Just quickly jumping in to explain something that I probably should have in the first part of this mini arc: the timeframes that you will be seeing (e.g Two Weeks/3 Days or Three Months/3 Weeks) refer to the week/month since the arc started and the day/week into that month that a particular event may occur. Basically, think about them as being akin to timestamps on a YouTube video, with it eventually reaching two years.

Anyway, back to the story…

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-Chapter 21- Peace in the Interim Part Three-

-Six Months/2 Weeks-

-Season of Marriages Part One-

To the surprise of all the Shepherds, the very first couple to be married was one they had not expected, nor even known had even been a thing in the first place: Cordelia and Frederick. According to Lissa, who had immediately interrogated the red headed pegasus knight mere minutes after the unexpected couple had announced their engagement several weeks ago, Cordelia and the usually stoic great knight had actually secretly been a couple for several years prior. Again, according to Cordelia, the great knight had proposed completely out of the blue, his heart having almost broken when he had first seen her in such a traumatising position at the Plegian ruined capitol.

After having returned to Ylisstol, Frederick had then taken her to one side and, showing more emotion than he had ever done before, surprised Cordelia by getting down on one knee and asking for her hand in marriage. Cordelia, understandably needing a moment, had then jokingly asked where an actual ring was since Frederick had proposed without a ring at the time. The knight had then explained that, having known true fear for the first time at the thought of losing her, he had needed ask her, even if he hadn't necessarily planned to do so as sudden as he had.

Hearing that, Cordelia had burst into tears and had immediately accepted the great knight's proposal, with the loving couple deciding on tying the knot when Cordelia was fully healed. And so it was that, six months and two weeks later, they officially became husband and wife and started an avalanche of similar events amongst the Shepherds when the various couples that had formed took after their example.

The next couple to get hitched were, again a very unexpected thing, was the usually isolated Panne and the fun loving mercenary Gregor. This time though, there was also another reason for the pair to join together: the Taguel, beaming for the first time since she had joined the Shepherds, was pregnant. Gregor, equally as proud, had been the very picture of happiness when he had stood next to Panne on their wedding day.

Third in line in this season of happiness, the couple that many feared the ramifications of their union, was Donnel and Nowi. Many of the Shepherds had stared at the young villager when he had proudly announced his engagement to the daughter of perhaps the most terrifying member of the Shepherds, including Tharja, and then immediately demanded how the hell that had happened.

It was Nowi who happily explained that one day about a month after Raye and Tiki had left, when she had been feeling especially down about her father's continued absence, had come across Donnel sitting by himself in a field outside of Ylisstol and simply staring up at the sky. Naturally being curious, Nowi had asked what he was doing and when he had said that he was just enjoying the breeze on his skin and nature in general, she had smiled and asked to join him, feeling the need for some company. From there, the two younger members of the Shepherds, at least physically in Nowi's case, had started to spend more and more time together before Nowi, tackling Donnel a few weeks ago, had demanded that the villager ask her to marry her.

'Bu…but what about yer pa?' the young man had asked, understandably nervous.

Nowi had then waved away his concerns. 'Papa will totally be happy for me!' she had declared. 'Besides, he isn't here to say tell us not to!'

Privately, Donnel had thought that he would need to hide as soon as the formidable father of his soon to be wife returned, but in that moment he decided to push such thoughts out of his mind and simply enjoy the kisses that Nowi showered onto his face.

And then yelp when she began to go lower.

Only a few weeks after the villager and the manakete had been married, there was one final couple for the first two months of what would soon be known as the 'Season of Marriages'.

That couple was the Shepherds own commander and their tactician.

Seven Months/4 Weeks-

-How I proposed to your mother-

Chrom nervously looked around as he snuck into the Shepherds' mess hall, making completely sure that there was no one inside before he went in. He then casually walked over to a window and whistled just as casually. A moment later, Gaius's head appeared at the window, a disgruntled look on his face.

'Ya know Blue, if you needed a ring for Snowtop then why the hell don't you get one yourself?' he sighed as he handed the prince a small box.

'Because if I went into a jewellery store and asked to look at engagement rings, rumours would inevitable start to spread and word might even reach Robin,' Chrom replied, nodding at the former thief and thanking him. 'This way, I can still get a ring for her while not letting anything ruin the surprise.'

