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Kana sighed, scuffing her foot in the dirt as she sat out in the garden. Mama and Papa were in a meeting with her aunts and uncles, and her cousins were occupied too. Siegbert had decided to accompany Uncle Xander and Aunt Charlotte for the conference, and Shiro and Shigure…
An agitated huff escaped the princess.
Who did they think they were, anyways?
“What’s wrong, cousin?”
Kana tilted her head, eyes meeting the curious gaze of Siegbert.
“I thought you were with Uncle Xander and Auntie Charlotte?”
Her cousin looked in the round sheepishly, the prince pursing his lips.
“I’m afraid Father and Uncle Ryoma are having one of their stronger... disagreements. It was getting pretty heated, so I decided to get some air.”
“Oh…” Kana pouted. Uncle Xander and Uncle Ryoma weren’t very nice to each other. Why couldn’t they get along like Siegbert and Shiro? They got along… sometimes.
“Don’t fret, cousin. I’m sure Uncle Corrin will smooth things out, as he always does.”
“Yeah, yeah…” A short silence washed over the cousins before Siegbert chimed back in.
“So, what is on your mind?” Siegbert asked again. Even before he’d spoken to her, he could tell something was bothering the young dragon princess.
“Sieggy! It’s so unfair!” Her cousin raised an eyebrow as she puffed her cheeks in frustration. Folding his legs, Siegbert took a seat next to the Vallite, watching as Kana was trying to find her words.
“It’s Shiro!” Siegbert sighed. While he and his cousin could be on rocky terms, Shiro was a good soul. Not to dispel the fact the high prince had issues with his manners. Inwardly groaning, Nohr’s crown prince wondered what could’ve set off Kana in such a way. Eating her sweet bun, again? Stepping on her dragonstone… again? Maybe-
“And Shigure!” That was new. Siegbert felt his eyebrows raise, confusion clearly written across his features. Normally Shigure was Kana’s “favorite” cousin, between their flights on his prized kinshi, painting with his first class supplies, or getting to sing with the talented prince. Something big must’ve happened for Kana to be upset at both the siblings.
“Oh? And what did…what did they do, exactly?”
“They left me! To go have some brother time or whatever.” The princess pouted yet again, eyebrows slanted and arms crossed, the girl making an attempt to seem wrought with anger. While Siegbert loved his cousin dearly, it was often he had to prevent himself from snickering when she tried to be intimidating. Something genetic, he mused. Uncle Corrin was hardly the essence of threatening.
Schooling his expression, Siegbert tilted his head.
“Ah, brother time…?”
“Yeah! That’s what Shiro called it anyways. They went to the market without me! And now I’m stuck here!”
Things were starting to become clearer.
“I see. How unfortunate, cousin. I hope my company can suffice.”
Kana’s eyes grew big as she registered Siegbert’s words.
“Oh no! Sieggy! Th-That’s not what I meant! Promise!” The girl tripped over her words, eyes desperate as she tried to backtrack. Siegbert gave a short chuckle, waving the implication aside.
“I know you didn’t mean it like that, Kana.”
“Thank goodness!” Kana cheered, relief spreading over her features. Instantly, the storm clouds returned over her face.
“You’re my favorite cousin, Sieggy. You didn’t leave me for the market for brother time. ”
While Siegbert would be lying if he didn’t take a little happiness in being Kana’s favorite cousin- for now- he knew he also had an obligation to clear things up, if only to try and get the princess to understand a little better. Proper clarification can be half the battle, their uncle Leo would say.
“Yes, well-” With his change in inflection, Kana’s eyes became murderous.
“YOUR LEAVING ME TOO?!?!” The princess screeched, sending a few nearby robins fleeing. Siegbert waved his hands, quickly trying to quiet down his raging cousin, at least before they triggered some guardsmen.
“No, no, no! Cousin, listen.” Siegbert took in a breath as he watched Kana deflate back into her pout.
“It’s not like they were trying to ditch you. While they could’ve probably been more tactful and invited you for a little while, it wouldn’t have been what you wanted.”
“H-Huh?”
“Well, it’s some time for the both of them to relax, and just be brothers. No royal duties to commit to.”
Kana blew a raspberry and rolled her eyes.
