Interlude 8
Southeastern Valm. Three weeks after arrival.
The camp seemed much quieter than normal on this particular day. THe autumn sun hung in the sky, slowly delving behind the large mountains of Valm. To most, it was a normal day. The Shepherds had either stayed quietly in camp, tending with their daily chores, or otherwise relaxing, while some went to the nearest town to take advantage of the unusual silence and endulge in the recreational habits native to this foreign land. Robin was perched calmly upon a crate of weapon shipments, reading a book waiting for Nowi to return with Morgan and Nah from whatever activities they were doing. The tactician was pulled from his rousing novel by the sprightly Anna, by way of flicking the back of his ear playfully. He quickly tore himself away from the pages of his latest book and turned to meet the crimson eyes of the cheerful trickster.
"Hey, not to be rude or anything, bookworm, but I kinda need to unload these new blades here. Gotta take stock and all that. You understand, right?" she said, with her ever-present smile. Scratching the side of his head and closing the book underneath his arms, Robin hopped off the wooden crate. "Heh, forgive me, Anna. I was just too engrossed in this book." Placing the book inside of his coat pocket, Robin watched as his money-obsessed companion pried the crate open. "Would you care for some help? I need to find a way to kill some time until Nowi gets back."
"Geez, you can't afford to be away from the missus for too long, huh? I've barely seen you two apart, on AND off the battlefield! Ah well, that's love I guess." she giggled. "Do you want help or not?" Robin responded, with an embarrased smile on his face. "Ooh, someone's a little sensitive about his lovely wife, huh? But, sure. The quicker I get these babies stocked, the quicker I can sell 'em!"
The tactician and merchant made quick work of the new shipment of weapons, stuffing them into a huge burlap sack that Anna periodically carried during marches. On many occasians, Robin would offer to store the large bag in the convoy, but she refused, saying she didn't want any Shepherds with sticky fingers to get into her stock. Even so, it astounded him how someone with such a thin frame like Anna's could carry such a bloated sack that easily was double her size. Even more mind boggling was the way she could easily retrieve something from this bag with east. One would think it would take quite a while to ruffle through it to find the desired item, but she could pluck out whatever was needed with ease. He had to give her credit where credit was due; Her family truly were experts at their profession.
"Alright, that's the last of 'em. This new stock of staves and lances should keep us going in the next few fights, if I must say so." Anna gushed. She patted the large bag contently, having it replete with the weapons she managed to fit in there. At the same time, the other half of the army was returning from town.
Some of the children were clung close to their parents: Severa was skipping happily along while Frederick seemed to be carrying an unsettling amount of baggage, Morgan was carrying a stack of new books she and Nah purchased on strategies and the proper use of Dragonstones in battle, and Lucina came back carrying a small set of garments fit for an infant. Inigo, who they had met days after landing on Valm only came back with a large, reddened hand print on his face while Brady followed far behind him laughing... typical.
Anna smirked after seeing Robin practically light up at the sight of his wife again, and with a sly giggle she lightly pushed him towards her. "Go on. Go join your lady. If you stand there with googly-eyes all day you'll scare away the customers!" she teased. Returning the same smirk, Robin waved to Anna as he walked over to his family.
Upon seeing their father stride towards them, Morgan and Nah ran ahead of their mother to speak with him. Morgan spoke about the great deals the library had on books that she had to pick, and Nah whispered into Robin's ear about 'that thing' he wanted her to pick up. Nowi couldn't help but laugh at how their children swarmed around their father. It made her proud to see Nah of the two, warming up to Robin as much as she did. She was no longer the sheltered girl that she used to be when they met her back in Ylisse. After sending the girls on their way, Nowi stood still, her hands behind her back and a smile on her face as Robin approached her. With a quick motion, he sweapt Nowi off her feet and swung her around playfully before hugging her close to him. "Glad to see you were having fun with the kids." he said.
"Well, I'm glad to see the kids so happy around you!" she shot back. The two laughed gently as they stay embraced in each others arms. They looked into each others eyes for a brief moment and despite their own self control, couldn't help but close in on each other. Unconsciously, they kissed, gently staring into each others sparkling eyes. This went on for far longer than intended and even if they wanted to continue, they were cut off prematurely by an annoyed Severa passing by, sparing only one phrase, "Ugh, gag! Get a room, you two!"
Separating suddenly, the two were both pink in the face and looking away at each other, stammering for words. Frederick, still carrying the large amount of shopping bags followed behind his daughter and spared only a sympathetic chuckle. "Remember, self control you two." he said.
Robin's blush only grew until his entire face turned red. "Oh, don't look at me like that, Frederick. What about that time I caught you and Cordelia doing the same thing in the training grounds?" he said with a mocking tone.
"That may have happened, but at least we were alone." replied the knight.
"Every one of the troops, Chrom included, saw you two from the balcony. Don't you remember? Even Lissa saw it."
"You invited them..."
"My point still stands."
The armored knight attempted to make a comeback but was cut off by his daughter calling him from behind to bring in all of their purchases. Sighing roughly, he turned to his daughter and walked away, allowing Robin to have this victory. Turning back to Nowi, Robin held her hand in his. "now then, Nowi, are you in the mood for a quick flight?" he asked.
Nowi nodded her head in response but was a bit confused, seeing as Robin would easily get airsick. "But I thought you hated flying." she said.
"I don't particularly hate flying... I just get an upset stomach when I look down. In any case, if you're in for a flight, there's somewhere I'd like you and me to go for awhile." he said. Nowi pursed her lips as she contemplated what Robin wanted to do. She didn't think too long on it though, as she ran to their tent to go and retrieve her Dragonstone to find out what it was he had planned for her. She returned shortly with stone in hand and the two moved away from camp, whereupon she transformed and the two took to the skies, far away from camp.
