(A/N: This is a slightly modified oneshot I wrote describing how they got Robin to move on; it mentions things said in the original Mini Shepherds and Prelude to the Mini Shepherds, with a sentence or two from Robin's Past. While this chapter will have a good deal of character backstory, it's also really long so you don't have to read this one if you don't want to.)
He knew the second she said "It won't break me, I promise" that he could recognize the lie. That day spent with the Shepherds felt…hollow. Every laugh and smile didn't seem to quite reach everyone; Chrom wondered throughout all of it if he should leave the others and stay with Robin. Her reaction when she was told that Lucina had left was nothing like this, because Lucina had at least told Chrom prior to her departure that she wanted to leave. Morgan, meanwhile, gave no such warning—he had even said that he would stay to help raise the children, keeping them company while their parents worked. Chrom tried to make it up to Robin when he came home and the hours after, but she continued to put on a brave face and lie. It was frustrating for him, and the situation caused more stress than it should have.
Lissa agreed that while Robin had reason to mourn, she could have chosen a better way to do it. The siblings worked together to try to pull Robin away from her sorrow and making sure that the harm to the kids was minimal. They could only truly do the latter, with Lissa stepping in where she could to relieve the loneliness. It seemed, after a few years, that Robin had finally moved past her state of mourning—but Chrom could read her better than most. He knew his wife well, and he has for several years now; he knew what bothered her, what pleased her, and what meant the most to her. She was afraid of forgetting—afraid of losing her family in any way. He knew that she would fight and die if it meant her children could avoid the horrors of war for even a single day longer. But her current fight—the battle between reality and hope that raged on for years—could very well be the death of all of them.
Chrom and Lissa devised a plan; eight years after Morgan's disappearance, they found a way to put it into action. The kind and gentle route had failed since that first day; they would have to make her realize exactly what she's doing, even if they both know that it will be hard for everyone. The date and time was planned, and everyone was instructed to stay outside and 'enjoy the nice spring air' while Chrom and Lissa discussed a 'serious topic.' The only two people who had yet to be informed were Morgan and Robin, whom Chrom had waited for last.
The mother and son themselves were in the tactics room, as evidenced by their voices in the hallway. Morgan's birthday would be in a few weeks; then, he'll be ten years old. Robin had began passing on her expertise in strategy about two years prior, where it was apart of his regular schooling. Chrom approached the room and knocked on the door. From within, he could hear Morgan exclaim "Person!" while Robin said "Come in! It's just me and Morgan."
Chrom opened the door, not quite stepping in. First looking to his son, he smiled. "When your mother finishes up, Noire's outside in the garden."
"Okay!" Morgan replied. He then looked at Robin, fearlessly asking, "When will we be done? She's probably been waiting for a little while."
"We can finish up for the day," Robin said kindly. "I'll leave this out so you can practice more with it. Make sure you finish your other work, too!" Morgan was already half-running out of the room with a passing thanks and a wave. Robin watched him go, waiting until he left to say, "I don't remember Lucina or Owain being this…energetic when they were his age."
"They had more ways to tire themselves out," Chrom replied. "Owain had his friends and Lucina had training; Morgan only has a handful of agemates at the castle and friends that visit once a month." He gestured for her to follow him. "Regardless, Lissa and I wanted to talk with you. Are you free?"
"You know my schedule, Chrom," Robin said simply. She stood up, moving the pieces she had been using so they were in two lines on opposite sides of the table. "It's not going to be a pleasant conversation, is it? I noticed that everyone that lives in the castle has gone outside."
"It's an issue you know well, love," Chrom said. "Whether or not you want to listen, hopefully this will be the last time you'll need to hear of it."
"Where are we meeting?" Robin asked.
"You can stay right here, if you'd like," Chrom replied.
Robin sighed. "Give me a few minutes. I'll be ready by the time you get Lissa and come back."
