The cold winter winds were chilling Robin to his bones. In the light of the Mila Tree and the heat of the Demon's Ingle, winter didn't seem like so much of a problem. Now that they had no magical enchantments or lava surrounding them, they could really feel the late November weather.

"Brr, it's cold!" Lissa was shivering beside him, despite her heavy coat. Robin promptly wrapped his own coat around them both.

"Really? Is that why we're wearing our heavy winter gear?" She gave him a light punch, but still accepted the cloak.

"Ha-ha. It seems like my lessons in the art of hilarity have not helped you."

"Well, they helped a bit. I mean, I can tolerate your pranks now."

"Aw, you two are so cute!" Morgan skipped up to them, cheerful as ever. "All cuddled up together! It's absolutely adorable!"

"Yeah, I suppose he is cute… even when he's a jerk."

"Hey!"

"What? I said you were cute!"

"Well, I guess I can't be mad at that." Robin pulled Lissa in closer. "Plus, I'm not the only adorable one."

"Thanks, Dad!" Robin and Lissa rolled their eyes. This touching family moment was interrupted by the roars of a wyvern overhead. The three looked up to see Cherche flying overhead, heading towards the front of the party. They were headed to the Divine Dragon grounds in order to give Tiki her full power, with a detour along the way. Cherche and Minerva wanted to see the wyvern's birthplace in Wyvern Valley, and nobody wanted to deny a firebreathing beast and its engaged rider. Robin smiled as his gaze turned towards the landscape before them. Bridges stretched across the deep chasms between isolated pieces of land, each one covered in wyverns. Massive rocks and outcroppings dotted what little terrain there was, making perfect perches for the firebreathers. Over in the distance, a group of wyverns were surrounding… something. The sight made Robin's brow furrow. In his extensive research on wyverns trying to find a mate for Minerva, Robin had learned that wyverns weren't the most social of creatures, so a gathering of so many was a very disconcerting sight. Cherche had noticed too, as was evidenced by her approaching of Chrom. After a few brief words, Chrom drew Falchion.

"It seems this won't be as relaxing as we had hoped; bandits have invaded the valley! Robin, we'll need a strategy." Chrom looked to his tactician.

"I'll need some information first. Sumia, Cynthia; you mind scouting out for me?"

"Right. Come on, Cynthia."

"Whoo! Mother-daughter time!" The two took off into the sky, flying high enough that they wouldn't be spotted.

"Cherche, I'd like to know as much as I can before they get back. Care to indulge?"

"Gladly." Cherche began to give Robin, and the eavesdropping Morgan, every little bit of information about the valley that she knew. By the time Sumia and Cynthia returned, Robin had both a plan and a bit too much wyvern knowledge.

It was a bit more than Robin had expected. True, they were in the Wyvern Valley, but Robin hadn't expected the bandits to be riding the wyverns. Admittedly, the creatures didn't seem too keen on staying with the insufferable men that had forcefully tamed them, but they were still on the enemy side. To make matters worse, Cherche demanded that they not hurt the wyverns. So, instead of being able to assault the enormous lizardy target, every single Shepherd had to aim for the smaller man riding it. It was at points like this Robin wondered how he managed to put up with these people. Due to these restrictions, Robin found himself surrounded by enormous wyverns, both them and their riders staring him down. This looked like another unwinnable situation. Everyone else was off fighting the other bandits, and Link, the one closest to him, didn't want to hurt people.

"Nowhere to run, lad!" The one Robin assumed was the leader leaned forward, axe in hand and grin on his face. "Yer out 'o weapons, out 'o friends and out 'o luck!"

"Weapons and luck is true, but I'm never out of friends."

"Har har har! Don't matter now, 'cause you're out 'o life!" He brought his axe down, and Robin closed his eyes. He waited for the inevitable pain of steel meeting shoulder, but it never came. He waited a few seconds more, just to make sure he wasn't mistaken. When there was still no pain, he cautiously opened an eye. The axe was hovering just above his face, but there was a difference to it; it was hanging limp. There was no life left in the arm that held it, so it was merely hanging in front of the tactician, propped up on the wyvern's back, who still hadn't realized that its rider had passed on. Protruding from the leader's back was a steel axe, and attached to that axe was a very strange sight. It was a masked man, dressed all in black armour, brown hair flying out behind him, a very old yet familiar wyvern beneath him.

"Move." His gruff voice barely reached Robin as he removed his axe, startling the enslaved wyvern into action. Seeing the opportunity, Robin rolled away from the bandits and towards his dropped weapons. With one swift motion, he swept up his sword and tome, managing to send a small fireball into the midst of the enemy wyvern riders. It shocked them back to reality, and the fight continued. Without a word, the masked man's axe went to work alongside Robin's sword and occasional fireball. The wyvern rider and tactician managed to be a whirlwind force, quickly cutting down the opposition. With the man's help, the battle was over in a matter of minutes. Robin, out of breath, turned and smiled at the mysterious man.

"Thanks. That was… incredible." He said between pants.

"..."

"Something wrong? Wyvern got your tongue?"

"No."

