A/N: Hooly cow it's been a long time. I…really don't have a reason other than life really. But that's not what you want to read so on with the chapter!

Asset: Magic

Flaw: Strength

The war was over. Gangrel had been slain and the plans for the reconstruction of Ylisse and Plegia were underway. The shepherds were making their triumphant return to Ylisse to live a life of peace.

Said triumphant return was however diminished by the blistering heat of the Plegian deserts. Most people would have abandoned all notions of work and stayed in.

Frederick, however, was not most people.

Waking up early, Frederick went about his daily routine faster than usual. Today, he had an important meeting to attend to.

Heading to the training yard, Frederick saw his protége waiting for him.

"Ah, Robin. Prompt as always. Excellent. Shall we begin?"

"Hey there Frederickson. Ready whenever you are."

A frown flashed across Frederick's face before quickly being replaced by his usual knightly stoicism. "I believe I requested that you not refer to me by such ridiculous names."

Robin stared for a second before breaking out into laughter. "Ah, sorry about that Frederick. Didn't mean to call you that. Since the war ended, I've had a bit more time on my hands. So I decided to read one of the books I borrowed from Sumia and stayed up far too late reading it." On mentioning the book, Robin got excited. "Do you want to hear about it? It was about a mercenary band who get dragged into this huge war between two warring-"

Frederick cleared his throat to stop Robin's rant from continuing. "That is unacceptable. Any soldier under the command of milord, whether in times of peace or war, must be in top condition. This calls for my special Fantastically Fanatical Fitness hour to cleanse your mind and body."

Robin paled. "N-now Frederick, there's no need to-"

"Enough talk! We're starting with a simple 500 push-ups!"

Robin sighed. "Guess I'm not moving for a few weeks."

After an excruciatingly painful hour of training, Frederick concluded their training. "That concludes today's training session Robin. I hope this training session has been a great learning experience for you in both body and mind."

"I-I'll get back to you on that…after I regain the feeling in my…body."

"This was no more than basic exercises Robin. You should not have any difficulties." Despite his words, Frederick had an amused smile on his face. "Though I must admit, the heat of the Plegian deserts would have dissuaded anyone from any intense training. Your fortitude is admirable."

"Th-thanks Fre-Frederick." Robin paused to drink some water before continuing. "Being able to use magic helps a lot. I can't control spirits like Miriel, Ricken and Thaja can, but I can recite the chants for wind magic from memory well enough to keep cool and clear the sand."

"Impressive indeed. Make sure to keep yourself hydrated and let your body relax. Dismissed."

As Robin prepared to leave, Frederick began the mechanical task of making sure that everything was in order.

As Frederick was inspecting the training yard, he could hear bits and pieces of Robin mumbling.

"Strong enough...prepared….in secret…"

Though Robin was proven to be trustworthy during the war against Gangrel, Frederick could not help himself from being suspicious of the tactician. Though Frederick hadn't finished inspecting the training yard, he decided that ensuring the safety of his charges was far more important and discreetly followed behind Robin and left the training grounds.

Following the tactician, Frederick was led into a dense forest quite a ways away from the campsite. Unfortunately, Frederick was sidetracked by a particularly dangerous looking set of pebbles that he knew were on the shepherd's path home. It wasn't a complete loss however, as he found an entire 6 gold on the ground.

Once he had finished this task, he set about tracking down Robin again. It was at that moment that Frederick heard shouting and ran towards the source.

Upon reaching the source of the shouting, Frederick found Robin swinging around an armourslayer wildy.

"I am Robin! Second in command chief tactician of the Ylissian royal army! Hear my name and tremble!" It was at this point that Robin turned around and saw Frederick.

A long moment passed. Then another. And another.

Frederick smirked and crossed his arms. "Hello Robin. Mind telling me what you were doing?"

Robin quickly dropped the sword and quickly tried to come up with an explanation. "Ah..um..yes. This is…training! Yes, training."

"Oh?" Frederick raised a skeptical eyebrow. "I suppose shouting like a lunatic counts as training?"

"Er, um….yes! It's….scientifically been proven by….scientists….that asserting your dominance increases battle proficiency. I was training so far away so as not to disturb anyone"

A long moment passed as Frederick scrutinized Robin with that piercing gaze of his.

"My apologies Robin. Your mumbling seemed most suspicious. My duty as the shield of Ylisse bounds me to investigate any such activity you understand."

"N-no problem Fredrick. Head back to camp and I'll follow you after I finish my training."

Frederick nodded and started to return to camp but stopped after a second and turned around.

"So…what's next in your training regiment?"

"Well..next I'm going to bind two armorslayers together and try out the moves of the hero of the blue flames and…." Robin facepalmed. "….And is there any chance of you forgetting what I just said?"

Frederick's mouth twitched into a slight smirk. "Not a chance."

A/N: I wanted to try writing these with gender-neutral pronouns. Turns out, that was too hard. Not doing it again. As for this chapter, it was an idea I've had for a while but I had a hard time trying to make it work and flow well. Also, for those who haven't played a fire emblem game before awakening, weapons had weight values and armourslayers were one of the heaviest swords. Let me know what you think and thanks for reading!