Fire Emblem Awakening - A Very Invisibly-Tied Christmas
Ylisstol at the end of the year was a cold place; Robin had even taken to wearing his coat indoors, something that the numerous ladies in his life had tried to put a stop to a long time ago. To little success, one might add; Robin loved his coat almost as much as his daughter.
The city was covered in a thick layer of sparkling snow, and icicles hung from window panes. The Royal Library Robin spent most of his time in didn't have a fireplace, but rather than cart the staggering amount of books he read in a day someplace warmer, the tactician simply donned his warm-weather gear and braved the sub-zero temperatures, plumes of white breath appearing over the books he would read. Every so often he would have to warm his hands with a small fire spell after they would go numb, but he'd gotten the timing down so that he'd stopped dropping the books and losing his place. Or accidentally setting them on fire…
It was one of these days, just after the latest night of snowfall, that Lissa interrupted his usual routine of spending most of the day sitting in the Royal Library, nose buried in a good book.
"Christmas?" Robin asked curiously, looking up.
Lissa nodded energetically.
"Yeah! There's so many of us now, so it's going to be great all getting to celebrate together!"
Robin quirked a brow.
"You remember I have amnesia, right?" He asked. "Can you… er… explain what 'Christmas' is, exactly? I don't think I came across it while I was travelling…"
A shocked look crossed the blonde princess' face for a moment before she started bouncing excitedly again.
"It's a holiday where we all get together and celebrate being one big, happy family! We eat a heap of tasty food, exchange gifts, get really, really drunk…"
"You had me at 'eat a heap'," Robin said with a grin.
Lissa let out an involuntary shiver as she continued to explain the holiday.
"It's freezing in here!" she complained when she finished. "How do you sit here like this all day?"
Robin grinned.
"Well, for starters I like the peace and quiet," he said with a cheeky grin. "Also, I'm wearing every article of clothing I own, so that helps."
Lissa shivered again, pulling the yellow shawl she was wearing tighter around her shoulders.
"So explain to me how I'm supposed to afford buying everyone a gift."
Lissa shook her head.
"There's so many of us I don't think anyone's buying every single Shepherd a gift. Well… maybe Frederick… but I was thinking we just get the people most important to us presents, you know?"
"I look particularly good in yellow, for the record," Lissa added with a sly wink.
Robin chuckled and shook his head.
"I'm onto your fiendish plan now, woman!" he said theatrically, making a show of returning to his reading.
"Away with you! Thou shalt not influence my gift-buying!"
Robin let his mind wander as he went through his nightly ritual or training, bathing and grooming before bed.
Down on the floor of his room in the palace he considered who to buy gifts for as he counted the push-ups he was doing in the back of his mind.
Morgan's easy, he thought. I already have the perfect idea for her. Hrm… Virion I could get something tea-related; maybe see if Anna has some rare or exotic blends in stock. I should probably get Tharja something. She'll hex the crap outta me if I don't. Chrom and Sumia I can get… uh… I'll come back to them. At least I can buy for them as a couple. Cordelia's as easy as finding some trashy romance novel. Since Lissa told me about it I suppose I should get her and Lon'qu a bottle of wine or something…
Finishing his count of… well, he had stopped counting and now his arms felt like they were about to fall off, but still Robin rose to his feet, shaking out his tired arms as he turned around and sat back down, starting on the sit-ups.
What do I get for Chrom and Sumia? He wondered as he crunched his abs. A bottle of wine seems a little… I dunno. Pathetic, considering they're the Exalt and his Queen. At least any wine I could afford. Hrm… I could commission them a portrait or something? Nah, that's tacky. Oh! I'll talk to Anna about getting a double-pass to her cousin's hot-spring resort! Genius! Sumia's been hinting at a second honeymoon for ages now!
Robin let his mind go blank, a satisfied expression on his face as he continued to exercise.
Apart from the occasional raid on bandits his life as Tactician of the Shepherds had been pretty breezy; it was too easy to let himself get rusty, something that could prove to be deadly given his line of work. So he'd begun to train and exercise daily; a quick jog with the Ylisstol Regular Army's recruits in the morning, followed by swordsmanship training with Chrom and whoever else was on the training field (usually Sully, Lon'qu or Lucina), and push-ups and sit-ups before bed.
So far it had worked well; he wasn't quite as good as he had been in the past, but he was still better than most of the soldiers around the capital. Excluding, of course, the majority of the Shepherds, who could all still mop the training-grounds with his face if they really wanted to.
Robin winced as he remembered the last time he had trained with Lucina; the blue-haired Princess from the future was easily one of the best warriors in the realm, right up there with her father Chrom. She had beaten him mercilessly for forty-five minutes, all in the name of 'training'.
Robin let himself rest on the floor, lying spread-eagled and breathing heavily, trying to ignore the familiar burning sensation in his stomach muscles as he cooled off, his count finished.
Lucina was one person whose skills hadn't dulled with the peace; she was still as dedicated and deadly as she had always been; which in turn motivated Chrom to stay fit, too. Robin maintained his fitness more out of boredom than anything else, but-
The tactician bolted back into a sitting position, eyes wide as he cursed his own stupidity.
What the hell do I get for Lucina!?
"Oooh, I can't believe you asked me to come shopping with you!" Morgan exclaimed gleefully, her breath misting in front of her face as she spoke in the cold Ylisstol morning.
She was clinging to Robin's arm like he was a life preserver, both of them clad in their thick woollen jumpers under the twin black coats they wore.
Morgan's coat wasn't a copy of Robin's, though; it was the exact same coat, just from twenty years or so in the future.
Neither he nor Morgan was sure how old they were, both suffering from the same sort of magical amnesia; Robin had 'decided' he was twenty-five, and Morgan, his daughter from the future, had 'decided' she was eighteen. Neither of them remembered their birthdays, either. They simply used the dates that they had been discovered by others and taken in; Robin's was in the fifth month, when the snow had melted and the days were beginning to warm up again; and Morgan's was, funnily enough, at the same time, just a few weeks earlier than Robin's.
