It was a clear sky that night, perfect for fireworks. Only the slightest powdered wisps of clouds drifted across the endless sea of black and stars, the light of the half-moon creating a soft ethereal glow on the pavement.

"Gods I hate this," Robin muttered, pulling up her woefully small fluffy cropped jacket. It was her own fault she was freezing, really – both her jacket and her sleek, purple dress were a couple years old now. A tiny black purse-bag hung sadly at the crook of her elbow, its contents empty save for a pen and her notebook. It's just that when Jay asked her if she wanted to go clothes shopping, she was too busy rewriting her English coursework to go along.

Her hair, on the other hand, was something new. With the help of a way over-edited YouTube video from some beauty guru Robin had managed to make a mostly elegant messy bun. Some strands of her silver hair kept falling in her eyes and sticking to her woefully clumpy mascara but hey, other than that, it was pretty nice.

Jay adjusted his tacky pleather waistcoat, having spent both his and Robin's clothing budget on his own outfit. "You hate everything that involves going outside," he sassed, casting her a smarmy smile as he continued to prance about in his fancy new formalwear.

"Please stop, you look like a bondage peacock."

"Don't mock me because you're afraid of fashion." Jay twirled around and struck a pose.

Robin almost gagged. "I hate you so much right now."

Her brother, unperturbed, just grinned and skipped ahead while mimicking a dance routine from singing in the rain. Embarrassed, Robin followed a few feet behind him, keeping her head down and trying to disassociate herself from him.

As they walked on, the cold light from the moon began to mingle with the saffron, warm embrace of the various paper lanterns strung about their heads. They continued down the hill, the cobblestone path eventually leaving them to the large, grassy opening that hosted the Ylisse school festival.

The place was the very definition of festive. The lines of paper lanterns that sparsely decorated the cobblestone path downhill formed a criss-crossing lattice above the grounds, almost creating a ceiling beneath the open sky. Various people – students and non-students alike – filled up the space on the open grass, all chatting amongst themselves while grabbing plates and drinks from the large buffet table on the far-end of the grounds. A surprisingly well-made stage complete with curtains and a backstage area took up half of the field, which was situated on the other side of the space from the entrance. The soft overture of the school's orchestra tuning their instruments mingled with the mumbled chit-chat from the guests. This, mixed with the soft, organic lighting lent the grassy plane an almost dreamlike feel.

"Wow. They really went all out, huh?" Robin mused, turning to her brother.

He nodded in agreement. "Guess Nowi must've finally gotten her butt in gear. Thank Naga, honestly, after all I have to work with that girl in January on the musical. Nobody likes a hot mess of a director," he sighed, relieved. Robin didn't have the heart to tell him that it was probably Ricken that got everything in working order, so just smiled and nodded along awkwardly.

"Alright then, sis, this is where I leave you," Jay smiled at his sister and started a not-so-subtle jog to the buffet tables. "Have fun enjoying this event when you've got your nose buried in a notebook!" Robin stuck her tongue out at him at the comment, to which he replied with a self-satisfied smirk.

Standing on the fringe of the festival, Robin sighed and fumbled in her fraying clutch for a notebook and a pen. She wasn't alone for long, however. Out of the living amalgamation that was the crowd, a familiar figure emerged.

Stahl was dressed impeccably. He wore a greyish green suit that fit perfectly save for the broader shoulders and slightly longer sleeves. Under it, he wore a brown shirt complete with an adorable white-and-green striped bowtie. He'd even made an effort with his hair – his usual bedhead, while still messy, shone with the sheen of hairspray and Stahl had somehow managed to even straighten out the sides of his hair. Unfortunately it seemed that the demonic curse that bestowed him his cowlick was not defeated by the hairspray, but hey, he'd tried his best.

The freckled boy looked incredibly nervous as he approached Robin; he kept his eyes on his brown loafers, unwilling to meet her gaze. He was biting his lip – a nervous tic he seemed to have gotten from Robin – and was scratching his nose in apprehension.

"Um-" Before he could even finish his first syllable, Robin jumped up and flung both her hands over his mouth. He looked at her in surprise, completely taken aback by her sudden movement with his hazel eyes thrown wide in surprise.

"Look, Stahl," Robin began, giving him a sympathetic half-smile as he finally met her eyes. "I know you… I know we want to talk about yesterday. But we can do that later, alright? I'm alright for now. Seriously." She slowly removed her hands from his mouth, already missing the warmth from his lips. Ugh, no, not now Robin – don't think about that now you dummy. "We'll sort all this out after we're finished up today. I'll cover the acts and you can get comments from the guests and write about the decorations… And the food, of course," she gave him a slightly cheerier expression.

The stiffness of surprise seemed to slowly melt from Stahl's body. His shoulders slacked and the straight-lined lips fell into his usual lopsided, easy smile. "Of course," he echoed, with a reassuring chuckle. "I think I can do that." They stood there awkwardly for a moment, not sure what to do.

"Sweet. I'll, uh… See you in a bit then, yeah?"

"Yeah," Stahl nodded. Robin began walking off after the confirmation and gave him a small wave and began walking to the fold-out chairs that were being set in front of the stage. She vaguely remembered the festival program they'd published in the newspaper – Cordelia (groan) was up first with a solo piece, then the orchestra is playing while everyone dances, then the fireworks display, and then finally it's Olivia's performance. Robin internally reminded herself to go backstage when she could so she could cheer Olivia on.

Wandering over to the pine chairs, Robin took a seat on the end of one of the rows. People began to fill in the rest of the chairs as the conversation in the area dimmed. A substantial group of students and adults still hung around the buffet table but switched their conversations to a quieter, hushed tone.

Then, Cordelia walked out.