'How did you even manage to get the exact measurements that you needed?' Gaius asked curiously.

'Held her hand long enough and massaged her fingers so that I was able to make an educated guess,' Chrom replied smugly.

Gaius looked impressed as he said, 'Pretty devious, Blue! Enjoy it, cos that's probably the only time you'll ever have one over on our tactician!'

'Thank you Gaius, I intend to!'

With that, the two men parted ways.

()()()()()()()

As Gaius ambled around the city, he found to his surprise Yana browsing through the market. His surprise was caused by the fact that, for the first time in several months, he didn't see any sign of the cleric's future daughter.

Tapping her on the shoulder and causing her to turn around, he grinned and said, 'Yo, Bubbles, odd to see you all alone!'

'Oh, hello Sugar,' the cleric smiled, making the ginger haired man raise his eyebrow.

''Sugar'?' he smirked.

Yana blushed. 'Sorry, it's just that you gave everyone else nicknames I thought that it might have been nice for you to have one as well…'

'Ah, I see!' Gaius laughed, falling into step beside her as she resumed moving around the various stalls. 'But 'Sugar'? Too simple for such a complicated man like me, Bubbles!' He then smirked again. 'And people might get the wrong idea if you started calling me that in public!'

'Yeah well…maybe I don't care?' Yana replied teasingly, bumping her hip against Gaius to show that she was joking.

'Sure, whatever you say, Princess Bubbles!'

Yana grimaced. 'Oh Naga, please don't call me that! Bubbles is fine, but adding a princess to it just makes me feel weird!'

Gaius chuckled. 'Fine, stifle my creativity!' He then adjusted the lollipop in his mouth before continuing. 'Anyway, why ain't your daughter with you?'

'Oh, she said that she and Lucina had planned to spend some time together today,' Yana replied, shrugging. 'Since I had nothing else to do because of that I decided to see what Ylisstol has to offer other than the temple.'

'Want some company then?' Gaius asked smoothly. 'I could help you come up with a nickname for me at the same time.'

'With an offer like that, how could I refuse?' Yana laughed and, now with the sugar addicted ginger by her side, continued on her way.

()()()()()()()()()

Now that he had the engagement ring for Robin, Chrom was currently hyperventilating as he found himself trying to muster up the courage to go through with asking her to marry him.

'Come on Chrom!' he muttered to himself, opening up the small box for the third time in as many minutes and looking at the beautiful ruby encrusted ring that had a diamond as the centrepiece. 'You love her, for Naga's sake! It shouldn't be this hard!'

Snapping the box shut again, he walked forward a few paces before his knees buckled and he was forced to sit down on a nearby bench.

'You are a MAN!' he growled to himself as he sat there. 'No, you are THE man! HER man! The man that loves the fact that she loves him as her man! Wait…what?' He shook his head to clear his thoughts. 'In any case Chrom, you seriously need to get yourself together!'

As he slapped his face a couple of times to help him focus, he froze when he saw the object of his current nervousness appear. Robin had her head buried in the pages of book and so didn't notice the fact that her prince was watching her make her way across the courtyard.

Nor did she notice the fact that she was walking straight towards a bench, only moving on autopilot with the aid of the confines of the corridors. Without the guiding lines of said corridors, the tactician, before Chrom could let out a shout of warning, inevitable tripped over the bench and was sent sprawling onto her chest on the grass behind it.

'Ow…Naga's tits that hurts!' Chrom heard the tactician hiss as she sat up.

'Are you alright?' the prince asked in concern as he rushed over and helped her to her feet.

'Chrom? Were you here for that?' Robin asked after brushing herself off and looking narrowly at the prince. 'If you were why didn't you say anything?'

'Er…I was entranced by your beauty?' Chrom replied weakly.

Robin shook her head in amusement. 'Easy, big boy; don't forget that we're currently in public!'

'So? We've already announced the fact that we're together months ago!' Chrom teased, relieved that his love was unhurt.

'Fair point,' Robin admitted before winding her arms around the prince's neck and standing on the tips of her toes so that she could gently kiss the prince on the mouth.

