A Key to Peace

Author's notes :

Alright people ! Starting a new fic to celebrate the end of my first year of college (guess there's no other equivalent to what I'm doing, eh ?), and what better way to find motivation then to write about my latest passion ? That's right : just discovered Fire Emblem Fates, and I'm absolutely in love with the idea (more than with the actual game, to be honest). So yeah, the whole concept gave me many ideas, and one of them is the following : what if Mikoto and Arete never had to flee from Valla ? What if there had always been three kingdoms in the continent (whatever it is called) ? How would the war happen, what role would the characters have ? And, you guessed it, that's just what I want to write about.

So there should be no spoilers concerning the games, since it will be a completely different story. Some characters may not appear – I can tell for sure that Inigo/Laslow, Owain/Odin and Selena/Severa won't (meaning that Wander, Camilla and Leo will have different retainers), since Anankos won't need them in this version. Some other characters won't have the same personality, especially the siblings, since the Hoshidans will never lose the avatar (and therefore never feel the need to put him on a pedestal) and the Nohrians won't have to deal with a father controlled by Anankos. That's also true for Corrin and Kamui – because yeah, they're going to be twins – whose personalities most likely will not ressemble that of the games.

And without further due, let's start !

Prologue : Frail little home

No star could be seen from the dining room's windows. Lilith thought it was fitting. There was something lugubrious about that evening, and even more so, about the room in itself. Yet the meeting had started peacefully – she would even dare say happily. She remembered the look on her father's face when he and King Cratos had shaken hands with the Hoshidan and Nohrian Kings, the former wearing a white formal attire that apparently served as a reminder of his traditional armor, the latter, looking rather impressive, although dashing, in his black outfit. She also remembered how the queen and her sister had come, only a few minutes afterwards, to welcome not only the upper mentionned kings, but their respective wives and children as well. The young girl, hidden in the shadows as she had been ordered, had watched all eight of them – four on each side, with two boys and two girls for each family – and thought it could be nice to befriend them. She had never seen so many children inthe Vallite castle in ages, and although her step-brother and step-sister were more than nice enough towards her, just as the Crown princess, she longed for the friendship of ne people. Ideally, people like them, who would not have to appreciate her just because she was a relative.

When had it all crumbled ? She couldn't say. Everything was fine, she was helping her youngest sibling reaching for his glass of water ; and the following moment, there were shouts from the adults' side, and she had to hush the other children so as not to infuriate their parents more. A woman – she believed her name was Ikona, and it seemed that she was the Hoshidan queen – took a moment to ask them to go play in the gardens, which they did. Although as she left, Lilith could have sworn that she had seen her father clenching fists – something she had never seen him do before.

The blue-haired girl's father, Anankos, was best known for his dragon powers. He might have looked like an ordinary man, but she knew, as most people, that his true form was that of a terrific creature, whose destructive nature could make him destroy the country, and perhaps all countries... if it weren't for the Stone of the pendant, a dragonstone of sorts that, when activated by a specific song, would appease him, and which had been passed down for generations within the royal family. Queen Arete just has to sing a little, and Father will calm down, his oldest child thought to herself. It will be alright.

"Liiiliith, you comin' ?"

With a surprised jump, the girl turned to meet two pairs of crimson eyes. She sighed.

"Sure. Let's go."

With those words, the descendant of the strongest dragon in existence took her siblings' hands to follow the foreign children into the gardens. Her younger brother, Kamui, was pretty much pulling her outside – no matter how weak the dragonblood in his blood could be, he was still stronger than most children of his age and stature, and took advantage of the absence of adults around them to put his strenght to good use. Opposite him was Corrin, his twin-sister – the one who had inherited most of their father's powers, and who, as such, had been used from an early age to control herself. Lilith knew if she had wanted to, she could have easily carried her brother up to the highest tower of the castle with only mild tiredness. The twins were an odd pair – that, the other royal siblings understood quickly enough. The boy was sociable enough, and sometimes a little headstrong ; the girl, quiet and secretive, made her best not to bother anyone, much like the Crown princess, who had taken the lead of the numerous group.

It was quite a pity, though, that there was so little light outside. Usually the moon and stars would bathe the place with an unreal atmosphere, making every flower glow white and her grass blade imitate the sharpness of a sword. On that fateful night, no constellation could be seen, and the children felt like they had entered a dark room, filled with monsters waiting to devour them in every corner, rather than a new playground. Not that the royal children seemed interested in games anyway. The youngest could barely talk, much less walk, and the oldest had already accepted their position as heirs to a great kingdom, making their slender shoulders carry an invisible weight. They too seemed quite odd.

