"Xander and I met about seven years before the war started, when we were on separate border patrols," Hinoka explained as she settled into a chair back in Leo's tent, her cloak hung on the back of it. "Both sides got pulled into handling a sudden Faceless attack, and we met on the battlefield that way – he came up from behind and startled me, so I jerked my naginata back on reflex." A small laugh laced with nostalgia left her. "It took him shouting and cursing about how I broke his nose to realize I had hit a person, not another monster."

Leo gave a dumb nod as he set about making tea, careful not to make a mess in his state. After the sheer shock of the revelation had worn off, the prince had insisted the woman had come with him to his tent to further explain things. The notion that his brother had kept a lover secret for the last few years of his life wasn't so shocking to Leo, but Xander having taken a Hoshidan princess as said lover?!

Hells, that made Odin's favorite tale about a dracolitch the size of a mountain seem tame!

Frankly, Leo was amazed with himself for not having shouted out for the entire camp to hear when he had fully recognized Hinoka when she stood before him, but the urge had been there. A small part of his brain felt as if it had been hit by a point blank Mjolnir and was refusing to work, so the rest of his rationale was scrambling to make up for it.

When the tea water had been set to heat over a small flame, Leo sat across from Hinoka and offered her a bowl of breads and cheeses that had been left over from dinner. The woman seemed to dither for a moment before picking up a slice of both, chewing on them slowly as she waited for Leo to regain his wayward thoughts.

It took a moment more of Leo staring at her for the first question to leave him. "... Is Hoshdio aware you're here?"

Perhaps not the question to get him the most answers, but the one that sprang to the forefront of his mind as the most vital. A smaller part of his brain countered that it wasn't likely Hoshido would keep a spy in what amounted to the middle of nowhere in Nohr.

That part of his brain was echoed by the shake of Hinoka's head, her frown mirrored in her copper eyes. "No – I purposely made it look like I had fallen from my pegasus during a fight with … less than happy garou, and my body washed downstream," her voice carried the same blunt tone as her son's, Leo noted. "As … as far as my brothers and sisters know, I died that day on Kaen Peak."

"But that clearly isn't the case, since you are not only telling me this, but your son is quite clearly hale and healthy," Leo responded, finding the pragmatic course a small comfort in spite of his confliction. If Hoshido believed the woman dead, then that was that.

"A younger garou had attacked me and killed my pegasus when she reared to try and stomp on him," Hinoka explained, her eyes shifting to stare at her hands instead of Leo. "I rolled off and got up a few feet away, and apparently it was far enough away to keep the smell of fresh blood from masking the scent of pregnancy."

"That was enough to stop a furious garou?"

Hinoka offered him a wan smile. "They love pups more than anything else; human or no, he refused to strike me down when I had a child in my belly. If anything, it seemed to anger him that Hoshido had me on the battlefield … until he realized I hadn't known it myself before he spoke of it."

"But you suspected it, didn't you," Leo prodded as he waved his hand, a hex to keep eavesdroppers at bay flowing from his fingers. He hadn't wanted too many rumors to begin with Siegbert's appearance, and he'd be damned if they started from his carelessness when speaking to Hinoka.

"... A small part of me did, yes," she responded with a tired sigh, taking the moment to pull off her gloves. A wedding band glinted on her ring finger when her hands were exposed, and she let her gaze soften as she looked at it. Leo glanced down as well, curious – it was a simple band with a small ruby set into the center of it, easily hidden beneath gloves if needed. Hinoka seemed to have noticed his look, for she shifted her hand closer to him to allow a better glance. "I told Xander he didn't have to bother, but Elise insisted when she saw we hadn't bought rings..."

Leo let a small snort leave him – that sounded like Elise. "He probably wanted to keep it as quiet as possible, but not even he could fully withstand Elise's prodding at times," he admitted, cautiously taking a hold of Hinoka's hand to examine the ring closer. Then, he frowned. "... Xander was wearing his when he died; he had tied it to a ribbon and wore it across his wrist. A small enough change that when Camilla and I found it when helping prepare the body for the funeral, she thought it was his mother's."

