A/N: By popular demand, this is a fic about the relationship between Fire Emblem: Awakening's Avatar(Robin) and Maribelle. Similar to my previous fic, Love and Dragonstones, I also have not seen very much... actually, none at all... of these two. As such I will put just as much effort to make this fic worthwhile for all the fans who made it possible for their continued support. This one's for you, guys!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the following characters. All characters belong to Intelligent Systems and Nintendo.

Chapter 1

Ylisstol

The streets had started to clear themselves from the massive population of people that crowded the cobblestone streets just minutes before, as the Exalt of the realm, Emmeryn, older sister to the prince Chrom and princess Lissa, made her weekly visitation to greet the townsfolk. The prince made his way, also extending his greetings to his loyal subjects, with two new recruits to his band of private retainers. One was an archer named Virion who came during their time of need in the forest just north of Southtown, while the other was a young man, no older than Chrom himself, that he had found lying on the roadside leading to Southtown just the other day. He was of fair height and skin tone, with unusually silver hair, wearing only a cotton beige shirt and tan pantaloons held in place by a large black belt, all wrapped in a dark coat, complete with a small hood. He claimed his name was Robin, but nothing much else came to him. He had no idea where he had come from, where he was going, or even who he was prior to Chrom finding him. Were it not for his gift for tactics that helped pull Chrom and his small company through the assault on Southtown and the ambush in the forest, he probably would have been left behind. Luckily, the good prince had taken note of his excellent strategic abilities and took him on as the official tactician of his band of soldiers, which he called the Shepherds.

Robin walked nervously through the streets of Ylisstol accompanying Chrom, Lissa, and their guardian, Frederick. The man was a bit skittish, having just realized that Chrom was royalty just moments ago. Even if his memories were wiped clean, he still held onto his manners and common sense. Although the formalities were politely put down by Chrom, who was never one for them anyway. It helped to ease the confused man's heart as he hoped he had not offended the good prince on their short journey together.

The group weaved through the dense crowd, making their way to the palace that sat towering above the town at its edge. Silently marveling at the large structure, Robin walked a bit slowly behind the other five, still taking in the sheer size of it compared to the quaint buildings that seemed commonplace up until now. Seeing as how his new friends wouldn't wait up for him, he caught up to the group, passing the gates and entered the palace.

The interior was even more marvelous than what was seen outside. Luxurious red carpeting was sprawled neatly in the center of the large hall that they walked into. The room hall itself was quite expansive. It was hard to believe the palace was this large on the inside. Lissa periodically looked over her shoulder to see Robin looking from place to place. She couldn't help but giggle subtly at his sheer curiosity. It was like a child realizing the world around him for the first time. Although, upon retrospect, she should have expected it, what with the amnesia. The four walked all the way to the throne room, and Robin was so absored in the sights of the grand building that he didn't realize he was soon standing face-to-face with Exalt Emmeryn.

Correcting himself, Robin solemnly bowed to his knees in respect for someone of such high authority. The gentle Exalt smiled softly at the generous gesture of this new stranger. She turned her attention to her kin and greeted them, as she always did when they returned home. The siblings went onto discussing the current situation of the Halidome and its neighboring country of Plegia, explaining the skirmish that took place in Southtown. The discussion came to a close on the subject of Robin and his part in all this. Chrom concluded that he was a sizable help and was taking him on as the Shepherds tactician.

"Then, if this man has your trust, Chrom, I shall leave him in your care" The Exalt's gentle gaze then turned to the tactician in question. "I wish to also extend my personal gratitude. Ylisse owes you a debt, and please don't concern yourself with formality. Please rise." Robin rose to his feet, though still with his head respectfully bowed to her. "You are too kind, milady. I only did what I believed what had to be done."

"Well, now that we've got all that settled," Lissa chimed in, "follow me, Robin! I've got something I really want to show you!" The upbeat princess held Robin by the hand and ran through the palace, with him struggling to keep up with her at first. Their little trip took them through many parts of the palace, including the courtyards and training grounds until they arrived at a more secluded part of the building. This particular room was somewhat like a meeting room. Large and wide open with a curving roof and red drapes adorning the open windows. Crates of unknown supplies and plenty of Vulnerary bottles were strewn about and a map of the continent was pinned to the back wall.

"Welcome to the Shepherd's garrison!" Lissa proudly announced with outstretched arms. The small gathering of people who happened to be around turned their attention from each other to Lissa, and the new arrival. One of them was a burly sort, with rippling muscles and for whatever reason, not wearing a shirt. The other was a woman, who seemed meek upon first appearances as she seemed to back away from the unfamiliar face and nervously hold her hands close to her chest. Robin couldn't help but notice the adorable wing ornaments that were perched on the back of her head, yet fanned out just above it. Another person was at the back of the garrison, away from the two, who Robin noticed she was pacing back and forth, nervously twisting her parasol between her palsm, but the moment the two walked in, she ran right towards them.