There was a murmur of awe that rippled through the crowd when the redhead took to the centre stage. She was stunning in every sense of the word. Her long, scarlet hair was tied in a side-ponytail that fell beautifully down in front of her right shoulder, adorned with her signature wing-shaped hairclips. Her dress was on another level, though. It was pure white and reached down to her feet, with a long slit at the side. The bustier was adorned with intricate, gold lacing that sparkled under the stage lights and matched perfectly with the large, golden harp in front of her.

As Cordelia was getting herself situated on her chair, something poked Robin in the side. She pulled her eyes away from the girl on stage and ended up staring into a pair of catlike, leaf-green eyes.

"Beautiful, isn't she?" Gaius whispered, the strangest little smile on his face. Robin considered firing back with some sarcastic comment but stopped herself.

"Yeah. Yeah, she really is," she agreed. The ginger haired boy turned back to the girl on stage, literally sitting on the edge of his seat and leaning as far out of it as he could. He wore the softest expression Robin had ever seen on him – his eyes were wide in excitement, and the edges of his lips curled up in the most genuinely happy way that it really warmed Robin's heart. She looked back at Cordelia up on stage. Is this how he always sees her? The light beaming down on her, the exuding angelic grace, and looking so fragile that if you touched her the wrong way she might break?

It was surreal for Robin to imagine that, for sure, considering the harsh view she'd always had on the girl. But for this night, she decided to look at her with Gaius' eyes. And she became something that transcended beauty.

And then, the girl with the harp began to play.

At first it was just a couple plucks, Cordelia moving her fingers and wrists with immense precision. Then all of a sudden a crescendo began to build; the gentle and divine swell of the surprisingly sad melody enrapturing the audience. It was as if they were in a trance – with every flick of Cordelia's wrist, with every chord she plucked, they all hung on every note. The tune was filled with such a deep sorrow that it actually made a lump form in Robin's throat. She'd even completely forgotten to write anything – she was just so caught up in the melancholic music that this girl was composing.

Then, as soon as it had started, the song had finished. Robin blinked and sat up, not realising that she had shifted onto the edge of her chair. She was so invested that she was an inch a way from falling onto the grass. Everyone else seemed to also come out of their daze, finally bringing their senses back and beginning to clap.

Cordelia rose from her seat and took a deep bow. When she stood up, Robin realised that she'd been crying. Long, pearlesque streaks ran from her eyes to her chin and smattered on her immaculate dress.

"Thank you," the girl whispered – inaudible over the sound of the applause – and quickly walked offstage. Robin blinked. Well, that was… Odd.

She looked over at Gaius and saw a mixed expression of his face. His adoring smile had turned slightly sad, and he cast a longing gaze to where Cordelia had exited from the stage.

"I'm sorry, Robin."

His apology took her off guard. "Huh? For what?"

"For the other day," Gaius explained, leaning back in his chair. He finally tore his eyes away from the girl's ghost and looked at Robin. "I know that I'm the one who should ask Cordelia out, but… I'm just…" He retreats in on himself, glancing to his lap and wrapping his arms around himself. "I'm scared," he admitted, in a small, quiet whisper.

She had never really liked Cordelia. She was confrontational, proud, extremely jealous and hated Robin for her guts. She was always really distant and dismissive when talking to Robin, which made her respond in kind. Yet… There was something ethereal about the girl she'd just seen on stage. Something pure and sad. She'd never expected to see such emotion on the face of such a hardened person.

"I know, Gaius." She placed a hand on the boy's shoulder and moved her thumb about in a reassuring pattern. "It's okay to be scared," Robin cooed. "You've just gotta ask when you're ready." Everyone around them was starting to get up now, the planning committee gathering about to start folding back up the chairs. Robin rose to her feet, and soon after, Gaius followed suit. "Why don't you go find Jay and hang out with him?"

"Yeah. I think I might do that," Gaius nodded, slowly pulling himself together. "You on the job, Squeak?"

Robin groaned inwardly at the nickname. "Unfortunately, yes."

"Bet you're bummed you don't get to dance with your boyfriend, huh?" Gaius smirked, all previous traces of vulnerability gone.

Robin elbowed him in the side, hard. "Oh my gods Gaius don't you even start-"

"He cleans up pretty nice doesn't he? Bet he did it just to impress you," the boy teased, still grinning like a Cheshire cat despite the blow to his abdomen. Robin, meanwhile, was going bright red at the accusations.

"Sh-shut up! Go back to mooning over Cordelia, I liked you better that way!" She huffed, waving her arms at him and trying to get away as he attempted to lean on her shoulder.

Gaius just laughed at her and slinked out of the way of her swats. "Maybe I will, Squeak, maybe I will," he straightened out his black tie and put his hands in his suit-trouser pockets. "See ya later, lovebird." Robin could still hear his snickering even though he'd walked through a large crowd of people.

Trying to shake off the blush from her cheeks, Robin turned her attention to her notebook and began to write a vivid description of Cordelia's performance. She got so enraptured in it that one of the planning committee students had to ask her to move out of the way so they could finish folding the rest of the chairs. She obliged, in her embarrassment, and began to walk backstage as she finished off the piece. This seemed as good a time as any to go see how Olivia was doing.

Backstage was quite busy. The school orchestra were preparing themselves and tuning their instruments, including Cordelia who sat on her own way in the back. Ricken was politely ordering a couple students around and Nowi was jumping up and down happily in front of Olivia, who looked like she was going to vomit.

The Feroxi girl looked absolutely stunning. Her bright bubblegum hair was pulled into a tight, clean bun, with a couple wavy strands falling just in front of her reddened ears. She wore a lovely peach sequined leotard complete with opaque tights and adorable little pink ballet slippers. The soft makeup on her face contrasted against the white, slightly clammy sheen of her skin. She didn't look very well, that's for sure.

"Hey Olivia, what's up?" Robin greeted her amiably as she walked over. Olivia turned her wide, violet eyes to her. She looked like a deer in the headlights.

