Chapter 23: Wedding

"By the power vested in me from our holy creator Naga, I now pronounce you... Husband and Wife. You may now kiss the bride," a royal priest declared as he backed away, smiling, from the loving couple that stood before him. Without hesitation, as if rehearsed, the bride and groom embraced, holding a deep, passionate kiss before the congregation. Looking in, who would have thought that the pegasus knight would find love so tender and true during a time of intense war, hardship, and devastating loss? She could finally look back and smile, having achieved what she had only dreamed of for years prior: a happy life with a loving husband, and maybe, just maybe, some children of their own before long.

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"You wouldn't even think that a war'd ended not too long ago, eh, Bubbles?" the sweet-tooth thief cooed playfully as he lightly elbowed his companion at the table overlooking the newlywed bride and groom. "I know he's the exalt now and all, but this seems a bit too much, even for Blue."

Robin took a sip from his goblet as he looked up at his two friends who stood before the crowd. "Well, most of this is just formalities. I'm sure that if Chrom had his way, it would have been a lot more low-key. However, I think the combined might of Frederick and Sumia was able to convince him to let this happen."

Gaius leaned back in his chair as he eyed the tactician before looking up and repositioning the lollipop in his mouth. "Yeah, I guess so. Stumbles is one of the last ones I want to see mad," he admitted, turning his attention back to his conversation partner. "Oh, by the way, who do you think is gonna get hitched next?"

Robin rolled his eyes at the seemingly facetious comment. "Seriously? Are you actually gunning to place bets on which of the Shepherds gets married next?"
Gaius shrugged, seemingly unphased. "Well, that, and who'll fall for someone next. Got a lot of bachelors and bachelorettes running around in our ragtag group of misfits. Just curious is all."

"I get the feeling you're only asking because you'd bet I'll be next," Robin said with half annoyance and half amusement, curious to see where Gaius's train of thought was heading. "Well, if that's the case, you should know I'm not dating anyone, and I wouldn't tell you who it was if so."

"Aha, you know me too well, Bubbles. But you gotta throw a friend a bone every once in awhile, doncha? How about this; if I guess it right, with just one guest, then you gotta admit to it, deal?"

Robin rolled his eyes at the thief's challenge, but shook Gaius's extended hand in agreeance. "Fine, but only one try." It should be fine, the dared man thought. He'll probably say it's Olivia or Tharja. They are quite attractive after all, but not the one I'm pining after.

"Hmmm, thinking… thinking. Is it…" the roguish redhead paused as a smug sneer took over his face, confident in his guess. "Cordelia?"

At this, Robin immediately spat out his drink, falling into a coughing fit that was noticeable enough for Gregor, who sat on the other side of the coughing man, to lean over and slap Robin with a forceful palm a few times on the back. As soon as Robin had recovered from his shock-induced fit, he looked up at Gaius with an incredulous look and whispered, "How in the hell did you get that right?"

Gaius grinned, content with his good luck. "Well, you always seemed to rush off beside her into battle, oftentimes with the excuse of it being 'for tactical reasons,' but that's not all I've noticed. I saw the two of you talking every so often in the storage tent, and after the ordeal with Emmeryn, I heard you comforting her. After some time, whenever the two of you were in the same room, I could see you stealing glances at her." His smug grin widened, causing Robin to grow all the more red in the face. "Also, your pale complexion gives you away pretty quickly when you're blushing."

Robin was shocked at the sheer amount of details strung together from Gaius's detective work, even more so at the conversations overheard while he thought he and Cordelia were alone. "Well… you are right, but it doesn't change much. I may love her, but she has eyes for another," Robin breathed sadly as he gave a somewhat envious look up at Chrom's smiling face.

