A Moving On Relationship

Chapter 1

It was the wedding of the century, a once in a lifetime event. In the wake of the beloved previous Exalt's death, Chrom, the prince of Ylisse and commander of the Shepherds, was set to be married after a whirlwind romance with one of his very own soldiers. It was the first royal wedding to be held during peacetime since the crusade against Plegia and the citizens of Ylisse had more reasons to celebrate than mourn. The final ceremony was set to take place within the hour where Robin, tactician of the Shepherds and best man, stood by his friend's side during his final moments of pre-marital jitters.

"Are you sure I look fine Robin? I feel like I'm suffocating in these royal robes. Did the tailor have to fit these so tight? I think I'm losing my mind."

"Chrom, for crying out loud, breathe," as Robin tried to calm the uncharacteristically nervous man next to him.

"I know… I know. It's just that today is the day that I finally marry the love of my life. You may be telling me to calm down now but I promise you that I'll be saying the exact same thing to you one day soon."

As Chrom spoke, Robin tried to hide a pained grimace that luckily no one seemed to notice. "Oh Chrom, if you only knew…" was his final thought before the doors leading to the ceremonial hall flew open and the all too dreaded music stared to play. As the bridesmaids walked down the aisle, Robin recognized some from random encounters and others from the Shepherds. The final one to enter the room before the bride was Cordelia, who wore the same melancholy look that he was almost certain he did.

Looking onto the fairly small crowd that had gathered many of those in attendance in the majority of the seats were unknown to Robin, nobles of one sort or another he guessed, only being able to pick out Lissa and Marribelle with looks of complete awe. Then his attentions drifted to the back of the room where many of the other shepherds had congregated. Gregor and Nowi were trying to force Lon'qu to sit with the rest of the group, Panne and Tharja were looking just as uncomfortable as the gynophobic swordsman. Vaike had his usual giant grin and surprisingly, a lack of upper body clothing which Robin thought was, in retrospect, none too surprising at all. Further back, Sully, Stahl, and the empty suit of armor, all led by Frederick, were part of the protection detail for the wedding. Out of the corner of his eye, Robin caught a passing flash of orange which he was sure was Gaius trying to avoid causing a scene at "Blue's" big day.

And then the happiest woman on the planet stepped through the doors. Wearing a slim white dress that accentuated her body and hopefully lessened the chances of the bride falling flat on her face, Sumia had a radiance about her that captivated the entire audience. As Sumia was making her way to the altar, Robin just barely held back the overwhelming urge to whisper to Chrom, "The day you tell me to calm down will be much later than you think. The love of my life will soon be married to a prince."

The past two days were a metaphorical hurricane of celebration and excitement. A hurricane that Robin, being the best friend of the Exalt and forced to go everywhere, quickly grew tired of. Amidst all the joviality, Robin felt like all the faked smiles he gave and all the lies he said were crushing down on him. If there was any form of consolation, it was that Cordelia was forced into the same treatment and he felt a kindred spirit in her lonely eyes. Cordelia had always been a level-headed person to talk to, and perhaps later would be a perfect time to engage in a friendly conversation about how they hate their best friend for taking the person they loved most.

The final order of business would be one final celebration exclusive to Shepherds and Regna Ferox khans only. One final massive web of lies about how proud he was of his best friend for finding the girl of his dreams. One final massive heartache envying Chrom and wishing with all his might that he may take his place. One final desire to just close his eyes and sink into that dark place that had been growing inside him ever since he had walked in on Chrom's proposal to Sumia.

The party had gone over fairly well, with none of the shepherds letting on that they knew of Robin's innermost thoughts. Or perhaps they knew and didn't really care. It was into the final hours of the night and the guests were starting to wear out. The newlyweds had run off for their post-marital affairs, Basilio had drunk Vaike, Gregor and Sully under the table thirteen drinks ago, Olivia and Nowi were leaning on each other sound asleep, Gaius was eyeing the last piece of wedding cake with what looked like disgust, and even the ever watchful Frederick had begun to nod off for a split second.

Spotting Cordelia at a lonely corner table, Robin finally had a chance to indulge his misery with company. Sitting down, Cordelia glared at him as if he was the pebble that broke the dam holding back all of her emotions.

"I'm not here to cause a scene, not that anyone is going to really notice. I had noticed that in all the celebrations we have been to, you haven't had a single drop of ale, which is surprising since you would be the one who really needs it."

With a small sigh of relief and an even smaller smirk, Cordelia answered "I refuse to drink. It slows the reflexes. Besides, I've smelled enough alcohol on the breath of men who thought I was simply some lonely bridesmaid who needed company for the night," with a matter of fact tone.

"Tell me about it. I had to fend off one too many women who had horrible wedding fever. For the record, just because I know the soon-to-be exalt does NOT mean I can use the royal treasury to pay for a wedding this size."

"Hee hee. That still doesn't tell me why you haven't had any ale either."

