You know that moment when you haven't updated a story in nearly a whole year and you have no idea what you're coming back to? ...Yep...that's me with this. xD

Hello one and all and welcome to the next Chapter of the 'Reasons to Live' Arc. It's been a while (understatement of the century). I'd like to say I have an excuse for not updating this story in months but really...it was just pure laziness on my part. Although admittedly, the next few months are going to be busy for me so my apologies if I don't update again for a while.

But I wanted to get this Chapter out to you! I've been working on it ever since the last Chapter was posted and now it's finally here! I'm so proud of this Chapter and I hope you'll all enjoy it as well. =)

As for the character ages, Xander is twelve, Camilla is eight, Corrin is still five, Leo is four and Elise is just a few months old at the start of this Chapter.

Well...without further ado, here we go! A huge thanks to the bands Epica and Dark Sarah whose music has allowed me to write up this Chapter at long last.

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

Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with 'Fire Emblem [Fates]', its locations, characters etc. All rights go to their respective owners.

Rated T. *Warning* Brief mentions of blood and violence.

Reasons to Live: Relations

"When will she awaken dear Brother?" A voice drawled from somewhere nearby.

"When she's ready to Camilla." Another voice answered with a no small amount of amusement colouring his tone.

She could almost hear the pout that the owner of the original voice was sporting. "But she's been asleep for so long and we came all the way here just to meet her!"

"Well you might have, but I was all but dragged here." A third voice spoke up with annoyance. Whilst all three voices seemed to belong to children, this was the youngest of all and seemed to be coming from further away.

"That wasn't the case at all Leo." The other male voice quipped.

"Hmph!"

Eventually, the slumbering child realised that they probably weren't going to go away until she'd at least opened her eyes which she timidly did so- at first only half way mind- and then completely.

She found the female perched at the edge of her bed, her striking hair and unusual shade of purple and her clothes mainly black with golden flecks. A gentle smile adorned her face as she stared at the newly- awakened child. So...this is Camilla. The child thought.

The only one she knew, Xander, was stood leaning on her chest of drawers for support, arms folded over his chest, his head bowed low but his eyes watching her intently.

She couldn't see the owner of the third voice from this angle and so she just lay there...waiting.

"Hello my dear!" The female no- Camilla- drawled as she made a sudden move towards the child.

This caused her to shoot up into a sitting position and to scurry backwards on her bed in an attempt to get as far away from this new face as possible, her arms crossed over her legs to form a barrier.

Camilla sighed, her eyes closing in disbelief, "Honestly, is that any way to greet your sister?" She groaned.

Xander decided to speak up then. "Hush, Camilla, she doesn't remember us and she went through such an ordeal in Cheve, give her time."

Rolling her eyes, she stood up from her perch on the bed. "Oh very well, but she's so adorable...you know I have a hard time resisting cute things." She practically sang the words!

"X-Xandy...who is she?" The little girl asked, her eyes wide and afraid.

"Little princess..." He started as he walked towards the bed and knelt down next to her. "This is your elder sister Camilla, she's travelled all the way to the Northern Fortress to keep you company."

Corrin tried her best to recall the fact she had a 'sister' but her mind was a blank.

When she didn't respond, Xander spoke up again, "-And he-" He pointed to a figure standing at her doorway and Camilla moved out of the way so she could see the boy in question, "-he is Leo, our younger brother."

"Younger...brother?" She repeated in a hushed tone.

She took in the small stature of the boy, he looked no older than three or four-years-old but despite that, the deep frown set upon his face and his glaring eyes were enough to unsettle her and make her cringe even further away.

"Not like I want you to think of me as such." He muttered with unveiled distain.

"Leo." Xander sighed as he turned to face the younger boy who had turned to glare at the elder prince.

"We were fine! We were happy with just the four of us! After all that's happened within the court- with our other siblings-" He cut off as his voice cracked with raw emotion and pain. "How can you possibly expect me to just accept her?!" He pointed in her direction.

"Leo darling, we know it's been a difficult time but this is different, nothing like that will happen again and she belongs here with us."

