"Robin, do you have time?"

Nowi asked Robin who had been bluntly staring at a scroll he had freshly sealed with waxing. As if suddenly awakened, Robin answered in a startled voice.

"Oh! Sure I do, Nowi. What's going on?"

Nowi slowly paced to Robin's desk and rested her weight against it.

"Well...now the war is over...everyone's going their ways."

She started, her eyes pointed to the floor of Robin's tent. Robin's consciousness suddenly focused.

"...Yes. They are."

He answered, unconsciously grim. The end of the war was of course something to celebrate, and the cheerful background noises proved as much.

However, these two in particular seemed at a loss for some reason. For Robin, it wasn't that he missed the war where he could practice his talent at tactics; rather, He longed to be away from it. The responsibility and burden of taking charge of so many people's lives lay heavily on him throughout the war and had worn him out. What made him so forlorn instead, was the realization that he did not know at all what to do after the war. Sure, he had a bunk in the Shepherd barracks, but now he had to find a real living, possibly and hopefully away from the fighting and soldier business. But he did not know at all what he could do. He knew he could rely on Chrom to feed him, but that was simply too pathetic. Now was a time to start anew so that he had a sustainable living fit for peacetime.

Moreover, that was not the only thing bothering him. He also realized that he had grown quite accustomed to being in a tightly knit group of allies. However, as one by one started talking about what they would do with their family or broke off from the group as Gregor, Lon'qu, Khan Basilio and Flavia and Olivia did, he started to understand that everyone had their own lives to live, often with family.

Robin however, had no life to return to, let alone a family he knew of.

As such, the peaceful life presented itself as a mystery to Robin. At first, it was part wonder and part confusion. But as the army drew closer and closer to the Ylissean borders, it gradually turned into a rock-like sensation sitting in his gut. Being an adult, and given the cheerful atmosphere permeating the group, Robin could not bring forth his question for discussion with others. Therefore, he would often just sit and stare into empty space at the loss of a plan and in silence watched the excited Shepherds yelling about glory at home and competitively comparing their mother's home cooking. It was in this state that Nowi had found Robin.

"Well...Umm...what are you going to do now...?"

She asked, carefully observing Robin's countenance; Robin knew how good she was at reading him, and thus made no attempt to hide his feelings. He shrugged and smiled.

"To be honest, I have no idea, Nowi. What am I supposed to do?"

He finally managed with a sigh, thankful to be releasing the question which had been so long itching to be asked.

He knew Nowi could be confided in with matters of the mind and heart for she would always suggest her own simple yet extremely effective remedies to such ailments. However, this time, the situation was not quite the same. Nowi, as Robin understood, also did not have a home to speak of as she had been traveling the world until she was briefly captured. Thus Robin guessed that Nowi might have a similar problem as he did.
And he guessed right as well; Nowi drew her tongue out and smiled with a small frown.

"Same here! I don't know what I'm supposed to do now. I feel like I've been here forever but now...everyone's going their own ways and that's a good thing for them. ...But I'm feeling lost here,"

She said as she hoisted herself up on Robin's desk and sat on it.

"So we're both lost sheep huh? That's actually pretty comforting, haha. Knowing I'm not the only one here feeling strangely glum."

Robin secretly sighed in relief, at the sakme time trying to cheer Nowi as well as himself up. Nowi nodded.

"Yup! We're together in this…this puzzle of sorts,"

She managed with a small snicker.

For a while, Robin and Nowi sat in silence pondering. This was not an uncomfortable silence, however, as they were quite used to sharing the same space due to their always moving as one unit, not only during battles but also in their rare free times as well. Robin simply enjoyed being in Nowi's presence, watching her cheerfully scampering about and fetching this and that to him with questions with the fervor of a puppy that had been let outdoors to play for the first time. Nowi's unique geniality always allowed him to lay down his burden without guilt and refreshed his spirits like no one else did, and her capacity for empathy never failed to amaze Robin in those moments they were alone when Nowi would choose to show a truer side of her character, unburdened by her duty to keep the Shepherd's spirits up with her enacted childishness.

Nowi also regarded Robin as her favorite playmate and secretly something much more, for he never hesitated to break his stoic tactician's persona for whatever she suggested for the both of them, and would on many occasions double up with his own suggestions which would always add a pleasant measure of depth to their activities. Nowi's keen sense for reading people had also set Robin apart from the others, for he genuinely enjoyed spending time with Nowi no matter how carefree or childish her games seemed while others would agree to join Nowi's games only out of politeness and with a nagging question as to why they were doing this. Her games were, as much as they were for her enjoyment and others, her own stratagem for getting to know people from the various reactions they made while playing the game as well as a remedy for people who needed the respite. She also set apart her games so that she would be shown playing them, as her purpose with them was to cheer the camp up with her presence. When she was more alone or…with Robin, she chose to interact in much calmer ways, although never losing her cheerfulness. Such transition resulted in her demeanor being one that was gentle and attentive, and quite often left Robin in an enamored turmoil.

