Title: What all men fear
Description: After several close calls, Lucina decides it is time they get it over with and tell her father about her and Robin's relationship. If only Robin thought it was as good an idea.
Notes: Take place during the Valm arc, about a week following Robin and Lucina's S-support conversation.
"Robin, my father's coming," Lucina gasped, pulling away suddenly from the passionate kiss the two had been sharing.
Sure enough the unmistakeable deep baritone could be heard somewhere just out of sight behind a row of tents. From the sound of it he was one of the army's staff, the other voice being one Robin did recognise, growing closer with each passing instant.
Frantically untangling themselves from each other's embrace, he and Lucina shoved themselves away from one another, Robin nearly tipping over in his haste. Chrom was close now, his footsteps now audible. Each crunch sent ever heightened surges of panic coursing through the tactician. He was dead, so very dead.
Scooping up his discarded book, he dove back down onto the overturned log next to Lucina, only further apart than the two had been situated in their more intimate moment. The other voice had vanished now, the only ever loader footfalls marking Chrom's approach. A small gasp left Lucina's throat, the princess quickly snatching the book from his hands before returning it, right side up this time, before retrieving Falchion and the cleaning cloth she kept on hand for this very purposes, making it seem like she was occupied cleaning the weapon.
It was not a moment too soon either, Chrom rounding the corner. Glancing up over the rim of his book as if he'd only then noted his friend's presence, Robin dipped in head in greeting and prayed to every god he knew of as well as every one he didn't that the disarray his cloths were in would go unnoticed.
"Robin, Lucina," Chrom greeted each of them in turn, his voice carrying with it a profound weariness. Sighing, he took up a seat across from them, dragging his hands over his face with a deep groan.
"Long day?" Robin asked. He struggled to keep his voice steady as his heart continued to pound in his chest. Please don't find out, please don't find out.
"You could say that," Chrom replied. "Its been one thing after another all damn day, I swear with the Valmese don't kill me, it'll be trying to keep this army together. All I wanted was to get a good meal and get some rest, but instead I had to listen to the entire cooking staff chew my ears out."
"What's got them riled up?"
"Apparently someone left a crate filled with severed limbs amongst the rest of the army's footstuffs."
"Henry," Robin stated flatly. It was not a question.
"Henry," Chrom confirmed, sighing again. "I'm glad he's on our side instead of the enemy's, but we can't keep dealing with him scaring the pants off of the rest of the army. Do you think you can talk to him tomorrow, see if you can explain the situation?"
"I can try, but I'm not sure how much good it will do," Robin said. Noting Chrom's questioning look, he explained, "I tried to tell him it wasn't a good idea to keep his 'collection' with the other supplies and that is might frighten people, but I don't think he listened to anything I said…" He trailed off, shrugging.
"But did you ask him to get rid of it?" Chrom arched an eyebrow.
"Well... no…" Robin said, frowning as the words left his lips.
Chrom rolled his eyes. "Honestly, Robin, you need to be a bit more assertive sometimes. Just... try to make him understand the problem this time, okay?"
"I will, I will," Robin assured him, returning his gaze to his book. Not that he was actually reading it, but he still needed to keep up appearances and all that.
"So..." Chrom said, speaking up after a long period of silence. "You two have been spending a lot of time together lately."
It took every ounce of self control he possessed to keep from flying into a babbling, sweaty, panic. His heart stopped in his chest, his eyes shot wide. This is it. He's found out. I'm dead. I'm going to die. He opened his mouth, frantically searching for something, anything to save him from the spectre of death now looming before him.
Fortunately, Lucina came to his rescue, answering the question for him. "Robin has been attempting to spent more time with myself and my other friends better lately. Just tonight we were eating together with Yarne, Laurent, and Severa, but they left to get rest not long before you arrived I am afraid," Lucina explained. It wasn't an lie either, they had shared dinner with the three Lucina had mentioned. She just… left out some details regarding what happened after they'd left.
"I figured since I already know all of the other Shepherds so well, I should try to get to know our 'new recruits' a bit better," Robin added quickly, somehow managing to speak those words without sounding like a complete nervous wreck. Hooray, go me.
For a moment Robin feared that Chrom would not buy their answer, the Exalt staring at them for a long moment. Then as last he nodded, a hint of smile tugging at his lips.
"Good, very good. Honestly, I've been worried that you and your friends have been keeping to yourselves too much and not feeling like part of the group, Lucina. But I'm glad Robin has been is trying to make all of you feel more at home." He looked between each of them in turn, his smile deepening.
Chrom looked as though he was about to say something more, only to close his mouth as the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard. For an instant the three of them tensed, hands going for their weapons, then relaxed as a man in a cook's apron pushed his way through the tends.
"Gods, what is it now," Chrom groaned. "Sorry, I need to take this." Standing, the exalt stepped away to meet the approaching man, who had once began speaking in a rapid, almost frantically angry tone.
More likely than not it was the same person Chrom had been speaking to before, whom Robin now recognised him as one of the heads of the mess hall's staff from his uniform. He spoke to Chrom in a frantic, urgent tone, but otherwise Robin could not make out what was said. After another moment the cook turned and hurried away, leaving Chrom standing there, cradling his head in his hands.
"Chrom?"
"Apparently…" Chrom started through clenched teeth, the full extend frustration painted onto his face. "...while the staff were busy moving Henry's 'collection', someone snuck into the kitchen tent and stole every jar of honey they had. As well as the sweet-cakes they'd been baking, from what I was told/"
"Gaius," Robin said. Again, it was not a question.
