A warm laugh erupts from Robin the moment they part their kiss, the cheering crowd nothing but a distant roar as she stares into Frederick's warm, glowing, chestnut eyes filled with pure joy, only seeing her in the flurry of their surroundings.
The churchyard was full of people, nobles and commoners alike, the public and the heroes of the last Plegian War, rubbing shoulders to see the happily wedded couple leave for the reception. It was the first of such ceremonies amongst the veterans, as it was planned since before the end of the conflict, even as a much smaller event. Happenstance made it into the event it became.
They walk over to the regal carriage that was to take them to the castle, where the reception would be held. It was a dark brown, polished with a wooden shine of lacquer, pulled by a purebred white horse, which was decorated with flowers and a plum crown.
To her surprise, he kisses her again hand on the back of her head, dipping her in the slightest, tongue slipping through her lips, bodies flush together as officially husband and wife, finally. The crowd gathered there cheers ever loudly, in warm celebration, as the couple stands as the symbol of the good times that will certainly follow.
A few seconds later, Robin holding the bouquet tight, both lost to the kiss, they part, bright grins on their faces. Frederick's hand lingers on her cheek, their world spinning only for each other.
Nothing else matters, Robin thinks, drawing her fingers down the back of his sharp blue robes.
"I believe it is time we head to our reception." Frederick says, finger tracing her jawline before he parts away, placing a hand on door so he can open it for her.
The bride smiles. "Eager for the food, are we?"
He smirks, taking her hand as she steps up, full skirt blowing in the wind.
"That, yes…" He tightens his grip and they lock eyes. "And the sneaking out part."
Robin cannot help but shiver. She thought about that too often to count in the past month. She, then, squeezes his hand back, nearly tripping on the ballgown skirt of her wedding dress. One hand catches herself on the doorframe, bouquet nearly in her nose, and Frederick attempts to steady her while pushing down the sides to her dress, it blowing in his face. She turns and nearly laughs at her husband's attempts to help her up.
"Robin, your dress is trying to suffocate me!" Frederick gasps, pushing the material from off his face.
"You shall live, milord." She says, one of her feet finally encountering the carriage bottom. "Maribelle did it just fine, and you will find a way, too."
"As the very woman has repeatedly pointed out, it has been long established that Maribelle does everything perfect." He mumbles, frustrated with the crinoline.
A determined look on his face, Frederick smooths down the tulle as a man possessed in his desperate battle to get her in the carriage until finally, Robin is able to get up and in, flopping on the cushion, skirt taking up most of the luxurious space. Frederick pops in a second later, cheeks a bright pink.
"That should pose a challenge when we try to consummate our marriage tonight, as you may have presumed by now." The brunet says with such seriousness that his wife wonders whether or not he is joking.
Regardless, the knight-captain sits next to her with no hesitation, his arm slipping around her waist, no space between them. Not after what happened in the final hour of their union for all to see.
Together, they exhale. Finally. Alone. Together. Married.
As the carriage moves, the crowd drowned out, everything still peaceful. It hits, all at once. Everything sinking into the deepest crevice of her bones. She tightens her hold on the delicate bouquet again, inhaling sharply, visions of the all too recent abduction flashing before her eyes mixed with the moments before at the altar, where they were always supposed to be.
The fighting may be mostly over, but Emmeryn was still dead, Chrom was still reeling with the effects of the war, and the scars still remain. While they did not lose any close friend or ally to death, they did not mourn any loss to their ranks, they still felt helplessness and defeat. Frederick most of all.
The rush of memories and ideas were confusing and exhausting, especially for someone who, like her, knew not a world, a life, other than this one. She fought a war. Emmeryn was just gone. She married Frederick. She could have died. And…
Robin releases the bouquet and interlocks her hand with his, holding tight, the weight of everything pressing down. She should be over the moon, and, on a level, she is, of course, but nothing should have attempted to keep her tethered. She could have died. Or Frederick….
She turns to him with glossy eyes only to find that he is already looking at her with the same expression, the weight of their world shared between the two.
"We are here now, Robin." He whispers, voice thick. "We…"
"I know." She breathes, stroking his cheek, then trailing her fingers to his jaw, the soft pricks of stubble soothing her. He is real. He is here. "It is past us."
"Can we talk about it?" He asks, suddenly.
"Frederick, I…" She begins to deny him, but stops, his expression serious, hold on her never tighter.
