The Symphony of Blossoms
Hello and thank you for expressing interest by clicking on this story!
I got inspired writing this short one shot while I was fiddling with my newly-arrived Sakura nendoroid and listening to Fire Emblem Fates soundtrack, one particular soundtrack caught my attention which wasn't part of the game but was added as a bonus in the soundtrack and that is Sakura and Elise' duet with their koto and violin instrument.
I have to say that I LOVE hearing it, its so beautiful and relaxing to hear. Go on and try listening to their duet somewhere! You'll love it!
"Come on papa! We're going to be late for the show!" Kana, the princess of Valla yanked her father's arm after she got impatient waiting for her father to finish speaking with Leo on the lobby of the Cyrkesian Grand Opera House.
They were visiting the city of Cyrkensia along with the royals of Hoshido and Nohr after its rebuilding was complete all thanks to the combined efforts of the three kingdoms in the aftermath of the devastating war two years ago.
This was the first time Corrin had laid eyes on the city after it was destroyed by the Vallite forces back in the war against Anankos, he couldn't believe that smoldering ruins of the city he saw back then was full of beauty that could even top the serene city of Shirasagi.
'I should consider incorporating this type of architecture on Gyges if the more essential repairs are finished. Maybe add a district where the opera house will be situated in with these designs.'
Corrin thought while thinking of his grand plan on the rebuilding of Valla that will soon be finished with its basic repairs such as the housing of his people, the aqueduct, sewage system, walls and gates and the commercial district. He already had plans of adding districts with that of Nohrian and Hoshidan design to show how diverse the Vallite culture is while still maintaining the original Vallite theme of his kingdom's capital.
"Papa, you're thinking of work again!" Kana puffed her cheeks up annoyed at the busy expression her father wore as she dragged him towards their destination.
Corrin blinked and mentally hit himself in the head for letting his work get over his mind once more after he promised his daughter that they wouldn't think or speak about it during their stay in Cyrkensia.
"I'm sorry Kana. I was just mesmerized in this place ever since we arrived, do you think it's a good idea to have these kinds of designs in our kingdom?"
Momentarily forgetting her annoyance, Kana looked around and placed a finger on her chin, thinking.
"Now that you mention it, it does look pretty! Maybe we should have something like this back at home!"
Corrin smiled but Kana then remembered her annoyance towards her father.
"Now enough of that! We'll be late papa!"
The dragon king of Valla lightly laughed at his daughter and gestured her to move on as they made their way to their reserved box seats at the opera house.
Along the way, they were greeted by various nobles from other nations, giving their congratulations to the king of Valla for his part on the city's repair, Corrin gave them his attention with acknowledging nods and thanks to prevent being drawn into another lengthy conversation which would surely annoy his daughter more.
Corrin scoffed goodheartedly 'I can't blame her in being excited on the show today.'
Upon walking up a spiral staircase, they went towards a grand looking double red door with Jakob and Felicia on each side, awaiting their arrival.
With a smile which they returned with nods, the maid and butler opened the door to pave the way for their king and princess to enter the royal box seats of the opera house with three seats welcoming them as Kana made a sound of amazement upon seeing the beauty of the stage and its surroundings.
Tiptoeing to see more of the view from their box seats, Kana marveled at the ornate boats floating on the pristine water surrounding the stage. The boats were being loaded by several of the audiences and one particular boat was being occupied by two individuals that Kana and Corrin could recognize.
"Uncle Ryoma! Uncle Xander!" Kana shouted out for the two kings to hear, the king of Hoshido and Nohr looked up at the source of the voice to see Kana waving at them. With their own smile, the two kings waved at their niece as well as their younger brother, Corrin who also reciprocated the gesture before ushering Kana to sit down.
"But I haven't called the others yet!" Kana protested as she has seen Shiro and Siegbert sitting on a separate boat along with Forrest, Selkie and Kiragi
"You'll get your chance later my dear, for now let's keep a low profile while we wait." Corrin said with a soft attempt to discipline his excitable and cheery daughter to behave decently in the opera house.
"Is there something you want to eat or drink though?" Corrin asked her daughter as he sat down beside her.
Kana grinned at her father "You already know what I like papa!"
With a soft chuckle, Corrin clapped his hands three times as a signal for Felicia and Jakob to approach them.
"Yes, your grace?" Felicia beat Jakob into asking much to the latter's chagrin.
"Can you bring us some grape juice and the best sweets this opera house can provide for me and Kana?" Just then Corrin remembered something "And oh, add it up with one serving just to be ready."
