A One-shot sets on Byleth's Pre-Monastery days. A big thanks to my best friend and brother DarkAngelDan98 for beta read this story and add a few improvement of his own. Please read and enjoy.
Disclaimer: FE franchise doesn't belong to me.
Robin took a sip from his mead filled tankard as he left the outdoor tavern that his leader had dragged him off to in order to celebrate the success of their most recent job. Said leader is now drinking his seventh ale while having an arm-wrestling contest with one of the customers there, so Robin decided to take this chance to leave the outdoor tavern with his drink in hand to explore the village where they are currently residing.
Also, in the event that his leader ends up getting drunk again, which he most certainly will, Robin doesn't want to be the one who ends up dragging him back to the inn…again.
Jeralt Eisner is an interesting man to say the least; quiet, serious, effective on the battlefield…gets drunk more often than he should, and has managed to run up tabs in taverns across the whole continent. Despite this, it must be said that the skill that Jeralt shows when he's on the battlefield is truly a sight to behold, be it his prowess in fighting or his skill when commanding his men. It's no wonder many mercenaries end up wanting to join up with Jeralt.
As for Robin himself…well, it was more of coincidence that he ended up joining this band of mercenaries. Robin's original purpose for coming here, to Fodlan, was simply to indulge in tourism. One year after the fierce battle against the Fell Dragon, Robin, who at the time worked as his best friend's, the Exalt of Ylisse, advisor decided that he wanted to see more of the world as he found that the lifestyle of a royal advisor didn't suit him personally despite him actually being rather good at the position. Admittedly, he had also grown rather tired of seeing most of his friends finding and pairing up with their respective significant others, acting all lovey-dovey together while his continued single status became more painfully apparent with each passing day.
He didn't want end up being known as 'Robin the eternal third wheel', thank you very much.
As it so happened, the village was in the midst of celebrating the recent bountiful harvests as well as the fact that they, Jeralt's mercenary company, had just dealt with a group of bandits who were hiding in a cave nearby. It honestly reminded him a bit of the first time he fought bandits four years ago…though in his case, he never got the chance to enjoy the feast that the villagers would have prepared.
Robin smiled in amusement as he watched some villagers and some mercenaries he knew dance around the big bonfire that had been put together for the celebration. Taking another sip from his tankard, Robin decided to approach the bonfire to see if he could join the festivities by either partaking in the dancing or clapping to the music with some of the other villagers but something on the corner of his vision made him stop and turn around.
Standing by herself while leaning against the wall with her arms crossed is no other than Jeralt's daughter, Byleth Eisner. The blue haired girl was watching the dancing unfold around the bonfire with her signature blank look though from where he stands now, Robin can see something else in her eyes.
Deciding to approach the silent mercenary, Robin gave Byleth a smile in greeting, to which she responded with a small nod of ackowledgement, before he stands next to her in silence, leaning against the wall while occasionally taking a sip of his mead.
"Did you want to give it a try?" Robin asked after a few seconds of silence (and after he runs out of mead in his tankard) before he places his empty tankard onto a nearby barrel. The bartender had told him to just leave the tankard anywhere within the village when he'd finished and he will collect it himself…which was rather thoughtful of him though Robin had just helped to rib them of their bandit problem so some kindness being shown to them was to be expected.
Byleth simply raised an eyebrow questioningly as she turned her attention to him and Robin simply nodded his head in the direction of the bonfire to answer her silent question.
"I can't dance." Byleth stated matter of factly before shifting her attention back to the dancing villagers. Robin lets out a hum as he observes the dancing villagers around the bonfire, noting how the dance they were performing seemed to be rather similar to the ballroom dance that he was forced to learn in order to attend the celebration that signified the end of the war between Ylisse and Plegia. Thank Naga that Olivia was kind and patient enough to teach him how ballroom dancing works until he was able to dance with her without stepping on her feet at all.
After watching the dance for a few more seconds, just to see if he can copy it perfectly just by from observing the steps and movements of the villagers, Robin nodded to himself , coming to a decision as he pushed himself off the wall, prompting Byleth's eyes to follow him as he walked around to stand in front of her.
