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Extra: Gifts from Another Time

"Mommy! Let's go! I want to play!" Morgan tugged on her mother's hand, dragging her towards the daisy patch planted within the palace courtyard. Lissa was still in a daze the moment her daughter pulled her across Ylisstol Palace's halls.

Lissa felt her daughter's tiny palms tightly grip around the tips of her fingers. They were soft, yes, but her grip was that of an unyielding vice. She always wondered where this four year old girl inherited her seemingly bottomless amount of energy and strength. She was never like that in her youth, was she? What about Mark? Was he this energetic as a child?

"Oh! M-Morgan! Don't rush!" Lissa stammered. Earlier, she was a little hesitant to get up from her bed. Yet seeing Morgan's grin by her bedside was enough motivation to get her going that morning. She was always happy to oblige her daughter's wishes, no matter how inconveniencing it was for her.

In the center of the courtyard lay a patch of daisies planted by their former gardener. Only with the passage of time did it grow to become the simple, yet beautiful centerpiece that everyone in the palace loved to set their gaze upon. Morgan finally let go of her panting mother's hands and went to the middle of the patch and began shouting. Her childish frame was an impressive ruse to mask her vigorous yell.

"Hanna!" She beckoned. Yet there was silence. Suddenly, Morgan started barking. Moments later, a low-pitched barking from afar followed. And without notice, a large gray dog dashed from the main entry way and pounced onto Morgan's person. Lissa's maternal instincts immediately began to act, worried that the dog might have hurt her child, but was at set ease once Hanna began licking Morgan's cherub cheeks accompanied by her giggling. Hanna barked and licked Morgan's face again.

"H-Hanna!" She pushed the dog away with her hands. "Stop it!"

"Okay, Hanna." Lissa sighed and pulled the dog by the collar, the dog's slobber getting on her hands. Hanna whined softly, even though her tail kept wagging intensely. "Now behave, you two—"

All Lissa remembered seeing was a blonde streak passing right under her. Morgan immediately jumped on Hanna's back and began rider her like a horse. Pulling a small ball from her pocket, she threw it as far as she could. Hanna immediately darted towards the ball. Morgan gripped on her dog's collar and began riding her around the daisy patch.

"Morgan, that's dangerous! Get off Hanna!" Lissa immediately began chasing the two, telling her to get off her dog all the while Morgan's laughter silencing her worried calls.

"Go, Hanna! Go!"

…

Morgan's eyes slowly and reluctantly opened. Her eyelids remained heavy but she tried to stir herself to being fully awake. Her room was barely lit by the moon as it passed through a thin layer of clouds, her eyes barely made out the ceiling above and the study desk beside her. Her mind was muddled and overcome with an instinct to return to her slumber. In her daze, She asked herself, "Was there a dream? Did I just have a dream?"

Eventually, she succumbed to her heavy eyes and once again fell into deep slumber with the ends of her lips curving upward.

The early morning eventually came and Morgan awoke feeling unbelievably refreshed. She tilted her head towards her window and the night's pitch black sky became a cascading pallet of dark blues with yellows and reds. The moon still emanated a bright white even though the sun slowly began peeking through the mountains in the east.

I knew sleeping early was a good idea! Now what was that thing that I was supposed to remember…?

A mild, but very cold breeze flowed through her arms and neck, making her jerk and shiver. Morgan loved the cold weather. The sensation of bundling up with her soft covers was something of unparalleled comfort. Yet she never did like it when she wore something thin and loose, all the while expecting that the evening would be warmer. She tried to pull the covers over her shoulders like a shroud, trying to keep herself warm from the chilly spring wind.

She felt a weight pinning her covers down. She looked around her and was treated at the sight of her infant brother sandwiched in between the lighter sheets and her comforter. She swaddled him with the lighter bedcovers and pulled him to her arms. Owain's eyes opened momentarily but closed once more.

"You're going to worry Mother again, Wainy." She whispered to his ear, leaving a kiss on his puffy cheeks. Morgan sat up and got herself ready to take Owain back to his crib. Suddenly, she heard her door slowly creak open and saw her mother's head slowly peeking into the crack. Lissa was surprised seeing her daughter already awake at that time, knowing that her daughter was more of a late-morning awakener than an early bird. Lissa grinned and waved her to Morgan, the latter returning the gesture.

