Heya guys! Okay, so I'll end up posting a chapter every weekend (if I'm lucky and not busy), so keep an eye out! I introduce another character in this chapter and bring one from an earlier one back! I hope you enjoy it!

I do not own Fire Emblem.


There were several products that came from the experiences endured on the first day of school; Panne, who had stayed home that day with a bad headache, had decided to join band with her bass clarinet. After being reassured that nothing happened between Robin and Chrom, Cordelia went back to acting normal and pleaded her and Sumia to spend the night after the first football game.

Meanwhile, everyone was in a flutter making dinner plans for before the game. When the dismissal bell rang, practically everyone bolted out of the classroom. As usual, Robin was the odd one out for these traditions. Since she hadn't made any plans, she promised Frederick that she would organize some of the band uniforms.

Chrom, on the other hand, had somehow gotten roped into chaperoning Lissa and Maribelle to the mall. As soon as they arrived, the two blondes disappeared, leaving him to do his homework on one of the couches with a man yelling furiously at one the games on his phone. Needless to say, Chrom gave up five minutes into his studying and began to peruse the mall, more than surprised to see Gaius drooling in the candy shop," What are you doing here?"

The ginger didn't raise his eyes from the jar of candies he had been observing," I'm going to buy that. Duh."

"It's not good to eat candy before you play your instrument, especially when you have a reed."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's not like I actually know how to play the Saxophone anyways," Gaius finally turned to face him, sucking on the ever present lollypop in his mouth," So what exactly do you want?"

Chrom rose his eyebrow questioningly," Why do I have to want something to talk to you?"

He shrugged and twirled a piece of taffy between his fingers," It's weird to see you alone. For the past four years, I haven't once seen you without either your basketball posse or your fangirls," He paused and took a bite," Actually, I take that back."

"Oh? Well thanks-"

"This year you're all over Robin."

Chrom dead-panned," Really? You're going to be one of those people? We don't have feelings beyond mutual friendship. I can't love a girl I only met two weeks ago."

The ginger smirked," Of course you can. I can see it now; sometime in the future, you will be telling that girl that you have been smitten with her ever since the moment you laid eyes on her. Take my advice and ask her out before one of your cronies think it's cool to date the boss's friend."

"Why would anyone want to date Robin?"

Gaius nearly choked," What?! Are you serious right now? The chick is hot! Sure, she hides her figure with that stupid sweatshirt all the time-"

"She has her reasons," He defended.

"I'm sure she does, but I'm not the only one that would highly appreciate it if she-" The boy paused, his coy smile growing even larger," Oh man, I can already tell you're mad. Don't pop a vein over me, Blue."

Chrom let out a low growl," If you so much as look at Robin the wrong way-You know what? Nevermind. You're not worth it. Make sure to be at the game, or you'll be headed straight for community service hours."

Gaius watched as his drum major stormed out of the candy shop, leaving his grin to grow even larger," That kid will thank me some day."

"Yeah, they just need a little push to get together," His eyes widened in horror when he realized who had just snuck up on him. The ginger made an attempt to ignore her, but she continued on," You see, I used to have this huge crush on Chrom-"

"I don't care-"

"-but when I saw the chemistry that he and Robin had together, I just knew-hey!" Sumia stomped on front of him and placed her hands on her hips," I was just making conversation. No need to get so snippy with me."

He rolled his eyes an attempted to leave, but she blocked his exit," Move it, Stumbles."

"Stumbles?!" She squeaked," How rude! I'm sorry that I saw that we have a common goal-"

"Oh? And what would that be?"

She had gained his interest. Sumia folded her arms and smiled cheekily," We make Chrobin cannon!"

Gaius looked at her as if she had just spoken gibberish," What the hell is a Chrobin, and why would we shoot it out of a cannon?"

She tutted and linked her arm in his, much to his displeasure," I have a lot to teach you, my shipping apprentice."

"Hold on, first cannons, now ships? Are we going to play pirates or-Hey!"

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Maybe Gaius had a point.