"Well, there is a first time for everything, right? Why don't we give it a go?" Robin said with a smile as he offers his hand to her. At first, Byleth only can blink her eyes twice as she stares up at Robin's gentle face before she looks down at the hand that is waiting for her. It took an additional 5 seconds, after glancing between Robin's face and hand two more times, to finally make the choice to take his outstretched accepting his invitation.
She saw no harm in entertaining the idea of trying to dance as she admittedly was curious and intrigued by the dance that the villagers and some mercenaries do around the bonfire. The first time she saw people dancing when she was a child it honestly confused her, back then she thought that maybe they were ill or had drunk too much of that liquid adults seemed to have often which caused them to start moving around strangely sometimes.
It was only after asking her father did he explain that what those people were doing was called dancing and it was an activity they did for enjoyment. The idea of moving around in a certain way to music for enjoyment seemed so strange to her but as she would observe it every so often she would see how the people' expressions would look so warm and happy as they danced and it piqued her curiosity about dance.
She sometimes couldn't help but wonder…if she knew how to dance could she make a face like that too?
Robin gently led her toward the bonfire before they came to a stop at a spot that wasn't so close that they were in the center of all the movement but still close enough for them to still hear the music and to still clearly be a part of the gathered villagers taking part in the dance.
Robin didn't want Byleth to feel uncomfortable at being the center of attention but he didn't want to be so far away that she felt like she wasn't a part of the dance.
"This shouldn't be too hard, place your other hand on my shoulder" Robin instructed as he lifts their entwined hands to their head level while placing his other hand on her waist. Byleth observed the ones who were dancing one last time as her mind worked to try and remember the patterns of their movements before she finally placed her free hand on Robin's shoulder.
"Now simply follow the rhythm and the music, we should start nice and easy to get you used to the overall feel of things. Ready?" Robin had to admit that he wasn't a dance instructor and that it has been a while since Olivia taught him how to dance so he might unable to give the best instruction at the moment. Byleth simply nodded her head to answer him before they finally began to move…only for Byleth to immediately step on his right foot before they could even get accustomed to the music that was playing.
"I'm sorry." Byleth quickly apologized as she looks down at their feet with a look of concentration, determined to not repeat the mistake. Robin simply decides to observe her, fully aware that she proceeded to step on his foot two more times afterward.
Despite their best attempt to coordinate with each other while following the rhythm of the music, their dance looked a lot stiffer compared to those around them with Robin counting that Byleth had stepped on his foot for nine times. When Byleth tripped over his foot and almost fell, thankfully it was prevented by Robin's steady posture, Robin decided that he had seen enough to evaluate Byleth's performance.
"You certainly like to step on my foot, don't you?" Robin asked in amusement as he helps Byleth straighten her posture after she almost brought them both tumbling down. Byleth averted her gaze away from him in response and while she still has that blank look on her face, Robin could easily see a hint of embarrassment in her eyes. A chuckle escaped Robin's lips before he shook his head in amusement and calling her name to make her shift her attention to him again.
"First of all, don't look at our feet. You will overthink everything if you keep making sure to not step on my foot while trying to stay in time with the music, plus it messes with your stance too. And more importantly, in this kind of dance, only one person takes the lead, the two of us are trying to lead each other here." Robin explained the result of his observation over their performance.
Even though this was her first time dancing Robin didn't want her to think that was the sole reason for her errors, he wanted to tell her exactly what the problem was preventing them from dancing like the others. Hopefully getting a clear understanding of where she was going wrong would help her to learn.
"I'm sorry, how can I fix it?" Byleth asked, seemingly not wanting to give up yet in trying to learn how to dance properly. Robin can't help but smile at the determination that can be seen in her eyes. Who would've guessed that it was a mundane things like this that always seemed to give him a glimpse of what went on in the usually unreadable woman's mind.
"Simple really; the first thing is to look at my eyes instead of our feet. If you still afraid that you might step on my foot or trip over something, like my foot, then I'll guide you, when I say left, you move your left foot, when I say right, you move your right. But most importantly, you need to allow me to lead you, do you trust me?" Robin explained and Byleth's answer comes out immediately without a hint of hesitation.