Nowi flew smoothly through the skies as she looked downward, trying to find the location that Robin described to her. It took a bit of searching, mainly due to the unfamiliarity of the continent, but she eventually found it: A grove of trees with pink leaves as opposed to the normal green in a foreign part of Valm. Taking to the ground, she slowly descended and landed softly on the dirt road that lay between the trees. The wind from her wings and re-transformation caused the small pink petals of the oddly-colored trees to flourish around the two, almost magically.
Nowi looked around in awe at the unusual trees that surrounded them. Unlike normal trees, they did not stand straight and tall, but rather "hunched" over. But what really caught her eyes were the leaves that decorated them. Just like the peculiar statues of the trees, the leaves that hung upon them were a light shade of pink and off-white rather than the traditional orange and red that this time of the season would bring. The gentle wind that blew by caused the petals to cascade down upon the two in a beautiful and breathtaking fashion.
"Robin... They're beautiful." Nowi said, almost breathlessly, taken completely by the sight of the unfamiliar trees. She never came across something like this during her journey across the world. She reached up and caught a falling petal and admired the simple beauty of it. Something so new that she had never seen, yet so familiar in many ways. Robin plucked a small twig from a tree, which had a full blooming blossom on the end and placed it in Nowi's hair, just on her right ear. He then walked behind her and wrapped his arms around her midsection, resting his chin on her shoulders. Her long, pointed ears felt refreshingly cold on his cheek. "They're called cherry blossoms. Say'ri told me about them. They're only native to this place, her homeland."
"Wow. I never imagined something so pretty can only be in one place." she said. Gently, she let the petal go watching it swish away into the wind, and wrapped her left hand around Robin's face, running her fingers through his smooth silver hair. They stood there, in the presence of the cherry blossoms and watched the sun set low across the mountains, adding a blurry orange to the beautiful sight of the blustering pink leaves.
Robin reluctantly let go of Nowi and walked ahead of her, down the grove of trees, only to turn back with an outstretched hand. "Come with me. There's something I want to tell you, but I want it to be in the perfect place." he said. Nowi ran after him and held onto his arm, gleefully following him as the two moved at a brisk pace down the dirt road. The petals continued to flurry gently around them, almost as if they were as happy as the couple that they swirled around. Their path ended in an open part of a field, at the end of the grove, and at the center of it lay a small hill which was crowned by a large cherry blossom tree that towered high above the others. Nowi stood once again, agape at the magnificent size of the tree, marveling at the pink and orange haze that bloomed from the top of the twisted and bent, yet still tall tree. Robin walked underneath the shade of the blossoms and beckoned the Manakete with a simple hand motion. Nowi walked to her husband, a smile curling at her lips. She couldn't help but utterly enjoy herself at having this time with him, especially in such a beautiful place. She walked up to her husband underneath the large tree and looked into his sparkling brown eyes. "So, what is it that you wanted to tell me?" she asked.
"Turn around first." Robin responded. "Don't worry, this is all part of it." Humoring him, Nowi turned her back to him, her hands clasped patiently at her back. Robin reached into his coat and pulled out the item he asked Nah to get for him in the shops in town. It was a gold necklace, with an emerald cut into the shape of a perfectly smooth heart. He placed the necklace around Nowi and fastened the clip into place. The Manakete was surprised to see such a beautiful piece of jewelry. She held the heart shaped gem in her fingers and gasped at the magnificent beauty of it. It reminded her of the time Robin proposed to her. But what was the reasoning for such a gift. She turned her head to meet his eyes again for an answer. Robin knew she was a bit confused, which in turn confused him as well. If she would put a little thought into it, she would surely know why he would present her such a trinket.
"From that look, I'm guessing you're wondering why I would give you this, right?" he asked. Not waiting for her to respond, he turned her around and held her close to him, looking deep into her amethyst eyes. "Well, I gave this to you, and brought you to this beautiful place, because I wanted to tell you that I love you Nowi, with everything that i am."
Nowi reached her arms up and wrapped them around Robin's neck and stared into his eyes as well, and with a smile she asked, "Is that the only thing you wanted to say?" Robin couldn't help but chuckle a little in the way she asked her question. It seems like she figured it out. "Is there a reason to say anything else?" he teased.
"I dunno... Is there" she shot back.
A small laugh escaped Robin's lips as Nowi continued to tease him, as he did her. Even with all the matureing she had done with their time together, her childish nature surfaced from time to time, and if nothing else, it only served to make Robin love her more. Cupping her soft face in his hands, Robin leaned into Nowi and pressed his lips against hers again. Thankfully, no one was around to interrupt them this time. As he slowly pulled away, their eyes sparkled in content for each other, resulting in a needy moan from the Manakete, and despite being alone, Nowi couldn't help but blush. Continuing to hold her soft cheeks in his hands, Robin leaned in close to her ear, and whispered gently to her,
"Happy Birthday, Nowi."
A/N: Yes ladies, gentlemen and extra terrestrials, today is Nowi's birthday! This is the 'special' chapter that I was referring to a while back. And to make up for the relatively fluff-less previous chapter, this one is flufftastic. (Believe me, if I had continued writing, I would have to up the rating on this story. .3.)
This was a pretty short but sweet chapter to write up. I learned about myself today that I am more motivated to write when it involves a lot of fluff... Maybe I'll work more of it into the next chapters.
And finally, it's time to close the polls! Thank you all for voting and let's hope your favorite gal won. The winner will have their inaugural chapter written up and posted next week. Once again: Thanks for voting!