The Truth Hidden in the Dark
A Fire Emblem Awakening Fanfic
Author's notes: this version of Henry melds his Japanese and English backstories with a few headcanon elements, not the least of which being his connection to Aversa. I understand if you don't agree with my headcanons, but I doubt I'm harming anyone. This is also inspired by my Twitter roleplay Henry, though is not "canon" to that portrayal. Ever further, it is a romance fic for a ship that I know is not possible in game, and yet I like it. And as always, the Fire Emblem characters belong to Intelligent Systems and Nintendo, whom I thank for having made a game I enjoy so much.
Henry could hardly believe it. After all this time and all this fighting, the woman who'd been trying to kill the Shepherds, Aversa, was now one of them. It wasn't much more than a year since he'd defected to Ylisse. At the time, he'd reasoned that it was because Plegia wasn't at war, and he'd not gotten the chance to fight, but that was just what he'd openly admit. Truth was, he'd waited so long to get to join the Plegian army and serve under his long-time friend Aversa, and by the time the nobility stopped ignoring him long enough to do it, the war had been over. Typical Plegian nobles, he'd thought. Cowards, all of them. Would rather save their own asses than win a war.
Henry had always had problems with the Plegian nobles, whom he saw as elitist pricks who'd rather hide behind a madman as king than ever consider a lowborn like himself close to their level. This despite the fact that he was known, if not by name, as being one of the most powerful sorcerers in his class, behind only Aversa. He'd tried to play the good soldier and not complain, but they often found reasons to punish him anyway, and the Masters were all too eager to oblige. Even as she ascended into prominence in the Plegian army, though, Aversa was always there. Always understanding. Always comforting. Always as loving as she was deadly. And even as Validar's influence separated them, Henry still had found himself falling in love with her.
It wasn't that surprising; they'd grown up together. After his parents had effectively disowned him, he'd been shipped off to the West Plegia Academy of Sorcery, where he'd first met Aversa. Long before puberty had blessed her with her (sometimes literal) killer looks, she'd been an orphaned girl herself, allegedly orphaned by Ylissean hands, who had been rescued by the High Sorcerer Validar. Given their similar backgrounds, a bond between them was almost inevitable, and it'd only deepened as they matured. They'd even started to form a romantic relationship, which was unfortunately cut short by the war. Then, years later, fed up with the abuse laid upon him by almost every single other Plegian in the army, Henry left. The next time they'd met, Aversa had treated him coldly, like a traitor. Just like every other Plegian. Just like Validar.
He still inwardly cursed the now-deceased High Sorcerer's name, smiling outwardly as ever while hiding wishes of various different insane tortures he wished he could inflict on the bastard. Not but a day's travel from where they were camped was the Wellspring of Truth, a place of great magical power that dragged the darkest secrets into the light, kicking and screaming. And while most everyone had been focusing on fighting the reflections of their inner selves before them, Henry had stared himself right in the eyes...and saw him standing beside a reflection of Aversa, smiling. Not the usual beguiling smile that gave him the reputation of being sociopathic, nor the frail false smile of a long-broken child. The smile that said that for once, he was truly happy. And he might've been hallucinating, but he could've sworn he'd seen the same smile on that mirror-Aversa's face. Regardless, the vision broke his heart in two, as this view of his inner-most desire seemed impossible.
And yet...he was not the only one to be changed by the experience. Aversa herself (not the mirror version) had come to the Wellspring herself, and whatever she had discovered led her to talk to Chrom and Robin. Even more strangely, it was apparently earth-shattering enough for Chrom to allow her to join them. To much protest, of course; Chrom's own wife Maribelle was among the first to question her husband's judgment. Still, the decision stood, and that led to the strange scene Henry was watching from his tent: Aversa eating supper at the Shepherds' main campfire. And no guards to be seen.
The young man decided he had to approach her, especially now that they were comrades again. He cautiously walked over toward her, the armor he'd begun to wear as a Dark Knight clanking slightly as pieces briefly made contact. He had no idea how she'd react to him...or how he was going to react to her. After years of being on the opposite side, the long-time friends were together again; so why did Henry feel so uneasy? He shook the question from his mind as he sat on a log beside her, trying to summon up the courage to speak to her.
"Hello, Henry." Her soft, seductive voice cut through the supper-time bustle, stirring his nerves even more. "I was hoping I'd get a chance to talk to you. I know this probably seems weird to you-"
He nervously cut her off. "No, not weird at all! Why would it be weird to have the woman in charge of the army who's been trying to kill me for over a year sitting next to me in the Ylisseans' camp?" He still wore the mask he was accustomed to wearing, but his voice betrayed his state of mind, sounding shaky and frail, with a twinge of emotional pain.
