Here I am again! I saw monamonalisa17's review and I honestly just had to come back to this story instead of eating my Smartfood popcorn.

Thank you to Andromeda for reviewing as well!

3/1/20

So um... I'm so sorry for being absent this long... ;;;; I really didn't mean to just forget about this, but quite a few things had happened between now and the last time I updated this story. I've thought about a lot of things and decided to revise this chapter before continuing on with Conquest and Revelations. I do want to write another Fire Emblem story, this time taking place in Tellius, but I decided to leave that until I'm done with this story, so then I don't have to update more than one story in the same franchise, flip flopping back and forth between storylines. Depending on if I re-read this story, I might change some of the chapters as well, because I'm not too sure about Teale's character at the moment, so that's just a head's up.

If there's anyone still here, thank you so much for still being here, being patient with me, and still taking the time to read this story. Please continue to read and support me, thank you!

"You know what my favorite memory is?" Xander asked as he sat, leaning against the wall. "Sharing a laugh with you, Elise, Camilla, Teale, and Leo around the dinner table. I think Leo had his boots on the wrong feet that day... In my heart I have so many memories of us siblings laughing together... Those were the happiest days of my life."

"Then why did it have to end this way? Why did we have to fight?! If you had just listened to Elise, or to me... Neither of you would have had to die!" Corrin questioned, crouching down in front of his dying brother.

"You can't throw your life away on 'if only,' little prince. You chose a path... but I never had that choice. I am the Crown Prince of Nohr. My fate was sealed the day I was born."

"Xander..."

"I'd like to think that things could have turned out differently in another world. We could have ended the war together, fighting side by side." Xander paused as he harshly coughed.

"Xander! Stay with me!"

"I'm here, Corrin. I... I'm sorry... I let you slip away from me. As crown prince... I didn't have the option of picking sides like you, or Leo, Teale, or the rest. So, I really did intend to kill you for the good of Nohr." The blond prince shook his head with a sour smile on his face. "But in the end... I did what I always told you not to do. I let my feelings overrule my duty. In the end, it was my my undoing. Is that... Is that justice?"

"That's not fair, Xander! You think you can just say something like that and die on me? I'll never be as good as you, Xander... I see that now. I've always looked up to you... You can't leave me!"

"You have already prevailed, little prince. Don't you see? I couldn't lead this world... or Nohr... into peace. But you... you can. And you will. You can do the things I couldn't. That's how you'll surpass me... In the end..."

"Xander..."

"I'm counting on you, Corrin. Father... Garon... he's... he's..." He coughed once again, blood starting to stain his teeth. "He's not what he used to be..."

"Xander... I think I understand. I promise to stop him!"

"Thank you, Corrin. Now, it's time... to say goodbye... Please... don't cry..."

"No... Xander?" When he didn't answer, Corrin screamed. "XANDER!" He started to sob, seeing his once unbeatable brother lay limp against the wall.

"Corrin..." Azura whispered softly, a frown on her face. After a moment, Corrin stopped crying and stood tall.

"I... I suppose we have to keep going. It's what they would have wanted. If I stayed here crying, Xander would have g-gently scolded me. To honor their sacrifices, I must carry on their honorable legacy. I must be a light in the dark, just like Elise was... And I must be a kind and determined leader..." He paused to shakily inhale through his nose. "Just like Xander. If we can't stop King Garon, then all this death will have been in vain... Come on, everyone. It's time."

"You can do this, Corrin."

"Thank you, Azura. Everyone... we're almost at the end. King Garon awaits. Xander... Elise... I hope you both know how much I love you. I promise to make you proud... and to end this senseless war for good!"

I limply stood, my back leaning against the wall. I had watched Xander and Corrin fight, watched my older brother fall; watched him take his final breath from afar. Laslow and Peri were fine, distraught over their prince's death. I looked over at Corrin and Azura as he finally stood. I silently sighed, lazily pushing myself off the wall to walk over to them. Reaching out, I put a hand on my sister's shoulder, causing her to look at me.