Felicia smiled and gave the king and princess a courteous bow.
"Order them but I'll carry them." Jakob told Felicia as the two went out to undertake the tasks given to them.
"You really don't trust me carrying those do you?" Felicia sighed as she closed the door behind them.
"Only a fool would trust you to carry food and drinks to the royals!" Jakob's muffled chiding voice exclaimed.
"How dare you?! I'll tell Silas about that later!"
"As if I fear your husband!"
"Kagero then!"
"Do not involve my wife into such trifle affair!"
Corrin frowned at the exchange between his two loyal servants while Kana was amused at the rather comedic argument.
"I can tell where Sophie got her silliness from." Kana giggled mischievously.
Corrin chuckled softly as the whole audience became silent. Corrin and Kana looked back at the stage to see Layla the renowned singer of Cyrkensia deliver a speech in the middle of the stage.
"Greetings, people from all over the world! I along with the people of Cyrkensia welcome you in the grand reopening of our famed opera house!" Layla began her speech as the audience listened.
"It has been two years since the forces of Anankos destroyed this city in order to worsen the war between Nohr and Hoshido, a war that he engineered to further his vile machinations but it was all for naught as the two nations were unified under the man who we all know currently as the king of Valla managed to deliver justice against Anankos and his puppets!"
She then gestured towards the royal box where Corrin and Kana were as the audience shifted their attention momentarily towards Corrin and gave him a round of applause, Corrin and Kana smiled and acknowledged their applause before standing up from their seats and bowing down.
"The people of Cyrkensia would also like to thank King Ryoma and King Xander for their efforts along with King Corrin in rebuilding this city and giving the lives of its citizens back!"
More applause came and this time, Ryoma and Xander were praised as such much to their honor. They waved at those who applaud them before also mimicking Corrin and Kana's actions earlier, standing up from their seat and bowing in thanks.
"To showcase our thanks to all who contributed, we will present various special performances today to commemorate this grand day as well as the end of the war!" Layla then extended her right arm towards the closed curtain on the stage.
"I would like to present to you all, our first performers of the night. We would like to welcome our gracious guest performers who have volunteered for this wonderful night! May we welcome Queen Sakura of Valla and Princess Elise of Hoshido!"
The applause was thunderous upon the mention of the queen of Valla and princess of Hoshido (formerly of Nohr) as the ornate red curtain rose up to slowly reveal the pair.
Kana's eyes sparkled with amazement as well as Corrin who was mesmerized by his wife's regal beauty as she sat down behind her personal koto instrument while wearing white ornate robes of Vallite origin and a tiara made out of cherry blossoms that adorned her silky cherry blossom long hair.
Elise on the other hand was wearing a shoulder-less black ornate Nohrian dress with matching black coat with pink trimmings, her blonde and purple hair was braided to the right side, with the braided hair draping over her right shoulder. In her hands is her personal violin and bow.
The two close friends bowed to the audience with Sakura sneaking a glance towards her husband and daughter who waved at her, Elise did the same by winking at her husband who was on the same boat with her older brother, Leo.
Elise and Sakura then gave each other a smile before promptly nodding to begin.
Placing the end of her violin in between her shoulder and chin, Elise began to masterfully stroke the strings of the violin with her bow stick to start the rhythm which was soon followed by Sakura gracefully plucking the strings of her koto, closing her eyes as she took in the serene rhythm of the music as Elise played her violin alongside her koto.
The whole audience was captivated by the combined music of Nohrian and Hoshidan origin. They never thought that the two playing in harmony together would play such inspiring and relaxing music that puts their mind and hearts to ease the more they listened.
Elise slowly stopped playing for Sakura's solo play of her koto's relaxing music until she joined right back in to fuse and complement their music together once more to present the finishing melody.
Kana's eyes moistened with tears at the sound of such beautiful music, she always loved it when her mother plays the koto for her ever since her birth but this was a performance that topped everything Sakura has played before and she couldn't help but let the melody sink deep into her soul.
"It's so… beautiful…"
Corrin pat his daughter's head and stroke her hair gently. He also remembered the first time he heard his wife play the koto shortly after they were reunited. He had simply stumbled upon the then-princess playing the koto privately in her room in Shirasagi and he instantly fell in love with it. Corrin mused at the memories with a smile; listing that seeing Sakura perform with such a serene expression that she wouldn't normally have, as a reason why he fell in love with her.
