A/N: Soo, I'm back! For how long, we'll see, but for those wondering if I'll be writing anything on Three Houses, the answer is yes! If you're wondering if I'm writing anything on Awakening, the answer is also yes!

Disclaimer: I do not own Fire Emblem Fates or any of its characters.

Corrin slowly pushed open the door to his and Azura's room. It was close to sunset, and through the windows that pierced the wall to his right, he could see the sun starting to kiss the horizon. Occasionally, the streaks of sunlight would flash themselves into his eyes and Corrin would inevitably sigh and cover his eyes as he blinked the spots away.

It had been a long day and he was tired, even more so than usual. Count Hansen had been…somewhat irritable after lunch, especially after discovering that Azura would be unable to attend the later part of their meeting. After what felt like an eternity of coaxing, subtle threats, and exasperated sighs, they had finally come to a workable contract.

The count had agreed to let the kingdom make use of three of his mines, though with a hefty price. As a show of (somewhat) good faith, Corrin had agreed to Count Hansen's demands that he himself would be the one in charge of how the resources from the mine were directed, at least for six months, though only with the city's interest in mind. Once that contract expired, the city would have free reign to use those three mines, although the Count would receive a measly portion of each cart of gold they hauled, maybe only a few dozen coins worth or so. A few dozen coins wouldn't add up to anything, but the longer the city needed those mines, the more money they would lose to Count Hansen.

Overall, it was a sloppy solution to a sloppy situation. Corrin knew he could have handled it better, but with Count Hansen threatening to withdraw his conditions and flat-out refuse the city access to his mines, Corrin had no choice but to accept his terms.

Even as Corrin walked into his room, unclasping his cape and tossing it tiredly around the chair, he couldn't help but scowl, annoyed by today's turnout. If only Azura had been there! Count Hansen looked like he was about to have an ulcer when he discovered Azura was to be absent for the rest of the meeting.

Corrin himself almost had an ulcer when the noble subtly slandered his wife's name, and it was only through clenching the dragonstone around his neck that he was able to stop himself from having him dragged off to the dungeons for slander against the throne. Such an action, though satisfying in the short-term, would bring nothing but trouble in the future, and so Corrin settled for admonishing the Count for being so insensitive towards a woman's "bodily functions."

If only he knew how close to the truth he was…

Azura looked up when she heard a groan on the other side of the door. Corrin tiredly pushed open the door and tossed his cape over a nearby chair as he groaned and flopped onto the bed next to where Azura was sitting.

"Good afternoon, love," Azura said affectionately as she laced her fingers through her husband's white hair. "How went the rest of the meeting?"

"Terrible," Corrin groaned, his voice muffled by the blanket. "He would just go on and on about how terrible a queen you were, how disorganized everything was around her, those sorts of things. If anything existed and wasn't bolted down properly, he probably had something to say about it."

"Well, you were the one who said he could be a bit full of himself," Azura mused, twirling a lock of his hair around her finger. "How about the contract itself? Did that go through as planned?"

"More or less," Corrin said, ever the optimist even when he drew the short stick. "In all honesty, we're lucky Count Hansen wasn't any greedier. He just wanted to direct the mine's resources for a year, and I made him agree he would only use those resources if it benefited the city, not just himself."

"That's…better than nothing," Azura noted.

"He also wanted at least a dozen gold coins or so from every batch we produce," Corrin said, rolling over on his back. "A dozen doesn't sound like a lot…"

"But like a crack in a dam, everything builds up," Azura finished, interlocking her fingers and looking straight ahead. "Do you think he would have been more lenient if I were there?"

"Probably," Corrin admitted before sitting up. "Speaking of which, where were you? A couple of servants said that they saw you walking in through the main entrance as if you left and came back."

Azura froze. "I…I went to see Felicia," she said cautiously, as to avoid spoiling her secret. "T-to talk to her about my…condition."

"Alone?" Corrin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I…asked Flora to take me to her using the servants' tunnels."

"Huh." Corrin shrugged and closed his eyes. "Okay, go on. What did Felicia say about you? Are you still alright?"

"Y-yes, in a way," Azura said, catching herself. "She said that…I'm…"

"That you're…?" Corrin pressed.

