"Papa I'm hungryyyyy," Kana whined.
"I heard you the first time Kana," Corrin responded patiently without taking his eyes off the cooling rice, "but we have breakfast together as a family; as soon as your mother gets up, we'll start eating."
Kana placed her face on the table and groaned.
"Complaining is not going to make you any less hungry dear," Corrin served the rice onto a plate and put it next to all the other food he had been preparing since he got up, "try not to think about it."
Kana lifted her head and pouted, looking around the kitchen for something to take her mind of her growling stomach; unfortunately, her efforts were not proving to be fruitful. Then, she had an idea.
"Papa, how come you always do the cooking?"
"Because I like to cook."
"But was does mama never cook?" Kana asked. Thinking back, she couldn't recall a single time when she had seen her mother behind the stove other than hugging her father from behind playfully. All of her meals had either been prepared by her papa or by the cooks at the castle.
Corrin bit his lip, thinking carefully what he was going to say next while setting up the table, "your mother...she's just not a fan of cooking."
"But cooking is fun! Remember when we made that strawberry cake for her birthday?" the little girl asked.
Corrin smiled and ruffled her hair affectionally, "yes it was; but you have to understand that just because something is fun for you, that doesn't mean that it will be fun for others. People have different interest, and everyone thinks that different things are fun. You and I might enjoy cooking and baking, but a lot of other people don't; and one of those people is your mother."
"But why?" Kana insisted.
"Well...the thing is...your mother..."
"Is unable to crack open an egg without setting it on fire," Hinoka mumbled as she walked into the kitchen rubbing her eyes tiredly.
"Mama!"
"Morning," Corrin kissed his wife's cheek while pulling up a bowl for her, "we were just waiting for you."
"You don't have to you know," Hinoka grabbed her chopstick as Corrin served her and their daughter some rice, "you and Kana must have been waiting for me for a while."
"Nonsense, I just finished making breakfast and Kana woke up not five minutes ago," he said, giving the girl a discrete look.
"You're a terrible liar," Hinoka chuckled, "and even worse at being discrete; I saw that."
"Oh fine," Corrin sighed before taking a seat and serving himself some cold fish, "we were waiting for maybe an hour or so. That's it."
"Again, unnecessary, especially considering how I could hear our daughter's stomach growling from the hallway," she glanced at Kana, who was plowing through her second bowl, "look at her, poor thing is practically starving."
"I'm pretty sure she is not," Corrin said sipping his tea, "besides, this might be the only time we get to spend together as a family for the rest of the day. You're leading drills outside of the capital for the entire sky division, and I promised Ryoma that I would help him receive the representatives from Izumo for the renovation of our countries' trade deals. We'll be lucky if we get back before dinner."
"Speaking of which, did you talk to Sakura yesterday about her looking after Kana?"
"Yes and she said she doesn't have a problem. She'll pick her up after class with Sophie and take them to their house until we get back."
"I'll be able to play with Avel?!" Kana asked excitedly.
"That depends on your uncle," Corrin chuckled petting her messy red hair, "though knowing Silas, I'll doubt he'll have any objection."
"I don't know Corrin. I'm still not sure that horse is child friendly; or people friendly to be completely honest."
"It's fine mama. Avel likes me! He always lets me feed him oats and brush his hair."
"All right fine; but only if Silas is nearby. I still don't trust that horse," she relented serving herself some bean paste.
"Well, now that that is all settled, let's enjoy our breakfast together," the prince smiled, pouring more tea on Kana's cup.
The young girl was about to take a sip when she remembered the conversation that she had been having with her father earlier, and how she never really got an answer to her question. She looked up at her mother and asked, "mama, why don't you like cooking like me and papa?"
"Because I'm bad at it," Hinoka responded simply while drinking her tea.
"But you always tell me that practice makes perfect, and that the only way to get good at something is to practice every day. I know! You can practice with me and papa. That way we can help you learn and then one day you'll be a great cook like papa!"
Corrin let out a small snicker before he could stop himself.
"What's so funny papa?"
"Yes Corrin; tell us what's so funny?" Hinoka eyed him.
The young man coughed nervously, "n-nothing. I just had some rice stuck at the back of my throat and was just clearing it and—"
"Relax dear, I'm just messing with you," Hinoka chuckled, "if you want, you can tell the Kana the truth."
"Really?"
Hinoka shrugged, "might as well; plus, knowing her she won't stop until we either tell her the real reason why or I try cooking again. At least this way we can avoid any casualties."
