Well... Updates may not be as often as I hope now... On top of it being exam season (which I have failed to mention on various occasions), I have been an absolute klutz and fell up the stairs and fractured some fingers... I'm still writing when I can, but I've been told to 'try and relax my fingers a bit more'... Oopsie?

Well, I had better get onto the chapter...

"Come on, Gaius! You can do better than that if you want those caramel cupcakes!" Robin laughed, quickly jumping back as the thief swung his sword towards her. Over the past year, Robin and Gaius were quick to make up as friends, aware that their abrasive attitudes to one another in the past were most definitely to do with the fact that Robin was close to breaking down through stress at the time, and Gaius was frustrated over two things: his candy getting all sticky and melting; and all the fighting which was being done at the time.

"Damn, Bubbles! That husband of yours is rubbing off on you! You're getting tougher and stricter each time that we train!"

"But Frederick doesn't give you candy afterwards, does he?"

With a triumphant smirk, Robin then swung her sword towards Gaius, and ended up swiping at the cloak which he had on. The material tore easily, and the thief looked at it in shock. "Bubbles, seriously?!"

"A tear is a small cost if you want to be in a good enough condition to ask Lissa out on a date, over being a chubby little thing..."

Gaius' face after that made Robin burst out laughing then, and he just went and sighed before leaning against a wall. He was glad that he and Robin weren't almost like enemies any more, and her infectious laughing was probably one of the benefits of that. After a few more moments, he began to laugh at himself too, and then looked across the courtyard where they had been training. "Hey, look there, Bubbles. Looks like your husband is waiting for you."

Frederick, however?… The two still weren't exactly on as firm ground. They did exchange small glares if they passed each other in a hallway, and as well as that, they did sometimes have slightly bitter conversations until Robin came along to interrupt them every single time.

The tactician looked up, and then smiled at Frederick from where she was stood, before she reached into her coat and threw a small key over to Gaius. "Should be easy enough to figure out where the cupcakes are, right?"

The thief smirked, before casually waving his hand as he walked away, ready to go cupcake hunting. Well, if it were counted as hunting. Robin always locked candy which she had for him in the same place every time, a drawer in the library within the castle.

Once Gaius was out of earshot, Frederick walked over to Robin with a small frown."You keep going to train with him… Why?" He paused for a moment, hoping that she would respond, but the raised eyebrow which he received was enough to deter him from questioning any further. She was definitely aware of how he still wasn't exactly as keen on the thief as her, so she knew not to pursue such conversations.

"Well, may I ask you as to why you have been mysteriously disappearing for a few days now, Freddy Bear? Oh, and I've been noticing that you've been more… relaxed in your duties, leaving your armour behind and such… What about that?"

Robin asking that shocked Frederick, but he knew that maybe… Maybe he should explain why.

It was definitely true though. Everyone had noticed that Frederick was just vanishing, even Kellam, the master of vanishing when in plain sight. They had even held a worried meeting to try and see what on earth was up with the knight. On top of that, yes, he had also been much more laid back in his duties. Less effort was put into them then usual, and it was strange for Robin to see that Frederick, one for safety and preparation for the worst happening at any time, was doing things such as carelessly misplacing weapons, and forgetting his armour.

He didn't know how to explain it to her that well though, and Robin bit her lip in worry. "Frederick… Please, don't keep quiet like that! You aren't… Disliking our company, are you? Or… Or..." She looked panicked then, various different worst case scenarios playing through in her head. "Just say something, damn it!"

"I've… Been trying to do something for you..." was all that he could respond with, before hugging her tightly.

"Huh?… What do you mean by that?..." She made him loosen his grasp of her, and she rested her hands on his chest as she looked up at him in confusion. "I don't get what you mean..."

He carefully let go of her, and then took hold of her wrist. "I have to show you then… I cannot exactly explain with words..."

"Okay, first Frederick starts vanishing, and now Robin?" Chrom sighed a few days later, Sumia and Lissa with him as he tried to figure out what was going on. "How long has it been happening now?"

Lissa frowned as she looked up, before closing her eyes. "I would say about a month for Frederick, and two weeks for Robin? I don't know really, but I guess that is about right?..."

The group agreed on that, Lissa was the closest that they could get to the amount of time that the two kept disappearing. It was really beginning to confuse them though, what exactly could they be disappearing for?

Suddenly, the door flew open and someone came running in, out of breath."Phew… Sorry that I am late, I was a bit busy! Hahaha..." Robin quietly laughed, rubbing the back of her head awkwardly. She was hoping that she wouldn't be asked why, but alas, that would not be the case.