“Well duh. They’re always brothers Sieggy. I could’ve gone with them! We never do royal-ly stuff when we’re all together!”
“Yes, but it’s different.” Siegbert sighed. Explaining this was hard, especially due to the fact both he and Kana were only children in their respective houses. Hm… ah.
“Think of it this way, Kana. Whenever Uncle Corrin and Father meet up, or with Uncle Leo, what do they always like to do?”
Kana sat, thinking for a moment.
“Uh, go have tea and talk alot. It’s so boringggggg. Papa’s gone for hours and just wants to talk about stupid stuff like weapons. Being a dragon is so much cooler.”
“So, just apply that to our cousins. Shiro and Shigure like to talk about weapons- they could be talking about that right now!” At Siegbert’s declaration, realization began to creep into Kana’s eyes.
“Ohhhh…!”
“Ah, you see?”
Kana gave a short nod of understanding, a quick flash of curiosity coming over her features.
“Hey Sieggy…? Why don’t we have siblings? If we did, we could all have sibling time!”
Siegbert was briefly blindsided by the question, as it was quite loaded. His eyes flickered to the side as the prince quickly tried to come up with a good answer for the young princess.
In all honesty, he wasn’t quite sure how to answer that question. While when he was younger he had moments he shared that desire, but never really wanted it; his parents also never showed any indication of wanting another child, so the topic was hardly ever breeched.
He also felt a nervous sweat come on, as Kana was still of the age she didn’t quite understand the baby-making process, and Siegbert did not want to be the one to inform her, in case the conversation managed to get there.
“W-Well, I’m not sure, cousin. It seems to be a matter of what our parents think.”
“Hmmm…” Kana put a finger to her chin. Suddenly, as if a lightning bolt hit her, she jolted up, an idea springing to mind.
“What if we ask our mamas and papas really, really nicely? Or maybe, Shiro and Shigure did something special to be brothers! We could ask them! Both Mama and Auntie Charlotte love gold- what if we got them some? Could we get siblings that way?! I think-!”
“K-Kana! S-Stop!” Siegbert stammered, feeling an intense flush cover his face. If she kept asking these questions, at this rate, he’d most likely keel over.
Kana paused, a sudden sadness drooping over her, causing Siegbert to internally curse.
“O-Oh, okay Sieggy. Did I say something bad…?”
“Nothing like that, cousin. I apologize. I just got…overwhelmed by your enthusiasm.”
She seemed somewhat content by his response, perking back up a little. Siegbert hoped this was a relief from the intense awkwardness and embarrassment, and give him a moment to compose himself again.
“Well? Then what do you think? Any ideas?” Ah, perhaps not.
“U-Um, I think…ah…” Damn. Siegbert thought, teeth pinching his tongue.
Before he had an opportunity to think on the question, his other cousins swooped in to relieve him.
“Hey! Kana! ‘Bert!” Shiro hollered, striding into the garden with Shigure.
“Shiro!” Kana called back, scrambling to her feet. She barreled towards her cousin, flying straight towards him, to which Shiro grabbed her and started mussing her hair.
Shigure gave both of them a small smile, taking the opportunity to playfully give a light tug on Kana’s ear, leaving the princess squealing.
Siegbert watched from a distance, slowly getting to his feet. Seeing his cousin in the corner of the garden, Shigure gave a bigger smile.
“Ah, Siegbert. I haven’t seen you today. How have you been?”
Walking closer to his cousins, Siegbert replied, “Quite well, thank you. I’ve just been spending the afternoon with Kana.”
Hearing her name, Kana pried away from Shiro’s grip, beaming up at the twin princes.
“Oh, oh! How was brother time?! Tell me, tell me!”
Shigure gave a curious look while Shiro gave a huffed laugh.
“Nothing special. Just ran a few errands together and had lunch. Why, you think we were off doing something cool?” Shiro teased.
“Awwh…” Kana drawled, clearly disappointed. “Yeah… I thought you guys were doing something fun…”
Shiro snorted as Shigure gave a wry smile.
“Well, I mean it was fun, just not your brand of it.” Shiro remarked, giving Kana a friendly poke to the forehead.
Shigure then cut into the conversation, tilting his head as he looked down at his cousin.
