One week after he had finally gotten Lucina to smile, they were camped outside Wyvern Valley, having just found Gerome. Needless to say, Cynthia had been relieved and set about attempting to brighten his usual gloomy demeanor, settling for flustering him if all else failed.

There had been a tremulous peace between Inigo and Lucina, one that he was careful not to push the boundaries on. But recently whenever she saw him, she made the effort to smile, and he looked forward to it each time he caught sight of her; he hadn't been lying about the tremendous effect her smiles had.

So when Lucina entered his tent one afternoon, face grave as she requested to speak with him for a moment, his heart filled with dread.

He gestured for her to sit, and maintained his facade of flippancy, "So much for the new, cheerier Lucina…"

Her face remained solemn as she said, "Even the new me cannot muster a smile today."

At that, Inigo could no longer conceal his worry – "What, did something happen? Is everyone all right?"

"No, our friends are all fine, so far as I know," she assured him. Ever the pragmatist, she added, "That said, there hasn't been anything I'd call happy news, either."

Though he took great comfort in the knowledge that nothing was grievously amiss with their friends or family, Inigo's curiosity remained. "Okay, seriously. What's going on? You're acting awfully strange today."

Looking down at the floor, her tone seemed to indicate that she was even more unsettled than he. "It's about to get… stranger."

"You're scaring me, Lucina," the redhead said carefully, wondering what could possibly be the matter.

"When I became so upset at your insistence that I smile before... Do you remember that?" Her gaze still did not rise from the ground, and her voice was small.

"Of course. I record everything any girl says to me, insults and all."

His joking manner did not faze her as she continued, "Well, I realize now that wasn't the only reason I was so angry... I was angry because you were making me happy, and I didn't... I didn't think I could afford such feelings at a time like this."

At her admission, Inigo could only breathe, "Oh?" Her eyes flew to his for a moment before dropping back to the ground like a lead weight.

"I've been such a stern person to you, and I don't deserve your kindness... But the truth is, I…"

A moment passed in silence and he leaned forward, opening his mouth to beg her to finish when Lucina spoke again, face blush-stained and voice barely above a whisper, "... I think I am in love with you."

Inigo was rarely at a loss for words, but he stared incredulously, and all he could say was, "... What?"

Her cheeks were growing pinker by the second as she reached for his hand, vulnerable gaze meeting his. "Would you stay with me, Inigo? Would you be the sword at my side?"

"I…" He continued staring, now at their joined hands, as if to reassure himself that no, this was not a dream. "...Yes, Lucina." Snapping from his reverie, a grin split his face as he jumped up, answering eagerly, "Yes! If you'll have me."

"Truly?! For good and all?!" She, too, rose, seemingly surprised, and Inigo almost laughed at the idea that she considered he might reject her.

"Lucina, I've been in love with you since the moment we met! But you're Ylissean royalty... I guess I never thought I was worthy. Besides, I figured Chrom would murder me if I tried anything!"

"You were worried about Father?!" She descended into a cascade of giggles, "I can just picture him receiving you at the castle, broadsword across his lap!"

"There's that smile again!" Inigo said happily, drawing her into his arms.

"I can't help it! Imagine Father chopping you into bloody bits!"

Lucina's laughter had turned the slightest shade maniacal, and Inigo could not help pulling back a bit to say, "I'm glad you're laughing and all, but maybe next we'll work on your sense of humor…"

She chuckled once more, leaning her head on his shoulder "Oh, I'm sorry, Inigo. I'm just so happy about us, and... I guess I'm not used to such things."

"Well, better get used to enjoying yourself, because you're stuck with me now!" he grinned.

Placing a hand over his heart, she hoped, "Would that our love infects others just as sure as a smile does…"

"Right! We won't stop until every girl in the world is happy!" Inigo declared, giddy with the prospect of all their love could do.

Lucina agreed wholeheartedly, "Right!" Then it was her turn to pull back, comprehension dawning on her face. "...Wait, just the girls? What do you mean, Inigo?!"

Stumbling through his words, Inigo stuttered out a nervous laugh, "Don't worry, love. You'll always come first in my book!"

She pulled away further to regard him with absolute seriousness, "There shouldn't be a book at all! I catch you looking at another woman and it will be ME chopping you into bloody bits!"

"There's that odd sense of humor again! Heh, good one, Lucina. ...Er, Lucina?" He looked down to find narrowed navy eyes pinning him to the spot. It was clear she was not jesting in the slightest, and he rushed to retract his earlier statements, "I mean, there is no book! There's only you, number one!"

Lucina still did not seem pleased and he responded by – very maturely, of course – poking her right between her furrowed brows. "Oh, my silly princess," he said affectionately, "I'm sorry, I was joking." His eyes darkened with seriousness. "I have loved you for so long that I thought it would surely drive me to the point of madness and then some," he confessed. "Or do you not recall a direct product of said maddening love – that which you made me promise never to mention?"

A red eyebrow quirked up expectantly, and Lucina avoided looking into his face as she apologized quietly, "That was wrong of me, Inigo. I am so very sorry that I treated you so… so terribly. To be truthful, I was afraid of my feelings then just as I was the past few weeks…"

She began to turn away, ashamed, but Inigo would not let her, pulling her solidly back into his arms. "I forgive you…" He reassured her, bowing his head to rest on her collarbone. "In truth, I forgave you long before we even met in this world."

"But I – !"

"If you feel so bad about it, then make up it to me by not being afraid of your feelings now," he whispered, lips grazing her neck with each syllable. Inigo raised his face to hers, first cheek to cheek, then nose to nose, and they were eye to eye. "It's okay to be happy, even if things look bad. Don't feel guilty about it, just…" He closed his eyes, pressing their foreheads together. "All I've ever tried to do was make you happy. So let me. Okay?" he breathed with the shadow of a smile.

His eyes still closed, he felt her give the slightest of nods.

Inigo shifted to align his mouth with hers, and this time, when their lips met, it was not desperation or uncertainty that he felt; it was love, it was joy, it was right. She smiled into their kiss, and finally, he realized that what he had been searching for was not a place or a time or even a world – for him, everything he needed was Lucina. Being in her arms, at her side… that was home for him.

After all the promises he had made: to her, to himself, he decided that from that moment onward he would make just one more – to spend the rest of his life with her.

The whole world seemed luminous – every nuance of future and past was incandescent with the light of their love. Whatever time or destiny held for them did not matter – it was a feeling like none other, and as he pulled away to look at the beautiful, strong woman who loved him, loved him back, he knew that they could face it all... together.

A/N: Lucina and Inigo attained support level S.

XD

And that's all folks! Or is it? For this plotbunny, yes, but I have a couple other omake-type ideas bouncing around in my head, so we shall see! For now, I am still working on the companion to this - "spectrum", a Cynthia/Gerome fic (oneshot? I'm not sure yet, it keeps getting longer and longer haha.) They are my second-favorite child pairing, and it just follows that they need to have their own happy ending :D

As far as Fire Emblem: Fates goes, I won't spoil anyone, but I love it! I picked up my copies yesterday and started on the "Conquest" path... and I was hardly able to put it down to post this. No joke. It's "play through the same chapter a thousand times in an hour and then some extra-lame enemy gets a crit at like 3% and kills someone and you have to start over AGAIN so all you can do is try not to throw your 3DS through a window/scream profanities/cry in a closet" good. Ah, the feelings Fire Emblem gives me :)

ANYWAY!

Thank you so much to everyone who has stuck around until the end! I hope you've enjoyed reading this silly little fic as much as I've enjoyed writing it. (and special thanks to Catoscorrtome and sirmuz00!) Until next time~