"Father forgot to close the door again, didn't he?" Morgan asked, keeping her voice low as she handed Owain over.

"Yeah. I've been waking up earlier than usual just so your brother stays out of trouble." Lissa sighed in resignation, fully aware that her husband would never remember to lock their door. "Don't worry; I'll have a word with him later."

"It's okay. We can always move Owain's crib to my room. I'll be sure to remember locking my door every night." She suggested. Lissa on the other hand narrowed her brow and grinned mischievously. "W-What?"

"Honey. You tend to forget about a lot of things." Lissa teased. Morgan puffed her cheeks childishly.

"N-no I don't. Hmph."

"Remember that pitfall trap that you set up for your father and he never came to it?"

"T-That was because he totally read through my plans and circumvented it!" Morgan tried to argue valiantly against her mother, yet only fell deeper into her trap. Lissa absolutely loved teasing her daughter.

"But you forgot about it and fell in. So did Gerome." Lissa's jabs were straightforward and simple, yet the had the full effect intended. Morgan blushed and covered her face with her palms.

"I don't want to remember that, mother!" Her mother's occasional teasing irked Morgan to a point, but she knew that was what mothers do to girls her age. It was characteristic of parents to tease their teenage children on occasion, even if she and her mother were just seven years apart.

As they walked back to her parent's room, Morgan realized that within a span of three years, she had seen her parents grow and her to grow alongside them. To meet them in their prime in the battlefield, to witness their marriage, and even to hold her eldest brother at his birth, was an unbelievable experience. Stories like those were reserved to be told through her parent's lips, yet to witness them in person was unheard of. Yet it pained her sometimes that her own mind has removed her beloved mother and brother from the recesses of her memories. Though as time passed she regained some memories but they were just snippets—puzzle pieces from a missing portrait.

"Oh! Do you know any healing-staff hoodoo-voodoo spells that can help remember dreams?" Morgan asked, remembering her noted thought from earlier in the evening. Lissa gave Morgan a quizzical look, especially with how she managed to compound words in rapid succession. "You know? Those things that happen at night? Kind of scary sometimes, sometimes not?"

"I know what you mean, dear. What's this all about?"

"I think I had a dream of a memory or something. I just can't remember it completely! And I think it may have had something to do with the time that I came from."

"Are you staring your 'Project Get Memories of Me Back' experiments again?"

"I mean it's not like I'll go and bash my cranium in or anything—" Lissa gave her the look and Morgan relented. "Okay. Maybe that was part of the original plan. B-but I'm not going to mash my head with the posts. That's only my Plan C."

"Oh no you're not, young lady! Plan A through Z, no head bashing allowed!" Lissa shouted, which in turn led to Owain being rudely awakened. "Oh! I'm sorry, Wainy! Hush-hush…"

"Mom, I'll take care of this." Morgan resorted to covering her face with her palms and making funny faces as Owain cried on his mother's arms. The more Morgan kept her act, Owain quickly held his tears at bay and paid attention to his sister. Shortly after, he began cooing and laughing. The two of them sighed in relief—once Owain cried, he never stopped.

"Thanks, Morgan. But back to what we were talking about…I don't think there's an enchantment for that." Morgan appeared disappointed and pouted. Lissa began to take precaution, especially with the lengthy healing sessions that came after her daughter's attempt to "knock her memories" back into her head. If anything gave her more worry, it was her only daughter getting hurt for her sake. "Not to my knowledge, at least. Maybe your Aunt Maribelle might know something."

"But Mooom!" Morgan groaned with sad puppy-dog eyes. "Aunt Maribelle always points out that I'm not ladylike enough! And she might make me do things…like…like…TEA! I'm a connoisseur of sweets and tactics!"

"You're starting to sound a lot like your older brother. And Vaike. Mostly Vaike." Lissa giggled. "But don't worry. Mari doesn't bite once she warms up to you."

The last words of her mother scared Morgan for a bit. The girl did think of other avenues to learn about those dream recollection spells. The last options were to go to her Aunt Emm or her instructor, Tharja. Since Emmeryn left Ylisstol months prior, it narrowed down to her teacher. Morgan quickly convinced herself that Maribelle was a much better option than working with her instructor. The simple thought of the word "hex" made her very being shudder.

"Oh…all right." Morgan sighed. The pair stopped in front of their door, the door crack clearly opened wide. "But can you come with me? You did tell me that she was pretty mean to Father a lot."