A pout graced his features at that. "Well not in my eyes." He muttered before storming off down the corridor.

After a few moments of awkward silence Camilla spoke up "I'll go after him, I'll meet you in the entrance hall, Xander. Farewell Corrin." She murmured to the girl with a warm smile before leaving the room.

"I'm sorry about that Little Princess." Xander murmured with a smile.

"Wh-why did he say 'just the four of us'?" She asked wide-eyed.

Xander looked startled by the question for a moment before answering. "You have another younger sibling; a little sister called Elise but she's only a few months old so she isn't able to travel all the way here just yet."

"C- can't I go and meet her?"

He looked out of the nearby window whilst answering. "I'm afraid not, you're not allowed to leave here, remember?"

Corrin turned her head away from him then. "I know." She whispered.

She'd learned that the hard way. By this point, she'd already been here for nearly two whole months and during her first couple of weeks at the fortress, everything was grand that was until Xander's departure back to the Castle. She had no idea he was going to leave and when she had a nightmare one night and went to his bedroom for a reassuring cuddle and found he was no longer there, fear overtook her and was only sated by the sound of a horse outside and Xander's voice. He's leaving! She thought with terror and she sprinted downstairs as fast as she could, she almost made it to the big doors when a blue-haired maid restrained her.

"No, you can't leave!" She cried.

"B-but Xandy!" The girl whimpered.

"No!" A stern voice belonging to an aged man stated as he grabbed her and began to pull her away from both the door and the maid and back to her prison. She didn't make it easy for him; she kicked and screamed the whole way. She heard other soldiers, butlers and maids offering to help the man who was taking her back to her room but he declined every single one of them.

When he opened the door to her room, he practically launched her inside, after she caught her bearings she tried to get back out again, Xandy's left me all alone, I need him hear with me! Her terrified thoughts were screaming at her; he was the only person she would interact with since arriving here, she didn't know anyone else and they all looked oh so menacing.

But her attempts to get out of her room again before her door as shut were thwarted almost as quickly as they began as the man slammed the door in her face without even glancing in her direction and she could hear with perfect clarity as a key turned- sealing her inside. She spent futile hours after that trying desperately to get the door to open again, tears streaming out her eyes and her fingers and nails bloodied by her clawing at it over and over again. Despite the room being rather big with a large bed, fireplace, en suite, balcony etc., it still felt as if the walls were closing in around her- cramping her in as her legs gave way under her and she buckled to the floor in a heap as she screamed and cried. She was all alone and she hated it! She didn't know why she was so afraid but there was absolutely nothing she could do about it.

When Corrin turned to face her big bro again she realised he'd been watching her with a look of sympathy the entire time. Someone must've told him about what occurred that night.

"I'm sorry but it's the way it has to be for now, Little Princess. Some bad people may try to take you away from us or hurt you and we can't have that now, can we?"

She resigned at that but she still found it strange, why would anyone want to take me away? She questioned in her mind. Surely it'd make more sense to take away the high prince or the youngest princess.

"Besides there's technically six of us; yourself included." Xander brought this up to try and distract her- he had a feeling he knew she was thinking about why anyone would want to take her away and he had to stop the trail of thought in case she recalled Hoshido or what happened in Cheve.

Her blood-red eyes went wide at that, "Six?!"

He nodded. "You technically have another older sister but...unfortunately you're forbidden from meeting with her just like the rest of us are."

A wave of disappointment washed over her at that. "Oh..." She drifted off.

"But don't worry- I won't let this solitude last forever Little Princess." He murmured before bending down to place a soft kiss upon her forehead. "I promise." He told her this before leaving her yet again to return to Castle Krakenburg.

*A few days later.*

"Father," The twelve-year-old began as he bowed low before the mighty stature of the king of Nohr. "we've returned." He looked across and met the gazes of Camilla and Leo whose positions mirrored his own.

The man who was sat in his throne merely grunted at his eldest son as he rested his head on hid hand, looking as if he'd rather be anywhere else. On either side of him stood Iago and Gunter. "How is the child fairing?"

