a/n: hello! So, this one is the longest one yet, clocking in at about 8,483 words (dang, Leo.) It's only so long though because it leads up to the end! Gotta make it count. A ton of time passes in this chapter, so be sure to pay attention to the intervals!

Review and PM as you see fit :)

also, side note: there is some suggested baby-making in this "chapter". there's nothing actually explained, but still. I figured that should be a warning...? xD

iv.

[I always knew that you would be a great mother; you had grown up without the love of one, and because of it, you knew exactly what was needed. You were nervous, though, and I can't say I blame you—our children were quite the pair. Just when I thought I couldn't love anything more…]

They were married twice, once in Nohr and once in Hoshido.

The first time was in Nohr, and neither of them counted that one—it was for appearance, and only that, as the King of Nohr couldn't very well not have a royal wedding for his people to celebrate. They welcomed Corrin with open arms, and instead of asking the king why he had chosen her, they asked only why he had taken so long; Corrin was no surprise to the people.

It was an extravagant thing, one that Camilla had gotten her hands all over, with enough food to feed the entire nation and a ball that lasted well into the evening. The reception was beautiful, flowers as far as the eye could see, and it took everything in Corrin not to cry when she saw Elise's favorite flower lined up in rows down the aisle that she had to walk. She knew Camilla had done it on purpose, only confirming it when the bunches of the flower were tied together with something that looked oddly like the color of Xander's hair; it seemed as though all her siblings really were there.

The Hoshidan ones came too, Ryoma with enough guards around him to build a castle, and the other three close behind him. Hinoka and Sakura joined Camilla in helping with Corrin's hair; it was a joint effort and they got along nicely, almost like there hadn't been a war at all.

But the missing input from Elise was enough to keep Camilla a bit distant from the two.

Leo had figured that it would be Ryoma who walked the Hoshidan princess down the aisle, but he wasn't—instead, the second prince of Hoshido had his arm linked with Corrin's and he held her steady as she descended in a gown of gossamer white, though tinted with the colors that held true to Nohr. Her headpiece was purple.

Takumi let her go at the altar, which was obviously harder for him than anyone had expected. He held tight to Corrin's hand for a moment, and then smiled at her, his face a little sad, his eyes a little distant. It was like the two were remembering something, or perhaps something that would never be; either way, the prince pecked her cheek and then put her hand in Leo's.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, but that was nothing new, her eyes a startling bright against the white of her gown, her face tinted in a rosy pink. Corrin stood tall and proud in front of the hundreds and hundreds of people who stood and watched her as she climbed the stairs with her soon-to-be husband and found her place in the world. They were both smiling, the room so happy, their hearts both full.

The words were said, the vows were made, and they were officially considered married.

Corrin joked that they were finally allowed to sleep in the same room now, and Leo laughed because they had been doing that for past thirteen months—they were married just a little over a year from the day the war was declared over and Garon was dead—and hadn't planned on changing anything.

Except, perhaps, a few pre-sleep activities.

The second time they were married was the time they considered it real, the pair of them, the new King and Queen of Nohr. It was in Hoshido the day after their public wedding (which, they had not considered their wedding and thus did go straight to sleep that night) and they were settled beneath the same blossom tree that Leo had proposed under.

Ryoma had said the words for them while their siblings stood off to the side; all of them, Sakura, Takumi, Hinoka, and Camilla, each smiling, each looking on with a new expression and a happiness that none could explain. Despite Takumi's initial protesting, the new husband and wife were made for one another. They moved in synch, like an orbit, one moved and the other adjusted around them.

Corrin's dress was different than the one she had worn the day before, much smaller and less fabric, the dress falling a little past the back of her knees and twirling around her like snow. She had a necklace tied around her neck and a stone that Leo knew kept her dragon hidden away appeared to be just a charm against her collarbone.

The petals fell around their faces as they kissed carefully, lightly, and effortlessly to seal their love.

That night, however, was a different story.

Leo pinned her against the bed before she could laugh, his formal clothes strayed, his hair ruffled, and Corrin was pulling at his neck and his hair and his shoulders before she even knew it herself. The kiss they shared then was different, separate from anything they had ever shared, and it was something that made his blood burn, made his skin warm.

Her hair was a splay around her face, fallen in careless waves across the pillows, and Corrin was smiling up at him; always smiling, her mouth finding his in a moment, her breath hot against his.

He tugged at the buttons of her dress and they popped, though he paid them no mind.

Corrin was so beautiful—nothing compared, not anything, her skin a pale shade, but flushed pink in every place he revealed it. Her hands never left his hair, instead pulling harder, finding a place at the nape of his neck and twisting there. She made sure he knew how much she loved him, how much she trusted him, and they fell away together into the night as the moon rose and the bed shook and they blazed into a flame that they knew was special to only them.