"So where're we going first?" Morgan asked excitedly, looking up at her father, her blue eyes twinkling happily beneath her long brown bangs.
Bugger my previous life, Robin thought for the thousandth time, a big smile emerging on his face, Everything I need is right here in Ylisstol.
"I don't know, Tactician Morgan," Robin said, leading her to make the call. "What do you think we should get first?"
Morgan scrunched up her face in thought as they joined the crowd of people in the shopping district.
"We should probably check Anna's store first," Morgan decided after a moment of thought. "She usually has the biggest variety of goods, and she's always fun to start a shopping trip with!"
Yeah, when you're not paying… Robin thought glumly, remembering the last time the plucky red-haired merchant had convinced him into buying manakete scales.
What did I even need those stupid things for again, anyway? Robin wondered as he let his daughter drag him through the marketplace, threading expertly around other people and through gaps between groups that even as an experienced battlefield tactician Robin had missed.
She's been spending too much time with Severa, Robin thought with a grin as Morgan glared down a group of teenage boys ogling her as they passed. But I guess there are worse people she could be sponging the personalities off of…
Anna had opened her store not long ago, and it was already constantly busy. She'd even had to enlist the aid of a few of the younger Shepherds with nothing better to do with their time to help maintain it, business was so good.
As they came upon the storefront Nah, the deceptively young-looking manakete that had travelled back in time with Lucina and the others, waved a cheerful greeting as she swept the snow off the sidewalk outside Anna's store.
"Morning, Nah!" Morgan called out cheerfully.
Nah smiled happily as she greeted Morgan and her father. It was no secret that both of them were exceedingly easy to get along with and generally well-liked throughout the capital, so Robin was used to being treated in a friendly manner.
"Good morning, guys!" she said from beneath a thick pink scarf obscuring the better part of her face. "What's going on?"
"Just doing a little Christmas shopping," Morgan replied cheerfully.
Robin carefully extracted his arm from his daughter's vice-like grip, content to start on his list while she chatted with her friend. Inside the shop Inigo was humming and dancing around like no one was watching, arms laden with goods he was putting on display.
"Good morning, twinkle-toes," Robin said enthusiastically.
The notorious ladies-man jumped a little, his quick reflexes being the only things keeping him from spending an afternoon explaining to Anna why her inventory was all damaged.
"Gods, Robin!" the young man groaned, blushing bright red with embarrassment. "Warn a man before you sneak up on him!"
Robin laughed, stepping in place a few times to indicate how loud his boots were on the wooden floor of the shop.
"Who's sneaking?" Robin asked playfully, taking the top box Inigo was carrying for him. "You were just so caught up dancing to the… what does your mother call it? The 'song of life'?"
"Oh gods…" Inigo moaned, blushing brighter as Robin laughed.
The tactician helped the boy set out the colourful little glass baubles in the boxes, finishing up at about the same time Morgan and Nah returned inside.
"So where's your boss today?" Robin asked, setting the now empty box aside behind the counter.
Inigo shrugged. "She said she wouldn't be gone long."
Robin nodded.
"Okay," the tactician said. "We'll just have a look around in the meantime."
The shop was strangely empty that morning, but Robin wasn't complaining; he wasn't the social butterfly his daughter was, and crowds just irritated him. Looking through a wine-rack along the back wall he spotted one with a label in Feroxi writing, and decided that it would do for Lissa and Lon'qu.
One down.
Robin placed the bottle on the counter Inigo was currently leaning against lazily, flicking through one of the various pulp-magazines he found so interesting.
"More coming," Robin advised.
The other mad didn't even look up, just nodding as he read.
Morgan and Nah were busily whispering over near where Anna kept the clothes, occasionally casting glances in Robin's direction.
Not hard to guess what they're doing over there…
Robin moved to the section of the store occupied by imported foods, looking for strange and exotic teas. He picked one up apparently hailing from Valm.
Rosanne Caravan… A nutty blend of berries and herbs… eh; good enough.
The small container of tea-leaves made it to the counter next to the wine, Inigo lazily turning another page as Morgan and Nah giggled quietly in the corner.
All four Shepherds looked up as the door slammed open and the red-haired proprietor of the shop strutted in, a huge successful smile on her face.
"Who's the greatest merchant in the world!?" she asked excitedly.
"You are," Nah and Inigo answered in bored monotones without looking up, having gotten used to the question some time ago.
"Damn straight!" she said, adopting her usual pose with her finger pressed to her chin when she spotted Robin.
"Howdy, stranger," she said with a playful wink. "Here for more spell reagents?"
Robin groaned.
"No," he said quickly. "I actually wanted to talk to you about getting a pass to your cousin's hot spring resort for Chrom and Sumia."
Anna squealed and clapped her hands.
"Money-money-money!" she chanted, leading him to the back office. "That's what I like to hear first thing in the morning!"
Robin rolled his eyes as he followed her into the back office. He'd gotten used to her antics during the time they had travelled around the world together, but it still made him cringe to think about how highly she valued money.
Robin let out a low whistle as he walked into the 'office', which was really more of a storage room with a desk in the corner.
Stacks and stacks of summer and spring clothes were piled in one corner, and crates of knick-knacks and junk were sitting, waiting for the merchant to price them so that Inigo or Nah could display them in the shop.
"Hold on, I got just the thing you're after…" Anna muttered, leaning deep into a crate in the back of the room, legs flailing in the air.
She made a little squeak of victory, emerging and holding a sheet of thick paper.
"Here," she said, holding it out to Robin.
The tactician accepted the paper and read it out loud.
"'You are cordially invited to the Outrealm's hottest tourist attraction… the Outrealm Hotsprings. Good for two entries to the grounds and the springs, a couples suite room, meals and yukata rental'. Yep, this is perfect. How much?"
Anna sighed happily, letting her head loll backwards.
