So I've been needing a way to keep up my English skills (forgetting your native language is easier than one might think), and with my love of Fire Emblem, I decided to take up fanfiction.

This is my first fanfic, started out of the idea to write the stories behind some of the songs of Awakening's soundtrack which I so dearly love. I hope at least one person out there will enjoy this. If not, oh well. It's mostly for me and my dork fantasies anyway. So let's get this started.

Serenity

With the morning sun came dew coating the blades of grass in the meadow that seemed to extend forever. With the events of the night before, lava having exploded from the ground itself, undead soliders having fallen from the sky, not to mention the brigands they'd faced the previous afternoon... Chrom found it almost hard to believe that such chaos could once again turn into the purest serenity of dawn.

His training regimen having made him into an early riser, Chrom found himself awake at the side of a burned out campfire just at sunrise. Lissa and Frederick lay on the other side of the fire pit, deep in sleep, as well as Sully and Virion, who'd joined their company the night before. But only a robe of deep purple and gold lay in place of the sixth member of the party. Having looked around, Chrom saw no sign of Robin anywhere in the near vicinity. So, wiping the sleep from his eyes and exhaustion from his muscles, he stood and went in search of her. Considering her amnesia and the collapsed state he'd found her in to start with, he worried something could've happened to her. He was at least thankful she'd left her cloak, providing him solace in knowing she hadn''t run away.

So there he found himself, wandering through the expansive meadow, his boots getting wet and slick from dew as he found himself approaching a small riverbank. It didn't take long following the water's clear surface down a ways for him to spot a figure standing at its edge.

Robin stared downwards, lost in thought evidently, her hair down and disheveled from sleeping on the ground and her pale arms bare without her cloak. Chrom sped up his pace to reach her, hoping he wouldn't startle her. She stood so still, and for a person with few memories in their head she looked very pensive. Though just when Chrom thought he would have to shock her out of thought alone, her body left its standstill and began to fall backwards, her white hair blowing forward and covering her face as she collapsed backwards onto the grass.

"Robin!"

Chrom called out her name and broke into a run. He had only just found her, only just started getting to know her. For the gods to pull such a person as her away after so little time, someone with so much potential... It would simply be cruel.

When he reached her side, however, his worry rather suddenly turned into confusion. Her eyes were open, her breathing still steady. Looking down at her, she looked perfectly conscious.

"Robin?" Chrom tried grabbed her attention, worry drawn on his face. "Are you alright?"

It took a second of delay before Robin's answer came.

"Yes, I'm fine," she replied gently, her eyes still focused on the sky above her. "That was nothing but a silly idea of mine."

Chrom took a seat beside her, balancing himself on the slope down to the river. "Oh?"

"I thought," Robin began to expand, sitting up and leaning back on her hands. "Maybe if I tried to recreate the moment when I collapsed it might spark a memory."

"And? Any success?"

With a small laugh, a scoff through her nose, Robin replied, "No."

Chrom felt a pang of sympathy for his new friend. He could see in her eyes she was trying to hide real frustration and perhaps even sadness behind those brown irises. He couldn't imagine losing all of his memories of his life, and he knew he would be desperate to get them back if he ever did. Though it was easy for him to say; he knew what he would be missing. Robin, on the other hand, really had lost all her memories, and she hadn't the faintest idea what it was that was leaving such an empty space in her mind.

"It's odd," Robin continued, gazing out at the half risen sun on the horizon. "I remember basic things like eating and walking. I haven't unlearned how to speak or use weapons. I know that that in front of me is a river and this on the grass is dew. I know dew is formed by a drop in temperature overnight, causing water vapor to condense on the blades of grass. But when it comes to me..."

"You remembered your name," Chrom finished for her, only when it became clear she'd trailed off forlornly. He felt it necessary to remind her she hadn't forgotten quite everything about herself.

"Yes, I did," Robin confirmed to herself, sounding a bit encouraged by that statement. Turning to Chrom with a smile, she also added on, "And yours. Somehow."

Chrom chuckled, finding the way she pinched her eyebrows in confusion to be somehow humorous but cute. "Perhaps you were a seer, not a tactician," he jested.

"I hope for the sake of your Shepherds that isn't true!" Robin replied with a laugh. The solemn look on her face was completely replaced by a bright smile now, and Chrom felt pleased to know he'd helped her out of her state. He hoped to be as good of friends with her as his other Shepherds.