Chrom had been set dead against feeling any sort of attraction towards his best friend on the way back to the school, but it was impossible not to when he finally found her.

His fellow drum major was currently curled up in a small pile of concert band uniforms. Robin was in a deep sleep, the only sign of her alive state being the steady rising of her chest. Her hair, while messy, somehow seemed to form a halo of sorts around her head, giving her an angelic glow. If her peaceful demeanor wasn't alluring enough, an odd habit she seemed to have picked up sold him; Robin very briefly scrunched up her nose and wiggled it, which was the most adorable thing he had ever seen in his entire life.

Seeming to notice she was being watched, Robin sleepily peeled her eyes open and squinted at the harsh florescent light," Gods, how long have I been napping?"

He shrugged and offered her his hand, which she gratefully took to help her get to her feet," I don't know, I just got back from the mall. Did you know that you wiggle your nose in your sleep?"

Robin's hand slipped away from his and unconsciously touched her nose," I do?"

"Yeah," He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly add added under his breath," It's actually pretty cute."

"What was that?"

"N-Nothing!"

Robin rose her eyebrows suspiciously, but wasn't given the chance to speak because Chrom had already bolted from the room. Did she honestly wiggle her nose in her sleep? Sumia had never commented on it. Then again, Sumia probably didn't watch her sleep.

She sighed and stretched her limbs, a mixture of nerves and excitement washing over her. Robin could already hear people starting to file into the band room, and they would be in need of a leader. She smoothed her frazzled hair, straightened her shoulders, and marched outside.

She had been expecting minor problems, seeing that it was the first time that they would actually perform their halftime show. Instead, she was bombarded with different problems; Erick accidentally broke one of his sticks, Ricken lost yet another box of reeds, Sumia tripped and got her white uniform pants all muddy, and the new kid, Gregor, had apparently started stealing snacks from the band stash.

Robin stumbled over to Frederick, who was holding Noire and intently watching his wife try and fix Olivia's baton," I think we're ready to march over to the field."

He scanned her quickly and stifled a laugh," You look exhausted. Hasn't Chrom been helping out?"

She nearly jumped when she felt said boy rest his arms on her shoulders and leaned against her," I've been helping just as much as she has!" The tired tone in his voice told them that Chrom was telling the truth," Seriously, Vaike tried to drag me into a competition again! He stalked me for a good half hour before giving up."

Tharja smacked her husband upside the head," Why didn't you help them?"

"Ow! I'm holding the baby-"

Noire mimicked her mother and swatted his chin," Bad Dada!"

He rolled his eyes fondly and hugged the tiny girl tightly," I'm not a bad person, I'm just using my resources so that I can spend more time with you."

"Resources?!" The drum majors cried.

Frederick cleared his throat awkwardly and checked his watch," We should gather everyone up; it's almost time to march to the field."

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Lissa could hardly sit still in her seat. Once the band had arrived at the football field and played the National Anthem and Ylisse fight song, they were seated in bleachers to do pep band pieces until half time. Chrom, Kellam, Stahl, and surprisingly Robin, were all enraptured by the game. The white haired girl even went so far as to start making up her own plays and yelling when their team did something stupid. Everyone made sure to cheer extra loud whenever Sully, Vaike, or Gregor did something substantial (even though they'd have to play something right after). Cordelia and Maribelle doubled as cheerleaders, so they were also on the sidelines and away from the band, but all five would return and shove their uniforms on so that they could march during halftime.

Emmeryn, who had made a tradition of coming to the first of every football game, was seated in the audience with Tharja, Noire, and Miriel. She made brief eye contact with her sister and gave her a thumbs up for good luck. It was, after all, her first year with a solo.

That's right; Lissa had a solo as a sophomore. A sophomore! It was in the second piece, You Deserved More from me than a Sword and a World of Troubles, right after ID Hope. She felt sort of bad for Markel, who was a senior, but he assured her that he preferred Oboe and was glad that a more polished flute player would be doing the piece justice.

