By the time Lucina returned from her training, the sky had turned a deep navy, and the Elysian stars had rose into the sky. The hallways of the orphanage were empty and quiet, with most people had shutting themselves in for the night.

Lucina headed straight for her room, she then showered and put on fresh clothes before lying on top of her bed resting her head on her arms. Staring up at the ceiling, she recalled her earlier training session, she drifted into a meditation like state as she mused over what mistakes she’d made and where she could improve. She was brought back to reality by the loud growl of her stomach. She had got home from training later than usual and had completely forgot to eat.

Lucina left her room and travelled downstairs into the kitchen, where the leftovers from dinner were in the fridge. Grabbing a plate and some cutlery from a cupboard, she then made herself a plate of food, consisting of meat, vegetables, and rice. After re-heating the food, she then headed into the dining room. The room was made from a dark wood with grey stone walls, and rows of tables and chairs. To her surprise, she saw her brother sat on the table closest to the door with a plate full of leftovers, he glanced up and gave her a smile.

“Working late?” she asked while sitting across from him.

“Yeah, Becka had a bunch of stuff that needed doing once me and Eri got back” he informed her,

“Where did you and Eri go?”

“We got some lunch and went around some shops she wanted to go to” he answered. He then looked down at the plate she was currently eating from.

“Didn’t you eat earlier” he asked, “or are you just that hungry”.

She shook her head and rushed to finish chewing her food “I stayed late at the training facility with Eric”.

“Eric stayed late with you?” Lewis questioned.

“He told me he’d train with me this week. But then he showed up late, so he said he’d stay later with me” she told him.

“He arrived late?”

“Yeah, Emily got there like an hour earlier than him and she told us they both left the meeting at the same time” she answered. Staring at her brother she could tell his mind was wandering.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing” he said casually before returning to his food. She knew he was lying but she also knew she wouldn’t be able to get him to talk, so quickly shrugged it off. She then began telling him about her training as they ate. As she came to an end, Lewis glanced up from his food with a curious look that drawn in her attention.

“Do you train with Jager much?” Lewis asked. Once again he’d called her ‘Jager’ Lucina was always confused on why he called Emily that but had learnt to just roll with it.

“A little bit, but she normally trains with the people from her squad” she told him “But when we do she always compliments me on my hand-to-hand combat ability. Always asks who I learnt from”.

“What do you tell her?”

“I say you train me” she stated however then went silent, something about her interactions with Emily these last couple months had been bothering her “Hey.”

“hmm”

“Whenever your name is brought up she always gives this weird stare like she’s both embarrassed and intrigued and Eric always laughs when he sees her do it … Why?” she asked her brother curiously. However, to her frustration Lewis just started uncontrollably laughing, in a similar manner to Eric.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing” he replied while wiping his eye “it’s nothing”

“Oh come on. It got to be something” Lucina questioned baffled.

“I’ll tell you another time” her brother said as he ate the last of his food and got up. Annoyance flared up inside her, she hated when he said that. Lucina quickly finished her food and followed him.

“Come on, tell me” she pleaded, as she followed him into the kitchen.

“Not tonight” he said with a stupid smile “Put your plate on the side, I’ll wash up”. She placed her plate to the side like he requested and lent on the kitchen counter beside him.

“Can I ask you to do something” she said with a concerned manner “I promise it’s not about Emily”.

“Go on”.

“Can you come to training a few times over the next two weeks” she asked politely. He finished cleaning their dishes and then dried his hands before turning to her.

“You want me to train you?” he asked, and she responded with a hopeful nod.

“Alright”. His response completely stunned Lucina, it had been a long time since he had trained with any of them, ever since … well she didn’t know. Around a year ago he stopped ‘being active’ and Kate was the only who knew why, and Lucina had a feeling she was willing to take it to the grave.

Apparently the response had stunned her more than she thought as she hadn’t even noticed him walk off. She quickly strode off after him and found him climbing the main stairs when suddenly there was a knock at the door behind them. They both looked at each other confused.

“Who’s knocking at this hour” she asked, “Has not everyone come in for the night yet?”

“No everyone’s in” he told her as he walked back down the stairs. Through the satin glass on the door two figures could be seen, but due to the nights darkness, she couldn’t make out any defining features except one was considerably taller than the other.

“You’re going out with Eric and Kate tonight right, could it be them?” she suggested.

“Doubt it, we agreed to meet at the bar” he replied. He gestured for her to stay put as he approached the door.