Robin opened his eyes to see… not much difference, actually. Darkness surrounded him on all sides, making it very difficult to discern where he was.

"So, this is death, huh?" He looked around again. "Not so bad. It's all warm and comfortable." As his eyes adjusted to the infinite darkness, he started to notice little points of light floating around. They seemed like small dust particles caught in a ray of sunlight, constantly disappearing and reappearing at will. Robin reached out a hand and swept it through them, making them scatter; all except one. It stayed where it was, making Robin feel as if it was looking up at him. Again, he reached out, this time with only a finger, and touched it. In an instant, everything around him changed into a very familiar setting. Robin now found himself lying on the ground, staring up at clouds through the branches of an apple tree; his favourite one just outside of Ylisstol. He could faintly feel the soft grass on his back and he could smell ripe apples mixed with the spring breeze. "Isn't this…"

"What about… that one!" He saw a finger that wasn't his point at one of the clouds.

"Hmm…" This time, it was his own voice. "A tome!"

"No, no, no!" His vision shifted to look over at the other voice's source: a blonde girl with pigtails and a frustrated smile. "You're still thinking too smart! Try being more fun!"

"Hey!"

"What, it's true! You need to relax more." A loud sigh came from Robin, and his view shifted back to the sky. He could feel a smile going across his face.

"That one," his hand pointed at a cloud, "looks like a frog."

"Huh?" He could hear Lissa's head shifting, attempting to see the cloud. "Where? I don't see a frog."

"That's because…" His view moved again, his other hand popping into view complete with summoned frog. "It's here!" He stuffed it down the back of her shirt and she gave a loud squeal, jumping up and frantically clawing at her back. Robin could hear himself laughing hysterically, slowly blurring his vision with tears. At some point, Lissa managed to get the frog out of her outfit.

"Jerk!"

"Just… just repaying you!" He felt an intense pressure in his chest as Lissa decided to sit on him. The laughing of both parties began to fade into the background, the scene becoming more and more distorted until he was returned to the dust-filled dark.

"So these…" He moved his hand through the specks again, "Are memories. That one was just after Gangrel's defeat." He looked around, noting the sheer number of memories floating in the void. "So death is reliving memories? I can do that." He walked around a little bit more, trying to see if there was any way of telling which memories were which. "Bet you Morgan could figure something out. Her strange way of seeing things could work really well here." Out of the corner of his eye, he could see one of the specks grow slightly brighter. He walked up and touched it, the scene unfolding around him. He was in his shared tent, a desk with a chessboard between himself and Morgan, and Lissa and Owain asleep on their bed. His daughter had on a face that was trying to be serious, but ended up making her look sillier. Viewing Robin noticed that she was close to winning.

"Hmm…" She had her hand hovering over a particular piece, all the gears turning in her head. In a flash, she seemed to change her mind and grabbed a different piece, moved it across the board, then sat back triumphantly. "Check."

"Very nice." Robin's vision moved slightly, focussing more on the chessboard. His arm went out and moved a piece, a smile forming on his face. "But not nice enough. Checkmate."

"What?! Awwww!" Morgan slumped her head down on the table. "I thought I had it!"

"It was a good try, kiddo; but it's going to take a lot more than that to beat me."

"Then I'll have to find out what that 'more' is!" She got up and dashed out of the tent, making Owain roll over in his sleep. He looked back down at the board to see that he was one move away from losing.

"You're almost there, Morgan." The scene blurred away, becoming the darkness once more. Robin's mind moved to Owain, and another speck started to shine brighter than the rest. He walked up to it, but hesitated before touching it, trying to figure out what it would be.

"So… it's when I think about someone? Interesting…" He touched it, and the landscape changed again. This time, he was on a walk in the forest. "Okay, what's this one?" He could hear the faint sounds of fighting coming from nearby, though his memory self didn't seem too distressed. He silently strode up to a tree on the edge of a clearing, moonlight shining down on a solitary figure training their hardest. His white hair flew every which way, synchronizing with his erratic yet fluid movements.

