A/N: I know this is an oddly fast upload schedule for me, but work with me. This chapter is a bit different. Instead of one overarching topic for the entire chapter, this one will be divided into a series of 9 vignettes, each one placed roughly a month apart from each other, give or take. Obviously, you can see what I'm going at here. The quality may or may not be as good as the full chapters, but I'm quite happy with how it turned out.

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

(1)

"…Alyx."

"Hmm…no."

"What? Come on! Not Alyx?"

Azura shook her head, smiling. "I don't know…Alyx sounds too…asserting.

"What about Felix?" Corrin offered. "I heard it's supposed to mean 'fox-eyed,' or something."

"That's a boy's name, Corrin," Azura said exasperatedly. "I thought you said she was going to be a girl?"

Corrin sighed as he tore his gaze away from the stars overhead. The two of them were lying out on their balcony, stargazing, an activity Azura found to be particularly relaxing after a long day of fending off curious passerby about her "condition."

"Well, it's always better to be prepared," Corrin countered. "How about something more gender-neutral?"

"…Ada."

"Ada…" Corrin rolled the word around in his mouth, enjoying the feel of it. "Yeah…Ada…"

"Ada…"

（2）

Corrin looked up when Azura barged herself into his study, holding a pair of plastic bibs in each hand. Azura looked more excited than he ever saw her, and he could feel her infectious smile spreading to his own face.

"Look what Felicia and Silas found in the market today for us!" she said excitedly, almost squealing. "Look!"

Upon closer inspection, Corrin realized that one of the bibs was light blue and had a small yellow duck sewn into it while the other was soft pink and had what looked to be a small, cute-looking puppy on it.

"They're both incredibly cute," he admitted, grinning. "I can't choose."

"Neither can I!" Azura said, almost hopping up and down. "Why do these sorts of things have to be so hard?"

"I'm sort of liking the blue," Corrin said, reaching out to touch Azura's long blue hair. "Sort of reminds me of your hair."

Azura blushed. "So…duck?"

Corrin nodded grinning widely. "Duck," he confirmed.

(3)

"You know, I hope she takes after you when she grows up," Azura said fondly as she rested a hand on her growing belly. They were currently in their bedroom, sitting on the bed against the headband as they simply watched Azura's belly.

"Why me?" Corrin said innocently from beside her. His arms were wrapped protectively around her, though making sure to avoid putting pressure on Azura's belly. "You're a pretty amazing person too, you know!"

Azura laughed self-deprecatingly. "I'm just a simple songstress," she said half-guiltily. "Everybody knows I practically had no right to be royalty after everything, but—"

"Hey, hey, hey," Corrin said hurriedly, shifting his hands up so he could cup Azura's cheeks in his hands. "Don't talk about yourself that way! As far as I'm concerned, you are the most wonderful, most caring person I've ever known. You've helped me so many times, and you've suffered too much for me to even consider taking you as anything other than my wife."

Azura's eyes dropped to her belly, pursing her lips. "But what if they grow up to be like me? What if—"

"No what-ifs," Corrin interrupted, giving her a small kiss. "What's wrong if they grow up to be like you? As far as I'm concerned, you are the best thing to grace this world, and if our Ada turns up anything like you, then all the better!"

Azura wiped away tears she didn't know had accumulated on her eyelids. "Thank you, Corrin."

"Of course," Corrin said, kissing her on top of her head. "Anything for you."

(4)

The first thing Corrin did when he walked into their bedroom and saw Azura sitting grumpily on the ground, surrounded by discarded dresses and skirts, he immediately pulled out his dragonstone and looked around the room warily.

It had been about eighteen weeks since Azura had gotten pregnant, and it had been approximately eighteen weeks since Corrin was able to walk around the castle freely without wondering if his wife was okay. Every waking moment was dedicated to her comfort, to her safety, and even the most pompous of nobles couldn't help but smile fondly at the young king whenever news of his wife caused him to either grin widely or jump to his feet and begin pacing.

Nobody could blame him, after all. Many of the nobles were older than Corrin by a relatively significant amount, but seeing the young king acting so full of both life, terror, and pure, unadulterated joy was something even the most pompous nobles would have to suppress their smiles about.

"Is everything alright?" Corrin asked warily, once he was sure Azura was safe. "Do you need help getting up? What's wrong?"

Azura scowled half-heartedly, both touched by his sincerity and annoyed by how close he was always to her suddenly. Honestly, she felt like Corrin hovered around her like a mother hen at times, but when she was being reasonable, she knew it was just because he cared about her and the baby. But mostly, her annoyance was brought up by one key thing:

"None of my dresses fit me anymore."

