A/N: Pardon my tardiness. A couple of things came up, and I also didn't want to rush this chapter. C support conversation time! I originally wanted to delay this for a little more build up, but the story was very one-sided. Without this catalyst, Robin remains blissfully unaware of his stalker's feelings. We don't want that. The next support conversation should be fairly close to this one, but plenty of stuff will happen between B and A, as well as A and S (then the story continues after S). Yes, Lex is known for his turtle pacing.

One last thing, I am amazed at how well received this story has become. I truly want to thank you all for your support/praise/constructive criticism. I am humbled.

I hope you all continue to enjoy this story.

Chapter 6

Everyone looked away when Robin passed by. Some remained silent, while others gossiped – an all too common occurrence within the Shepherds. If Robin could say one thing about the Shepherds that made them a superior military force over any other, it was the strong ties each individual member held amongst themselves. They lived and breathed as brothers and sisters-in-arms. Having such a close knit group meant that rumors spread like a plague, and Tharja's odd behavior was certainly causing people to whisper gods know what about them. A week ago, Robin had noticed that she was indeed following him, and many people talked of the creepy mage stalking the Shepherds' tactician, but not many people had actually seen her in his shadow. Usually, Tharja followed him around discreetly, always conveniently where he was.

Today, she walked four paces behind him. It stopped being a coincidence forty minutes ago, and it was making Robin redder than a fresh tomato. He told himself that it was because of the heat, but that was a lie. Even though the temperature rose dramatically once they crossed the Feroxi-Plegian border, the truth was that Robin was flushed out of embarrassment. Not only was Tharja behaving oddly, her presence was a constant reminder of yesterday's dream. Nothing immodest happened, but his mind was beginning to fill in some blanks just to spite him. Overall, Tharja was making Robin feel physically and mentally uncomfortable.

If the gods wanted him to deal with her quickly, they had done it in the most untactful manner imaginable. Although, Robin mentally admitted to himself that he should've asked her what she wanted way before it got to the point of Tharja stalking him so openly. He was a busy man, but he always made time to help individual members of the Shepherds should he notice something off. It was his own way of reminding himself that he wasn't dealing with lifeless pawns in a war game, that these men and women had dreams and aspirations. Robin, however, was wary of Tharja. He didn't think she was a Plegian spy. In fact, she had quickly proven herself to be a valuable addition to their forces. If anything, Tharja had earned his unquestionable trust… in the battlefield.

However, she was so different. After weeks of working with Ylissean and Feroxi soldiers, Robin had noticed many characteristics that separated them. Tharja was like another species when compared to anyone else. That was his problem - at least the one he had before Tharja made him feel incredibly awkward. Robin was used to being able to understand someone after conversing with them. Tharja? She was like unsolvable puzzle. Robin had no idea what were her motivations. She had told him about her dislike of King Gangrel, but something told him that reason wasn't enough.

Not standing another stifled giggled from anyone in the rank and file who saw them together, Robin lead Tharja away from everybody. Once they were at the edge of camp, Robin turned to see his pursuer. Tharja averted her gaze. She looked like she truly wanted to say something, but didn't know how to start a conversation with him. Robin understood that feeling, because now that he was facing her, he didn't know where to begin.

Without thinking too much, Robin spoke first. "Tharja? …Are you following me?" He immediately felt foolish, and mentally slapped himself. Of course she was following him! Asking her to confirm that the sky was blue would've been a cleverer question.

"...Maybe," she answered. Robin thought of at least a dozen different ways Tharja could've reacted, but being coy wasn't one of them. Then again, it was a proper response to his incredibly obvious question. The tactician thought that if it was her intention to mock him, then she had succeeded.

"Maybe?! I've seen you hiding behind tents and wagons all week!" he exclaimed.

She stopped looking away and smirked. The intensity of her amethyst-colored eyes was little staggering for Robin. Tharja didn't look scary, but she did appear to holding something back, something that heavily weighted on her. "So you finally noticed… my love."

Normally, Robin might've taken what she said as a bad joke, but the longing in her eyes was all the evidence he needed to know that she was serious. His cheeks reddened at realization of her feelings and his own foolishness. It seemed like Lissa and everybody else were right. "Sorry, what? Your… love?" he stuttered. His mind was working against him as it began resurfacing images of the intimately close scene between them.

Tharja stepped forward. "Oh yes. I realized it the first moment we locked eyes," she said. It could've been her cultured Plegian accent, or his mind playing a trick on him, but he swore she sounded sultry. "'He isn't like the others,' I thought. 'He's the one I've been seeking!'" she continued as the got closer to him.

