Sakura makes a friend. Corrin toils in the garden. Kana disrespects the sacred rule of Quiet in the library.

It was late into the day and Sakura sat in the arena. In front of her, Hana fought another samurai. Her opponent was much older and more experienced, but Hana dispatched him with ease. She grinned at Sakura. Sakura forced herself to grin back. It had not been a good day thus far.

I haven't had a good day in a while, Sakura thought.

Two weeks had passed since the battle in the Port Town of Dia. Two weeks had passed since the arrival of the youngest Nohrian heir.

Elise had made quite an impression on the camp. She was charming and expressive and confident and extraordinary and perfect and everyone absolutely adored her. With her in camp, anyone who hadn't already forgotten about Sakura, did.

Ahead of her, Hana shook hands with her sparring partner. A joke passed between them and then Sakura could hear Hana's chirp of a laugh from where she sat. Sakura smiled, but, in truth, she was incredibly bored. She'd never had any interest in watching people fight, but Hana was her best friend and so she showed her support by pretending to watch her retainer duel every Thursday afternoon. As Hana's second duel of the day began, Sakura loosed her eyes to wander.

The arena buzzed with activity. Everywhere she turned, there was a farm boy hacking away at a straw dummy, a sniper trying to line up an impossible shot, or a mage chanting spells from the pages of a well-worn tome. It stank of feet.

Her brother spent most of his time before the target range, firing arrow after arrow. As she drug her gaze to the range, she caught sight of a pegasus knight shaking a mist of sweat from their greasy hair and then cringed.

How can he stand it here? she thought, picturing her brother looping round and round the arena on the dirt track. Every day, he braved the stink and the sweat and the arrogance of everyone showing off their strength and skill at the expense of those around them. She shifted her faze to the archery range. Takumi was nowhere to be seen,

Is he with Corrin? Sakura wondered, but then she shook the thought away. Corrin had been spending all her time with the knight-commander she'd recruited from Dia.

I should really know his name.

But she didn't. The air was always abuzz with his name, especially in conjunction with Corrin's, but she'd never bothered to latch onto it. The knight-commander made her uneasy. All the Nohrians did with their strong noses and their solemn dour prayers

Across the arena, Ryoma's retainers were trying to outdo each other up again. They never spoke to one another while they did it, just stood side by side, obliterating dummy after dummy with their razor-sharp shurikens. The display was oddly comforting. She thought of her brother.

I wonder what he's doing right now.

She closed her eyes and then pictured him hunched over a stack of paper, scribbling like it was the last chance he'd ever get. She imagined him lying down his quill to look up with a forced frown to question, "How long have you been spying, little sister?" and then he'd smile, suggesting, "Let's go for a walk. I'm not meant to be cooped up like this!"

Does he miss me?

She wanted to think so but doubt swirled on her tongue. It was bitter.

He didn't try to see me in Cyrkensia.

The thought hurt too much so she tried to swallow it but it lingered.

"Wow!"

Sakura's head whipped towards the sound. Nearby, a broad-shouldered boy leaned against his spear. His eyes were wide as he watched Kagero with rapt attention, mouth agape. Beside him, a fair-haired boy sparred with a grinning girl. Their swords clashed again and again but it was clear, even from what little Sakura knew of swordplay, the girl was going to win. A blue haired boy watched the bout with a lazy expression. A small boy sat at his feet, drawing pictures in the dirt. Again, the boy with the spear said, "Wow!"

She stared at him, trying to place why he looked so familiar. He turned his head and then his eyes darted to meet hers. She blushed. He scowled. His broad fingers rubbed at his neck. He looked the other way.

Shiro, Sakura thought, staring at the back of his scruffy head. Her eyes bounced to each of his friends and then she rattled off, Soleil and Siegbert and Shigure and Kana.

For a time, Subaki's daily gossip had centered around the group of teenagers when they'd been the talk around the camp. They'd faded into obscurity long before Corrin's relationship with the knight-commander dominated the gossip, but Sakura remembered. They were frequently paying visits to the infirmary to change bandages or clean the dirtied sheets. From what she understood, it served as punishment for their escapades around camp, though she'd never actually asked them if that was truly the case. They were mostly helpful, except for Soleil who was so clumsy that Sakura had forbade her from setting foot in the infirmary again, but there was something about them that Sakura didn't like, something familiar yet foreign all at once.