"That I'm just having a pretty bad monthly!" Azura said, perking up. "Yeah, that's it. She said my monthly was just hitting me harder than usual, explaining why I feel so tired and stuff."

And stuff? Azura never used that kind of language before, not unless she was hiding something…

"Oh really?" Corrin asked, still not opening his eyes, instead electing to put his hands behind his head. "I thought yours passed a week ago?"

"Two weeks," Azura corrected automatically, before catching herself and saying, "N-no, wait, you're right. One week. You know how unpredictable a woman's body can be, Corrin. Even we don't know what's going on half the time."

"Uh-huh." Corrin cracked an eye open and glanced at her out the corner of his eye. "Are you lying to me, Azura?"

"No," Azura said steadfastly, maintaining eye contact. "I'm…just not telling you everything."

"And why aren't you telling me everything?"

"Because…it's really personal and I don't feel comfortable talking with it with anyone, even you?" Azura offered hopefully.

"…fair enough," Corrin conceded as he opened his eyes and sat up. "So long as you're alright, I'm happy. Just make sure you don't push yourself too hard."

Then, resting a hand on Azura's thigh and the other hand on her back, he asked mischievously, "Anyways, speaking of pushing yourself, are you down to…take a nap? I've been feeling pretty tired all day, and I've been looking forward to taking a nap with you."

Azura couldn't help but scoff playfully and roll her eyes. Ever since they married, they both strived to have sex with each other at least twice a week. Normally, they would do the deed either in the morning on days where they had nothing planned for the day, or at night before they drifted off to sleep.

Corrin preferred the "morning wakeup calls," as he so delicately put it, though Azura preferred making love at night, as to make it easier and more satisfying to drift off to sleep while pressed against Corrin, both of their bodies still flush from afterglow. Occasionally, they would spend some time when the day was over, in the hour or two before they ate dinner. But as a general rule of thumb, they stuck to mornings and nights, where the chances of a poor maid walking in one them was one in a million.

For a moment, Azura was tempted. It had been a few days since their last bout but at the same time…it was a miracle she got pregnant now compared to the countless times before when they had sex without protection, though that number was a lot smaller when compared to the number of times they used protection.

Unconsciously, Azura rested a hand on her stomach. Surely, sex wouldn't hurt the baby…right? That's how anatomy works…right?

Upon noticing Corrin looking at her hand in confusion, Azura simply shook her head and said, "Not today, Corrin. I'm still feeling a bit queasy, and I'm pretty sure if we do anything other than cuddling, I might just throw up on the bed."

Corrin raised his hands in mock surrender. "It's all fine, it's all fine," he said soothingly. "I get it. You're still sick. Plus, if we do it now, there's always a chance you could get pregnant, right? That's how it works, right?"

"…Eh, sort of." Azura said shyly. It wasn't, at least Azura thought it wasn't but who was she to correct him when even she didn't have a clue what was going on with her body. She was still coming to terms about growing a person inside her.

Speaking of which…how would Corrin take the news?

Folding her hands together on her legs, Azura meekly called out, "Corrin?"

"Hm?"

"How…do you feel about having children one day?"

Corrin frowned, picking his words out carefully.

"It…would be wonderful to have a little one running around," he said finally after a brief moment of silence. "Why?"

"Oh, it's nothing," Azura said, turning away so he wouldn't see the way her face burned. "I was just asking. I mean, we are going into our fourth year of marriage, and we are getting older."

"Azura, you're twenty-eight years old," Corrin deadpanned. "If you're old, what does that make me?"

"Corrin, you're younger than me," Azura said, equally deadpanned. "You don't get to complain about growing old just yet."

"You're only older than me by a month!" Corrin protested.

"Your point?" Azura asked, turning her head and mischievously glancing at him out the corner of her eye.

Corrin opened his mouth to retort, but upon seeing the playful look in Azura's eye, he settled for sinking down on his haunches and shake his head mischievously at her.

"You are so lucky we can't have sex right now," he said, grinning. "Otherwise, I would've railed you so hard right now."

"I love you too, Corrin," Azura said, leaning over and placing a chaste, yet painfully sweet kiss on his cheek. "Don't worry, you'll get your chance one day."

"One day," Corrin murmured. "I love you too, Azura."

"Mmhmm…"