Many years ago
Corrin eats his food silently, staring straight ahead. Mikoto sits beside him, making small talk with the evil girl across the table.
"So, Lilith, how old are you?"
"Uhm..." Lilith begins, glancing over at Corrin. "I-I'll be nine years old in a few days..."
"That's wonderful!" Mikoto says, clapping her hands together. "We'll make a cake and get you a present, won't we Cory?"
Corrin mumbles around the fork in his mouth, staring at the horrible artwork of a barn at sunset hanging on the wall.
"Corrin." Mikoto says, placing a firm hand on his shoulder. Corrin stares up at his mother, a little afraid.
"R-right..." He says, glancing at Lilith. When he's sure his mother can't see his face, Corrin glares at Lilith and shakes his head.
Lilith's lip quivers, but she remains quiet.
()()()()
Corrin kicks his foot against the sand, digging a small trench underneath the swingset he's sitting on. Beside him, Azura remains quiet as ever.
"I just don't like her." Corrin says.
"She's your sister, now." Azura says, speaking for the first time that day.
"But why should I have to like her? Mom makes a huge deal about it, but she's just proof that Dad never loved her."
Azura stays silent, letting Corrin speak.
"How long did Dad cheat on Mom? Lilith is only three years younger than I am, so it's got to be a long time, right?" Corrin scowls at the sand. "I hate her."
Azura never says anything after that, but Corrin is thankful for the silence. He's happy to have her for a friend, even if Silas says girls have cooties. Azura was different than those girls. He was sure of it. None of the others in his class would even go near him.
Corrin's scowl only deepens as he spots Lilith approaching from the other side of the playground.
"Miko-" Lilith begins, but corrects herself. "Mother wants us to head home. Azura's mom is here to pick her up."
Corrin doesn't say anything to Lilith, but turns to Azura and gives her a hug. "I'll see you later."
Azura nods, giving Lilith a slight nod as well, and goes off to find her mother.
Corrin frowns and glares at Lilith a moment longer. He takes off in a sprint, eager to get home and to his own room, away from the intruder.
()()Present()()
Nina grunts as the car bounces on the dirt road. Up until now its been six-and-a-half hours of smooth highways. She supposes its because they're finally nearing the art camp. Not that she knew exactly where they were, the trunk of a car was dark after all.
The car comes to a stop and Nina knows she has only a few seconds to act. The engine turns off and the trunk clicks open. Perfect. Nina pushes the trunk hood open and throws herself out of the car, she lands on sore and wobbly legs, but luckily there's a large bush a few feet away.
Nina takes a few pained steps and throws herself into the bush, taking deep breaths. After a second she peers through the leaves, ensuring that she was not seen by anyone. She breaths a sigh of relief, Shigure and his dad were both standing at either side of the car, doors open, admiring the view.
She groans lowly, collapsing onto the dirt.
She made it.
Somehow, she made it.
()()()()
Shigure was slightly concerned when Nina told him she was going to meet him at art camp. It wasn't a cheap program and Nina's family wasn't as well-off as his own.
Shigure was even more concerned when he spotted the trunk fly open through the rear-view mirror, followed by a set of purple braids.
Corrin was already about to get out of the car, but Shigure quickly grabbed his attention. Shigure opened his door and sprang to his feet, pointing to the mountains. "Look, father. W-what a view!" Shigure ended it with a shaky chuckle, his bangs thankfully hiding his face from Corrin.
"Huh, it has been a while since I've been to Hoshido. Looks better than I remember." Corrin says, leaning on the door for a moment to admire the snow-capped mountains. "Well," He claps his hands. "Let's get your suitcase and head inside." He points to a large log cabin down a small trail.
"R-right." Shigure nods. He looks for Nina, but the girl had seemingly disappeared.
()()()()
Corrin grins as Kana leads him across the grass, her hands small in Corrin's.
Tonight was the "Daddy-Daughter Dance." Kana, of course, had tried to learn singing like her mother and brother, but she found herself in dance.
Dance was more energetic and explosive, or it was when Kana was dancing. She preferred to move and jump, rather than simply sway with gentle, practised motions like Corrin was used to. It was quite evident as Kana moved through the grass.
"C'mon Papa!" Kana giggles, jumping into the air. Corrin catches her by the waist and swings her around. She lands with a grunt, bare feet kicking up dirt. It's hardly graceful, but Kana's laughing and wiping the sweat from her brow with glee.
"That was good." Azura comments from the grill. She looks down and flips the small burgers.
"Landing is still a little shaky." Corrin says. "But I think we're doing just fine." He leans down and pokes Kana's tummy. "Don't eat too much, okay? We'll get some food after the dance."
"Yes Papa!" Kana chirps.
()()()()
"I can't believe it." Shigure says, leaning against the wall of the large log cabin. It's dark out, and Shigure's already breaking curfew on his first night.
"What?" Nina pouts. "I thought that was one of my better acts of roguish heroism."
"Nina." Shigure sighs. "You hid in the trunk of my dad's car for gods know how long and now you're breaking into a fairly exclusive and expensive art camp! What were you thinking!?"
"I was thinking about spending summer with my boyfriend in the Hoshidian mountains." She folds her arms. "But fine, I guess I'll just call my mom and get her to pick me up."
Shigure sighs again. "Nina... wait."
Nina raises an eyebrow, sliding her cellphone back into her pocket.
"How are you going to convince the staff that you're a part of this camp?"
Nina grins and holds up an official-looking letter. "I know a guy who knows a guy... who knows a guy. He got his hands on some official 'Make-A-Dream,' letterheads."
Shigure brings a hand to his forehead and nods for her to continue, already fearing for what was going to happen next.
