So, this chapter is a bit short, especially in comparison to the others. But alas, other story ideas keep getting into my head and I have to keep writing them down... I'm going to try avoiding posting them until this story and possibly my other are completed though!

Well, I hope that this chapter is okay...

"We might as well train if we must still wait here, correct?"

"Say what? No way, I barely slept last night, and you know that!"

"But father-!"

"Geez! Haven't we fought enough recently?!"

"Yes… Relaxing would be better..."

It was four against one. Robin, Morgan, Lissa and Chrom were all unwilling to participate in any sort of training for the time being, considering that they had all been in combat a lot as of late. Frederick had a completely different idea in mind.

Robin had a different opinion to his on what everyone could do, which would both allow them to make the most of their current free time and also aid them all in their preparations. "Why can we not do something such as visit the market in town? Stock up on weapons, vulneraries and such?" After all, she had seen the state of the convoy the day before as they set up camp. The staves were worn down – the wooden ones even starting to chip away. Maribelle, Lissa, Anna and Libra all had splinters in their hands as proof, even if they were wearing gloves or not. Swords were all brittle and worn down beyond repair, with Chrom and Lucina's weapons being the only exception to that. In addition to that, tomes were falling apart; axes were far too blunt; bows were starting to just break, and lances were actually starting to dent and even completely bend.

They were not in a good enough state for training, let alone combat.

Chrom then backed the tactician up with a nod. "I have to agree with Robin. We can train with new weapons… Plus, I believe that some recreational time is in order… Maybe you could spend some time together as a family, just you, Robin and Morgan?"

"Yeah! Can we do that, father?!" Morgan was quick to grab hold of Frederick's arm, and look up at him with pleading eyes.

He reminded him so much of Robin. The way in which he was begging, and also the face he was pulling and even the tone of voice. Gods, the child had taken so much from his wife… But other than the hair colour, what was there of him?…

"You know, it is considered a common courtesy to answer a question when asked, Frederick." Robin's voice was quick to pull him out of his thoughts about their son. She was rolling her eyes at him, and Morgan was beginning to look a slight bit upset at the lack of an answer. "Fine, I'll decide for you then. You two are going to have some father-son time together, and I… am going to visit the market then catch up on sleep."

"Huh? Wait, Robin, don't you-?!"

"See you two boys later!" The woman was quick to turn around and start walking away, with Chrom shrugging and following her straight afterwards, and Lissa waving bye to Frederick as she ran to catch up with the two.

And so, the father and son were left alone. It was quite obvious that Robin was wanting the two of them to get along, and find some common ground between them.

"So… Remember your promise, father? About trying to help me to remember you?..."

Frederick smiled gently, and nodded. Of course he remembered that, it was only promised the day before after all. "Yes… I do remember. Are you wanting to try and do that then?"

"Of course!"

Armed with many new tomes and books, Robin sighed as she finally got a chance to just sit down and relax. Chrom had offered to assist her in carrying them when he realised the sheer amount which she had purchased, but she had respectfully declined. He was busy enough, carrying various other weapons which he had bought for the sake of training and also for the sake of battle.

"Frederick is probably going to be a bit annoyed that I spent all of my money on this… Oh well, I guess Morgan would want to read a fair share of these books too..." She shrugged her shoulders, and then leaned back against the crate of her other books and strategies as she picked up the first book from the pile beside her. "I suppose this could come of use once we get over to the other continent… A book with details about various locations of Valm, and with information about common weather conditions and such..." And so, she tossed the book into the crate.

All that she was really doing was sorting out the books into three piles – tomes for battle; books which would assist her when coming up with battle tactics, and books which could be read for her own entertainment when they encountered free time.

It took her another few minutes to sort out the books, before she yawned loudly. The sound of the breeze outside the tent was also starting to make her feel rather relaxed, making her more inclined to sleep. One thing was bothering her though, and that was the newly added sound of rain. The storm was now closing in on Ferox from Plegia.

