Reader's advisory notice: This fic assumes that the reader is aware of the events that occur in Fire Emblem Awakening. Those unaware may find themselves confused.

"What... H-how... Ahh..."

The Valmese commander sighed his last words as he faded away, splayed out aside his horse on the deck of his ship, his death marking the end of the first battle in this newly-started war. Robin breathed a sigh of relief as he stowed his tome, glad to be done with it for now. His present comrades did so as well, but Chrom looked solemn.

"This battle is over, but victory's come with a price..." said Chrom, still looking down at the body of the enemy commander.

"Yeah. The town looks to be in shambles." said Robin, casting his gaze off the side of the ship at Port Ferox. Wreckage, pillars of smoke, bodies, and blood were plainly visible. "And considering how much trouble this force gave us..."

"Then the price may be higher down the shore," Chrom finished. "We will need to meet with the khans and hear from them exactly how high. Robin, would you go below deck and try to find anything of use?"

"On it. If you see them, send Gaius and Cordelia my way to lend a hand." Robin walked to the nearest door, pushed it open, and went inside.

Around an hour later, Robin exited the ship's cabin holding the meager paper findings in his hand. Cordelia and Gaius did show up, but their help turned out to be not entirely necessary. The only documents to be found in the ship were in the captain's cabin, and they were all basic orders that had no deeper meaning; all they had were plans for this force to land and establish a warfront for the rest of the invading army to start from, and there were no hints as to what that army's plans may have been. Furthermore, it seemed every occupant on the ship was a combatant, as it was entirely deserted.

Without much to go on, Robin thought back to the only experience he had fighting this new enemy: the battle they just won. They were certainly formidable. Their nigh-unstoppable cavalry, their nigh-immovable armor, their coordination and discipline... Robin needed to thank who ever designed and crafted his grandmaster's armor, he wasn't sure he would have made it through the battle as well as he did without it.

As Robin made to disembark and find where the meeting was taking place, his eyes caught the body of a fallen enemy soldier. He recognized this man; Robin took him down personally with an arcthunder, and the armor was scorched where he was struck. His face was frozen in a grim scowl of pain. Seeing it made Robin think back to his first battle, the one in Southtown right after he was found by Chrom. Much like how it is now, Robin found one of the fallen brigand's with an expression nearly mirroring this soldier's. And just like then, Robin did not regret that he had to kill this man; rather, he regretted that they ever had cause to fight.

Someone, somewhere, failed this man. When wars start, it is invariably the failure of the leadership of one side, the other, or both. It was Robin's belief that it is a leader's duty to ensure that all whom they lead are prosperous and safe. No one is safe or prosperous while they fight in a war.

War, however, was inevitable as long as selfish greed sat within peoples' hearts. And so it was the duty of men and women like Chrom, Robin, and the khans even, to bring these tyrants to heed.

Robin disembarked the ship.

Thanks to some helpful directions, Robin found his way to the strategy tent. It was one of the only three tents that were erected; there wasn't much of a point for personal tents while there was a functional if damaged town nearby. He walked pass the mess tent and some of his friends all winding down after their well-earned victory, and as he did they often called out with a greeting or a woop victory. Robin returned those with as much dignity as he could.

When Robin reached and entered the strategy tent, he saw that Chrom, Sumia, and Frederick were already there. Sumia and Chrom sat at the table next to each other, one of her hands intertwining his on the table, while Chrom's other hand fiddled with Falchion's hilt. Chrom's gaze was to the table, but his mind was clearly somewhere else. Frederick was standing with his arms behind his back and waiting patiently, like always. They looked up when Robin walked in.

"Hey guys," Robin greeted. They all gave their own greeting. Robin held up the papers, "This is all I found on the ship, but there isn't much here."

"Did you get healed?" Sumia asked. Robin hesitated for a moment.

"I'm sorry?"

"After that hit, did you get healed?"

"Oh, you mean before we went onto the ship?" Sumia nodded impatiently. "Yeah, I got it healed before I got on, and afterwards I didn't get hit." Sumia looked only slightly relieved.