Frederick clapped his hands to get everyone's attention," We are almost done in the second quarter, so get ready to march on the field."

Those were the words Robin had been dreading. The unsettling thoughts of messing up the entire band kept replaying in her head over and over and over. Her stomach churned, and she unconsciously grabbed Chrom's sleeve like a small child," I...maybe you should be the only one to do it this time-"

"What?" He cried," Why?"

She shrugged ashamedly," I'll just end up doing something stupid, like ruining the show-" Much to her shock, he took her hands in his and bumped his forehead against hers. She was so surprised by the sudden closeness of him that she jolted away," What are you doing?!"

Chrom smirked," I'm going to calm your nerves. Trust me," She narrowed her eyes hesitantly, but allowed him to pull her closer again and place his forehead back on hers. For some reason, the contact sent butterflies pulsing through her stomach," Okay, listen to me; you're the one who made up the drill, you're the one who wouldn't stop listening to our three pieces for three days, and you're the one who unconsciously practices conducting while we're in Politics. I have more faith in you than I have in myself, and if we put our strengths together, there is no way either of us will fail," He squeezed her hands gently," Now let's go kick some musical ass!"

She felt her nerves drain away and smiled," Thanks Chrom."

"My pleasure."

The two pulled apart and made their ways to the two podiums set up for them, poised to direct the first song," And now it is time for the Ylissian Ram's favorite form of entertainment; The Shepard's halftime show!" The announcer boomed," This year, they will be playing "ID Hope", "You Deserved More from me than a Sword and a World of Troubles", and their finale, "ID Return/ID Purpose". The band is lead by it's director, Mr. Frederick Warry, and it's two drum majors, Chrom Exalt and Robin Doe. This show will also feature solos by Mellophonist Cherche Wyvern, Trumpet player Sully Scarlet, and Flutist Lissa Exalt! The band is also guided by their colorguard captain, Olivia Plush, with her baton! Now please enjoy the show!"

Chrom and Robin exchanged confident nods before raising their arms. Chrom stuck his whistle between his mouth and blew into it twice slowly to gain their attention before setting the tempo with four consecutive whistles after that. On the forth chirp, the two swung their arms down, cueing the band to start the first song.

Much like the announcer had said, Cherche had a solo very early on in the piece, and played it very clearly and precisely, followed shortly by Sully with hers. Everyone's feet moved at almost the exact same time, something Robin noted that they would have to work on later. Otherwise, everybody had perfected the "rock-and-roll" at every tune change in the song, making it look especially cool. Lissa's solo in the second song was practically flawless, but there seemed to be something missing in the piece that neither Chrom or her could pinpoint. Finally, the third song started with a percussion entry, eventually leading into the powerful final piece. Before she knew it, the band had finished their last note, and the crowd was applauding wildly," The Ylissian Shepards!" The announcer cheered.

Robin could barely contain her giddiness in as she lead the band off the field, only succumbing to it once Frederick informed them that, like usual, they had third quarter off. Once everyone began to break apart, Robin threw her arms around Chrom," We did it!"

He laughed," Of course we did! What did I tell you-NO!" He screamed, his attention turning back to the game," THAT'S NOT FAIR!"

Robin snorted and waved goodbye, nearly running into Olivia," Oh gods, I'm sorry!"

The pink haired girl's eyes widened in horror," U-Uh, it's fine. I was just g-going to...," Her eyes fell to the ground in shame," Can you come with me to the concession stand?"

"Sure."

"Really?!" Olivia blurted. Realizing her outburst, she slapped her hands over her mouth," Sor-"

Robin waved her hands frantically," No need to apologize! Come on, let's go get some food," She linked her arm into the color-guard-ist's and started to lead her in the direction of the stand," So..." Her eyes fell on a small pouch tied around the girl's waist," Um, so if you don't mind me asking, what's in the bag there?"

She bit her lip nervously," Hm? Bag? What bag? Ooooooh, THIS bag! Er, it's nothing really. Just a few coins..."

