Author: Been a while! :) I was so busy with stuff and all, since it's vacation. I apologize for the delay.

This chapter also took a while because I had rewritten this sooo many times _ I sometimes don't know what to write in a chapter sometimes. You know, writers block. I hope it turned out well.

Characters and story belong to Nintendo. I don't own Fire Emblem!

Chapter 11: Playing With Fire

"It's just no good…"

While the rest of her friends were busy, Noire decided to practice her archery. But again and again, she misses her mark, and what's worse is that, she had a stuffy nose no thanks to a certain dark mage who also happens to be her mother. She pulled another arrow and let it fly to the target, but instead it just hit the ground.

"Ah, Noire…" the Hoshidan prince, Takumi walked by the archer. "Practicing archery are we?"

The woman stopped and glanced at the prince, "Prince Takumi…" she nodded. "Yes, I am….but it's not looking good," she said in a sad and hoarse voice. "I can't seem to hit my mark…"

"I see….mind if I help?" he offered. "I could teach you."

Noire suddenly covered her face and sneezed. "W-what? You may be busy…" she sniffed. "I-I'm sure you're tending to something else—"

"No, no it's fine. I have nothing else to do anyway." Takumi smiled and he grabbed his own bow that he uses for hunting. "C'mon!" he urged as he pulled one arrow. Noire also grabbed her bow, having no choice but to follow the prince since he didn't want to leave. "Well….okay….if you say so," said the black-haired archer.

From minutes, turned to hours. Takumi was quite a teacher to Noire. He had come off as…strict and a little bit of a slave driver, demanding her the right way to hold a bow, learning how to focus on her target, and also improving her stance, but Noire didn't seem to mind, despite the sniffles and the sneezing on her part. In the end, she had learned a lot from the Hoshidan prince.

"You can do it Noire…." Takumi said as he watched her readying her arrow, concentrating on the red circle at the center. She took a deep breathe, remembering all that she had learned from him, and she had let go of the arrow, letting it fly towards her mark. She clasped her hands, and in her mind, she was pleading please hit, please hit.

The arrow had hit the small red circle, making it a bull's eye. She let out a smile. "I did it! I did it!" Noire said in joy, but her voice was still hoarse from her cold. The prince chuckled. "Great job Noire."

"I couldn't have done it without your help," she said sheepishly as she sniffed. "Thank you…" she sniffed again and there were tears that start appearing in her eyes. "You're welcome Noire, but you didn't need to cry."

"Oh, no….I just have a runny nose that's all…" she corrected.

"I've noticed…" Takumi said. "You've been sneezing and sniffling while we were practicing. I can't believe you still went through that despite your cold. Been under the weather huh?"

The woman shook her head and sniffed. "No. It's my mother. She put a curse on me to have a runny nose for three days straight."

"WHAT?! Why would she put a curse on her own daughter?"

"Oh it's nothing out-of-the-ordinary for me." She sniffed. "Mother is always trying out a new spell or another," she explained. "Every time she comes up with a new one, she uses me as her guinea pig."

What the hell, Takumi thought. He felt sorry for her, it's no wonder she's so meek. He felt that this has to stop for her sake. "Oh dear. Okay Noire, I'll talk to your mother for you and see if I could persuade her to break the curse."

Noire's teary eyes went wide. She didn't want him to end up being the next target of Tharja's curses. "No! Don't! I-It's okay. This is normal back in the future where I come from. She'll curse you!"

"Don't worry," the prince reassured her. "I'll see if I could clear it up. You should go and get yourself some rest. Now….if you'll excuse me."

Noire watched as the prince leave. "Oh dear….he's in it now isn't he…"

"In the name of the Conqueror, you shall not take this fortress!"

It was a one-on-one battle with the enemy commander of Fort Steiger, Pheros. Corrin could hear sword clashing in the background, spells being casted, and soldiers screaming in pain. She stared at the Valkyrie, opening her tome and a magic circle formed from her hands. She then yelled, "Bolganone!" then a powerful eruption formed below Corrin's feet. Corrin managed to dodge the fire spell, although barely. Her mind was racing. How would she get close to her with that kind of fire spell. That spell is good enough to burn her alive.