"Divine… DRAGON!" His blade became a blur, seemingly mimicking a dragon's fire. "Excellent! The… scion of… heroes… is reborn!" He held his sword high, glinting in the moonlight. "Mother, Father… you won't die… not this time…" Robin could feel himself smiling at the practicing swordsman, trying to will his memory into going up and talking to Owain. That's not how it played out, though, as he merely sat down and watched his future son practice for hours, perfecting his 'special techniques'. As it went on, Robin was more and more content with just watching; observing how far Owain had come. They were interrupted by the sun coming up above the horizon, engulfing the memory in light until it vanished again, leaving him in the dark void. Robin got up from his seat on the floor and stretched, still feeling the effects of sitting on the ground for hours.

"I liked that one, though it was a bit uncomfortable." Another floating speck caught his eye not too far away, and he opened the memory. He was sitting again,this time with soft grass beneath him and a tree against his back. Before him stretched the endless horizon, coloured red and orange by the setting sun. He felt a pressure against his shoulder, and managed to spot a pair of familiar golden pigtails out of the corner of his eye. An arm went around Lissa's slumbering figure, which snuggled closer to him. His body leaned back into the tree even more, the serenity of the moment fully enveloping him. It was broken when a loud snore came from nearby, and Robin quickly turned his head to see Owain and Morgan lying nearby, as sound asleep as their mother. Robin shook his head, looking back at the sunset. A contented smile crossed his face as a breeze blew across the four of them. Robin wished that he could stay in this moment forever, never having to return to the dark void. That wasn't in the cards for him, however, as his memory self's eyes began to close. As the darkness of his eyelids came down, the specks slowly reappeared. When it had fully dissolved, Robin fell back, arms spread wide. His vision was blurred, and he could feel a small something trickling down his face.

After laying like this for a little while, Robin got up and swept his sleeve across his face, looking around again. He explored the area a little bit more, opening up as many memories as he could. Most of them were short little things with each of the Shepherds, bar one. He was beginning to wonder where that particular one was when he noticed a patch of slightly green specks floating separate from the clump of others. He walked over and opened them, finally seeing whom he was wondering about.

"There he is; our warrior from another realm." He started to go through them, somehow managing to get them in perfect chronological order. He went past Link's arrival through the bright portal; the moment when he discovered Link had someone back where he came from; the realization that the boy would not kill other humans; the first time he revealed his taugel-like abilities; their time spent getting to know each other on the voyage to Valm; Link's incredible ability to devastate a Valmese ship almost single-handedly; Lucina's aversion to the otherworldly warrior; Link and Owain's almost instant friendship; the one-hit defeat of the enormous spider monster; Link's precision with his incredible bow on the moving pillars; his professionalism at slaying the enormous knight; the quick arrival and defeat of their first Shadow Beasts; Link's victory over the relentless red dragon; the smiting of both Excellus and the ghost-like figure; Link's emotional turmoil after Excellus' death; their first meeting with Ganondorf; Link shielding him from a distraught Lucina; the termination of the skeletal monstrosity; both Validar's and the masked man's deaths; the meeting with Link's bony friend; Aversa's final moments and, most recently, their win over two god-like figures. The last image that Robin had was of Link standing triumphantly over his vanquished foe's body, a small smirk on his face. When the memory ended, Robin sighed.

"I'm gonna miss all of them." Out of a large dark spot, one of the specks started to grow brighter and brighter. Robin cautiously went over to it, shielding his eyes from the intense light. "What in the name of Naga…?" Before anything else could happen, the light enveloped him, and as quickly as it had come, it vanished. He was in darkness again, but something felt different. He felt as if he was lying down in a grassy field, a gentle morning breeze flowing through his hair. This is… different.

"Well, we can't just leave him there!" A voice broke his thought. Isn't this…

"What do you propose we do?" It is! I'll gladly relive this. His eyes slowly opened to Lissa and Chrom standing over him, debating.

"Oh!" They leaned down and smiled at him.

"I see you're awake now."

"Hey there."

"There are better places to take a nap than on the ground, you know. Give me your hand." The blue-haired man offered his hand to the prone tactician, which he reached out and took. There was a problem, though. The mark of Grima on the back of his hand was gone. Come to think of it, this hasn't exactly been like the last few memories. Everything feels… real. As Chrom pulled him up, his smile widened. "Welcome back; it's over now."

"Back? Then…" Robin looked around and flexed his hands. "I'm not dead? I'm really here?!" His answer came in the form of Lissa slamming him to the ground in one of the most energetic hugs he had ever received; and that was saying something.