"I love those words…"
Robin clicked his fingers a few times to get her attention back.
"Anna? Anna!? How much?"
She perked up and pressed her index finger to her chin, frowning deep in thought for a moment.
"How about… five gold?"
Robin's jaw dropped.
"Five gold!?" he repeated incredulously. "Even including travel expenses that's outrageous!"
Anna huffed at Robin, snatching the papers back.
"It just so happens that the Springs are a very popular destination at this time of year," she said. "Usually they're booked out months in advance, but because I like you I'm giving up my personal reservation for you."
"I think you mean 'permanent' reservation," Robin countered. "Two gold."
Anna feigned shock.
"Are you mad!" she cried. "Do you know how much people would pay for this suite!? People would kill for it! Four gold."
Robin chuckled. He was on to her game now.
"Anna, I've been there. Remember? Unless this package comes with personal servants to wait on them hand and foot it's not worth more than three gold, tops, and you know that's still ripping me off. So three gold coins and you sell me the tea leaves and wine I have put aside at the counter at cost."
Anna made a show of sighing and looking defeated.
"It was so much more fun before you learned to haggle," she said with a pout as Robin dug out the required coins.
"For you, maybe," Robin said with a grin as he dropped the three golden coins into the merchant's outstretched hand.
Anna winked, dexterously making the coins disappear up her sleeve with a flick and turn of her hand.
"Okay, now shoo!" she said, pressing the paper back into Robin's hands and chasing him out of the room. "I've got lots of work to do for the holiday rush! Go on! Scat!"
Robin tried not to laugh as the manic merchant pushed him out of her office/storage space and back out into the main store.
Morgan was already holding a large brown bag close to her chest, leaning against the counter and talking idly to Inigo while she waited for Robin.
"There you are!" she said in mock indignation. "What took so long?"
Robin snickered.
Way too much time around Severa…
"Have you ever tried haggling with Anna?" Robin asked as he stood before the counter.
Morgan broke out in her usual happy grin.
"Okay. Yeah. Point."
Robin proceeded to pay for the bottle of wine and small container of tea, and he and Morgan bade Inigo and Nah farewell, exiting the shop back onto the frigid Ylisstol streets.
"Okay, where to now?" Robin asked as Morgan resumed her position on his arm.
"Bookstore!" she announced happily.
*chack*
"So how did your epic quest of shipping with a teenaged girl go today?" Virion asked across the chessboard with a superior smirk.
*chack*
"Well enough," Robin replied, making his move confidently. "Are you going to this… 'Christmas' celebration Lissa's planning?"
*chack*
"But of course!" Virion replied, placing his pawn exactly where Robin knew he would.
"One must have a reason to wear the ruffliest-of-ruffled shirts; they are simply not every-day wear."
*chack*
"Have you done your gift-shopping yet, Ruffles?" Robin asked, taking Virion's recently moved pawn.
*chack*
"But of course," the archer replied. "I have a gift for every one of the lovely ladies in our little group. Checkmate, by the way."
Robin stared at the board in disbelief for a moment before seeing Virion's feint.
"You spend too much time playing this game," Robin said with a chuckle as he laid his king on its side.
"I disagree," Virion said, leaning back and sipping from his teacup. "It is just exceedingly simple to defeat you when you are distracted. Tell old Virion what troubles have befallen you; what story of woe are you keeping from your dearest of friends."
Robin rolled his eyes and chuckled, sipping from his own teacup.
"I don't know what to get for L-" Robin caught himself before he gave away his secret.
"Uh… for, ah, someone important to me," he corrected himself lamely.
Virion chuckled, giving his friend a knowing grin as he tucked a strand of long blue-silver hair behind his ear.
"Well, I cannot give you shopping advice if I do not know the lady you pine after."
"Har har," Robin said sarcastically. "Nice try. Just give me some vague ideas; I'll go from there."
Robin sat back, eying the small mound of gifts on the desk in his room.
A bottle of wine for Lissa and Lon'qu.
The hot spring pass for Chrom and Sumia.
Morgan's present, already safely wrapped in thick brown paper.
Virion's tea leaves.
The trashiest romance novel he could possibly find for Cordelia; A Night under the Feroxi Moon. Just the title made him want to retch.
This just left Tharja and Lucina to shop for.
Tharja he would get a gift for the next day; he'd just go into the mage district of the markets, a few small buildings separated from the other shops in the uncommon event of magical explosions (they still happened often enough for the shops to have been situated away from the others, though…).
An idea of what to get for Chrom's future daughter still eluded him, though.
Robin flopped backwards on the bed, letting out a deep sigh and dropping his hands on his face.
Christmas is in like a week. This is going to drive me nuts.
Robin swung his blade in an arc, spinning a few times and practicing his footwork as he did so; something he'd been growing lax with in the last few months. The ice that had taken to forming on the training ground made this the perfect opportunity to really practice hard, though.
The training ground was strangely clear of any Shepherds that morning; Chrom had some diplomatic mission that had called him away from Ylisstol the previous morning, and he wouldn't be back for a few days; Sully was at home, nursing a baby Kjelle who was sick with her first cold; Donnel had roster duty at the western gate now that he was an official Ylissean Knight, much to the great pride of his little island village; Lon'qu trained solo in one of the big anterooms in the Palace most of the time; and the rest of the Shepherds couldn't be bothered braving the cold just to train.
Leaving Robin alone and breathing heavily in the middle of the training field while drill sergeants shouted orders to the regular army recruits training at the opposite end of the frozen field, feeling like his lungs were forming icicles.
Maybe I should just call it a day, Robin though, swinging his sword around in a few lazy arcs to keep his arm warm. I still have to go and find something for Lucina and Tharja today anyway…
Just as Robin was going to sheathe his sword a voice called out from behind him.
