~Chapter Two (Present Day)~

"Chrom? CHROM?"

The Exalt blinked as Lissa shook him, her movement rough despite her outwardly delicate appearance. Ponytails swaying, she leaned down to look her brother in the face before murmuring, "Lucina's already asleep, Chrom. You can stop telling the story now."

Looking down, Chrom saw Lucina snoring, her arms curled around a nearby pillow as she slept happily. With a sigh, Chrom stood up and straightened his outfit before walking out of his daughter's room with both Lissa and Frederick in tow.

There was silence for a moment, before Chrom asked quietly, "So how is Lucina?"

For a moment Lissa was confused before what he was really asking kicked in. Shaking her head, the healer murmured, "Basilio sent a message saying she left Feroxi territory and headed North. Morgan is staying in Regna Ferox to do some studying of journals in hopes of finding actual clues, so this time Owain went with her."

The corner of Chrom's mouthed twitched upward in a smile at the thought; his rambunctious nephew and his future daughter were a pair, Owain with his proclamations of heroic acts and Lucina with her solemn way of doing everything. It was always amusing and puzzling to the Exalt as to how the two of them had gotten to be so close over time, considering that they had such different temperaments.

When Morgan wasn't helping Lucina search for their missing parent, it was Owain who went with his cousin. Somehow the two of them always came back with no clues but a plethora of amusing stories and tales of villages they'd saved from roaming groups of thieves and the like.

Chrom's thoughts were interrupted when the tell-tale sound of Sumia could be heard; there was a loud squeal, followed by a crashing noise.

From his place behind Chrom, Frederick twitched and stiffened a worried look on his face. Smothering a laugh, Chrom said, "That sounds like Sumia…why don't you go make sure she hasn't broken anything?"

"I assure you sir, if she has I will pay-"

"I meant her bones," Chrom laughed. "Go on, Frederick."

As Frederick bowed hurriedly and rushed off towards the sound, Chrom smirked before shaking his head and turning back to his sister.

"Are you going over to Maribelle's and Vaike's then?"

"Of course," Lissa replied. "Maribelle and I always have tea around this time, especially when I'm not over in Regna Ferox with Lon'qu."

Waving her off, Chrom said, "Don't let me keep you then. I don't know why you're still following me around, I've got paperwork to do."

The healer gave Chrom a look that said she knew better. In a scolding tone, Lissa lectured, "I know you better than that! You ARE my brother after all; I'm going to Maribelle's but you'd better actually be doing paper work and not thinking depressing thoughts, alright?"

Frowning, Chrom shrugged before complaining, "I don't know what you're talking about. I don't do that."

Frowning, Lissa said, "Mmm-hmm. Well I'll be back in an hour and Miriel and Laurent said they'd drop by in twenty minutes to talk to you about some new discovery they've made for the kingdom or something."

"Have fun, Lissa," Chrom said pointedly, smiling when his sister stuck her tongue out at him and flounced off.

Walking back to his study alone, Chrom took his time as he was in no rush to get back to all the papers he'd left on his desk. As he was walking through one of the hallways, something caught his eye. Looking through the window he watched a couple of birds tweeting happily as they flew around each other, the birdsong filling the air as they flew past the window and out of sight.

Sighing, Chrom looked down.


"Birds make the prettiest sounds, don't they?"

Chrom looked up from the map laid out in front of him to see Robin staring up at the sky with a wistful expression on her face. She sat comfortably on the grass, her cloak spread out around her like a skirt as she closed her eyes and soaked up the sun's rays.

Chrom reflected on her; he'd yet to see Robin look as carefree as she did at this moment, the normally guarded look on her face completely gone as she smiled up into sky. It cheered him, to see her like this, and without realizing it a smile had come over his own face at just watching the tactician.

With a little laugh, Chrom reminded her, "We're supposed to be going over your strategy for when we march tomorrow. Stop getting so distracted, silly."

"Who's the silly one who marched straight into the women's bathing tent last week?"

