a/n: Goodness gracious, I love all of my readers. Thanks so much for the encouragement. I am so sorry about the wait on this story. Really. I had lost it's direction and I'm still not certain on where it's going, but I love you guys so much that I'm going to keep rewriting it. I will warn you, at chapter 9/10 I will update both versions of the story, but it's going to be the same chapter. Does that make sense?

Annnnyyyways, enjoy. :)

The next morning was miserable for Robin. The sun was shining in her face, and she could hear the birds outside chirping loudly. She groaned in protest to the sounds and brightness. She curled into the pillow she was spooning and hid her face in it. Vaguely, she heard the door to her room open, but couldn't bring herself to get up out of bed.

Footsteps filled her ears and a cold wrist was placed on her forehead. A soft voice followed it, "She's got a fever."

"Damn." that was Chrom's voice. The wrist on her forehead was replaced with another one. Groggily, Robin opened her eyes and peered up at the prince. He offered her a small smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Awful." She replied after a groan. A heartbeat later, she softly got out, "Mm… Chrom…?"

"Yes?" was the soft response she got. A goofy smile slid onto her face.

Say it. You can say it. "I love you."

"R-Robin, you're delirious with fever. You don't know what your saying." The prince fumbled in response.

"Yes, I do…" She murmured, sleepily. He sighed and crossed over to speak quietly to Maribelle. Robin's goofy smile returned. Oh, I didn't know she was here, but she looks lovely today. A giggle bubbled from her mouth and she spoke her thoughts aloud. Of course, she was ignored.

"Lissa is taking care of her today, am I correct?" Chrom asked, rubbing his temples.

Maribelle nodded, her blonde curls shifting with the movement. "Yes. Between Ricken, myself, and darling Lissa, we should be able to take care of her. She's delirious, though. It changes the difficulty level quite a bit. Depending on her delirium, it may be done with ease, or quite the fair amount of difficulty."

"I'm not delirious!" The tactician called from the bed, her words slurring together.

"Yes, indeed. I'll believe that when you can stand on your own." Maribelle turned back to Chrom. "We'll be all right. I'll send for you if she gets worse."

"Thank you." Chrom nodded. "I'll come visit again this afternoon. But, I must be going now."

"Bye bye, Chrom." Robin waved the arm that was tucked under her pillow, sending it across the room. She caught a sigh from Maribelle sigh as the prince stepped towards her. In a brotherly action, he pressed his lips to her forehead.

"Recover soon, Robin." In a single moment, he was gone and out the door.

Maribelle grabbed the pillow from off the floor and used it to help the other girl sit up. The pillow was tucked behind Robin's lower back to support her. A potion was handed to her and she took a sip before making a face. "That tastes gross!"

"It will make you feel better. Drink it." Maribelle motioned with her hand for her to drink it quickly.

With a frown, Robin downed the drink and handed the flask to her friend. She shifted and curled up against the blankets. A soft, tired voice came from her, "He's so-" she yawned. "Perfect."

"To each his own, Robin." Maribelle replied in a whisper that Robin was unable to catch. Clearing her throat, the noble girl said, "Now, get some sleep. Someone will be here with you when you wake."

Robin nodded and let her eyes slide shut. She fell asleep with in minutes.

~!~

The tactician was in and out of sleep all day. The few times she had woken up, someone had always been by her side. Normally, it was Ricken or Lissa. Occasionally, Maribelle would drop in too. But, this time she woke up, it was none other than the prince who was by her side. He was asleep in a chair beside her bed. Exhaustion crept over his features. Bags were starting to form under his eyes.

Robin sighed and pushed herself into a sitting position. She rotated herself to face Chrom, her legs crossing over each other to form a crisscross position. She studied him carefully with a slight smile. It was kind of him to come and see her. Overall, she was feeling better. She was almost certain that she would be fine to take care of herself.

