Chapter 16

Training Grounds

"Aaargh!" A pained grunt followed by a hefty weight thumping against the grass in the training yard signaled another duel ending between the prince and his former-tactician. Chrom sighed and tapped his foot with a look of utter disappointment on his face. Robin barely even tried to dodge that last hit. In fact, he had been largely unmotivated to properly train all day. That was their fourth match and every single time was met with less and less of a challenge.

"Alright, I think you've had enough for one day." the prince tucked some of his stray navy-hair behind his ear and reached a hand out for Robin to grasp and pull him up to his feet. "So, would you like to talk about what's on your mind?"

The tactician dusted off his coat and dragged his sparring weapon back over to the wooden racks and set it in it's proper place. "I've just had a lot to think about over the past few days."

"Clearly." Chrom rolled his eyes at the obvious statement. "But would you care to elaborate on that?"

Robin thought for a moment about whether or not Chrom really needed to know. He was his best friend, but the man wasn't sure about his own thoughts at the moment. Turning to meet his gaze, he asked "You mind if we took a walk, Chrom?"

The prince nodded and the two left the training grounds. They had no particular destination, but Robin just wanted to talk where no prying eyes would be privy the information. At the moment, they simply walked along the castle's exterior wall, but soon sopped when Robin was able to piece together some of the thoughts swimming around in his head.

"I'm... conflicted right now." His hesitation was evident of whatever mental distress he was currently toiling with. Chrom picked up on that little detail.

"Has something happened lately? What troubles you, Robin?"

Leaning against the brick wall, Robin sighed. "Well, these past few, I've had Maribelle on my mind. It's no secret that she and I have been in each other's company for months now, but lately she's been occupying my thoughts much more than normal." Somehow, the way that sentence came out felt a little bit awkward for him, as if he were admitting to something guilty.

"Oh. Really now?" Chrom smirked and mirrored his friend's motion, leaning against the wall right next to him. "What brought this on?"

Disregarding Chrom's poor attempt at trying to hide a grin, Robin continued. "I suppose everything started coming to a head a few days ago when Maribelle brought me to her home for the first time. She wanted me to meet with her father because of personal reasons."

"Uh-huh." Chrom nodded and urged Robin to continue.

"Long story short: I was able to help with those personal problems she had. For the most part anyway."

"What was it that you missed or forgot?"

"Some events were already set in motion and I could do nothing about it. From there stems the problem though."

"Which would be...?"

"I don't know when, but a suitor will arrive in Ylisse to try and win Maribelle's hand for marriage."

"Ah, I think I see the problem."

Robin raised an eyebrow. "You do? Because there's more to the story."

"I'm sure I got the general gist, but please continue."

"Okay. After I arrived to her home, Maribelle told me the kind of life she has to look forward to. In addition to her goals, she also has to balance a hefty responsibility in her future. It's... astounding."

"You mean her ideas of becoming an advocate for law enforcement?"

Robin leaned off the wall and began pacing back and forth before Chrom. "It's much more than that. The way she chooses to shoulder such harsh responsibilities... she does so unflinching and seems as if she would dive into it, despite the uncertainty. I find that admirable. Unlike me, I need to have a grip on the now. I always have to have a plan, or else I all but lose my way. I'm scared of what I can't possibly know. Terrified even. But her? No, she practically laughs in the face of something that would break lesser people. Were I in her shoes, I'd probably want to run away from it all and never look back."

"Hah. You sound as if you worship her. But you are right, Maribelle has always been a strong-willed and stubborn person since Lissa and I have known her throughout our childhood. Even when she was younger, she was a role model for most everyone else. The other children were driven to jealousy because of it. That's likely why they alienated her; they felt unworthy to be around her at times."

"I guess I know how those kids felt. She's really amazing. That's why I..." Robin trailed off his sentence and stopped pacing. "...I think I'm falling for her."

"And so, you're wondering of this suitor will actually succeed in sweeping Maribelle off her feet and leave you without the woman you're falling for." Chrom stated matter-of-factly. He walked up to his freind and rested his hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure if you tell her, she may return your feelings. Both of you have been spending so much time with each other and it's clear from the way she speaks to Lissa she feels the same way. She may even be nervous to convey her own feelings for you as well."

Robin's expression darkened. "Actually, that's not why I'm conflicted." He brushed Chrom's hand away and could only stare down at his boots. "I've been thinking that maybe it would be best if I stopped seeing Maribelle now. Maybe this suitor will actually be better for a woman like her."

