Here's the next chapter of Never Forget! This delves a bit more into Robin and Henry's past, along with some of her own past. Sorry if the paragraphs are a little jumbled at times, I'm writing this on my smart phone and every beginning of spoken text starts a new paragraph because it all looks so much longer on it (it also doesn't have a word count or anything, so I can't really tell length until I put it in a word document on my computer). Nonetheless, I really hope you enjoy this chapter! Read and Review!
Her past was one she wished she both had, and had never, forgotten. The battle with the Risen had been won with minimal damage to the Shepherds, 'Marth' had revealed herself to be Lucina from the future and everyone really just needed a break to digest all this new information and the knowledge of several more future children that had come back with her but had been separated.
Robin was organizing her tactics books on the small shelf within her tent, she always had a set amount and would switch any newly bought books with those she had already finished reading. It was a task that was so common that she didn't need to focus on it at all, leaving the task one she used to help sort out her thoughts or come up with new strategies to write down and show Chrom later.
"Robin." The call of her name from outside the tent was sudden, the voice easy to recognize.
"Come in Chrom." Her voice was barely loud enough to hear outside, but she didn't bother to look up from her work...his voice wasn't panicked, after all.
"At your bookshelf again?" Chrom sounded amused, perhaps because it reminded him of the reason he'd gotten the waist high book storage; having found her frequently reorganizing the library books within the Ylissian castle.
"It helps me organize my thoughts." The black eyed teenager reminded her best friend, her voice was louder when it was just the two of them...when she didn't feel like she had to hide.
"That's a funny way to think. Nya ha ha." The cloaked girl froze, even her breathing had stopped...she may have only heard the laugh for the first time a short while ago, but it still caused this sort of terrified response.
"You need to figure out where we put him." The blue eyed man sounded apologetic, likely due to seeing her response to the laugh.
"O-oh...um, r-right..." The orange haired girl agreed, standing and walking over to the small table in her tent...she opened the book atop it, it had a plain cover of pale yellow, no title to be seen.
"L-let's see..." She murmured, flipping through the pages...it had tent arrangements, both from the old war and the current, now that so many people had married and left few to have tent-mates.
"...R-Ricken?" The young mage had been spending a surprising amount of time around Virion's old vessel, Cherche, but they had yet to get to the point of love...meaning he may very well be the only unmarried male beyond the one she was trying to find a place for. The pigtailed teen herself likely would have been sharing a tent with the wyvern rider, if not for her books and the aforementioned beast...besides, she would spend long nights awake reading tactic books, and the last thing anyone needed was a tired and irritated creature who could breathe fire.
"Ricken i-is...the o-only boy without a t-tent-mate." The statement was soft, and from the tilt of his head Henry was too far away to hear it, despite being a single step behind the blue haired man.
"Ricken? ...Alright Robin, I'll introduce them. You figure out his battle partner in the meantime." He got a quick nod in response, and lead the dark mage from the tent.
The tent's occupant took a deep breath and returned to her earlier task, allowing her mind to focus fully on where to put the new Shepherds member.
¬NF¬
It had been a few hours since Robin had seen her best friend and the new member, Miriel having come and recounted what had happened during the previous fight...now, however, it was the middle of the night and she was certain she'd die tonight.
"Robin..." Within the darkness covering most of the tactician's tent stood Henry, only the tips of his hair and around his closed eyes visible in the flickering candle light from her desk.
"A-away.." Terror wracked her body as she stepped back, her mind failing to register that she was currently confined in here with him. He took a step as well, and now all she could see was his lips curved into a frown.
"Please, stop..." The usually high voice was quiet, sounding...sad. "There's no one here now, so please stop acting like that." Another step closer, only for her to back away the same distance...and her back hit the bar holding the back of her tent up.
"N-no!" The black haired girl cried out, trying to make the other leave her alone...he froze before another step revealed his face to her. His eyes were open fully, but the minimal light wasn't enough to tell their colour.
"Stop this Robin! You know who I am!" The white haired boy sounding like he was...begging? His expression looked pained as well.
"I-I think you h-have the w-wrong person..." A fearful murmur.
"No I don't! Long orange hair ALWAYS tied into pigtails, black eyes and the ability to use both swords and magic; but you almost never actually use your sword and prefer fire magic above all else." The description was spot on, causing widened eyes in response.
"I...do k-know you..." It was hard to believe she had anything to do with someone so unstable, but something within her said it wasn't a lie...and he knew too much for it to be a lie anyway.
"Of course you do!" The dark mage insisted. "You're my best friend Robin...I was eight when we met, and you were eleven...we traveled together until four years ago."
"...What h-happened four years a-ago?" The pigtailed girl asked, pulling away from the tent wall...the time frame would mean she has left him shortly before Chrom found her. Perhaps the most important question was why she had left him; maybe sick of the bloodthirsty attitude, or the dark and pun filled sense of humour became too much to bare. It was possible that he knew why she had remembered the Ylissian prince's name even after losing her memory! The question made him look down, the eyes almost looking closed again, but the frown only got sadder.
"I don't know." The robed boy admitted. "You just...disappeared one day. I was hoping you could tell ME that." A frown off her own appeared, wishing she could give him an answer.
"I d-don't know e-either." The cloaked girl stated, causing the amused expression of only one eye slightly open. "Chrom found me u-unconscious in a f-field a little less th-than four years a-ago. I can't...r-remember anything b-before that." There were several moments of silence and she was beginning to become worried about making him more upset before he suddenly burst into laughter.
