DISCLAIMER: I do not own Fire Emblem: Awakening

Author's Notes: Quick fic for candy boy's birthday. HBD Gaius!

"Is he still out there?"

Sully looked in once, and shook her head. "All clear!"

A collective sigh of relief left the group, as they fished out the cake from under the work table. Gingerly, it was set down, in the exact same spot from where it had been moved - surrounded by a circle of flour, milk and egg shells.

Stepping back from the two-tiered cake, Robin placed her hands on her hips. Her team, consisting of those closest to Gaius, followed suit. For a still moment, all people gathered (apart from those standing and keeping watch for Gaius) contemplated the rather yellow sponge.

Nowi was the one who broke the silence, as she bounded back from the entrance of the tent, effectively abandoning her post. "Robin?"

Robin opened her mouth to argue, but decided against it. Out of all of them, Nowi was the most enthusiastic about the surprise. "Yes, Nowi?"

"Are we going to ice it now?" Nowi was practically bouncing at the sheer thought of icing the cake. Robin's lips quirked as she thought Nowi was almost as sweet at the cake was.

Lissa perked up at that, throwing a wide eyed gaze at Robin as well. "Oh! Can we?"

It was a double sugar act, with Nowi and Lissa linking their arms and smiling up at Robin. It was enough to make her teeth hurt, more than thinking about just how much honey they'd poured into the cake (which of course was Sumia's request, but she'd floundered over it when pressed for details).

"I don't think two tiers is going to be enough," Maribelle chimed in, completely ignoring the looks sent her way from the older women of the group. Cordelia and Cherche especially ramped up the glare, as they had been the ones to slave over the tiers whilst trying to keep Sully away.

The remains of the prototype tiers was on the table in the far corner, growing more and more stale as the day went by.

"I'm getting too old for this," Robin mumbled to herself. Libra, however, caught the words, and laughed softly. Much like herself, Libra was one of the few to actively participate in preparing the cake, instead opting to oversee the activity.

The younger ones of the group talked amongst themselves excitedly at the prospect of decorating the cake, growing louder and louder with each passing moment. Tharja, for all intents and purposes, looked rather excited as well, until Nowi saw the smile on her face and effectively had her threaten the hex the cake instead.

"Should we make another?" Olivia offered, when there was a momentary break in conversation.

Miriel shook her head, and in an almost reprimanding voice, "We are running out of time to present such a delicacy to Gaius."

"It's not like you've actually contributed to making the cake, you know," Cordelia cut in, frowning slightly as Miriel was one of the few to be completely clean.

Miriel's wisdom clearly stretched beyond research and she had made the right decision to stand at the back of the tent, while the rest of them got flustered over how much flour to pour.

"As Robin said earlier, it was best for moral support to be offered."

Sumia looked over at Robin, giving her a look that was equal parts amusement and offence. "You said that?"

"What? No … okay maybe," Robin mumbled, tips of her ears burning.

There was a round of "Robin!" at the revelation that had her hold her hands up in defence.

"I'm sorry!"

Any plans of icing the cake was lost to Robin being bombarded with questions and complaints. Olivia, taking a moment to herself, stepped back from the group. Noticing that their rear guard - who had remained quiet the entire time - was completely out of the tent, had her drew closer. "Panne, do you want to help decorate the cake?"

Panne looked in once, before frowning in disgust. "Hardly. The smell is pungent, and it is making my stomach turn."

Smiling gently, Olivia offered once more for Panne to join them, but was let down as gently as Panne could manage. "I will remain on guard for Gaius, as I was asked to do. The air is much cleaner outside the tent."

"Alright," Olivia said gently, and returned to the throng.

Her eyes widened at the sight. In the mere moments she had been away, the group had managed to start mixing icing. Various bowls were scattered around the cake, with bright pinks, blues and greens glaring up at her.

Sumia and Tharja had been finally pushed into working, as they carefully poured each colour over the cake. Whilst Tharja was muttering under her breath, no one could deny she was being extremely precise with the way she worked.

"Once this is done, we need to wait a while for the icing to set," Libra reminded them, once Sumia and Tharja set the bowls down.

His advice, however, was lost to Nowi, who seemingly pulled a basket from nowhere, and simply smiled brightly. "I bought some of these at the market!"

Nowi proceeded to place candied figs randomly on the first tier, finally sparking Maribelle into action. Maribelle nitpicked as she picked them up and placed them a perfect distance apart, whilst Nowi insisted on continually throwing them everywhere.

Maribelle and Nowi's work was not appreciated, as Lissa gave a cry as the icing ran. "Nowi!"

"What?"

