Princess's Last Flight: World Away
Chapter 1: A Fateful dance

Location: Ylisstol, Ylisse
Date: 6th Of July
Time: 19:30 Local

The sun had begun to set over Ylisse, and the city's lights cast a glow against the evening sky. There was a mild bustle as people milled about on cobblestone streets beneath the ancient castle that had stood for centuries as Ylisse's seat of power. A curved car in black rolled down the street as people walked by under umbrellas. There was the sweet earthy smell of rain, as dim grey clouds tinged slightly orange by the city's lights hung low. A few people were walking by shops and storefronts illuminated with neon and incandescent bulbs. Posters were plastered in windows, including a recruitment poster for the Ylissean military, which featured a picture of a buff man in the nude holding a sword and the scales of justice, labeled "CHROM WANTS YOU! JOIN THE ARMY NOW!" A few adverts for products from the Secret Seller corporation were adjacent to many.

A theatre had displayed a list of movies, with one side of the marquee saying "NEW PREMIRE: FLIGHT OF THE PRINCESS FEATURING OLIVIA LOWELL" a scent of freshly popped corn and butter wafted through the air, as people stood in lines by the ticketing booth. A group of people were walking out of the theatre, and among them, a white-haired man in a sharp black and purple suit. He had warm eyes, but the look of a shocked veteran. An astute observer might recognize him, but he did enough to blend into the crowd, at least among those who had money. At his side was a woman with long blue hair and a blue and gold peplum overtop a loose-fitting white skirt, and wore a bronze necklace adorned with a symbol of the country. She held his hand lightly as they began walking down the street.

"That movie ended so sad." The woman said, "The pilot did so much for her, and they were in love."

The man sighed, "It does, but it's got a better ending in the books. The greedy Prince dies, and they have to fight another war, but they do end up together later."

"That's almost as sad as the movie, Robin." Lucina shook her head. "She wanted to end the war."

"She does. And the pilot who dueled them comes back on their side against the new enemy." Robin said, tilting their umbrella as a car sped past, luckily not driving through the large puddle in the street. He righted the umbrella as they kept walking. "At the same time, there's a revolution and they help an ousted prince recover his beloved from their new enemy. It's actually a really sweet finale."

Lucina sighed, as they stopped, looking up at a nearby skyscraper. It stood like a dark monolith in the distance, its lights off for the night, workers having gone home. "It's nice." She said, squeezing Robin's hand. "During the war, I never thought I'd be able to have a life like this." She paused, "It was horrible down in those trenches, between the mud, blood, the death, the bullets, the constant artillery and the fire, I thought I'd never see a day like this."

Robin patted Lucina's back, "I still can scarce imagine it. I was there in the desert campaigns, but I can't imagine what it was like for you." He said, leaning over to give her a kiss, shielding the act from view with the umbrella. "Shall we keep going to the dance hall? It's been a long time since we've been able to have this kind of time to ourselves. I mean with Morgan away with the Junior Shepherds."

"Well, I did want to go out on this date with you, love." Lucina replied, smiling as they resumed walking.

Ylissean Dance Hall

Robin held Lucina's waist as they swayed back and forth to the sound of light drum and piano. A woman sung a slow song. "I don't recall you a good dancer, Robin." Lucina said, "When did you get so graceful?"

He chuckled, "I may have been practicing."

"If you have just to impress me, you don't have to." She turned slightly, leaning in and pressing herself into his chest.

"But I wanted to." Robin smiled, swaying with the music. "If I can do anything to make you just a bit happier, I will."

Lucina lightly laughed, "I know." She breathed deeply. "You do everything for me."

"What can I say? You've got the most beautiful smile." Robin said, twirling her about. "And I want to see as much as possible."

Lucina slid her hands along Robin's waist, moving her feet with the rhythm. "Robin, you do that every day. And I'm always grateful."

Robin closed his eyes, pulling Lucina in and giving her a long kiss. She reciprocated it, gracefully moving into the kiss, all without breaking their dance. For her, the night couldn't have been better. It had been a long time since she had seen the battlefield, and he was part of why that was. Yet his determination and honest desire to make her happy hadn't ever diminished. As their kiss broke both turned, as the band winded down. There was a break in the music and both nodded, walking out to catch a breath of the night air.

As they walked outside, Robin felt a chill down his spine looking into the distance. Something didn't quite feel right. "Hey, didn't Laurent take that job with Nohr?" He asked, lighting a cigarette. "He was researching energy, right? Something about Uranium?"

"I think he did, why?" Lucina asked, leaning on the railing beside him.

"Nothing, I just fear a war may break out over there," Robin said, almost ruefully. "And Owain, Inigo, and Severa all joined the Nohrian military," he shook his head, "Nohr's our ally. We'd have suffered more were it not for King Garon's gold during the Plegian conflicts. But I fear there may be consequences for Ylisse should Hoshido make a move."

"…I don't want another war." Lucina said, looking to the ground.

"No one wants a war." Robin said, "I just hope it doesn't come to it. With Morgan part of the Junior Shepherds, I fear for her as well." He breathed deeply, "But enough of that, shall we return to the dance?"

"Of course."

Author's Note: So, I'm like over a month late. I actually wrote this for Robcina Week. Thing is, my weekly theme for it was a side story for my Fates WWII/1940s AU fic, "Princess's Last Flight", and I hadn't updated PLF in a long while so I figured I'd keep the ball rolling on that fic before releasing these. So here's Day 1 Dance.