Now that Cheve was secured, they were able to make use of its port to catch a ship back to Hoshido, a much more relaxing, albeit slower, method of travel.
Hana sat alone in her cabin. Since the trip started the night before, she hadn't spoken to anyone, leaving the door locked. Sakura had tried to come by, but she had ignored the knocks on the door. She was too embarrassed to let anyone see her.
Not that she cared about how she looked; she was embarrassed that after all those years, she still hadn't been able to get past the loss of her father. She was supposed to be strong, one of the best warriors in the group, but she was so weak. What if everyone knew that even the pure mention of her father could set her into tears?
No, I can't let anyone see me until I've calmed down. Much less Sakura; I'd just make her worry even more if she saw me like this, and I can't have that. It's bad enough that I'm worrying her already.
She sniffled and wiped her tears on her blanket, before diving face first into her pillow, both of which were damp. She'd always felt like there was a package of emotions after her father's death that she tried to put away, the pressure building inside every day she was alone. Now, Corrin showing her where her father had died had poked a hole in the box, and everything was rushing out.
She wondered if it would ever empty, and if it did, would it slowly fill again? Would she never be able to move on completely?
A light knock on the door caught her ears, but she ignored it.
Probably Lady Sakura again. I'll apologize to her later.
"Hana? I know you're in there," a familiar voice said. "I'm not leaving until you open this door."
"Lord Corrin, I just need to be alone." She didn't budge from her mattress. "Please, just leave me be."
"Hana, I said I'm not leaving. Just let me know when you're okay with me coming in."
An awkward silence lapsed between them, and Hana simply lay back on her mattress and tried to sleep.
Corrin heard light snoring and sighed softly.
She's certainly not making this easy on me. He was trying to piece together how she felt, so that he would not make another misstep, but he couldn't quite figure it out. She didn't seem angry with him; it was more a sense of unbearable sadness that he felt emanating from her, but she was rebuffing anyone and everyone's attempts to ease it.
As he mulled over many options on how to approach her, the sunlight slowly shifted to a blazing orange, before giving way to the wispy lights of the evening.
"Any luck?" Corrin heard Sakura's worried voice around the corner.
"No, I think she cried herself to sleep." Corrin leaned his head back against the locked door.
"Are you s-sure you don't want me to stay? You look e-exhausted," Sakura said.
"No, this is something I need to do. It's my fault she's this upset; I shouldn't have brought up her father before she was ready to talk about it with me."
Why was I so stupid?
"Don't b-beat yourself up about it, big brother. You had the right idea, and she r-really does like you a lot; I'm sure she'll be willing to forgive you. Do you want me to bring you dinner or something?"
"Sure, thanks, Sakura. Can you bring something for Hana too? I don't think she's eaten either."
"Yeah, of course! I think there should be some leftovers I can heat up, I'll be back in a bit!" Sakura dashed off.
"Hana, come on." Corrin knocked again to no response. "You haven't eaten all day, and I have your dinner here. What was that you told me last time? It's in your best interest to at least get something down."
"Fine." Hana sighed at her own words being used at her, but he had a point. She was quite hungry, anyways. She looked in the mirror and groaned. Her eyes were red and dry from crying, and the skin around was raw from rubbing. Grimy tear tracks stained both her cheeks and her hair, usually neatly held back with her headband, was disheveled.
Wait, since when did I care so much about how I looked? Shaking her head, she went to open the door. Sure enough, Corrin was standing there in the doorway, holding a plate of steaming rice.
"Hana, you look terrible," he said. She rolled her eyes; he definitely wasn't getting any brownie points for that greeting.
"Gee, thanks, Corrin, you look absolutely stunning yourself." She turned and slumped back onto her bed. Corrin laid the tray on a desk, and Hana felt a twinge of disappointment when he parked himself on the chair rather than next to her on the bed.
"Hana...I know it's all my fault, and I know you probably don't want to talk to me, but why won't you at least talk to Sakura?"
Hana covered her eyes as they began to sting again.
"I don't want her to see me like this; if she did, she'd only get even more worried, and I don't want to be a source of that for her."
Corrin only shook his head.
"Hana, that's very noble of you, but seeing you like this is worrying her more than if you were to speak to her. She-we all just want to be here for you to lean on, you know? You don't have to worry about sharing your burden with me or Lady Sakura; in fact, we want you to."
