The first in a pair of extra chapters I decided to do featuring Ryoma, Camilla, and Shiro.

I do not own anything.

Camilla remembered the day she'd brought Shiro into the world, a day that would forever be engraved in her memory as one of the happiest days of her life. How she managed to remember any of it was a mystery as many stated she was screaming every profanity under the sun and a step away from breathing fire from her screaming lips. As later years would show Camilla had given birth to a little fire-breather of her own, her and Ryoma's first born son.

Both she and Ryoma had been crying, streams of joyful tears streaming down their faces as she held their newborn son in her arms surrounded by friends and family. Though she was happy a part of her was still hesitant in allowing others to hold Shiro, call it paranoia, but Shiro's birth had been something of a long awaited event. The first child of the king of Hoshido and high princess of Nohr turned queen of Hoshido, there were too many people and factions who would have killed to have stolen Shiro from his parents' arms to do gods knew what with him. Almost a month before she was set to give birth she'd confined into Ryoma how fearful she was of someone snatching their child away from them. Ryoma's method of reassurance was both heartwarming and a pleasant surprise to his usual stoicism.

"If by some flunk they get past me then they'll have to face you, whichever poor soul has to face you in battle has my pity." If it weren't for her heavily pregnant stomach she would have jumped him right there out of sheer joy in hearing her words. That night Camilla entertained the possibility of adding to their family once she'd given birth, she was a believer in the more the merrier.

"I guess we've have to wait a few years to see if we get a dark knight or another peerless samurai." Camilla and Ryoma had heard variations of that phrase as Shiro grew from a toddler into a young man. Neither of them had given the question much thought until Shiro actually began combat training when he was ten years old, the standard for Hoshidan royalty. Many nights as they cradled their son together they made half-hearted guesses what Shiro would end up becoming when he was older. Time would tell if Shiro inherited Ryoma's natural talent or if like his uncle Xander he'd have to work to achieve such results. There was always the possibility Shiro would become a magnificent Wyvern-rider like his mother, a thought that admittedly made Camilla's heart swell with glee and caused Ryoma to chuckle.

Now as she watched her son defeat one challenger after another Camilla had an idea what Shiro would become when he reached of age-a warrior, pure and simple. That thought alone filled her with such pride she was unable to hide the ear-to-ear grin on her face.

"By the gods whose blood at work is that? Lord Ryoma's or Nohr's?"

"I'd say he's the second coming of Lord Sumeragi and Lord Ryoma, but…"

"Nonsense! What sort of samurai uses an axe? This is madness?"

"Have you forgotten? He has the blood of Nohr's Demon Daughter in him; may the gods forbid he ever learns to wield magic."

Magic eh? I'm sure Ryoma wouldn't object, Orochi certainly wouldn't be averse to teaching him since it would give him some time to bond with Ophelia. As her son continued his winning streak Camilla began to picture what the future king of Hoshido would look like wielding tomes and scrolls, casting such high level spells he could have easily passed for a sorcerer of the highest caliber. Knight, samurai, and mage, it'd be quite a combination. The Nohrian giggled oblivious to the sound of Shiro using his axe to break his opponent's katana.

"Again?" One of the spectators cried throwing up his hands in the air. "How does he do that? How? Swords beats axes, katanas beat axes!"

Camilla's fit of giggling was interrupted by a light tap on her shoulder. Looking up she was pleased to see her redheaded sister-in-law taking a seat beside her. "Coming back from patrol?"

"Yep, I thought I'd drop Hisame off for today. I see you taught Shiro the art of the sword breaker. How you managed to sneak that past Ryoma I wonder." She stated.

"Oh I have my ways as I'm sure you do with Hinata. I figured it would be a useful in a tight spot or two. Believe or not but Ryoma didn't object, too much."

The two women shared a giggle before the next match was announced, as fate would have it, it was their sons.

"You sure took your sweet time getting here, I haven't had a real challenge all day." Shiro jabbed twirling his practice naginata in one hand.

Hisame took his cousin's jesting in strides as he always did. Some days he found it hard to believe the two of them were related given their vastly different personalities. "In that case dear cousin it pains me to have to bring your winning streak to an end." He said drawing his sword and taking a stance as Shiro had done. "I'll try to make it up to you some time."

