Chapter Text
The surprisingly gentle knock on Rei's door pulled her back from her running thoughts, asking her visitor inside.
She had barely gotten an ounce of sleep the whole night, her newest discoveries and overworking brain keeping her from settling.
So bright and early in the morning, she had decided to do something about it.
Katsuki closed the door behind himself before walking over to Rei's bed, keeping a respectful distance between them. "You summoned me, your majesty?"
Rei nodded, taking a moment to gather her words before turning to her son-in-law. "I've not had the chance to have a proper talk with you before this whole marriage and alliance took place, my apologies for that. As Shouto might have told you, my health is not in the best of terms."
The barbarian nodded but otherwise stayed quiet. Rei couldn't tell if it was politeness, nerves or disinterest in the situation. Maybe some of all.
"I heard you'll return to your homelands again in a few days?"
Katsuki nodded once more. "In three days to be exact, my parents expect visitors and they want me to be present," he elaborates, some of the well masked tension leaving his shoulders but not all of it.
Rei still hadn't told him why she had summoned him here after all.
"Will Shouto go with you?"
For a moment, the blonde stayed silent, probably trying to find the words. "We- I-... We haven't decided on that yet. He would like to join me and my parents had also voiced their approval of having their new prince present but the old-... H-His majesty King Enji didn't seem too fond of Shouto leaving again so soon."
Rei hummed, almost wanting to allow Katsuki to drop the titles around her. "He should go with you."
"R-Really?"
She nodded. "He should learn about royal meetings and negotiation, Enji kept him at a firm distance from all of that until now, not wanting anyone to intervene with his work. Also, Shouto might still be a possible heir to our throne but he has duties with your kingdom too now, even more pressing ones than here, if you ask me. And...If anything, leaving these walls seems to do him well."
Katsuki did quite manage to keep the shock out of his features, eyeing Rei with a surprised gaze and a slightly agape mouth.
Might as well drop all the curtains now.
"Bakugou, I want you to be honest with me."
The younger was back to just nodding at her.
"Do you love my son?"
It was a strange thing to ask, an insensitive and prying question but one Rei needed to get off her chest still. What she saw yesterday should have been enough but...She wanted to hear it. Right from out of the cold-hearted, stoic, brutal warrior's mouth.
And when Katsuki finally found his voice again, something unyielding settled into his eyes.
"Yes," he answered, with an honesty that almost made Rei tear up. "With every piece of my soul, yes. When I first arrived here after my hag of a mother sold me off, I wanted to tear the whole palace apart. But then I saw Shouto, who looked just as lost as I felt and-...And I couldn't keep my anger up. Instead, I got curious, about the boy I was going to spend the rest of my life with. And I made it my mission to at least get to know him, before everything goes down. And I did...And I fell for him."
He took a deep grounding breath before continuing, his voice firmer, his gaze lowered to the floor.
"In our tribe, arranged marriages aren't as common," he admits. "We believe that such connections should be formed purely out of love. We don't marry the way you do either, not to mark ownership or forge family ties. We do it to celebrate and honour our loyalty to the person we choose to give our heart to and what the future holds. Many call it animal-like and lust-driven, but to us, it's far more humane than anything your kind does."
Finally, he tore his eyes up from the floor to meet Rei's dead on. "But I'm glad my mother had to choose this way. I probably would not have met Shouto otherwise. And if I did have the chance, I would have chosen to marry him of my own free will as well. So believe me when I say that yes, I do love Shouto. From the moment I first spoke to him, my heart had chosen. And I would like to say that Shouto feels the same."
"I believe that," Rei admits and she means it. "I'm glad my husband chose you. It's probably the only decent decision he ever made, even though he already seems to regret it deeply."
The statement made both of them chuckle, easing some of the tension.
"I can trust you to keep my boy safe then, right?"
Katsuki decided to close some of the distance between them, kneeling down next to Rei's bed. "I will keep Shouto safe with my own life if necessary. For as long as I'm breathing, he will be cared for, I can assure you that."
"Then take him with you," Rei breathes, feeling the tears sting her eyes but stubbornly refusing to let them fall. "Keep him from this place as much as possible, it has caused him the greatest pain already. He deserves to know freedom and love the way he never knew existed."
Katsuki's eyes looked suspiciously wet as well. "Of course, your majesty, with the greatest pleasure."
And when Eijiro stands in their courtyard three days later, ready to take flight back home, Rei stands along her children and the king to send Shouto off.
The prince's hair fell open along his shoulders today, only the upper half braided, undoubtedly Katsuki's handiwork. Enji had nearly gone up in flames at the sight, but true to his words, Katsuki hadn't let the king touch his love even once.
Rei watched her youngest being gently lifted onto the dragon's back, despite his protest of being able to do it alone and Katsuki only silenced him with a gentle kiss.
"Do you think Shouto will be fine along all those barbarians...?" Fuyumi whispers towards her mother as they watch Eijiro take flight.
Rei can only smile. "With Bakugou by his side? I've never been more certain about anything in my life."