Final Chapter.

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Minutes-or hours, Saizo was not sure-passed, with nothing but promiscuous moans and the occasional banter filling the prison air. He was grateful that there was no one else in the dungeons that night, or they would have been in for quite the sight. Charlotte was a warrior and had the stamina to match, and Saizo knew that he wasn't a lightweight either.

Her body was one thing, but it was that smart mouth of hers that always knew what to say to provoke him onward that roused him. When her mask was off, she was this woman who was so forward, unashamedly so. He'd never been with a woman so... wild, like a tempest. She made clear her demands, made clear what she wanted, she set her foot down. She challenged him, but not to the extent that she hurt him. And she had her own moments of loss, where she was tender and weak... It was intoxicating. Saizo didn't know if he would ever get enough.

When they finally decided to call it a night, he lay down beside her for a while, catching his breath, realizing he had worked out quite a sweat. His instinct was to reach out to Charlotte and hold her-but he stopped himself. That would be awkward... they weren't lovers. She was a prisoner. Saizo shook his head. Did all this just happen? Sex with a Nohrian prisoner of war... he hoped that no one overheard, that no one would find out.

"Ugh, it seems like a few moments ago we were just trying to kill each other and now we're naked and I've just had the best sex of my life..." Charlotte spoke, breaking his train of thought. "Are we insane?!"

"For the record, it was only you trying to kill me. I had no such motive." Saizo said. "And... thanks, I guess. So, I'm your best?"

"Ugh, don't make me say it twice, you sicko!"

"I have a name, you know," he said. "I'd appreciate if you used it. All this time it's been jerk, or one-eye, or bastard... you need that mouth washed with soap."

"Fine, fine... Saizo," she said, sounding reluctant, but at the same time she closed the distance between them, clinging onto his arm, her hand going over his mid-section, fingers idly tracing lines over the muscles of his abs. He wasn't such a bad man, apart from being a Hoshidan, she thought. While he was rough on the outside and was too forward for his own good-he didn't seem like one to mince words-he could be surprisingly soft too, and act like a gentleman. The whole shebang had been her idea; she was the one who propositioned sex. But while he took her up on it, he also checked on her occasionally, checking if she was alright, checking if she even liked this. It was kind of... sweet, Charlotte thought.

"So now... you'll take me back to Nohr, right?" Charlotte suddenly asked, her voice hopeful.

Saizo knotted his eyebrows. There she goes again. She really was persistent. She had to have her head up in the clouds, if she thought he would really keep that "promise". A prisoner just couldn't disappear on his watch. Hoshido was merciful, yes, but they couldn't be that lax. "Why are you so persistent with that? Nohr is on the losing end of the war," he said. "We've broken through the border. It's only a matter of time before we reach the castle... There's no point in you going back to Nohr and returning to the battlefield."

She could die, and he didn't want that. And even if she wouln't, he wasn't quite sure he wanted to let her go.

"Ugh, and what do you propose?! I stay and rot in prison here?! Yeah, obviously you'd wanna keep a cute girl like me around here..."

Saizo realized that this was the opportunity, the time to give her the pitch. "Well, it wouldn't be so bad. The Hoshidan army is quite merciful. Especially under Corrin's lead..." Too merciful, maybe, Saizo thought. "If you abandon your loyalty to Nohr right now and swear to fight for Hoshido instead... I could arrange a few things. We have quite a few Nohrian soldiers who decided to switch sides, as well."

She slowly turned to look at him, with a disbelieving look on her face. "Are you fucking serious?! Me, convert into Hoshido's army? Am I supposed to believe I'd be treated equally and fairly in your ranks? You're probably gonna use me as human shield the first chance you can!"

"I don't believe in using such dirty tactics," Saizo said sounding disgusted at her suggestion. "And besides... I'll take care of you. You don't have to worry."

Saizo paused for a bit, and groaned silently to himself. He was beginning to sound like Orochi's spiel to her own prisoners.

"...No," Charlotte said, firmly. She didn't even think on it long.

Well, this certainly wasn't going the way he planned. "Why?" He sat up, looking down at her, trying to scan her face for something that would give her thoughts away. She turned her head away from him. Stubborn woman. "Are you that patriotic? You don't come across as that type. Don't let your stubborn pride blind you. You know that Nohr was never in the right to begin with-"

"I don't give a single fuck about national pride or whatever, just so you know." Charlotte cut him short. "I... I have my own reasons."

This was proving to be a little more difficult that he had anticipated. Why did that Orochi always make it look so easy? Saizo decided on another approach. "I... I have a home in Hoshido. You could stay there... if you wanted." He scratched his head and turned his face away, trying to hide the blush on his cheeks. "You'll find you won't want for anything else there-food, clothes, money... I could easily provide for anything you need."

Perhaps it was going too far-but it was the only other thing he thought to offer. He had picked up earlier that she was the sort of woman who wanted to be taken care of despite being tough in her own right. And to him, it didn't seem so bad. She was interesting. Her stubborness, her strength, her multi-faceted personality... he wanted to know more of it. Being the Fifth Saizo, it wouldn't be too hard to find her a place in his household.

"You... You want me to what now?" She stared at Saizo critically, as if trying to ascertain his motives.

"...Live with me," he said, trying to put it as plainly as he can. "I... I'm going to treat you right. I'm not always like... this. ...Whatever this is. If you don't want to fight for the Hoshidan banner, you can declare a surrender, you could be set free under the oath that you don't set foot back in Nohr. You could stay under my watch..."