"I can't do that, Lord Corrin. I…" The tears began to flow, unbidden. "What kind of retainer am I, still unable to get over my father's death after all these years? I'm being selfish and putting my own feelings before my service to Lady Sakura. I thought I had put it behind me, but I haven't...I'm mentally weak, and unfit to serve. And so I must train my mental fortitude, by shouldering this load alone."
He smiled gently, almost knowingly; she was beginning to be unnerved by just how in-stride he seemed to be taking it all.
"Hana, you can't shoulder everything alone; no one can. You'll just be crushed by the weight of it all. I know I was, until you listened to me, so let me return the favor."
Hana shook her head vehemently, as much as she wanted to give in.
I can't drag anyone else with me.
"I appreciate the gesture, Lord Corrin, but it's different. My job as a retainer is to serve those above me, whether it's Lady Sakura or someone else in the royal family, not to give them something else to worry about." The tears stung hot in her eyes but she knew she couldn't ask for his help.
"Hana, there's nothing wrong with relying on others." He got up from the seat and sat next to her. "If you change your mind, just knock on my door." He awkwardly wrapped an arm around her shoulder and gave her a brief, but tight, squeeze with one hand, before getting up and leaving.
Hana's shoulder tingled where his hand had wrapped around, and she placed her own shaking hand over it. She'd felt something in that quick squeeze, something she didn't dare believe and which made her want to take him up on his offer.
"Wait!" She ran out into the hallway and saw him turn. "Lord-I mean, Corrin," she said, with a small, tight smile. "You never told me where your cabin was. How am I supposed to find you if I don't know where you'll be?" Without waiting for a response, she barreled on.
"Tomorrow evening. Meet me on the deck."
She didn't dare wait for an answer, instead ducking back into her room.
Her shoulders already felt lighter at the promise of relief, and she hurriedly tried to fall asleep, so that tomorrow would come sooner.
Hana rushed towards the shower, mindful of the fact that she hadn't done so in quite a few days.
It wouldn't do to scare him off with how bad I smell, she thought with a wry smile as she lathered soap over her tired body. With the water massaging her, she let her mind drift.
She loved how he made her feel comfortable enough to open up around him; she wondered if he made everyone feel so welcomed, so trusting.
He probably does, she thought with a pang of jealousy. He's probably just like this to everyone, she told herself, trying to downplay the emotions she thought she had sensed the night before.
He's just being a good friend, and taking some of the weight off my shoulders. Nothing more, nothing less. She shook her head as her mind began to wander, and a voice in her head whispered hopeful thoughts into her head that she blocked out.
She switched the water off and wrapped herself in her towel, carefully drying off and walking back to her room. With a sigh she opened up her duffel bag, regretting not bringing at least something nice; she'd only brought her pink uniform she wore every day.
All changed, she packed everything back into her bag and brushed her teeth. She checked her hair one more time in the mirror before dashing out the door towards the deck.
"You're late," a voice said. She followed it to a figure leaning over the ship's railing.
"Yeah...sorry." She walked over and leaned over the railing next to him.
"No duel today? Usually that precedes our talks," he said with a smirk. She slapped him playfully on the shoulder.
"I figured you'd had your butt kicked enough."
"Beat you yesterday."
"Doesn't count. I was in emotional distress"
"Hm, I thought real samurai don't make excuses?"
"Oh, shut up."
"Very classy. Anyways, I brought us some dinner."
"Oh, did Kaze make this too?" Hana winked at him slyly.
"Was I that obvious?"
"Preeeety obvious. But I wasn't lying when I said the food was good!"
"Well, it's all we have, so you better enjoy it," he said, pointing his chopsticks at her threateningly. They stopped talking to dig into their food.
"You know, you're pretty lousy at swordplay, but your cooking is amazing. Maybe you should switch careers," Hana teased.
"Har har."
A cool night breeze drifted over them, and Hana shivered, hugging her chest.
Oof, I should have brought a cloak.
"Cold," Corrin asked, as if reading her mind. "Here." He unfastened his cloak and got up to wrap it around her.
"T-thanks," Hana managed to chatter out through her teeth. She turned her head up to the sky, remembering back to when she used to look at the stars with her father, and she noticed Corrin following her eyes skywards.