"Casualties?" the little girl cocked her head.
"Your mother is just exaggerating honey."
"Not really."
"Corrin this is amazing!" Hinoka exclaimed.
"Indeed," Ryoma agreed taking another bite, "such a savory dish, with the eggs complimenting the cheese and the vegetables. I wouldn't have thought that such combination would work so well together."
"My goodness, I haven't had one of these in years; and it's even better than I remember," Azura hummed pleasantly.
"I suppose it's passable; for a Nohrian recipe," Takumi mumble while discretely serving himself some more.
"It's soooo yummy!" Sakura squealed, fork still in her mouth.
"Guys please, it's only an omelet," Corrin looked down embarrassed, his face bright red, "you don't need to go that far."
The hoshidian royals were all currently eating breakfast, all of them still wearing their sleeping garments as they had only recently gotten up, only to find a note attached to each of their doors inviting them to the palace dining hall. Once they arrived, they found Corrin—already up and clothed—waiting for them with breakfast ready. The young prince had spent most of his morning preparing breakfast alongside his personal butler Jakob with some ingredients that he had purchased from the market the day before.
"On the contrary brother, we are being completely honest with you," Ryoma smiled, "this truly a delectable and fulfilling piece of culinary work. You should be proud of yourself."
"W-Well if you liked that then I hope you also like this," Corrin brought forth a large baking tray. Within it was something covered in a light brown crust, with heat still coming off it and a delicious, sweet smell filling the room.
"What is it?" Sakura peered in curiously.
"Oh my," Azura's eyes went wide, "is that...peach cobbler?"
"Peach cobbler?" Hinoka asked confused.
"You know it Azura?" the silver haired prince asked.
The blue songstress nodded, eyes never leaving the dish before them, "it's a dish that consists of a sweet filling made of peaches stuffed inside a baked crust. It's a very coveted dessert amongst nohrian nobles. During my stay in Nohr, my mother learned how to bake it from the royal maids and would sometimes make it for us; it's one of the few pleasant memories I have of my time there."
"Well looks like I have a high bar to reach," Corrin laughed nervously, "I'm not entirely sure if this will be as good as the one you ate at Nohr; turns out the peaches here in Hoshido are a different kind, so the taste might be off."
"If I may Corrin, I'll be happy to try it out first. After all, they haven't had peach cobbler yet so I'm sure you want it to be excellent for their first time," the songstress suggested.
"I guess that could work," the prince said before pulling out a large wooden spoon and serving some for her in a small bowl.
"Worry not Corrin; I'll be completely honest, but I won't be mean about it," she smiled at him encouragingly. She then picked a small piece and took a bite, chewing slowly.
She swallowed.
"Well?" Corrin asked anxiously.
Azura was silent. Suddenly, she snatched her bowl off the table and began furiously eating, not even bothering keeping her composure anymore.
"So...good..." she said in between bites.
"Guess that answers that."
"Damn, now I want some!"
"Hey, hey, leave some for me!"
"I hope there enough for everyone."
A few minutes later the tray was completely bare—save for a few crumbs—and the entire royal family was lying on the floor, too full to move yet all of them with the same look of satisfaction on their faces.
"Maybe next time I should use a smaller tray," Corrin said while picking it up.
"That...was the best thing...I have ever eaten," Hinoka groaned while forcing herself up, "how did you become such a good cook and baker?"
The prince shrugged, "you spend a good part of your life locked up in a castle, you find something to do with all your spare time. In my case, I used to hang out a lot in the kitchen and eventually the servants decided that if I was going to be there, I might as well help out."
"I can safely say that all that time spent paid off," Ryoma laughed as he got up, "perhaps our own cooks could learn a thing or two from you."
"Ryoma please, you're embarrassing me," the young prince said, feeling his ears get hot.
"Geez Corrin, just take the damn compliment," Takumi grumbled sitting up, "nobody likes fake modesty."
"W-What Takumi is trying to say is that you shouldn't be so hard on yourself," Sakura cut in quickly, "your food is really good, and we all really liked it."
"Indeed, that was an exceptional breakfast," Azura agreed, wiping her mouth gently with a piece of cloth, "though it does beg the question: why did you go through so much trouble to make this for us? What's the occasion? It's not anyone's birthday, or any sort of hoshidian holiday as far as I know."
"Um, well..." Corrin shifted nervously, "I just...I wanted to thank you. All of you."
"What do you mean?"
