Hi readers! Ophelia's story is almost coming to a close. There will likely only be one more chapter after this one. Thank you for sticking with me, Ophelia, and Chrom!

Chapter 10: Ophelia

Chrom and I were locked in a seemingly endless awkward silence. Neither of us could muster up the will to break through the quiet air between us. I glanced at Chrom, only to see a look of anxiety on his face, not that of caring or love…

Maybe his proclamation had just been sentiment; a pretty line to say when I was worse for the wear. My heart pined for Chrom to still love me, but my head wished he hated me more than he hated the mad king, Gangrel. Thoughts of rejection nagged at the back of brain; my fears crept into the forefront my mind.

As the tense silence ensued, Lissa stood between us, looking concerned and confused.

"Do you two want a minute, alone? I can tell you do, so I'll just go." Lissa said, and not waiting for a reply, scurried out of the tent. I faintly heard her warn everyone against going inside. Chrom and I continued to avoid each other's eyes, and we were silent for many intensely long minutes. Chrom was the first to speak.

"You know, I'm not any good at this, talking about my feelings. I've only ever been good at saying things that make the situation worse. Well, I guess you know that. But I need you to hear me out, because I may only be able to say this once without screwing something up.

"I couldn't be more relieved to see you awake and alive. I've faced my own demise on numerous occasions, but nothing has made me more afraid than the idea of never seeing you again. The thing is, I want to see you again, and every day of my life. So that night when you, when you broke off or engagement, I admit I was furious. I had never hated you more than I did in that moment. But in no way did I want you to leave. So I just need you to know that I still, and maybe will for the rest of my days, love you more than I ever thought I was capable.

"I need you to know that. And in return, I need to know one thing from you. Please, just tell me why you broke off our engagement. I promise not to get angry, and I'll listen to what you say. And if you still feel the same, I will no longer remind you of my feelings and you will only be my tactician and nothing more."

My heart fell into my stomach and the world began to crumble around me. My head began to spin as my body pounded with my nerves. My inner turmoil must have been written on my face, because Chrom's guarded expression broke down and was replaced by tentative worry.

"Ophelia you like you're about to faint, should I get Libra?" Chrom approached me, ready to steady me if I fell. I leaned back into the pillows. I was breathing hard despite not moving. Chrom's words sat heavily on my chest, and I was gripped with uncontrollable fear at the idea of having to answer his question. Chrom did not wait for my answer and hurried out of the tent. In moments, Chrom returned with Libra close at his heels. Libra looked me over.

"You've only just woken up; all this attention may have been too much to start out with." Libra advised. I glanced at Chrom; he nodded in agreement with Libra.

"Just think it over. We'll talk when you're better." Chrom said. With a flourish of the tent flaps, he disappeared. Libra prepared a calming draught and offered his calming smile before leaving me to my own devices. The draught immediately made me drowsy. My mind fought against it, but I eventually fell into a restful sleep.

In the next couple of days I worked hard to regain my strength. Chrom did not return; he stuck to his word of only talking when I was well again. I had plenty of time to devise what I was going to say to him. On the third morning after my waking, I convinced Libra and Lissa I was strong enough to return to our main camp. We needed to move our army if we hoped to catch the Plegians off guard. With that, we packed up the miniature campground and headed back to our base. Without having to stop, we made great time and returned to camp in the mid afternoon of the second day of travel. I had stealthily avoided Chrom during the journey, dreading the moment I needed to face him again. Our little rag tag team was met with much enthusiasm from the friends and colleagues who stayed behind. The rest of my energy was spent telling my tale to the rest of the camp, and also to my friends who had come looking for me. I spun my tale well into the night. Chrom added his own parts to the story when I could not piece each part together. Most of my team were concerned about the wounds on my back, but some of my female comrades were concerned about the unceremonious cutting of my previously long hair.

After finally pacifying every curious comrade and answering all of the most pressing questions, I retired to my own tent. It was as I had left it so many nights ago. I close the tomb left open on my desk, and surveyed the room silently. My tent ruffled and Chrom poked his head in.

"Mind if I come in?" Chrom asked. My heart pounded exceptionally loudly in my ears, but I nodded. I had finally run out of time; I could no longer be a coward. It struck me, as Chrom entered my tent and took a seat at my desk, that I had no idea what I was going to tell him.

At first, I was sure that I had broken our engagement to protect Chrom's reputation and save him from the eminent danger of being in love. Thinking over everything that had happened, I realized Chrom did not care one lick about his reputation. His troops also appeared to not care either. They respected him and cared for him not matter what. So I had to scrap that poor excuse. Then I brought up the idea that love on the battlefield only resulted in death. I had to drop that explanation as well. When the two of us were fighting the Plegian soldiers, I had never been more connected to Chrom in battle before. We moved like we were of the same mind. I immediately had to disregard the ridiculous idea that my love would weaken Chrom's in combat abilities and face the fact that my support only proved to bolster his skills. All of my previous excuses thus fell away to reveal only a cowardly little girl.