Leo fell asleep with her curled into his arm, her head laid softly across his chest, her left arm sprawled over his skin as she pulled him close to her. She was child-like, her long lashes casting shadows across her cheeks as she took deep breaths, her hair falling around her face. Her skin was bared to him and there was no need for cover; he ran a hand across her back and she curled further into the crook of his arm.

He had first watched her sleep, and it was the most comforting thing in the world to him, to watch her sleep without a second thought. Her nightmares were gone, for the night being, and she was content to sleep so soundly, her chest moved against his side every time she took a breath. Almost angel-like, soft and gentle, so careful, but so careless.

Beautiful.

His beautiful wife.

"Leo?"

The whisper came from the dark and Leo mumbled something under his breath before he shifted, twisting so he could lay on his side, his eyes reclosing. His wife was persistent, though, and he felt her snake around him, her legs wrapped around his hips, pressing her thinly-clothed self against his back.

He sighed, but there was a tilt to his mouth, a smug one as he listened for her breath. "Corrin?"

They had been married for three months then and sleeping beside her as her husband was much different than it had been when she was only there to soothe his nightmares. It reminded him of so long ago, when they had been children and kissing in the castle that had once been her prison, a time of innocence and happiness.

He felt that was how he lived now, a little more burdened than before, but happy; she did that to him, at least. Corrin made him happy.

She was, however, insatiable.

Her hand grazed across the bare skin of his back, making soft markings between his shoulder blades as she pressed her mouth to his shoulder, her breath hot. "Could we…?"

She didn't have to finish, as he already knew; Leo flipped over and trapped her beneath him, legs on either side of her, his mouth already pressing warm kisses to the underside of her jaw, hands searching for the snap to her chemise.

Corrin may have giggled, but he swallowed it up, pressing his warm, sleepy mouth over hers and capturing every breath she made as his. Leo left his kisses everywhere, soft lips pressed to all of her skin, careless and breathless, his heart full, his mind lost. She was his everything, after all. She was his all.

It was slow and sleepy, hearts content, kisses misplaced and gentle and unhurried. She moved with him, and he left searing kisses across her face, her shoulders, anything he could reach without shifting too much. She was peppered with soft presses, his careless kisses.

When she finally curled into his arms, he thanked the gods for such a wife and then fell into a dream-filled sleep.

Nine months later, Forrest was born.

The joy in the kingdom was overwhelming as the people celebrated the new prince, as they gathered in the streets and rejoiced. Forrest was loved more than his parents combined—before he was even born. His mother walked amongst the people, even as a queen, and they showed her respect, but more love to her unborn son. He was just a bump, but he was more loved than anything else. He was their future—he was their hope.

Corrin had told Leo by blurting it out at dinner one night.

"We're having a baby," she had said suddenly, out of nowhere as Leo was talking to Niles over the dinner table. They often had friends visiting, but Niles and Nyx were a constant sight at the royals' dinner table, as the king and queen lent them a room in the castle. Niles was still the king's retainer, after all.

Leo had paused completely, turning his head to face his wife of only a few months, before he had started laughing, giggling almost. He didn't believe her—no, of course not. She had just said something to get his attention, that was all.

"Leo," she called, and her face flushed. "We're actually having a baby."

"Oh," was all he had to say, his eyes widened, fork stuck between his hands as he sat for a moment, watching Corrin as thoughts raced through his head, undoubtedly calculations and statistics, the two things he often fell back on. When his thoughts clicked and he knew she was telling the truth, he had smiled at her, a full one, standing from his chair at the head of the table to lift her from her own. He held her tight for a moment, a hug of awe, of joy. A child in a world without war. A place he would want a child.

"A child," he had whispered in awe, surprised, no doubt. "Our child."

Corrin had nodded happily then, almost proudly, and he had held her closer, as if he could keep the both of them there.

Throughout the next few months, Leo was a bit understanding in the aches and the whines and the demands of his wife, often ending the night by rubbing his fingers into her aching skin, as he had read all the books the library had on pregnancy and knew the symptoms were not pleasant.

The day Forrest was born was chaos.

Maids were yelling, Corrin was screaming, and Leo, well—he was just sat in shock, his eyes wide, as his wife laid across a bed in the center of the castle that had been specially prepped for the day. He knew exactly what needed to be done, he had done the calculations and the studies and the reading, but he couldn't move, not when he knew that something he had made was being brought into the world. He just shouted commands and demands and questions at the maids, wanting to know every detail of what was happening and how far along she was and he was eventually kicked out of the room until Corrin was finished because he was only stressing her out.

