Hello once again! You have have noticed that I added some differences in this fic when you compare it to Conquest's ending and the dialogue between Azura and Shigure in their Support Conversations. Anyway, I hope that you don't mind the changes, and enjoy! ^_^
The final battle at the throne room of Castle Shirasagi ended with the defeat of Takumi who was possessed by an unknown force, thus enabling him to finally rest in peace. However, the outcome would not have been possible without the assistance of Azura's singing powers that was amplified by her pendant, although that was unknown to the rest. While Corrin and the Nohrian forces were distracted by Takumi's passing, she had exited out of the throne room in haste because she knew that her time was up.
"Do you think that there was a mysterious force at play here or was it just one's own hatred that manifested into something dire?" Corrin wondered about Takumi's condition.
"Some things are just not meant to be comprehended to the human mind, little prince." Xander answered.
"Yeah, but—" Corrin had interrupted himself as he noticed that Azura was not among them— "wait, where's Azura?"
Everyone around looked at their surroundings to spot the songstress but to no avail. Laslow and his children wondered as to where Azura had went.
"Dad, where's mom?" Soleil asked as she began to worry about her mother's absence.
"Don't worry, Soleil," Shigure commented as he tried to calm his sister down, "I'm sure she's just tired from the battle."
Laslow had agreed to his son's statement until he began to reflect on what he said. The dancer had noticed that his wife was losing a good portion of her strength when she was singing in their battle against Takumi.
"Tired." Laslow had repeated.
"What befalls on my stalwart friend?" Odin questioned humorously until he noticed that Laslow was becoming distressed by the second. "Laslow?"
Selena had walked towards the dancer, wanting to know as to what was on his mind. "Hey, what's gotten into you?"
Laslow proceeded to think of the time when he confronted Azura about the extent of her singing. Although she said that singing for an extended period of time does wear her out, she had fibbed about the part that it would only cause that and nothing else. In hindsight, Laslow should have pressed on the matter. Once he put the pieces together, he realized that his wife wasn't exactly being truthful to him, but then again, so wasn't he.
"No." Laslow muttered. "No!"
With that, Laslow immediately bolted through his friends and family, exiting out of the throne room in order to find Azura before it was too late.
"Dad!" Soleil screamed as she followed him.
"Wait, Soleil!" Shigure pleaded loudly as he followed along, as well.
Corrin had wanted to go and see as to what was causing them to run off like that but he was stopped by Xander.
"Leave them be, Corrin," Xander advised as he put a hand on Corrin's shoulder, "I'm sure that everything will be alright."
However, there was doubt in Xander's words, and Corrin had sensed it.
Laslow started off his search by looking at every room that he could find in the hallways. But his search was coming up short as he couldn't find Azura in any of them.
"Damn, again!" Laslow cursed himself, finding another empty room. He then took off until he spotted a door that was open, presumably by someone. Hoping that it was his best chance, he took off there.
As the dancer had made it to his destination, he noticed that it was a room for someone, though the décor appeared as though it hasn't been well-maintained for quite some time. However, much to his shock, he found a body lying on the ground on its back, and it happened to be none other than,
"Azura!" Laslow cried as he rushed towards his wife, crouching down as he examined her. "Are you alright?!"
Azura slowly opened her eyes to see that it was her husband who was calling out to her. "Laslow?"
"Yes, it's me," the dancer replied as he cradled her in his arms, "please, what's going on with you?"
"Dad?" Soleil's voice was heard as she neared the room where her father was until she spotted her person of interest, "Mom!"
Shigure had managed to catch up with his sister until he noticed that scene that had unfolded. "Mother!"
The siblings had positioned themselves to their mother's sides respectively, with Soleil kneeling down while Shigure had stood a bit close to his father.
"Shigure, Soleil." Azura whispered affectionately until she moaned in pain.
"Please, tell us what's happening?!" Laslow demanded as he felt his tears running down his face.
"M-mom, are you g-going to be okay?" Soleil cried as her throat had become pale at the sight of her mother's state.
To make matters worse, they noticed that Azura's body was emitting a blue-like sparkle, each of them elevating upwards from her. The songstress was shaking a bit due to the distress that it was causing her.
