AN: I have no self control and wrote this because a soulmate/dream au prompt on Tumblr screamed Leo x Sakura. This'll have Conquest spoilers (and I guess Birthright spoilers too), so watch out for that.
Also, thank you Rapis-Razuri for betaing (is that a word?) this mess.
I hope you enjoy it!
Elise practically bounces from wall to wall as she speaks of all the fun things they'll get to do with Corrin tomorrow. She mentions playing tag and a few other juvenile games that Leo didn't bother to catch the name of. He scolds her, telling her to relax and keep her voice down. She visits Corrin daily, there's no need for her to get so excited, especially right before her bedtime.
His sister's response is to blow a raspberry, before commenting about how jealous he is. When he doesn't respond, she adds that he is just excited as her. Why does she have to be the one to calm down? It's because unlike her, he's able to keep his emotions in check. A small grin breaks out between rosy cheeks.
"Ohhh," Elise coos. "So you are as excited as I am!"
Of course he is. Nothing can quell the excitement Leo feels about the family trip to the Northern Fortress tomorrow. He's not able to visit his brother as much as he would like, so trips like these were a wonderful opportunity to catch up and spend some quality time with one another. They were some of his most treasured moments.
Though, Leo wasn't about to admit that out loud. His pride just wouldn't allow it.
Elise rests her arms on the back of Leo's chair, and peeks over his shoulder to look at the book he's reading. He isn't sure why she bothers. She'll furrow her brow, pout her lips and say, "What are you reading? It looks pretty boring." When she does, Leo rolls his eyes and tells her how predictable she is.
She argues that she isn't before Leo comments, "Isn't it past your bedtime or something?" She sticks out her tongue, reminds him of how much of a jerk he is and says that she won't let him ruin her good mood before leaving his quarters. The feelings are mutual. A mere two seconds pass before she peeks her head back in and wishes him a goodnight.
He's careful not to let her see the ghost of a smile on his lips as he wishes her a good night as well.
While in bed, Leo's eyes stare directly at the ceiling of his bedroom as thoughts of his family swirl around in his mind. The excitement makes it hard for him to keep his eyes closed, much less fall asleep. He tosses and turns, and the feeling of restlessness eats away at him. It's funny though, because he doesn't remember ever closing his eyes and falling asleep.
When he opens his eyes again, it is morning. The sun peeks through the blinds on his window and causes him to wince before he turns his back on it. Leo reaches for his phone on his nightstand, but the incessant banging on his bedroom door stops him. From the other side, Elise is yelling something about Camilla making breakfast and Father wanting to leave as soon as possible.
Slowly, Leo moves to sit up and rubs the sleep from his eye. His gaze focuses on the calendar just ways away from him. August 28th; move in day. Move in day during his freshman and sophomore year felt fresh and exciting. Doing this for the third time just felt tedious. He'd carefully plan out exactly what he'd need to bring, which items were packed in what box, and how they were packed, only to have his father take out a box or two because they wouldn't fit in the car, or have Camilla and Elise take it upon themselves to add and toss things out just because they can.
Xander was also present for Leo's first move in day as well. Now, he's a bit busy halfway across the country finishing up grad school and getting into serious relationships. Or so Leo was told. Xander hadn't said anything, but Camilla may have let something slip about their brother asking her about the cut and shape of a diamond during a family dinner. His father choked on the pork chops.
All that aside, even though move in day had grown lackluster over time, he did appreciate the change in pace. Instead of Elise being way too loud at two in the morning, Odin would gladly take over that role. And Niles would be the one prying into his business instead of Camilla. These were only minor changes, but changes he's learned to embrace.
After a light breakfast, heavy lifting, and triple checking that all of his boxes had the proper items inside, Leo and his family are able to pile in the car and drive off to the campus. Ten minutes into the drive, Camilla gently taps his shoulder. Leo removes his eyes from his phone and turns to face her as best as he can.
"You look like you haven't slept well. Are you alright?" She asks. Her voice is sprinkled lightly with concern.
Leo ignores Elise's comment about how he always looks like that. "I'm fine, Camilla. Thanks for asking. Though…" his voice trails off.
"Though?" Camilla questions.
"I did have that strange dream again," he says. "The one about living in a castle and whatnot." Those dreams made him feel like he hardly got any sleep at all, but they made him feel a variety of emotions. Last night's dream gave him feelings of elation, even if it did make him a little tired.