"That's good..." She gave a little huff. "Sorry to pester you about it, but..." she trailed off. Chrom looked to her with a reassuring smile and a squeeze of her hand. "... I walked past the healing tent on the way here and seeing it made me realize how serious this is... It's been so long since we've had to fight in a real war..."

"Not long enough," said Chrom.

"... And I don't want to lose any friends."

"Trust me, Sumia, I am in full agreement. No one wants to lose a friend. I'll make sure everyone is taken care of," said Robin as he sat down on the other end of the table, still holding onto the papers.

"Even yourself?" asked Frederick.

"Yes, even myself," Robin said, trying not to roll his eyes. "Anyways, yeah, these papers were all that was on the ship." He held them up.

"That's all?" Chrom asked. There were barely over twenty papers in Robin's hand. "Well... does it give you any ideas?"

"None yet. I'm trying to think of anything that could give us an edge, but I need time." Time they may not have.

"I know you'll think of something," said Chrom with another smile, "You always do."

"Robin," Frederick started, sliding some papers that were in the middle towards him, "These are the reports for the battle. Perhaps you should familiarize yourself with them while we wait for the khans?"

Robin agreed that was a good idea, and set the papers he found down. He pulled the reports to him and got to reading. He only skimmed the provisionary report; since there was a full-blown war at hand, they had free reign to dip into the halidom's resources.

"I see you're not wearing your armor, Robin." said Chrom. Robin realized Chrom was still wearing his.

"I dropped it off for inspection on the way here."

"How did they work?"

"Oh amazingly. It felt like the perfect balance between protection and mobility, and it didn't inhibit my magic."

"I'll be sure to tell the designers back home. You certainly looked impressive wearing it."

"I felt impressive." Robin looked up, "I could say the same for you, might I add." With the silvery armor, shining blade in his right hand and golden shield in his left, "You looked every bit the righteous king."

"I must agree with Robin, honey," said Sumia. Robin tuned out their undoubtedly mushy-talk so he could focus on the injury reports.

Several names were listed under minor. These were things like cuts and bruises that were barely worth using a staff on.

A few were under moderate. These were the kinds of injuries that needed attention as soon as possible, as leaving them put the victim at risk.

One was listed under major: Lon'qu, but the lack of further details indicated that he would be fine. People listed here needed healing as soon as possible, and had a mandatory visit to the healing station after battle. Robin smirked at the lone note: Patient very frustrated. Made sense, it felt like the enemy forces were designed to spite myrmidons and swordmasters.

Thankfully, no one was listed under severe. Anyone here would put out of commission for however long it took them to recover. Robin put the reports aside just as Chrom asked him a question.

"How do you think Cherche performed?" Robin leaned back in his chair as he thought.

"She's a skilled fighter for sure," he said after a pause. "She followed orders quickly and efficiently... Honestly, on the combat front, I say she's a natural fit. Having a wyvern rider would be useful. Has she asked you to join yet?" Chrom nodded. "Then unless someone objects, my decision is to welcome her."

"No one's objected, and Virion even gave a glowing recommendation," said Chrom.

"I'm surprised you're not objecting at all, Robin," said Sumia. "I'd thought you would be more hesitant about a wyvern rider."

"I'm long over that fear, Sumia."

"Good to hear," Chrom said hastily, "Would you conduct the interview, like normal?"

"Yep, as soon as we're done here. Actually," Robin turned toward Frederick, "I was going to have you do the spar, Frederick."

When Robin first stumbled his way into the Shepherds, Frederick started with using lances. Since then, the lance was well and firmly established within the mounted units of the Shepherds, and so Frederick thought it prudent to branch out and bring some variety. Thus, he picked up the axe.

"Gladly," said Frederick.

The tent fell silent. Robin went back to thinking on how to gain an edge over the Valmese.

