"Pick a god and pray!" Frederick yelled as he jabbed his spear through the attacking risen's chest. The beast let out a shrill screech before dissolving into a purple and black mist. Frederick sighed and pat his horse's neck, who whinnied in response. As his horse steadied himself, Frederick took the chance to glance around the battlefield, in case anyone was in need of assistance.

Chrom and Vaike were ganging up on an enemy knight, while Lissa stood by, ready to cast healing spells as needed. Robin and Riken were on the other side of the field, firing fire and lightning spells with deadly accuracy. Virion stood off to the side, picking off risen pegasus riders with ease. It was looking like an easy win for the Shepherds today.

Frederick was pulled from his thoughts when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. He pulled his horse's reins too late, and he was knocked from the saddle as an unconscious Vaike was thrown into him, due to a well-aimed wind spell from an enemy mage. Frederick grunted as he hit the ground on his back, and his horse reared up and galloped away from the field.

The great knight jumped to his feet and jabbed his spear to his right, piercing the heart of the risen attempting to attack him. He then turned to look for his horse.

"Frederick!"

Before he could process what was happening, something else slammed into his back, knocking him to the ground once more. A scream then pierced through the air, coming from whatever had hit him. Frederick quickly stood and turned around.

Robin was lying on her back, with her eyes closed and her breathing ragged. His eyes widened as he saw an arrow sticking out of her shoulder. He looked around and spotted a risen archer beginning to notch another arrow. Anger welled up in Frederick as he grabbed his spear and launched it at the risen, hitting it in the face and splitting its skull in two.

With the last risen dead, Frederick ran over to Robin and knelt next to her.

"Robin! Can you hear me?" Frederick said, desperation in his voice. She did not respond, but she was still breathing, to his relief. He slid his arms under her and picked her up, scanning the battlefield for a healer. He spotted Lissa checking on Vaike and ran to her.

"Lissa! Robin was shot!" Frederick said, not bothering to hide the fear in his voice. Lissa gasped when she saw the arrow.

"Oh Gods! Hurry Frederick, carry her back to camp. I'll need Maribelle and probably Libra to help with this." she said, casting a preliminary mend spell. Robin's breathing became less ragged, but the arrow was still lodged inside her. Frederick wasted no time and began sprinting back to camp, praying that he would make it in time.

Frederick paced back and forth in front of the medical tent. He had tried to enter the tent to see how Robin was doing, but Maribelle has threatened to knock him out with her staff, so he decided to wait outside. He was incredibly worried, and he also felt guilty.

He had played out the events of the battle in his head over and over, and realised that he was the reason Robin had been wounded. That arrow was meant for him. She must have saw the risen aiming at him and pushed him out of the way.

That was foolish of her. What if that arrow had struck her head? Or her heart? She could have died instantly. The thought made Frederick sick to his stomach. Robin was a key asset to the Shepherds. They might fall apart if they lost here.

He would fall apart if he lost her.

Frederick paused his pacing and ran a hand through his hair. He sighed and closed his eyes. He would be lying to himself if he said he didn't have hidden feelings for Robin. She was a brilliant, kind woman, with sharp wit and a great sense of humor. He always felt relaxed around her, and, as Lissa so tactfully observed, she "was helping him pull that stick out of his ass." As much as he hated to admit it, she wasn't wrong. He found himself smiling and laughing more often, and it was mostly in her presence.

It was weird to him that they had become so close, because Frederick had been very distrustful during their first meeting. He did have logical reasoning for it. She had no memory of who she was or where she came from, and he needed to be suspicious, for the sake of Chrom and Lissa. He couldn't let anything happen to them.

Now he felt bad for being so cold towards Robin at first. She had turned out to be an indispensable ally and friend to all the Shepherds. When she had come to him for training, he had been skeptical of her ability to keep up, but she had surprised him with her determination. When he came to her with a request to help him with his aversion to bear meat, she had happily agreed to help him overcome it. Between the sparring sessions and his try to choke down the horrible gamey meat, they had become surprisingly close friends. Well, maybe more than friends in his eyes. Lately, there had been a few moments between them that gave him that feeling of butterflies in his stomach. Frederick had caught Robin when she got tripped up during sparring, and the look she have him caused his heart to skip a beat. And when he started gagging on a nasty cut of bear, she had rubbed his back until he calmed down, and her hand lingered for some time after.

Frederick had no idea how she felt about him. She certainly considered him a close friend, but did she see him as more than that? Robin's brush with death had solidified how much he cared for her, and he decided then that he could not wait to tell her how he felt anymore. What if she had died? He would have lost her forever, filled with regret of not confessing his feelings for her.

