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Morgan was sleeping peacefully, dreaming about working on tactics with her father.
But eventually, she woke up, and opened the curtains. Light quickly replaced the obscurity that filled her room.
The room was a mess, lots of books and notebooks on the ground, and on her desk. She giggled, thinking that once she finished her new project, she should clean everything.
After a growl from her stomach, she decided to eat before getting dressed. Her pajama was enough for now.
But when she opened the door, she was surprised to not be greeted by the smell of her parents' cooking.
Instead, the smell was something sweet, but not the usual sweetness that was sometimes emitted by her mother’s cooking.
She recognized the smell, but couldn’t figure out what it was. She just knew she already smelled it before.
Not liking this feeling of not knowing, she went down the stair quickly, and entered the kitchen.
She saw more people than just her parents, and regretted just being in her pajama, and not having brushed her hair. Until she realized that the other people were also from her family.
“Good morning, everyone!” She greeted them cheerfully.
Her grandfather and her father, who noticed her entering the room, smiled at her.
“Good morning, Morgan.” Both said.
A smaller figure was behind her grandfather. I t was her three years old “aunt”.
“Good morning, Morgan!” Little Lucina exclaimed, clearly holding back from adding something.
Her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother were startled at first, as they were focused on cooking. Morgan was able to deduce that the sweet smell came from the three of them baking what seemed to be a pie.
Quickly, the three women smiled at her, too.
“Good morning, dear.” Lucina said.
“Good morning to the greatest niece of all time!” Cynthia exclaimed.
“Good morning, Morgan.” Sumia said.
“I’m happy to see you all, but I must ask, is there a reason why you’re all here? Especially you, Grandfather, considering that you’re very busy with all of your work…” She said, with a big smile, but really wondering what was the reason behind their presence.
“Ha ha, it’s true that I have a lot of work at the moment, but there are some days that I just cannot miss.” He said.
“I must say, dear, you arrived at the perfect moment. We just finished to bake the pie.” Lucina said, with the pie in her hands, showing it to Morgan.
Morgan was about to ask more questions, because she felt like she hadn’t gotten the answer she was looking for, but when she payed attention to the pie, she got her answer. There was a decoration on the pie. It spelled two words.
“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!” The six cheered, surrounding the young girl.
Morgan was at a loss. She forgot a lot of things, due to her amnesia. Her birthday was among those things.
Seeing the confusion in his daughter’s eyes, Robin elaborated.
“You see, just like me, you forgot when your birthday is, but, as you probably remember, we celebrated mine some time ago. Lissa once had the idea that my birthday would be the day she and Chrom found me, and most of the Shepherds went along with it, so in the end, I did, too.” He explained.
Morgan thought that it made sense, and wondered why she never linked him having a birthday with his amnesia. But, Robin continued.
“And, today, it’s been two years since we found you.” He added with a smile. “We couldn’t celebrate it last year… Due to me disappearing, and everyone searching for me…” He said, embarrassed, and apologetic. “But this year, nothing is stopping us. I am very happy that you are among us, Morgan.” He said, smiling again.
In the kitchen, Chrom chuckled, but agreed that he was also happy that Morgan was here. The women all nodded to what Robin said, and the little girl didn’t really understand what Robin was talking about.
Morgan tried to think about how to answer. She smiled, and giggled. “I’m also happy that you’re all with me. Thank you, everyone.” She said, with her innocent smile. She then turned back to Robin. “And, Father, don’t worry, the best thing you could’ve done for me last year was to come back… And you did!”
Suddenly, a thought came to Morgan. ‘It has been two years, already? I never really paid attention… I recovered almost no memories…’ She shook her head. ‘No, today isn’t the day to think about that. My family came to celebrate my birthday! And we WILL have fun!’
“I’m going to repeat myself, but thank you, everyone. I genuinely didn’t expect this, and it makes me very happy!” Morgan said, with a warm smile. “So… What are we going to do, today?” She asked, curious about what her family planned on her back.
Lucina giggled. “Dear, how about you go change your clothes first? Then, we will eat the pie we baked for you.”