"Aha! I've been looking all over for you!"

Sakura jumped. She slapped her hand against her chest, fingers splayed. Breathing heavily, she turned towards the voice that had nearly stopped her heart. Elise thundered towards her, curling ponytails trailing behind her. Dust erupted from the ground as she skidded to a halt. With delicate fingers, she smoothed down the black ruffles of her skirt and then stared expectantly at Sakura. Sakura realized she was expected to respond.

"Looking… looking for me?" she stammered. Elise beamed, "Of course!"

"Why?"

"Corrin said we'd make good friends!"

Sakura frowned.

"She… she did?"

"Yeah!" Elise nodded. Her ponytails boinged. Then, her bottom lip jutted and she said, "Everyone is always saying 'Go play with someone your own age' or 'I'm too busy Elise! Bother someone else!'"

"I'm sure they don't… I'm sure they don't say that."

Elise shrugged.

"Not exactly, but I can take a hint."

Then, she sat next to Sakura.

"Corrin and Camilla are the only ones who don't tell me that but Camilla's been so crabby—"

Elise pulled her vowels long like taffy.

"And Corrin's always with Silas."

Sakura watched Elise fold her hands beneath her chin and then lean over the latticework of fingers. The gentle midday light made the Nohrian princess' unblemished skin glow and her lavender eyes nearly transparent. The curve of her face was gentle and soft. She turned to Sakura, groaning, "This is so boring."

Sakura laughed aloud and then covered her mouth with her hand as a blush flared. Elise frowned. She asked, "If you think it's boring too, then why are you here?"

"That's my retainer," Sakura said, pointing to Hana. Elise let loose a gasp as Hana executed an effortless parry and then used the momentum to surge forward and disarm her opponent.

"Wow," Elise cried, "She's amazing!"

Sakura smiled.

"My retainer's over there," Elise announced pointing to a mountain of woman who dwarfed the men buzzing about. The woman dragged solid metal blocks behind her as she jogged around the arena. She moved easily and fluidly.

Does she know those weigh three hundred pounds? Sakura wondered as she watched the woman bank a turn. A cloud of dust erupted in her wake.

"Effie's really strong," Elise said. Sakura only nodded. Then, they sat in silence, watching their respective retainers.

"Okay, so I'm about to fall asleep," Elise announced. "Let's go do something!"

Sakura stared at her as her brain fervidly conjured reasons for her having to stay put.

"Oh! I know! Let's go to the hot springs! Have you been there?"

Sakura hadn't, though she'd been meaning to. Takumi had said they were amazing, almost as good as the ones in Shirasagi. The only thing stopping her was that she hadn't had anyone to go with. Still, she was hesitant to be in Elise's company.

"I don't know—"

"Oh, come on! It'll be lots of fun! Please Sakura?"

Sakura looked helplessly to Hana, but Hana was distracted by her duel. Sakura was on her own. And without a decent excuse.

"Okay, I guess we can—"

"Yay!" Elise squealed. She leapt to her feet, grabbed Sakura's hand, and then yanked her up in the same fashion. Then, Elise was tearing for the exit saying, "Oh, this is going to be so great! We're gonna soak and we're gonna talk and we're gonna get to know each other and be the best of friends and oh! You'll just have to go with me to visit this seamstress I met the other day! She made me the cutest little dress and—"

Sakura sighed.

At least I'm not going to have to think of much to say, she thought as she followed reluctantly behind the other girl as she blabbed on and out of the arena.

Corrin stared at the bulb in her hands. Its roots poked at her palm and a sprig of green peeked out from its tip. She laid it into the small hole she'd dug and then scooped loose dirt over top. Its jagged crowd disappeared beneath the earthen shroud. Elise had said it was a tulip. Corrin didn't know how she could be sure.

They're all the same until they bloom, Corrin thought but it was an echo of something someone else had said. It might have been Leo. She couldn't remember now.

Rocking back, Corrin swiped away the sweat clinging to her forehead. From across the burgeoning flower bed, Silas chuckled softly. She scowled at him. He removed his gardening glove and then leaned forward. With his thumb, he brushed at her brow, clearing the dirt that she hadn't known was there. Then, he was pulling away. Her skin tingled in the absence of his touch. He didn't seem to notice her blush.