"We should probably return inside", Corrin whispered with a shaky breath. Lilith turned to her and discovered she was now holding the hand of the youngest Hoshidan princess. She couldn't have been older than three, perhaps four years old, and her vivid pink hair constrasted with the paleness of her milky skin. Sakura, as her older brother called her, was rubbing her eyes and yawning while resting in the older girl's arms. "We could just go tell Father and Mother, and stay in... right ?"

"It wouldn't be wise", came the answer from the Crown prince of Nohr, Xander. His golden locks swayed as he passed a hand in his hair, looking uncomfortable with all the gazes focusing on him. "It looked like they had important things to discuss. We should not bother them – not now, at least."

"But it's cold outside", his youngest sibling muttered with teary eyes.

"Shh, there, there, my sweet Elise", her sister sang softly as she hugged her.

Lilith took notice that the youngest looked tired ; in all honesty, she had to admit that it was late, even for her own siblings, who didn't dare complain because they had been told several times that it was a great night. But as much as she wanted to leave the dreary place to find the comfort of her bed, she had no right to take that decision alone. From the beginning of the evening, she had felt something, and now it became clear : if there was a world of the adults, with its own rules and hierarchy, then the children's was the same. There were three heirs to a crown among them, and two princesses older than Lilith – which made for a total of five people she simply couldn't order around like they were her siblings. Nevertheless, it was getting cold outside, and there was a smell of rain in the air – that, she was certain, for her dragon senses were more acute than most people's – so she turned politely to the Crown princess of Valla, and asked timidly what she proposed. Azura, first and only daughter of King Cratos and Queen Arete, with her hair as blue as the skies and her eyes as yellow as a dragon's – with a figure that, by many accounts, recalled Lilith's – turned to face her, her hands shivering anxiously. Their gazes met in the silence of the night, and the heiress gave a nod of understanding before smiling a lovely smile.

"Please, follow me. We shall find a room to rest calmly."

That's the princess for you, Lilith thought, following her lead. Quite the leader already. Prince Ryoma of Hoshido thanked her with the utmost respect, soon imitated by his younger brother, Takumi ; as for Prince Xander, he messed with Elise's hair to wake her up, and went to Azura's side afterwards. Lilith waited for her own siblings, leaving them at the front. She looked around and saw mostly unfamiliar faces : Princess Hinoka, holding her little brother's hand as he tried to keep up with his oldest sibling's pace ; Princess Camilla and Prince Leo, walking together to prevent their younger sister from getting lost ; Corrin carrying Sakura, behind the rest of the troup, trying her best not to fall or to wake the tiny girl up... Where was Kamui, however ? She would have sworn that he had been together with Corrin until now ! His sister felt her heart racing in her chest as she couldn't find any trace of his white, messy hair. Oh, gods, where did he... ?

"Big sis, are you coming ?", the twin sister called up, bringing the lbue-haired dragon descendant back to earth. She looked at her, and saw a calm glimmer in the depth of her crimson eyes. Further down the hallway, Kamui had reached Azura and the oldest boys, and walked beside them with no worry whatsoever. Lilith sighed, feeling suddenly tired as she had never been, and nodded to the other twin, whom she accompagnied to the room chosen by their future queen.

Kamui stood up hurriedly to close the window shut – it didn't help much, but at least the rain ould be kept outside. At the following flash of lightning, Lilith hid under a blanket, and heard someone else, probably Princess Hinoka, letting out a small cry. The Vallite girl bit her lip, unwilling to be seen crying by those foreign princes and princesses, but couldn't refrain herslef from shaking like a leaf under the wind. The storm had reached them earlier than she had predicted it, much to the group's terror. That was yet another thing that separated her from her siblings : she was a nervous wreck at the first sign of thunder, while neither Kamui nor Corrin seemed particularly frightened by that sight. The former was hugging Princess Hinoka, as she was hugging him, like their lives depended on it. The latter had built a fort with blankets and pillows, found in a closet, for the others to hide in, and could be seen rocking the youngest princes to sleep. Lilith tried her best to appear calm and collected, but... why was she even trying ? Soon enough, she had begun crying and found it safer to stay within the cocoon of her own blanket until the storm stopped. As much as she hated to admit it, she couldn't help but notice how the heirs acted – all dignified, strong and fearless, contrary to the rest of them. It seemed like they were not cut out of the same wood – and it made her feel guilty of not being as good as them. A pair of strong, warm arms pulled the girl out of her misery and into a tight embrace.

