This was written way back in May 2006. Please review (or not) as you see fit.
NOTE: Section in italics is a flashback ('cause we all love those darn flashbacks). The second section is when Nils is about to go through the gate. The third is some time in the distant future where Nils talks about his past in Elibe.
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Disclaimer: Fire Emblem and all officially associated characters do not belong to me.
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Something fluttered onto Nils' cheek. The young bard slowly forced his eyes open. He sat up as a flower petal fell off his face and onto his lap.
His sister stood above him, seemingly unaware of his presence. She was smiling while looking off into the distance, a bouquet of fresh wildflowers held close to her chest. Nils was suddenly blinded by a white flash. His eyes were drawn to a band of gold adorning one of Ninian's pale fingers. A ring, he thought.
It was plain, yet elegant and beautiful in its simplicity. Gold met gold in a circle with no beginning nor end in its design. Of course, that's how all rings are. But this one, thought Nils, seemed different. Maybe it was the way his sister held herself with such purpose. Never had he seen her eyes portray that taboo so fondly.
Love. Ninian was in love.
She had the smile that played on her lips, the gentle pinkness in the cheeks and the love-struck shine in her eyes; all the little details that said so much without a single word.
Slowly, Nils stood up. His sister seemed to still be in that spell. The boy bit his lip. Had she forgotten? Nils quietly spoke, "Ninian?... You can't... You can't be with Lord Eliwood..."
Ninian was startled out of her spell. Turning to face Nils, she said a very simple sentence. "I'm in love with him."
His eyes caught sight of that flash again. This time, Ninian was fingering it, slowly rotating the gold ring. "I am," she asserted, conscious of his doubt.
There was a funny feeling in the pit of his stomach. Anxiety? His sister... staying in this world?! Tears began to blur the corners of his vision. Nearly without realizing it, Nils blurted, "You'll die! Is your love for Eliwood that strong?! Are you really, absolutely willing to trade off so much of your life just to spend a few years here with some human?!"
An uneasy silence cloaked both of them. He stood, slightly shaking from the shock. She stood, eyes wide at his outburst.
Slowly, both of them regained their composure. Ninian opened her mouth to speak, but then she closed it. She sincerely loved Lord Eliwood as he loved her but... Nils would be all by himself back home. Was there anything, anything at all, that she could say to console him? Ninian told him the only thing that came to mind.
"I am."
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He looked towards her again. The vortex of energy pulled at his back and in front of him stood two people, Eliwood and Ninian. He could think of nothing else to say.
"Are you sure?"
She clasped Eliwood's hand even tighter. "I know I'll live a much shorter life," she said, "but life is to be cherished while it is had. I... want to spend my life... with Lord Eliwood."
He tried to see it. He peered into her eyes, those red eyes not unlike his own and he tried to see whether she really loved him that much.
"I'll make her happy," said the man grasping her hand. "I swear it on Father's grave." He looked solemnly at the boy who stood frozen in uncertainty at the gate back home.
A flash. It was the ring again, thought the bard. Her hand, the one adorned with that ring, was held firmly within Lord Eliwood's. Gold met gold, neverending.
Nils looked at his sister. She... she did seem happy, content in some way that beguiled logic. He asked again, "Are you sure?"
He didn't really need to hear her answer. Before he could change his mind he stepped into the gate. Turning back he told her, "I'll close the gate from this side. Be happy, Ninian. Spend your life well with Lord Eliwood. Don't die with any regrets."
He wished that he could stay and help his sister with all the problems to be had in the human world, but he couldn't. He wanted to smile one last time for his sister, but that would break his resolve.
When his suddenly small form was outlined by the energy of the portal, it prompted a response from his sister. Ninian forced out the word that had been lodged in her throat ever since she had received the ring, the word that inevitably came at the end of every relationship.
"Goodbye, Nils."
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Excerpt from the manuscripts of Nils, brother of Ninian the Oracle
I beseech to you, fellow dragons, do not fear love. It is not an enemy. Love exists in many places, unfurling its secret petals in the corners of our hearts. It can exist even between a human and a dragon. Do not become blinded by disbelief and denial, as I was.
I am content, for my sister could no longer be reaffirmed of my love for her but she found it anew by the side of Lord Eliwood, son of Lord Elbert. It has been centuries since my time in the human world, longer than any human could hope to live and longer still for a dragon breathing the now-polluted airs of Elibe. I only hope that their souls rest in peace.
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