Chrom felt himself turning a brilliant shade of red at the memory; willing himself not to turn away from his tactician, he cleared his throat and said gruffly, "It was an accident…"

There was a laugh, and when Chrom looked up he found that Robin was smiling at him with a teasing look on her face.

"Considering you don't even see me as a lady, I hardly think you did that on purpose," she teased the young lord mercilessly, enjoying the look of mortification on his face as he began to stutter out apologies.

Chrom stopped mid-apology when Robin began laughing loudly, holding her sides as she did so. As he watched her, he couldn't help but smile-he hadn't seen her this happy since the day she'd tricked Frederick into eating bear jerky. The sun glinted off her hair, and for a second Chrom had the strangest urge to reach out and tuck her wayward bangs behind her ear.

The feeling was fleeting; in a second he shook his head to clear it and said, "Seriously, let's get back to the strategy."

"Alright, alright!" Robin laughed, before locking eyes with Chrom and giving him a grin that had him wanting to blush all over again. "Let's do this!"


Chrom was jerked out of his memory when there was a loud shouting noise from the courtyard. Wondering what it could be, the Exalt paused before turning around and heading in the opposite direction from his study.

As he walked down the hallways swiftly, there was a loud clanking noise before a man's voice could be heard.

"Sully," the other person pleaded. "Sully, wait for me! I didn't even get to finish lunch…"

"Hurry up, Stahl," another voice rang out. "I heard something in the courtyard, and I'll be damned if there's any sort of action happening without me knowing about it!"

Chrom blinked as his two paladins ran out from a nearby hallway, cutting in front of him. As the woman ran off, leaving her friend behind, Chrom called out to the man.

"Stahl!"

Turning, the green-clad Shepherd turned to Chrom and blinked in surprise before giving a quick, clumsy bow.

"Chrom, sir! I mean uh, your Ma-"

"There's no need for grand titles," Chrom cut him off. "We all fought together, side-by-side with no titles back then. What's going on?"

"I don't know," Stahl said sheepishly. "I was just enjoying lunch with Sully when we heard a loud crash. She pulled me along, insisting we go find out what it was. I told her it was probably just Sumia but she didn't listen to me."

Looking after where Sully had disappeared, Chrom motioned before saying, "Well come on then, let's go after her."

As the two ran down the hallway together, they were joined by a third person; a black cape flew past the duo, practically skipping towards the courtyard.

"Gaius? Where've you been, Miriel's been looking for you!" Stahl called out as the sugar-addicted thief ran ahead of them.

"Kitchen," Gaius replied absent mindedly, before glancing back at Chrom and grinned. "Hey, Blue. They're making chocolate cake for dinner tonight."

Chrom shook his head, giving the incorrigible thief a smile before the three burst out onto the castle grounds and headed for the courtyard. They were greeted by another sound; there were loud bursts of what sounded suspiciously like spells being cast. As they entered the courtyard, they blinked at the scene before them.

Olivia timidly covered her eyes and begged her husband to stop as Henry laughed and cast another spell at the dark-haired girl across the courtyard. Giving him a venomous smile, Tharja blocked his spell and cast a hex of her own while her husband Ricken stood behind her with a panicked look on his face.

Chrom stepped up to say something when the sage Miriel stepped out of the shadows with her son, Laurent, right behind her. Out of the corner of his eye, Chrom saw Gaius shrink behind him a bit at the sight of his ever-stern wife.

"That will suffice for my studies of dark magic," Miriel announced, causing both Henry and Tharja to pause mid-curse. "I believe with the recording I have made here I will be able to determine how best to dispel these things through use of a potion rather than a spell as you do…"

"Aw shucks, Miriel!" Henry exclaimed, "I'm not done casting spells yet! Just you wait 'til I hit Tharja with this one, it'll really knock her off her feet…"

From across the courtyard Tharja snickered in a way that had everyone nearby cringing before she leered over at the dark knight and said, "Yes, go on. I've got a few more curses of my own…"

Putting a hand to his forehead, Chrom cleared his throat loudly; alerted to the presence of the Exalt, everyone in the courtyard froze, all eyes turning to the young lord.