"Foolish girl. There is no way you can defeat me."

She casted another wave of the fire spell. This time, Corrin anticipated it and managed to dodge to her right side, although the violent eruption of the spell burned the tip of her cape. She watched her when the spell dissipated, and realized that the spell took time to cast it. Now is the time. I gotta hurry, she said in her mind. She held her Yato tight, and quickly ran to the Valkyrie. She jumped to deal a blow on her, but Pheros managed to parry with….her staff?! Corrin couldn't believe it! She got back to her feet and thought all of this through. If only there is a way to unmount her from her horse then she would have a fighting chance. Transforming into a dragon was one option, though her defenses against magic is not that good, not to mention the size of the room they were fighting in might take up the space, and it would be difficult to avoid her spells. If she could just take off that tome from her….

She quickly ran and jumped, her Yato aiming for the tome. Pheros however, anticipated this and quickly cast Bolganone while Corrin was in the air. The woman didn't dodge in time, and in the process, burned the bottom of her feet. She screamed in agony and pain was unbearable, she couldn't stand up nor even walk. Stepping the floor was already agonizing. She crawled and tried reaching her Yato that she had let go when she fell. She looked up and saw Pheros, readying to cast her magic. Corrin started sweating bullets. Am I going to be burned here…?

"Corrin!" Lucina shouted and managed to push Corrin away from the fire spell. She helped Corrin sit down and noticed the burn on her feet. "Leave this one to me," Lucina said. She was standing up until Corrin held her shoulder. "Wait. I can still do this." Lucina stared at her wide-eyed. How could she still continue in that kind of state? "You sure Corrin? Your feet are—"

"I know," she interrupted. "But you can't do this alone. Just give me an opening, and I'll finish her off."

Lucina took a deep breath and exhaled. She must be crazy. But she was right, they'll have to work together. She nodded, although reluctantly. "Alright. But take time for yourself to recover." She stood up and faced Pheros.

"You must be foolish if you still have the nerve to face me," Pheros said. "Why don't you just give up now and run away Ylissean dog?"

Lucina said nothing. She then noticed that even the enemy commander herself was getting tired. She took this opportunity. If she could just wear her down, she could create an opening for Corrin. But first, she has to get that tome off.

Left, right, left, right, jump. Lucina was doing her best to avoid her attacks. Pheros was already frustrated as she was sweating from moving around and blocking, even her horse was starting to wear down from exhaustion. "Little pest. Die already!" She was getting tired, and she did every last of her strength to fight. This was the opportunity Lucina was looking for. She quickly ran and lunged towards her, and she managed to slice the tome, and also ended up slashing her abdomen with her Falchion. Blood was already trickling down to the floor. "NOOO!"

"Corrin! NOW!" Lucina shouted. The woman's feet still burned with excruciating pain, but she kept saying to herself, come on….come on! She rose to her feet and ran, not minding the pain. She jumped and, using her Dragon Fang, she transformed her arm into a lance and landed it on the floor, piercing it. Then she gave a swift kick on Pheros' abdomen, slamming her against the wall and her horse fell. The impact was very strong, and Pheros' head started bleeding. She no longer moved. They managed to seize Fort Steiger. Victory was theirs.

"We did it…" Lucina huffed. Corrin collapsed and leaned on her sword. She sweated bullets from the burning pain in her feet. Walking was already painful, but the running and kicking took the pain to a whole new level. The woman nearly cried of the pain, and because of this, she may have to stick on crawling on the floor.

"Hang on. I'll call the clerics to heal your feet." After that, she left Corrin.

How it felt frustrating, not being able to walk. She took a good look at her feet, and saw burn marks all over. She grimaced at the sight of it. Corrin also had small burn marks across her body, but her feet was hit the worst. Even if someone would use a healing stave on it, she still wondered how long it would heal. She had hoped in the next battles to come, they won't be stepping on anything that involved fire again.

As she was resting against the wall, she heard footsteps heading her way. No way, is it an ambush?! We already seized this place! She saw a shadow getting bigger and bigger, and Corrin thought there might be an enemy. She held her Yato tight, and she began sweating.