It was said that he topped even Niles for most-nervous father.

Chaos, totally and utterly, yes, but when Corrin stopped crying and the mess had been cleaned, there was a child in her arms that was the most precious thing either of them had seen. Leo came back into a room of silence, but of light and of warmth. His wife looked at him with shining eyes.

Forrest was less than seven ounces, if the maids knew what they were talking about, and had eyes the size of saucers and a tuft of hair that was so obviously his mother's. He was small, smaller than even Nina had been, and was so pale, one of the maids claimed he looked a little like a ghost, what with his pale skin and eyes.

But Leo was lost to him, just as he had been lost to his mother, the little boy with beautiful eyes and a small nose that looked exactly like his own. It was more entrancing to know that he had created this; the little bundle of warmth was from his love and not for personal gain, like his own mother had used him. He swore then that his son would be raised in a happy home, one where his wide eyes could be curious and could be happy, no matter what they found comfort in.

Corrin pulled Leo so their cheeks were pressed together, her face dripping sweat, but her eyes brimmed with pride and with joy as she sat with her husband and looked upon the beauty they had brought about, together. Their son cooed up at them, shaking his small, fragile fingers, and there was nothing either of them could do as the boy stole their hearts right out from under their noses.

The entire kingdom wanted to see him, of course, the newest member of the Nohrian family—he was tiny and small, but a strong leader already, his rounded face capturing his entire nation without meaning to.

His aunts and uncles came too, and Hinoka's first son, Dwyer, found it fun to hold onto Forrest's hand and then giggle when the baby tried to grasp, instinctively. The boy was a treasure, a royal baby that would take to the throne, and would rule the nation as he saw fit. It was exciting, the prospect, the what if's. It was up to him how Nohr continued into the future.

"S-so beautiful…" Sakura said as she held him, her arms formed tightly around him. She watched him with adoring eyes, just as she watched her other nephew, who was a bit jealous his aunt wasn't holding him and had begun to wail.

"He will make a strong king," Ryoma had told them both, as if they had needed his reassurance. The boy giggled at the sight of his uncle and was instantly enamored by all of his hair—Forrest loved to yank hair, something the King of Hoshido learned the hard way.

Leo stood proud the entire time, his arm wrapped around Corrin's waist, his face smug as the royals treasured his child as he knew he deserved. The baby boy wrapped in a purple blanket, his small face delicate and pink, the tuft of hair on his head already growing.

Forrest was proof that love really did survive everything, even hateful fathers and bloodthirsty wars and shameful thoughts. He was nothing short of their happiness, every last bit of it, poured into one, tiny body that cooed at them constantly, giggling and smiling like his parents did. The King of Nohr had never been happier than he was right then, his son gurgling in happiness, his wife watching adoringly on his arm, and the thought that his kingdom had lost so much, but had somehow found its way back.

Such happy thoughts had not been thought by Nohrian royalty in a long time.

Forrest wasn't picky in the slightest in his playthings, but his father was.

Nina was his usual companion, though she surpassed him by nearly a year of age, and liked to mess with all the toys the prince was showered with. That, and the uncanny ability she had to wander off to wherever her father had gone usually led her straight to the young boy, seeing as Niles was often found with Leo.

Dwyer, too, was a companion when he could be spared, though he was a bit too young to make the journey on his mother's Pegasus too often. He was closer to the boy's age and the two liked to giggle at each other, holding fists together, cooing and crying and hiccupping.

Though Leo claimed the boy was hardly a year old and couldn't possibly have a favorite playmate, Corrin always said Sophie was his best friend. She thought it was cute, that the daughter of her best friend would be so close to her own son—as cousins, they shared a bond that neither could really understand. They did seem to get on well, though, as Sophie with her shock of purple hair only dwarfed the boy by a few months in age, trailing behind by three full sets of the moon, the three months not doing much to stop their ambition.

"It's cute," Corrin told her husband pointedly as Forrest picked up a doll, flailing it around and then pulling it to his chest as Sophie attempted to yank it from his grasp. The boy preferred the dolls over the play-sword his father had tried to thrust upon him since the day he had been born, which bothered Leo to no end, of course, the stubborn king. "He's just used to it. Sophie and Nina love the dolls, so he does, too. It's natural."

"It's unmanly," Leo grunted, crossing his arms and eyeing his son as the boy waved the doll again, laughing. He shook his head.

"He's only one!"

"He's the crown prince of Nohr, Corrin. Xander played with real swords by the time he was one."

"Ha. You're hilarious."

Leo rolled his eyes, but smiled nonetheless, catching his wife around the middle as she tried to walk away. "Sorry. I guess he can keep the doll a little longer."