"Just for you, sweetie." Lissa knew that Morgan and Maribelle never spent time with one another save for their introductions. Their very brief and very rough introductions. But that was mostly due to Maribelle taking a while to warm up to people and that Morgan was somehow, as if by instinct, afraid of Maribelle. But she was willing to make sure that they become comfortable with each other, if not like.

"But first, let me take your brother back to his crib and we'll head to the barracks around an hour past breakfast." Her daughter's eyes sparkled intensely.

"Okie-dokie—"

Well, Morgan's cheerful demeanor was temporarily quieted by her mother's yell and a dull thud from their room.

"MARK. GET UP! HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO TELL YOU TO LEAVE THE DOOR CLOSED?!"

Maribelle was busy with stacks upon stacks of paperwork that came with her new job as the Shepherds' Chief Medical Valkyrie. It was true that her main goal was to inherit and preside over Themis in the far future, but being their medical expert to fill the time was not something she utterly disliked at all. Years in the Shepherds did allow Maribelle to further master her knowledge in the healing arts as well as being able to lead her own platoon of Valkyries.

The mountain of paperwork she had to go through was an immense headache. Sure, it was only natural that even the Shepherds were not safe from injury during their work dealing with banditry as well as the occasional Risen attack, even after their greatest war to prevent the end times. They were men, not some infallible demigod. As per Mark's instruction, injuries and logs had to be made for accurate statistics in the battlefield. Maribelle did not mind performing such trivialities as tactics were not her strongest suit. But for her to log "mild headaches" and Stahl's "pricked fingers" in order to find the more serious ailments did drive her off the wall.

It was a good thing that her best friend and her daughter arrived to alleviate some of the stresses that came with her newfound job. Lissa came and greeted Maribelle as if they had not seen each other for months with hugs and secret handshakes that utterly puzzled Morgan.

Maribelle saw the sheepish tactician warily hiding behind her mother. It was a strange sight how Lissa was a tad shorter than her daughter. She definitely noticed her timid demeanor around her.

"Morgan! Fix your posture." Maribelle greeted the young tactician, the latter immediately stammering her yesses. "As a princess of Ylisse, you must present yourself as dignified and proper."

"Oh Maribelle, don't tease Morgan." Lissa sighed. "We're only here for a visit."

"Y-yes, Lady Maribelle." Morgan shyly added on. Maribelle played with her curls, all the while scrutinizing Morgan's body. The girl blushed. "I-It's not really a physical problem…I'm just wondering if there's a spell that can help me remember a dream I had last night. I think it's a memory from my past."

"I suppose I can try…" Maribelle noticed that Morgan's tone gradually became softer. She took one deep breath and began choosing her words carefully. After what her husband had said about the way she spoke, maybe she should just, as he would say, relax her tone a little bit when it came to the Children of Time.

"Well, I know not of any dream recollection incantations. But let me try something here. It's how Chon'sin treats certain head injuries. Sit down on that chair and I'll get the Fortify."

"Maribelle?" Lissa responded wide-eyed. "Fortify? That's a pretty heavy duty staff to use."

"My dear, Fortify is one of our strongest mass-healing staves. The human mind is the closest thing we can get to one's subconscious thoughts. It is only natural that a strong lifegem be required for such procedures."

"Is this safe?" Morgan asked nonchalantly despite being just as worried as her mother. Maribelle smiled as a warm and gentle glow came from the staff.

"My child, you won't feel a thing."

The emerald light from the staff pulsed each time Maribelle passed it over Morgan's head. To the young girl, the procedure felt like hours. A strange chill began to well up in her spine but it quickly subsided after a few passes. Maribelle kept looking for something; the expression on her face slowly displayed more curiosity and frustration. In the end, Maribelle's search was fruitless and the light from the staff faded, ending the procedure.

"Did you find anything?" The girl asked, feeling as if nothing actually happened.

"I cannot see any problems, at least physiologically." Maribelle sighed, expending a significant amount of magical energy using the staff. She placed the staff back in its closet, locking it with a turn of a key. Morgan lightly slapped her cheeks and felt like nothing happened at all. "I sensed your thoughts using the staff but it was too, for lack of a better term, cloudy. I tried my best to clear it out but it just kept returning."

