A/N: Wanted to do something a little bit different. Fair warning, this will not a story for everyone.
"Papa?"
Kana struggled to precariously balance the tray of food in her left hand as she reached up with her right hand to knock on the door again.
"Papa? Dinner's ready!"
No response.
But then again, there hadn't been a response from her father for almost three weeks now. Kana was getting worried about him, and Shigure refused to say anymore on the matter.
Kana sighed and set the food tray down. Maybe it was because she was only using one hand to knock. Maybe if she used both hands, the knock would be a lot louder.
She kept banging on the door with both hands until her palms were red and bruised, and she keeled over, gasping for breath as sweat dripped down her face.
Defeated, she slid the food tray next to the almost-invisible miniature doorway used to push food through. The door was installed by Uncle Leo, but Kana hated using it.
It made her feel like she was simply feeding a shackled dragon; too dangerous to approach, but still needed to be kept alive.
"Papa, I'm going!" she called.
Again, no response.
Kana's lips slowly drew themselves into an unhappy frown as she turned around and descended down the stairs. Her father's own personal study was in one of the tallest towers in the castle, and at first, she had hated walking what felt like a million miles up and down every night.
But as her father slowly withdrew into his lair, retreating from the outside world, it became a game with Kana, to see if he was still in there or not.
Despite the silence she always received as an answer, whenever she came back up the next day, the food tray would be gone. That, at least, told her that her father was still alive.
As her signature azure-colored bun disappeared from as she descended the stairway, the door slowly creaked open, and with it, the stench of stale urine and alcohol.
Hands, so pale that they were nearly translucent, scrabbled blindly at the food tray before finally dragging it in into the study, the door swinging shut with a boom.
In the darkened lair, Corrin coughed and grimaced as he stooped down to pick up the food tray. As he carried the food tray over to a table covered with countless other food trays, the dishes all already spoiled and rotting, one of the forks slid off and fell to the ground right as Corrin step on the tines.
He blinked, once, red eyes momentarily disappearing for a split second in the dark, before he continued forward, ignoring the three red holes in his feet. He roughly tossed the newest food tray into the pile before he shuffled over to a couple of armchairs next to a long-dead fireplace.
The armchair on the left, once a magnificent shade of white with black track, was now brown and covered in stains. Next to it rested several dozen empty wine bottles and shot glasses. The armchair on the left, however, was blue with gold studs and looked like it was almost brand new, the studs polished to a degree even Jakob would've been jealous of. It looked rather out of place in the shabby and darkened study.
Once upon a time, the study was a bright and happy place, the sounds of laughter just as prevalent as the rustling of papers as Azura and Corrin spent their time together, talking about what interested them and their dreams for the future. Corrin wanted to bring Hoshido and Nohr closer together, to end the war that had torn their families apart, but Azura wanted to settle down. Either as royalty, or being spirited away to a small but homely house in the middle of the woods where Shigure could have endless inspirations and opportunities for his art, and where Kana could romp around and play without having to worry about war or hunters, she did not care. All she wanted was to settle down with Corrin, to live with him and to sing to him until their hair turned gray together.
Now, the papers were yellowing under the stacks of food trays, and the curtains shut to block out the sunlight from outside world. The sounds of laughter and giggles replaced with sobs of a broken man, the rustling of papers replaced with the clinking of empty wine bottles slamming down on the table.
Corrin hated how bright the world was now without Azura. How could it, when he would never see him again?
Corrin sunk into the stained armchair, preparing himself to do what he'd been doing for the past three weeks: twisting and turning the pendant over and over in his hand as he stared into its depths.
The sapphire gemstone embedded in the center of the necklace gleamed as Corrin turned it at just the right angle, and without warning, a new flood of tears fell onto his lap.
Azura gasped in pain as she fell weakly to her knees. Corrin's eyes widened as he dropped Blazing Yato and rushed to her side. All around them everyone burst into cheers as the remains of Garon slowly dissipated away into water.
Corrin cradled her in his arms as her eyes weakly fluttered open.
"At last…we can live…in peace…" she whispered.
Corrin shook Azura's shoulders. "Azura!"
"Mother…father…we did it…"
Azura weakly raised her hand to cup Corrin's cheek.
"Azura!" Corrin repeated. "Please don't tell me you overdid it again!"
