This story is continuing from the eleventh chapter of my other Fire Emblem story, "Fates of a Family". However, since "Fates of a Family" is just a series of one-shots based on the plot of Birthright, it shouldn't be mandatory to read that, too. Though I would, of course, appreciate the readers, lol.

But for some clarity: Nobu is the male Avatar. Minori, Ippei, Jitaro, and Manfred are generic units; a shrine maiden, a samurai, an archer, and an outlaw, respectively. Robin is the male avatar from Awakening (or, possibly, Super Smash Bros.) who mysteriously arrived and joined the army. Every other character is from Fire Emblem Fates. Obviously.

Let me know what you think - leave a review! I hope you enjoy!

The service was incredibly dull; mostly political blather pre-written and turned into a tradition some centuries prior which Leo had no choice but to repeat. When he finished, everyone was asked to come up to the front to pay their respects. Camilla, understandably, broke down, though her retainers and Nobu were close by to comfort her and help her out of the room. Sakura was also sobbing by the time the Hoshidan royals made it out of the room; not only for the sake of Azura but out of compassion for Camilla and Leo.

Although his home was now Hoshido, Nobu had decided ahead of time that he would need to spend the weekend after the funeral in Nohr with his other siblings. The Hoshidans were understanding; the loss of their sister was horrible and they could only imagine how hard it must be on Camilla and Leo to lose both their brother and sister and especially on Nobu to lose all three.

Camilla had prepared in advance for Nobu, completely redecorating the Northern Fortress for herself, Nobu, and Leo to spend the nights in together. Felicia, Jakob, and Kaze stayed, too, as was their duty as his retainers; by the time the royals left the funeral, Jakob had tea ready for all of them.

"I'm so happy that we still have this," Camilla said, breaking the deafening silence as Leo and Nobu each sipped their tea. "After everything that has happened… at least we can still be a family." Selena and Beruka winced from a short distance away as Camilla sniffled.

"I'm glad, too," Nobu agreed. "It's… it's what Elise wanted. It's what we all wanted. Peace."

Leo nodded. "If only the price wasn't so high."

Silence briefly returned to the room before Camilla again broke it. "Well, I've had just about enough sadness for one night. Let's be positive for a bit. Nobu, how is life in Hoshido?"

The surrounding retainers were relieved as each royal was soon smiling as they talked. Eventually, Camilla and Nobu insisted that the group join them for a cup of tea and Jakob and Felicia eventually left to make the beds, though Kaze, Selena, Beruka, Odin, and Niles returned to guarding the room. It was better than the alternative - dealing with the emotions they themselves did not quite understand.

Selena and Odin caught each other's eye from across the room. Neither had spoken since the war ended and the tension was unbearable. After a few moments of communicating only through their shared gaze, Selena stepped forward. "Excuse me, Lady Camilla and Lord Leo, may I have a moment outside with Odin?"

Camilla and Leo looked confused but nodded their approval. Niles and Beruka watched as their companions left.

…

"Do you think it's time?" Odin asked, dropping his dramatic flair, once they were in the cool air of nighttime Nohr.

Selena didn't answer immediately. The truth was, her name was not Selena, nor was her companion's Odin. They were Severa and Owain of a kingdom far away - not only in distance but in time and space - brought to Nohr by a powerful sorcerer to keep an eye on Nobu. They had always discussed that their duties would end along with the war, but now that the time had come, it seemed… wrong. "I don't know," Selena finally muttered. "Anankos's… the dragon. Isn't it still out there, somewhere?"

Odin frowned. "Perhaps. Didn't Nobu say King Garon turned into a dragon?"

"He did." They didn't discuss what this might or might not mean and instead stood silently, staring into the distance. The peaceful sounds of the night were interrupted by approaching footsteps from Castle Krakenburg. Odin and Selena both turned their heads to see who was heading towards them.

"Laslow," Selena greeted in a soft whisper.

Their gray-haired companion was somber in his approach. His irregular demeanor didn't surprise either of them; not only had they not spoken since before the war ended, but they hadn't even seen Laslow since before the battle where…

"I-I failed," he choked out. In a rare show of compassion, Selena pulled Laslow to her shoulder and let him cry.

…

Nobu didn't sleep much that night. The weight of the war was heavy on his shoulders. Elise, Xander, and Azura were far from the only casualties and Nobu felt deeply even for the Nohrian soldiers slain in battle. He blamed himself for starting the war, for abandoning his family… for picking a side. How differently would things have gone if he had sided with the people who raised him? Or if he had refused to choose at all? Maybe they could have all been a family together.

"Lord Nobu?" a soft voice called as he tiptoed into the kitchen to have some leftover tea to calm his nerves. He whirled to see Felicia standing drowsily at the door. "Are you okay?"

"Yes, I'm sorry for waking you," he answered. "Just needed some tea to help me sleep."