Elise's eyes dart between her two older siblings. "Wait, what dreams? Hang on, why am I out of the loop?"
Camilla assured her that there wasn't much to tell, but only because Leo purposely left some information out. He didn't need his gossip of a sister to tell everyone about his intricate dreams. Instead, he decided on just telling her about living in Castle Krakenburg and a few other princely duties.
The topic is soon dropped, and Elise launches into a conversation about how Father will be driving her around next year when she attends college. Garon lets out a groan as she says she'll need a moving van for all of her things. For most of the car ride, Leo silently wonders about those funny dreams, and his mysterious fourth sibling.
His new apartment is spacious and modern. There are four bedrooms, and Elise notes that they all have their own bathrooms as well. Leo has to scold her – some of the rooms already have people's belongings in there. It's rude to just barge in like that. In her defense, the doors were open and no one was inside.
Garon breaks up their sibling squabble by saying that those boxes aren't going to move themselves, and that he was getting too old for this. Though, it was phrased a bit more colorfully. As Leo and his father do the heavy lifting, Camilla looks around the common area, a bit impressed by it. Leo, who is a bit annoyed by so much movement during a hot summer's day asks her why she isn't moving anything.
She waves him off and tells him that she'll help him unpack in a bit, because they all knew that their father wasn't going to move a muscle after all that lifting. "You know, this place is much better than that ratty old dorm room they put you in last year. You even have a kitchen now," Camilla runs her finger along the table in the common room and inspects it closely. Her finger is caked with dust. "They could stand to do a little more cleaning in here though. This place is filthy."
"We're supposed to do our own cleaning, Sister," Leo says. He places a storage bin on the ground before wiping his brow, drenched in sweat. "The people who clean regularly do the dorm halls and outside the apartments." Leo picks up the storage bin as soon as he hears his father's grunting from the front door, and hustles to get the bin into his room.
"Couldn't they have cleaned over the summer though? You know, when no one was here?" When Leo explains that other students live on campus for summer school and the like, she rolls her eyes. "Of course they do. In any case, I think I'll do some tidying up around here. There's a box with cleaning supplies in your room. Be a dear and pass me some disinfectant wipes."
Leo's eyebrows knit together in confusion. He plans to buy some cleaning supplies at a nearby convenient store with his roommates a little later because there was no room to pack cleaning supplies. Camilla knows, and that's why she took the liberty of unpacking some things he didn't need.
Like those books that he's had since high school.
"You unpacked my books!?" Leo cries.
"Honey, you've already read them a million times over," she looks away for a moment to thank Elise who hands her the disinfectant wipes. "Besides, who knows how long you would have put off purchasing them? And I don't need my baby brother getting sick because of such a terrible environment, now do I?" she coos.
He decides he needs a small break from his family. This is the perfect opportunity now that all the boxes are out of the car, and his father can sprawl out on one of the couches for a nap until it's time to drive back home. He exits the apartment, but is only able to give one sigh of relief before he hears his name being called from a distance.
To his left, Odin frantically waves him down, and Leo returns the exuberant greeting with a small wave of his own. When Odin reaches him, he admits that jogging all the way to the apartment in this weather wasn't such a brilliant idea, but he was too excited to see Leo again, even though they hung out a few weeks before today.
As Odin rambles on about the new semester and a few other things Leo doesn't quite understand, he catches sight of Odin's mother, who waves at him. Leo does the same, and Odin stops talking to turn and see what's going on. Oh yeah, his mom. She wasn't able to keep up with him, so he left her in the dust.
Leo's eyes narrow. "What a wonderful son," he says with a hint of snide. Odin's rebuttal goes generally ignored as Leo watches the man walking next to her. "Who is that?"
Odin smiles. "Oh, that's my uncle. Dad couldn't get out of work today, so he's stuck helping me move in. We're finished anyway. All that's left is to unpack!" When Odin opens the door to the apartment, he asks why Leo's father is draped haphazardly on their couch, snoring lightly.
He cringes, and has half a mind to ask his father to wait in the car. Or at the very least to sleep in his room. Camilla had already put the fitted sheets on after disinfecting the mattress seven times over. "Don't ask," Leo says through gritted teeth.
After a long day of unpacking and cleaning, Garon is ready to go home. Camilla asks him to wait a moment, as they are still fixing up a few things, but Leo says he can manage. Elise and Camilla practically smother him as they tell him goodbye. They lecture him on eating properly (more than just tomatoes, for goodness sake!) and not to give into peer pressure. How old was he, 15?
