Chapter 12

Claude followed Byleth away from the strange structure of stones, noticing the large camp close-by.

"Is that their army?"

"It is. They recruit people from different worlds over and over to fill up their waning ranks. Their enemies are using the same technique, but are apparently brainwashing the people they summoned into obeying to them."

"Other worlds," he repeated. "How…?"

"It is why I need you somewhere we can be alone. Fodlan exists in many mirroring realms. The Hilda they have summoned here knows me as a man from her original world."

Claude's feet barely followed as his brain tried to process. Alternative versions of Fodlan? With versions where his Byleth was a guy? For some reason, he could only picture a short man wearing a skirt...

"Is the idea that strange? If the same world exists in multiple versions, I don't see why the people wouldn't be slightly different."

She hurried forward, leading him towards a line of trees. A lot of them had been cut and Claude could imagine that to sustain such a large camp, this used to be a luxuriant forest. Byleth didn't stop until they were past the cover of a few trees, standing in their shadow, her eyes finding his as she whirled around. There was a storm in her stare and his heart flipped.

"I need to know if you're the Claude from my version of Fodlan," she managed, letting go of his wrists and crossing her arms over her chest.

He imagined her head leaning to the side in thought, wished he could just say her name and have her know. But he needed to confirm she was his Byleth if it was even possible…

"How long have you been here?" he asked her.

"A few weeks. But…"

"It's been well over three months since you vanished!"

Her lips pulled into that tight line he knew was her way of wincing.

"I don't know if time works differently here. I know your real name is Khalid."

"What?"

He'd told her, but she'd never used it, she was too accustomed to Claude, and he hadn't expected… What did he know about her that could be unique to her, without a doubt?

"I have a scar," she started, undoing the first buttons on her dark dress to pull the collar off, exposing her left shoulder. "Tell me how it happened," she added.

The spark of recognition in his eyes told her, but his words were tumbling out, his nerves finally shot as he was certain…

"Talons. A stray beast came at us while we were separated from the others and managed to slash you badly. I shot it full of arrows and you still found the strength to throw your blade at it. I was so glad to have elixirs on me during that battle…"

Byleth felt herself smiling for the first time since she'd arrived in this strange world.

"You kept telling me to turn back time, but I had run out of turns, Sothis needed to regain some strength to manage…"

"Byleth. Byleth, come here, please."

"I thought they never summoned more than one person per world."

Her eyes were wet, her lips so thin from pinching too hard and he couldn't control his own tears, stepping forward and wrapping her in his arms, hiding his face against her hair.

"I wrote you ten letters while I was in Almyra. I thought I could never miss you as much as I did then, but…"

"It's you," she muttered, her voice shivering. "It's really you."

"If it wasn't, what would you…"

"You're the only Claude I want," she instantly told him, hugging him tightly.

His heart swelled and ached at the same time. He squeezed her close, trying to collect himself, trying hard to push back the other questions he had.

"Where are we?"

"They call this world Zenith and this is the kingdom of Askr. I've tried to gather as much information as I could, but there is so little to go on. They have those thick accents and…"

Her arms pulled him even closer, making it hard to breathe, but he didn't complain.

"And?"

"They said it's a one-way trip. We can't go back."

His relief melted within his bones.

"You mean…?"

He tried pulling back to catch her eyes, but Byleth held tighter to him, a shudder running along her back. An actual shudder, he wasn't sure she'd ever…

"I'm just glad to have you with me, even though it's selfish, I know we had…"

They had plans. A dozen of plans, and now Almyra, the reformed church, the fallen empire, Shambhalla... Claude thought of the Alliance. Of his home-country he'd never been able to show her. His parents who had been eager to meet her.

"Byleth, it's… What kind of power can carry people through space and stars and not take them back?"

"It doesn't seem to be the work of a god. If Sothis still spoke to me, I might…"

Her voice faltered, Sothis being one of the sorest subjects they'd touched, right next to the people they'd lost during the war.