They spent a peaceful moment on the grass simply enjoying each others silence. The sound of the river flowing was an incredibly helpful way for Chrom to forget the stresses of the night before as well as the stress to come when they reached Ylisstol. He had been out with Lissa and Frederick for nearly a month on his first official mission, visiting villages and ridding the countrysides of brigands in the name of the capital. As soon as he got back, he knew he would be forced back into his stricter daily routine as well as find himself dealing with the new threat of the undead soldiers.

But in that moment, it was just him and Robin, enjoying one anothers company as they acclimated themselves with each other. There was always an adjustment period to getting to know someone new. This Chrom knew from his experience in recruiting his other Shepherds. However, when he looked at Robin, he felt an inexplicable desire to make that time shorter. He didn't know what, but something about her told him she would be important. There was something so much more intriguing about her than almost anyone else he'd ever met. To find a strategist who was skilled in both magic and swordfighting seemed almost too rare and perfect to be true.

"So tell me," Robin finally spoke up after a short moment, snapping Chrom out of his thoughts. "When will I be meeting these Shepherds of yours?"

"Well," Chrom replied, thinking over the schedule he'd had planned for arriving back in Ylisstol. "We're set to arrive in Ylisstol, the capital city, this afternoon. We'll make a quick stop to see my sister, and then it's off to the garrison. So I'd say this afternoon for sure." He ended with a smile, hoping it was soon enough for her.

"This afternoon?" Robin asked with shock. "That's so soon!"

"Haha! I thought you'd be eager to meet them."

"I am! I am. I just was expecting more time to prepare myself..."

Chrom realized in her slight fidgeting with her hands, wringing around the edges of her wrists, she was nervous. Her face, however, betrayed nothing. "You don't need to prepare yourself too much," he told her with a chuckle. "They're fine people. They'll like you no matter what. I'm sure of it."

Robin almost seemed to doubt him for a fraction of a second. But as quickly as that thought must've entered her mind, it left as she turned to face him. A small smile graced her pale lips as she asked, "Are you sure?"

"Positive," he answered, a smile mirroring hers as he felt his face heat up ever so slightly. Though maybe it was just his imagination. "Trust me, we've seen worse."

Robin's eyebrows suddenly lowered as her smile became an amused smirk. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

Realizing his blunder, Chrom found himself struggling for words. Robins intent gaze did nothing to help. "No, no! Nothing bad! Just, well... That- What I meant to say was... The Shepherds are a very unique group of people. Someone with amnesia would be one of the less odd ones of the group. So if that's what you're worried about, then you shouldn't be."

Robin hesitated a moment before letting out a light-hearted scoff. "It's hard to imagine someone with odder circumstances than being found unconscious in a field with no memories," she said, letting her eye contact with Chrom break in favor of gazing back out at the horizon.

"It's hard for most people to imagine a group like the Shepherds," Chrom pointed out. It was true, most of his comrades were 'characters' as the people in the court would call them, a disapproving word disguised in politeness. The Shepherds were people from odd backgrounds, people with eccentric personalities. But there was no doubt they were people he felt he could trust more than any others to fight for Ylisse and be true comrades.

"Well, you seem fond of them at least," Robin said, the corners of her mouth twitching upwards again. "That's encouraging if nothing else."

"I am," replied Chrom in complete honesty. "I am fond of them."

"Then I can't wait to meet them."

As the sun reached its place in the sky, Chrom and Robin remained on the riverbank, peacefully silent once again as they thought about the hours to come. Robin was cautiously excited about meeting the Shepherds she would be commanding, and Chrom was excited to introduce her to them. She was another 'character', though without the condescending connotation. She was interesting and intelligent. The prince already found himself at ease around her, trusting her.

This made it all the more easy to relax along that riverbank. Robin laid back on the grass and closed her eyes. Chrom continued to look at the now risen sun, in the direction of Ylisstol. Though to feel too much stress about the hours to come wasn't quite possible. With the sound of the river, the cool dew on the grass (which thanks to Robin he now knew how it came to be), and the relaxed amnesiac by his side, all he could feel was peace. Serenity.

Guess I finally found a decent use for those 30 minute extended versions of songs on YouTube considering I listened to Serenity's like 3 times while writing this.

Technically I could've started this story off with There are Better Places to Take a Nap than on the Ground, but I think people are sick of reading that scene right off the bat by now ;)