Chapter 29

As the Plegian force laid down their arms in surrender at the death of their King, Nathan made his way off the battlefield, towards the Ylissean caravans that marked their back line where the healers always were. He spotted Lissa, whose eyes lit up as she saw him. The princess ran over to greet him, jumping into his outstretched arms and knocking him over in surprise.

"What, did you think I was gonna die? You need more faith in your army's ace tactician, Liss!" Nathan mockingly scolded. Lissa giggled at the man, before locking lips with him for a passionate kiss, the two still on the desert ground.

Nathan's eyes opened for a second as he could hear someone approaching them. He broke off their kiss as he looked over at a familiar pair of grey boots before him. The pair slowly looked up at Chrom, standing over them with a smug grin on his face.

"So…you two 'aren't dating or anything'?" Chrom sarcastically mused, repeating Nathan's words from a few nights back.

Nathan blushed slightly. "Uh, well we weren't kinda, still aren't, kinda…but we are now I guess…I don't know."

He looked up to Lissa, still on top of him. "Are we dating?" He asked with a confused look on her face. Lissa blushed and giggled, nodding.

"We are, dummy, and it doesn't matter what this old fart says about it!"

Chrom frowned, slightly taken aback. "I'm not that old…" His gaze softened. "But, I'm not against the two of you dating. Nathan and I have already discussed this, and I'm pretty sure you'd just date him anyways, sister…"

Nathan and Lissa helped each other up to their feet. Nathan's brow then furrowed, turning to Lissa.

"How's Freddy?" He inquired, remembering the great knight's wounds. Lissa frowned, with Chrom looking to her as well, eager to know the status of their friend.

"Well…" Lissa began, "It's not good…but it looks like he'll be alright. It'll take some time but, knowing him, he'll be back in shape in no time."

Nathan exhaled loudly, breathing a sigh of relief. "Great to hear," He told the princess. He then turned to Chrom. "So, back to Ylisse then?"

The Exalt nodded, smiling. "Yes. It's time to go home." He replied. "We're going to have the biggest feast and the biggest party this land has ever seen!" He declared.

"Sounds like a plan, Captain!" Nathan chimed. "Lead the way!"

When Chrom said party, he really did mean quite the party. Castle Ylisse was bustling with food and friends, every table filled with exotic dishes and drinks, along with expensive meats and wines. Nathan, being the tactician, had always been a more studious mind so to speak, preferring to stay sober and watch over the others rather than drink along with them. Every event to him needed a strategy, no matter how big or small, and he preferred his brain ready for anything that may come his way.

"…You're sure? Not even just one?" Chrom inquired, slightly downed by his friend not joining in the festivities.

Nathan shook his head. "Gods forbid one of us keep an appropriate level of caution," He quoted, copying Frederick from long ago when they had first met.

"And anyways, this'll make things much more interesting when I have to tell you everything the next morning," the tactician slyly added.

Chrom laughed loudly. "Fair enough, friend."

Vaike called to him from the distance, waving a glass of ale. "I think that's my cue. I'll see you later!" He told Nathan as he headed off. Nathan smiled and waved at him before leaning back in his seat and pulling out a book from his cloak to read. As he began to flip through the pages, a familiar pair of arms wrapped themselves around his neck.

"I was starting to wonder where you went, I haven't seen you since we got back to the castle," Nathan muttered, smiling slightly but not bothering to look up from his book. He could tell who it was.

"I was with Sumia and Maribelle and some others earlier, hanging around, but I figured I'd come find you," Lissa told him, adding, "You're quite fun to be around, in case you didn't know."

Nathan looked up to her, pulling her around and moving over slightly so they could both fit on the chair. "Well, that's good to hear. I'll keep that in mind." He declared.

Just then, another chair moved at the table, with a familiar black-haired swordsman taking a seat.

"Parties not your type of thing, big guy?" Nathan teased, looking over to Lon'qu. The man shook his head.

"A true swordsman never drinks himself into a stupor." He simply replied. He motioned to his mug of ale sitting on their table. "This is enough for me."

