Promise

Disclaimer: I own nothing.
As he stepped out of the doorway of his house, he paused for a moment, shielding his eyes as he gazed up at the bright sun.

It was the height of summer, and it would be a while before the chills of autumn and winter fell upon the town, he observed. Right now, the heat was so thick you could practically see it rising of the sun-baked ground.

"Daddy!"

He turned in time to see his daughter running out of the house towards him. A smile blossomed on his face, and as she reached him, he knelt down to hug her.

"Daddy, are you going already?"

"Yes." He nodded. "Yes, I am."

"All the way to Grado?"

"Yes, Melina, all the way to Grado." He paused. "You be a good girl while I'm gone, okay?"

She nodded enthusiastically. "Uh-huh! I will!"

He paused for a moment, before glancing back at the doorway quizzically. "Where's your mother?"

"I'm here, Franz." She appeared in the doorway, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Stepping forward, she embraced him tightly. "Be safe, okay? I know it's just bandits you're dealing with, but…"

"I will. Don't worry." He smiled and hugged her close in turn.

The three of them stood there for a long moment, none of them willing to let it pass. Then finally, Franz stepped back. "I have to go." He said softly.

He took three steps before he heard the voice of his daughter calling him. "Daddy!"

"What is it?"

She hesitated. "Promise me… promise you'll be back for Christmas."

He grinned. "I promise."

And then he was gone.

Even though it had been seven long years, Amelia sometimes wondered if she'd made the right choice to stop being a soldier.

In one sense of the word, it had been a necessity, especially considering their newborn daughter. And she had always readily conceded that Franz was the better fighter.

But still… she wanted to be out there, on the battlefield. Watching his back. Keeping him safe.

"Mommy?"

Her reverie was broken by her daughter walking up to her. "Mommy, when's daddy coming home?"

Bending down to kiss her daughter on the forehead, Amelia ran a hand through her daughter's blonde hair and whispered, "Soon. He'll be back soon."

Autumn had barely settled on the land when word came that the knights that had set out to eradicate the bandits of the mountains were now returning.

Melina had kicked up such a big fuss over it that Amelia had finally relented and brought her to the capital so they could meet Franz as soon as possible.

As they stood by the castle gates, Melina's hand grasped firmly in her own, Amelia closed her eyes and gave a contented smile.

Several seconds later, the cheers of the townsfolk alerted her to the arrival of the knights. Their armour flashed in the mid-afternoon sun, and within moments they were riding proudly pass the castle gates.

Amelia kept the smile on her face while she searched among the gleaming arrays of metal for the emerald sheen of Franz's armour. Strange, she couldn't spot it…

However, she shortly caught sight of the crimson gleam of Forde's armour. As he dismounted his steed, his gaze happened to fall upon Amelia and her daughter.

For the merest second, he winced.

And in that second, Amelia's world shattered.

Christmas morning.

Amelia lay in bed. Alone. She didn't want to get up.

She didn't want to face the pain.

She squeezed her eyes shut, feeling a single tear trickle out and roll down her cheek.

"We'd managed to eradicate them… or so we'd thought." Forde recounted, staring morosely at his mug of ale.

"Apparently there were still a few survivors. They waited until we'd made camp, tried to ambush us. We managed to fight them off fairly easily, but Franz… He was the lookout that night. They overpowered him…" He closed his eyes. "After the fight… we couldn't even find the body."

"So… so he might still be alive?" She asked, desperately clinging on to whatever scrap of hope she could.

Forde let out a grim chuckle. "If you'd seen the site of the struggle, you wouldn't be asking such a question. We were still on the mountain that night, you see. The brigands… well, we can't say for certain, but there were signs of someone… being dragged to the cliff edge… and…" His voice faltered.

Amelia could bear it no longer. Her fists clenched, she slumped down onto the wooden table, barely reining in her sobs. Forde paused for a long moment, then continued.

"They wanted me to give you this… It's cold comfort, I know, but…" With a sigh, he drew out a pouch filled with coins. "This is compensation for your… loss."

"Compensation." Amelia repeated blankly. She knew better than to explode in Forde's face, but it still took every bit of restraint she had to simply grasp the leather pouch and give Forde a brief nod of thanks.

Her haze of memory was broken by the sound of Melina's soft footfalls as she entered the room.

"Mommy?"

Managing a tiny smile, Amelia sat up on her bed, patting it to indicate where her daughter should sit. "What is it, dear?"

"Mommy, shouldn't we decorate the tree?"

Amelia closed her eyes. "Maybe… maybe later, honey."

Melina pouted. "But we need the house to be ready for when daddy gets home!"

Amelia grit her teeth. This again.

"Melina… I've told you a hundred times… daddy… isn't coming home. He… he got into an accident."

Melina shook her head furiously. "Daddy's coming home today! He promised! He promised!"

