The End of a Dream
Day 3, midday
"This is the sixth injury in the grand span of two days, Robin."
Robin turned from his desk to find a stern Chrom and a sterner grimace upon his face.
Six?
"Is it? No, it can't be... Hmm. One... two three... four five... No, no, it's the fifth."
The Exalt's eye twitched before he walked inside, gesturing wildly with his hands as he counted down the names of those injured.
"Must I count with you like you're my baby daughter? First it was you, then Beruka and Oboro, then Camilla and Hinoka, now Corrin."
"Hey! I... I don't count! I'm totally fine!"
Chrom scoffed as he glanced at the outlines of wrappings underneath Robin's cloak, no doubt results of his injury. Shaking his head, he let the specifics slide in favor of his intended message.
"Suit yourself. Let's just pretend that you limping away from your spar with Commander Corrin was just an act of losing with grace."
"I-it was!"
"Uh-huh..."
"...Well, let's not assume like we knew what she was capable of," Robin evaded, recalling the painful memory of getting speared through by Corrin's 'Dragon Fang' and promptly having a portion of Ylisstol castle leveled from the ensuing panic- sending ancient roof tiles to fall right over his body.
"...She told you herself that she could shift into a dragon. What part of 'dragon' made you decide to fight in the middle of the hallway?"
"Okay, maybe it wasn't the best idea, but we're doing fine now, right? Aside from those others, we seem to be getting along fine?"
"My castle looks like it just got raided by bandits," Chrom whined, but nodded in submission. "But yes... we're doing fine, aside from our previously injured."
The 'injured' Chrom mentioned had much more severe wounds than being pelted by shingles. Oboro was sporting a brand new scar from Beruka's ax, and likewise for the Nohrian assassin, courtesy of Oboro's naginata. Camilla and Hinoka stepped in right after, receiving similar wounds.
And Corrin... after her spar with Lucina, she found her wrist newly-sprained from Lucina's attacks. She hid it well, only confiding to Chrom (Lucina's father had a right to know) and Robin, her fellow commander. Xander and Ryoma were clueless, as if they didn't have enough to worry about.
"Thank heavens the ships are coming soon, or else they'd be dragging in more injured than healthy Shepherds at the rate they're dropping."
Of course, Robin accounted for hostilities between some of the Hoshidans and Nohrians, but at the rate 'sparring injuries' were happening, the Shepherds would be running low on manpower and coherency, so the tactician was pleased where progress had been made.
In extension, seeing how Corrin had obliterated Robin in front of the whole army and subsequently being promoted to Commander, doubts started to spring across all sides of the board whether Robin was a competent leader. As a tactician he may be adept perhaps, but certainly not as a soldier if he was bested so decisively by an inexperienced warrior like Corrin.
Day 2, late evening
"A... demonstration?" Robin wondered, looking at Xander and Ryoma who nodded.
"We want to see what level of tactics and warfare we are getting ourselves into," the Nohrian explained.
"My sister seemed excited to face you, so would it be appropriate if she shall be your partner?" Ryoma added, gesturing to a jittery Corrin who stood at the other end of the hallway.
"You can cast magic, right?" she wondered, smiling at the thought. "That's neat! I've rarely got to face Leo when he cast spells, so..." she trailed off on a tangent, still flapping her blade to catch the rays of sunset with its golden edge.
"And you can turn into a dragon," Robin gulped, smiling faintly as he pulled out his tome and his sword from underneath his cloak. "This should be interesting, if not downright fatal."
"I won't hold back, don't worry!" Corrin replied happily.
"That's... what I was afraid of," Robin sighed under his breath.
"Chrom..." The tactician called behind him, "Sorry for the mess."
Day 3, before dawn
"I guess it was beneath me to underestimate you," Robin admitted to himself in hindsight. Sorrowfully, he was caught feeling the jagged tear in his robe that Corrin had caused the day before with her arm... claw... thing.
Far too excited to be back in the shoes of a tactician again, Robin was genuinely surprised when his attacker from yesterday knocked on his open doorway, peeking her head in with a bright smile that was far too intense considering the early hour. Very early hour.
"You're okay!" she exclaimed, greeting the tactician. "Good morning!"
"It's... not exactly morning yet," Robin yawned, not seeing any sun outside. "What are you doing this early? Not that... *yawn* I could say any differently."
"I... I usually got up way before sun-up to spar with my brother some times. I guess I got excited and... well, I figured you'd be up, considering we're both Commanders and..." she trailed off, smiling sheepishly. "But you are okay, right? That's what's important."
"When you said dragon powers, I had something a little different in mind. But yes, Commander, I'll be a-okay," Robin replied graciously with a bow.
"We got a long day ahead of us," Corrin declared, walking around Robin's room like she owned the place.
"It often is in our position," Robin nodded. "You'll get used to the chaos."
"This is much cleaner than your office. Why don't we just do stuff here?"
