Taking a little break from RKP to finish writing this.
The characters are a little OOC. I do not own FIRE EMBLEM AWAKENING.
Beta'd by the wonderful Azurimi.
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The darkness of night surrounded the clearing like a dark bubble, oppressive and limited. The occupants could not see out into the forest, but everything could see within. Robin was sitting by the fire, staring into the flickering coals, thinking. Why was he here? What brought him to Ylisse? What was that vision he saw right before Chrom woke him up in the field? So many questions, but none had any answers. It was driving him crazy.
Ever since that confusing morning, waking up to see Chrom and his sister hovering over him, he had been dragged from one thing to another and hadn't really had a chance to think about and analyse his circumstances. Why had Chrom been stabbed in his dream? Was he, Robin, the one who had stabbed him? Had he taken over a different body? What did it all mean?
His thoughts ran laps of his mind, making him think in circles until he could not take it anymore. He tore at the grass and distractedly threw it into the fire, taking no pleasure in watching it burn to ash.
Robin heard a rustle behind him, but he didn't bother looking. Judging by the footsteps and how loud they were, they were not concealing themselves and even believed themselves to be in the right.
"Hey, can I sit with you?" the owner of the voice asked.
Robin turned around to see the little blonde girl. He believed her name was Lissa?
He nodded.
She clapped her hands and plopped down right next to him, straightening out her dress as best she could. She placed her hands in her lap and just smiled up at him, saying nothing.
Robin was the first to break the silence. "Hello."
"Hello." Lissa didn't stop smiling.
"What brings you here?" he asked.
"I'm cold and the fire is here. Why else would I be here?"
"I don't know. Maybe you wanted to talk to someone?" Robin said.
"Maybe, but why you? I don't know you," Lissa said, leaning in close.
Robin knew she had him there, but she was a curious little creature he thought. She said she didn't want to talk to him, yet here she was, doing just that, but also not. No actual exchange of information happened, so was this really a conversation?
Robin realized that she was shivering a little. "Do you want my jacket? I don't need it."
Lissa looked surprised. "Um…no…I'm okay."
"You're lying; you just said you were cold. Take it, I'll be fine." He stood up to remove it, feeling the cool air hit his skin, but he didn't mind. He handed over his coat to the girl who pouted up at him before rising herself, snatching it and putting it on.
"I can't see my hands." She flapped the sleeves a little to prove her point.
"That means it's too big."
"I know that!" She crossed her arms, tangling the sleeves and sat on the ground again. She pulled it around herself and gave a little sigh. Robin hoped that meant she was warming up.
They both listened to the cracking of the fire and the tactician was happy to spend the rest of the evening in silence, but the girl had other ideas.
"Do you want to play a game? A question game?"
"Um, sure. What kind of question game?"
"It's easy; I ask a question, you answer. I ask another question, you answer again."
"That seems to be a very one sided game."
"Do you want to play or not?" she pouted.
Robin didn't see any other choice. "Sure. We can play."
"Okay! What's your favourite colour?"
"Um…"
They played the game for a while with questions ranging from 'what's your favourite…' anytime to 'What do you want to be when you're older?'. They were all easy and a distraction from the chaos in his head.
Until Lissa asked an incredibly personal question.
"What does it feel like to have amness…am… to forget everything?"
Robin didn't answer for a minute, trying to decide how to answer.
"Do you like music?" he asked.
"I get to ask the questions! And you didn't answer mine!"
"Please…just answer it," Robin said.
She nodded, confused by the change in topic.
"Do you have a song you like to listen to or no matter how long you go without hearing it, you still know all the lyrics?" he asked.
Lissa thought about it. "Yeah. There is a lullaby that Emmeryn, my sister, sung to me and Chrome all the time when we were kids. I used to say that I hated her singing to me, saying I was all grown up and mature and stuff, but when she did, I still would listen and sometimes sing with her."
Robin nodded. "Alright, focus on the song. You can remember the words even now, right?"
Lissa nodded.
"Now imagine you forgot it. You forgot the lyrics, the beat, how it all goes, and someone told you to sing it."
Lissa made a face. "I couldn't forget it."
Robin nodded again. "I know, but just imagine. You say you can sing it, but then when you reach for it…there's nothing there. Any time you try to remember, blank. Nothing. I can't remember anything from before the field. I want you to trust me, but I can't give you anything in which to do so."
