Adrift/Grounding

"A-Azura, I just…I want to say…I-I love you. I love the way you smile, I love the way your hair always l-looked like a hedgehog in the morning, a-and I just…I love you. I-I was thinking about w-writing a poem, but there's nothing I could say or write down that can show how m-much I truly love you. Will…will you do me the favor of not simply being my best friend or lover anymore? Will you marry me?"

Azura looked down at the tiny little ring inside of the tiny little box in Corrin's hands. It was a simple, yet beautiful thing, a band of gold with a sapphire set in the center.

Struggling to hold back her tears, Azura simply nodded, smiling wider than she ever smiled before. "Yes," she finally said, the tears finally breaking through and falling down her face. "I will marry you, Corrin. I love you too. I love you…so much."

The look on Corrin's face as he looked up at her could only be described as pure, raw, unadulterated joy and confusion. "W-wait, really?" he asked, stuttering. "I-I thought that it was t-too sappy, or that you wouldn't want me, or—"

" Corrin, we practically sleep together," Azura said, giggling at the confused expression on his face. "And you're literally the dashing knight that saved the girl from the evil dragon. How could I not want you? Now, get up here."

Corrin obliged her, rising quickly to his feet and wrapping his warm arms around her. Azura closed her eyes and moved her head forward for the kiss, but when she didn't feel the warmness of Corrin's lips, she reluctantly cracked open an eye and looked around.

To her horror, she was no longer under the sakura tree next to the lake. Instead, Azura was standing in the middle of a bloody battlefield, with bodies and weapons and armor and blood littered everywhere. Occasionally, a pained moan would rise up or an arm would weakly reach for the sky, but the moans would always die away and the arm would fall limply to the ground.

As Azura looked around, she couldn't help but feel something was terribly off. A low, thick, purple fog hung low to the ground, and as Azura watched the fog swirl around, she knew the fog was unnatural.

Scared, Azura called out, "Corrin? Corrin, where are you?"

To her surprise, she heard him mutter back weakly, "A…zura…"

Looking down, Azura was shocked to see Corrin lying on the ground, his blue cape torn and shredded to pieces, his armor cracked and lying in discarded pieces around him, Yato lying shattered to his side, and worst of all, the pool of red growing beneath Corrin. His eyes were dull and flat, yet when Azura dropped to her knees, they somewhat shifted towards her.

"A…zura," he gasped again, reaching towards her. "Az…ura…"

"I'm here," Azura said, taking his hand reassuringly. "I'm here, don't worry. Everything is going to be okay, Corrin. I promise. I'll get you some healers and—"

Why…did you abandon us?"

A zura's blood froze as she looked at Corrin.

"What?"

"You…abandoned us." Corrin's voice now sounded accusatory, and as he twisted his head to look at her, his red eyes started to glow.

"You left us to die," he said. "You led us here, and then you abandoned us. You abandoned me. How could you?"

" I-I didn't!" Azura said, shaking her head. "I would never leave you!"

"LIAR!"

W ithout warning, Corrin suddenly grabbed Azura by the throat. Azura's eyes widened as Corrin got to his feet and the shattered hilt of Yato magically flew into his hand.

" You're a liar, Azura," he growled. "You said we would stop Anankos together, but then you left us all here to rot."

"I…didn't," Azura gasped, struggling to free herself from Corrin's iron grip. "I-I didn't!"

"LIAR!" Corrin roared, and for a moment, lightening flashed behind him, revealing the silhouette of an incredibly large, four-limbed beast with wings, antlers, and a spiked tailed. "You lied to us, Azura. You lied to me! How could you? How could you?"

"I…I wanted…to help," Azura gasped, kicking weakly as Corrin continued to lift her off the ground. "I s-swear! I-I never meant f-for you…or anybody else c-come…to harm!"

Corrin chuckled darkly and shook his head. "That's a twisted joke and you know it, Azura. You really think Anankos would let the last member of the Rheos family live? You think Anankos would let us come into his realm and kill him?" He violently shook Azura. "You fool! Of course he didn't, and because of your mistake, your inability to tell us what laid on the other side of the Bottomless Canyon, we failed. Everybody's dead. Hoshido and Nohr have fallen. Anankos has laid siege to the rest of the world. We failed, Azura, and all because you abandoned us."

T ears sprang into Azura's eyes and she shook her head. "I…I'm sorry," she gasped out. "I-I'm sorry."

C orrin chuckled again. "'Sorry' won't cut it this time, Azura. All my men, all my siblings, all my hopes, dead because of you. If there was any sort of connection between us, any feelings of love or friendship, consider those gone. You ruined my family, Azura. You ruined my life. The most I could do is make sure you can't enjoy the rest of yours."

Azura's eyes widened again as Corrin reared the shattered hilt of Yato back. "N-no, Corrin, don't!"

