Hello! Yes, I realize it's been a while, and I have no other excuses besides new job, life in general, and just general laziness on my part. But I recently got hit with a blast of inspiration, and I wanted to get this out before it fizzled.

So, you know that mechanic in the new Fire Emblem games where you can get two characters into a romantic relationship? Well, one thing that's intrigued me is why it doesn't affect the main story (just some added dialogue would be all we'd need). Then, something happened in my playthrough of "Birthright" that I just couldn't leave hanging.

So, I case it wasn't clear, there will be spoilers here (nothing too major, but it is still there).

Disclaimer: I do not own the Fire Emblem video game series. I wasn't even all that familiar with it until Fates.

Fight On

Rinkah waited impatiently for Kaze to return to their shared tent; he said he had wanted to talk to Corrin about something in private, but that had been almost an hour ago. Not that she was worried. Between his ninja training and the fact that Corrin was with him, even if there was a surprise Nohrian ambush, they should be able to hold their own long enough to at least sound the alarm. Still, she was inwardly glad that Hinoka decided to check on them.

Rinkah sighed. She often wondered how she and Kaze became the happy… sort of… couple they were. They first met in one of the most unromantic places in the world: a prison cell in the Nohrian castle dungeon. At first, his calm demeanor annoyed her greatly. He rarely ever spoke, and when he did, it was only to make small talk, the absolute last thing Rinkah wanted to hear. She had been hoping that his meditating was in concentration for a grand escape, and all he seemed to want was to chitchat. Not that she had any ideas herself, but she at least tried to make sure that the guards were just as miserable as she was. But she had to admit, seeing Kaze absolutely calm despite their all-too-likely impending doom made her slightly jealous.

After they finally managed to escape, with some help from the Nohrian princes of all people, they stuck together, if only out of necessity for the journey back to Hoshido. It wasn't until sometime after, when the fight against Nohr took its darkest turns yet, that they actually started to grow closer. It started with Kaze offering a bag of fried dough rolls. Rinkah knew she had a weak spot for sweets (part of her had wondered how Kaze knew of this, though she just chalked it up to some ninja nonsense), but she initially rebuffed him, not wanting to appear weak to anyone, least of all the person who had seen her be too strong-headed back in the dungeons. Still, Kaze persisted, and despite her assertions, she eventually found herself indulging; she had convinced herself it was only for his benefit, as he had gone out of his way just for her.

Finally, Kaze just confessed his true intentions: he loved her. Rinkah was somewhat surprised to hear that, partly because she thought there was some ninja code or something that forbade such relationships, but also because he said he loved her. What had he possibly seen in her to make him think of her as a romantic partner? And perhaps more puzzling, why did she seem to want this as well? Perhaps it was precisely because he had seen something in her. Very few people were willing to stay with her for long due to her admittedly abrasive nature. But Kaze was the first person in recent memory who actually wanted to spend time with her, not counting their prison days.

The bottom line: she could certainly do worse.

Their marriage was somewhat hasty (constantly being on the move provided little time to actually do such things properly), but having it presided by Hinoka's monk/retainer had to count for something. And thus their lives had been for the last few months as they and the rest of their entourage journeyed from their home in Hoshido to the enemy strongholds of Nohr. At present, they were resting from a rough battle against a wolfskin tribe; Rinkah was certain she'd be applying vulnerary to her wounds for the next week. All she wanted was to sleep the night away with a certain someone to comfort her.

She heard something like footsteps approaching, causing her heart to jump. Although she all but knew it was just Corrin coming back, likely with Kaze in tow, Rinkah grabbed her club, just in case, before going through the tent flap. Fortunately, as per her suspicions, it was indeed Corrin and… Hinoka? And Kaze was nowhere to be seen. She felt her heart jump again. The two were walking straight towards her tent.

"Where's Kaze?" she asked them as they came close. "I thought he was with you."

