And I'm back with another chapter. This time, we cover the last of the Nohrian children. I actually took a bit of a break to write this, life and all that. Still, I hope you enjoy my writing –ArcanaHermit

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Cute (Corrin x Soleil)

"Ahh, this bear is so adorable." The young swordsman said as she clutched the stuff animal tightly, nuzzling its furry head. The young lord smirked slightly as she continued hugging the festival prize.

"Well I'm glad you like it." Corrin said as they started walking away from the game stall. "It's not every day where we get to spend a festival like this."

Soleil nodded in agreement as they started walking around, lamps illuminating the way all around them. Besides them, the other members of the army were also partaking in the festivities. Out of the corner of his eye he could see his siblings eating numerous stall foods. It was a much needed respite from the constant battle.

"Oh…" Soleil's high pitched gasp shocked Corrin for a second, until he turned to where she was looking. There was a lone girl dressed in a white and pink dress. Staring at her husband, the pink-haired mercenary gave the best pleading stare she could. It was only a matter of time before he relented.

"Alright, alright. Just don't take too long, ok?"

Corrin barely finished that sentence before she rushed off to talk with the lady. It was a weird time early in their relationship where Soleil would still blush over girls, not helped by her urge to go and talk to them. After a rather lengthy talk, they agreed that as long as she doesn't do anything to break his heart, she can still talk to girls as she normally does.

Alone for now, Corrin simply bought some food and sat on a bench. It had been a rather exciting festival, with him winning the bear being the biggest highlight of it. Looking up at the stars, he couldn't help but wonder what the future holds. While this respite was nice, it was merely a moment of piece in what was a long and tedious war, one that had done quite a bit to dent his idealism.

Sighing, he tried to clear his minds of such thoughts, to simply enjoy the present moment instead of worrying about the future. Still, no matter how much he sees the army being happy and content, the voice in the back of his mind keeps telling him that they could die at any time.

"Heyyy…I'm backkk…" Soleil shouted out as she sat down beside him, her arms still clutching the stuff bear. Corrin affectionately handed her a piece of food, which she leaned her head down to bite it.

"Man that girl was such a cutie pie. She had this amazing voice and…uh…" Her voiced began trailing off as her smile started to fade.

"Is something wrong?" Corrin asked. Her face quickly turned into a pout.

"Yeah, you're right something's wrong. You're having that look again." She said, in a reprimanding tone.

"W-what look? I swear I'm not giving you a look." Corrin said quickly, trying to defend himself. Was he really making a face at her?

"Yes you are. You're giving me a look right now. It's the same look when you say you're ok but you aren't. When you try to pretend you're happy when you're actually sad." Soleil said adamantly, staring daggers into him to prevent any denial of the fact.

"Ahahaha…am I that obvious?" He said nervously.

"Well, I'd be a really bad wife if I didn't notice something's wrong with you." Soleil said, her tone switching from anger to mere annoyance. "Now spill it. What's wrong?"

"It's nothing really…" He said, in a tone quieter than usual so no one can hear them. The last thing the army needed was to hear that their leader was having doubts. "Just thinking ahead to when we have to battle again is all."

"Yeah…" Soleil said, sympathetically, and immediately tried to go back to her usual cheery tone. "I'm sure we'll make it. We've made it this far, I'm sure we can make it till the end."

"I suppose…" Corrin replied rather unconvincingly. "It's just not that easy for me. As a commander, I always have to live with the fact that my army is nothing but pieces on a board. I try to keep everyone alive, but I dread the day when I have to give up a life to secure victory. Could I even live with myself if that happened?"

He looked over to see that his wife has slight tears in her eyes. Realizing that he worried her to tears, he quickly placed a hand on her cheek, rubbing away the tear with her eyes. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to upset you…"

"Y-you dummy." Soleil said he nuzzled his cheek softly. "This is a festival and everyone is having fun. Everyone is smiling but you. I-I want you to smile, you're cute when you smile."

Feeling guilty, Corrin kissed her forehead, something they usually do in private. "Sorry, I know I shouldn't be bringing the mood down."

"Then stop worrying about things." She said adamantly. "You're always worried about what will happen tomorrow or a week from now. Even if you worry, nothing's going to change that until we make it change. It's a happy day, don't worry and just enjoy it."

Corrin took a deep sigh and reflected inward. It's true, worrying about the future isn't going to magically change it. He should just relax and stop worrying about tomorrow, and focus on enjoying today, like she said. He placed his hands on top of hers and squeezed it lightly.

"I'm sorry I made you cry." He said softly. "I'm also sorry that I worry too much, that I haven't been celebrating today as much as I should. But I think if there's one thing I'm happy about today, is that you're here with me."

Soleil immediately let out a shy smile, her face reddening. "O-of course. I'll always be here with you."

"Even when I grow old and stop being cute?" Corrin said jokingly.

"Of course! It doesn't matter if you're old or scarred, you're always the cutest thing in my world." Soleil said, leaning on Corrin's shoulder.

They leaned like that for a while in silence, watching the army enjoying themselves in the festival. A couple of fireworks popped up in the sky, and they both stared at them with hopeful eyes.

After a while however, Corrin stood up and counted his tokens. "Well, I think I have some tokens left over. How much do you have?"

"Um…I think I got a few left. Why?"

Corrin stared at the nearby stalls, a confident smile on his face. "Let's win as many carnival games as possible. You always wanted to fill our room with cute things, right?"

Soleil practically squealed in delight as she stood up immediately, her bear still in her hand. "Really?"

"Sure, I think we can win a few of those stuffed animals."

With a bashful grin on both of them, they decided to rush to the stalls to try their luck. Both of them didn't care what would happen later.

And that was perfect.

And done. We're going back to Hoshido soon, and it's almost time to conclude this story –ArcanaHermit