"I do." She said with a nod.
"Now, let's start again, nice and easy. Left… right… left… right" slowly, Robin and Byleth started to dance again. But this time Byleth allowed Robin to fully take the reigns as she simply focused on her foot work, following Robin's voice. Thanks to her partner's guidance, she stopped stepping on his feet…for now at least. Soon enough, Byleth began to become familiar with the pattern as well as the tempo of the music which prompted her to give Robin a nod that makes him smile and stops saying left and right.
"I'm gonna twirl you around soon; don't worry my hand will guide you into it. All you need to do is to spin your body gracefully while keeping an eye on my hand, alright?" Robin told her when he notices that it is almost time for the rhythm to lead them toward the twirling or turning motion. Byleth simply nodded her head as she prepared herself and awaited for Robin to do his part. She has seen some villagers do the twirling motion earlier so she had memorized the movement.
When the time came, Robin smoothly changed the way he holds Byleth's hand while lifting their hand to position them above their heads while removing his other hand from her waist. When Robin's hand moves to the left, Byleth quickly follows it by spinning her body, as graceful as she can, to the left, just like the rest of the dancers around her. The sleeves of her coat spun around herself which makes her look more graceful than she supposes to be.
Once she faces Robin again, he subtly changed the hold on her hand again, returning to a similar manner to how he did prior to the spin, before they place their free hand on Robin's shoulder and Byleth's waist respectively as they continued to sway gently again, following the flow of the sounds being played.
"That wasn't too hard, right? Your twirl was more elegant than what I was expecting." Robin commented with a small grin which causes the corner of Byleth's lips to arch up slightly. They then continued to dance, moving around the bonfire with ease and performing a few more turns, until the music finally faded away just as Robin leans forward at the same time as Byleth leans backward in order to perform a dip, the last part of the dance that the two of them memorized.
"What do you think of your first time dancing?" Robin asked once he straightens his posture as well as helping Byleth straightens her posture. Byleth doesn't answer immediately as first she observes her surrounding, noticing how the people who danced alongside her and Robin right now were smiling and laughing with their respective partners, clearly enjoying what they just did. She then thought of what she feels when dancing alongside Robin and despite their initial lack of…coordination, Byleth can confidently proclaim…
"I enjoyed it, it was entertaining…and fun." Byleth answered, the tiny smile she has earlier has transformed into a gentle smile as she stares up at Robin's honey brown eyes.
"I am glad you enjoyed our dance." Robin replied sincerely with a nod.
Robin and Byleth's attention was drawn away from each other as they heard that a new song was starting to play, prompting the two of them to look around them to notice that people were starting to pair up again, either with someone new or deciding to stay with their previous partner.
"Well, what do you say? Up for another dance?" Robin offered as he held out his hand to her. This time, Byleth answered his offer instantly by accepting his hand as she gave him a nod.
"I would like to."
Thus, Robin placed his free hand on her waist as Byleth placed hers on his shoulder before they began to dance again. This time, they managed to do it without any mistakes, moving seamlessly alongside the other dancers around the bonfire. However, as they continued to dance, Byleth couldn't help but feel as though there was something she forgot to do…
It was only when Robin twirled her again that Byleth remembers what she supposed to do before accepting Robin's invitation for a second dance.
"Robin."
"Yeah?" Robin raises one of his eyebrows when Byleth called his name but when they finally come face to face again, the first thing he noticed is how beautiful she looks with a smile on her face, it made it seem as though her face was positively glowing.
"Thank you for teaching me how to dance."
Robin simply smiles in response to her gratitude before he twirled Byleth once more in time with the pace of the music.
"Anytime."
Byleth felt that she finally understood what people found so enjoyable about dancing and why it was such a popular activity though she couldn't help but feel that she couldn't have come to enjoy dancing as much as she did if it wasn't for the fascinating young man smiling at her.
When she thought about what other things he could enlighten her to, Byleth couldn't help feeling something rather unfamiliar to her.
Hope and anticipation for what the future held.