Nathan shrugged and nodded his head.

"Can't argue with that, I suppose."

Adding to the mix, Donnel walked over to their table as well, holding hands with Nowi as the two sat together.

Nathan stared at Donnel for a moment, then at his hand, then at Nowi, then simply leaning back in his chair, quietly muttering, "Well, I ship it." Donnel blushed slightly with a sheepish grin on his face.

"Where's Ricky?" Donnel inquired. Nathan took a quick survey of the room before spotting him, off trying to follow Panne around again.

"He looks…occupied." Nathan replied, nudging his head towards the two. Donnel looked over, grinning slightly.

"Ya know, I think them two would be a fine couple too!" He declared triumphantly. The others nodded in unison.

"So, I guess the question now would be, who's best with who? I mean, besides the obvious answers…" Lissa mused, wrapping her arms tighter around Nathan.

The group leaned in, even Lon'qu surprisingly. Nathan gave him a confused look and the man blushed slightly.

"What? Am I not allowed to want to be informed?" He hissed.

The group shared a laugh before engaging in their discussion.

Much later on in the night, Lon'qu had been dragged off by Maribelle to meet her family (Despite the swordsman's protests out of fear), Donnel and Nowi left to go dance in the ballroom, leaving Nathan and Lissa sitting all alone at their table, talking to each other and watching the festivities going on around them. They saw as Frederick hobbled in on crutches, causing the entire hall to erupt in cheers before mobbing the great knight. Nathan scanned the expansive room for Chrom, but could not see him anywhere, until the prince slammed a hand down on the table next to him, causing the tactician to look up in surprise.

"Naathan…" Chrom slurred, "I'm gunna do it."

Nathan raised an eyebrow at the man. "Do what?' He asked.

"Prapose. To…er…uh…Sew-meeyer. That pie lady. Yeah." Chrom declared.

Lissa giggled. "Uh, not like that!" She retorted with a grin. Chrom looked over at her and glared.

"I'll do waat I want, sis-ter!"

"Heey, these people giving ya trouble, Chram?" Vaike yelled loudly, as he dizzily hobbled over to the table.

"Yeah, they are, Vaike!" Chrom announced. "They think I ain't gonna pra-pose to Sumier!"

"Ah, screw them, ya can do it! Let's go!" The axe-wielder replied, taking another large gulp out of his glass. Chrom nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Yeah, let's go Vaike!" He yelled, before hobbling off with the man to find Sumia.

Nathan turned to Lissa. "Should we follow them, or…?"

Lissa giggled slightly, getting up and tugging on her boyfriend's cloak. "No, but there is something I wanna show you, come on!"

As Lissa dragged Nathan around the castle, they ran into Chrom and Vaike yet again, this time having finally found Sumia, who was in her room, reading at the time.

"Hey. Hey Sumia." Chrom slurred as he waltzed into the room. Vaike stood at the doorway, watching eagerly. Nathan and Lissa pulled in behind them, looking on over Vaike's shoulder.

"SO!" Chrom yelled. "I WAS THINKING ABOUT IT, AND SUMIA, I JUST WANTED TO SAY, YOU'VE GOT AN ASS THAT JUST WON'T QUIT!"

Sumia turned a deep shade of red, as Vaike yelled, "Yeah, you tell her Chrom!"

Chrom gave a drunk thumbs up back to his friend as he continued. "ANYWAYS, I REALLY LIKE YOUR PIES AND I THINK WE SHOULD GET MARRIED, AND YEAH! SO ARE WE MARRIED NOW?"

Nathan pushed his way past Vaike, rushing into the room and grabbing Chrom by the arm.

"All right, I think that's enough fun for you oh great exalt," He muttered dryly, with a sly grin on his face as he dragged the man out of the room.

"BUT I'M NOT DONE YET!" Chrom yelled back in reply. "SUMIER, I LOVE YA!"

Nathan turned back to Sumia as he dragged Chrom out of the room. "He'll be back tomorrow probably, with an actual proposal I'd hope…" He told her. Sumia blushed, giggling slightly as she looked at Chrom, who was making kissy faces to her as he was being dragged away.