She was quiet for a while, as if thinking on it. "So, what is this, frankly? What are you doing, trying to build some sort of harem? I'm guessing this is what you say to all the ladies?"

"Tch, do I look like a ladies' man to you? I've never offered this to anyone but you," he said, scowling at the suggestion. "Take it or leave it."

"W-Why?"

"...I like you," he said, the words coming easily to his mouth, to his own surprise. "And from what I gathered earlier, all you want is a rich nobleman to notice you, correct? Well, I am one. So I suppose now's your chance."

"You're what now?! A guy like you-a nobleman?!" It was Charlotte's turn to get up and sit up, staring at Saizo in shock. His rough, unrefined look, that sculpted body littered with scars. He was handsome, yes, but... certainly not her vision of a nobleman. "Are you pulling my leg?! What's a guy of that station doing in the dungeons?!"

"While I'm from an esteemed and fairly wealthy clan, my main duty is on the battlefield. We've been serving directly under the king for generations," Saizo said. "Even in Nohr, I doubt you'd ever get offers from anyone of a higher standing, unless you aim for the royals themselves."

There was a sparkle in her blue eyes, and with that, Saizo knew he was saying the right things. That was... easier than he thought, and the idea that riches and standing may be all it takes to convince this woman did not entirely sit well with him.

"Soooo, do you promise you'll be a kind and caring master~?" Charlotte asked, the flirtatiousness in her voice returning.

"Hmph, as long as you aren't too unreasonable." Saizo said. "And stop with that fake voice. So will you stay with me, or not?"

She was quiet for a while, but it did not take too long before she slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry."

"That's what I-wait, what?"

"I mean, you don't entirely seem like a bad guy and I'm flattered that someone of that high a rank would proposition to me... Even if it's after fucking me senseless in the dungeons." She gave a glance around the cell, and at both of them, still stark naked. "But... I have family in Nohr," she finally said. "Don't get me wrong-I mean, my parents. That's why I fight for the army. I can't leave them there, knowing there's a war... if it's true that Hoshidan forces are advancing on Nohr as we speak, how do you expect me to just sit here? I need to protect them..."

Saizo looked geniunely surprised. To see this stubborn woman suddenly soften in tone and feature when she mentioned her family... So this was her reason, why she couldn't defect. Why she bargained so hard for freedom.

She really was something else.

"...I don't suppose I can compete with that," he said, with a bit of a sigh. He got up, trying to find his clothes that he'd left scattered on the floor. "Let's get this mess cleaned up. I'm going to take you back to the border."

Charlotte's face lit up. "Really?"

"I gave you my word, didn't I? I may be a scoundrel, but I honor my promises," he said. "It was nice meeting you, Charlotte."

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When the terrain grew familiar, they decided to part ways, but not before Charlotte jumped him, pulled down his mask, and gave him a kiss. As thanks, she said.

Maybe in another life, where Hoshido and Nohr aren't at war, I would have really considered your proposition.

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"Soooooo Saizo... what was that?" Orochi asked, with a teasing smirk. It was almost sunrise, and she greeted the ninja at the gates of camp, as he was on his way back.

"What was what?" Saizo asked.

"That Nohrian girl isn't in the prison anymore, and my eyes tell me I saw you with her in the dead of the night."

"Your eyes deceive you," Saizo said, trying to dismiss her.

"You were so pushy about being tasked to watch over the dungeons that night too... Fufufu..."

Saizo groaned. He had no time for this, and sleep was calling out to him. "Don't act like I don't know what you do with the male prisoners..."

Orochi chortled shamelessly in laughter. "Ho! Taking a page from my book, hm? Though it seems you let her go instead of converting her to our cause. Who really won over the other here? Because for a moment there, it seemed to me that the prisoner was really you."

"...Hmph." Saizo grumbled at the suggestion that he'd lost. But was it really a loss? He'd had his fun, and gotten to know the woman. Keeping her seemed too much to ask. But then he stared at Orochi, realizing something. "Wait, don't tell me you..."

"Ohohohoho!" The diviner laughed out loud. "I think I missed the good bits. But I heard enough. 'I'll take care of you'... Oh, Saizo!" She gave him a playful punch on the shoulder. "That was swoon-worthy. That's one for the books."

"F-Forget you heard anything!" Saizo blushed furiously. Now that everything was over and done with, he realized a few things he said may have gone a little too far.

"You liked her, didn't you?" Orochi asked, with a sly grin.

Saizo looked absolutely surprised. "And what makes you say that?"

"Oh, come now! How long have we been friends, Saizo? I know how you are when you like a girl. You act like you're in control, but you're actually a big softie. You went so far as to offer her a place in Igasato."

"I... That was..."

"Aaaand I also heard you flat out say that you liked her." Orochi added. "You shouldn't be emotionally attached to prisoners, you know."

Saizo sighed. She was right. Perhaps he acted foolishly, but that was because the Nohrian woman drove him to act that way, for one reason or another. Maybe he liked her a little too much, even if he put aside the matter of her body and the amazing sex. But that didn't matter now, it was most unlikely that he would even see her again. "...I doubt she was going to cave in and fight for us, and she wasn't too important that it would cost us to let her go. Now, let me pass," he said. "I want a nap."

"Oh, very well then," Orochi said, making way for the ninja, knowing he was not a morning person and was grumpy with lack of sleep. "I trust you had fun. I'll pretend she got away somehow by utter chance."

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End.

A/N: I guess you can't recruit these characters from the opposite army because they really do have something to fight for in their home country, and wouldn't turncoat or surrender so easily. Please review if you enjoyed it!