"Good morning, Robin," Lucina greeted happily as she crossed the training field, her version of Falchion, the divine sword of House Ylisse, strapped to her hip. She was wearing her usual armour, but over much thicker woollen clothes, just like Robin had acquired for himself. They were still the deep blue she seemed to favour, which was a relief to the tactician, considering her often questionable fashion sense.
"I was hoping there would be someone here to train with. Care to spar a little?"
Robin chuckled a little.
"Don't take this the wrong way, Princess, but sparring with you is like being pummelled by an angry moose."
Lucina let out a laugh, smiling at Robin's joke.
The breath caught in the tactician's throat, and not because it was so cold it was freezing this time.
She really is beautiful when she smiles, he thought, braving himself for what he knew was coming.
"But who am I to turn down such an offer from a member of the royal family?"
Robin sank back into a ready stance, mentally preparing himself for the beating that he had no doubt was coming.
Lucina grinned a little, unclasping the fine blue cloak around her shoulders and letting it fall to the ground as she drew her sword.
Robin resisted the urge to groan as he watched her eyes switch from 'friendly' to 'target' as she looked at him.
"Whenever you're ready," she invited, holding Falchion up and ready.
Robin did moan this time as he darted forward, his body already tensing for what he knew would be a painful experience. He wasn't disappointed when Lucina spun around his charge, smacking the flat of her blade into the small of Robin's back and sending him tumbling.
"I have already warmed up today, Robin," she laughed, bouncing on her toes. "You can skip the flailing and falling today."
"Gee," Robin groaned, picking himself back up. "Thanks."
The tactician groaned through his handkerchief, head leaned right back as he tried to stop the continuous flow of blood originating from his bruised nose.
"Again, Robin, I am so sorry," Lucina said sheepishly from next to him.
They were sitting on a bench in the heated atrium of the palace, overlooking what was usually a stunning garden. The garden was coated in snow, though; the plants and flowers all hibernating until spring. Or so Miriel insisted they did; most people thought they just died every year. Robin was on the fence with his opinion on the matter, though.
"It's okay," Robin said, his voice muffled by the bloody cloth. "I should just be grateful your reflexes are still so good."
"Head-butting you when we lock swords is not a reflex," she muttered.
"Did you do it without thinking?"
She nodded.
"Then it was a reflex. Honestly, stop worrying about it so much. You didn't break it."
At least I'm pretty sure you didn't…
Lucina shifted next to the tactician, her face one of great guilt.
"I know I should be a little gentler when sparring with others," she mumbled apologetically. "But I cannot seem to ever tone it down; whenever I fight I have to give my all. It is a wonder anyone still trains with me at all."
"That's not a bad thing, Lucina," Robin said, glancing at the woman out of the corner of his eye. "Don't let that feeling ever go away. It's kept you alive through horrible, unspeakable times; you'll need it for the worse part that comes now."
Lucina looked up questioningly.
"Your Aunt's Christmas party," Robin said with a wink.
Lucina giggled a little, brightening.
"She is taking things a little too seriously, isn't she?"
Robin sighed through the bloody cloth on his face.
Seriously was an understatement. Lissa had enlisted the aid of her friend and fellow Shepherd Maribelle, first female Magistrate and she of the overriding willpower and razor-sharp tongue, to assist her in planning the party. Robin had been expecting to attend a small, intimate gathering someplace like the Shepherds' barracks, not the black-tie formal dinner and ball in the Royal Banquet Hall that was being talked about.
"I don't even own a suit," Robin moaned. "The one I wore to your parents' wedding was a rental; and I dance like a stump. This is getting blown way out of proportion."
Lucina burst out laughing after a moment, doubling over as her shoulders shook with the happy sounds.
"I'm glad you find my predicament to be so amusing," the tactician deadpanned.
"It is not that," she said, wiping tears of mirth from her eyes. "It is just that… it is strange for me, going from fighting to save the world to complaining about a Christmas party. I have not even celebrated Christmas since I was a child."
Lucina sobered, looking out into the garden through the great plate glass windows.
"In truth, I find Christmas and winter to be a little depressing," she admitted. "The way everything dies; the trees, the flowers… all buried under a layer of pure white snow. It is a cold time that reminds me of life in my future more than anything else these days."
Robin looked over to the Princess, his hand falling away from his face as he did so.
I had no idea she felt this way…
Lucina glanced over at Robin and burst out laughing again.
"You are dripping," she said, pointing to his face.
Robin cursed as a drop of blood fell from the end of his nose, plinking to the tiled floor of the atrium.
"Aw forget it," he growled, returning the cloth to his face. "I'll just go and find Libra…"
"So what, pray-tell, did you wind up getting for the dark-beauty Tharja?" Virion asked, watching Robin being suited for his tux.
"It's a little box that summons Risen," Robin said offhandedly. "I figure she can do some research; get some…"
Robin adopted his best Tharja impersonation, raising his tone and speaking breathily the way she did as he tented his fingers before his face the way she had a habit of doing.
"Ideas…"
Virion burst out laughing.
"You are truly the master of impersonation, my friend."
Robin shrugged as he stepped down from the box the tailor had made him stand on as the weasely old man started making notes on a small card.
"A guy's gotta have a hobby. You should hear the one I do of you."
The party was in less than four days now; it had been blown so out of proportion that Robin wasn't even sure he still wanted to go. Foreign representatives were supposedly going to be arriving in the next two days to attend, not to mention the droves of Ylissean nobility.
The tactician took Virion's seat as the archer stepped up onto the box.
"So have you managed to find a gift for your beautiful mystery girl?" Virion asked, holding out his arms as the tailor began measuring.
"Who said she was beautiful?" Robin asked, just in the spirit of being difficult. "She could be a total dog for all you know."
Virion chuckled a little as he shook his head.
"But surely some of my impeccable taste has to have worn off on you by now?"
"Virion, don't take this the wrong way, but your taste is 'legs-and-a-pulse'."
The archer burst out laughing, much to the old tailor's irritation.
"You wound me, good sir," Virion said mockingly as the tailor began to measure his legs. "Surely you think higher of me than that."