Robin's heart warmed at the barely audible giggle from the beautiful woman sitting in front of him. "I usually refuse to drink because it impairs my good judgment which is in my job description and part of my charm. However, seeing as we have something in common I suggest we have one drink to help relieve the pain of the past two days."

He had immediately regretted the words that had come out of his mouth, partly because he didn't know how much the wedding had taken out of Cordelia and partly because how he sounded like the drunken men who wanted to keep her "company."

"I'm so sorry. That came out wrong…" Getting up to leave in embarrassment, Cordelia reached out to grab his wrist but instead pulled back at the last minute to adjust her hair. Still, it had the desired effect as it stalled Robin just enough. Looking off to the side as her face reddened to the same shade as her hair, she asked in a hushed tone, "And what is it that we have in common exactly?" She knew where he was going with this, as Robin's feelings were as transparent as hers.

Robin lowered his voice to nothing more than a whisper. "I know what it's like to watch your best friend kiss the love of your life. What it's like to watch them ride off into the sunset with their happily ever after. To wonder if you will ever get the same, trying to get over the fact that they are completely oblivious to it." With that last line, Robin noticed tears welling up in Cordelia's eyes although for both their sakes he tried to ignore it.

"It's been two full days of empty smiles and hollow lies and I've had enough of it. And if you feel anything like how I feel, right now the one thing you want most in the world right now is to talk to someone who understands the pain you are feeling."

Looking around, nobody seemed to notice the emotional self-pity party taking place at the corner table. With a deep sigh of relief, Robin continued. "Right now, I don't want a relationship and I definitely do not want a one night stand. I just want to wallow in these feeling before I move on and I was hoping I could have some company."

At that, there was a small glimmer of life in Cordelia's eyes and a growing grin. "So let's say what you say is true and I do feel that way…" Robin immediately shot her a look that told her joking wasn't the smart thing to do. "Okay, fine… I feel exactly that. Was I really that transparent? Don't answer that…"

Robin knew that every witty and sarcastic remark that passed through his mind in the half-second pause would never be worth the pain he would receive the next time they trained together. As Cordelia could see the wheels grinding to a halt in his mind, she continued on. "Talking sounds nice… and I could really use a companion right now. Well I guess I'll start things off."

Before she could begin her rant, Robin quickly gave a motion to hush. "I doubt this is the place to speak ill of the royal couple."

"Well… Sumia did offer me a room with a large bed in a nearby inn just in case. She emphasized the bed… a lot."

"Ouch… they really are oblivious."

Robin's slap to his forehead attracted more than a little unwanted attention. Cordelia's subsequent laughter was more than enough to lift him from is their best friend's ill received actions. A mischievous grin crept over her face as she stood up and headed straight for the bar.

Watching her walk away with a slight spring in her step, Robin began to believe he made one error in judgment. "Maybe… maybe a relationship might not be so bad… maybe if it's her…"

Cordelia made her triumphant return with contraband in tow. "I thought you didn't want to slow your reflexes." She held more than a couple bottles of ale on her arms and wore, for the first time in what felt like years, a genuine smile on her face.

"To hell with reflexes and good judgment. It's a time to celebrate. My best friend IN THE WORLD just married yours. We should be having a great time." With that, she handed over half the ale, grasped his hand, and led him out of the tavern before letting him take the lead.

"Maybe a relationship with her… may be what we both need to move on from this pain. This just may work out after all…"

Robin awoke with a pounding ache in his head. He had enough ale to give him a hangover and a haze over last night, but not enough to completely forg… "Oh gods…"

Looking to his left, a woman was sound asleep next to him. Her arms were draped over him and despite his fright he couldn't help himself but hold her closer. He couldn't see her face through her scarlet hair, but he remembered enough. To Robin, every emotion he had ever felt since waking up on the side of the road came rushing back to him within a split second. He knew there was a good chance that he would never get over Sumia. But he also knew that right now, in this moment, he wished that everything would stop. This was what he has been searching for.

Authors Notes:

Here we go. First fanfic by yours truly. Comment, review, like, dislike… Just take your best shot. As long as I am not hunted down with torches and pitchforks I shall continue the story. But seriously, I personally love being judged by others so please review it and be truthful. If I'm always a good writer, I can never get better.

How did this get started you ask? You didn't ask? I'm telling you anyway. I had bought this game used so being the Fire Emblem support junkie I am, I knew about marriages and kids. So my first play through I had planned to marry Avatar/Robin to Sumia. I had an S rank ready to go between the 2 and you know what happens then? I fricken kill Gangrel… which led to Chrom stealing Sumia from me. DAMN YOU CHROM! Ahem… anyways… I later learn of Cordelia's relationships to the 2 and thought "this might be a decent story if someone good wrote it." Unfortunately you are stuck with me. Fast-forward to now and tada here ya go.

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem, the characters, the internet or the computer this was partially typed on.