Xander hesitated before responding. "She's...she's doing okay but she's still struggling to come out of her shell. She won't leave her room nor will she talk to anyone and she didn't take too kindly to Camilla or Leo."

"Heh, that's an understatement." Leo muttered under his breath.

"Leo!" Both Xander and Camilla hissed.

Garon held up a hand then. "If your younger brother has something to say then let him speak."

Dread filled the two eldest siblings- their father was always fuming whenever he received a report about how little progress was being made with Corrin. Xander in particular didn't understand it- he took her in after she went through a serious trauma; did he really expect her to just adapt to her new life this quickly?! But he bit his tongue- if he put up more resistance against allowing Leo to speak his mind then their father might jump to conclusions and punish Corrin even worse than he did last time.

For it had been his command that if she caused any trouble then Gunter had permission to lock her in her room for as long as it took for her to behave but all that had succeeded in doing was turning Corrin into even more of a shrinking violet than she'd already been beforehand. When Xander had returned to her side a week later, he found her sitting in a corner of her room shaking and as soon as she saw him, she wrapped her arms around him and refused to let go for a whole hour. It seemed as if she was only comfortable around him and he tried to convince his father to allow him to remain at the fortress until she was more comfortable but he wouldn't let him! He then recommended allowing her to meet Camilla and Leo sooner rather than later since he figured they could help her come out of her shell but obviously that didn't work either and now...

"She wouldn't even speak to us! She just cowered away from us and would only talk to Xander." Leo spat.

"Is that so?" Garon commented with barely controlled rage. "In that case, Gunter!"

"Yes Milord?" He responded as he bowed low before his lord.

"Take this with you to the Northern Fortress-" The king handed the guard a long piece of leather. "-You must teach Corrin how to behave the hard way it seems."

Camilla inhaled sharply and Leo looked dumbfounded whilst Xander leaped forward in desperation- his eyes pleading with his father to see sense. "Y-you can't! Father...she's only five-years-old please don't- don't make Gunter do this it won't help her, it'll just make her more afraid."

"Like I'm concerned for her feelings, she is a Nohrian royal and as such, she has to learn to act like one and Nohrian royals don't cower." A twisted smile crossed his face then. "Of course...if you don't want Gunter to take on this burden then maybe it should fall to you given how much she trusts you?"

A gasp escaped Xander's lips- his eyes widened and he gritted his teeth- he couldn't- wouldn't- hurt Corrin in that way! He wouldn't hurt any of his siblings in that way especially one who had already been through so much recently.

Before he could respond Gunter spoke up, "Milord, if I may, I will take on this mantle, it is of no concern to me what should happen to her either."

Garon contemplated for a moment before nodding his agreement. "Very well- make haste."

It was clear that he was done with them all and so Gunter began to leave the hall but Xander was right on his heels and he placed a hand on the man's arm- pulling him back as Camilla and Leo followed close behind him. "Gunter please...I'm begging you, don't do this to her!" It felt so...unseemly for him- the high prince of Nohr- to be begging but he couldn't help it- whenever he pictured her small face, bright eyes and beaming smile- he wanted to do anything to protect it- protect her- his Little Princess! He didn't entirely understand why he was so passionate about doing anything to achieve that goal but achieve it he would...no matter the cost.

Gunter met the young prince's eyes and just stared for a few moments in silence, a deep scowl set upon his features but his expression unreadable. Eventually he sighed deeply and closed his eyes before turning his back on the three royals. "I shall see what I can do but I have my orders directly from the king- they aren't just ones I can ignore but...it is my duty to consider your stance on this matter as well, Lord Xander." After that he walked away without looking back.

After what seemed like an eternity in silence, Leo hesitantly spoke up. "Camilla...Xander I-I didn't mean for this to happen. I'm so sorry!" His face was as white as a sheet and his eyes had tears in them. "You tried to warn me but I didn't listen and now she's gonna get hurt!"