That came out completely unexpected to the prince. He expected Robin would be the typical nervous man trying to express his emotions and claim his woman. Never had he heard of someone stepping down for another's benefit. For a moment, he had to process the thought behind this decision. "W-Wait, can we go back a bit? Why would you not want to tell Maribelle you're falling in love with her? Isn't this the part where you go rushing to her side and confess everything?"

The tactician wondered if Chrom was joking with him and he certainly didn't appreciate it. "Chrom, this isn't some cliche' romance story of two people reaching out to each other and finding love, alright? This is real life and whirlwind romances aren't things that happen." His voice was uncharacteristically stern which unnerved Chrom even more.

"I understand, I didn't mean to offend." Chrom raised a hand up in defense. "I just thought that the logical course of action would be to tell Maribelle. Why would you not want to do so?"

That question. The tactician had been asking himself the same thing when he first came to the conclusion of his love for her, but the answer was something he knew all too well and it hurt him every single time he had to answer it. "...Because I'm not good enough for her."

"What does that even mean? You're not 'good enough?'" Chrom repeated.

Robin ran a hand through his white hair to straighten it back into place. "When I spoke with her father earlier this week, he said that he had been trying to find Maribelle suitors because he knew full well the kind of responsibilities she would undertake in the future. He knows he won't be around forever to care for his noble House, so he wanted to at least have some reassurances of his daughter's future."

"But what does that have to do with you not being 'good enough'?"

Robin sighed dejectedly. "Because she needs someone who can support her. If she were to have another nobleman as her partner in life, she would have so much more security to bolster her. I can't offer her that. It's not fair that she has to settle for less because of my own selfish desire to be with her."

"So that's it then? You're going to willingly throw away your own happiness because you think you know what's best for her?" Chrom crossed his arms. He honestly couldn't believe he was still talking to Robin. The self-confident tactician that stood against massive armies in the past alongside him. The white-haired man simply couldn't answer, just a shrug of his shoulders. Chrom shook his head and stepped forward to face his friend eye-to-eye. "Robin, you are my closest friend and I cannot allow you to just do this to yourself. You say it wouldn't be fair to Maribelle but it certainly isn't fair to yourself either."

"Well, what am I supposed to do Chrom?" Robin turned his back to the prince, he didn't like that piercing stare of his.

Chrom placed a hand on Robin's shoulder and nudged him forward back where they walked from. "What you are going to do is go and see Maribelle and tell her everything you told me. See what she wants first before you start making decisions for her."

The tactician reluctantly moved forward. Not that it was by his own choice, Chrom was quite literally pushing him down the entire path on their way back to the training grounds. It was futile to bother resisting anyway, both of them knew Chrom was leagues ahead of Robin in terms of physical strength as it was. When they arrived to the part of the training grounds reserved for mages, both men caught the noblewoman, and Lissa continuing to practice tome use. They were showing improvement... in the sense that they managed to make a bolt of lightning miss their target by one foot, as opposed to the previous two and a half from the week before.

Chrom gave his friend one more push forward, nearly making him fall over clumsily, but he was able to right himself before stepping up behind the two women.

"Good morning, girls. Trying to learn magic, I see." He tried to come off as casual as possible, but the pressure was on with the prince's watchful hawk-eyes pinned directly on him.

"'Trying' being the key word here." Maribelle replied. She folded the book in her hands shut and turned to meet him eye-to-eye. "Actually, this is perfect timing, Robin. Would you mind assisting Lissa and I? You know enough about the magical arts as it is, and you can explain it in a much more concise manner than Miriel can, I'm sure."

The red-headed mage was in earshot of the remark and adjusted her steel-rimmed glasses upon the bridge of her nose. Her little way of saying 'bite me' without being crass.

Robin looked out of the corner of his eyes to remind himself that Chrom was still watching. He could also tell from the other side that Lissa was pretending to be uninterested in their conversation, looking off into different directions, but her pupils still tacked onto them. "Actually, I'd be happy to. Before that, I need to talk to you in private. It's very important."

"Alright, but why the secrecy?" Maribelle didn't quite get an answer, but she noticed Robin subtly darting his pupils in Lissa's direction. "Ah, right then..." she muttered in response, then turned to Lissa. "Excuse us for a moment, darling. We'll be back shortly."