"Bug words there Mr. Pickles." The violet-haired youth spoke in return waiting for the call to begin.

"So he's chosen the naginata?" Hinoka speculated feeling a bit of pride at seeing her nephew chose the same weapon as her.

"Truthfully it's hard to tell, ever since he started training it's been hard to tell exactly what sort of weapon Shiro favors since he's been testing them all out." Camilla admitted watching the first exchange of blows. "He's been trying out everything, a trait I believe he inherited from me."

"From what I hear it hasn't hindered his ability, he has Ryoma's inborn talent." The Pegasus-rider noting watching alongside her in-law.

"Yes, but as we both know, natural talent will only care one so far, and I fear for Shiro that may be a long road." The older woman admitted with a hint of sadness sin her voice alerting Hinoka.

Before them it was obvious to onlookers what they were witnessing was a real fight, not the playground scraps Shiro had turned his earlier matches into. This could only be expected from a clash between members of the royal family, even if it was only a practice match. Just as their personalities clashed so too did their fighting styles, as different as night and day. Camilla could see a lot of her self in her twelve year-old son, his method of wildly swinging his weapon, attacking and parrying, bared great semblance to her own fighting style. Even though it was no axe it was clear Shiro was unintentionally following her methodology in battle: keep the enemy on the defensive and don't give them a chance to counter attack. In comparison Hisame was like his mother Hinoka: calm, controlled, and focused like a true samurai. Despite the intense melee he was under the young redhead did not break, each blow he met with equal force sending Shiro reeling back only to quickly recover and try again. Rarely did Hisame go on the attack himself, as if he were waiting.

The redheaded royal took one step back and his cousin surged forward eyes dead set on knocking him out; that was his mistake. Skillfully ducking the leftwards swing he slid towards his opponent already in the process of swinging his bokken into Shiro's exposed side.

That's where the match would have ended, if Camilla hadn't taught her son a thing or two about unconventional fighting. Taking one hand off the shaft of his weapon he caught the bokken mid-swing shocking not just Hisame but the onlookers as well. With an ear-to-ear grin he put all his weight into single-handedly throwing Hisame across the practice mat; before he'd stopped rolling Shiro was charging him at full speed with fire ablaze in his hazel eyes. To his credit Hisame's recovery near instantaneous, knocking Shiro's staff away with an upwards swing he now went on the offensive putting Shiro in a new comfortable position.

Camilla saw Shiro grit his teeth before he stomped both his feet down and countered Hisame's oncoming strike leaving the two of them in a deadlock. He has Ryoma's focus, but not his hindsight. She realized watching her nephew's feet swiftly move in between Shiro's, by the time her son realized what had happened it was already too late.

Shiro was on the floor with a dazed look on his face while Hisame stood above him pointing his bokken at his cousin's chest. "Yield?" He asked patiently with a beat of sweat running down his forehead.

There was a moment or two of pouting, but eventually Shiro conceded causing the audience to erupt into applause. "No shame in losing to you I guess," he replied taking his cousin's outstretched hand. "Next time though, I'll be the winner for sure."

"I'll be awaiting for that day then Shiro." Hisame nodded.

Turning to the side both boys were greeted with the images of their mothers proudly beaming at them before moving up to engulf them in a hug causing a blush to consume both of their faces.

"Even though you didn't win you deserve a treat for making it this far." Camilla giggled all but smothering her son preventing her from hearing his reply. "How about chicken teriyaki, your favorite?"

In a heartbeat what bitterness he had from losing vanished and whatever left over pain he might have still had was gone. "Yes! Definitely, I've been meaning to have lunch with you all week! Come-on!" Grabbing his mother by the hand Shiro began dragging her out of the dojo, heedless of the peering eyes and stares they received from onlookers.

"I can't believe that child will one day be the king of Hoshido." One of them muttered still looking rather mortified.

"Not if he follows that demon woman's teachings." Another snorted only to go silent when he felt an invisible pressure fall upon him.

