Didn’t get a lot of time to write today, but I still managed to get this one done. This is Revelation, specifically, but I wasn’t worrying much about canon when I wrote this. I just had a scene in my head and I went for it.

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So, there was more going on than Corrin had realized, and much to her dismay, the only person who seemed to know what was actually happening wouldn’t tell her anything. She was sure that Azura had her reasons for keeping her secrets, but that didn’t make it any better.

She could try asking her, but she already knew how that would end. Azura would say something vague at best, tell her she couldn’t speak of it at worst. But even so, she found Azura’s presence a comfort. Even with all her secrets, Corrin felt like she knew Azura as an old friend.

She found Azura standing by the pond, the whistle of wind traveling over the castle walls. Memories of the battle replayed in Corrin’s mind as she walked. What point was there to this, to keep fighting people she cared about, people who wouldn’t listen? It didn’t get easier.

“You need something?” Azura asked without looking at her, as Corrin stood behind her.

“I just want to talk,” Corrin replied, her voice sounding harsher than she intended it to. “I’m sorry. I’ve…”

“Do you have regrets?” Azura asked her, plainly.

“Regrets about what?” Corrin stepped back, blinking in surprise.

Azura turned to face her. “Your choice. Do you regret it?”

Corrin had chosen to run, instead of choosing her family from Nohr or her family from Hoshido. How could she choose between them? She couldn’t regret that she was trying to convince both sides to stop fighting… but she did regret that she had to fight them in the first place.

“…I don’t think so,” Corrin finally answered, moving to stand beside Azura. “I just wish we didn’t have to fight each other…”

“Hm,” Azura nodded, watching the ripples across the water. “They’ll come around eventually. It hasn’t been a total loss, has it? Others have already.”

“I guess you’re right…” Corrin admitted, picking up a gleaming stone at the edge of the pond and running her thumb over its smooth surface. “Azura, I know you’ve said you can’t tell me more than you already have, but…”

Azura’s demeanor shifted in an instant, tortured serenity taking on a guarded edge. “Listen, I can’t explain it… You’ll have to trust me.”

Corrin figured she’d say that, but it was disappointing all the same. “I know you have your reasons why you can’t tell me, but I need to know what I’m fighting for; what’s really going on?”

“You’ll know soon enough,” Azura tried to assure her. She wished she could just tell Corrin everything right then and there, but the curse… She couldn’t. She couldn’t. “But not now… There are things beyond my control.”

“So you’ve said,” Corrin sighed.

“I promise all of this will make sense…” Azura said once more. “But I can’t promise you’ll like the answers.”

Corrin decided not to say anything else, instead staring at the clear water of the pond. Azura’s words lingered in her head.

Maybe she could go a bit longer without knowing.

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oh corrin you have no idea