Robin lead Maribelle to the Shepherd's garrison and all the qay to the private room she owned. Once inside, he gently closed the door to make sure there was little noise and locked it from the inside. He turned back to Maribelle, and gestured a hand to one of the chairs, wordlessly asking her to have a seat. She did so in that familiar 'playfully condescending' posture, with one leg over the other and her hands clasped together and resting on her knee. "Alright, what was so important?" she asked, a hint of intrigue in her voice.

Robin sat in the chair opposite of her, but he positioned himself in a way that he wasn't looking at her directly. Clearing his throat, he answered her. "You remember when I talked with your father about all that business regarding him arranging your marriage?"

"It would be difficult to forget something that only happened just this past week, Robin." the noblewoman deadpanned.

"Right... I, uh, kind of left a few details out." Robin scratched the back of his neck and continued to not maintain eye contact. He could almost feel the inevitable burning of his cheeks when Maribelle would wind up for another slap. "When I talked your father out of searching for other potential men, he informed me that before I had intervened, he had already arranged one last suitor."

"Oh. Wonderful. Just when my mood started to brighten..." Maribelle groaned, placing an elbow on the table and letting her head limply fall into her hand. Although the news was unpleasant, she showed less discontent than Robin expected. Perhaps, he thought, she may be breaking down from the constant attempts, that or she was simply growing indifferent to the whole thing now. Either way, the man still had more to say.

"That's not the only thing I wanted to tell you." he followed up. While trying to keep eye-contact to a minimum, Robin couldn't help but shift his eyes over to his friend while thinking of the proper thing to say next. He could feel his heart beating rather rapidly too, enough to put him on the edge of sweating. "We've known each other for a reasonable amount of time, yes? Enough that we consider each other good friends, anyway."

Maribelle was still rather despondent with most everything around her right now, but managed to respond with a forced "I suppose." The cold answer was nearly enough to make Robin completely drop the subject but he continued.

""Okay, I was going to try and say something flowery and romantic, but I don't feel I have the charm to pull it off." he bluntly admitted. "Maribelle, I like you. A lot."

At once, Maribelle's uncaring attitude completely shattered. Her head quickly turned to face him, eyes very slightly widened from utter surprise. "I beg your-"

"I said, I like you a lot. Interpret that as you will." Robin repeated, this time with a bit of a pushing tone bordering aggressive, even. Maribelle certainly heard it, but the gravity of his message hadn't yet sunken in for her, still trapped between shock and confusion. He said for her to interpret it as she would but... she couldn't quite make it to that stage. The awkward lack of response served to fluster the tactician. Now he regretted the whole thing and wished he had just kept his mouth shut.

After a minute to think, Maribelle was able to gather a semblance of words, though still unsure of what she should be feeling at the moment. "Ummm... Alright." she managed to say. Then, it was back to the awkward silence, giving the noble a minute to sort things out in her head. He still refused to look at her, and Maribelle mimicked the same behavior, turning completely opposite of him.

Another large silence fell between them. Robin refused to say anything else until he heard a response. He wanted to hear just one thing, anything, from her before he continued.

"A-Alright..." Maribelle repeated. "Excuse me for asking but, what brought these feelings on?" Unable to make a proper response, she settled with that alone. Still facing away from the tactician, her hands kneaded and twisted at the white ruffles of cloth that rested over her chest.

"Because you interest me." Robin answered bluntly.

"I... interest you?" Maribelle's attention was grabbed yet again. This time enough to warrant her facing the man.

"Yeah, quite a bit actually." Robin lifted his head up to look back at her as well. "I know we've only known each other for... about over half a year now? Starting out, I honestly didn't want anything to do with you. You were always so cold and a bit of a snob." The noblewoman narrowed her eyes when that ghastly word hit her ears.

"But over the course of time, I've come to respect you in so many ways. How ready you are to help your dearest friends, your life goals and motivations. All of them are so out of the ordinary, yet simply amazing to behold. I don't just like you Maribelle; I admire you."

"Aren't you laying it on a bit thick, dear?" The noblewoman could feel her cheeks heating up.

"Not at all. I mean every word. Although, I suppose what I enjoy about you, or rather, us the most is how we tend to spur each other on. We almost seem like a team, even off the battlefield. You know, how we always seem to bounce friendly arguments off of each other?"

"Robin, are you certain the word 'hyperbole' is not in your vocabulary?"