"Frederick?"

He was pulled from his thoughts as Lissa emerged from the tent, smiling brightly at him. Libra and Maribelle followed.

"Well, that was certainly an experience I do not want repeated." Maribelle said, "Robin is fine Frederick dear. She is sleeping now, but she should wake soon. You may see her, but don't stay too long, she needs her rest."

"Yes m'lady, thank you." Frederick said, entering the tent as the three healers walked off together.

Robin was lying peacefully on a cot in the middle of the tent. Frederick walked over and sat in a chair that was next to her bed. Her breathing was normal, thankfully, and she had a peaceful look on her face. He beautiful purple hair was lying loosely under her, with a few stray strands covering her face. Frederick moved his hand to her face and gently pushed the offending strands behind her ear. She flinched slightly at his touch and he pulled his hand back. She shifted on the cot and yawned as she slowly opened her stormy grey eyes. She sat up and looked around in confusion before her eyes rested on him, and she smiled brightly, causing a slight blush to form on Frederick's face.

"Frederick! You're okay, I'm so glad." Robin said, reaching out and putting a hand over his. Frederick glanced down at her hand on his and his blush deepened.

"I should be saying that to you, m'lady. Why did you push me out of the way? That was extremely reckless." Frederick said, the memories from the battle rushing back to him.

"Er, well…" Robin started, chuckling nervously, "I took care of the dastard that knocked Vaike into you, and my Thunder tome picked that time to break. I saw the archer aiming at you Frederick. I didn't think I'd have time to pull out another tome, so I improvised."

"You could have died Robin. My armor probably would have blocked most of the arrow's impact. You should have let it hit me." Frederick said, sounding a bit harsher than he meant to.

Robin narrowed her eyes and her smile faded. "Well, maybe I wasn't thinking straight Frederick. I never seem to when i comes to you anymore. I just saw you in danger, and I wasn't going to let some risen scum kill the man that I love." she said angrily.

Silence followed as both of them comprehended what she had said. Robin sharply inhaled and slapped her hand across her mouth, her face turning as red as a tomato. Frederick's eyes widened and his face colored to match hers. Did he hear that right? She loved him? They both waited for the other to speak, and Frederick couldn't take the silence anymore.

"Robin-"

"Oh Frederick, I'm sorry! That was so not how I wanted this conversation to go." Robin said, covering her face with her hands. She was shaking now with embarrassment, and she almost looked like she would start crying. Frederick quickly took her hands in his and gave them a gentle squeeze. Robin stared down for a moment before she slowly lifted her head and looked him in the eyes.

"Robin, do you really love me?" he asked, and Robin nodded slowly and opened her mouth to speak, but Frederick stopped her as he placed a hand on her cheek.

"Robin. When I saw you lying on the ground with that arrow sticking out of you, a fear that I had never felt before filled my heart. I feared that you would die, and I would be left without the woman that I loved. I-" he began, but he was interrupted when Robin placed and hand behind his neck and pulled him close until his lips met hers. His eye widened in surprise, but slowly closed as her soft lips moved against his. He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, deepening the kiss. Robin move her hand to Frederick's neck and the other to his hair.

"Canoodling with a wounded woman? Honestly Frederick, I expected better from you. How uncivilized."

Robin and Frederick jerked away from each other, and a staff came down and whacked Frederick in the head. Maribelle pulled her staff back with a look of disapproval on her face, but there was a twinkle of amusement in her eyes. Frederick winced and rubbed his head tenderly.

"M-Maribelle, we were just, uh…" Robin said, stuttering as she looked away with embarrassment.

"Yes, I saw what was going on. Frederick, I need to redress Robin's wound, so please leave us." Maribelle said, gesturing to the tent flap with her staff. Frederick looked from Robin to Maribelle and nodded, but not before bending over and giving Robin a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Get well soon, m'lady." he said with a smile. Robin blushed and smiled back as she nodded.

"I will Frederick, see you later." she said as he left the tent. Maribelle waited for him to leave before turning to Robin with a smile.

"Frederick is a wonderful man Robin, I am delighted for you both." Maribelle said as she sat down in the same chair that Frederick was in. "But for your sake dear, please refrain from any romantic endeavors until after your wound fully heals. I would hate for it to reopen and get infected." Robin nodded as Maribelle began redressing her wound. She would take that advice and get better as soon as possible, because she couldn't wait to spend more time with the one that she loved, who also loved her back.