Almost instantly, Sumia asked why.

With a sigh, the tactician scuffed her boot against the floor before shrugging. "It doesn't matter..." Three glares were enough to make her gulp, and explain. "Frederick had ended up getting me a lot of new books… I've been distracted reading them..." She then began to mess with her fingers awkwardly, somehow turning embarrassed for admitting that to them.

Chrom laughed, before he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Why are you turning red? At least we know why you two have been acting a bit strange! Anyway, we need to go now, we were just waiting for you." He smiled, before looking at Lissa. "Are you coming?"

"Nope, not today! I'm staying here with Sumia!"

"Huh?" Robin tilted her head in confusion. "You're not coming? Normally you would jump up at the chance to kill some risen with Chrom..."

Despite the fighting now being over, risen were actually still quite the problem within the continent. More often than not, one or two of the Shepherds, sometimes even the mysterious 'Marth' figure, or even Basilio and Flavia had been nearby to deal with them. If there were a lot of risen or if they were difficult, more often than not those residing within the castle in Ylisstol – so Chrom, Lissa, Robin, Frederick and Sumia – would be called upon.

"No… I'm not going. Did you not tell her, Chrom?" Sumia smiled, before looking at the exalt at the same time as Lissa.

"Yeah, big brother! Have you not told her?"

Robin turned to face him then. They had a secret, and hadn't told her?… Well, locking herself in her quarters to read her new books did mean that she barely made any contact with anyone…

As he began fidgeting, he sighed deeply. "You know that me and Sumia are quite close as friends?… Well… Now… Ehehe, I'm not exactly good with words when explaining this?..."

"You two are engaged, aren't you?"

"Yes."

The blunt way in which Chrom responded to Robin made Lissa slap her face with a sigh. "And here you see the ruler of Ylisse…"

Meanwhile, Sumia had burst out laughing. Despite their constant clashes with each other, Chrom and Lissa were the perfect example of siblings with a healthy relationship. Robin was also thinking something along the same lines, and was laughing too.

"Well, I'm happy for you two then!" Robin was finally able to say once she had calmed down, before turning to Chrom. "So, where are we heading off to? I'm guessing that seeming as Frederick isn't here by now, it's just the two of us..."

"A field to the south… The same one where we found you, actually…" The quiet laughing of Chrom was enough to get Robin to roll her eyes, before she pulled out a tome and hit him across the head. "Ow… I get it, now isn't the time for reminiscing…"

"Yes, I believe that you are correct there, milord… Hadn't we best be leaving now?"

Everyone turned around and Lissa let out a loud sigh of relief. "It's about time you showed up, Frederick! Now, take Chrom and Robin, and get out of here! I have some talking to do with Sumia!"

"Are you sure that you are okay?..." Robin muttered that night, wrapped up under a few layers of blankets as she spoke to Frederick, her eyes not losing contact with her book. "I mean, we had never even noticed that last risen with the fire tome… And that burn on your face looked rather bad..."

Frederick deeply chuckled, before he carefully placed one of Robin's misplaced tomes back onto her bookshelf. "Yes, Robin. I am fine. Quite fortunate that Lady Maribelle happened to be present at the time too. But what about you? You tripped over a lance which one of the risen dropped..."

Robin closed her book, and then placed it beside her with a small smile. The fight earlier against the risen had been quite a clumsy one, especially for the tactician and the knight. As a matter of fact, they were the only ones to sustain injuries. Just as Robin had stated, Frederick had got some of his face burned through a narrow miss with a risen which was wielding a fire tome, and as a result of that, she had wanted to see if he were okay afterwards, but had ended up tripping over a lance – she blamed that on the grass being too tall in the field.

Quietly, she looked at her knee, and decided to respond to his question. "Look… It's nothing much more than a few small bruises..." She then closed her eyes, and began to slowly hum a small tune to herself.

Things stayed quiet between the two them, except for Robin's quiet humming, at least until she could feel a pair of arms pull her close to his body. Robin opened her eyes, and smiled at the fact that Frederick had finally decided to sit down in their bed beside her.

Carefully, she then kissed just above the burn on his cheek, before she could feel his hand rest upon the bruises on her leg. "Hey, um..." Robin trailed off, before trying to think of what to say. She wasn't liking the silence much at all.

"What is it, milady?..." Frederick kissed her forehead quickly, before she realised something.

"You feel cold..." Ever so carefully, she adjusted the blankets wrapped around her to also enclose him. "I don't like holding onto you when you are cold."