Gaius was only confused at this moping statement. "What makes you think that?"
Now Robin was the confused one, unsure of why Gaius wouldn't agree with his assertion. "All the rumors going around camp… the ones about how Cordelia is enamoured with Chrom. The one I almost always hear when she comes up in conversation. I thought Chrom was the only one who didn't know about it, but how did you not know?"
"Oh, don't get me wrong. I knew. It's just a bit weird to me is all. I can't say anything about the validity of these rumors, but hey, don't take it from me. If you want closure, then you gotta talk to her yourself, Bubbles," Gaius said confidently, as he resumed his leaning position.

"Talk to her? About what?" Robin dared ask, feigning ignorance. He had a good idea what Gaius meant, but he was afraid that he may be right.

"Just tell her you like her, you wuss. The worst she can do is say 'no.'" Gaius unwrapped a second sucker and promptly popped it into his mouth as he finished his line of friendly advice.

"Well, I believe she could laugh at me, tell me 'hell no,' or even give a disgusted look, as if I'm just a bug." Robin plopped his head heavily onto his palm as he rested his elbow on the table. He had debated telling Cordelia how he felt, but his own doubts kept him from doing so, repeatedly imagining scenarios in which Cordelia rejects him.

"Well, either you go do it now, or I can, buddy." Robin looked up with a shocked and horrified expression at Gaius's ultimatum. "Don't give me that look. You need to come out and tell her, or else you'll be making it harder with every day you delay."
Robin hated to admit it, but Gaius was right in his assertion. He stood up quickly and looked over at the neighboring table that Cordelia sat at, chatting with those she sat beside. Still, his doubts remained, and he returned his gaze to his sagely comrade. "Since when were you the love guru?"

"Haha, good luck, Bubbles," Gaius chuckled, ignoring the jab, and giving his friend two thumbs up as he watched Robin walk over to Cordelia's table.

"Excuse me... Queen Sumia, Princess Lissa, Captain Cordelia?" Robin politely bowed to each woman he addressed in turn as he reached the table of the three compatriots.

The girls looked up with mild surprise at the army's tactician's sudden appearance. Lissa giggled, being the first to respond. "Robin you can drop the formalities. This isn't that kind of event."

Sumia gave a polite smile as she looked up at Robin with a seemingly knowing glance, noticing the blush forming on the emboldened man's cheeks. "How can we help you, Robin?"

He kept his head bowed, hiding his face as much as he could without appearing rude. "Well… I was… h-hoping to have a, umm, word with the captain… in private."

Sumia and Lissa looked to each other, obviously but silently amused, and then to Cordelia. The redheaded pegasus knight stared at Robin for a moment or two before standing up and responding, making to follow Robin. "Of course. I was hoping to come talk with you as well. Lead the way."

Robin, all too glad to leave the questioning glances of his query's conversation partners, led the both of them out though the tall, glass, curtained doors onto the patio overlooking the castle's courtyard. Robin gestured to a bench on the edge of the patio, which the pair swiftly sat upon as they began to rest in silence. Cordelia stared vacantly, as if in thought, out into the courtyard while Robin gazed down at his two twiddling thumbs, hoping to piece together what to say before much time had past. After several moments of uncomfortable silence between the two, Robin looked over at the knight and she turned her head expectantly towards him, breaking the rising, almost palpable tension. Robin, feeling as though he may be able to follow through with his ambitions, opened his mouth to speak, but looking in her dark eyes for but a second caused his face to return to a bright red tone, and he turned away with an awkward cough.

"Robin? Is everything okay?" Cordelia leaned a little closer to the tactician as she voiced her concern, which caused Robin's face to redden even more, becoming more of a crimson hue.

"Yes, yes, everything is fine. I just... really need to ask you something, while I still have the courage to do so." Robin took a deep breath and shot up from the bench, turning with this momentum towards the object of his attention. "I know about your feelings for a certain someone in this camp."

