Chapter One

Henry had the annoying habit of being unpredictable. He voiced whatever oddball thought came to mind, displayed quirks and behaviors of unusual proportions, and was never found in the same place twice. Many found him to be quite unhinged but Robin simply defended him as being an eccentric, though they had their days where his bizarre antics tested her normally peaceful waters.

Such as his complete lack of acceptable communication skills. There wasn't a single situation that he wasn't able to relate to in terms of battle, blood, or buffoonery. Battle most could understand since war was the lifestyle amongst their forces. Blood, for some reason he had an unhealthy fascination with blood and would often speak of it like it were something to be revered. Maybe? Certainly not in the way he was thinking. Then there was his buffoonery. The jokes, don't even think about setting him up for a joke. They carried the comedic genius of a twelve year old and more often than not, were lame and unfunny. She only laughed because she knew that was what he wanted. His fellow Shepherds developed what they affectionately coined "The Palm-to-Face Effect", in which they'd be going about their daily duties, he would pop up out of the woodwork with witty words(witty by his standards), then whisk away with a cackle, leaving them with a hand to their face while they grumbled his name. It actually was quite hilarious to any uninvolved individuals.

But actions speak louder than words and most people had a devil of a time trying their best to ignore it. Which was rather difficult when the Shepherds resident psychotic was waving a disembodied risen arm in their face, asking if they'd like to collaborate on it's dissection. They never said yes. Or the day after their wedding when he was finally allowed to move into her tent and she walked in on him constructing a death altar in the far corner, animal skeletons and all. While she was very aware of his 'unique' hobbies, she'd be damned before letting him offer up sacrifices where they slept("What do you need a death altar for?!", "Pfft, what DON'T I need a death altar for?"). Needless to say, she put her foot down.

Lastly, he just couldn't keep his insatiable wanderlust in check. He was always in the way, ready with an arsenal of homemade hexes and bad jokes but the moment anyone decided that they just might need him, he was nowhere to be found. He'd be in the mess tent, cursing bowls of broth to explode whenever the patrons went to take a spoonful, then within the hour be running amok through the designated training grounds, poor, terrified Ricken in tow, to just having plain disappeared. He was impossible to keep track of and it frustrated her to no end. Which was her problem currently.

-Midmorning-

Having spent a good chunk of her morning recess asking the others of his whereabouts, she finally stumbled upon him sitting alone in the wide open field that they had decided to use for a paddock; specifically, for horses and pegasi. Huffing irritably, she stepped over the low-slung rope that provided the barrier and marched towards him, irked by the fact that she had ventured to the four corners of camp looking for him only to find him in the center, hanging out with horses. Go figure.

As she moved closer, she could feel her annoyance ebbing. Of course she wasn't happy about his near constant disappearing acts but he actually hadn't done anything wrong. No matter how flighty he got, he never wandered too far and was always quick to return when it mattered. But that was Henry for you. Here for a moment, then gone like the wind. His backwards innocence knew no bounds and people just couldn't stay mad at that face. Especially her and she knew she was sucker for it.

Smiling at the idea of him being her Achilles heel, she dropped to her knees behind him and snaked her arms around his front, burying her face in his hair. "I've been looking for you, you know," she breathed, inhaling the wonderfully clean scent of his scalp. "And here you are, playing with horses."

She'd never seen or felt him flinch so badly.

"RAAARGH!" He cried, flinging her arms off of him to scramble away on all fours.

She held her hands up in surrender as she stared at him, bug-eyed by his dramatic response. Even with their newly-wed status, he knew her. She would grab him from behind all the time and he never reacted in such a way. He knew her by sight, scent, sound, and even touch. Henry didn't have to see her to know that it was her hand stroking his back. He just knew.

But not today.

"WHAT was THAT?" Robin exclaimed, completely taken aback. Normally, she would have laughed this off but her morning had been anything but smooth and she was really in no mood for hi-jinks. Henry gripped the cloth of his sweater where his heart was and breathed heavily, calming his nerves.

"S-sorry, Robin...you just scared me is all, hehe..." His smile was gone and his eyes were open, revealing their pale grey irises. He never frowned and never opened his eyes. How unusual...

Nervously, Henry brought his hands together and fiddled with his fingers. They sat in uncomfortable silence for some time, him fidgeting in place upon his knees and her watching his tics incredulously. After what must have been a solid minute and a half, a smile hastily re-formed on his face and he scrunched his eyes shut, like he suddenly remembered that he was acting out of character. Then he spoke.

"Urm, is there something you need...?"

Robin raised her eyebrows.

"Noo..." She drawled. "But you are behaving very strangely. Stranger than usual, I should say."

"Oh! Am I? Oh gosh, I didn't realize...I mean, I-I must have been so lost in thought that..err, what I mean to say is...DAYDREAMING! I was daydreaming! About blood. And bathtubs-BLOODBATHS!" Pointing a finger to the sky, he nearly leapt to his feet as he shouted the words at her. "Yup. I was daydreaming about bloodbaths. A good, old fashioned bloodbath." The last word cracked his voice and a slender hand flew to his mouth as if willing himself not to retch.

"O-K..." Robin mouthed, elongating each letter while she eyeballed him suspiciously. This was taking a turn for the weird, not to mention much longer than Chrom had given her when she requested a break. If she didn't move this along then the little time she was allotted would pass her by and she likely wouldn't get to see him till unbelievably late that night, when she finally trudged her way back to their tent, exhausted and grumpy from being overworked, and by then he'd already be sound asleep. He could act all kinds of weird another time.

Waving a hand dismissively, she softened her features and forgave his strange ways.

