A/N: The longest chapter yet.
Thank you for reading! Reviews are appreciated, they make me very happy.
It started, surprisingly, with Panne.
"Good morning, Panne," Robin greeted as she entered the mess tent.
Panne flicked an ear. "Greetings to you, manspawn."
Robin hummed in acknowledgement. "Coffee?" she said, glancing at her taguel friend with a mug in one hand and a coffeepot in the other. The mug was plain white but had a cartoonish painting of Chrom's face on it, with the slogan: 'DO IT FOR CHROM' in proud black letters beneath.
Lissa had commissioned the mug for Chrom's birthday. She'd thought it was hilarious. Chrom had a different opinion.
"The taguel do not normally consume 'kaw-fee'," Panne said. "However, I would not be against a cup of this beverage."
Robin grinned as she sat down and filled the mug with steaming dark brown liquid. A few drops splashed out the rim and dribbled down the side.
"Ah, sorry, Chrom," Robin said jokingly as she wiped the coffee off of Chrom's visage. The drawing was recognizable enough, but Robin personally thought it was a poor imitation compared to the real thing, which was very nice especially when he blushed, just like he had when he'd been—
"Nonononono," Robin moaned. No, she was not going to think about this, she'd promised herself she wouldn't think about this. She slammed her head on the table. "OhhhHH—aaRRE you GOING to SCAR-BOR-ROUGH FAIRRRRR—"
"Is it a common human ritual to suddenly burst out in song?" Panne inquired.
"—huh? Oh! No, sorry," Robin said. "I started singing because I was trying to stop thinking about something—something I'd seen—"
Scarborough Fair was suddenly back at full volume inside Robin's head. "Nggggggh," she said, burying her head in her hands.
Panne observed her with one critical eyebrow raised. She took a sip of her coffee. "If you do not mind," she said, "I would like to ask another question about human behavior."
Blinking, Robin emerged from the depths of her sleeves. "Fire away," she said.
"Very well," said Panne. "Is the blue-haired manspawn's courtship of you typical of the average human romantic relationship?"
Robin spat out her coffee. "Mfffff—what?"
"I have observed that he has intentions to claim you as his mate," Panne continued blithely. "However, I fail to see how he is able to do so if the act of speaking to you makes him anxious enough to turn fully red and stutter until—"
"Stop! Stop! Hold the horses!" Robin said, waving her arms and flapping her long sleeves about. "Uh—why do you even think this at all?"
"I have observed," repeated Panne. "His heart beats faster when you are nearby, and his breathing quickens when you speak to him."
Parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme, Robin thought desperately.
"You're wrong," she said. "Chrom doesn't—I don't—look, it wouldn't work out. There's nothing besides friendship between us. Good old platonic friendship!"
Panne stared at her. Robin could almost read the critical thoughts darting through her head. "I don't understand," the taguel said finally. "The society of man is far too complicated for my taste. Had you been taguel, you two would be bonded and mated already."
"GOODBYE," Robin shouted as she bolted out of the tent as fast as she could. As the tent flap swung shut behind her she thought she heard a faint chuckle, but she dismissed it as a product of her rapidly fragmenting sanity. She couldn't imagine Panne laughing over something like this.
"Remember me to one who lives there," she half-sung, half-whispered to distract herself, then stopped.
He once was a true love of mine.
"Dammit!" Robin said loudly, kicking a tree stump. "Ow! Damn iit!"
—
"So, you and my brother, huh?"
"Gods dammit!" Robin said, tearing the parchment with her quill by mistake. She had been taking stock of their weapon stores when she had been ambushed by a cunning and dangerous adversary—Lissa.
"I heard you and Panne talking in the mess tent," Lissa said, idly leaning on one of the spears. "Okay, I mean—I'm kinda glad! You're nice and cool. You'd make a better sister-in-law than, I dunno, one of those court ladies who's always following him around—"
"I said it was platonic!" Robin groaned.
"Yeah, right," Lissa snorted. "I must be imagining everything between you two then—all the hugs and blushes and whispering together at night—"
"Exactly" Robin said, staring at her list in determined concentration. They'd need to restock on arrows soon. "You know how crazy your imagination can be."
Lissa paused, staring at her curiously. "What is it?" she said.
"What is what?" Robin replied grumpily, circling 'arrows' on her list.
"Why don't you like my brother?" Lissa asked bluntly. "Is he, like, dumb or something?"
"What?" Robin said, dropping her quill. "No!"
"Is he inexcusably ugly?"
Robin flashed back to the memory of a blushing, dripping wet, naked Chrom and flushed. "N-no!"
"Is he mean?" Lissa reared back in triumph. "I knew it. He's a complete jerk, isn't he?:
"No!" Robin protested. What in the world is happening to this conversation? "No! The opposite! He's kind and noble and—"
Oh.
Lissa wore the smug smile of a cat that had broken into a barrel of cream.
"I get it," she sang cheerfully.
Was I just outwitted? "Lissa, don't—"
"I won't tell him, don't worry!" Lissa said, skipping out of the tent. Halfway out she paused and looked back. "You have to tell him yourself!"
