Dawn hadn't broken yet, but the sky was no longer a void. Dull sunlight bleached the early morning a deep, dark, red. Shigure's fingers were wrapped around the straps of his bag, knuckles white. To think he could be doing this, to think he could lie to everyone, including his mother, about where he was going. What he was doing? His mother would be furious if she found out about his lie. Well, maybe not furious, but most definitely disappointed and that alone made his spine shiver uncomfortably.
It was winter and the morning dew was frozen on the grass. It would make a lovely painting but alas, his painting supplies are packed in his bag along with some clothes, necessities, and a few other things he made sure to securely hide just in case. To everyone in camp, he'd be gone for two days. In actuality, he'd be gone for two weeks. Growing up, he'd hated how fast time flew by in the Deeprealms, but now he was thanking the Gods for it.
"Are you ready?" Corrin had a playful grin on her face as she approached him, her bag slung over her shoulders.
"Of course. Are you?" he responded. The butterflies in his stomach started whirling as soon as he laid eyes on her. To be making this trip with her, to be alone with her for two weeks was a dream come true. And for a short while, it was enough to make him forget about his guilt. Corrin motioned for him to follow her and they started to make their way out of the fort and out of the astral plane.
"Wait!" Shigure and Corrin halted, turning over their shoulders to see Azura hurrying towards them, clutching a robe over her nightgown.
"Mother?" Shigure inquired and the alarm bells went off in his head. This was it. She'd found about them and knew where they were going. She was going to forbid him from seeing Corrin and she'd disown her best friend and adopted sister and then -
"I wanted to see you two off," she told them. "Be careful out there. With the war going on, I can't help but worry about you two."
"We'll be fine, Azura," Corrin said. She opened her arms and Azura fell into her for a hug. "Shigure and I fight well together. We'll take care of each other."
"I know, but a mother can't help but worry." Guilt twisted in his stomach like a knife and to make things worse, Azura let go of Corrin and pulled Shigure into a hug, getting on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
"I love you, Shigure. Be cautious and alert," she told him.
"I will, Mother," he nodded. She let go and he gave her a small wave as he and Corrin made their way outside of the fort. They turned down the path towards the nearest big city. That's where they had told everyone they would be going, but truthfully they were sneaking off into a Deeprealm.
It was selfish and wrong and they both knew it. To be running off for a few weeks while a war raged on. It took months of deliberating and even now Shigure still felt queasy about it. But they needed this. No one in the army would understand his and Corrin's love for each other. He was an adult and he could make his own decisions, yet everyone viewed him as a child. In their time, he'd only been alive for a few months. Hell, his mother was still losing the pregnancy weight. They would never understand his love for Corrin and in this world, they could never be together.
At least, not publicly.
The portal to the Deeprealm glimmered in between some trees and Shigure's heart started to race. Just beyond the tear was freedom. Corrin's fingers slid into the spaces between his. She flashed him a sly grin, one that made the butterflies in his stomach flutter and the heat sink to a rather sensitive area.
"Are you ready?" she asked.
"More than," he said with a smile. Squeezing her hand tight, he walked by her side into the portal and into the Deeprealm, into a place where they could love each other freely.
But perhaps, he wondered as he and Corrin waltzed into the small shack they would call home for the next two weeks. Once the war ends, we can run away. We can go somewhere and start fresh, we can be somewhere where no one knows us and no one can judge us for our love.
Now that would be perfect.