"Ah-hem! Was that gossip, in my presence?" Hinoka barked scaring the living daylights out of every man present in the dojo. It was so quiet a pin could be dropped and its echo would have been clear as day.

Looking between his mother and his cousin's fading form Hisame had to repress a stoic chuckle. Sometimes Shiro, I think you're the one who lucked out when it comes to scary moms. Or at least moms with tempers.

She decided to wait until Shiro was mostly finished eating to speak. As painful as it was she was going to have to ask it eventually, better now than when they got home.

"Er, mom?"

"Hm? Yes dear?"

Putting his chopsticks down Shiro looked down in slight embarrassment then back at her with eyes laden with doubt. "Is it…hard learning how to ride a Wyvern? I mean, really, really hard?"

"It's not something you can master in an afternoon, I can tell you that much." She responded almost automatically thinking about to her own years learning how to ride Marzia. "I'm more than willing to teach you, but only if you have the willingness to out some effort into it. I know you enjoy trying new things, but Shiro, riding a Wyvern is very different from riding a horse or even a Pegasus."

Shiro already knew his mother took riding seriously, but hearing her speak of it was a further reminder of how serious a topic he'd breached. Whenever his mother looked at him with those focused eyes he knew all the joking had been cast aside. "I…I…I understand mom," he begin choosing his words carefully.

"Let me ask you this, why do you want to learn how to ride a Wyvern Shiro? As I'm sure you know Wyverns aren't exactly…the norm here in Hoshido despite how much time has passed." Camilla began hoping to put her son at ease. Even at eleven years old Shiro was surprisingly perspective child, something she believed he'd inherited from both Ryoma and herself.

"I want to because…well, cause I wanna be like you mom." She blinked in surprise at him. "I mean, besides dad, you're the strongest person I know. On top of axes I've seen you wield tomes, naginata, swords, shurikens, sometimes bows, and I've seen you ride Marzia across the sky."

Reaching over she lightly ruffled her son's light violet hair, almost the exact same shade as her own. "That's physical strength Shiro, an area I excel at though at the expense of everything else."

"That's not true." Shiro defiantly stated. "For as long as I can remember you've ruled alongside dad despite everyone saying all sorts of things about you." A shadow fell over her son's face and his knuckles tightened. Just the echo of all the rude and hurtful things people had said about his mother around him made his stomach churn in disgust. "People…want to call you all sorts of horrible things, but…you're the best mom I could have asked for, and you've been the best queen I've ever seen. I want to prove I can be a good king using the skills dad and you taught me."

Camilla had to resist the urge to reach across the table and envelop Shiro in another bone crushing hug, even after all these years she still couldn't shake the impulse. In retrospect she shouldn't have been surprised he was going to choose her as the best queen when compared to his aunts, she still loved hearing it though. "Shiro, thank you…I…I know I don't say this often enough, but thank you for saying those words. Hearing them makes me proud as both a queen and as your mother." Camilla smiled watching the blush exploded within her son's cheek at her praise.

"The truth is I never got it," he began with a downcast frown that focused on his half-finished plate. "You're strong, smart, funny, and one of the kindest people I know mom. I just don't understand how anyone could hate you for just being a Nohrian, I've been to Nohr to visit Uncle Xander and Leo and Aunt Elise. When I hear people call Nohrians monsters it just…it makes my blood boil. Dad tells me I can't show it in public but sometimes I just can't help it." If his father had been with them earlier he would have picked up on the traces of anger Shiro threw into his attacks. Some of the kids he'd fought had spout the same racist remarks as their parents, the minute they stepped into the ring Shiro fully intended on leaving them with at least one sore spot. Whereas his mother congratulated him Shiro knows his father would have had something to say about that, they would have been the first words out of his mouth.

