A Man for Flowers
by Cyberchao X

CCX: I originally thought of making this a one-shot, despite the many time skips, but eventually decided to break it up. As in the first chapter, parts of the first conversation in this chapter are taken from the actual Hana/Corrin support chain (in this case, the B-rank), even though the circumstances are completely different. So I guess maybe there will be four chapters? …Or not, because it's fairly explicit that the B and A conversations take place not too far apart, and it'd be tough to put a whole chapter between them.

"Up late training again, Lord Corrin? You really need to take better care of yourself. I may have to yell at Kaze; he's clearly not doing his job as a retainer properly."

Corrin looked up at the clear sky. "I have two retainers, you know. And if this is your normal early-morning training, you're up extremely early."

"Yeah, but I don't know Silas very well yet. Most of our army is still a bit hesitant to trust him, being Nohrian, so…he's kind of an outsider here. But, uh…you caught me. I was hoping you'd just assume you'd stayed up the whole night again, but I guess you can read the sky."

"I'm learning. Much like its king, Nohr is cold and bleak; I've never seen a sky as clear as the ones I've seen in Hoshido."

"That's not all you're learning, or trying to. That style looks familiar, and not because it's the one you'd been using when you arrived here."

"Yeah…Nohrian swords and Hoshidan katanas are quite similar, but there are certain differences, so I feel like I need to get better at a Hoshidan style if I want to wield the Yato to its fullest potential. It feels awkward, though, since I'm so used to the style I learned from Lord Xander."

"Well, I could train you if you want. Unless you don't want to train with a girl?"

"Hana, what would make you think that?"

"…Never mind. So then we can train together?"

"We'd need to synchronize our schedules, but yeah. I can try to shift to waking up early instead of staying up late." Corrin paused. "Have you…no, forget it."

"What is it, Lord Corrin?"

"No, you made your intentions clear. I don't want to pry."

"…Oh. Yes, I have experienced prejudice among samurai because I'm a girl. That's part of why I train so hard."

"Dare I ask what the other part is?"

"I come from a long line of samurai. Back in Izumo, I said that Lord Ryoma is my idol, but my original idol, my inspiration, was my father. He was a model samurai, who devoted everything to King Sumeragi. More than once, he saved the king's life, either by slaying those who threatened the king, or by protecting him from danger. He gave the king everything he could, whenever he could. The stories of his accomplishments fill me with pride. He passed from this world while he was protecting the king. But even in death, he fulfilled his purpose—his devotion to the king symbolized his life. For a samurai, to die in service is really the best possible death."

"I see. I understand your mindset much better now. Though I don't think that dying itself is something to be respected. Even if you protect your master, I don't think it's wise to throw your life away."

"What?! Are you saying my father was foolish to do what he did?!"

"Calm down, Hana. You'll wake the rest of the army, shouting like that in the middle of the night." Corrin looked off towards the door to the decks. "False alarm, Saizo."

"…How did you find me?"

Corrin grinned. "We're on a ship. Not many places to hide. But it was still a lucky guess; I figured you would still be surveilling me. Is Kagero with you?"

"No, we take turns during the night. …Once we find Lord Ryoma, I'm sure he'd be willing to train you in the ways of the katana."

"I can train Lord Corrin just fine!" Hana said huffily. Corrin couldn't help but grin. Saizo quietly took his leave. "What's so funny?"

"You kind of reminded me of Elise just now. She always puffs her cheeks out like that when she's mad."

"…Hey, yeah, that's right, I'm still mad at you!" And then Hana left.

Upon arriving in Cyrkensia, the Hoshidan army encountered King Garon himself, accompanied by Princess Elise. Zola turned on them, and was killed by King Garon for requesting that he show Corrin mercy. They had no choice but to run, and encountered Prince Xander and his retainers.

"Good morning, Hana."

"Wa! L-Lord Corrin…I didn't expect you to be able to wake up early so soon. …You have slept, right?"

"Yes, Hana, I have. Thank you for your concern. Shall we begin?"

"Sure. We'll start out simple to warm up. …So that was Princess Elise?"

"I didn't expect you to be so talkative during training."

"I won't be once we really get going. She's almost as pretty as Lady Sakura, and you said she shares her kind demeanor…I see why you'd have trouble betraying her trust. …And I finally got to see Prince Xander's combat skill up close. You weren't lying about that, at any rate…though I'm not sure if I see the similarities in demeanor."

"Well, I'll admit, I haven't had much time to get to know Ryoma. You'd probably know him better than I do. But you've only seen Xander from the perspective of an enemy combatant; I'm sure that Ryoma is every bit as imposing to his enemies."

"Fair enough. Now, enough talk. Have at you!" They both giggled a bit at this.

Corrin soaked himself in the hot springs. "That was quite a workout…how does she do it? I'm practically ready to go back to bed… Finally, he was ready to leave.

"Eek! I-I'm sorry, Lord Corrin!"

Corrin quickly wrapped his towel around his waist. "It's fine, Hana, I was just leaving anyway. Didn't realize you were that close to the end of your training for the day." He tried to avert his eyes from her as he left.

If he hadn't, he might have noticed that the samurai's eyes had been locked on his chest the entire time. "He's…actually pretty ripped. How did I not notice that?"

CCX: Okay, I stand corrected. Short chapter, but it is what it is.