Fire Emblem: Before Awakening

The Warm-up

Anna

"Checkmate!"

"Wait - what?!"

I triumphantly knocked over Mom's king, setting down my own piece in its place. "Only took me sixteen years of my life but I finally managed to defeat you in chess."

Mom stared at the board in utter and complete awe, no doubt that it was regarding the remaining contents. In every one of our matches, our pieces at the end would be somewhat equal in numbers. However, these last few games, my amount of surviving pieces saw an increase (that never meant I won, though). 

But now, after years and years of studying and training, I won; almost all of my pieces intact. Most would say that using this tactic in chess was a terrible idea, putting in all effort to preserve each and every single piece. Pawns were created for a reason, to fall. But, I didn't see it that way. A good strategist does their everything to reduce the number of casualties. Why couldn't that apply to chess? The more surviving pieces I had left, the easier it was to pick off my opponent's dwindling numbers.

Thus, my new outlook and strategy proved fruitful. 

"That was...how did you..." She could barely form sentences. 

I didn't know whether or not her reactions were good or not. Is she mad at me? Did I do something wrong? Gods, I probably did some illegal move and she's about to point it out! I KNEW beating her was too good to be true!

When she looked up at me, her eyes were misted with tears. Before my mind could make up any more scenarios, she rushed over to me, embracing me tightly. "My smart, clever Little Bird... I'm so proud of you..."

I froze in her arms, unknowing of what to say or do. "Um...what?"

She laughed, pulling away but keeping her hands on my shoulders. "For beating me, silly. It's about damn time you did so!" she exclaimed. "You executed that strategy perfectly. Any tactician that watched you play would say so as well."

My eyes lit up, my heart racing in my chest. "R-really?! I did it right?!"

"Of course, you did!" she giggled, pulling me back into a hug. "Why would you think otherwise?"

I swallowed the lump growing in my throat. "W-well, because I was never able to beat you before! And all your strategies were perfect for victory!" I stammered. "For the longest time, I tried using your same strategies since they always worked! It wasn't until I started formulating my own ideas and tactics that I was even able to come close to beating you! Since they were new and scarcely worked on, I was afraid that they wouldn't work since you never tried them and-"

"And that's exactly why you won," she said, kissing my cheek. "You won because you came up with strategies of your own imagination, not using already known ones. By formulating your own style, you've grown more comfortable and confident with your abilities, thus making you more than capable of beating me."

I was speechless. My mouth laid agape and only air and sounds of shock escaped. 

Mom's shoulders trembled as she laughed, pulling away to face me, eyes full of mirth. "You did so tremendously well, Anna." Even though we were in the secluded forest with no one around for miles, her voice was quiet for only us to hear. "You're a fantastic tactician. You always have!"

"Th-then why did you-"

"Always beat you?" She finished my sentence. "It's because you, my love, were learning. Every single defeat of yours, you took it and reflected upon it. Never were you a sore loser; nor did you give up on trying. You found ways to improve and the results of these improvements definitely show. And stop with the 'perfect strategy' nonsense! No strategy will ever be 100% perfect! There will be flaws and mistakes, but a good tactician can swiftly adapt to those and move on as planned. Trust me on this."

Finally, a smile broke my features. "So... So what you're saying is, I am really close to being as good of a tactician as you?!"

She laughed, pressing her forehead against mine. "Anna, I think you're already surpassing me. I guess I better work harder to get to your level! Just because I lost once doesn't mean I'm going to make that a habit!"

"We'll see about that!"

I can hardly believe this! I know she's just saying that to inspire me to train harder, though. I know I have LEAGUES until I can comfortably say I'm at Mama's level. She better watch out, because this tactician is only getting starting! This was just the warm-up!

*****

Here's some short fluff after the monster I posted last week. XD So exam prep is starting this week. Ahhhhhhhhh. I already have an exam in two days so lord help me. Anyway! Thank you so much for reading and look forward to reading more!

Currently listening to (holy crap I haven't done this in forever): "Where Did The Party Go" - Fall Out Boy