Bedtime Story

Robin and Lucina read their children a story, and Robin reminisces on things, content with how peaceful things really are.


Robin smiled as he walked thru his house. "Mommy! Daddy!" He heard his young children, Mark and Morgan call from their room, as night fell. He was quite content with the life he had built- sure, he was still amazingly close friends with the Exalt, Chrom, and his small cottage was a frequent stop for the Shepherds, but his life had certainly settled down. It had been years since he had fought alongside the Shepherds and Chrom- a warrior he was no longer, and neither was his Princess: a reward of the peace they had won- no longer would they have to fight. Sure, Lucina still bore nightmares, and so did he- those things, they had realized would haunt them for the rest of their lives, but they had each other, so it'd never really get to them.

"Our children want us to read them a story, I'm sure." He said, as he turned to his wife, Lucina, who smiled in reply. "Go grab one of our story books…"

"I know of just the one…" She replied, turning towards their home's front door. "I should still have that book…" she continued, as Robin turned towards his kid's room. As he opened their door, he spotted his two blue haired kids sitting upright on their bed.

"So… what is it, Mark? Morgan?" He asked, a smile on his face- he certainly was proud of them: they were going to grow up to lead good lives. The fact that he had seen firsthand how twisted things could turn out was still on the edge of his mind, and yet, looking at them, he knew they were going to be normal people, even if they were of exalted blood- and it showed: Mark had brand of the Exalt in his right eye, and Morgan bore it on her hand: in the same spot as Robin's own brand- and even though his brand existed as a constant reminder of the evil he let live for his own selfish desire to be able to live this life, hers was also a reminder that, as Cynthia would put it, good always triumphs, and neither child bore his mark: neither belonged to Grima.

"Tell us a story, father!" Morgan chirped.

"Aha! Like I thought!" Robin replied, "So I had Lucina get us a book to read." He explained as he sat down on a chair beside their bed.

"What book?" Mark asked tilting himself past his sister to look at their father.

"If I had to guess, it's probably The Tale of Sir Seliph." Robin responded, "But it is up to your Mother." Of course, for him, the guess was fairly easy, that particular book, was a favorite of hers- and a memento of the original Sumia who had raised her. Sure it was just an account of the Second Jugdrali Holy War- an ancient battle for freedom from the Dragon God of the Lake, Loptyr, but it was spun into a dashing children's tale of heroism, and was comforting to Lucina in her own dark time. It wasn't exactly a favorite of his though, because it did come with a reminder- sure the children's tale of it never tells the frightening true story, but that bit of history wasn't lost on him.

Seliph was indeed a hero, and Julius a villain, but Robin had read more accurate accounts of the Holy War- and after their adventures in the Outrealms, he knew certain truths. He and Julius were not too different; accounts from Arvis and Julia both painted him as a kind, fun loving child until he became the vessel for Loptyr- even Sir Seliph knew that, and that reminded him of his own brush with such a twisted fate. He had felt helpless when he was controlled by Validar- forced to commit terrible acts, and even more helpless when in the moments before the final battle, when he was pulled into sheer darkness, under the will of Grima. To be possessed like that, to lose all sense of being, of who you are, and to be forced to watch as your body commits acts, while you're completely powerless to stop them, it's an unspeakable fate, and one that Robin knew too well.

Of course, despite his aversion to hearing the tale, it was only due to Julius. Seliph himself often times reminded him of Lucina, although Robin believed Lucina to be the stronger of the two, but they were uncannily alike, and that wasn't just their blue hair. Both Seliph and Lucina went thru hell— seen loved ones slain in front of their very eyes, and had to grow up much faster than they should have, and they both, despite their strength, had to rely on others to help shoulder their burdens, or at the very least had others who wanted to shoulder those burdens.

He smiled as his children's eyes perked, and turned to face the door to their room, spotting his wife holding a book in one hand, and fluffy black blanket in the other. She wore a gentle smile on her face. The mere fact that she was able to live in a manner such as this, and be able to spend time with her children and husband instead of having to fight day in and day out, always worried her next move would be her last, brought peace to her troubled mind. Sure, every now and then she'd be reminded of what she went thru, but she was getting better, and her smiles came naturally. She couldn't be more grateful- she was finally able to live the life she wanted, a normal one, and she was married to the man who helped her attain it the most.

