The night after the ambush, the Shepherds camped on the side of the road. The day's travel had brought them into the northeastern part of the Ylissean territory, where pine trees were beginning to appear mixed among trees of the deciduous forest. A light rain had begun falling on their party when they had emerged from Breakneck Pass, pursuing them all day and soaking them to their core. The gray, rainy atmosphere mirrored the gloomy demeanor of the Shepherds.

Arthur took a seat, dropping himself heavily onto a mossy rock. Robin had pulled Chrom aside into the nearby forest – Arthur overheard a hushed conversation.

"We should bury Vaike here," said Robin.

"On the side of the road?" said Chrom, incredulous. "He should be buried in Ylisstol. That's his home."

"Do we look like we're in Ylisstol right now?!" snapped Robin. Arthur had never heard her speak in such a hostile way to one of the Shepherds, least of all Chrom. "The city is days away," she continued. "And we have a mission in the opposite direction, Chrom. We have to bury him here, before he starts to stink. Is that how you want the Shepherds remembering him? As a stinking corpse in the back of a wagon?"

"No," said Chrom, voice frustrated.

"Then it's settled," said Robin. "We bury him here. We'll find a nice spot, say a few words, and lay him to rest. I'm not trying to be heartless Chrom. It's our only choice."

Chrom voiced no objection.

The Shepherds found a clearing fifty or so feet off the side of the road. Several deer had been resting in the clearing – they ran deeper into the forest as they approached. The Shepherds realized they hadn't brought any shovels in their convoy – Panne, however, was a natural burrower. Transforming, she dug a six-foot hole in no time at all. They lowered Vaike into the hole, laid his axe on his chest, and wrapped his hands around it. Chrom began speaking about Vaike, describing his life. As he did so, Arthur noticed movement in the corner of his eye. Robin had been standing next to Arthur – now she was slipping quietly away. He turned and saw her back to the gathered Shepherds as she walked quickly into the woods. Arthur cast a glance back at the small funeral, hesitating for a moment, before following Robin into the woods. Vaike would want us to live for the living.

Not wanting to shout out and make noise which would disrupt the nearby funeral, Arthur followed Robin silently for a few minutes. After getting far enough away from the other Shepherds, he decided to jog to catch up with her. The noise must have alerted Robin to his presence – she wiped a hand against her face and sniffed loudly before turning to face Arthur. Her eyes were red.

"Robin?" said Arthur. She must have been crying. "Are you… alright?" Stupid question, Arthur. Obviously she's not alright. Vaike is dead.

"Why wouldn't I be?" said Robin, blinking rapidly.

"What do you mean?" said Arthur, confused. "Vaike is dead – weren't you just crying?"

"Crying?" said Robin. "I wasn't crying. It's just allergies, because of the forest." Even as she made the excuse, Arthur could see she had teardrops in her eyes and she was taking long, deep breaths – clearly trying to restrain tears.

"Oh," said Arthur, letting the lie pass. "Okay." A moment of silence passed.

"I let him die, Arthur," said Robin finally. "He put his life in my hands and I let him die." The tears were flowing now, rolling silently down her cheeks.

Arthur closed the distance between them in a moment, wrapping his arms around her, holding her as tightly as he could. "No," he told her forcefully. "It's not your fault. How could anyone have known?"

"Knowing is my job!" shouted Robin, voice muffled as her face was pressed into the cloth of Arthur's shirt. Her voice quieted, shaking. "And all I can think now is how long until this happens with the rest of the Shepherds." She drew in a long, wet sniffle. "How long… until it happens with you?"

Arthur didn't know what to say. There wasn't anything to say. He could tell Robin that he would never die, that no more Shepherds would die. They would both know it was a lie. He opted for the truth. "I'm here now, Robin," he said. And you didn't let Vaike die. I did. I should have been able to stop time and save him, but I couldn't. I didn't. He remembered the words Dialga had spoken to him earlier that day. "Even with powers like ours, Robin… we can't save everyone."

"No," she said softly. "I could have saved him if I were stronger. If I were smarter. I knew that the hierarch was up to something. I figured it out before he reached Emmeryn. But I didn't think fast enough to save Vaike. I need to be more powerful, Arthur. If I want to protect the people I care about, I need to be better."

"Robin…" said Arthur. What can I say? "I've thought the same thing. Robin, you didn't let Vaike die – I did."

"You?" said Robin. "You aren't the tactician, Arthur. You aren't responsible for your fellow soldiers."