If their full invading force makes landfall, we lose. We simply don't have the manpower to fight them all... Maybe if they invaded Plegia first the sands would make them more vulnerable for us, but then we run into the lack of available manpower... Ylisse would be the worst case scenario for us to fight in; horses love open fields. Could I have recruited more enlistees for the army? Maybe if I put more into the recruitment effort, we'd have something that could challenge Valm on land... Maybe if we had our own navy, we'd be able to challenge their armada... but we don't know how big their armada is so maybe not... Hmm...

Robin's thoughts were interrupted when he heard the voice of the west khan.

"Alright, let's get this over with." And with that, Khan Basilio and Khan Flavia entered the tent.

"Sorry we took so long," said Flavia. "Someone decided to waste time drinking."

"Drinking with the men, woman!" Basilio shot back. "They fought hard today and deserve a reward!"

"Like drinking with you is a reward," said Flavia.

"Oh get off my back. I'm not the ruling khan! I'm allowed some levity!"

"Can we keep on track, you two?" said Chrom.

"Right, lad. Sorry," Basilio said. "Well, the short of it is that my army is in shambles."

"This is most troubling news," said Frederick. "Feroxi soldiers are the finest east of the long sea. If they are having trouble, we are all in trouble."

"That's not the half of it," Flavia said. "This was just the vanguard—but a taste of the meal yet to come."

"And once it arrives, their host will wash over the whole continent in a matter of weeks. There's no way we could repel them and defend our people. It would be a slaughter," Basilio said with a grim voice.

"Ylisse is no better equipped to hand an attack from the sea..." said Chrom, furrowing his brow. He looked to Robin, "Robin... any ideas?"

"Hmm... Their greatest strength is their cavalry, which puts us at a disadvantage... on land. But if we were to catch them at sea..."

"But how?" Chrom asked. "Ylisse has no warships, nor does Ferox."

"So we'd need aid from a kingdom that does," answered Basilio bluntly.

"You have some place is mind, oaf?" said Flavia.

"Perhaps a land that borders the sea," Basilio began. He turned his one-eyed gaze to Robin, "with enough wealth to fund this campaign?" Robin picked up on what he was saying.

"Plegia."

"And last thing to talk about is an update on how we are expected to conduct ourselves," said Robin, overlooking the Shepherds from his little stand. Public speaking was a lot easier when the people he was talking to all knew him. "Since we were last together, some of us went and got married." Robin waited for the light chuckling to stop. Some of the couples started holding hands. "Now, it's far from my place to get in your business like this, but I have a few requests for you.

"First, keep public displays of affection to a minimum. Hugs are fine, as well as kisses, but don't turn it into a full make-out session out in public. Save it for your tent." A few more chuckles. "Secondly, once in your tent, keep it quiet, please?" Laughter. "And try not to wear yourselves out. Everyone needs to be able to fight at a moment's notice." Wait for them to quiet... "And lastly, I know some of us are keen to get started on an adorable little family after seeing how cute little Lucina is back home, but – and this is the most important – try not to get anyone pregnant yet." Back to chuckles. Only a few of the married couples here actually had children, and Robin felt like the rest were jealous. Lissa especially looked like she was contemplating stealing one for herself despite the fact that she chose to wait.

"This is war. We need everyone ready. Sorry if that's a buzzkill. If you have any problems, take it up with the Valmese. And by 'take it up', I of course mean 'put them down'." That got them laughing again. "Right, that's everything. Get some rest; we might leave tomorrow if we get word fast enough."

The crowd dispersed, with everyone going in nearly every direction, except Cherche. She stayed where she was and watched everyone else go, trying to find a pattern. Worked for Robin. He walked up to her.

"Excuse me, Cherche."

"Oh! Yes, Robin?"

"Would you follow me? It's time to give your formal introduction to the Shepherds."

With that, Robin lead Cherche away from the town and towards the little patch of dirt they were borrowing as a practice field. Some Shepherds were there, as usual, but most of them had gone to town. Lon'qu was grouchily, yet diligently, swinging away at a dummy. Vaike and Sully were having a light spar full of their usual taunts and banter, Nowi was throwing rocks at an archery target with Donnel, Maribelle was sitting off to the side conversing with Gaius, and Frederick was waiting next to those two with a pair of training axes, just as Robin asked.

