And I'm back. I actually wanted to post this a lot sooner, but unfortunately my laziness caught up to me. Oh well. Anyways, now we'll be doing one of the last Hoshidan adults left, and one of the other ones will be next as well. Now, onto the chapter –ArcanaHermit

Chapter Twenty-Five: Stuck (Corrin x Setsuna)

"How did we fall down here?" Corrin groaned, brushing off the dust off his clothes.

"I don't know…" The woman who accompanied him (or to be more accurate, dragged him down the hold in the first place) said, not really caring about her predicament. "I wonder how long it'll take you to pull me back up…"

"Um, dear. I'm down here with you." The young lord said, in a tone between exasperated and defeat.

"Oh…right…" The green hair retainer replied, her head looking up at the night sky without a care in the world. "Hehe…the stars are so pretty…"

Corrin sighed and wondered how he got into this mess. He recalled Setsuna wanting a short stroll through the camp, and he decided to accompany her out of fear that she might succumb to her habit of falling into traps.

Apparently, that's exactly what happened, and now he's stuck down here as well. He tried shouting for help, but it was clear that there was no one nearby to hear them, so they would have to wait until someone else happens to stumble upon them. If they did at all.

"Hey, Corrin…" Setsuna said.

"Sorry, I'm thinking of how to get out of here." He replied, pacing the dirt floor, racking his head on how to get out of this deep hole. Much to his annoyance, he couldn't think of anything.

"Sorry…" The archer replied, a hint of sadness in her otherwise monotone voice.

"It's alright." The young lord said, finally giving up. Setsuna started laying down on the ground, smiling at she raised a finger up towards the sky. "Uh, dear. What are you doing?"

"Trying…to catch…a star." She said, almost in a dream like manner. "Do you want to join me…?"

Feeling like he had nothing better to do, Corrin lay down on beside her, their bodies close. He stared at the cloudless night sky, where the stars were in full bloom. He raised his hand up, almost as if he were trying to catch a star in his hand.

They both went silent as they continued, looking into the deep abyss of the sky, trying to catch stars as though they were children. Corrin felt an odd sense of serenity doing so, and wonder if Setsuna felt the same. Suddenly, he saw a streak of light pass through the sky, coming and going in an instant.

"Oh…a shooting star..." Setsuna said. "I wonder what I should wish for…"

"I already know what I want to wish for." Corrin said, his voice as calm as he's ever been in quite a while. The last few days have taken a toll on him, and he found himself more easily anxious at minute details.

"Oh…what's that?" Setsuna said, blissfully unaware of the obvious answer.

"This war to be over with both of us alive." Corrin replied.

"Oh…" Setsuna said, her tone somewhat sad. "Yeah…it'd be nice if you're alive."

"I'm alive now, aren't I." Corrin replied wryly, his face smiling. At times her obliviousness would cause trouble for him, but sometimes it can also make him laugh.

"Mmm…yeah…" She said as her raised a hand up high. "Having you die would make me sad…"

Those were simple words, and not at all eloquent, but those words showed how much she cared for him, and that was all that mattered.

"Mmm…hey…" Her voiced broke his reverie. "Do you…want me to change…?"

Corrin suddenly blushed, his mind instantly giving him a rather…risqué interpretation of that question. "W-what do you mean, Setsuna?"

"I don't know…" She replied, as her face actually show signs of some deep thought. "People say I'm not a good retainer…but Lady Hinoka said I'm fine as I am… But some people also say I'm not a good wife, and when I hear that, I get a little angry…"

"Oh…" Corrin said, finally understanding what she meant.

"They say I'm…too airheaded and irresponsible, and that I do nothing to help you…so I thought…that I might ask if you want me to change, if that makes you happier…"

Corrin moved closer to Setsuna, and blushed. "No…I wouldn't want you to change. You're fine just the way you are."

"Really…?"

"Yeah." The lord said, his voice firm but affectionate. "Your forgetfulness, your fondness for traps, and your demeanor. While others may see them as flaws, I see them as an important part of you, and I wouldn't want them to change. You may give me a bit of trouble now and then, but every part of you is the woman I love."

The green haired archer was listening intently, even if her face wasn't showing it. She giggled happily. "Yay…now I don't have to change…I love you too..."

She moved closer to each other, and Setsuna found her head on top of his chest as they continued to gaze into the sky. They quickly forgot about the fact that they were in a hole, that they were laying on a dirt ground, or even about the future. Right now, there was nothing but them and the sky above.

Another streak of light passed by, followed by another, and another. Until the entire sky was filled by those streaks, flying by the sky. Both of them looked at it with awe, even as their minds were slowly losing themselves to sleep.

"You know…" Corrin said, in a tone almost similar to how Setsuna speaks. "If we weren't trap here we wouldn't have such a view of this."

"Yeah…" Setsuna replied. "It's so pretty…I wish every night was like this…"

"Mmm…" Corrin mumbled, his eyes fluttering open and shut, not sure whether he was trying to sleep or stay awake. "Promise me something, Setsuna…"

"Hmm?" She said, her voice unchanging. Sometimes it was really hard to tell if she was sleepy.

"Don't die…" He said, in a slightly pleading voice as he started to lose consciousness. Even though he wanted to be awake, his eyes refused to open as sleep claimed him.

The last word he heard was a sincere, heartfelt "Okay." that made him smile as he began to dive deep into his slumber.

It was morning, and there were several patrol team scouting the woods for two people in particular. They have been reported missing since morning, and everyone was rushing out to find them.

Hinoka in particular was looking for them, partially because she had a sneaking suspicion of where they were. After asking the army's hunters, she decided to go check on their traps to see if her brother and retainer were there.

When she finally found the trap she was looking for, the princess can help but smile at what she saw. The two of them, hugging each other and sleeping without a care in the world. It was quite the sight for her.

She looked around and decided to walk away. As much as she would like to wake the two, she figured they can have their little moment together for a little while longer.

And done. Now to move on to another Hoshidan adult. Till then -ArcanaHermit