"Maybe I would not feel so cold if mayhaps… You actually wore more clothes?..."

Robin pouted as her face went red then. "It's not my fault that I got a lot of that… I don't know, sap-like thing that the risen turn into when they are defeated all over me!" She grabbed hold of Frederick even tighter then with a 'hmph', before she could feel him rest his chin upon her head.

"I know… But you do have other clothes-"

"And if I so wish, I don't have to wear much in the presence of my husband. It isn't as inappropriate as, say, if I were in this situation with someone such as… Chrom?..." She shivered as she suddenly remembered the awkward run ins that she and Chrom had back when they were actually at war, and went red in the face. Thankfully, Frederick didn't see this, and she felt some relief at that. "And besides… You're the cold one, not me!"

There was another laugh from Frederick, before she could feel his hands slowly make their way from around her arms to around her waist. The feeling of his hands against her bare skin was a feeling which she had still not got used to, yet she still loved the feeling of it.

"Well, thank the gods themselves that I have you to warm me up then..." he smiled, before lying down as he kept hold of her. She made a small squeal as he did that, before sighing.

"Frederick, why is it that when you're with me… You act more… I don't know, more care-free? You're always chivalrous, but your maturity at times seems to just fly out of the window when we're alone! Not that I mind, that is..."

"Maybe it is to do with the fact that it happens to be you that I am with. And need I remind you that whilst I am a knight, and it is required for me to act chivalrous, as you say… I am also a man, and when I am with my wife..." Frederick fell quiet then, but she could tell that he had a satisfied smile upon his face as she held onto him in return tightly.

She then nodded, smiling herself. "I get what you mean..."

They continued some more small-talk for a while after that, until their bedroom was completely pitch black as time had flew faster than they thought that it had done, meaning that it was already the dead of night. It wasn't long until Robin sighed with exasperation and then made Frederick loosen his grasp of her in order for her to be able to light a candle so that they had a temporary light source.

And then, Frederick asked Robin a question completely out of the blue. "How much time do we have until the candle can burn no longer?"

"Huh?..." She was confused, but then looked at the candle so that she could answer his question. It was quite small, seeming as Robin had used it a lot for when she read over the past few nights, so there wouldn't be long left in that candle's lifetime. "About an hour… Why?"

"So we have some time… At least, if you are willing, milady..."

Robin didn't take long to realise what he was saying, and her face flushed a pale red colour. "Is this to do with what you were saying before?… About you being more care-free when with me? Because if it is..." she then gently held onto his face, and stroked her thumb over his cheek, careful not to press too hard upon his burn, as she smiled kindly at him.

"Possibly." The knight quickly pulled Robin back down to him, and kissed her on the lips gently before running his hand through her hair as his other hand gently trailed across her spine, making her shiver through his hands still being cold.

For the next few minutes, rather than them speaking to each other, their interaction was purely non-verbal. Yes, it mostly consisted of small hugs, tender kisses and loving contact with each other, but after a while, Frederick could just about see Robin pout in the faintly flickering light.

"What is the matter, Robin?..." He whispered, worriedly looking at her as she continued to look dissatisfied about something, which he evidently couldn't quite get a grasp of. "Robin… Talk to me..."

"Oh, I'm sorry..." She laughed quietly, before she put on a smile and kissed his nose as she perched herself up on her elbows from where she was lying on top of him. "I'm just a bit restless, that's all..." After that, she carefully looked at his face, before bursting out laughing. "We've been married for just over a year now, and you still don't get when I am attempting to suggest something romantic to you! You're still clueless about romance, aren't you?"

Frederick sighed, before pulling her back down onto him. "You barely gave me a chance to react, that is all… I get what you mean, I have been with you for long enough to realise when you are suggesting something."

"Oh! Well, that's good… Maybe you do have a clue after all… Anyway, time's wasting… The candle is getting closer to going out, you know..."

Robin mumbled as she woke up, trying to rub her eyes due to how dreary they felt but just not having the energy to move her arm whatsoever. She was completely drained, and despite that, she was proud of the reason why. Just seeing Frederick still asleep beside her, arms tightly wrapped around her chest with nothing but blankets over them was enough to make her blush.

It was, from what she could see, only just sunrise due to the pinkish light flooding their room, meaning that she hadn't actually been asleep for too long, four or five hours at most.

