Hi guys! I am SOOOO SORRY about the delay of this chapter. So much happened in the past few weeks. I got sick, went to Thailand for my Uncle's wedding, wrote several papers, it was all very hectic. However, that's all in the past now. Here is the next chapter and as always I hope you enjoy.

I do not own Fire Emblem: Awakening or any of it's characters, no matter how hard or often I wish.


"He's lying." Inigo repeated. "He has to be."

The new Shepards were gathered in Lucina's command tent. Their captive, Roy, was under watch of the ever faithful Minerva. Taking in the shock of the information presented to them they agreed to wait until everyone got back, except for Inigo who wanted to throttle the bandit's neck. Owain and Lucina held him back as Cynthia led Roy by spear point, who kept trying his best to make the youngest Royal blush with sweet words. Seeing as he was getting nowhere he decided to drop it before she poked him too hard with that piece of steel.

Lucina looked around at the assembled future Shepards. Her comrades were the closest thing to a family she had. When they had traveled back in time, She warned them not to interfere with their parents. It was safe for her seeing as she was already born, however, none of the other kids could reveal their heritage. It remained that way even after the future children parted from Ylisse. Lucina had initially felt horrible about the fact that she had essentially forced her comrades to remain distant while she and Cynthia were reunited, however, Robin unknowingly helped ease her worries. Because of his excellent observation many of the children were partnered with one of their parents due to similar quirks in fighting style. If he suspected anything he never showed it.

"So whats the deal with that guy?" Kjelle asked, breaking Lucina out of her thoughts.

"Apparently, he claims to be the son of Robin and Olivia, which in turn makes him Inigo's step-brother." Laurent stated, pushing up his glasses.

Nah spoke up, "That's impossible. Robin never married."

"But we changed th' future and all that malarky, din' we?" Brady spoke up.

"Surely we couldn't have affected the future by that much, could it?" Noire squeaked out.

Inigo slammed his fist on the table. "I'm telling you, he is lying to us. There is no way he and I are related. It's got to be a trap."

"I don't know," Severa mused. "Both of you dish out honeyed words like they would actually help you get lucky."

Inigo glared at her. He knew he had a habit of flirting too much and too often, but he was NOT going to be compared to a murderous bandit. Lucina stepped in before any more words could be said.

"This is not the time to be arguing, you two." She said firmly. "Our main goal is figure out the truth about our new guest."

"Not much to figure out." Gerome spoke up from the corner. "He's a killer. Give him what he deserves."

Lucina looked around and saw agreement on her friends faces. She sighed, relaxing her shoulders. "For the sake of protecting those villagers, I agree. However," She started, noticing Inigo staring to move towards the clearing. "He did cooperate with us willingly and answered our questions. Whether or not they merit any truth is questionable but I do not have any reason to doubt him."

"So what?" Inigo snorted. "Should I say 'thank you for being honest' when I stab him?"

"I prefer not being stabbed" came the cheerful voice of their captive. "It hurts and blood works best when it stays inside the body."

Weapons were drawn in a flash and Roy found himself surrounded. Gerome stepped forward, his axe glinting dangerously in dying sunlight. "Dastard, what did you do to Minerva?"

Roy held up his hands. "She's just sleeping, I swear."

"How?" came the low growl.

Roy slowly reached into one of his pouches. Pulling out a small bag he poured some of its contents into his hand. "Crushed roots and berries I mixed together from Wyvern Valley. They work as a natural muscle relaxant when . Wyverns love this stuff. Your wyvern found it and ate one of my small bags of it."

"How long?"

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Sorry what?"

"How long does the effect last?" Gerome repeated, pressing his ax closer.

"The relaxant helps with sleep so whenever she usually wakes up I guess."

Brady walked up to the group. "Yer beast is fine, Gerome. Snorin up a storm, mind you, but nothin's wrong that I can see."

Lucina decided to speak up. "Why did you not escape? Why come directly to your captors?"

"Well," Roy said grinning cheekily. "You still have my knives. Those were a gift, see."

"From who?" Lucina asked, curious as to who would gift such items.

"Would you believe me if I told you it was you?" Roy asked.

"What?" Lucina breathed, not understanding what he just said.

"You did, or rather another version of you. The Lucina from this world."

The Shepards looked bewildered. "How do you know of the outrealms?" Inigo demanded.