Corrin and Hinoka looked at each for a brief moment. Corrin sighed. "Rinkah," he started; he seemed solemn. "Something… terrible has happened." Rinkah said nothing, so he continued. "Kaze and I were talking, he was thinking about becoming my personal retainer, and, suddenly, the cliff we were standing on just gave out. I almost fell, but he caught me. Then he… He threw me upwards where Hinoka was able to catch me," he motioned to his sister beside him, "but before we could get him… The cliff collapsed even more…"

"What are you saying?" Rinkah demanded. Of course, part of her seemed to know the answer already, but she wanted to hear it for herself; heck, maybe she was wrong and she was merely imagining a worst case scenario.

"He's gone, Rinkah," Hinoka answered, just as solemnly as Corrin. "Kaze's gone."

For the third time in the last few minutes, Rinkah felt her heart jump, this time, threatening to spring from right out of her mouth. She breathed to steady herself. She faced the two with an even look, one that was practically her trademark. "I see," she finally said, as stoically as she could muster. "Thank you for telling me." She turned around.

"Rinkah," Corrin started, "I'm—!"

"If it's alright with you, I'll take the first watch," Rinkah interrupted.

There was a pause. "Are… Are you sure?" Corrin asked. "I mean, if you wanted to take a moment and rest, we'd understand."

"Trust me," she replied. "I'll be able to think about this better with a more alert mind." Without waiting for a response, she walked off into the middle of the camp.

The night was quiet. Rinkah didn't expect to encounter anything. Nohrian forces wouldn't have come up this way with the wolfskin in the area, and the wolfskin themselves had just learned to fear the might of Corrin and the rest of the Hoshidans. Their camp was set up in a wooded area, hopefully providing them with enough cover to remain unseen. With all this in mind, Rinkah was quite certain they, and especially she, would be left alone.

Despite her best efforts, Rinkah's natural tendencies toward stoicism were never as strong when she felt flustered or surprised. And learning that Kaze was dead came as quite the blow. She looked around the campsite; everything was still quiet. Still clutching her club, she stood up from the rock she was sitting on and walked over to the edge of the camp, where the trees started to get closer together. She turned around for a moment, making sure she could still see the camp. Satisfied that she could, she turned to one of the trees. Then she swung her club at it.

She left a fairly sizable dent in the trunk. She breathed a couple times, then swung again. For the next few minutes, that was all she did; hitting her club against whatever object was closest, whether it was in front of her, to the side, or even behind. With every strike, she could feel her anger slowly building. She moved between one-handed strikes to two-handed randomly. Her eyes began to sting. Finally, she had gotten tired of trees and found a large rock. With one overhead swing using both hands, the club cracked the rock in two. Rinkah breathed for a moment.

Then she fell on her knees and wept.

"Why?" she whispered. "Why did you leave me?"

"I know we all have our hobbies," she heard, "but couldn't yours be a little less… destructive?" She stood to face the speaker, but he was nowhere to be found.

But she knew that voice. "And I suppose you sneaking up on me is yours?" she challenged, her voice still recovering from her sobs.

"Please, if I wanted to sneak up on you, you'd never even know I was here." A figure stepped out of the shadows of foliage, revealing Saizo, looking just as stoic and calm as ever, more so the Rinkah herself ever could.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Just wanted to see how you were holding up," he replied. "I could tell that this whole thing would be difficult for you."

'"Difficult?" she repeated. "For me? And why doesn't it affect you? You were his brother! If anything, you should be more distraught than I am!"

"We ninja have a saying," Saizo answered. "'Mourn, but do not miss, for death is inevitable.' I have mourned, and now I will carry on with my life."

"Well, good for you! I mean, he was only your brother and my husband. Why should we care about him not being there anymore?"

"There's a point where mourning turns to depression. If you dwell on that, you'll lose sight of what you do have."

"And what do I have?" Rinkah asked. "With Kaze, I can honestly say I was happy, probably for the first time ever. He treated me like a human being. It was a feeling I never knew I wanted to feel until he opened up to me. Now I can't ever feel that again. All because he decided to throw himself off a cliff."

Saizo's good eye widened. "Are you insinuating that he meant for this to happen?" he said. His voice was even, but Rinkah could hear the accusation in his voice.

She sighed. "Okay, maybe that was a poor choice of words," she admitted. "But he just… left us behind. I don't care if you are a ninja; losing your own flesh and blood can't be easy for you. Imagine what it's like for me." She started growing quiet. "I loved him. We were close. What we had was a bond that ran deeper than any familial relationship ever could. Now it's like he's torn away from me. And partly by choice. I could take it if he died in battle or something like that, but this…" She finally stopped and let a few more tears fall. She brought her arm up to wipe them away.