"Gods… So tired..." She muttered, wanting to go back to sleep as she tried to wind back down, but a dull ache throughout her body not allowing her. Her fumbling around last night had managed to earn herself many more problematic bruises and bumps everywhere, and due to the mood which they were both in, Frederick had tended to them all with a kiss – no matter where they were. Even the awkward bruise which she was capable of getting on her chest through her slipping off him one of many times which resulted in her falling onto her book which she had forgotten to move off the bed.

After thinking about that bruise, she carefully placed her hand against it and felt the tips of his fingers against her hand. Frederick was most definitely asleep… But was still trying to be gentle as he held onto her. Or maybe, it was simply the fact that he was asleep that this was the case. Either way, she was grateful for his unconscious tenderness.

"I feel cold..." She then mumbled, realising that it probably wasn't smart with autumn quickly approaching and she was lying there with no clothes on, relying on just blankets and Frederick's body for warmth.

Then thinking about that made her start laughing. "Gods… I can imagine myself from two years ago giving me a disgusted look about this… Sleeping bare next to Frederick… With him in a similar state without clothes… Ah..." She made herself shut up then, due to her mind then getting filled with memories of that night and in turn making her face turn an even brighter red than it already was.

"Gods… I should just… Try and sleep..."

Lissa was giggling as she sat next to Robin a few months later, after Robin had just told her a secret which nobody else knew yet. "So… On top of Sumia, it's you now, huh?"

Awkwardly, Robin nodded before she decided to open the book to a random page and start mumbling to herself as she did so. She was much more trusting of Lissa when it came to secrets now, due to her being much more mature than two years ago, but knowing that Lissa would be the only person who knew for now, seeming as they were actually alone in Ylisstol for the time being made her want to sigh out loud.

You see, Chrom was away on official business with Flavia in Ferox, and had took both Sumia and Frederick with him. He said that he needed someone responsible to help look after Lissa and also Ylisse whilst he was away, hence why Robin was still there with the princess.

Lissa could tell that Robin was rather uncomfortable keeping at the topic at hand, so she was quick to change the topic. "What are you reading?..."

"Oh… It's a book with all sorts of Ylissean, Feroxi and Plegian history, folklore and such… Though, to be honest, I seem to be finding everything about Ylisse and Ferox… Familiar. As though I've been taught about it before… Maybe I knew about this before my amnesia kicked in…"

"But you don't feel that way about the Plegian stuff?"

"Yes… I don't feel as familiar with it, so I'm reading that primarily..." She trailed off, beginning to become engrossed in one particular part of it.

Out of curiosity, Lissa peered over her shoulder and began to read what was written also, but was mostly focussing on the diagrams and illustrations present. "Hey, doesn't that look weird? That mark? It has six eyes! Just like that creepy skull in Plegia… N- Near where Emm..." Quickly, she shook her head and wiped away the tears as Robin gulped.

"Oh gods… But what it says about that mark though… 'The following is the brand symbolically bore by members of the grimleal, either through their attire or through a brand upon their skin. Only a select few are capable of bearing the brand upon their body, due to their connection with the Fell Dragon Grima, either through blood or through his will.' I don't know why… But it worries me, that..."

Really, she knew exactly why. The marking upon her right hand was the reason why.

She had something to do with Grima… But she couldn't risk anyone else discovering that out. Gods, especially Frederick… What would happen if he figured out? Would their relationship be completely over?…

In frustration, she flicked a few pages forward and huffed. "I don't like those grimleal at all..."

And neither was she liking herself, at that moment in time.

"Robin? You seem to be acting strange since you read that page… Maybe you should read something else for now!" Lissa grinned, before the smile quickly turned to a frown as she noticed Robin shaking as she tried to read the book some more. "Right, that's it!" She snatched the book away, before she grabbed her wrist and forced her to her feet. "You're not reading for the rest of the day! We're going to get Maribelle, Cordelia, and a few others and we are going to visit the markets to do some shopping!"

"Wh- What?!… Ugh… Do I have to?!"

"Yep! You never know what you can find! Maybe you'll find an even better book that you can start reading tomorrow."

"Lissa! Let go of my wrist!"

"Nope! Now come on!"

Yeah... A bit short, and not as good as I had hoped...

But I've always wondered something... When exactly have the children other than Lucina been born? I've always imagined Morgan (when not Lucina's sibling) being just a bit younger than her, but due to time travel, seems a lot younger?... Meh, that's just me anyway.

Anyway, I can't keep dropping silly hints about chapters that will require a longer wait due to injured finger related restraints, can I?

So... I'm hoping that you're willing to review, favourite, follow and whatnot?