I just couldn't help myself, I needed to write down some Corriander fluffy fluff. Also, since I played FE:F for the first time, I've had this headcanon that the white rose you can make Corrin wear in her headband is a gift from Xander. So here you go!
Next time things may get way hotter, so enjoy chaste and pure Corriander while you can hehe.
"Ah, it looks like His Highness is coming," said Felicia. She was by the window in the library, cleaning up some cup she had clumsily dropped earlier, after Jakob had served some tea.
Corrin's head shot up and ran by her side, gripping at the windowshill to watch with her own eyes. There he was, returning from some mission their Father had sent him to, riding his horse Grani while wearing his pitch black armour, purple cloak flapping behind him. He truly looked like an ancient god, his golden locks blowing in the breeze as he stopped the majestic beast to get down. Corrin's heart fluttered in his chest. "Big Brother!" she called.
Xander looked up and smiled. "Little Princess," he greeted. "Come over here, will you?"
Corrin turned and saw Gunter quietly nodding, giving her permission to stop studying Nohrian history for the time being. She gripped her skirt so it wouldn't be in the way and rushed outside, forgetting everything she was taught about being a decent and well-mannered princess. When it came to Xander, she couldn't care less.
"There you are, my dear sister," he said when she got out of the Fortress, pulling slightly on Grani's reigns. He opened his arms, welcoming her in a tight hug. When he was younger he would feel embarassed at her displays of affection, as the little girl would basically fly into his arms and clung onto his neck whenever he paid her a visit. Time went by, but she didn't lose such habit; instead, he had stopped caring and grew fond of her ways of telling him she had missed him.
"I was worried, you know," she whispered, pulling her head back so that she could look him in the eye. "Bad news came and you have been away so long, Big Brother."
"That was a brutal uprising indeed, but I do not intend on making you feel blue because of my war tales," he replied, stroking affectionately her silver hair.
"Oh, but I love it when you give me those stories!" she pouted, crossing her arms on her chest.
"Another time, perhaps," he chuckled, straightening back. "As now I have a surprise for you, Little Princess."
Corrin's eyes widened in delight. "Do tell, Big Brother!" she hurried him, impatiently.
Xander exchanged a look with Gunter, who stepped in by clearing his throat. "As Lady Corrin surely knows, His Majesty is actually occupied with discussing politics with his advisors."
"In Cyrkensia," she nodded. She felt bad by admitting it, but those days without his crushing presence - even from afar - had been exceptionally good.
"So," said Xander, gently taking her hand into his, "I wanted to make it up to you for missing your eighteenth birthday, Little Princess."
Corrin let herself be pulled by Grani's side and gasped visibly when Xander's arms encircled her waist, lifting her to the saddle without much effort. She heard the horse neigh, but also calming down when his owner mounted as well, placing himself behind her. "Where are we going?" she asked, panicking. "No, I also meant... can we go?".
"Worry not, Little Princess," said Xander in his confident voice. "We may be gone for a while and no one would ever notice."
"How about Iago's spies," she pushed on as she looked over at Gunter. She put her whole trust in the elder knight's hands and she knew well enough that Garon's fury could harm Nohrian siblings but not him.
"I have heard that prince Leo has been practising his spells just to make sure you wouldn't get into any trouble, milady," he said, his voice gentle.
"You are safe with me," Xander whispered by her pointy ear, making her flush. "I will leave everything up to you, then."
Gunter, Felicia and Jakob bowed respectfully to their prince and Corrin hesitantly waved at them, huffing the minute Xander gripped the reigns with one hand and her hips with the other arm. She wanted to protest, worried that everyone would get into trouble because of her. "Really, Big Brother, it wasn't much of a deal if you weren't here two weeks ago," she said, swinging her legs in the air about Grani's side.
Xander let out a deep chuckle, leading the horse on a path outside the Fortress' walls. "I do know it may sound odd coming from me, but you need to relax, Little Princess. I had everything planned, even asked our dear siblings their help. Besides, we will not be away long, you have my word."
Corrin looked at his handsome face, biting down on her lower lip with her pointy tooth. She trusted him, she would give her life in his capable hands forever if she had to, so she nodded quietly, fighting the urge to tuck behind his ear one lose curl that escaped his crown. "So I guess you won't tell me where we are going, will you?".
