Yeah rookie error, most of the time I play aigis for the fun of it and not really take affection bonuses into unit calculations. But I do see your point, though if you wanted a valk just for having a valk would AW really be worth it? I suppose if you were to AW Kerry or Emilia then Emilia might be your better option as others have mentioned Kerry doesn't hit as fast thus lets more of certain hordes on enemies slip past.
Not having AW any of those two yet I couldn't say who feels the best Awakened. I have Kerry at a stage I can Awaken her but I have much more important units to AW first like Sybilla! Lacking the orbs to do so