The tactician straightened his chair so he was facing Maribelle and reached a hand across the table to hold hers. "I couldn't exaggerate how I feel about you. I mean, I haven't exactly been trying to hide it. Haven't you wondered why I'm always going out of my way for your sake?"

That was actually a good question. Robin was there for her since the very beginning; Coming to her aid after being abducted, or helping her to forge bonds with the Shepherds, which worked far better than she thought. Even recent events such as daily massages to sooth her back pain, and successfully disuading her father from trying to control her future. Every single time he came through for her, she never asked herself why.

Curling her fingers around Robin's hand in a gentle grasp she met his gaze proudly. "I know why now."

Robin inhaled deeply and placed his other hand over Maribelle's. "Then I ask you, for the final time; Maribelle, do I have a chance? Do we have a chance?"

Such a loaded question, and typically no simple answer. When it came to them as a couple, if simply felt right. They obviously cared about each other more than anyone else around them. All of that was true, however, a little bit of doubt lingered in Maribelle's mind. Could she really have Robin be hers? What would that say about her as a noble? How would the other Ylissean Houses see her?

For the most part, she didn't care, but a little voice within her kept eating away at the bigger picture. If she were to be seen romantically involved with a commoner, most anyone would label her a madwoman on the spot. She wanted him. She knew she did, but it would take just a little more time between them before she could devote herself fully.

While still holding onto Robin's hand, Maribelle stood up from he table before her tactician and solemnly looked him in the eyes. "I don't know if I am quite ready to completely give myself to another just yet... But, I suppose that would give us more time to be absolutely sure, hm?" she asked.

"Is that a yes?" Robin's eyes lit up almost instantly. He picked himself up off his chair and held her hands slightly tighter.

"It is a probably." she corrected. "There is still the matter of that suitor. Once we're rid of him, then we can concentrate on us."

Robin could barely hold himself up from his weak knees. He let slip a nervous laugh and continued his grip on her hands. "I'll take it. 'Probably' is better than 'no'."

Maribelle watched Robin's nervous fit and how he reacted in subtle ways to her answer. From his cold palms and nervously shifting eyes, she could practically see the man quaking in his boots. As always, she found some personal enjoyment in seeing him utterly under her dominance. Although this time her smile came not from having one-upped him, but just that his happiness at finally breaking her down was simply contagious. She couldn't help but smile herself.

Moving her hands from Robin's, the noble wrapped her arms about Robin's chest and upper back in a warm embrace, resting her head his shoulder. Again, Robin was taken aback, albeit, slightly this time.

Contact like this was starting to become more common between them, but it was strictly from one party. This time, Robin finally got his turn. He wrapped his arms around Maribelle in the same fashion, with a bit of a possessive pull to it as he stroked her golden, twisting locks of hair.

After having their fill, the couple released from their hug and stood face to face. Robin scratched at his warm cheek, wondering what else was there to do at the moment. "Soooo... Where do we go from here? Hopefully up but-"

"How about fulfilling that request and teaching me the proper use of a tome?" The noble interrupted.

"O-Of course. Baby steps."

...

"When did the word 'shortly' suddenly change to 'an-eternity-and-a-half?" Lissa huffed while pacing back and forth before her elder brother.

"Relax, I'm sure they won't be much longer. And it's only been no more than ten minutes." Chrom replied.

"Geez, what short conversation takes ten minutes, huh? You'd think they were going to confess their love for each other or something... I'm guessing..."

The prince narrowed his eyes suspiciously at his younger sister, who had stopped pacing for some reason. "That's a pretty specific guess."

"Well, you know kids these days! One day they're rescuing each other from certain peril, the next day, they're picking colors for what the baby's playroom will be! Ha ha!" The forced smile and twitching eye all but ruined the young princesses facade.

Chrom, being no one's fool, tilted his head towards Lissa accusingly. "Number one, both of them are older than you... at least I think Robin is. Number two, an off-hand 'guess' like that would have to be made only if you knew-"

"OH LOOK! THERE THEY ARE!" Lissa yelled and pointed. This inadvertently made everyone in the immediate area turn to see the tactician and noble walking out onto the training yard with armfuls of tomes.

"Yes... Here we are... Hooray?" Robin only continued walking, scanning across the courtyard to see the few eyes locked on him for whatever reason.

"So, what'd you two talk about?" Lissa cleared her throat and pretended to be oblivious to the piercing gaze of her brother.