Or he's too kind to say anything, Corrin thought as she pretended to be incredibly interested in digging a hole for the next bulb. She wore no gloves. Her pale hands were covered in a film of dirt.

As she tucked the bulb snug into its new dirt bed, she thought of the garden she'd cultivated in the Northern Fortress beneath the towering pines. Each year, Elise had amassed an arsenal of seeds for her. When the frost had receded and the ice had melted, Corrin had planted them all in neat little rows and watered them diligently until every year, without fail, a cold snap killed every single one. And every year, Leo had laughed and said something like, "The cold is doing you a favor. Now you don't have to stomach the guilt of having killed them yourself" or "Peonies are so last year" and every year she had hid her smile because she hadn't wanted him knowing that he'd made her feel better and then holding it over her for the rest of his visit.

Corrin sat back and then squinted into the sun. As she stared, a perfectly plump cloud drifted over the sun, dousing the world in cool shade. She tried to wonder at the time. She thought instead, I hope you're alright, Leo.

When the cloud had passed, Corrin turned her attention to Silas. He stared at her.

"You've only done four," he said.

"What?"

He pointed at her half of the flower bed.

"In the past week, we've planted many flower beds. Under normal circumstances, you would be done your share by now. And I only know because you're usually telling me to hurry up by the time I plant my seventh."

Corrin glanced at his side of the dirt and saw ten rounded steeples of dirt.

"You're worried about Leo."

She scowled.

"Or trying very hard not to worry about him."

For a moment, she thought about telling him the truth. She thought about admitting how scared she was for her old friend, how confused she was by the circumstances of his death warrant, how their encounter in Izumo was always in her thoughts, always poking holes into her resolve, how, when Elise had told her between sobs what the new recruits had told her, it had taken every bit of steel in her spine to keep from crying. But she didn't.

"It just doesn't make any sense," she said.

"No, it doesn't."

Corrin returned her attention to the flowers. She dug another hole and, as she took another bulb from the meager pile, Silas said, "You know, I was assigned to Xander's regiment when the war first broke out."

She covered the bulb with a thick layer of dirt and thought of the mornings she'd been awoken before dawn for training sessions with the Crown Prince that always left her with stiff limbs and nasty bruises.

"I'm sorry."

Silas laughed. Corrin started another hole. As she dug, he spoke. His voice was thick. It

"Oh, it was miserable. Forced runs at dawn, surprise drills at any moment, the works. But anyway, I was named his third in command and then second in command, after she died, but I like to think I was pretty close with him."

There was something awry in her chest, something like a bird with a broken wing fluttering within her ribcage. Her fingers froze in their digging.

"But, and maybe I should have said this earlier, but maybe Elise is just confused about the whole thing because I just can't believe he would turn on his family like that."

The feeling had twisted into a twinge of annoyance. She said, "I get that you respect him but—"

"No, no you don't understand," Silas interrupted. Corrin bit her lip and then retrieved a bulb, squeezing it tight. "It's more than just that. He talked about them. Never around everyone but he did to me sometimes."

She stuck the bulb into the ground, driving it deep into the loose dirt.

"He told me how worried he was about all of them and how pissed off he was that the king sent Elise out into the field and when Camilla joined you, he was a wreak."

She hesitated, fingers buried in the soft dirt. A beetle poked its pinchers out from beneath the seated bulb. It scuttled across the soil. Its inky carapace glittered. It stopped in its trek just before her finger. Its antennae quivered and then it arced back down into the earthen depths, willingly smothering itself within the mulched dirt. She looked up at Silas. He continued talking. He hadn't seen the beetle.

"I just can't see how the person that always talked his genius brother and how it was only a matter of time before Leo changed civilization as we know it, I don't see how that same person could issue the order for his execution."

"People change," Corrin sighed, heaping dirt into the hole. She resumed biting her lip. Her back ached from hunching over the garden.

"I know that and I'm not saying I understand him more than you do—"

I don't think I ever understood him, she thought as she scratched at the ground to make room for the next bulb. When she drew her hands away, she scowled at the dirt collected beneath her nails.

"And I just, maybe I wouldn't be thinking this if we hadn't talked about you."

The sun melted behind a thin cloud. Diluted golden rays shone through, but the warmth that normally accompanied them was diminished.

