling into idle gossip territory," Frederick warned, "Whatever his personal affairs, he bought us a chance. I will not forget that."

"I suppose," Cordelia sighed before pulling out a new document, "Ah, laundry duty."

"A knight's job is never done, is it?"

Cynthia and Owain had come to an agreement. To protect Lucina from herself, they would take turns going on her missions. Not that they typically did much, but even keeping up with her could be exhausting. Cynthia was still terrified by her brutality, but she kept following her out of love for her sister.

Today they were chasing rumors that Imperial scouts had set up in some old ruins. They were nothing special. A run down structure that was easily older than them by several times. Still, it would serve as the Imperial's tombs, Lucina decided.

The grief and hatred-fueled warrior made short work of the scouts. At the very least, little intel was getting back to Yen'fay, but Lucina had taken a few minor scrapes. Normally they would not have touched her. She was getting careless.

"Let's go," Lucina barely acknowledged her sister, and Cynthia and her mount shared a look.

"Hey, we're ahead of schedule. Why don't we take a look around."

"No."

"Ah, come on. We could take in the sights, or maybe-"

"I said no! Now, we can return together, or I'll walk."

Cynthia swallowed but nodded agreeing to take her sister back to the Shepherd's forward camp.

Arriving in camp, there seemed to be some sort of commotion. Cynthia noticed it immediately, but Lucina was too busy trudging along to her tent to notice or care. Cynthia was quick to notice the whispers and eyes following Lucina, but she had no idea why.

Her friends arrived soon enough though, and she hoped they would have some sort of answer.

"Hey, guys, what's up?"

"Where's Lucina?" Owain asked in an uncharacteristically nervous sweat.

"Uh, she went to her tent I think. She's been a bit grumpier than usual if you hadn't noticed."

"We should hurry," Nah nodded.

"Why?" Cynthia tilted her head, "What's wrong?"

"We'll explain later," Severa huffed, "For now, we need to-"

"Unhand me!"

"Uh-oh," Inigo swallowed, "Too late."

Cynthia followed the others as they ran to the source of the shouting. Fortunately, it did not take them long to find the source. What they found was an odd sight indeed. There was a younger girl who had pulled Lucina into a bear hug. Lucina was not happy. Cynthia was just glad Lucina had broken her sword on the mission so she did not stab the poor girl.

"I said, let go!" Lucina finally pulled the surprisingly strong girl off her.

"Aw," The girl pouted, "But I'm just so happy to see you, Mom!"

Lucina froze and her friend's looked with varying degrees of concern. Meanwhile Cynthia's expression better matched those of the surrounding Shepherd's.

"M-mother?"