Corrin smirked in triumph as her son twirled the doll a little longer, his face upturned to her as she went to lift him into her arms. "You're welcome," she said to Forrest, and he grinned at her, eyes wide as ever.

He'd thank her later.

When the prince turned five, the palace held a huge party for him, the biggest celebration the kingdom had seen since the boy's birth.

Leo was unnerved by it all, just a little, as his son walked out into the party in a dress that fell past his knees. He knew the boy was too young to understand that dresses were for the girls, but Forrest had grown up with two girls and found it entirely unfair that they got to wear the pretty things and he didn't.

When Leo had gone to dress the boy in a tiny set of trousers and a small shirt, the boy had cried and wailed until his mother had come running in, her skirts flailing around her ankles as she bolted into the room, her face worried beyond belief. Forrest ran to her and clung to her leg, sniffling, as his father sighed.

"Forrest, just hear me out, kiddo—"

"Noooo!" He sobbed relentlessly into his mother's skirts. "I—I wanna wear t—the pretty dress, Daddy!"

"But dresses aren't for—"

"Pwe—ease," Forrest cried, a hiccup cutting him off as he sniveled miserably, his skinny arms wrapped around Corrin's leg, holding tightly and refusing to let go. "Daddy…"

Leo sighed again and opened his mouth to try again, but his wife cut him off, leaning down to pick the prince up and hold him on her hip.

Corrin had aged a bit, her face a little wiser, her body a little sturdier. She had smile lines now, but her eyes still twinkled like the stars and she still fought fiercely for anything she believed she had to.

Her husband knew the look in her eyes as she held her son to her, the weeping boy clung around her neck, and she scowled at Leo, shaking her head.

The king groaned, but he traded the pants in his hands for two dresses that had been laid over the side of the boy's bed. He couldn't win against her and Forrest, not both of them together. It wasn't fair when they teamed up against him. "C'mere, son. You don't want to be late."

Forrest peeked his head out from his mother's shoulder to see Leo holding the two dress that he had picked out earlier and his face lit up in glee. He ran from Corrin to his father's arms, smiling, and Leo caught him, pressing a hand around the boy's head. His hair had come in long, but he refused to cut it, and it was so-like Corrin's, Leo swore up and down he'd believe the kid wasn't even his if not for his eyes, an exact replica of Leo's, only wider and with longer lashes.

"T-thanks, Daddy."

Leo held him for a minute, the skinny prince with lanky arms and long hair, and he smiled, nodding his head for a moment before giving the kid a push and pulling the dresses out from under his arm. "So…the red one or the blue one?"

"Rwed one. Looks like Mommy."

"Hm?"

The boy thought for a minute, tapping his chin with his finger (and missing the mark entirely, tapping at his cheek instead), before closing his eyes and then tapping over his eyelid with his index. "These," Forrest told his father, very solemnly, nodding. "Rwed these."

"Her eyes, you mean."

"Rwed eyes!" He exclaimed, excited. "Ywes. Mommy's eyes."

"But yours aren't red," Leo told him, as if it was bad news.

Forrest had to think about it again. "It's okay," he said. "Mine lwook like Daddy's. Pwetty anyways."

Leo grinned at that, the idea that his son was proud to have his eyes, and though he had been embarrassed before, the man flushed and alit with pride. He helped his son into the red dress that looked like his mother's eyes without a second thought.

Leo groaned as he felt the familiar trail of hands against his back, Corrin's touch light, her kisses feather-like against his skin.

"You're a crazy woman…" he said as she climbed over him, her hands caught across his face, catching on the light scratch of his chin. His eyes were sleepy, but the way he looked at her gave her permission to leave touches across his shoulders, across his chest. "Thank the gods you're mine."

Corrin kissed him and they fell silent.

Forrest was smart.

Leo knew he would be, but when the boy started his training in the classroom, Forrest only proved his father right, excelling in mathematics and science without a thought. He struggled a bit more with history and grammar, but his mother helped him with those and the prince grew into his studies. He didn't love it like his father did, the math and science, but he was still the best at it, his mind just clinked with it, like gears in a frame, a clock ticking inside his head.

He was definitely smart enough to know that his parents were keeping something big from him.

When his mother began to get bigger, her stomach swollen up and her face flushed more often than not, Leo knew the boy would ask questions, likely problematic questions or statistical questions like his father would have asked.

He, however, did not expect the boy to ask her at the dining table, as if it were completely casual. "Mommy?" Forrest had called, his voice small, but certain.

Corrin had smiled at him from across the table. "Hm?"

"How come you swallowed a whole watermelon?"

The entire table had burst into laughter and Leo chuckled at his son as the boy's eyebrows furrowed and he sat his face into his hands, leaning his elbows onto the table. It seemed like he had known what he was talking about, and that his mother eating a whole watermelon was what his family had hidden from him.

