Ugh, god, my mind keeps going blank for this story in terms of wording, despite having everything planned out to the end... So (yet another) short-ish chapter...

Anyway, I am hoping to try and get this story to 20 chapters before ending it, and with what else I have planned, it should just about work out. So... I am hoping that this chapter is okay...

"Are you sure of this, milady?"

"Yes… About as sure as the fact that your arms are around me, and that you are aware of me not being royalty, henceforth not requiring a name such as 'milady', Frederick..." Robin put on a small smile then, before kissing her husband carefully on his nose. "I have never been so sure about anything before. Our son most definitely has eyes for Lucina."

The discussion about their future son had been very fruitful that afternoon, during the Shepherds' slow journey south in order to disrupt the supply chains of Walhart's empire. "Even Chrom and Sumia have noticed the way in which the two have been acting towards each other-"

"I would say that they were like that to have some respite from Inigo and Owain. Those two are rather… Peculiar characters."

Ah, yes, two of the three new recruits to the Shepherds. Inigo and Owain. And Frederick happened to be correct, they were rather peculiar. Inigo was the polar opposite to his father, Lon'qu, and rather than trying to avoid women as much as he could, he was at them faster than a sword could be unsheathed. And Owain? Well, he had a sweet tooth like his father, and also had a strange affinity for yelling about his 'sword hand' with his strangely named swords. The last recruit was Brady, but he was thankfully more… Sane than the other two.

Robin sighed when she thought about the growing collection of children which they had joining them, before she put on a small smile. "I suppose so, yes… But he could also have gone to speak to Brady, yet I have barely seen them interact. I am sure about this, but who are we to pry in others' business? We wouldn't want to wish upon our son similar sorts of situations which we ended up in when people began to assume that we were in a relationship..."

After about half an hour of continuing small conversations on various topics, such as wondering how their young child was doing in Ylisse, and how long that they thought that this war would last, Robin began to feel her stomach rumbling. She hadn't ate yet that day. Happily, she then walked outside, leaving Frederick behind to make sure that their weapons were in a good enough state for use, in her search for food.

The joy on her face was quite evident when she located the mess tent, and could smell the aroma of something delicious cooking. "Oh! Hello, Robin! It's a lovely morning, isn't it? Are you here for something to eat?" The cheerfulness of Sumia was definitely confirmation that something nice was being baked.

With a nod, Robin walked over to the pegasus knight and peered over her shoulder to see what she was doing. "Is that… an apple pie?" Curiosity was steadily beginning to get the better of her. "It looks nice… Could I-" She slowly reached out her hand, but it was briskly slapped away.

"No! This is for later, after training, Robin! You'll have to eat something else for now!"

Following that was a small huff and folded arms. "I have Frederick for a husband. A majority of my life whilst out here is training." It was true though. When they weren't in combat against either the Risen or the Valmese, Robin was doing one of strategising, running errands, attempting to spend time with both Frederick and Morgan, or training. Most of which, due to her outright refusal to use a weapon other than a tome since what had happened in the Feroxi port, happened to be the fourth option.

The tactician had her hand slapped away yet again when she attempted to reach back out for some of the pie, so she decided to give up. "I guess that I will have to stick with the fruit rations which we have then..."

Sumia awkwardly laughed when Robin said that then. "So… You'll never guess what… But I kind of… Tripped over with some dishes before… And all of the fruit had to be threw away because of the many shards of ceramic that got caught in them..."

"What?!" Robin stopped speaking for a moment to let out various different frustrated sounds and a 'lovely' concoction of vulgar words, the most appropriate of which being "What sort of gods damn crap is this!?". After a deep growl, she brought herself back to a calmer state, emphasis on 'calmer'. "What's a tactician meant to eat then?! I haven't ate yet today! I've been that busy sorting out our strategy for when we fight Yen'fay, I completely forgot about eating!" With a groan, she sat down on a wooden crate and buried her face into her hands.

Wanting to find a way to perk up the tactician, Sumia began to quickly look around. "Hey… There's some of your favourite soup stored away here from yesterday! There's a flame over there, why not reheat it and eat that?"

