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“Mama! Mama! Look at those pretty flowers!! Can we go pick them, pleeeeease?”
Corrin has always had a tough time saying no to Kana, her beautiful boy, ever since his father passed when he was smaller. He’s a smart boy, and he still vaguely remembers how much his father loved him, but as kids are, he doesn’t seem to dwell in the past as much as she still does.
“Of course we can, sweetie. How about you go and pick as many flowers as you can and when we get home we can find a biiiiig vase to keep them in? How’s that sound?”
Satisfied with her stupidly exaggerated gestures, Kana runs off into the flower patch and picks as many of the most beautiful flowers he can find, completely caught up in finding only the most beautiful and brightest ones. Sighing, Corrin watches her son with a soft smile on her face, happy that her baby’s happy himself.
It’s been hard without her husband around, but they’ve been making it with the emotional support of both the royal families of Hoshido and Nohr, and with the help of the retainers to the families, including her own retainers Silas and Kaze. Even so, the pain of him being gone has dulled; it will never completely fade, but she’s been finding it easy to wake up to an empty bed for a few years now, so maybe she’s finally allowed herself to move forward.
She can barely see the bright white of her son’s hair behind the dozens of flowers in his little arms as he rushes to show her, and she can’t keep her laugh in as she catches him from a fall, holding the small boy in her arms.
“You’ve got to be careful, Kana! If you can’t see where you’re going, you’re going to trip!”
He’s got a smile as bright as the sun on his face as he holds the flowers out to show her, “but Mama, I picked so many pretty flowers!!”
“Yes you did, but you picked so many that they covered your eyes! Haha, my dear Kana, I’m just looking out for you. Say, do you know what these flowers are?” He shakes his head and she continues, plucking out flower by flower and telling him the meaning of the colors. “These are all tulips, my favorite flower. The red one is a lot like a rose, and it means love, the yellow one is for someone you love that you know doesn’t love you back, the purple ones are for royalty like us, Xander, and Ryoma, and the pink ones also mean love but not the romantic kind. So can you tell me why you picked so many yellow ones? You’re much too young to have a crush!”
He nods again with even more enthusiasm.
“It’s because Mr. Sh-” he stops himself and smacks a hand over his lips as if it would take back what he said and suddenly looks very guilty. “Mr… Someone… drops the yellow ones off for you when you’re talking to Mr. Ryoma! They always looked so bright and cheerful that I wanted to pick some for you myself… did I do something wrong?”
“No, no you didn’t. You made Mama really happy and you always do! I’m just wondering who in the world this Mr. Someone could be…” She puts a finger to her overly pursed lips and hums, glancing at her little boy. “It can’t be Mr. Ryoma because you said it’s only when I’m talking to him… so maybe it’s Mr. Xander?”
“Uh-uh.”
“Okay, so it’s not Mr. Ryoma or Mr. Xander, so could it be Mr. Leo? No, Mr. Leo’s getting married soon… so how about Mr. Saizo?”
“Mr. Saizo is scary Mama…”
“Oh, baby, Mr. Saizo’s a really nice guy, he just looks scary. Hmm… if it’s not him, maybe it’s Mr. Shiro...?”
When Kana goes completely silent and doesn’t look her in the eyes, Corrin knows she struck the nail on the head. It isn’t hard to imagine the boy sneaking a bouquet of yellow tulips tied with red ribbon into her study every time his father comes to speak with her about the state of the kingdoms; Shiro has always been a nice boy, going out of his way to spend time with Kana and catch fish to cook the three of them dinner, but being a mother already, Corrin feels much too old to be allowed to reciprocate his feelings.
“Kana, let’s sit down for a second. Shiro’s a really nice boy, but Mama’s just too old for him. I know how much you like having him around and playing with him, but he should really be with someone who’s the same age as him, not a decade older. Mama’s turning thirty this year, and Shiro just turned twenty-two.”