Oh.

Corrin hastily shoved his dragonstone necklace back inside his tunic as he knelt next to Azura. "I'm…sure…"

Corrin had to be careful of his word choice. Just last week, the relatively innocent statement of "Oh, that dress fits you really well today! I could barely tell that you're pregnant!" from him had resulted in several yanked ears, shouts, and a red-faced Azura chasing after him with a sandal.

Who knew sandals could hurt so much?

This time, Corrin said nothing, partially because he had nothing to say that would comfort her, but also because he knew nothing to say that would prevent Azura from flying in a fit of rage.

As a songstress who was often self-conscious of her appearance, Azura could be a bit…touchy when it came to her weight, something he had learned that the hard way.

Thankfully, it appeared no words were needed this time, for as soon as he knelt next to Azura, she put her head against his shoulders and immediately closed her eyes. Before long, he felt her weight shift against him and heard the cute telltale signs of her snores, something else the healers mentioned pregnancy would bring. Sighing fondly, Corrin tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before carefully moving to pick her up and place her in their bed.

As soon as she was safely swaddled in blankets, Corrin leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Sleep tight, my little princess and queen."

(5)

Azura didn't know when Corrin left, but when her hand sleepily reached out for his familiar warmth, she felt nothing but empty air and cold bedsheets. Blinking her eyes sleepily, Azura slowly sat up. A thin sliver of silver moonlight shone the gap in the windows, showing that the moon outside was still very full and very bright, which told Azura that it was probably very late.

The near-extinguished candle on the nightstand on Corrin's stand also supported that statement, and although the light offered by the candle was practically nonexistent, it was enough for Azura to see that the room was entirely devoid of a white-haired half-dragon.

"Corrin?" she called out, yawning. "Corrin, where are you?"

A slight clatter coming from their washroom caused Azura to swivel her head around. At the same moment, Corrin awkwardly staggered out of the washroom, one hand lazily scratching his back as he looked up at Azura.

"What are you doing up so late?" he whispered, his red eyes glowing suspiciously brighter than usual in the darkness.

"I could ask the same of you," Azura countered, swinging her legs off the bed to grab her husband's arm. "What were you doing in the bathroom?"

Corrin shrugged. "Bathroom things," he said simply.

Azura sighed. Of course. What was she expecting? "Come back to bed with me, would you?" she asked. "The bed's a lot warmer with you around."

To Azura's concern, Corrin did not move. In fact, he stopped moving entirely. Even his eyes remained locked on the bedpost. When Corrin refused to budge even when Azura tugged at his arm, she stopped and frowned. Corrin was normally very open and relaxed normally, in both personality and body language. For him to be frozen like this meant that something was wrong.

"Corrin?" Azura asked, tilting her head. "Corrin, are you alright?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure," he said, sounding very unconvincing. Sheepishly, he rubbed the back of his neck. "Sorry, guess I spaced out there for a second. I was busy…thinking."

"Thinking about what?" Azura asked, pressing a palm flat to his tone chest to feel the reassuring beat of his heart. "Baby stuff?"

"Er, yes and no," Corrin said. Clarifying, he hesitatingly asked, "Azura, do you ever wonder what…traits you want to pass onto Ada?"

Azura tapped her chin with one finger. "Hmm…I don't think so, necessarily. Why? Have you?"

Corrin nodded. Silently, he pulled out his dragonstone attached to a necklace and presented it to Azura. "What if…"

Azura's eyes widened as she realized what Corrin was implying about their future child. "Oh gods, Corrin," she whispered.

She stepped forward as much as her growing belly would allow and wrapped her arms around him. He swiftly responded, but not as fast as Azura would have liked.

Pulling away, she reached up to touch his face and said, "Don't think about that. There's no way Anankos could affect her, not anymore."

"But what if?" Corrin said, reaching up and gently prying her hands away. "I-I mean, I'd like to consider myself Anankos-free when it comes to my biology, but that still doesn't change the fact that I'm still half-dragon. What if Ada ends up like me, forced to use a dragonstone all her life lest she go mad? Or, what if—"

"No what-ifs, Corrin," Azura said gently. "We've talked about this before. You're the kindest man I know. I know you won't allow her to turn out like Anankos, and I know she won't be anything like you."

Corrin grimaced. "T-thanks."

Azura grimaced herself. "N-not like that!" she exclaimed. "I meant they won't have the same…temperament as you!"

"That's…not any better."

