"They can't have just disappeared off the face of the world!" Lucina let out in frustration as she, Henry, and Tiki all searched the forests that had surrounded the Shephards' camp.

"Maybe they're dead," Henry replied with, to which Lucina shot him a glare.

"Not. Now."

It was at the crack of dawn that Stahl and Gaius' absence was noticed, and the Shepherds had been looking for the two for hours now. Lucina, Henry, and Tiki were all walking around in the woods while Cordelia and Sumia were not too far away on their pegasi. They were all letting out hope that the two could be found soon, but no one had a single clue as to where they could have gone.

After a few more minutes of searching around, Cordelia and Sumia landed their pegasi onto the ground and walked up to the other three. "We've flown around most of the forest. They're not anywhere in sight." Cordelia said with a frown.

Tiki let out a sigh. "Well, where else could they have gone?"

Lucina groaned as she only grew more flustered. "It doesn't make sense. Uncle Stahl has to around here somewhere!"

"Hey now," Sumia said in a gentle voice, trying to soothe Lucina any way she could. "We'll find them. Don't worry."

It was just then that a blue portal formed up directly above the five, and it was a few seconds before Stahl and Gaius emerged, flying out on their pegasus. They flew around for a moment, before they noticed the five, and went flying down to the ground. When they landed their pegasus safely and jumped off of it, they had faces of pure joy.

Stahl stared at the five for a few moments, and struggled to get any words out of his mouth - but he couldn't. Gaius just stared at the five, trying to let it sink in that this was indeed their world.

He and Gaius looked at each other – and they cheered on, for they were finally home. Everything had been set back to normal, and everyone was how they remembered them. Sumia was once more a cute and dainty pegasus knight, Cordelia was a determined paragon again, and Henry was back to being a wackjob and not a psychopath. Loud, joyous cheers erupted from the two, leaving the others even more confused.

Lucina opened her mouth to say something, before Stahl leapt towards her and hugged her tightly. He laughed as he did so, which left Lucina raising her eyebrows.

Still holding on to Lucina, Stahl looked at Gaius with an enormous grin on his face. "We did it, Gaius."

"Damn right we did!" Gaius said with a smirk on his face. Stahl let go of Lucina, and the two began to laugh as Lucina, Henry, Cordelia, and Sumia all looked at each other.

"So…" Henry said as he walked up to Stahl and pointed at the taller man's black armor. "You two clearly had a fun adventure."

Stahl stopped laughing and looked at Henry, thinking about it for a moment. "Yeah…you could say that."

Sumia began pointing around Stahl and Gaius and their pegasus. "Where did you get that armor, and the pegasus, and those scars on your face, and…everything!" Sumia looked like she was trying to think of anything else to say, but struggled to say another word.

"It's a longass story," Gaius said as he rubbed his neck with his good hand.

Cordelia looked to be the most confused of all. "And speaking of that pegasus, how in the name of the gods did you learn to fly one in a few hours? My dear and I spent months learning to ride one. Hell, it would take most people a lot longer than hours!"

Gaius tried to think of some excuse to explain the pegasus, but he couldn't think of anything. And he wouldn't have to.

"It…it truly is you," Tiki said, grabbing everyone's attention.

She had just been standing there, observing Stahl and Gaius as if she was trying to figure something out. And it seemed she had cracked. She walked up to Stahl and Gaius with pure amazement on her face.

"I…I didn't know what to think when I first saw you two. I thought your resemblance to the Black Crusaders was just an eerie coincidence. But I see it now…you were really there. You saved Mar-Mar's life."

Everyone else bolted up in complete confusion, with even Henry looking at the two in disbelief.

"You're serious, Tiki? They are really the Black Crusaders?" Lucina asked in a baffled voice.

Tiki nodded. "I am absolutely sure, Lucina."

Lucina, Henry, Cordelia, and Sumia all looked at Stahl and Gaius again, still completely shocked.

"So it was you guys we learned about in school!" Sumia said in a bubbly voice.

"Heh. Time travel was a common theory about the Crusaders. But how did all of that transpire?" Cordelia added on.

"The bards sing many songs about you two! I like the ones with more blood!" Henry said in his usual gleeful voice.