Chrom nodded. "I'm sorry, you two will have to excuse me while I deal with this. Gods know someone has too." With that he turned and hurried away, once again leaving Robin and Lucina alone.
Robin waited several second after Chrom's footsteps had faded before releasing a pent up breath, slumping in his seat. "That was a close one… I thought he'd had us there for a moment…"
"It was indeed a close call," Lucina agreed. Setting her cleaning rag aside, she leaned Falchion back up against the log next to her. "We can't keep doing this you know. My father is going to find out eventually and it will be best if he does so from us rather than others. Or, gods forbid, him walking in on us like what almost happened this night."
"But we… we can't tell him. He'll skin me alive if he finds out about… us…" Robin felt his entire face burn bright red at the mere mention of his and Lucina's relationship. Gods, they'd been together for a week now and he still couldn't wrap his mind around it.
"I believe you're over exaggerating, Robin," Lucina said. "Even if he does get upset, I don't think he'd attempt to harm you."
"Really? Because I'm not so sure," Robin replied, throwing up his arms in exasperation. "Besides, what am I supposed to tell him? 'Hey, Chrom. I know you're my best friend, but I decided to date your daughter from the future because I think she's beautiful, smart, brave, and the most amazing person I've...'." He trailed off, suddenly aware of what he'd been saying. His cheeks burned even more than they had before, sure now his face had managed to turn an even deeper shade of scarlet.
He felt Lucina's hand wrap around his own, giving him a gentle squeeze. Turning his head, he saw that she was smiling softly. "I know how scary it must seem, but we can't keep us secret forever. If not my father, someone else is bound to find out eventually. If they havn't already."
"Y-you think someone knows?" Robin asked, a sudden panic seizing hold of his chest.
"I believe my mother might know, or at least suspects," Lucina said, explaining," three days ago she noted that the two of us have been spending an awful lot of time together. When I tried to evade the subject, she handed me a stack of her favorite novels of a… of a particular sort." It was Lucina's turn to have her face burn pink, so that there was no mistake as to what kind of books Sumia had given her.
"Of course she did," Robin muttered, releasing the breath he'd been holding.
"So will you agree to tell him?" Lucina asked. "It will be better to have it done with sooner rather than later."
Robin sighed, his shoulders slumping. "You're right… I don't want to do it but… you're right…" He looked up, meeting her gaze. "You promise he won't try to kill me."
"I promise," Lucina assured him, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. She looked so beautiful in that moment, moonlight shimmering in the depths of her deep blue eyes, giving them an almost luminous quality. Something about her, standing there with him, seemed to wash away every fear and worry, leaving him with a profound sense of peace.
Robin nodded slowly. :Alright… lets just get this over with. Before I change my mind, okay?"
Together they walked in silence, making their through camp until they reached Chrom's tent. Flickering light streamed out from between the two closed flaps, coming from several lit candles. Other than that nothing moved, not a sound could be heard from within.
Robin froze dead in his tracks. Fear, fear greater than anything he'd felt before strangling his heart. Fear greater than the terror of fighting for his life in battle, greater than the knowledge of knowing his every mistake could lead to the deaths of so countless many. It was fear of something far worse: telling a father that he was in love with his daugher. Only in this case that father just happened to be his best friend.
"Robin?" Lucina asked, turning to gaze at him.
"W-What if he's not here?" Robin stammered, unable to contain her terror any longer.
"If he isn't we will go look for him elsewhere," Lucina replied gently.
"This… this isn't a good idea, we should-"
"Its going to be alright, Robin. It'll be fine," she assured him.
"What if he doesn't approve of us? What if he forbids us from being together?" Robin continued, his eyes wide.
"Robin." Lucina grabbed his hand, intertwining her fingers with his. "Even if he does, I do not intend to let that stop me. It is I who decides who I am allowed to love, not my father." She smiled, leaning in to plant a kiss on his cheek. "I know you're afraid, but just remember I'll be right there with you"
"You mean it?" Robin asked, his voice coming as little more than a whisper.
Lucina nodded.
"You'll stay with me the whole time?" He asked again. He gave her hand a squeeze
"The whole time," Lucina said.
Squeezing his eyes shut, Robin turned back to the tent. He held onto Lucina's hand as tight as he could, mustering up every bit of courage his possessed. Sucking in a breath, he opened his eyes, and as one they stepped inside to face the one thing that all men feared.
The girl's father.
Author's Note: So this was my attempt at covering an often requested look at how Robin ended up revealing his and Lucina's relationship to Chrom. I decided against showing the actual reveal scene, as it is something that has already been done a hundred different ways and I cannot honestly say I have anything new to add to it. Instead I decided to focus on showing the moments before hand, as I imagine that in this case Robin would be far more terrified than Lucina, who would get to have a chance here to be the supportive one in the relationship (there are far too many stories with Lucina being the vulnerable one and not enough with Robin taking that role, so I like giving Lucina her fair share).
If you must know, the actual conversation went down something like this. Robin tells Chrom, who surprisingly doesn't punch Robin (despite the jokes Robin has made to the contrary), but does appear angry. He asks Lucina to leave so he can talk to Robin alone, with Lucina agreeing to it once Chrom promises that he's not going to do anything. Then he, rather bluntly and forcefully tells Robin to explain why he thinks he should be with Lucina, to which Robin would explain his feelings. This would satisfy Chrom, who would then reveal he was really more upset that Robin didn't tell him before hand and instead tried to hide it from him. So yeah, stuff that's been done a zillion times before.