Tiredly, she then threw off her coat before kicking off her boots, and then grabbed a blanket which was much thicker than said coat and pulled it around herself. She felt very comfortable like that, despite still leaning on the crate, simply because of the sheets around her reminding her of Frederick. The smell, the warmth, and even the pale blue colour which it happened to be, due to it matching the colour of his armour.

With a small smile, she then closed her eyes and allowed herself to drift off to sleep. Just as her eyes drifted closed though, she noticed two figures – blurry figures – open the flap of the tent and walk in. "Mother?… Huh, she must have dropped off! Well, she did say that she was going to sleep once she got back..."

"I guess that she is… I should get her off the ground though..." Frederick sighed as he picked Robin up then, but smiled at the peaceful look on her face. "This isn't the first time that I have had to stop her from sleeping in silly places either..."

The thought of the night where he had to move her after she fell asleep strategizing sprung to mind as he said that, and for some reason, made him laugh. This was just like Robin.

Morgan thought on what Frederick had just said, before the questions all started coming. "Not the first time? So… Does that mean you have been together for quite a while if this isn't the first time? Actually, when did you and mother first meet? Was it like… Love at first sight?" The boy was obviously quite interested on learning about the relationship shared between his parents, and Frederick found it almost funny at how inquisitive he was being – again with it being the sort of thing that Robin would do.

Of course, he had to answer these questions. Chances were, if he didn't answer, certain other people in the camp – specifically Lissa and a few others – would be more than willing to answer. "We've been married for around two years now… Known each other for three. And believe me, I despised her upon our first meeting."

"Despised? Did she do something bad?"

"No. I could not trust her. An amnesiac who was distinctly Plegian and had absolutely no idea as to what their name was or as to where they were could not be trusted, and it annoyed me that Chrom and Lissa were open to taking her word." The knight sighed as he said that, not believing that he actually had that attitude towards Robin. "I had it in my head that if she dared do anything even the slightest bit out of line, I would cut her down there and then..." As he said that, he noticed Morgan giving him wide eyes. Never had the boy been aware of the fact that his parents harboured dislike towards each other at first.

As Frederick then sat down, keeping Robin in his arms, the tactician stirred a bit as she ended up pulling the blanket around herself more. It was quite evident that she had unconsciously made herself rather comfortable in his arms then, and that she was now very deep in her sleep. "I feel rather pathetic thinking about that now… After all, she helped me to recover from one of my silly phobias not long after that time… I appreciated that quite a lot. But I realised that I actually cared about her after I barely made it on time to save her life from some hired Plegian assassins…"

"I… Think that I remember hearing mother say something like that in the past… Yes, she mentioned to me that after she almost got killed trying to save Ylisse's exalt, as she was saved by someone that she cared about… But she ended up with a fear of blood because of what happened too… Or something along those lines. I can't remember exactly..." Morgan suddenly stated, before he sat down beside Frederick. "You know, father, I wish that I could remember you from my past… That reminded me of the fact that I can only remember mother..." After that, the young tactician leaned in on his father's arm, and smiled. "But at least I can have memories of you now… Of you and mother..."

The knight himself then put on a small smile, and used one of his hands to ruffle Morgan's hair. "Yes. You can..."

Everything was silent within the tent for a while then, the only sounds present being Robin's light breathing and the rain hitting the canvas. It was nice for Morgan, to know that he was sat with his parents without having to worry that he was without anyone to turn to, just as he was upon his initial arrival to this time.

The silence was finally broken after this short while, due to Robin slightly opening her eyes. "Have I been asleep long?..."

It was late at night, and the full brunt of the storm had hit where the Shepherds were camping out. Robin was awake now, and leaning on Frederick's arm as she read her book in silence. Frederick had his other arm around her waist, and was keeping her close due to the temperature being deathly cold. Morgan had to literally flee to the tent which he was having to share with Lucina for the time being when he had decided to leave earlier.

"When you were asleep earlier… Did you end up experiencing that nightmare again, Robin?..."

A small shake of Robin's head was given, with a faint smile. "No… It was just a dream about us… And Morgan… As in our son in Ylisse, not the son with us… We were happy. Smiling. It was peaceful… A good dream. Not a nightmare in the slightest." After that, she slowly closed her book and put it down beside her. "And what were you and Morgan talking about when I was in the market, and then asleep?"

