Title: The Real Me

Description: Figuring out who you are can be difficult sometimes. This cannot be more true when you can't even remember who you were. Do your memories define you? Or is the real you something that could be buried deep under the surface.

Notes: Set prior to the conclusion of Fire Emblem: Awakening, a few days after chapter 23.

"What was I like, Lucina?"

Lucina shifted in his arms, stirring from the onset of sleep. She lifted her head, her expression perplexed at his question. "Mhmm?" She blinked her still half-lidded eyes, the promise of sleep refusing to let go of her just yet.

"It's nothing important," he told her, shaking his head. "I was just… wondering if you remembered what I was like. In your world, before…" He shrugged, trailing off. "As I said, it's not important. If you'd rather rest, I can-"

"No… no, its alright. I'm not so tired I'll be falling asleep in your arms just yet." A small smiled crept across Lucina's lips. Seemingly that last thought seemed just as appealing to her as it had to him. Then slowly the smile faded, her expression becoming one of pensive reflection. It was a long while before she spoke again, and when she did her voice seemed more distant, as is wandering through far off memories. "You were… distant. The mysterious friend of my father who was always around, but no one knew much about. I can't recall you speaking very often, and when you did it was almost always with my father. You'd always have your hood up, too, I honestly can't remember many times that I saw your face…"

Robin nodded, but otherwise said nothing, letting Lucina continue her recollection. The last thing he wanted then was the interrupt.

"Sometimes, when my father and mother were busy, you'd look after me for them. We'd go to the castle's library, and you'd teach me about history and read me stories about all the great heroes. Honestly, I use to think you'd made up half of it. The stories just seemed to grand to be true." She laughed, beaming at him joyfully.

"Heh, sounds like something I'd do. Though unless future me was a better liar than I am, can't say I could have pulled it off," Robin remarked, adding a soft chuckle to his wife's laughter.

"I suppose that's true. You are a terrible liar, Robin," Lucina said."Those times were all too few, I'm afraid. What I remember most was that you always seemed sad… lonely… yet you were always kind to me and everyone else…" A hint of a wistful smile tugged at her lips. "I remember not liking that, how you looked so sad all the time. I think I tried a hundred different ways to get you to smile, but nothing ever seemed to work. Still, I wished I could just see you smile, just once. To see you happy."

For a long while Robin said nothing, processing everything she'd told him.

"I knew," he said at last, letting the statement hang in the air.

"You knew what?" Lucina asked, cocking her head to one side questioningly.

"Future me, he must have known he was Grima's vessel," Robin expressed, his voice little more than a whisper. "I think… I think that's why he was so distant from everyone. It was the weight of that knowledge, that destiny… knowing that now has made it very hard to smile…"

"You aren't him, Robin. Whatever that Robin did, you aren't to blame. I've told you this." Lucina twisted around in his lap to face him. Reaching up she caressed his cheek, gazing deep into his eyes.

"But I could have been him, Lucina. If I hadn't..." He trailed off, the words he'd been about to speak becoming stuck in his throat. It was a thought that had plagued him since the moment he'd awoken in that field those three years ago, the day all of this started.

"...if I hadn't I lost my memories," he finished, the words falling bitterly from his lips. "I would have been just like him, Lucina. Am I even the real me? Is this," he motioned to himself, "...who I even truely am? Without my memories, am I not the person I was meant to be?"

Lucina gripped his hand, forcing him to look back at her. "No, I don't think that Robin. I think that it was only without your memories that we finally got to meet the real you."

"What do you mean?" He asked, eyes going wide at the unexpected answer.

"All throughout my childhood you were alone, isolated because you were in pain. You were afraid of letting anyone close, because you knew about Grima, knew your connection to him. After being chased and hunted your whole life, I think you couldn't bear the thought of being hurt again, or hurting someone else…"

She put her hand on his chest, her touch sending chills down his spine. "But when you lost your memories, you were freed from all that. You became the kind, caring, and wonderful person you were always meant to be, because you no longer were trapped by the shadow of what you might have become. You're the Robin I always wished I could see... the Robin who smiled." And with that Lucina smiled, leaning in close to kiss him on the cheek.

A rush of heat filled his cheeks, blushing at her display of affection. There was something infectious about her smile, merely seeing her happy filling him with an radiant joy he could scarcely describe. Perhaps that;s why she'd always wanted to see him smile, if his happiness did the same for her. "And only because you're there to make me smile, Lucina." And so he smiled, overcome by the warmth and power of her love for him in that moment. "And I'm happy that this time, I could make your wish come true."

Author's Note: So, this one-shot took a bit longer than expected, though for once it was partially by choice. See, I started this one last Wednesday, and after about an hours work I had half of it written. So, figuring I could use a break and could do so while also gathering inspiration, I decided to check my follows alters to read others stories. Then I read the newest chapter of Cold Tea, leaned back and said "goddammit!" Basically if you haven't read said story (which you should, that story is far better than mine) the chapter just so happened to cover a similar scene to what I did here. That temporarily killed my enthusiasm to write this chapter, so that plus deciding to distance it a bit delayed things by a couple days. Still, hope you guys enjoyed this!