They laughed, but later that night, Leo took him aside and explained that he was going to have a brother or a sister, just like his father has Aunt Camilla and his mother has all of her brothers and sisters in Hoshido. Forrest was excited beyond belief, asking if it'd be a boy or a girl and when he or she would be here. It was a moment of pride for Leo, to tell his son that they were expecting again.

Later that night, Forrest poked his head into the king and queen's room so many times, Leo picked him up, told him for the seventh time that the baby was not here yet, and then let the boy fall asleep in the space beside him.

Kana was born on a cold, winter's morning and was the precise opposite of his brother.

He cried at the top of his lungs from the moment he entered the world (this time Leo had stuck around) and startled his parents to no end, his high-pitched wailing catching everyone off guard and about shattering the large window in the room. The boy was larger than his brother had been, but he was just as warm and nearly as beautiful, though his eyes were a startling shade of red and the puff of hair atop his head looked exactly like Leo's.

Leo held him in a swaddled mess of blankets, cooing at his newborn son with a sense of happiness, an overwhelming sense, just the same as he had felt when he had held Forrest for the first time. Kana was asleep now, his little body tired out from all of the screaming, his tiny hands curled into fists beside his face. He was puffy and red, but he was another beauty to the royal family.

When he was introduced to Forrest, the young prince had giggled, hiding shyly behind his father for a moment before going to his mother's side, reaching to touch his brother's wrinkled arm.

"He's so small!" Forrest had whispered, his thumb stuck into his mouth and a fistful of his dress in the other hand. Leo couldn't get the prince out of either phase and had given up trying, the poor king, and had allowed his son a few sewing lessons with the maids, so long as he kept up with his studies. "So teensy…"

"Isn't he?" Corrin asked, voice quiet, and she smiled at both of her sons, Forrest touching his brother's hands carefully, surprised to find them warm and wrinkled beneath his touch. "He'll get bigger though, darling."

"I know," the boy said, and he puffed his chest out a little. He had known that.

Leo scruffed at his son's hair, but said nothing, only watching as his family hung close to each other, wrapped up in each other's warmth.

So this was what Xander had sacrificed himself for.

Leo looked to the window, a smile on his face, and nodded.

Thank you, Brother, he thought, his eyes shut, as he gripped his son's hand, for this wonderful life you have given me.

The sun shone a little brighter as the family huddled closer around their newest arrival.

Kana did grow, after all, and Forrest loved him.

As his eldest son grew, Leo realized more and more that he had no interest in the throne. The boy drifted towards the maids more than anything, his hands deft and nimble, but not on a training field. He was the best sewer the castle had, much to his father's dismay, and began to sew his own clothes, as well as his mother's dresses and bows.

He held no interest in battle or tactic or strategy, all the things that Leo himself had grown up upon, and it left the king at a bit of a loss for what he could teach his son. His father had only ever taught him that, to be a man and to fight with no mercy, and there was little from that Leo could use on his son. He realized, as his sons grew, that he really didn't know how to be a father.

Kana was more energetic than his brother, and by the gods, Leo had no idea how that was even possible. As soon as the boy could toddle, he was into everything, from candles to papers to the wax for sealing letters. He couldn't keep out of anything and his parents really couldn't keep him out of anything or in anything, for that matter. He was constantly going, toddling and giggling and moving, following his father like a shadow. When he wasn't at his father's heels, he was yipping at his brother's, poking and asking as many questions as he could possibly ask within a day.

Midori was the only other child born to someone of his parents' status that was around Kana's age, her father being Corrin's retainer, and she often hung around the youngest prince with wide eyes, the pair of them giggling and dancing together, quickly becoming the boy's best friend in his short years spent in the castle. Kaze usually had an eye on the both of them.

The six-year age gap between the two brothers held no difference to the either of them, as Forrest played with Kana from the day the boy was born. Twelve years after the end of the war, the boys grew up in a home of peace, where they could leave the castle whenever they wished (so long as a retainer followed close behind, of course) and explore and play. They grew close, as Forrest kept an eye on the boy when his parents were off, and Kana looked up to him like nothing else. Except, perhaps, his father.

"Why dwoes the swky cwky, Forrest?" Kana had asked him one afternoon as the two sat in their father's room, the youngest sprawled out across his chair.

Forrest was sitting neatly in a different chair with a needle and thread between his fingers. "The sky cries?"

"Like now," Kana said, pointing to the window, and he watched as the rain spattered the windowpane, droplets hanging onto the glass for a few precious seconds before sliding past and down onto the lower floors. "It cwys."