"We can figure that out later. Let me look at you," he managed, realizing how hoarse he sounded.

They both took a step back, gingerly, her hands finding his, gripping hard to his upper arms as he held her shoulders.

"I missed you," he sighed, cupping her face with one hand. A single tear went down her cheek, her lips parting for words he couldn't hear. He leaned into her, gently guiding her head up, kissing her hard, rushed by the urge of making sure she really was there. He didn't want to close his eyes, even from this close, but her needy hands messing his dark hair convinced him this wasn't a dream.

"Missed you too. I was fine alone before you, but I can't…"

His next breath was a shudder on her lips, his shoulders shaking as he held her. She was the Byleth he knew, but she could have been a stranger. All the years, the bloodshed and the supporting looks they'd shared could have been erased by some unknown magic and a war that wasn't even theirs to fight.

"I'm here now. Always. You better not change your mind on me," he tried to tease her.

It was hard to be convincing with the knot growing in his throat.

"I'm going to hold you to that," she answered, her arms linking behind his neck.

He tried to kiss her again, fighting against the wave of exhaustion coming with the knowledge that she was safe. After three months worrying, three months wondering if she hadn't been called back to that other realm, out of reach, where she'd been sent before… He had held it all back, even when Hilda had warned him it would make it worse. He'd feared admitting how defeated he'd felt was the same as giving up on her. His throat was so tight, breathing was painful, their noses bumping, Byleth voicing an apology, as though this was her fault.

"No, no, I'm sorry, it's just… Now that I have you in my arms, I can tell that little voice in the back of my head that you're alive and it's…"

"Claude…"

Another shudder and he gave in, his nose pressing against her neck as he slowly let it out. Byleth held him back, stroking his hair, her voice soon humming a song neither of them remembered. She couldn't remember a time he'd broken down like this, a time he'd felt this vulnerable and it made her heart ache at the thought of what would have happened to him if they hadn't been reunited. The words that came to her mind were unfair to his state of mind, pleads for him to move on if anything like this was to happen again. She swallowed them back, holding him close as the tears flowed.

"Dammit, this is not how…"

"It's okay," she instantly reassured him. "What do you say we sit down?"

He followed the suggestion without a word, soon asking her if they could lie down instead. He insisted on putting his cape down so their heads wouldn't be directly on the ground, Byleth offering him a smirk He laid his head over her chest, Byleth unable to hold back a sigh.

"You know you won't hear a heartbeat."

"But you're warm, so I always know it's you," he shot back, his body slowly relaxing.

She felt a lot warmer just from his words, stroking his scalp as she noticed the tension in her own being.

"I've missed you," she said, even though she rarely repeated herself.

"That much?"

"It was so hard to fall asleep without you around…"

Claude rolled to his side, his arms gathering her close.

"I won't let that happen again."

He kissed her forehead, then sighed into her hair as he squeezed her tight.

"I think I'm better now. That wasn't quite charming of me, huh?"

"You care about me. You think seeing you this shaken by my absence means nothing to me?"

"I know I love you very much. And I want to be strong for you, but you always seem stronger than I am. You're my rock, Byleth."

She paused at that, absorbing his words and how genuine he sounded. Claude this open was rare, even now that they were together. And she came so close to losing that.

"You're my everything," she managed, her throat unexpectedly tight.

"Stars above, you're going to kill me."

"Why?"

He chuckled, shaking his head at her. Since her frown was not leaving yet, he leaned in to steal a kiss from her, Byleth tasting salt on his lips. The embrace was soft and gentle, Claude pulling away with a content sigh.

"You think we can stay here, or they'll come looking for us?"

"I think we'll have some peace."

"Good. I need time to process all this."

He held her close again, Byleth hugging him back, happy to hide her face in the crook of his neck. They laid in silence for a bit, just basking in the sense they were together. It took a few minutes for Claude to feel centered enough to go back to the questions he still had.