Morgan nodded, and rushed back upstairs. She quickly put on her usual tactician’s coat, washed her face, brushed her hair, and went back to the kitchen. All of that, in less than ten minutes.
The table was set by Robin when she was dressing up, and Chrom sliced the pie in eight parts. They only had six chairs available.
Robin, Lucina, and Morgan didn’t live in a big fancy house. It was an average house in Ylisstol. The biggest room in the house, Robin and Morgan used it to work, be it for their job, but also on their personal projects. But apart from this room, none of the three needed more.
Lucina was really happy now, she was finally able to live a life where she could spend as much time as she wanted on mundane activities, without constantly worrying over a calamity that would cause the end the world.
Robin, for a long time, searched a goal in his life, outside of his work, and he found his goal when Lucina reciprocated his feelings. His new goal was to make sure that his family will always be safe and happy. So, if Lucina was pleased with this house, so was he.
Morgan was just happy to have a safe place. She might’ve been unlucky to lose her memories, but she was glad that, unlike her father, she wasn’t left all alone in this unknown world. It could be a castle. It could be a tent. Morgan didn’t care where she lived, as long as she had her parents, the only thing she remembered, the only thing she had left when she arrived.
One day, she will be independent, and leave her parents’ home, but she wasn’t ready for it, and even when she will be, she will continue to visit them regularly.
In this average house, only one room was empty. One day, the Morgan of the present will be born, and it will be hers.
But, there was a problem with the six chairs. They currently were seven who needed to sit down and eat. Fortunately, everyone knew how this problem would be resolved.
Everyone sat down on a chair, except Little Lucina, who went next to Morgan, and looked at her excitingly.
“Would you like to sit on my laps, Aunt Lucina?” Morgan asked the child.
“Yes!” The little girl exclaimed.
Little Lucina loved all her family members. She was told that her future self and Cynthia are her big sisters, and that Morgan is her niece. Due to her still being very young, she didn’t realize the age gap should make this impossible, but every Shepherds agreed to wait before revealing all the complicated stuff to their children.
To wait until they are old enough to understand that they aren’t the same people, and that they shouldn’t strive to become like their future selves, but to let them be themselves, and to strive to become who they want to be.
So, Morgan picked up her ‘aunt’, and placed her on her laps. The little girl made herself comfortable.
Cynthia started to give everyone a piece of pie.
“And since it’s your birthday, Morgan, you get two!” She exclaimed cheerfully. “Oh, you’ll see, Mother’s pies are the best!”
“Thank you, Auntie!” Morgan replied, happy to get a second piece because she was hungry. “And you know, I guessed how good it will be when I first smelled it, ha ha. I must have eaten some before, because it definitely is familiar.”
Lucina raised an eyebrow for a moment. As she is the one who helps her daughter the most to recover her memories, she noticed a lot of things that go unnoticed even to Robin or Morgan herself. And while it already happened, it was really rare that Morgan was having the feeling that she knew something.
She decided to pay close attention to Morgan until she finished her first piece of pie, just in case she would remember something.
Once everyone had their pieces of pie, Chrom, Cynthia and Little Lucina didn’t waste a single second to start eating it, knowing full well how delicious it will be. Seeing the three blue haired royals throw themselves at the pie, Robin joined them quickly.
Sumia was waiting for Morgan to start. She looked at her, wanting to see her granddaughter react to the pie.
Morgan’s eating session was delayed for a few seconds, because Little Lucina moved a lot when she was eating her piece of pie, and Morgan made sure that the past self of her mother wouldn’t fall from her laps.
Just before putting the pie in her mouth, Morgan smelled it one last time before tasting it. ‘It sure smells really good.’ She thought, before opening her mouth and taking her first bite.
The pie was amazing. Morgan was at a loss of words. But not only the taste was great, she felt a lot of things with this first bite. She felt joy, comfort and something that warmed her heart up in this simple piece of pie.
“Morgan, are you alright?” Sumia asked, worried.
