Summary: the life and times of the swordmaster Mia, as seen through her most turbulent times.

Disclaimer: I don't own Mia or any other Fire Emblem characters or items; those belong to Intelligent Systems, et al. I do own Mia's backstory, since we aren't given one for her in the game.

Warning: Spoilers for Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance and Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn.

Twenty-seven Times Mia Considered Crying

1. Precious

When she was four, Mia accidentally cut herself with her family's treasured sword. She was too caught up by how right it felt in her hand to notice the blood until her cousin Nina came in and grabbed the sword out of her hands. Even then she was more concerned with getting her hands back on the sword that had cut her hand open than she was with the throbbing in her palm.

2. Talent

One day, Mia fell out of her tree and broke her leg. Because no one in her extended family was a healer and because there were no healers in the nearby village, she would have to wait for the leg to heal naturally. She overheard her grandfather say that it would put her training back so much that even her natural talent might not be enough to balance her current inability to practice and learn.

She nearly killed herself trying to go through her training exercises with a broken leg.

3. Hair

Mia loved her cousin Rane, but that didn't stop the two of them from tormenting each other whenever they got the chance. Mia had been growing her hair out so that it would be as long as her mother's when she said something that truly enraged Rane. She can't remember what it was anymore, but she does remember the fury in her cousin's green eyes as he grabbed his sword and cut her hair off.

Even knowing how truly sorry he was afterward didn't mean she forgave him while he was alive.

4. Family

The treasure hunters came when she was eight years old, looking for a special sword. They slaughtered all in their path, but Mia was given the sword and shoved out the door. She was too busy trying to stay alive to grieve, and afterwards, when she knew that she was the last one left, she knew that she couldn't cry because of the dishonor that would bring.

5. Love

His name was Carl, and he was perfect. Until he laughed in her face and told her that no one would love a girl who was dedicated to the sword.

The sound he made when she punched him certainly made her day.

6. Jewel

Mia went back to where her family had lived, once. She wanted to know if there was anything left. A morbid curiosity prompted her to pick through the smoldering remains. She still hadn't expected to find anything, so she was surprised to find her mother's beaded necklace glinting in the sunlight.

7. Fort

When Daein conquered Crimea, Mia was still training to become a worthy wielder of her family's prized sword. Being thrown into one of the forts Daein had taken over cut into her training time, pushing back the day of her vengeance. It took a long time for her to realize that it was easier to train during a war with Ike than it had been on her own before Daein came.

8. River

Mia was normally a chipper individual, but even she had things she didn't like to do. One such thing was laundry. When she was washing her clothes in a river that they camped by, her hands slipped and the clothing drifted away on the current before she could grab them back.

She never really got over losing her favorite skirt that day.

9. Forest

The first time Mia saw Serenes Forest, she wanted to hit something. She had grown up with stories of how beautiful it was, how loved by the goddess. To see what it had been reduced to made her furious. She showed absolutely no mercy to any of Tanas' men whom they ran across in there.

10. War

When they joined the war against the Senate and Daein, Mia figured that it would just be more time to hone her skills in anticipation of a night of bloody vengeance. When everyone was turned into stone, Mia thought for one brief moment that her vengeance had been ripped away, and with it, all chance of ever making things right again.

11. Temple

Mia knew that she wasn't the best swordfighter yet, since that honor still went to Ike, but she was still one of the best, and being told to stay outside while some of the others went into the Tower of Guidance still smarts when she thinks about the lack of faith in her ability.

12. Companion

"Don't you dare fall on me!" Mia roars at Zihark as they fight the reanimated dead outside of the Goddess's tower. She refuses to think about what she'll do if he actually does fall beside her from the nasty wound near his stomach.

13. Training

After the war, Mia spars with Ike before she goes off to travel for a bit. Miraculously, she manages to land a near-critical hit on him. When she realizes that he used the opening it left in her defenses to "kill" her, she slumps in defeat, wondering if she'll ever actually beat him.

14. Number One

Ike disappeared one day, before Mia ever got the chance to beat him in one of their duels. She doesn't think she'll ever forgive him for keeping her from becoming the best.

15. Bandits

One day, Mia decides that she'll never be readier than she is now, and she slips away from Greil's Retreat yet again, this time in the dead of night without saying a word. When she doesn't return, some of the others go looking.

They find her kneeling before a set of graves, a collection of heads in front of her and the Wo Dao gleaming in the light.

16. Flowers

"Hey, boss, I brought you some flowers… Well, I guess I should say I brought your grave some flowers. Don't you think it's kind of weird for you to have a grave? I mean, you're probably not dead, right? Soren's probably taking real good care of you, and you're not the kind to just lie down and die, are you? I'm sure your sword skills are still getting better, too, right? I never could beat you before, and I'm betting it's still true now, huh? …I think…I'd better go now… Be well, hey?"

17. Oaths

Mia always keeps her promises, and so she made sure that she was in Greil's Retreat when Mist and Boyd married. She cheered loudly during the vows and made rude noises during the kiss and whooped when she caught the bouquet.

She refuses to talk about when her eyes got shiny during the toasts at the reception.

18. Chains

There is a long, heavy chain that drags behind Mia, but she thought that she maybe lightened it when she avenged her family and accepted that she never would best Ike. She realizes how wrong she is when she realizes how high her kill count is.

19. Energy

Mia throws her all into everything that she does without a second thought. No one thinks to ask her why, but if they did, they would hear a tale of regrets and holding back when she was least able to afford it. She knows that she will never be able to forgive the inability of her eight-year-old self.

20. Child

Mia believes in fortunes, perhaps too much so, but even she is willing to get clarification when the old woman tells her that she will never have children. She goes to see a doctor, and nearly punches the poor woman when she confirms that Mia's lifestyle makes it incredibly unlikely for her to be able to carry a child to term.

She still tries for five years until Mist tells her that it's putting too much strain on her body.

21. Dinner

Mia could cook, normally. Really, she could. It was just…tonight she couldn't. She stared at the ruined feast, and slumped over the table. Of all nights, did it really have to happen on the one when she was making grave food?

22. Rival

She sat at his bedside, once. The injury Largo had taken years ago finally came back to kill him. Calill was in the next room with Amy, so Mia felt like it was okay to come in. She was going to miss the big lug, ex-chauvinist ways and all.

"I just wish I could've beaten you once," he tells her. She leaves before Calill and
Amy come back to watch him die.

23. Beauty

She's always known that she was pretty, but it never really used to matter. Looking at the scar now marring her face, she realizes that maybe she cares more than she thought she did.

24. Wound

The cut on her stomach hurt, and she was starting to think that it wasn't as much of a cut as she had thought. In point of fact, she suspected that it was more of an impalement sort of thing.

When she woke up after the battle and realized just how close a call it was, she clung to Mist with gratitude.

25. Mirror

One day at the market, she saw it. It probably looked like an ordinary mirror to anyone else, but Mia still remembered how Nina had carefully braided her hair everyday in front of it all those years ago. She buys it and puts it in her room at Greil's Retreat for a few months, but decides that maybe she doesn't want that much of a reminder.

She takes it off the wall and smashes it not even a year after buying it.

26. Death

Mia stood at his grave, once. She ranted and raved about duels and how they never got to have one because he learned to use magic rather than a sword. When she was done yelling she plopped down and took a nap right then and there, just to be in his presence a bit longer. She tried to tell herself it was like he was still alive, napping there where he was resting.

She thinks she should be relieved that she's not that delusional yet.

27. Old

When she stretches these days she can't go as far as she used to. She can't go as long or as fast or as hard, either. Her skill that she valued so much is fading. She thinks it might be time to retire.