"So we were both summoned here… to be recruited into a war?"

"Yeah. Warriors from countless words are summoned on a regular basis."

"How many people do they even need for their war?"

"Too many."

"Say, can you still turn back time?"

"No," Byleth admitted, her voice shifting. "If it did, I'd go back before the summoning, to warn you at least."

"Hey…"

"I'm sorry I'm less useful than before."

"What? Where is this coming from?"

He shifted back to catch her eyes, finding her looking back but with some sort of hesitation that was totally unlike her.

"You're a tactician before anything, I know I'm more valuable to you with my usual powers…"

"Byleth! You're not a tool to me."

"But… If anything happens to you and I'm not careful enough…"

Her hands shook as she gripped his shirt, making his heart twist painfully.

"I don't want to worry you, but I also don't want you thinking I'm using you. I know things started off weird and it took me time to open my heart, but I love you for you."

"But… I'm not the Archbishop here. I can't turn back the hands of time. I can't give you soldiers or…"

"Please stop," he cut her off. "I just said you're my rock. Not my human shield or some magical artefact. I care about the woman in my arms, do you believe me?"

Byleth believed him, but she couldn't help the old insecurities she'd had. Insecurities she'd rationalized. It wasn't like everyone in her life hadn't looked at her for what she could bring to them. Wasn't it all part of the natural exchanges of services between people? Rhea had seen in her the chance to bring back her mother. Dimitri, Claude and Eldelgarde had all seen her potential. Not to mention the countless employers she'd served as a mercenary.

"I…"

"I won't ask for sex for the next month, I'm not using you and I'll prove it," Claude declared.

"What?"

"I love you more than what you can provide me," he insisted.

He sounded hurt, such a different kind of hurt to just a moment ago, her chest aching in that strange way only he awakened.

"That's very noble, but what if I want the sex you can provide me?"

"Well, I wouldn't want to deprive you of my prowesses. But I'm trying to be heartfelt here and you're…"

"How about two weeks? Think you can resist me enticing you for a full two weeks?"

He paled at that, his blush discernable, which meant he had to be blushing a lot. She could be such a tease. But he fell back to his feet.

"How bad did you miss me?"

"Bad enough that my own fingers left me unsatisfied."

"Fucking stars, Byleth…!"

Even after all the months together, her bluntness still shocked him to no end.

"We missed a ride together back in Fodlan. Drop your scrupules of using me and I'll ride you hard and fast like you love it."

His adam's apple moved up his throat as he swallowed.

"Right here in the woods?"

Byleth nodded, undoing a few more buttons of her dress to see if the flash of more skin would convince him. He licked his lips, his hands clenching into fists.

"I don't know how I'm supposed to answer now," he laughed, looking almost sheepish.

"By taking your pants off?" she suggested.

"I get it, I get it," he chuckled, rolling her on her back and gently pinning her arms on either side of her. "Let me kiss you first."

"Always the gentleman," she teased him.

"After three months apart, rushing me is a bad idea unless you want very short enjoyment."

"I stand by my words," she smiled at him, her lips tender and soft against his.

They kissed each other in languid yearning, fighting off the panic of having been forced apart so abruptly. Byleth tugged on his belt to have his hips closer, biting into his lower lip as she felt his growing erection brushing against her stomach.

"I very much want to strip you naked," she whispered to him in between kisses.

"I very much do not want strangers seeing either of our butts," he muttered back, his mouth drawing a path along her jaw to her neck. His tongue quickly found the spot that made her go wild, her moan sounding tiny compared to anyone's, but Claude knew it was close to her most expressive. "I mean, mine is so sexy I might get everyone around here too rowdy to do their jobs. And I'd just be jealous if someone saw yours."

"All the more reason to keep this brief," she told him. He pouted that she seemed to either miss or ignore his joke, and just shrugged.

"I'm at your command, dear," he said against her skin, wondering if she actually shivered or if it was him trembling at the idea he could have her once more.

