It was only later that day when Chrom had seen the other Shepherds. As expected, they were the same although most of them had different stories on how they were recruited. Gaius was said to have ambushed Chrom in one of his secret escapades in town and, having been impressed with the thief's skills, took him into the Shepherds. Panne was found by Emmeryn as a child and being the last taguel, took her in as well, and later on pledged her loyalty to Ylisse as a Shepherd. Gregor and Nowi were traveling together, and after aiding the prince one day in defending a village from being ransacked, followed the prince at once. Libra's reason for joining was simply to aid Ylisse in times of trouble. Tharja, on the other hand, had been living in Ylisse for half of her years and only joined the army upon seeing their tactician, who, was of course, not Robin.

Of course, Chrom had somehow expected it, seeing as Robin really was a maid serving under Lissa (something he found out from observing how the silver-haired woman was always around his younger sister) however, he was more of hoping that they had no tactician in the first place, seeing as he really could not imagine anyone but Robin filling in that role.

Now despite his expectations, Chrom would be lying if he said he wasn't surprised to see a young woman with a determined face and lavender colored hair, which his friends call their tactician, going by the name Katarina, or as some would call her, Eine. Compared to Robin, she is much more stoic, rarely showing any form of expression. Her conversations are brief and despite her willingness to engage in a conversation, her cool demeanor often seems to throw off anyone approaching her. Even the way she spoke to Chrom was a bit distant.

On the other hand, Robin was a constant presence in the army garrison, always there, doing an errand or two, conversing with the Shepherds for a moment here and there. It was as if she was still part of the army, just like back in Chrom's world, still a source of energy and joy. That was probably one of the things he had noticed on his second day's stay in this other world. Robin's behaviors towards others were not any different than before, but the way she would act around him, avoiding him as if he was the plague, it was painful. Suddenly, he'd remember how he once did that to her too, before, and he would think how he must have deserved this.

Among the other things that Chrom found out about this world is how peaceful it was. His father was a good man, never waging war on any other kingdom, a beloved ruler who died of a horrible sickness. His sister Emmeryn was welcomed immediately after she took the throne. Gangrel was a great leader and Plegia was one of Ylisse's top trading partners. There were no risen or prophetic Marths around. Chrom would have loved this world and yet, something drew him back to his own. Chrom did not have to think too much of the reason why.

Nothing much had to be done. Chrom had forgotten the blandness of peace. Not that he was ungrateful for it but… he was used to the fighting back in his own world. He was used to weapons clanking and merry chatter everywhere he went. He was used to sleeping in tents and the restless atmosphere. Most of all, he was used to nights with Robin, talking about strategies or other useless, random things that just happened to have found their way into their heads. He just missed her smiling at him because now, all he could see is her, smiling at everyone else but him. And gods, he couldn't even talk to her now! Thinking back to what he had done to her before, avoiding her whenever she sought after him, he felt guilty, the longing to talk to her, worsening. He wished he just faced her then and told her directly.

Just as he was thinking of her later that night by the hallways, as he leaned against a window, it was a coincidence how she had appeared, walking together with Stahl. Laughing and chatting like they usually did, and while it was never really a problem to him before, now he just wanted to take her hand and lead her away from the knight. That thought just made himself curl up mentally. And yet, that was what he did. Or would have done, had she not noticed him standing there staring. The moment she did, she immediately tensed and scooted over to Stahl by just a little as if she was caught doing a crime. "G-Good evening milord." She stuttered again, something the prince had already expected.

"Good evening Chrom." Stahl greeted, obviously in a good mood. Well, Chrom thought he always was whenever in the presence of the tactician. "Good evening." Chrom greeted back. Deciding not to look like an idiot like earlier, he took a deep breath and looked at Robin, who shriveled up under his gaze. It was almost horrifying to him. "Um if you don't mind, I would like to talk with you…" he started as he watched Robin look at Stahl, almost as if she didn't want him to go. She was about to turn away when Chrom called her name and froze almost instantly. Stahl had to tap her shoulder, seeing as she was staring up at him absentmindedly, looking almost shocked that it was her name he called.

"O-Okay…" she mumbled, stepping forward, towards Chrom, before turning back to look at Stahl, who waved at her encouragingly. Once the knight had left, Robin was left standing in front of Chrom, who was now racking his brain of what to say to her. He had called her out on impulse. He had never really thought about what to say to her.

"Robin?" he finally called.

"Y-Yes milord?" she called back in surprise, hesitantly looking up at him.

"I was wondering… would you like to walk with me? Maybe talk as well?" For a moment, he was sure that Robin would refuse. There was a look in her eyes that said she would. However, a deep sigh later and she nodded.

The walk itself was awkward, with the both of them keeping silent and refusing to say anything. Chrom could feel Robin lagging behind, as if refusing to walk beside him. "Why are you so cautious of me?" he finally asks. He couldn't stand seeing her act that way. He sees more of the painfully shy Olivia than the confident and trusting Robin whenever he approaches her.