"I need to talk to you, alone; before you go to Garon." She nodded, looking back at Corrin to see that he nodded. I grabbed her hand, pulling her over to where I was standing. Looking into her eyes, I could see the curiosity and confusion starting to surface. If it were anyone else looking at her, she would look normal, but to me...

She looked so tired...

"You don't plan to stay in this world much longer." I said, coming out as a statement rather than a question.

Her eyes widened as I watched her shoulders grow rigid. "How do you-"

"You can't hide it from me, sister." I sighed, my shoulders slumping. "To think that I'll lose three siblings today... What an unjust war."

"Teale, promise me." I felt her place her hands on either side of my face so I would look at her. "Please, continue living; help Corrin on this path."

My stomach clenched hearing her words. There was no way that I could so easily promise her something I knew I- "I promise." She sadly smiled as she slightly tilted her head.

"You're still a terrible liar."

"I'm sorry... I..." My eyes started to sting as Azura pulled me into a tight embrace. "I'll try, I swear."

"That's all I can ask for, Teale."

Weakly, I sank into my sister's embrace. "After Garon is defeated, that means that I should be next in line for the throne. So much is going to change and you won't even be here to see it... We just found each other and then you're going to leave me again."

"I'm so sorry, I truly am. But this will finally end Garon's reign, Hoshido and Nohr will be at peace."

"I know." I responded, wrapping my arms around her shoulders. "Before you go, can you do something for me?"

"Yes?"

"Let me see you smile once more, so I can inscribe that into my memory." We pulled away from each other, Azura looking into my eyes.

"Then, smile for me too." At the same time she smiled, I felt the corners of my mouth start to tug upwards. "You are truly the best brother I could have asked for."

I laughed as tears had slipped from my eyes. "And you, the best sister."

With a smile still on my face, I watched as Corrin and his army marched through the corridor to finally end this war. When they were out of my sight, I turned and started to walk towards a secret entrance that I knew lead to my room. I huffed out a laugh, knowing that if Elise knew of it, she would have snuck in and out of my room whenever she pleased. Elise wouldn't have told anyone either; she kept secrets surprisingly well for such a young and talkative girl.

Silently, I opened the door that was hidden in the walls of my room. Just as I left it; a complete and utter mess. Sitting down on the unkempt bed, I stared down at the stone floor. Seeing Elise and Xander fall before my eyes was something I thought I would never see, then again, I didn't think I was going to see a war between Nohr and Hoshido in my lifetime. I was so focused on all of the thoughts going through my mind that I barely registered the drops of water falling onto the floor between my grimy boots. Adrenaline was starting to leave my system by this time, my shoulders shaking while my breathing started to become ragged.

"Lord Teale!" Without any warning, the bedroom door had slammed open. "Lord Teale-"

"I-I know." I mumbled, wrapping my arms around myself. "I know, Lazlow." By now, tears were falling freely while I tried to stay strong. Father always said to show weakness to others was-

Feeling the bed dip down beside me, I froze. "I'm sorry if I'm out of line, but..." Lazlow thickly swallowed, trying to find the correct words. "It's okay to cry, milord. I won't say a word to anyone."

Without even warning the poor man, I quickly turned and started sobbing into Lazlow's slightly bloody shirt. I'm sure I would apologize later, but for now, crying was the only thing that I could even do.

"Camilla! Leo! I'm so glad you could make it today." Corrin smiled at seeing the two Nohrian nobles.

"Of course. It wouldn't do for Hoshido's newest allies to miss Ryoma's coronation, would it?" Leo smiled as he crossed his arms.

"Well, I suppose not. But I know you've both been busy since the war ended. I'm so happy to see both of you!"

"You too, Corrin." The blond shifted his weight. "Although I can't say I'm fully comfortable walking around in Hoshido just yet."

"Leo, I assure you-"

"Oh please, Leo." Camilla interrupted. "What about when you were milling around the outdoor market this morning? Remember? You were going on about how great it was to see Corrin again?"

