Hi there, welcome to the first chapter of this fiction! This is my pet project, and something I have wanted to write for some time. I love the story of FE:A and I love the interactions between the characters, however I want to get really lost and invested in that part of their world.
I wanted to present the story from a romantic standpoint and explore the dynamics of love and friendship between the shepherds and their extended companions.
I hope you enjoy my take and presentation of this story!
I would like readers to get involved with this story, and I know everyone has different opinions of who should be paired with whom. If you have an OTP (who can also be a pairing unable to marry in game e.g. Lissa and Maribelle) or a pairing you would like explored (either platonically or romantically) please leave a comment or a message so that I can consider it.
Let me know if this style of writing is suitable, or if you feel I should write chapters from the POV of a single character or pairing perhaps alternating to keep story space equal for all parties.
Last but not least, please enjoy!
- FH

Prologue: Premonition & The Verge of History

Robin could feel the adrenaline pumping through her veins. After all of this, everything had finally come to fruition. They faced Validar, not as the inexperienced young people they once were, but as equals. Grown fighters who had lived and breathed together, battled alongside each other and forged memories that could stand the test of time.

And yet somehow it all went wrong.

She recalled a feeling of helplessness, a dread that overcame every inch of her body. Watching as her hands ignited, and feeling the blow hit its mark.
Even as she saw her friend fall she was not allowed to move her body, unable to comfort him as he staggered. Instead she was a slave to her master as she knew she would be.

And yet he had trusted her.

"This is not your - your fault…" he began, even now thinking only of others. Memories became fuzzy, warped into a blur and yet Robin remembered the sense of grief and a faint realisation that he had loved ones who would know what she had done. "promise me you'll escape - from this place… please, go!"

He thought not of himself even as his last breath escaped his body and Robin felt her tears fall hot and heavy on her face.

Chrom's realisation that his life was coming to an end filled him only with regret. His hands grasped around the solid manifestation of his companion's magic. His heart ached for her, for her guilt, for her inability to change their destinies.

It ached for his wife, his child, the lives they would live without him and the lives that would be cut short by what they could not prevent.
Despite all of these things he could not find it in his heart to blame her, it was not her fault. She'd warned him of this eventuality and he had ignored her. In the end he was the cause of her pain and it was with this final thought that the darkness claimed him for its own. Her distraught screams the last sound to reach his ears.

What had she been dreaming of? Robin couldn't remember, but she awoke with a heavy feeling of loss and a lump in her throat. Voices broke her out of her reverie, they filtered in and out of her consciousness.

"We have to do something…" a girl's soft tones settled on her eardrums. Robin focused in on the sound, opening her eyes to see a man standing over her. His hair was a midnight blue and his eyes bright enough to match. As he extended a hand to her she found her loss leave her body and a sense of relief washed over her.

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground you know. Give me your hand."

She obliged immediately.

"Thank you Chrom."

Strange, where did that name come from, she knew she had never met him before. Or had she? Memories did not come try as she might.

"You know who I am?" he asked her, a little less than surprised.

"Er no, actually that name just came to me now." she replied unable to understand it herself. "I don't even remember my own…"

The girl who she had initially heard speaking was stood next to him; a dainty thing with platinum locks piled into messy pigtails on her head. Robin would later compare her skin to porcelain.
It was the other man, however, who spoke next. He wore full armour and stood incredulously, taller than all of them. His face was a stern mask of calculated concern and his hair a wild shock of chocolate brown.

"So we're expected to believe that you remember milord's name and not your own?" he questioned her, disbelief apparent.

"I've heard of this!" exclaimed the girl. "It's called amnesia!"

"It's called a load of pegasus dung… Milord it would not be wise to trust a stranger on their word."

As the two bickered amongst themselves Chrom made his best effort to make Robin feel at ease.

"Peace, friend. We will escort you back to the capital and perhaps you will find your answers there. This dainty one is my sister, Lissa. Don't take his comments to heart, he is called Frederick the wary for a reason."

When he smiled at her Robin felt all her unease melt away. She couldn't call it infatuation, more the feeling of seeing an old friend after a very long time apart.

They had found her on the ground, with no articles by which to gauge her purpose. This rightly unsettled Frederick, while Chrom was intrigued by her unique situation.

"It is a title I wear with pride!" Frederick interjected, clearly displeased.

Chrom's curiosity had long been a part of his personality and he wasn't about to give it up today. Who was this girl, where did she come from, and why didn't she remember anything about herself? He wasn't sure if the answers could be found but he would try his hardest to do so. Inexplicably he felt himself drawn to her by some sense of kinship he had felt the moment they had locked eyes. It was just like the knight to stop him acting on his instincts about something like this.

"Frederick only smiles when he's about to bring down the axe." Was Chrom's jesting response.

As they talked amongst themselves and began to walk Robin found herself smiling. Soon the conversation turned to food, Lissa being the most invested in that particular topic. Chrom and Lissa walked ahead, Frederick walking alongside her.

Despite his earlier comments and his continued skepticism he was clearly well invested in propriety.
The knight did not think poorly of her in a sense - it was just that his station mandate that he was cautious for the sake of his charges. They were prone to landing themselves in dangerous situations. For all intents and purposes he was still in charge of her care until she proved herself unworthy of it and they had no way of knowing how long she had been stuck in that field. Sniffing slightly to clear his nose of the pollen laden air he turned to address her.

"Can you walk properly, my lady?" he asked her upon noticing her slight discomfort.

"Ah, yes thank you. I'm just a little tired, I've no idea how long I was in that field…" she mumbled in response. "You're concerned for someone you don't trust?"

Perhaps her question was not particularly tactful but she would turn out to be a rather direct person. Frederick furrowed his brows and spoke without looking at her, instead watching his charges walk in front of them.

