A/N: Issues with the website last time I uploaded this.


After Corrin and Camilla wed a new unspoken rule quickly came into existence in the army.

There was a specific window of time every evening when the bathhouse was exclusively for Camilla and her husband. And anyone who entered during their bath time? Would likely end up chopped into pieces by Camilla and fed to her wyvern. Not that anyone was brave or bold enough to dare testing it, the whole troop seemed to unanimously agree that their lives were more valuable than satisfying their curiosity.

And the half an hour a day the couple spent soaking and relaxing was always the highlight of the day for them. While the treehouse might have been their quarters, the bath was their safe zone. Theycould do anything they desired in there and not have to worry about any interruptions or intrusions. Whether they simply sat in the warm water holding each other, to simply talking or making love. Whatever they desired, they did.

This particular evening, the couple were sat in the steamy bath up against the edge with their towels strewn lazily on the floor. The room filled with the aromas of Camilla's favorite soaps and hair products. They were nuzzled up against each other, and while Corrin had his eyes closed and looked like he was about to fall asleep, Camilla had one thing on her mind.

Children.

That morning Xander and Charlotte announced that Charlotte was with child, and while everyone was happy for them Camilla found herself oddly conflicted about the whole thing. On one hand she was excited and happy for her brother and his wife, and was looking forward to being an aunt. But she also felt an intense and burning jealousy. She had always dreamed of being a mother. And as she listened to Xander, Charlotte and Corrin discuss the deeprealms and the time table that came along with them she decided that today was the day. The day she and her husband would discuss starting a family.

"Corrin." She said giving him a giant nudge. "Darling, are you awake?"

"Mhmm, yeah." The flushed albino answered. Turning his gaze down to her, it was clear that the steamy room and the hot water was making him relax a little too much.

"I want to talk to you about… something very serious and important to me." She said as her gaze drifted up from Corrin's chest to his face, being greeted by a very guilty looking Corrin.

"I knew this was going to be brought up…"

"You did?" Camilla asked excitedly, her face lighting up with joy. "He's already thinking about children too! Surely he also wants to have one. Oh, this is simply wonderful."

"Yeah. I'm so sorry, Camilla…"

He paused and took a deep breath. She could fill all the joy and excitement she feeling immediately drain from her, and anxiety and doubt quickly took its place.

"…I didn't mean to eat your bon bons last night. I'm sorry! I know how much you love them. But I was just so hungry after training I can't help myself."

"Corrin! You ate my bonbons?!" she yelled, giving his chest a playful and light slap. Letting her hand linger on his chest. "I expect you to get me more after we leave here."

"Don't worry, I've already got Peri baking all your favorite kinds! I'll run over to the mess hall and pick them up when we head back home."

"Good boy." Camilla said purred victoriously. In one quick motion she moved from her spot against his side to suddenly straddling his lap. She leaned up against his chest and locked eyes with him. "But there is something for more important than my sweets I need to discuss with you, my naughty husband. Something extremely important to me."

"Do you… is this about the thing we did with the ropes last night? Because that was… really intense. And..."

"You loved it. You made such a delightful symphony of sounds last night." she said with a shudder, "So wonderful… and I promise we'll do it again. If you stop trying to guess what I'm going to say, darling."

"Sorry... go ahead." Corrin said nervously and with a blank expression, not wanting to upset her. He realized how tight her grip on his shoulders were and that she had the same crazed and passionate look she had only worn three times before. When she tried to kill him, when they were wed and the first time they laid together.

"I want talk about us." Camilla said bluntly. "Us having a child. Starting our own family."

"Camilla…" Corrin said with a bewildered look on his face, "We're in the middle of a war. We can't…"

"Ah. But we can!" Camilla exclaimed with a knowing smirk. "You figured it all out today with Xander and Charlotte! But we will only allow the best for our child. We'll have Beruka and some your little ninjas do thorough background investigations and research on the deeprealms we look at."

Corrin opened his mouth to speak, but in her excitement Camilla didn't let him get a word in.

"And since time moves quicker in the deeprealms, we'll only be gone a week to everyone." she said leaning in even closer to his face, "And I get you to myself for a whole year." Camilla leaned back away from him and took a deep breath. "But in my excitement it seems I've gotten ahead of myself. How do you feel about this? Do you want this too?"

"Do I want this? Of course." Corrin quickly thought to himself as he struggled to find the right words. "The better question is am I ready for this?"

"I can practically hear you thinking, darling. Speak your mind."

"I..." he paused mid-sentence and let out a heavy sigh, and averted his gaze from hers. "I do. I do want to have a child. A family with you."

"There's clearly more to it." Camilla noticed her husband's reluctance. "I don't want to pressure you into something as serious as this."

"I just… don't know, Camilla." Corrin whimpered as his sad gaze drifted back and met hers. "I don't know if I can be a good father. I don't even remember my own father, or know what how a father should act or what they do. I just don't… I don't want to disappoint you or our child. I don't want to mess up and have my son or daughter feel as lonely and forgotten as I did growing up."

