"I don't know," Robin leaned back in the chair outside the changing room, "I'm not sure it's 'you.'"
Lucina looked down at the plain white dress and then back at the tactician, "You do not like it?"
"I never said that," he rose to his feet and approached the princess, "But I don't think it's something you want."
"Oh," she blushed and adjusted her hair, "I have been told that my sense of fashion is…unique."
"It is," he moved her hand and looked her in the eyes, "But that's just something I love about you."
She blushed like a schoolgirl before reclaiming her hand, "I may have seen something more 'my style.' I'll be right back."
"No rush," Robin smiled as Lucina went to forage through the modest clothing shop. She had lost track of how long it had been since Robin had disappeared or when she found him again, but she was enjoying each and every minute of it even if it had probably only been a few days.
They were en route to Castle Ylisse to tell everyone the good news, but Robin had insisted on taking their time. During their relatively slow journey, they had grown closer than ever before. It was not long before Robin had officially proposed after they had talked around the matter for so long. Of course, she accepted almost immediately. She was ready to settle down and live a relatively normal life-all thoughts of returning to her own time forgotten. She was happy.
Finally finding the bright pink and orange dress, she hurried back to the changing room. She could not wait until Robin saw it. Yes, she was happy indeed.
"Two rooms, please," Lucina put the money down on the counter, but the innkeeper looked at her strangely.
"Two? You sure about that, miss?"
"Yes, I am quite sure. It is inappropriate to share a room with a man that is not my husband."
"Okay, okay," the poor man lifted his hands up in defeat before grabbing the keys and putting them on the counter, "Here you go."
Lucina grabbed the keys with a huff, and turned to Robin as she walked to where the rooms where, "Really, why is it that every innkeep we meet seems to think we should share a room? It's indecent!"
"Maybe they just think we're married," he leaned in closer as they walked, "We do look nice together, and we actually will be married before long. Besides, nothing actually has to happen just because we're in the same room."
"True," she blushed again, "But I think we should remove ourselves from temptation. As you said, just for a little while longer."
"Alright, alright," Robin pulled back to normal distance, "Well, here we are. See you tomorrow."
"Sleep well, my love."
"And you as well."
Stopping by a quaint diner, the two decided to have a little date night as it were, "You know," Robin looked over the menu, "I've been thinking. Maybe we shouldn't go back to Ylisstol."
"What?" Lucina put the menu down. That Robin would even suggest such a thing was…
"Think about it. We could run off, elope, and live a nice quiet life together. Don't you want that?"
"But what about father and the Shepherds?"
"They'll always be dear friends, but in the end, they gave up on me," It was true that Lucina was the last to hold out hope, but to simply let them continue to think he was dead…
"We should at least let them know you are alive."
"Okay, okay," he yielded, "It was just a thought."
They were saved from further conversation by the waiter coming by to take their orders, "Hello hot stuff," Robin groaned in his chair, "What'll it be?"
"Um, I will have the roast chicken."
"Alrighty," he leered a bit too hard at her.
"Yeah, excuse me," Robin tried to distract him, "I have an order to place too."
"I'll be right back," he walked back into the diner.
"How rude!" Lucina was ready to storm the diner, "I will speak with the owner."
"Wait," he grabbed her by the shoulders and gently pushed her back into her chair, "It's fine, really. I'll just get something in town."
Lucina still looked angry, but she ceded to her lover's wishes, "If you insist."
"Thank you. It's really not worth it anyways," he smiled.
They finally arrived at Ylisstol after about three weeks despite it being a one week journey. It was nice to be home again, but Lucina felt oddly nervous about meeting her parents. She chalked it up to the fact that she would also be telling them that she was engaged to her father's best friend, but it gnawed at her regardless of the fact that they knew that they were courting.
Robin insisted on keeping his face hidden so he was not recognized too early, but Lucina alone was easily enough to get them into the castle. They led her to the dining room where she was told that her parents waiting.
Lucina breathed in and Robin put a comforting hand on her shoulder, "Are you sure you want to do this?"
Somehow, he seemed privy to her unexplained tension, but he did know her better than anyone, "It needs to be done."
Lucina pushed the door open with one last breath. Inside were her parents who gave her little time to react before embracing her. She, of course, returned the embrace.
"I'm so glad you're back," Sumia pulled away with Chrom, "We were so worried."
"I am fine, mother, and I brought someone with me."
"And who would that be?" Chrom folded his arms not sure if he liked that idea.
"Hey," Robin walked in causing Lucina to smile.
"Surprise."
Chrom and Sumia shared a confused glance, "Uh, honey, what is the surprise?"
"Robin of course. We would have been here sooner, but we took our time."
Both of her parents faces darkened as Sumia put a hand on Lucina's shoulder, "Lucina, honey, Robin died. Remember?"
"What?"
"I know you gave up on him, but he's right here! He survived just like Naga said he might!"
"Lucina," Chrom spoke with an even voice even though his eyes spoke his true pain, "No one's there."
"What? Of course he is! He's–" she turned to prove her point only to see nothing but air causing her words to die in her throat and her whole body to go cold.
"We found his body four weeks ago," her father explained, "You were devastated and ran off, remember?"
"I-I–" her mind raced. She saw the body flashing through her thoughts. It had been too much. She left Ylisstol. This last bit of trauma on top of her already hard life finally started to take its toll. She forgot why she was out there until one singular thought came to mind: Robin. She had to find Robin, and then she did. She found exactly what she wanted to find.
"Honey," Sumia tried to comfort her daughter, but Lucina pushed her hand away. She ran again until she entered the royal graveyard. She had to see for herself, and, sure enough, there stood his memorial standing tall.
She collapsed on the monument. She started to weep. He tried to stop her from coming back. Some part of her mind knew that if she did come back, she would never be truly happy again. Her fantasy was a fragile one, but it had made her happy. It may have been an illusion, but she was happy.
Now, now she was forced to live without him-she was doomed to a life of what could have been. She was denied her chance to finally be happy.
A/N: I'll be honest, I'm not entirely happy with this. In any case, I've more or less decided to scrap the October story. What this means, is that I will be moving into the winner of the vote sooner than suspected. It was actually a tie between two stories, but after talking it over with someone else (well, chatting technically) I've decided to go with Dark Reflections.