Xander stayed silent, but he looked way too much amused by hiding things from her. He also laughed when she pouted just like little Elise would, slapping his forearm lightly, so she wouldn't hurt her hand on his armour. "Patient, sister," he hushed her.
"You know I am not good at that," she said smiling. His arm around her burned like the sun that rarely shone in Nohrian lands and she couldn't help herself when she leaned onto him, resting her head on his shoulder.
Crown Prince Xander looked down and his facial features went so soft he would be embarassed if any enemy saw him like that. He brushed his cheek on his sister's head, overwhelmed with affection - and unrequited love.
The two of them strolled on Grani's back for fifteen minutes, until Xander urged the horse to stop at once. He got off, helping Corrin come down as well. He gestured her to follow him to a rusty gate, which opened to one garden, which seemed well taken care of.
Corrin's scarlet eyes widened and she ran on the stone floor, heels lively clicking and deeply breathed in the flowers' scent. It was May and the bushes around them were full of splendid black roses - Nohrian signature flower. "What is this place?" she asked, a wide smile to Xander.
He secured Grani's reigns on a nearby tree and joined her. "It used to be Mother's favourite garden," he explained, his voice nostalgic while he looked around himself, probably remembering happier times. "When she died, Father no longer wanted to hear of this place, so he said I could do whatever I wished with it. I simply could not let it die as well as her, so I have gardeners take care of it still."
Istintively, Corrin grabbed his large hand into hers, affectionately stroking her thumb on his gauntlet. "Your heart is so kind, Big Brother," she whispered, moved by the look in his eyes, feeling tears tingle hers as well. He wasn't keen on talking about late Queen Katerina, all she knew about his mother was because of Camilla's tales. Her sister was fond of her too and each time she mentioned her name, she would end up smiling and crying at the same time.
From Xander though she knew that she was well loved by the subjects and that even harsh King Garon used to be a better person with her by his side.
They stayed silent for a while, then Xander offered his arm to her. "I beg your pardon, Little Princess. It was no intention of mine to sadden you with my past."
She took it and shook her head as they started strolling among the bushes. "I could never feel upset because of something you say, Big Brother."
Xander didn't answer, instead he asked her how her month without him had been, focusing on her birthday party. Of course he knew that Camilla had organised some kind of surprise and would have taken part if he hadn't been sent to suppress some far away uprising.
"Well," Corrin mused, tapping a finger on her chin, "you wouldn't have brought me here if you had come to the party."
Xander stopped walking and simply took in the sight of her, her cheeks flushed and her soft eyes. That was why he loved her so. Always eager to see the good in everything and everyone. She could have protested, or display some anger towards their Father, who seemed to do everything in his power to crush his son's spirit. Yet, she chose to keep any poisoned thought to herself, engulfing him with her warm light. "Wait, Little Princess," he said, reaching behind her.
She saw him pick a rose and take off his gauntlet, so that his hand was bare. Unlike other bushes, that one had white roses, whose scent was so intense she had to breathe in, filling her lungs with such wonderful perfume. "These come from Hoshido, my dear sister," he explained, tucking the flower behind her headband, so that it seemed part of it. "Mother got them on the day she married Father and decided to grow them."
Corrin blushed when his fingers brushed her ear and looked away, chuckling nervously. "Wouldn't it be better if I wore a black rose, Big Brother?" she said, fearing it looked like she was betraying her country.
Xander bitterly smiled at the irony, but said no more. "White suits you better, Little Princess." He grasped her hand and lightly kissed her knuckles, indulging on the perfect feeling of her sweet skin against his lips.
She felt a shiver run down her spine when he looked up into her eyes, proud and charming, the intensity of his gaze crushing her down. "I-If you say so..." she muttered, her throat dry. "Thank you."
"It is time to go back, I am afraid." Xander put the glove back on and strode back to Grani, that was quietly nibbling at the grass. "I do hope you enjoyed yourself today."
"It was the best, Big Brother!" she got lifted once more onto the saddle. "Oh, I know," she added when they starting heading back to the Fortress. "I will have Flora make some kind of ice spell on the rose you gave me. So I can wear it forever, without seeing it wither."
Xander urged Grani to run faster, so that he had a reason to tightly hug his Little Princess. "Nothing in the world could make me happier, Corrin."
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