Lucina smiled as she took a sip of her tea, proud that she had understood Robin's witty remark. Ever since his incident, Lucina made sure to take the time to spend some time with him just the two of them, and she was pleased to see that he was acting more like the Robin she knew.
Unfortunately, she was also noticing other things. The most noticeable change was the dark circles under his eyes growing. He hid it well, but he also seemed to be more tired and on edge than before Lucina sent him on leave. Surely he was not that much of a workaholic. No, something else was wrong, but Lucina did not know what.
"Well, that was delicious," Robin stood up with a smile that did not reach his tired eyes, "But it's getting late."
"Right," Lucina joined him as a maid came to take their dishes away, "I hope your leave has not made you decide not to come back to work tomorrow."
"Perish the thought," Robin offered a hollow smirk, "I'll see you bright and early."
"Of course," Lucina smiled back as genuinely as she could muster given her concern. He was getting worse and it worried her greatly. Lucina sighed and rested her head in her hand as she retook her seat. What was she going to do with him?
"Milady?" Lucina suddenly looked up unsure of how long she had spent in thought. She saw a maid standing at the entrance to the waiting room, "Do you require anything else for the evening?"
"No, it's alright. Go, get some rest," Lucina looked around the waiting room and noticed that Robin had left his coat hanging on the back of his chair. Lucina sighed again as she went to pick it up. He must have been extremely out of it to leave his cloak behind.
"I'm sorry, Milady," The maid apologized, "I can take that to Sir Robin's room."
"No," Lucina answered after a moment, "I'll take it to him."
"If you insist," The maid curtsied and left. Lucina eyed the coat before departing. She decided it was finally time to confront him about what had been going on.
Robin shuffled into his room physically and emotionally exhausted, but he knew from experience that sleep would bring little rest. Instead, Robin went to light a candle. With a simple spell, a portion of his room was illuminated, and Robin nearly had a heart attack upon seeing a familiar face sitting at his desk.
"What's the matter?" Chrom nonchalantly leaned back and propped his feet on the desk with a grin, "You look horrible."
"You're not real," Robin refused to meet the figment's gaze.
"Of course not, but let's not dwell on that," Chrom put his feet down, "Instead, how about we focus on the fact that not two months after my untimely demise, you're already working on getting into my daughter's pants."
"I'm not–" Robin rounded to face the accusation.
"Don't deny it," Chrom's face turned serious, "Do you really think a few dinners will win her over anyway? Please, she's far too good for you. A man that wouldn't even mourn the loss of the man who took him in and gave him a life. I could have left you in the dirt you know. Maybe I should have."
"I did mourn!" Robin declared unconcerned that he was talking to himself.
"Really?" Another voice came from behind him. Turning, he saw Sumia plucking wilted petals from a decayed flower, "Because it doesn't look like you have. You haven't shed one tear for us." She started to pluck more of the petals, "He loves us. He loves us not. He loves us. He loves us not. Oh," She held up the bare stem, "Guess he doesn't love us."
"I didn't need a flower to tell you that," Robin turned once more to see an accusing Lissa, "To think I thought of you like a big brother."
"I-I had to be strong," Robin felt his knees grow weak, "F-for the others."
"Hmph," Lon'qu stood next to his wife, "It's easy to be strong when you don't care. I wonder if the others have noticed just how heartless you act?"
"Of course they have," Chrom was now in front of the desk, "Why do you think they aren't rushing to console him?"
"I'm not heartless," Robin said with little conviction, "I'm just putting on a strong front."
"But what about when you're alone?" Sumia asked, "You won't even cry when you're alone."
"I-I…have to be strong…" Robin repeated to himself knowing that he was afraid that if he let it out, he might not be able to control it anymore, "I can't lose control for their sake…for her."
"Ah," Chrom sneered, "So we're back to this." Chrom approached Robin menacingly, "The cradle robbing snake sees an opportunity to get his prize."
"I'm not…" Robin backed away, but Chrom kept coming.
"Face it, Robin. You're a snake," Chrom hissed and licked his lips with a suddenly reptilian tongue, "Just like your father!" The last word was accentuated by his late father's sick cackle.