"You're finally home!" She gave him quite the kiss, tears streaming down her face, before backing up and giving him a light slap across the cheek. "You didn't have to keep me waiting so long!"

"How long was I gone?"

"Ten months. You had us all quite worried." Chrom was still beaming.

"Ten months?! Then Owain…" He got an affirming nod from Lissa. "Well, where is he? I want to meet him."

"He's with Frederick and Cherche. They want to make sure they're ready for their own! Oh, and Link's helping."

"Link's still here? I thought he would have gone home already."

"Us too! I think he wanted to stay and see you again. Can't say I blame him!"

"Come on; everyone's waiting. We're taking you home."

Robin's return was greeted with plenty of enthusiasm. Many of the male Shepherds bear-hugged him half to death, Tharja practically stepped on his heels everywhere he went, Kellam managed to stay visible for longer than Robin even thought possible, and Owain, the older one, decided to put on a play that evening. Robin also got to meet his son when Cherche and Frederick arrived, bringing Link and Gerome along. As soon as Gerome arrived, he said his hellos to Robin then instantly headed for Lucina. This followed a trend that Robin was noticing; it seemed like all the future children had found someone. Two of them he was a bit wary of; Laurent was following Morgan everywhere, and Severa was practically attached to Owain. Cynthia and Inigo seemed to be hanging around each other quite a bit, Brady was watching over Noire, and Kjelle was looking embarrassedly happy as Yarne held her hand. Nah was missing, along with several of the other Shepherds. It turned out that her, Nowi and Ricken had gone off on a bit of an adventure, Virion and Olivia had gone back to Roseanne, and Maribelle and Lon'qu were back in Ferox. Despite the loss, the turnout was still quite grand. They all laughed, ate, and drank well into the night, Owain's play giving them plenty of fuel. After everything had settled down, Robin got to sleep in his own bed, Lissa in his arms and little Owain lying asleep in the same room. All this happiness he felt would soon be offset.

The next day, they discovered a note that Link had left behind. He was headed to where he first arrived in Ylisse, and was planning on going home. As quickly as they could, the Shepherds rushed to the area, intent on at least saying one last goodbye to their friend. They sent a messenger to Ferox as well, hoping that Lon'qu, Maribelle, Flavia and Basilio could all make it in time. And so, in as short a time as possible, the Shepherds and Khans found themselves walking through the snowy forest toward an opening that was all too familiar.

"So," Chrom spoke up, "this is it, then."

"Yeah, I guess it is." Robin didn't exactly know what to feel. On the one hand, he was glad that the lost boy finally got to go home; but on the other, he didn't want to see his friend leave.

"And right after you came back. Get one friend back, lose another. It feels a bit cruel, honestly."

"Hey, at least he's not leaving us for the afterlife."

"True. Speak of the devil…" They looked ahead and saw a lone green figure sitting on a snow-covered log. His back was turned to them, strange hat moving occasionally in the cold winds. Someone stepped on a twig, his head snapped around to look at them, and he smiled. "Did you plan on leaving without saying goodbye?" Link's smile grew.

"Must you leave, my skilled friend?" Owain asked. Link's smile became much sadder, and he nodded. "I understand. You have important duties to take care of elsewhere. Fear not, for we shall meet again! If not in this life, then in the next!"

"Cut it out, Owain!"

"Hey, no scolding him, missy! That's our job!"

"I wouldn't advise arguing with her, Severa. Besides, he has the right idea; albeit a bit emphasized. We just have to keep hoping that we'll see him again someday." Robin turned and smiled at Link, whose expression had brightened considerably.

"Yeah, yeah; we're gonna miss ya kid and all that, but don't you gotta get going?"

"Show a bit of tact for once in your life, oaf!"

"But Mister Basilio's right, Khan Flavia!" Everyone looked at Morgan. "We're keeping Link away from his family back home, whom he hasn't seen in a very, very long time. He needs to get back as soon as possible."

"The idiot could have said it better, though." Chrom cleared his throat to bring attention to him.