"You mean the rain," Forrest realized, turning to face his brother as he began his questions. "Well, it's mostly because of evaporation and transpiration, since the water comes out of the bodies of water and the plants and..."

Kana blinked at him for a moment.

His brother sighed. Kana was only five, after all. Perhaps the water cycle was a little too advanced.

"Mother told me once that it was because of the Great War," he said, and this time his hands shifted from his sewing to gesture, telling the story with his hands. It was certainly something Corrin would have done, shake her hands around as she told of something that she had heard. "You know the painting of the guy who looks sort of like Father in the Grand Hallway? The one that never got hung?" He paused to be sure Kana got it all, then continued when his brother nodded. "He died in the Great War and became a great hero, but sometimes, he misses us and he cries."

"Hwow come he mwisses us?"

"He was Father's brother, once," Forrest said, nodding. His face was a little smug, prideful in his knowledge. "He misses us like Aunt Camilla or Uncle Takumi do."

Kana's eyebrows shot up, but he didn't say anything, his face furrowing back into a thoughtful expression. He then turned to Leo, who had been listening in from his desk as he wrote a letter of envoy, his mind obviously elsewhere as he listened in on his sons. He contemplated for another minute and then turned back to his brother. "Were twey clowse bwothers?"

"I'd assume so. He has been crying for the past two days."

"Like, as clowse as us?"

"Yeah. Just like us."

Kana beamed at his brother, happy in his response, and nodded his head excitedly. "Yeah, we're jwust like Daddy and his bwother!"

Leo smiled a bit at his son's words, and took a peek out the window too, reminiscing.

Xander would be proud of them too.

Leo grew, too, his age catching him up a bit as he raised his sons to train and to get stronger still. He was coming up on his thirty-third birthday, and Corrin's thirty-fifth had just passed. They were getting older, wiser; he was a king of experience now, and his portrait hung in the hallway of the many kings of the past.

There was never any doubt between them though, not between the king and queen, the two whom the entire kingdom looked up unto. Not even when there was a riot in one town because they felt Hoshido was too close, or when a massive storm wiped out many of the Nohrian supplies and Leo had to spend weeks trying to repair it, his advisors working tirelessly at his side.

Forrest grew and grew; before Leo could blink, the boy was fifteen, his hair down to his waist, a beautiful, intricate gown draped across his lean form. He was beautiful, there was no denying that, as he rivaled even the likes of Nina, who was a beauty in herself. His hair curled just as Elise's once had and Leo regretted that she never got to meet his son—he figured she would have treasured him, the boy with a beautiful face and the impeccable fashion sense. He was a prince, though, through and through, his etiquette far surpassing even Leo's, who had worked his whole life to become a fit king.

Kana wasn't far behind him, sprouting up in his nine years of life. He did wear pants, to Leo's relief, and had cut his hair up and out, must like Leo did himself. He trained hard at magic, though his strong suit had always been the small, wooden sword his father had left over from Forrest's failed attempts at pretending he was interested. The boy threw himself into everything, especially making his mother happy and his father proud, and was often found beside his brother, complimenting his sewing or having him check another piece of his math homework. Kana worked the hardest, but he certainly wasn't as natural as Forrest was when he came to things like that.

And when Leo looked out over them, over his two boys and his happy wife, he couldn't think of anywhere he'd rather be, couldn't thank the gods enough for the safety they had granted them. Perhaps, he figured, if only Corrin had chosen Nohr instead of Hoshido, he would be a teensy bit more content, though he doubted it mattered now; he was safe, his sons were safe, and Corrin was safe.

He had never loved so much in his life.

Forrest confronted his father a few days after his sixteenth birthday, his face tear-streaked and his eyes red, with his sewing kit in hand, a few bits of fabric hanging out of the basket. "You wish I was different," the boy accused, and it was rough, but he didn't cry. "You wish I was more like you."

"Ah—wha—?" Leo was more bewildered than anything, shaking out his hair as he sat in the chair he had settled in the corner of his room beside the window. It was where he and Corrin liked to sit sometimes, just the two of them, a few moments peace. "Forrest, what—"

"Don't lie," Forrest said, shaking his head. His hair fell around his face when he did so. "I know you do. I—I know I don't dress like Dwyer or Kiragi, b—but I'm still a real prince, Father!"

Leo paused, the letter he was writing left splayed across his lap, as he looked at his son, standing in front of him in the nicest dress Leo had had ever seen, the design so intricate and detailed, even the maids would have struggled with it. "I never said you weren't."

