Chapter 6 Fallout Ft Kaze POV

[4leavesonaclover]

 Kaze may seem OOC but consider he spent his life feeling guilty about losing Corrin, fell in love with her while she helped him overcome those feelings only to lose her again. Also his anger is on Midori's behalf too as my idea of his family is that after the death of his and Saizo's father, their mother fell into a deep depression and was unable to care for them. So now he has to worry about how it feels for Corrin to be torn from them and Midori being motherless.
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It seemed like an eternity waiting for the Hoshidan army to return for Kaze. He had never felt more uncertain in his life. His beloved, sweet Corrin, who had unwavering faith in him, saved him, loved, believed in him... was throwing herself between two great enemy armies. And despite the way she convinced the royals to spare him and Rinkah... he wasn't sure if they would listen to her on laying down their swords.

She had told him about Nohr, being one of the few people she trusted with her feelings of homesickness. Nohr was not the most fertile of lands, as she could recount days going hungry, or even her older siblings sacrificing their own meals for her. While he had trained in hunger endurance as a ninja, he wasn't sure if he could have lived in a world where even the royalty had days of not eating. At the same time, he could tell that place was a home for her, the warm memories of her Nohrian siblings spending time together. He envied that, when his own relationship with Saizo was strained at best.

However, what would they think of her asking them to lay down their swords? Considering all the dancing around he and Rinkah had to do in order to avoid Garon's wrath, he imagined it would not be received well. And her Hoshidan family... while the anti-Nohrian sentiment had some foundation as to why, he also knew that Hoshidans felt a very strong "with us or against us" mentality. Corrin had expressed how trapped she felt and how she could not express her homesickness and impostor syndrome because her siblings believed that just being in Hoshido would make her happy. Knowing the distrust some Hoshidans had, he wasn't sure if they would let her back with the decision she made.

Midori fussed again in his arms. She had not taken well to the wet nurse Kaze had asked to feed her in her mother's absence. Corrin had been adamant about nursing her own daughter, and he could tell the absence of her was affecting their baby girl.

Midori had been an unexpected result shortly after Corrin's return to Hoshido. He had carried what he now knew as a longtime crush as a young boy, watching her from afar. Her rescue of him, and the incessant ways she tried to get to know him only made him fall deeper in love. And then when one night when her heat arrived unexpectedly after years of surpression...

She had called out for him. Begged him to stay, that she needed him. Instinct overtook him and he lost himself in a haze of alpha nature and uncontrollable feelings. Despite him committing a grievous sin that should have cost him his life, she had forgiven him, confessed her own feelings, and agreed to marry him, proudly saying she would not have any other. Their love had only grown in welcoming Midori into the world. Despite the questionable nature of her existence, neither of them would trade her for the world.

The sound of the army's signal horn announcing the Hoshidans return snapped Kaze out of his thoughts down in memory lane. He searched frantically for his wife, only the sinking feeling to return when he realized she was not among the ranks.

"Where... Where is Corrin?"

"... Ask the Crown Prince." Sakura's response was more barbed than the youngest princess had ever sounded in her life.

The only way I wouldn't come back is if they wouldn't let me. Corrin's words echoed back in his head. With a surge of anger and grief, he gently handed Midori to Sakura and turned to Ryoma, raising his voice for the first time ever in his life. "... what did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?!"

Ryoma remained in a stern and serious demeanour. "Corrin has refused to side with us. She is a traitor to Hoshido now."

"T-that... that's not true!" Sakura cried, "Big Sister didn't want to turn against us and y-you refused to let her see Kaze or Midori! You're no better than the Nohrians who took Mother away from us!"

Ryoma's head snapped towards his youngest sister with shock and hurt. "How could you say that?!"

Sakura looked back at her oldest brother with a determined glare. "Isn't that what you did to Midori?"

Ryoma's expression faltered slightly at the sight of the crying infant in Sakura's arms before he steeled himself again. "That is enough, Sakura. You are still young and have yet to understand the difficult choices of war. Now come, we need to discuss our next plan."

Still shaking from anger and grief, the green-haired ninja turned to his twin brother. "How could you let this happen? No one even let me have a say or see her again."

Saizo's response was cold and firm. "If she isn't with us, she is against us. There is no reason for you to see a traitor."

Kaze suddenly pinned Saizo to the wall. "Have you no heart, brother?! Your niece may have just lost her mother indefinitely and you did nothing to let her see Corrin again!"

"Corrin has betrayed-"

"Don't you dare put words into my wife's mouth!"

"That's enough!" Hinoka finally intervened, pulling Kaze away from his twin. "I'm sorry, Kaze... you may be her husband, but I'm Ryoma's sister and even I couldn't persuade him to let her come back..."

The anger faded from Kaze, leaving only sadness and sorrow. He finally realized his daughter was crying and instinctively reached to take her. Sakura, seeing the ninja had calmed down, handed her back.

Kaze could only leave silently before returning to his room and letting himself cry with Midori. I'm sorry, Corrin... I failed you again...