"As much as I appreciate you all keeping up your…training," Chrom frowned. "I would very much hope you refrain from destroying the courtyard and from destroying each other."

"Weren't you doing paperwork, Chrom sir?" Ricken spoke up, his still childish face causing Chrom to soften his expression a bit.

"It'll be hard for me to concentrate if you all insist on keeping up this racket."

As everyone in the courtyard began alternately apologizing and complaining about each other, Chrom waved them off before saying, "Just see that you all try and be safer next time?"

Tharja muttered something under her breath and Henry looked crestfallen, but everyone nodded before turning to each other and talking. As Chrom began to walk away by himself, he called back, "And you'd better all be there at dinner-Lucina's expecting you."


Dinner was louder than ever as little Lucina sat in the middle of the Shepherds, giggling at the antics of those around her. From a few seats away Chrom smiled before starting in on his own meal. The Exalt reflected on his comrades; after the disappearance of Robin, he'd been at a loss for how to best raise the child waiting for him back in the palace. The Shepherds and everyone who had fought to end Grima had gathered at the castle or visited every other month, becoming a family of sorts for Lucina and Chrom, helping to raise her despite the families they themselves were just starting.

Chrom was halfway through with dinner when Lissa scolded, "Gaius! Don't give her sweets before she's finished her the food on her plate!"

Looking up, Chrom saw the thief grinning at his sister guiltily, while Lucina held onto a ridiculously big lollipop with wide eyes. With a shrug, Gaius said, "Oh come on, a little sugar won't do the kid harm. Besides, Robin and I used to sneak sweets from camp all the time and you never got upset then-you were always more than happy to share with us."

He smiled triumphantly, before realizing the awkward silence that had fallen over the table. Gaius glanced towards Chrom apologetically and opened his mouth to cover his blunder when Lucina piped up, "You and Mother used to do that?"

Turning to Lucina, the thief stuttered out, "Wha? Oh, yeah! Your mom and I were great pals…she was good friends with everyone of course, but she was my dessert buddy."

"Dessert buddy?"

"Yeah, she had a big sweet tooth like your old Uncle Gaius does, so on occasion we'd go out of our way to uh…taste test dessert for the rest of the camp."

As everyone nearby rolled their eyes and shook their heads at Gaius, Lucina giggled before calling down the table, "Father, you never finished your story about Mother. Will you continue?"

Expectantly, everyone turned to Chrom, who smiled and shook his head.

"After dinner," the Exalt promised. "We'll all go to the great hall and I'll tell it there."

As he picked up his fork and began eating again a low murmur rose over the table before everyone fell back into their previous conversations, occasionally shooting glances at the Exalt. When dinner was finally over, Chrom stood up and motioned for everyone to rise as well.

All piling into the great hall, the Shepherds gathered around, sitting on couches and chairs as Chrom sat in the chair closest to the fire. Lucina, for her part, sat on a couch nearby in between several grown-ups as she looked at her father.

A silence fell over the Shepherds as Chrom stared absent-mindedly into the fireplace, gazing at the flames while he mulled over how to start.

His thoughts were interrupted when Lucina exclaimed, "You left off on the part where you and Mother were going to Ylisse."

"Right," Chrom smiled at his daughter.

Making himself comfortable in the chair, Chrom cleared his throat and said, "So we were to spend the night camping before making it here, to Ylisse…"


I know Chrom's not exactly the type who seems super hung-up on Robin, but considering he vows to never rest until he finds her again (maybe I should've put a spoiler alert...oopsmybadohwellsorry) I'd like to think he loves her very much and would be very upset that she's gone even if he doesn't always show it on the outside.

Anyways, I'd like to thank you all for reading and the reviews :) I may not post as frequently as others, but when I do post I'll try to do it in a pattern like this, where I do two chapters so you can see the way things are moving parallel between Chrom recounting the past (which you already know) and Chrom dealing with the present (which I am making up as my own plot). Well, until the next update, thanks all! :)