"Melina! Don't you understand? Daddy's not coming home! He's…" Even now, she couldn't bring herself to say it.

There was silence in the house for a long moment. Then Amelia patted her daughter on the head. "The Christmas tree needs decorating, does it?" She said softly. A smile appeared through the tears. "Well, we can't just leave it hanging, then."

The tree was in fact a sturdy evergreen that grew behind the house. Over the years, it had become a tradition that every Christmas morn, the three of them would decorate the tree, with brightly coloured streamers, various trinkets and baubles they had accumulated over the years, and a ruby Neimi had given them once some time ago, a ruby that was said to glow even in the darkest of nights.

And now, there were only two to accomplish the task.

Amelia carried the box of the decorations out to the treeside, setting it down as Melina ran up beside her, a cheery smile on her face.

"I wanna set the ruby!"

Amelia shook her head. "You know it's always saved for last. If you want to do it, you can, but first we work on the rest of the tree." She paused for a moment, then chuckled lightly. "You start at the bottom, I'll start at the top, and we'll work until we meet at the centre, okay?"

Melina nodded enthusiastically and immediately started on her work. Amelia did likewise, draping the first of the streamers around the tree. It was nearly a full minute later that she realized what had happened.

She had laughed. For the first time in nearly half a year.

Brushing away the tears before Melina had a chance to see them, she picked up another streamer and returned to her work.

It was nearly dusk by the time they finished. Amelia lifted Melina up so that she could place the glowing ruby on the very top of the tree.

Finished, they stood back to admire their work.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Amelia said softly.

"Uh-huh!" Melina nodded. "Daddy will love it!"

Amelia bent down and hugged Melina close. "I'm sure he will." She said softly. "I'm sure he will."

They returned to the house, partly for the sake of getting something warm to drink… and partly to wait.

Amelia rested herself on a chair next to the table, sipping slowly from her mug as she watched her daughter.

Melina was a bundle of nervous energy, unable to sit still, continuously running up to the door to look out of it for signs of Franz's return.

Amelia shook her head. What am I doing? Encouraging her to believe that Franz could return… The hands holding her mug trembled. "If only…"

Melina was a child, and she had the simple faith of one. He had promised he would be back for Christmas, and so she believed he would.

Amelia set the mug down on the table, and slumped down, pillowing her head on her arms. Her eyes followed her daughter, who was throwing open the door yet again in hopes of seeing her daddy walking up to it.

Franz… maybe I could keep hoping… just for a little while longer…

Night had settled upon the village when Amelia rested her hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Melina… It's time to go to bed."

"No! I want to wait for daddy!"

Amelia swallowed hard. "Melina…daddy's not coming back. Not for Christmas. Not ever." Why can't you understand? Please… please don't put me through this…

"But daddy promised! He said-"

"Adults promise a lot of things." Amelia forced out through gritted teeth. "We aren't always able to keep all of those promises."

Melina fell silent. Hanging her head, she plodded silently to the bedroom while Amelia breathed a silent sigh of relief. At the doorway, she paused and turned back. "Mommy, are you going to sleep now too?"

"Hm? No… not for some time. Why?" Amelia looked at her daughter curiously.

"Well, if daddy comes home before you go to sleep, could you wake me up too?"

Amelia let out something in between a moan and a scream. Suddenly she felt far, far too tired to argue. Collapsing onto a nearby chair, she nodded limply.

"Okay. Goodnight, mommy." Melina smiled brightly before vanishing into her room.

Amelia sat there in silence for a long while. Eventually, the fire she had lit for warmth burnt itself out, plunging the room into deep darkness.

Perhaps it would be better this way. In the dark, no one could see you. You could find solace in the dark... cradling your weakness.

As the night wore on, the tears continued to flow.

Dawn has often been viewed by mankind as a symbol of hope. In epic tales, it is with dawn that victory in battle comes. In legends and lore, it is with dawn that the miraculous happenstance occurs. In life, it is with dawn that people arise, ready to face a new day.

As dawn's first light shined through the village, those who had already risen noticed a figure in the distance, steadily approaching.

As the figure came closer, those observing noted that he walked with a noticeable limp. The orange-gold of the early morning sun hid his face from view, but he was dressed in the battle-armour borne by a Knight of Renais.

The figure stepped up to one house in particular, knocking softly. When no answer came, he gently pushed the wooden door open and stepped in. There, he beheld Amelia, having fallen asleep on her chair.

The smile on his face faded as he noticed the trail of dried tears on her cheeks. Biting his lip, he walked forward, stroking her face gently.

She started awake, glancing around blearily until she noticed him standing in front of her.

Franz shrugged and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry I'm late."

Knocked unconscious by the fall, he had awakened to searing agony. His back and leg had apparently been broken and he had also split his forehead. The gash wasn't deep, but it hurt like Hades, and blood still flowed freely from it.