Because it's my room!
"I... uh... like my office?" Robin gulped, not entirely keen on having war meetings in his private chambers.
"Wanna spar?"
Robin rolled his eyes at Corrin's over-enthusiasm, shaking his head. "Now why would clanging swords and roaring dragons be something people want to hear an hour before the wake-up bell sounds?"
"Oh, and magic!" Corrin added. "That lightning spell you do is really cool. Thoron, was it?"
"My point still stands!" Robin exclaimed, pointing at the lack of sun. "It's way too early for this! Not to mention, we're still inside! Don't you remember what happened yesterday?"
"Fine, not my brightest idea," Corrin whined, slouching in one of Robin's chairs. "Who among your Shepherds is usually up early? Like... early, early?"
And then Lucina nearly broke Corrin's arm.
Day 3, late morning
After the princesses had concluded their bout, it was only through Robin's keen vision that the purple around the Nohrian's right wrist wasn't a shadow or a stain.
"It's not broken, is it?" Robin asked, very concerned at the bruising and internal bleeding.
"W-what? What's broken? Er, or not broken?" Corrin attempted, smiling nervously.
"Not your right wrist, I hope," Robin said sternly.
Her cover blown, Corrin's innocent smile started to drop.
"I'm fine, really! It should heal in n-no time?" Corrin stuttered, her brightness fading even as Robin walked towards her.
Upon gingerly grabbing her arm, Corrin's face gave the implication that she, believe it or not, was still in a reasonable amount of discomfort. "Y-youch! S-stop that..."
"Lucky for you, dragon princess, we have a little more than 'no-time' so I hope your diagnosis is accurate."
Robin turned to see Flavia, accompanied by a few others and holding a scroll with a wax seal in her hand.
"The ships?" Robin asked, eagerly awaiting the answer.
"The ships," Virion, newly arrived, confirmed. "They shall be arriving within the next few days as we requested. A pleasure to be among such fine company once more, Milords and Miladies..." Robin suppressed a nervous cough when Virion eyed Corrin curiously. "Who's that?"
Cherche stood behind him, polishing her shining ax religiously while at the same time still maintaining a state of serenity. "Those would be our allies, Lord Virion. If you'd pay attention the first time, you'd remember their names."
"Amazing," Virion breathed, looking around at the growing number of new faces that he hadn't quite recalled. "Curious and remarkable, all in one..."
"Well then," Robin said as he scratched his head thoughtfully. "I like having a timer to work with, so shall we get started on our preparations?"
Feeling a strong pat on his back, from Corrin of all people, the small company nodded as they left, ready to engage the Valmese. Robin couldn't help but chuckle at Corrin's grimace in result of her very slight physical exertion.
"You won't need your wrists for some time, Commander. We're gonna need that sharp mind a lot more," Robin reasoned, but the Princess only scowled as a result.
"Lucky for me, I heal from this stuff really quick."
Basilio and Flavia accompanied the Shepherds along with Cherche and Virion, who by the latter's insistence and the former's good will had rejoined the Shepherds as well.
Of course, it took all of five seconds for Virion to make a scene of himself, prostrating his body next to Xander and the impressive sword he wielded.
"The Nohrians are more mobile once they get out of the sand, but their mounts require extra resources and care, once we start moving along," Corrin began. She was in Robin's room again (not the office, much to Robin's disagreement) and was currently making a mess of his chalkboard.
"The Hoshidans are strong, but they don't have mages."
"Ylisse does."
"So our Ylissean mages can reinforce the Hoshidan frontline. And our supply wagons?"
"We have a dedicated rearguard," Corrin recalled, polishing up the initial diagram.
"Right. We get off the ships, get into formation, and start making our way through Valm. Simple and clear."
"Really? Oh, i'm glad-"
"Except you forgot one very important thing, Corrin," Robin warned, drawing a line back towards the sea where the Shepherds would disembark.
"...Oh. The Armada."
"The Armada. We have to get past that, first."
Day 3, afternoon
"This is everyone?" Chrom asked, eyeing Xander and Leo on one side of the table, Corrin in the middle, with Ryoma and Takumi on the other side. Their respective retainers stood behind each given master, making the room seem quite outnumbered to Chrom and Frederick, though neither of them showed it.
"Commander Robin is still not among us," Xander pointed out, to which Chrom hid his disapproval. "Cor- ...Commander Corrin is here though, if you wish to begin." Both men nodded and gesturing to Corrin, listened in as she began her briefing.
"Aside from my co-commander, it appears that everyone else is here. Robin told me to start without him, though I do not recall what he's up to at the moment."
Taking out her notes, Corrin showed the overlay of the Valmese sea, along with symbols representing both the Ylissean and Valmese fleet.
"First things first, the enemy outnumbers us nearly nine to one on every possible engagement opportunity..."
"Lu-ci-na!" Robin yelled, wandering the wood line for quite a while and not finding any traces of the Princess that had been training there this morning.
