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Chrom and Lucina’s voices sounded distant, almost. Robin didn’t feel real—couldn’t focus on them; didn’t want to hear them. Robin stared at the ground behind Lucina instead; unblinkingly, their thoughts disjointed, and their breath shallow. They couldn’t shake the heavy, paralyzing dread they felt. They shouldn’t be alive. Chrom shouldn’t have stopped Lucina. There was no strategy they could devise to overcome this. If they didn’t have control of their own mind, what could they possibly do?
Chrom tugging on Robin’s arm finally shook them out of their thoughts. Lucina had left, it seemed, but Chrom wasn’t making any move to head back.
Robin’s eyes flicked up to Chrom’s, and Robin took a deep, shuddering breath. They felt tears welling up, and blinked them away as Chrom started talking.
“‘My life is forfeit’?!” Chrom exclaimed, his tone angry. His grip on Robin’s arm tightened, and Robin turned their head, fixing their gaze on the ground once more. “Robin, what were you thinking? What are you thinking?”
It was silent for a moment, save for the sound of another shuddering breath from Robin. “I shouldn’t be alive,” they muttered, panicked, still not meeting Chrom’s eyes. “I shouldn’t be alive… I shouldn’t be alive….”
More silence as Chrom waited for Robin to continue. Robin didn’t want to—didn’t want to talk about this, not now, not ever; not when their head was racing with nothing but thoughts of death. They shouldn’t be alive. They just shouldn’t be alive.
Chrom sighed, letting go of Robin’s arm. They still refused to look back at him. “Of course you should,” Chrom said, quietly, his tone calmer now. “I trust you, Robin. I don’t doubt that you can fight this—fight Validar. We swore, remember? We’re part of a greater whole—“
“That won’t stop me from killing you!” Robin snapped, finally turning to look up at Chrom again. “How can you be so sure that we can change the future? Emmeryn still died! Basilio still died! Why would you think that you’re not going to die, too?!” Robin inhaled sharply, a sob coming out as they exhaled. “I can’t—I don’t—I don’t deserve to be h-here anymore….”
Chrom remained silent as Robin bent over, pressing their hands to their temples while more sobs started to rack their body. Eventually they descended further; crouching down, and then sitting on their knees on the ground as they cried. Chrom bent down as well, joining them on the ground, his expression solemn as he watched them cry. Robin was shaking a bit; their hands still pressing hard to their head, as if their sobs were hurting them.
Chrom remained quiet as he sat across from Robin. Seeing Robin fall apart like that was devastating. After a few minutes—when Robin’s sobs started to quiet—Chrom reached forward, very gently taking Robin’s hands in his own. Robin looked up immediately, their eyes wide, meeting Chrom’s as he slowly lowered their hands. Chrom let go after a moment, tentatively reaching forward toward Robin’s face. “Is this okay?” he asked quietly, his hand stopped about halfway. Robin nodded, and Chrom continued, his hand finally meeting Robin’s cheek. He wiped Robin’s tears with his thumb, gently, no longer meeting Robin’s gaze.
“I believe in our bonds more than some foretold ‘destiny’,” Chrom murmured, as he switched hands to wipe the other side of Robin’s face. “I trust you. I trust you with my life. You said it yourself—together, we can be something greater. We’ve already changed things, Robin. I believe we can do it again.” He smiled gently, looking back up to meet Robin’s eyes, his hand resting on Robin’s cheek. He could feel Robin leaning their head against his hand. “But… we need you. I need you. Here, with me.” He slowly withdrew his hand as he paused, he and Robin’s gazes still met. He scooted a bit closer to Robin, so their knees were almost touching. He reached forward and took Robin’s hands again, softly, their joined hands resting between them. “You make me better,” Chrom continued, finally letting his gaze drop down to look at their hands as he spoke. “A better person. You keep me leveled. You keep me from being rash, like when—like when Emmeryn…” Chrom trailed off, and took a breath before he continued. “My point is… when you’re by my side, I think we can do anything. I would do anything for you.” Chrom looked back up at Robin, into their eyes, gripping their hands a bit tighter. “I really… really love you, Robin. And if I’m destined to die, I want to die by your side.”
It was silent after that, save for the sound of crickets, and the wind rustling the trees. Chrom had started looking down at their hands again when Robin didn’t respond, patiently waiting for them to disagree with him, or start crying more, or just get up and leave. He didn’t look up when Robin let go of his hands. He didn’t look up when Robin started to sit up. They were leaving. What he said wasn’t enough. He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. Maybe he should just let them go.
Soon, he felt gloved hands touch his cheeks, gently tilting his head up, and he opened his eyes. Robin was leaned forward, sitting up on their knees, softly cupping Chrom’s face. Chrom’s eyes widened, but then fluttered closed again when Robin leaned forth a bit more to rest their forehead against Chrom’s. “I love you, too, Chrom,” they murmured, lowering their hands down to Chrom’s shoulders. “More than anything.”
Chrom opened his eyes and withdrew from Robin a bit, moving his head to the side and wrapping his arms around Robin’s middle. Robin let go of Chrom’s shoulders and let their arms slide back over them, loose around Chrom’s neck. “I love you,” Chrom whispered. “I love you so much. We can get through this. I know we can.”
Robin let go of Chrom, who loosened his arms in turn. They looked at each other for a moment, and Robin finally smiled. A small smile, albeit, but a smile nonetheless. Chrom smiled back, leaning forward and pressing a kiss to Robin’s cheek; then another one, a bit lower, closer to the corner of Robin’s mouth than he intended. He leaned back, giving Robin a questioning look, his eyes flicking down to Robin’s lips. Robin answered by pulling Chrom back to them; kissing Chrom’s forehead, his nose. Robin looked in to Chrom’s eyes for a moment before pressing their mouth to his; gently, their hands sliding up to tangle in Chrom’s hair. They felt Chrom kiss back, his lips moving softly against theirs, his body heaving a bit as he let out a sigh. And Chrom and Robin remained like that for what felt like an eternity; their hands brushing against each other, exploring their bodies through their clothes; their breath warm on each other’s lips as their mouths opened and their kisses deepened.
When they finally parted, their lips wet and their faces warm, it was quiet. They were in their own little world together—even the crickets sounded far away. They leaned against each other for a few moments, breathing together, their hands tangled together once more.
“We should head back,” Chrom muttered, finally breaking the silence. “I’m sure everyone’s getting worried.”
“Mm,” Robin hummed in response, nuzzling their head in to Chrom’s shoulder, going quiet for a moment. “I’m sorry… about earlier,” they finally said, their voice muffled a bit. “I’m still scared. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“I know,” Chrom responded, reaching his hand up to rest on Robin’s back. “I know. But we can get through this. We can do this together.”
Robin sat back up and kissed Chrom’s forehead. “I trust you,” they murmured, smiling.
Both of them stood up together, brushing their clothes off before heading back off to the camp, hand in hand, finally feeling strong again.
—
Robin had fallen asleep practically the very moment they and Chrom settled down together in the tent, their arm draped over Chrom’s chest and their head by his shoulder. Chrom placed his hand over Robin’s as he listened to their breathing—slow and even; finally calm.
“My life is yours,” Chrom whispered. “It always has been.”