"Why would you -"

Her sentence was cut off however, when a soft voice came from the entrance.

"Robin …"

All heads turned towards the voice. Peeking inwards, the rather distressed expression Chrom sent the group's way had a moment of panic pass through.

"Chrom … what is it? Where's Gaius?"

Chrom slipped into the tent, sending Robin a troubled smile. "See, here's the funny thing, you're gonna laugh I promise -"

"Don't finish that sentence," Cherche cut in, sending Chrom a warning look.

"But," Chrom continued, ignoring the way Cherche merely glowered, "I may - or may not - have lost Gaius."

"In Naga's name," Libra said under his breath, closing his eyes in resignation.

"I mean, hypothetically speaking, of course, how bad would it be if I had lost him?"

"You better hope he doesn't decide it's time for an afternoon snack," Sully called from her post before snorting in amusement. She had been witness to many disasters today, and this just proved how bad an idea this was.

Chrom's smile wavered at that, and disappeared altogether when Robin stormed closer. "Chrom, if you know what's good for you, you had better find Gaius."

"Yes, ma'am." Chrom flew out of the tent.

"Um, Robin … We have another problem!" It was Lissa's turn to call, and the worry in her voice did not have Robin feeling confident.

"What now?!" Robin turned back, ready to fix her infamous glare on the next victim, when she noticed a rather large absence in the room. A large, colourful absence.

"Where is the cake?"

"The cake was never meant to be," Tharja murmured from beside Robin's elbow, eyes lowered as if she was sorry for their loss.

"Tharja, I appreciate the sentiment, but now is really not the time."

Save for the splash of icing around where the cake had once sat, there was no indication of it having moved far. It was if it vanished into thin air, and Robin wanted to just cry. All their effort was lost in an instant.

"We need to spread out and find it. Now."

Scattering in an instant, each member searched high and low around the camp for the cake. Robin figured it wouldn't be that hard to find - a two-tiered, brightly decorated cake, that weighed enough it required three people to lift, surely wouldn't travel far.

However, Robin had a nagging thought of just where the cake had ended up, and she took a left turn at the end of the camp to head towards the tree on the hill that overlooked the army.

At the base, sat a familiar shock of red hair, and Robin crossed her arms, amused as the thief sat with the cake in front, as if deciding where to start.

"Gaius, you know that cake was ours, right?"

If Gaius was surprised, he didn't show it. Instead, he merely looked up at Robin, and smiled, the perfect picture of innocence. "Robin! Come over here!" Robin drew closer as Gaius motioned to the cake, "Look what I found, tucked away in one of the tents."

"You really know how to ruin surprises, huh?"

At her quiet tone, Gaius frowned. "What surprise?"

Robin moved to sit beside him, and leaned back on her elbows. "It's a birthday cake, Gaius."

"Who's birthday is it?"

Laughter left Robin at Gaius' blatant confusion, and she grinned up at him. "It's yours, Gaius."

His confusion deepened, and he stared at the cake. "I stole my own birthday cake?"

Robin snorted before falling into a fit of giggles. As Robin was too busy laughing at the expression on Gaius' face, they had finally been found out. Several feet away, Minerva landed, with Cherche hopping off her back, storming over to the two of them.

Gaius merely blinked up at Cherche, just as she opened her mouth, and said a simple: "sorry."

"Oh! We found Gaius! Hooray!"

Running up the hill, came Lissa, Maribelle and Nowi, Lissa cheering at finding Gaius. Soon after them, came Panne, Sully and Libra, with Tharja drawing up the rear with Olivia and Miriel. Everyone settled carefully around the cake, grinning at each other as Gaius' confusion only grew.

Relief was clear on their faces as the cake remained undisturbed (if anything, a fig or two missing but nothing else). The last to join them was Chrom, Sumia and Cordelia, with Sumia nearly falling into the cake before being caught by Chrom and Cordelia.

"I didn't realise -" Gaius started, before Robin threw a hand over his mouth.

"On the count of three!" Holding up her free hand, Robin began a countdown, "One, two -"

And they all sung, loudly and out of tune. Gaius turned a spectacular shade of pink at the sight, but couldn't deny the smile that broke out.

When they were done, and Tharja producing a knife from somewhere they were sure not to ask about, the cake was cut.

"Thank you," Gaius murmured to Robin, once each person had a share of the cake (even Panne, who claimed the smell was revolting).

Robin merely popped a fig in her mouth before asking, "for what?"

"For remembering."

Simply throwing an arm around his shoulder, and drawing him in for an awkward hug of sorts, Robin merely laughed again. "Happy birthday, Gaius."