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Hoshido and Nohr were two very different nations culturally - different food, different styles, different music, different attitudes in their communities. Yet despite those differences, and a shaky start in the new era of peace, the two could come together, and Azura had seen their cultures blend together and bring about new flavours and sounds, and bring new perspectives to closed minds.
Long histories and deeply rooted traditions marked Hoshido and Nohr and their peoples. Which made Azura all the more aware of how disconnected Valla was, with no history remaining to speak of beyond the bloodied memories of Anankos’ reign.
The original land of Valla was long lost beneath the Bottomless Canyon, taking with it anything of cultural or historical relevance - not that it seemed much had remained in the first place, from what Azura had seen when the blended army had first set foot upon ruined Vallite soil. A nation was its people, its people making up its culture and connections, and yet no civilians remained.
Only Corrin and Azura, and a single song, now bereft of its purpose with Anankos truly gone from the world.
Azura had certainly tried to find something - she had stories that her mother had shared as a small child, disguised as fairy tales to help her sleep through lonely nights in Nohr, though that was so long ago that she only remembered fragments of the tales. She’s tried the libraries in Hoshido and Nohr, both the royal vaults and smaller collections in towns and villages across each nation, even for just a hint of a dismissed folktale of an invisible kingdom, or old myths of the original dragons to tie into the lost society.
But there was nothing.
Azura looked out over the bustling courtyard from her balcony in the newly erected Vallite palace, still partially under construction. As it was, the staff roaming the halls were both of Nohr and Hosido, granted in earnest from the newly crowned kings to begin the process of growing the nation. The villages beyond the walls were also from each nation, borders redrawn and arranged to grant the budding kingdom some land and civilisation to begin with.
This wasn’t without its objections and difficulties at first - people once of one nation now having to mix with those they’d once considered an enemy. Even the suggestion of moving was met with hostility, at the idea of uprooting memories and family lines that had known forests and paths for many generations. But in turn, there were others across both nations willing to move to Valla, considering it a fresh start after the years of conflict. Every act of building Valla was a case of give and take, and much discussion, trying to find ways to connect with the populace and find balance.
Azura didn’t envy Corrin’s position in trying to compromise the many desires for the nation’s foundation or future, though she was somewhat guilty that she’d left the position to her friend when she arguably had more claim to the throne. But she never had ambitions to rule, never managing to picture herself ascending to any throne, or seeing herself leading the people to prosperity. The one thing she wanted to give to the establishment was that sense of history or culture to draw upon, something that could be called Valla’s tradition. And she’d long since given up on finding that.
The sound of joyful babbling caught her attention, and she turned from her peoplewatching back into her room. She smiled at the sight of her son, sitting on the floor upon a blanket, amusing himself with a stuffed kinshi doll; a gift from Hinoka after the birth and still a favourite of his even into his toddling years.
For all Valla’s current state was an awkward split of Nohrian and Hoshidan cultural elements, Azura herself had somewhat stuck closely to her Hoshidan habits in raising Shigure, from his name to the songs she’d sing to lull him to sleep, to the little hakama he wore that day, another gift on his recent birthday. Perhaps in a way, she’d already predisposed him to more of Hoshido’s own culture rather than blended customs they were creating in Valla.
She justified it so easily in her own head; her time in Nohr had never been pleasant, as brief as it was, and while she’d been under scrutiny in Hoshido, with enough time and the kindness of most of the royal family to consider her one of the fold, she pretty much considered it home. In her distant dreams, divorced from her duty, she could almost imagine herself living out her days in the nation. But she never really had that luxury, not before and especially not now.
Shaking her head of dreary thoughts, she reached out to pick up her son, and immediately he reached back, ready to hold on tight as she stood tall with him.
“Shall we go explore the palace? Better than staying in a stuffy room on such a wonderful day,” she asked him, giggling as he let out a cheer in response.
Even as she walked along the corridor, her thoughts continued to stir. So few could claim any connection to Valla, with it just being herself and Corrin. And Corrin was so busy even establishing the nation that the thought of heirs hadn’t even crossed her mind. So really, she probably should try to encourage Shigure to connect with what little of Nohr was in the land so far. After all, he didn’t have her history with the kingdom, no pre-conceived notions of its people or habits.
And given enough time…it wouldn’t be Nohrian anymore, not within their borders.
She entered into the courtyard, already enjoying the breeze that caught her hair and the sun warming her face. Shigure was already saying hi to all he could see as she descended the steps, and the few that responded seemed to alternate between cold professionalism or enamoured cooing back to him. Azura turned back to face the finished facade of the palace, taking it in.
The materials were distinctly Nohrian, while the tiered shape reminded her of Castle Shirasagi or the temples she’d seen throughout the country - but carved into pillars or woven into metal detailing were Vallite iconography, one of the few things she’d made note of from Castle Gyges and shared with the architects that led the construction.
Setting Shigure down as she felt him fidgeting in her arms, she watched him run around the marble paved courtyard, getting under people's feet. Another sign of the mixed architecture in the craftsmanship. It left her with this odd bubbling in her chest, like a land both familiar and not. She smiled to see Shigure finally stop and chat with a pair of workers filling a cart with goods - more building materials, she could recognise the Hoshidan cedar and rolls of washi paper already loaded, as well as crates of smaller coloured tiles still on the ground.
It still touched her to think - men from each nation, working under architects to form something so new, with what little scribbled guidance she had given before leaving them to it. And somehow it was working out. Even with each new structure added to the growing complex, the styles refined further until rather than looking separately Nohrian and Hoshidan, forced into one, they just began to look all new.
And her smile grew warmer, knowing that’s what it would come to be.
Hoshido and Nohr could blend together in an act of friendship yet still remain unique, at their cores, their peoples still held on to their own identity. But then maybe this new Valla could blend together a little bit of Hoshido and Nohr and turn it into something new. Something future generations could evolve from and create a fresh Vallite culture.
Beginning with Corrin, Azura and little Shigure.