"Dear, you know I love you. So listen to me when I say this. You will be the best dad in the world."

"I don't know what I've done to earn such confidence from you." Corrin admitted.

"You know," Camilla hummed as she cupped his cheek and tilted his face towards hers so he wouldn't look away, "in a way, you're already a father."

"What?" Corrin's eyes went wide in surprise. "I can guarantee you there are no little Corrin's running around! You know you're the only…"

"That is not what I mean, darling." she said calmly, desperately trying to fight back the possessiveness and fury that welled up in her at the thought of another woman touching him. "I would never doubt your faithfulness to me, I know your heart belongs to me and only me. What I do mean is that you're practically a father to everyone under your command."

"What? How?"

"Think of how you take care of all of them. All the time that you spend making sure they're happy, how you discipline them when they misbehave. And who do they seek out to talk about all their little problems?" She asked, poking him in his chest with her index finger. "You."

Corrin let out a "huh" with a soft laugh. "I've never thought of it like that before. You're right, I already am kind of like a dad. With one very large and dysfunctional family, but still…"

"And you're so patient, caring, and a wonderful teacher. Darling, I wouldn't bring this up if I didn't believe in you. It's not like you'll be alone in this, I'll be with you every step of the way. And everyone in our family will always be there for us to lean on."

"You know; things will have to change once I am with child." Camilla said with a jealous look. "I have been most generous in allowing others to steal so much of your time away from me, but I will not allow them to steal you away from me and our baby."

"You two will have a monopoly on my time, I promise. Xander and Ryoma's workload will increase because of it, but I've been terrible about delegating anyway. Speaking of things that will change, you know that I cannot and will not allow you near a battlefield."

"Sweetie, I will not let you on to a battlefield without-"

"No. It's not up for discussion." Corrin's gaze intensified, send a shiver of excitement through Camilla. "You know how much I disapprove of how reckless you can get. I absolutely will not let you onto a battlefield if you're with child."

"Fine." Camilla yielded. "I'll have Beruka and Selena stay at your side at all times when you're away from me. If I can't be there to protect you, they will have to in my place."

"I'm not so delicate. But I will make it a point be extra cautious."

"You better. No more charging in with your Yato. No more using your dragonstone and rushing ahead of everyone. I want you to stick to the back line, healing and using one of those thunder swords you have, if you must."

"I promise. Elise and Sakura will be ecstatic for me to be healing with them. Ah… you are going to be the most amazing mother ever." Corrin admitted with a smile. "I just realized, you've never spoken of your mother to me. In fact, I don't think I've ever heard you speak of her to anyone come to think of it. Would you tell me about her? She must have been an angel considering how sweet and kind you are."

"Don't you dare call her an angel." Camilla snapped, causing Corrin to flinch at her sudden and hostile reaction. "I'll tell you about her. I don't want any secrets between us. But before I get to her, you need to know that Xander was the only one of us born to the Queen. Leo, Elise and I were all children of father's mistresses. All of us came from different mistresses."

"That explains why she isn't blonde like the rest of them!" Corrin thought in surprise, raising an eyebrow.

"Father was... intimate, with many women after the queen. My mother was just another woman in father's little harem, along with Leo's, and Elise's. And they all desperately clawed to move up the ladder and get closer to him. They would do anything for the status and wealth they would receive being close to the king. So they weren't above killing each other, or the other children, or forcing the children to murder each other."

"Oh, Camilla." Corrin sighed with a sad look,"That's horrible…"

"Even Xander wasn't safe from attempts on his life, but unlike Leo and myself he had father's protection and the royal guard to protect him. As much as I detested you being locked up in that tower away from the world, that was the only time I was ever thankful you were trapped there. Away from all the violence and politics."

She paused to let Corrin process her story. The shock and concern was clear on his face, and he managed to choke out a single question.

"So, wait. Does that mean… does that mean that you had to kill your siblings? And they tried to kill you?"

"It does." Camilla said bluntly. "Leo, too. All of us children were pawns in their game. I'm thankful every day that we were able to shield Elise from most of it. She never had to take a life thanks to me and Leo."

Corrin could feel the goosebumps spread across him as a chill shot through him listening to her story.

"Oh my goodness that's... that's horrible." he stammered out as he gently swept her bangs away so he could see both her eyes. His heart ached hearing what she had to go through. But what surprised him when he met her gaze, and scared him a little bit, was the total lack of remorse or sadness in her features. She looked as calm and composed as she usually did. "I'm so sorry that you had to go through all that. I'm so sorry..."

"I'm not telling you this because I want you to pity me, darling. I did what I had to do. And I would do it all again knowing that it leads me here." Camilla said coldly, "That was the only time I was thankful you were away from me in your own little bubble."

"I had no idea things were so bad for you all in Krakenburg. Whenever you would visit me you were always so happy and carefree, I would have never guessed things would be so… terrible, outside. But why did you keep this a secret from me for so long? Why didn't you ever tell me?"