Cordelia's face began to blush as well, both surprised at the sudden arrival of the personal topic and embarrassed at the declaration. "Y-you do? Who told you?"
"Well… just about everyone knows, I believe," Robin replied, somewhat wistfully, and looked towards the courtyard for a bit, away from the inquiring face. His suspicions of Cordelia's crush on Chrom, he believed, were confirmed. "But you see, Cordelia... Chrom may have been oblivious to your love for all this time, but… I want you to know that he isn't the only one out there." As he got further along in his soliloquy, his attention on his words, he didn't notice Cordelia's flustered face turning into one of confusion. "You see… I love you, Cordelia! I may not be the object of your affections, but I had to say it to you. I'm truly sorry if this has made you uncomfortable, and I understand if you don't reciprocate the same feelings, but..."
He kept his eyes closed tightly, mentally preparing for the worst, but a single question from a dumbfounded Cordelia brought him to reopen them in his own bewilderment. "Where did that come from? I don't have a crush on Chrom."

Robin, eyes now wide as saucers, fought to find his words. "But… really?"
Cordelia nodded in response, flustered but seemingly composed enough to retort. "I do have admiration for him, as any knight does for her lord, but, really, that's about it."
Robin had many, many questions racing through his head at that singular moment. "But… any time that I see you and Chrom together, you are always sighing contentedly around him. And of course, the camp's rumors..."
"I was sighing, out of frustration, because you and I had our conversations when we were alone, but any time we were around the other Shepherds, you seemed to never even acknowledge me," Cordelia explained, standing up slowly and making her way over to Robin.

"So… the person you have feelings for, then..."

"Yes, Robin. It's you. For being our wonderfully adept tactician, it seems like you never even noticed." Cordelia laughed quietly, amused at the circumstance. "And you were just going on about how Chrom was the oblivious one!"

Robin, the realization hitting him like a bolt from the blue, became extremely flustered, and couldn't even think up a proper response, instead standing there in a startled pose. Cordelia smiled bashfully and pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. The two gazed into each others' windows of the soul for what was mere seconds, yet feeling as eternity, until a voice roared out from behind a bush, shattering the tension. "OH, COME ON! KISS ALREADY!"

Robin and Cordelia looked over in surprise at the eavesdropping culprit. Gaius, now standing up from his hiding spot, revealed an adamant Lissa who, sitting next to him, tried, unsuccessfully, to pull him back down. Robin's impassioned smile quickly morphed into a disappointed frown as he stared down Gaius with the wrath of a god shining in his eyes. "Gaius. I better not hear that this was a bet, that the only reason you encouraged me to confess was that so you could win a bet. Please, tell me that isn't it."

Gaius, immediately pale-faced, did a 180 on his heel with impressive dexterity and walked briskly back to the celebration. The interrupted lover, still staring daggers into the thief's retreating back, turned back towards Cordelia as she rolled her eyes with a smile.

Robin, his flustered mind having calmed down, was quick to recover from the interruption. "So… where do we go from here?"

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The priest's lips were moving, but the couple at the altar couldn't hear a thing. As much as Robin thought it was a scenario only possible in romance novels, all his attention was on the love of his life. It was only at the last line did he snap out of his daydream, back into the reality that was far superior to any dream of his could be. As his focus returned, he heard only, "You may now kiss the bride".

Cordelia leapt into Robin's arms, holding him tight as they held a deep and passionate embrace set appropriately to roaring applause. Two members in the far back of the audience stood silently and snuck out the rear exit of the ballroom. The redheaded of the pair was wiping tears from her face. "So... that was mom and dad's wedding."

The platinum blonde, not showing any signs of being affected to the same, or any, degree, shrugged as she lead her sister towards the city. "It didn't even look like they were paying attention to a single thing, just staring at each other like the lovesick couple they are." The older sister made exaggerated retching noises as the younger laughed, amused at the jab towards their parents as the pair made their way into the urban area.

Back in the ballroom, Lissa quickly scooted over to where Gaius sat, watching the spectacle, with her palm held out before him. "You know, they got married during my proposed deadline. You lost the bet!"

A/N: Since last chapter was forgetting the anniversary I wanted to put out a little one for their wedding. Or for the most part Chrom and Sumia's wedding. Also to answer a question in the reviews: I would be happy to take requests, all depending on the topic