Lucina had her eyes on her uncle, and they were quite wide. "You…you met the Hero King, Uncle Stahl? And not only that, you saved his life?"

Stahl smiled and nodded. "We did, kiddo. And he was a fine man."

Lucina had a very uncharacteristic grin on her face. "Oh gods, you are the best uncle ever!" Her excitement disappeared when she saw everyone else looking at her with baffled looks on their faces, replaced by slight embarrassment as she blushed. "Erm..I mean, that's a very impressive achievement, Uncle Stahl. You will forever have my deep respect and admiration for it." She let out a small smile upon finishing, and Stahl got the message.

Gaius then almost forgot – he owed Henry and Sumia apologies for his outburst. After all, less than a day had passed from their perspective. "Junior, Stumbles…" He said as he walked up towards the two with a genuinely regretful look on his face. "I'm sorry for blowing up at you both like that. I was being a complete and utter tool, and I have no excuse."

"Yes, you were a tool, Gaius," Henry replied, to which Gaius let out an 'hmm. "But eh…whatever."

"In fact, Stumbles…" Gaius added on, to Sumia's confusion. He looked at Stahl and motioned his head for the latter to look at the pegasus, with Stahl getting it right away. "The pegasus is a gift for you both. Munches and I would have no clue what to do with it, so maybe you can have it for that pegasus farm of yours."

Sumia and Cordelia both looked at the dark flyer pegasus with loving looks on their faces, with Sumia grinning once more. "She's beautiful. Yes, we'll take her! Well, wait. Can we, Cordelia?"

Cordelia laughed. "What are you asking me for? Of course we can."

She then moved her attention from Sumia back to Stahl and Gaius. "So…again, how did any of that go down, where you two ended up saving Marth's life."

Tiki also had a look of interest on her face, as did Lucina, the latter speaking up. "I agree with Cordelia. That sounds like a very interesting story."

"Oh, it is…" Stahl said, rubbing his neck. He just wanted to see Lissa as soon as possible, and he could tell that Gaius was feeling the same way about Maribelle. "But for another time. I promise you will all hear the story when we get to Ylisstol, but we really need to see our wives."

The darted off, only for them to realize that they didn't know where the camp was from here. "Erm…could you lead us back to camp." Stahl said with a nervous smile on his face."

"Of course." Tiki replied, and the seven all began walking back to the campsite, with Sumia looking at some of the scars and cuts on the dark flyer pegasus.

"Look at the poor thing, Cordelia. She looks like she's been through a lot." Sumia said in a concerned voice.

"Well…at least Stahl didn't eat it." Cordelia replied, something that Stahl couldn't help but chuckle. "Henry, could you take this pegasus back to camp, so that Sumia and I may spread the word that we found Stahl and Gaius?
Henry gleefully obliged, and Cordelia and Sumia both flew up into the sky to inform the other Shepherds.

Stahl and Gaius, meanwhile, could only think about their families.

Word got around quick regarding Stahl and Gaius' return – and what they had done. It wasn't long after they returned with Henry, Lucina, and Tiki to camp that the rest of the Shepherds made their way back to camp – and they all had nothing but praise and admiration towards the duo.

"That's real cool, you two savin' Marth's life," Donnel said with a smile, patting Stahl on the shoulder.

"I must say, Gaius, you definitely got my respect back," Cherche told the thief, which he really did appreciate.

"It's funny, Stahl. You once told me how you admired the Black Crusaders." Kellam told his friend. Stahl barely noticed, and when he did he just smiled, having no way of recollecting that.

"You two rule!" Vaike spouted boisterously, and he walked away immediately afterwards, only for Gaius to catch up to him.

"Erm, Vaike…sorry about my outburst. I made an ass out of myself," Gaius said, and Vaike just smiled.

"It's all water under the bridge to the Vaike!" he replied before darting back away.

They saw all the familiar faces. Sully, Frederick, Olivia, Basilo, Flavia, and Nowi all came by and cheered the two on, while Lon'qu and Tharja just looked at the two with looks of content and acceptance.