"I-I… Uh… N-nothing…?" She answered, though it sounded more like a question. Olivia's painted coral nails fiddled with some of the sequins on the bottom of her leotard, clearly missing her scarf.

"I'm trying to get her to be less nervous!" Nowi announced, giving Robin a big grin. "She's going to be performing in front of the whole school! I'm sure she's going to be amazing!"

Olivia gulped audibly and a worrying gurgle came from her stomach. "I'm n-not feeling v-very w-well…" She muttered, clutching her tummy.

"Hey, no no no, c'mon Olivia." Robin quickly moved in front of her and put both her hands on the Feroxi's shoulders. "Look at me. No, come on, look," she insisted until Olivia finally met Robin's golden eyes with her own petrified violet ones. "There's no reason to be afraid. Everyone out there is going to love you. You're going to do the thing you enjoy doing most and knock the socks off of all the people here, okay?"

"B-b-but what if I make a f-fool out of m-myself, o-o-or people h-hate it?" Olivia tripped over her words, the panic punctuating each syllable as she moved her hands around erratically.

"You're not going to make a fool of yourself. You're incredibly talented. And so what if people hate it? Who cares about them? What matters is that you're going to go out there and do what you love doing. No one else matters. Not them, not me, not anyone else here. It's yours, Olivia. This is yours."

The girl still looked unconvinced but she had at least recovered some colour in her cheeks. Olivia's rosebud lips were pulled in a straight line, taut. "I… I just want to m-make people h-happy," she admitted, shoulders slumping. "And I'm not s-sure if I'm u-upto it…" She hung her head.

Robin smiled and put a hand to the girl's cheek. "Olivia. You make me and all your friends happy just by smiling. Heck, this entire crowd will just be happy to see you dressed up in such a cute outfit. And dancing for them? They're all going to be elated," she laughed and let go of her. Olivia looked back up and stared at her hard for a minute. Then she breathed out.

"If… I-if you think so," she smiled, the tension dissipating from her shoulders.

"I know so, dummy." Robin went to ruffle her hair but then Remembered. If it took Robin 50 minutes and a YouTube tutorial to do hair as poor as her own, she couldn't even compute the amount of time Olivia took to do hers. "So keep your dinner down and perform your heart and soul out for us, got it?"

"I guess I could t-try," Olivia laughed. "But B-Basilio made me his 'classic' Feroxian ch-chilli and it's really giving m-me some trouble."

"Gods, what a monster." Robin shook her head with her hands on her hips, which made Olivia giggle more. "Just do your thing, alright? You'll be amazing. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have journalistic duties to attend to," the silver-haired girl gave Olivia a salute before disappearing back behind the curtain that obscured backstage from the rest of the field.

As Robin emerged onto the stage she had to duck out of the way of a school orchestra member's tuba. They were just setting up to play on the stage for the dancing portion of the evening's events, the chairs the guests were recently sat in now cleared out of the way. She managed to escape the stage before the brass section started playing and deafened anyone unfortunate enough to be standing nearby, the woodwind and string sections taking great pains to stay far, far away from their side of the set.

Robin had approximately 10 seconds of alone time before she bumped into another set of familiar faces.

"Hey, watch where you're goi- Oh!" Sully's sour scowl turned into a grin when she realised who she walked into. "Ay, Robin! Look – look guys, it's Robin!" The redhead slung a muscular arm around Robin's shoulders and gestured to the rest of her group. Lissa, Frederick, Lon'qu and Vaike turned around to see her.

"Robiiiiiiiin!" Lissa shrieked in delight, running over to Robin with her blonde ponytails bouncing. As the girl approached her, Robin picked up the distinct aggressive scent of alcohol. She eyed the group and noticed the pink in their cheeks.

"Have you guys been smuggling something into the punch?" She chuckled and watched Lissa's grin fall into a sheepish smile.

"Weeeeeeell…" She started, turning to Frederick with the most innocent expression.

Frederick, looking overly dressed for the occasion, as always, only sighed and rubbed his temples. "Look – it was Vaike's idea," he stated.

"Hey! Don't put all the blame on me!" The muscled blonde started. His buttoned-down dress shirt – which Robin was sure at some point was probably white - had its sleeves ripped off. Even though he was trying not to show it, the chattering of Vaike's teeth gave away the fact that he was freezing in the cold Ylisse weather.

"After all, Lon'qu's the one who wanted it so he could-" Before Vaike could finish his sentence, Lon'qu appeared behind him and chopped him in the neck, his face far redder than everyone else's.

There were a few moments of silence (not counting Vaike's spluttering) before Lon'qu turned to the rest of the group. "You heard nothing," he stated bluntly, and stepped backwards into a large crowd, disappearing completely.

Lissa and Frederick exchanged a confused shrug, completely ignoring Vaike recoiled on the floor holding his neck. Robin glanced up at Sully, who still had a tight hold on her shoulders, wearing an unabashed smirk. The redhead noticed her staring and turned to look down at her. "You're not gonna tell anyone 'bout this, right?" Sully's tone was neutral, but Robin swore she felt the grip around her shoulders tighten.

"Uh, no…?" Robin managed a nervous and unconvincing grin.

Sully, her aggression somehow dulled by alcohol, bought it and let her go. "Alright, cool."

"Do you wanna come dance with us?" Lissa interrupted, the discourse from moments earlier completely forgotten.

"I'd love to, but I've gotta pass," Robin shrugged, looking apologetic. "I'm on the clock tonight – it's only me and Stahl covering the entire event so I can't slack off."

"Jeez! Don't you ever get time off to have fun?" Vaike piped in with the same whine in his voice as Lissa, miraculously recovered from his chop to the neck. "You're seriously missing out, dude – check out these moves!" Vaike then went into a very badly executed cartwheel, his legs barely lifting off the ground as he did so. But still, after it was done he stood proudly, flexing his bare muscular arms as if he'd just won gold in gymnastics.