A cough pulled up from her chest. One cough turned into two, and two turned into a coughing fit. Her chest rattled and pain shot through her diaphragm. A strong hand settled on her back and a goblet of water was pushed into her hand. She managed to lift the water to her lips, drinking it slowly as her coughing went away. The cool liquid soothed her throat. She could tell it wasn't actually cold, leading her to assume her throat was raw.

When the goblet was taken from her, she breathlessly nodded her thanks to her commander. He sat down on the bed next to her and touched her shoulder. "How are you feeling?"

"Mm, hard to say." Robin managed through a yawn. She reached up and ran a hand through her hair. "I'm still out of it."

He chuckled. "At least you're coherent."

"Did I…" She began hesitantly. "Did I say anything?"

The tactician recalled her confessing her love to Chrom and a blush rose to her cheeks. She wasn't certain if it was a dream or if she had really said something of the sorts. She shuffled her feet a little as she waited for Chrom's answer. He shook his head, a light pink staining his cheeks. "Nothing I recall."

He's lying. Was the first thought that shot through her mind. She bit her lip and awkwardly tried to change the subject. She looked towards the window. It was early morning, she guessed. After all, it was still dark outside. "What time is it?"

Chrom attempted to hide a yawn and failed. "It's probably one of the early hours in the morning, before sunrise, obviously. It should be around three."

"In the morning?" She wasn't surprised that she was up at this hour, often times Robin woke at strange hours and couldn't sleep. She had gotten to know many of the Shepherds that way. Although, the prince was one of the few who didn't know of this little quirk. "You look tired. You should go to bed, I'll be fine for the rest of the night on my own."

"I'm fine." Though he shook his head and refused, Chrom's eyelids drooped a bit.

Robin stood, somewhat wearily and crossed her arms over her chest. "Chrom, I'm not going to bed until you do."

"Robin…" His tone was warning, but she ignored it.

Putting her nose in the air, she said, "No. Go. To. Bed. Chrom, it will only be a few hours. I can manage on my own until Maribelle, Ricken, or Lissa come to check on me."

Chrom stood and took a step towards her. "You're really not giving me a choice here."

"What are you talking abo-" Suddenly, she was scooped off of her feet and tossed over her commander's shoulder like a sack of flour. "Chrom, no. You need sleep too!"

Robin was laid on her bed, but was quicker than Chrom and pulled him down onto the bed as well. She rolled over on top of him, straddling his waist. "You need sleep. And I'm not moving until you agree to get some."

"That won't be a problem." The prince grabbed her hips and shifted his weight so that he was easily able to flip them. She groaned in protest.

"No, Chrom." she protested. Robin leaned up and grabbed Chrom's shoulders to use leverage to flip them once again. It worked. Well, sort of. Instead of the prince ending up under her, they ended up on their sides with their faces inches away from each other. Her lips were pressed against his.

Quickly, Robin jerked away from him and clenched her eyes shut. She didn't want to see his reaction. That would make matters worse. After all, he was engaged. She bit her lip as his blank voice filled her ears. "I… I'll go get some sleep."

She heard him began to leave. The door opened and the sound of his footsteps halted. "And, Robin? You should too."

Robin couldn't trust her words, so she nodded. When the door slammed shut, she opened her eyes. She sat up and grabbed her pillow, holding it in her lap with disbelief. They had kissed. It was difficult to believe. She wished it had been an illusion because where she was supposed to be happy, or excited, this was somehow worse.

Tears filled her eyes and she closed them tightly, burying her face in the pillow in her arms. She pressed her fingers to her lips, still feeling the warmth that had been there. It was going to be a long night.

~!~

It was three days after the kiss that Robin was up and walking again. It had gotten bad the second day after, her fever had spiked. From what she was told, they had feared she wouldn't wake up. Although, she fine now. It certainly was relieving to be able to be out of bed and stretching her legs. She had to take breaks during the day, but that was because she wasn't quite herself yet. Her breaks were never more than twenty minutes because she had a wedding to plan and things to do.

