Disclaimer: I still don't own Fire Emblem; I'm still wishing otherwise.

There were several pairings from Awakening that I wish could have been, and this is one of them, so I wrote my own set of C-S supports with a romantic element running from the start. There will be spoilers up to Chapter 11, but not after that-so no Cynthia, I'm afraid, though I might write a separate story for her at a later date.

A Swordsman and a Klutz

1. Elderflowers

In almost every respect, Sumia was an unremarkable woman. Barely skilled for combat and capable of tripping over air, it was no wonder that Robin often kept her to the back lines. However, as the war continued and Sumia grew stronger, Robin soon began using her in his strategies in a different way. Being a pegasus knight, she was able to travel long distances in moments without tiring and Robin found a suitably useful in bringing stronger soldiers to the front lines. Though, why he felt the need to partner her with Lon'qu in most of these instances was beyond her.

In much the same way that Sumia was an unremarkable woman; Lon'qu was an extraordinary man. Skilled in close combat and capable of multitasking in a way that most men weren't, it was no wonder that Robin felt the need to have him as close to the action as possible. But why, in the name of Naga, did he think it would be a good idea to pair him with a klutzy woman? Frederick had a similar range and was a strong male, surely it would have made more sense to partner Lon'qu with him. If it was simply that Robin was trying to break his fear of women, then surely partnering him with Maribelle as he had been before would have worked better-Robin had forced Lon'qu on Maribelle in many battles and, as a result, the swordsman had become accustomed to her and she had begun moulding him into a perfect gentleman, starting with cracking his gynophobia.

A few battles ago, Robin had started pairing Maribelle with Chrom and Lon'qu with Sumia instead-before, it had always been the other way around. As Sumia watched from her place in the back lines, she began to realise why the change had been enacted: fighting side by side was a strangely effective way for people to form relationships.

Robin often organised the battle so that healers would stay in the back lines with Sumia and the others, but after a while, he started pairing off Lissa and Frederick together so that a healer would always be where the action was. Several battles ago-the battle before Robin had started to reorganise his groupings-Frederick had almost lost his life in combat, it was only Lissa's quick staff-work that let him live long enough to get proper medical attention.

As soon as his wounds were healed, Frederick and Lissa were promptly married, and, for some odd reason, that made Robin livid.

After that incident, all groupings had been rearranged to avoid such an act occurring again. It was almost as if Robin was now organising the battles like a matchmaker, setting up couples he would be happy to see married off together.

Which was why Sumia had been so confused about her own new pairing. For as long as she could remember, Robin had been weirdly into Chrom and hers' dynamic, trying to set them up together even off the battlefield. Why the sudden change of heart? She thought to herself as she watched.

Then she saw the way that Lon'qu looked at Maribelle from across the field and realised that the change hadn't been made for her. It was a look so unguarded that she blushed; so focussed on the healer that Sumia didn't dare turn away, afraid that he'd be so engrossed in Maribelle that he wouldn't notice the enemy sneaking up on him. Robin was either trying to protect the swordsman from getting hurt again or he really wasn't a fan of Lon'qu and Maribelle together.

Either way, Lon'qu still hadn't noticed the archer sneaking up on him.

Despite knowing that her pegasus was susceptible to great damage from arrows, Sumia jumped on and pulled the reigns, plunging head-first into the carnage, lance in hand. She called his name as the archer readied an arrow; called again after he obviously hadn't heard the first time, pulling her mount to a stop as the arrow went flying... Right into her shoulder, narrowly missing his face which was now turned in her direction. The archer glared at the woman who had stopped what could have been a brilliant kill and readied another arrow, aiming for her mount. The arrow never flew but fell with a clatter as the archer was pierced through with Sumia's lance, the risen soldier turning to a pile of dust and gas as he, too, fell.

Watching to make sure it was truly dead, Sumia pulled the arrow out gently, trying to do as little damage as possible and wincing as she realised it had gone a lot deeper than she hoped. She grabbed a vulnery from her pouch to numb most of the pain and turned to find that the swordsman was no longer stood behind her. With a sigh, she pulled her mount back into the air and flew back to the healers, hoping that they could stop the bleeding and be able to cure her when they got back to camp.

She didn't even bother looking for Lon'qu in the carnage as she flew back. It's not like he was going to thank her for saving his life.

The weekend arrived before Sumia saw Lon'qu again. Her wound hadn't been as serious as it looked on the field and after a thorough cleaning and the admission of several salves, it was almost healed. There was only a loose bandage around the wound now to stop it from catching on her clothing, or getting an debris in it when she inevitably fell every now and then.

And falling back from the battle had lead to the knight finding a large patch of wild elderflowers for her to use in her cooking.

Humming as she worked, Sumia started making a batch of elderflower champagne using the method her mother used, sure that it would lighten the groups' spirits when it was ready for consumption. It was all going so splendidly until she remembered that it was a certain myrmidon's turn to cook that evening. He sighed as he walked in and saw her standing over her bowl stirring the liquid as it simmered; she studiously ignored him as he set to work on the groups' supper. The silence seemed comfortable to her as they worked on their separate dishes so she was unsure why Lon'qu felt the need to talk to her.

"Sumia." Said he shortly as a way to grab her attention.

"Yes?" She replied in return, not looking up from her pot.

"...What is that smell?"

"Oh, it's the elderflowers," she waved a bunch of the little white flowers behind her, still refusing to look in his direction. "Don't worry, it won't smell like this when it's done."

"And... 'it' is...?" He inquired after a pause, turning back to his potato peeling.

"Elderflower champagne. It'll take a week or so to ferment properly, but it tastes pretty good when it's done."

"...I've had it before."

"Oh!" Sumia jumped at that, shocked. "I didn't realise it was a common beverage in Regna Ferox..."

"No. It's not." Snapped he shortly, cutting the vegetables. "It's common in Chon'sin."

"Well, that makes sense, I imagine that Chon'sin has the perfect climate for elderflowers... Wait. Weren't you only a child when you left?!" Sumia turned on her heel to stare at him, spoon in hand.

"What of it?" He, too, turned to face her, leaving his knife on the tabletop.

"...Nothing." She turned back to her simmering flower-water mix. They fell into silence once more, the only sound coming from their cooking.

"How's your wound?" Lon'qu asked once he finished preparing everything.

"Oh," she reached up to touch the tender spot on her shoulder. "A lot shallower than I thought. It's healed well."

"Good." Said he shortly. "...T-Thank you for taking a hit for me. It wasn't necessary."

Was that really so hard? Sumia thought but said: "I'm sorry that Robin isn't pairing you with Maribelle any more."

"What?!" In his exclamation, Lon'qu dropped his knife which barely missed his foot as it fell. He glared at the mousy-haired woman, picking up and holding his knife viciously. "W-Why...?!"

"Uhm..." She backed away slightly from his knife, afraid of what he might do with it if she stopped watching him. "It's just... You seemed to like her... I'm sorry for you, that's all." With a sigh, she picked up her pot carefully, moving slowly to make sure she didn't trip, knowing it was an almost certainty. "I'll get out of you're hair now. Sorry to have brought it up."

Lon'qu watched her leave, feeling almost sorry for having snapped at her. Just when he was about to go after her and check to see if she was alright, he remembered that she had spent the last moments of the battle collecting those damned flowers instead of coming back to fight. Quickly turning his back on the tent doors, he willed her not to come back and make him say the thought he knew he'd regret:

You went and collected those flowers instead of coming back to see if I had survived.