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“Funny…” Tiki mused aloud to herself as she stepped onto the beach, the creak of a wooden pier below her. “I find myself… nostalgic for an earlier time, almost as if I know this place from some forgotten time long since passed. Surely in all of my long life, I’ve been to the beach before!”
“The Divine Dragon, at a beach? Gracing everyone with her incredible beauty?” her wife murmured in her ear as she slipped her arms around Tiki’s slender waist. Tiki’s ears twitched, and she leaned her head into Robin’s own, the tactician’s chin on her shoulder. “And it never made any of the historical texts?”
“Perhaps it was a private beach,” Tiki said, turning in place to snuggle with her wife. “Perhaps there was nobody around to gawk and gossip at the sight of me.”
“Mhmmm, maybe. Say’ri looked distinctly uncomfortable at the sight of you, though I’m not sure why exactly…” Robin replied.
Tiki snorted, true she hadn’t worn this type of smallclothes before though apparently they were considered to be standard attire for the Hotrealm.
But, then, even if they covered very little, Robin definitely appreciated it. A little bow at her hips, and to her surprise, they even were her favorite colors. Of course, this realm’s Anna seemed to know just what everyone wanted to wear, and had the appropriate attire in stock.
…which absolutely meant she was making a small fortune, though the Shepherds' Anna had been kind enough to warn her sister about fear of reprisal from Tiki herself if the redhead went too far. Indeed, she hadn’t seen the merchant all day, after buying her swimsuit.
“I think she brought her swords along, just in case,” Robin said, fighting a smile. “I probably should do something about that later, but…”
The woman sighed in content as they walked down the beach, waves lapping at the shore and golden sand tickling their toes.
“For now, I just want to enjoy this, er, you,” Robin said, wrapping part of her coat around her wife. Even at the beach, the Tactician could not be persuaded to be parted with her signature piece of attire.
“Her swords, truly?” Tiki blinked, in surprise. She’d known Say’ri took her training seriously but all the same… “For practice?”
“Er…”
“Or, in case we’re attacked? Even here, on this peaceful resort?”
“Remember the hot springs?”
Tiki’s expression wrinkled, as if she’d smelled something foul.
“Oh yes, quite! At least those Risen didn't bleed, otherwise our trip would have been ruined! I still had to apologize to Anna for getting ashes all over her resort!”
Her face was somewhat flushed, though not from the heat.
“Still, now that you mention it, I can’t really blame poor Say’ri for being that justifiably paranoid about possible assaults. The dead, ironically, never seem to know real peace.”
“...That’s not, ah, why I think she brought her swords,” Robin said, sheepishly. “I’m not the only one who thinks you look even more attractive in a swimsuit… Let’s put it that way.”
“Ah,” Tiki said, the flush returning. “That is… unsurprising, but oh well. I’m used to having admirers, and it’s nice to know people think of me as a woman and not just Naga’s child.”
“Too bad, I saw you first,” Robin said, kissing her cheek. A belt had been attached to her bikini bottom, and on that belt, a small wicker basket. An octopus’s tentacles hung out of the basket, along with seaweed, all of which Tiki looked forwards to grilling and having for lunch later.
“Mhmmm, someone’s possessive today…” Tiki said, with a delighted shiver. “Suppose we should blame your dragon blood for that, then?”
She reached her arms around Robin’s neck, and leaned in, her breath tickling the other woman’s skin. Her tongue flicked out of her mouth, the Manakete purring in delight as she did so.
“Perhaps…”
Tiki stretched languidly, like a cat in the sun, and glanced towards the waters.
“I love the ocean. It always seems to go on forever…” she said, dragging her wife towards the sparkling blue. “And… I want to experience it with you, my dear Robin. So ditch the coat, and follow me!”
“I thought I was the one giving orders?” Robin teased.
“Only on the battlefield, my love!” Tiki said, splashing her wife with a swipe from her tail. Partially transforming, the dragon’s leafy appendage swished through the waters, stirring them up in playful fashion.
“Is that not what this is, now?” Robin said, splashing her back. “Here’s my strategy, tropical attack!”
Tiki’s laughter filled the air, and the ocean pooled around their legs. Tiki slid through the surf, and the foam and the dragon let out a sigh of content.
After everything she’d been through, this was what she really craved. Peace, upon humanity though who she’d wound up married to was another delight. If not, a complete surprise.
Grima, the Fell Dragon. His origins had been shrouded in mystery, and didn’t really matter now. He was dead, humanity forever rid of his long shadow. The only reminder of his existence was, ironically enough, by her side.
If you asked her what the vessel for her mother’s opposite would have been like, before meeting Robin, she would have probably given you a different picture than the one reality had gifted her. Someone foul, with far too many eyes and more horns than was really necessary, having given themselves over completely to dark magic’s thrall.
Robin was… none of those things, really. She was quiet, and the only thing she was hungry for was knowledge. She was, not at all threatening at first glance and hopelessly nerdy. Nothing Tiki had ever been expecting to be attracted to, but maybe that was why?
Most people expected the near-divine to be attracted to the fantastical, larger than life heroes of the era. The Ikes and the Hectors, those who could single-handedly change the tide of an entire battle just by showing up. Tiki stopped for a giggle. …well, she supposed Robin could certainly do that but Robin was more known for her intelligence than martial prowess. Brains trumped brawn any day. Smart was the next sexy if you asked Tiki about it.
