A Man for Flowers
by Cyberchao X
There was a knocking on Corrin's door. "Go away," he said.
"B-big brother? Please open up."
Corrin opened the door. "Sakura?" Sakura rushed through the door and hugged Corrin. "What's wrong?"
"You know exactly what's wrong. I just…want to make sure you're okay."
"Of course I'm not okay. I just watched a man die to protect me. I…feel responsible."
"Kaze did what he did to save you. You're important to all of us, big brother. Don't ever forget that."
"Still…I feel like I could've done more. If only I had paid more attention, or something, maybe Kaze would still be…"
"Don't beat yourself up over this." Sakura refused to let go. "I…I'm going to stay here until you're feeling better."
"You're so sweet. But, you know, two adult siblings spending the night together…people will talk."
Sakura blushed. "Big brother!"
"Hey, I'm just looking out for you. I know that you're just being a concerned little sister, but people might get the wrong idea."
"Fine. Then you're coming with me. I don't want you being alone. If I can't keep you company myself, I can at least order Subaki to keep an eye on you."
Corrin sighed. "I do still have one retainer, you know. And he's proven his loyalty to our cause."
"I-I know…" Sakura blushed.
"Oh?"
"Uh…nothing. It's embarrassing."
"Okay then. Shall we be going?"
"You're okay with that?"
"No, but since you insist, I won't argue."
"Lady Sakura!" Hana called out.
"Here I am," Sakura replied. "I just wanted to make sure my brother was okay after…well…wait, big brother, where'd you go?" Sakura found Corrin trying to hide. "What happened to listening to my advice?"
"…I'm sorry, Sakura."
"…Don't take it personally, Lady Sakura. Just leave this to me."
"No. Go away. You're the last person I want to talk to right now, Hana."
Hana looked stunned for a moment, but quickly recovered. "No, Lord Corrin. You're going to listen to what I have to say. Lady Sakura, you might want to leave. This is probably going to get pretty heated."
"No, stay, Sakura." Corrin grabbed his sister's hand. "You should hear this." He turned back to Hana. "This is exactly what I was talking about, Hana. I haven't even known Kaze for that long, and I'm still all broken up over his sacrifice. This is what your stupid 'honor' would get you."
"So Kaze should've just tried to save himself?! Obviously, dying in the service of your lord is a last resort, because once you're dead, you can't keep protecting them anymore. But, yes, Kaze died an honorable death, and you need to get over yourself and accept that."
"…I know he did. That's why I'm so upset. I've thought of myself as a Nohrian prince my entire life, and yet within a few months, a Hoshidan ninja laid down his life for me. …Hana. Promise me that you won't let your duty consume you."
"I can't make that promise. Protecting the royal family is my life. In that situation, I'd have done the same thing as Kaze did."
"…That's the first time I've heard you say 'the royal family' rather than 'Lady Sakura'."
"D-don't change the subject!" Hana turned red.
"No. It makes me glad. Because…I am worried about how Sakura's siblings seem to keep stealing away her retainers." Corrin let go of Sakura's hand to close the gap between himself and Hana and took her hand instead. "The truth is…Sakura's not the only one who would be devastated if you died. I've…fallen for you, Hana. And when you tried to push me away…it made me really sad. …Damnit, now I can't help but wonder if Kaze would still be here if I was more alert, if I hadn't been stuck in my own goddamn head… I'm not blaming you, though."
"Why not?! I deserve it, if you really think your feelings for me put you in that position. Because…because the reason I pushed you away was because I had feelings for you, but…I thought it would be wrong to act on them. You're a prince, and I'm just a humble samurai…and that night, when I walked in on you…I was the one who was staring." She blushed again.
"Uh, wait, what?" Sakura asked, while Corrin blushed as well.
"Y-you were?"
"Y-yeah. You're…really handsome, Lord Corrin."
"No more of this 'Lord' Corrin business, Hana. We're equals now, remember? And…I'm not going to just let you protect me, either. I'll protect you, too."
"I'd like that."
"I-I'll leave you two alone now," Sakura said. "But before I go…what did you mean, keep stealing away my retainers?"
"…wait, you didn't know?" Corrin asked.
"Don't look at me, Sakura, I don't know what he's talking about either."
"Subaki confessed to Hinoka a few days ago. They're a couple now."
"Oh. Wow, so both of my retainers are going to be part of my family now?!"
"Seems that way. But…it would be a bit strange, having your in-laws as your retainers. You should have someone else to serve you. Ah, perfect, just who I was looking for."
"My lord, what is your command?" Jakob asked.
"My dear sweet little sister seems to be losing all of her retainers. You are to keep her safe and treat her commands as though they were my own."
"M-my lord?"
"That's an order."
"Yes, sir."
"Well, now that that's sorted out…" Corrin kissed Hana. "We should probably get to training. It's a good way to deal with the pain of today's loss. Unless you'd rather get sweaty some other way?"
Hana turned bright red. "Training's fine!"
Corrin laughed. "Yeah, I think so, too. There'll be plenty of time for us to do that, right?"
"…Yeah."
"Hana?"
"They were already planning on having another child. I…wouldn't be surprised if Azura was already pregnant again. …We should get started, before things get too depressing."
CCX: Yes, we wrapped this up right at that part of the story. Chapter 15. I felt like having Kaze suffer his storyline death made for a better backdrop for this final chapter. Also, marrying Azura and Kaze in Birthright and allowing Kaze to suffer the story death is the only way to make Shigure an only child, since Midori's paralogue won't unlock until after Kaze survives that chapter.
...I ended up leaving this completed for four days before publishing it. I think subconsciously I was disappointed with how it turned out, because the first chapter was far longer than the others and I usually like to make the chapters grow longer as a fic goes on.