Hinoka recoiled in his touch as if Leo had stabbed her, and he dropped her hand in a rush to look at her face. She had turned away from him, and the man slapped himself mentally – that had been crass. "... I'm sorry." He uttered, russet eyes locking onto the wooden table in shame. Of all the things for him to have said, it was that; her husband had died when she couldn't be there at his side to support him. His words, meant as a simple observation, were clearly just a cruel reminder of what the war had cost her and her unborn child.

And as if that hadn't been torturous enough for her, Leo wagered, Xander's death had been due in part to her own family. It was a chance Hinoka had to have been aware of, even back with the elopement.

Yet, they had exchanged vows all the same, with Elise as an unintentional witness.

That thought was another layer of pain and guilt Leo felt twist into his gut as he stole a glance at Hinoka; the woman hadn't moved much beyond shifting to press her lips against the wedding band, as if seeking solace from her husband through the action. Hinoka hadn't even been aware of Elise's death from the sound of it, not until he had told her in the forest; Leo couldn't bring himself to tell her the exact details of what had befallen his little sister.

Silence filled the tent until Leo heard the tea water perk, and got up to tend to it. "I … don't have much variation on tea flavors, sadly," He mumbled in an attempt to break the silence he had brought down with his unfiltered words.

It seemed to work enough to stir Hinoka back to the living world, her copper eyes regaining some sort of light to them. "That .. that's fine – Takumi was always the one in the family who had the most knowledge on teas. As long as it was warm, I was content." Her voice was soft, and if there had been any sort of ambiance from the outside world, Leo was certain he would have missed it.

"... Can I ask what you and Xander spoke of?" he asked as he poured a small cup full of tea for his guest. "Back when the two of you met, before the war?"

Hinoka was quiet for a moment as she took the tea from him, a soft tremble to her hands as a 'thank you' slipped from her lips. Leo let the silence linger as he seated himself with his own tea, half afraid the woman would flee into the night if he pressed too hard. He watched her take a drink, steadying her nerves before she drew a breath.

"We … didn't open up right away at first – understandably, as he was a Nohrian and I was Hoshidan," she began. "Granted, I was the more vocal about that between the two of us … and yet I didn't even recognize him as the crown prince." A laugh slipped out at that, bitter. "Though in my defense, he wasn't wearing a circlet right then, and hadn't picked up Siegfried quite yet. And I didn't bother to ask – I was … angry. Angry at Nohr, at my stepmother, at not having been able to save Corrin ..." Hinoka sighed, eyes looking down at the cup in between her hands. "... He didn't seem to mind though, or if he did, was able to work past it enough to try and calm me down."

Leo gave a nod as he drank his tea. That sounded like something Xander would have done; after all, the man had more or less taken on the role of 'father' to his siblings around the time Elise had turned seven.

"After that, we … mostly just talked about our homelands," Hinoka's voice brought him back to the present, and he looked to her. "Mostly about the festivals, and how the people made a living when the nations weren't consistently at one another's throats. It took a year or so before I would actually listen, but still …" A nostalgic smile came across her face. "It was so calming and simple, I loved it after a while. No need to worry about politics, or battle, or even what we thought of it all. A strange way to start a friendship, but … I didn't want to lose it."

"... The fact that you were both royalty had to come up eventually," Leo murmured, russet eyes seeking Hinoka's gaze. She met it for a moment, long enough for him to see sorrow.

"It took until I saw him wielding Siegfried in battle for the truth to come out," the admittance was quiet, and her hands tightened on her cup of tea before she took another drink. "When we met up to talk after that, we had our first 'proper' argument as opposed to our silly squabbles over food and holidays. I thought it would have been the last time I saw him outside of the 'enemy's' side of the battlefield, but when I went to the small grotto in the canyon where we would talk, he was there."

"My brother was every bit as scared of losing the friendship as you were, I'm certain," Leo admitted, looking at his now-empty teacup. Hinoka gave a small chuckle.