“Something funny?” Robin leaned in, hands behind her back with an impish smile. “You’re giggly today. You’ve dropped your guard, that’s dangerous!”
With that, she splashed her wife, in a complete surprise attack!
“Stop, mercy! I am defeated!” Tiki said, shielding herself from the onslaught with her hands. “Mercy!”
She pretended to fall backwards in a defeated faint, before breaking into a fanged, playful smile. Her dragonstone, tied up into a necklace, glowed gold before merging with her skin. Skin became scales, and the white dragon blew her wife backwards with gusts from her leafy wings.
“That was a dirty trick,” Robin said, not really injured. Tiki resumed her human form, crawling up over her out of the surf and onto the sand.
“Are you injured?” Tiki said, moving up her body with peppered kisses. “Do you want me to kiss you all better…?”
The two snuggled in the sand, gentle waves tickling their toes with Robin’s coat serving as a makeshift blanket.
“Suddenly I don’t mind…” Robin breathed out, her breath tickling the other woman’s skin.
“I’m over 3000 years old, and you still make me feel like a young woman.”
“You are a young woman. …by dragon standards anyway,” Robin told her, a hand stroking her cheek. “Not that anyone would accuse you of being anything otherwise. You’re the healthiest three thousand year old I’ve ever seen.”
“It’s my skincare routine, I buy only the best moisturizer!”
“You keep Anna a very busy, and very rich woman.”
“Oh well, I collect this and that, and well every few hundred years you realize you have so much junk lying around the house you don’t have any use for,” Tiki said. “So there’s naught much to do but donate it to the poor.”
“Well, I doubt Anna’s anything but poor!”
“Well, haven’t you heard? All of her wealth is going to charity now,” Tiki said, eyes flashing and her playful smile returning. “I heard she was convinced to have a change of heart.”
“Oh, did she now?” Robin said. “She must have been given a very persuasive argument.”
“Something like that!”
-----
“Stop moving, you…” Robin murmured, stabbing at a tide pool with a trident. “Oh, just you wait! I’m going to make a meal out of you yet!”
“Well now,” Tiki said, from nearby, peering out from behind a pair of sunglasses. “That’s certainly not going to convince the fish to stop swimming about now is it? Now it’s going to swim for its life.”
“That just makes the capture more thrilling then!” Robin said, thrusting downwards.
“If you want… I could lend a hand. Very few things escape a dragon’s maw, after all.”
“You’d just slurp the fish down whole!”
“That I would, true,” Tiki said. “But I’d still get fed then, wouldn’t I?”
Eventually, Robin did manage to stab herself a very large fish. It sat, impaled on her trident, like a giant fork waiting for its inevitable fate.
“Elfire!” Robin shouted, to a pile of wood. The tome flipping open, a fireball rushed out, igniting the wood ablaze.
“That’s a bit much, isn’t it?” Tiki commented, one hand sneaking towards the fish. Robin, without even looking in her direction, slapped the greedy hand away. She let out a disappointed whine, before saying: “You could just strike some rocks together.”
“Well, I couldn’t use a perfectly good Bolganone just to start a simple fire could I? I’d risk setting the whole beach ablaze, and then I’d have hell to pay from Anna for ruining everyone else’s vacation!”
“Yes, that would be something to explain to Chrom wouldn’t it? Why so much of Ylisse’s war chest got spent on reparations to Anna.”
“He’s already got it so rough as it is,” Robin nodded. “Sometimes I think
he’s
the one who needs the vacation! Not us!”
“Ah, but summer only comes once a year,” Tiki said, opting to snuggle up to her as the flames crackled and bathed the lovely couple in an orange glow. “Enjoy it while it lasts, dear Robin. You’ve done so much, you deserve a break too!”
Her hands squeezed Robin’s, a gentle wind blowing Tiki’s ponytail in the breeze.
“And I… want to spend it carefree with you. We fought for this peace, shed tears and bled for it. Don’t take it for granted. And this… all of this? This summer has filled me with the joy of a child. I find myself wishing it would not end, even though it must. So I don’t intend on wasting this one.”
The wind blew Robin’s coat around them, and Tiki took it as a hint from her mother to snuggle up into her wife. She buried her head in her love’s neck, with a happy sigh with her hands resting wrapped around her.
“You’re right, of course,” Robin said, tenderly, kissing her forehead. “I’m just not used to… well, I don’t think I’ve got many memories of actually being able to relax. I should be greedy, every once in a while.”
“I’ve seen thousands of summers, and tis true, I’ve spent them with others,” Tiki said. “But none have ever been you, my love. You… well, there have been none like you, and take it from me. That’s not something I ever say often. Now, we feast!”
Robin laughed, and soon all of her stresses were forgotten once again. The sun, the sand, the surf. She’d cherish this time, because she knew better than anyone how limited ones’ time was with those they’d bonded with. Those bonds should be cherished, and taken as gifts.
Looking at Tiki, she didn’t see her as the Divine. She saw her as her wife, and the happy life ahead of them. Her bond, an invisible tie having pulled them together, did so for an eternity.
fin