"But do you remember some parts of your dream, at the very least?" Maribelle asked and Morgan only gave her a slow head shake. "I see. Then I'm afraid I can't offer any more assistance, Morgan dear. Dreams and memories are of a realm that the School of Healing cannot tamper with."

"That's all right, Aunt Maribelle." Lissa turned to her daughter and saw a genuine smile, even noticing that it was the first time she called her Maribelle her aunt. She could only place her hand on Morgan's shoulder and squeeze it tight. She looked up to a very reassuring smile from her mother. "That just means I have to work hard to figure out why my memory is gone and even harder getting them back!"

After a few stories told about how Vaike and Brady bonded in the form of poker nights with the other Shepherds and Morgan bracing herself for midday tea, the mother-daughter pair finally left Maribelle's company. In order to alleviate their fruitless findings, Lissa thought it was best to travel around Ylisstol's shops as a treat to Morgan. Even though her daughter's past memories appeared to be indefinitely sealed, what was wrong with making a few new ones in the process?

"If I remember right, that's just like Mark when I tried to heal his amnesia years ago." Lissa said as they walked on Ylisstol's cobblestone road. "I guess it's pretty much the same: something's there but we can't exactly see it or feel it."

"Oh crapbaskets." Morgan said bluntly, her choice of words completely throwing her mother off. Instead of wallowing in her defeat, she turned and raised a closed fist in the air. "It's not over yet, brain! I'll probably remember you later in the day!"

"T-That's the spirit!" Lissa wanted to reprimand her daughter for her crass words but it would only be hypocritical to do so. Instead, she embraced her tightly, albeit lightly choking her. "All I know is that my darling daughter is still healthy as ever! How about next time we visit your teacher, yeah?"

As much as Morgan wanted to rebut, she could barely speak words from her mother's embrace.

"Mom…choking…not breathing…" Lissa immediately let go, embarrassed. Morgan only giggled and kissed her mother in the cheek, something of a rare treat to Lissa. She was grateful that her mother was always there whenever it came to her memories, and even during her most difficult times. She had to admit, not even the father she idolized could have done as much help as Lissa.

As the two walked along the cobblestone streets of Ylisstol's city center, Lissa noticed a suspicious bump by the alleyways to her right. Morgan also took notice and saw that the top of the bump began to slowly rise and fall. Approaching it hastily, she found a small puppy with an ash gray coat. Its legs and torso were wet, and its tongue stuck out. The pup appeared to breathe with all its might.

"Ohh…" Lissa looked at the small puppy as she gently petted its frail body. "Hey there…Oh, poor thing. He looks like he hasn't eaten for days."

"Let's take him back to the palace." Morgan suggested and Lissa couldn't agree more.

The mother and daughter pair went straight to the kitchens and prepared a small bowl of ground meat meat and milk for the pup. Though it looked up to its food, it appeared it was too weak to even move. Lissa felt the sides of the pup and saw that a small gash kept it from walking. Before Lissa could grab bandages, Morgan immediately and placed her hands over the dog's side and a gentle light began glowing. As the light disappeared, the pup barked and licked Morgan and Lissa's hands. As if finding renewed vitality, it darted towards its food and began eating messily.

"That was a pretty cool spell, Morgan!" Lissa patted the pup's head gently as it ate. It was the first time she saw a rejuvenation spell without a staff. "Where'd you learn that from?"

"I…uh? I don't actually know." Morgan bashfully scratched her head. "I think I just know it, I guess."

"Maybe someone taught you that from the future?"

"I can say now it was definitely not Father." Morgan giggled. "Don't tell him that I said this but, I think he's pretty bad as a healer."

"But he's always the best patient though." Lissa joked and the two began laughing. Meanwhile, working on his study desk, Mark sneezed.

"So I guess we're going to keep her, huh?" Lissa asked as the puppy ran around the kitchen floor, darting back and forth from her and Morgan's legs.

Morgan raised a brow. "She's a girl?"

"I can pretty much tell." Lissa pointed at the dog's nether regions as it rolled over. Morgan let off dumbfounded "ooh".

"Sweet! I've always wanted a pet dog!" The pup approached Morgan and tried to climb on her legs. She picked him up and looked her in the eye. "I think I'm going to name you…Hanna!"

The dog seemed to bark in approval.