Tears welled up in her eyes as she nestled her head in the crook of his arm. "I'm afraid…I did."
Tears of his own welled up as he stroked her cheek. "Please, you can't leave! Not yet! We just made your dream come true! We can live happily ever after now! Together! You can't just die like this."
Azura opened her lips to reply, but a blue light appeared at the tips of her fingers made her pause. Corrin also paused, and for a moment, the two watched as the fell energy that had claimed everything from Azura, and now Corrin, creep up her arms.
"I'm so sorry, Corrin," Azura wept. "I know I promised you that I wouldn't kill myself…"
"…but you don't know if you can this time," Corrin finished. A single fat tear plopped onto her chest, staining the dress.
Azura turned Corrin's face towards her, and she felt the fragile cage that contained her heart crack and break as the magic worked its way up her legs. "I know you don't want this, neither do I, but I'm at peace now, don't you see? I can die knowing you, my love, are safe, and that everyone else will be able to live their life out in peace."
"But what is my life without you?" Corrin sobbed. "What's this been all about if I can't share the future with you?"
"Please, don't make it harder than it already is," Azura pleaded. She suppressed a whimper of pain she took Corrin's hands in hers and laid it over her pendant.
"I want you to live on without me. Promise me…promise me that you'll care for Shigure and Kana when I'm gone."
"I…I can't" Corrin said, looking away again. "Not without you."
"The war is over, Corrin, and its all because of you. A world at peace, that's the world you always dreamed of, didn't you? Didn't you wanted a world where Shigure and Kana can grow up safe and happy?"
"But…but without you, Kana and Shigure will never see you again. I'll…never see you again."
"I know."
Tears welled up again in her eyes as they flooded down her cheeks, through her hair, and into the floor.
"Corrin…you promised me that you would see peace achieved between Hoshido and Nohr. Can…can you promise me another thing? One last thing?"
Corrin sniffed and wiped his nose on the back of his arm. "What…what is it?"
Azura pulled Corrin's head down to meet her lips. His eyes widened at the sudden contact, before he closed his eyes and deepened it. Azura's hands grabbed at the hair at the back of his neck, while Corrin lifted her up off the ground, closer to him. His hands wrapped themselves around her waist as Azura's fingers slipped away from the back of Corrin's neck, down to his neck, whereupon they interlocked. Corrin pressed his lips against Azura's even harder, and she let out a loving moan, tempered with sadness.
The two remained that way for nearly half a minute, before a jolt of pain caused Azura to cry out. Corrin released his lips from hers, and cast a desperate over her body, of which was already almost covered in fell energy.
"There's got to be some way to slow this down!" he said desperately. "There has to!"
"Corrin…"
"Maybe…maybe if Sakura can get over here fast enough, he could—"
"Corrin…can you…can I see you smile…one last time before I go?"
"Azura?"
"Please? One more smile?"
Corrin tried to lift the corners of his mouth into a smile, but failed.
"Smile? How can I ever smile again without you?" Corrin whispered.
The question was so quiet, he wasn't even sure if he had said it or not, but Azura gave him a smile of her own as she tried reaching for Corrin's face, one last time. Before she could do so, her hand dropped, the blue energy overtaking the rest of her arms and legs, then her torso, and finally, her neck and face.
"Just...try," she whispered.
Corrin struggled to lift the corners of his mouth again, and this time, finally managed to succeed, though the action was tempered by the fat tears rolling down his cheeks as he squeezed Azura's body closer to him.
"That's right…lovely."
The last thing she saw, was Corrin's tear-streaked face, smiling down at her, though the heartbreak and sadness in his eyes mirrored her own. The last thing Corrin ever saw of Azura, was her eyes, golden and shimmering with tears as she evaporated. Corrin keeled forward from his kneeling position, drawing his arms together around his head to brace it as tears flow, now unchecked.
Everyone stopped their celebrations and turned towards Corrin as he threw his head back, and uttered a long, aching cry of loss as water seeped out from under him. As everyone rushed towards him, asking what was wrong and where Azura was, a single golden pendant, with a sapphire-colored dragonstone embedded in the center slowly fell to the ground, the light glinting off of it brighter and more somber than usual.
"Corrin, what's wrong?" Ryoma asked. "What happened?"