"I brought you up once. Out of pure selfish interest and I asked him, I told him—"

Corrin stared at Silas and then wondered if maybe she hadn't imagined the nervousness with which he addressed her sometimes, or the times he'd brushed his hand against hers and let it linger, or the teasing that could have been mistaken by passerby as gentle flirtation, or the reservoir of unspoken emotion within his eyes. She definitely hadn't imagined her own lingering glances and the excitement that flittered beneath her skin at the thought of spending time with him.

His eyes darted away from hers. His face dusted pink. Heat welled in her face and then she dug out the dirt from beneath her fingernails and tried very hard not to glance his way until he'd recovered.

"I told him things and he told me things and anyway, I was given my own command soon after that and Elise was assigned to me and it wasn't long before the orders came down, from Xander, to move on Dia."

She had no response. The butterflies that had danced in her chest from his expression had died. She wanted him to drop the subject, but she didn't know how to suggest doing so without snapping at him. She was far too tense. Silas didn't seem to notice. He said, "And I just haven't been able to stop thinking that somehow he knew you would be there and that's why he sent me."

If he knew, then he sent you to kill me, not join me.

"I wish I shared your conviction."

"All I'm saying is that I've either been played for a complete fool or maybe he's not as heartless as everyone thinks."

The former is much more likely, she thought but then said, "So then why would Elise's connections tell her that he named the price for their brother's head? You think she misheard?"

She focused her attention on the ground beneath her hands. She dug out a new hole.

"No, I'm not saying that at all. I just think maybe it's not what it seems."

Corrin snatched another bulb and then slammed it down into the fresh dirt. She imagined the submerged beetle veering violently off course from the harsh vibrations she'd caused. She sighed loudly.

"I appreciate you trying to make me feel better but it's really only making me feel worse. I think we've all been duped and I think Leo's going to die and I think it's—"

All my fault.

"I think it's pointless to sit around thinking about it."

Silas sighed and then put his gardening glove back on.

"Just promise me one thing?"

"What's that?"

"Promise me you'll talk to someone, it doesn't have to be me, but please talk to someone about all this."

Nobody else needs to be bothered, she thought, but then she said, "Sure."

She reached for another bulb. As she drowned it in dirt, she banished the thought entirely from her mind.

There was a spider crawling across the floor. It trundled for the bookshelves and then began to climb the dusty spines. Kana tried to imagine the little spider footprints it left behind and then he began to wonder what a spider's foot might look like. Did they have toes or was it more of a hoof situation?

"Kana, gods, are you even listening?"

Kana jumped and then turned, wide eyed, to Siegbert. He had not been listening but Siegbert didn't really need to know that so he said, "Yes!"

"What did I just say?"

"That's easy! You just said—"

He wrinkled his brow and glared a little to mimic Siegbert's frown.

"Kana, gods, are you even listening?"

Siegbert huffed and then rubbed at his forehead. When he was little, Kana used to think that Siegbert rubbed at his forehead because he always had a headache, but now he knew that wasn't the case. Siegbert rubbed at his forehead because he was always stressed or nervous, but Kana also thought sometimes that maybe being stressed and nervous all the time gave Siegbert a headache so maybe it was both reasons instead of one or the other.

"We're looking for anything that has to do with history," Siegbert said. He talked slower than he did before. "It can be the history of Nohr or Hoshido or Valla—"

Kana hated when he said that word, not Nohr because he lived there but the other word. The V word. Kana hated when anyone said that word. Or the A word. The one that rhymed with comatose, which actually happened to be one of his most favorite words because it sounded very cool and it was sucked that it rhymed with such a bad thing.

He hated the words because they'd killed the man that'd brought them here. Kana had watched the nice guy with the blue hair who'd offered them the chance to save the world disintegrate into a pool of neon sludge because he'd said all the words and explained what they meant and Kana was so scared that Siegbert was going to turn into a goopy puddle, but Corrin had said the V word AND the A word at one of the war councils, which Kana wasn't supposed to attend but he snuck into anyway because he liked to know what was going on even if they did scare him a little bit, so Siegbert thought it was safe to say them too and maybe it was, but Kana really didn't like him taking the risk and—

"Kana!"

Kana jerked ramrod straight at Siegbert's frustration. Then, before Siegbert could accuse him of not paying attention, he whined, "Can't I look for books about amputations instead? Amputations are cool."