Thank gods, she finally had a conversation topic she could go off of," Keeping a secret stash, are you?"

Unfortunately, Robin got the wrong reaction from the girl," It's money I've been saving out of my wages, I'll have you know! Sheesh," The pinkette crossed her arms huffily," Secret stash indeed. You make it sound so sinister."

The white haired girl cringed," I'm sorry. I certainly didn't mean to imply anything untoward. I'm just impressed is all. It takes real dedication to save up for something."

"Oh!" She smiled bashfully," Thank you, Robin. Such praise means quite a lot coming from you."

Robin blinked in confusion as the two got in line," It does? Huh. I've never thought of myself as anything spec-"

Before she could finish, Olivia's cellphone buzzed. The girl's smile disappeared, immediately replaced by a grimace," Oh dear, I've got to run. I'm supposed to make dinner tonight. You know what they say, right? A hungry mother is a big jerk!"

"Is that what they say? I had no idea," She was so deep in her train of thought that she barely realized her friend start to leave. The reason she noticed was because the small pouch had dropped from the girl's waist,"...Ah! Olivia, wait! You dropped your secret stash!"

Olivia's face turned bright red," Will you PLEASE stop calling it that?! You make it sound like I stole it or something. People will get suspicious!"

Robin frowned the the pink haired girl continued to leave," Well, whatever you want to call it, you're-hey, wait! Olivia-"

"Good evening, and welcome to Annalise's Special Concession Stand!" A redhead behind the counter chirped, dragging Robin's attention away from the other girl," My name is Annie! What would you like to order-"

"Annie!" A woman that looked remarkably similar to her called," I need you to make popcorn."

"Okay, mom!"

The woman turned towards the back of the stand," Anna! We have customers that need their orders taken!"

"I don't want to! I'm working on homework!"

"Anna Natalie Nettle-Anderson, you come here right now or I'm taking away your computer!"

A groan could be heard from the back, but Robin was more than surprised when Annie in different clothes and wearing a fake smile approached the counter," Good evening, and welcome-"

"Weren't you just here?"

The girl shook her head," No, that was my sister, Annie," She quirked an eyebrow," Haven't you heard of us? We're the quads of Ylisse high!"

Another version of Annie with a blue highlight in her hair shoved the girl Robin was talking to out of the way," If you're going to chat the entire time, then I guess I'll have to serve the customers."

"I was serving her, Annette! Ugh!" The girl tilted her head towards the other side of the counter, and the two made their way over," I guess I never got to introduce myself; my name is Anna, or also known as Tricky Anna."

"Tricky Anna?"

"Yeah," She chatted," Annette over there is Pretty Anna, Annie is Sporty Anna, my other sister, Annika, is Nerdy Anna, and my mother is Mama Anna. It helps people tell the difference between us," Anna propped her chin on her elbow and sighed," I hate working concessions. Sure, I like business and all, by my true expertise is in journalism and law. You see, I can't cook to save my life and my horrible family still expects me to work here!"

Honestly, Robin was having a hard time keeping up with the social girl," Uh...I'm sorry?"

"Really? Thanks! Oh, I've been going on about my problems and you haven't even expressed yours yet. What's your name and life story?"

"Don't trust her," Annette warned," Anna is only looking for a cover story."

"You don't know anything, Annette!"

Annie stepped inbetween the two and tried to calm the tension," Come on, guys. We can't fight in front of the customers; it's bad for business."

Anna rolled her eyes," Of course it is-"

"I hate to interrupt you," Robin said hesitantly," But third quarter ends in a few minutes, and I need to get back to the band-"

"Band?" Anna pondered," Hey, I know! Why don't you let me join the band?"

Her sisters glared at both her and Robin, waiting for the drum major to speak up," Uh, I don't know. It'd be pretty hard to teach you the entire show-"

"I'll learn, I promise!"

"Can you even play an instrument?" Annette sneered.

Annie, who was closer to Anna than the rest of her family, tapped her chin thoughtfully," She could be in color-guard."