"He was – we both gave our apologies … and began to talk about our families." Copper eyes saddened, and she offered Leo a tired smile. "That includes … the situation you were all caught in. I almost didn't believe it at first, but … but the look in Xander's eyes was confirmation enough." She took note of the grimace on Leo's face before her eyes returned to her hands. "I couldn't do anything else but hold him for a bit and grieve for it all. And … it was bad enough that I didn't think to ask about Corrin for years."

Leo's grimace tightened – he didn't wish to dwell on the matter of the Nohrian court in his childhood. It had drastically improved in the time since then, largely due in part to Camilla's imposing build and her husband's … uncannily shrewd way of handling the court and keeping her spirits up. A part of him wanted to question how Odin knew so much about handling a noble court, but Leo wagered it would only give him a headache in the long run.

A silence drifted between the two of them, neither fully certain how to break it. When Leo turned his gaze to Hinoka again, he thought about what he had known of her from before the war.

Nothing … truly stuck out.

There had been very few reports of her in battle before the war had formally broken out, and even during the war proper, Leo had only really heard of her after she had 'died' in a fight unconnected to Nohr's army. That perplexed him; she had shown skill on the battlefield as a warrior that night in Cheve, and one didn't last long in the Nohrian wilds with a garou pack if they were unskilled. Hells, the fact that she had managed to even fight while pregnant …

At that, he coughed weakly to break the silence. "... How far along were you when my brother entrusted you to the garou pack?"

To his relief, Hinoka didn't seem upset. "I couldn't have been much further along than a month and a half, two months at most; it's how much time had passed since Xander and I ..." a blush stole across her cheeks as she hastily finished her tea. Leo flushed as well and nodded, not wanting to dwell on his brother's personal affairs in that much detail. "He had shooed Elise off after she dogged us into exchanging rings, with Xander afraid that the king would notice her absence. The two of us meandered about the calmer district of the city for a while before deciding to retire for the night."

"And parted ways in the morning, then."

"Yes … although if I'm being honest, I didn't want to." Hinoka's voice seemed even sadder at that, the woman unable to meet Leo's gaze. "I … I wanted him to stop fighting, to see if there was a way to resolve things peacefully. I knew it was a selfish, naive plea … but I didn't want to my husband to die." her voice cracked at the end, and her grip on the teacup tightened Leo was afraid it'd shatter. "I … I asked him again when we were talking to the garou pack, I begged for him to stop fighting. But … he just held me as tight as he could in his armor and apologized."

Leo looked aside, a dagger lodged in his ribs and fury writhing in his stomach. The more he heard, the more he wanted to find whatever god had decided his brother's lot in life and reduce them to the tiniest cinders. Such a choice had quite likely been enough to break Xander's heart entirely, even if the news of a child had brought him any hope; duty called him away despite whatever his heart might have wanted, forcing a wall between the couple no matter what they had struggled to maintain.

Leo didn't doubt in the slightest Xander knew this, and knew that he wouldn't live to see the birth of his child.

It would have killed him every bit as much as Elise's death.

The sound of muffled sobs made him return to the present, a trace of guilt smothering the fury. All of the news was digging into wounds he had been able to heal to varying degrees, but he hadn't fully registered how raw they might have been for Hinoka. From the way she had buried her face in her hands, the pain was still very close to the surface, and Leo could understand why.

But he didn't know how to offer any comfort.

Camilla would have swept the woman up in a large hug, quite likely in tears herself, and done her best to soothe the pain away and also take the woman and her son back to Windmire. Leo wasn't his sister, however, and all he could manage was to reach out a hand and place it on Hinoka's shoulder as she fought to regain control. He had no words to comfort her grief, only quiet solidarity as his thoughts continued to roll about in his brain.

He didn't want to dare asking more questions about her relationship with Xander, even though so many more tumbled in his mind; when had she realized her feelings were romantic? Had she ever given any indication of her love life to the late Queen Mikoto, whom her elder brother had always held up as a pillar of integrity and peace? Why had she chosen the name she did for their son?

So many things he wanted to know and understand, but all of them things he felt were not his right to know.

Instead, Leo gave Hinoka's shoulder a squeeze. "... Do you really wish to remain here?"

