Chapter Text
The rocking of the ship was making her seasick. There was the lingering feeling of doom if they were to come home unsuccessful to their father and king. Her siblings were bickering back and forth, not making her feel any better about her worries.
Corrin didn’t know how much more she could take, especially with the looming decision of beheading a pirate who decided to steal from their war chest. Mercy had always been a value of hers, but her siblings had a point that this Shura character could be extremely dangerous. Especially considering the fact he had been Azura’s kidnapper, and served the Hoshidian throne.
However, she needed another archer for long distance attacks. Especially one who wasn’t always trying to seductively piss her off. Niles’s accuracy was that of legends, but dammit if he couldn’t keep that sharp tongue of his from being foul at every turn. No matter how much Leo reprimanded him for it, the bastard loved the negative attention.
“Silence. Sister this is your decision as our commander. What are you orders?” Xander looked to his younger sister as a storm of frustration passed over her features. Corrin bit her bottom lip as she processed their options, a habit she had developed when she was anxious or deep in thought.
Corrin decided that any man willing to offer to fight for her cause needed to be kept in order to ensure success. Corrin was also intrigued by his rugged good looks and demeanour, as he seemed friendly for a man who had no reason to be. Something about him drew out her curiosity to know more about this adventurer.
Shura watched the dark-haired young commander intently, awaiting her orders regarding his fate. He cursed himself for not being as stealthy as he could have, figuring his disguise would be enough to keep him covered.
His time was coming to an end, he was sure of it.
A sigh escaped the woman they called Corrin’s lips as she met his gaze with her piercing red eyes. Shura tried his best to stay outwardly composed, but his heart was beating with a rapid ferocity. He had offered his loyalty to her cause to save his life, and he would serve her until his dying day if that’s what it took to keep his head on his shoulders.
She wasn’t bad on the eyes either. Whichever decision was made, he died with a decent view or served with one.
“I suppose an extra man for the army is always beneficial. Just know Shura, if you should step out of line against my family I won’t hesitate to strike you down,” Shura swallowed at the cold look in her eyes as she passed her judgement. At least he got to keep his head for now.
“You have my word, milady. I will serve you however you may need me.”
Corrin’s decision to keep Shura turned out to be beneficial for both of them. Shura’s archery skills were top notch, and when the two paired together they were quite the unbeatable team. Even though the man insisted repeatedly that the two of them keep their distance in public, he stuck close to her on the battlefield to ensure he kept his oath.
When Kotaro set his forces against Corrin’s army, Shura fought with the passion of ten men. His eyes had a certain determination set in them that was intoxicating to the dragon princess. Corrin couldn’t figure out why until they made it to the daimyo himself.
As Corrin listened to the two men exchange words regarding Kohga, Shura’s lost homeland, her heart broke for him. It was one thing for her to never know what it meant to know a real homeland of her own, but to have one and then lose it was another thing entirely. Something she wished he hadn’t had to experience, and quite frankly she wished she could help him do something about it.
Corrin was more than happy to allow Shura the honor of avenging his past losses with the finishing shot at Kotaro, and after they had returned to the astral plane he profusely thanked her for helping him with this part of his dream. She noticed his eyes glaze over with tears as he talked about moving forward with his dreams for the first time, though she knew he’d never admit it.
Corrin realized as he poured out his gratitude to her that she wanted to be able to continue to help him realize more of his dreams. Together.
After sharing the sweet victory of destroying the man who had taken everything from him, Shura realized his gratitude towards Corrin had grown into something much deeper. He wasn’t really sure how this woman so stealthily snuck into his heart, but he imagined it was the way she shared meals, patrols, and dreams with him that won him over.
Somewhere along the way of fighting back to back in combat and Corrin’s incessant need to make him socialize with others, Shura found himself falling in love with the princess.
Which he knew was particularly stupid, considering her siblings would have his head before he would ever be allowed to have her hand.
Also stupid considering the age gap between them. It wasn’t anything that was unacceptable, but Shura was certain there were men in the army her own age who would gladly share a bed with her. In fact after some long drunken chats in local town taverns, he knew about half of them would kill for that chance in heartbeat.
So when Corrin called Shura to her treehouse for a friendly visit/morale boost, the adventurer knew better than to expect anything to come of his confession to the princess. He had decided it would be better to confess and be dismissed so he could move on, but there was a small selfish part of him that hoped she would want to share this future he dreamed of with him.
Then he heard her speak words so sweet to his ears, “I am yours, if you will be mine.”
Shura almost didn’t have a head on his shoulders a second time when Corrin decided it was time to let her family know about their relationship. The princess tried her best to calm the Nohrian royals, but they were having none of it.
“Darling, I simply won’t allow it. He’ll meet my axe before he dares lay a hand on your pretty head,” Camilla’s disconcerting smile caused Shura to slightly panic internally. Mainly because he had already laid more than just a hand on many more places of her body than her head.
Gods forbid Camilla ever finds that out though.
“Little princess…” Xander looked to his younger sibling with exasperation, “As much as I detest this idea, you have always been the more stubborn of the bunch. Will anything we say persuade you to drop this relationship?”
Shura’s heart swelled as Corrin shook her head persistently, “Nothing. I have made my decision, and I will follow my heart.”
Elise smiled as she watched Xander give up, and the rest of the siblings knew better than to question Corrin as well. The young girl giggled brightly as she wrapped her older sibling in a hug, “Hooray!”
As the couple settled into bed for the evening, Shura pulled Corrin towards his chest and wrapped his arms tightly around her as she snuggled into his chest.
He had no plans of losing this dream anytime soon.