The young prince looked down, "I-I know that this past few month has been hard ever since I came back. I've caused you all nothing but trouble so far, yet you've all been so patient and caring with me. I wanted to give you all something that should just how grateful I am for everything you've done."
The red haired princess frowned, "Corrin we've been over this: you haven't done anything wrong, and we are more than happy to have you back with us."
"Hinoka is right brother," Ryoma walked up to the young prince and placed his hand on his shoulder, causing him to look up "everything that has happened was the doing of King Garon and his lust for power. You are not the villain here, and I am certain that had you known the circumstances you would have done everything in your power to prevent the upcoming confrontation with Nohr; but more importantly, you are family, and no matter what we will always be glad to have you with us again."
The others nodded in agreement—Takumi simply looked away—and Corrin gave a small smile, "thank you, everyone. That does put me at ease."
"Then again, if you wish to pamper us with more delicious food in the future, no one here would complain," the high prince laughed while slapping his shoulder playfully.
"I'll keep that in mind; though right now I should probably clean up," he responded as he began collecting everyone's bowls.
"Very well then. Once you are done, I would ask that you join me and Takumi for some training and sparring; with war looming over the horizon, we must all be ready to defend our home and its people," with a final nod Ryoma left the dining area.
"Let's see if you are really fit to carry Yato with you," the young archer scoffed before getting up and following his older brother.
With one final smile towards the two princesses, Corrin made his way towards the kitchen, presumably to clean up after the others. Sakura was about to get up when she noticed that Hinoka's gaze was fixed towards the kitchen, sadness etched on her face.
"Big sister? Is everything all right?"
"He's lying," she said quietly.
"What?"
"Corrin; he was lying when he said that he was at ease with what Ryoma said. He still blames himself for everything that has happened; and he still thinks he needs to make up for it."
"How can you tell?"
"Haven't you noticed how he's been acting this past month? The way he constantly tries to please us while never asking for anything in return? Hell, he barely asks for anything at all; Ryoma had to instruct Kaze to follow him around the market because Corrin refuses to ask any of us to accompany him there. He still thinks he's a burden to us, and he's trying to fix that any way he can."
"But that's not true! Corrin could never be a burden to us!"
"I know that. We all know that. Even Takumi doesn't really think that, despite the way he's been acting; the problem is that Corrin still believes that's the case. What if he never stops thinking that? After all these years, we finally have Corrin here with us again, and yet at times like he is still so distant from us. What if...what if we never really get him back?"
"Well...what can we do?"
"What can we do?"
Hinoka shifter her weight onto her practice naginata and let out a tired sigh as her sister's question still rattled inside her head. It had been a couple of hours since they last spoke, and she still didn't have an answer. She had been racking her brain nonstop for something, anything, but still came up with nothing. The main problem was that she barely knew Corrin, or rather the "new" Corrin. In the years that they had been separated, he had grown into a young man, and she only knew him back when he was still a boy. He had changed—they all had— and they had barely been back together for a little over a month. Not helping was the fact that he was still hesitant to talk about himself, as if he was scared that he might let something slip that they would consider bad.
"Lady Hinoka? Is everything all right?"
"Hmm?" the princess turned to face the person talking to her, a young woman with blue hair holding a bow in front of her.
"You look like you're daydreaming, but about something bad," she hummed lazily, "are you okay?"
"I'm fine Setsuna," she lied as she stood up straight, "just a bit tired."
"Maybe you should take a nap; naps are nice," the archer let go of the bow string, causing the arrow to whiz through the air and hit the bullseyes, "oh! I hit it again!
Hinoka was about to tell her retainer that she didn't need nor want a nap, when she suddenly had an idea.
"Hey Setsuna? What do you do when you are down?
"Hmmm? Well...I usually just wait for you to find me and pick me out of the trap Lady Hinoka."
"What? No, I don't mean when you are literally down in a hole or something like that. I mean when you are feeling down; when you are sad, what do others do to cheer you up?"
"Uuuum... they usually pull me out of a trap..."
"No, Setsuna, that's not..." the princess let out an exasperated sigh, "I don't think I'm getting through to you."
"Sorry Lady Hinoka, but I don't really get sad. I think. Maybe? I don't know..." Setsuna said, seemingly talking more to herself than her liege towards the end, "after all, you and Azama are so nice to me. I'm so lucky to be your retainer. I don't see why I would be sad. Maybe you should ask Azama."
"Setsuna I don't think he has any feelings to begin with; plus, knowing him, he would probably just make fun of me for asking something like that."
"You think Azama looks like a fun person?"