Azura sighed. "Just…just shut up and take this for me, would you?"

Before Corrin could do so much as take a step back, Azura quickly closed the gap between them once more and pressed her lips to his in a deep kiss. For a moment, he hesitated before his hands automatically went up to her head to cradle it.

When they pulled apart, flushed and gasping for breath, Azura took Corrin by the arm and slowly dragged him back to bed. "We won't let anything happen to her," Azura said with conviction. "And if she does turn out to be like you, then we'll help her get through it. Together."

"Together?" Corrin asked.

Azura nodded firmly. "Together."

(6)

When Corrin heard Azura cry out, he literally dropped everything he was doing and came running into the bedroom, half-dressed. His eyes tore the room apart as he searched for the cause of her distress, dragonstone already pulled out.

Instead, he was greeted to the sight of Azura grinning widely at her stomach as she gently placed her hand on top of the bulging skin.

"Azura?" Corrin called. "Are you alright?"

To his surprise, when Azura looked up at him, instead of fear or shock on her face, there was only pure, unfiltered joy in her beautiful features.

"She…she kicked, Corrin! She kicked!"

Corrin lowered the clenched fist holding his dragonstone and stared at her in confusion. "She…kicked?" he asked. Then, realizing what she just said, his own face began to light up in excitement and joy. "She kicked?"

Azura nodded, tears threatening to overspill. Corrin hurriedly rushed over to her, one hand resting itself on her back as the other one found its way onto her belly. "Where did she kick?" he asked, barely able to contain his excitement. "Where?"

"Here," Azura said, taking his hand and moving it a few inches to the left. For a few moments, both wife and husband were absolutely still until Corrin suddenly flinched and retracted his hand sharply, a broad smile breaking out on his face.

"Did you feel it?" Azura asked excitedly.

"Y-yeah!" Corrin stammered, still in shock. "I-I can't believe it! I can't wait!"

"Neither can I," Azura said tearfully, reaching up to kiss him happily. Corrin was only too eager to kiss her back.

(7)

"…just saying, how do we know if the child is really his? She was a dancer in the war, wasn't she? It could be possible that she bedded another man during that time! She could still be seeing him, for all we know!"

"…true…she is a bit too quiet and reclusive for my taste. She could be seeing that other man still."

Corrin froze, hands clenched together into fists.

He had experienced court life enough to know that save for talk about usurping the throne and similar topics, court gossip was exactly that, gossip. He could tolerate a few jabs and insults at his expense, but the one thing he would never allow were insults to his wife. Especially his pregnant wife.

"Would you like to repeat that?" Corrin said loudly, stopping in his tracks and causing Silas behind him to stumble and curse under his breath.

The two nobles flinched and looked up at him. "M-milord!" one of them said. "W-we weren't expecting to find you here!"

"And I wasn't expecting you to find the two of slandering my wife," Corrin said angrily. "And I was definitely not expecting you two to be slandering the queen of New Valla. Explain yourself!"

One of the nobles took a hesitant step back while the other gave him a nervous look. "Well, you see, milord…" he said, wringing his hands. "We were simply…concerned about our queen's loyalty to you. You see, for being a Queen, she is oddly reclusive and—"

"And that's your argument?" Corrin thundered. "'She's quiet and she's shy?' That's your excuse?"

"M-milord—"

"Need I remind you that I will not tolerate this kind of talk against my wife!" Corrin said, stomping towards them, finger angrily raised. "You all know me to be a forgiving man, but the one transgression I will never forgive you for is for insults against the queen of Valla, my wife, and most importantly, the mother to my unborn child. Am I understood?" By the end, Corrin was almost shouting.

The two nobles were almost shaking in their fancy robes. As they hurriedly nodded and scooted away, as far from Corrin as possible, Silas uttered a low whistled and crossed his arms behind Corrin as the two men watched the nobles scurry away.

"Daaaamn," Silas said, grinning. "Don't think I ever saw you that mad before, Cory."

"The same damn rules apply to you too, Silas," Corrin growled.

Silas chuckled and raised his hands in mock surrender. "Hey, never could find anything bad to say about Azura five years ago, and I'm not about to start looking."

(8)

"Ooh, how far along are you?"

"What's their name?"

"Is it a boy or a girl?"

"Can I touch your stomach?"

If there was one thing Azura hated about being pregnant, it was the sharp decrease in mobility. Now that she couldn't see her own feet (which had brought forth its own stream of tears that day), she felt even more like a whale. A swollen, misshapen whale at that.