"Regardless of my suspicion you are a lady and should be treated as such."

Smiling to herself a little, Robin rubbed the back of her head sheepishly. She hadn't expected this response from him, and it made her feel more at ease than she had done before.

"I imagine I'm not particularly ladylike but I appreciate the sentiment all the same. Thank you Frederick."

In the days to come Robin would spend a lot of time wondering whether the noise that came out of him in response was a snort or a laugh.

"Not in the slightest, but you are welcome."

After this they walked in comparative silence, even Lissa eventually running out of the energy necessary to talk at the rate she had been previously.

It seemed good timing, then, that they came across a town. Upon their arrival Robin had remembered her own name, causing her to earn a few more suspicious jabs from Frederick and Chrom to announce that it must be foreign. Their levity would be short lived when they realised the situation.

A band of brigands were attacking the town, and the atmosphere of battle soon descended upon their troupe. It was an instant change and a feeling so electrifying it made all the hairs on Robin's body stand on end. Immediately she knew she was made for this, she had trained for this.

"Frederick we have to help the townspeople!" Chrom called out. She was unsure how a band of shepherds could hope to defend a town from bandits but she could sense the serious aura emanating from the three of them.

Chrom assumed command from the get-go, as if they had done this a thousand times. He knew the consequences if they were unsuccessful and the pressure fell on his shoulders once again. It was sometimes an overwhelming burden.

"Of course milord!" came his friend's response.

The pressure dissipated in a matter of seconds. As long as they were there beside him he knew they would never give up, and they would never fail to complete their task. Robin ran over to them with a seriousness she didn't know she could muster. She didn't know the name for her feelings but they were familiar and she knew in her heart that she was right.

"I can help." they looked at her with some hesitancy, she was armed but so far they knew nothing of her skill. "I can see things."

"Things?" Chrom asked her, confused.

"The flow of battle, the way enemies will move. I know this sounds strange but I must have studied this somewhere. I can help, let me direct you."

As much as they didn't want to admit it they would likely be unable to save the town from serious damage if someone didn't organise their attacks. Much to Frederick's distaste Chrom accepted her offer.

"Okay Robin, you tell us where to be."

The battle was swift and for the most part clean. They had picked off the brigands surgically thanks to Robin's battle tactics, and it afforded her an invitation to join the shepherds. She accepted gladly, looking forward to making new friends and forming bonds with the group who had shown her this kindness.

The townspeople were understandably grateful and offered them all a place to stay. Lissa would have jumped at the chance - and secretly Robin was quite keen on the idea too - however Frederick declined on the entire party's behalf; saying instead that they needed to return to the capital and that they would make camp on their journey.
When they did eventually find a place to stop Lissa and Chrom would insist - despite the knight's best protests that they should be the ones to collect the necessary firewood and supplies.

This was very possibly prompted by their experience with eating bear meat at his behest earlier on.

Once she had been left alone with him Robin took a moment to appreciate his demeanour. He was stern and hard-faced, but it was not without its own internal softness. Affording herself some imagination she thought that perhaps, behind his stoic exterior, was a very caring knight. She would be lying to herself if she said she did not value that in a man.
Nothing was known of her reality before this, but this was her reality now. Sitting across from him she admired his features in the firelight. His deep brown irises gave a warmth to his face that she had not noticed before. She wondered if it was wrong of her to find him attractive. Something about liking somebody who seemed to dislike you so much was unsettling.
When she had watched him fight it was with admiration, perhaps if she was allowed to stay with them she would ask him to train her.

Something inside her hoped that perhaps she never remembered where she originally came from.

He had been subtly regarding her too in the glow of the flames. If he was honest with himself, he was unsure what to make of her. In many senses she was suspicious, dangerous and clearly her story did not make any sense. However, despite this, he was intrigued by her. If what she said was true then her situation was grave and he would feel it his duty to protect her for as long as she needed it. On the other hand if she was playing them for fools he wasn't sure he could forgive her regardless of her intentions. She was not without her beauty. By Ylissean standards she was not a model, but Frederick had never admired that kind of woman. Her face was youthful and quite pretty, but it was the animation to her facial expressions that brought it to life - her eyes held the fire of a life that someone three times her age might have lived. There was no doubt that there was more to her than any of them could know, but how far was he willing to explore?

"Hey Frederick," she began, he looked at her with a questioning expression, able to face her directly now without it seeming odd.

"Yes, Robin?"

"Do you think that I was a good person?" she asked in spite of herself. This was not a question that he had expected.

"I'm not sure I quite follow your thinking."

"Before - the times I can't remember." frowning she rubbed her temples as a headache began to set in. "Do you think I was a good person?"
It panicked her to think that perhaps she had done something terrible and had voluntarily removed her memories in an effort to wipe her slate clean.

Frederick considered her question for some time, she assumed confused by her vulnerability towards him.

She would be right. He did not expect her to be so forthcoming with her emotions and he was unsure how to process the information. He did, however, know that if he truly thought about it he did not get any kind of uneasy vibe from her. It was just within his nature and comfort zone to suspect her until she had proven herself trustworthy.

"If I am to believe that you do not remember, then I must ask you a question in return." he regarded her not with a critical stare, but with conviction. "Whether or not you were a 'good' or 'bad' person in the past… Does that have any bearing on your present?"

She thought on this for a moment, did it really matter who she was before?

"What I mean to say, my lady, is that you have a chance now to become whatever it is you wish to be. Perhaps you chose to forget these things. If that is the case, from now going forward you can also choose the kind of person you wish to be."

Smiling, Robin laughed a little at his frankness and understanding.

"So do you believe that I have no memories now?"

"Absolutely not."

And then they felt the earthquake.