"Turn us around," she asked, her voice all business. Claude groaned despite his best effort to control himself. He couldn't hide how turned on he was when she took charge. He flipped them over, laying on his back and pulling her flush to him, relishing her weight on him. She pushed herself up with his chest, lips red as she stared into his eyes, giving him a brief once-over. "I'm wet just from knowing it's you," she gasped, pulling her skirt up and aside.

"Fuck…"

Claude gripped one of her thighs, his other hand pulling her panties to the side to test just how wet she was. She made a tiny mewling sound, his fingers instantly rubbing circles against her lips and clit.

"I want you inside," she told him.

"You're in full power here."

She didn't need more permission, undoing his belt and lowering his pants just enough to let his erection spring free, relishing his gasp as the cool air reached him. She teased his tip to coat her thumb in precum, spreading it over his length before shifting forward.

"Hey, I told you rushing…"

"We can wait a month if you'd rather." she shot back, her smile cocky as he shook his head with a wild panicked look in his eyes.

"You can be such a bully sometimes with that poker face of yours."

"I thought you loved my sense of humor?"

"I…!" He gasped as he felt her around him. She took her time moving down, both of them closing their eyes to fully focus on the sensation of being connected. "Fuck."

"Patience, love," she said, pushing herself up and slowly back down.

"I am patient! I just can't believe we're doing this out in the open."

"No one you know to judge you except me," she teased him, biting her tongue as he gave her a slow thrust in answer to her grinding.

"You're not judging me, are you?"

"I can't… right now." She brought one hand to her lower stomach, her hair falling across her face as she slowed down her movements. "You're stretching me so much…"

He bit into his lower lip to hold back a moan, half failing, his voice thick with need as he pleaded, "come here, no making this all about yourself."

She leaned forward a tad too fast, Claude wincing and then assuring her he was fine.

"Are you feeling good?"

She kissed him yes, both of them out of breath as they parted, their bodies shifting slowly to keep up the building tension.

"You sure feel good," she told him, reaching at the spot where they were joined.

"I'm real close, Byleth, we should…"

"It's okay. I told you I've got it covered."

He slid his hand along her hip and the dip of her thigh, resting his palm on her lower stomach as his thumb found her clit, giving it a gentle whirl. Byleth's mouth hung open, her shoulders inching back as her insides quivered around him. He repeated the motion, playing with the pressure.

"Faster?"

"Your thumb or my hips?"

"I'll have you drop those nerves of steel one day, I swear," he smiled, pressing against the small of her back as he made tiny, precise circles over her core.

"Oh, you go faster," she asked, her voice not quite steady, leaning her head against his neck.

"Hey, no hiding. Gimme a kiss."

She moaned into it, Claude groaning back. He couldn't hold it back anymore, gasping as he came, his mind awash in white and delirious sensation. They rocked against each other, her voice rough in his ears as a gasp made it past her lips.

"It's so warm inside me…"

"Fuck, Byleth, mercy, I'm very undone as it is."

"But it's so much better like this."

"You didn't finish, did you?" he asked, his mouth in a crooked frown. She shrugged and shook her head, and he had trouble believing she was feeling as dismissive as she looked. "I should fix that."

"Normally your tongue is quite good but I doubt you'd like that much now. Perhaps fingers can be a good stand-in until you feel ready for a repeat performance?" She suggested. The initial imagery made him wrinkle his nose but her suggestion wasn't quite wrong.

"Can't reach." He observed, eyes flicking to where they were connected. She slid off of him and he groaned, still feeling over-sensitive. They turned onto their sides and he tried to prove his fingers could be just as good as his tongue, determined to prove her wrong. Without the distraction of his own pleasure he could better study her face, her subtle expressions. The flick of her brow and her lip, the flare of her nares. She wiggled a bit more than she did previously. Or maybe it was just his more focused attention. But after a few minutes of effort he evened the score. Or at least according to her own tally. Were it up to him, it would only count as a partial point. But she seemed satisfied and his pride was temporarily appeased. I'll make it up to her. He promised himself. But three months apart, his endurance needed a bit of training. Her deep sigh as she settled against his chest brought his attention to the present, and he started to stroke the back of her neck.