"Maybe not," said Arthur. "But I had the power to save him. You saw it."

"Your… teleportation?" asked Robin.

"It wasn't teleportation," explained Arthur. "I paused time. By accident. When I saw that you were about to die. I paused it for you, but I couldn't for Vaike. Just like you, I had the power to save him, but I wasn't quick enough."

"No…" said Robin. "You can't blame yourself for that."

"And you can?" said Arthur.

"Well that's…" said Robin, struggling to articulate the difference. "I…"

"You're what?" he said, not giving her time to reason her way into further guilt. "You're different? You have more obligations? You're holding yourself to an impossible standard, Robin! You're asking yourself to be perfect!"

"My family dies if I'm not perfect!" she shouted back, still sobbing into his chest. Luckily, it had already been soaked by the rain. "I have to be better."

He pulled her in front of him so he could look into her eyes. They were red, puffy, but most of all they were pained. It burned Arthur to see her in so much pain. "Robin, I swear… if you could see you the way I see you, you'd never ask yourself to be better again."

She looked at him, red eyes lighting with curiosity. "How do you see me?" she asked him "How would you describe me?"

That… is a curveball. What? Weren't we talking about Vaike? "To who… like...my dad?" he asked.

"Sure," she said.

"Okay," he said, indulging her. "Well… you're… er, Robin is…a good friend. She's… frighteningly smart… frighteningly beautiful…frighteningly strong. Strong in every way, but… not infinitely strong. And there's nothing I want more than to have her lean on me. And... when I see her face cracking behind the mask, it just makes me want to reach out and hold her and tell her it's all going to be okay, even if it isn't. When she feels pain, I feel pain. When she's happy, I'm happy."

"Oh," she said, processing what he had said. "And…how do you feel about her?"

No hesitation.

"I love her," said Arthur.

What? Arthur screamed at himself internally. WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK JUST CAME OUT OF YOUR FUCKING MOUTH, ARTHUR?! TOO SOON. TOO FUCKING SOON YOU MORON, what do you want to scare her away? FUCK. FUCK FUCK FUCK. FUUUUUUUUUUUCK. OKAY. Okay. Okay, coool, coooooool down. Calm. We're calm. Okay, what is she doing?

Robin backed up, out of his arms. "You love me?" she asked, as though confirming.

"Uh… yeah," Arthur said, rubbing the back of his head.

"Arthur…" she looked down, rubbing her temple. She breathed heavily, drawing in breath methodically for a moment. Then she looked up, and Arthur knew that he had said the wrong thing. "I'm sorry…"

Oh. Suddenly Arthur understood why they called it heartbreak. It was in his chest. The feeling – it was a pain, really. He had never felt anything like it. Oh. Now Arthur backed up a few steps. He wanted to hold her – he wanted to run away from her. And she was still talking.

"I'm just… not… I don't… I can't…can't…or… I don't…" she was stammering, tripping over the same few words. Robin breathed heavily, sucking in air. She put a hand on her stomach, taking a few calming breaths before she composed herself.

"Arthur, I need you to leave," she said, face hard.

"What?" said Arthur.

"The Shepherds," she said. "I need you to leave the Shepherds."

"What?!" he said again, unable to wrap his mind around the change in the conversation.

"We're going north to Regna Ferox," she said. "I need you to go south and destroy Hierarch Cain's rebellion. Sumia will take you."

"Why?" he finally choked out.

"I don't love you," she said. "I was just using you. All I wanted was comfort – I had nightmares, and I thought sleeping with you would help. It did, so I kept doing it. If it ever seemed like I was emotionally attached to you, you should know that I wasn't. I just wanted to secure that you would sleep with me, so I pretended to be sexually attracted to you, which is the most efficient way to cultivate extreme loyalty. It was a tactic. But now that that tactic has backfired on me, I have decided to deploy a new tactic. You and Sumia will go south and destroy the hierarch, and you will get over your love. Consider me an ally in your mission Arthur. Nothing more."

Arthur kneeled. It felt like the air had left his lungs. What?

Robin walked past him, pausing for a moment to put a hand on his shoulder. It sent a shiver through him. She paused, as though about to say something, then decided against it. The wet crunch of her footsteps against the leaf-strewn ground receded as she walked away, leaving Arthur alone, kneeling, in the forest.

END OF PART I

(Author's Note: Enough said.

Song: False Alarm - The Weeknd)