Chrom nodded and left. Lissa was in the dining hall as agreed, and together they went back to the tactics room. Robin had drawn the curtains closed, sitting on one side of the table in the new darkness. Chrom sat across from her, while Lissa continued to stand with her arms crossed.
"We can't be delicate about this anymore," Lissa began firmly. "I get it; you're sad. You lost one of your sons unexpectedly—so did I. Little Owain wasn't born when I lost my future son. Did I take special care of the baby when he came? Yes, I did—but I let him grow up like a normal kid. I gave him enough freedom that he grew, and I really wish his counterpart was here too, but I can't change that. You did that for your first kid."
Robin remained silent, still, and unwilling to listen. So deep in her mourning, she couldn't see that they were trying to help. For all her brilliance, she was a fool. Chrom sighed, then said the speech he had been planning for a long time. "This is hard for both of us—all of us—but you're making it more difficult than it needs to be. The children barely see you; there are many things I can't put into words, and Lucina and Morgan need you to explain that for them. Even if you found out where he was, then what? You can't force him back—you might not even be able to ask for him to come back."
"What if he's in trouble?" Robin asked, trying to hide her desperation to cling to what she's been believing for eight years. She didn't want it to have been in vain; Chrom knew that she was aware of the harm she caused, and she wished to justify it. She could recognize it was a fruitless search, yet knowing what damage she's already done she continued in hopes that she could rectify it somehow.
"If he's been in trouble this long, he's probably dead or on his way there," Lissa pointed out coldly. "He left on his own will—there's no proof against it. Every guard on duty that night confirmed that he left alone, and Henry told us he wasn't with anyone else. 'He can come and go as he pleases;' sound familiar?" She walked over to the curtains and opened them again, with Robin watching her carefully. "Look out the window, Robin. Tell us what you see, and how you think what you've been doing affected that."
Robin obeyed the first command, but not the second. She and Chrom both stood up, which led to Lissa on Robin's left side and Chrom on her right. She stared right into the courtyard, where all of the castle staff and children were. Lucina trained with the older staff boys with Frederick as an overseer, while Morgan ran after Noire and Owain attracted odd looks from his theatrics. Morgan happened to look up at the window, stopped running, and waved before continuing to run; in response to this, Robin's own gaze shifted downward and she closed the curtain again.
Chrom had hoped that what they've already said would be enough, but Robin continued to stare at her own feet in silence. Lissa looked at Chrom, gave him a sad nod, and he carried on with a sigh. "We've come to a conclusion." Robin finally looked up at him, although her expression was blank. "As I said before, no matter how this ends, you won't have to bear any such conversations anymore. You've likely guessed by now what I meant." She nodded, and he continued, "We'll give you the rest of the week to decide; your family here or your lost son. If you chose the latter, you can take a few guards with you and go to the second castle or wherever your search takes you for however long it takes. Should that come to pass, Lucina and Morgan will stay here with me, and I'll hire someone to continue Morgan's tactic studies. You'll be able to wholly focus on what you lost eight years ago."
"We still love you," Lissa said kindly, "But this seems like the best thing to do. If you leave, everyone here will be fine—us, Frederick, and your guards will be the only ones who know what you're doing. Your kids will be okay without a mom; they've already dealt with having a replacement for years. We'll make sure they don't worry."
Robin's only response was to turn away, walking to the door. Without looking back at them, she said, "Is that it, then?"
"You'll never need to hear the topic again," Chrom said. Robin left, and Chrom honestly wouldn't be surprised if she planned on packing now—he and Lissa had assumed as much. She seemed to have already considered it, but they hoped that if she left, she'll either find the answers she wants quicker than if she were multitasking or realize that she needs to stay in the present. Chrom knew it would be hard on the kids—especially Morgan, as the one closest to her—if Robin left, but it was the quickest way to end this so they could get back to just being a family again.
