Title: Victory
Fandom: Fire Emblem 7/6
Pairing/Characters: Hector, Eliwood, Serra, hint of Hector/Florina
Warning(s): None
Genre: Gen

Hector paced and paced and paced and paced and would have worn a hole straight through the castle floor had Eliwood not grabbed his arm and forced him to sit down. He had just started wringing his hands when another piercing wail filtered through the doors to the master bedroom. Eliwood had Hector's sleeve in his hand before the larger man could barrel into the room.

"She needs me," he growled through clenched teeth.

"She does not need you, Hector." Eliwood's tugging got him to sit down again. "She is not the first woman to give birth. Besides, she's in the hands of the best nursemaids in Ostia. She'll be fine."

"She's in Serra's hands…besides, she's not the first woman to give birth, but she's my wife, and…"

Eliwood put a hand on Hector's shoulder. "Believe me, I know-"

There came another scream, followed by a hushed silence, then a tired sound halfway between a laugh and a sob. He tensed for what seemed like hours, more afraid than he had been at any point in his life- and then a wail, but smaller now, frailer, more fragile.

"Shit," he said, falling back into the chair. Eliwood's hand still had not left his shoulder, but it relaxed. The wails and cries were replaced by a multitude of voices; he picked out Serra barking orders, and Matthew and Oswin and Florina's tired little sighs. Fifteen terrible minutes later Serra glided out of the room, a bundle in her hands.

"Congratulations, Lord Hector," she chirped, "It's a girl."

Hector had seen a lot of things in his life- blood, death, creatures from thousands of years past- and never once had he cried. But when Serra leaned over and gently placed the tiny bundle in his hands, pushing a blanket back to reveal an angelic little face and a crop of blue hair, he knew they had won, they had won, and the tears fell like rain.