Aversa responded flatly, "Henry, I know you better than anyone else. If there's anyone you can drop that damned psycho act around, it's me."
She always did know how to cut to the quick, he thought as he visibly flinched. "Forgive my sarcasm, Aversa," he started, turning his head to look at her. "It's just that the last time we saw each other, you were slinging Goetia my way and calling me a, and I quote, 'filfthy gods-damned traitor'. I think I'm allowed a little skepticism at seeing you on amicable terms with the man whose life you were dedicated to end."
He clearly touched a sore spot, as she placed a long-fingered hand to her ample chest. "I won't deny; Validar wanted you dead, and I was willing to oblige him. But I no longer care what that treacherous little snake wanted anymore."
"And why is that? Because with him dead, you're Queen of Plegia now?" Henry allowed himself to be more biting, pressing the verbal attack. "Not that you'll have a Plegia to rule, since that overgrown lizard that's masquerading as Robin is going to probably kill us all anyway."
"What's wrong, Henry? I thought you were eager to die. There's no death more bloody or ouchless than being chewed to bits by Grima, hon." She was clearly toying with him. Henry was not in the mood to be toyed with.
"And who helped the Fell Dragon awaken?" he yelled as he stood, attracting the attention of the otherwise oblivious on-lookers. "You did! You and that fucking High Sorcerer Validar!" Everyone around stopped, shocked, unused to such an angry display from the normally-jovial Dark Knight.
Most stayed silent, but one, a pink-haired dancer looked as if she was going to move between the two, only to be stopped by a raven-haired sorceress.
"Yes, I did! I screwed up! But you know what, Henry? You're not the only one who got screwed over by Validar! I did too!" She rose to meet his furious gaze, her Amazonian form towering over him.
"Why, because your kingdom's going to go up in flames?"
"This isn't about Plegia! Not anymore than it's about you! I didn't come here to be berated by the likes of you, someone who bugged out on the only family he ever had because he was bored!"
Silence fell for a moment, with Henry stunned by her words. Moreover, he was stunned by the look on her face. She was angry, yes, but she was hurt. Something deeper was going on with her, something that had shaken her to the bone. A wound that Henry had unknowingly aggravated.
Eventually, he gathered up the courage to speak again, this time, more softly. "Do you want to talk in private? Maybe in my tent? I think we're making too much of a scene out here."
Aversa said nothing, but coolly nodded. Both young man and dark-skinned woman headed to his tent, leading the remaining Shepherds to begin gossiping amongst themselves about what they'd witnessed.
Henry sat down on his cot, then handed Aversa a pillow before gesturing for her to sit on the ground. It took a while, but eventually, he was able to ask the burning question: "So...what happened to you? At the Wellspring of Truth? What did you see?"
Aversa answered in a more normal voice, devoid of her usual sultry tone and innuendo. "As we approached the Wellspring, I saw a vision of the past. It was Validar...and me, as a little girl. I was with my parents, and he..." She paused, clearly pained in recounting the vision. "He killed them. He lied to me. All this time, I thought Ylisseans kill them...and it was the man I had considered my father for years. He killed them. And he lied about it to my face."
Henry was gobsmacked. "Oh...oh my gods. I'm...I'm sorry, Aversa. I didn't know any more than you."
For the first time in his life, he thought Aversa actually sounded vulnerable. "It's okay. I shouldn't have shouted at you, either. But anyway, that's what I had discussed with Chrom and Robin. That's why they let me into the camp. All these years, I was in the service to a lie, and I want to atone for it. And I want to begin by apologizing to you."
Henry shook his head. "No, you have every right to be angry with me. Validar's lies notwithstanding, you weren't wrong. I did leave because I was bored. I also left because I was tired, Aversa. You know how the Plegian nobles treated me. We should've gone into service together, and yet they let the Masters continue torturing me for another two years. We should've been on the battlefield together." His head drooped, his silver eyes pointed down at his iron-clad feet. "We should've been together."
Aversa stretched out a hand to gently caress his cheek. "I see you're in armor now. Funny, you never seemed like you were keen on becoming a Dark Knight when we were in school. What happened, did a girl change your mind?" She playfully smirked, an air of seduction returning to her voice as she continued, "Or did you find a nice guy who changed your mind?"
Henry chuckled a bit, though not his usual sadistic chuckle. This one was more genuine...affectionate. "I did have some flings after defecting, but...nothing that serious. No one person changed my mind. I just...didn't feel right casting Dark magic. So as soon as I got promoted, I worked furiously to become a Dark Knight. I couldn't be a Sorcerer."
Aversa sighed, and Henry could've sworn it sounded like a sigh of relief. "We both changed over the last couple of years. We're vastly different people than we used to be."