"Hmph. No. I'm not in the mood to eat it… It's basically the only thing that I have ate over the past few days because of it repeatedly being made! I need something different… Maybe I'll see if there is a nearby town that sells some fruit in order to restock the rations..." She then stood back up, and walked outside, biting her lip when she heard a severely apologetic 'goodbye' from Sumia. Her only option was to retire back to hers and Frederick's tent, due to it being the only place other than Chrom's tent which had a map within it.

A firm hand grabbing hold of her arm was capable of stopping her in her tracks when she was trudging back, and she was quickly pulled around to face the hand's owner. "R- Robin, we're in trouble! Risen have suddenly attacked the northern side of the camp!" Of course Chrom would have gone straight to her...

"Damn it! Can I not have one moment where I can just eat?! Fine, let me grab my tome and I'll help you out with dealing with them..."

She marched into her tent as quickly as she could, and noticed that Frederick was no longer in there, and neither was his armour and lance. He must've finished maintaining them and had gone to assist in the effort against the cluster of Risen. Once she had took in that Frederick wasn't there, she picked up her tome. Well, a new tome. It seemed that her old, scruffy one had been replaced, thankfully. Using the same tome for training and for actual battle wasn't exactly the most… efficient of things to do.

Picking up the tome was followed by a deep sigh. She felt as though she were starving. Robin was perfectly aware that she needed to stop eating the bare minimum to keep herself going, especially when she knew that there were many serious fights steadily approaching, such as one that they would hopefully stand against their new comrade, Say'ri's older brother.

"I hope that this fight doesn't take too long..."

"Insufficient energy levels, that is my suspicion... If we are to rely upon what was said by Frederick, Sumia and milord, it is more than likely. A lack of food, followed by straining herself with combat… It's no wonder that she collapsed mid-battle." Libra stated, looking at the lightly breathing body of Robin before him. "When she wakes up, she must eat something, and she must preferably rest for a few hours." Upon that being said, the healer was quick to leave, seeing the concerned faces of those present.

Everything had been going relatively smoothly before defeating the risen's leader, allowing the ones remaining to scatter about, confused on what they were attacking. However, the Shepherds became almost as confused when Robin had ended up succumbing to her deficient energy in the middle of the battlefield. It it weren't for Morgan and his knowledge of tactics – even though they were simple ones which he had little experience of applying to actual combat situations -, chances were that the camp could have been entirely overrun.

There was but one agreement in camp whilst the tactician remained unconscious…

This was not the tactician's year.

Having to leave her son behind in Ylisse due to a new breakout of war; discovering that someone who had attempted to kill Emmeryn was now king of Plegia, with this someone also happening to be her father; a growing phobia of the sight of blood, and now she was half-starved and unconscious after having collapsed mid-combat.

"Yeah, I say that Robin will be fine once she's ate something! It's not like that time where she was almost murdered by those assassins in Plegia the other year, after all!" Lissa grinned, trying to cheer up everyone who was looking at Robin. She was met by a harsh glare from Frederick, a panicked look from Morgan, and a slight bit annoyed face from Chrom that was clearly saying 'now is not the best time to bring that up…'.

Things were rather quiet for a few minutes, with nobody daring to make any sort of eye contact or even considering to start up a conversation to make time pass faster. It was rather awkward, considering that normally, the group that was present would normally be talking between one another when they were together.

"Gods… It's not as though I'm on my deathbed, is it?..." The sudden voice was a shock to them all. It was rather rugged and slow, indicating tiredness. "You're all being quiet and forlorn, and that isn't like any of you... I've been awake for a while, and I was waiting for someone to, you know, talk before I opened my eyes..." Robin continued to grumble for a moment, keeping her eyes shut as she remained lying down.

"Mother!" Morgan was quick to dive at the tactician, hugging her tightly. The shock of it was enough to make her open her eyes, before she carefully embraced her son as he wept. "Don't fight when you're really hungry again, okay?! I got really stressed trying to tell everyone what to do in your place because I was worried about you!"

"Hah… I won't, I won't… I promise." She chuckled for a moment, before stretching out her arms as she sat up. "Speaking of which… I'm still hungry… And if there is any pie, I'm not letting Sumia keep me away from it this time! I'm not eating any leftover soup! Again!"

"Ah, I finally have my-!"