She sounded far despite being right between his arms, Claude kissing her nose, her cheek, the corner of her mouth, picturing what her bare body would look like.

"I love you."

"Love you too, Claude. Khal… I was so scared we'd lost everything."

"Byleth, it's okay, you can feel me here," he insisted, cupping the back of her head and leaning back to take more of her weight over him.

"Do we have to wait a full month now?"

"If you still think all I see in you is how useful you are to me, than yes, we should. Now, I hate to break the mood, but I swear there's a bug crawling up my ass."

She giggled at that, raising herself to her knees so they could fix their clothes, striding him again nearly as soon as his pants were closed to steal a kiss from him.

"You need more of me, huh?"

"Indeed, my dear. And there is one good point to being stuck here, we should have a lot more time for each other."

He wanted to smile, he truly did, because time together was all he wanted really… Except he had worked so hard toward a unified land. Gotten so close to reaching a new stage of his plan, his lifelong dream. And if they were truly stuck here, it meant becoming king of Almyra had been a mistake. He'd left an entire nation without a ruler. Surely his father would take charge once more, he was still strong enough to make sure things would work, but he was his mother's only child.

If his father was to pick another heir among his step-brothers, he would also need to elevate their mother accordingly. And while he'd worked hard to carve his place and make sure she wouldn't be forced back to the Alliance, Claude couldn't help his worry. Almyra was a wonderful country, but there were problems that needed fixing, just like Fodlan and its church. Problems that took time he was supposed to have. Byleth sat back on her heels, giving a tug to his wrists in the hope it would bring him back to her.

"What are you thinking?"

"I don't know what's going to happen to anyone now. Neither the church, what's left of the empire or…"

"Claude…"

"I'm sorry, this is bad timing, I just… I can think right again…"

"You saying I make you both stupid and brilliant?"

"What a bad professor you are, good thing you're retired," he teased her right back, Byleth shrugging it off without the bat of an eye. "I need more explanations about this world. Zenith was it?"

"I've been reading a lot. On the orbs they use to summon people. On the worlds they know about. They have legends about us. About you and Dimitri and Eldergarde, our names are all written down. They know the big lines of our ordeals. Apparently, the largest part of history stays the same from one version of a world to the next."

"That's fascinating. Where are those books?"

She smiled, recognizing his natural curiosity.

"First, we need to agree on something. I have refused to take part in their war. I will not fight other people's battles. Not anymore."

He nodded, reaching for her hand and giving it a squeeze.

"If there's any way we can go back home, I say we take it."

"We're agreed then."

…

Ryoma was confused to say the least. Alfonse and Sharena had smiled as soon as they'd recognized him, telling him they'd already welcomed his sister Corrin and the princess Azura into their ranks. They'd decided against mentioning Leo for now, instead offering to take him to the tent where his sister was staying. Sharena guided him there for most of the way, a pinked-haired woman named Hilda tagging along. As they stopped in front of a large tent, Ryoma felt many stares on his back, wondering why he didn't feel the usual pressure coming with the staring. He knew no one here but Corrin and Azura. He understood the language the people spoke, but it was different somehow. A part of him wondered if this wasn't an elaborate trap. Nohr had sorcerers and while they were at peace, that peace had always felt fragile.

"You, sir, need to know one thing before walking into this tent," Hilda declared. "Your sister was wounded during her last mission."

"What?!" he barked, his hand instantly on the guard of his blade.

His outburst had Azura stepping out of the tent with wide eyes, effectively calming him down as she called into the tent.

"It is your brother, Corrin! Ryoma, it's so good to see you!" she exclaimed.

