Ah... I almost forgot about this until I got a review the other day... So I've been prompted back into writing for this again! Though I may have to touch up a few of the earlier chapters of this before I get any further!

It was beyond strange… The one night in which Robin had failed to wake up sobbing through her nightmares, he was the one who had to go through that experience. Normally, he would not be fazed… But for once, he had been caught off guard simply because of how real the dream had felt. He had to keep reassuring himself every few minutes by taking hold of Robin's wrist just to make sure that there was still a pulse there.

But was his worry truly justified? He did not know. From what he was aware, in her nightmares, she was uncontrollably killing their comrades just to take their son… His was simply them both being killed trying to get away from her father… Either way, a nightmare was still a nightmare… But at least it was not her, but him who had suffered from it.

Slowly, he went and pulled her closer to him, and Robin ended up unconsciously huddling up to him. The warmth of her body was just as much of a reassurance as knowing that she had a heartbeat, and it was enough to make him smile. It was so nice to be with her like this at night. No worries about responsibilities as knight and tactician, deadlines, fighting, or even the war were present, just the comfort of the silence and the opportunity to just… relax.

Relaxing. That was an experience which he still was not fully accustomed to. Yes, Lissa had tried to help him relax on many occasions… Even Robin had done the same at times… But he still was not used to it. Being with Robin most of the time led to him feeling as though the time which they spent together was just due to their attraction to one another, and also their duty to protect and look after each other through thick and thin as husband and wife. And Lissa… He had practically grew up with the princess. It didn't feel like relaxing, again, it felt like a responsibility.

It had been a few minutes since he had last checked her pulse, so he took it as a sign that he was starting to calm himself down. She was alive, and that wasn't going to change in the immediate future. End of.

The opportunity for him to sleep was there before him. He was starting to feel tired, and in order to get the camp ready for their next movement, he had to wake up earlier than he typically would. But… Robin. Just… Robin. She was sleeping peacefully, and she looked so… delicate. Her cheeks were flushed pink despite the fact that she were asleep, and in comparison to her pale complexion, it was beautiful… Her long wavy hair was framing her face and shoulders too…

"No. I cannot afford to distract myself when I require sleep…" And even so, his body betrayed his words. He ran one of his hands through her hair whilst his other traced shapes on her back. "Yet..."

A small whisper then stopped him from continuing, alongside a hand positioning itself on his cheek. "You're distracted by my alluring charms. Just admit it..." Robin had been awakened by his musings and actions, and had decided to straight off tease him for doing that.

After a few moments of incoherent spluttering, Frederick was able to come up with a response. "Alluring?… I would much rather use the word 'devious'. Anyway, why did you wake up?"

"Hmm, well… Hearing you make little sounds of satisfaction which I have only ever heard you make when cutting down enemies, or when we spend time together, if you catch my gist, whilst I felt you mess with my hair… It's no surprise that I woke up, Freddy Bear..." The woman finally opened her eyes then, before leaning forward and kissing her husband's nose.

"Don't call me that..."

"Gosh, it's all in jest, Frederick… Now come on… If you're awake now, you won't wake up on time in the morning..."

"… And you're sure that you can help me over this… fear?..." The tactician was awkwardly messing with her hair as she looked at the man in front of her out of worry. It had been the fifth time that she had asked the question in a matter of minutes, due to how much her husband's wary nature had rubbed off on her. And it did not help alongside that in any way, shape, or form that her fear already seemed to be at the same level as Lon'qu's phobia over women.

A lack of response filled her with nerves, and it took a lot for her to break through it and speak again. "Henry. Look, can you help me or not?… I can't take this any more! I can't even help my family when we're fighting because of this fear, and at war, it isn't good at all! And you're the only person who I am aware of having the sufficient amount of knowledge of blood to help me! Tharja would just act strange and not help me much, and Miriel would just go into some long, winding explanation on how my fear is 'invalid' and whatnot! Please!"

Her begging was enough to make the dark mage chuckle a slight bit, before nodding. "Yes… I can help you… hehe… Though you may have to clear your schedule for the day!"

"But… I have an important strategy meeting with Chrom later, and I have to help Morgan with his strategic-"

"You do want to get rid of this fear, right?… Nyahaha! You'll just have to delay your plans! Now then… Do you want to use your blood, or do you want somebody else's? Mine? Your husband's? Your son's?! A mix of everyone's?!"

Morgan was sat impatiently on a crate, flicking through one of Robin's strategy books which Frederick had allowed him to borrow for the time being. It had been about an hour since his mother was meant to have met with him, and in that time, he had gone through about a third of the book. At present, he was reading a chapter about ideal strategies for when fighting against armies with high levels of mounted and armoured units – quite relevant to the Shepherds' situation at present against Walhart's army.

Yes, two thirds of the army had been eradicated… But the strongest third still remained, and that thought made him feel nothing but anxious.

And just what had happened to his mother?

Slowly, he slumped forward and dropped the book on the ground as he clenched his fists. "Mother… We've been worried about you enough… Please don't start some sort of disappearing act now..."