Felicia rubbed the sleep from her eyes. "That tea is cold. Let me brew you some fresh."

"That's not necessary-" Nobu attempted to protest, though he quickly realized it was futile. "…Thank you."

"You shouldn't blame yourself," Felicia said after briefly working quietly. Nobu tensed up, wondering momentarily if Felicia had read his mind.

"I know."

"Do you know how much all of us worry about you?"

"I'm sorry to be a burden."

She glared at him. "That's not what I mean and you know it." Her gaze softened as she handed him a fresh cup of tea. "It's not healthy to be so hard on yourself. Let us help." Nobu sighed, staring at the steaming cup. "Do you need to talk?"

He paused to consider her offer. "…You'd better brew yourself a cup, too."

…

Oboro stared blankly at the papers scattered in front of her. She had been reading, stamping, and signing for hours now and her eyes were burning from the sight of black text on a white page. She was also fairly certain that she had become illiterate.

"Is there a problem, milady?" a calm voice asked. Her gaze rose to land on Yukimura, the country of Hoshido's chief tactician. What Oboro hadn't realized before the war was that he was also one of its best politicians. Now that she was the country's queen, he had taken it upon himself to teach her how to handle her duties.

"Uh, yeah," she replied, looking back at the papers. "What is… actus reus?"

"Ah. Latin. It means 'guilty act'." Oboro nodded and reread the sentence a few times. It still didn't make any sense. "Any other questions?"

"Yes, I just need your help deciphering…" She lifted up a stack of papers. "…these forty pages."

To her surprise, Yukimura smiled and began to eagerly explain every term on each of the pages. It didn't take long for her to tune him out. During the war, she had found herself falling in love with Prince Ryoma for, at least in her opinion, fairly obvious reasons. But when she had agreed to his proposal, it never quite occurred to her what she had signed up for.

"Are you listening, milady?"

Oboro stared at him blankly. "…No."

Yukimura stifled a frustrated sigh and flipped back to the first page to dive back into his explanation. Oboro let her face hit the desk.

…

Shigure wasn't sure where he was headed. All he knew was that he had to get away. In fact, he wasn't really sure what he had to get away from; having his brother and father around was certainly comforting given the circumstances. But something was pulling him elsewhere.

He began to whistle as he walked, the tune he chose fairly obvious. It was the only song that he could bring himself to sing. Anything else felt like a stain on his mother's memory.

In his pocket, a pale blue stone began to glow. He reached for it, cradling it in his hands. It had been brought to the family by Robin after the battle against Garon and Hinata had let Shigure keep it. As he stared into it, whistling the song, he found himself lost in its glimmer and paid little attention to where he was walking until he was suddenly pulled back to reality by a familiar voice shouting, "Shigure! Stop!"

He lifted his head and suddenly froze as he realized he was standing at the edge of the Bottomless Canyon, mere inches from plummeting to what surely would have been his doom. Taking a moment to still his beating heart, he then proceeded to look in the direction of the voice, spotting Caeldori, his girlfriend, on her pegasus dashing to catch up. "Caeldori, what are you doing here?"

"I saw you walking during my training session and got worried when you didn't respond to me," she answered, grabbing his hand and pulling him up away from the canyon and onto her pegasus's back. "I'm glad I followed you! You could've killed yourself."

"Sorry, I'm not sure what got into me," he said sheepishly as the pegasus began to walk back towards Hoshido.

Caeldori sat quietly for a moment, looking over her shoulder into his eyes. "You were thinking about your mother again, weren't you?"

He broke eye contact. "Yes."

"Well, next time you start thinking about her like that, come talk to me or your brother or your dad instead of walking without looking where you're going, okay?" She lifted his chin with her fingers, bringing their gaze together again. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you."

"Thank you," he said, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. "I'm sorry for worrying you." They smiled at each other for a long while before Caeldori's pegasus nickered, signaling that they were far enough away from the Bottomless Canyon that there was no longer any concern of being struck down by lightning. Caeldori turned back to guide her steed in a safe flight path back home.

As they took to the skies, Shigure found himself looking over his shoulder at the canyon, his thoughts becoming muddled as he felt almost drawn to the location. He shook his head and turned back around, wrapping his arms around Caeldori for stability, though the feeling that he needed to be there still lingered…

There you have it, Chapter 1 complete! I'm really excited to get into the meat of this plot so I might be updating it more than my other stories. No promises, though, lol. And we'll probably spend at least one more chapter looking at how the characters' lives are post-Birthright before Anankos attacks. I'll also be bringing a couple of other cast members besides the playable characters (and the aforementioned Minori, Ippei, Jitaro, Manfred, and Robin) in. I'm really excited to tell their stories!

Again, let me know what you think with a review! Even if it's negative, I really need the criticism so I can improve as a writer. Thanks!