"At first we tried to see if he could remember me, but that was unsuccessful. So… We came here, and Morgan started asking about things such as how long we have known each other… Then he said that he could finally have memories of the three of us… Together..."

Robin then laughed quietly, before looking at her wrist. "It's because of this… that we started spending more and more time together..." Her fingers traced the scar, before she closed her eyes. "That, and us getting snowed into your tent..."

The two stayed silent then, at least until Frederick pulled Robin even closer to him and started running his hand through her hair. "It is so hard for me to keep my eyes off you, Robin… It was hard enough not being with you before after spending over two years almost inseparable..." After that, the tactician went and suddenly threw her arms around the knight, her eyes closed tightly.

She knew exactly what he meant… But her previous nightmares made her paranoid over what would happen if she did leave him without her. After all… If he died, she felt as though she would probably die on the inside too. Just become an empty shell of her present self. "I never want to leave your side… Just as we both said in our wedding vows." It took just a matter of moments for Robin to then rest her head in the crook of Frederick's neck, and dig her nails into his back as she tried to distract herself from her nightmares. "I love you..."

"Robin…" He wasn't sure on how to react, so he just did what his instincts told him and smiled at her as he pulled her arms off his back and kissed her hand gently. "So do I… I would never let my wife be alone, and I would most certainly not allow her to not know that I love her..."

Silently, Robin then took hold of his hands and smiled at him widely. "You are most definitely improving on trying to be romantic. That's probably the best highlight of all of the bombshells from the past few days..." Moments later, she leaned over to his ear with a small smirk on her face. "And you know what… We've not been this close to each other since Morgan was born the other month… After all, if one of us were sleeping, the other was looking after him..." Following this was then Robin quickly kissing her husband before he lay down holding onto her.

Neither of the two had felt quite this relaxed in months, and it was a huge relief before they were going to have to go back to war in order to save Ylisse yet again. "You make a good point, Robin… We haven't been this close for about a year now. But I am most certainly glad that we have this moment..."

"Oh? And why is that, hmm?" Robin raised an eyebrow, before she began to laugh. "Or am I going to have to guess, Freddy Bear?" She could feel the butterflies inside her stomach as she said that, before she started to laugh again, just from slight embarrassment. "Though… I'm not really in the mood to guess."

Also laughing, Frederick then pulled Robin to beside him and then kissed her forehead. "I won't let you guess… It's because I love my wife. Is that not obvious?"

"Right..." Robin rolled her eyes then, before she shivered, and so pulled some blankets over them both. "I know that you love me, but you're being very affectionate, so it's obviously something else too..."

"Hmm, I am going to have to get Stahl to stop showing you how to read faces..."

"And then what suspicions will get into people's heads?"

Frederick bit his lip then, before sighing as he pulled Robin as close as he could to him. "Why would such a thing matter? It is not as though they would have written evidence, unlike the last time that we did this in camp..."

"S- So cold, n- not to mention wet! A- And we promised Frederick th- that we would be here b- by this time, and h- he isn't even h- here!" Lissa shivered, using Chrom's cloak almost like a blanket and coat to keep herself warm and dry as he too shivered. It was true though, as before he and Morgan had gone for shelter the day before, he had said 'we will start training at the crack of dawn, understand?'

It was an hour since the sun had rose, and everyone was getting impatient – some more than others. Particular people were trying to lighten the mood, but to no avail. "Nyah ha, maybe he got brutally murdered in his sleep last night!" Henry laughed, much to Morgan's horror. Lucina had to then quickly pull Morgan away from the dark mage, as she could see the young tactician's eyes start to narrow as his grasp of his tome tightened.

After a few moments of quiet discussion, Chrom sighed in defeat. "Everyone, just try and start training with each other for the time being… Me and Lissa will go and look to see if Frederick is in camp. Robin for that matter too..." People nodded to the exalt's orders (even though many were not going to do that, it was far too early in the morning for them) just as he and his sister walked away.