"Okay…" Robin was all too thankful when Chrom walked up to them, Shepherds in tow.

"Robin!"

"Hey, Chrom! The plan worked, then?"

"It did! The innocents can go home with only mental damage."

"That's… good?"

"Guess I could have worded that better." Chrom noticed the man behind Robin for the first time. "Robin, who's this?"

"Oh! This is… um…"

"Gerome."

"Gerome! He helped take down those bandits. You should have seen his skill! It's a shame he didn't come along sooner."

"Really?" Chrom gave the man a quick once-over, before coming to the conclusion that he usually did. "Maybe he should join the Shepherds? If he's willing."

"I cannot."

"And why is that?"

"I only came here to release my wyvern, as she is getting old and homesick. Other than that, I wish to remain alone."

"That's a shame, but I can't force you into anything. Although, I'm sure that our own wyvern rider would like to have a word with you."

"Your own rider?"

"Yes, a woman by the name of Cherche. She has quite a thing for the creatures."

"Ch-Cherche?!" The change in his demeanor was subtle, but it changed nonetheless.

"Yes. It seems you've at least heard of her. I'll go get her."

"U-um…" It was too late. Chrom had already gone to find the woman in question. Robin stood, pondering what just happened. The mention of Cherche had quite the effect on Gerome, who still seemed to be reeling. Robin was about to come to the conclusion that any reader of this story already has when his thoughts were interrupted by someone tapping on his shoulder. Link was standing just behind him, holding a piece of parchment.

"Hm? What's this?" He took it, slowly reading the simple yet horrible words.

The wyverns are a threat to the Conqueror's plan, and must be eliminated!

I am offering 1000 gold for every wyvern killed!

Bring their heads to me as proof of victory.

Glory to the Conqueror!

-Excellus

Robin turned to Link, beginning to crumple up the paper. As if knowing what he was going to ask, Link pointed towards the body of a nearby bandit. So, Excellus is to blame for this. The scum. He tricked us into killing Yen'fay, and now he's going after innocent wyverns?! When I next see him, I'm gonna-

Robin's morbid thought was interrupted by an exclamation. Apparently, Cherche had managed to come up and talk to Gerome without Robin's noticing. Maybe it was the fact that Minerva was at Frederick's side as opposed to hers.

"You mean you're…!"

"Yes. I am your son, from the future."

"No wonder you're so skilled."

"Yes, you and father were excellent teachers." The faintest of smiles spread across Gerome's face.

"Well, then you must come with us."

"I ca-"

"No arguments. You're coming with us, and you're going to help stop this war. Try to weasel out of it, and you're grounded." Gerome merely stared, unable to speak. It seems that Cherche's motherly instincts had already kicked in. "Now come on. Your father would be thrilled to speak with you." She grabbed Gerome and, apparently, future Minerva and set off to find Frederick. Just off to the side, Robin could hear a somewhat taunting voice.

"Hey, Lucy, look! It's Gerome."

"Sh-shush, Cynthia." Robin could only smile.

"This has been a crazy day." Robin was lying down on his and Lissa's bedroll, his wife comfortably in his arms. "Stopping a raid on a valley of wyverns, meeting Cherche and Frederick's future child, finding out that Lucina may have a crush on him..." Lissa's head shot up at the mention of a crush, eyes wide and smiling. "...Probably shouldn't have said that. And discovering that the most energetic of our members just so happen to be part of their own team called the 'Justice Cabal', or whatever Owain called it."

"Yeah, I suppose it has been quite a day. Morgan and I didn't even get to see a baby wyvern." She made the best pouty face possible. "Still," her face went to one of pondering, "I wonder how many other kids are out there."

"Good point. Thinking about it, we only really know that one child is born in this timeline."

"Two." Lissa was barely audible.

"What?"

"Two." It was a bit louder this time.

"Two? Who could be pregnant? Sully doesn't look any different, Maribelle isn't married, Cherche was too surprised by Gerome to be, Panne doesn't… seem… wait…" Robin's eyes widened. "Do you mean…?"

Lissa nodded, a smile stretching across her face. "Took you long enough."

"Lissa, that's incredible! How long?!"

"A week."

"A week? Then… the Mila Tree?" Lissa's blush was all the answer he needed. "We're going to be parents! This is amazing!"

"I know! I can't wait until Chrom finds out! He'll be ecstatic!"

"You know that both him and I won't want you on the battlefield anymore, right?"

"Sorry, but you're not stopping me. I'm gonna fight alongside you until it actually shows."

"I know there's no changing your mind."

"True."

"But you have to promise to be more careful than usual."

"Yeah, okay."

"Well," Robin gave her a kiss on the forehead, "goodnight, dear." That got him a hit on the chest. She didn't like being called 'dear'.

"Goodnight, jerk." Robin sighed with a slight chuckle and closed his eyes. He was soon asleep, dreaming of what the future could hold.

A/N: There you have it! Another child joins the group! This chapter actually had several different versions, but this one just seemed to flow better. I may implement some of those ideas later. Anyway, as always, if you have any questions, concerns or suggestions, feel free to review or PM me. It's always nice to hear from somebody else!