Upon her arrival in the dining hall, she was greeted cheerfully. They were all relieved that she was all right. Many of the Shepherds came up to her to tell her such, after all, they had feared for her life. She had also been told that if she needed anything, to call on anyone of them whenever she needed to. It was a weight off of her chest to know how much they all cared about her, though, she probably wouldn't take them up on their offers.

"I'm glad you're feeling better." A warm hand placed itself on her shoulder and she turned around with a smile. Ricken offered her a concerned smile. "You still need to take it easy though, Robin."

"Of course, I'll do my best. But, with the wedding this soon, I need to get planning. I just spent a week of my planning time in bed." Robin nodded.

Ricken inclined his head slightly to the side. His gaze was piercing, daring her to make one wrong move or say the wrong thing. He would put her back on bed rest in an instant. His voice held a warning tone. "Robin…"

She shook her head. "Ricken, I'm fine."

He sighed and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely certain." With smile, she stood and took her dishes with her. Robin dropped them by the kitchen before she headed back up to her chambers. As she sat at her desk, she sighed. Fortunately, her charade had fooled everyone.

Taking a deep breath, she leaned back into her chair. Her heart was racing and her body felt like someone had lead bricks in her feet. Robin rubbed her eyes and attempted to slow her heartbeat by taking slow, deep breath. Thankfully, it worked. She straightened herself out and picked up her quill from the desk. It was time to get to work on the wedding planning.

It seemed like hours were passing, though Robin knew better. It hadn't even been two hours since she started planning. Her quill scratched on the paper as she wrote down a list of things she would need to go over with Chrom and Sumia, as well as Levvia, the royal tailor. Dresses, flowers, colors, she was careful that her handwriting was neat as she jotted down everything that was needed. Not to forget dance lessons. She added them to the list with a slight laugh. I know for certain Chrom has no idea of how to dance, and Sumia, well…Let's hope she won't fall on her face.

"Good morning, Robin! I heard you were sick. How are you feeling?" Looking up, Robin smiled at the Pegasus Knight who had entered her room. Sumia walked to the desk and showed her a flower. She carefully tucked it into the braid in the tactician's hair, near her ear. "I thought this might help you focus. They say that Retrubi* blossoms bring strong concentration and soothe the soul."

A bubble of laughter came from Robin's throat. She reached her fingers up to brush over the petals of the flower. "Thank you, I appreciate it. And, I'm feeling a lot better. How has your morning been? You seem to be in a better mood than normal. Not that you're ever in a bad mood, you just seem… Cheerful."

"My morning has been spectacular." She was all but glowing, Robin noticed. Something good must have happened. "I don't know why, but there's an overwhelming feeling that today is going to be a fantastic day."

"I'm glad to hear that." Robin set her quill down on her desk. It wasn't her usual charcoal pencil, but she had wanted it to look neat, so quill and ink was what she went with. She stood and grabbed a chair from the small table in the other corner of her room. After placing it by the desk, she took her seat again. "Come join me. If you're free at the moment, would you like to go over some wedding details?"

Sumia sat down in the chair. "I would love to!"

"Good." She picked up the quill again and pulled out a new sheet of parchment. "Now, let's discuss decorations."

~!~!~

That night, Robin woke up coughing. It wasn't loud, in fact, it was the opposite. Her coughs were quiet, grinding against her throat with each one. She placed her hand over her chest as a particularly harsh round of coughs took over. She doubled over and felt around with her free hand for her nightstand. After a feet pats of the air, she hit the wood and moved her hand along the surface of it. Robin managed to find her flask filled with water and brought it to herself. She took off the lid and raised it to her lips, calming her coughs down a bit.

A wave of nausea hit her like a brick. She stumbled to her feet and rushed to the window. She gripped the edge of it, leaning over. After throwing up out the window, she glanced down at her clothes, wincing. Gross. She needed to change into something clean. Carefully, she fumbled around for her fire tome. When she located it on her desk, she used it to light a candle. Now that she could see, she examined how dirty her clothes were. Robin inhaled sharply. She knew that bile could be many colors, but red shouldn't be included in them.