"How about before you became my retainer?" she pushed on, knowing that getting anything through Setsuna's head was about as easy as herding cats, "surely there had to be sometime when you were little that you needed cheering up."
"Weeell...there was that time I broke my first bow...that was sad."
"And?" Hinoka asked a bit impatiently.
"Ummmm...my mother made me some cake. It was goood..."
Cake huh? the red head thought to herself, Corrin did say that he liked cooking; and he is always buying sweets whenever he goes down to the market. So if I were to bake something sweet for him, he would then cheer up!
"All right, that settles it!" she declared, setting her nagita back with the others.
"Hmmmm?" the archer turned towards her.
"I'm going to bake a cake! And it's going to be the greatest cake that anyone has ever eaten!"
"Yaaaay, cakes are nice..."
"I'm going to make it super sweet, and softer than a cloud, and with so much icing on top that—"
"Do you know how?"
"Huh?"
"Do you know how to bake a cake Lady Hinoka?"
"...n-no," she muttered embarrassed.
Actually, it wasn't that she didn't know how to bake a cake. She didn't know how to bake period; or do anything related to cooking for that matter. She had set all of that aside to focus solely on her training after Corrin was kidnapped, and that had been several years ago. She never set foot in the kitchen unless it was while looking for someone. She had never even given it a second thought before, but now she couldn't help but feel that maybe it wouldn't have been bad idea to at least learn some basics of baking.
"Maaan, and I got all excited for nothing," she sighed.
"Oh...that's sad. Your cake sounded good, and I really wanted to try it..."
The princess was about to grab her weapon once more to continue training when an idea came to her, "wait. Setsuna, do you know how to bake?"
"Maybe?"
"Maybe? What do you mean by maybe?"
"I never really baked before; but I do sometimes watch the servants at my house when they cook and bake... Sometimes I just sit there for hours watching before anyone notices I'm there...when they do, they sometimes give me a cookie. They're so nice..."
Better than nothing.
"Okay then; Setsuna, you're going to help me bake that cake."
"I am?" she tilted her head confused.
"Yep! If you spent so much time in the kitchen like you say you did, then you must have stored a lot of information about cooking and baking into your head, even subconsciously. You're probably a secrete baking genius!"
"I see...I guess that makes sense..."
"Your main problem is that you're very scatter brained and have a hard time focusing on one thing. Therefore, I will be there and help you bring out your culinary side. With your knowledge and my determination, there is no way that we won't be able to make something as simple as a cake. So what do you say?"
"Sounds fun...okay..."
Yes! Let's do it!" she marched towards the kitchen with her retainer not far from her, "we are going to make the greatest cake that anyone has eaten in this castle; after all, how hard can it be to bake a simply cake.?"
Twenty minutes late.
"Setsuna?! Why is there a pillar of fire in front of you?!"
"Oh...I don't know..." she responded absent mindedly while starring at the torrent of flames currently bursting from clay oven in front of her and singeing her clothes.
Acting quickly, Hinoka pulled her retainer back before removing her apron and using it to try and smother the flames. Eventually she managed to quell them, but unfortunately the poor article of clothing was completely ruined.
Turning back to her friend—who was currently rolling an egg around on the table with her finger—she asked, "what happened?! All I asked you to do was to put some wood on the oven so that we could pre-heat it!"
"I did; but the wood was taking too long to catch fire. So I thought that maybe it would go faster if I added some oil to it," she responded before the egg slipped past her and felt to the ground, cracking open, "oops."
The red haired princess was about to ask her how much oil she used when she noticed a bottle lying next to the egg yolk on the floor. She picked it up and shook it a few times, confirming her suspicions.
"Setsuna did you use the ENTIRE bottle of oil?"
"Yeah...I figured that more oil would lead to more fire...and it worked..." she smiled.
"Oh my gods," she buried her face in her hands, "okay, new plan. Just stand behind me and wait until I ask for you to hand me something. Understood?"
"Okay..." the archer nodded following her liege back to her station, where she was currently mixing something in the bowl, "is that the cake mix Lady Hinoka?"
"Yep, sure is!" she beamed proudly, "took my a couple of tries, but I finally got the batter to have the same consistency as it said in the recipe. Once I'm done mixing it, we'll pour it on a mold and put it in the oven. Want to try it?"
"Sure..." grabbing a wooden spoon she scooped some of the bowl's contents before giving it a lick.
"Well?"
"...this is disgusting Lady Hinoka."