He looked down at the book which was slowly sinking deeper into a puddle of water that was there, before he noticed someone's reflection in the water. "No… I don't know where mother is, father… If that's what you want to ask me anyway..."

Moments later, there was a hand placed upon the boy's shoulder. "No. I'm not here because of that. I have been informed that you have been sat out here for a while now, acting rather… glum. Are you okay?" Following that was him getting pulled up onto his feet, before he received a hug. A… hug. That was weird. Frederick had never hugged him before. Yes, he had received the occasional smile, and a pat on the back every so often, typically because he knew that he wasn't truly his son, but rather one from one of many potential timelines. Perhaps Frederick was starting to fully… embrace that they were still related by blood.

"Oh… Yeah! I am now, anyway! I was waiting for mother, but she didn't show up, so… Yeah. I might've ruined one of her books though..."

"Hmm… This must be for the same reason which she failed to attend an important meeting before-"

"She might've been grabbed by someone in the Valmese army! They might have hurt her, or even killed-!" Morgan suddenly stopped talking after he interrupted Frederick upon noticing that he had suddenly closed his eyes and clenched his fists. "Father… Oh gods, I'm so sorry! I- I forgot that-!"

"Don't… Don't worry about it. Let's… just go and find her..."

"A- Ah gods… I- I- Get it off me!" Robin screamed at the sight of the blood on her arm. Henry had just made a 'small' cut on her arm; and she couldn't take her eyes off it. It most definitely wasn't helping at all that her chest was starting to feel tight, and her eyes were starting to water.

Suddenly, her wrist was grabbed hold of by Henry's bony hand, and held in place despite all of her tugging and pulling to get her hand free. "Oh, don't worry! It's not like you will bleed to death! The incision wasn't deep enough to damage your main arteries to the point of no return! Hmm, did I actually get a main artery, thinking on it?… It would be a caw-tastrophe if I did!" Another scream followed what he said, and it led to Robin being forced to sit down by the dark mage. "I'm only kidding! Nyahaha! Just stay here for a minute!"

"D- Don't leave me here j- just bleeding to death! Henry! I- I don't want t- to die on my own-!"

"I'm getting your husband, silly! You're going to be the caw-se of my death if you keep up with this screaming!"

Robin closed her eyes then, and she began to feel tears forming as she tried to hold back another shout once Henry had left. She was beginning to feel the metallic taste that hung in the air when she was so close to death those years ago in her mouth, and even the memory was making her feel even worse.

Why did she insist on doing this now of all times?… Why did she have to let this fear even get to the point that it had done?

Just… Why?…

Allowing the tactician to dwell on her thoughts was a good thing for her though. Without even realising it, she had drifted off to sleep on the seat which she was on by the time that Henry had actually managed to find Frederick, who was being accompanied by Morgan still. None of the three were actually expecting her to be asleep, but it was nice to see her so peaceful…

At least until Morgan noticed her wrist. "Uh, Henry?…" The teenager knew that there had to be a reason behind his mother's wrist having (what was now) dried blood covering it. "Why was mother with you anyway?… I… I don't like the fact that there is… Um..."

"Oh! You're talking about the blood! She wanted to get rid of her fear so that she doesn't become a burden to anyone, especially to you two! And she came to me to help get rid of it! Nyahaha! Anyway… I wonder if she's alive..." Hearing what Henry said last was not assurance whatsoever for Morgan, who had taken to clinging to his father's arm tightly through fear; and it added to the uneasiness which Frederick was beginning to feel with this situation. Seeing the dark mage just poke at her face for a moment made everything feel a million times worse, but it was a huge relief seeing Robin unconsciously bat his hand away.

Out of sheer relief, Morgan went and dove at his sleeping parent in order to hug her. What he wasn't aware of though was that the action was a bit too sudden, and had surprised Robin into waking up. She slowly went and smiled – an action which also sent relief flooding through Frederick's body due to how it still meant so much significance to them both now – before carefully wrapping her arm around Morgan as he began to sob quietly.

"Don't cry… Morgan… You can't blame me for wanting to get rid of this fear…" she muttered, aware of exactly why he was so upset without even being awake previously. "I'm sorry for cancelling our plans so suddenly..."

Whilst she was whispering quietly to Morgan, Henry had decided to approach Frederick and had decided to speak to him out of the blue. It was a surprise at first, especially considering the serious tone of the white-haired man as he spoke. "Noticed something? She isn't worrying! Well, at least for now… I know that it doesn't take this quick to get rid of a fear, but at least she isn't stressing out!"

"Ack-! Do not speak so suddenly again!" After taking a moment to collect himself, he began to comment on what Henry had actually said. "She is only temporarily 'recovered' from her phobia? Is there not anything more… Permanent?"

"That'll take time! Though I'd be kinda caw-tious with her for now though! She might feel a bit light-headed at the blood loss for a while! Nyahaha, that would be fun to watch though, seeing her stumble about!"

The knight could only roll his eyes alongside making a slight utterance under his breath, before he went over to his wife and took hold of her hand once she had let go of Morgan and had noticed her yawning. "Come on… You should probably rest in our tent if you happen to be feeling tired, not here."

