I was checking some old stories from my previous account and I decided to revive my only Fire Emblem story, "True Feelings", because I love the series and I felt so awful for just abandoning it. I know how it feels when a story you follow just dies without updates. This story will mostly follow the plot of my old one, but I'm rewriting this from scratch. I hope that both old and new readers will enjoy this story and that my old readers will find their way here!
I will use Robin's default name, because it just sounds best to me. Like "True Feelings", Robin's appearance is pretty much the default female Avatar except the fact her hair is blonde. It's mostly because I think that white hair makes her look old...
"Robin, watch out!" Chrom shouted as he dashed across the battlefield to shield his tactician from an incoming attack. With the Falchion, he reflected the sharp blades of wind magic.
"Chrom! I should have been more careful... are you hurt?" Robin asked, her eyes searching the battlefield for a nearby healer.
"No, I'm fine. It would have been worse if you had taken that hit." He smiled at her while he rubbed his last Vulnerary onto his wounds. He had reflected most of the spell, but the wind had cut his right arm.
Robin sighed as she looked at his wounds in concern. She put down her magic tome on the ground carefully and then slowly removed her ribbons from her hair, making her long blonde hair fall around her face. Without saying anything, she wrapped the ribbons around Chrom's arm, making sure that they stopped the bleeding.
"Robin, your hair..." Chrom mumbled, gesturing towards the strands of hair that now brushed against his face.
"It's a bit impractical compared to my pigtails, but I'll manage somehow." she said with a smile.
She looked up at Chrom's face and studied his expression. His eyes shone with determination, but he was still calm and collected. He could be a bit rash sometimes, but he was a great leader who most of the Shepherds looked up to. Even on the battlefield, he always prioritized the safety of his own allies over his own safety.
"Hey, you two lovebirds! We're on the battlefield!" Lissa's energetic voice almost made Robin jump. "The enemy general is down, so their soldiers are retreating."
"W-we're not in love!" Robin protested, puffing her cheeks in frustration. "How many times have I told you that?"
"Oh, is that so? That's really unfortunate... everyone thinks that you are a perfect match. And you're blushing too!" Lissa giggled as she skipped towards the rest of the group that had gathered at the end of the nearby road.
Chrom seemed to ignore their conversation. He followed Lissa with a blank expression, his smile completely gone. Robin desperately wished for Chrom to say something too – anything that would just end these embarrassing conversations, but much to her disappointment, he only punched his sister playfully on her arm. Another sigh escaped her lips. Why couldn't anyone understand that she did have a special relationship with Chrom, but that it was purely a professional one? She was the tactician and he was their leader. Nothing about that had anything to do with romance. But of course everyone had to assume that they were doing other things than just discussing strategies in Chrom's tent.
No, of course she didn't have any feelings like that for anyone. After all, they were fighting in a war and there was no room for any romance at the side. She was a tactician which meant that she was responsible for the whole army. Even a small mistake could cost the lives of many people. Right now, all she wanted was to help Chrom win this war. With another sigh, she picked up her magic tome from the ground.
With her mind filled with these thoughts, Robin started walking behind Chrom and Lissa. She kept her gaze on the ground, counting the pebbles that she passed on the dirt road. For some reason, her conversation with Lissa had left her at unease. Without paying much attention to her surroundings, she found herself at the entrance to Chrom's tent after walking for a while. Apparently, Lissa had left them a few minutes ago, but Robin had been too occupied with her thoughts to notice.
"Are you okay Robin?" Chrom asked, pulling up the tent flap so that she could enter. "You look really tired."
"Oh, I'm fine. I was just thinking about troop formations..." she lied.
"You work too hard Robin. Be sure to take care of yourself." His words were kind as usual, but for some reason, his kindness hurt her.
"Stop..." she whispered without being able to stop herself.
"Stop?"
"You always think about other people before yourself. Y-you need to take care of yourself too." Robin's cheeks slowly turned red and she lowered her voice even more. She could feel how awkwardness filled the tent.
Robin looked down at the map that was spread out on the table, avoiding Chrom's gaze. He lowered his face, trying persistently to get eye contact with her. From the corner of her eye, she could see concern in his face. And as if she had been cursed by the love goddess, she suddenly started focusing on the strangest things that she had never payed attention to before. It suddenly struck her like lightning. He was actually really handsome, just like a prince – well, he was a prince but...
"Helllooooo! Oh, I'm so sorry for interrupting your... special moment together!" Lissa smiled mischievously as she jumped into the tent.