Niles and Laslow, who came in a little later, could be heard snickering from their respective rooms. Leo makes an unpleasant face. Garon gives his son a firm pat on the back, and tells him to be good. When he thinks about his first year away at school, his father had embraced him before his departure, and that was what Leo needed. Now, a simple pat on the back is more than enough for the both of them. That, and there are too many people watching.
When they leave, Leo wants to take a moment to be alone and enters his bedroom. His eyes roam the entire room as he takes in how different it looks now. Did Camilla happen to repaint the walls while she was in here cleaning?
Lalsow, who sips freshly brewed tea, asks Niles who that pretty woman with his father was. He answers that it was his father's newest girlfriend. Last year, his mother and step-father helped him move in, as they did the day before. However, his father wouldn't stop asking to help this year, so Niles' mother let him decide what he wants to do. Niles doesn't see the problem with it.
"Honestly, I think he was so incessant because he wanted to show off his new girlfriend," says Niles. "It's like he's trying to tell us that he's over my mom now. It's pretty funny, actually."
"Niles, that's pretty mean!" Odin scolds. "Besides, why are you airing out your family's dirty laundry anyway?"
He shrugs. "Laslow asked."
Laslow reminds him that he only asked about who the woman was and not about private matters. Leo only catches a few key words of their conversation as the book he's reading holds most of his attention. It isn't one of the classics that his older sister so graciously unpacked (yes, he was still annoyed by that), but it would have to do.
Speaking of his sister, she'd just sent him a text message. A response to his question from earlier. Yes, they were home safe and sound. No, she didn't repaint the walls in his room. She did, however, fill in some of those nasty cracks in the walls with some handy, travel sized patch stick she picked up from the store.
Leo isn't quite sure how to respond to her text message. He settles on, "Okay… thanks Sis. Glad you're home safe."
"What's this? Leo's pulled his nose out of a book long enough to read and send a text message?" Niles teases. "Who's the lucky girl?"
"My sister," he answers, deadpanned.
Niles makes a face. "Oh… I mean, to each his own, I guess–"
"Niles!" The rest cry out, and Niles swears it was only a joke.
The rest of his school days are filled with moments like this one. Of course, the frequency of them dwindle when the courses are actually beginning to pile on more work. Still, the boys make time for each other. While doing homework in the common area, Laslow ticks off all the names of the cute transfer students he's had the pleasure of being acquainted with.
While this doesn't interest Leo or Odin in the slightest, Niles doesn't hesitate to ask a few lewd questions about them. Ones that Laslow is much too embarrassed to answer. Niles doesn't even care to know the answers to those questions, and takes pleasure in watching Laslow's flustered face.
They are only two weeks into September when Leo has lost count of how many girls Laslow has brought back to their apartment. It's especially awkward on weekends when Leo decides to sleep in, and wakes up to some woman he's seen a couple times before in a few of his classes lounging on the sofa while he's in his boxers.
Because Odin set up his schedule for classes that begin at 2:30 in the afternoon, he'd stay awake until some ungodly hour of the morning. Leo isn't sure if he's watching a show or reading one of his comics, but whatever he's doing, he's doing it way too loud. One night, he recalls Niles banging on the wall from his own room, yelling for Odin to shut up while half asleep.
Instead, Niles kept hitting the wall adjacent to Leo's room.
Despite the mild inconveniences and annoyances, Leo is pretty content with his roommates. Things would be pretty boring without them around, but he'd hate to admit it out loud. He rather not be subjected to their teasing of how much of a softie he is, or some mushy nonsense about how much they love him.
Speaking of mushy nonsense, Camilla has been sending her "I love you so much, don't forget to do your best" text messages since the day after they dropped him off at school, and Leo has had enough of it. She isn't usually this affectionate towards him, and gives him his space (which he is ever so grateful for).
She's been keeping it up for a while now, and after days of "I love you so much, don't forget to do your best," and "Thanks," Leo breaks the pattern by asking why she feels the need to send those texts each and every morning. Her response is to call him. Apparently, she had been looking through the books she'd unpacked, and found one that she'd given him for his birthday years ago, the birthday card still intact. He seemed to be using it as some sort of bookmark.
