A/N: Hey all, this is my first fanfiction; after playing through Fire Emblem: Awakening, I realized that the game's plot was smartly designed to leave a lot of holes for the imagination to fill in (probably due to the freedom of choice of pairings throughout the game); as a result, I've decided to take advantage of that freedom and try my hand at writing a fanfiction! Enjoy!

"NO!"

She was falling. He saw the corpses of what had been the Ylissean pegasus knights. Still she fell. A man with deep blue hair, and the Brand of the Exalt emblazoned on his shoulder, ran towards where she fell, but there was nothing he could do.

Then she fell no more. Emmeryn, the Exalt of Ylisse, was gone. Chrom knelt at her corpse, body heaving with sobs, and Amadeus felt the full force of his guilt hit him. The people of Ylisse had lost their leader, their paragon, that which represented the best in them. And this had all been his plan….

"Gangrel! You die TODAY," Chrom yelled at the Mad King, drawing his legendary blade, Falchion.

"NO, boy! We've secured our escape, but we need to leave NOW! Amadeus! !" A dark, muscled man with an eyepatch yelled at the blue haired man and the tactician.

"Chrom...we need to go with Basilio. I promise you, we WILL avenge Emmeryn." Amadeus closed his eyes, shuddering at the thought of the last time he had promised Chrom something.

I promised him. I promised him that I'd find a way to save Emmeryn...how can I look him in the eye now?

"...Fine." Chrom reluctantly agreed, and the two sprinted off.

"BWA HAHA! You can run, my little prince, but soon you will meet your end, just like your luminous sister!" The Mad King's derisive taunts echoed behind them, but the two kept one foot after the other, escaping the scene while knowing that it would never leave them.

They had caught up with Basilio and the rest of the Shepherds at the Midmire, but found their way blocked by a small Plegian strike force. Amadeus scanned the battlefield, looking for weaknesses in the enemy formation. Just as he was about to issue formations and battle orders, Chrom charged forward, alone, eyes filled with tears of rage.

He made no sound as he mercilessly cut through the Plegians, exacting his vengeance and pouring out his grief and fury on them. They stood no chance, and the path to the caravans, and escape, were soon clear. The Shepherds quickly jumped in, wary that more Plegians could come any second. Amadeus jumped into the last caravan with Chrom and Basilio, and leaned back to rest as they rode off. He squeezed his eyes shut, going back in his mind to the day prior.

"Chrom, I promise you, I'll think of some way to save your sister." He had said it to comfort Chrom, but he hadn't the faintest idea how he was going to fulfill this promise.

After much thought, he'd finally had the outlines of a plan. He brought it to the Khans, and to Chrom. It was risky, but they all agreed it was the best course of action; as Flavia said, it "only involved as much risk as was necessary in such a mission."

Amadeus himself had his doubts, despite their belief in him. "I hope your faith is not misplaced…"

It had been Chrom who had reassured Amadeus. "No, friend, you worry too much. Your tactical mind has gotten us this far, I have no doubt it will get us through tomorrow. Come this time on the morrow, we'll be trading stories with Emm as we head home to celebrate."

How cruel fate was.

It was those words that haunted Amadeus. They had believed in him; he had let them down. He opened his eyes to look at Chrom, who only gazed numbly, senselessly, out the caravan window. Amadeus closed his eyes again, asking himself for what felt like the hundredth time that day, "How can I look him in the eye after my plans have failed? How can I ever make a promise to him again?"

The caravans had taken them to an abandoned village in the Plegian desert. The Shepherds quietly set about the task of setting up camp; the usual recounting of their exploits in battle was absent today, as everyone was in shock and grieving after Emmeryn's fall. Amadeus set up his tent in the far corner of camp, as far away from Chrom as possible, and he sat inside, cradling his head in his hands. He made sure no one was around before returning to sit on the foot of his cot. He could feel the tears flow uninvited from his eyes, and he made no effort to stop them. Again, the same thoughts. I failed. Suddenly, there was a quick rap on the tent flap. Amadeus quickly wiped his eyes and his nose on his handkerchief, before getting up to answer the knock.

"Yes?" He opened the tent flap to find Frederick, the ever-stoic great knight. "Ah, Frederick. May I help you?"

"Milord has requested a strategy meeting. Scouts have located Gangrel's forces, and Milord is..understandably eager to engage them."

"Of course. Tell him I'll be there straightaway." Oh gods. I have to face him now.

"Yes, sir." Frederick left, leaving Amadeus once again alone with his thoughts.

He went back into his tent to put on his coat, and trudged to the strategy tent in the middle of their campsite. Chrom and the khans, Basilio and Flavia, were already inside.

"Ah, boy, you're here." Basilio gave Amadeus a relatively soft pat on the shoulder.

"Yes, we could use some brains here." Flavia. Amadeus almost smiled at this; despite everything that had happened, her ribbing of Basilio hadn't stopped. It was nice to see some degree of normalcy today.