Robin slowly clapped in confusion. "Er… Yeah, I'm. I'm sure upset I'm going to be missing out on that," she said as she tried not to laugh.

"Don't encourage him," Sully whispered briskly in her ear. "Last time he danced, he tried to do the robot and sent 5 students to the infirmary."

The white haired girl looked at her in alarm. "How did he manage that?!"

"The only robot he knows is the Terminator."

"But that-"

"Robin, it's Vaike."

She looked over at the musclebound blonde. He was currently trying to covertly drink from a whiskey bottle covered in a paper bag, but chugged it too fast and ended up coughing all over an extremely unamused Frederick. Lissa offered Vaike a yellow polka-dot hankie, which he thanked her for and then used it to blow his nose instead of mopping up the brown patches of liquid all over himself. Robin realised that this was probably how he managed to get his dress shirt to be a suspiciously uneven cream colour.

"I Understand," Robin whispered back to Sully.

"If you finish doing whatever it is you're doing Robin, you're free to come find us!" Lissa chirped, trying to hide her disgust as she held her hankie at arm's length.

"Will do." At that, Sully finally released her, and the four went off to join the crowd of people now dancing to the orchestra's covers of various out of date pop songs.

Robin stood a bit away from the crowd of people, watching the blur of smiling faces swirl amongst the fairy lights, the aggressive melody of the brass section playing 'Baby One More Time' blaring from the stage. She thought back on the bizarre encounter she'd just had with the group of friends, making some shorthand scribbles in her notebook about festivals bringing about the essence of camaraderie. She obviously left out the bit about the alcohol, for fear Sully would break her neck in her sleep. Robin shuddered remembering the redhead's arm around her shoulders.

It made the silver-haired girl a bit sad, to be honest. Here was a festival made for dancing and joy and carefree fun with friends, and she was stuck on work business again. She supposed she couldn't complain – there'd be plenty time for partying in the upcoming winter holidays, and thankfully the Newspaper Club doesn't do issues in the holidays since the last Halloween incident. Still though, that was weeks away. And in the meantime, here Robin was, watching from the side-lines as her fellow classmates danced the night away.

As if in response to her thoughts, a hand suddenly appeared on her shoulder, accompanying with a low voice asking "Care to dance?"

Robin whipped her head around, paranoia still lingering from her encounter with Sully. Instead of being face-to-face with the buff equestrian, however, she was met with the cerulean-hair framed features of Chrom.

"What? Oh-, sorry Chrom, I've gotta do this artic- no wait what are you doing let go of me!" Completely ignoring Robin's cries, Chrom grabbed the top of her arm and began pulling her into the crowd of faces.

"Just one!" He laughed, getting them both lost among the swathe of sweaty teens. At this point, Robin couldn't even escape if she wanted to – all exits were blocked by a wall of body odour and gangly limbs.

She cursed Chrom under her breath, damning his good-natured kindness. "Seriously – Chrom! I need to do some work, for the newspaper article!" Robin yelled, trying to be heard over the crowd and the blaring out-of-tune tuba.

"What?" He shouted back, the single syllable being lost in the caterwauling of the instruments.

"News. Pay. Per!" Robin reiterated, pointing to her notebook for added comprehension.

Chrom's eyebrows furrowed for a moment until a spark of understanding flashed across his blue eyes. "Oh!" He exclaimed, pausing for a moment. "You just looked so lonely on the side! I figured a little fun couldn't hurt?" The boy grinned, teeth pearly white.

About a month ago that smile would've been enough to melt Robin completely. Instead, she only felt a small tickle of heat in her cheeks, and her heart remained steady and inside her chest. Instead all she could think of was…

"I guess I've done enough work tonight," Robin relented, shaking the thoughts from her head. They didn't have to shout any longer to hear eachother as the orchestra finally abated, lapsing into a quieter solo from the strings section attempting to translate Ke$ha into a classical genre.

Chrom nodded in fervent agreement. "You really deserve it, Robin," he started, then glanced about. Noting the quieter atmosphere, Chrom moved a little closer to speak again. "Are you okay? That was a bit of a scene that happened. Uh, yesterday, I mean."

Robin cringed at the memory. "I was…" She started, licking her lips. The girl was painfully aware of Chrom's concerned gaze on her. "It's sorted now," she explained, simply. He didn't look convinced. "Look, I-I swear! It was just a… A misunderstanding, you see. Everyone's all fine now." She turned her head and crossed her arms, unwilling to talk about it any further.

A pang of guilt struck Robin's heart at the lies. I mean, she was going to sort it out. Soon, even. Not that she had any clue what she was gonna say, or what to do…

Sighing, Robin looked down at her slightly muddied shoes. "I should… Probably go sort it out now, actually," she admitted.

"I'm sure whatever it is, he'll understand," Chrom said encouragingly. Robin inwardly remarked how odd it was to get reassurance from her previous crush about another man. "You two are great friends, after all." Chrom beamed, completely unphased by the embarrassed expression that flashed across Robin's face.

"Yes, friends. Very great… Very good friends," Robin repeated, mostly for herself. Inwardly she kicked herself for thinking anything else. "Thanks for, uh, reminding me, Chrom," she spoke curtly, all the moisture drying up in her mouth.

"No problem," he grinned, oblivious. As Robin began moving her way out of the crowd, she saw that Chrom started busting out some of the whitest dance moves Robin had ever seen.

Naga, how did I ever have a crush on that guy?

Shaking her head, Robin managed to topple out of the human malaise. In front of her laid the buffet table, many of its plates bare of the various pastries and shop-bought party foods. A better place than any to find a Stahl, she remarked to herself. Robin glanced up and down the dirtied tablecloths, scouring for a cowlick among the heads. Instead of finding an olive haired-boy, though, she walked into a ginger one.