"That's flag twirling, right?" Anna clapped her hands together," I'll learn how to do it, I swear! Just let me join your band-"

Robin tugged on her own sleeve," I don't know-"

"Give me the weekend, then!" Anna swore," I'll have the show memorized by then. You just need to give me the video of the show and I'll be in top shape by Monday!"

The white haired girl didn't have any time to think of a response, because she had a minute to get back to the group," Fine, but I have to go! Show me what you've learned on Monday morning!"

Anna pumped her fist into the air," Yes! I won't disappoint you!" She grabbed a candy bar and tossed it to Robin," Here, it's on me!"

The drum major beamed gratefully," Thanks!"

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"I know you."

Lissa paused her conversation with Maribelle and turned to see who was speaking to her. Her face lit up immediately when she saw a familiar white haired boy," Henry! I've been wondering what happened to you."

Maribelle's eyes widened; she had heard a lot about this Henry fellow from her best friend, but now that she saw him, an unsettling rush of nausea filled her," Lissa..."

"What?"

"He's Plegian."

Henry, oblivious to her fear, nodded," Yup! I play saxophone in the Plegian marching band! I didn't know you went to Ylisse! I figured you lived in Rosanne!"

Lissa giggled," Me too! How crazy is that? Oh, Maribelle, this is-"

"Henry, I know," She growled," When I was being held captive in Plegia, I heard all sorts of stories about you. A silver–haired youth with a knowledge of curses and an extraordinary gift for music. A man guarded by fierce crows so that very few had seen the true extent of his powers."

The boy let out a low whistle," Oh wow! Now that's a reputation! Yeah, crows always had a thing for me, I guess. Dunno why. I really like animals! Do you have any animals?"

The blonde in pink narrowed her eyes suspiciously, deciding automatically that she didn't trust this boy. Lissa, on the other hand, didn't care very much that he was from Plegia. After all, Tharja was, and she and Frederick were married and parents! Not to mention that she was pretty positive Robin had connections with the school, and Lissa was secretly hoping that the white haired girl would hit it off with her brother. The flutist shook her head," I used to own a fish, but Vaike ate it."

"Poor fishy! You want me to cast a death curse on him as revenge?"

Maribelle gasped," A curse on one of our fellow band members?! I understand that Vaike deserves it...Mmm… No. That could be problematic. Don't do it."

Henry shrugged cheerfully," Hee hee! Yeah, I guess. Too bad, though. See, 'cause I've got one move that makes blood come out your–"

"Thank you, I get the picture," She replied snippily," What's with the smiling, anyway? No one's going to trust you if you're grinning like the idiot."

This only caused his grin to grow," Hee hee! Smiling? This is how I always look."

Maribelle held up her hand to quiet him," Hardly reassuring. Tell me what you're plotting and I may yet spare you."

Lissa gaped at her," Maribelle! Stop being mean to him!"

"Don't worry!" He assured," Nothing sinister over here. I'm just a hale and hearty boy."

The youngest Exalt tried to move on from the bickering and pulled her phone from her pocket," Here, Henry give me your phone. I want to exchange numbers so that we can hang out!"

The boy was so surprised that his eyes squinted slightly open," Huh? Sorry, I think I misheard you."

"I want to be friends with you!"

For some reason, the beam that grew on his face seemed way more genuine than his usual one," Okie-Dokie!"

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When Robin had forgotten her backpack at the school and returned in the morning to retrieve it, she hadn't expected to see Anna passed out on the field with a rifle resting near her foot and a flag gripped in her hand," Uh, Anna? What are you doing here?"

The redhead bolted awake, a semi confused look on her face," Huh? How'd I get here-oh, that's right!" She stood up and brushed herself off," I was practicing."

The drum major glanced down at her clock," It's only 8:00 in the morning. How long ago did you get here?"

"Uh, I came here after the football game to practice."

"You've been here all night?!"

Anna rubbed her arm sheepishly," I really want to be in marching band."

The white haired girl nodded, although there was part of her that felt the girl wasn't telling her something," Do you hate concessions that much?"