"Is that what they're called?" Roy asked turning to face him. "To answer your question I heard you lot talking about them when you were deciding on my fate. Your leader's name is Lucina, right? She's a mirror image of the one back at Castle Ylisse." Turning back to face Lucina he continued. "This world's Lucina gave me those knives when she came to visit me two years ago."

"What?" the group shouted in shock.

Lucina looked dumbfounded. "She knows where you are yet she hasn't done anything to turn you in or stop you?"

"Well, yeah." Roy said. "She knows I haven't killed any innocents and that I'm trying to reduce the number of bandits."

"No innocents, huh?" Owain ground out. "Then what of that senseless slaughter during your raid? By my sword hand I will kill you myself if you continue lying."

Roy rolled his eyes. "I haven't lied once to you. Now that you've brought up last night let me ask you this. How many injuries were there?"

"Plenty." Brady grunted.

Roy nodded. "How any deaths?"

Silence. The Shepards turned to Brady who had helped the town clerics with healing. Brady sighed. "None. The most injured one of em was knocked out and he just had a large bump on the noggin. It'll hurt, but he'll be fine."

"But that's - "

"Thanks to my planning." Roy interrupted. "I had them knock out the guards, then cause panic. While all the villagers were running scared or hiding, they loaded up the carts and we booked it."

Lucina couldn't believe it. "How did you convince them not to kill someone?"

"Easy," Roy shrugged, relaxing a little now that the weapons had been lowered somewhat. "Bandits are greedy and cowardly by nature. They prefer easy targets where the payoff is high with minimal effort. All I had to do was convince them that instead of killing everyone and bringing more soldiers to the area, knock out the ones that are there, lay low for a bit, then strike again. Since there were no casualties the payoff is just as good if not better. I also explained that initially there will be more guards at first but if we use that time to wait and plan another raid, eventually the reinforcements will leave."

Gerome nodded, understanding his plan. "So by playing on their greed you convinced them that by killing those villagers they would not only bring more soldiers but would lose out on their next raid."

"Pretty much." Roy confirmed. "Now Princess, about those knives?"

Lucina shook her head. "No. We're going to turn you in. Even though you spared some lives, you did attack innocents. You have to pay for your crimes."

Roy smirked. "How about I do you a special favor and you forget ever seeing me?"

"What?" Lucina reeled back slightly with a hint of disgust in her face. "What favor could you possibly do for us?"

Roy grinned as he quickly grabbed a knife from Owain's belt. Before anyone could react, he let it fly past Lucina's shoulders and into the throat of a hidden assassin. The group turned around and saw a second figure retreating. Quickly nocking an arrow into her bow, Noire let it fly and embedded the arrow into the retreating figure's back. All eyes turned towards Roy.

"I suppose for starters, I could save your life."


"That's really romantic of you Bubbles." Gaius snickered, rubbing his elbow into the tactician's side. Who would've thought of you as a star gazer?"

Robin rolled his eyes at Gaius's antics. The men had gathered inside the conference room and were making the preparations for Robin's date. Stahl was organizing a picnic basket with Donnel and Frederick while Vaike and Lon'qu were preparing to create Robin's alcoholic charm for the evening. Libra, Henry, and Ricken were setting up Henry's tools for the memory curse and Gaius was monitoring all activity with a close eye.

"Robin," came a voice from a suit of armor.

With a startled yelp Robin spun around. "Kellam! Where did you come from?"

Kellam let put a small sigh. "I've been here the whole time."

Sheepishly Robin rubbed the back of his neck. He seriously needed to pay closer attention to the Knight's movements. "Sorry Kellam. Guess I'm a little distracted by all of this."

Kellam nodded. "At least all of our energy is going towards something other than war."

"I don't know about that," Robin chuckled. "Vaike and Lon'Qu are going to start a small war with their argument about alcohol."

Kellam was silent for a moment before deciding to speak up. "Robin, are you serious about going through with this bet until the end?"

"What do you mean?" Robin turned to face him.

"I mean, what happens when you complete this bet and go out with all the girls?" Kellam had an uncharacteristically serious look on his face. "You may not have heard the rumors around camp, but people tend to forget I'm around. I don't try to eavesdrop on conversations but I can't help but overhear things at times, you know?"