"Khan Flavia. Khan Basilio." Amadeus nodded his greeting to each of them before turning to the man he dreaded facing most. He looked up, but before making eye contact, he moved his gaze to fix directly on the tip of Chrom's boot. Amadeus took a breath before opening his mouth to speak.

"Chrom, I...I don't know how else to say this. I'm-" A gloved hand cut him off.

"Listen, Amadeus. I know what you're going to say. I know why you won't look me in the eye, and I need you to know: I don't blame you for Emmeryn's death. It wasn't your fault."

Still, Amadeus couldn't bring his gaze up. Chrom's boot had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the room.

"Amadeus. Look at me." Blue eyes looked straight ahead, waiting for brown ones to lift from the floor and meet them. "You did everything you could. You worked harder than anyone else in trying to make some semblance of a plausible plan that would work in an impossible situation. You had the odds stacked against you, and you did your absolute best. Who am I to blame you?"

The brown orbs finally met the blue. "Chrom…"

"I won't let you mope. The rest of the Shepherds still believe in you; I believe in you, and we're all waiting for you to tell us the plans for tomorrow."

Amadeus's vision swam with tears. What did I ever do to deserve such friends? What did I ever do to deserve such loyalty from these people who I've known for hardly a few months?

"C-Chrom...I-I don't know what to say. T-thank you…" He couldn't even begin to fathom how Chrom was internalizing all the pain and grief from the day's events, but he appreciated his leader's sincere words of comfort. Chrom nodded and gestured at the map in front of them.

"Well, Amadeus? Our scouts report that Gangrel's set up his forces here." Chrom pointed to a spot in the middle of the Plegian desert.

Amadeus sniffed and composed himself before speaking.

"Well, if we were to fight in the desert, there's not much terrain, and it'll mostly be flat. We should probably have our units stick together; the cavalry can lead and take out some of the heavy units before our foot units begin break ranks to attack more freely. This will also protect our units from aerial attacks; if we stay as a group until their forces are relatively decimated, the foot soldiers can fight more freely knowing that we have artillery to ward off any air attacks. Once their archers have been dealt with, our aerial team can initiate a full offensive rather than selectively supporting, and that should quickly deplete what forces they have left. After that, well, Chrom, you know what happens."

Chrom's eyes glinted with rage as he took out a small dagger and thrust it into the board at the center of the battlefield in agreement. "Indeed I do. We set out tomorrow." He turned and left the tent, and the other three took this as a signal that the meeting was over. The khans left the tent, and Amadeus followed them out as he returned to his tent.

Chrom…although you won't blame me for today, you can't stop me from blaming myself. This guilt is something that I will live with to my dying day...but I cannot thank you enough for your words. Tomorrow, we put an end to this madness.

Amadeus wearily entered his tent and collapsed onto his cot. Normally, at this time, he would be out mingling with the other Shepherds, but today he didn't feel like doing so. He needed to be alone to collect his thoughts before the battle the next day. He lay alone, mulling over everything in his head. Part of him wanted to believe what Chrom had said; it wanted to believe that everything was okay, that his plan tomorrow would work and they would emerge victorious. But another part of him whispered, quietly, constantly; you've failed once...maybe the Mad King has you figured out. What if you lead the Shepherds to their death...

But I'm the one they look to. I must not fail. I will not fail.

Amadeus closed his eyes and tried to fall asleep before his newfound resolve failed him and the warring thoughts returned, and soon slipped into a deep slumber.

A/N: Thats the first chapter! I liked this part as a starting point; most of the major characters have been introduced at this point, so it's easier to develop an "identity" for the Shepherds, rather than having it fluctuate and change as more characters are added (in my opinion).

For those of you who are wondering, yes, the name Amadeus comes from Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, the child prodigy of music. I chose a name from music because music comes from making a unified harmony from a seeming garble of notes. Battle, and war, are similar; to my point of view, there is a certain artistry in strategy and tactics, in knowing when and where to use which troops, how to take advantage of terrain, etc. Therefore, I thought that a musician's name would be fitting for our lead tactician here. (I also just don't like the name Robin on this character. No real reason, I just...didn't think it fit. That's not a shot at anyone named Robin, the name itself is great.)

Second, I'll be loosely following the plot of the game. The main, important events will remain unchanged, but otherwise, there may and most likely will be significant differences.

LASTLY, I haven't decided on any pairings yet (outside of Sumia/Chrom, obviously.) If there are any suggestions, please let me know in your reviews! I will say that I will NOT do a Avatar/(child character) pairing; one, the narrative would just be too much for me to handle, and I feel like there's already plenty of Avatar/(child character) fanfics out there. I'd prefer to do a pairing that is not often seen, so if you guys have any ideas, let me know! I'll probably start pairing Amadeus up after the battle with Gangrel, although if I do think of a pairing that I like, I could drop some hints (I don't want to start something here, because the time gap between the war with Plegia and the war with Valm).

Please read and review! Thanks in advance :)