"You may as well have," the prince scoffed. He pressed his hair back behind his ear, but it curled viciously out above his forehead, falling back into its place. "I mean, I know you favor Kana, but—"

"Forrest," Leo interrupted, and he sighed, placing his letter to the side and standing up to face his son. The boy reached his height now and he had to look him in the eye, stretching out his back as he went. "I know I haven't been the most supportive father," he acknowledged, grimacing, "but the truth is, you still make me proud, son. I was raised in a world where all people were supposed to be the same. That's just how my father taught me. But you have the chance to be as you are, and I guess I need to support you, no matter what.

"And stop your foolishness with the Kana-business," the king said, laughing. "Kana is my son, just the same as you. The both of you and your mother mean the entire world to me, Forrest. Don't you know that by now?"

The prince was silent, his sewing kit still grasped tightly in his hands. He shifted for a moment, biting at his lip, just as his mother did, and then sighed, wiping away the tears that had soaked across his cheeks. "I—I'm sorry, Father. I didn't mean to be harsh."

"You don't need to apologize. I should have noticed how you felt far before now. If sewing is what makes you happy, then you must pursue it. I only want what will make you as happy as I have become."

Forrest smiled at his father's words, and Leo swore he saw the spark that often found its way to Corrin's eyes in the way his son was looking at him. He was smiling so hard that he looked near to bursting.

Leo couldn't help but to grin a bit, too.

"Thank you, Father…I—I know I'm not the prince you expected, but I…"

"You're perfect the way you are, Forrest. Kind, compassionate, smart…those are the things I always wanted in a son. Not a matter of clothes or hair. You are more than capable of taking to the throne, I have no doubt of that."

Forrest's eyes grew wide, and in that moment, Leo remembered the first time he saw his son's eyes, the way he looked up at him with such a look of hope and curiosity, the strong feeling of happiness and of pride that welled up in his chest. It returned to him now and he moved to hug him, if only for a moment, before pulling back, patting the boy on the back.

"You will always be enough, son."

Kana was a disastrous child, the tyke, his pointed hair and free-will leading him into all sorts of trouble.

It was his first training session with his father, his first real one, since he had turned ten and was deemed "trainable in real weapons" by his mother, despite her protesting and hope that he would never need it. Forrest had never been interested, so Corrin had never had reason to worry.

But now…

Kana lashed out at his father with the sword, rolling a bit to catch him around the side, but Leo was still quick, even up into his age, and he twisted out of the way, catching the boy off guard.

They teased for a bit, poking back and forth, swords never cutting, but rattling around quite a bit on the field. Sophie was waiting her turn from the sidelines, Silas watching happily from her side, and Camilla stood fretting with Corrin over Kana's inexperience and eagerness to train to begin with.

Leo ended up knocking the boy's sword away from him and then tackling him to the ground, laughing, and Kana shouted as his father resorted to tickling, wrestling his son across the training field.

Corrin laughed.

They all laughed.

The King of Nohr tumbled across the dirt with his youngest son, scolding.

"You must hold your sword out a bit further," he said as Kana tried to dodge a round of tickles, rolling out of the way. "Or perhaps, an angle miscalculation? Such a silly mistake."

"Daaaaaaad…." Kana laughed again.

Leo trapped him at last, then tickled him until the boy couldn't breathe he was laughing so hard, his face turned red, his eyes shut. "Dad! Quit it!"

"Best fight me off then, son," Leo commanded, smiling, his hands merciless.

"Should I intervene? They look so cute…" Corrin giggled at the two as she looked on, a smile spread heavily across her face.

Forrest sighed, but said nothing, only watched in a bit of amusement from his place beside Sophie, who watched with interest and listened in on what Leo was actually commanding. Some of his advice was valid, at least.

Kana finally escaped, tripping out from beneath his father and streaking across the field, screaming, his small legs carrying him far away from the king who watched with mussed hair and a tired grin. He had to straighten his back out when he stood.

Leo smiled at his youngest son as he shouted from behind an archery target, sticking his tongue out and waving, taunting a bit, as in the boy's nature. He let him be, though, and turned to face his wife, who was shaking her head and laughing at them both. "Childish," Leo said at once, straightening himself into the proper king form, his shoulders squared. He was smiling still, though, his face flushed. "How silly."

His hair had begun to grey a bit, at the edges, as many of Nohr's kings had done as they faced the pressures of a kingdom. The lines across his forehead appeared more frequently now, but he was still youthful in the eyes and in the face, the way he stood and walked, his speech and his command. Certainly in the way he looked at his wife, what with adoringly wide eyes and a content sparkle.

He was torn away from Corrin's beautiful grin to a scream, Kana's scream, and whipped his head around to see his son trapped under the archery unit, his leg caught beneath the heavy weight.