A long pause followed, making him worry he had overstepped a boundary. He had opened his mouth to retract that question when Hinoka drew in a breath that shook. "... Yes."

The simple statement made Leo blink, and he remained silent as Hinoka made eye contact once again. "It's not out of offense to you, or your sister – it's my own way of making up for what I failed to do back then … and to keep Hoshido from starting another war over my selfish choice."

Leo felt a lead bar sink into his stomach. "You've taken this as a personal exile."

"Exactly," Hinoka admitted, her voice stern. "By Hoshidan law, my mere friendship with Xander was high treason. Marrying him and bearing him a son?" An empty smile crossed her face. "Even Ryoma would have faced long odds trying to keep me from execution; Siegbert would have been given to you and your sister, being the closest relatives to his father, but I wouldn't live to see his first birthday."

"And do you really mean to keep your son with you in this exile?" the question had come out sharper than Leo had intended, but he didn't retract his words.

"No – it's customary with the garou for the pups to leave after a certain age and make their own lives," Hinoka let a chuckle slip loose at that. "Technically, he's now old enough to do so if he wanted to. I haven't brought it up with him yet, but I wouldn't be surprised if he struck out for his own destination in life soon." Another smile crossed her face after that, a genuine one. "He's taken a shine to one of the black pegasi that graze around here in the summer – I taught him what I could about riding, and he's a natural at it."

Leo could hear the pride in her voice, and it wrung out a tired smile of his own. "Xander would say the same thing, I don't doubt." He admitted. "... then again, he'd be proud of the boy no matter what – I have no doubt on that."

Hinoka's eyes softened at that, nostalgia and longing flickering through her eyes. "Neither do I."

Silence fell again, this one a trace more comfortable than the others. Leo reveled in it for a few moments before he let out a sigh. "... You should probably return to your home, then," he muttered, to which Hinoka gave a nod and stood up. Leo followed her example, pickign up the empty teacups and setting them aside. "I'll walk you to the forest's edge, then; just to make certain nothing happens."

There was an absent nod from Hinoka as she pulled her cloak back over her shoulders and lifted the hood over her face again. Leo bit his lip as he did the same, wondering how best to phrase his next statement. "... I'll have to tell Camilla about this, you know. About Siegbert – it would be disastrous if she only found out the boy lived because she encountered him on a military inspection one day."

"I'm not surprised," Hinoka admitted, her voice sounding years older than she looked. "... All I ask is that if she has any grief with the situation, have her take it out on me. Siegbert has no role in his father's fate."

"Honestly, I think the most Siegbert would have to fear from his Aunt Camilla is incessant doting," Leo drawled as he opened the tent flap for Hinoka to exit. "She's absolutely nauseating with her daughters at times, I'll say that much." The comment earned him a quiet laugh, and a corner of his mouth twitched upwards for a half smile as he followed his sister-in-law through the camp. A glance to the horizon showed that the moon hung low in the sky, making him exhale heavily through his nose; the next morning was going to be rough …

No more words were spoken as they approached the trees, and Leo came to a halt at the forest's edge. Hinoka stopped a few paces ahead of him, half hidden by the gloom. "You'll be fine from here, I assume?" He gestured at the woods.

"Mm – only the owls are awake at this time of night, and I smell enough like the garou that they won't bother me." She nodded, and then let out a sigh as she lowered the hood and looked at Leo. "... This will likely be the only time we speak like this. It's not out of offense to you or your sister, but …" Hinoka averted her gaze. "... but if my family were to somehow get word of my survival, I don't want them to pressure you for my whereabouts, or even for them to think you had any contact with me."

"And if Camilla and I were to make frequent trips out here … that'd raise suspicion." Leo gave an understanding nod. "Fair enough – Camilla will still want to see you at least once, I suspect, but I'll explain your reasoning for your solitude."

"... Thank you, Leo." Hinoka's voice was relieved when she spoke, her eyes returning to Leo's. "I … know it's not an ideal situation, but it's the one I can see working best."

