It's a little hard to believe that Fates, let alone Azura, will be turning five years old this year. I can still recall watching the game's reveal trailer on my phone as part of Nintendo Direct. Looking back, I think the game sits in an awkward middleground among the contemporary Fire Emblem games. Though they're often grouped by fans as a pair, the game will never be regarded as the modern day, franchise-salvaging, platform-saving classic that Awakening was. All the same, the lofty goals set for the game as the first mainline Fire Emblem title equipped with the energy harnessed from Awakening's runaway success and Super Smash Bros. cross-promotion have been utterly surpassed by the whopping hot-seller-on-a-hotter-system that is Three Houses, which arguably takes some of the ideas attempted in Fates and executes them the way the writers of Fates were probably intending. This was a difficult transitional time for Nintendo as a whole. The Wii U was a failure, and their heavy reliance on the 3DS to recoup losses was resulting in more titles that reused assets from earlier released 3DS titles for quicker development cycles, rather than entirely new experiences. This was why a significant number of first party releases on the platform toward the end of its life were re-releases, remakes such as Echoes, remasters, etc. Even Fates, which was a new game with a new cast set in a new world, relies heavily on the technical foundation set by Awakening. This isn't even getting into the beaten horse that is the game's writing, which better people than I have dissected to a science. Of course, there's also the philosophy that all of the games, Three Houses included, have bad writing to varying extents. Personally, I subscribe to the theorem that Azura is cute, I like her, and none of this is important so here's the annual birthday fic. Please refer to the 2/26/20 issue of the official Fire Emblem Heroes comic for structural context. Enjoy and review.

Word count: 654 words.

Lost in Thoughts Without a Comb

"Hah..." Azura sighs, her cheeks aflame as she hugs her knees to her chest. "To engage the enemy in such ridiculous headgear... How embarrassing. I probably spent more time trying to keep the thing on than fighting."

Corrin chuckles softly, pausing to lean over and plant a tender kiss upon her forehead before returning to her tangled tresses. "Please. You look as great as always, maybe even better! I've never felt more caught up in you!"

The songstress can't help but let a giggle escape her as he snakes his arms around her waist. "That's because you are! You're supposed to get rid of the knots, not encourage them!"

"Don't worry," the fated prince reassures. "I know what I'm doing. After so many mornings together, how could I not?"

"I suppose you have a point," she turns her head to look back at him. "I'll be in your care then, love."

"When aren't you?" Corrin smiles.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Kana wags a persistent little finger. "No turning around, even for papa! You have to sit still—perfectly still!—if you want me to make you look pretty, mama!"

"Ah, my apologies, dear," the songstress coos. "You know how papa can get. Hee, you should have seen him the first time he offered to brush my hair like this."

"W-wait a minute," Corrin coughs loudly. "T-that's a bit—!"

"Mother," Corrin is eternally grateful for Shigure's interjection, his son artfully dusting Azura's cheekbones with a powdery brush. "Perhaps it might be time to consider a haircut? If they continue to deploy you in the morning like this, before you're able to tend to your—ahem—bedhead, I fear you may become too distracted to fight at your fullest. Today was only a skirmish, but should a true threat one day pose itself to the Order—"

"You're the last person who should be bossing others about getting their hair cut, big brother," Kana giggles, the young artist clamming up in a heartbeat. "Oh! I know! Mama should put her hair in a bun like me! That way she won't have to wear silly hats or worry about bedhead, and she'll still look pretty too!"

"Honestly, you two," Azura cracks a gentle smile, just long enough for Kana to color her lips red with a particularly rosy paint. "I'll be fine. I was merely caught off guard is all. Besides, if I were to cut my hair, then where would that leave papa? I wouldn't have any use for him!"

Corrin starts, his lips parted in shock. The songstress seizes the chance to return his kiss from earlier with one twice as loving. As they part, she takes the brush from him and combs a cowlick out of his bangs.

"I jest," she says, and he's never felt more relieved. "I keep it long because it allows us to spend time together like this. You said it yourself, Corrin—moments like these matter most, because in all likelihood we won't have time for them when we return. I wish to make the most of our time here, just as much as you do."

"A-ah," Corrin gulps, if only because those words were exchanged during a rather heated moment between the two of them. "R-right! I couldn't agree more, Azura."

Satisfied, the songstress turns to her children. "Shall we liven papa's face up next? It would be a shame if these cosmetics went to waste. We can all take turns, as a matter of fact."

"Hmm," Shigure hums. "It would be interesting to work on a male canvas."

"Mama..." the look in Kana's sparkling eyes is palpable, beyond palpable, the stuff of legends and then some. "I thought you'd never ask!"

"Uh, don't I get a say in this?" Corrin scratches his cheek as his loved ones descend upon him with brushes and the like. "Alright, fair enough! I take it back. Now I've never felt more caught up."