I can't believe it, Robin thought in disbelief as Lissa left, humming. I can't believe—I'm the tactician, for Naga's sake! Come on!
—
After thinking it over calmly and rationally, Robin decided that it would be better for all involved if she avoided Chrom entirely for the next few days.
It wasn't hard to do. Robin was busy enough that she had plenty of excuses to make whenever Chrom approached, and she had taken to hanging around Cordelia who acted as a warning beacon of sorts whenever the blue-haired prince drew near.
"M-my lord Chrom!" Cordelia gasped, eyes widening comically.
"Whoops, better go," Robin muttered as she rose from the table where they were sitting. As she left she pretended not to hear Chrom call her name.
As she left the barracks into the open air she let out a sigh of relief. Then came a nagging sense of guilt. Chrom had sounded so confused...
"No, no, no," she muttered. "Platonic, purely platonic. You said so yourself, Robin old girl."
"Speaking to oneself is often a sign of schizophrenia or a similar disorder," a voice said behind her. "Have you been sleeping adequately and maintaining your mental fortitude?"
"Hello, Miriel," Robin said without turning around.
Miriel overtook her as she strode towards her tent and the two of them walked side by side.
"I would like to speak with you regarding the efficiency of this army's operations," Miriel said, adjusting her glasses.
"Is there a problem?" Robin said, momentarily concerned. Is there something going on in the army that I don't know about?
"Of sorts," Miriel said. "I have noted that when communication between yourself and Chrom decreases, the two of you grow distracted and absent-minded, which decreases the speed at which our army carries out its actions by approximately 15%."
Oh Naga above save me. Not again.
"15%, you say?" Robin asked absently, eyes darting as she quickly tried to figure out a plan of escape.
"I have concluded," Miriel droned, "that the most rapid way to restore efficiency to the Shepherds is for you to resume your relationship with Chrom—"
"Look! It's Lon'qu!" Robin yelped, pointing at the Feroxi swordsman passing by. "Don't you want to go experiment on him? See if he's still freaked out if he, uh, gets close to Panne! Since she's a taguel, right?"
An uncanny glint came into Miriel's eyes. "Fascinating," she said, adjusting her glasses. "Perhaps the taguel aspect would alleviate the worst symptoms of the gynophobia. However, Panne is still humanoid and female in appearance, which would…"
Robin tuned out the rest and began to sneak away.
"Unhand me, woman!" Lon'qu yelled as Miriel strode towards him and clutched his arm.
"We must locate Panne," Miriel said. "This will be a productive study."
"Sorry, Lon'qu," Robin muttered as she made her escape. She momentarily felt sorry for Panne, then remembered what the taguel had done earlier and realized she was decidedly not sorry.
—
Someone tapped, politely but firmly, on the wall of Robin's tent.
Robin stopped writing and looked up from her desk. She was in the midst of an intense survey of the surrounding geography to prepare for the next few days' march, and definitely hadn't holed herself up in a pile of work so she wouldn't think about Chrom. "Come in," she said.
Maribelle entered the tent, sniffing slightly at the piles of books, scrolls, and various articles of clothing strewn about Robin's desk. Organized, Robin was not.
"Maribelle!" Robin said, rising from her desk. She rather liked the prim but good-hearted noblewoman, even if Maribelle hadn't had the highest opinion of her when they met. "Sit!" she said, pushing a chair forward. "I can make tea."
Maribelle nudged a wall of books aside with her parasol and settled carefully into the chair. "Don't let the water cool this time," she directed.
"Sure, sure," Robin said good-naturedly as she managed to find the kettle under an old cloak on the floor. A good cup of mulberry tea and a nice chat with Maribelle, that's what Robin needed to keep her mind off of—
"I have come to speak with you about the nature of your relationship with Lord Chrom," Maribelle said.
Robin's smile froze. "Sorry, what?"
Parsley, sage, she sang mentally, and then she remembered the ending of the song and thought, damn it!
Maribelle arranged her hands neatly on her lap. "There has been talk around the barracks," she said, "of your friendship with Lord Chrom developing into—ah—something more than platonic, shall we say—"
"Let's talk about something else," Robin said quickly.
"I am certain that you are aware of the importance of your relationship—"
"Uh, look, I—"
"—with Lord Chrom, so I and the rest of the Shepherds believe—"
"Maribelle!" Robin said loudly, throwing the kettle down with a clang. "I get it! I know what you're going to say. Chrom's a prince, I'm his Plegian tactician, there's no way it could work out, Chrom needs to marry a nice noblewoman who will please the court and bear him lots of heirs—blah, blah blah. I know that there can't ever be anything between us, so can we please talk about something else?" she heard her voice shake at the end and swallowed hard to steel herself. She wouldn't let herself be affected by this. No way. Robin was better than this.
Maribelle coughed. "As I was saying before I was interrupted," she said primly, "While I cannot say there would be no difficulty in obtaining the approval of the court, I personally, and most of the other Shepherds, would hold no objection should you desire to begin a relationship with Lord Chrom not as tactician and commander, but woman and man."