"I can't see why Cordelia was so upset about your hair. You still look just as good." Chrom broke into my thoughts. A compliment? Chrom had a teasing smile on his face, an expression that simultaneously calmed me and vexed me. Seeing that I was not going to take the bait, Chrom became serious.

"Are you ready to answer my question?" Chrom asked quietly, studying his hands. My mind screamed against it, but I cleared my throat.

"I am, if you'll hear me out."

"I said I would." Chrom leaned back in the chair and fixed his cool blue eyes upon me. I mustered all of my courage and stood strongly in front of him. Chrom's gaze proved to be too much for me and I fixed my eyes on the ground instead. I took a breath and tried to speak clearly.

"I'm sure you would prefer I have some disgusting tale of betrayal so you can effectively erase any kind memories of me. I'm sorry that I can't give you that satisfaction. At first I thought that the reason I broke off our engagement was simple; but I've come to realize it runs deeper than I expected. I made up silly excuses in my head that I can't even admit to you now. In the end, I realized I was too cowardly and too weak-minded to ever be engaged to the Ylissean prince.

"Behind my silly initial excuses, hid my own insecurity in our relationship and my own fears of you rejecting me in the end. So out of self-preservation, I broke our engagement. I could not bear the idea of you throwing me to the wayside once you realized how useless I was beyond my tactical skills. I have nothing to offer the thrown. -I laughed bitterly- I do not even have a lineage of my own. So I hope you see now why I made this decision-"

Chrom cut me off then. He rose from his chair and stood before me. I glared down at his shoes, my eyes burning with tears that refused to flow. Chrom pulled up my chin, forcing me to look at his face. I feared that I would see sympathy in his face. I was sure that's how he would react, having surely used that look before on Ylissean peasants. Yet I only found complete sincerity in Chrom's expression.

"Ophelia, when I asked you to be my wife, I meant it. I did not fall in love with your brains or combat skills, I fell in love with you. With the way you squinch up your face when you laugh and the way you chew on your lip when you're deep in thought. I don't care what you think you lack, I adore everything that you are." Chrom said slowly and thoughtfully. My eyes darted around his face, looking for one speck of insincerity or mocking, but I could not find one dark shadow.

I wanted to protest. I wanted to give him more reasons not to care about me.

I was truly afraid of his love. I was cold and unlovable deep down.

Yet, somehow, Chrom's presence made me want to forget that. I could tell he meant what he said, and that sent of jolt of warmth through my veins. Maybe, just maybe, I could grow out of my fears.

"You love my insecurity? My cowardice?" I heard myself say. The habit of writing myself off was too ingrained into my mind to break so easily.

"I love those part of you the most." Chrom replied effortlessly. I cocked my eyebrow, and Chrom shook his head my confusion.

"Those parts of you need love the most."

I felt my heart shedding its skin and being replaced by a hopefully stronger one. Words of forgiveness pulled at my lips. I wanted to apologize for everything I had done to Chrom, but I could tell from his face that it was hardly necessary. Chrom pulled my hands into his, and stared at the bridge between us.

"Chrom, would still consider marrying me?" I asked, this time looking confidently into his eyes. Chrom's navy eyes twinkled.

"Are you proposing to me?" Chrom smiled mischievously. I blushed, and with a roll of my eyes, allowed myself to smile.

"I guess I am."

"Well then. You need to do it right," Chrom slipped off his exalt ring and pushed it into my hands. Resisting the urge to start howling with laughter to dropped to one knee before him.

"Prince Chrom, would you please be my husband?" I held out his ring to him, and looked boldly up at him. He took a breath to reply, but it was drowned out by his own laughter. He fell to the ground in front of me and pulled me into a tight embrace. I winced at my still aching wounds, but I didn't care about the pain of the past anymore. I hugged him back with all of my strength. After a minute of quiet bliss. We stood. Chrom riffled around in his pocket and removed a small velvet box.

"Found this in my tent…" He delicately opened the small box to reveal an equally delicate ring. Sitting atop an unadorned thin, silver band was a deep purple gem. Surrounding it was the delicate swirls of more elegant silver. Small gleaming white diamonds encircled the gem in a larger circle. The whole design of the ring gave the idea I was looking at a miniature sunflower made of silver and gems.

"Oh Chrom," I breathed, "It's lovely,"

Chrom smiled broadly, "I thought you would like it." Chrom took my hand and slipped the ring onto my finger. He then shot me a questioning glance.

"Is this alright, it being out in the open? I kind of got the idea we weren't hiding this anymore." Chrom gazed at the ring perched upon my left hand.

"It's exactly where it belongs."

If you're curious about the look of Ophelia's ring, I found it through Google. Here's the link.

/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/erstwhile_jewelry_vintage_engagement_

Thanks for reading. :D

I do not own Fire Emblem.