Leo whipped his head towards his sister, cheeks starting to turn red. "Camilla!"

The purple haired princess laughed. "Anyway, it's wonderful to see you, Corrin. But I must admit that the loss of Xander and Elise still weighs heavily on me... How are you holding up?"

"I think about them every day. Their deaths will be a burden I carry for the rest of my life."

Ryoma nodded his head. "I'm so sorry for your loss. Those who fell in the war will never be forgotten. We won't easily forget how many lives were lost to Hoshidan blades... All we can do to atone is prevent such war from ever happening again."

"Right you are." Camilla stated.

"Were it within my power as king, my first act would be to bring back your siblings. And Azura as well..."

Sakura sighed. "Oh... I miss Azura so much..."

"I didn't spend enough time with her when she was alive." Hinoka added on with a sniffle.

Takumi rolled his eyes. "Again with the crying? Look, it may have taken me a while to warm up to Azura, but in the end... I... I really miss her, too." He said as he put a hand over his mouth to hide the fact that he was starting to tear up.

"Now we've done it. Even Takumi is crying." Corrin sighed.

"You guys are going to need to hold it together at my coronation. Okay? We can't have all of Nohr thinking that Hoshidans are moved so easily to tears."

Everyone turned to see Teale walking towards them with a small smile, Lazlow following not too far away. "I don't want everyone in tears because you know if you start crying, then I'll start crying and I don't cry in front of people, got it?

"Teale!" Corrin smiled, walking over to his brother. "I was worried that you didn't come when I hadn't seen you with Leo and Camilla."

"I had some things to take care of before I could attend the ceremony, I'm sorry about that." He smiled wider, putting a hand on his hip while the retainer rolled his eyes. "But I'm glad I could be here for all of you, even if it's not for the longest of time, I already have to head back to Nohr and do more planning with the coronation."

"So there you have it. You should know that I have big plans for Nohr. I think a little friendly competition with Hoshido will be good for both of us. And on that note, I'm quite busy... so it's time I said my goodbyes."

"I'll join you. Everyone, I look forward to seeing you at the coronation ceremony in Nohr!" The purple haired princess smiled once more.

"Thank you, Camilla. We'll be there." Corrin smiled as he watched the siblings he grew up with walked away. "And off they go..."

"Yes, but you'll see them again soon. They are your siblings, after all." Ryoma put a hand on Corrin's shoulder, slightly shaking him.

"Too bad they're leaving so soon." Hinoka smiled. "They're going to miss the festival!"

Corrin tilted his head in confusion, making Hinoka gasp in realization.

"That's right... I forgot you've never see a Hoshidan festival before. It's kind of like... the biggest party you can imagine. So put all those sad feelings on the back burner... and get ready to DANCE!"

"That sounds like just the thing. We could all stand to let off some steam."

Sakura put her hands together in excitement. "Oh, it's been so long since we've had a proper festival... I can't w-wait!"

"Just try not to embarrass yourselves this time, guys." Takumi crossed his arms towards his siblings. "You're members of the royal family!"

As they continued to talk amongst one another, Corrin smiled at what fun was about to come their way.

"Teale, I'm sure you could have stayed a little bit longer." Lazlow muttered to me as we started on our way back home. While Leo and Camilla both rode with their respected retainers, I had taken Lazlow and Peri under my wing as my new retainers. I had ordered Peri to stay in Nohr, since I was nervous of an outburst. To be frank, neither of the retainers had really taken well to Xander's passing, but I decided that it was up to me to guide them and be by their side for the foreseeable future.

"Yes, I could have, but I was truthful when I said I need to do some more planning. That, and I really wasn't ready to be there longer than I had to be..." I sighed, looking out the window of the carriage. "Being ruler of Nohr is going to give me so many grey hairs..."

Lazlow softly laughed. "I'm sure you'll be fine."

I'm, again, very sorry, and I will try to keep up with this story in the future! ;;;;