"I'm very sorry f-for never t-telling you," Azura apologized deeply for keeping the consequences a secret, "but m-my pendant is what's causing this t-to happen to m-me."
"What? Y-your pendant?" Laslow repeated.
"Mother, are you saying that your current condition is irrevocable?" Shigure had hypothesized as he picked up his mother's pendant, carefully examining it.
"Yes, son. Because of tapping into its full power during the battle, my time here has finally come to a stop."
Azura's words had shocked her family. The war was just over, with the assumption that there'd be no more tragedies to befall on others. But that wasn't the case for them as the fates had other plans in store.
"Y-you can't mean that, mom! T-there's just got to be a way!" Soleil pleaded loudly.
"That just can't just be! We've just won this damned war, but at the cost of losing you?! No, we can still figure out a way, Azura!" Laslow countered intensely, his tears now falling on Azura's body.
"It's okay," Azura assured her husband as she weakly guided her hand to his cheek, stroking it gently, "I have prepared myself for this moment. So, it's not as painful as I had initially thought."
"How can you say that?!" Shigure responded as his tears began to fall, as well, "I agree with father. There has to be a solution to your condition!"
Azura's tears had finally fallen, half of the reason being because she was causing her family to suffer while the other half was because she was grateful to spend her final moments with them.
"Please trust me on this, everything will be okay." Azura had tried to quell their doubts, but they wouldn't budge on the matter.
"Azura," Laslow started as he tried to regain his voice, "I-I have lost countless l-loved ones in the war back in my homeland. M-my own mother had given h-her life just to ensure mine," Laslow's head bowed down as he was crying, "The l-last thing I-I want is for you t-to share the same f-fate."
Soleil and Shigure didn't respond as they looked away.
"Promise me, Laslow," with all of the strength that she had, Azura had leaned upwards so that she could give her husband a kiss, "to always watch over our children and go out there with a smile on your face. That is all that I ask of you."
That hit Laslow harder than any blow that he had sustained in his life because his wife's words had mirrored to the ones that his mother had said to him before she lost her life to the Risen.
"Mom, p-please don't go." Soleil gasped, pleading for her mother to remain with them.
The sparkles began to accumulate even more as Azura's body started to corrode.
"Mother!" Shigure shouted as parts of his mother's body was disappearing by the second.
"My love, don't do this to us! Stay with us, Azura!" Laslow protested.
"Don't worry, I will always sing with you all in my thoughts. No matter where I'll be," Azura replied before continuing on with the following words as her entire body had turned blue, her eyes closed while her tears fell.
"May our song never end."
And so, Azura's whole body had evaporated away from Laslow's hold. It took a few moments for the dancer to realize that Azura was gone, and truly was. Soleil started to cry erratically while Shigure had clutched on to the pendant, the only memento that remained of his mother.
Laslow had set his hands on the floor, his eyes widened in disbelief. Azura, the love of his life, had died in his arms, and he couldn't do anything to prevent it. In his angered state, he began to blame the very person who had put him, Odin, and Selena to the task of coming to this world because that was how he was able to meet Azura.
'Damn you, Anankos.' Laslow had cursed furiously in his mind.
Laslow started to slam both of his hands hard on the floor as his cries had filled the air, as well. "I-it wasn't supposed to b-be like this!"
Corrin and the others had caught up to Laslow and his children because the former had managed to persuade his older Nohrian brother in regards to checking up on them.
"Laslow what happened over he—" Xander had cut himself off after seeing his retainer grieving with his children— "where's Azura?!"
They saw Soleil holding on to her father, fearing that he, too, would disappear while Shigure was still clutching on to the pendant, which enabled for Corrin to realize what had transpired.
"S-she's gone." Corrin had deducted as his eyes had welled up.
Selena and Odin tried to comfort their grieving friend until he raised his voice.
"Stay back! All of you!" Laslow shouted at them while Soleil continued to embrace him.
Because of that, the group had let the small family be so that they could mourn the loss of a wonderful wife and mother. They knew that they could never repay Azura for her contribution into ending the war, but the least that they could do was watch over Laslow and his children. The road to recovery would be a long and arduous one for them.