"What's going on here?" Roy said, frowning as he stepped between Robin's heated glare.
Immediately, Robin's glare turned to him. "You're close friends with Zelda, aren't you?" he said. "Tell her that she's wrong."
On the other side, Zelda's gentle face creased into a frown. "I know what I know. Some times there is no other way."
"That's nonsense. If you truly are as wise as you claim, then you can always find another way!" Robin snapped.
"And what if there isn't?"
"There always is! You can never accept defeat." Growling, Robin stormed over to Zelda, anger in his eyes. Zelda stared him down without fear.
"Guys," Roy said, peeling Robin away before he could get close.
That was a mistake. Robin snapped to him, and he scowled. "You know she's wrong! Tell her!"
Zelda did not reply, but the look she briefly sent his way, calm and burning with cold fire, was enough to have him shrink away from her. The anger wasn't at him–at least, he hoped so–but still, Roy couldn't find it in himself to side against her either. Of course, that was leaving out the fact that–
"I don't even know what you're talking about!"
That got Robin to shut up. He glanced at Zelda, then back at Roy. Slowly, he composed himself, straightened his coat, and cleared his throat.
"Zelda here," he said, leveling a finger at her, "thinks that there is nothing wrong with sacrificing your friends to win a battle."
Zelda sighed. "I never said such a thing. You misunderstand."
"Oh, I think I understand plenty."
"Robin, please!" Roy shot Robin a pleading look, one that asked him to wait. Roy knew Robin could do it. Patience was something that man had plenty of. Robin met it and turned up his nose, but he did not speak.
"Now, Zelda." Roy turned to Zelda and motioned for her to speak.
Surely this was all a misunderstanding. Surely, nothing Robin had said was true, and that he truly had misunderstood what Zelda said. He could be full of himself, and he could hear what he wanted to hear instead of what was truly said.
Zelda spoke slowly, clearly, her lips carefully molding each word to sound exactly how she wanted it to sound. "Robin asked me what I would do if I had to choose between sending a group of men to die as a diversion, or using the army at its full force to take on the enemy. I simply said that, if it ever comes to it, there may be a time where you must send someone to their death for the greater good."
Roy blinked. His gaze traveled to Robin, and in his head, he replayed Zelda's words. He opened his mouth, then looked back at Zelda.
After a moment, he said, "I'm sorry?"
Zelda's brows creased further. Immediately, Roy knew he had done something wrong. He winced, but from the way her gaze softened, she didn't look like she was about to berate him for it.
"Sometimes, lives must be sacrificed for the greater good. It is an ugly truth, but one that cannot be undermined."
Roy let the words roll over in his head. He examined it carefully, then looked up at Zelda. Her face was still set in a frown. Neither asking, nor dissuading him, but completely neutral. Roy didn't know what to make of that.
"I'm sorry, Zelda," he said, tearing his gaze away from her, "but I'm going to have to take Robin's side. No leader can send their men away, knowing full well that they would die. There always is another way."
"That's what I'm saying!" Robin said, and he threw his hands in the air. "No one would follow a leader who would send their subjects to die. How can they trust someone like that to keep them safe?"
Roy glanced to Zelda to see what she would say. Zelda, however, did not seem eager to speak. Her diamond blue eyes inched away from Roy's and into the ground, and something flickered in them, before she finally mumbled, "It's not about keeping them safe."
"Then what is it about, hm?" Robin pushed himself into Zelda's face, scowling. "If a leader cannot keep their people safe, then why should they lead? What is to keep them from deciding that your hands aren't fit to keep their lives and overthrowing you?"
"Because that is not a leader's duty," Zelda said. "A leader's duty is to make sure their country prospers, first and foremost. The safety of her people comes below that."
"And how can your kingdom prosper if your people do not feel safe in your hands? What is the point if they will always keep in mind how you betrayed their trust, and that lingering fear is always in their mind that, someday, you may stab them in the back for the 'greater good'?"
"Then what is to stop them from overthrowing you if your country does not prosper? Even if they cannot trust you, a prosperous country would keep them much too busy to take action."
"I think we're getting distracted from the main point," Roy said. "We were simply speaking about what we could do in a hypothetical war situation, right?" He looked to Zelda, and, looking her in the eyes, in his most earnest tone of voice, he said, "I understand that, perhaps sacrificing a few to guarantee victory is the tactic that will have the least loss of life, but how can you choose who gets to die, and who gets to live? That is a choice I cannot, and will not make. Even if the other option poses much more risk, even if there is a higher chance that more men will die, I will stop at nothing to find that small chance that I can bring them all out alive."
"And if there is no chance for everyone to survive? If your decision guarantees a loss?"
Roy frowned. He looked to the side and thought hard about it, before he replied, "Then I will make sure that it is a loss everyone can walk away from."
Zelda stared at him, her blue eyes shining a light into his soul. Roy watched, waiting to see what she would say.
Finally, a sigh escaped her lips. Her smile returned to face, and Roy let out a breath he hadn't known he was holding. "I suppose that is a better answer than I could ever give," she said.
Roy shook his head. "That's not true! Everyone has their own opinions. There is nothing wrong with having your own opinions."