Oh Shiro, The Malig Knight thought looking at her son with sad eyes. We did the best we could to shield you from the racism, but maybe that was just us trying to prolong the inevitable. Ten years had passed since the Silent War and while both Nohr and Hoshido had made great strides in making peace with each other, it was foolish to believe the hatred between the two would vanish in a single lifetime; Camilla had seen this first hand. Over time Hoshido had…mostly accepted her as queen, and she now had a vocal portion of the country firmly on her side. Of course she still had her decriers, people who'd made it clear they'd hate her until the day her coffin was lowered into the ground and beyond. What made her furious was how they'd transferred that hatred to her son who'd done nothing to deserve it. His only crime was being born to a Nohrian woman, nothing more. A bitter voice snarled inside of her. "Shiro, I know you're young and you still have much to learn, but I can tell you this: you will always have enemies. People who will hate you for things you can't understand, for reasons you can't change. I'm sorry son, but I will be one of them."

"Then those people aren't defending." He stubbornly replied crossing his arms. "Anyone who can't accept me just because my mother is a Nohrian doesn't get my help, that's just what I've decided."

Hearing that Camilla could honestly feel a wave of tears forming on the edges of her eyes. To hold them back she reached over to softly pat him on the head as she always did. By instinct his head fell a little with that same blush on his face. He really was his father's son in that way. "That's sweet Shiro, but you can't be that way if one day you expect to become king of Hoshido. I know you love me and your father very much, you're a person who's full of care and goodwill, which is why we both know when you become king you will be a magnificent one."

"Like how you've been a great queen?" He smiled under his iris-colored locks.

"Hopefully," She chuckled sitting back down. "Take it from someone who who's been in the present of great kings, being a ruler means caring for people who hate the very ground you walk on. Believe me, it's hard, hard enough sometimes you want to quit and just walk away, but you can't do that because others still need you. I can tell you this, your father had many, many people who disliked him for a variety of reasons. Some of them so much he could have been dying on the battlefield in front of them and instead of going for help they would have struck the death blow. Despite know that, Ryoma still would have risked his life to save theirs if the situation was reversed. There's not a lot of people capable of doing such a thing, but those few that are like your father are the ones worthy of being king."

"I…really don't know if I have that in me mom." He responded almost automatically. He never liked talking about the future, it always seemed so far off and dark compared to the harmony he knew as the present. A part of him wanted to divert the conversation to a lighter topic, but another part of him told him it was too late for that. The inner turmoil was forgotten about when he heard her call his name again. His father always said if they both shared one thing, it was being vulnerable to Camilla's smiles.

"I know you have it in you, because you're our son Shiro." The adult kindly smiled leaning a little on the table.

Shiro had heard his mother been called many things when people thought he wasn't listening. There were horrible, cruel things that he could never in a million years see his mother as being. Even with the stories his aunts and uncles told him of how she was on the battlefield he couldn't see her as anything but the woman who'd always be in his corner, no matter what or how tough things got. It's decided then, I'll give it a shot, for dad's sake, and yours' mom! "Uh, not to be rude or anything, but can you…still teach me how to ride a Wyvern? Please don't tell Aunt Hinoka I…I honestly think Wyverns are cooler than Pegasi." He admitted the last part in a voice as if the previously mentioned rider was sitting within earshot.

"Oh Shiro, you shouldn't be afraid of admitting a fact such as that." Camilla waved off envision Hinoka's crestfallen face at Shiro's declaration. "When you're of age I will teach you how to ride Wyverns, starting with Marzia."

"Awesome!" The young boy shouted pumping his fist into the air in excitement trying the attention of a few others in the restaurant. "Can we go see her when we're finished eating? Please?"

"Of course, I'm sure she's been longing to see you as well. Just make sure to finish eating." She nodded.

It wasn't long until they were both finished with their meal and left with practically the entire restaurant bowing in respect to them. Some of it was forced, and some of it was genuine. She doubted Shiro noticed, and that was how she wanted it to remain. Camilla knew she couldn't protect her son forever, but she would for as long as she could.

When most people heard a Wyvern roar their first reaction was to run as fast as they could in the opposite direction. Shiro was a different story, being the child of a Wyvern rider he'd never understood the intense fear others felt when seeing the armless drakes, or maybe he admired what others feared like his mother and Uncle Leo. People often said he'd inherited a fair number of odd traits from his mother, usually he didn't mind unless they made it sound like a negative. Curse and Infection, those were the words that set him off, he held nothing back when it came to making people regret bad mouthing his mother in his presence. That also extended to her treasured mount.