"We were just discussing tactics like usual. Nothing special about that." Chrom smiled back at his sister, patting her on her head. "Don't disturb us. Come back later if you want something."
"Robin, are you not feeling well?" Lissa suddenly asked, poking Robin's cheek carefully.
"W-what? Why are everyone asking that today?" Robin laughed awkwardly as she tried to stop thinking about Chrom. "I was just thinking about... Gangrel! We need to be prepared when we face him!"
She was lying, but technically speaking, it wasn't really a lie. It didn't really help that Chrom kept staring at her and that Lissa kept making comments about them. Both of them were staring at her right now, with confused looks on their faces. Anyone could tell when she was lying. She didn't even feel confident in her own lies.
Sumia suddenly entered the tent, saving Robin from the awkward silence that was about to appear. She carried a raspberry pie in her hands and the sweet scent of the pie quickly filled the tent. Timid as ever, she walked towards Chrom carefully, trying her best to avoid tripping on nothing.
"I... um... baked you a pie! Sorry for interrupting your important meeting! I found these berries near our camp and I thought that I'd..." She looked over at Robin, as if she feared how she would react.
"Thank you Sumia! You are always so kind and thoughtful." Chrom said with a smile that Robin rarely saw these days.
"I'll stop wasting your precious time then! Please continue with what you were doing." Sumia clapped her hands together, happy with Chrom's reaction, and then skipped out of the tent.
Robin couldn't help but notice that Chrom was looking at Sumia in a strange way. It was something between how a brother would look proudly at his sister and how a lonely man would look at a woman. A smile was still plastered on his face as he looked down at the pie and then turned towards Robin.
"I really hope that the war will end soon. There are so many things that I need to do and want to do." Chrom said.
"And it's time for the prince to find a beautiful wife soon, isn't it?" Lissa asked, elbowing Robin.
"Yes... perhaps it is..." Chrom replied as he looked down on the map.
But Robin wasn't stupid. She could see that Chrom was considering Sumia as his future wife. Not that she cared. Of course, she wanted Chrom to be happy. After the war, they will all go back to their normal lives in Ylisse. And that thought suddenly scared her. She had been found in a field with no memories of her past. What would her place be after the war? Would she still be next to Chrom? Would she still be his trusted tactician and friend? She mentally cursed all dark mages in the world – she had been hexed. That was the only logical explanation for her sudden anxiousness around Chrom. She would have to talk to Tharja afterwards to find out if it was her.
"Chrom, can you leave the tent for a while? I want to have a talk with Robin." Lissa didn't bother to wait for his reply. She pushed him out of the tent, into the dark night.
"Lissa, we can leave. This is Chrom's tent... we can go to my tent if you want to talk" Robin suggested. Lissa just shook her head.
"Robin. Do you like Chrom?" she asked bluntly.
"Ha? W-what?!" Robin slammed her fist into the table, unable to contain her surprise at the sudden question.
"You can't trick meeee." Lissa laughed. "Everyone can see it."
Lissa's statement kind of offended Robin. How could everyone see something that she couldn't even see herself? She was sure that she didn't have any feelings for anyone. She knew that she wasn't acting like herself. Therefore, she had been hexed – she had been cursed by someone who enjoyed playing pranks on people. She was confident that it was the true reason for her strange feelings and actions.
"I don't like Chrom in that way. I'm just not feeling well today..." Robin said, trying to keep her voice steady and calm.
"Oh well... you need to get some rest then." Lissa pointed towards Chrom's bed behind the table. "How about a small nap before dinner?"
Normally, Robin would say no. She couldn't take random naps while everyone else was working hard. And it would be very inappropriate for her, as a tactician, to sleep in Chrom's tent. But when Lissa said it, she didn't want to think about it rationally. She just wanted to get some rest and forget everything that had happened that day.
"I'll just take a small nap... please wake me up when it's time for dinner, okay?" Robin yawned as her eyelids suddenly felt heavy.
"Of course!" Lissa beamed.
The world around her seemed to collapse onto her and her vision got blurry. She didn't realize that she had been this tired. The darkness crept closer until she sank into it completely. At least her thoughts wouldn't pester her in her dreams...
Those who have read the old version may notice a lot of similarities. However, you will also notice that I've changed the story a bit too. I will follow the same plot, but this time, I am going to focus on character development and try to avoid rushing the story. I hope that the story will be a lot better than the old one!
Please leave a review if you have any thoughts you want to share or any complaints. It always a bit early to judge a story from the first chapter, but I'm still happy when people take the time to leave a comment!