"What?!" she took the spoon from her retainer and scooped some of the mix before putting it in her mouth; almost immediately she loudly spat the whole thing out, going as far as to drop the bowl so that she could grab some napkins and scrap her tongue with them, "good lord, what the hell was that?!
"Told you..."
"B-But I don't get it. I followed the recipe exactly as written. I even added extra sugar to make sure that it came out even sweeter!"
"This sugar?" Setsuna asked while picking up a clay pot nearby.
"Yes."
The archer took a pinch of the contents out and placed it on her tongue, "...that's salt. You added salt to your mix Lady Hinoka; and a lot of it apparently."
"Are you serious?! Damn it, and I thought I finally got it right!" she slumped down on the table and dropped her head into her arms.
"Maybe we should stop baking Lady Hinoka. It looks like we are not very good at it."
"You think?" came a muffle reply.
"Do you want to start cleaning up the mess?"
The princess didn't answer, he head still buried in her arms.
"Hello? Is there someone in here—woah!"
Looking up Hinoka saw a familiar face with long pink hair and a maid uniform staring at the mess they had made in the kitchen.
"Hello Felicia," she muttered halfheartedly.
"Hiiiiii..."
"What happened here?"
"We tried baking a cake. It didn't go very well," Setsuna answered.
"I can see that. Was it some sort of special cake that is really hard to make or something?"
"No...it was just a vanilla cake..." Setsuna answered while Hinoka buried her head even further.
"Hmm," Felicia looked over at the table were some of the ingredients were still left out, "maybe you should try using brown sugar instead of normal sugar next time. Also, this flour seems a bit too starchy if you want to make a cake with a softer feel to it; maybe you could tell the servants to buy another type of flour next time they go to the market."
The princes' head perked up, "that's it!"
"Huh?"
Jumping out from the chair, she grabbed Felicia's shoulders, "you can help us bake a cake!"
"Me?"
"Of course! Why didn't I think of that before? You're one of Corrin's personal retainers, meaning that you must have spent time with him in the kitchens when he was learning how to cook and bake. You probably even helped him more often than not, right?"
"W-Well yes, that is true. Although to be honest Jakob helped him more than I did."
"But you do know something, right?"
"Yes but—"
"Felicia please," Hinoka took the maids hands into hers, "even if you only know the basics, it's clearly more than what Setsuna and I can do right now. Please help us this one time, and I promise you we will learn so that we don't bother you again in the future. We need you Felicia."
The pink haired girl bit her cheek, unsure of what to say. Most people didn't ask her for help when it came to chores—for good reason, sadly—but she had vowed to do everything in her power to get better so that she could continue serving Lord Corrin; and, if she were to be completely honest, it felt nice to have someone ask for her help instead of just telling her to go get Jakob for one.
She smiled and grasped the princes' hands tightly, "all right, I'll help you!"
"Yes, excellent!" Hinoka said, her eyes brimming with passion once more.
"Yaaaaay..."
"Now let's bake that cake!"
15 minutes later.
"Ack! I dropped the butter!"
"Don't worry Lady Hinoka! I got it! No wait, now. No wait, now! Why...can't...I...grab...IT!
"Felicia look out! The floor—
"WAH!"
CRASH
"...Lady Hinoka...a little help?
"Setsuna!"the princess ran to her retainer, her clothes pinned against the wall by several knives that had been sent flying when Felician had fallen and knocked over a tray. After a few seconds she managed to get her retainer down from her predicament.
"Thaaaanks...
"Oh this is hopeless!" Felicia wailed as her faced scrunched up, "I thought I would be able to something as simple as help bake a cake, and all I've done is make an even bigger mess! I'm so...so...useless!"
"Felicia wait! It's not your fault...well, not entirely..."
"Oh dear...now she's curling up under the table," Setsuna muttered as they both watch the pink hair girl hug her legs against her chest and sob pathetically.
"Hey is everything all right in there?" a voice called from outside the kitchen as footsteps got closer, "I heard a loud crash and—good lord!"
Rinkah stood at the doorway, eyes wide as she took in the sight before her. Milk and butter all over the floor, Setsuna's clothes slightly singes and covered in flour, Hinoka's hair covered in egg yolk, and Felicia rocking herself back and forth under the table.
"Was there some sort of battle here?" she asked incredulously.
"No," Hinoka sighed while picking out the egg from her hair, "we're just trying to bake a cake."
"...with explosives?"
"Not now Rinkah, please?" Hinoka took a seat while Setsuna tried to coax Felicia from under the table, palming her face in her hand, "I'm not in the mood for jokes."