"Anyways, I needed a break. It's not even midday and I feel like my eyes might shrivel up from all the reading. I know, I know...'But I love to read'." She threw that last bit in when Henry opened his mouth, saying the words before he could. Slumping her shoulders she continued. "I'm just so tired lately, tired of planning, and fighting, and worry-...were you making flower bracelets?"

Casting her gaze down to where his knees met the grass, sat a small pile of tiny white flowers with quite a few of them missing their petals. She picked one up.

"They're not even connected. What in the world did you do to them?" Rolling the short stem between her thumb and forefinger, she delicately plucked the last remaining petal, letting it flutter back to the field. Henry kept quiet, only bringing a hand to his chin, curling a finger against his lips.

"Oh! You were doing flower fortunes, weren't you?"

He was the one to raise his eyebrows this time.

"Silly! You could have just said so!" Smiling wide, she reached a hand to his head and ruffled his white hair, enjoying the feel of it between her fingers a little too much.

"No need to be shy about it! Sumia does them all the time and for EVERYTHING. Not exactly a science though...actually, not a science at all...and definitely wasteful. Of both time and pretty flowers... " she giggled when his expression turned downcast."But they're still quite fun, especially when you're curious as to whether or not he likes you."

Winking, she giggled even more when he blushed at the flirty gesture.

"What's wrong? Cat got your tongue?" Tickling his nose with the tiny flower stem, she smirked when he rubbed the sleeve of his sweater roughly against his face to ease the sensation. Still, he said nothing.

"You're awfully quiet today. That's so not like you."

Deciding to take advantage of his silence(also, he was just too precious for his own good), she leaned forward on her knees, placing her hands in the grass on either side of his legs to steady herself, brought her face close to his and smiled sweetly as she went for his lips. Henry opened his eyes yet again.

"NOOOOOOO!" Placing his hands on her shoulders, and with just the right amount of force, he shoved her back onto her rear("What the hell, Henry?!"), then jumped to his feet. As he turned frantically on the spot, hands wringing together, he began to babble a string of hisses and distressed chatter.

"Oh gods, why did I ever agree to do this? Ugh, this was SUCH a bad idea! I'm so STUPID to think this would work, and now everyone is going to find out, and they're all going to think I'm weird! *Gasp* Ooh nooo!" He actually squealed.

"ExCUSE me? You had better not be referring to me, mister. You definitely agreed to this.". She held her ring hand up in emphasis. "In fact, it was your idea in the first place! You proposed to me, remember?" Her annoyance was back and in full swing. Furrowed brow and flushed cheeks announced it's presence but Henry didn't notice. He was still too busy chastising himself over gods knows what.

"Henry? Look at me. LOOK AT ME!"

Closing the distance he had created, she grabbed hold of his shoulders and shook as hard as she could. Shocked by Robins aggressiveness, he froze under her grip and stared, silver-grey eyes flashing in the sunlight.

"What. Is. Going. On." She said slowly, the confusion splayed out plainly on on her face. Henry watched her carefully. Then he crumbled. Heaving a sigh, he relaxed while in turn, she relaxed with him.

"Henry?..."

"Ugh, alright...just promise me you won't get mad."

"Huh? No, no I'm not going to promise that. Now tell me what is going on with you this instant!"

He took a small step back from her as he seemed to cower in on himself. She cocked her head quizzically, waiting for the big reveal.

"Well...I'm not really...Gods, how am I supposed to explain this?..."

Robin crossed her arms and tapped her foot, giving him the impression that she was waiting for his answer, and waiting rather impatiently.

"Well, you see...I'm not really...Henry..." His voice came out small and timid, and he even closed his eyes, ready to feel her wrath. Robin just stared.

"Riiight..."

"It's true! I'm actually...S-Sumia..." As if it would help 'her' case, Henry stooped down to gather the shredded flowers in his hands and held them out to her, like flower fortunes were perfect evidence. Actually, that made some sort of sense.

Robin held up a hand to cut him off but did not move to take the flower remains.

"So, if you're Sumia in Henry's body, then is Henry somewhere around camp...in your body?" She did not like where this was going. Not one bit.

Smiling triumphantly, Henry(Sumia) nodded his head vigorously, not caring when the movement allowed the flowers to cascade out of his hands and back to which they came.

"Yes! That's right!"

"I see..." She glanced sideways, feeling something rather unpleasant boil over in the pit of her stomach. They switched bodies? Her own husband, switched bodies, with another girl? Who was also married?

"Oh, I'm so glad you understand!" Henry(Sumia), clasped one of her hands in his own. "I was so worried that someone would find out and think it completely weird. But you're always so understanding and I'm SO glad it was you! Now we can go find Hen-"

Robin jerked her hand away, her face contorting to mirror the terrible feeling inside. How could he?

Without a word but with a glare that could kill, Robin turned on her heel and strode away, leaving Henry(Sumia) to stand in stunned silence.

After all this time. After all she put up with. His lack of social graces, his terrible jokes, his inability to stay where she could see him...and not once did he ever try do something like that for her. Not that she was eager for an out-of-body experience but it seemed so intimate that she would probably say yes.

And what of all the other times? Nowi didn't have many people willing to play with her but Robin found it sweet when he offered to be her playmate as well as solve her manakete problem. Shopping with Cordelia was harmless enough, even though it was an attempt to help her get over Chrom. She hadn't been invited but she still turned a blind eye. They were just friends after all. Then when Lissa complained of insomnia and he boasted the solution, she was more than a little surprised to find him napping under an apple tree as the princess slept soundly on his shoulder. It became a daily occurrence and she actually felt guilty when she voiced her opinions on the matter. Robin was nothing but patient and understanding. But this was going too far.

As she walked away from the paddock, anger and hurt storming within, after all this time, jealousy had finally reared it's ugly head.

-To be continued-