Robin nodded slowly, unsure of where Kellam was going with this conversation. The knight continued, "Many of the girls find you a very attractive guy, and so it's not impossible for multiple girls to actually fall in love with you during your date."

"So your saying that this whole thing could backfire on the Shepards?" Robin concluded, seeing the other man's point.

Kellam nodded again. "Those girls are close, they're all sisters in a sense. However, I think they are all going to draw the line when it comes to sharing a husband."

Robin was about to respond when the doors burst open. Leading a parade of servants laden with clothes, Virion marched up to Robin and put an arm around the tactician's shoulder.

"My friend, as I understand tonight's conquest is to be set under a full moon, in the secluded glades of the forest." The archer grinned widely. "How bold! How romantic! You my friend, are indeed the most Tactical of Tacticians. For nothing says "Let us become one" more than a moonlit picnic on a quiet night!"

Many of the men started smiling. Virion was about to deliver another monologue. They could just tell. Knowing he now had the crowd's attention Virion turned back to Robin. "You have the skills, my friend. No one here will deny that. You have the brains to think your way in and out of any situation." the Shepards nodded. There was no denying Robin's mental prowess. "However!" Virion shouted, gaining attention once again. "There is something you lack, my friend. That which is most crucial, a complete must, an absolute rule if you will when courting a lady. It sets the mood, determines the flow of an evening, signifies who you are, and brings out the inner charm of all men. That thing you lack, Robin, is: Fashion!"

Robin started laughing until he saw the fire in Virion's eyes. "You're serious about this?"

Without a word, Virion clapped his hands and the servants rushed forward. Robin was soon lost among a sea of limbs. Robin's yells were muffled as bodies pushed against him.

Virion continued his speech. "A wise archer once told his friends: "the clothes make the man". He was not wrong. Clothing is POWER Robin. It shows class, elegance, intelligence. All things that women are attracted to. Olivia is a dancer, so she would more than likely prefer a man to dress boldly, show some color, be daring. If I were to guess, she would be absolutely floored by this!" With a flourish Virion's arms flew to the side to present the newly dressed Robin. The servants took a step aside to reveal the tactician.

A moment of silence before the room explded into laughter. Robin was now dressed in a horrendous orange and black fur coat, a leaf green tunic, dark red pants, and white hide boots with spurs jutting from the heel. Virion wiped a tear from his eyes.

"So majestic Robin!" He shouted, embracing the stunned tactician. "You look absolutely amazing!"

Robin's face burned with embarrassment. "I think you need yours eyes checked, Virion."

"Nonsense!" Virion thundered. "Pay no heed to them Robin. Just let your appearance soak in. The royal colors of the exotic creature, the tiger, grace your outer layer. It's orange and black blend together to show you have the raw power of a king. The green of your tunic represents your connection to the earth, how your heart is one with Mother Nature herself. The red of your pants represents the burning desire of your spirit to carry on with your duties."

Robin couldn't believe Virion could say all of that with a straight face, and apparently, neither could the rest of the Shepards. Chrom was hunched over with laughter seeing his best friend dressed so ridiculously. Gaius was sniggering with Vaike and Lon'Qu, and even the straight faced Frederick was smiling. Again Virion chose not to notice the others.

"Finally, the pure white of your boots. They show the purity of your spirit, ready to carry you on through any task. The spurs represent your adaptability to any situation. No matter the horse, you will be able to ride it anywhere."

Gaius snickered. "He's saying that in this situation Bubbles, those boots are gonna help you get lucky."

Robin's face burned even more as he started taking of the atrocious clothing. Virion clicked his tongue. "You wouldn't know good fashion if it hit you in the face."

Chrom straightened his face. walking over he looked at the choices of clothing Virion had brought. Eyeing a particular piece he grinned. Grabbing the article of clothing he held it aloft. "I think this is more of Robin's choice of shirt."

Everyone turned to see what their commander was holding. Robin paled as he saw the sunshine yellow shirt with frontal ruffles. Everyone laughed loudly and decided to help their tactician choose a article of clothing. Robin backed away slowly as he saw the evil glint in their eyes.


"Come now Olivia, it's Robin we're talking about. I'm sure he'd love to spend sometime with you." Lissa tried to calm down the dancer as they were walking down the corridor. "He's so nice I bet he'll even plan out a whole evening in a couple of hours after you ask him."