"For that, I respect you," Leo nodded once again, and a soft smile crossed his face; concern for others, even in the face of all this ... "And … I think I understand why my brother loved you so dearly." He allowed himself to smile more at the way Hinoka looked away in a rush, flustered, before he gave a bow from the waist. "But I've kept you long enough; we should both be abed by now."

A smile crossed Hinoka's face, and she returned the bow with one of her own. "Mm – you in particular have a long day tomorrow, from the sound of it. I wish you the best of luck in your task, and safe travels back to your home."

"Hah, thank you … sister."

When Leo looked up, he was greeted with a shocked look, even as a smile spread across the woman's face. She didn't seem to have any words left to say, holding herself back from approaching Leo and holding him – he wagered that she was afraid she wouldn't want to leave if she did so. To save her from the struggle, he offered her a smile of his own as he turned around and headed back into camp. When he looked over his shoulder, Hinoka had disappeared as suddenly as she had appeared, and Leo was only mildly surprised at the twinge of pain it caused him.

Perhaps this was the safest way … but it wasn't the kindest.

Over the next few days, the Nohrian forces scoured the woods in search of the stolen goods they had originally been sent to find. There weren't too many caches, and the troop was ready to return to Windmire by the end of the fourth day. Leo dutifully cataloged everything that they had recovered, and set about preparing for the two week's worth of riding that had to be done to return home.

The garou had kept to themselves, mostly settled on the edges of the woods to watch the human soldiers at their work. Some of the younger pack members would approach with food or water, and some would lead them to the caches that they had found in pursuit of slippery, underground prey, but for the most part opted to observe.

Leo didn't catch a glimpse of either Siegbert or his mother the entire time.

So it was to his great surprise (and well-contained delight) that Leo found himself looking at his nephew the morning they were set to ride to the capitol.

Siegbert himself seemed a touch wary as he stood there with a black pegasus, holding onto a length of rope he had managed to work into a makeshift harness. A small group of bags rested on a blanket on his steed's back, and the teenager had a small pack slung over one shoulder, but that appeared to be all he possessed at the moment.

Garnet eyes darted around for a moment before Siegbert seemed willing to meet his uncle's gaze. "I ah … talked with Mother. About everything," he began, voice still as quiet as it had been during their first conversation. "When she explained it to me, she mentioned I could come with you if I wanted … but I'm not fully certain it'd be smart if I went directly to Windmire with you."

Leo folded his arms behind his back, wondering how best to respond as he made sure the two of them were alone. "You wouldn't be wrong," he admitted. "I would still have to break the news to your aunt, and it would be for the best if you weren't in the same room when I broke the news. I fear your ribs would … greatly protest how tight her hugs would be. Or how much dogpiling you'd be on the receiving end of from your cousins."

He was amused when a very undignified snort left Siegbert's mouth. "When you've been wrestling with garou as long as you can remember, that's nothing. … at least, I would assume it wouldn't be any worse than what I'm already used to."

"You would know your own limits better than I would, I will give you that much, but you have yet to meet your Aunt Camilla." Leo sighed and shook his head before making eye contact with Siegbert again. "But on a less … personal note, it'd be of little use – the only real unit in the military that trains pegasus riders is in Macarath, and that's between us and Windmire. Taking you to the capitol to only make you double back in the long run is … rather pointless and cruel to your friend here," he gestured at the pegasus.

"Her name's Homura," Siegbert shrugged. "Or at least, that's what I call her – sunlight hits her coat and mane just right and it looks like it's ablaze."

Leo smiled at that. "Your father often expressed similar logic about his naming choices," he admitted, pondering once again on what had prompted Hinoka to give her son his name. It wasn't exactly a common Nohrian name, so unless she had somehow gotten access to a Nohrian history tome – which Leo wasn't discounting – he was willing to wager the woman had gone with something similar to Siegfried to connect her son to his father, and that was as close as she could get without ripping open an unhealed wound.

Perhaps Camilla would be bold enough to ask.