She stepped up to him with a smile, catching his gauntlet-covered hand to pull him after her. He couldn't remember seeing her smile this warmly before. She hadn't been sad in Hoshido, but it had always been hard to tell if she was happy either. The tent in which Corrin stayed with Azura had been swapped to a larger one to allow for walking space when the healers visited the princess. It meant Corrin could have visitors, a blond woman with delicate features and actual wings currently perched on a cushion by the side of her bed, humming a healing song that had always made Corrin drowsy. The blonde blinked at the sight of the stranger, sensing Corrin's joy and batting her wings to take a step back, giving the man a bow. Ryoma was shocked to say the least, but his eyes focused on his sister. She was wearing a shirt, and not much else it seemed, her wounded thigh wrapped in fresh bandages, her bedsheets curled at the bottom of her bed as though she'd kicked them off in a tantrum.

"What the hell is going on?" Ryoma asked.

"Brother, it's so good to see you!"

"I just talked with you, and now you're wounded and…?"

"Oh." Azura sighed, realizing how much he had to process all at once.

"Ryoma, I'm… Oh, this is never going to get easier. Come here, brother, sit down, we can have tea and try to make sense of… everything I guess."

He exchanged a look with Azura, who gave him an encouraging smile.

"I should… leave, Corrin?" Leanne asked, her voice softer than a song, Ryoma gazing at her with even more puzzlement.

"If you don't mind? I'll be happy to hear you sing more soon. Oh wait a second. Ryoma, this is my new friend Leanne. She's a heron, she can turn into a bird, like I turn into a dragon!"

Leanne gave another bow, Ryoma bowing back in pure reflex. "Leanne, this is my big brother Ryoma. He's the king of Hoshido and a very kind man."

"Well, I don't know where Hoshido is right now. But it's nice to meet you." Ryoma bowed his head at the guest.

"Like… Like?" Leanne tried, looking at Corrin with her shoulders dropping a few notches.

"Likewise?" the dragon princess suggested.

"Oh, yes! Likewise!" Leanne repeated, clapping her hands.

Ryoma just stared, fighting against a frown.

"She's still learning our language, she speaks a different tongue from us. She understands us well though," his sister explained.

"Oh. Is she not from these lands?"

Leanne shook her head, her hands clasping over her chest as she remembered what had brought her here in the first place.

"She was summoned like all of us were. Actually, maybe you can stay, Leanne, you look flustered."

"The bad woman…"

"It's okay," Azura intervened, knowing what the heron meant. "We're safe here."

Ryoma wanted to pull at his hair now.

"Corrin, who hurt you?"

"Brother, it's complicated to know where to start, I'm sorry for making you even more confused. You see, I'm a Corrin from another version of your world. In my world, Azura…" her voice faltered, while Azura stood next to Ryoma and shook her head as she realized what she was about to say. Corrin was staring down at her hands, her shoulders shuddering once as her voice came back, "... she died. While this Azura here, comes from yet another version of your world, where it was me who died."

He shook his head at her, fists clenching. Beside him, Azura dropped back to her seat, a whimper coming out of her throat. The sound was as good as a confession, Ryoma refusing to process the thought.

"Neither of you died, I… I wouldn't let that happen!"

"Ryoma, it wasn't your fault," Azura swore despite her shaky breath, her focus turning to Corrin, her eyes unable to glare at her since she ached for her so much. "Way to ease him into things!"

Leanne closed her eyes as though she was in pain, Corrin looking between each of them, her eyes misty with held back tears, which was the final straw for Ryoma.

"Enough! I'm confused and this is a lot. Why are we even here?"

They tried to give him the explanations he needed, starting with the orbs that could summon people from different realms; the fact a young princess called Veronica was using those artifacts and had managed to summon a version of Xander. Of the war being fought, and the people of Askr forced out of their villages to find safety in this war camp. Then they tried to explain that they really came from different versions of their worlds. Corrin mentioned assisting to his wedding to Oboro, which was preposterous since the Oboro he knew was infatuated with Takumi.

