First Time Destiny | Fire Emblem Awakening (Oneshots)

Replacement Parents

Original prompt: Library

The royal library was one of my favourite places to work. It always had been from the moment the Plegian war was over and I realised that there were places other than the Shepherd's garrison where I could settle myself. Even a while after Grima's demise, when I'd had my own study for years, I still liked to work in the library as a change of scenery.

Occasionally, huge boxes of books would arrive there, so many that they would almost touch the celling when they were stacked up. Sometimes it was easy to find them a home, but sometimes part of the library would need rearranging, and I would always go up to see if the librarians needed a hand. I did it before I married Chrom, and afterwards, too, and the staff in the library became so used to it that they relied on me to turn up and pitch in. It was one of the few places in the castle where I was treated as just another helping hand.

It was so embedded in my routine that it didn't occur to me that Lucina would be surprised when she came by one day.

I was wearing my training clothes and my trusty old coat instead of a gown, and my hair was tied up in pigtails to keep it out of my eyes. It made me feel happy to be dressed as if I was going on a mission, and I set about arranging the shelf I had been assigned with vigour. In fact, I was so absorbed in my work that I didn't realise Lucina was walking towards me until I turned and almost bumped into her.

"Lucina!" I smiled and dumped an armful of books on the wooden ladder that was leaning against the shelves. "It's nice to see you here. Can I help you with something?"

She frowned at the stacks of books that were surrounding me. "I was hoping you could teach me some basic tactics, Mother. You occasionally used to do it in my timeline when you weren't coaching Morgan, and it's been so long that I thought I should have refresher. I can come back later, though. You look busy."

She started to turn away before I could open my mouth, once again assuming that she was unwanted.

I put my hand on her shoulder. "Lucina, wait. I'd love to teach you. I just need to organise these books before I can – I might be twenty minutes doing this stack. Then I'll come and find you."

She turned back to me with a hesitant expression. "If you're certain. Thank you. Do you mind me asking why, exactly, you're organising these books?"

"Well, they all need sorting. I volunteered to help, and I was given this section of the library. But don't worry, I'll be quick."

Her eyes softened. "You volunteered to help rearrange books with your free time?"

I shrugged as I picked my pile of up again and began stacking them on their designated shelf. "Why not? It needs doing, and I know the librarians struggle to sort it all themselves."

There was a long pause. When I turned around, Lucina was scooping up a different pile of texts.

"I suppose I should help, too, then." She smiled at me. "I forgot that you were always helpful around the castle when you weren't preoccupied with war or the Gemstones."

I faltered. There was the mention of her old mother again, as opposed to the real me. We were supposed to be the same people, but the Robin that Lucina had once known had made some very different choices and failed to resist Grima. Even so, I sometimes felt like I would never be able to fill her shoes.

Did I say the right things? Did Lucina sometimes look at me and wish for her real mother?

I gave her a half smile and turned back to the bookshelf. I supposed that I would just have to try and be the best I could be. I'd beaten my fate, and I was alive. That was a good start.

I showed Lucina how the books should be organised. Each time I picked up a new pile, I couldn't help but look through anything in it that caught my eye, and soon she was leaning over my shoulder to read with me. My despair was quickly replaced with amusement as she caught sight of books we would read with her younger self in the future, and she got caught up in her nostalgia as she flicked through them again. There was nothing but joy in her eyes as she laughed over them, and a small part of my insecurity faded.

A twenty-minute job turned into an hour, but by the time we were finished we both had smiles etched into our faces.

"Ready for tactics, Lucina?" I turned to a different shelf so that I could find the book I was picturing in my mind. It was the most basic and well-explained text that I had ever come across, perfectly engineered for beginners. "I'm sorry this took so long."

When I found the book and turned back, her eyes had widened.

"Oh!" she exclaimed. "I enjoyed sorting the books so much, I forgot about that." She lowered her gaze to the floor, her cheeks reddening. "I...I do want you to teach me, Mother, because I feel that I have much to learn. But the real reason I came here was simply to spend time with you in any way possible. Even though our timeline is different now, and our future is bright, I feel like I can never get enough moments with you or Father. It seems silly, but I still sometimes worry that I'm going to lose you." She glared at the floor and wrung her hands together.

"I understand, Lucina," I said. "It's all right. It must be difficult to believe we're still here, even though your true parents are dead."

She looked up, a frown touching her features again. "You are my true parents, Mother. Sometimes I'm sad for the pain you went through in my timeline, but I don't think of you as being different or dead. I just...I sometimes worry that you will be."

Relief ebbed into my heart, and I smiled wryly. "Until you said that, I worried that you must miss the other me. I didn't know if I was good enough." I let out a shaky laugh and pulled her into my arms. "Look at us. You're my daughter, Lucina, and I could never leave you. I promise that, and you know you can trust me. I told you that we'd stop Grima, didn't I? And we did. So stop worrying. Spend time with me just because you want to see your mother, not because you feel like any moment could be my last."

She nodded against my chest. "I'll try."