Author's Note: Hello all! This is a story I have previous posted on ao3, but I will be uploading all of the chapters thus far to here as well. Hope you enjoy!

It was lonely, being the only living member of one's family, but Hinoka took it in stride. She didn't really enjoy being queen. Hell, she wasn't even prepared to be queen. It was just something that had to be taken upon as her eldest brother, Ryoma, had committed ritual suicide to preserve Corrin's honor.

Hinoka felt like Corrin didn't deserve such honor after her betrayal.

She wondered what life would have been like if Corrin had chosen to side with Hoshido. Would one or two or all of those Nohrian siblings have died? Hinoka wasn't sure, and she felt no remorse, especially after what the Nohrians did. It didn't matter if they were on good terms or not. She felt sickened that they were the cause of all the loss she faced.

Takumi's possession and eventual murder. Ryoma's ritual suicide. And then Sakura's disappearance that was ruled as a death after finding the dead pegasus that Subaki helped her escape with, Subaki also dead. Hinoka was sick for two whole days, her body and mind unable to take the stress. She was all alone.

The Nohrians had come to her coronation ceremony to try and heal wounds between the nations and Hinoka stayed civil. There was the peace treaty after all that Prince, no, King Xander had signed with her, the treaty itself being written by none other than the youngest brother, Prince Leo. Hinoka had read it and signed it, ignoring the elegant and clearly intelligent writing the young man possessed. His proposal covered everything from trade to alliance in times of duress, even offering to heal the nation devastated by the opposing side, and Hinoka had signed it with disdain, though she didn't show it.

She still mourned the loss of her siblings. To Hinoka, the only thing that mattered was her family. She spent her entire childhood and adolescence training so she could be strong enough to find Corrin. She did her best to stay by Takumi's side though he usually refused her comfort, opting to listen and hang out with Sakura. It hurt, but she saw that perhaps she wasn't as sympathetic as she could be, being unable to express herself through words sometimes. Hinoka was the type to take on her problems head on, and Takumi tended to let them get the better of him and run away.

She was close to Ryoma and they often trained. Ryoma only wanted her to get stronger, and that was all Hinoka cared about. She would never let another kidnapping of her siblings happen again. It would be over her dead body. Instead, it was over theirs.

She sat on the throne, the day's tasks done, and she reminisced on times she spent with her siblings. Maybe she didn't try hard enough. But she couldn't keep blaming herself. They were…gone.

Hinoka felt like her entire reason for being had been stripped away from her. Her family was her life and it wasn't fair that now she had nothing to live for. Perhaps that was a bit dramatic. She had her country, which was trying to recover from the war, but Nohrian occupation made her uneasy. But so far, they had been nothing but generous and worked tirelessly to restore the country, under the leadership of Corrin.

Corrin visited frequently and tried to reconnect with Hinoka, but it never seemed to work. Hinoka was still so bitter and Corrin detected this. So Corrin, the empathic sister, left Hinoka to her devices, and hoped that one day, the two could come to terms with everything that happened. Corrin only hoped that her dedication to restoring Hoshido to its former glory would rectify all her mistakes.

Hinoka, disgusted with thoughts of her traitorous sister, left the throne room and headed to Sakura's old room. She sat on the floor, glimpsing at the dolls her late sister had through tears of remorse. Sakura deserved better. Those dirty Nohrians took her innocent life, despite her hopeful escape. It just wouldn't do. Hinoka would start a whole new war if it meant avenging her baby sister. But, given Hoshido's current state, was never meant to be. And truly, would a war heal the hurt in Hinoka's heart?

No. It wouldn't.

So Hinoka stayed in Sakura's room and sobbed. Yukimura had entered, upon hearing her sobs, but Hinoka commanded him to go away. Somehow, he managed to survive. Of course, they didn't kill the advisor. Surely they figured his death would cause less of an impact on Hinoka. Why they spared him she would never understand, as even they had no explanation, other than Corrin's insistence that she wanted no more unnecessary death. Then why take Sakura's life? Corrin claimed they didn't.

But when Corrin found the dead body of Subaki and that of his pegasus, Corrin couldn't deny that the sister was long gone. Where her body went, no one knew. Hinoka darkly joked that the Nohrians ate it after doing despicable things to her body first, but Corrin denied those accusations, claiming that they were under her command to not harm the princess. Corrin was adamant about this.

"Then what of those Nohrian soldiers who sided with your father? The ones that eventually had to be imprisoned for their crimes? Surely they did it."

Corrin had no answer. She simply walked away, too incensed by Hinoka's anger.

Her anger was justified, but Corrin felt it was excessive. Of course, Corrin felt the same about her other siblings. Had something happened to them, she would be bitter too, and avenge them. But that didn't happen, nor would it ever, and Corrin had to admit that she and Hinoka would never find common ground. The new queen simply wanted Nohr to go away.

It would, after reparations, and Corrin had no intention of ever returning. She knew her presence would just hurt Hinoka more. There was no hope of bonding between the two; Hinoka made it clear that she would never trust Nohrians again. Corrin was heartbroken, but accepted that decision. She only hoped that Hinoka would one day accept their dark decisions.

Hinoka stared at the ceiling, wondering if Sakura did actually die. Her body was never recovered, and she doubted the Nohrians actually ate it. That was something to try and hurt Corrin, something to try and explain the happenings in her woeful mind. Maybe Sakura escaped. But the princess was so meek and shy that Hinoka doubted Sakura had the will to do it.

The question remained: What happened to Sakura?