Thank you for your continuous support, and all your kind messages on here and tumblr :) You can check out more fanfiction at imaginefeawakening, and I have a Gaius smut series under the pen name whitearrow on archive of our own

It was the middle of the night, but she was going to do it. She was going to scream. She was going to scream, and everything would flood into her tent, armed and ready, and she wouldn't care.

Or so she thought as she settled for screaming into a pillow. She did a lot of flailing though. She buried her screams in her pillow, and thrashed around her limbs in frustration.

What was that?

What was that?!

He kissed her! He. Kissed. Her.

And she kissed him back! She kissed him back, and dear Naga, she was ready to do so much more than just that. She was ready to throw away her virginity that moment, and the worst part is that if he came back right then, she'd give it all to him. She was trying to forget about him, but with the way things were going, it was going to be impossible. What was his logic? He just kissed her, he was always acting like she was filth on his shoe, yet he fucking kissed her! What on earth was going through his mind? Was it some new method to annoy her? Did he pick up that she was attracted to him?

He wouldn't even look at her and they kissed! How? How? Was the world going to end the next morning? Should she get her affairs settled?

She screamed again.

She could feel it, she could feel how his mouth moved against hers. She remembered the warmth of his lips, how it was a little chafed, and yet how it tasted good when she ran her tongue over it, the hint of mint pleasantly surprising her. He kissed her like he'd been holding it back for years, and yet he'd been so cold to her not so long ago. He'd even touched her chest! Goodness, the man moved fast. And she! She did something so embarrassing as to moan. A reaction to pleasure, sexual pleasure. Why? Whyyyyyy?

She would not be getting much sleep, would she?

And she was right. The next day she was practically a Risen. The human mind was a beautiful thing, she had found. She had reprieve from her terrifying nightmares only because whatever dreams she did have were of a more...adult type. That had her wake up in a sweat and desiring a nice cold glass of water. Or perhaps a tub of it.

Well, that wouldn't do because the moment she'd woken up, Lissa had marched in her tent alerting her for battle.

They had a minor skirmish to settle, and at least with the endless hours of training Frederick had put into her, she was able to fend off the ruffians without too much trouble. She even saved the knight from a terrible blunder; he looked like he was spacing out, even as he chopped down enemies with ease, and she had to push him out of the way (easier said than done) to avoid an arrow in the shoulder.

He flinched more at the fact that they touched than the fact that he'd almost been wounded. He muttered a quick thanks and resumed to killing people...further away.

What a stupid man, she'd thought. But it was a little satisfying to see that he was affected by the ordeal as much as she was. Ordeal. Being kissed was an ordeal and wait a minute...

Was that her first kiss? Oh dear Naga, her first kiss wasn't even-

"Robin watch out!" Chrom's voice crashed into her thoughts loud and clear and he neatly cut down a barbarian that had his sights set on her. "What's got your head in the clouds today?" he joked, as he slid Falchion out of the dead body before them. When she doesn't smile right away, his own grin falters and he moves in closer to whisper, "Not getting enough sleep? I couldn't find you so I haven't-"

"Thank you Chrom," she said quickly, and turned away. He was getting better and better at reading her, as one would expect of a close friend. "I-I think I'm fine. Just got carried away taking a walk...that's all."

"That's quite some walk," Chrom said with a great deal of skepticism, and Robin fidgeted with her necklace. The two of them were looking around to see if the coast was clear, and from the sounds of retreat and hollering, they could surmise that they'd won the battle. She sighed in relief, always happy to see her comrades spared from casualties, and she looked back at the prince, who was regarding her with a strange expression.

"Chrom, shouldn't you be checking out our surroundings, instead of me?"

"They're clear," he murmured, and he took off his glove so he could stroke the gem on her neck. "You're wearing it...You're wearing the necklace." Where his fingers once touched skin touched smooth fabric and a cold stone instead.

"Indeed I am," Robin said, and clutched her arm with her shoulder, her nervous habit acting up again. And perhaps twinges of guilt. She wasn't a fool. She could notice how much this meant to him, and yet here she was, going behind his back and kissing his right hand man.

She stepped back in quick jerky movements, and Chrom retracted his hand rather embarrassedly. "Ah, sorry."

"It's okay," she said, and looked down at her feet. How long would this pattern continue? She had to let him know that...that it wouldn't happen, it couldn't happen. Not when she couldn't give him her heart. Not when her mind was consumed of thoughts of...him.

Speaking of, she was scanning the grounds for the knight on his steed, but saw nothing. Her heart rate quickened in panic. What if something had happened to him? What if he had suffered a blow? It would be her fault and she could do nothing about it? And then there was that leg injury? Was he taking care of it?

She was breaking into a sprint and before she could help herself, she was calling his name. Her ears were deaf to Chrom's cries for her to wait; she only needed to find him, to know that he was safe.

"Frederick! Frederick, are you alright?" By now he should be making some sort of snarky response, unless he's determined to subject her to the cold shoulder yet again. "Frederiiiiiii-Oof!" She crashed headlong into Sumia, who she sent flying into the ground. Oops.

"Sorry, Sumia!" Robin quickly proffered a hand to the pegasus knight, who took it with a weary smile.

"Thank you, Robin." Sumia stumbled a few times but with the help of Cordelia (who'd come to check out the commotion) they got her righted eventually.