"Basically," Nina continues, "This latter says that I, Nina Millicent Nohrana, am a 17-year old girl who is suffering from a deadly form of cancer."
"Dusk Dragon..." Shigure curses under his breath.
Nina smirks and pushes the paper at Shigure. "It's all official-sounding words and whatnot, but with changed contact info. When they call this number," She shoves her finger into the page, nearly ripping it, "A friend of a friend of a friend answers, as a Make-A-Dream staff member. They talk, and they convince the staff to let me stay here for a little vacation before I return to hospice care in the remote regions of Izumo. Clever, right?"
Shigure just stands there, shocked.
Nina rolls her eyes and pats Shigure's shoulder. "I'll make sure the story works, 'kay? Just focus on your art and I can write and find some other... art thing to make my story work, and we're golden!" She smiles at Shigure. "Great! See you tomorrow!" Nina leans upwards and kisses him on the cheek.
And then she's gone, leaving a thoroughly confused and concerned Shigure alone.
"Gods..." Shigure mumbles, swiping at his bangs with one hand. "Good gods..."
()()()()
"Papa..." Kana says quietly from the edge of the stage.
"Yes?"
"T-there's a lot of people out there..." She's shaking slightly, her hands curled into little balls.
Corrin realizes that his daughter has never really preformed for such a large crowd. It dawns on him that Kana is her mother's daughter, and while loud and easy going with her friends, Kana is still shy with strangers. Not nearly as introverted, but there's still some in there.
Corrin kneels beside Kana, looking through a small gap in the ornate red curtains. The crowd is a sea of grey and black blobs, hidden by blinding stage lights.
Two judges sit at the front of the masses. While the dance is mainly for fun and raising money for charity, small prizes were still being given away. It was no formal affair, the judges were merely staff members of the dance hall they were in, but to Kana it was a whole lot more.
"Kana-bean." Corrin says, spinning her away from the crowd. "I want you to know that I'm proud of you, and that you are stronger than the nervousness you're feeling now."
"I-I dunno..." Kana scuffs her shoes off the stage floor.
"Do you want to go home?" Corrin asks.
Kana shakes her head. "I really want to do this Papa." She says with surprising determination. "But..."
"It's nerve wracking, right?"
Kana nods.
"Kana-bean, when I was young I was with your mother at a place like this. It was her first time ever singing in front of a crowd. Before that Mama only preformed in front of me, your grandma, and Auntie Arete. She was really nervous and she got so scared she was crying backstage."
"Mama cried?" Kana squeaks.
Corrin nods. "So I went back there to find her, even though I wasn't supposed to be back there. I found her sitting in a corner. You know what I did?"
"You encouraged her she could do it?" Kana asks, slightly hopeful.
Corrin shakes his head, silently thankful for Kana's story-loving nature. "I sat down beside her and started crying too."
"W-why!?"
Corrin smiles softly. "I don't know. I certainly did not know what to say, and I didn't know what to do. So I just sat there and cried with her." Corrin takes a breath. "When it came time for her to preform, she just hugged me and cried some more, until Auntie Arete found us."
"Your Mama didn't sing that night. She missed her chance, and it took her another year or so before she ever even tried to sing in front of anyone again. But look at her now." Corrin says grinning widely. "She teaches others how to sing because she's so good."
Corrin grabs Kana's hand and rubs it affectionately. "I know you're good at dancing, Kana-bean. And I know you love to dance. So it doesn't matter who's watching, right? Just think of it as you and me having fun."
"Just me and Papa..." Kana says, looking down for a moment. "Is... is it okay if I don't look at the people?"
Corrin nods.
"O-okay." Kana says, her grip on Corrin's hand tight and strong.
()()()()
Kana smiles and blushes, half-hidden behind Azura's legs.
"Really she was great." The judge says, holding out a small envelope.
"Thank you." Azura says, taking the envelope and stepping to the side, exposing Kana. Azura leans down a bit and nudges her forward. "What do you say, Kana?"
"Thanks Miss Strober..." She says, thoroughly embarrassed by all the attention. Azura hands her the envelope and continues speaking to the dance studio staff. Kana flips the envelope over, noticing a large '3rd Place,' inscribed in red ink on the front.
Kana smiles wider and hugs the letter to her chest.
()()()()
Shigure laughs. "I wish I was there."
"It was super cool!" Kana says, her voice cracking over the phone. "Anyways, I gotta go! Me and Mama are gonna go to the pool today!"
"Tell mother I said hello." Shigure says. Kana hangs up with a hurried 'Bye big bro!' Leaving Shigure alone in his cabin. Normally he would be out painting, but the first hike of the day wasn't supposed to start for another hour or so.
Nina sitting on his bed scribbling in her journal wasn't so bad either.
"What did Kana do?" Nina asks, closing the leather journal with a thud.
Shigure grins and leans forward. "She won third place in a dancing contest. A free family meal at Peri's Pizza and a small ribbon. She's super excited."
Nina smiles a little. "I bet. I kinda want a little bro sometimes."
Shigure nods. "A sibling... can be taxing. But she's my sweet little sister and I love her to death."
Nina catches his eye, and they both stare at each other for some time.
()()()()
Corrin wishes he was at the pool with his family.
Instead, he's sitting in the waiting room of Valla's finest Psychiatric hospital. He doesn't like it. The attempts to make it seem less medical and bland all felt too unreal. It was like they were trying too hard to make it seem homely. It was slightly unsettling, even after the many times he had visited in the past.
He taps his foot, sighing.
A door opens across the hall.
"Corrin? Your father is ready to see you."
A/N - Still no Azura in Heroes. My rituals of sacrificing Cipher Cards aren't working. Time to move on to goats. Thanks to all the reviews, you have no idea how much it means to me.