"I do," Robin conceded. "But only a little."
"Okay," the little old tailor wheezed, the two Shepherds' attention snapping back to the matter at hand. "I'll have the suits ready in three days. That'll give me enough time to fix any problems before your big to-do."
"Thank you, Horace," Virion said with a deep bow. "Truly you are a god among tailors."
The little man waved Virion's compliment off, shuffling away and muttering to himself.
"He seems nice," Robin muttered sarcastically, pulling on his coat.
"He is a crotchety old grouch," Virion said, donning his own coat and scarf. "But he is the best in Ylisstol outside of the royal tailor shop, which is-"
"Busily putting first preference to the royals' suits and dresses," Robin repeated, cutting him off and taking the same disapproving tone that Virion had repeated the statement in ten times already.
"Do I truly sound like that?" Virion asked as they stepped out onto the icy street.
"A little," Robin smirked. "But don't worry; you get used to it."
The tactician spent the entirety of the walk back to the palace laughing hysterically at the look Virion had given him; in fact every time the archer opened his mouth to say something, Robin would burst into a new fit of hysterics.
"Oh shut up already," Virion finally groaned as Robin collapsed in another fit of laughter at the bottom of the palace steps.
"Guards! This hysterical madman has followed me to the palace! Arrest him and hold him for four, maybe five days. Actually, just to be safe, keep him a week if you would be so kind."
Robin fell to his knees and rolled onto his back, legs flailing as he laughed and held his stomach.
The guards simply rolled their eyes. They were no strangers to the tactician's eccentricities.
Robin, still chuckling, hung his coat from the hook next to his door.
Gods, Virion's face has just now made everything less funny by comparison forever.
The tactician sobered and let himself fall backwards onto the fluffy bed.
Four days. Four days and I still don't know what to get for Lucina.
Robin groaned, running a hand down his face.
It can't be something regular, like jewellery or clothes… or books, or consumables… It has to be something deep and heartfelt. It has to mean something, dammit.
Robin thought long and hard about what she had been saying the last few weeks. She didn't like the snow, or the winter. She thought it made things seem bleak and lifeless, and that it reminded her of the times she had spent cold and alone in her own time at this time of year.
Robin bolted upright, an idea hitting him like a bolt of lightning.
Robin, you are a genius, he told himself, rushing for the door and pausing just long enough to grab his coat.
"Dad! Dad! Dad!"
Robin shot into a sitting position, a spell already forming in his mind as he bolted out of bed.
"Morgan!?" he asked worriedly, reaching for the bolt locking the door. "What's wr-"
He was thrown backwards suddenly, the thunder spell he had been priming flying off randomly and leaving a big black scorch mark on the wall as Morgan bowled him over with a giant hug.
"Merry Christmas!" she crowed, squeezing him around the middle.
When he had finally managed to escape her grasp Robin pulled on a shirt, mumbling about the fact it was barely dawn as his daughter sat bouncing excitedly at his table, a small parcel held in her hands.
"This couldn't wait til later why?" Robin grumbled as he sat on the edge of the bed facing her.
"Tradition!" Morgan exclaimed brightly. "Princess Lissa said I was supposed to burst in and start jumping on the bed to wake you, but your door was locked, so…"
Robin sighed and grinned. He couldn't help it. She was just too adorable.
"Alright, alright," Robin said, reaching to the side of his desk for her present.
They exchanged small parcels, and Morgan tore into hers with gusto.
Robin watched her face light up as she gasped, turning the book over in her hands.
"Dad… this is…"
"My first tactical manual, all done. It has notes on every major engagement the Shepherds have ever been in, as well as strategies to improve the tactics I used for similar situations in the future. That one's officially yours now."
"But… you worked on this for so long…" Morgan said in awe, looking up.
Yeah, and I already promised Chrom a copy for the Royal Library, too… Robin thought with an internal grimace, smiling at his daughter.
Morgan looked like she was about to burst into tears when she flung herself at Robin again; this time he was ready for her, though, and actually managed to return one of her hugs.
"Okay, you open yours now," she said with a sniffle, hugging the tactical manual close to her chest as she watched him turn the gift over in his hands.
Robin smiled and shook his head, carefully unwrapping the present.
"Gloves?" he asked with a laugh. "And a scarf?"
Morgan nodded enthusiastically.
"Right! Aunt Tharja and Virion told me how much you hated winter because you were too lazy to buy gloves and a scarf, so I bought you some nice ones!"
Robin held the scarf up, admiring the dark brown and black colouring that matched his coat so perfectly. A thin line of purple at each end showed a little streak of Morgan's personality, though; his little streak of colour amongst the monotony.
"It's perfect," Robin said, wrapping the scarf around his neck. "And comfy, too. Now I never want it to stop snowing! Er… I take that back. I hate the snow. But this will make it slightly more bearable! Thank you, honey."
Morgan beamed up at her father, as he rose.
"Now let's go and get some breakfast."
"I really wish it would stop snowing," Robin grumbled behind his new scarf as he followed Morgan through the little blizzard of flakes descending on Ylisstol.
At some point in the recent past while Robin hadn't been paying attention Tharja and Henry had moved out of the Palace and Shepherds' barracks respectively, and into a small house near the mage academy. Where their constant spellwork wouldn't be too out of place.
Robin stomped his feet as they stood on the little doorstep; he hoped it was the right house, he'd just been following Morgan, and Naga knew he couldn't see his hand in front of his face at the moment.
The door opened and a nervous looking Noire ushered them in. Then again, Robin mused, she did always look nervous at the best of times.
Morgan wrapped Noire in a tight hug as Robin sidestepped the girls, removing his coat and hanging it up before he stepped into the house. He'd forgotten once during a thunderstorm and tracked water through the living room… He still occasionally found his face plastered to his pillow in the morning with drool. Tharja's hexes and curses had become less life-threatening as time had gone on, but more… eccentric. A hex for drooling in his sleep was still one of the weirder ones.