"Riiight. Well, um, thank you? …I guess?" Robin felt like the stupidest man in all of Ylisse. He didn't know how to react. The woman in front of him just told him how she felt, and his response was to fidget like a nervous child and say 'thank you.' There was one thing he could not do: say that he felt the same way. Aside from that, there were plenty of dignified responses he could've given her, even though he was out of his element.

Tharja was unfazed by his blunders. The dark mage kept closing the distance between them, until she almost invaded his personal space. Robin wanted to step back, but his body wasn't responding. He felt trapped by some strange force that prohibited him from moving away. "That's why I've been watching your every… single… move." To him, those last three words sounded so sensual that it made his head spin. "Yesterday you read two books and part of a third. You snacked on an apple. And last night, you turned over 12 times in your sleep. …Well below your average," she informed. For some reason, Tharja sounded proud of the last thing she said.

When the meaning of what Tharja's words finally reached his tactical mind, he panicked. "You've been watching me sleep?!" he asked dreadfully. He was disturbed that she was violating his privacy while he slept, but what deeply terrified him what the fact that he was having dreams of her. What if he said something? Perhaps her name?

She looked away, disappointed. "I thought you'd be grateful."

He managed to calm down when she stopped staring at him. "No, I think 'disturbed' is more the word." The tactician couldn't understand why she thought he would be grateful; no one would react like that if they knew they were being observed in their slumber. "You mean to tell me you've been following me every single day since we met?" Robin asked in disbelief. Tharja had joined the Shepherds months ago, but it was only recently that he noticed that she was stalking him. Robin briefly remembered they day they met; it was after their failed attempt to rescue Exalt Emmeryn. To the best of his recollections of their short conversation, Tharja didn't seem to have fallen in love on the spot.

"…Yes," she confirmed, looking at him once again. Her devious smirk was unsettling.

"I suddenly feel very ill," Robin said truthfully. He felt as if his stomach had dropped and the embarrassment made him feel dizzy.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of you." She gently grabbed his arm. Then, she lovingly placed her other hand on his chest. "…Very good care." Robin didn't know he could die twice on the same day.

"Coming from a normal friend, I'd probably be happy to hear that," he admitted. "But somehow when you say it, it's not quite so comforting…"

She quickly released him and stepped back. Tharja hid her eyes under her dark bangs. "Is that what you want, Robin?" she asked meekly – very uncharacteristically of her. "Someone… 'normal'?"

Robin was confused as to what she was asking. "Well, I… suppose? That's to say-"

"All I needed to hear." He barely heard her before she bolted away.

"Wait, Tharja! Stay here! …Where I can see you!" he yelled. To his undoing, plenty of people heard him.

When Chrom asked him to help him lead troops against the superior armies of Plegia, Robin didn't back down. But when faced with a love-struck Tharja, King Gangrel and all those who took arms to protect him seemed trivial in comparison.

XXXX

Tharja wanted the earth to swallow her whole.

Even though Tharja felt like a huge weight had been lifted from her shoulders by finally telling Robin that she loved him, the Plegian mage was also… deeply troubled by what he said. For her, it was good thing that his reaction wasn't one of disgust, but he wasn't happy either. If anything, Robin was a bit mortified. She regretted acting a little seductive when she spoke to him; it might've degraded his opinion of her. She appreciated the fact that Robin apparently wasn't philanderer, but it also made things more difficult for her.

She reached a river that was near the Shepherds' camp. Tharja needed to be alone, which was how she usually spent her time when she wasn't following Robin. The Plegian mage kneeled on the edge, and stared at her reflection. The gloomy woman she saw wasn't who Robin wanted. Everything about her screamed abnormal: from the way she tied her hair to her ceremonial jewelry. She was plenty of things, but normality was her antithesis, which frustrated her greatly.

Tharja couldn't believe she had decided to change. Before meeting Robin, no one ever held that sort of power over her. The very thought of becoming someone else, just to win anyone's affections, was almost sickening. However, Robin wasn't just some just some random person. She still didn't fully know who Robin was, but he held her heart. That was reason enough for her to do just about anything that was necessary for him to reciprocate her feelings. Nonetheless, changing who she was would always be a tall order, whether love was involved or not.

The whole issue became confusing again. Previously, Tharja had resolved herself not to use magic as a tool to trick Robin into loving her, because she wanted him to genuinely love her. Judging from his reaction, he cannot fall for her, so it seemed like her only option was to be someone he could love. Ultimately, that was a contradiction. Tharja wanted him to love her, but she couldn't be herself; meaning that even if she managed to capture his heart, his feelings would belong to some artificial Tharja.