"P-Princess Camilla ?"

"It's just me", the young lady declared softly. "Come here."

And she took her into the fort, where the youngest princesses had somehow fallen asleep among some dolls while the youngest princes held onto Corrin's hands to forget about the lightning. Lilith came out of her shell unwillingly, and, before she could say anything, the purple-haired princess slipped her way next to her. The Vallite girl blushed at the Nohrian's closeness, but assumed immeadiately that it would be alright : Camilla embraced her tightly, as she would any of her siblings, and started murmuring into her ear that everything would be alright, that she was safe, that the storm would die out, that she didn't need to fear anything – because she was there. Lilith had never, or at least too rarely to remember, felt as safe as within the arms of the princess. It felt warm and she smelled so good, like a thousand different roses – for once, Lilith didn't mind if she had been seen crying.

As the night went on slowly, tirying the storm out until it was nothing but a distant memory, the children started playing as quietly as they could so as not to wake their sleeping siblings. Azura found a way to the sleeping forms of Elise and Sakura, and sang a lovely lullaby to wish them sweet dreams. Corrin made funny faces until Hinoka laughed again, and eventually Ryoma joined them ; Lilith didn't quite catch what he told them, but in any case, it sent the two running across the room, with the young boy running to catch them, all the while chuckling to himself. Xander found a book somewhere, and helped Corrin out by reading a few tales to the boys, who didn't want to leave her side, even though she didn't understand why. They must be like me, Lilith told herself. They think they will be scared if she isn't there. I can see why...

"Do you feel better now ?", Camilla's voice let out a low sigh.

"Y-Yes... If I am bothering you, I can..."

"Oh, what are you saying ? You are not bothering me at all. But you looked so worried before." She gently stroke a few of her locks to get a better view of her face. "You look so cute now ! I am happy to see you like this !"

"Really ? You... Do you really think I look cute ?" Camilla nodded, Lilith felt herself grin. "I think you look cuter !"

"That can't be possible !"

And the two of them started giggling softly, in their own little world. One of the two proposed they played a game to get to know each other better, and so, ignoring Azura's song, Xander's reading and Ryoma's game of catch, they whispered secrets to each other, telling everything about their lives in Valla and Nohr, about their siblings, their parents... about the hardships they could meet from time to time : Lilith revealed that she was not Mikoto's daughter, only Anakos' – an oddity she found hard to explain due to her young age, but which she knew would make it impossible for her to inherit the throne – and Camilla admitted that her mother, who wasn't the queen but merely one of King Garon's many concubines, was extremely competitive towards the others, and pushed her to be second in line of succession. There was clearly something more to those stories, but neither felt to comfortable talking too much, and before the conversation could become awkward, the door to the room opened, and a blue-haired man glanced at the children. Azura and the other Vallite girls being in the fort, Kamui was the first one to react :

"Uncle Cratos !", he exclamed, rushing to meet him.

"Hey there, little one !", Cratos chuckled as he messed with his white hair. "You scared us all to death, you know that ? We have been wondering for quite a while where you had all disappeared."

"I am so sorry, Father", Azura apologized. "I was the one who led everyone in here, because it was too dark outside for us to play, and I thought..."

"You did well, darling. Now, all of you, come out. Let's go find your parents, alright ?"

"But Uncle," Corrin said, "Elise and Sakura are already sleeping." And it didn't look as if Leo and Takumi would let her get up either. Cratos blinked, went to their homemade nest, and let out a small laugh of understanding.

"Well then, we can't have the princesses woken up at this unholy hour, don't you agree ? Stay in here, I'll come back."

The Vallite king then disappeared in a similar fashion to how he had arrived, leaving the children to their cozy nest. All of them gathered under the blankets, where it was safe and warm and quiet, even a restless Kamui, who pouted when he noticed there was no room left next to his twin or step-sister, forcing him to stick to his cousin. Leo was the first to break the silence :

"So we're going to go home now ?"

The young boy didn't look confident as to what the arrival of their parents meant, but his intuition seemed like the correct one. In the silence surrounding them, each of them suddenly felt alone, as if the only way for them to feel at ease was staying like this, in their frail little home, together. It didn't matter that they came from different countries – from waring countries, even – ; to them, that night spent sharing fears and warmth far from the sight of any man and woman was already one of their fondest memories.

"Well, that means we're going to have to meet again !", Kamui decided with his brightest smile. "So we can play together again !"

"That would be nice, indeed", Azura agreed.

"I don't know... we might not see each other for a long time...", Xander told them. "I mean... our parents met tonight to find a peaceful solution to the tensions between our knigdoms, but... if they haven't found any..."