"Hey, Thqueak! Watch where you're goingf!" Gaius grumbled through a mouthful of marmalade tarts. Jay stood behind him, currently stripping a barbeque chicken wing of its meat with the desperation of a diseased alley cat.

Robin opened her mouth to ask about Stahl's whereabouts, but stopped when she saw the state of their clothes. "Wha- guys! How in Naga's name did you manage to turn two perfectly clean shirts into something resembling a tapestry made of food?!"

The two glanced at eachother.

"Uh, it's called talent, sister," Jay smirked, not noticing as a large blob of sauce fell smack dab in the middle of his top. Thankfully he'd already taken off the horrific waistcoat, leaving it in a crumpled pile with the rest of their belongings. Gaius high-fived his friend, spraying crumbs everywhere as he hollered in victory. Robin began to suspect that the only reason these two were attending was for the free food.

Before she got too distracted scolding the two boys, Robin pulled herself back to the matter at hand. "Have either of you two seen Stahl?"

Gaius and Jay both exchanged knowing glances, then fixated their eyes on her. A mischievous glint flashed in both pairs.

"Why d'you wanna know?" Gaius started, leaning his elbow on Jay's shoulder. The mirth in his voice was unmistakeable. Robin was in for it now.

"Yeah. Seems a bit funny, don't you think? Shouldn't he be with you – you're both writing the article on the festival, after all," Jay noted nonchalantly, Gaius nodding beside him in agreement. Robin opened and closed her mouth again, impersonating a speechless fish. It only made the two's grins spread.

"L-look, I- I just want to talk to him, okay? Talk," she sputtered, crossing her arms tightly across her chest.

"Really now, talking? Is that what the kids are calling it nowadays?" Jay quipped, the ginger haired boy behind him howling with laughter. Robin's face turned scarlet.

"What's next, eh? You gonna be needing him so you guys can dance? Or eat?" Gaius managed through his bellowing laughter.

Jay gasped overdramatically in response, putting a hand to his forehead. "My baby sister? Perish the thought! How scandalous!" The two boys collapsed on eachother in giggle fits, behaving like a pair of 9 year old girls.

Robin's entire body had gone a deep shade of crimson. "Th-that's it!" She stuttered, voice shrill in embarrassment. Robin took the desperately worn bag from her arm and started smacking the two over the head with it. "Tell me where he is now!"

Jay and Gaius shrieked at the attack, each trying to push the other in front of them to take the brunt of the onslaught.

"Okay, okay!" The ginger relented first, putting his open-palmed hands up in surrender. "Knight boy was here until a few minutes ago! He got a bit weird after a while and said he needed some space. Went up that way," he tripped over his words quickly, then pointed in the direction of the steep hill off to the side of the field. Lights only stretched up the path for a few metres then stopped, leaving the muddied path in darkness.

Robin furrowed her brows and looked back to the two, threateningly holding her bag up again. "You're not messing with me, are you? I swear, if I go up there and mess up my dress then find out Stahl isn't there-"

"No, no, I promise he did!" Jay jumped in, vouching for his vagabond buddy. "I think there's some seats up there on the side of the hill. He's probably gone up there for a good view of the fireworks, or something," he assured her.

After looking at them for a few more moments, Robin decided they were probably telling the truth. She returned her bag to its place on the crook of her elbow, and the two boys sighed in relief. "Alright, I believe you," she began, but then gave them a sharp glare. Gaius flinched. "…But stop eating all the buffet, a bunch of the acts haven't eaten yet," she finished, turning with a whip of purple fabric swirling behind her. With an extra flourish, Robin began walking up the trail of the hill.

The walk was surprisingly steep, making Robin huff with each step, her face turning red from effort. I swear, this better not be a prank, Robin remarked to herself, I'm gonna have sweat patches down to my knees at this rate.

She had to take a couple of breathers on the way, but all in all the walk probably only took about ten minutes. The heels of Robin's feet had begun to blister under her barely-worn in shoes, and at this point she really just felt like going home, but she steeled her resolve.

"Stahl!" Her voice carried easily through the quiet of the hill top. Silence followed, only accompanied by the faint hum of the commotion downhill. Robin pursed her lips and stepped onto the slightly overgrown grass, dewdrops staining her ankles. "Stahl?" She tried again. No response.

Then she saw a shadow move out of the corner of her eye. The girl whipped her head around and noticed something she hadn't before – a barely visible path, leading to what seemed to be an outcrop overhanging the hill. Robin pulled up the ends of her dress and began walking over.

As she made her way across the path, she came upon a pair of benches with a wooden fence cordoning off the edge of the rocky overhang. On the furthest one sat a lone figure trying very hard not to be seen, back turned towards her.

Robin stopped next to the first bench. "Stahl? What are you doing here?"

The figure moved uncomfortably before finally turning around to look at her. It was almost completely pitch black – the outdoor lamps planted around the benches must have run out of batteries years ago. The only light to be seen was the faint white of the moon, and the yellow glow from the festival below.

"Um… Hi," Stahl began, his voice unmistakeable. His features were mostly shadowed, though Robin could make out his hazel eyes from the light reflecting off of them.

Robin began stumbling over towards him, bent down with arms outstretched awkwardly as she tried to feel her away across the benches. After a few uncomfortable moments, Robin found her way next to Stahl and sat down beside him.

Silence followed.

The atmosphere was tense, the only sounds around them were the crickets hiding in the bushes. Robin tried to look at Stahl, but he had his face turned away from her. His shoulders were slumped – he leaned forward, elbows on his knees. Robin thought he looked so… Small. Like he was trying to draw in on himself; trying to disappear.

"Are you… Okay?" Robin finally managed to conjure words.

Stahl shrugged. "I'm fine," he whispered hoarsely, his voice straining. Then, he sighed. "Actually… No. No I'm not." The boy drew himself up enough for Robin to get a look at his face.