"Hey Marzia! It's me!" Shiro proclaimed racing into the stumbles to find the towering Wyvern arising from what he guessed to be her evening nap. The second her dark eyes fell on him she was on her feet and stalking towards him, soft purrs rolling off her lips. Opening his arms he softly embraced her while his mother watched on with a kind smile on her face. "Hey, I missed you too girl." Perhaps Shiro's affinity for Wyverns began when he was a baby, or maybe it was simply genetic. Either way everyone around him had told him stories of how his mother had let him play with Marzia when he was still just a baby. Apparently it'd given half the royal court a heart attack with some screaming the queen of Hoshido was mad. Shiro never thought so, and neither did his father.

"You're your mother's child, that's all the reason Marzia needs to look after you as if you were her own." Ryoma had kindly explained one evening the two were taking care of the veteran battler while Camilla was away on business.

"Hey mom, what was it like when you taught dad how to ride a Wyvern? Was it hard?" Shiro questioned turning away to look at his mother's surprise face.

"Your father?" She repeated actually caught off guard by the question. Looking back Camilla found herself softly chuckling at the collection of memories involving her husband learning how to ride the fire-breathing drakes she loved so much. "Hoping to hear some stories about how scared he was being that high up are you?"

"E-Eh? No way! Honest! I-I just want to know more about dad when he's not being, well, ya know, his usual self."

"Hm, what kind of student was your father, let me think." She jested in mock thought. "Come, let's take her out for some fresh out then I'll tell you."

Being a creature of the air nothing pleased Marzia more than being able to spread her wings and fly the open skies. Against the backdrop of the evening skies she was a black beauty zipping across the sky bellowing her existence to the world.

"Dad wasn't scared was he?"

"Not at all, whereas most Hoshidans cowered in fear when they heard a Wyvern's roar your father stood his ground; that was one of the things I liked about him." She answered. "I wasn't the first Wyvern rider your father had relationships with. You remember Scarlet yes?"

"Yeah, Aunt Hinoka told me all the stories about her." He respectfully answered watching Marzia breath a violet-lined fireball into the sky. "Then he met you."

"Correct. The Silent War had practically forced the two of us together, we became unlikely partners whenever a battle began. Marzia actually wasn't all that fond of your father, she once attempted to blast him with a fireball."

Shiro tried to picture the sweet Wyvern's he'd grown up with launching a steel-melting ball of flames at his dad. He was having a hard time process the image. "Er, I take it dad dodged it."

"Exactly, and without batting a single eye." The axe-wielder chuckled. "After that Ryoma seemed to have earned her respect, and from that point onwards they grew on each other. It helped your father knew when to praise her when she deserved. It wasn't until after the war that he formally asked me to teach how to ride Wyverns."

Damn, the guys were right, this IS awkward as hell. "Were you two…um, together by then?"

"No, but we were close to it." She teased twirling a lock of her hair with her finger. "Naturally there's a difference between a Pegasus and a Wyvern, but your father took to riding the latter rather well. You see Shiro, Wyverns have the ability to sense out fear in a person, they don't respect fear. Likely fear wasn't an emotion that came naturally to him, a majority of the Wyverns he was introduced to had gained a respect for him by the week's end."

"What about Marzia?"

"By the time the Silent War was over he was one of the few people I felt comfortable leaving her to, she felt the same way. We used her to help him learn how to ride."

"So dad was a natural?"

"No, like any other person, your father had to work at it. Test flying a Wyvern is different from flying in a real battle. Even Ryoma had to take some time to learn how to fly a Wyvern into battle properly, especially using an axe, spear, or even a tome." Looking over she took a second to enjoy the confusion on Shiro's face. "Having a hard time picturing it?"

"Actually…yeah." He responded sheepishly rubbing his neck as he always did when he was embarrassed. "I mean, usually nothing's out of reach for dad. I'm pretty sure if one day he took up painting they'd be hanging his works all over Hoshido and his name would be listed amongst the greatest of the greats. Sometimes compared to him I just feel so…" His mother had a way of calming him down whenever he let his self-doubt linger on too long. This time he felt both her hands fall firmly on his shoulders lightly pulling him into her embrace.

