"Come in, Robin," said a familiar voice from the other side. I pushed the door open and saw that Tiki was in the room packing clothes into a chest similar to the one in the room I had slept in. When she heard the door she stood up and turned to me. As inappropriate as it might have been, I noticed that her dress was either fixed or had been replaced by a new, identical one. I stepped inside the room.

"Uh...good morning, Tiki," I said, "ummm...are you feeling any better this morning?" She smiled.

"I am. Thank you for asking," she said, "what about you?"

"Oh, I'm...better, I think. My leg's not bothering me anymore," I said, feeling embarrassed. I wasn't even sure why I was feeling embarrassed, it just seemed to be my default state now.

"I'm glad to hear that," she said as her smile widened. I almost had to look away to keep my composure. Her smile was so beautiful. She was so beautiful and I wanted to just finally tell her that. But I couldn't. "—something you needed to speak to me about?" I was brought back to reality.

"Oh, um, I was letting everyone know that we're getting ready to move out and you and Lissa were—were the only ones I hadn't found yet." I could practically hear Lissa standing behind me saying Ask her! Come on, Robin!

"Well thank you for informing me. I will be ready momentarily." She was still looking at me intently. I wasn't sure why. Maybe Lissa had said something about me so she was expecting me to keep going.

"Okay. We're meeting outside," was all I said. I turned back for the door and once again I heard Lissa's voice in my mind telling me Come on, Robin! Just ask! I put a hand on the door's handle and was about to leave. Then I finally found my resolve. I stopped and looked back. "Um...Tiki?"

"Yes?" Her smile was still there and still stunning.

"Would you...that is, if everything goes well...do you..." Come on, Robin, just say the words. It's not that hard. They're not long words. It wasn't Lissa's voice this time, it was my own. "would you like to...to have dinner with me tonight? Just the two of us, I mean."

I had done it. The last few words had come out as a jumble and I had had to start and stop a few times on the way, but I had done it. I had finally managed it. My eyes were focused squarely on the floor at her feet, but I had done it.

"Robin..." My heart sank. I wasn't looking at her face, but I could immediately hear an apologetic tone to her voice. "I am sorry. Lucina already asked if we could take our dinner together tonight and I accepted."

"I...I see." It was to be expected. I didn't know why I had let myself get hopeful about it. This was me we were talking about and this was the inevitable result. This was always the inevitable result. I started to move closer to the door.

But wait. I stopped. She didn't say no, she just said she had plans today. A faint glimmer of hope returned. That's not a no. I should ask again. She could be available to—

"If you would like, we could share dinner tomorrow night." My eyes snapped back up. Unless I was mistaken, she looked a little nervous.

"Yes!" I said instantly. "I mean...I mean yes, I would like that. I don't know where we'll be going tomorrow so I don't know what the circumstances of dinner will be...but yes. I definitely would like that." I forced myself to stop talking before I started to get really embarrassing. Her smile returned and I thought my heart would stop.

"Then I will look forward to tomorrow evening," she said. I nodded, perhaps a little too emphatically.

"R-right. Now I have to go—Chrom, meeting—" I paused to reorganize my thoughts, "Sorry, I have to go meet with Chrom. Getting ready to leave, so I needed to—sorry, I already told you that. Gonna go now," I said. My face felt like it was on fire. I turned and left before she could see how red I was but I still heard her gentle voice from behind me.

"Have a good day, Robin." That standard of a farewell had no right to make my heart race the way it did. But it did.

I made it down the hallway and almost back to dining hall entrance before I finally froze up and realized what had just happened. She had said yes. She had said yes. I had actually managed to ask her to eat with me and she had said yes. It didn't feel real. I had been agonizing over this for days and all I had needed to do was ask.

Doubt began to creep into my mind. Did she understand what I had been asking? She had said that she had existing plans with Lucina so maybe she thought this was the same thing. Did she even understand the way courtship worked? She wasn't human and she was thousands of years old, after all. But then, she had mentioned she knew Marth, and Marth had been famously married to Princess Caeda. She had to at least understand the concept. And she seemed to know enough about humans as it was. I pushed the doubt away. There was no way it was lost on her what I had been asking. She wasn't a fool. And if there was any question, I would just have to...actually somehow find a way to make it clear.

"Robin Robin Robiiiiin," said a voice that served to snap me out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw that it was, as expected, Lissa.

"Hey," I said nonchalantly.

"Don't you 'hey' me," she said and punched me in the shoulder. "Come on, how'd it go?"

"How'd what go?" I asked innocently.

"Come on, Robin, don't mess around. What happened? You look like you're about to pass out."