"Sorry, didn't think it was a touchy subject," the girl answered honestly, "how long have you guys been going at it?"
"About an forty minutes," the archer responded while giving the maid a napkin to blow her nose with.
"Well see, there's your biggest mistake: you didn't call for me thirty minutes ago."
"What?"
The warrior pounded her chest proudly, "you're looking at one of the best scavengers in the entire Flame Tribe. Ever since I was a kid I've known how to survive in the wild on my own, which meant learning how to cook my own food. I can track, hunt, and cook a wild boar in less than 20 minutes; hell, just give me ten more minutes and I'll have boar stew ready to eat."
"While that does sound impressive Rinkah we aren't exactly cooking wild boar here; we're trying to bake a cake."
"I know that," she scowled, "but come on, you can't actually believe that baking a silly little cake is harder than making boar stew in the wild. Do you know how many steps that has? I'll tell you how many: a lot of them. Also, some of those steps include skinning the blasted thing and removing its organs. Compared to that, making a cake should be a...well, a piece of cake."
"I don't know; maybe we should just clean up and leave it for another day," Hinoka muttered.
"Come on princess, I know that you aren't a quitter. Think of it like a battle: you can either turn tail now like a coward, or you can stand your ground push forward until you win. I think we both know which is the better option, no?"
The princess thought about it for a moment. She turned her attention to Setsuna, who had finally coaxed Felicia from under the table and was now helping her whipe the flour from her outfit. Her instincts were telling her that the best course of action was to just cut her loses before things took a turn for the worse.
But I really want to make that cake...
"...you're right, we can't quit now! We may have made a lot of mistakes, but now we have someone with actual cooking experience to help us. This time we can't fail!"
"Now you're talking!"
"Setsuna! Felicia! You ready to try again?"
"If that's what you want Lady Hinoka..." the archer hummed.
"Y-Yeah...i-if you guys s-still trust me," the maid hiccupped while wiping her eyes.
"Then let's do this!" Rinkah clenched her fist, her eyes ablaze, "let's bake this stupid cake!
Ten Minutes Later.
"GAAAAAH! Why isn't this stupid batter mixing!" Rinkah yelled while furiously stirring the contents in the bowl.
"Rinkah calm down! You're spilling it everywhere!"
"BECAUSE IT WON'T MIX!" she roared, increasing her speed.
"Rinkah listen to me: you accidently used olive oil instead of—OOF!" Felicia was cut off when the fighter accidently elbowed her in the stomach hard enough for the air to rush out of her and for her to fall on the ground.
"Felicia! Oh gods I'm sorry I—oops," Turning around to see if the maid was fine, she accidently let go of the bowl while her arm kept stirring furiously, causing it to fly out her hand and towards and oblivious Setsuna.
"Setsuna look out!" Hinoka cried out.
"Hmm?" the blue haired archer turned around just in time for the bowl to hit her in the face, most of its contents pouring over her while the rest splattered across the wall and floor. She paused for a moment before licking some of the mix around her mouth, "this taste even worse than before..."
"I can fix this! I just need another bowl and some more eggs. Third time's the charm, right?"
"Actually...it's...the fourth..." Felicia said between gasps.
"Fine whatever! The point is—"
"Even Lady Hinoka's mix wasn't this bad..."
"Yes I get it—"
"Can someone...help me...please?"
"My hair is sticky..."
"Okay if I can just crack the eggs without getting any eggshells in like last time—"
"ENOUGH!" Hinoka roared, causing everyone to be quiet and look at her, "that's it, we're done! This was clearly a mistake; none of us has the foggiest idea of what to do except apparently destroy the kitchen. We're stopping this right now and cleaning up this mess. Understood?"
"Geez, fine. Just calm down princess. It's just a cake," Rinkah raised her hands in front of her.
"Just...let's just cleaning up," Hinoka muttered while picking up the eggshells lying around the floor. The others soon followed suit, except for Setsuna. The archer simply stared at her liege, noticing that her face had gone from angry to sad.
Walking up to her, she tugged on her sleeve in order to get her attention, "Lady Hinoka...why did you want to make a cake?"
The princess didn't answer.
"It wasn't for you...was it? You wanted to make it for someone else? Someone special?"
"What does it matter? I couldn't even do it. Forget I ever asked about it," she said without looking up.
"...no."
"Huh?" the red haired princess felt her hand being grabbed and then pulled up.
"We are going to make that cake," Setsuna said with surprising determination.
