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The first thing Robin noticed when she woke up was the sound of Lissa and Maribelle whispering. It took her a second to put together why that felt so wrong - Lissa, actually managing to be quiet? - but when she did, her eyes flew open, sure something had to be on fire.
She was met with the familiar cloth ceiling of the infirmary tent, always the first priority for reapplying wax to keep the rain out. This did nothing to calm her down. For Lissa and Maribelle both to be around, either there had been a lot of casualties or someone was on the verge of death. Robin wracked her brain to try to remember which was more likely, but her memories of the last battle were distant and slippery, as if viewed underwater.
She winced as a spike of pain bloomed between her eyes. Ah, a head injury. That would explain the difficulty thinking - was she concussed?
It didn't matter. She needed to get a sense of their losses so she could adjust her strategies for the future. If someone got hurt because she hadn't remembered that their arm was still weak from healing, she'd never forgive herself.
She pushed herself to her feet and the whispering stopped. Then, heart-stoppingly loud, Lissa called out, "She's awake!"
There was a loud clatter from outside. Seconds later, Chrom burst through the tent flap. "Robin!"
Robin winced, more at Lissa than anything, but Chrom's face fell nonetheless. "Er. Right. Sorry," he said, making an unimpressive attempt at lowering his voice. "How are you feeling?"
Robin shrugged. "I've been better," she said, "but I'll survive. What happened?"
Chrom frowned. "You don't remember?"
Probably better not to mention the concussion, in case they tried to keep her under observation. "I want to make sure I understand," she said, which had the advantage of pretty much always being true.
Chrom slumped. "You sent me after an armored brigand," he said guiltily. "I was watching the weak points in his armor, and I didn't notice that he had a friend nearby with a hammer. I'd just lunged forward when I heard this awful thwack behind me, and when I turned around, you were lying on the ground with blood all over your face."
"Huh." A hammer would explain it, all right. "Sorry about that."
Chrom stared at her. "Why are you sorry?"
"I must not have noticed the other brigand either, and he would have gotten the drop on you. If I hadn't stepped in, you'd have been surrounded. It was a big mistake on my part." No wonder she'd let herself forget, she thought wryly.
"What? Robin, it's a battlefield. No one can know everything that's going to happen, not even you." He sighed. "Though I guess that explains why you jumped in directly instead of sending someone else over. You weren't thinking clearly."
"Maybe, but I'd do it again, you know," Robin said. "It just makes sense strategically. You're the backbone of the army, and heir presumptive to the Exalt as well. I'm just some nobody you found in a field. If I had to choose which one of us would survive, I'd choose you every time."
"No! That's not what I want at all." Chrom leaned forward, eyes wide and intense. "Don't talk like that. You're important to this army too, you know."
"Well, yes." Robin smirked. "Given the chance, I'd prefer that neither of us die. You've all been so good to me without knowing anything about me, and I'm not ready to lose that. I'm just saying that being a tactician means that I have to consider the worst case scenarios. We are at war, I'm afraid."
"You can't just treat death like a simple arithmetic problem!" Chrom struggled to find the words he was looking for.
Robin didn't really want to argue, and if her head had been clearer, she likely would have agreed just to calm Chrom down. But she was right, and she knew it, and anyway there was something about watching Chrom fight the intensity of his feelings to capture them in words that made her feel unbearably fond. And he wondered why she would die for him. As if any one of the Shepherds wouldn't do the same, given the chance.
"It isn't that simple," Chrom said at last. "You can't just act like we'll be able to keep going without you, like we'll stop in a shop at the next village and ask for a new tactician to replace the one we broke. I'd be devastated if you died."
If Robin's cheeks flushed, which no one could confirm, it would only be because of the stupid concussion. She knew that Chrom was her best friend, and that she meant something to him in turn. There was no reason to act like it was news. "For what it's worth," she said, "I'd be devastated if you died, too."
Chrom brightened. "Good, then you understand. Don't do this to me ever again."
"Okay, okay," Robin said. "I'll just have to make sure that neither of us die. Which, again, was my plan A from the beginning."
"But now it's your plans B through Z, too." Chrom clapped her shoulder, then used his grip to steer her back to the cot. "And if I'm able to out-argue you, you clearly need more rest. We can manage without you for another day."
Robin sorted through the flood of words to pick out the most important. "You beat me in arguments all the time," she said. "You're smarter than you call yourself, you know."
"You don't need to flatter me," Chrom said. "My sister is the smart one. I'm the one who's really good with a sword."
"When you aren't breaking things in training, anyway." Robin sat down, harder than she'd expected to. Maybe Chrom had a point after all. "But that doesn't change the fact that you're really good at figuring out ways to help people when they need it, even when it's something no one would expect of you. Like starting the Shepherds."
"That's not being smart, that's just being too stubborn to back down. Just ask Emmeryn." Chrom scratched the back of his head, but Robin thought he looked pleased anyway. "But if I'm so smart, then clearly you should do what I say and get some rest."
He looked so satisfied with himself that Robin couldn't help but laugh. "Alright, you got me, I fell right into your trap. I'll stay here doing nothing while you get to figure out the logistics of where we're going next."
Chrom made a face. "Great," he said. "My favorite. I'll come check on you when I'm done, though."
Robin probably should have waved him off, but she was willing to blame this one on the concussion too. Maybe she should get concussed more often. "That would be nice," she said.
"Of course, Robin. Anything for you." Chrom sounded so sincere that Robin had to look away, unable to meet such blinding faith when she hadn't done anything to deserve it.
That was okay. She'd just keep supporting him until she did.