Balance was hard to find sometimes. It was practically impossible to bend down at the waist now, and Azura constantly had to rest one or both hands on the back of her hips to feel like she wasn't going to fall forward. All of these new changes were hard to get used to, but the one change Azura wished she could reverse was the changes to her running speed.

Years past, Azura was surprisingly one of the fastest people on the battlefield due to her dancing skills, though she wiped out unusually early on training runs. That same level of agility was retained even after the war was over and Azura found herself able to swiftly duck around a corner whenever she saw a crowd of nobles bearing down on her.

Now that she was pregnant, however, such things were impossible. The most she could do was waddle awkwardly like some sort of bird, and even then, Azura felt like her belly was going to rip away from her body if she did it for too long, and thus, Azura was forced to contend with the mobs of noblewomen that seemed to be everywhere.

Azura desperately tried to answer as many questions as she could without stopping her waddle. "Far enough. Ada. We don't know. No. Stop that. Soon."

Eventually, after what felt like an eternity, Azura rounded the corner and saw the open door to her room. Corrin was already instead, standing in the middle of the room as he curiously perused through a notebook. He looked up as the sound of a crowd of noblewomen reached his ears, and to Azura's irritation, a flicker of amusement flashed in his eyes as he saw Azura desperately trying to escape from them.

"Alright, alright, that's enough!" he said, spreading his arms out and gently pushing the women back. "I think that's enough questions for today. Your queen is tired, and I'm sure she wants some time to herself."

"But—"

"One more question!"

"Can I at least touch her stomach before I go?"

Corrin grinned easily at them, though Azura could that the firmness in his eyes was as good as any answer. "No. Have a good afternoon, ladies."

As Corrin forced the door shut, Azura sighed and sat on the bed, rubbing her aching feet. At the same time, Corrin sighed as well and slid down the door until he was sitting on the floor.

"Long day?" he asked.

Azura nodded. "They've been chasing me around all day. You?"

Corrin shrugged. "Could've been worse, could've been better."

"That's good."

For a long while, the two simply remained in a comfortable silence. Finally, Azura broke the silence by saying, "Do you think we're truly ready for a child?"

"Of course," Corrin scoffed. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"I-I don't know," Azura said, looking abashed. "They were asking so many questions. It was almost as if we weren't supposed to have any kids and they were surprised that we went ahead and got one anyways."

"Nah, that's just nobility to you," Corrin said, shaking his head exasperatedly. "Always trying to poke their noses into somebody else's business but never wanting to tell anyone their own dirty secrets. It can be pretty irritating at times, but don't worry. Just a few more months of this, and they'll leave you alone, right?" Corrin tried for an easy-going smile.

Azura smiled. "Yeah, hopefully."

(9)

"Hey Corrin, guess what?"

"What?"

"Month nine just rolled around."

The two of them were lying together in bed, both flushed from their most recent activity. Sure, Azura may be pregnant which made it risky for Corrin to be on top of her and nigh-on impossible for Azura to be on top of Corrin without crushing him (sometimes she had been surprisingly light-hearted about), but gods be damned! they were going to find a way!

Either way, after they both finished, Corrin simply laid on his back, facing the ceiling while Azura tried to snuggle up to him as best she could. It was hard, considering the massive bulge in her belly, but she made it work.

"How do you know?" Corrin asked.

"Oh, I just looked at the clock," Azura said mischievously, pressing a kiss to the underside of Corrin's jaw. "You know what that means, do you?"

Corrin couldn't help but grin. "Oh yeah, I do. Celebratory lunch tomorrow?"

Azura grinned as well. "What do you think?"

Everything had happened so fast.

One moment, the servant had brought Corrina and Azura their dishes. Azura had noticed that the servant was actually Mando, one of the servants who had harassed her a couple of months, but the man had been surprisingly light-hearted about the whole ordeal, apologizing to both Corrin and Azura (Corrin had glared at him for a full minute before turning his attention back to Azura).

Like before, Azura had noticed a red glint in his eye as he turned around to deliver their drinks, but when she brought it up with Corrin, he dismissed it as a trick of the light. After all, she was nine months pregnant.

Right as they were about to dig in, Azura had wrinkled her nose and gagged at her dish, which consisted of some grilled fish and asked if she could swap with Corrin, who had some sort of salad with some berries sprinkled around it. Corrin gracefully accepted, and one moment, they were both enjoying their meal, and the next, Corrin was kneeling on the ground next to Azura, cradling her in his arms, screaming at her to wake up and for the servants to call for help.

A/N: As a precaution...I'm sorry