"Yes… It is…" Corrin said while enjoying the music as Sakura and Elise ended their performance with a relaxing finish.
The whole opera house burst with a round of applause after the two royals finished their performance with some even shedding tears like Kana simply by the sheer beauty of the music.
"That's my mom out there!" Corrin and Kana could hear Kiragi boasting from his boat.
"Way to go mom!" Kiragi called out while beaming with pride.
Kana wasn't letting Kiragi go and decided to outperform him by praising her own mother.
"That was beautiful mama!"
Corrin laughed at his daughter who was shouting from the railings of the theatre box they were in while Takumi nervously chuckled at his son's antics from the boat he was in with Leo.
The king of Valla then stood up and placed a hand on Kana's shoulder.
"Come on Kana. Let's go congratulate your mama properly." Corrin invited her much to Kana's elation as the two went out of their box seats.
Sakura and Elise emerged from the dressing room only to be ambushed by their respective children who threw themselves to their mothers.
"Mama! That was so amazing! I was crying in joy just by listening to you and Auntie Elise!" Kana said with her arms wrapped around Sakura's waist, she looked up with nothing but pure admiration towards her mother.
"T-Thank you Kana… I'm glad you like it…" Sakura stuttered at first due to the overwhelming praise of her daughter.
"Like it? I LOVE IT!" Kana corrected her mother before grinning toothily at her as they could hear Kiragi praising Elise with Takumi.
"Soo what did you think?" Elise playfully asked her husband who blushed.
"I-It was great…"Takumi stuttered as he was unable to look straight towards his wife's combined beauty and cuteness in her dress and hairstyle.
Elise frowned at her husband's hesitance, puffing her cheeks up towards him.
"I want my reward." Elise demanded.
"What reward? I didn't promise you anythi—"
Elise promptly shut her husband by grabbing Takumi's robe and pulled him towards her, placing a sweet kiss on Takumi's lips as the latter blushed profusely at the public display of Elise' affection.
"Oh my…" Sakura gasped and covered her mouth with her hand as Elise kissed her brother rather boldly.
"That one!" Elise playfully giggled after pulling away from her husband who was blushing red as a tomato. She always did enjoy seeing Takumi's embarrassed expression after she kisses him unexpectedly.
Corrin approached his wife after briefly pausing to watch the romantic display between Elise and Takumi, ignoring them for a moment to have his own moment with Sakura.
"That was well-done my love." Corrin praised Sakura, stroking Sakura's cheek gently with his hand.
"I'm glad you love it anata." Sakura smiled lovingly at her husband.
Unlike Takumi and Elise, Corrin and Sakura mutually leaned forward to plant their own kiss to each other's lips much to Kana's joy at her parents' sweetness to one another.
They pulled away shortly with shades of red creeping on their cheeks.
"I think it's time for us to go, Azura and Shigure's performance is next." Sakura informed her husband and child.
Bidding Takumi, Elise and Kiragi farewell as they also decided to return to their seats. The royal family of Valla made their way to their box seats.
"I had Felicia and Jakob get some sweets for us to enjoy, I'm sure you'll like them after such a performance." Corrin smiled as he and Sakura walked with their together in between them, holding hands.
"Thank you anata but… I got everything I need right here." Sakura giggled at her husband before gazing at Corrin and Kana lovingly.
Kana could only grin as her happy family made their way back to their seats to enjoy their time together, away from worries, away from work, just them, a family of three spending quality time together.
Meanwhile…
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO CARRY THEM! NOW LOOK WHAT YOU HAVE DONE!" Jakob yelled at Felicia who was panicking after she tripped on a step in the staircase leading up, dropping the tray of sweets she procured for the royal family at the process much to Jakob's horror.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry!"
"If their royal highnesses get back there with no refreshments awaiting them, I'm blaming you!"
"Stop yelling at me and start getting a new batch!" Felicia retorted after getting fed up with Jakob's yelling.
From a distance, Sophie and Dwyer sighed at their respective parent's antics. The two of them were also on their way to get some snacks for them, Caeldori and Midori to enjoy with while Azura and Shigure's performance haven't started yet.
The End
And that ends this spin-off!
This story was honestly written out of impulse while I was busy minding my own business with Sakura's nendoroid, I'm currently writing the RobinxTiki story alongside a private project I'm writing with my longtime friends so please stay tuned for Robin and Tiki's story in Fire Emblem Warriors!
Please leave a kudos and review! I would appreciate it immensely!
Thank you for reading and I hope you had fun!