"No…"
"Don't deny it, Robin," Sumia voice called out, "You just want crawl into bed with my daughter. You don't care about us."
"I do!"
"You sicko!" Cynthia's normally bubbly voice cried out in disgust, "I thought you were a hero."
"Truly what manner of perversion takes hold of his mind," Owain moved his hand from his face, "Do you not care for the fallen?"
"Of course not!" Lissa laughed, "All he cares about is himself and his precious princess."
"Uncle Robin?" Lucy stood looking heartbroken with a baby Cindy, "Don't you love us? Is big sis all you really care about?"
"I-I…" Robin clutched his head in his hands.
"Look at us, Robin!" Chrom forcefully grabbed his shoulders and made him look up. Chrom's face was sickeningly pale and his eyes sunken in, "Time to face reality!"
"N-no," Robin looked on in horror as his friends all took on a deathly frozen look that came from meeting one's end in the snow. "No!" Robin felt the bile rise in his throat when he was forced to see Lucy and Cindy, and he collapsed on the floor clutching his head.
"Look around, Robin," Chrom's voice bellowed, "Cause you'd be with us if you weren't so busy lusting after my daughter!"
"No…" Robin whimpered weakly.
"Robin!"
The former tactician was jolted back to reality to see the hallucinations gone. Just him and Lucina. He weakly reached forward to make sure she was real but stopped himself short. Unsure of what to do herself, Lucina took his hand in her own. That was enough to set him off. He leaned into her with no regard for protocol or decorum and wept. He wept long and hard.
"They're gone," He whimpered into her shoulder after several minutes, "The closest thing I had to a real family is gone, and I should have been with them. If I hadn't been selfish and stayed behind, then I would have died with them."
"Robin," Lucina replied softly while comfortingly stroking his hair, "You were tending to me. You weren't being selfish."
"Yes I was," Robin shook his head and pulled back, "There are people more qualified for that. I stayed…"
"Robin?"
"I can't," Robin leaned against his desk, "If I say, I can't take it back, and everything will change."
"If it's bothering me, please tell me," Lucina implored.
"You'll hate me…"
"No, I won't," It hurt Lucina to see him like this, but it finally struck her that he had spent so much time offering his shoulder to cry on that no one seemed to think to offer him theirs, "You can tell me whatever is troubling you."
"I-I stayed…to be with you," He looked at her with pitiful eyes before directing his gaze back to the carpet, "I'm desperately in love with you, and it's eating me up. I tried not to fall for you, but I couldn't help it."
"Robin…"
"You think I'm some kind of pervert, don't you?" Robin hid his face in his hands.
He felt a gentle touch on his shoulder causing him to look up into sympathetic and…happy eyes, "If you are, then I suppose I am as well for I have similar feelings."
"What?" Robin stared dumbfounded.
"Yes, you are in my heart as well," Lucina smiled, "But you should rest. We can talk tomorrow. I could stay if you need me to."
"No," Robin shook his head, "I'll be okay."
"Very well," Lucina stood to leave, but he grabbed her arm before she could, "You…you weren't just saying that though, right?"
"Of course not, Robin. I never knew what to do, nor did I believe you would feel the same. This may complicate matters, but it is how I feel."
"I…" He slowly let his hand drop, "I should get some sleep."
"Yes," Lucina's gentle smile continued to put him at ease, "We have much to discuss."
Much indeed. Lucina was not sure what the depths of Robin's pain were, but she was now determined that he would never bear it alone again. Yes, Robin was right. Things had changed as soon as he uttered those words, but Lucina felt that they would change for the better. As soon as the words had left his mouth, she finally knew – or perhaps accepted – that she felt the same, but they were both too exhausted to go into it now. They would face this new world with fresh minds.
A/N: Hopefully that was…decent. At least being his own hallucinations means that it doesn't have to make complete sense.
Also let's go Team Morgan!
Oh, and I mentioned an Amiibo game, but it wouldn't be Monopoly style. It would probably be more like a card game. I had determined a base of each Amiibo having a standard attack, at least one special, and one skill along with health and some form of points for specials. I wouldn't mind having team bonuses either for having certain Amiibo on your team.