"Mother!" Mark said, his eyes filled with wonder, "what story are you going to read to us?"

"…The Tale of Sir Seliph." Lucina said replied, her eyes shifting to Robin. He already had known what book she'd pick to read to them, and she knew it. It was a natural choice: Seliph was a hero to her, perhaps even more so than the Hero King Marth himself. Before she went back in time, before she met Robin, hers was a world of death- and she needed a hero, beyond her parents, both of whom were taken from her. But there his story was- a tale of how he lead twenty children- and with their aid, as well as that of a few select freedom fighters, saved the world. So while it was a memento of her mother, it was also extremely inspirational- but it's not like he was the only hero she had before coming across time. Of course, she understood why Robin started to stand. The children's tale opens with an introduction to Julius, and with that came painful memories to him.

"Aww… Father, where are you going?" Morgan asked.

I'm going to go make us some hot cocoa, while your mother reads you the story." Robin replied to his daughter. "I'll be back soon." He smiled at Lucina as she sat down next to the kid's bed and wrapped herself up in that blanket.

"Once upon a time…" Lucina began to read the old book, as Robin left the room.

He knew his children would enjoy the story, and he'd soon be back to tuck them in, before retiring himself. Sure, he bore regret for his decision: that he'd live, letting Grima live as well, but he thought as he set out to make that hot cocoa, that this life he has with his loving family makes it worth it.

He sighed as he set the pot to simmer over the fireplace and looked over at the bookshelf. He knew the books on the top shelf, the ones locked up were not mere books- no, those were his old Celica's Gale tomes, weapons of a certain power- that should an unfortunate bandit raid occur on his family's cottage, they'd be the end of those bandits. But below that were rows of other books- mostly stories, ones he had received from Sumia and some of the others— one was a children's tale written by Henry of all people. Robin chuckled at that book- who'd have thought that a man like Henry would be such a toting father, someone who'd once gleefully killed people on the battlefield with a twisted smile, would go on to be a man who'd put his talents to use doing things like writing children's stories?

However, something that was gone from his library, was notes on warfare. He may have been a tactical genius, but he wanted nothing other than to put that gruesome life behind him, so he had, personally torched half of his books on strategy, and saw the rest carted off to Yilsstol shortly after Lucina gave birth. He knew that in one timeline or the other, he had taught Mark and Morgan the ways of combat- and he knew he'd have to: he didn't want them to wind up killed by bandits, but he didn't want them to grow up just to become warriors. It always pained him to watch the timetraveller Morgan fight- as good as she was, it nagged at him. He wanted to craft a world where she didn't have to take up the blade, a world where her brother wouldn't wind up slain by his own parents in confusion, and in a way, he liked to believe he succeed.

He turned back to the whistling pot, knowing it was ready, and he set back to his task, simple as it was, but it was this simplicity that made him smile- that he was able to move on from the dark days of years past, and he wasn't alone in doing so. He had brought a woman who's thoughts were once filled with terror, with pain, sorrow and loss, with him- and drove back such terrible thoughts, and filled her mind with joy, and together they had brought two wonderful children into the world. All the while the family never gave up the bonds that they had forged with their friends either- sure many of them had moved on as well, like Henry, but none ever forgot the ties they had shared.

He creaked open the door to his kid's room and smiled as Lucina was tucking Morgan in for the night, and after handing Lucina her cup of cocoa walked over and kissed his kids on the forehead and softly whispered to them, "Good night, sweet dreams."


Author's Note: Oh hey, a bit of FE4, because that's important. Also, fun note, I originally was going to "Disney-ify" a bit of FE4, and use that, but I got this silly image of Arvis singing Hellfire from Hunchback stuck in my head and couldn't do it out of laughter. Also note, that this is at least 4 to 5 years after Awakening's close... also, I might not be updating Crossing Bridges for a long while after this, due to another project...