"I'm… Not at all milord! I'm not… cautious at all." She muttered, somewhat under her breath. The way she let it out was too fast, her nervousness getting the best of her. Had Chrom not been used to hearing Robin speak, he wouldn't have understood her reply then.

"Then… nervous? Why do you seem so nervous? Tense?" he asked. He look back to steal a glance and the way she hesitated told him he hit the nail right on the head. "W-well, you see milord… You are a prince. Um… if a royalty like you were to talk to a common person like me I'd be surprised or… anxious." She said slowly, never looking up to him at all.

"But you seem to be at ease with my sisters and not me. Why is that?"

"Um… I-If I may be so bold sire," she started, although she stopped again as if deciding whether to continue or not.

"Go on." Chrom urged.

"We have never… had a… lasting conversation before… milord." She said, her cheeks slowly turning pink. He noticed how she tugged on the cloth on her hair slightly, just like how the Robin back in his world would tug at her hood when embarrassed. He never really told anyone, but he found the gesture endearing. "This is the first time you've asked to talk to me milord." Robin added. Chrom was taken aback. How could the Chrom of this world not talk to her? If she was Lissa's handmaid, then surely they would have crossed paths numerous times already. But to not talk to someone as charming as Robin? Chrom was wondering what else this other Chrom was missing. This brings him to another question. If he was here, then where could the Chrom of this world have gone? Well, that was a question for another time, he thought.

"Really?" he found himself asking. The woman gave him a confused stare, but nodded nonetheless. "How long have you been working for my sister again? I'm sorry, that must have been a stupid question, I just… I'm having trouble remembering" he asked, which earned him an even more confused look from Robin. "Since her 8th year, milord. I have been in service for seven years now." She said, her eyes looking a little downcast. "B-But it's nothing to apologize for milord. I am not a person of importance; you did not need to remember me."

That fact just made it worse. Seven years and they had never had a proper conversation in that time frame. "What? It's been seven years. I could have talked to you a thousand times then." He groaned, finally voicing out his thoughts. Robin began panicking slightly, raising her hands as if to appease him.

"It's quite alright milord, I—"

"It's not!" he muttered slowly, suddenly cutting her off. "I—"

Chrom paused, looking at the woman in front of him, suddenly realizing how distressed he's grown just by finding out how much time the Chrom of this world has wasted ignoring her. Robin was looking as nervous as ever, her eyes once again directed to the floor or the hallways they stood in. From the nearby window, Chrom could see how the moon had risen up, giving the place a beautiful glow, the tactician included.

"I'm sorry." He sighed, waiting for her to look up at him. Chrom knew she probably wouldn't so much as glance up at him, given how anxious he's made her, so he continued. "I just… realized how much time I wasted. I could have been laughing with you now, the way Lissa could, had I not ignored you for too long."

"Oh no, you did no such thing, milord!" Robin finally looked up, shaking her head. "You would not ignore me! Whenever I greeted you, you greeted back! It's just… maybe your interests lie elsewhere?" she laughed, although slightly, it sounded a bit forced, it could have came out as a groan.

"Still, that's not enough. Robin I—" Chrom started, the curious look in Robin's eyes, enough to make him continue. "I… want to get to know you better." When a lack of response came, he rubbed his arms, afraid that she might run away from him then and there, seeing how tense she looked; she could have shattered like glass any moment. "Is that okay?" he had to add, just to elicit a response from her.

Suddenly, without him expecting any of it, she looked at him right in the eyes, a pink hue dusting her cheeks and a happy smile formed on her face. It was not the usual cheerful smile she gave others. He's seen it a few times on Robin's face back in his world and Chrom knew it was reserved for him. There was just something that told Chrom that it was only for him and he felt proud of that. "I-I would love that… Chrom."

A/N

Since this is an Outrealm or different world, we get a different tactician from a different world (or timeline)! Anything's possible in the Outrealms! I think...

So I used Katarina from FE: Heroes of Light and Shadow since she's the only one who I've heard of that's aspiring to be a tactician (plus, when you recruit her in the FE:A DLCs, she's a grandmaster) The game wasn't released outside of Japan and I've never played the game myself or seen how she interacts with any of the characters so I don't know much about her or how to portray her. I just visualized her as the cool, slightly detached-to-anyone-except-towards-Marth-and-Kris type; a person who is awkward at first but is quick to warm up to someone. I would've used Soren or Mark or anyone else who's called a strategist or tactician but I preferred Katarina since I don't see her that much in fanfics although I doubt that she'll be appearing in this fanfic so much.

Then, Lissa's age. She's 15 here. I think I read something about her canon age post time-skip being 14-15 and Chrom being 18-19, then Emmeryn being 24-25. I would have thought that Chrom was older seeing as he's leading his own army and all, but yeah...

Anyways, the story's probably going a biiiit too fast... or really too fast, but bear with me, my mind's a mess, I'm sorry

R&R please, that'd hepl a lot, thanks!