"Yeah, I know what you mean", Ryoma muttered under his breath. "But," he gave them a warm glance, "whatever happens, one day, we will most likely be able to meet again. We should just hold onto that."

Camilla glanced towards Lilith, who nodded happily. The children exchanged wishes from their new friends, and promised to definitely meet again one day, like this, without worrying about any war or any tensions. Then the adults interrumpted their farewells, and they were split into three groups, as they had been at the beginning of the evening. Sakura and Elise, as they woke up, started screaming and crying louder than ever before. Somehow, that felt fitting as well.

Years later -

"So today's the day, huh ?"

"Seems so... I'm going to miss you, brother."

"And I you, sister. Take care."

Azura gave her mother a sad smile as they watched silently the twins' farewell. Arete kissed her daughter's forehead with a proud look on her face, before commenting on how strong she was. The Crown princess chuckled lovingly ; she didn't think of herself as strong, or even as powerful, but she needed to be, or to look the part : the journey they were going on would certainly be easier for her than for her cousins. As years passed, she had grown into a beautiful woman and a talented songstress, much like her mother, but from where she stood, the children of Anankos and Mikoto were even more unique. Kamui turned to meet her gaze and forced a grin into his hardened features. A lock of his hair fell before his eyes, and she wished she could just reach out to pin it his ear as she had done, years before, with her father. He no longer looked like the boy he had been. All his training and studies had molded him into a tall yet slender young man and a fine swordsman. Rumor had it his father had once explained to him that his duty as Azura's cousin was to protect her, even if he wasn't her direct successor, and that the boy had taken this information to heart, working more intently than any knight to become her one protector. His dragon blood must have been weaker than his sisters, for he lacked the ability to transform into one, but it still affected his features : no one could miss the sharpness of his gaze or the strange shape of his ears. As for Corrin, she had turned her back on any form of martial training, preferring tomes to swords and axes ; she had even become a brilliant strategist and scholar. Although she was far from extroverted, many found her attractive, with her straight, long hair and haunting eyes – and it was a fact well known around the palace that she wore the dark mage outfit better than anyone.

"They will be fantastic in court, don't you think ? Of course, that goes for you and Lilith too."

"I know. Yet I can't help but feel worried... they are not used to being separated like this."

"Well... unfortunately, they will have to cross that line one day or another. And if they're occupied, perhaps they won't notice it too much ?"

I don't believe it will be so easy, Mother... As the diplomatic tensions between Nohr and Hoshido grew stronger, Valla decided to make a move to ensure some stability with both nations. And what better way of making peace than with a marriage ? It had been decided, without the Vallite children's opinion, that Azura, Crown princess of Valla, and Kamui, third in line of succession, would spend some time at the Hoshidan court, while Corrin, second in line, and Lilith, fourth in line of succession, would go to the Nohrian one. Their goal was, first and foremost, to ease the tensions from the inside – however difficult that could be – and, if possible, to find a spouse among the royal families. Marrying a Vallite to any of those princes and princesses would allow Arete to have some influence on Sumeragi and Garon – not only as friends, but as allies. Azura's choice, more than anything, would be of the utmost importance. She was the Crown princess, after all.

"Well, it's time to go, now. Goodbye, Mother. I will be waiting for your letter."

"Yes, and I for yours. Be safe, my child."

The twins hugged one last time before kissing their parents' cheeks and hearing their final pieces of advice. Then Lilith appeared and joined them, her yellowish eyes burning with tears as she embraced her father and Mikoto, then Kamui. He kissed her on the forehead to wish her a good journey, and she returned the gesture with a smile. By the time Azura had managed to reach them, a servant announced that their carriages were ready and waiting for them. She merely had the time to kiss her cousins goodbye before leaving. Leaving for Hoshido, in her case.

Corrin, Lilith, I wish you a safe travel to Nohr. May you find what you are looking for there. But more than anything else : stay safe. This is not Valla we are talking about. I hope... you will be alright.

Final comments !

So after the timeskip, here are the ages for the main characters :

Azura / Corrin / Kamui : 20

Lilith : 21

Xander / Ryoma : 25

Camilla / Hinoka : 22

Leo / Takumi : 19

Elise / Sakura : 16

Next chapter will introduce the siblings of each country (and their retainers) as they are now. You will find that they have grown into different characters, quite often, but I'll do my best to tie their behaviour and personality to those of the games. Also, in case you were wondering about the avatar's retainers, they will appear at some point, but not necessarily how you'd expect... Now then, till next chapter !