"If I had told you about it, we both know you would have spent all your days worrying yourself sick over me. I would never allow you to suffer like that. Truthfully, dear, I have never wanted to tell you of all this but I believe you trust me and love me enough to hear me out; and hopefully understand."

"I can see why you would be reluctant to share this with me. Or with anyone, really. This is... really heavy." Corrin said weakly, "I don't quite know what to say, Camilla."

"There's more that I feel you should know. Outside of father, Xander, Iago, Leo and myself you were a secret to the world. Elise was still too young to meet you at the time. Corrin…" she said as she suddenly tightened her grip around him as if he was about to get up and bolt out of the bath. She gave him a desperate and pleading look. "You'll love me, no matter what, right? No matter what I've done, right?!"

"Of course." He said with a reassuring smile, placing a kiss on her forehead. "I can't believe you had to go through all of that... but there's nothing that could change the fact that I love you. All of this is behind you now, and I'll always stay with you."

"Promise me, Corrin. Promise me that you mean that!" Camilla pleaded.

"You have my word." he whispered as he placed a reassuring kiss on her forehead.

"My mother… was found dead one day. With an axe lodged into her back." Camilla said almost with a hint of joy to her voice. "And they never found out who murdered her. Not that anyone cared enough to look into it. I even remember some of the noblewomen laughing and toasting to celebrate it."

She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. When she opened them Corrin could feel a chill run through him at her cold and steely gaze. And her voice was just as cold and serious, devoid of all emotion.

"It was me, Corrin. I did it. I killed her." Camilla finally admitted, and if Corrin hadn't already been sitting down his legs surely would have given out from beneath him at that.

"One day when I was leaving to visit you, she demanded to know where I was going. And I told her. I told her about you. Of course, my mother didn't hesitate at all. "I order you to kill this Corrin when you see him. He is NOT like one of your dolls that you play mommy with. He is a threat to us and everything we've worked so hard to achieve!" I tried to reason with her, I tried to tell her how sweet and innocent you were and how you wouldn't harm a fly. But she wouldn't have any of it. Then she got physical and declared if I didn't do it, she would find you and do it herself."

Corrin could only stare wide eyed at her in horror. Despite the warm bath and the steam it was giving off he could only shudder as his blood ran cold in his veins.

"That was the last straw. She turned her back to me and began to walk away, so I grabbed my axe and drove it straight into her. And then I packed up my things and went to visit you."

"C-Camilla… you...you murdered your own mother!?" Corrin whispered in disbelief as he gawked at his wife.

"I did." Camilla said almost proudly, "I wouldn't allow anyone to ever take you away from me. It hit me when she threated you that I had been just a tool to her. She had never truly loved me or cared for me like a mother should have. I feel absolutely no remorse for what I did, and there has never been a moment that I regretted taking her life. She would have probably felt the same when she decided she didn't need me anymore."

"Gods… I… I don't even know what to say." Corrin struggled to wheeze out, struggling to comprehend everything he just heard. All the time he had spent dreaming about how great it must be for her and Xander outside and with their parents were just dreams. There was no peace to be found for them outside of his walls. A surreal mix of understanding and horror washed over him as she stared slack jawed at her.

"You said you don't want our child to know the loneliness you felt, and we won't ever let them. Just like I will never let our child feel how I felt that day. I will be the mother that I always wanted to have. There will never be a moment when our child's heart isn't full of joy and love. I am willing to do anything for our family. No matter what, we'll be together and happy."

Once she finished her resolution she quickly buried her face into his chest and started crying. Which scared Corrin even more, since it was the second time he had ever seen her cry. The first being on their wedding day, but those were tears of joy. Nothing like the heavy sobs of sadness she was letting out now.

"You must think you married a monster. That I'm some kind of lunatic. You probably want to get as far away from me as possible, don't you?" she asked weakly. "Please, please don't leave me Corrin. Please don't leave me again…"

"No… no. I don't think you're a monster, dear." Corrin said as calmly as he could as he stroked her head. The mix of emotions that ran through was indescribable, but one thought rose above his inner confusion, and it was a whole new found hatred for King Garon. "You...you did what you had to do. Admittedly I'm still struggling to grasp what you've told me here but... I appreciate that you trust me enough to tell me."

"Corrin…" she choked out in between sniffles, looking up at him in disbelief.

"I'm going to be honest with you, honey. I don't know what to say or do with this knowledge." Corrin admitted, still running his hands through her hair. "This doesn't change anything between us, but-"

"Corrin..." Camilla whimpered sadly, "Do you still love me?"

"Of course I do." he answered quickly and without hesitation, "Nothing will ever change that. And-mpmmph"

"Oh, darling!" Camilla had practically screamed in relief as she lunged up and gave him a deep kiss, euphoric that he still loved her. After she finished her frenzied love induced assault on his mouth she pulled away with a content grin. "I love you so much! Now, I'm going to go and get your favorite soap and I'll wash your back while the water's still warm. And we can discuss baby names!"


A/N: If you enjoy my writing and have an idea for a story/situation about Cormilla and want to see it written out, send it on in! If I dig it, I'll make it happen for ya.