Camilla bent down and scooped the young boy up into her arms. "Hush now, this is not your fault- I have a feeling Father would've given this order no matter what so don't blame yourself and have faith in Gunter." She smiled reassuringly at him as she stroked his hair.

A sniffle escaped from his lips but he nodded and rubbed his nose. "O-okay."

Camilla looked at Xander and Xander met her gaze in turn and despite her words of comfort for Leo- it was clear that she said them as much for his benefit as well as for that of their young brother's.

"You're right Camilla...all we can do it wait and see." The resigned Prince spoke allowed before escorting his siblings to their rooms and then leaving them so he could train long into the night.

Upon Gunter's arrival at the room that the Hoshidan, no, Nohrian- he corrected himself- princess currently occupied, he closed his eyes and tried to prepare himself for carrying out his task.

All he was doing now was to benefit him in the long run- not the child nor the king- him. He had to keep that at the forefront of his mind no matter how gruesome or terrible his orders became...it was all he could do to get what he'd been seeking for oh so long.

Eventually, he opened her door as quietly as possible and looked inside. He found her in a huddle next to her bed, her arms wrapped around her knees. She was so small and frail wearing a pure white night-gown with her hair hanging loosely around her shoulders. Upon hearing her door creak open, she looked up at him and met his gaze with wide tear-stained eyes, her lips slightly parted with her surprise.

He fled from her line of sight almost as quickly as he'd entered it to begin with. His eyes closing yet again, he saw her face overlap with that of another young child and he knew right there and then that he just couldn't go through with his orders- it was bad enough when he had to lock her in her room as a punishment last time, let alone going through with something like this.

..."Gunter please...I'm begging you, don't do this to her!"...

He didn't want to! But what could he do?!

He was about to let out a frustrated groan when all of sudden, he had an idea...

...

... ...

... ... ...

After the stranger left, Corrin returned to her previous position, her head buried against her knees as her thoughts were overwhelmed with dark images of two figures one of which collapsing in front of her as the other stood high and mighty above him- glaring at him with menace.

Just then she heard something coming towards her and she looked up to see a round object approaching her. She looked around confused until she spotted that strange man at her doorway again- his eyes now were warm and gentle but also weary and sad. She pouted and cocked her head to one side as she looked between him and the ball before she hesitantly made a move towards it.

Gripping it between her hands, she inspected it for a moment before throwing it back to him.

"Heh." The man smiled at her responsive attitude to the game and then passed it back to her.

She giggled at that- actually giggled- as she returned his throw with another one of her own.

This went on for some time with the only sounds being their skin against leather whenever the captured the ball and the sounds of their laughter. Eventually, Gunter decided to see if he could get her to speak. "My name is Gunter, what's yours?" Of course he already knew but he wanted to test the waters before anything else.

A look of suspicion crossed her face but she still told him. "C-Corrin."

"That's a lovely name and how old are you?"

"F-five."

He beamed. "Excellent."

She smiled.

"So...you don't have to answer me but if you can then will you tell me why you don't want to speak with anyone other than Xander?"

She was silent for so long that he thought she wouldn't respond but she was still playing catch with him and so he kept on playing in silence- giving her time to decide what she wanted to do or say from here on out.

"I-" She began. "I have memories of Xandy. I don't recall anyone else, I don't remember this place nor do I know much about myself or why I can't leave here. But I remember figures...and voices- words of other people besides Xandy and yet..." She trailed off.

"None of them belong to anyone here."

She shook her head to confirm his observation.

Gunter frowned for a moment before replying. "But that doesn't mean you have to be afraid of the people here, they're here to look after you."

With wide eyes, her hands froze around the ball. "Th-they are?!"

He nodded.

"I feel cruel now." She admitted, rather embarrassed.

He stood up and walked towards her, stretching a hand out towards her. "You don't have to be, I know what it's like to lose faith in the people around you but...now you know that they won't hurt you, will you make an effort to communicate with them? I'll help you and I'm sure Xandy will if you ask him nicely." It felt odd referring to his prince as 'Xandy' but he wanted to feel more at ease.