"Robin and I have decided to become a couple." Maribelle answered bluntly, a response that threw everyone, including Robin off guard. They expected a more... gentle delivery. She took note of everyone's stunned look and rolled her eyes. "Yes, I know. Strong, stubborn Maribelle is dating equally stubborn Robin. Must we alert the local crier to announce it to everyone on the street?"

"No, we don't but... Wow. I expected something more graceful. Perhaps both of you would walk onto the field holding each other's hands possibly?" Chrom admitted.

"I recall saying this wasn't some cliche' romance story, Chrom? ...And how come I was only labeled stubborn!?" Robin leered from Maribelle's comment.

"Right then. We're all adults, no need to dwell on the subject like schoolchildren. Shall we begin our dive into the world of magic then?" Maribelle quickly picked the Wind tome at the top of the stack in her arms and walked over to the nearest training dummy. Robin immediately followed.

"Finally!" Lissa exhaled roughly.

"'Finally?'" Chrom repeated with the same accusing tone as before.

"Yeah. Finally I get to learn how to use magic! Tell Robin I'll be right with them in a second. I just need to fetch my staff. You know, just in case first attempts don't turn out so pretty." Before Chrom could protest, Lissa was already off in the opposite direction. Where she was going, he couldn't tell.

An even bigger mystery was why she was going into the barracks when there was a rack of perfectly usable staves not five feet away from where they were just standing.

On the other side of the barracks in the other training yard for weapon use, the princess looked left and right until she saw the thief she was looking for, taking a break after a duel with Stahl. One toss of a pebble and the Lissa had the man's attention. She beckoned him with a 'come hither' flick of her finger.

"Y'know you can just come out and talk to me right? It wasn't like I was busy at the time."

"Too late now. Just pass along this message to Cordelia next time you have a chance to meet with her: Mission accomplished."

Gaius couldn't believe his ears at first. "No way!" he protested.

"Uh huh. Looks like our hard work paid off. Now just pass it along and we take our matchmaking adventure to our graves, got it?"

"Yeah, yeah. I got'cha."

Once they parted, Lissa immediately ran as fast as she could through the barracks to the other training yard. When she arrived, there Chrom was, standing with his arms crossed as if he were expecting her.

"So, where's your staff?"

"Huh? Oh, right! Silly me, it was right here all along!" Again, Lissa tried to force a fake, wide, grin. Grabbing a new Heal staff, she began walking to her friends.

Until she was stopped when Chrom grabbed her shoulder. "Lissa?"

"Y-Yeah?"

"Playing Cupid I see. I just might need to tell Frederick how much you've wanted to undergo his personal training regimen for the next two weeks."

"Two weeks!? Isn't that a bit harsh? It only took me one day to be worked halfway to death!" Lissa cringed at the thought of even trying to attempt that torture fest for more than three days. "But, I mean, look at them. When was the last time you've ever seen Maribelle and Robin smile like that?"

Chrom looked up from Lissa to see the tactician and noble training together. Maribelle hung onto every word Robin instructed her with and had come very close to hitting the target with a gust of wind. The looks on their faces despite the multiple failures to perform even the most basic of spells was clearly indicative of their affections.

"I suppose... I'll let it slide. But just this once."

A/N: Oooooh crap. Okay, let me explain what happened over the past two months with a simple mathematical problem.

Hyrule Warriors + Super Smash Bros. 3DS + Bayonetta 2 = ABSO-BLOODY-LUTELY NO TIME TO SIT DOWN AND WRITE THIS!

I swear I never meant to go on a hiatus like that! I kept saying to myself "Oh just one more day and I'll get to work on that chapter." That next day almost never came. But, I felt I NEEDED to finish this because at time of writing, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is quite literally right around the corner, and this fic would have been legally declared dead until quite possibly next year, and I couldn't do that to you guys and gals. :(

I know I apologize for my horrifying attendance on this (and I am forever grateful to you kind people that forgive me at each and every turn. Seriously, you people are awesome!), but I'll say it a-thousand times if I have to: I really do apologize for making you people wait so long for a criminally disproportionate and meager chapter.

-phew- So yeah. I really don't have much to say on this chapter itself. Just the natural progression of Robin and Maribelle's relationship after God-knows-how-many-chapters I've been beating you people over the head with it. Don't worry though, the plot thickens in the next chapter, I promise!