Chrom couldn't hide his feelings anymore. He opened his eyes and stared at the bland, white ceiling of his tent. He had been awake for awhile now and in his attempt to go back to sleep, his mind wandered back to Robin. After much thought, he had come to the conclusion that he loved the tactician and that his love for her wasn't just an infatuation. She was kind, smart, and funny. He liked to think that he knew her well. They had fought together side by side on many occasions, fighting fluidly and viciously. She had confided in him her deepest fears throughout the campaign. He had even seen her naked. Thinking back to the memories he had of Robin, Chrom felt that the bond between them was strong. No words could completely describe her other than perfect. Wait … No, scratch that. Chrom shook his head.

She was a goddess.

As he lay in his sleeping bag, all he could think about was what a life with Robin would be like. Undoubtedly, she would be his queen and with her compassionate heart, they would help the people of Ylisse and usher an age of peace in the realm. Once the kingdom was stable, he would take her to all of his favorite places and create new, happy memories with her to make up for the little she had. He already had one place in mind, the international zoo. He could picture her mouth stretching wide in awe and her eyes glowing from the sight of the millions of species of animals frolicking together. Chrom smiled at the thought and closed his eyes once again to indulge in his daydream.

And as Naga would have it, the risen chose this time to strike the camp. Startled by the abruptness of the warning horn, Chrom fumbled out of bed and ran out with Falchion, not even thinking to put on his shoulder guard. Just as he ran out of his tent, he spotted the growing horde of risen rushing down toward the camp from a nearby hill. Instinctively he shouted, "Shepherds, rally behind me! Prepare for battle." Within seconds, the Shepherds were battle ready, splitting into groups as Robin told them what to do. Then, they charged. The horde of risen was met with the haunting battle cries of the Shepherds. In the first second, almost a fourth of the risen were wiped out. Purple dust formed a heavy, opaque layer of fog, helping the elite soldiers use hit and run tactics to shred the monsters. Chrom hacked and slashed at the monstrosities before him as Robin supported with quick and sharp lightning spells. The dust blinded him for a moment but his years of training allowed him to block incoming attacks and retaliate ferociously. Falchion sliced through the risen as if they weren't there, sprouting purple confetti with each slash. Lightning and steel danced in the haze, sending glimpses of blinding light in all directions.

Out of the corner of his eye, Chrom spotted Vaike bulldozing through the horde, bashing through risen. Not far behind, Miriel and Ricken blasted fire magic at risen Vaike wasn't paying attention to. On the other end of his vision, Sumia, Sully, and Stahl pierced through the risen with their lances while Virion sniped the stragglers from behind the trio. Chrom smirked. All was going well. "Everyone, let's hurry and rout the enemy!" With a blinding confidence, Chrom led the Shepherds into a mad charge. The adrenaline was clouding his mind as he continued to destroy everything in front of him. He didn't hear the scream until it was too late.

An arrow came into his vision and he thought he was hit until he felt his body hit the floor hard. The Shepherds, seeing their lord on the ground, fought even harder than before. Around each soldier was a trailing cloak of purple as they killed more and more risen. Their determined expressions made them look almost like the monsters they were fighting. The lord, finally snapping out of his gaze, realized that there was a heavy weight on top of him. He looked at the person who saved him from his death and saw that it was Marth, crying onto him. He could hear her mutter something over and over again but it was muffled too much by her tears to understand. As Chrom watched her cry, he felt like he was missing something. Slowly he looked around and spotted Robin a few feet away. She was lying on her side facing him, staring at him. The arrow had pierced through her liver and blood pooled around her body. The Shepherds, finished with the last of the risen, swiftly crowded around Chrom as he got up. They looked at the direction of Robin's still body.

Lissa was the first to fall to her knees and cry. Frederick knelt beside her and patted her back but she screamed and knocked his hand away. Cordelia and Gaius didn't know how to react but the dropping of her lance and his lollipop said everything. Ricken, who tried to hold back tears, whimpered and tried to stop. Everyone was in denial.

But then, all of a sudden, she began to get up. It began with the twitch of her fingers and then the blinking of her eyes. As movement was restored to her body, she smiled. It was cold and calculating and brought chills down Chrom's back. Chrom looked back to see if everyone else was seeing what he was seeing. The wide eyes of the Shepherds and the abrupt stop to their tears confirmed his observations. And then he saw Marth's face. It was a mix of horror and revelation, as though she had seen something unholy unfolding and that her greatest nightmare was coming to life. Fearfully, Chrom looked back at Robin to see a dark aura surrounding her. She looked back at him with that evil smirk.

"Chrom, everyone, what's wrong?" she said, placing her hands to her chin and tilting her head to the side. The gesture was just like what Robin would do but her draconic voice said otherwise. This was not Robin. No one could respond.

"I know what's wrong," the thing continued. "You let me die." Each word was said venomously. Chrom shook, unable to move or speak.

Marth broke free from her frozen state and stepped in front of Chrom. "Grima, I'm here to destroy you once and for all." Turning her head to Chrom she said, "Get away from here! She's trying to kill you. I'll handle this." She charged alone, Chrom said something, and then everything erupted into chaos. With her ruse up, Grima unleashed her dark magic and hit Maribelle in the chest. A second later, her body stretched and morphed into the fell dragon. As Kellam, who everyone forgot, tried to stab her, Grima crushed him with her claws. Half of the Shepherds were wiped out with her dragon attacks. Nothing could dent the dragon's scales and Grima laughed with scorn at the pathetic Shepherds. Slowly, each met their end. Chrom could not describe the destruction that fell upon his team only that their deaths were brutal. Soon, he and Marth were the only ones left. Panting and out of breath, Chrom charged with Marth, their falchions hitting Grima but not denting the scales despite its effectiveness against dragons. Fatigued and knowing that nothing could stop Grima, they finally gave up and lowered their weapons. Pleased, Grima began to charge a beam in her mouth.

Chrom looked at Marth. "It seems like this is it."

Math looked down. "I'm sorry, father. I could not save you nor this world. But with the power Naga has bestowed me, we can have another chance." With resolve, she lifted her blade and looked up at Chrom.

"What? fath -" Marth ran Chrom through with Falchion. She looked away and then looked back into his eyes.

"Promise me, father. Remember what happened here and prevent it." She smiled at him and then pulled the sword out. Chrom coughed out blood and could see that Marth's falchion was glowing a bright blue. The world was fading to black and the last thing he saw was her wan and sad smile.

Chrom wondered about the dream he had. It was so strange and unreal, yet it seemed like it could happen. He couldn't remember much except for the fact that he was fighting Risen and something about Robin. Soon, he was sidetracked and was thinking about Robin, from her gestures and movements to her laugh and beautiful smile. He opened his eyes and looked at the calendar by his cot. It read February 29. Such a strange day. He couldn't really remember when February had a twenty-ninth day but it had probably since forever. He didn't pay much attention in school when he was a kid anyway. He closed his eyes again and daydreamed about Robin and the Shepherds. However, his dreams always focused back to Robin. Her presence was so overwhelming in his thoughts.

Chrom couldn't hide his feelings anymore. He opened his eyes and stared at the bland, white ceiling of his tent. . .

A/N:

Just a story that was inspired by a convo with friends about the mysterious leap day and recursive methods in Comp Sci. I hope you all had fun reading this as much as I did writing it.

Now the question is ...

a) Was all of this just a dream?

b) Is Chrom stuck in an endless loop?

c) Some other explanation