Robin and Lucina: Rank A+
Robin had expected her to leave.
Maybe not right away, they all knew there was zero chance of Chrom or Lissa allowing their future children to slip away without any sort of celebration of their victory in Aytolis first. But with Validar defeated and the nightmare scenario brought on by the coming of the fell dragon Grima averted, Lucina and Owain's mission, their purpose, was accomplished.
With nothing else left to settle they would return back to the time they belonged to, much in the way the heroes of legend left Rowan and Liana after they slayed the Chaos Dragon. Much in the same way, Lucina and Owain would disappear from Ylisse, from all of their lives. No matter how badly anybody wanted them to stay.
No matter how much Robin wanted her to stay.
Because while it caused the famed tactician no small amount of shame, he had found his thoughts pertaining to the daughter of his best friend and fearless leader had somewhere along the way grew into something far larger and more complicated than a respectful companionship.
It had all started on the battlefield where the two found themselves partnered together often due to complimentary fighting styles of close and ranged combat. And with that partnership came trust and understanding, the longer they fought side by side the easier it became to predict one another's next move. It wasn't long before that bond became wordless, in the heat of battle they easily flowed together like the passing current.
That same bond followed them back to their makeshift army's camp. Whenever there was a meal the two would choose the same table, more often than not sitting next to one another. When they marched they marched in step with the other so as to pass the long time in between destinations with good company and good conversation. Sometimes the simple company was enough and the conversations went comfortably unspoken. In the quiet of the night when conflict was at least a few days away they would spend that time talking softly about everything and seemingly nothing at all until it came time to return to their own tents.
Looking back, he cherished those moments and while he wasn't sure, he felt she had as well.
But he wasn't naive enough to believe that would be reason enough for her to stay in Ylisse with her parents and their friends. With him.
So sometime after the initial celebration of their return died down, he made the decision to keep quiet. And with that he knew that each morning thenceforth when he woke, the coming sun would also bring the likelihood that she had gone in the night. If she made an event of leaving her father would assuredly oppose, and with her being unable to face the sadness her decision would bring to Chrom and her mother she would decide to leave when they all were asleep. Not because she was a coward, but because she was exactly the opposite.
Yet, the days passed and somehow this reality never came to reality. Day after day Robin would rise and he would inevitably, find her. He found her on the first day training in the courtyard with Chrom and Frederick. On the next he found her sharing tea with her aunt Lissa and Cordelia.
And then the days turned to weeks.
And he kept finding her.
What was worse was that the future-former-Exalt made exactly zero mention of an intention to leave. Nor did she seem to be hiding a plan to ever do so, when she spoke any of her family members or comrades or even Robin himself she would always meet them straight in their eyes and her voice wouldn't waver. Lucina was many a things but a convincing liar was not one of them. If she was keeping something secret either Chrom or Robin would be able to see it clearly.
Even more than that, he noticed that lately her smile seemed to come easier, effortlessly. And her striking cobalt eyes would lid lazily as if she enjoying a warm fading sunset. To Robin she seemed...comfortable.
And that mere thought drove him far madder than the possibility of her leaving ever did.
Fore is she just left that, while something that would sting in the deepest recess of his chest, would simple. It was something he could easily address inside himself and move past.
But the possibility of hope, the possibility of her staying, for him to be able to see her everyday. That was something that if ripped away, would be utterly devastating. Crushing even.
Of course Robin was far from the type to simply toss and turn in his sleep. He strategized, he worked to solve. He decided that if at the dawn of the next day he again found Lucina then he would ask her personally to stay. And if he found she was gone….
Then that was how this was all meant to end.
The next sun came and Robin awoke an hour and a half earlier than he normally did. But he didn't simply rush out the room to find the blue haired princess, no he busied himself for half an hour by catching up on the mountain of paperwork Chrom had "assigned" him. And then only after he completed four out of twelve stacks of documents did he finally emerge from his room.
First he took a stroll to the opposite wing of the castle's living quarters to stop by Lucina's room but he knew she wouldn't be in it. A short and simple knock on the door confirmed that quickly. She always had a habit of rising just a little earlier than he did. Barring the actuality that she finally did leave he knew exactly where to find her.
And so he did, training by herself in the courtyard.
"Need a partner?"
Lucina whipped around at the sudden intrusion of his voice, the brand of the Exalt sparkling in her left eye.
"Good morning Robin," Lucina greeted with that easy smile.
"Actually I think I might be due for a break," She lowered her sword to her side and pointed towards a stone bench off to the side of the courtyard's open area.
"Care to join me?"
Robin glanced from the bench back to the young warrior who had to look up only slightly to see him and grinned.
"It would be an honor your highness."
They made their way over to the bench and each picked a spot for themselves, wasting no time getting comfortable in their own ways. Robin leaned his weight onto his hands outstretched behind his back. Lucina crossed her ankles together and leaned Falchion up against the front of the stone bench.
"And what are you doing up so early, Robin?" Lucina asked as she nudged Robin's shoulder lightly with her own.
"You can thank your father for that," he chuckled. "The man just seems to love dropping the work he doesn't wish to do on my desk."