"Oh, when I saw it, I couldn't believe you kept the card for so long. It must have meant so much to you, a present from your dear big sister, and I took it from you!" There she goes with the theatrics again. "I felt like such an awful big sister! I had to show you how much I loved you to make up for it."
Leo refrains from asking, "Couldn't you have just apologized for tossing out my books in the first place?" and forgives her. It has been two weeks now. He's over it. To make it up to him, Camilla offers to ship the books to his school address. Leo tells her that she doesn't have to do it, and neglects to tell her that it would be greatly appreciated.
Camilla insists, and tells him that he'll have the classics to look forward to in about four to seven business days. He laughs, thanks her, and tells her that he's going to get ready for bed. All of a sudden, he's feeling very tired, even though he took a nap earlier today. He dozes off not long after his head hits the pillow.
The sleep is so deep that he doesn't hear Laslow knock on his bedroom door at nine at night, and he certainly doesn't hear Odin's obnoxious laughter at two in the morning.
He sleeps soundly.
In his entire life, Leo has never known a feeling of apprehension and fear quite like this. On the plains of Hoshido is where he stands with an excessive heart beat and a mind muddled with all sorts of self-doubt, with the occasional small prayer – something he hasn't done in ages.
His eyes follow his brother's slightest movements, from the slow, ragged breaths he takes to the way his head turns from one family to another. Leo chews his bottom lip. There should be no debate about this, should there? The brother who would shower him in praise and attention, the one who was a source of great elation – surely he'll pick his family in Nohr.
Surely, he'll pick me.
Right?
The silence on the battlefield practically gnaws at his ankles. Say something, Corrin. Say anything. Anything but goodbye.
And Corrin opens his mouth to speak. Nothing comes out at first, and Elise grips her staff tighter. Camilla's fingers tremble. Xander's brow creases in worry. Corrin knows what he must do. He looks towards the first Hoshidan prince.
When the command to withdraw the Hoshidan troops leaves his lips, Leo breathes a small sigh of relief. It was obvious. Of course Corrin would pick those who raised and cared for him all these years. It was only right.
But no matter how much Leo tries to convince himself, there is that little inkling of self-doubt in the back of his mind. His fears were very real. There was a chance that his brother could very well have forsaken him. However, Leo counts his blessing because this isn't the case.
Still, his celebration must be cut short. The enemy is upon them, and he refuses to let them place a finger on the brother who, despite their lack of blood relation, loves him dearly. The first prince of Hoshido rallies his siblings to fight with him, and briefly, the youngest's meek, stuttering voice catches his attention.
The wind tousles her pink hair, and her bottom lip quivers slightly. She clings tightly to her healing rod as tears steadily well in her eyes. He doesn't envy her at all, but he knows that tears have no place on the battlefield, no matter how badly you hurt.
Maybe she'd learn that one day.
Thoughts of her aside, Leo readies his tome. If the Hoshidans think that they can take Corrin back so easily, they're in for a rude awakening.
Leo's eyes shoot open at the sound of the sound of the fire alarm. It felt as if the damn thing pierced his eardrums. He hastily dresses himself, throwing on a freshly washed, but wrinkled t-shirt and some shorts before he heads out of the apartment.
The smell of overcooked meat fills his nostrils, and the scent is coming from his kitchen. Of course it is. I bet it was Odin, he thinks as he stands in a crowd of students outside of their apartment complex. When Odin jogs up to him, he has half a mind to scold him right then and there.
Odin speaks first. "What's going on in there? The university police are in there, and it smells like someone charred an entire pig pen in there!"
Okay, maybe comparing the scent to the charring of an entire pig pen seems a bit much, but Leo lets it slide. "You mean, this isn't your doing?"
"Ohhh sure! Let's blame ol' Odin, yeah?" He cries, dramatically throwing his arms in the air. "Because after going to bed at five this morning, I thought it be a good idea to wake up at 7:30 and sacrifice a pig to the glutton king!"
"A simple 'no' would have sufficed, thank you," says Leo.
After 30 minutes of standing and waiting, everyone is allowed to enter their apartments again, and university police have a few choice words for the boys, and that one girl that Leo doesn't remember meeting at all last night.
When the police leave, she apologizes profusely. "I'm so sorry! I wanted to make you all a nice breakfast for letting me stay here for the night, but as I was working on the pancake mix, I forgot about the bacon and I –"
Lalsow places a comforting hand on her back. "It's okay darling, we know you didn't mean to cause any trouble." As he escorts her out the apartment to chat, Leo says that he doesn't even remember her coming in.