Olivia nodded. After much protesting she was finally being marched by a majority of the women down to where the men were having their meeting. While many of the women were encouraging, Nowi was having fun seeing the dancer blush.

"Hey Olivia, have you ever wondered what it would be like to be held close by Robin?"

Said dancer immediately turned crimson. Taking that as her answer Nowi giggled happily. Skipping ahead a little she faced the dancer. "He's very warm and has a tender hug. And he smells faintly of books and those small candles he uses late into the night."

Sumia raised an eyebrow. "How do you know that?"

Nowi grinned. "I was curious about him when you guys rescued me an' Gregor, so one nigh I pretended to have nightmares and went to his tent. I asked for a hug and he was kind enough to give me one."

Many of the women were surprised by the little manakete's forwardness. Seeing their expressions Nowi faced forward again. "You guys forget I'm older than all of you combined." she said in a singsong voice.

The group continued their way to the room. Olivia spoke up. "Sumia, what are they doing there again? I really don't want to disturb them."

"Chrom said something about a strategy meeting," Sumia placed a finger on her chin. "He wasn't very specific."

Lissa was about to speak when a door was blasted off of it's hinges. Letting out cries of shock the women rushed forward. Cries of a battle sounded from the room. Mixed shouts were heard as a body flew out the door frame.

"What the - " Sully shouted. "Vaike?!"

The fighter raised his head weakly. "S-so he didn't like... the b-boots. A-at least w-we saved... the booze."

Not understanding what was going on the women peeked through the open door. The sight that greeted them was a war zone. Piles and piles of clothing were scattered everywhere, the tables were upturned and warks of wind magic were visible on the wooden furniture.

On one side Chrom was shouting orders to the shepards while on the other side Robin was doing his best at fending them off with wind spells. unfortunately for Robin, he was still in only his small clothes.

"Frederick, take Kellam and Stahl and flank left to draw his fire. Lon'Qu, you, Libra, and I will charge at him from behind the second clothes pile. Gaius, you're going to have to restrain him once Virion and Ricken return fire. You only get one second so we need you're a-game." Chrom instructed his Shepards in a hushed voice.

Robin heard the movements of his opponents. Peeking over the upturned table he grinned. "Oh Chrom," he muttered to himself. "This is why you hired me in the first place."

Pretending to go along with their plan, Robin fired a couple of wind blasts at the knights. once he saw Gaius take position, he sprung his own trap. "Time to tip the scales!" He crowed. Chrom's blood chilled as he heard that. "Fall back!" He roared. "He knows dammit!"

Too late, Robin's arcwind was cast and clothes flew everywhere. Chrom and the others were knocked back and landed on the hard ground. Trying to regain their footing in the harsh wind, Chrom's vision was quickly obscured by flying clothes.

"Frederick, I've lost visual!"

"Milord, I too am blinded! I'm trapped by some infernal device as well!"

"Where's Gaius?"

"I can't see!"

"Curse these clothes! I'll just rip them apart!"

"NO! Those are imports! You'll do no such thing you barbarian!"

Robin stood victoriously as the winds died down. Standing triumphantly on the table he laughed as he saw his best friend blinded by a pair of small clothes with a small design of Falchion on the backside. He was laughing when they freed themselves and looked up at the tactician.

"Looks like I won this round, Chrom."

"So you think," Chrom smirked. "Henry, NOW!"

Robin looked in horror as clothes suddenly sprang to life and started restraining him. "You cursed the clothing?"

"Nya ha ha, it was for a just caws." Henry giggled.

Now restrained, the tactician looked at his captors. "So what now, Chrom?"

Chrom was about to answer when a small cough was heard from the doorway. Turning around, the men looked on in shock as they saw the women standing there. It took a second for the men to realize what the women were seeing. It took another second to realize some of them had silk small clothes on their head and Robin was currently bound by cursed clothing and he was still half naked.

Looking at is wife Chrom sighed. "Lets be honest, this isn't the worst thing you've caught me doing."


Haha okay, I had to include that line at the end. Anyhow, I know this is a short chapter but I promise the next one will be longer. I'd like to say right now that I am extremely happy because of all my readers and reviewers. Thank you for being awesome. As always, your reviews are greatly appreciated. Questions, concerns, ideas, or simply want to discuss stories, everyone is welcome to PM me. Here's hoping you all at least cracked a smile!

Until the next time! - DaBlazinAsian