"Checkmate! Haha!"

"Oh… Gods damn it, I lose again!" Lucina was sulking as Morgan was attempting to play a game of chess with her as a distraction to pass the time, about two days later. The young tactician said that he was going to teach her what to do… But he seemed to be savouring his repeated victories against the princess. "Is there something that I keep doing wrong?"

Morgan looked at the board, before pointing at one of Lucina's pieces. "You left your king alone, and it was open to my pieces. Plus, you wouldn't have been able to move any of your pieces on time, so if I didn't get you to checkmate this turn, I would have done it next turn. Put simply, that is..."

The princess sighed, and shook her head. "I've always been better at actual combat, not simulating battle with a rather confusing board game… How about we try things out my way this time, Morgan?"

"Sure!" Morgan wouldn't mind doing some training. He had, after all, been sat down for most of that day. However, as he reached out to grab his tome, Lucina grabbed hold of his wrist firmly. "No magic?… Boo..."

"You burned my arm last time, because you used powerful fire magic! Wooden swords. That is all."

"Fine… But next time I can use magic, okay?"

"Sure, just make sure that it isn't powerful!"

Peering over at the pair was a small collection of people. Robin was with Frederick and also Chrom and Sumia, just so that she could prove a point about their two children. Frederick and Sumia were sighing, whilst Chrom was in agreement with the tactician. The group were not aware of one thing though… The pair were perfectly aware of their presence. And they had a way to deal with it. "You know, Lucina… I reckon that it is such a shame that my mother and father aren't here… I bet that mother would be over the moon with how I did at chess, and that father would be so proud that I'm doing extra training..."

The young tactician's parents gulped. Both statements were accurate. Robin truly was 'over the moon', as Morgan had put it, that he was doing so well at a game which they played in their spare time, even though he was exploiting the fact that Lucina was puzzled at the concept of the game. Frederick was glad too that his son was doing more training than he had made the boy do earlier that day, indicating that he had at least got something other than his hair colour from him.

"Yes, I know how you feel, Morgan… Father would like that I'm keeping up for our private training sessions! Plus, my mother would appreciate that I did something other than fighting, and that I was trying to get along with a comrade…"

That was the time for Chrom and Sumia to worry a slight bit, because of the truth behind that too. Lucina doing extra training, simply so that she could eventually triumph over Chrom in practice, and then the fact that she was cooperating and getting along with a comrade in ways alongside fighting was enough to make Sumia feel overwhelmed with joy.

The parents were forced out of hiding due to that, and they weren't impressed. In the slightest. The two were cunning… Very cunning indeed.

After even longer in Valm, no more than about a month, morale was low within camp. There wasn't much happening in the long journey north to finally stop Walhart from trying to take over the Valmese and Ylissean continents. Well, at least for the older generation that was…

"Ah, but would you simply not accept this bouquet of posies, dear Robin? 'Tis but a gift-"

"Need I remind you that I am a married woman, and if my husband were to find out about you trying to give me these flowers, he will not hesitate to make your life hell around camp, Inigo?" the tactician was quick to outright state, giving the mercenary beside her a stern glare before turning back to the parchment before her. "Why not just give those flowers to your mother?..."

Aware that Inigo was still standing next to her about a minute later, Robin sighed and put down her pen. He was insistent on her taking the flowers. "Look, I can't accept them. I'm busy, and I barely have the time to deal with things such as gifts, Inigo… The safety of not just Ylisse, but an entire continent is on my shoulders, and I can't afford to falter now because of something so trivial as flowers… And as I said before, Frederick is my other reason why I cannot accept it." She then got up, and pushed the teenager out of her tent, intending to get the privacy which she was desiring.

"Aha, rejected by the tactician of great mystery!"

"Maybe you should apologise later. Ma always said that playing the violin is a good way of apologisin'."

Inigo stared at his two companions in front of him, before sighing. They were starting to get annoyed with the heavy atmosphere in camp, and being fully aware that Robin was one of the people in charge, they were trying to cheer her up in order for the entire camp to eventually perk up.

"Let me deal with 'er. I'm sure I can get Robin to smile, 'kay?"

A few minutes later, Brady was shoved back outside with more force than Inigo had been. Robin was clearly not impressed by getting repeatedly interrupted from strategising.