He was going through a phase. Plus, he wasn't wrong. Amputations are cool.

"No Kana. You cannot look for books about amputations."

Siegbert sounded mad.

"Lay off the kid!" Shiro shouted from a few shelves over. "He's not wrong about amputations."

Kana grinned triumphantly at Siegbert. Siegbert frowned. He didn't like Shiro much.

"Look, if you find a couple history books then you can look for all the books about amputations that you want."

"Really? You promise?"

"Yes."

"Pinky promise?"

Kana held out his pinky. He was young. Pinky promises were still as good as legally binding to him. Siegbert held up his hand and then wrapped his pinky around Kana's.

"Pinky promise."

Siegbert lowered his hand. Kana beamed.

"Great!"

Then, Kana turned to the shelf and began to read the spines but he had to wipe the dust off of them and that made his nose ticklish and his eyes water so he only looked at ten before he got annoyed with the dust and gave up.

When Siegbert had his back turned, Kana darted from the aisle and then ran to the window. He smushed his nose against the glass and then pressed his hands to the window on either side of his head. Just across the path from the library, his mama was planting flowers around the temple. She was always doing nice things around camp. Yesterday, she'd built new stalls in the market and cooked in the mess hall and the day before that she'd helped teach the kids how to swim and even though he already knew how to swim he'd gone to the lake anyway and he really wished he could go to her special training sessions with the others but she said he was too young and he'd pouted and told her that his papa had already started training him and he didn't think he was too young but she wouldn't listen and nobody had even tried to convince her otherwise.

There was someone helping his mama and Kana was a little jealous because he wanted to help his mama plant flowers but he'd already asked and Siegbert had said no and he'd tried asking Shigure because sometimes Shigure let him do things so long as he didn't tell Siegbert that he'd let him do something but Shigure had said no too because they needed him and didn't he remember the last time he'd helped his mama around the camp and how he'd been so upset afterwards because she wasn't really his mama? And Kana knew exactly what Shigure meant but he was still mad that he couldn't go. He didn't want to be in the crummy archives looking for crummy history books. He had had enough history back home. What did it matter if he knew all the kings of yore? They were all dead anyway. Besides, most of the books were so old that they spelled simple things funny and Kana had always gotten poor marks on his spelling exercises back home when things were spelled the right way!

"Hey squirt."

Kana frowned. Then, he turned. Shiro poked around the corner of the stack. He beckoned Kana closer and then pressed a heavy book into his hands. Kana squinted at the cover.

"Beheadings and Bedlam?" Kana read. Shiro nodded and then tapped the cover.

"You like amputations? You're gonna love that."

Kana opened the book. An illustration of a headless knight spanned an entire page. There was a fountain of blood sprouting from his neck where his skull should've been. Kana had never been so grossed out and absolutely fascinated in his life. He beamed.

"Thanks, Shiro!"

"No problem," Shiro said. He rubbed at his neck and then turned back to the shelves. Kana wandered away, flipping through the increasingly gory images. He didn't pay attention to where he was walking until it was too late. A hand swooped down to snatch the book from him.

"What've you got there?" Soleil questioned. She closed the book, paying no mind to his place within it, looked at the title, and then scowled. He crossed his arms and pouted while he waited for her to finish.

"This is really graphic," she said. Then, she stretched up on her tip toes and tucked the book high away.

"Hey! No fair!" Kana shouted. He jumped up, but his waving arms were too far away.

"Would your mom let you read that?" Soleil asked, crossing her arms.

Kana was ticked. Soleil always switched between bossing him around or goofing off alongside him. He liked goofing off with her but he hated being bossed around. Especially in times like now where she decided she knew what was best for him or what his mama would or wouldn't let him do. She didn't know! She didn't know anything! She was just a dumb, stupid teenager!

"You're not my mama!" he shouted with a stamp of his foot. Soleil glared at him.

"No but she's not here so somebody's gotta look out for you."

The door at the end of the aisle opened just as Kana yelled, "I can look out for myself!"

"What the hell?" somebody said that Kana didn't know. "How'd you get in here?"

"Through the door," Soleil said but she didn't sound as sassy as she normally did. Kana turned to look at her. She didn't look like she normally did either. Her face had gone all pale. Kana looked past her.