"Perhaps." Henry sighed as well, though his was more of a sigh of resignation. "But I miss being the Henry that you used to know. I miss the Aversa that I fell in love with, before we became enemies in war. I miss the close bond that we used to have."
The Dark Flier cupped his chin and lifted his head. "Who says we can't have that again?" Before Henry could even ask what she meant, she drew her lips to his, and they kissed for the first time in years. They drew closer together, meeting each other in a loving embrace, as if the intervening time had not existed.
When they finally broke the kiss, Henry was the first to speak as they gazed into each other's eyes, forehead to forehead. "So...this is what the Wellspring was showing me."
Aversa chucked softly. "What was it showing you, my dear Henry?"
"After all this time, I've still been in love with you," he replied warmly. "My greatest wish, from the time we first connected in an intimate way, was to always be beside you. And now, at last...the Wellspring gave me my wish."
"Funny," Aversa teasingly retorted, "I didn't know it was a wishing well, otherwise I'd have brought a gold coin."
Happily Henry teased back, "Shut up." And to make sure she did just that, he kissed her again, only more deeply, lovingly, passionately.
Aversa moaned into his mouth, but broke away from the kiss. "I'll only shut up if you make love to me." With a loving hint of innuendo, she added, "Maybe not even then, if you do it right."
Henry gave her a playful little peck on the lips. "But then the whole camp will be wondering what the hell I'm doing to you, after that little fight we had." He chuckled deviously as he nuzzled her nose.
"Like I care. I'm with my Henry tonight." She shoved him onto the bed, dropped the flaps on the tent to ensure their privacy, then lustfully began to disrobe. Within a few moments, her sizable breasts were freed, gravity now taking hold with the removal of her armor's support. Between her legs, she had clearly trimmed, leaving only a short strip of hair leading down to her womanhood. She sauntered back over to him, laying a hand on his cheek. "Still like what you see, love?"
The silver-haired man responded by laying one hand on her gorgeous backside, squeezing softly as he pulled her body to his. He heard her moan slightly as he touched the places most men only imagined getting to see and touch. "Always will, my lady."
She chuckled, then pushed him down onto the cot. She then straddled his face, her warm sex right over his mouth. "Then pay homage to your lady."
Henry smiled. He'd always loved this part of their intimate moment in the past. Aversa was dominant...and yet at the same time, completely at his mercy. And once he started to lay kisses around her sensitive mound, her moans indicated that this was going to be no different. Her arousal gave off a raw, natural scent, an order that Henry found intoxicating. He wondered if she tasted the same as he'd remembered.
"Oh gods, Henry, lick my pussy already!" While she played at being commanding, in truth, she sounded more eager to heighten their intimacy more than anything. Henry knew he was right as soon as he began to lick her lower lips, as her moans intensified and her strong thighs squeezed his skull. And with the familiar flavor of her juices on his lips, if he'd died of a crushed cranium tonight, he would've died a very happy man.
As his tongue shot upward into her depths, Aversa moaned even more loudly, calling out, "Henry! Oh, fuck!" She ground her sex into his face, and the argent-haired man was flooded with memories of years ago. The more things had changed, the more had stayed the same between them; he still knew all the right buttons to push to send her flying ever higher. Where to lick, where to suck...even where to bite. He nipped her now-swollen, sensitive clitoris, and she screamed in pleasure.
"He...Henry...I'm gonna cum! Drown in my pleasure!" Henry felt the vibrations as she convulsed above him, and her juices splashed him in the face. She screamed, then fell back and rolled off of the cot onto the floor with a thud. Henry couldn't help but laugh, and after she recovered her senses, she joined them.
"Guess...we'll need to get a bigger cot now, huh?" Aversa simply nodded, still not quite able to answer him with words. He rolled over on top of her, desperately in love with her, desiring to give himself to her as he had more than a year before. But first, thought he, a little teasing. "What? Got you lost for words? Cat got your tongue because of my tongue?"
She reached up and grabbed his collar, still trying to recover her breath. "Sh...Shut up. Clothes off. Fuck me. Now."
That was what Henry was waiting for. He smirked. "As you wish, my lady." He stood and began casting off his armor. All the training he'd done to become a Dark Knight had resulted in him still being skinny but with much better tone to his muscles. More remarkable than that, at least if the look of delight and desire in Aversa's eyes was any indication, was the fact that Henry was more than ready for action; his manhood was only above-average in overall size, but it was fully erect. Before long, he too was fully nude, and he kneeled between his lover's wide-spread legs. He guided his cock to her entrance, then pushed forward, burying himself into her.