"Corrin?" said a male voice.

She let out a sigh of relief. "Thank god. It's only you Ryoma." She then heard other footsteps approaching, and behind the swordmaster were Elise and Sakura holding their healing staves. "Lucina told me your condition, and I came here as fast as I could." He then saw the burn on Corrin's feet. "That's a really bad burn."

"Hang on Big Sister!" Elise said as she used her staff. "Come on Sakura!"

"R-right."

They quickly used their healing abilities on her feet. The healing magic was very soothing, and bit by bit the pain was starting to go away. Even the burn marks were starting to disappear. "This may take a while," Sakura said. "The burn is….r-really, really bad."

Corrin sighed. "It's okay. At least we already seized the building."

"I don't think we have time to celebrate yet Corrin," Ryoma inquired. "The situation has gone from bad to worse."

"Why?"

Ryoma explained the dire situation to Corrin, about the dynasts of the Resistance that had turned against them, and also explaining their next course of action, which is to split the armies into two. One would take on Yen'fay, while the other would distract Walhart. He even explained Lucina's protest of letting the khan, Basilio go against Walhart, for it meant his death.

"No way. That's horrible!"

"We have no time to lose," Ryoma stated. "Once you feel better, we all have to retreat."

As if things could get any worse, Corrin thought. After Sakura and Elise helped her heal her burn, though not completely since there was still some burn marks present and there was still pain, but it wasn't as bad as before. Corrin saw Lucina, her face showed disdain. The other children were also showing the same expression as she. She wanted to talk to them, but that will have to come later. Their main objective for now is to retreat.

The sun was starting to set after their long and hard battle in Fort Steiger. It was a tough battle, a hoard of Valmese soldiers and had to go through the walls of the fort. Corrin had wished there were Dragon Veins present so she and her siblings would easily destroy those walls, but sadly, Dragon Veins don't seem to exist in this world.

However, after the battle, the rest of dynasts of the Resistance decided to betray them after all of that effort of uniting them, forcing them to retreat and divide their army. Now the only option is that one army will pursue Yen'fay, while a smaller will pursue Walhart: Basilio's army. Lucina protested this idea, since she knew letting Basilio battle Walhart would mean his death, and his death would also lead to the events of Lucina's dark future. For now, the Shepherds set up camp in the woods to hide and for them to rest and recover their injuries for the next upcoming battle. They may have evaded Yen'fay's army for now, but they had to act swiftly. While some were preparing for camp, Chrom held a strategy meeting to discuss matters for the upcoming battle, and gather more info on Say'ri's brother.

During the strategy meeting, Corrin set up and sat outside her tent alone, staring at the campfire, while her eldest siblings were busy with the meeting. Despite the war that was going on, the air around the woods they were camping in was so refreshing. It was calm, cool, and serene, and up in the sky she could see billions of stars. She hoped there won't be any Risen that would ruin this calm night. She looked down, then noticed the burn on her cape after the last battle. She contemplated, wondering if she would ever get a new one when they get back home. Her cape was one-of-the-kind, as it was made for her by Camilla when she was younger.

At a time like this, she would usually hear Azura sing, or she would be by Corrin's side and talk with her, talk with matters that would help her when things would go down for her. How she missed the blue-haired songstress. She may look cold and distant, but she is actually kind and friendly. It was also thanks to her that they were able to uncover the truth about the cause of the war, and how her singing would help them in battle. However, when she sings that song, and use the power of the amulet, it does help them in battle, but it came with a price. She would suffer, and any more would cause her to disappear. That song, she wondered. She had heard it so many times from her, she could practically sing it in her head (she didn't really like to sing it out loud for a reason she felt embarrassed if someone were to ever hear her sing). But, since she's alone, she saw that there's no harm in trying it out, for memory's sake.

"You are the ocean's gray waves," she began singing.

"Destined to seek, life beyond the shore just out of reach,

Yet the waters ever change, flowing like time,

The path is, yours to climb…"

"Hmm….what was next after that?" she asked herself. Her singing may not be as good as Azura's, but she managed to get the notes right. Now she knew why Azura would sing that song for pleasure, or just plain sing for that matter. Whatever doubt or worry she had inside her was washed away, calmed her rattled nerves. She was never really that fond of singing, for she wasn't good at it, but that didn't stop her.