"I can assure you that won't change anytime soon."
"Not even in your time, huh?"
"I'm afraid not," she smirked. SHE SMIRKED.
They shared a look before they both cracked into a fit of brief quiet laughter.
"Well that's something to look forward to I guess."
"As always you are unflappable, master tactician."
In response Robin did a quick stage bow with the upper half of his body. At this she nudged him again, slightly harder this time, and he did his own smirk.
The comfortable silence that then enveloped them did not last long.
"You know I am happy I ran into you Robin, I actually have been meaning to speak with you."
It was not lost on Robin that irony had seemed to favor him ever since Chrom found him face up in that field.
"Well here I am."
"Here you are," Lucina agreed, her smile unmoved. Then she looked forward at the courtyard's garden.
"I…admit that I have my faults."
Robin quirked an eyebrow but waited for her to say her whole piece before he made any comments or jumped to any conclusions.
"I am stubborn like my father and maybe just a tad naive like my mother."
She stopped and stroked the bottom of Falchions hilt with her thumb.
"And I fear I would fail to catch a joke quickly if my life depended on it."
Robin allowed himself a chuckle but made sure his eyes showed that his mirth at her comment was far from malicious intent wise.
"But one thing I can pride myself on is that I am not blind, not anymore at least."
The weight of her statement was enough to tell Robin not to bring up the time she went dress shopping with her aunt and Elise.
"..."
"In some ways Robin, I might know you better than I know anybody else." She turned back to face him and this time the brand in her eye was almost too much for him to bear, but he didn't look away.
He never could.
"There are plenty of things that I do not know or am too dense to notice. But that was never a problem when it came to you now was it?"
"..."
"You have a question for me. Don't you?"
They both looked towards the blue Ylissean sky above them.
"What I do not know is why you never asked."
Robin sighed and tugged at the sleeves of his beloved cloak.
"I guess I felt like I already knew what the answer was."
"And what if it wasn't what you were expecting?"
His brown eyes widened and he knew then that that right there was what Virion would call "Checkmate". She had him cornered and he was all out of moves.
All that was left to do was for him to stop biting his tongue.
"Lucina…"
They met each other's gazes. To each other they bore what they usually hid. Their vulnerability.
"Yes, Robin?"
"I've been….I've….well I wondered...I have been wondering that is…"
"I'm staying, Robin."
"I've just been curious and maybe I don't have a right to be but it's been, wait… you're what?"
Lucina beamed at him. SHE BEAMED.
"My father made a point to have a long talk with me when we all returned, but my mind had already been made up long before that."
"What changed your mind?"
She shrugged.
"I did my job. The time I came from will no longer come to past. My father's daughter in this timeline will grow up under a peaceful sky. My dark, twisted future no longer exists, my place is here now."
"You used to feel differently, but I'm glad you found a reason to stay."
All Lucina did was look directly at him.
"I am as well."
They elapsed into another comfortable silence, but this again this one wasn't meant for long thanks to a quick comment from her.
"Now that wasn't so hard to ask now was it?"
"I know I'm never gonna live that one down."
The rest of the early hours of the morning were spent with laughter and good company. With Robin, Lucina seemed to drop all the barriers she had imposed on herself when she first made the jump back in time. She never kept him at arm's length nor was she respectfully guarded in her speech, with him she spoke plainly but not bluntly. She never tried to be the hero or even royalty with him, she was comfortable enough to just be Lucina.
And that was something he treasured more than any tome or text.
Eventually it came time for them part as both had duties to attend to. Though the cabal of papers cluttering his desk seemed even more undesirable than before if even possible.
"Thank you for a wonderful morning, Robin."
The corner of Robin's mouth tugged into his signature smile as the wind kissed his platinum hair against his forehead. As he witnessed the same happen with her night blue locks he knew exactly what to say then. No more second guessing, no strategy, no apprehension.
"Thank you for staying, Lucina."
As Lucina passed him she gave his shoulder a quick squeeze.
"I will see you later Robin."
He stood in that spot well after she was out of sight, the wind still softly caressing his features, his eyes lidded contently, and the smile from earlier unbroken.
"Yes you will."
Well I hope you guys enjoyed my first ever Fire Emblem story. I have been a fan of the series for years and have always wanted to write something in that universe but never really felt like I had something, anything really to contribute. And then Fire Emblem Warriors came out and it was first game I ever played on my switch and I loved it! The only thing was that there was no Robin and Lucina support conversation! At first I was disappointed(I mean come on they even complimented each other's skills in game that's a perfect foundation for a conversation) but then I saw my in into the FE fanfiction community.
Now this was supposed to be written in the vein of an actual support conversation in FE Warriors but it kind of morphed into more of a character study I guess. I do want to write a chapter more in line with the support conversations and have it take place in the events of the actual game, not after the end of it. I have a bunch of other ideas too; involving this pairing and other characters as well, so I hope you guys enjoyed this one and would like to see more.
So if you enjoyed it, leaving a review is always sweet. but regardless thanks for stopping by and I'll see you in the next one.