Like a Storybook! But Messier!

Chapter 1: He's Back

A winter day in Ylisstol. Though it was chilly outside the few remaining birds were chirping merrily into the wind, the markets bustling with food carts, and of course no less than three Anna's peddling their various wares in anticipation of the coming winter holidays. Inside the castle which sat upon the sprawling hills beyond the city square Princess Lissa was hosting a dinner of roasted pheasant, a medley of root vegetables, four different soup choices, and a small selection of wine. Joining the Princess were her best friend Maribelle, Queen Olivia, her niece Lucina (who thanks to the wonder of time travel existed both as an adorable toddler and an adult), Severa, Cordelia, and Sumia. Each of the seven had been members of the Shepherds during the war against Grima and when their various duties allowed, they enjoyed meeting like this. Each member had at various points tried to talk Lissa into letting one of them do the kitchen labors instead of the castle kitchens, today though with the temperature dropping every hour and wind starting to howl, the offers of going elsewhere were half-hearted. Everyone was laughing, Maribelle was in the middle of a story about the latest foolish nobleman who thought land, titles, and promises of adventure would convince her to marry them.

"And then if you'll believe it ladies, the gormless knobhead tried to kiss my hand."

"What'd you do then?" Lucina asked, unable to contain her curiosity and her giggling at the same time.

"Took a page out of Sully's book and smacked him in the jaw. He didn't like that and although father reprimanded me while the fool was still in our presence I could tell by how his face was twitching that he thought it was warranted.

"Do you ever plan on marrying Maribelle?" Lissa mumbled, her cheek full of pheasant.

Making a face to show her amusement at Lissa's lack of table manners Maribelle nodded.

"Of course. I'm just not going to marry a man who thinks a bit of gold, land, and unproven gallantry will persuade me. Still, I can wait."

The tone was casual, but Lissa thought Maribelle's hand had twitched grasping for her water goblet, as though she were restraining some idea about who she was waiting for. She knew better than to ask in public. Despite the friendships she had seen her best buddy build in the Shepherds, Lissa knew Maribelle still preferred to keep her emotions and personal life firmly behind closed doors and that, whatever bluster she presented in public about being unwed, it was bothering her not to have a husband. Out of the seven women at the table Lissa herself had been married longest, having married Libra about a week before the battle where King Gangrel was defeated.

Much to the shock of everyone in the army Chrom proposed to Olivia, the Feroxi dancer, a mere month later. Though there was much grumbling, skepticism, and a few spiteful rumors about witchcraft flung in Olivia's direction, she handled the role of Queen with just as much grace as she did the dancefloor. Within another month anybody who had thought Chrom was thinking with his smaller head with his engagement had been forced to eat their words Lissa included. The Princess still said prayers of thanks to Naga that Robin had talked sense into her before she shot off at the mouth to either Chrom or her sister-in-law in the build up to the ceremony.

She was also thankful to the tactician for his positive impact on her own marriage, which like any stereotypical older brother Chrom had shown wariness to despite Libra's status as a priest. After speaking to Robin for two whole hours (with Lissa eavesdropping) Chrom finally came around to accepting the androgynous priest was in fact as pure-hearted as he seemed.

Though to her knowledge the others had dated men and women of varying backgrounds the delicate nature of courtship left Maribelle and Sumia as the only long-term single Shepherds of their party. It was quite ironic that the reserved Maribelle was transparent with all her failed suitors to the group while Sumia and her capacity for whimsy had never so much as mentioned a love life, not that the absence of one seemed to bother her. The clumsy knight was giggling away with the others at Maribelle's story when there was a knock on the door of the dining room. All seven women looked at eachother, wondering which man had made the folly of ignoring "Lady's Dinner Night.". Lissa, though she was seated at the far end of the table got up, preparing to shoo Chrom away as everyone seated figured that Libra would sooner start worshiping alongside the Grimleal than forget something his dear wife told him. Sumia, who was seated closest had gotten up as well and beat the princess to opening the door, only stumbling rather than tripping.

When the flower loving Pegasus Knight opened the door, she beamed. It was neither Chrom or Libra but a man wearing a black coat with gold accoutrements and a purple interior that almost matched the hair that went well past his shoulders.

"Robin! You're back early!" Sumia exclaimed, the smile on her face growing if possible even bigger as she threw herself forward into a hug and inhaled the scent of Chonsinian coffee that clung to him as tightly as she was to him now.

"Mhm." Robin mumbled as he had returned Sumia's hug. He thought he heard the tinkle of breaking china as the remainder of the group rose to greet him and he disentangled from his best friend. Lissa was smiling too, of all the potential interruptions for her dinner event this was one she didn't mind. Robin had been gone for two months, negotiating reparations for Chon'sin from Valm with the new ruler of Walhart's former kingdom on behalf of Say'ri. Chrom had told Lissa he had expected Robin to miss the Winter Festivals out of dedication to completing his task, not bothering to hide his disappointment.

"Did you finish with Say'ri?" Lissa asked before getting in the hug line behind Olivia, though this one was much less full-bodied. He'd never quite forgotten all of her frog pranks.