Briefly returning the kiss, Chrom then pulled away and cleared his throat.

'Actually Robin, it's a good thing that you're here…' he said, suddenly nervous again as he realised that this could possibly be the best chance he had to achieve his objective. 'I, ah, needed to ask you about something…'

'Oh?' the tactician asked, frowning and tilting her head in curiosity. 'You better not be about to ask me to do more paperwork! If you are, let me make it clear that you will be sleeping alone tonight; I'm already swamped enough as it is!'

Chrom put up his hands in assurance. 'No, nothing like that I promise! In fact, you may very well enjoy this!'

'Alright…so what is it?' Robin prodded impatiently after Chrom had been silent for several minutes following his statement.

'Er…I…well, that is to say…' Chrom stammered, his courage quickly draining away as he looked into the beautiful brown eyes of the woman he loved with all his heart. 'I…I…' Scrambling for the right words to say, he unintentionally blurted out, 'I am, like, SUPER aroused right now!'

Robin's eyebrows shot upwards and she carefully studied the prince, even as he cringed away from her judging eyes.

'Er…is that so?' she asked slowly, her eyes reflexively flicking down and looking briefly at Chrom's crotch. 'Well…I can't say that it hasn't been a while since we last had sex, but I don't think that Emmeryn or the council would appreciate it if we ended up making love in quite a public area like this one.'

As if to emphasis her point, and much to Chrom's horror, Lucina and Sahria appeared then, giggling and whispering to each other. When the two girls saw the prince and his tactician lover, they stopped short.

'Oh, mother…father…I did not expect to see you here,' Lucina commented, blushing slightly as she quickly let go of the manakete's hand that the two older Shepherds hadn't noticed she had been holding. 'We were just…making our way to the library…'

'Yep, I need her to help me found out some stuff about divine dragons and such,' Sahria put in, smoothly covering for the awkwardness that Lucina was trying to hide. 'You know, since we now have three of them currently part of the Shepherds.' The manakete then cocked her head at the embarrassed look that Chrom was also exhibiting. 'Anyway, what's going on here?'

'Nothing, Chrom was just telling me an amusing joke,' Robin quickly replied.

This was, however, apparently the wrong thing to say, judging by the interested look that the energetic manakete now gained.

'Ooo, I love a good joke!' Sahria said eagerly. 'Care to share?'

Chrom put a hand to his face and groaned. 'No, sorry, it was more of an ADULT joke…probably shouldn't share it with you because of that.'

'Aw, come on Uncle Chrom!' Sahria whined pleadingly. 'Me and Lucina are practically adults now anyway!'

'What have I told you about calling me 'Uncle',' Chrom grimaced. 'And no; I still won't tell you what it was, no matter how many times you ask!'

Sahria pouted and grabbed Lucina's hand. 'Fine! Guess Lucina and I will have to make our own adult fun!'

Lucina's cheeks blazed red and Sahria clapped her free hand to her mouth when she realized what she had just said.

'Oh Naga, I didn't mean it like that!' the manakete cried in mortification, glancing at the bluenette beside her apologetically.

Shaking her head, Lucina sighed. 'I know what you meant, Sahria.'

Blowing her hair away from her face in embarrassment, Sahria quickly led the way as the two future children left the two adult Shepherds to their own devices. Robin giggled as she watched them leave before turning back to face Chrom.

'You know, as weird as it sounds I kind of hope that those two become close,' she commented.

Chrom frowned. 'Hmm…I'm still unsure how I feel about the possibility of those two getting together. Even though they weren't born at the same time in their respective timelines, it still doesn't change the fact that they're related.'

'Oh, don't be such a party pooper, Chrom,' Robin replied, rolling her eyes. 'Personally, I don't really have a problem with it, though that's mainly because they're both girls. If one of them had been a boy, on the other hand…that might have made me pause.'

'Fair point…at least this way there's no risk of them having any children of their own,' Chrom grudgingly admitted. 'Still though, it's the fact that they ARE both girls that some people might disagree with.'