"As a bodyguard, my father always had night patrol. He used to sometimes sneak me out with him to look at the stars, but...I've never seen such a clear sky before." She had a look of pure wonder on her face.
"Back in Nohr, there always seemed to be a layer of darkness that covered the sky."
"What? So you've never seen stars?" Hana was incredulous.
"Well, I read about them, and saw pictures, but I could never see them out of my tower window."
"Thats ridic-oh!" A brilliant flash of light lit up the sky. "Did you see that?" Corrin nodded. "That's a shooting star. Legend is that you make a wish if you see one and it'll come true, since they're super rare. Oh!" Another streaked across the sky. "Wow, two in one night…" She closed her eyes.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm making my wish. Hush up and make yours!"
"Nah. I think I've got everything I want here." When Hana opened her eyes, she found his staring into hers.
"Corrin…" she tentatively reached a hand out from the cloak and closer to his. Her eyes widened as he slipped his hand into hers, their fingers interlocking. "R-really?"
He grinned, embarrassed, before the words began tumbling out.
"You've really been the only person willing to listen to everything I've had to dump out. You're probably my only real friend outside of the royal family...and watching you in battle, your desire to defend your comrades...I wished that one day, you'd defend me just as zealously." He paused, pulling her closer to his chest while she wrapped her hands around his neck, something she had been wanting to do for days now.
"And then, you did. You took that spell that was meant for me, and I was terrified that I'd lost you before I could have a chance to tell you how I felt."
"But then why didn't you tell me afterwards?"
"Eh, I had my breakdown, remember?" She nodded. "But I was going to tell you when I took you to where your father was slain."
"...Corrin, come on. Some advice: don't confess to a girl at the place where her father was murdered." She lightly tapped his chin in admonishment.
"Yeah, well, that went about as well as Felicia cooking. And now we're here."
"Mhm…" Hana snuggled against his chest. "Just being around you made me feel so much better, you know that, Corrin? And now…geez, this is so embarrassing!"
"Hah, right?" He ran a hand through her hair, and she longed for him to do it again. Her emotions were a tangled mess of differing desires, all having to do with Corrin's touch.
"But...I've never felt this way before, about anyone. I wanted to be with you..and when we were together, I didn't have a care in the world. It's the first time I've been willing to forgo training for something."
Without realizing what she was doing, she stood on the tips of her toes and quickly kissed his cheek before whispering into his ear.
"Well, my wish came true. We're going to be the best couple in the world."
Yay, an update! Took me a bit longer because I wanted to get the whole Hana/Corrin getting together as accurate as I could. I think both Corrin and Hana are pretty straightforward people, which is why they got to the core of "oh, well, I like you" pretty quickly and without too much angst, as is usual for first relationships. So, hope you guys enjoyed it! Action will be back in the next chapter :) Also I decided to use the shooting stars because there was a meteor shower on one of the nights I was writing this.
Cyberchao X: Hm, I feel like the retainers all have a lot of potential but the game just doesn't try very hard to expand on it beyond the character trope each retainer represents.
Aust Sakura Kyzor: Heh, yeah, they're meant to be together. Also, woops. You got me. hopefully I didn't make any mistakes like that in this chapter...
Gallian Squad 7: Thank you! It's been a long grind, but I can finally say (in 4 years' time) trust me, I'm a doctor. Also, I'll make an epilogue w/ Kana. Promise. If I forget, you can quote me on this. And don't worry about Selena, as a Cordelia fan there's no way she's dying. She might get absolutely wrecked by Hana in a fight though.
Mega Sodarayg: Haha, there pretty much always is. But I decided to give Hana and Corrin some privacy this time, as it's a sweet moment that I think they'd both savor after all they've been through. Also, yeah, I'm sorry, it probably just slipped through when I was editing. thanks for catching that mistake!
jin0uga: yeap. but as the cliché goes, it's always darkest before the dawn, hence this chapter! it's like Mayor Lionheart in Zootopia when he says he was doing the wrong thing for the right reasons xD hope this chapter met your expectations!
Guest: That's an interesting idea that would definitely work! Although I can't say how much of it I will use right now, so that there aren't any spoilers :P But I think at least one Nohrian royal is going to have to die :( not sure if it's a noble death or not yet, though.
As always, please R&R, and enjoy! :D