She froze for a moment when she felt a hand touch her shoulder. "If it's any consolation," Saizo said, "his death means we all will continue the fight."

Rinkah turned to face him. "What does that even mean?"

"Kaze died while saving Corrin's life," Saizo explained. "Without Corrin, we wouldn't be here now. We'd be stuck within our own kingdom just waiting for something to happen. But even after tragedy struck, Corrin gave us strength, hope, and the will to fight on. There is no doubt Kaze knew that if something happened to him, we would be as good as lost." He put his free hand on Rinkah's other shoulder and turned her to face him. "Kaze died not just for Corrin's sake, but for yours, mine, and everyone else in this camp."

Rinkah just looked away. She couldn't argue with Saizo's words, but they didn't make the pain leave her completely.

Saizo finally let go of her. "Get some rest. I'll take over watch duty. And I will not accept your refusal." Rinkah said nothing as she found herself obeying his demand.

Rinkah woke up about an hour before dawn. The entire army needed to leave as soon as possible, preferably when there wasn't as much light that would give away their position. She was slightly surprised when she noticed that her bed was empty on one side, but her mood soon turned to sorrow when she remembered why it was empty. Feeling the onset of tears coming, she immediately started packing her supplies. She didn't want to dwell on Kaze any longer than she had to, especially when her comrades would no doubt bombard her with condolences for the rest of the day (she especially wasn't looking forward to dealing with Sakura and Azura; emotional and inspirational did not make a great combination for her).

As she put many of the smaller, lighter objects in her rucksack, she noticed something next to Kaze's side of the bed. It was small and black, with cordlike attachments spreading out from it. Rinkah recognized this as Kaze's ninja mask. He always wore it whenever a battle was certain. She never understood it, but she never found an argument against it either.

As she looked at it, though, she realized something; what would she do with Kaze's belongings? Some of his supplies, she could probably take for herself, but she couldn't pack everything. She didn't have the slightest clue how to use his weapons (most of them were shuriken, and Rinkah preferred weapons with a little more weight to them). And there was no way she could wear Kaze's clothes; her body was too muscular for a ninja's form-fitting apparel.

"Maybe there's some room in the convoy?" she asked herself. "But he left so much behind." She started to feel down again. "Including me."

Rinkah turned back to the mask. She picked it up and studied it. "What would you say to me at a time like this, Kaze?" she wondered aloud.

"That this doesn't feel like the woman I married, for one."

"Hey, losing a husband isn't exactly a regular thing for me."

"Even so, you don't normally display this much emotion."

"And you're saying that's a bad thing? I thought you wanted me to be more open."

"Open, maybe. But the Rinkah I know wouldn't give up just because things got difficult."

"Give up?! Who says I've given up?"

"All you've done since you heard the news was avoid others when you could, replace your emotions with actions, and even almost accuse me of intentionally killing myself."

"I took it back!" Rinkah defended. "And I didn't 'avoid' Saizo last night."

"Only because he provoked you into talking."

"…Have I ever mentioned that I hate that guy?"

"A few times, I'm sure."

"I'm not too crazy about you right now, either."

"Which, if the time we've spent together has taught me anything, is just your way of saying, 'I love you.'"

"…"

"Saizo's right, though; you can't spend the rest of your life dwelling on me. You sure didn't act this way back at Krakenburg."

Rinkah just sighed. "So what should I do?"

"Do what you did when we first met. Do what I died for. Don't give up and fight on."

Rinkah wasn't sure if that conversation had taken place entirely in her head, but she had to admit; Kaze was right.

She took the mask in her hands and put it up to her face. As she tied the strings behind her head, she was surprised by how well she was able to breathe, almost like the mask wasn't there. Once she finished tying, she found that the mask fit around her face almost perfectly.

"I will fight, Kaze," she said, as if Kaze could still hear her. "And you're gonna watch me do it."

Her spirits lifted, Rinkah went right back to packing.

Fin

Hope you all enjoyed this. This is CF signing out.