Chapter 5

Chrom looked up from polishing off Falchion in the strategy tent to see Nathan slowly enter, rubbing a large bump on his head.

"Good morning. What happened to you?" Chrom asked, walking over to the man, frowning with concern.

"Ugh…Frederick happened…" Nathan groaned. Chrom's brow furrowed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He probed anxiously.

"Uh…well Lissa was sleeping with me in my tent…" He began, before Chrom grabbed Falchion and growled at him. "What was that?"

Nathan groaned, rubbing his head again and waving Chrom's blade down. "Hey, hey! Let me finish! And also rephrase that, I can see how you saying that would get you all worked up…"

Chrom stood tense for a second, before placing Falchion back in its hilt and pulling up a two chairs, one for Nathan and one for himself. Nathan breathed a sigh of relief as they sat down.

"Anyways, as I was saying…" Nathan began, before relaying the full story to his best friend. Chrom stayed silent through the whole thing, with a smile forming on his face at the end as Nathan told him about Lissa feigning her sleep. "…Oh, and then she kissed me on the cheek before she left." Nathan quickly muttered, his face turning red, hoping that Chrom didn't hear him.

"Hm…" Chrom muttered, leaning back in his chair to ponder what Nathan had told him. "Well, now that I think about it, I think you two would be a good couple." He declared, much to Nathan's surprise.

"Well, that's new…you were about to take my head off a few minutes ago…" Nathan mused with a slight grin. Chrom laughed back.

"True, but now that I think about it, I don't think there's anyone I'd rather have as a brother-in-law than my best friend." Chrom declared.

"Wait, I haven't proposed to her or anything yet, she doesn't even know I like her!" Nathan quickly responded.

Chrom was quite amused by the whole situation. On the battlefield, it was near impossible to faze Nathan or break his concentration, but talking about 'love' really seemed to rattle him.

"So…you do like her then?" Chrom playfully chided at the man, whose face turned completely red after he realized what he had just said.

"Yeah…" Nathan muttered, before firing back, "But you like Sumia!"

Now it was Chrom's turn to blush, as he nearly fell off his chair. "How…how did you know?" He asked weakly. Now it was Nathan's turn to laugh, particularly pleased with himself at turning the tables on the situation.

"How did I know? There isn't a person in the camp who doesn't know!" He retorted, trying not to laugh too hard as Chrom grimaced at the now awkward realization.

"But anyways, that's not the point. She likes you, you like her…you should, you know…do something about it sometime." Nathan told the Prince.

"Very well…" Chrom began, "What do you recommend?" Normally, if there was some sort of tactical issue, Nathan had a solution to it, and in his mind, Chrom saw this as that type of problem.

Nathan raised an eyebrow at the man. "I don't know, I'm in the same situation you are, as far as I know…" Nathan retorted glumly. The two men sat with their heads down, deep in concentration. Just then, a voice spoke up from behind them.

"Milord? Sir Nathan? I don't mean to interrupt, but…can your 'womanly troubles' wait for another time?" Frederick said, standing at their main strategy table, carefully watching the two.

"F-frederick?! How long have you been there?" Chrom cried out in surprise.

"Since near the start of your conversation with Sir Nathan, milord. It seems as though the two of you got far too wrapped up in your conversation. I suggest you have your wits about you for our march to Regna Ferox, in case things go sour." Frederick told the two with a cold gaze. Nathan and Chrom gulped and quickly nodded, not wanting to infuriate the man.

"Alright, let's discuss strategy then." Nathan stated, breaking the awkward silence and getting up from his chair to join Frederick around their table.

Once their long strategy session had ended, Frederick quickly pulled Nathan aside to talk.

"Eh? What is it, Freddy?" Nathan asked, as he saw Chrom walk off to talk with Vaike.

"Er…I just wanted to apologize for what happened this morning. If Milord approves of your relationship with Lissa, then I will do whatever is in my power to ensure that your marriage is bountiful and fruitful!" He powerfully declared, before waltzing off to prepare his things for the march.

Nathan sighed, rubbing his bump once again with his hand. "Geez, you tell them you like her and all of a sudden they're trying to get us married…" He muttered to himself.

I really wanted to go for the "Childish schoolgirl" Type of look for this chapter, just because I feel like, even though Chrom is supposed to be 18-19, he'd still have a lack of experience with women simply due to fighting all the time and knowing girls as partners on the battlefield compared to 'lovers'. With Nathan, I mean, the guy's an amnesiac, so it was pretty easy to set him up as someone who isn't so good with girls. Anyways, hope you enjoyed!