It was dark and hard to see, but Robin could make out the tired expression on his face. His eyes looked moist, shining in the little light there was. Robin felt her chest ache at the sight – like someone just smashed it in with a sledgehammer. Something was really wrong with Stahl. He never showed when he was upset, even when Robin begged him to let her in. Yet, here he was, with no resistance, looking more miserable than she'd ever seen him.

"What's wrong?" Robin moved herself to face Stahl, concerned.

He glanced at her for a moment then looked away again, eyes fixed on the grass in front of them. "This festival…" He hesitated. His words swirled in a cold mist from his mouth. "Has bad memories for me," Stahl finished, voice small.

When he didn't follow up, Robin pushed a bit more. "Why? What happened?"

"There was a girl," he answered.

Robin's heart stopped. "Cordelia?" She whispered.

Stahl nodded, and Robin felt those snakes start to rise in her stomach again. But she pushed them back down, for Stahl's sake. This isn't about you, Robin. Stahl's hurting. Listen to him.

"We've been to the same schools since we were little kids. I had the biggest crush on her back then," Stahl started, sitting up a little straighter as he explained. "I followed her everywhere, ha, I even asked her to teach me how to play guitar so I could get closer to her," he laughed bitterly, then shook his head. "We got close. I used to tell her absolutely everything. I used to kinda wear my feelings on my sleeve. I always knew she had feelings for Chrom, but I always figured I had a chance, y'know…" Stahl sighed and leaned forward again, covering his face with his hands. "Then. This festival came around, three years ago…"

He stopped talking for a few minutes. Robin just let him breathe – she could tell this was a difficult time for him. It did sting, knowing that he really did used to have feelings for Cordelia, but… He was telling Robin this story. He was showing Robin his vulnerability.

Stahl let out a shuddering breath, removed his hands from his face, then continued. "I was going to tell her. I was going to ask her to dance. But then I saw her dancing with Chrom, and I just…" He smiled sadly. "I knew I didn't have a chance. The way she looked at him… I knew she'd never look at me that way. So I decided to hide my feelings. I didn't want her to feel guilty. And I've kind of just… stayed like that. I don't want to be a burden to anyone." He shook his head. "I was so stupid. Compared to Chrom I'm just… So plain, you know? I'm some boring guy with no real merits or outstanding talents. Anything I can do, someone else can do a million times better. Why I thought I stood a chance against someone as brilliant as him, I don't know…"

"That's not true!" Robin spluttered, not caring that she was interrupting him. "There's so many great things you have that Chrom doesn't! You're way more selfless, kind, you're-"

"But it's not just about Chrom, Robin," Stahl cut her off with almost a shout. Robin looked at him, shocked. He seemed so tired. The whites of his eyes were reddened, and deep crevices had formed below them.

"It's the same at home, too. I've never been the top of the class at anything. My grades are always perfectly average. My dad, he… He never says he's disappointed, but I know. Did you know that my dad is a doctor?" His hazel eyes bored into Robin's own, freezing her on the spot.

"No… I didn-"

"And my older brother. He's in med school."

"But you're-"

"Not enough. I'm not enough, Robin," He boomed, Stahl's voice echoing around them. The crickets stopped chirping. Robin sat there, shocked that he would raise his voice.

"I'm not enough for Cordelia. Not enough for my dad. Not enough for anyone," His voice dropped back down to a whisper and he turned away, shoulders hunched – defeated.

Robin licked her lips, her brain rummaging around desperately for something to say to make him feel better. Anything.

"But you're nice and-"

"Nice, yeah. I'm nice," Stahl scoffed. "I act nice to everyone. I try to help everyone. But my thoughts aren't nice, Robin. Some of the things I think, I…" he stared down at his hands. "I'm scared. All of the time. When I think about my future, about my dad, about my mum getting sicker, I just… I feel so trapped, and my stomach is always tied up in knots, and I can't breathe," Stahl drew into himself again, clutching his sides. Tears burgeoned at the edges of his eyes.

Robin, without thinking, immediately wrapped her arms around Stahl. "It's okay, it's okay," she cooed, rubbing his back. "It's all okay, Stahl. I'm here to help you." Stahl resisted for a moment, then relaxed, letting his head fell onto her chest. "Even if you don't feel like you're enough for Cordelia and your dad, you're…" Robin gulped, her voice dropping to a whisper, then strengthened herself. "You're more than enough for me," she finished. Internally she prayed that he couldn't hear her heartbeat gallop.

They stayed there like that for a while. Robin didn't know how long – her head swam with Stahl being so close to her, and the thoughts of what he told her. It sounded like Stahl had a very rough home life, with a father with high standards and a sick mother. And that, joined with his experience with Cordelia, led to him bottling up his feelings and being very anxious. It made Robin sad. She'd never seen Stahl as average: he'd always been someone great to her. Someone extraordinary. Robin wished she could make Stahl see himself through her eyes.

Eventually, Stahl stirred, and Robin removed her arms from around him. He sat up, much straighter than before, and smiled at her.

"I'm sorry for unloading all of that on you," he chuckled humourlessly. "Turned your nice day out into kind of a bummer, huh?"

"Don't say that you dummy!" Robin huffed and smacked him playfully with her bag. "I'm more than happy to listen to you," she smiled back at him. He looked surprised. "I'm always here for you, okay, Stahl? Remember that."

Stahl's smile transformed into his signature lopsided grin, only an inch of tiredness remaining. "I'll remember."

"Promise?"

"Okay, okay, I promise," Stahl chuckled, and held up his pinky finger. Robin laughed with him and intertwined his pinky with her own. Even though it was only a little bit of contact, the touch of his skin on hers sent a tingle up Robin's spine. She felt her face redden and glanced away awkwardly.