"I know it may be hard to believe, but trust me Shiro, your father is only as strong as he is because he trains day and night to be that way. He's an incredibly stubborn person, once he sets his mind on something he sees it through to the very end. The thing he's set his mind to is protecting us, his family, and everyone in Hoshido. It's not an easy thing to do, but he does it because that's his role as a king. That's one of the reasons why I both love and respect him as much as I do." Leaning in close she whispered, "If you plan on taking your father's place one day make sure to find a woman who'll be able to help you shoulder all of that. Make sure she's affectionate and radiant, just like me. You will do that won't you Shiro?"

"M-MOM!" The young boy spat out while his mother burst into one of her laughing fits. He hated it when she did that, even if there wasn't anyone around to see them. "A-Alright, t-thanks for answering my question." Regaining his composure he called down Marzia to softly nuzzle the tip of her noise. "I promise, one day I'll become a rider worthy of you Marzia. I don't know how long it'll take, but I'll definitely one day prove I'm worthy of riding you across the skies."

Camilla never knew what it was like for a parent to watch their child grow up right before them, she'd been deprived of that pleasure as had all of her Nohrian siblings. To substitute she'd made sure she was there to watch Corrin, Leo, Elise, and eventually Sakura, Takumi, and Azura grow up. Over the years as they'd all moved on with their lives and made something of themselves she'd felt proud. As great as all that feeling was though, it couldn't compare to the one she felt watching Shiro promise Marzia to one day prove himself worthy of riding her, a bright sunset elongating their shadows. She could feel her own lips quivering a little as she struggled to suppress the geyser of emotions willing up inside of her.

It wasn't enough as apparently Shiro had taken notice. He was quite surprised to find his mother on the brink of tears deeply alarming. "H-Huh? M-Mom? Are you okay was it something I said?!"

Raaahh.

Much like her rider Marzia had a habit of showing affection to Shiro via his head, in this case softly licking the back of it causing the young man to spin around to face her. It gave Camilla proper cover to cross the distance between them and envelop Shiro in another rather smothering hug.

"I don't know how, but I wanna give back to you and dad for always being there for me." He admitted unabashedly.

"Oh Shiro, you already have, you've been the best son either of us could have asked for." Camilla stated allowing a single tear to slide from her eyes. In front of them Marzia huffed in silent agreement. "Whatever happens, just don't give up your ability to smile in the face of adversity, smile and put on the strongest face you can dear."

They stood there in the silent embrace watching the sun began its steady decent towards the horizon painting the sky different shades of orange and blue. Personally Shiro always enjoyed sunsets and sunrises, specifically when the sun was just passing the horizon to rise or fall. That was when the sky was painted mixes of red and violet, the two colors he associated with his parents. Naturally sunset always made him think of his mother as that was when the sky began changing to the personal colors of her Nohrian homeland. He wasn't afraid to say he was proud to carry the blood of the Dusk Dragon, and he'd challenge anyone who attempted to dispute that claim.

"No doubt your father's probably on his way back by now, what do you say we go set the dinner table before he can arrive? Our little treat?" Camilla offered.

"Definitely, there's this new recipe I picked up while I was hanging out with Selkie. I guess now's a good time as any to try it out!"

As if to sound her agreement Marzia released a small trail of flames into the sky followed by a majestic roar. The veteran flyer watching in silent glee as the mother-son pair walked off leaving her free to roam the skies just a little while longer. From the air they both looked so tiny, but Marzia knew better than that. One day she knew Shiro would become strong, maybe stronger even than his parents. She'll wait for that day, no matter how long it took or what she had to endure. That was her promising to Camilla's little hatchling, a promise she'd fulfill no matter what.

There we go, less of Support and more like an outright one-shot. For me personally Shiro feels like the protagonist of your typical Shounen manga, especially in some of his supports such as with Nina, Seigbert, and Rhajat. That might be why writing him was kind of fun for me. Since canon material implies Shiro is closer to his mother than he is to his father I decided to play on that. The next chapter will be Ryoma and Shiro; that one will probably be up on Father's Day to celebrate the occasion.