They stopped when they reached the less-occupied side. Robin cleared his throat.

"First of all, welcome aboard." He stuck his hand out and she shook it with a strong grip. Based on what he saw in the battle, he was expecting a strong grip. "I would apologize for interviewing you after a battle, but the last time I got to do this the 'correct' way was with Lon'qu over there," He nodded towards Lon'qu who was still focusing on his dummy, "so I guess this is just the way we do it now." Cherche didn't respond as she was still watching Lon'qu. Robin waited a second... "... Cherche?"

"Sorry... " she answered slowly, still looking at Lon'qu, "... But I think I recognize that person." Robin blinked.

"You... do? You've met Lon'qu before?" How? Lon'qu has always called himself Feroxian, and Cherche said herself that she's never been on this continent before.

"Met him? No. But when you said his name... something clicked."

"That's... odd." Really odd... Robin shook his head to get himself out of his thoughts. "You can try to talk with him later, but for now let's get on with the interview."

"Right. Sorry."

"Okay, back to it... First thing I would ask of you is of you would be to spar with someone. You can choose not to if you wish, but it would help me see what you are capable of and I can use that information in my strategies."

"Oh, I have no problem with a spar."

"Excellent. Normally we'd have you go ten rounds with someone with a similar skillset as you, but since you're normally mounted you will instead be going five. Your opponent will be Frederick. Like you, he fights on a mount with an axe." Robin turned to Frederick and raised his voice, "Frederick?"

Frederick made his way over to them, and greeted both with a "Milord" and a "Milady" respectively.

"The rules are simple: whoever gets a solid connection with their weapon on center mass gets a point. While we do keep score, and a winner can be declared, please don't treat this as a competition. And try not to hurt each other. We have healers ready, but training injuries waste staves."

Frederick offered Cherche an axe, which she accepted. Robin backed off and out of the way while Frederick took one step back to give adequate space for the duel.

"And... begin!"

Just as Robin predicted, Cherche took the offensive, swinging her axe with a measured force. Flying units work well as a dangerous and unpredictable threat that can swoop in from any angle that wasn't covered by the other side, whether that be through arrows, magic, or a counter aerial force. Pegasus knights liked to swoop, strike, and swoop out, while wyvern riders differed in that they could swoop in and stay in the fray. Cherche's on-foot fighting reflected the mentality of a wyvern rider: swoop in and ruin the enemy's day. To her credit, she's showing some experience as an on-foot fighter. Her guard is up, her footwork is balanced, and she's not fully committing to any swing that wasn't decisive.

Whatever Cherche's experience was, though, Frederick simply had more under his belt. Robin's seen it himself; of the mounted units in the Shepherds, Frederick was the most reliable off his horse. This was simply a dance Frederick had stepped through more than Cherche, and thus took the first two points in the spar. Cherche was learning, however, and learning well, as the second round took longer than the first, and she got to show her own adaptability by taking the third and fourth points.

The last round was an impressive back and fourth between the two combatants, one giving the other barely an inch before taking it back and making them work for it. But, inevitably, it came to and end when Frederick parried one of Cherche's strikes and brought his training axe to her neck, marking the end of the fight. Cherche conceded gracefully, and Frederick stepped back.

Robin walked up to the two and clapped his hands, rubbing them together before speaking, "Good game, you two, good game! Cherche, I must say, you showed exceptional skill. And based on what I saw, you're going to fit right in. I'm glad to have you."

"Thank you, Robin," Cherche said with a smile from between pants, worn out from the spar. "And thank you, Frederick. I feel safer with you on our side."

"You flatter me, milady," Frederick said with a bow. Robin told him that he could leave now, and he left with his usual farewell of "milord".

Robin turned to Cherche to continue with the interview, but a new voice cut him off.