"Chrom… Maybe this might have something to do with how tired and a slight bit stressed Robin has been recently… After all, Frederick does worry about her a lot at times..."

"No, that's not the case..." It was a sudden shock as Robin then ran over to the two, looking rather rugged – almost as though she had just quickly threw her clothes on just mere moments before. Her coat was held tightly around her and the hood pulled up over her head to protect her from the rain; her trousers were all creased and a bit filthy, almost as though they were the same ones from the day before, and on top of that, she was barefoot, and her feet were all muddy because of that. "Shockingly, he's come down with a cold because of being in the rain yesterday without his armour… I've been trying to persuade him to stay lying down for today…"

"Huh?! So… No training today?" Lissa gasped, grabbing the sleeve of Robin's coat, despite the tactician's attempts to keep her arms wrapped around her torso tightly. Chrom was quite relieved at that, there was no longer the tugging at his shoulders from Lissa using his cloak. "Robin, is there no training?!"

And then, the woman smirked. Lissa and Chrom took that as a bad sign. "Oh, you're training all right. Frederick said to get Sully to take charge alongside you, Chrom. I'm looking after him, so I am exempt. Have fun, you two!"

"D- Don't you want my help?! A- And maybe Maribelle's? Sumia's?! Stahl's?! L- Libra's?!"

Robin shook her head as she briskly turned around, before sighing loud enough for them to hear. "No, I'm perfectly fine. I've actually dealt with Frederick when he's ill before, and you do not want to deal with it."

There was just one thing about what Robin was saying…

Frederick wasn't ill.

Using her knowledge of various different weaknesses which Frederick had accidentally exposed to her – a specific one being the threat to have all of his meals replaced with nothing but bear meat (as he could only tolerate it in small amounts now) – and also promising that she would help to make up for not participating in training that day by training for all of the next day, she had managed to persuade him into allowing them to spend some more time together alone.

Her only concern now though… Was Morgan. She had found a way to keep the healers away… But their son was a different problem entirely. He would be insistent upon seeing Frederick, to see if he were okay.

Maybe the prospect of contagion could keep him away?

Either way, Robin then left to return to her husband as Chrom and Lissa turned the other way, to return to the others.

Chrom shook his head after that, before putting his arm over his sister's shoulders. "Don't worry, we won't do any training for long. However… You do need some practise with your tome, you were firing it everywhere the other day when we were trying to leave Carrion Isle..." The exalt then laughed, before looking at his sister's forlorn face. "Don't be so sad, okay? You weren't that bad..."

Lissa then stopped, and worriedly looked down at the ground. "I'm just… Worried about Robin and Frederick… It's not normal for Robin to sleep so much, and I don't think that I have ever seen Frederick ill before, in the seven years that we have known him from when he started training with you… I hope that they are okay..."

"They will be, those two always bounce back. Don't worry, okay? Just be optimistic and smile, right?"

"… Yeah. Okay!"

"Where I come from… They are dead. Chrom, Frederick, the entirety of the Shepherds… Here, they are alive… Time travel is such a strange notion..." The Robin lookalike mused, gazing over at the large skeletal remains resting upon the horizon. "And considering that if those children had surrendered their lives to me, they could have found peace in death alongside their parents rather than going through the effort of trying to 'challenge their fate' by 'changing the timeline'!"

She closed her eyes and shook her head as she then heard the storm brewing from the coastline to the west, and that was followed with a smirk. "They can't change things… Exalt Chrom will die… The Fire Emblem will be lost… I will rise again! And little Robin can't do anything about it, she can't escape fate… And neither can that Lucina and her silly companions, for that matter..."

After that, she cackled loudly as a crash of lightning struck the skull in the distance. "I can't wait for Validar's plan to fit into place…" And then a smug grin formed upon her face. "Or my name is not Grima, the Fell Dragon! Now then… I must see how Aversa is doing in twisting that stupid little worm Excellus around her fingers in Valm..."

That's it for this slightly shorter chapter... And as I said on my other story on here, I'm going to try and alternate between updating the two, so expect this to be updated in about a week/two weeks?...

I am hoping that it's okay to favourite/follow/review!