There was a young man standing in the doorway. He had his hair all pulled back in a Hoshidian style that Kana thought would look good on him but nobody else did. The man was frowning.

Uncle Takumi! Kana thought with a jolt as the face before him clicked with the painting his mama always took him to when they visited Hoshido. Kana thought Takumi looked a lot better now than he did in that fading old painting. Everyone had been really worried that Takumi was alive and even more worried that he was fighting alongside Corrin but Kana didn't understand why. Wasn't it a good thing that he was alive and with Corrin? And couldn't they tell everyone what happened so that he would stay alive?

Kana had said as much but they'd all hated the idea. Except for Shiro. Shiro was always sticking up for him. Shiro never tried to boss him around like the others did. Shiro knew how to have fun!

Takumi kept talking but Kana had stopped paying attention. He was entirely fixated on getting his book back. Kana situated himself behind Soleil so that Takumi couldn't see and rat on him. Then, he began to climb the bookshelf.

Don't look down, he commanded himself. Keep looking up.

Kana was a little bit scared of heights but that was only really high heights and the bookshelf wasn't really that tall and he was a good climber so he wasn't worried about falling. At least, he wasn't really worried about falling but he was a bit worried. When he reached the shelf he needed, he sighed loudly. He hadn't meant to sigh loudly but he did and Soleil whirled around and her eyes were narrowed and her face was angry. Kana froze. His fingers curled into the wood so hard that they turned white.

Soleil grabbed him around the waist. She tugged hard, but Kana refused to budge. She tugged again, harder. Kana went with her tugging. He took the bookshelf with him. They flew backwards out of the aisle and onto the floor as the shelf toppled onto the one beside it. The hit shelf stood upright for a moment and then it fell. It slammed into the next one and then that one slammed into the next one and then all the shelves were falling like dominoes. Kana winced as each one collapsed into the next until they all lay atop each other on the floor.

When the dust had cleared, Kana could see Siegbert standing at the other side of the room. Siegbert was rubbing his face really hard and Kana knew he was gonna need to steer clear of Siegbert for a good while to let him cool off or else suffer a severe nagging. Siegbert was very good at nagging because he was the only person that made Kana feel guilty. Kana didn't think he meant to make him feel guilty, but Kana always did. He was always making Siegbert's life harder and that always made him feel a little sick

"Scatter!" Soleil shouted, throwing Kana off of her. She bolted for the door, but Shigure caught her by the wrist and then dragged her back. Kana stood up and then dusted himself off.

"I need to… get Corrin," Takumi said.

"There's no need for that," Siegbert said. "We'll clean it all. Right now."

"That's great, but you still broke in here."

Then, he went through the door and Kana could hear him shouting outside but he couldn't tell what he was shouting.

"Shit," Shiro said and Kana really wished he could say shit without feeling like he was disappointing his mama because it was definitely a time for saying shit. And maybe what his mama didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

"Sh—"

Siegbert's glare incinerated him from all the way across the room.

"Shoot," Kana said and then fumed because he wasn't a baby! He could curse! He could say whatever he wanted! But instead of protesting, Kana pouted and waited for Takumi to return and hoped that whatever happened wouldn't be too bad. But it probably would be because his mama wasn't here to stop it.

Shit, Kana thought. He felt a little better for thinking it, even if his mama wasn't here.

A/N: Sakura is really one of my favorite characters because she has a lot of potential. Unfortunately, that often gets buried beneath stuttering and shyness. I've kind of worked within the idea that her shyness is both a cage and a shelter for her because, sometimes, that is really just how it be.

I did Silas REAL dirty in the previous version. He deserves better. He will get better. Hopefully, this will allow him to be a multifaceted character rather than a Throw Away Side Character That Is Rejected By The Protagonist But Still Continues To Pine For Them For Comic Effect. Plus, I just legitimately adore Silas. He's such a sweetheart.

Kana is a hellion and I will accept nothing less. I imagine his hellion-ness is permitted to continue because 1) Corrin thinks its kind of funny that he wreaks havoc upon the gentry and 2) she can't NOT spoil him with affection. I mean, just look at him. Could you say no to that face?

Numinous-Alqua: I'm glad to hear it! Thank you! I'm very excited about the arc of this rewrite and all the changes I've made so I hope you continue to enjoy as much as I've enjoyed writing it! :)