"But you were so cute together!"

"I am not cute, and I am not with her!" he objected, his hands raising to cover his ears as he worried Corrin would tell him more.

"Don't tease him, love," Azura said, the nickname registering to Ryoma, his mind reeling a little more before coming to a halt.

"Wait a minute. You two are still an item? At least there's one thing that makes sense in this weird place…"

"What do you mean?"

"You two would always sneak off together when you thought no one was looking. This," He held out his hand and gestured between them, "I can process at least."

Azura and Corrin shared a look, a pink hue on their cheeks as the dancer smiled, her princess feeling giddy at the thought even in that third version of their world, their counterparts were in love. Then she realized what his words meant.

"So you're fine with us being together?" Corrin asked.

"Yeah. I'm not fine with either of you being dead anywhere though!"

He looked so furious, and also so sad. Corrin held her hand over her chest, hoping the ache in her heart could ease. She felt very clumsy in explaining all of this to her brother, but she needed him to understand the situation.

"We're here, Ryoma."

"Except you're hurt," he objected. "Fighting a war you have no part in."

"Xander is on the other side. We even found Leo here. I'm stuck here and since I get to have Azura with me…"

"Both the Norhian princes are here?!"

"They're my family too," Corrin reminded him, her voice breaking a little.

"I know, I'm sorry for yelling, I… I thought it was over. I thought we had peace."

His shoulders were hunched, defeat etching itself across his face like a dark veil.

"It's just a hurdle."

"Azura, tell me what happened to Corrin for her to be in this state right now."

Azura worried her lower lip, Leanne's wings held tensely close to her, as though she needed to shield herself from the tension in the tent. Corrin answered for her lover.

"Brother, I've already dropped a lot on your shoulders. Maybe it's enough for now?"

Ryoma sighed, agreeing that he'd learned more than he could process.

"Is there no way to… warn the people from my version of Hoshido that...?"

Leanne shook her head in unison with Azura, Corrin's tears falling as she saw the hurt her brother was trying to swallow back.

"Ryoma…"

"I'll be fine. I can make sure to look over you, both you and Azura and keep you two safe, as best as I can. Don't cry now."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. Here, can I have a hug?"

Corrin nodded shakily, Ryoma bending with one knee on her cot to gather her close, stroking her hair and sighing as she almost instantly relaxed. The hug lasted a long, long time, allowing him to gather some sense of normalcy before pulling back.

"Think I'll find someone willing to spar with me in this camp?"

"Oh! I know just the person. But you can stay here if you'd rather…"

"I need to clear my head and you are not stepping out of this tent, young lady. Let alone raising a sword to show me if you've been slacking."

"Don't patronize me! Leanne, do you think you can find Lyn and lead Ryoma to her? I'm sure she'll give you a run for your money as a sparring partner."

Ryoma raised one brow, while Azura gave an approving nod. They both knew how Ryoma excelled in battle, and also how fast Lyn could parry an attack. If he wanted a good long spar, she was his best option around the camp.

"Leanne do her best!" Leanne promised, stepping out in a flutter of feathers, Ryoma sent a last look to his sister who gave him a thumb's up, earning herself a smile. He followed the heron girl outside.

Alone in the tent again Corrin dropped back against her cot and sighed, staring up at the roof of her tent. She was excited to see her brother, but realities of it were swimming through her mind. What was happening to Hoshido without their King?

"Together even in a different world." Azura remarked, drawing Corrin's attention to more pleasant details.

"Together in Ryoma's world. We both wanted to be together in our respective worlds. If we can get Leo drunk enough we should ask him about his world and start a tally!" Corrin joked.

"Lovers across worlds?" Azura suggested, crossing the small space and sat down.

"You did always say you thought fate brought us together." Corrin smiled.

"That I did." Azura agreed, sealing the words with a kiss.

To be continued…