"We don't need to send any more to the healers' tent, Robin," Cordelia teased the tactician, and worried over her friend. "Sumia falls on her own enough, as it is. But I hear you were looking for the Lieutenant?"

"Y-yeah," Robin said, and scratched her cheek awkwardly. "How did you know?"

"Dear, I believe even the corpses could hear you," Cordelia sighed, and patted Robin's head once.

"Cordelia, that's so morbid," Sumia clasped her cheeks and shook her head. "Oh," she frowned, and took a handkerchief out. "Your necklace is a little dirty." She rubbed at it, but it was no use. The gem had a mark on it.

"Oh no," Robin begun to frantically rub at it, but Cordelia swatted her hand.

"Robin, that's not going to help things. Give it to me, and I'll clean it up for you," Cordelia said, and without waiting for Robin's response, she unclasped the necklace and carefully stowed it in her bag.

And just like that, it was off of her neck...she felt like she could breathe properly again. It was a horrible thought to have...perhaps she didn't deserve to be freed of that shackle after all.

"Where are you lost again, Robin?" Sumia waved in front of her face. "Go find Frederick, I'm sure he'll want to see you."

"Oh yes," Cordelia stifled a laugh at the young tactician's expense. "Run along now," and with that she and the pegasus knight pushed Robin forward. "You'll find him back at his tent, I'm certain."

They wondered if they got through to her...Robin stumbled forward in a light daze.

Robin walked into sounds of Frederick hissing, thanks to what she could tell was rudimentary self-care. She saw a few wads of cotton littered on the floor, completely soaked with blood. She tsked audibly. It was bad enough that he was being cheap in taking care of himself, but to this extent?

He heard her of course; his hearing was rather astounding, if inconvenient for her at times. He almost dropped the bottle of alcohol, a sign that showed that he really was out of sorts.

"Give me that," Robin said snippily, a no-nonsense tone that made Frederick muse about whether or not she'd picked it up from him. She'd snatched the bottle from him, and took a copious helping of the cotton next to him. "Sit down. I can't believe you're standing. Sit, I say." He looked at her warily, but once she had her hand on his arm, he'd sat down on command, after flinching a little. "Did I hurt you?" She asked. He snorted. If only that were the problem, she sighed to herself. Instead of voicing her complaint, she knelt down next to the man.

Robin treated the cut on his hand, and noticed it running up his arm. "Frederick, I need you to roll your sleeve up." Thankfully he'd already taken off his armor; she'd prefer not to command him what articles to strip off of him; this was awkward as it was. He hmphed, but did as she said. Unfortunately, the man was not anticipating just how tight his shirt was and flinched from the pain. "Careful, you dolt!"

"Tactician, I did as you said to," he countered, and she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah the one time you listen to me is to hurt yourself."

"I do not recall asking for your help," he said haughtily, and she resisted the urge of giving him a good dosage of the stinging sensation of rubbing alcohol. She could say the same for herself, but she clamped her lips shut, not wishing to goad him further.

"Just, take your shirt off."

"Pardon?"

"Ju-just, do it. You're going to die of an infection at this rate. You don't take vulneraries, and you're barely helping yourself this way. Look, just..." Robin tucked the cotton under her arm, hastily set down the bottle, and her hands were at his chest, unbuttoning his shirt as though she did it daily.

The man, needless to say, looked absolutely astonished. "Hey, you! The nerve, undressing a man like this, I can do it myself you know." He swatted her fingers away, and hurriedly unfastened his shirt before she could touch him anymore. She was studying his visage, still red, and wondering about what he was thinking. Robin was ashamed to admit it even to herself, yet she wondered if the reason the simple action flustered him so much was because he had other thoughts connected to them. Thanks to the events of that night, she'd begun to doubt all his intentions. He touched her chest, after all. That was condemning enough. "Avert your gaze, perverted woman."

She scoffed at that! Why she never-"Shut up you kisser," she snapped, and her brown eyes shot wide open at what she'd just said. "S-slip of the tongue," she tried to amend hurriedly, although context considered, perhaps it wasn't the correct idiom to use.

The man closed his eyes shut, and let out a labored sigh. "Robin..." Curses, why did he have to go say her name? She hated when he did that. It was mean of him, to address her so informally, as though they were friends.

"Before you say anything," she said, and pressed a finger to his lips. "Just let me fix you up."

"Mm-"

"Shut up," she said again, albeit without the added epithet. She'd dabbed his wounds inexpertly, but it was far better than leaving him to his own devices. His breath hitched every now and then, whether it was because of the tension between them, or the fault of the alcohol, she didn't know. When she lifted up his pant leg to inspect a previous injury, he jerked away.

"That's enough of playing doctor," he finally said, and took the bottle back from her. He sighed at the amount of supplies she'd used on him, and screwed the cap back on.

"But aren't we going to talk?"

"There is nothing to talk about," he said tersely. "Thank you for your assistance, as unwanted and forced as it was."

"Frederick! You can't just kiss me and not talk about it!" she protested, but it was futile.

The man gripped her under her arms, and set him outside his tent. "I absolutely can, and will." Her legs flailed and kicked, but she couldn't actually hit a man she'd just tended to. Just before Frederick turned around, she did something very immature. She reached out and touched his chest, poking his nipple and drawing out a wonderfully shocked expression.

"See how it feels!" she stomped her foot petulantly, and considered marching right back in, but rejected the temptation. To his credit, Frederick returned back inside. She would have given anything to be inside his mind right then.