"Nya ha ha ha!" The laugh echoed through the night, causing a chill to go up her spine...his eyes had finally closed again. "I was-nya ha ha...was wondering why you're wearing your-nya ha...your Grimleal clothes." It was impossible to understand what was so funny, especially when she didn't even know what he was talking about.
"What d-do you mean, 'G-Grimleal clothes'?" Robin questioned, the laughter suddenly stopping.
"Allow me to give you a grim reminder." Henry grinned at his pun, but all she could do was sigh...how she had put up with this was a mystery.
"The Grimleal were looking for you...so, if we were in a town when we were younger, you would wear those clothes to make sure no one would realize who you were. By the time I was 10 I was taller than you, so I acted as your older brother... you'd wear your usual clothes instead, since the Grimleal would draw more attention at that time." The white haired boy explained, the other in the tent looking thoughtful.
"Then...w-why did I still h-have them?" The orange haired teenager asked curiously.
"In case we got separated." The answer was immediate, receiving a nod.
"S-so...why were they l-looking for me?" It was an obvious question to ask.
"Because life is so grim without you." He was grinning again.
"H-Henry, that was basically th-the same pun as b-before." She pointed out.
"It is." The closed eyed boy agreed, not the slightest bit ashamed. "How's this instead? You make others feel like there's mor-tal life." The grin kept getting wider and the only responses were groans.
"I can't h-help think my position in this a-army could be threatened i-if you put the same e-effort into battle tactics a-as your puns..." The teenaged girl murmured with a soft sigh, forgetting about her earlier question...and that he had dodged around it.
"I have no interest in tactics, you've always loved them though. Used to read them to me before I went to sleep."
"If you d-don' t like them then w-why did I r-read them to you?" The cloaked boy's grin became a soft smile of reminiscing, looking proud of himself.
"I liked the sound of your voice. I refused to sleep until you read at least a page to me; but we couldn't carry much with us, so a tactic book for you was more important than some children's storybook." The robed girl had wide eyes, amazed at his simple admission.
"Didn't m-my stuttering b-bother you?" The dark mage gave another soft smile.
"You never stuttered around me, not unless you were acting as my little sister." The tactician could only stare, knowing he wasn't lying but still unable to believe him...the smile of the other suddenly fell again.
"You were shy by nature, but you had been alone since you were 5...allowing anyone to see your fear or stutters was dangerous, so you acted proud and fearless. You stood up to anyone who you believed had done wrong, fighting to protect innocents and never letting your guard down." The retelling of how she had been in the past made her head hurt, causing a brief thump.
"Alone..." Where had her mother and father been? Why had she been all alone until she met him? And why...did thinking about that make her angry, the back of her right hand burning?
"Alone." Henry confirmed.
"W-why?" Robin had to know, had to understand this sudden anger. There was several moments of silence.
"I don't know." His eyes weren't open, he had a smile again...there wasn't really a physical show of it, but something told her that he was lying.
"H-Henry...the truth." The black eyed teenager watched as the smile became a small frown.
"...I can't do that." It was her turn to frown.
"W-what? How come you 'c-can't do that'?! I-I' m the one w-who told you, aren't I? So I-I have the right t-to know!" A glare, rather uncommon to the pigtailed teenager outside of battle, was currently directed towards her apparent friend.
"I have the right to know Henry." For a moment the stutter were gone, the light of the mostly forgotten candle hitting her eyes just right to make them appear that bloody red colour again. The short haired boy took a sharp inhale, eyes slightly open and staring into her own...a shudder wracked his body, perhaps he was afraid, like many others who had seen the colour appear to change. A gulp and unsteady breathing, he had to be panicking badly.
"...Not yet." He finally murmured, it looked a lot like he was trying to get his breathing under control...she, somehow, must not have ever gotten like this around him before.
"Why not?" Another gulp.
"You're fighting in a war at the moment, right?" A simple nod, the red glare not fading. "It'll distract you...I thought it was an act, I didn't realize you actually forgot. If I had known I wouldn't have mentioned anything, and I should have been thinking more about my answers."
"Henry-"
"I'll tell you when this war is over...like you said, you have the right to know." The angry frown of the robed teenager fell, replaced by a soft pour as the light finally moved from her eyes and their true black could be seen again.
"You have to wait until we win for me to lone you some info." She let out another soft groan.
"Henry, a-are you-" It had taken a moment, but she noticed the cloaked boy's pun had sounded forced, somehow...it made the orange haired teen worry, but she was rather suddenly cut off.
"It's late, you should get some sleep. I'm sure tomorrow will be a long day." His voice sounded disarmingly kind, softer than normal. He stepped towards the entrance to her tent, his hand touching the flap before she could finally figure out what to say.
"H-Henry!" The dark mage stopped, waiting for her to speak but not turning to look at her.
"...Want me to...r-read to you?"
"...It wouldn't be the same." That wasn't the response the tactician had been hoping for, but there was nothing else she could do as he stepped out of her tent...she was left all alone once more, yet the comfort she had found from that before was now absent.
Writing Henry's puns is a LOT harder than you might think, and I've come to realize that it's likely to be the bane of my existence in this story...luckily I have a rather 'punny' friend who is more than willing to help me out. He likes Henry too...and didn't believe me of the awesomeness that he is, until I got him to play the game. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and I'll see you all later!