"Not if it involves other people's lives," Robin huffed, and he crossed his arms. "Could you call it a matter of an opinion if it ends up with someone dead?"
Zelda opened her mouth to reply. Roy stepped in before she could. "I mean, not then, but we're just talking about a hypothetical situation, isn't that right?" he said, turning to Zelda.
Zelda's mouth slowly closed, and she smiled again. "Yes, that is true. Everything spoken here is simply hypothetical. Simply because we speak it does not mean we will make the decision as thoughtlessly, were we to be confronted by it."
"I suppose not."
"Besides," Roy said with a laugh, "I'm sure that Zelda would never do that in real life. She would never sacrifice lives so callously if given the choice."
Behind him, Zelda's voice began to trail off. "I–I mean–"
"She is just as human as the rest of us, and no one would truly make the choice to let someone die, no matter how logically. She is a wise leader. She knows the value of human life just as much as you do, Robin, and if it ever came down to it, she would hesitate to make such a cruel decision."
Robin looked over to Zelda and narrowed his eyes. Roy followed his gaze, but his gaze was a lot more encouraging. He nodded for Zelda to speak.
"I mean, that's not–that is to say, I wouldn't... I wouldn't be so sure," she said, and for a moment, Roy could have sworn that she looked away.
"What if those people were your close friends, Zelda?" he prompted her further. "Would you sacrifice them, even if it meant victory?"
"It is... certainly a choice I could make," she said, slowly.
"But?"
"But it would pain me greatly to make it."
"See!" Roy glanced back to Robin and smiled. "She's not nearly as bad as you think!"
Still, Robin did not look convinced. Leaning forward, he eyed her suspiciously, before, to Roy's surprise, he turned that gaze to him. "And what if she had replied differently? What would you say?"
"I–um..." Roy raised his hands defensively and backed away. He glanced to Zelda for help, but she seemed to be distracted by something else. He would be on his own here.
He glanced back to Robin's scrutinizing gaze. He glanced back at the other Fire Emblem fighters, who had been standing in silence the entire time, not stepping in, but still keeping their eyes on him regardless. Chrom and Marth looked reserved about stepping in, but Ike looked ready to stop them if anything happened.
Before, Roy might have been intimidated by their gazes. But someone had to stand up for Zelda. She was his friend, and something had to be said. "If she replied any differently, I would still stand by her side. Her opinions are her own, and I shall respect that."
"No matter how horrible that decision might be?"
Roy nodded. "It is not the right decision, that I can agree with, but she is still my friend."
"But what if she–"
"Okay, I think this is starting to get repetitive," Chrom said, finally stepping in. "Don't be a stubborn mule, Robin. We have better things to do."
Without so much as giving Robin a glance, he grabbed Robin by the elbow and dragged him away. The rest of the Fire Emblem fighters followed suit, save for Marth. As they left, Chrom shot Roy an apologetic smile over his shoulder. Ike, too, stopped to give Roy an affirmative nod, before disappearing further into the mall.
That left him, Marth, and Zelda. Nervously, Roy glanced at Marth, wondering if he'd done anything wrong. Marth appeared to consider his words for a second, before he looked Roy in the eye, and said, "You've changed, Roy."
Roy blinked. "I have?"
"You seem a lot less nervous. Happier. Brighter."
"Oh. Thank you." Roy ducked his head under the praise and looked away.
Marth glanced over to Zelda next. "I've heard you've done much good for the mall since you two have met?"
"Yes. She has been teaching me how I can help around the mall."
"A noble cause." Marth bowed his head. "I apologize for how Robin was acting. He seems to have been agitated lately, and needed to take it out on someone. You were simply the first person he happened upon. I hope you can find it in yourself to forgive him, Miss Zelda."
"It is fine," Zelda said, sighing. "There was no harm done. I am not one to hold petty grudges."
"That's a relief to hear." Briefly, Marth glanced between the two of them, before his smile widened. "There is no cause more noble than defending a friend. Roy, if you can keep that in mind, I have no doubt that you will go far as the ruler of your kingdom."
"Oh. Thanks, I suppose," Roy said. Marth nodded one more time, before he turned away and walked over to join the rest of the Fire Emblem fighters.
As soon as Marth was out of sight, Roy's shoulders slumped. He turned to Zelda, doing his best to keep a smile on his face, but even he could tell it was a weak one.
"So, would you like to return to lunch?" he said sheepishly.
"Huh?" Zelda blinked and looked over at him, as if just realizing he was still there. "Oh. Yes, I suppose so," she said, shrugging a shopping bag over her shoulder.
Roy tried to hide how happy that made him feel. He was sure that he he hadn't been to successful, from how his cheeks ached, and when he took her hand, it was all he could do not to try to run away with it.
Took a few weeks off to work on a few other writing projects. Safe to say, it's thrown my entire schedule for a loop.
We're almost at the midpoint, baby! Already, I've exceeded the chapter count of my previous ship fic, so I consider that a... I don't know if I'd call that a win, because that means I'm not making progress as quickly as I'd like to, but even if it's slow progress, I'll get it done eventually.
Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up my writing and finish a chapter on time, for once. I'll do my best to get the next update out by next Tuesday. Until then, take care of yourselves out there, and stay safe!
