the oncoming storm
Robin x Lissa
Thunderstorms, and a whole lot of snuggling.
Lissa jumped again as the thunder cracked. Her hand flew to her chest, trying to calm her heart. From the corner of her eye, she saw Robin trying to cover his laughter.
"Hey!" the princess threw a pillow in his direction. They had been curled up on the couch together, listening to the storm. Well, Robin listened to the storm and dozed off, while Lissa tried desperately to hide the fact that it scared her. She'd gotten up to go to the kitchen for something, without realizing it meant she'd be alone all the way there and back.
"It's not funny, mister."
"Oh, and doodling all over my important books is?" he retorted.
Lightening flashed, illuminating the dark night, making trees and plants out of the formless shapes. It imprinted on her mind, and her overactive imagination added a scary monster to the scene. Lissa screeched and dove at her husband, trying to get under the blanket but only managing to smack him in the face.
"Ow! Calm down! It's just a storm. We're safe inside. In fact, we'd be safe outside."
Instead of reassuring her, the thought of being outside made her want to curl up into a ball and hide out underground. She yanked the blankets away from Robin and snuggled close to him, pulling the blanket over her like a cocoon.
He said something, but she couldn't hear it because she'd shoved her palms over her ears, trying to block out the booming thunder.
It didn't work. Every time a new peal shook the house, she curled into a tighter ball, clutching at Robin's shirt.
After a little while, she felt Robin sigh. Lissa felt she would never sleep like this. Even Robin's gentle strokes down her back didn't soothe her. Unfortunately, the storm lasted most of the night. The rain pounded against the roof in bursts and the howling wind seemed to threaten to blow the house away.
At some point, she began to cry. Exhaustion lay heavy on both of them, but Robin stayed awake with her. "Lissa," he whispered. "Go to sleep. I'm here."
"No, no, I can't," Lissa resisted, shaking her head. Robin's chest moved in another sigh. It wasn't fair to him, what she was doing. They both had to work in the morning, she knew, but the terror in her heart kept her awake. She longed for the daylight, but by the slow tick of the clock, it was hours away.
Robin pulled her body into a more comfortable position on his shoulder and mumbled comforting things in her ear. Every time the thunder roared she shivered violently, but eventually Robin's voice lulled her into a fitful sleep.
Unfortunately, the storm lasted until right before daybreak. The surreal silence woke her up. Robin was sprawled under her, asleep. A glance at the clock told her they would both be late for work soon. For once, Robin's infallible internal clock had failed to alert him.
She scooted up and pressed the back of her hand against his cheek. "Robin, I'm sorry. We have to get up now."
The tactician responded with an irritated sigh, but eventually his eyes snapped open. The two of them grumbled their way through the day, going on so little sleep.
At the end of the day, they kicked off their shoes and fell right into bed, not even bothering to slide under the covers. They didn't talk about that night again, until a few weeks later, when the skies grew cloudy and dark.
"Come with me," Robin said, pulling on her trembling hand. "I'm not going through another night like that one. I think I made Chrom cry."
Lissa giggled nervously. Robin was headed in the direction of their front door. Toward the oncoming storm. "U-uhm...where are we going?"
"To face your fear."
Her heart immediately started racing. No, she couldn't do this. Robin was wrong all those times he told her she was brave. All those times he told her she mattered. She was insignificant, afraid...
"Come here," Robin nudged her gently into the porch swing, tucking her under his arm and wrapping the thick quilt around both of them. "We're sleeping out here tonight."
"In the storm? Are you joking?" she tried to jump up, but he pulled her back.
"Please, give it a chance. Now, tell me why it scares you so much."
Lissa looked him up and down. Seeing that he was completely serious, she settled back into the swing and curled into a ball under his arm.
"It reminds me of the day Emmeryn died," she said simply. Fighting with him or hiding the truth wasn't going to help, she realized. He had to learn that his idealistic image of a brave-faced wife was wrong someday.
"There was a terrible storm that night. I was alone...Chrom was too caught up in his own grief, and so was everyone else."
Robin nodded, and motioned for her to keep talking. As she poured it all out to him, the storm began to roar around them. Every time she stopped or hesitated out of fear, he shushed her and asked a question to distract her.
The rain smacked hard against the porch roof, and lightening illuminated the dark shapes of trees in the distance, but Robin kept her focused on talking. She was still afraid and shaking like a leaf, but she managed, and didn't even notice when she fell asleep.
The sound of birds woke her when morning came. Robin was still fast asleep, his head bent at an awkward angle, drooling. She kissed his cheek with a smile.
"I love you."
Lissa felt strangely proud. The fact that Robin put up with her was proof enough that he loved her, and not just some idealistic image. But it was she who had proved her own fears wrong by not running away, and sometimes that's all it takes to be brave.
a/n: some fluff today! Requested by a reveiwer whose name ff won't let me write? I apologize..you know who are haha. Thank you! I hope you like it! Also I hope you don't mind that it's just a little bit modern...I was inspired by my own childhood fear of thunderstorms. It didn't have a deep meaning behind it, they just scared me. A lot. Anyways, thank you all for reading!
See you soon, hopefully!