After contemplating for a few moments, she nodded her head and hand in hand they went on to begin making an impression around the Northern Fortress.

A few short weeks later, life had changed a lot for the 'Nohrian' princess.

Thanks in large part to both Xandy and Gunter, she was now a lot more comfortable within her new home. Whilst there was still a long way to go (she still tried to push the boundaries when it came to getting more freedom), she now felt as if she could function relatively okay even when Xandy left her all alone.

She got to know two maid, Flora and Felicia fairly well and Gunter was now a permanent resident of the fortress unless called away for business by her father.

She'd even gotten to meet one of her siblings again, when Xandy was particularly busy, Camilla came to keep her company in his stead and she found that just like Xandy, her big sis was more than willing to play with her during the day and comfort her at night when her bad dreams and loneliness got to her the most.

Camilla was a great person to have a laugh with and she would always braid her hair or allow her to try on pretty new dresses but it was mainly her smile that made Corrin that happiest- it was so warm and genuine.

The people occupying the Northern Fortress were quickly learning that their new 'master' was a little fire cracker; full with fire, passion and energy- a spark of life always gleaming in her eyes and a burning curiosity. Instead of spending all her time in her room, it was now virtually impossible to know where she was at any given time. Whilst she had her usual haunts like the library or the music room, she'd been known to hide in the laundry baskets for a laugh or raid the art room for paints so she could create pieces of *ahem* 'fine art'. She wasn't naughty nor did she cause them much trouble or extra work but it was still such a contrast to how she was before Gunter convinced her to come out of her shell that it caught them a bit off-guard from time to time how outgoing of a person she really was.

Although, there was still one person she hadn't managed to warm up to yet- her younger brother Leo was doing his best to avoid her. Whenever his siblings visited he'd also tag along but despite that, Corrin would never see him which would upset her deeply. Had she truly upset him that much the first time they'd met?

She was contemplating that fact as she made her way towards the library. She'd just been with Camilla and Xander but they'd been called away for some reason or another and so she'd decided to keep herself amused with a good book. A small sigh left her mouth as she approached but when she looked inside, she realised the library wasn't empty.

At a table near to the door sat a young, blonde-haired boy and a single maid keeping a close eye on him as he read. Despite being younger than herself, he had a stack of huge tomes clogging up his table, his legs swinging as he ran his fingers under the text, mouthing the words. She squinted to see what the books were about and she recognised a magic symbol on the spine and realised that for one reason or another, her younger brother was dedicating his time to magic research.

She slowly crept up behind him. "Those look complicated."

Leo jumped out of his skin when he heard her voice behind him and he turned to face her with an annoyed expression. "Hardly!" He muttered abruptly which caused a flash of hurt to shoot across her features and so he softened his tone slightly. "These are the magic tomes for children, I've been studying them for a while by this point."

"Wow...no one would believe you're younger than me."

"Only by a year!" He countered. "-And not even that technically."

"Heh, fair point."

A brief silence followed and so the boy turned back to the book in his lap. "May I join you?" Corrin asked.

He looked back to her dumbfounded, "Of course, it's more your library than mine since the Castle has one but this one suffices as well."

She beamed at being allowed to join him and went to grab one of the fairy-tale books she been recently getting into- with romance and princes and all that good stuff- she realised that it made her look like an unsophisticated half-wit reading a storybook whilst her younger brother was studying complicated magic tomes but she was just so happy to be able to bond with him over something that she really didn't care.

As she took her seat next to him, both of them read for a while in silence, their legs now swinging backwards and forwards in unison. "Thank you." Corrin whispered to him.

Leo didn't acknowledge what she'd said out loud but he did look across at his elder sister, observing her as she read for a bit before smiling and returning to his own book which he read whilst continuing to glance over at her for the rest of the afternoon.

So...I hope you enjoyed this! Thank you for all of your continued support even during my long absence from this story, I really do appreciate it and every single one of you lovely readers! =) Until next time. xXx