“While we were off doing our boring teenager stuff, did you and Siegbert have fun?” Shigure winked, watching the princess turn red from embarrassment. The two cousins had reconciled after Kana had an outburst at Shigure’s apparent coldness as a teenager, but that didn’t mean the second prince of Hoshido could resist teasing.
“Shigure! I thought I said I was sorry!”
“Hahaha, I know, Kana. I’m teasing. But did you have a good time?”
After giving yet another huff, Kana recovered, returning back to her naturally excitable state.
“Oh yes! Very much!” Something dawned in her eyes the same time it did Siegbert’s.
While Siegbert liked to think that he had a pretty good temperament on his mouth, the same could not be said for his royal counterpart. Shiro meant well and had gotten better about filtering, but still had some slips.
“Kana-”
“Shhhhh Sieggy! This is important!” She chastised, giving him her best dirty glare before returning her gaze to the Hoshidan twins.
“We talked about siblings! Did you two do something special to be brothers?”
For a minute the garden was silent- the brothers processing the question, Kana waiting eagerly, and Siegbert preparing for damage control.
After another minute, Shiro threw his head back, sharp laughter filling the garden, Shigure still looking somewhat lost on how to proceed.
“W-What?! Shiro!” Kana scolded. This was a very important question!
“Oh, Kana…” Shiro snickered, “You want a sibling?” The high prince then turned to lightly elbow Shigure, the latter giving a huff. Kana’s head turned in curiosity.
“Huh…?”
“You think I asked for him?” Shiro jabbed, pointing his thumb at his twin.
Shigure scoffed, shaking his head. “More like I should be the one saying that.” He replied.
“W-Wait…do you guys not like each other…?” Kana asked timidly.
“Ah- not what I meant, Kana.” Shiro corrected. “What I mean is, is that…it’s our parents who… decide if you get a sibling. We just happened to be a package deal.”
Siegbert gave a sigh of relief. Perhaps he’d underestimated how well his cousin could control his mouth.
“Ohhhhh…” Kana said, coming to the realization. “Wait! Does that mean I’ve been bad? That Mama and Papa won’t give me a sibling?” A look of panic swept over the princess’ face.
“Ah, Kana, no-! That’s not what I meant!” Shiro yelped, startled by the fact he’d upset his cousin.
“Here, brother. Let me try.” Shigure stepped in. “While you can always ask your parents for a sibling, you also may want to think about what a brother or sister would mean.”
Kana calmed, eyes big as she waited for Shigure to continue.
“For example, Shiro and I have to share much of our stuff, especially if something is hard to come by.” Shiro nodded in agreement, Kana’s eyes widening.
“Really?”
“Yes- often we have to take turns using Arashi.” Kana’s mouth opened in shock. While she knew Uncle Ryoma’s kinshi was primarily taken care of by Shigure, she also knew Shiro used the battle kite on occasion. She didn’t know they shared him. She didn’t know if she could share Patches, her father’s treasured mount.
Getting into the cadence of the conversation, Shiro took back the reins.
“Y’know, we also have to share Mom and Dad’s attention too.” Shigure instantly flashed him a ‘really’ glare, but the damage had been done. Siegbert tensed.
“WHAT?! I DON’T WANNA SHARE MAMA AND PAPA!”
“He doesn’t mean it like that.” Shigure said, still somewhat glaring daggers into his brother’s head.
“What he MEANS to say is that because there are two of us, our parents have moments where they must divvy up their time to give both of us equal attention, but that is not to say they love either one of us less.” With the last few words, Shigure seemed to punctuate each one, his stare boring into Shiro, the latter giving an eye roll.
“Hm…” Kana hummed. She didn’t know how to feel. This would have to take some thinking. It was then Siegbert decided to re-enter the conversation.
“Well, Kana. While I know it’s a lot, I know whatever happens, you and your parents will be quite happy, siblings or not.” Siegbert gave a warm smile, Kana returning one of her own.
“You're right! And besides, I have you guys! You guys are the best cousins ever!”
Her declaration had Siegbert beaming, and the twin princes giving wide grins.
While she didn’t know if she’d ever get sibling time, cousin time didn’t seem so bad.