He could have just lain there and died. For a fleeting moment he had considered doing so. But almost as soon as the thought appeared he dismissed it.

Inch by torturous inch, he dragged himself over the unforgiving landscape, willing himself to ignore the screams of protests from his back and leg. Luck had been kind to him in one aspect. The area he had landed in was familiar to him – there would be no climbing required to reach relative safety.

Assuming he survived long enough, of course. The trail would have taken a fit man two full days of walking to cover – he could crawl at a pace of less than half that speed. And all he had in the way of rations was a single skin of water, already half-empty.

Slowly, agonizingly, he traversed the gentle downward slope towards the mountain village he knew lay at the end of the path.

He didn't know how far he had managed to travel before collapsing. The next clear memory he had was of waking up in a dimly lit room, a healer keeping a steady vigil over him.

Later he learnt he had been found by hunters and brought to the village to be nursed to health. For a long time he had been delirious, unable to make himself understood by the healers.

When he finally recovered fully and been allowed to leave, he arranged for a message to be sent to Castle Renais informing them of his survival. However, his first priority was to return home.

After a weeklong journey, he was back – at last.

Amelia stared openmouthed. Was it – could it really be?

He looked rather beat-up, sure. There was a faded scar along the right side of his head – but the golden brown hair, the olive-green eyes, that same boyish grin…

"Franz!" She cried, throwing herself into his arms. He said nothing, merely held her close to himself, grinning from ear to ear.

"You don't know…" She sobbed. "You don't know how much I wanted to hear your voice… to be able to touch your face… to be with you…"

"Hey, hey." He said gently, cutting her off. "What are you talking about?" He pulled away so he could look her in the face. "Of course I know." He said simply

Forsaking words, she simply pulled him close again, resting her head on his shoulder.

They stood there like that for a timeless moment, until another voice interrupted.

"DADDY!" Franz barely had time to spread his arms to catch her as she ran up and leapt into his arms, squealing with delight. "You're home!"

"Were you a good girl while I was gone?" Franz chuckled as he lifted her into the air.

"Dad-deee! Is that all you care about?"

"Of course not!" Franz laughed again and hugged her close. "I love you, Melina."

She stuck her lower lip out in an exaggerated pout. "You broke your promise! You said you'd be back for Christmas!"

Franz nodded. "I know. I'm sorry." His gaze turned inwards, searching. "There were… complications."

"Was does 'complicashion' mean?"

Amelia laughed. "Well, there's no reason why we can't have Christmas today, can't we?" Her smile turned wistful. "After all, we've already done the decorations – it seems such a shame to have them go to waste."

"Hey, yeah! Daddy, you gotta come see this! I decorated the whole half of the tree by myself!"

As Melina half-dragged Franz off towards the backyard, he managed to give Amelia an apologetic look before vanishing.

Amelia simply settled back down on her chair, a content smile on her face.

"So the first thing I hear about my brother surviving a near-fatal drop is from a letter carried by a runner. A letter! You couldn't even stop by the castle and say hello?"

Vanessa laid a calming hand on her husband's arm. "Dear, you know you'd do the same thing if it happened to you. You can't fault Franz's priorities."

Forde grinned. "Well, since I'm so overjoyed that you actually made it – somehow – I'll let you off easy this time. But if you pull off this stunt again, I'm going to kill you myself, got it?"

Franz raised an eyebrow. "Funny, that seems to rather defeat the purpose of me struggling all the way home."

They were all gathered around the backyard, where a fire had been built, illuminating the Christmas tree. Forde and Vanessa sat side by side, Melina had positioned herself comfortably on Franz's lap, while Amelia sat beside Franz, her head resting on his shoulder.

Amelia glanced up, a wry smile on her face. "How long are you two going to keep going at it?"

Her husband chuckled. "I think we're just about done." He wrapped one arm protectively around Amelia's shoulder. "Forde here has done me the service of informing me that I won't be needed at the castle for another week or so, meaning that I have a large chunk of free time to spend with my family."

"Believe me, I'm glad." Amelia sighed and nestled closer. "Very glad."

Melina smiled and tried to stifle a yawn. "Maybe we can… we can go ice skating near the pond tomorrow."

He raised an eyebrow. "Sure. But only if you go to sleep now. You can barely keep your eyes open as is."

She shook her head. "No. I'm not sleepy at all… I'm not…" As she said her last word, her eyes slipped closed, and she was lost to the world.

Franz and Amelia shared a look and a smile. Then, together, all of them turned their gaze towards the Christmas tree, where the ruby glowed softly.

"Franz?"

"Hm?"

"Promise me… promise me you won't leave me alone… ever again."

He smiled, closed his eyes, and nodded. "I promise."

Story inspired by 'Elite Beat Agents Level 12: A Christmas Gift'.

Thanks for reading. Please review.