What did he think during it? She could only think of him and….
Robin nods.
Frederick smiles, albeit sadly, and speaks, tone soft and gentle.
"One moment I thought I would see you down the aisle soon and the next… I thought I was going to lose you." He says, voice cracking.
Robin frowns, leaning more against him.
"And then suddenly…" The knight breathes out. "We are husband and wife."
They both smile at those words.
"Frederick…" Robin measures her words. "We had it under control, I had it under control. You were never going to lose me."
"No, no, you do not understand." He says, bringing her hand to his lips, kissing each fingertip.
She observes, seeing the pain in his eyes, his face, emotion in every brush of his lip against her hand, holding it tighter by the last finger, meeting her eyes.
"I… I was not there for you, Robin. I could not be there to protect you. I swore an oath to protect you and the Royal Family, and when it came down to it, you had to hold down the castle by yourself. You and Emmeryn stood in danger alone, and she had to pay the price for it. Do you know how badly I wanted to charge out of that room and get to you? To do as I swore, to always protect you? Chrom and Lissa had to hold me back. I wanted nothing more than to punch them so they would let me go, but I was not able to."
He pauses, drawing a shaky breath.
"I was petrified that… That right before I could officially have you, have us, as the gods intended it to be… That the world would take you from me forever, that I would fail to guard what is most dear to me. I would not be there to try and keep you safe.
"I… Robin… I thought I was going to lose you. Once I heard that you were under attack and I was not there… I thought I had already lost you."
Tears well in both of their eyes during his confession, his truth, his reality for those torturous few weeks, in the carriage containing everything they need to say.
"Frederick…" The bride breathes out, gathering strength and her thoughts.
She wipes away his tears and then kisses him, stopping to only touch their foreheads against one another.
"I only thought of you. Of our future." Robin confesses, their eyes fixated on each other's. "It might not be the right thing to do, and for that I will always repent, but the entire time I held Emmeryn's defence, my priority was keeping myself alive, not her. However, I cannot make myself regret this decision.
"That night, the only thing I could think about was how nothing was going to stop me from walking down that aisle to everything we deserve, fought for, dreamed, and earned. That my love for you would not be cut short by an insane man with delusions of grandeur and megalomania. That nothing would stop us then, when we were so close to the finishing line for our happy ending.
"Besides…" She smirks with all the levity she can muster. "I am the sodding strategist. They would never get me unless I wanted them to."
Frederick chuckles as he brushes her cheek, eyes falling to her chest covered with the intricate lace. Then, he frowns, pulling back, eyes focusing on the exposed skin there. She cocks an eyebrow.
"Bold of you to look at my chest like…" She stops when he takes his thumb and traces a line under her collarbone.
"I think I should be angrier or betrayed by your revelation, but the truth is… I value my duty and I love them, but if it came down to any of them or you, I am not sure who I would choose to protect." He breathed out. "They still hurt you, though."
Robin sighs, enveloping his hand into hers, pressing it over her beating heart, not the ugly scar, not the memory of their ordeals. "Yet, I am still here. Alive. War hero. Your wife."
Frederick perks up at the word and brushes hair off her face, hand falling to her exposed neck, hair swept to the other side. "That you are."
"We are finally here. We are finally married. This is our happy ending." She declares with conviction. "Nothing can tear us apart now. Nothing, Frederick. I promise."
They smile, the heaviness lifting from her body, soul light.
"I promise, too, milady." He says and her heart flutters, Frederick softly laughing at the sudden rapid beating under his hand. "Nothing can ruin this day for us, and nothing will, for the rest of our lives."
There is nothing left to say. So, Robin and Frederick say, "I love you," at the same time, before locking themselves in a heated kiss, hoping to convey what could not be said. His large hand was held steady over her beating heart, rings glinting in the sunlight that peaks through the windows of the carriage.
Robin puts put every ounce of love and comfort into their kiss, a kiss deeper than any before, even more than as their first kiss as husband and wife, because in here, they can be themselves. Open. Honest. Completely, wildly in love and in each other's arms, where they utterly belong.
Nothing more can try and tear them apart. The danger is over, the fear passed. Never again, Robin thinks as they step out of the carriage together, hand in hand, a new challenge it was to help her out with the large crinoline without ripping the fabric or kicking down the door. Nothing more could try and pull them apart, to mar the beginning of the rest of their lives, not when they're husband and wife.
Finally.