"She really likes us, Mom!" Morgan handed her over to Lissa. Her mother immediately began nuzzling the cute pup to her face. Hanna licked her cheek, giving it a tickling sensation. She set her down and knelt down to face the dog.

"I bet you'll get along just fine with Father and Wainy!" Morgan said as she patted Hanna's small head. Hanna barked twice. "Maybe even future me."

After a vigorous chase, sweat trickled down Lissa's forehead. Stray strands of hair unraveled from the tight braid on her head. On her lap was a tearful Morgan with her knee scraped up from falling off her dog. Lissa gave her a comforting smile as she nestled her daughter's head on her breast. As Morgan kept crying, it made her heart feel so heavy. It was as if it was being yanked from her chest. She knew she never wanted to see or feel something like this.

"Oh, Morgan. Don't cry. It's okay. It's okay, honey." She said kissing her cheeks and forehead as tears kept falling down her cherub cheeks.

"Mommy…Morgan's knee hurts bad..."

"Tell you what, I'll show you a magic spell that can heal, okay?

"No you won't…" The girl replied. Lissa was taken aback by her response. Why would this child think of that? "'Cuz Morgan din't listen and got hurt and Mommy is mad!"

"No! No!" She said, easing her child's worry. "Mommy's not mad, okay? Mommy never wants to see her little angel hurt."

"Uuuu…o-okay…" Morgan intensely wiped her eyes and nose with her sleeve, prompting Lissa to wipe it gently with her own handkerchief. "If it goes 'way, Morgan promise to listen to Mommy every day!"

"Shh. Shh. It's alright dear. Now look over here..." Lissa placed her hand on the scraped knee. A gentle light began to glow from her palms. " One...Two...Three! See? It doesn't hurt now, does it?"

To young Morgan, it was as if the pain simply vanished without a trace.

"How you do that?!"

"Mommy's the best magician in the world. But only to you, Morgan." She tapped her finger with her nose. "When you're older, I promise I'll teach it to you."

Meanwhile, Hanna approached the mother and daughter. As if cognizant of what happened, she sniffed the now scabbed knee that Morgan had. And instead of licking the wound, she hopped on the bench and nuzzled her snout onto her rider's chest, whining as if it committed a grave sin.

"It's not your fault, Hanna. It was totally me. Morgan din't listen to mommy." Morgan ruffled her dog's ears and snout, even leaving a kiss on her forehead.

"Whew! That was some run you gave me, Morgan." Lissa carried Morgan on her arms, the little girl clinging on her neck. "How about you and I grab some breakfast, hmm? I'll be sure to tell your father to make your favorite."

"Morgan would love that!"

…

Morgan's eyes once again snapped open only to be greeted by another dark night. The full moon cast a beautiful moonbeam through her window, shining over her new pet as it lay asleep by the foot of her bed. Slowly, the moon moved behind the trees as the evening went on. Morgan pulled the covers away from her. It was too warm that evening. Her eyes were considerably heavy again, typical of an uncomfortable awakening in the middle of the night.

Once more, she tried to return to the realm of her slumber, only to be kept awake by her smile that reached from ear to ear. Morning could not come any sooner, she thought. As spontaneous as she always was, Morgan immediately hopped out of her bed and quickly ran to her parents' room.

"Mother! Mother!"

She shouted as she ran along the halls. Hanna immediately awoke from her owner's new found vigor, her boundless energy fueled by a sweet memory that returned to her—as if it was merely misplaced.

A/N:

Oh hey! Four months and after promising that I'd be performing bi-weekly releases? Oh woe is me for so is me promising it and not holding my end of the bargain. Sincerest apologies, readers.

Anyway, this is a simple birthday chapter that actually does not take place on Morgan's birthday. I left this as more of a deeper interaction between Lissa and Morgan as a mother-daughter pair—more of a view of how Lissa interacts in Morgan's youth as well as her time-travelling older self. I hope I ventured into the dynamic without any negative repercussions. Oh and Maribelle too.

Oh, for updates. Yeah….found another roadblock that I can't seem to figure out how to get out of. Give me some time, I've got a bunch of things on my plate, mainly setting up daughter up for a Pre-k program, some more medical things for me and a few work related business to attend. Hopefully, I'll have something out before mid-summer but don't bet on it. Although, I may surprise with a sudden early update!

Enough banter from me. Hope you enjoyed this chapter!