One month it had been since Robin had first gone to Henry for help with her fear, and she was actually beginning to make progress which happened to be a bit more persistent than it initially had been. For the first time in a year or two, she had actually decided to pick up a sword and try to train with it. And who better to train with than her closest friend in the Shepherds?

"Gods! You wouldn't have thought that you've only used tomes for a while now! Do you ever forget anything that you learn, Robin?!"

"Hah, how about the first eighteen years of my life?" Robin snickered as she brought her sword up to block the incoming blow from Chrom's sword. "But in all honesty, I actually quite… like using a sword… It's just a shame that my fear doesn't let me cope with it in actual battles!"

Chrom muttered to himself for a moment in frustration, before trying to catch his tactician off-guard with another attack. "Speaking of actual battles..." She was too cunning, and had managed to parry his attack swiftly and efficiently. "It's not long now until we face off against Walhart, isn't it?"

Robin then rose her hand in a moment of brief surrender to catch her breath, and stabbed her sword into the ground. "About two weeks, to be exact..." After she took a second to hold onto her knees as she inhaled deeply, she then gave Chrom a thumbs up. "Not had a workout like that in ages… Probably because I'm the only person who can worm their way out of Frederick's training… But wow… I've not had to work that hard for a while..."

The Ylissean was quick to grin, and placed his hand on her shoulder as he too stabbed his sword into the ground. "I'm not surprised! But gods, you really were good there… I don't think I've trained so hard in a while either!"

"All that I did was deflect your attacks… But damn, you moved fast… Though maybe we should train like this again at some point, I wouldn't mind making a change to just using a practice dummy..." Once she had finished speaking, she stood up properly again and then glanced around. "Morgan, I can see you hidden behind that crate." A finger was then pointed to the object at the side of both herself and Chrom, before another was directed towards a nearby tree. "Cynthia, Lucina, I can see you two also. Were the three of you trying to watch us train together?"

The three from the future generation sighed as they came out of their hiding places, and that was when Chrom hit his face with a sigh. "Brady, Owain and Inigo too. They're behind you, Robin… Is there anyone else who was watching?!"

Quite a lot of people had actually been watching the two have their practise battle, and it came as quite surprising for the two friends. From what it had sounded like, the fact that they were laughing and chatting happily whilst they fought changed the atmosphere in the camp quite a bit for the positive – a much needed lift for everyone's spirits.

Well, at least until they heard a warning from the people on lookout… The Valmese rebels-turned-opponents were moving closer from the south, and it was unknown as to whether they were still hostile or not… They had to start moving up north quickly, just to be on the safe side…

"Why is it… That every time I have gained any sort of injury whilst fighting over the past week or so… You have pushed all of the healers away and tend to me yourself?" Frederick sighed, confused over Robin's sudden actions as of late. He failed to get any sort of response that time, because his wife was occupied with trying to clean up his most recent injury which was on his hand, obtained through Excellus' tome during the final battle which they were set to fight within Valm. The burn looked horrible, with it bleeding and looking extremely tender around the centre of it. "Robin, may you answer me?"

Her small hazel eyes were quick to look up into his, and he was quick to notice that she was trying to hold back tears. "I'm sorry… What was that?" As she spoke though, he placed his free hand on her cheek and used his thumb to wipe away the forming tears.

He failed to come out with the right words for a moment, and when he did, it set her off into floods of tears. "Why, Robin?… I can't stand to see you upset like this..."

"I- I was told… That I- I could try to tend to small injuries… T- To help me get over my fear… I- It is only a small amount of b- blood, so..."

"Robin… Don't. Don't do this, okay? Let me finish looking after this burn..."

"B- But-!"

She was silenced quickly with a finger on her lips, and Frederick made her sit down on the floor seeming as they were both outside as the time, before he continued from where she had left off. Robin kept her eyes on his injury the whole time, before she began to dig her nails into her legs. She had felt like a burden enough when she didn't do anything about her phobia… But now that she was doing something about it… Her worry felt nothing but worse. No matter what she did, she felt as though she was just worrying everyone.

As the tactician burst into tears, she felt both of his hands rest upon her cheeks and make her look up at him. "Robin… Don't cry, okay? I am here for if you need a shoulder to cry on, I am your husband after all..."

Seeing the worry on his face was enough to set her off crying even more. "A- Am I a burden to you?… I feel as though I am..."

"What?! No. Do not think that, understand?" He pulled her into a hug, before resting her head on his shoulder. "We do not have to fight again whilst in Valm, and it does seem to be a nice day at the moment… It is warm and sunny too… Just like your smile, you know..."

"What are you getting at?..."

"Let's stay here for a while… You could do with some time to unwind… Get your worries off your shoulder whilst we do not have anything else to put our minds on..."

After wiping away most of her tears, she then nodded. "Okay then… I'll stay out here with you…" And then she was able to fight aside her negative thoughts as she put on a smirk. "Just as long as we can spend a little private time together once we get back to Ylisse… Well, after we've seen how little Morgan has done whilst we've been away obviously."

"As you wish..."

I hope that this was okay for the first chapter in a few months... I may still need a bit of time to get back into the swing of things though!