“Huh? Yes, of course, this pie is delicious! The best I ever ate!” She answered honestly, thinking that her grandmother was worried that the pie wasn’t to her taste.
But her answer apparently didn’t satisfy Sumia, because Morgan could see that she was still worried. But she couldn’t figure what she was worried about. Then, she realized that her mother was just as concerned.
“What is it? Have I something on my face?” She asked.
This got the three other adults to stop eating their pie, and to look at Morgan. Little Lucina was still focused on eating.
And soon enough, her father, her aunt, and her grandfather also had worried faces.
Lucina decided to inform Morgan, because she apparently wasn’t noticing by herself. “You are crying, Morgan…”
Morgan blinked when she heard that, and that is all that was needed for her to finally notice and feel the droplets that were rolling down her cheeks.
Instead of panicking, she tried to stay calm. She closed her eyes, and tried to rationalize what was happening to her. She didn’t feel sad at all, she could even say that she was really happy at the moment.
“Morgan, did I hurt you? Why are you crying?” Little Lucina asked, finally noticing her niece crying, and being worried about it.
Morgan decided to interrupt her thoughts, not wanting little Lucina to start crying, too. “Not at all, Aunt Lucina, I’m fine, you don’t need to worry about that.” She said.
“Oh… But why are you crying? Do you not like the pie?”
“This isn’t it either. The pie is delicious, I just… I just… It just feels… So familiar… And warm…”
“Perhaps… It’s because you already lived something similar in your past? And while you can’t fully remember, something deep inside of you does?” Cynthia suggested, not really sure if what she was saying made sense.
But to her surprise, everyone else at the table, except for Little Lucina, considered it, and started to nod.
“I think you’re right, Auntie… Well, if I had birthdays similar to that one where I come from, then I think it’s safe to say that I wasn’t sad during my childhood!” She exclaimed. After that, she wiped the tears from her face.
“Because, you can all trust me when I say that I’m happy right now! You all are dear to me, and while I don’t remember any other birthday that I had, having you all as my family is the greatest gift I could ask for!” She continued, still cheerfully.
Some find that a bit cliché to say, but they smiled, nonetheless.
“And you are the best gift your father and I could ask for as well, Morgan.” Lucina said.
“Oh! Gifts! I brought you one!” Little Lucina exclaimed to Morgan.
Chrom laughed, he found his daughter’s innocence and cluelessness to what was happening adorable. “We know, Lucina, and she’ll love it. We’ll open the gifts as soon as everyone will finish their pieces of pie.” He told her.
Except that part where she cried, this birthday wasn’t anything extraordinary.
After they finished the pie, Morgan received different gifts.
A drawing from the small version of her mother, in which they were holding hands and flowers, that made her say out loud ‘Awww’.
A Pegasus plush from her aunt, that she found cute, and to which she immediately gave a name.
Some jewelry from her grandmother, that she intended to keep for special occasions.
A special necklace from her grandfather, which had the Brand of the Exalt on it, and that she put on immediately, still proud of being part of her family.
Some books from her father, the same ones she always tried to check in libraries to see if they had a copy, and that she will study the very second she could start.
And from her mother, a dress, that she simply loved. She left the room to put it on. Considering how Morgan and both of the Lucina loved it, none of the other had the heart to point out how ugly it was.
This birthday wasn’t anything extraordinary.
After she had opened the gifts, they spent the rest of the day talking, or playing some board games together. After some hours, it was time for another meal, and they had Morgan’s favorite. At dinner, they had Morgan’s second favorite.
Unfortunately, time kept on ticking, and when Little Lucina fell asleep, the guests guessed that it was time to leave. Chrom lead the way, Cynthia carried her sister, and Sumia followed them.
Morgan decided to take a bath. After she was done, she put on her pajama, and she yawned. She guessed that the day was over for her, too. She went to see her parents, thanked them for that day, and went back to her room.
She closed her eyes, and fell asleep.
This birthday wasn’t anything extraordinary, but Morgan thought that she wouldn’t have wanted it any other way, and that she would remember it, forever.