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Sometime during Lissa's childhood. Emmeryn

"Emm! Emm! Read me a story!" Lissa demanded, hugging my leg and pulling.

I smiled at the five-year-old. "Alright, Lissa!" I giggled. "Let's head to the library and you can pick a book you'd like to read!"

"Yay!!!" she cheered, dashing off to the library. I soon followed.

Once we were in the library, Lissa went off to find a book. I sat down in our favorite nook and patiently waited for her. Moments later, Lissa ran up to me, her blonde pigtails bobbing with every step. "This one!" she exclaimed, setting the book down in front of me.

I looked at the cover. "The Princess' Flower, eh? We've read this one a million times!" I laughed.

Lissa crawled onto the sofa and pouted. "I don't care! It's my favorite story!" She puffed out her cheeks.

I rolled my eyes and opened the book. "Once upon a time..."

...

Lissa

It's been over ten years since Emmeryn read that story to me.

I quietly stalked through the library, book in hand. Finally, I found the person I was looking for. "Anna...? Are you busy?" I asked, approaching the tactician.

Anna looked up from her book and smiled. "Not at the moment, no," she replied. "Is there something you needed?"

"Um, well...yes..." I sat down next to her. "I-I was wondering if...if you could read to me?" I set the book down on the table.

Anna gave me a confused look. "Oh? Did something bring this up, or do you just want some future-sister-in-law time?"

I looked down to hide my tears. "Well...both..." I said. "You see... This story, The Princess' Flower, was my favorite story growing up, and Emmeryn would always read it to me... When I was around five or six, I stopped asking her to read it to me because I saw how busy she was, and I didn't want to waste her time. I asked Chrom to read it to me instead, but it was never the same..." Hiding my tears were useless at this point. "After...after Emm passed...I wanted nothing more than for her to read this story to me again..."

"Oh... I see..."

I collapsed into Anna's arms and cried. "I-I'm sorry that this is so sudden, but I just needed someone to read to me again..."

Anna patted the back of my head. "Of course, Lissa... I'll read you all the books you want if it'll make you feel better!" she promised.

I looked into her eyes. "R-really?!"

She smiled. "Of course!" She opened the book. "Shall we begin?"

I shook my head. "Um, I was kinda hoping we could go to my special reading spot..."

"Alright, lead the way!"

A couple minutes later, Anna and I were relaxing in the special nook. Anna placed the book on her lap and began to read. "Once upon a time..."

...

An hour later, I was curled up on her side as she finished the story. "And they all lived happily ever after..."

I sat up and rubbed my eyes. "Is it over...?" I yawned.

Anna nodded and closed the book. "Yes," she replied. "It was quite the interesting story, too! I can see why you love it so much!"

I smiled. "I'm glad! Maybe we can do this again sometime?" I suggested.

"I'd like that."

A moment of silence came between us. Then, I hugged her tight. "Thank you so much, Anna..."

She hugged me back. "No problem, Lissa..." she whispered. "Hey, Liss? Why did you want me to read this book to you?"

"Because... Because I see you as a big sister!" I said. "I've always seen you as a sister! You're always there for me...always comforting me...doing everything a big sister should! When Chrom announced that you two were getting married, I was overjoyed! The thought that you actually get to become my sister is amazing! My whole life...I've been trying to keep girls away from Chrom. I knew he didn't want to get married to anyone ever, but that never stopped me! I think we all knew deep down that he would never stay single for the rest of his life, even him. But I still chased away girls because...because I never saw them as sisters... So many ladies want Chrom because of his title, they would never love him for him... I didn't want that. I wanted him to be happy! To find someone who he'd love and cherish forever! ...And I saw that in you. I think I knew from the very first day we met that you two would end up together. You make him so happy and for that, I'm eternally grateful. You're going to make an amazing queen, Anna...I know it. And...I hope you'll be able to take time out of your busy day to spend time with your little sister..."

"Lissa..." Anna pulled away and smiled at me. "Of course I'll spend time with you! You can't get away from your big sister!" She winked. "I promise that I'll take care of Chrom. He's in good hands.

I grinned. "I'm glad to hear that..." I leaned on her shoulder. "Hey, if you have a bit of time left, do you think you can read to me a bit more?"

Anna nodded and got up. "Sure thing! Let's find another book!"

I hopped out of my seat. "Alright!"

______________

So this originally wasn't supposed to be angsty. I can't help myself, I'm sorry...not really. Don't worry! The next one isn't angsty! And I'm also really excited to share it with you guys! Thank you so much for reading, and look forward to reading more!

Next Prompt: August 24th, Music

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