"Oh fine. If you really need to know...she...she said yes." Lissa let out a squeal and gave me a tight hug. Fortunately I was expecting it and I didn't get knocked backwards by it.

"Oh my goodness that's so great Robin I'm so happy for you this is so wonderful and I hope it's perfect and you end up really happy oh my goodness this is the best day ever," she said and then ran out of breath.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second," I said, "it's not like I proposed or anything, we're just having dinner tomorrow night. I don't even know if she knows what that implies."

"Of course she does, silly," Lissa said as she broke off her hug, "what do you think we were talking about before you came in?"

"What?!" I felt my temper flare up. I forced myself to take a few breaths and calm down before I continued. "I mean...were you really? Did you actually tell her that's what I was coming for?" She started giggling.

"You should see the look on your face right now," she said as she started laughing harder. I rolled my eyes and waited for her to compose herself. "Okay, okay, I'm okay now. Anyway, no, that's not what we were talking about. I went in to introduce myself properly and find out if she was feeling alright after yesterday."

"And?"

"She said she is. And then we talked about other things for a couple of minutes and then she asked about you."

"Did she?" Admittedly my curiosity was piqued. Although it was probably just her asking after my condition. Lissa nodded.

"Yeah, she asked me if you and I are friends and what kind of guy I think you are." There was no way. She had to be kidding me.

"You have to be kidding me," I said. She shook her head.

"No. I promise," she said in a very serious tone, "she actually did ask me what kind of person I think you are. Messing with you might be my favorite hobby, but not when it comes to this. This is about your happiness." There was no trace of humor in her voice at all. Nor was there any sign of humor on her face.

"But you just finished trying to mess with me right before you said that," I said. She blinked a couple of times.

"Oh. I guess I did. I'm sorry, Robin." This deadly serious Lissa was a little worrying.

"Wow, this serious attitude is really strange coming from you. I'm not sure how to react to it," I said. That at least got a laugh out of her.

"Don't worry, once you're happily married I'll go back to pranking you again."

"I'm glad you're so confident about this," I said, and meant it. At least one of us was.

"Of course I am. Like I said, she's wonderful. And you're wonderful. You'll be great together," she said with a bright smile. I was starting to feel embarrassed again so I decided that it was time to cut this short. Besides, we were supposed to be meeting outside.

"Thank you. Now I really think we should get going or we're going to be behind schedule. I don't know how pressing the bandit issues are but I think we should try to get there sooner than later," I said.

"Yeah, you're right. Let's go," she said as we both left the castle.

We met up with Chrom outside. The rest of the Shepherds were there except for Tiki, who arrived not long after. The convoy was already packed and it looked like we were ready to go. After I had surveyed everything I turned to Chrom.

"Do we know the location of this village?" He nodded.

"One of the villagers gave me a map with the location on it. We should be there by the early afternoon if there's no trouble on the way. Apparently they aren't under imminent threat of attack but the bandits regularly come to extort the citizens for what money they have."

"Then we should get there as soon as we can. Imminent threat or no, we can't let innocent people have their way of life threatened in such a way." He grunted in agreement.

"Indeed," he said before turning to the group, "Shepherds, let's move out!" With that we began marching back towards the city gates. I took position at the rear so I could guard the convoy. As we passed through the square a crowd began to form and actually cheered us as we left the city, though no one came up to talk to any of us. A few Shepherds waved. I saw Tharja put her head down and try to blend in with the group. Given that she was wearing her...usual attire, it didn't work particularly well. Gaius apparently thought it was the funniest thing he'd seen, because he started laughing heartily at it and he gave her a squeeze with one arm. I felt a pang in my chest and looked away. Unfortunately my eyes carried to Say'ri and Lon'qu who were deep in conversation. The fact that Lon'qu was in conversation with a woman at all told me all I needed to know so I immediately snapped my eyes forward. At least he didn't look injured anymore.

About ten minutes into our march I noticed that Lucina had moved next to me in my spot at the back of the party. She looked like there was something on her mind but she didn't say anything. I gave her another minute to start talking but she didn't. I gave her another minute after that, but she still didn't say anything, even though it was clear that something was bothering her. Eventually I determined that she wasn't going to say anything without a little prodding, so I decided to give her a little prodding.

"Something on your mind?" I saw a look of relief appear briefly on her face at my question before she looked over to me and answered.

"In truth, there is. I've had quite a bit on my mind since last night. I was barely even able to sleep." As if for emphasis she yawned as she finished her sentence.

"Did you want to talk about it?" She nodded.

