Chapter Text
The chair next to Chrom is cold.
It's been that way for about five years- just over five years since Emm's death and Lucina's warnings; five years since the Sheperd's showdown against Grima and Robin's sacrifice.
Robin.
The name echoes in Chrom's mind- Ylisse's most valuable tactician, Chrom's closest ally, and a shell for Grima, as much as Chrom hates to admit it. The name is written in books and still being talked about as the amnesiac who somehow saved the world. Chrom almost feels jealous for thinking about it- Robin, the hero of the world, and Chrom, the heir to Ylisse's throne with a thousand ideas but no way to execute them.
"Father?" a sleepy voice calls into Robin's old quarters. It's Lucina, up at this hour of the night for some odd reason.
"Oh, Lucina," Chrom replies. "Why are you up?"
"I wanted to ask you something, and since we have training tomorrow, I couldn't wait." Lucina pads into the room and climbs into the chair next to Chrom.
"Alright, what is it?"
"What happened to Robin?" Lucina asks simply. Right. Chrom said that Robin had simply left Ylisse when prompted a question about the tactician. He has to choose his words carefully around Lucina.
"I mean, what really happened?" Lucina corrects. She must have picked up on it already.
"Are you sure you want to know?"
"Yep," Lucina acts as if the answer Chrom's about to give isn't about a dragon deity.
"You heard the legends about Grima, right?"
"Mm-hm. That evil dragon tried to destroy the world, but you stopped it."
"That's right. Well…" Chrom considers stopping right there and lying about it, but he knows he'd have to tell Lucina eventually. "Robin… was Grima. It's hard to explain, but in that final fight, they sacrificed themself for the rest of us."
"…So if Robin was really nice, and they were your best friend, then why…" Lucina doesn't have to finish her sentence for Chrom to pick up what she's hinting at.
"That's something even I don't understand sometimes. I'm sure you will." Chrom brushes a few stray bangs from Lucina's forehead. "Now, we have a lot to do tomorrow. I think you should go back to bed."
"Okay," Lucina replies, and Chrom can tell that she's sadder than she was before Chrom gave her the real answer. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Lucina slides off of the chair and walks back towards her room. Once she's out of earshot- and Chrom knows this is at least the fifth or sixth time he's done this- he cries. Well, it's less crying and more dry sobs because there's nothing left to say about Robin being gone- only faint memories and a barely-written journal that Chrom has read a thousand times.
The air around Chrom suddenly seems colder, and he's not sure if that's just him or a draft in the room.
And then, a horribly familiar voice that's overlaid onto itself says: "I can give you what you want."