…Long time no see, right? Sorry for the delay but angst is so hard to write (for me at least) and I'll admit that I've been kind of putting off my writing. I'll try to do better.

Anyway, on with the chapter.

Ch. 2: Unimaginable Nightmare

Something was going to happen; Gerome could feel it in his very core and it wasn't a pleasant feeling at all. Nervousness from the anticipation was eating away at him. He was having an incredibly difficult time focusing on the battle, and if he was being honest he didn't really care as his concern laid elsewhere.

Once again his eyes drifted away from the battle and landed on the colossal barrier that separated the massive temple in half. Through the haze of battle and magic he could make out the tiny form of his wife as she and Chrom raced towards the one responsible for everything, Validar. He gripped his reins far tighter than necessary as he watched his wife's battle begin. He so desperately wanted to be at her side because he knew whatever was going to happen would revolve around her. He growled out his frustration as he could only watch as she narrowly avoided an attack.

"Father!" he heard Morgan cry and turned his head to narrowly avoid an arrow that flew past him. Before he could turn his sights on the archer, the enemy had already burst into flames at the hands of his talented son. You need to pay attention father!" At the rider's side was his son, who was looking up at him with a smirk, after all the boy was usually the one on the receiving end of that warning.

Gerome didn't say anything his eyes once again drifted back to the barrier. "She'll be fine," Severa's voice broke through his thoughts as she joined the men. "She's a grown woman. She doesn't need you watching over her all the time." He couldn't tell if she was being her usual snarky self or if she truly meant it, either way she was right but that still didn't ease his worries. "Besides she's with Chrom and he's way more reliable than you." Gripping his reigns tightly again he tried to rein in control over his jealousy.

"Mother will be fine! It's mother after all!" Morgan's added comment brought some comfort to the silent man.

Though it was hazy and somewhat distorted by the barrier, Gerome didn't doubt his eyes for a second, he witnessed Robin land, what he believed to be the final hit, on Validar. Almost instantly an overwhelming fear gripped his heart and before he could have another thought he had already taken flight. Vaguely he could hear Morgan and Severa call after him but they were not his priority, far from it.

As he made his way, haphazardly, through the battlefield he spied Lucina making her way to her father. The scene from a few days ago replayed in his mind and he wanted to so desperately to avoid her but he knew it was better for them to pair up. With little warning he pulled Lucina onto Minerva and continued on.

They arrived at the barrier just in time to see a last ditch effort by Validar for revenge. Lucina called out for her father but Gerome was silent as he knew what his wife would do and that left him pulling at his reins with all his might as he silently screamed. As he saw Robin push Chrom out of the way and take the hit, he was finally able to scream out her name. As the tactician skidded across the ground his fear was so intense he couldn't breathe; without thinking he slammed his axe into the barrier, shattering the weapon and one of the shards sliced into his cheeks.

"Calm down!" Lucina ordered but he could barely hear her over his chaotic thoughts and rapid heartbeat. "She's with my father." On any other occasion that might have calmed him down but not after he witnessed her take such a powerful attack and he was helpless to do anything. He growled out his anger and pulled on his reigns.

Time slowed as the events played out before him. The rider wouldn't have believed his eyes if it wasn't for Lucina's reaction; she half slide and half fell off of Minerva in a desperate attempt to get off as quickly as she could. She screamed at the top of her lungs and that was the only noise that the empty rider could make out. Once Chrom's body crashed onto the ground the barrier dissolved and Lucina raced forward but Gerome remained rooted in place, staring at his wife, who hadn't moved in the slightest.

Validar spoke but none of it ever registered to Gerome. The world continued to move on but he was stuck. No thoughts came to him. Unable to do anything else he continued to stare at his wife as if she held all the answers he needed.

All of a sudden everything changed when a new comer joined the fray. Even though he hadn't been aware of what Lucina and Validar had been discussing earlier he became acutely aware when the conversation had taken a very favorable turn for the Shepherds. A tall, dark man had joined then; Gerome didn't know who he was but he could tell that he was a powerful man and hoped swelled with in him as he listened to the man explain everything.