"Lucina?" Following a trail of broken twigs and shattered logs, Robin followed it until he came across a smaller clearing that was previously unvisited.
Spotting blue in the distance, Robin ran until he saw the prone body of Lucina, though upon closer inspection she was asleep, not harmed. Still, they were in the middle of the woods, so Robin made quick strides to get to her position.
"Lucina?" A disturbed snore was all Robin got from the Princess, and Robin couldn't help but smile as he sat next to her.
You really shouldn't sleep here, Robin thought, but looking upon her face, as peaceful as it had been for the longest time, he let her be, instead wandering towards his own thoughts. Rather, hers. Hesitantly, he channeled the spell he learned from Tharja that had been used only a few times by now: one designed to read someone else's mind.
It had only been a three days since he used dark magic to gaze into her nightmares, but what he pulled out this time was nothing of the sort. Instead of the dark hell that he saw to convince the two sets of royalty to join the Ylissean cause, Robin found himself in a different state of Lucina's mind when he gazed upon her life a few years before the fall of everything good. Of course, she hadn't known this when he went through her head, but seeing his future self taking care of the child had caused Robin to believe they must've been close in the past life. The fact that she was dwelling on those memories reminded him that there was still a hopeful princess that had never had the chance to grow up right.
They were more than friends, Robin realized. Whatever bond Lucina had with him, he wasn't sure. But he was confident that Lucina had placed more than trust in her old childhood mentor. She believed in every word he said.
She missed him.
Without thinking, he gently raised the princess' head and placed it on his lap, lightly parting her hair where the sweat had matted it. Out of all the memories she had, this was the most precious to her, Robin saw. She hadn't recalled much of her Father due to her age, but her best friend and the nightmares she tried to rid herself of were the two main things that occupied the young Princess' mind. Sleeping on Robin's lap as a child was a memory she wouldn't willingly relinquish.
He felt strange, keeping the woman he only knew as Marth just a week ago on his thigh, smiling as he gazed upon her face as it lightened up even further, nuzzling against the familiar folds of his cloak that she didn't know she had missed so dearly.
"R-robin," Lucina muttered, still asleep, "Where'd you go? W-why'd you die?"
"She's dreaming," Robin realized, smiling as Lucina sniffed his cloak, sighing deeply at the oddly familiar scent. "I-ni...go and I... wondered why you... l-left..."
"..."
"..."
"Lucina, wake up," Robin said after a while, gently tapping her shoulder. Just in case, he also kept his other hand on her sword hand in the event that her reflexes-
"I've been awake," Lucina said calmly, opening her eyes up into Robin's, causing him to jolt but not remove her head from his lap.
"...Sorry."
"It's... quite alright."
"Could've fooled me," Robin said worriedly, not knowing what to expect. Instead, Lucina merely closed her eyes and brought her head slightly farther from his body.
"Why did you do that?" she asked without anger, "I haven't had that dream in years. I... didn't know your magic could do that."
"You're late to the tactics meeting," Robin attempted, knowing he was just as guilty. The Princess disregarded the fact and brought her legs slightly towards her so that her knees were bent. She still didn't move.
"We. We are late to the tactics meeting," Lucina whispered back, not making any effort to rise.
"Point... taken."
Even as time slowly drifted by, she stayed on his lap, contemplating her own thoughts.
"You would always read to me when we slept on your lap," Lucina began, "And sometimes you even sang to me and Inigo to get us to sleep, especially... especially after my nightmares." Robin's heart melted at this image, but didn't say anything.
"I'm afraid my singing voice isn't anything to commend," Robin joked, but Lucina remained straight-faced. "But if you liked it, I suppose it couldn't be that bad."
"Sometimes I would feel your pity and your sadness, and only now I realize it's because Father and the others were so far away and you would never see some of them again."
"I had you, didn't I?" Robin replied, trying to cheer Lucina up, "I couldn't have been that sad."
"You rarely smiled, even with Inigo and I playing with you."
"You don't seem the playing type."
"I was just a child, with nothing to truly fear. I loved games."
"..."
"..." Robin felt himself relax at the steady rise and fall of Lucina's body, but he sensed her nervousness and sadness as the pressure got lighter and lighter.
"I'll admit, it's nice being able to be like this... with you talking with me again... But I'm afraid my dreams have to end somewhere. I came back to save the world and my Father. Not to relive my childhood."
Reluctantly, Lucina rose off Robin's lap and dusted herself off, stretching her arms and legs. "As... relieving as it was," she added quickly with a slight smile.
"I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."
"I did. Don't be sorry. You have always been kind. It's in your nature."
"...If you want to talk about your childhood," Robin attempted, only to be cut off by Lucina.
"I know you meant well. But please- we have a meeting to attend." Lucina warned, walking back towards camp. Robin followed from a distance, nodding slowly.
"I guess that's the end of that."