"A burdened heart, sinks into the ground…"

"Was it really that one?" she said again. Okay, maybe she doesn't really know the rest of the song, except the first part. Maybe she won't mind doing some singing lessons with Azura when they go back.

"I didn't know my little princess could be quite a singer," suddenly said a voice coming from behind a tree that was near her tent. The voice sounded male, powerful, and has authority. She turned to see who it was, and when she found out who she was, she blushed in embarrassment. "Care to sing more?" he smiled.

"X-Xander? You were there this whole time?!" the woman stammered, embarrassed of the thought that he had been listening to her the entire time. She really thought she was alone. Damn.

The blonde-haired Nohrian king made a small chuckle. "I apologize. The meeting ended earlier." He cleared his throat. He then went to Corrin's side. "Though I must admit, I haven't heard that song in a while."

"Singing that song….reminded me of home," Corrin said in a soft voice. "That song also made me remember the things we went through back in our world."

Then there was silence. Corrin stared at the campfire as its flames danced. It has also been quite a while since Xander was alone with her. Since becoming the queen of Valla, they had been busy restoring the world to what it was before the war. A peaceful world. The times they were alone was when she was still training with him, or back then when they were still both younger, they would play (sometimes with Elise).

And since coming to this world, she had been very close to the tactician, Robin. He knew that they were friends, and they became close, but that doesn't mean he had to like it entirely.

"Hmm…something's been bothering me for a while now," she suddenly spoke.

"What do you mean?" Xander asked.

"About….all of this. Especially Laslow, Selena and Odin. I've been wondering…"

Xander didn't say a word. He listened intently to her. "We now know that they were of this world, but I wonder why they went to ours…." she wondered.

"I don't have the answer to that Corrin," Xander stated. He had also wondered about that for a long time, and not just about that, there are still so many questions left unanswered.

"I've been thinking since we began knowing who they really are," the woman said. "It made me think that, them fighting for our kingdom, knowing that they weren't from our world, they still chose to fight. Fight….for us."

"And….do you think I made the right choice? About all this?" she said with doubt in her voice. "Well, I also thought to help them save the future, but also, I was thinking that maybe if we defeat the fell dragon, we could get home…but now…" she sighed. She hasn't told anyone how she felt, and now, she's letting it all out to the one person closest to her heart. "I'm sorry. I dragged all of us into this mess….it's my fault we're stuck here."

Xander thought of his words carefully. At her times of doubt and sadness, he wanted to be there with her. "No little princess. Don't blame yourself. It was our own choice to come here, and," he smiled at her. "No matter what your decision is, we will be with you to the end. Now, why don't you smile for me?" He paused the moment he said that. Oh great. He usually hears that from Laslow. Now it had seem to rub off on him.

Corrin made a small laugh and blushed. "Thanks Xander. You're the best."

Although the words he said were true, there were other reasons of why he also chose to fight along with the Shepherds. Since knowing of Laslow's true name and nature, and also finding out about his past, he renewed his view towards him. The young man had been through a lot. He also knew that he showed exceptional skills and responsibilities as his retainer. Since he's here, he felt that he needed to repay him somehow, at least fighting here at his side again would show his gratitude. And not just him, even he knew Leo and Camilla also felt the same way towards Odin and Selena. The best that they could give them as grattitude is a wonderful future that they deserve.

Deep inside, he also wished that, when they get back home, he would spend time with her alone again….just like this one. They both looked up the starry sky. Just looking at it was breathtaking. But just as what Corrin had said, there are many questions. Why did those three end up going to their world and fight the war? Why did their father choose them to become their retainer? And also, why were they sent here, in this timeline? He now assumed that, they were witnessing their pasts, but the question still remains. For now, maybe the only way to get back home, is to help them save this world and defeat the fell dragon.

After a while, they went back to their respective tents and rested. Corrin also wondered how they would also change fate. Maybe the coming of their world made a difference, but that doesn't mean that they were able to change the events that seem to go still exactly as planned for the dark future ahead.