"Setsuna you know that's not going to happen; just look at this place," she said dejectedly.
"That was before we knew why you wanted to make it Lady Hinoka. You should have told us sooner that you were making it for someone special."
"What does that—"
"Wait, it's for someone special?" Felicia interjected, "why didn't you say that before; that makes all the difference!"
"It does?"
"Hell yeah it does!" Rinkah cut in, "everyone knows that whenever you try to do something for someone special, regardless of what it, you word harder than you have ever worked before! Even I know that."
"That's a nice sentiment and all, but that still doesn't change the fact that none of us can actually cook."
"Maybe we don't have all the knowledge as individuals, but we can each contribute something," Felicia said eagerly, "I may be a klutz, but I still know everything there is to know when it comes to the technical aspects of cooking!"
"I know I'm not good at knowing what mixes with what, but if butterfingers here tells me what to do, I'll follow it to the letter and not screw up," Rinkah said encouragingly.
"And I can help you Lady Hinoka. I can always tell when you are about to make a mistake, so I just need to stop you before doing it; and you can do all the dangerous stuff that I usually have trouble with. Shall we?" she gently pulled Hinoka's hand towards her, with Felicia and Rinkah also putting theirs on top.
This is a bad idea, right? We already tried three times and so far the only thing that we've managed to accomplish is destroy the kitchen.
But...if what they say is true...
No, it's impossible. There is no way that we are suddenly and magically be able to bake a cake just because it's for someone special. Even if it's...
She thought back to how down Corrin had been since the incident at the plaza, and how happy he had been when she and the others were eating the food that he had made for them.
"...all right. One more shot."
"Yaaaay..."
"All right!"
"Hell yeah, let's do this!"
Five minutes later.
"OH DEAR GODS WHAT IS THAT THING!? IS IT GROWING?! IS IT MOVING!? OH GODS IT HAS SETSUNA! SOMEBODY PULL HER OUT BEFORE IT SWALLOWS HER WHOLE! GRAB HER AN RUN! RUUUUUN!"
"Haaaaa..." Hinoka sighed dejectedly. She was currently sitting alone in the courtyard under one of the sakura trees holding a plate with an off color sludge (the only "salvageable" thing from the kitchen disaster).
"Hinoka!"
She lifted her head and saw Corrin running towards her, his face filled with concern, "I just heard from Jakob that there was a fire earlier! Are you all right?!"
"I'm fine Corrin..."
"What happened?! Was it a surprise attack from Nohr? Or maybe some wayward ninja's from Saizo's clan? Was it those invisible soldiers that—"
"It was this," the princess interrupted him and showed him the "food" on the plate.
"Huh?" the prince looked confused.
"I...I was trying to bake...and I ended up destroying the kitchen," she muttered, clearly embarrassed.
"Come on, it couldn't have been that—"
"The fire was the least destructive part," she said bluntly.
"Oh...well at least it looks good," he said encouragingly while sitting next to her, "what is it? Some sort of hoshidian dish?"
"It was supposed to be a cake..." Hinoka muttered, suddenly feeling worse.
Oh boy, "look, these things happen when you are new at something. It even happened to me when I was just starting out. I remember this one time when I accidently used soap instead of sugar for some cookies, and because of that everyone was shooting out bubbles from their mouths after they had eaten them."
"Did that really happen?"
"O-Of course it did!"
Hinoka simply gave him a look.
"...okay fine, it wasn't me. It was Felicia; and it was only a few months before we left Nohr."
"Haaaaaaa," Hinoka dropped her head, a dark cloud practically hanging over her.
The young prince took her plate and set it aside, "Hinoka, it's not the end of the world."
"It's embarrassing. I mean, who doesn't know how to bake something as simple as a cake?"
"Lot's of people."
"Not you. You could probably whip something amazing without even trying."
"True, I am good at baking and cooking; but I'm terrible at so many other things. Remember when Sakura tired to teach me how to make those paper cranes the other day? The only thing that came out of the was a hand filled with paper cuts. Or what about the time I tried to help Oboro with her sewing. I pricked my fingers so many times that I ruined the fabric with my blood and I spent the rest of the day running away from her."
Hinoka couldn't help but let out a small chuckle from that last comment.
"See? Everyone has things that they are horrible at; but at the same time, people have other things that excel at. You are no different. Your handling of the lance is second to none in all of Hoshido, and I have never seen anyone take to the skies with such skill and grace. You're tenacious, hardworking, and an inspiration to so many people both in and out of the battlefield; and at the same time you are one of the kindest and most caring person I have ever known."
