Hey guys!

Sorry for the late update, have had several things ongoing at once, invluding a few fanfiction ideas, and also the arrival of FE Echoes and also the introduction to playing FE Cipher.

Thanks for all the reads and reviews! My other story that I may or may not upload soon is a Chrom!Severa one, and a Robin x Severa focused story. It'll be different to this one though, but it's a WIP :)

I was team Merric for the first round of gauntlet before switching to Robin. I got much needed festhers so I was pretty happy with my choices.

As ever, thanks and enjoy!

Whack!

Robin fell back, managing to regain his balance as another strike flew towards him. With a yelp, he ducked to the ground and rolled, managing to get to his feet and square off with his opponent, sword raised.

"That's enough," Lucina called from the side. The princess had been studying Robin's techniques, her eyes missing nothing.

The boy let his wooden sword drop to the ground, letting his shoulders slump in relief. A sharp tut from Severa, however, made him look up at her and pout.

The orange haired girl tried to scowl at him, but her heart melted whenever that look was brought up. "Urgh. You're too cute for your own good," she muttered. "Don't treat your weapon like that."

He nodded and picked his sword up, a smile on his face as he looked back at her, to which she finally dropped the glare and instead scooped him up into a cuddle.

"Severa..." Lucina sighed. She wondered why her friend's personality swung that why. Maybe she had more of her mother than she cared to admit.

"What? Am I not allowed to hug someone so adorable?" Robin giggled as she ruffled his hair. "Or are you just jealous?"

"W-what? No, there's no way!" Lucina yelled, yet she could feel her cheeks burning, and Severa knew it too. "A-anyways, let's just call it a day for now. There's a small spring if you and Robin want to wash up. Not together."

Severa raised an eyebrow. "Lucina. He's just a kid. What do you think will happen? Wait. Do you think I would attempt anything? That's... I have no words for how outraged I am!"

"No!" Lucina quickly tried to assure, but it was in vain; Severa huffed and strode off, back straight and tensed, but not before setting Robin down gently.

Lucina sighed. While she was thankful for however Severa had appeared, sometimes she wondered if it was worth the trouble.

A tug caught her attention. Robin held a book out with both hands, his eyes looking up imploringly. "Not until after you wash up and have had something to eat," Lucina told him sternly. She made sure to avoid his eyes as they bore into her chest.

"Okay," the boy sighed, causing her heart to break as he looked at the ground.

Lucina started the preparations for dinner. While she wasn't that bad at it, Severa was a far better cook, having spent a lot of the time looking after Noire and picking up tips from the squeamish archer.

Nearly 20 minutes later Severa strolled back, her bad temper having cooled down by the looks of her. Her hair shone in the dying sunlight, still wet and lying across her back untied. She hummed as she reached the simmering pot, looking over and nodding as she inspected Lucina's cutting techniques. "You need more precision Lucy. A child could have cut better than you. Robin would have done better."

"No he wouldn't," Lucina replied, a little annoyed. Before the two could argue, Robin quickly stood between them. Having been around the two girls for a week, he knew instinctively that there was going to be an argument, although he didn't know how serious it would be.

"Lucy," he muttered. "Can you bring me to the place to wash?"

"The lake," she corrected gently, smiling softly. "If Severa allows it then I will be delighted."

"You'd better," the other girl grumbled, stirring the pot as she added ingredients in. "Seeing as how you can't cook at all. Honestly, poor Robin would have died if you hadn't had found me. I can't bear the thought of you forcing him to eat this... whatever it is."

"Hey!" Lucina complained as Robin giggled. "I'm not as bad as Kjelle."

"Thank god for that. If you were none of us would have survived a day in that hellish place."

With nothing left to say Lucina elected to turn about and steer Robin towards the lake.

"Say, Aunt Lucy," Robin began. Robin was balancing on a log, his arms held out in an attempt to keep his balance. Lucina watched from beside, alert to catch the boy if he showed signs of falling.

"Yes, Robin?"

He glanced over at her. Even with the log, he still had to tilt his head up to look her in the eye. "Am I... a problem?"

"What? No! Why would you think that?"

Robin hesitated, lowering his arms to his sides. "Well, mother was always protecting me. She took me and ran one day when she had enough of father, or that's what she told me. She always gave me more food, more clothes, better things. She's dead because of me. So I must be a problem."

"Robin," Lucina whispered, shocked. She knelt by him and laid a hand on his shoulder, lightly pulling him into a warm embrace. "You aren't a problem. Your mother chose all of her choices of her own free will, because she cared for you."