Robin waved a brief hello to Noire over his daughter's head as he slipped by them, emerging into Tharja's almost normal seeming living room.
Apart from the books everywhere and the large black ravens roosting in the rafters the room almost looked like any other person's house; no doubt Henry's influence. Huginn cawed from above him, easily the largest of the creatures, looking down on them like a Lord observing his subjects.
Tharja rose from a low couch near the fireplace when Robin walked in, the tactician waving a light greeting to the big bird as Tharja placed a cup of steaming something on the low table.
She had traded her usual thin black robes for thicker woollen ones of the same colour, and she even wore the same warmer travelling clothes she had been forced to acquire for their journey to Regna Ferox so many years ago.
"Robin," she said, greeting him warmly and embracing the tactician.
"Hey, Tharja," Robin said, returning the hug. "Merry Christmas."
Robin drew back, presenting the small package he had for her.
Tharja's eyes lit up in a very childish manner as they returned to the couch, Robin sitting next to her.
Noire waddled into the room, Morgan still wrapped around her, chatting away.
"Morgan, leave the poor girl alone," Robin laughed.
"But I haven't seen her in so long!" Morgan exclaimed, rubbing her cheek against Noire's. "I missed you so much, Noire!"
Noire simply sighed as she sat down at the other couch, Morgan with her every step of the way. Between an emotionally distant mother and an emotionally over-bearing pseudo-cousin the poor girl had learned to adapt to these situations fairly quickly.
Tharja let out a gasp as the last of the wrapping paper fell away.
"I've been looking for one of these for so long," she said, turning the box over in her hands.
Tharja held a 'reeking box', a magical item that had been used during the war to summon phantasmal Risen. Robin had used them a few times, sending a scout or a spy into an enemy base and deploying the little box, but such actions always left a bad taste in his mouth. A few places still had them, not knowing what exactly they did; without the proper incantation it was just a small, harmless wooden box.
"I figured you could use it for something partially evil," Robin said, leaning back and grinning. "Just, er… don't open it right now. I didn't bring my sword with me. Speaking of partially evil; where's Henry?"
"Father was called away to the Mage Academy," Noire explained, trying to pry Morgan off of her arm. "The storm caused some damage to the roof of one of the towers, and he's been looking forward to trying out that spell you came up with in Plegia; the ice one? He's using it to plug the hole."
Robin nodded. Henry was eccentric, but easily one of the best mages in Ylisstol. He had resigned his Shepherd commission some time ago to work as a Dark Magic expert at the Royal Academy, but still absorbed every scrap of information magic-related like a sponge.
"I got you this," Morgan said, finally separating from Noire and backing out of her personal space a little, holding out the small parcel in bright red paper.
Noire accepted the small gift tentatively and unwrapped it. Inside was a little box, and when she opened it…
"BLOOD AND THUNDER!" Noire roared, jumping to her feet and holding the small golden amulet above her head in victory. "At last I am complete once more! All shall tremble before my wrath!"
The younger black-haired girl descended into manic laughter, holding the amulet close to her chest.
Robin rolled his eyes as Morgan giggled. Tharja was still so engrossed in her little box that she barely noticed her daughter's odd behaviour as she held out a small black parcel to Robin without looking up.
Robin grinned wordlessly as he began to unwrap it, Noire and Morgan moving to go and prepare some tea and snacks. At least that was what Noire was shouting about…
Inside the little box was a small rectangle of thin wood, about the length of Robin's index finger attached to a leather cord. Carved into the front were various symbols that he recognized as groupings of Dark Magic sigils commonly used for hexing and curses.
"It's wood taken from the Mila Tree," Tharja explained, finally looking up from the box in her hand. "I inscribed it with our names and protective spells."
Robin looked back down at the little talisman with renewed awe; wood from Valm's Mila Tree was rare and almost insanely magically potent and rare; how Tharja had come into something so rare he honestly was afraid to ask.
Spells inscribed on a magical focus could be devastatingly powerful, and yet she'd chosen to use one that was probably powerful enough to create a spell big enough to destroy the entire Ylisstol Palace in seconds for a protective spell instead.
Robin slipped the cord over his head, tucking the little amulet beneath his shirt, touched at the gesture on her part.
"Thanks," he said, wrapping one arm around Tharja's shoulders in a lazy side-hug.
She didn't even notice; she was back to glaring at the little Risen-summoning box, holding it above her head as she studied the bottom now.
On the morning of what had quickly become known as the First Annual Royal Ylissean Winter Ball, Lucina rushed into her room, closing the door quickly and leaning back against it.
If Mother tries to cram me into one more formal dress I am going to scream.
Sumia had been shocked and dismayed to find out that Lucina had been planning to wear her new blue dress uniform to the ball rather than one of the flowing, winter-themed dresses that the other women were all apparently wearing that night; she had made it her mission to find a last minute dress, and much to Lucina's irritation had conscripted her other daughter and Lucina's sister Cynthia to help.
Sumia and Cynthia wouldn't take no for an answer though, so Lucina had slipped away while she was calling to one of the seamstresses to find another certain dress buried somewhere or other in the massive Royal Wardrobe.
She would go back eventually; after she collected herself. They had been at it for hours, and Cynthia was the girly-girl of the family, not Lucina. Lucina just wanted a chance to breathe, to collect her thoughts.
She went rigid as a voice from up the hall called out her name, getting louder before eventually passing her room's door and fading into the distance.
Sighing, the future-princess ran a hand down her face.
Peacetime was all well and good, but she had spent the majority of her life as a military leader, not a stereotypical Princess. Cynthia was adapting much faster to the role than she was. All Lucina did with her free time was train or lead armed patrols along the highways through the Ylissean countryside. In fact, she had just finished-
She glanced up, a splash of colour sitting in a crystal vase on her nightstand that hadn't been there when she had woken catching her eye.
Flowers.