"I do. I'm just not sure where to begin." She looked up to the sky, clearly deep in thought. Unfortunately that took her eyes off of the road and she nearly tripped on either a rock or a hole. I caught her shoulder before she could fall "Gods, I'm sorry. Thank you," she said, clearly embarrassed.

"It's fine," I said, "just make sure you're watching the road in front of you. You never know what kind of traps could be waiting on an otherwise harmless looking path."

"Oh gods, you're right. What was I thinking?" She put her hands on her temples. I gave a short laugh.

"Just kidding, just kidding. I'm sorry," I said.

"Oh...oh, right. Of course," she said.

"So what's bothering you?" I dropped my joking tone.

"Oh, umm...as I said, I'm not sure how to word this. It's just...even though we've defeated Walhart I'm...I'm still worried, I suppose." I noticed that she was wringing her hands.

"About what?"

"Well..." she paused. "It's just that, well, we haven't been able to change history yet. Yes, Walhart was defeated, but Basilio was still..." she trailed off. I wanted to say something about it but I didn't have the right words. Instead I just pushed past it.

"And you're worried that history is on its old path and something will still happen to Chrom, right?" She let out a sigh.

"Yes, that's exactly it. I'm so worried that I won't be able to succeed." It was visibly difficult for her to say what she was saying. I was glad we were separate from the rest of the group. Although I was sure she wouldn't be telling me this if we were within earshot of anyone else. I put my hand back on her shoulder.

"Lucina, I understand that you're worried. But you're not alone anymore. I'm sure it must be hard to remember since you were alone for so long, but your parents are both here with you. And for whatever it's worth, so am I." She forced a smile.

"It actually is worth a great deal. It's...nice to have someone I can rely on. You've been such a great help to my father...and to me, too." Her face reddened slightly. I figured it must have been difficult for her to say that. She struck me as someone who preferred to be self-reliant so it had to be embarrassing to admit that she needed help.

"You're welcome, then," I said, feeling a little embarrassed.

"Still," she said, "that doesn't take away my worries. Even if we find the last gemstone there's no guarantee we'll be able to stop Grima. We haven't even yet reached the time when my father was killed. Until that time comes and goes, I don't think my ill feelings will pass."

"Probably not, but that's okay. You're allowed to be worried about your father's safety. I'd be more surprised if you weren't."

"In truth I'm...relieved that you think so. Hearing you say that makes me feel better," she said. I wasn't entirely convinced. She had an odd expression on her face that made it look like she was still bothered by something. Even so I decided not to push any further.

"I'm glad. And if it keeps bothering you then just remember you can always come to me. I'll always make time for you," I said. I hoped she already understood that, but I thought I'd remind her anyway.

"I...I know. Thank you." She looked embarrassed again. I thought maybe I was pushing too far. She didn't need me to start acting like a parent, even if she was my best friend's daughter. With that in mind, I let the conversation end. She didn't try to keep it going either, but I noticed that she also didn't move away to join any other group. It lent credence to my idea that there was still something on her mind, but without an inkling of what it was I couldn't do anything to start a conversation about it. Instead I just kept pace and stayed with her in the hopes that being next to her would be of some help.

The two of us walked together in silence for the next several hours. Amazingly, no one even tried to come up and speak to either of us. I assumed it was because they saw us together and assumed we were in conversation so they shouldn't disturb us. Whatever the reason it was a welcome relief after all of the people who had been mobbing me that morning. As we neared our destination I noticed that Lucina, after all that time, still looked like something was weighing on her. Since I still didn't know what it was I decided to try to take her mind off of it.

"So Lucina," I said. She looked over in surprise.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Robin. Did you need something?"

"Nothing pressing," I said. "I was just going to ask you what kind of person Brady is."

"Oh. Oh! Yes, if we're going to have him join us then I should tell you about his abilities, shouldn't I?" I shrugged.

"That's not really what I meant. I just thought it might help cheer you up to tell me about a friend of yours." She started to blush.

"I-I see. Maybe you're right."

"So? What's he like?"

"Brady is a good man," she said. "He can be impolite and he acts tough but he's really very gentle. He doesn't have much talent for fighting—oh, but don't think he's useless! He's actually a skilled healer who can do turn the tide of a battle." She was much more animated than she had been. I was glad to see it.

"Hey, you don't need to sell me on him; we're going to help him one way or another. You're friends, right? I want to hear about Brady the person."

"I...I'm sorry, I don't know a lot about him outside of battle. We fought together many times, but in my time there wasn't much opportunity for leisure." Her troubled look was back. Really good job, Robin. Smart. Depress her even more.

"Gods," I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose, "I'm sorry. I just made things worse, didn't I?" She shook her head fiercely.

