War is fought on many fronts and Corrin finds herself fighting on all of them. Inexperienced and out of her league, she struggles just to keep herself and her cause alive. A quest for peace is not so simple when pacifism has no place on the battlefield and the enemy can't be seen.

Corrin had always known that she was not Nohrian. She couldn't say how she'd known; only that she did. She'd spent much of her childhood in front of mirrors, staring. The face that stared back was never Nohrian, never like them. She dreamed of having blonde hair or warm violet eyes; dreamed of being like them, being one of them. When she said as much to her them, they tried to brush it off and to reinforce the lie.

"It's your differences that make you so cute," Camilla had told her, immediately pulling her into a bone-crushing hug. But Camilla's eyes told a different story. Leo had shrugged before turning back to his book, eyes hidden, hoping she'd forget. Elise only asked to braid Corrin's hair again sighing, "I wish I had hair as curly as yours."

Even Xander hid his concern, but she knew better. Of all of them, she knew Xander best and could see right through his emotionless façade. As the years went on and he truly embraced his role as crown prince of Nohr, it became nearly impossible to read him. He was constantly stoic, always appearing regal and stern, no matter the circumstance. But on that day he'd still been young, not having yet mastered his expressionless mask.

"Xander, am I truly Nohrian?" she'd asked "I don't look like any of you and I-"

He'd hugged her then, but not like Camilla, and said nothing, leaving her to question why they persisted in the falsehood.

For years she continued to lie to herself. As she grew older it only became more difficult to believe; too many aspects of her life didn't make sense. Soon, most of her time with them was spent pestering them with incessant questions. Their answers were always the same. It was like they'd practiced.

"Why can't I leave?"

"The outside is too dangerous. Father wants to keep you safe."

"But what's so dangerous about it?"

"Those that killed your family want you dead as well."

"But why?"

"We don't know. That's why you're here, to keep you safe until we do."

"Well why am I here then? Why not somewhere else?"

"Your family was close with ours. Father has taken it upon himself to ensure your safety."

"If the king is so concerned with my safety, then why doesn't he visit?"

"Being the king keeps him busy. Surely, you realize that."

They claimed she hailed from an old noble house, one that dated back to the time of the Dusk dragon. But no matter the hours she spent scouring the portraits they gave her of her supposed mother and father, she found no similarities in them, only a sense of unease and confusion. As the years passed, she believed them less and less.

The only answers she got were from her dreams. They had begun the week after she turned eighteen. Most of the time, she woke up with no memory of them, only vague sensations of hot or cold, light or dark. But she never forgot the voices; foreign voices calling her sister.

Learning she was Hoshidian came as such a relief. Maybe not at first, but it meant she came from somewhere, belonged somewhere. She only knew of Hoshido what little she could glean from the books she read. The Nohrians never spoke of it. But she quickly learned that Hoshido was the enemy. It wasn't that hard to figure out. After all, Garon had wasted no time in tasking her with the execution of two Hoshidian spies.

They'd called her naïve for refusing to kill them. Maybe she was naïve. It wasn't like she'd been kept isolated in a fortress for all of her childhood with no contact from the outside world, right? She'd had her books and she'd had the royal siblings but only when their schedules allowed. They visited less and less as the years went by. She spent the most time with Elise but Elise has just turned fourteen. It had only been a matter of time before she too was called away to serve her country, leaving Corrin alone in the fortress. Most of the servants acted as if she didn't exist. Only Jakob, Felicia, Flora, and old Gunter paid any attention to her.

It was different in Hoshido. The Hoshidians had been kind to her. Immediately, they treated her like family. Their bond had formed quickly and naturally. They were nothing like the Nohrians. These were a bright and happy people in a bright and happy land. The sun shone every day in Hoshido, the ground was green and fertile, and there always seemed to be a smile on everyone's face. After the first few days, even Takumi began to smile around her.

On her second day in Hoshido, Ryoma had insisted upon an official family picnic and they'd sat in the palace garden under the warm sun, gods she loved the sun, and eaten together among the blooming flowers. They'd told her stories of the childhood she'd missed, Ryoma doing most of the telling, and laughed together.

She couldn't recall the last time she'd been with all four of the Nohrians at the same time. Rarely did the royal siblings visit her together, and on the rare occasions that they did, Xander was always too preoccupied with his duties as crown prince. Or Camilla was dealing with a moody wyvern. Or they were all dealing with a moody Leo.