Someone had put a vase of fresh, brightly coloured flowers in her room.
More amazingly, though, was that someone had managed to find fresh flowers in the dead of winter.
She crossed the room in a few quick strides, eyes wide with wonder as she reached for the card covered in familiar handwriting.
Thought you'd like to know that even in the dead of winter life finds a way; just like you did. Merry Christmas! Robin, she read.
Lucina blinked a few times before her face broke out into a huge smile.
How in the world did he find these? She wondered, leaning over them to breathe their scent in. They're beautiful!
The door burst open behind her, Cynthia bustling in with Sumia hot on her trail.
"There you are!" her brunette sister cried. "You cannot escape our wrath!"
Lucina turned, still smiling.
"I think I have found the motivation to continue with this exercise," she said, tucking the card into her sleeve. "Let us be finished with this business. I am… actually looking forward to this evening now."
"The Vaike hates these monkey-suits," Vaike grumbled sullenly, tugging at his collar as he stood with Robin, Virion, Lon'qu and Owain.
"At least you don't have to sit at the head-table," Lon'qu mumbled, eying the crowd and shuddering a little as his eyes fell of a gaggle of Ylissean noblewomen, all dressed up in fancy winter-themed gowns, watching the men and giggling.
"I am married and I love my wife, I am married and I love my wife," Virion muttered, doing his best not to look at the noblewomen waving at their group suggestively.
"You are married and your wife has a very, very big wyvern," Robin corrected the archer as the other three men burst out laughing.
Owain looked over at his father and Lon'qu heaved a sigh.
"Yes, go and tell them the tale of Owain, Scion of Legend," the Feroxi swordsman said with resignation in his voice.
Owain perked up instantly, grinning ear to ear as he sauntered over to the women.
"Hark, noble ladies! Have you ever heard tell the tale of Owain, Scion of Legend and Slayer of Grima, saviour of this world and all who dwell within it!?" the blonde cried loudly as he approached, the noblewomen all swooning at the dashing young man's self-introduction.
"See," Robin said to Virion, elbowing the man in the ribs. "He doesn't need a wingman."
"Excuse me, gentlemen," Vaike said as he spotted a group of the female Shepherds all entering at once, Miriel among their number. "But Teach's gotta show you all how a real man sweeps his lady off her feet."
Virion spotted Cherche among the group and grinned carnivorously at Vaike's back.
"There is no way I am letting that oaf outdo me," he said, beelining for his pink-haired wife.
Robin sighed happily, watching the women enter with Lon'qu as he leaned against the wall next to the other man.
The women all looked radiant as they walked from the entrance and up the middle of the floor. He heard Gaius wolf-whistle at one point, earning a dirty look from Panne, one of the only women present not in some form of flowing gown.
The group separated, the women done with their grand entrance and separating to find their significant others or into small groups of friends. The empty dance floor began filling up as the band sitting in one corner began to play. It amused Robin watching Vaike try to teach Miriel how to do whatever local dance was going on, the spectacled woman watching and treating the situation like another experiment. Virion grinned at the blonde man as he flashed by, gracefully stepping with Cherche, much to Vaike's annoyance and causing the axeman to redouble his efforts.
Morgan skipped happily over to Lon'qu and Robin, and the tactician had to do a double-take when he realized it was his daughter walking over to them.
Well, she definitely has to take after her mother, Robin thought, because I do not look that good under any circumstances.
"Hi Dad!" she said happily. "Good evening, Sir Lon'qu!"
Lon'qu nodded tersely, a little of his old gynophobia creeping back to the fore.
"You look beautiful, Morgan," Robin said proudly, stepping forward and giving her a light hug.
"I think I saw Yarne duck under the third table from the back, right hand side," he whispered into her ear as they hugged.
She winked, off to find her Taguel quarry. Sometimes Robin wondered if they were actually friends, or if Yarne just put up with being treated like a stuffed animal because of his lack of confidence. Then he wondered if there was something more going on between the two…
Robin glanced up at the spectacle of Morgan dragging a fearful-looking Taguel out from under one of the many tables, his eyes narrowing to slits as he caught the man's gaze.
Yarne actually paled further, going quiet as Morgan dragged him up.
"Come on!" she said cheerily, dragging him by the hand to the dance floor. "We're dancing!"
Robin chuckled at the spectacle, his face softening as Yarne's gaze was finally torn away.
"So why are you here and not doing the whole 'royal entrance' thing with the others?" Robin asked Lon'qu conversationally.
The man shrugged.
"I'm technically not a Royal," he said nonchalantly. "I'm not even a noble. It didn't feel right."
You get worked up about the weirdest things… Robin thought as they lapsed back into silence.
Another large group of Ylissean nobles strutted into the ballroom, and Robin made a face of distaste. Apart from the actual Royal family he really wanted nothing to do with the other nobles of the land; especially considering the way every single one of them tried to continually fix him up with one of their daughters.
One Duke of some backwater territory to the south spotted Robin and began to 'discretely' drift over, no doubt with the intention of engaging Robin like it was the grandest coincidence in the world that they would meet in one place.
He really wasn't in the mood to have marriage proposed to him by sweaty, portly balding men all evening. Again.
"I'm out," Robin muttered to Lon'qu, angling for the doors to the kitchen. "Tell your wife I was here, though; she'll probably try to kick me out of the palace if you don't."
Lon'qu nodded, understanding instantly and moving to intercept the Duke and give his friend a few more moments to make his escape.
I guess we're even for the wine now, Robin thought with a grin as he passed through the wide swinging doors and into the bustle of the kitchen, loosening his collar and tie as he did so.
He brushed past the waiters and servers, busily preparing the evening's dinner.
"Can you bring a plate of that up to my room?" Robin asked one of the waiters as he passed.
The man nodded absently; just about every palace servant knew who Robin was and why he lived so close to the Royal Apartments, so they knew exactly where to bring the platter. The fact that the eccentric tactician was already leaving the banquet hall was being completely ignored by the busy servants.
