Yeah...This is going to be lengthy (sorry) so feel free to skip straight to the story (after reading the 'spoilers' tag of course...).

Hello, it's me again and I am so excited to be bringing you this story! 'Fire Emblem: Fates' was finally released where I live a few weeks back and it's all I ever dreamed of and more. Of course, due to the game having so much content, it's easy enough to find inspiration for fan fictions. I wasn't a member of this website when I first played 'Awakening' in fact, I hadn't even discovered the amazing world of fan fictions for the most part back then (I know, how empty was my life without fan fiction, right?). As a result, I didn't get the chance to commit any of my ideas for 'Awakening' stories to text and so they're still just swimming around in some long-forgotten part of my memory hoping to be reborn one day. From the very first trailers for 'Fates', I have been an Hoshido fan girl and my loyalty still remains firmly with them despite having finished both 'Birthright' and 'Conquest' and having played most of 'Revelation'. I feel like Hoshido, the Hoshidan royals, the 'Birthright' characters and just 'Birthright' in general don't get enough love and it really upsets me especially since- like I said- I've been loyal to them since day one. Don't misunderstand me, I also love 'Conquest' and the characters in that so there will be no 'bashing' Nohr or anything (unless it's required for the story).

One of the only things I dislike about 'Fates' is how few Chapters there are before having to pick a side, I feel like you just don't get enough time to bond with either side very much and so-unless you're like me and already knew where your loyalties would lie- it's hard to really feel a connection with either. Also, after that, with so much going on within the three stories, there isn't really much time to reflect on the past. Even the Supports seem to lack information about the Avatar's past with their respective families for the most part and thus, this story was born. In an attempt to look at the Avatar's life in Hoshido before they are kidnapped and taken to Nohr. One of the only arguments that annoy me when it comes to picking Nohr over Hoshido is the fact that the Avatar barely knows their Hoshidan family in comparison to their Nohr family but that doesn't excuse the fact that you do still have the first few years of life to take into consideration and the only reason that there aren't more years is because they were kidnapped in the first place! So this story hopes to delve a bit more into those early years and the few memories that the Avatar got the chance to make before being taken to Nohr.

This story will (hopefully) focus mainly on the Avatar's relationships with their siblings, parents and a few other bits and bobs here and there as well as on the aftermath for Hoshido and the royal family after the Avatar's kidnapping. There will be no romance or anything due to the ages of the characters (probably obvious but I thought I'd clear it up anyway) however, my 'top pick' for an Avatar pairing is with Ryoma and so I do plan on writing some romantic stories about that pairing at some point (because there's practically none to be found anywhere). Hopefully though, due to the majority of this story not being based on actual events that take place in the game, there will be very little in terms of game spoilers or incorrect information.

Well...sorry about the length of that (congratulations if you read through it all), now to the story. I'm using the default female Corrin in this story for simplicity's sake.

*Spoilers Warning* Definite spoilers about the Avatar's actual relation to the Hoshidan royal family (hopefully people will know what that means and if they don't then that probably means they shouldn't read on). Also, spoilers about certain game events.

*I own nothing to do with 'Fire Emblem [Fates]', its locations, characters etc.*

Rated T

Reasons to Fight

Chapter One: A Meeting of Hearts

"Help, please! Help me Sumeragi!"

The incessant banging on the palace door continued and she was surprised that the sharp noises of her fists against the door, which were so loud that they could be heard over the thunder and lightning crackling around her, hadn't caused any of the guards to stir or the retainers to investigate or- more importantly- the tiny bundle in her arms to awaken.

Mikoto had been frantic all the way here to the palace in Hoshido where she would certainly find some help from the man who claimed to love her. Just then, the door opened with a creak to reveal the man in question, the King of Hoshido. The rain mixed in with the tears that were streaming down her face as his concerned voice seemed to boom out around her and strong arms suddenly supported her weight as her legs began to give out from underneath her. An anguished cry cut through the night as her baby awoke and alerted Sumeragi to her presence.

Sumeragi's eyes widened as he looked at her. "Mikoto! What's wrong? What happened?"

She shook her head, trying to convey that she wasn't ready to answer his questions. He pulled her inside despite the fact that she was soaking wet from the rain. The palace was warm and comfortable. Things seemed to pass by in a blur of motion and sound as she was dried with towels and her baby was given a warm blanket. Mikoto was placed in a warm room with a fire and sat in a chair that was perhaps too comfortable for its own good. She looked down at her child that had quickly fallen back to sleep in her arms, feeling a brief sense of contentment despite the excitement of the evening before this moment. Her eyes found Sumeragi's as he places some tea on the table and sat down in a chair next to the one she was occupying before asking her to tell her tale. She spent the rest of their time alone together telling him as much as she was allowed to whilst continuing to cuddle the baby in her arms.

Ryoma was startled awake by a loud banging noise outside. A storm was still going strong and the rain was noisily landing on the castle grounds. The seven-year-old rubbed his tired eyes and tried to get his mind to focus; the castle wasn't bursting with activity so whatever was outside wasn't a threat.

Or at the very least, he hoped it wasn't.

The young boy was by now completely and utterly awake. He had no chance of falling back to sleep despite it still being dark outside. Sighing to himself, he decided to check on his two-year-old sister, Hinoka in case all of the racket outside had caused her to stir from her slumber.

He walked silently towards the room where she slept and peered through a gap in her door. She was still soundly asleep which was unusual for her since she tended to cry a lot. Not like he minded, as her older brother it was his responsibility to look after her. Ryoma never resented it when she got more attention than him after all, it was only natural what with her being so young and all. Ryoma probably took up a lot of time too when he was little although in his case he hadn't had to share that attention with an elder sibling.