"Robin!" He turned around to see Nowi running up to him. "Robin," she repeated, "why didn't you use me in the fight?! Their horses and armor would have been no match for me!"

"Nowi, I-"

"And no shenanigans!"

"Nowi, I didn't know if they had wyrmslayers or any other way of stopping you."

"Couldn't you just see that they didn't?"

"They started on their ship and I had to get us down there to fight quickly. Furthermore, I didn't want any surviving stragglers informing the rest of them that we had dragons on our side."

"But they all died! Dead people can't talk to living people! There's no way that could have happened!"

Robin was saved by Donnel having caught up, "Now now, Nowi, don't be all unreasonable on the guy." Nowi visibly calmed down.

"But Donny it was the first fight since the last war and I was so excited to get to fight alongside my friends again but instead I had to stay back and guard the convoy and it was so disappointing and-"

"Pardon me," Cherche interjected, "but... are you a manakete?"

"Sure am!" Nowi answered proudly, sticking her hands on her hips and puffing herself up, beaming with pride. "I can breathe fire and fly around and everything!'

"Well, it's more like you breathe ice..." Said Donnel.

"Same difference! Bad guys die and I'm cool!"

"Guys!" Robin cut in. "I'm trying to conduct an interview here. If you want to talk with our new friend, you're welcome to do-" he turned to Cherche, "Are they welcome?" Cherche gave a nod. "You're welcome to do so later." Donnel put an arm over Nowi's shoulders.

"You heard the man, Nowi, let's get somethin' ta eat in town."

"Oh, alright." She said as he started to lead her to town. "Think they have fish here?"

"Well, it's a port town. They gotta have somethin'!"

Robin sighed and turned back to Cherche. "Okay, so... where were we..." Robin thought through the typical script he would use.

He cleared his throat before continuing, "Now combat is all well and good, but battles make up a minority of our time. The rest is mostly getting to the battle and making sure we're all combat ready. Do you believe you have any talents or skills that would benefit an army between fights?"

"Hmm... Well, to start, I can cook. And cook well, might I add. I'm rather proud of it."

"Really?" She nodded. "That is... actually very useful. A good meal in our stomachs would keep us going for sure!"

"I'm glad to be of use," she said with a smile.

"Full disclosure, I'm really bad at cooking. So bad, in fact, that I was removed from the cook roster as soon as it was feasible."

"Heh, truly?"

"Truly. The only other Shepherd with that 'honor' would be Sully. She's right over there, actually," he nodded in Sully's direction, and the woman in question was in a weapon lock with Vaike. "The woman with the short, red hair."

Cherche looked over just in time to see Sully lean over the locked weapons and give Vaike a peck on the forehead. Vaike's smile went wider, and he broke the weapon lock and went back to the spar with renewed vigor.

"I have two questions," said Cherche.

"You're free to ask questions at any time."

"First... why isn't that man wearing a shirt?" Robin couldn't help but bark a laugh.

"When I asked him the same question, his answer was 'when you have this many muscles, shirts just slow ya down'. Figured I couldn't argue with that. And yes, he'd go bare-chested at all times if he could get away with it."

"That's... interesting." She didn't sound particularly amused. "Second question, what is it with the relationships, exactly?"

"Oh, a lot of us hooked up with each other after the last war. I think fighting alongside each other built up an iron-tough bond between us, and some people felt something deeper and took it to a new level. About half of us are married, and every one of them is to another Shepherd." Robin paused before continuing with a sheepish voice. "... I may be at fault for that with my pair-up idea. A lot of the couples are people I had working together..."

"Ahh, so you're a matchmaker as well as strategist, warrior, and mage? You're a man with many talents, Robin."

Robin waved his hands as if trying to physically fend off her accusations. "I swear it wasn't on purpose! It's just... not a coincidence that people that pair well on the battlefield tend to fare well off of it...?"

"Relax, Robin, I was only teasing," she said with a coy look on her face.

Robin knew he shouldn't let her jokes get to him like that, but he's heard enough of that accusation for a lifetime. He would rather avoid another voice in the rumors around him. "Well, in any case, we've gone off track again."

