"Ugh!" Lianna fumed. "That Rowan! Sometimes he really can just be so -"

"Something wrong, milady?"

"Oh, Ananias!" She shook her head. "No, nothing too serious. It's just that," she sighed, "Rowan and I got into another fight again."

Ananias' eyes widened in surprise. "'Again'? Have the two of you been fighting a lot recently?"

"No, but he's my twin brother, so it's only natural that we fight from time to time."

"Really? I would have assumed that the two of you being twins would've mitigated that somewhat."

"There are times when it does," Lianna admitted, "but, well, he's still him and I'm still me, and sometimes we're as different as can be. If anything, us being twins actually makes our arguments that much more heated, not less!"

"Really? Is it because you expect the other person to understand?"

"Yes, exactly! We may have learned to accept our differences over the years, but sometimes, there really is no way to avoid the occasional argument!"

"Is that so?"

Lianna chuckled. "Well, isn't that a rare sight? The stone faced Ananias actually being genuinely interested in something! Is it okay if I ask why?"

Ananias simply shrugged and answered, "Nothing special, really. I've just never dealt with a brother and sister pair of twins before."

"Oh, that's right! You come from a predominantly female family, don't you?"

Ananias nodded. "Yep. For some reason, whether it's one kid, two kids, three kids, or more, my family had always given birth to females."

"Until you popped up, right?"

"Right."

Lianna giggled. "It must have been awkward for you, being around by so many women and girls like that."

"Awkward in more ways than one," Ananias admitted. "But my dad was always there, so we at least got to be awkward together."

"Your dad, huh?" Lianna mused.

Ananias curiously tilted his head. "Something wrong?"

"Oh, nothing. It's just... you sound like you and your father were fairly close."

Ananias nodded. "Yeah, fairly. What about it?"

Lianna frowned. "Well, it's just that, Rowan doesn't exactly have a very high opinion about our father, and, well, that's a real shame, don't you think?"

"It is, but I assume Rowan has his own reasons for it, right?"

"He does, but... oh! I don't know! Sometimes I just don't feel like it's enough!"

"Do you mind telling me then? Who knows? Maybe a different perspective could help sort this whole thing out."

"Well, I suppose it's worth a shot. You see, the reason why Rowan doesn't have a high opinion of our father is because of an incident that we had when we were young."

Ananias' raised an eyebrow in surprise. "An incident? What incident?"

"Well, one day, Rowan and I had the bright idea to venture into a forest alone, and, well, you can probably guess what happened."

"You got lost?"

Lianna nodded. "We got lost. Eventually, it got really dark, and Rowan got so scared. Believe it or not, he actually started crying!"

"Crying? You're right, I don't believe it. The guy doesn't seem self-aware enough to cry over something like that."

Lianna giggled. "Anyway, Rowan was so scared that he started calling for our mother and father to come and rescue us, and eventually someone did. But it wasn't our mother or our father. It was one of the many knights whom my father had sent to go out and look for us."

"Makes sense. It was dark, and he is a king after all."

"That's what I eventually realized too, but Rowan? All he seems to care about is the fact that a knight came out and looked for him instead of his own father! He's resented our father, and the crown, ever since."

"Which is why Rowan is so fixated on training to become a knight."

"Yes."

Ananias sighed as he rubbed his chin. "Honestly, I can't say that I don't understand. If I was placed in the exact same situation, I probably would've felt just as hurt as he did."

"But I was placed in the exact same situation and I've learned to realize the wisdom in what our father did! So why can't Rowan?"

"People deal with things differently. He was probably a lot more scared than you realized, so when his father didn't come running to his rescue, he probably took it pretty hard."

"Even so, the way Rowan talks about him sometimes... it's going too far!"

"I've never heard him talk about his father before. What does he usually say about him?"

"Admittedly, Rowan doesn't talk about him much, but when our father does get brought up, he rarely has any kind things to say about him. He always has to mention how weak and sickly our father was."

"Was he?"

"He was, but he had many other fine qualities about him too. Qualities that made him worthy of being king!"

"Would you say that you look up to him?"

Lianna thought for a moment before nodding. "Yes, I do. I just wish that Rowan can learn to look up to him too."

Ananias sighed. "Look, Rowan seems to a mature-enough guy. I'm sure somewhere deep down, he recognizes your father's better qualities. It's just that Rowan values certain other qualities over the ones your father championed, like being physically there for the people that you love. He just doesn't feel the same way about your father the way you do. Is that desirable? No. Can he take it too far sometimes? Maybe. But I don't think Rowan has any burning hatred for the guy either. They're just different. Kind of like how you and he are different."

"I suppose. But when we fight over our differences, we usually take some time to cool off before making up. With our father though, well... he passed away a while ago, so at the very least, I want Rowan to forgive him, you know?"

"That honestly seems like more of a thing between him and your father. Nothing we can do about it, really."

Lianna frowned. "So we're stuck like this?"

"Seems like. Though I guess you can say that Rowan is pretty stuck too."

"Hmm? How so?"

"Well, I'm assuming Rowan was pretty adamant in becoming a knight, even when your father was around."

"He was."

"Well then, maybe since your father died, Rowan feels that he has to commit to being a knight now, because that's what he told his father he would do."

"Huh, when you say it like that, it almost sounds like Rowan is practically punishing himself for how he treated our father."

"Yeah, that's usually what happens when people don't or can't make up."

"Hmm. Well, if that's the case, then with all due respect, I think I'm going to keep trying to help Rowan reconcile his feelings about our father. I understand what you mean when you said that this is more between them, but as his twin sister, I just can't bear the thought of Rowan possibly punishing himself like that. I'd rather he be knight wholeheartedly than to be one just because he was too stubborn."

"Well, he's your brother, so I guess I can't stop you. And besides, I'd rather he be a knight because he wants to too. So I'll leave the whole reconciling thing to you then."

"Sounds like a plan. Oh, and Ananias?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks you for listening. Sometimes, we really do forget how much the simple act of listening can help."

Ananias smiled. "Sure. Anytime, Lianna."


Dual Special #1:

Ananias: You think we got this, Lianna?

Lianna: Yes, absolutely! Let's show them our strength!


Dual Special #2:

Ananias: Go for it, princess!

Lianna: Oh, I'm more than just a princess!


Dual Special #3:

Lianna: Ananias, I could use your help!

Ananias: I'll do what I can!


Dual Special #4:

Lianna: Let's show off our teamwork, Ananias!

Ananias: You mean follow-the-leader, right?


Author's Note: The next Warriors supports will be:

10. Chrom