"I hate it...but that's not the only reason," She sighed and plopped back onto the ground, motioning for Robin to do the same," You see, I've always been grouped up with my sisters, and my mother seems to dislike me the most. It's no fun being one of four, especially if you're the forgettable one," she clenched her fist," I want to join band to prove to everybody to I am different and unique! I'm not just an Anna, I'm the Anna! If I don't do something substantial with my life, I might as well let my sisters choose what I do with it," She laughed bitterly," I'm guessing that none of this means anything to you."

Robin awkwardly played with her shoelaces," I can't say I understand your situation, but I can tell you that I know what it's like to feel left out. If I tell you this, you have to promise not to tell anyone or put it in your paper."

"They don't call me the Secret Seller for nothing!"

"...Is that supposed to put me at ease?"

Anna chuckled," I promise on my allowance that I won't tell anyone. Better?"

Seeing that the Nettle-Andersons seemed to be a money loving family, Robin took it," I'm an amnesiac. Everyone doesn't mean to leave me out of things, but they already have lives and best friends, and it's hard for them to let me in," She fiddled with her bracelets forlornly," One of these is meant to be given to my best friend, but Chrom is the closest I have to that, and...well...he's a boy."

Anna puffed her cheeks out," No kidding. The only friend I've got is my editor, Tiki," She turned to Robin," But wait, aren't you close with that Sumia girl?"

"She's already exchanged bracelets with Cordelia, and while we're all friends now, it's pretty obvious that they trust each other more than they'll ever trust me."

The redhead pouted," Well that's too bad-hey! I've got an idea!" She took Robin's hands in hers and grinned," Let's be best friends!"

"J-Just like that?"

"Just like that! We'll act like we did in kindergarten and be best friends with complete strangers!" Anna exclaimed," It'll be loads of fun! You can do my homework and I can break you into the school when it's locked! It's a win win situation!"

Robin blinked," Wait, you can break into the school?"

"How do you think I got the colorguard stuff?"

It was going to be pretty hard to trust someone as quickly as Anna was hoping, but it also wouldn't hurt to have someone she could be exclusively close to. In fact, the entire thing seemed very appealing to Robin," Okay. We'll be best friends. Now come on, I'll help you practice for your audition into the band program."

Anna picked up her flag and grinned in determination," Alright! Let's do this!"


Yay, Anna! I didn't plan on them being close friends until I actually wrote the chapter, but I think it works out well (Just imagine how awkward Sumia and Cordelia will feel when Tricky Anna starts hanging around them, bwaha). Also got my Chrobin shippers, Sumia and Gaius, in there! I also can't seem to go a chapter without a small Chrobin moment in it, but I'm not complaining! Henry does attend Plegia, so Maribelle won't be very trusting of him. If you noticed, I took a lot of the conversation between those three from the Tharja support, because Lissa's has to do mainly after Emmeryn's death. Review time!

Radio-Blaze: I'm glad that Chrom's backstory worked out as well, and I'm glad that you approve of my AU adaptation of the story! I'm extremely happy you like it so far!

Amy47101: Haha, don't worry! I have someone else planned for both Gregor and Nowi (you probably already know who one of them are paired with). This is not a HenryXOlivia story, because I've never supported them together and probably wouldn't write them very well, but my older brother pairs them together too. Yay, Henry was in this chapter! He will be in more later, but right now, he's going to be in and out of chapters. I haven't seen Sword Art Online yet, but I have heard of it! That was the first anime that my brothers watched. The only animes I have seen are Fairy Tail, Modaka Magica (Sorry if it's spelled wrong, my computer is spazzing out right now), and I've seen a little bit of Soul Eater, Rave Master, and A Certain Magical Index. Still, from the small amount of knowledge I know, either of those possibilities could work. You should pursue it!

As always, if you have any suggestions, ideas, or requests, I will try my best to fit them in! I always love to hear your feedback, so make sure to comment! And, as always, thanks for reading!

-Uprisingdragon