Robin's tent was mysteriously calming despite it always being half covered with scrolls and books. His presence itself seemed to warm the tent up to a cozy degree, so Nowi always chose to spend her evenings in Robin's tent, sometimes reading along with Robin or conversing about so many things under the mellow flickering glow of Robin's lamp. When Robin needed to focus, she would retire to his bedding and cover herself up with Robin's blankets, comfortably settling in. She usually chose to watch his back as he worked, or knit, or read some of his more entertaining books in these cases. At first Nowi worried that she was being a bother to Robin, but unlike so many others who would have considered her presence as such, Robin would stretch, turn his view to find Nowi still there and smile as if he was glad that she was still there. He once even managed to tell her sheepishly that he liked Nowi being there, albeit with his back still turned to his scrolls and making a small fuss with embarrassed grunting and coughing. This alone was enough of a hint for Nowi to make a sound conjecture on Robin's feelings towards her, and the knowledge was ever so elating and delicious. It was only when Nowi fell asleep much later on that they separated, Robin often carrying Nowi back to her tent when he failed to awake her, tucking her in ever so gently and leaving Nowi wistful when he would exit her tent with a good night. This was a guilty secret of hers, but nowadays Nowi feigned drowsiness harder than ever because she enjoyed the process of being carried to her bed by Robin so much, to the extent that it was one of Nowi's most crucial question of a given day whether to pitch her tent next to Robin's so that she could quickly visit him, or to pitch it far away so that Robin had to carry her for a longer duration.

Given their intimacy, it was only natural that she chose to visit Robin with this matter. She actually wanted to hear something of Robin but dared not suggest, for she had never underwent such a venture even given her age of a near-thousand. After all, she had lived alone all this time in the secluded manakete village until she was briefly made to travel around the world due to her captors. In any case, she did not want to separate from Robin and break their routine they so much enjoyed. She feared that they will lose their togetherness, and this was a crippling fear for her who longed for company more than anything.

This fear was, in fact, shared by Robin. To Robin who had awakened on a field with no memory whatsoever of his past, he secretly desperately hoped for company as well. This longing had finally been sated by his relationship with Nowi, but he knew how unique and precarious their current situation was; what was the soil that nurtured their intimacy was a very temporary and unnatural situation called wartime after all.
But Robin was smart enough to understand that their relationship surpassed situational boundaries; to understand that it would take strong root again even if the soil changed. Thus, there was no way Robin was giving up. There were many things he had to give up, many friends he had to send away, but not her. Sure, Robin may have been at a loss about what he was going to do from now on, but he wasn't at a loss about his one true desire. He had concocted a plan, but…to execute it was going to take more than a small amount of courage. To be honest, he would feel less fear diving into a cavalry charge than going ahead with this plan. However, Robin's keen tactical senses clearly told him: Now was the time.

Robin gulped.

Having given up trying to spy Robin's expression from his back, Nowi ran a finger over one of Robin's loosely bound scrolls. He was staring outside blankly again.

"Nowi,"

He suddenly blurted out.

"H-Huh?"

Nowi answered, trying her best not to look like someone who had been peeking at his countenance. Robin scratched the back of his head.

"Well…This is…That is…Umm. This might sound outrageous but I've been thinking about something for a while…"

He then hesitated and stopped.

Nowi decided to wait, continuing to scratch the seal on Robin's scroll. A moment passed when the scroll's seal suddenly broke due to lose waxing and its contents rolled into view.

'Oh? What's this?' Nowi soon realized that it was a floorplan for a two-story housing, and began to examine the writings on it.

'Here's the kitchen…oh how nice, he even drew all the details in! This pot of flower is adorable…and there's the living room with a fireplace built in…But of course, it's got a big bookshelf for his books. Oh the Sofa looks so cozy!...Wait He wants to have a barbeque spit to go with the fireplace? Interesting idea, I actually love it! I do love our little cooking outings over a campfire spit... Oh and there's the staircase up…What a nice place. I'd sure like to live in something like this someday…'

She ran her finger up the staircase and reached the second floor. There were two bedrooms on each side, one of which said 'My bedroom' and the other which said-

'!'

Nowi's finger stopped dead in its tracks. Her mind went blank and her pupils shook as she drew in air into a gasp.

"So what I wanted to say was…"

Robin started again.

Nowi ran her eyes over the room's name again. There was no mistake.

"W-would you like to stay with me for the time being? S-see, the rent around Ylisse is quite high, so I hear subleasing takes a lot off of one's shoulder and—Well, I, I don't mean this in that way but if you feel uncomfortable about it, s-since we're of the opposite sex and everything I-I mean that's fine too but—"

Robin stammered on with his back turned to Nowi.

Realization sank into Nowi's mind and the tips of her lips curled into a smile with such force that not even Naga could have stayed it as she held the scroll up and hugged it, crumpling the sheet up as her body shook with rapture and a cry of joy emanating from somewhere deep within her chest escaped her throat.

"~~~~~!"

"I-if you need time to think that's fine too but—Nowi?"

Robin stopped, noticing the small, amorous commotion that Nowi was making behind him. He turned and realized what scroll she was hugging so preciously, and started to come up with an embarrassed excuse when he was set upon by a radiantly excited Nowi who pounced Robin with enough force to have mowed down a small hill had she been in her dragon form.

The scroll rolled open as she did, and revealed the room that caused Nowi's rapture: A bedroom whose name read, "Nowi's Bedroom(Potentially?)."

After a good while of vigorous choke-inducing hugs, Robin caught his breath and realized what this meant. He broke into a smile just as powerful as Nowi's and held her hands firmly.

"I guess this means yes?"

Robin asked.

Instead of answering, Nowi started assaulting Robin again.