His next port of call was his mother's room. He looked over the sleeping form of his mother, Ikona, as she slept although she stirred slightly due to the light from the corridor shining through the gap in the door Ryoma was using to peer through. His eyebrows pulled together in confusion. His mother was here but…his father wasn't. Where was he? Suddenly, he heard movement from downstairs. Ryoma closed the bedroom door as quietly as he could before heading to investigate.

He wasn't afraid. He wasn't! He couldn't afford to be. His father-the King of all of Hoshido wouldn't be afraid of this after all, he was the bravest and most honourable man Ryoma knew. If this was him investigating a potential threat, he wouldn't be afraid. His father would take his ever trusty sword, Raijinto, with him and face whatever awaited him with a quiet confidence and grace. He would protect his family and his kingdom at all costs. Ryoma would have to inherit those responsibilities from him one day. He wouldn't be afraid!

His movements were swift but silent as he headed downstairs towards the source of the sound. Yet again, he found himself peering into the room whilst trying his hardest not to be spotted by whatever awaited him inside.

He was shocked by what was inside.

It was a woman. A woman holding what looked to be a tiny infant in her arms. Wait…he knew that woman! It was Mikoto. He'd seen her around the palace a few times. She was a dear friend of his father but he'd never seen her with a baby before. Admittedly, the child looked rather young- younger than even Hinoka. Maybe a new-born? He pondered this when a voice from behind him startled him out of his reverie.

"Ryoma, you should still be in bed! Why are you here?"

Ryoma jumped and turned to face his father. "Father, I…I heard noises and came to investigate." He murmured, pointing in the direction of Mikoto.

His father oddly enough smiled at him rather than scolded him further, "Well, whilst you're here, there's someone I would like you to meet."

Strong hands placed themselves upon the young boy's shoulders and started to lead him into the room. When he was completely settled into a chair, Ryoma looked between the two adults. Mikoto looked nervous however, his father who was always calm regardless of the circumstances, smiled reassuringly at his son.

"I-I've met Mikoto before, Father." Ryoma said hesitantly.

"I know, son, but I actually wanted you to make the acquaintance of your new baby sister."

Ryoma's eyes snapped to his father's as a shocked gasp escaped from his lips. "Sister?! But…but…Hinoka is my sister."

His father bent down to his son's level and gazed straight into his confused eyes as he spoke, "Yes she is and that hasn't changed. This child you see here is Mikoto's baby. She isn't related to you or to myself by blood but you see…son, Mikoto and her baby were in a lot of trouble and they came here to ask me – to ask us- for help. We can't turn them away, that isn't how we do things."

Ryoma tried to work things out in his brain, piecing them together bit by bit, portion by portion before asking his next question. "Then, who is her father?"

Both Sumeragi and Ryoma turned to look at Mikoto but she looked away towards the fire place without providing an answer.

Sumeragi sighed and looked down for a moment before turning towards his young son yet again. "That's not important, I am her father now and you are her big brother in the same way that you are also Hinoka's."

"Would you like to meet her?" Mikoto's voice made both Ryoma and his father start slightly as she hadn't spoken a word in quite some time.

Ryoma nodded hesitantly. Well, if he was going to be her 'brother' then, this was going to happen eventually. He'd rather just get it over with. He had no idea how his own mother- his mother by blood- would respond to this situation and he felt a small ball of resentment brewing inside of him which was strange since he felt nothing of a sort for Hinoka nor was he normally the kind of person to feel resentment.

The boy held out his arms and Mikoto placed the baby girl, albeit a little reluctantly, into his arms. Ryoma held her tenderly despite the dark emotion that was brewing inside of him. However, as soon as he looked at her face all of those cruel feelings towards her vanished in an instant.

What struck him first were her ears which were oddly shaped followed by the unique shade of her eyes. Blood red, a colour that normally signified such terrible things and yet, her eyes were strangely hypnotic and filled with nothing but kindness and innocence. Not bad things at all. Not things like anger, rage and pain. She was looking at him curiously as he moved his hand gently to brush the fine white hairs from her forehead. She grinned up at him and Ryoma gasped as his brotherly instincts kicked in.

His head snapped up to face Mikoto. "What's her name?" He asked. Knowing her name was important. He had to put a name to this face that adorned a smile directed at him and him alone.

"Her name is Corrin." Mikoto answered. A warm smile on both her face and on that of his father's as they watched the two children as they became better acquainted with each other.

"Corrin" He whispered. The sound of it falling from his lips feeling as natural as it did when he first whispered Hinoka's name to himself. "Corrin."

It felt…perfect.

Sometime later and dawn was beginning to break. Ryoma didn't pay much attention to Sumeragi when he picked up a now sleeping Mikoto to take her from the room. Corrin was still awake and looking at her big brother with such love and purity in her gaze. It was clear she accepted him just as much as he did her despite the strange circumstances that had brought them together.

The prince of Hoshido bent down slowly to press a small kiss against the young babe's forehead before whispering his first words directed solely to the young girl in his arms. "Hello, little one, my name is Ryoma and I'm your big brother. It's nice to meet you. No matter what happens, I will always protect you and love you like a big brother should. You will always mean as much to all of us here as any blood relative. No matter what we face together or what tries to hurt us, I will never lose sight of what is most important; my-no- our family. You'll never have to worry about anything, Corrin; I will make sure of it. It is my vow to you and I will do anything and everything to keep it."

A determined look set itself upon his face as he looked over the child in his arms, his resolve hardening. He had two sisters to protect and he would do so no matter what.

Even if it cost him everything.

Well...I hope you liked it. This particular Chapter was inspired by the song 'Two Hearts' by 'The Birthday Massacre'. This Chapter is a little slow but it's just supposed to be a little explanation about how Ryoma came to learn the truth about...certain things that the other siblings do not find out about. Please feel free to let me know what you think. Until next time. xXx