The discussion continued on and the silent man didn't really know what was going on. As the chief tactician's husband he knew he needed to be more involved but between his confusion and fear he had no way of understanding, no matter how much he wanted too. Giving up on trying to follow his eyes flew back to his wife. Movement from Robin made him want to smile but he knew he couldn't, not when he knew that Validar was acutely aware of him.

Finally Robin's Thoron spell connected and it took everything in Gerome's power to not race towards her side. Pride swelled in him as he heard the curses from Validar. And when Chrom arose the good feeling should have continued but it didn't; almost instantaneously the joy he had vanished and his fear returned in full force. Whatever was going to happen hadn't yet and that terrified him.

With the little distraction over everyone broke away from each other to engage in battle, all but Gerome. When Robin passed him he pulled her onto Minerva without warning. She squeaked out in surprise and annoyance. Quickly she started to struggle and as a result he increased his grip and buried his face into her neck, instantly ending her resistance.

"Gerome," she called softly, as she interlocked her fingers with his. He pulled her in closer and pressed his face further into her neck. He mumbled something unintelligible but she understood. "I'm okay," she said and relaxed her head on his to comfort him a little. "Chrom took more of a beating then me," she added as an afterthought but he could hear the feint guilt in her voice. After a moment of hesitation he pulled away from her to look at her. She pulled one hand away, with a bit of struggle, to cup his face her thumb rubbed against the cut on his cheek; she smiled softly at him as she once again reassured him that she was fine.

The two shared a moment of silence and it greatly comforted him, in no ways words would have been able to do but it could not displace all his worries. While her smile was genuine he could still tell that she was putting on a brave front. With his free hand he gently pressed down on her chest (avoiding her breast as best as he could) she wince slightly but kept up her brave front; his face harden and he once again pressed his face into the crook of her neck. The silence continued and it frustrated him, he wanted her to talk but he didn't know how to get her to speak. When she called his name softly, he knew that time was up and that he needed to return to battle.

"Now not too high, okay?" she asked as she stiffened. He fought back a chuckle, grateful for her able to cheer him up, even if it was only for a little bit. He found it cute that she was afraid of heights, like he once did (how Morgan was okay with heights was beyond him); he made a promise that once the war was over he would help her conquer her fear, she obviously wasn't too happy with making the promise as he was.

At Robin's orders the wyvern rider bypassed all opponents and went straight for Validar. It proved to be quite difficult getting to the leader safely but the thought of ending the battle quickly made it worth it, or so he wished to believe but as he got closer to the end the more his fears and anxiety grew. His fears got so intense that he was very much tempted to run far away from that battle with his wife in tow but he knew he couldn't and that she would never allow it.

"Gerome?" the tactician's soft voice shattered his thoughts. "Would you…,"the trembling in her voice greatly unnerved him, "Would you still love me if I were…If I were…" Unable to finish the thought she was going to let it die but he wouldn't allow it. Wrapping an arm around her he hoped to bring her some comfort and that it would prompt her to speak. "…That is a conversation for a later time…"The pleading in her voice halted any desire from him to force her to speak. Unable to find his own voice all he could do was nod and in return she gave him a weak smile.

As Validar came into view, Gerome halted their advance earning a complaint from his passenger. "Robin?" he called softly, she only turned her head slightly as most of her focus was on her target. He pulled her closer and planted a light kiss on her temple, earning him more of her focus and a light blush. "No matter what I will always love you." The pained expression she gave him, stunned him to silence as it greatly constricted his heart.

"Be gone boy!" Validar yelled, startling the rider. "You are not fit for Lord Grima!"

Confused Gerome looked to Robin for answers but she was already sliding off to face her father. As he watched her prepare for battle the desire to drag her away to a place that was far away was stronger than ever. Ignoring the feelings the best he could he tried to join her side but only for several Grimleal to stand in his way. Cursing under his breath he prepared to take out all those that stood in his path.

Suddenly Robin's unfished thought came to the fore front of his mind, along with Validar's words. Terror caused him to tear his eyes way from his opponents and towards his wife. He stared at her as if it would answer his question; a question he wasn't quite sure if he wanted answered. Shaking his head, rather violently, he returned his sights onto his own battles because there was just no way for his fears to be true; it was impossible or at least he so desperately wanted to believe that it was.