"I'm sorry, Azura," Corrin said, and this time, Azura could see the sadness and defeat and hopelessness in his eyes. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "As the leader of this…army, I'm responsible for handing out punishments…and the punishment for desertion…is death."

Azura shook her head. "Please…Corrin," she said weakly. "Don't…don't."

Corrin simply pursed his lips before stabbing Azura through the chest with the shattered blade.

And then Azura woke up screaming.

"NO!"

Azura bolted upright, looking wildly around her. She was breathing heavily, and it felt like there was a thin layer of sweat covering every inch of her body.

Azura gasped as she remembered the nightmare she just had, and she roughly pressed her hands into her chest, checking if somehow, the actions of her dreams translated to real life. Of course, it didn't, but when she felt something groan and move next to her, Azura couldn't help but bolt out of the bed and plaster herself to the nearest wall, breathing heavily.

"Azura?" Corrin mumbled sleepily, lifting his head up and looking around, confused. "Azura?"

Azura felt her pulse slow as Corrin finally turned in her direction.

"Azura, what are you doing over there?" he said, yawning. "It's like, three in the morning. Come back to bed, would you?"

Azura shook her head, wide-awake. "N-no thanks I'm fine," she said shakily. "Just go back to sleep, Corrin."

There were many reasons why she loved Corrin, from his adorable sleepiness to his childlike fascinations with shiny things, but without a doubt, the part Azura loved most about Corrin was his caring and worrying self. Corrin rubbed the sleepiness out of his eyes as he got out of bed and walked over to her.

Corrin usually slept bare-chested, and in the moonlight, his toned and chiseled body seemed to glow even brighter than the moon and Azura found herself blushing as she averted her gaze.

"Hey, what's wrong?" he said, opening his arms in an unmistakable gesture. Azura was only too happy to bury her face in his chest. "Did you have another nightmare?"

Sniffling, Azura nodded.

Corrin sighed as he rubbed the back of her head and protectively pulled her in even closer to him. "How bad was it this time?" he asked.

In response, Azura simply shook her head, causing Corrin to sigh again.

"Do…do you wanna talk about it?"

Again, Azura shook her head.

"Do…you wanna come back to bed with me?"

A pause, and then Azura nodded.

Smiling weakly, Corrin gently ducked and wrapped one of his arms under Azura's legs and carried her to their bed. After laying her down gently, Corrin then proceeded to make sure she was covered with the blanket before climbing in next to her.

Almost as soon as Corrin was settled in next to her, Azura shuffled over so that practically every inch of her body was pressed against his and Corrin stifled a groan as he felt her nails dig into his skin.

For a moment, neither of them said a word, but as the sweat cooled on Azura's body, she finally said, "At first, you were proposing to me."

Corrin shook off his sleepiness and looked at her curiously. "That doesn't sound so bad," he said.

In response, Azura nodded before saying, "It was…a dream come true. But…but then I was a battlefield. And…there were…so many dead people around me. But…but you were in front of me."

Corrin sucked in his breath, grimacing. "Was…I dead?"

Azura sniffled again. "No. Worse. You were still alive, and…and…"

"And what?" Corrin gently asked, squeezing her protectively. "Don't worry, Azura. I'm here. I'm still here."

Azura nodded as she wiped her tears away. "You…were accusing me of abandoning you when I led you and the army into Valla. And…and…then you said you didn't l-love me, and you stabbed me, and—"

At this point, it was too much for Azura and she couldn't hold back the tears any longer. She turned and buried her face in Corrin's arms and began to cry.

Corrin's expression softened even further somehow as he patted her head warmly. "Sh…" he shushed. "It's alright…I'm here, Azura. I'm here."

Finally, after what felt like an eternity of crying, Azura finally stopped and looked at Corrin. "Will...would you ever stop—"

"What?" Corrin said, flabbergasted. "Of course not! I love you, Azura. I would never stop loving you. I don't care what you do or say, I'll never say I stopped loving you. You complete me in so many ways. How could I ever stop loving you?"

"I-I don't know," Azura said miserably. "I'm sorry for—"

"Don't be," Corrin interrupted, pulling her even closer than before. "Don't ever apologize for something the dream version of me did."

"But—"

"No buts," Corrin interrupted again. "I love you, Azura, and nothing's ever going to change that, okay?"

In response, Azura simply patted his arm and gasped out, "Can't…breathe."

Corrin blinked in surprise. "O-oh, sorry," he said, loosening his grip. "Sorry about that."

"It's alright," Azura said sighing and settling in next to Corrin. After a moment's pause, she quietly said, "Thank you, Corrin."

Corrin simply smiled and wrapped an arm around her shoulders before pecking her on the forehead, causing her to also smile. "Of course, Azura. For you, I would do anything a thousand times over."