Siegbert's eyes seemed to light up a bit, a shy smile on his mouth as he shifted his grip on the lead rope. "Really now?" He asked, clearly struggling to keep his excitement contained. At Leo's nod, the teenager bit his lower lip and looked away for a moment before he resumed speaking. "... Could you tell me about him some, if we get a chance?" He asked. "Mother spoke of him often, but she always seemed so sad ..."

"Your mother just seems to need more time to heal," Leo admitted, his eyes drifting to look at the forest. Siegbert followed his actions, and the prince let out a small sigh. "Not that I wager she'd admit it to anyone; from what little time I spent talking to her, she seemed as stubborn as a stone."

"Funny – she says the same about me," Siegbert chuckled. "I suppose it's a family trait, if that's the case."

Leo let a mock groan cross his lips. "Gods, that means you have it from both ends," he bemoaned, which earned him more chuckles. "Just … don't give the Dark Falcons too many headaches and I won't have to recommend you be put on latrine duty every other week." The chuckles turned into full out laughter, and Leo allowed himself a smile at the sound.

"... Camilla and I won't be allowed to be so openly affectionate with you once we leave this area, sadly," he explained, and was relieved to see a nod of understanding.

"Mm … Mother mentioned that too," Siegbert's garnet eyes looked back at Leo's russet ones, a determined light burning in the depths. "But … I'll manage; it'll be easier on everyone in the long run if we keep my heritage down low, after all. Besides, I'm not lying when I say my father died in the war between Nohr and Hoshido."

"By all technicality, it's a lie of omission, but it's not worth splitting hairs over." Leo shrugged. A glance over his shoulder later, and he could see soldiers beginning to tumble out of their tents. "And they're all getting up – you and Homura head over to where the rest of the mounts are stationed, and I'll inform the men that you'll be accompanying us to Macarath," he instructed, waiting until Siegbert had nodded before continuing, "and I'll tell Lazlow in private not to make a fuss over you. He'll understand." Another nod answered him, and Leo smiled. "Well, you're certainly an agreeable sort, aren't you? Now, get going."

"Right." Siegbert gave a nod and bowed, not once dropping Homura's lead rope even as he straightened up and offered Leo a shy smile. "And … thank you, uncle."

Leo waved the teenager off with a smile, even as he fought to keep his cheeks from turning too obviously pink in the morning light. When he looked again, Siegbert had begun to lead his pegasus away, hands gentle as he talked to the mare. It was nostalgic in a bittersweet way, but Leo could feel a warmth settle in his chest all the same.

He watched the two for a moment before he turned to face the forest fully, a wry smile on his face. He knew that Hinoka was somewhere within the depths of the woods, watching the skyline as her son began to make his own way in life beyond the shadows of a war that had ripped their family apart.

She would be worried, and for good reason; worried for her son's chances, of what road the boy might take, of what time would reveal as his features took more after his late father. There would be shadows and secrecy, and the odds of the family fully reuniting were slim, but Leo could feel a glimmer of hope and comfort in his heart again.

So with a small chuckle, he turned on his heel away from the forest and headed into camp, eyes darting to where Siegbert was introducing Homura to the other mounts. One of the draught horses seemed eager to chew on his flame red hair, causing the teen to turn and scold it even as a stablehand approached to diffuse the situation. He would be fine.

Of that, Leo had no doubt.

The prince smiled, and began to mentally plan how he would tell Camilla the news.

Tori's Notes: To the anon who brought up Anna in a review, I don't know if you were being serious or if you were trolling; I laughed either way.

This was sadly not a situation that could be resolved as neatly as the canon ending of Birthright would like; Hinoka knew she was caught between a rock and a hard place, and reconciles her indecisiveness with a self-imposed exile to a remote forest instead of her husband's family.

She seems like the type who would do that, at elast to me.

Either way, would you lot like to see more of this universe? I have a few ideas kicking around for one or two shots (as seen by the hints of Camilla and Odin's marriage in this chapter), and a semi-solid idea for taking a sort of Heirs of Fate approach with this universe's second generation. Or at least a good majority of them.

But yeah, drop a note if you'd like to see more from this verse! ... and any suggestions on what to call it.