Validar's resounding cry of defeat brought more fear and confusion to the silent man. Not long after the end of the battle did the source of Gerome's fear show itself- a doppelganger of his wife. Sticking close to his wife he prepared for the worst, though deep down inside he knew that he would never be prepared even if he had knew everything in advance.

"I told you I am Robin," the doppelganger said and it did not settle well with him. The other Robin turned to him and smiled wickedly. "I am the Robin that murdered Chrom and became the fell dragon, Grima."

Overwhelmed he stared at his wife for answers, explanations, or even denial; truth be told he didn't know what he wanted but he just needed something-anything. So focused on her other self, she didn't spare him even the slightest glance and that didn't settle well with him. Painfully he dragged his eyes away the woman, he promised to spend the rest of his life, to look at her future self and the disgustingly, smug grin she gave him just made him sick.

The rest of the conversation drowned out to his thoughts. Even though he had heard it twice he still denied it. How could he believe that the woman, he loved, was the very creature that destroyed the future and made his life a living hell? He couldn't believe it and yet when he looked at the other Robin, he knew it to be true. Fate was unbelievably cruel to him.

Wallowing in his thoughts he was unaware of the events that were happening around him; it wasn't until Lucina shouted his name that he became aware. The ground started to shake violently and the temple began to fall apart. When a column fell near Minerva, she began to panic alarming her rider. Not wasting any more time he began to follow after the lords only to realize that Robin wasn't with them.

Against Minerva's wishes he halted his retreat to scan the area for the tactician but she was nowhere to be seen. He called for her but there was no response. Unable to decide if he should look for her or leave, he remained seated in place, despite his wyvern's protest. When his thoughts returned to her being Grima's vessel he left without a second thought.

Outside the temple he could see the true horror that was unfolding. Before everyone was their worst nightmare, Grima. As he heard the cries of despair he could not help but think that everything that they had done was all for not and that he should have stayed in the future; if he had stayed he knew he would have never had to feel the pain that he was feeling then. He just wanted to laugh at himself for thinking that he could overcome fate.

Hope spread through everyone like a wild fire, when Robin appeared with the Fire Emblem. The joy and hope never spread to the rider (or many of the other children) as he watched her very carefully. Unable to process all of his emotions he just stood back at a safe distance, making sure he never got to close to her as everyone fled the area. When he heard Morgan rush to his mother, Gerome was about to stop the boy but quickly held himself back when he realized that the young man was the son of Grima's vessel. It left a very bitter taste in his mouth.

After a battle being fought and Grima's returned the army wasn't able to travel very far before exhaustion halted their travels. Just as with the march silence engulfed everyone as they went about doing their own thing. The leaders held back watching everyone and Gerome stood further back watching the tactician. Eventually a decision was made, much to Gerome's dismay (not that he visibly protested), to tell everyone about what happened at the Dragon's Table. The gasps and murmurs just made the wyvern rider feel worse, afterwards he wasn't able to look at anyone.

"Mother, you're not Grima!" Morgan proclaimed when all the extra spectators left. "Right father?" he added the last part when he spotted the other man.

The mask man froze, he hadn't spoken a single word to Robin since before the battle with Validar. He didn't know what to do or say, he was still processing everything but his thoughts only kept getting darker and darker. Slowly he turned to look at the mother and son, instead of his wife he just saw Grima instead. Unable to take it anymore he just left without saying anything.

He heard several things as he walked away but pressed on. Chrom called him dastard, which a part of him couldn't deny. Morgan cried out for him and he shoved the desire to comfort his son deep, deep within him; it was easy when thought of the young man as the son of Grima. The worst was when he could faintly hear Robin telling the others that it was alright, and he never felt like more of a coward than right then but it was too late; they couldn't change what happened and what she was.

Once far away from everyone he slammed his fist against a poor, innocent tree. He swore loudly as he once again pounded his fists into the tree trying to ease all his anger but only causing him to hurt his hands. Eventually his hits got weaker and weaker until he had no strength left and he could no longer hold back his tears and collapsed onto his knees. Ultimately the tears stopped and gave away into hysterical laughter. His mind knew and accepted that Robin was Grima but his heart rejected it. He couldn't believe how incredibly cruel fate was to him.

This chapter sounded so much better in my head…I would be eternally grateful to anyone who has advice to offer on writing angst. I could use all the advice.