'And I would say to any that have that opinion that they can go shove it!' Robin replied firmly. 'For one thing, it's not their business who those two choose to be with, even considering their royal status which can I remind you the general populace do not even know about yet! For another, love can take form in many strange and beautiful ways!' Here, the tactician drew Chrom close and kissed him to prove her point. 'I mean, if someone had told me that I, an amnesiac girl found on the side of the road and who is possibly from their county's most bitter enemy, would eventually both sleep with and fall in love with a prince…I would have laughed at them.'

Robin then looked lovingly up at the man who, against all odds, had captured her heart many times over since their first encounter, despite the various awkward moments they had both initiated. 'But look at me now; in said prince's arms and seriously considering granting his rather odd request at a little roll around in a very public courtyard!'

Chrom then blushed when he felt the tactician teasingly rub her chest against his, but calmed himself down and, very reluctantly, pushed her away and held her at arm's length.

'Chrom…?' Robin asked, confusion on her face as she stared into the prince's eyes. She then froze when Chrom, after taking a deep breath, slowly got down one knee. 'C…Chrom…what are you doing…?'

She didn't dare breath, a sudden fierce hope rendering the tactician mute, as she waited with bated anticipation for Chrom to say the words that she had been longing to hear him utter ever since she had helped organise Cordelia's wedding weeks ago.

Clearing his throat, his hear thudding in his chest, Chrom looked up at Robin, admiring the way her long white hair seemed to shimmer in the sunlight and how it fell almost gracefully over her shoulders. So entranced was the prince by the sight that he knelt there, silent and awestruck, for several minutes, through which Robin's own heart thudded impatiently.

Eventually, Chrom managed to regain enough of himself to finally start the lead up to the most important question of his life.

'Robin…from the moment that I met you, I've felt this strange bond between us, that seemed to draw me to you even before I was aware that I was in love with you,' Chrom said, making sure that his words were clear and precise so that Robin would not mistake any of his words. 'That bond grew, not even needing that first night we spent together, and has only increased ever since we've now found out that Lucina our daughter from the future…' He smiled now. 'OUR daughter; a living, breathing legacy of the love that has blossomed between us to create something truly special!' As he spoke, the prince reached for the pouch on his belt where he had stowed the box with Robin's engagement ring inside. 'As such, I wish for our minds and hearts to be as one…and so, with that in mind…' Opening the box, Chrom showed the now tearful tactician the ring that it held within. 'Robin, love of my life, will you marry m…'

Chrom grunted when Robin, unable to contain herself any longer, threw herself onto him and hugged him so fiercely that he nearly dropped the ring.

'YES! Naga, my answer is YES!' the tactician sobbed happily and, grasping the prince's face between her hands, planted a deep, passionate kiss on Chrom's lips.

After she had released him, leaving him feeling slightly dazed, Chrom cleared his throat.

W…well then, guess I'd better put this on you…!' he stammered, happiness now beginning to overtake him even as he took the ring from its box and, carefully, slid the piece of jewellery onto the trembling finger of the woman he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

It was a perfect fit…

()()()()()()()()

That night, many a blushing guard awkwardly passed the room of their prince during their night time patrol. Their awkwardness stemmed from the fact that every guard that passed by that door that night could quite clearly hear the sounds of a woman in complete, overriding ecstasy, accompanied by the grunts of a man who was invoking the name of their deity several times over as he urged her on.

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A shortish chapter this time, focussing mainly on the first few marriages of this fic.

Hopefully, you will enjoy the pairings that I ended up making, some of which I had to think about for a while before ultimately putting them together.

And yes, I made Cordelia never really have a crush on Chrom this time, instead having her be in a secret relationship with his right hand man instead. I further indicated this by having her get married first, and not after Chrom got married. This is to show that she is in no way going to obsess over her game counterpart's crush, nor that the man she ended up with is playing second string to the prince.

There will be two more chapters after this one before I finally get to the Valm arc. The next one will focus on the second lot of marriages, Tharja pining for Raye and the reaction Chrom has when he discovers that Robin is pregnant.

The final chapter of this mini arc will then focus on Raye and Tiki as the two manaketes are the first of the Shepherds to encounter the wrath of Walhart: spoilers, the Conqueror will be the first real and potentially lethal challenge for Raye, since Walhart has naturally heard about the presence of several manaketes in Ylisse's numbers and has prepared appropriately.

Ciao for now!