She heard a sniffle. "Truly?"

"Truly."

"You won't lie to me?"

"I won't," she affirmed.

"Then why do you and Aunt Sev talk about a different place with sad eyes?"

Lucina opened her mouth, but no words were forming. Robin had pulled back and looked at her with fierce eyes, a look she had seen many times, but with differences she thought she would never had thought possible.

It only reinforced her gladness that she managed to meet him now, before he was influenced, but also saddened her that the boy before her would eventual spell doom for all.

"No lies," Robin stated. "You promised."

She didn't know whether to laugh or growl. In the end she covered her face and tried to steel her emotions. How much of the truth could she tell him? It wouldn't be lying if she left some out, right?

"Severa and I came from a place a long way away. We were a part of a group of friends, and we had to endure every day like it was our last. We were... hunted, just like you are. Along the way many of our friends fell, and the rest of us were separated upon arrival."

"... don't you want to find them?"

"We do. But we promised to take care of you first." Lucina smiled at him and ruffled his hair. "And I can say that we don't regret anything. Severa might not say anything but deep down she loves you too."

Robin hugged her again. "Thank you," his voice barely reached her ears, muffled by her clothes. "I love you both too."

Lucina let him stay in her hold for a few more moments before lifting him and setting him on the ground. "The lake should be just ahead. I will wait around here until you're done; yell if you need anything."

Robin nodded and ran off. Lucina sighed and sat down, placing her back against the log.

They had been traveling for several weeks. Just two days ago they had crossed the border between Plegia and Ylisse, and she was relieved to set foot once again in what she considered her soil and home.

She was surprised by how much Robin had grown on her and Severa. The soft, gentle side of Severa was not something she had not known, but it was something that was ever exposed to the outside world, not until Robin had joined them.

Yet, she still struggled with figuring out why and how she and Severa had been sent here. The only other interference that could oppose Naga would be Grima... but Naga had told her that they had been sent her intentionally, and there was no way Grima would have let them escape, let alone to meet his younger self.

Lost in thought, Lucina almost missed a yelp and a man's harsh swearing. Heart racing, she leapt to her feet and charged towards the sound, a hand on Falchion's hilt. Bursting through the trees, she paused at the sight of what she saw.

Robin lay unconscious on the ground, still dripping wet but covered in rough-looking material. Surrounding him were two figures, wearing dark clothes and masks, the insignia of Grima on their chests.

The two men seemed to be arguing. When Lucina burst out of the trees, however, one of them turned towards her, a heavy bow in his hand. Quicker than she could anticipate, he nocked and aimed, the arrow already drawn to his ear.

She tried to move, but her body locked into place. She could only watch, trembling, thoughts of people flooding into her mind, of her past, of what she wanted to achieve. She thought of the future she represented, that she needed to prevent, as that was her only role, and knew that she could not die here.

With a yell she hurled herself to the ground, the air above her cut by an arrow that would have slain her had she not moved a moment before. As she got to her feet the other assassin tried to disarm the bow user, managing to cut the bowstring, but failing to see the sword stroke that cut him down.

The first assassin shoved his former ally into the waters, but by the time he had turned back Lucina was already upon him.

Strike, reverse, slice, thrust, thrust! Lucina kept her attack up, looking for an opening as the assassin desperately blocked and parried, never able to answer any of her strikes with an attack of her own. Spotting her chance, she feinted and over hand, before switching and delivering a backhanded thrust that caught the man through his chest. With a gurgle he stumbled, and Lucina kicked him off Falchion and waited to see if he would rise again.

But he didn't.

She flicked the blood off her blade and sheathed it, heading towards Robin, when a sound caught her attention. The man in the water was clinging to the shore, struggling to keep his head above the water. Ominous red stains surrounded his body, contaminating the once clear blue.

Lucina knelt by the edge and grabbed his arms, pulling him onto the ground. "Thanks," the man managed to rasp, coughing up blood and water.

She said nothing. The wound that he had endured was too great. She had seen many die similar to him, yet it always pained her.

"My... my wife. My son... he needs... needs these... can you... can you give it to them?"

He held out a pouch. Lucina took it, peering inside to see some coins and sweets of many different varieties. The man's mask had slipped off, revealing short, orange hair. "Where and who?"

"In... a town south... of Ylisstol. Delthex. My son... Gaius... he needs..."

"Say no more and rest," Lucina told him. "I swear on Naga I will give this to your son."

The man chuckled, a dry monotone sound that hung into the air, and uttered no more.