The water began to ripple, a sign that she was losing control of her powers. As much as she enjoyed what she felt for Robin, it also caused her plenty of stress and emotional pain. She could only describe it as bittersweet, bitter being the dominant part as of late. The Plegian mage thought that she was chasing a wall, instead of Robin, and was close to crashing against it. She realized that this game of cat and mouse could end horribly for her. Her feelings for him ran too deep, they were unforgettable and a part of her being. What began as exciting and interesting had turned into something else; the thought of not being with him scared her.

Would you take it back? She asked herself. Would it have been better if you never met him?

Though she hesitated for a second, he answer was clear: no. The day Chrom recruited her, fate had given her a worthy purpose and slim shot at happiness. She stuck out in a bad way amongst the Shepherds, but she belonged there more than as a pawn of King Ganrel's mad ambitions. At the same time meeting Robin was one of the greatest things that ever happened to her. Tharja wouldn't take it back if she could, even if her country declared her a traitor… or if Robin had no place in his heart for her.

XXXX

I don't have time for this, he repeated in his head over and over again. Chrom is counting on me to help him win this war. Despite his protests, Robin kept marching towards his tent with a couple of Sumia's romance novels under his arm. This is foolish, Robin. Your time is better spent planning some strategies, maybe even training. He was going to spend his precious downtime on books of courtships and forbidden unions. Yes, Robin. Gangrel will never see it coming. You'll make him swoon to death. It was all Tharja's fault. Because of her, he felt obligated to understand what love was.

Robin knew the meaning of the word. Chrom had previously expressed his deep attachment to Sumia, and claimed to love her. Robin, on the other hand, had no idea what it was. Attraction he understood. It was baser and simply physical most of the time. Love was an abstract term he had trouble comprehending. If he loved someone prior to his amnesia, then the knowledge of it all had been lost.

This was how Robin dealt with the unknown, by reading about it. There was no such thing as too simple or too complex; if there was a book on the subject, he studied its contents until he felt satisfied with the knowledge he gained. Though he wished for a more professional text, Robin wasn't going to ask Miriel to write him a thesis on love – even if she would gladly do it.

When someone tapped his shoulders, Robin almost jumped out of his skin. He quickly hid the books under his purple cloak, afraid that Tharja would see what he was going to read if she was behind him. When he turned around, he saw Frederick and was instantly relieved. The stern knight could be terrifying, but he came nowhere near Tharja when it came to scaring him.

"Frederick! Is there a meeting? Am I late for training?" Robin knew the answers to those questions because he prepared the daily schedules. However, he was a little jumpy and wasn't reacting as he normally did.

The Shepherds' second-in-command shook his head. "No. May we speak in private?" he asked calmly.

"Sure," Robin answered. The tactician's neat and organized tent was nearby, so Robin invited Frederick inside to discuss whatever was on his mind.

"I heard there was an interesting scene between you and Tharja," Frederick began. Robin had to restrain himself from smacking his own forehead. "Is everything alright, Robin?"

"Yes!" Robin scratched the back of his head. "Everything is fine. I just wanted to say something before she left. That's why I raised my voice."

"Let's speak of her for a moment," Frederick said.

"Tharja?"

"Yes," he confirmed. "I've noticed that she has taken a liking to you, Robin." This was a horrible day for the Shepherds' tactician. "I was wondering if you could you use that to get her to follow our rules."

"Excuse me? I don't understand what you're asking me to do." As far as he knew, Tharja wasn't a troublemaker.

"She refuses to train with the rest of us, sometimes she's outright hostile to whoever approaches her, and won't leave your side during combat," Frederick explained. "I'm afraid of what others may think if we permit her to continue doing whatever she wants."

"What do you want me to do?" Robin queried. "I'm not exactly the man you call when discipline is needed."

"Even if you were, I don't think it would work on her." The knight paused for a moment. "Reason with her. Convince her to show up for our exercises, maybe tell her to teach young lord Ricken a few spells."

"I'm not sure if I can do it," he admitted.

Frederick sighed. "Then I have to ask you to pull her from the front lines."

Robin was shocked. "Why?! She's very reliable. Putting her aside would be a huge waste."

"We cannot have a rebel as one of our most trusted soldiers, Robin," Frederick stated. "You have her fighting alongside Prince Chrom. What sort of message does that send? That the Shepherds tolerate disobedience, reward it even."

Robin had to remind himself that Frederick's job was to keep order. It was thanks to his diligence and efforts that the Shepherds, as a militia, stayed in good shape. If anything Robin was grateful that Frederick came to him with a somewhat reasonable request instead of simply ordering him around. Frederick could do that if he wanted. After all, he outranked everybody except Chrom – and technically Lissa as well.

"I will talk with her as soon as possible."

"Very well." Frederick nodded in gratitude and left.

Robin inspected one of the books he had been hiding from Frederick. The title of it was: "Make Him Fall for You in a Fortnight." He briefly wondered if the world had gone made before he lost all of his memories.