Azura paced the length of the half-charred treehouse for the umpteenth time as she waited. She had told Xander days ago she wanted to speak with him, but she supposed it was only fair that he'd been so wrapped up in his grief, he'd forgotten.

She had certainly forgotten things in the time between then and now. She'd walked out of her tent with only one shoe the other morning, and another, gotten hopelessly lost just trying to find Kaze's tent, where she'd been a hundred times before.

I'm sure they'll still care for you, whatever it is you have to say, the green-haired ninja had said last night, when Azura had voiced her doubts. I can't imagine what you could possibly say to make them hate you.

Oh, but Azura could. She knew exactly what would make Xander, Camilla, Ryoma, and Hinoka hate her, and it was the truth. She couldn't bear to face all eight of her adoptive siblings at once, and so Azura had asked Xander to only gather the older ones.

She paced again, counting to twelve in one direction and twelve back in the other. How long had it been since she'd asked Xander to get the others and meet her here? An hour? Two hours? Five minutes?

A noise in the direction of the trapdoor snapped the dancer to attention, but a moment later she relaxed when a familiar head of blond curls came through the floor—followed, of course, by the rest of him. Xander then turned to give Camilla a hand up, but Hinoka actively refused the help. Ryoma came up last, rounding out the unlikely foursome.

"Alright, Azura," Xander said, folding his arms across his broad chest, "you wished to speak with us?"

"Really, darling, this place is dreary," Camilla added, eyeing the charred walls with distaste (which was, largely, to keep herself from bursting into tears). "Wouldn't you rather speak in my tent, or Xander's?"

"That would be easier," Azura was forced to admit, "but not kinder."

"Stop playing sage," Hinoka said, and weight of a familiar grievance unfurled beneath her words, "and just spit it out."

Azura drew in a deep breath, and allowed herself to shut her eyes for just a moment. "I told Xander this the night of the attack, but I wanted to tell you all. The attack on our camp, the massacre, Corrin's death…" All four royals winced at her bluntness. "…This is all my fault."

For a moment, the room stood in shocked silence, but then:

"Out of the question," Xander said firmly. "I told you when you originally 'confessed,' and I'm telling you now—did you fell the killing blow? Did you open the gates and allow in the Uzai? No? Then that is quite enough, Azura Aretesdottír."

"But I'd seen them!" Azura cried, her composure slipping. "I had seen them, and I didn't make the connection until it was too late!" Desperately, she whirled on Ryoma, whose frame had gone stiff in disbelief. "You remember, don't you? The day that Mikoto died?"

Ryoma was struck by the force of a memory so visceral, it was practically a physical blow. He remembered the decimated square after the Ganglari had shattered, remembered how red the blood on Mikoto's robes had been, remembered that the man he had been dueling wore a hood pulled down so low over his eyes, Ryoma hadn't been certain how he'd seen anything.

And, if he did the mental equivalent of squinting, he could remember that there hadn't really been a man at all.

"Really, Azura?" Hinoka's voice brought Ryoma sharply into focus. Funny, he hadn't even realized he'd been gone. "First Corrin, now Mikoto? Are you going to bring up everything shitty that's happened in the last three years? Should I mention your mother?"

"Hinoka, please," Ryoma said, setting a hand to his sister's arm. "Be at peace."

She shook him off, but sheathed her tongue for the moment.

"That was the Uzai," Ryoma said to Azura, doing her the courtesy of looking her in the eye. "It only just occurred to me."

"The attack at the square," Xander pressed. "You're certain?"

"Yeah." Ryoma seemed to come back to himself fully. "It had everything we now know as hallmarks of the Uzai—empty robes where bodies should be, purplish haze, rocks and grass out of place..."

"Except it had no motive," Hinoka inputted.

Azura could have strangled her adoptive sister, for Azura knew exactly what the Uzai wanted, and it was exactly what she couldn't tell them all.

"Because… because…" She struggled to come up with something, anything close to the truth. "Because they want something! Or someone above them does."

"I never thought of them like Faceless," Xander said slowly, as if chewing on his words before speaking them. "I always thought they were soldiers." He looked to Camilla. "What if there's someone controlling them?"

"Then that someone would have a vested interest in one side of the war or the other," Camilla said, and then her eyes snapped open wide. "Or just in sowing chaos!"

"They couldn't just be supporting one side or the other," Hinoka said, "they've attacked both sides. That's how we all became…" She paused, and then continued firmly, "…friends in the first place."

"So, really, Azura, you're being ridiculous," Xander said, kindly but firmly. "You only missed a connection they both did, too." He gestured to Ryoma and Hinoka.

"And if I had made the connection," Ryoma said, "I certainly wouldn't have asked the Nohrians for aid." He glanced to Xander. "No offense."

"None taken," said Xander. "It's always better to take care of things in-house."

"So Corrin wouldn't have even known of the Uzai," Ryoma continued, "and certainly Xander, Camilla, Leo, and Elise wouldn't have. It very likely would have ended up worse, had you noticed sooner."

"Really, darling, you mustn't blame yourself," Camilla said, patting Azura's hand absentmindedly. "Xander does that enough, already."

Xander's indignant "hey!" was all but lost amidst Azura's screaming, swirling thoughts.

No, no, no, no, no! Don't let them be so kind to you! This is all your fault, Azura. You brought the Uzai upon them, and you are the reason the one of the last of the Vallite bloodline now lies dead.

It finally hit her, fully. I am the last Vallite. Arete was gone; Mikoto was gone; King Cadros was gone; their people were long gone; and now, Corrin was gone. There was only one thing that remained of her homeland, and that was their destroyer.

Azura swayed unsteadily on her feet, and by some cruel twist of fate, her adoptive siblings read it as something else entirely. Xander moved the moment his cousin seemed shaky, putting a strong arm to her shoulders and setting her to rights.

"Steady, now," he said.

Camilla was worriedly hovering near Xander's shoulder. "Shall I call Jakob for some tea?"

"How about we get out of this awful place," Hinoka inputted, "and then make tea?"

"Capital," said Xander. He gently tugged Azura forward, still keeping a steadying hand to her back. "Let's press on."

Azura's stomach churned, and she tried to stand her ground. You cannot tell them; you have to tell them. But she could only allow herself to be pulled along, carried forward by the weight of her lies.