In preparation for her companions' inevitable charge, Lissa held her arms out to greet her blonde-haired friend. "Lissa, my treasure! I've been on pins and needles!" she squealed as she tightly embraced the young princess. "Honestly, darling, I've grown 14 gray hairs fretting over your safe return!" The woman even made a point to lift her hair that covered her forehead, showing that she had indeed sprouted one or two graying follicles. Nothing so accurate as 14 of them, but her point was made. "Oh, hi M-Maribelle!" Lissa stammered, struggling a bit from the tight grip. "You worry a bit too much though. I can handle a few battles as long as I'm with Chrom... and can you let me go now?"

Lissa managed to free herself from her friend's death-grip on her and Moved behind Robin, forcefully pushing him closer to his new comrades-in-arms. "Everyone, I'd like to introduce you to our newest member, Robin!" she announced. The three looked at their new recruit and really, no one gave any outstanding reactions to it. Robin figured it was probably because the group must recruit new members quite often, though if that were the case, it was odd to see the current garrison as empty as it was. "Gee guys, don't all act so hospitable at once..." Lissa mocked. "Anyway, Chrom's appointing Robin as our new tactician. You should SEE this guy at work! He's a good swordsman, and he can use magic, too! Oh, and of course, he came up with a few strategies that pulled us through just fine on our trip!"

The blonde woman, named Maribelle so said by Lissa, took in the presence of the rookie tactician. He wore nothing too uncommon and he had no noble bearing. Obviously, he was of some garden variety lowborn status. However, if he could develop strategies that, as proven, could guarantee victory, surely he was worth her time. The burly looking fellow stepped up and eyed Robin, and after a while, a crooked grin formed on his face. "Oh yeah? Well I'll bet this guy ain't as talented as ol' Teach!" he exclaimed.

"Oh, so you're 'Teach' now, Vaike?" Lissa scoffed. "Just wait 'til you see Robin in action! Maybe he'll teach you a thing or two!"

"Oh, 'zat so? Well, I'll be he cant do this!" Leaning his head back, Vaike let loose quite a loud belch, looking quite triumphant afterward. He had to waft the scent of whatever it was he ate, but the display actually made Robin warm up to him, rather than disgust him. At first glance, one would think Vaike would be a no-nonsense bruiser, but such small quirks like the one he had shown eased the wall Robin had when seeing these new people. "Well, I'm sure I have plenty to learn in the belching arts, Teach!" Robin said, humoring the man.

The opposite effect, however took hold on Maribelle. She cringed at the repulsive manners Vaike showcased, especially in front of new company. Her opinion of Robin certainly went down, lower than it already was, with the way he practically asked to learn such disgusting practices. "Ugh, Vaike, that was absolutely horrid! Why must you lowborn mongrels befoul even the air around you? Have some bloody decency!" she scolded before turning her attention. "And you! Robin, do NOT encourage such pitiful behavior! I've barely known you for a minute, and yet, I cannot help but be disappointed. I would have hoped you were cut from finer cloth than that! Good day to the lot of you. I've other businesses to attend to." she said, turning and walking out of the garrison.

Robin his head in confusion at the sudden, violent outburst Maribelle had. He wasn't aware that he did anything wrong, yet she had made him feel like a child that had disobeyed its parents with that sharp tongue that she pierced him with. The other female of the group nervously walked up to Robin and sympathetically patted his shoulder. "Don't take it to heart, Robin. Maribelle just... makes friends with people slower than others. If you give her time, she'll probably warm up to you." she said.

"Or burn too quickly~." Lissa deadpanned. "But, Sumia's right. Just give her a while and you two will probably be good friends in no time."

"Well, she does have quite a fire about her." Robin said. "Oh well, I suppose time will tell if we're meant to be friends then."

A/N: And here we have the pilot for the MUxMaribelle story. To be honest, I totally saw this from the start! I guess a lot of people really enjoyed the love triangle thing I pulled off in LaD and wanted to see an 'alternate choice'? Or maybe they just enjoyed her character. I dunno. I'm not an expert. That aside, I hope you guys enjoy this one. And please continue to critique and review as you see fit.

Fun Fact: The character designer for No More Heroes also worked on the character designs for Fire Emblem: Awakening. Having that in mind, doesn't Maribelle look oddly similar to Bad Girl? I nearly dropped my 3DS when I first saw her way back in March when I first bought the game and imagined her bludgeoning Plegians with a flaming parasol (If you played No More Heroes, you'd understand. :P ). This being said, I also think Brady looks a LOT like Travis Touchdown. Scary, isn't it?