Rediscovered Beauty

TITLE: Rediscovered Beauty

AUTHOR: WotanAnubis

FANDOM: Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Fire Emblem: The Sacred Stones or any characters from it. No profit is being made.

RATING: NC-17

PAIRING: Eirika/L'Arachel

NOTE: Here's a brief little quickie to celebrate the new year! May I write more Fire Emblem fic in 2010 than I did in 2009. Because, although I found Radiant Dawn somewhat disappointing and Shadow Dragon lacking in character, it remains my favourite series.

WARNING: Pregnancy

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Eirika stood in front of the human-sized mirror and didn't quite recognise the young woman looking back at her. It was a strange sensation and not one she considered entirely. On a rational level she knew why she failed to see the young woman in the mirror as an accurate reflection of herself. Part of herself hadn't completely accepted the fact the she was pregnant. Whenever she formed an image of herself in her mind, the young woman she saw wasn't pregnant, which was in definite contrast to the image the mirror presented her with.

Of course, she felt she wasn't entirely to blame for this disconnect between her mind's eye and reality. She'd never expected to get pregnant in the first place. After all, her marriage had mostly been one of convenience. After all, she and Ephraim had an equally valid claim to the throne of Renais and while the people of the kingdom had no interest in a civil war over who would be the next ruler, the nobles had not been in complete agreement and had been willing to raise arms to settle their differences. So Eirika had made the decision for them. She'd left the kingdom to become the wife of a foreign ruler, abdicating all claims to the throne of Renais and leaving the country in her brother's capable hands.

She'd chosen L'Arachel. She still wasn't entirely sure why. She was beautiful, kind, caring and compassionate, but she could be a bit... odd... sometimes. She was so utterly convinced she had been Chosen by the Divine and that it was therefore her holy duty to ensure the peace and happiness of all humanity.

Eirika smiled softly to herself. Perhaps she did understand why she'd chosen to marry L'Arachel.

In any case, that was why she hadn't expected to ever become pregnant. She was quite certain women could not impregnate other women and even after their memorable if awkward wedding night, that conviction had somehow stayed with her.

But reality quite disagreed with her convictions.

Eirika stared at the pregnant young woman in the mirror, unable to think in any kind of coherent fashion. Moving slowly and hesitantly, as though she were a puppet with several strings cut, she undid her robe and let it fall to the ground. Her eyes wandered across the now naked image in the mirror, first across the bare breasts that seemed to become more sensitive by the day, then down to her stomach. It was impossible to deny the fact that it had grown and that it would grow much larger still in