He knelt down and rested his hand on Corrin's shoulder, only to withdraw it when Corrin flinched at the contact.
Corrin looked up at the samurai, heartbroken. "She's gone!" he wailed. "She's gone forever!"
He wrapped his arms around his legs as he rocked back and forth.
Everyone looked at each other. Ryoma frowned. "Who's gone?"
Corrin tried to say Azura's name, but his lips refused to form her name, so he instead fumbled blindly for the pendant that had taken Azura from him and held it up to Ryoma.
The sounds of celebration and joy died as everyone looked at one another, everyone finally realizing what their victory had cost them.
Corrin's eyes snapped open as the pendant dropped onto the floor. He tried to catch it, but was too slow, and his fingers closed upon empty air. Corrin scowled and stooped down to pick it up. He hurled the pendant across the room, hoping to destroy it, to dent it, to ground it into dust and oblivion, but to no avail. Corrin hurled it into the fireplace, the logs cracking and snapping inhalf as the metallic pendant smashed through them.
Corrin considered reaching into the fireplace to grav the pendant again, but decided against it. He fell back in his chair and stared into nothing.
"I'm sorry, Azura," Corrin said, his voice hollow and husky. "We should've stopped. I should've stopped you."
That's fine a voice replied. I know how much it hurts, but think about it. What would happen, if I told you there was a way to see Azura again?
Corrin sat up as a glint of light caught his attention. He turned his gaze on the pendant lying in the fore place, the blue jewel embedded in the center of it almost perfectly reflecting red eyes back at him.
Once upon a time, his eyes were the ruby to Azura's gold. Now, it's little more than the color of blood, dried up, stuck, and utterly useless without the person. In an instant, Corrin knew what he could do, what he had to do.
That's right, the voice urged. You know what you have to do.
Corrin shambled over to his desk, once used to write reports on the army's movement, now just another place for him to dump food trays and empty wine bottles on.
His fingers blindly scrabbled over the surface of the desk, looking for something.
"Ah-ha," he muttered. "There you are…"
Corrin stepped back and allowed the glowing embers of the long-dead fire to illuminate the silver dagger he held in his hands, sharp and stout enough to pierce through any armor, yet ornate enough for its final purpose. The steel shimmered with an ominous light, courtesy of its wyrmslaying properties. He had taken it off the body off of Iago when the dark mage had tried to have him assassinated in Nohr.
"This…is the only way," he muttered to himself.
For a split second, part of Corrin's mind flashed hesitation, reminding him about Shigure and Kana. For a moment he thought whether or not he should write a note explaining his actions.
Shigure is of age, the voice said soothingly. And Kana will never be in danger, because of her bloodline. They'll both be fine.
"I'm so sorry, Kana. I'm so sorry, Shigure."
He looked at the golden picture frame on his desk containing a picture of Azura, Shigure, baby Kana, and him.
The Corrin in the picture was smiling resting his hand on Azura's shoulder as she smiled towards the bundle she held in her arms, tears shining in happiness as Shigure looked on in joy and awe at his little sister.
Corrin took the picture frame in his hands as he unsheathed the dagger and held it against his throat. One swipe, and that's all it would take.
"Soon, Azura. Soon, we will be together again."
"..."
"..."
*snick*
Shigure sighed as he climbed the stairway for the third time this week. Kana had refused to deliver food to their father after she reported an odor emanating from the room. At first, Shigure hadn't believed her, but as he climbed the final few steps to his father's study, he wrinkled his nose and covered it with his sleeve.
"Guess Kana wasn't joking this time," he muttered.
Eager to escape the odor as quickly as possible, Shigure crossed quickly to the door, stepping over a couple of food trays Kana had left and forgotten to take down, and knocked, loudly.
"Father, it's been a month! Kana said you haven't been touching the food trays at all this last week! You need to come on out!"
No response.
Shigure rolled his eyes. "I don't have time for this."
He set the food tray on the ground as he took a couple steps back before ramming the door open with his shoulder. Rubbing the bruise, Shigure picked the food tray back up and walked into the study, waving his hand in front of his nose in disgust.
"Whew! Guess Kana wasn't kidding when she said it smelled…really...bad..."
The food tray in his hand clattered to the ground.
A/N: If you suffer from these same issues, please, get help. Mental illnesses are just apparent as physical ones, and twice as damaging