"Let's stop discussing it and start watching it, shall we?" He gestured to Link, who was awkwardly standing in the middle of the snowy clearing. Chrom nodded to him, and he returned the gesture. Link reached into his tunic, surprisingly enough, and pulled out a small, horseshoe-shaped instrument. He started playing a short tune on it, leaving everyone to question what was happening. As the music continued, three points of light appeared behind him, constantly growing larger and brighter. Eventually, they formed the same tri-triangled shape that had brought Link to them with the same golden glow. They watched in silent respect and sadness as the boy's semi-silhouette turned and walked towards the symbol. Just as he reached it, he turned and looked at his audience, sadness evident in his blue eyes. He inhaled and opened his mouth; but was consumed by the light, which quickly increased in brightness, and vanished just as fast. It left the Shepherds standing in the cold snow, their biggest source of light gone, along with their friend. Robin looked sadly around at his assembled friends, then turned to leave.

"Come on; there's nothing more we can do." He felt a bit dejected by the departure, especially since he couldn't help the feeling that something was left unsaid. As a sigh was more felt than uttered from everyone, they trundled back through the snow and into the woods. Before they left the clearing, Robin took one last look at where Link had disappeared, and stopped. "Hold on! Everyone come back!"

"Robin! What's…" Chrom was left with his jaw hanging open as the lights returned, bathing the area in the symbol's golden glow once more. Despite the hopes of everyone there, it was not Link who emerged from it, but a woman about his age. She had long brown hair tied into one long braid down her back, a white and purple dress, and she wore some kind of tiara. This time, the symbol behind her only faded, and didn't disappear completely. She spotted the company, and gave a kind smile.

"Would you happen to be the group called 'the Shepherds'?"

"Yes, we are the Shepherds." Chrom was extremely confused, along with everyone else.

"I am a friend of Link's, here to give you a message." An idea struck Robin.

"Excuse me, but you wouldn't happen to be named Ilia, would you?"

"No, she is back with Link. I am Zelda."

"Please, Zelda; what is this message?" She smiled at Chrom again.

"He merely wishes to say thank you, and hopes that you will all meet again. He also asked me to give the one called Robin this." She outstretched one of her gloved hands, showing off the item. It was a smaller version of Link's flute, whittled out of Valmese wood. Robin walked forward and gently took it from her hand, turning it over in his. Inscribed in the exact same spot that said 'Ilia' on Link's was 'Thank you'.

"Th… thank you for bringing this."

"It was the least I could do to show my gratitude to you all for keeping Link safe." Her head sharply turned to the still visible symbol as if hearing someone call her name. "I apologize, but I must leave now; I have duties to oversee." She gave them a small curtsey. "It was a pleasure and a privilege to meet you all." Robin stepped back as Zelda went the other way, the area's light intensifying. When they could see again, they were left standing in the snow once more. There was a much better air all around, though it still had a small hint of sadness. Robin looked down at the instrument in his hand, and closed his fingers around it.

"So long as there aren't any more surprises," Chrom, again, turned everyone's attention, "we should get going. Don't want anyone to catch a cold."

"We're much closer to Ferox; why don't you Ylisseans stay the night?"

"Thank you, Flavia; the hospitality is much appreciated." The entire group walked back into the snow-covered forest, with Robin looking back one last time. This time, nothing happened. He glanced back down at the object in his hand, reading the inscription again.

"No; thank you." He sped up, not wanting to be left alone on a snowy night.

Both Hyrule and Ylisse were now safe… for now.

A/N: For those of you wondering, the song is meant to be Zelda's Lullaby, but I couldn't find a good way to imply that in-story. Now, on to the real business: we're done! This story has come to a close, and I'm left feeling relieved and sad. I've seriously enjoyed writing this for you guys, and being a small part of so many lives. I never would have thought that my little project would get so much attention from so many different places. I want to really thank each and every one of you who've read this from beginning to end, and an even bigger thanks to everyone who was there from the beginning. Just being able to hear your opinions on what I've written has inspired me to do so much more, and has made me realize just how much I love writing for others. Again, I just want to thank you all so much for everything you may have done with this story, whether it be just read it, follow it, favourite it, or review on it. And, hey, if you have any stories that you want me to check out, feel free to PM me with either something you think I would like or something you've written; my door's always open (especially if this story was of any inspiration). I've left you here long enough; go enjoy other stories! So long, and thanks for all the fish.