“But Mama…! He makes you smile a ton and I never see you as happy as when you’re with him! If he makes Mama smile, then I don’t see why Mama’s complaining! You’re both adults and I would love love love to have Mr. Shiro around all the time! It would be like having a new Papa!”
A new dad for Kana… would just be replacing his actual father. She may feel comfortable by herself, but she’s not sure if she’s ready to completely replace the man she loved for years, even if she does have feelings for Shiro and absolutely adores the way he and Kana get along. He would make a wonderful father himself, and she honestly feels guilty for keeping him from loving someone his own age, whom he could have his own children with.
“Kana… I’ve told you before, your Papa-” Corrin starts, but Kana cuts her off quickly and shoves the armful of flowers into her chest.
“My Papa would want Mama to be happy!!”
Tears come to her eyes and she grips the flowers just a little more tightly. “You… You’re right, Kana… Mama’s been silly; all Papa ever wanted her to be was happy and he’s been gone for quite some time, so he’s probably upset with Mama that she hasn’t been letting herself and our beautiful, perfect son be as happy as we can be… Now, Mr. Shiro and Mr. Ryoma are coming tomorrow, so I want you to help me pick out which flowers to give to Mr. Shiro when he gets here, can you do that for me?”
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Shiro can feel his heart break into a million pieces when he’s given a large bouquet of yellow tulips by the woman he had come to love all those years ago, when his father allowed him to join them on the battlefield. She had been so courageous leading them all through a battle in a place none of them besides Azura were familiar with; she never showed fear in front of her troops, and commanded such respect simply with her caring nature and drive to make things right with the world. He was younger then, but her beauty has not faded over the years, and neither have his feelings for her.
“I-I can’t accept these from you anymore, Shiro. I went out to the flower field yesterday, and I feel embarrassed to admit it, but Kana talked some sense into me. How stupid I’ve been to keep allowing things to go on like this without stepping in. I should have done this much sooner than I am… but I guess some things are better late than never…”
His hands are shaking so violently that he fears the flowers will fall to the ground and shatter like his heart has. “Corrin, I-”
“Wait, let me finish. I’ve been stupid and stubborn, much too stubborn and stuck in this stupid idea that I’m too old and that because I have a child and that I’ve been widowed, it was just pointless for me to believe the possibility that love still existed for me… but, Shiro, I want you to know that it made my heart race when I figured out that you were the one gifting me with these beautiful flowers, and I actually looked forward to every time you and your father would visit, so I could have a fresh bouquet… and get to spend some more time with you. You’re such a wonderful man, and I just can’t allow you to send me yellow tulips any longer.”
A flower as pink as bubblegum is gently placed in his hands and he feels his heart lurch. “D-Does this mean…?”
Her smile is shy, but bright enough to blind the sun as she nods. “It means I’d like to see where we end up, together. I would like to reciprocate your feelings… if you’d let me, that is.”
Corrin’s ruby eyes go wide as he wraps his arms around her and swoops her off her feet, twirling her as if she weighed nothing more than a feather, and for the first time, she fully allows herself to appreciate how nice it feels to be in his capable arms. He’s a large man, a tad larger than his father, and she feels safe snuggled into his wide chest. Safe and… loved.
“Gods! I never thought I’d see this day! Corrin, I’ve been madly in love with you for years, and you believe you have to ask if I’d allow you to love me back? You must be as mad as I! I’ve been making excuses to spend as much time with you and Kana as possible and now I don’t have to worry about that! Corrin, I want to have a family with you, I want to make you and Kana happy until the end of my days, it makes me so happy to know that my wish has finally come true! I’ll be by your side until the day I die, as long as you’ll have me that long.”
His kisses are a flurry of fire and sweet flame across her face, and beautiful, beautiful bliss on her lips. His eyes hold true to his words, and she presses a light kiss against his nose,
“I would love to have you until the end of my days as well.”
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“Does this mean that Kana will start calling me Papa?”