Apparently, Laslow wanted him to come meet her, but Leo had already been asleep by then.
Odin scratches the back of his head. "I thought she left at 11. I heard her and Laslow say goodbye."
"So did I," Niles says.
"I did say goodbye to her," Laslow says, now without his guest. "I don't ever remember telling her she could stay the night, so how did she get back inside? I locked the door."
The room is silent for a moment. "Don't invite her back here," Leo warns. "For our sakes." Odin is far too tired to deal with this any longer, as he is only running on two and a half hours of sleep. He slinks back into his bedroom and Laslow cleans up the mess his guest left in the kitchen. Leo says that he needs to start getting ready for class.
"Is that what you're wearing?" Niles asks. Leo narrows his eyes asks why. A smirk graces Niles' lips. "Your shirt's inside out."
Leo rockets back into his bedroom and finds another suitable outfit to wear and Niles muffled laughter can be heard from outside his bedroom door. Just his luck, to be woken up so abruptly, have his peers see him dressed improperly, and have some woman who he's not sure got inside his apartment nearly burn down his kitchen.
To top it off, Leo never got the chance to think about that bizarre dream. He's unable to pin down the word for how it made him feel, and it starts to bother him to the point where he thinks about it during the lecture.
The dream from this morning still swirls around in his mind. In his dreams, he feels like a completely different person, yet at the same time, he also feels like himself. It is hard to describe, as if there is a word for this that he just isn't able to think of right now. He is well aware of his speech, his movements; his emotions.
This is called lucid dreaming, isn't it?
But it's not. He never says to himself that this is a dream, nor can he stop it at any time. He can only do his part and watch as the rest of the events unfold before him. Leo thinks back to the fight between his family and the other one. It felt so real. All of it. The speed of that impressive bow and arrow whizzing right past his face, leaving the smallest cut on his cheek, the magic in him tingling the tips of his fingers – it all felt like his reality at some point.
Leo looks at his open palm for a moment and wiggles his fingers. He remembers the feeling so perfectly, but is unable to recreate it. He moves his hand to touch his left cheek, the exact spot where the arrow grazed him. Not a blemish in sight. Maybe, he thinks, I should talk to someone about this.
But who?
The last thing he wants is for people to think he's some kind of weirdo. Odin wouldn't judge him much, but he wouldn't take him seriously either. He can see Niles getting a kick out of how weird his dreams are, that's for sure. As for Laslow, well, Leo isn't sure how he'd take it, but he's not sure he wants to find out.
Leo shoves his hands into his pockets, and tries to remove the thought from his mind. He's tired of thinking about it, and wants to start his shift at the library, which starts in 15 minutes. There's a shortcut from the Natural Sciences building to the library, and it's over the cobblestone bridge over the river that cuts through campus.
The view is such a beauty to behold. All the art students hang around and sketch the scene in their sketchpads, and all the hopeless romantics dream of kissing their person of choice on the bridge while the light of the moon shines upon them. Or so Laslow said anyway. It seems far too cheesy to be romantic, but to each their own.
He is halfway across the bridge when she stops him dead in his tracks. The resemblance is uncanny. Sure, her hair reaches just past her shoulders, and her frame is a bit taller, but nothing confirms Leo's suspicions as much as the moment she turns to face him. A gentle face, soft brown eyes that become slightly wider when they lock with his, and a pair of lightly glossed lips that part to let out a small exhale.
This is the same girl in his dreams who, with watering eyes, begged her brother to come back to her. His brother. A man he isn't even sure exists in real life. Hell, he isn't even sure if the woman in front of him exists. Slowly, he reaches his arm out towards her and a low, breathy, "Hey," leaves his lips.
But she couldn't possibly hear that, considering the distance between them. She doesn't, he concludes, as he watches her back. She moves farther away from him, never looking back. And just like that, he's lost sight of her.
Still, he has to ask… is she even real? Or maybe, this is another dream? But it feels so real… just like the ones about his time in Nohr. It's beginning to get difficult for him to differentiate between reality and the fantasy world that his dreams bring him to. As cliché as it is, Leo pinches himself. He doesn't end up in his bedroom, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He still stands on the cobblestone bridge over the river that cuts through his campus. Other students pass by him, hustling to get to and from class, and the autumn air feels as crisp as ever.
This is real. She is real. And Leo wants so badly to figure out what this all truly means for him.
