... Call it an eerie feeling, but I can see this event passing through Ashe's mind whenever she stares at Vaan during cutscenes/in-game interludes.

Again, I really do love your characterization of Vossler, but the better part of me still sees him as a traitorous cad, even if he's just a patriotic extremist at heart. In so, I can't help but hate him for nudging Ashe into partially murdering a child, even if it's for the sake of their country and people.

For the most part, Ashe's response/reaction was brutally realistic; a humane response to murder, as genuinely being frightened beyond all measure would be a humane response to going to war.