In fact, the only time she could remember being with them all, excluding the day she left the Northern Fortress, had been on her fourteenth birthday, six years ago. Elise had insisted they all play hide and seek. She'd designated Xander the seeker, "he's the oldest so he gets the boring part," and they'd all run off as he began to count. He found her, Leo, and Camilla within the first ten minutes and they spent the rest of the day looking for Elise. But then they'd left and she was alone again.

Hoshido was a dream come true; she was never alone. Anytime she wanted to be with her siblings, all she had to do was leave her room. She spent every moment she could with her them and they never seemed to tire of her.

And she finally had a mother. Queen Mikoto was everything a girl could want in a mother she'd never met; strong, beautiful, and wise beyond her years. Though she'd been in Hoshido for a month, she saw Mikoto least of all. The tensions with Nohr kept the queen busy and she often retired to her chambers early.

"Maintaining the barrier leaves her very drained," Hinoka had told her. Still, Mikoto made time for Corrin and they had tea once a day. In her mother's presence, Corrin felt truly at peace. Mikoto asked all the questions, wanting to know all about her daughter's life until that very moment. They talked about everything from her favorite books to her adventures with the Nohrians. Corrin recounted stories of their escapades without much prompting. Both she and her mother had practically been in tears when she recounted the time Leo had convinced her that the fortress was haunted and she'd salted Gunter, believing him to be a ghost. One day, Mikoto had asked "Do you miss them?"

"Everyday," she'd said, "But I'm used to missing them."

When Mikoto had requested to officially announce Corrin's presence to Hoshido, Corrin had agreed in an instant.

"I would like nothing more," she'd beamed. She loved being with her mother, but a lifetime without her made Corrin more determined to make every moment count. She never asked any of the burning questions she had, always believing there'd be time later. But Mikoto was dead now and Corrin was motherless again.

Mikoto's body wasn't even cold before the reports came in of a Nohrian incursion. With the queen dead, the barrier had vanished. Garon was nothing if not opportunistic.

Camilla had spotted her almost immediately and it all went to hell from there.

Now, standing between the assembled armies of Hoshido and Nohr, Corrin had never felt more alone. She closed her eyes, picturing Ryoma's outstretched hand and Xander's wary expression. The Nohrians had kept her prisoner and fed her a falsehood of a family murdered by unknown assailants when it had been their own father that had done the killing. But she could not deny that she loved them. It had been love grown in a lie yet it was love all the same. But how could she return to Nohr after the murder of her mother and how could they expect her to? After Garon had tried to kill her too? After they had lied to her for years on end? Knowing the atrocities that a Nohrian conquest of Hoshido would bring?

In that moment, the impulse to take Ryoma's hand was overwhelming. Hoshido was a veritable paradise, and her siblings loved her so ardently and openly. But life in Hoshido was a fantasy. One that was shattered the moment Mikoto died in her arms. Hoshido deserved her support, but Corrin could never fully give it to them. Her heart would always be guilty and torn.

"I won't side with either of you!" she said at last, eyes flying open. Both elder brothers stared at her, unbelieving.

"I could never betray Nohr," she announced, "Xander, Elise, Camilla, Leo, you cared for me and-"

And the expression on Elise's face was heartbreaking so Corrin could no longer look at them.

"You loved me even when it was in direction opposition of your father but-"

"Little princess-" Xander interrupted, only to be ignored by Corrin as she continued, "I cannot swear fidelity to a country that has a tyrant on the throne."

Corrin turned to Ryoma, took his hand in her own and said, "I am so grateful for the month we spent together but I can't betray those that I have come to love."

Ryoma's hand was suddenly empty, hanging loosely at by his side. Xander too, had dropped his hand. They just stared at her. She couldn't look at Xander, couldn't bear to see his cold and emotionless eyes.

Xander broke the silence saying, "Corrin, what are you-"

"-going to do?" Ryoma finished. It seemed that the whole battlefield had turned its attention to her. The fighting around them had ceased. So Corrin did the only thing she could do. The thing she should have done years ago when the streets of Cheve turned red with her father's blood.

She ran.

"Damn it all! Spread word among the troops. Corrin has turned traitor!" Xander yelled as she sprinted away. Ryoma followed suit, shouting similar commands to his army. As the battle broke out again in full force, no one noticed Jakob sneaking away. Or Azura following after him.

A/N: And off we go! This story has been bouncing around in my head for months and I finally worked up the courage to type it all out and post it! Though I've been consuming fanfiction for years, this is my first attempt at contributing to the community. I hope you all will enjoy the journey with me!