"Yeah, I did. She's really pleased. Valm is going to bankroll their agricultural imports for the next ten years. She only expected to get five, and that's not included the wartime-"

"Snoresville!" Lissa groaned, but the wink she gave let him know it was mostly in jest.

"How did you know we were here?" Cordelia asked, as she gave Robin a friendly squeeze. Robin, looked away not wanted to meet the redhead's gaze in case she knew.

"Er, one of the maids told me Cordy, and don't worry Lissa I already saw Chrom. Hello Lucy, Hello Sev."

Lucina too rose for a hug from Robin.

"It would have been a real shame if you missed the first Winter Festival after beating Grima."

"He'll probably still find a way to work through it Lu" Severa snickered as she discarded her usual crabbiness for a hug.

"He will not!"

Maribelle had brought up the rear of the line of hugs from Robin but the fierce look she gave Severa almost alarmed the myrmidon.

"You aren't either Maribelle. Remember we share that office."

Maribelle glowered at Robin as she got her hug. She wished they were alone and that she could peck his cheek without it arousing suspicions.

"I know, I was just saying I forbid you to work during the festival."

"That's a bit bold Belle, given that he's your boss." Lissa joked.

The remark drew laughs, but it made Maribelle's cheeks flare with color. Not wanting his presence to cause an argument, Robin decided to retreat.

"I just wanted to say a quick hello to everyone before I head home. Mia, our reading meetings are back on tomorrow if you've been reading since I know Chrom will attempt to forbid me to work on anything more complicated than a novel. Tell me what you think of this one."

From his pack Robin withdrew a small hardback, no more than 100 pages and handed it to Sumia. It was by the same author as the Ribald Tales of the Faith War.

"Robin! I told you not to get me a present."

"For everyone else I have lots of chocolate and coffee, swing by my office in a couple days."

With one final nod around the room Robin left the dining room, Maribelle glowering in his direction until the door shut, by which time everybody but Sumia and she had sat back down. The royal chefs brought out a large apple pie and an accompanying serving dish of vanilla ice cream when Lissa could no longer contain the remark that was burning her lips.

"You never told us you and Robin were an item Sumia."

All six of the others turned to face the now blushing Pegasus Knight.

"We aren't! We're just really good friends and everyone knows he and I are the biggest bookworms in the entire army."

"More like kingdom" added Severa. Her twin-tails shook as she laughed not noticing that her mother had not joined in. Sumia's explanation seemed to have placated everyone else at the table but Cordelia was not fooled. She would wait to ask questions after they had departed the company of Olivia, Lissa, Lucina, Severa, and Maribelle who didn't seem to be enjoying her pie as much as everyone else. Well, that was her problem, Cordelia thought as she added a dollop of ice cream to her own slice and offered the dish to her daughter.

…

Maribelle returned to her own Villa that night, courtesy of Frederick accompanying her through the woods separating the castle from the other plots of land in possession of the royal family. When she arrived there was a package stuck to her door with magic that seemed to have been designed to keep whatever it was safe from damage from the elements. She pulled it away from the lock and after getting inside and lighting a torch, unwrapped it. There was a note concealing what it was so Maribelle set the item on her bedside table, and after bathing and changing into pajamas she finally disturbed the magic that had been protecting it. At a whiff she thought she knew what it was but before confirming she read the note, her heart thumping.

Dear Maribelle,

I know you said before I left for Chon'sin that you didn't want any gifts for doing your duty. However, as you are already the High Magistrate of Ylisse I felt asking you to take on my duties as Royal Advisor for an indefinite amount of time was above and beyond what you should be required to do. Because of your faithful execution of both your duties and mine I decided to get you this. I know you will lecture me about the gold spent to procure such a gift but you deserve extravagance whatever you may tell yourself.

I take your threats about me not working seriously,

Robin

Maribelle looked at the box and nearly choked on the air. It was a small box of Valmese Tieguanyin Tea, that had to be worth in excess of one thousand gold. Tea enthusiasts said the tea was imbued with magical properties which meant you could use the same leaves seven times before they lost their ability to make a wonderful cup. Maribelle sniffed three times before she began to cry.

"NAGA DAMN HIM! DAMN HIM FOR HIS KINDNESS!"

Though her outward voice was crackling with rage, none of it was real. She was overjoyed that Robin had remembered she disliked coffee and preferred tea. But this?! It was almost like he knew she had feelings for him and was intent on making them deeper. In another Villa, Sumia was feeling similar things about the purple haired tactician though she did not break out into crying or swears. The novella he had bought her was a first addition, at least 150 years removed from publication and in mint condition.

"Oh Robin, you wonderful man."

Sumia put her hand to her breast and sighed happily.

Hey guys, TnT here with another Robin story for yous. I have wanted to do a Robin/Sumia Robin/Maribelle story for a while but I eventually decided to combine the concept. This is a slight rewrite because my ideas for chapter three were muddier than a swamp and I have a better sense of where this is going. Tieguanyin Tea is a real tea that sells for 3,000 dollars a kilogram and the thing about seven uses a leaf is also derived from that kind of Oolong. The chapters might get into the 2-4k range of words in the future but for an intro I am sticking with the 2,000. Cheers