"Laying it a bit thick aren't you?" she asked while feeling her face grow hot.
Corrin took her hand in his causing her to look at him, "you are an amazing person Hinoka, and not being able to bake a cake is not going to change that. Or at least, it doesn't to me."
The princess didn't say anything at first, causing Corrin to think that perhaps he had said too much and made her uncomfortable. He was about to say that he was sorry when she pulled him in for a hug, surprising him. Once the shock was gone, he smiled and hugged her back, a feeling of warmth spreading through him as he did.
It like when Camilla used to hug me back in Nohr...and yet...not quite...
"Thanks Corrin," she said while pulling away.
"Really, it was nothing."
"Still, it would have been nice if I could at least make you that cake."
"You were trying to bake a cake...for me? Wait, is it because I made you all breakfast this morning? If you feel like you need to repay me for that, then don't worry Hinoka. I just did that on a whim as a present for you guys."
"It's not that. I just...I just wanted to let you know that we care about you. We always have, and regardless of what you may think, that hasn't changed; and it never will."
"O-oh," Corrin stammered flustered. He looked at the thing on the plate that he had set down. It was the same color as his hair, with specks of brown and black scattered through it, it gave off a peculiar smell, and he was certain that he saw it move a couple of time.
He snatched it off the plate and stuffed it in his mouth.
"Corrin?!What are you doing?!"
"Mmmmph! Mmmph!" he let out while trying to force it down.
"Stop! You don't have to do this!"
"What...are...you...talking...about? It's delicious," he managed to choke out. With great effort he managed to swallow it all, followed by him struggling to not break down in a coughing fit. After a while, he looked at Hinoka, his eyes slightly teary and twitching.
"So good..." he said weakly.
Hinoka simply blinked, shocked at what just happened. Then she burst out laughing.
"Gods, you can be such a dork at times," she shook her head. Suddenly, she felt him lean his head on her shoulder, causing her to clamp up and get red in the face, "C-Corrin?"
He didn't say anything.
Feeling her heart beating faster, she closed her eyes and leaned on him as well, "thank you Corrin. It means a lot to me."
"Hrrrrgg...gggguuuuhh..."
"Corrin?" confused she straightened herself up and looked at him, her eyes going wide, "CORRIN?!"
The prince's eyes had rolled back into his head and his mouth was currently spurting out foam while letting out incomprehensible gibberish.
"OH GODS! CORRIN WAKE UP! WAKE UP! HEALER! SOMEONE GET A HEALER!"
"So, after a week of recovery, I tried helping your mother improve her culinary skills, with about the same results," Corrin concluded over a laughing Kana, "eventually we decided that it simply wasn't for her, and that she didn't need learn it anyways. Besides, to me she was always perfect," Corrin smiled at his wife.
"Also we couldn't in good conscious keep asking Jakob to try out my dishes. At one point we were afraid that his face would stay green indefinitely," Hinoka chuckled.
"Anyway, that enough story time for today," Corrin got up and took everyone's bowls before putting them in the washer, "you need to get ready to go to school young lady. You know Yukimura does not tolerate late students, even if they are part of the royal family."
"Yes papa," Kana nodded as she got up. She was about to go to her room to grab her things when she stopped. She turned around and ran up to her mother, giving her a big hug. Surprised at first, Hinoka returned it warmly.
"Mama?"
"Yes dear?"
The little girl looked up at her and smiled, "I would eat your food, no matter how bad it was."
"Aw, thank you dear," Hinoka smiled and kissed her forehead.
"But no, you wouldn't."
Author's Note: you ever had an idea that seemed good when you came up with it, but then it didn't really pan out the way you want it when you wrote it, but by the time you realized it you were already ¾ done with the story and it had been over a year since you last updated it and you didn't want to throw it all out because life is an empty void that will consume you the first chance it gets and you need to hold on to some degree of sanity to survive? Yeah me neither.
Anyway, hi! Welcome back! It's been a while. You would think I would update this more seeing how it "supposedly" contains my favorite pairing in fates. Unfortunately, these sort of thigs are out of my control. As much as I enjoy writing fanfic based on strategy/dating games, I unfortunately can not live off at that (unless I were to open a for writing fanfiction, but even I am not about to stoop that low).
Anyway, hope you enjoyed this update, because I don't know when the next one is coming. Hell, I haven't really decided which story is going to be next. Guess it's time to pull out the old decision-making dart board.
As always leave comments and critiques below and I will see you next time. Bye!