Gaius felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to see Libra, once more a priest, and looking at the redhead with approval on his face. "You've more than redeemed yourself, Gaius. Saving the Hero King is a high and respectable honor."

"Indeed it is, Padre…" Gaius didn't want to just brush Libra off like this, but he wanted to see his wife as soon as possible.

And then Stahl and Gaius finally saw them. Lissa and Maribelle walked up to the two with stunned looks.

And the two men looked at their ladies with overjoyed faces.

Stahl broke down in tears of joy, so happy to see Lissa again after all this time. Before the princess could open her mouth to say anything, Stahl darted towards her as fast as he could. She hugged her as tightly as he could and swung her in the air. He laughed harder than he had in a long time. To see his beloved alive again, after everything he had been through…it was the best feeling Stahl ever had.

Gaius wished he could hug Maribelle like that, but he couldn't because of his broken arm. So he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her in as closely as he could, tears of joy also flowing down from his face as he felt the exact same way. "Darling…words cannot how sorry I am…and now happy I am to see you!"

"You had me worried sick!" Maribelle yelled. Gaius could tell she was a bit annoyed, but he understood – and he didn't care. He was just happy to hear her voice again. He leaned down and kissed Maribelle, and she blushed for a moment before moaning and welcoming him in.

Lissa, meanwhile, looked up at Stahl with a mixed expression on her face. "Honey, it's awesome that you saved Marth's life, but just what the heck happened?!"

"It's a wild story, love."

"Father! Father!" Owain yelled out, darting towards Stahl as fast as he could, with Inigo and Severa following behind. Owain looked completely excited. "I heard you saved the legendary Hero King's life! That is most awesome! Best dad evah!"

Stahl chuckled and hugged his son, so happy to see him again. Brady walked up to his own father, with Morgan and Cynthia not too far away, and smiled at his father. "Yeah, father…that is really, really cool what you did."

Gaius saw Stahl hugging Owain and did the same with his son. Both were overjoyed to have their whole families back.

Then Chrom and Robin walked up to the two with the same looks of approval as everyone else.

"You did good, Gaius. You did good," Chrom said, placing his hand on Gaius' shoulder.

Robin chuckled. "I didn't think Ylisstol would have any other reason to celebrate. Guess I was proven wrong."

Stahl and Gaius looked at each other, and they chuckled.

The Shepherds all began marching on to Ylisstol, Stahl and Gaius standing side by side the whole time. This was long overdue for both of them, and Gaius was relieved that he could go to the celebrations and not feel ashamed and regretful. The two talked to each other nearly the whole time, cracking up and laughing. They could hardly remember a time where they felt awkward being alone together. They chatted on and on, to the confusion of their wives.

"It's…curious, isn't it darling? Seeing them like this?" Maribelle asked Lissa as they walked aside each other and saw their husbands suddenly act as close as they were.

"Yes, Maribelle. Makes me want to know what happened even more."

Stahl and Gaius laughed on, until Stahl suddenly remembered one of the last things Bulzark said to him. He remembered how the Manakete pointed out that man could destroy the world in this timeline, too, just later on. The memory sank into him like a ton of bricks, and he began to whisper into Gaius' ear.

"While you were knocked out, Bulzark told me that the world could eventually be destroyed here, anyway. I just…I just don't know what to think about that. I hope to the Gods he's wrong, but we have no way of knowing."

Gaius placed his hand on Stahl's shoulder. "Bulzark does have a point. It could happen. But only if someone like Queen Cordelia ever comes into power."

"…heh, you're right. As long as people like Chrom are in charge, we have nothing to worry about. …That's inspiring, really. Makes me want to fight for Ylisse even more, just to make sure no one like her ever rises to power."

Gaius chuckled. "That's good to hear. I'm sure you'll do just fine, Munches. And hey, when we get to Ylisstol and I can replenish on my candy, I'll give you a few pieces. Now, hold up a moment." Gaius moved away from Stahl and approached his wife. "So what will these noble events be like, darling?"

Stahl looked up into the sky, thinking about what Old Hubba must be doing, and smiled. He looked forward to the celebrations, and all the joys and the food that would come with it, and he looked forward to what the decades ahead would provide him with - even moreso with a friend like Gaius at his side.