Robin's thoughts were interrupted by a loud bang and the flashing of multi-coloured lights far above them.

"Oh, the fireworks display's started!" Stahl shouted to be heard over the multitude of bangs that followed. Robin looked up to see a multitude of colourful explosions spread across the sky, the lights dancing across the darkness.

The sight sparked something within Robin, and she stood up. Stahl looked at her quizzically, and she held out a hand to him.

"You haven't danced with anyone today, right? Would you do me the honour?" She dramatically bowed, making Stahl laugh.

"The honour is all mine, m'lady." Stahl tipped an imaginary fedora and they both snickered. He took her hands in his and stood up, beginning a nonsensical dance routine without any music.

Their dance started off as more of a series of random twirling, then began a mock tango reminiscent of what they did in the school dance all those months ago. They both started mimicking random dance tunes with their voices to make up for the lack of music, but the two ended up laughing too much to keep it up.

Robin felt good just messing about like this. With Stahl. It felt right, somehow. Like all of the tension from the past day had just vanished, and it was just them again. All that jealousy that she'd felt about Cordelia had vanished; Robin felt secure that Stahl trusted her now. He'd been going through such a tough time, but she was going to do her best to support him. To help him through everything.

Robin and Stahl's dancing had devolved to just spinning around and laughing, the fireworks above them lighting them in revolving shades of red, blue, yellow and green. The spinning had finally gotten to Robin and she staggered about in dizziness, bumping into Stahl and grabbing the side of his shirt to balance herself. The smell of cleanly washed sheets and cinnamon wafted over her.

"Whoa there!" Stahl laughed. He put his hands on her shoulders to try and steady her. "Okay, okay, that's enough 'dancing' for now."

Both Stahl's and Robin's laughter faded as they became aware of how close they were. She looked up at him. After a few seconds Stahl seemed to suddenly realise that he still had his hands on her shoulders and quickly dropped them by his sides. He coughed, and rubbed the bridge of his nose, what seemed like a flush starting to rise in his cheeks. He tried to look at anything that wasn't Robin.

"Uhh, woops, sorry," Stahl muttered, then chuckled nervously.

"It's, uh, fine," Robin replied in the same uncomfortable tone.

All the fireworks faded away, and quiet filled the air. Darkness descended on the two once again, though Robin could still discern Stahl's features in the gloom. She could feel her heart almost beating out of her chest.

Robin didn't really like dwelling on her feelings for Stahl. She'd had so many crushes in her past, and they all went away as quickly as they appeared. Stahl was… Different. He was her friend. She didn't want to lose him over stupid volatile feelings; she didn't want to play with him. But still…

If it were really just one of her silly crushes, would her legs feel weak around him like this? Would she feel the need to protect him and support him like this? Would his smile make her feel like she's on cloud nine like this?

A gigantic firework crashed and bloomed in the sky. Stahl turned to look up at it, the sparkles reflecting in his eyes. A dash of red still coated his cheeks and nose, making his freckles more prominent.

Robin looked up at the firework still spreading across the sky. "I hope this festival hasn't been too horrible for you, Stahl."

He shook his head, smiling, watching the sparks fly. "Nah. This is the best one I've had yet. I got to hang out with you, after all," Stahl chuckled softly to himself. Robin's heart leaped up into her throat.

Before Robin even realised what she was doing, she'd gone on her tip toes and kissed Stahl on the cheek. It only lasted for a second – a quick whisper of a kiss, really. Yet it still sent shocks through Robin's whole body. As soon as Robin came to her senses, she immediately took a step away and covered her mouth with both her hands. Stahl turned his head so fast that she thought he'd have whiplash. His entire face had gone crimson and his hazel eyes were thrown wide with shock.

They stared at eachother, both surprised and glowing red, neither knowing what to do or say. Robin was panicking and screaming at herself internally the entire time. Oh, Naga, I really hecked it this time – he's never gonna forgive me oh no. Oh no look how shocked he is. And my lips were so dry too oh no I hope I didn't get any saliva on his cheek that'd be so gross wHAT WAS I THINKING?

Finally, Stahl went to speak. "Robin, I-"

And then immediately got interrupted by a chorus of screams from down the hill.

Robin ran to the railing overlooking the festival, glad for the distraction. "Okay, what the heck happened?"

Stahl joined her, his shocked expression replaced with concern. "Was there an act up after the fireworks?"

They paused for a moment, thinking. Then dread curdled Robin's stomach. "Olivia!" And she began traipsing through the bushes back onto the path, Stahl following closely behind as they rushed down the hill.

The sight they were met with at the bottom was… Messy, to say the least. Robin shoved through the crowd that had gathered around the stage, and climbed up to find Olivia sprawled on the stage, crying. Maribelle and Jay had all gathered around her, trying to soothe her and get her to sit up.

"What in Naga's name happened here?" Robin gasped and ran towards Olivia, joining the heap of people looking after her.

"I don't know, she just got up on stage and slipped! And now she can't stand up," Maribelle explained, worry creasing her usually cold features.

"I c-can't m-move my l-legs," Olivia whimpered through her tears.

At this point, Stahl finally arrived through the crowd and started checking her over. "Okay this looks bad, guys. My dad's clinic's not too far from here, so I'm gonna go run and call him to come over." He stood again and Maribelle got up with him.

"I'll help." The blonde turned to Olivia with a sympathetic glance. "Robin, Jay, you look after her. If I come back and she's broken any more limbs I swear I will destroy you." And with that ominous comment, she ran off with Stahl to fetch his father.

Robin moved next to Olivia and held her hand in an attempt to comfort her. "What even happened?" She asked to Jay, who looked as shocked as she did.

"I have absolutely no clue. She started to dance, then slipped, and landed… Well, let's just say before you got here there were a lot more bones bending in ways bone should not bend." Jay cringed at the memory.