"Oh."
"Lord Chrom's mother, I believe, wanted him to marry for love. Emmeryn as well."
"Oh."
"Judging by the closeness between the two of you, I believe that that particular aspect is solved."
"Uh."
"Close your mouth. You'll catch flies."
—
"Robin."
Robin froze in the middle of turning a page. "No one's home," she said.
"Robin." Chrom said again. He sounded tired.
Robin stared at her book, wondering if she could bury herself in the ground and never come out. "Come in," she said when it became too awkward to hold her silence any longer.
Chrom opened the tent flap and stepped in. The candlelight cast flickering shadows over his ruffled hair and face. He stared at her with a weary expression.
"If you have a problem with being around me," he said with great effort, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't let it affect the rest of the Shepherds."
Oh.
"I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable somehow," Chrom continued slowly. "If you want me to leave you alone in the future—"
"No! No, no, no!" Robin said, waving her hands frantically. "I don't have a problem with you! Not at all!"
Chrom watched her warily. "Then why—"
Robin cut him off. "Look. I know you like me. I mean, like me. The kind of liking that is not platonic. And—and I'm okay with that! I'm more than okay with that! But—" she stopped.
"But?" Chrom said quietly.
Robin let her head droop. "I'm scared, okay?" she confessed with a sigh.
She heard a scraping noise as Chrom pulled up a chair and sat beside her. "Of?" he questioned.
"Of—of being in a relationship," Robin said. She drew in a breath and let it out. "Look—I'm not the most, uh, collected person. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a bit—okay, I'm a little, uh—"
"Awkward?" Chrom finished.
Robin stared at him. He flushed.
"That was a bit rude, wasn't it," he mumbled. "There you go. So am I."
"It's more than just being awkward for me, though," Robin burst out. "I—I don't have any memories, Chrom. I don't know who I am. And I might not know a lot about relationships but I'm pretty sure that's not a good basis for one."
Chrom lowered his eyes.
"And, uh, you're kind of the crown prince of Ylisse," Robin went on. It's like a switch had been thrown and all her worries and thoughts were tumbling out. "You can't get married to someone you literally found in a field with the mark of Grima on their hand. I just—I don't know if it's a good idea right now. I don't even know who I am, Chrom!" she finished, breathing heavily.
Chrom lifted his gaze up. Robin met his eyes and noticed how shockingly blue they were. It was like a punch to the stomach.
"You might not know who you are," Chrom murmured, "but I know who you are."
Robin's breath caught in her throat. "Then tell me," she whispered.
"You're my tactician," Chrom said. "You're a Shepherd of Ylisse. You're a bit awkward, you talk before you think, and sometimes you run away from problems instead of facing them."
"Hey," Robin protested weakly. Not that he isn't right.
"But you're also brave, and intelligent," Chrom continued. "And strong. Sometimes I think you're stronger than I am. I—I feel comfortable around you—I never have to pretend to be more than I am. You're a good person and my best friend, and I'd—I'd like you to be more than that. But if that's not possible, then I'd also be happy with your friendship."
Oh—
Robin swallowed. There was a burning sensation in her chest and yet she wanted to run out into the woods and field and shout out into the stars. I'm a Shepherd of Ylisse. I'm a tactician. I'm a good person.
I'm Chrom's best friend.
Maybe more, she thought. But no. Not yet. There were larger things at hand. There was a war going on. Both of them needed to fight now more than ever. And Robin still needed time to sit down and have a good think about who she was.
"This is a lot," she said eventually.
"I know it's sudden," Chrom said. "I'm sorry."
Robin slowly reached out and rested her hand on his arm. He reached up and took her hand in his own, running his fingers over her knuckles absently.
"I think," Robin began slowly, "that there are a few things I need to work out for myself—before I can do this."
"I understand," Chrom said softly. He let go of her hand and rose from his chair.
"But—" Robin said quickly, standing up. "Ask me again! A-ask me again. Later."
Chrom looked at her. His eyes brightened slightly. "Why?" he asked.
"Because then, I think, I could say yes," Robin said.
Chrom paused. Robin stared at him, exhilarated but slightly terrified, happy and hopeful at the same time.
Then he nodded. "I'll hold you to that," he said, flashing her a quick smile that made her heart skip a beat. "Good night, Robin."
And there Robin was, standing in the middle of her tent, watching Chrom leave, and staring after him.
He has a nice smile, she realized. I want to see it more often.
She looked down at her book. It suddenly seemed very uninteresting.
I should sleep.
She shrugged out of her armor, blew out the candles, and climbed into her cot. She closed her eyes, but her mind was whirling at the thought of Chrom's eyes, and his voice, and his smile.
I'm a Shepherd, I'm Robin, she thought giddily, grinning into the darkness.
They weren't her memories, but for now, it was enough.
A/N: Gosh this series has a lot more romance than I thought it would. Especially since the first romance I'd ever written was Chapter 3. I dunno, how am I doing with it?
I, too, sing Scarborough Fair when trying to distract myself. Although I should have checked the lyrics before I went ahead and put it into the fic. Ah well.