"No! It's not like that at all! Really, I just never really got the chance to know any of the others when we weren't fighting. I was always so focused on how we were going to get through the next battle that I was too busy. It's not your fault, I promise."

"Well alright," I said, "in any case, I promise you that we'll keep him safe. And if the friends you grew up with are here in our time then I'll do my best to reunite you with them."

"...Thank you so much, Robin," she said with some difficulty. "I...I'm glad you're willing to do that for me." She seemed to catch herself. "Oh, not that I think it's just for me of course. I know you're trying to help the whole army and I understand that but still...thank you." I shook my head a little.

"It actually is mostly for your sake," I said. I looked over at her and she looked back at me. "Lucina, you're my best friend's daughter, not to mention a friend of mine. I can only imagine how hard things have been for you. If gathering up your friends who have come back from the future will make you happy, then we're going to do it. That they have fighting skill is just an added benefit." Maybe I was laying it on a little too thick, but I wanted her to understand that this was out of concern and not just utility. My doubt turned to certainty that I was going overboard when I saw that she was beginning to choke up.

"Robin...I—" Whatever she had planned to say was cut off by Cordelia's yell from a little in front of us as she ran up to me.

"Robin! Chrom is calling for you at the front!" She stopped in front of me and started breathing heavily. I waited for her to catch her breath.

"What is it?" I asked her once she had recovered.

"We seem to have arrived and Chrom wants you to meet with him to plan before we move in," she said. I nodded and followed her then briefly turned to Lucina.

"Sorry, duty calls," I said.

"Of course," she said, "I'll get ready to fight." Her expression became one of determination. I hoped that whatever was troubling her had passed. I turned back and moved to the front of the ranks where Chrom and Frederick were standing and surveying the field in front of us. About three hundred feet ahead of us about ten feet down in elevation there was a ruined temple just off the road. From where we were standing I could see two groups of people, one gathered inside the ruins and one outside. The group outside were clearly armed and the group inside were clearly not. It wasn't difficult then to figure out who were the villagers and who were the bandits. And the fact that the villagers were here inside a set of ruins rather than in their village was not a good sign. I turned to Chrom and spoke rapidly while a plan formed itself in my mind.

"We need to get down there as fast as possible. Send the fliers and the cavalry on ahead to harass the bandits so that they can't slaughter the villagers while we approach. The rest of us will move in as quickly as we can and take up defensive positions. We'll pair off and cover the entrances to the ruins and our mages will take up positions within the walls. It's hard to tell from here but it looks like there are two major gaps in the ruin walls. Nowi, Miriel, and Tharja will cover one entrance. Tiki, Ricken, and I will cover the other. Everyone else knows who their usual partners are and can cover other entrances as needed. Once we've forced a crack in their defenses we'll push out from the ruins and overtake the remaining enemy. If they're bandits they shouldn't be well organized so as long as we keep our discipline we should be able to defeat them and save these people. Understood?" Chrom nodded.

"Understood. I'll give the orders." He turned to Frederick and Cordelia. "You heard the man. Inform Sully, Stahl, Sumia, Maribelle, and Cherche. Get out there and defend those people." Both of them saluted and walked quickly away. "Lissa," said Chrom to his sister who was also standing nearby, "did you hear the groups Robin assigned?" She nodded. "Then go inform the people who need to know." She also walked off. Less than a minute later I heard the sound of hooves and wings as our cavalry and fliers charged forward towards the bandits. Less than a minute after that Nowi, Tharja, Miriel, Ricken and Tiki were gathered around me. Once again I spoke rapidly.

"We're going to charge in now and take up defensive positions around the entrances to the ruins. I assume you can all see the largest gaps in the walls. Nowi, Tharja, and Miriel, you cover the east entrance. Tiki, Ricken, and I will cover the south entrance. We need to move as fast as possible because we don't know how long those people have. Understood?" A chorus of affirmation. "Good. Let's go." They all moved into the groups I assigned. Tiki stood right next to me and for a moment I lost my train of thought. But only for a moment. "Chrom, give the order." Chrom, as always, turned to the main body of the Shepherds before he called the rally.

"Shepherds, charge!"

A/N: Oh look, I guess all he had to do was ask. Who'da thought?

Also, because my new job starts on Monday I wanted to leave you all with something before my time evaporates. Updates are going to slow down, but I promise you that under no circumstances am I going to abandon this project. Even if you don't see an update for a month or more it's not me quitting or going on hiatus or anything. I'm still going to work on this and I'm not going to stop working on it until I get to change the status over from In Progress to Complete.

Also also, all of you should go read the manga Komi-san wa Komyushou Desu. I have nothing to do with it or anything, it's just really good and I want everyone to read it.