Leo raced across the field, but he was too late, the boy was already yelling and shouting beyond belief, his face terrified, his arms flailing. His vision blurred as he approached his son, but Kana wasn't moving anymore, his arms stilled. It wasn't until he grew closer, did Leo notice the trembling of his arms, of his legs….

Kana glowed in a thick, white light and then grew into a shadow of darkness.

Through the haze of worry, Leo heard Corrin yelling at him to back up, to move out of there, and he reluctantly agreed, his legs stumbling backwards, his mind screaming danger, but his heart screaming to help.

In place of the archery unit and his trapped son, there was a dragon, one who knocked its head back and roared like a streak of magic, shooting a bit of flame into the air before settling its feet onto the ground. The dragon ducked its head for a moment to gain balance and then trampled some more of the training grounds, shaking its head onto anything it could find.

Corrin had run up behind Leo, and he looked to her for explanation, eyes widened, trembling.

"Oh damn," she mumbled, clenching her hands together as she watched her son blaze the grass, his control completely ruptured. Corrin turned to Leo, only to bite at her lip before she could speak. "He's inherited my power, it seems," she said, and it was almost apologetic, her face worn. "I didn't think we'd ever find out because there's nothing to fight about, but…"

"How do we stop him?" Leo's voice shook a bit. It had been a long time since the King of Nohr had been truly afraid like he was right then, fearing for his both his son's sanity and his life.

"My dragonstone," she replied immediately, her hand at her neck. Her dragonstone had hung from her neck since the day Azura had given it to her all those years ago—it reminded her both of the girl she had lost and the control she had gained. It was more of a treasure now than anything, as Corrin no longer needed to control the beast that had once raged within her blood and in her soul. The stone was important to her, to remember that, if nothing else.

She didn't hesitate to tear it from her neck in order to save her son.

The stone was small and hard in her hand and she rushed forward, her hand outstretched, as Kana roared again, his claws raised up to the air as he shook the ground. Corrin hurried forward, and immediately, her voice rose and she sang as best she could remember.

"You are the ocean's grey waves," she sang softly, and it never had the effect that Azura's did that day—it, of course, was never her power to wield. But the song was still comfort, as it had once been what she had sang to her son's before they had drifted to sleep, and she continued on without hesitation, her voice raising. "Destined to seek life beyond the shore, just out of reach…"

Another voice, a notably lower one, joined in beside his mother's as Forrest stepped up, his sewing set aside and his foot stepped forward. He rushed to Corrin's side to sing beside her, matching her melody and finding her harmony as she kept on. "Yet the waters ever change, flowing like time, the path is yours to climb…"

Kana roared, his attention caught by his brother and his mother, but it was enough for Corrin; she rushed forward and pressed her hand to his front leg, her eyes shut instantly. She held tight to him with one hand and tight to the dragonstone in the other, her arms strained, but her heart fast. The stone glowed beneath her touch and she pulled Kana's rage into the small capsule in her hands.

He diminished as she welcomed him back, the dragon shrinking into the shape of a ten-year-old boy. Kana blinked at first, only then realizing he had nearly killed his mother, if not his brother too. He rushed into his mother's arms at first sight, catching her around the neck and sobbing, his entire body trembling.

"Mommy, I—"

"I'll explain later," she said softly, stroking his hair, soothing against his back as he clung to her as he did when he was much younger. "There is much to know, little one." Corrin glanced at the stone in her hands one last time before she sighed and handed it to her son, his small hand outstretched for it. "This is yours now. Keep it safe, Kana. It will help you…think, next time. When you lose control."

He nodded, his face solemn, and she pulled him to her again, rocking his small body against hers. Leo approached them both with a neutral face, his eyes dark. He patted Forrest on the back as he passed, and then dropped to help his wife and son off the ground.

Kana looked up at him with shimmering eyes, his lip trembling.

Leo took him into his own arms immediately and the boy held tightly to him, his arms slung around his neck. "I'm s—so sorry, Daddy—"

He soothed Kana to a quieter cry as Corrin stroked the boy's back.

Leo loved them, Forrest and Kana and Corrin, until he couldn't anymore. There was just something about it, the way he felt like he had fulfilled the way he lived his life, as if he had made up for the way his father had raised him. It was satisfaction, both in himself and in his family. His home. His love.

All because of the day Xander called Corrin to her last training session, Leo had a family like no other.

And in some odd way, he was grateful.

a/n: and there you have it. Two childhoods and some pretty angsty parents in about 8000 words. Hopefully you've enjoyed thus far!;)

I had to adjust around the obvious fact that Deeprealms were used in some cases (such as Shiro), but not in others. Forrest is an obvious example, as he only grows to love dresses and such because his father complimented him that one time...so I worked around it and made it so its because his mother encouraged it and he grew up with Sophie and Nina ;;