Aversa moaned as he filled her, wrapping his legs around his back to hold him in. She pulled him down to give him an appreciative kiss. "It's been too long since I felt you inside of me," she purred. "I'm not letting you go ever again, love."
He returned her kiss wildly, then began to move inside of her. He'd felt her warmth around him several times long ago, but now, he could've sworn it felt much more natural, as if they were truly one with each other. Her entrance hugged him, allowing him to easily slip back and forth, stimulating her with each thrust, but never letting him fall out. As he kissed his way to her neck, he heard her breathily moaning in his ear. One such moan caused a tickling sensation in, of all places, his butt cheek, and in reaction he slammed down into her hard. This made her gasp with surprise.
"Fuck, Henry, whatever that was, do it again!" she cried out in ecstasy. "Fuck me hard!" He wordlessly obliged, thrusting down into her again. "Oh, fuck!"
The young man nibbled at her neck, laying light bite marks all over her skin as he trailed down her chest. Her enormous breasts were a tempting target, not only because Henry loved them, but because he knew they were also one of her most sensitive spots. Henry had always subscribed to the theory that lovemaking was a cooperative act, and of course, he also loved driving Aversa crazy in many ways. As soon as he reached her right nipple, he sucked on it hard.
Aversa's reaction was to arch her back, to moan louder than Henry could ever remember her moaning, then to pull him down into a deep, wild, soulful tongue kiss. She continued to moan into his mouth as they fucked ever more voraciously, hungry for shared pleasure.
It felt like they were with each other for an eternity, but Henry could feel his climax boiling up inside him and knew that their lovemaking was coming to an end. He broke the kiss and tried to free himself from her, to pull out as he always had, trying to keep her from becoming pregnant with his child, but her legs locked tightly. "But...I'm...gonna cum, Aversa!" he protested.
"Damn right you are! Inside me! You and me! Forever! Cum inside me!" she screamed. "I need it! I need you! We cum together!"
Henry looked into her eyes and saw, amidst the fires of lust and the haze of ecstasy, the spark of love. Upon seeing that, he knew...they were going to be together for the rest of their lives. And he knew he wanted to give her what she asked for.
"I'm...CUMMING!" His silver eye sparked as it had so many times in battle, and he buried himself deep into her pussy before letting himself go. His cock spasmed, sending its potent load into her womb. At that same instant, Aversa convulsed again, her entrance was flooded yet again, and her inner walls massaged his hard rod to coax more of the semen out of it. They cried out in unison, then collapsed to the ground with Henry on top, holding each other.
Aversa laid a light kiss on his lips, then cupped his cheek. "Dear gods...you're still an amazing lover, Henry. I missed that so much. I missed you. Having to fight you...it pained me."
"And why was that, exactly?" the Dark Knight said teasingly before returning the kiss with a quick peck of his own. He slipped out of her and laid on the ground beside her, away from the cot.
"I still remembered us growing up together. Making love together. Falling in love with each other. I'd loved you a year ago. And even as I felt hurt at your defection, I still loved you. I always will."
"And I love you, Aversa." Henry smiled to her. "I'll never leave your side again, in battle or in life. I'll love you with all of my blood, until the day I die." He chuckled, then continued, "I wonder when that'll be."
The Dark Flier responded, her voice returning to its usual seductive tone. "It better not be any time soon, love." She rolled over, straddling his crotch and leaning over him. She gave him a quick, deep kiss. "I've got plans for you tonight, dearest Henry..."
The next morning, the entire camp was buzzing about what they'd heard as they packed up the camp. Hardly anyone had gotten any sleep that night, and it was likely related to the fact that apparently, neither had Henry and their latest recruit. The raven-haired sorceress in particular seemed to know more of the gory details, as she always did, but she didn't seem willing to share it with anyone. Though as Henry walked by, she sure did seem to have a smirk and a leer on her face.
Chrom walked up to him and stopped him. "Henry, people were telling me that you and Aversa were having a fight or something last night. First a verbal one, then a physical one in your tent. Is there something between you two I need to know about?"
Unwilling to divulge /all/ of his secrets, Henry merely gave a cryptic smile before answering. "Nothing you need to worry about, Your Majesty. Aversa and I were merely working out some issues, and they're all solved. I think you'll find we'll be able to work together just perfectly. Maybe even better than perfect!"
"Uh...okay..." Chrom didn't entirely seem convinced, but he didn't seem willing to pry further either. "So it's a one-time thing? No arguments by the campfire? No brawls in the tents?"
"None of that at all, my Lord!" Henry cheerfully replied. "But, uh, I do need to ask you for something important."
Chrom looked puzzled, but nonetheless asked, "Sure, Henry, what is it?"
"Do you think I could trouble you for a bigger cot? Say...one big enough for more than one person?"
THE END