That evening, Robin didn't come for dinner; that night, she slept in a guest room. Chrom didn't enjoy the feeling of not being able to help, but he couldn't further influence her decision, he couldn't offer meager advice, and he couldn't comfort her. Over fourteen years of marriage, and countless hours fighting side by side—who would have guessed that just one person caused all this? Eight of those fourteen years were spent in this state of pain and sorrow. Chrom was sad about Morgan's disappearance too, but at the same time…would it be heartless to say that he knew Morgan was gone, in one way or another? That brought him peace, but it wasn't enough for Robin. It was never enough for Robin…
Chrom fell asleep shortly after dinner and woke up hours before sunrise. He had heard the door opening, and he had at first thought it was one of the children—but he heard no "Father" or "Dad." Instead, he heard a drawer opening, the rustling of papers, and someone pulling the curtains closed so the moonlight didn't reach him. He quickly determined that it was Robin, and decided even quicker that he wouldn't fall back asleep. He promptly got out of bed and went on a quiet search for his wife. He walked past all the rooms and heard nothing, walked down the hallways and saw no one, until he walked into the library and by Robin's office. Upon hearing tearing paper and quiet sobbing, he knew who it was and he couldn't ignore her.
He knocked on the door, but his reply was even quieter sniffling. "Go back to bed," Robin said from the other side, hiding her emotions fairly well—but as per usual, it didn't fool him. "I'm…busy and tired. It can wait until the morning."
"I won't take that as an answer," Chrom replied firmly. "I won't talk with you if you don't wish to talk; just let me stay with you for a little while."
"A-all right…" Robin said, her emotionless façade quickly falling. "You can come in."
"Thank you," Chrom said. He came inside the room, closed the door behind him, and simply sat down at the chair. Robin was ripping out pages of a book and tearing them into pieces or crumbling them up into balls, flinching at the sound and throwing certain pieces on the floor. One fell near Chrom, and he picked it up.
"Chrom—" Robin began quickly, but by the time she finished he had already opened it and was reading its contents. All he could read was 'Mother had made the traditional breakfast that tasted…dead. Plain. Robin felt like Mother had been avoiding her; they barely spoke and whe,' then it cut off. He looked at her and opened his mouth, but Robin stood up and was slowly walking towards him. "Don't say a word. I know what you'll say—'But Robin! You were proud of this! You worked for days on this!' It's just a damn book, Chrom; it's the same damn book with the same damn information that made Morgan leave. He left for that imaginary figure, even though we both know she doesn't exist!" She took the paper from him, ripping it into two pieces. Quieter, she said, "Lie to me just this once, love. Do I even deserve to be here? We fought hard, and we've built so much…but all of this is me—my mistakes, my past, my problems, my son."
"I won't lie," Chrom said. He stood so he could put a hand on her shoulder. "To some people, you shouldn't have been let into the army to begin with; but to others, our family included, we couldn't live without you. I said that I wanted Lucina to grow up with all of her family, and the only one we're missing is you. We can't bring our daughter and son back; where they are I do not know, but I know that they're where they want to be. That gives me peace—and if it could give you peace, too, then we can move on from this."
"Isn't it too late for that now?" Robin asked silently. "It's been nearly eight years…"
"Better late than never," Chrom replied simply.
Robin only looked at him, then started picking up the papers. "I'll think about it." Chrom helped her clean everything up, then parted ways for the night. On the last day of the week, she took the day off and rested. At dinner that night, she apologized to all of them and made a new promise—that she would do her best to make up for lost time.
Once all the children left, she smiled at the rest of them. "I haven't given up on Morgan yet; but I've finally convinced myself of what I need to focus on. Chrom, Lissa, I just…thank you. I'd have left if not for you."
The promise carried through. She discussed birthday presents for the children; Morgan was so surprised when she told him with a smile that he'd finally be able to train alongside his sister and cousin on his tenth birthday. Robin taught him magic, while Chrom taught him the basics of swordplay with Lucina giving helpful tips. The road to recovery won't be short, but its progress is steady.