Lissa was surprised by the last part, but knew what he was talking about. "Oh ignore Frederick. He means well, but he's also just so over the top sometimes. Especially when it concerns Chrom and me."
"Chrom and I, Lissa."
"What? Is there a difference?"
Robin didn't say anything. He was so wrapped up in his lost memories.
Lissa could see that he was losing himself more and more in it and thought of something to try to drag him out of it.
"Come on! Dance with me!" she stood, shedding his coat and took his hand. She dragged him to his feet stumbling and tripping.
"I-I can't dance!" he panicked.
"Me neither!" Lissa dragged Robin in circles and twirled herself from his hand. He found the rhythm after some time and the two began a jumpy dance that neither really knew.
The dancing pair hadn't noticed Chrom return from the forest and pause at the tree line. The prince was surprised to find his sister swinging around the new addition to the group. Smiling, he leaned against a tree and watched as Lissa teased Robin about his growing blush and his complete lack of dancing abilities. Not that she was any better.
As Lissa relentlessly twirled around Robin, Chrom had given up being a bystander and pushed his way in between them. "Hey! Let me join in!" He took Robin's hands and began a butchered waltz.
"What, no! Chrom! He's my dancing partner! Give him back!" Lissa stomped her foot.
"Wha-" Robin was now being whirled around by a taller being, but with just as much stumbling, tripping and trodden on toes.
"Come on, Robin, I know you can do better than this!" Chrom spun him around twice, making Robin begin to feel dizzy.
"I'm not so sure!" he said, but his cry went ignored amidst the laughter from the royal siblings.
It wasn't long before Lissa managed to push herself between them and make the slow dance into a three way circle. Chrom managed to sometimes spin both of them, much to Lissa's excitement and Robin's horror. Robin wasn't sure how these two siblings managed to already all but have him wrapped around their little fingers, but he was sure this wasn't a place he wanted to be. Even then, he wasn't sure he wanted that detail to change.
Chrom stepped back and watched as Lissa resumed her twirling of Robin, but watched as they seemed to establish some kind of rhythm. The Shepherd took great pleasure in calling out one of their names just as they seemed to find their footing, completely throwing off their tandem and having them start from scratch over and over again, much to Lissa's growing and obvious disappointment.
"Chrom! Stop it!" Lissa yelled, frowning at her brother.
"But you're making me feel left out!" he smiled, teasing her again.
Lissa crossed her arms and turned back to Robin. "At least you are mature. I can't stand Chrom. He's annoying."
"Lissa! You wound me!"
Lissa stuck her tongue out as Chrom laughed. Robin joined in when he realized that Chrom was joking and the siblings were playing around.
"At least someone knows what's going on," Robin said to himself.
"What was that, Robin?" Chrom asked.
"Oh, nothing." Lissa grabbed his hands again and resumed the dance, this time ignoring Chrom any time he called out to her and Robin focused on removing his toes from harm's way.
Later that night, Robin was sitting across from Frederick as Lissa leaned against Chrom, both asleep from their adventures of the day. Robin wanted to talk to Frederick, but the knight had made clear his point about how his views on the amnesiac.
The tactician squared his shoulders and blurted out before he could stop himself, "Frederick, can anyone here dance?"
"I'm sorry?" Frederick sounded surprised by the interruption to the silence.
"Is it true that neither of them can dance?" he asked, clearer.
"Lord Chrom has never possessed even an inkling of rhythm when not holding a sword and Lady Lissa has tried many a time, but also fails to grasp the basic concept."
"I can tell..." Robin removed his boots and rubbed his tortured toes. He had been sure one of them had broken, but upon further inspection, he discovered it was just heavily bruised and mildly abused.
"Though, not to insult, but you were being thrown around by a fourteen year old girl like you were a sack of nothing."
"I did mention to her, numerous times, that I cannot dance." Robin poked at his toes before deciding it wasn't worth doing whatever he was thinking. Sliding his foot back in his sock and then the boot, he grabbed his jacket and wrapped himself in it, savouring the warmth it had collected from the fire.
"If I discover you are injured either the Lord or the Lady, your bruised toes will be the least of your worries," Frederick threatened.
Robin sighed. "Sir, yes sir."
Robin wasn't sure how to feel about everything that was happening to him, but he knew one thing for sure.
Even if he never remembered who he was and where he came from, his life would forever change for the better.