Robin slipped into the back hallways, moving at a brisk pace through the servant corridors and slipping around to the main staircase leading to the upper levels.
I wonder if Lucina liked the flowers, Robin thought as he began to stride up the stairs, hoping that no one caught him escaping from the party.
They'd been hard enough to find; he'd actually had to ride to Southtown in a blizzard the other day, where Miriel had once told him about an experimental 'hot-house' that made use of special glass to maintain a warmer temperature inside was supposedly located. Apparently growing flowers in the middle of winter could be very lucrative, though, and Robin had forked out an entire gold coin for the bunch that he'd chosen.
Robin stopped dead when a familiar voice called out to him just as he reached the top of the stairs.
"Where are you going?" Lucina asked curiously, cocking her head to the side a little.
The tactician glanced over his shoulder sheepishly, like a child being caught doing something they weren't supposed to be.
His attempts to come up with an excuse died in his throat as he caught sight of the Princess properly, his eyes going wide and his jaw dropping for a moment as he turned before he composed himself.
Usually she didn't have any trouble captivating Robin with her natural beauty; her regular blue clothes and armour had just become part of the person he knew and cared about. The woman standing before him in a floor-length white gown, sequins like ice frozen to the fabric glittering in the castle's interior torchlight left Robin truly speechless.
"Wow," he finally managed.
"Not too bad for something Mother and Cynthia forced on me at the last second, is it?" Lucina asked, meeting Robin's gaze and smiling bashfully.
The tactician found himself descending the stairs again, slowly putting one foot carefully on each step in case he fell, his eyes never leaving Lucina.
"Not bad at all," he agreed.
Once he finally reached the main level of the castle he realized that a small red flower had been worked into the top of the braids in her hair at the back of her head, sitting casually as the focal point for her entire look.
"I take it you got my present, then?" Robin asked, doing his best to seem nonchalant as he reached up and gently brushed the petals in her hair.
"I love it," Lucina said, rising up on her toes and giving Robin a quick kiss on his cheek.
The tactician's face instantly broke into a goofy grin as Lucina stepped back, offering him her arm.
"Tactician Robin, would you do me the honour of accompanying me to my Aunt's blown-out-of-proportion formal winter ball?"
Robin snorted with laughter at her over-formality and the use of his own phrasing from earlier that week. The truth was that obviously neither of them wanted to be there, but it would disappoint their families if they were absent.
"Of course, my Princess," he said with a low, overly-formal bow before taking Lucina's arm in his and walking with her back to the ballroom he had just managed to escape from.
"It would be my pleasure."
Robin groaned, panting as he fell into a chair at one of the tables in the back, drenched in sweat. Despite the fact that he very clearly couldn't dance to save his life, he had just spent the better part of the evening on the floor with Lucina, spinning and twirling and trying not to step on anyone. He had alternated partners once to do an energetic… something of a dance with Morgan, but apart from that he and Lucina had been inseparable.
She fell into the seat next to him, both of their faces flushed from the exertions of dancing for so long together.
"That was better than training," Robin gasped eventually. "You know why? Because I'm not covered in bruises this time."
"Yes, it is just the feet of those unfortunate enough to come anywhere near you tonight that are bruised," Lucina laughed.
Robin chuckled a little as he leaned back.
Much to his surprise everyone was having a great time; the Shepherds were all dancing and relaxing in one place for the first time in a long time, while all of their children from the future did the same or ran amok, in the case of Morgan and Yarne. Apparently Lissa's big to-do had been a huge success.
He smiled as he watched the couples still on the floor, swaying to a slower song, bodies pressed together as they leaned against one another.
"Come on," Robin said without thinking, taking Lucina's hand and beginning to lead her back to the floor. "I'm sure you've got one more in you."
Lucina wordlessly followed, smiling again as Robin stopped on the edge of the floor, pulling the Princess into the same sort of embrace the other dancers were in. Her hands went up onto his shoulders as his rested on her waist, and they began to shuffle slowly out onto the floor.
Admittedly, Robin was leading them in a watered down 'I-really-can't-dance' version of the dance, but Lucina didn't seem to mind as she sighed and rested her forehead on his shoulder.
Robin's eyes flicked up above her head, smiling sheepishly as Virion gave him a big smile and thumbs up over Cherche's head. Morgan noticed her father and Lucina dancing from her position at a table with Tharja, Henry and Noire, waving and grinning sheepishly as she made kissy faces at them. Robin's eyebrow shot up when the dancing duo ran across Chrom and Sumia's path, his anxiety jumping a little until he noticed the Exalt grin and wink conspiratorially at him, Sumia smiling wistfully.
"Thank you for everything today, Robin," Lucina said into his shoulder as they swayed. "The flowers… the dancing… I have not had this much fun in years."
Robin's big goofy smile returned to his face a moment before he realized that he hadn't seen Lissa anywhere on the floor. He would have thought for sure that she would have dragged Lon'qu onto the dance floor and chained him to it…
Robin and Lucina both looked up as someone cleared their throat behind them.
Lissa was standing there, an impish grin on her face as she tried valiantly to hold a small bundle of green leaves above the heads of the two taller people. Lon'qu appeared at her side, taking the leaves and holding them up as he wrapped an arm around his wife's waist, his own face grinning.
I think that's… mistletoe… Robin realized with a jolt as he glanced down at the Princess pressed to his chest.
Lucina looked up at him, an expectant and shy grin on her face.
What the hell, Robin thought with a shrug, leaning down.
Lucina surprised him by wrapping her arms around his neck and jumping up into the kiss.
The whole crowd cheered as they separated, faces flushed and smiling.
"Merry Christmas, Robin," Lucina whispered happily in his ear as they began to dance again.
Finished 2014
AN2019: This was another experimental writer's block breaker I did for… reasons. It's five years old, I don't remember anymore. It was also the beginning of my obsession with fluff. ALL OF THE FLUFF!