"It is my turn now! My sword hand twitches for-!"

"Just get Robin to cheer up, Owain." Inigo muttered, cutting off Owain from almost reciting a speech about his 'sword hand'.

Things seemed to be going well to Inigo and Brady, as Owain was in Robin's tent for longer than the two of them combined. They could hear talking, and so they moved closer to the tent's flaps in order to listen in. That was a terrible mistake then, as a very large blast of electricity was blasted out of the tent, Owain being knocked out in the middle of it too. The two outside were knocked down by it too, and they were quick to notice a shadow tower over them. "Look, am I going to have to get Miriel assist me in casting some magic to only allow me and Frederick inside here?! If I don't want to be disturbed.. Don't disturb me!" Robin yelled in frustration, before glancing at Owain lying unconscious and singed on the ground. "And get 'Mr. Royal Thesaurus' there to Lissa…"

"Well… That was unsuccessful… Maybe we should try Owain's uncle next."

From inside the tent beside them, the tactician's voice rung out yet again. "And don't disturb Chrom either! He's stressed out enough as it is!"

Frederick sighed as he spoke to Robin that night, her head buried into pillows and her coat around her like a blanket. "And Owain getting injured?"

The tactician shrugged, before she huddled up even more under her coat. "He disturbed me straight after Inigo and Brady despite telling them to leave me alone. At least Lucina, Morgan and… Gods, I can't remember her name... Chrom and Sumia's other daughter didn't disturb me..." She then realised that it was quite a hopeless effort to use her coat as a blanket, so she finally sat up and pulled the blankets beside her like a cocoon. Then she suddenly laughed.

That worried Frederick, thinking that she had finally turned insane, but the small smile afterwards was enough to reassure him that this was not the case. "Nostalgia. Just… minus the snow. Being wrapped up in blankets like this reminds me of that day… And your awkward proposal in the face of almost certain death."

The smile was also a way for Frederick to know that though she may not have been in the best of moods over the past few weeks, she was still the Robin that he knew and loved, fully aware of how selfish he felt whenever she did smile. It was one of the few pleasures which the two still had, being stuck in a foreign continent without much else to do besides fight and train. Making each other feel selfish… It made them almost seem like children in a way.

Still wrapped up tightly in the blankets, Robin felt her husband then sit down beside her, and hold her as close as he possibly could to his body. "Are you still eating properly, Robin?" The sudden question as he started to run one of his hands through her hair was enough to induce a sigh, followed by a nod.

Since the incident a month ago, Robin had been forced to eat three proper meals a day rather than just restricting herself to the bare minimum rations for the entire camp's sake. Unfortunately, that had meant eating anything which was put before her, like it or not. Including… The thought of that food sent shivers down her spine. "I suppose so-"

"You either have been or haven't been, my love. No 'suppose'."

With a small laugh, she then nodded. "I have been… If things such as Sully's apparent 'stews' and 'casseroles' alongside normal food counts as eating properly." After that, Robin then pulled Frederick under the blankets too, and kissed him gently as her hand slowly trailed his jawline. "How else do you expect me to have so much energy which I am actually able to spend on strategizing and training as of late?"

Frederick then gave her an approving nod, before noticing that even though she did seem energetic, she also seemed… tired at the exact same time. Mentally tired, he supposed. She had been dedicating herself to strategy more than she ever had done, and she was working herself to the bone. He felt as though he needed to ease her into a more relaxed state, due to the time growing ever-later. "Come here… You need to wind down now, and get some sleep..."

A sudden hug then occurred, and Frederick lay down as he held onto Robin. "It is my responsibility to look after my wife after all, and make sure that she does not deprive herself of sleep instead of food now..."

"You're talking as though I'm not here, Frederick!"

"Ah, my apologies… I was speaking to myself. Now, I shall not go to sleep until I am assured that you are safely dreaming..."

"And if I were not to sleep?"

"Sleep, Robin."

Hmm... I have a feeling that next chapter will most definitely be better than this one... Hopefully, the wait between chapters shouldn't be so long either, because I hope that I can actually find the right wording next chapter too.

Well... Yeah. That's it for this chapter, expect another update (hopefully, as I said) soon!