As Nathan and Lissa watched Chrom and Vaike stumble down another castle hallway, singing loudly with their arms over each other's shoulders, Nathan turned back to the princess.

"So, what were you going to show me again?" He asked. Lissa giggled, grabbing his hand yet again and dragging him off to her room.

Once they arrived, Nathan saw a large box sitting on his girlfriend's bed, marked, 'for my Natie'. Nathan raised an eyebrow at the princess who eagerly replied, "Open it, open it! I wanna see the look on your face!"

Nathan slowly popped the top off the box, looking in and seeing a small piece of paper that looked very familiar to him lying on top. "Oh shi-" He was cut off by the paper bursting forth a swarm of frogs, which jumped all over him and down his cloak, knocking the tactician to the ground and causing him to roll around in panic.

Lissa collapsed to her knees in laughter. "Oh gods, that was priceless!" She roared, still laughing.

Nathan slowly got up, chuckling slightly as the last frog hopped out of his cloak, disappearing in a poof of smoke. "My god, have you ever even used that summoning spell for anything BESIDES frogs?" He shot back with a grin.

Lissa shook her head. "Nope!" She replied. "Anyways, there's a real present for you in there."

Nathan got back up and peeked carefully into the box, slowly moving the paper used for the summoning spell, and his eyes widened. Inside lay a gold and black sword, with red tape wrapped around its hilt. He carefully picked it up and swung it around, before admiring it again. Carved into the blade was one word.

"Mystletainn…" Nathan muttered. He turned back to Lissa. "Where did you find this?" He asked eagerly. Lissa shrugged. "At the market, a long time ago. It was quite expensive, some old guy from a foreign land said he was selling it and I thought it looked nice-"

"Selling it?! By the gods, Lissa, this blade is a legendary weapon!" Nathan replied, swinging it yet again in amazement.

Lissa giggled. "Glad you like it, because it wasn't cheap!" She retorted, twiddling her fingers in her hands. She was caught off guard as Nathan tossed the sword back on the bed, pulling the princess into a tight hug, which she quickly returned.

"Oh, right!" Nathan suddenly yelled, before pulling away from Lissa and reaching into his pocket. "I have something for you too…here, take a look!" He held out a tiny box to the princess, who quickly recoiled away.

"No way! I know this trick, mister, I just pulled it!" Lissa cried out. Nathan laughed.

"I swear, it's not a trick, it's a present for you." He told her.

"Well…if you say so…" Lissa conceded, before taking the box into her hands and slowly prying it open, staring inside. "A…ring?" She looked back at the tactician, who had gotten down on one knee, blushing deeply. "Wait, Nathan…what's going on?"

"Well…I was thinking, since we're already dating, and already like each other, and are already spending so much time around each other, maybe you wanted to have all that…forever?" The tactician answered, trembling slightly.

Lissa smiled at the man, putting on her ring. "I'll have nothing less!" She replied. Nathan stood up, breathing a huge sigh of relief as the two shared a laugh before hugging again.

Nathan sighed contently, his arms wrapped around his wife to be. Lissa pulled back slightly to stare at her ring. "Oh my gosh!" She cried out, her eyes widening at it. "This ring is huge! How did you get it?" She asked the man.

Nathan shrugged. "Being our army's tactician pays well. That, and I negotiated some performance bonuses after the last few battles, since I figured I'd need this…" He told her. Lissa giggled before nuzzling up against Nathan's chest.

"Oh, we are gonna have such a GREAT life together!"

THE END

When I got the idea for this story, I had no idea how it would do, or even what I was doing. Suffice it to say, I've been blown out of the water in terms of support. This has been an absolute pleasure to write thanks to the amount of people who have enjoyed it, I can't say it enough how much the support I've gotten means to me, and how much every person who's left me a favourite or follow on my story, or a review, has been a help. In terms of writing, I'm considering doing more things for this couple (Robin/Lissa I mean), so please let me know if you want to see more stories like this! Thanks so much to everyone!

-Nate