Robin was able to conclude the interview without any further interruptions. He explained the command structure, or lack thereof, the people she should talk to if she needed anything, and a last 'welcome to the family' before she was let free to do whatever.

Now Robin was left with some rare free time. There wasn't anything important for him to do until they got word from Plegia. A good book sounded nice right about now, or maybe he'll get some training in and practice controlling ignis... Except Robin's thoughts were interrupted again by a voice.

"Robin."

Robin turned to the source of it and found a lone Tharja looking at him.

"Tharja?"

"We need to talk."

Yeah, he knew this was coming. Tharja had been avoiding him since the Shepherds got together again. Robin sighed.

"I suppose we do. Right here, or somewhere else?"

"Somewhere else... please."

Robin nodded at her and she turned and lead him out to a different patch of land, away from prying eyes and ears. Tharja stopped, turned around, and... just looked at him. She was trying to hide it, but it was clear to Robin, from her shaky breath that heaved her shoulders, that she was trying to think of how to start.

But she found the words, and it started with a simple, "I'm sorry." It took him a second to respond.

"Sorry about what?" he asked in a soft tone.

She didn't answer his question yet. "You were right."

Ah. This.

"You were right," she repeated. "My love for you was nothing more than an infatuation, and for that I'm sorry. Sorry that I lead you on..." Robin tried to tell her it was alright, but she went on. "And I'm sorry for not being worthy of you." He had no idea how to respond to that. She stepped closer to him. "Robin, you are perfection. I look through you again and again, and I can't find a single flaw... so why don't I love you?" He really didn't know how to respond to that. She took another step, "The answer is clear: I'm not worthy of you. And I know I never will be." Alright, this nonsense needs to stop. Before you could do anything, though, Tharja reached forward and took one of his hands into both of hers, then dropped to one knee. "So instead, let me swear my service to you. If I'm not good enough to be your lover, I am happy to be a servan-"

"Tharja, please!" An utterly mortified Robin yelled. "Stop this madness!" Tharja went quiet and looked at him with wide eyes. "Please stand up." She did as he asked, but she looked nervous... almost frightened. "Tharja, you are not my servant. Why can't you just be my friend?"

"I... spent all that time thinking of a way to make it up to you... and this was all I could think of."

"Tharja..." Robin realized that she had not let go of his hand, so he brought them up and held both of hers with both of his. "You don't need to apologize or make anything up to me. I'm not offended or angry."

"But... I'm a fool for not loving you."

"No you're not. A lot of people don't love me."

"And they are fools."

"No, they're just people." He almost said people with standards. Robin shook his head. "Tharja... if you insist on apologizing, then the best way would to be my friend. Please, can you do that for me?"

"I... I can try..." Robin sighed.

"Just... promise me you will?" She gave that a nod. Robin spoke up again, "Would you promise me one more thing?" Another nod. "I may not be right for you," she started to object to that statement, but Robin just talked over her, "but that doesn't mean there isn't someone out there who is. Don't give up on love, okay?"

"Okay..."

"Thank you. And... if it makes you feel better... I don't mind if you... wanted to keep watching me." Her face lit up.

"Really?!"

"Really. But! No watching me sleep, or entering my tent, or taking my hair or other such things without my permission. You may watch me, but respect my privacy. Understood?"

"I understand. Let me be your comforting shadow..." She looked happy again, which Robin was glad to see. Tharja wasn't a bad person, she just had strange ideas. Robin's seen for himself, and heard from others as well, the kind heart that was within her, masked by her gloomy persona.

"If you want to look at it that way, go ahead. I'm going to practice maintaining ignis for a while. Want to watch over me? We can catch up while we do so."

Oh boy, I get to do the author's note thing!

A/N: Hello, and welcome to my fic. I only have half a real clue as to what I'm going to do with it, and I'm going forward with no schedule for it, and I may be working on momentary bouts of creative inspiration... but it's here. Headcanons and minor canon divergences ahead.