"Um…" Robin and Jay looked up to a new voice joining them on the stage. Chrom stood there, looking at his feet, and playing nervously with his hands. He did not look at either of them.

"Oh, Naga, Chrom, what did you do." Jay looked at his friend in genuine horror.

"I… May have… Okay, look, this is gonna sound bad-"

"That's not a good way to start an explanation of how a girl's legs got broken," Robin snapped. She didn't care that Chrom was a nice guy – Olivia was one of her best friends. And she was in so much pain right now. The pink haired girl herself didn't even seem to be registering anything of what was going on; the pain was taking all of her attention.

"I…" Chrom gulped, then closed his eyes as he admitted. "Okay I may have waxed the floor of the stage before Olivia went on!" It was a shout. A loud shout.

Silence followed Chrom's admission. Even the crowd that was in an uproar stopped in stunned silence.

Robin sat, unable to comprehend the stupidity of what she just heard. Sure, Chrom could be kind of an idiot, but this… This was a whole new level.

"Chrom." Robin stood up, voice deadpan. She began slowly walking over to the boy.

"Y-yes?" The blue haired boy gulped and took a step back, his cerulean eyes wide in fear.

"You mean to tell me," Robin started, rubbing her temples. "That you waxed the floor before a dancing act went on stage…?" She stopped in front of Chrom and looked at him in a mix of disbelief and animosity.

"…Y-yes," Chrom squeaked, appearing much like a child who just broke their parent's prized vase and tried to blame it on the dog.

Robin immediately threw her arms up. "You must be the biggest idiot that Naga ever decided to put on this planet! Which is already full of idiots. Chrom, you are literally more stupid than Gaius and Vaike combined, and Gaius genuinely believed until five days ago that fish contained mercury because they originally came from the planet Mercury!" Robin's tirade went on, her voice rising to a thunderous shout.

"I take offence to that!" Gaius called from the crowd.

"I'll buy you a bag of sweets later, shut up!" Robin yelled back into the crowd.

"…Okay!" The voice piped up again and then all was quiet.

Chrom shifted from foot to foot, still staring at the floor. "I'm… Um… Sorry. For being so stupid."

"I'm not the one you have to apologise for," Robin sneered, then moved back to a barely conscious Olivia. Jay just had a hard expression, glaring at Chrom.

"I don't blame you for getting so angry," Jay mumbled. "If her legs are broken… She may not be able to walk, let alone dance, for at least three months."

Robin cringed at the thought. "I know he said it was a genuine accident, but… It's upto Olivia to decide when we forgive him. Poor thing…" She sighed and returned to comforting the girl. She looked back down at Olivia, whose eyes were barely open. Robin couldn't even imagine what the girl was going through right now. She was so excited to do this show, and now… Jay's words echoed in her head. Is she ever gonna be able to dance properly again? Robin bit her lip and tried not to think about it.

Eventually, Stahl and Maribelle appeared again carrying a stretcher, and a tall stern man she could only assume was Stahl's father. She and Jay moved away from Olivia and let them gather her up. She looked like a crumpled doll dressed in her beautiful leotard; it was really a hard sight to bear.

Before they went to leave, Stahl glanced over to Robin. Their eyes locked for what must have been half a second, but felt like an eternity. There looked like there was something new in his expression, something she'd never seen before. But, then it was gone, and Stahl gave her a brief smile before quickly muttering a "come visit tomorrow" and walking off, him and Maribelle carrying the poor broken form of Olivia with them.

"Welp." Jay turned to Robin. "When they said break a leg they must've real-"

"Oh my Gods don't."

Author's Notes:

Okay pals, this was a long awaited one. Believe it or not I've been writing this chapter on and off since September, and only managed to write the last 3,000 words today. HOPEFULLY since I am now officially unemployed and leaving uni (woo?) I'll be able to find more time to write more parts of this lol. ALSO for the Stahl backstory bit: it's at least partially canon? In his convo with Donny in the harvest festival DLC, he legit tells the story of not asking a girl he liked to dance because his friend liked her. And we know he has bad stomach issues and, judging from... well, everything about Stahl, I would not be surprised if he has some kind of legitimate anxiety disorder.

I really, really, REALLY hope you guys enjoyed this part - I've been looking forward to it a lot. Also I realised I am BAD AT WRITING ROMANTIC SCENES WOW. Hopefully that will get better. Also just so you guys know, when my best friend was encouraging me to finish this chapter all she would say was "C'MON, BREAK HER LEGS" and it brings me endless laughs

Big thanks to my new favs/follows who joined in another of my droughts: LadySweets, Mechanical-Knight, Proximacentari, bananasoup82, BucketsofButterflies, GriffinMan and WyvernKingK! Thanks guys, hope the new part was worth it.

To my lovely reviewers:

Jay: OH BOY I HOPE IT WAS AS AWKWARD AS YOU HOPED. Nothing says awkward like two broken legs amirite

WitchhPrincess: Dude well done! Yeah dw Cordelia stuff is over now, Robin has finally stopped being Extremely Insecure

Renshiro: I'm so happy you enjoy my story so much c: Hopefully this update was worth the very... very very long wait

DaveHunter: OH HECK you predicted it 100% lol seriously wow. Cordelia is a bit of a weird one. She's a very good character, but I also kind of find her dislikeable? But I also admire her for being a character that CAN be dislikeable because her flaws are very relatable but can be a liiiiil bit problematic, especially when Severa is involved. I will hopefully be able to give her more love as the story goes on, maybe in like, 7 years or something

This chapter's title... Has nothing to do with newspapers wow. I don't actually remember where I heard/read the phrase 'You, Alone' but it's been the planned name of this chapter since before I even started writing this fanfic. Since it's. You know. About Stahl, alone. HOPEFULLY THE NEXT CHAPTER WILL COME BEFORE NEXT YEAR MAYBE WE'LL SEE?