Her heart raced as she pulled the night clothes off and dropped them on the floor. Something was seriously wrong. Her hands tightened on her clean tunic as she tugged it over her head. Robin quickly shuffled into a pair of pants and picked up the dirty clothes. She dropped them into an old wooden basket she kept her dirty laundry in. After she was clothed, she went back to the window to double check that she was indeed throwing up blood.

You'll be fine. She coaxed herself, walking towards the door of her room. She needed fresh air. The best medical in all of Ylisse is here. You just need to look into what illness you have. Worst case scenario, you leave and get treatment somewhere that has the right kind.

She sighed, stretching her arms as she walked through the corridors. Robin took her time, embracing the quiet of it all. The castle was always bustling with noise during the day, but at night, all she saw was a few patrolling guards. It was peaceful and calm. She had never been one for a lot of noise, unless it was war, it seemed. The silence of the halls was relaxing.

As she walked into the courtyard, she could only hear crickets chirping. With a smile, she made her way around the small garden in the courtyard before taking a seat on the grass. The warm summer breeze blew through her hair, pushing it back away from her face. The smell of the air was sweet, a mixture of summer flowers and trees. She wasn't sure if the air could smell warm, but it did. A vague memory played at the back of her mind.

"Wow, this is the castle? It's beautiful." Robin spun in the courtyard, looking around at the gardens and trees. She spread her arms wide, laughing at the cool evening air whooshing around her. She turned back around to face Chrom who was smiling at her.

"So, you like it?"

"It's amazing. I've never been somewhere like this before." Her spins slowed to a stop and she let out a content sigh. "It's… wonderful."

Chrom came closer and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Good. I wouldn't imagine my best friend staying anywhere else."

Robin had stopped and turned her head to face him, a question in her eyes. "I'm your best friend?"

Her words were soft, surprised, and Chrom's eyes seemed to widen a little at her question. His hand was warm on her shoulder when he answered in her in a gentle tone. "Of course you are, Robin. How could you think otherwise?"

Smiling fondly at the memory, Robin combed a hand through her hair. That memory had seemed had been so long ago. She twirled the messy strands between her forefinger and her thumb, twisting it. It had been when she had first truly moved into the palace, after the war had finally ended. A content sigh left her lips as she stretched her legs out and leaned back on her hands.

Footsteps echoing off of stone filled her ears and she turned her head to look. It took her a few moments before anyone entered her sight, but when they did she saw it was Chrom. Much like her, he was disheveled and in his night clothes. She smiled. He turned and began coming in her direction, though he didn't see her.

It took him a few more steps before he noticed her. He tipped his head and quirked an eyebrow, concern flitted across his features. "Robin? What are you doing out here at this hour?"

"You know, I could ask you the same thing." She smiled, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. "I just couldn't sleep. I had a few things on my mind and thought some fresh air would help."

"I couldn't sleep either." the prince sat down next to her with a slight smile.

She watched him as a comfortable silence settled between them. Robin leaned forward a bit to see him better under the coating of the night's sky. The moonlight reflected off of his hair in such a nice way, she thought to herself. After biting her lip for a moment, she spoke up. "Not much longer until the big day. Are you nervous?"

He looked out at the night sky. His voice was soft and quiet, but there was something else there too. Something that the tactician couldn't place her finger on. "Yeah. I am." Chrom turned to face her. "But in an excited way."

Their hands brushed in the grass and they were close enough that they could speak in whispers. Chrom brushed a stray piece of hair behind her ear. Their foreheads touched when he spoke next. "This is one of the only times I've seen you with your hair down… I like it."

"Yeah." She whispered, breathless. "I do too."

Chrom's hand slid down to the nape of her neck. Gently his lips brushed across hers. Robin's eyes closed and she kissed him back. The kiss was sweet, and perfect as could be, she knew. A warm feeling settled into her stomach, although later that feeling would be replaced with a chilling cold when she remembered something important.

She shouldn't be doing this. Chrom was engaged to another woman. This would never work.