A/N: Originally written for the fe_fest community at LJ. Prompt: FE9/10 - Greil/Titania: Loving someone sometimes means quietly standing beside them, simply supporting them, but not always being given the chance of becoming something more.
Also, I won't be posting anything for the next 10 days or so: I'm going to China!
Words: 721
Characters: Titania, Greil, Ike, Mist
Time: Before Path of Radiance
Genre: Family/Hurt/Comfort
Disclaimer: Everything you recognize belongs to Nintendo, not me.
One year.
The children were long since asleep, their lullabies sung and their pillows fluffed by Titania rather than their mother. She felt odd, sometimes, too young and unaware to be their mother; their innocent trust was a heavy burden on her shoulders, but one that she felt she could bear, that she had to bear, that she wanted to bear.
Ike had asked her a question before he went to sleep, quietly enough that Mist did not hear.
"Titania? Did Mamma leave today, last year?"
He was old enough, aware enough, to track and understand the days of the calendar. In his countenance, Titania saw less of his mother's face than, for instance, she saw in Mist, whose features were almost exactly Elena's. But as Titania became suddenly still, deliberating over her reply, Titania noticed the subtle similarities to his mother that Ike possessed in his expression and his bearing, so achingly familiar.
"Yes, Ike," she answered quietly. "Yes, it was last year today."
His eyes dropped to the floor, but he said nothing else. After a moment, Titania carried him and Mist to their bed, tucked them in tight, and sang them a soft and light-hearted tune. She listened, too, as Mist sand her own song, the one that, now, only Mist knew. Then Titania kissed them both on the forehead and whispered "good night" into their ears.
When she left their room, she paused. She knew where he would be. Her heart ached to go to him, to share his grief, but her mind hesitated; perhaps he needed to be alone. But Titania, too, felt that unbearable tightness in her chest, that wrenching of her heart, when she remembered Elena's smile, laughter, and spirit. Could Titania force her company, invade Greil's mourning of his love, for her own selfish desire to pay her respects to a departed friend?
The night was dull and cloudy, diffuse with the light of a hidden moon. Slowly, as to give herself ample time to change her mind if she so decided, Titania followed a short trail to the back of the little house, where Greil had set up Elena's memorial. It was not her grave, for they had soon deserted that ghost town of Gallia where she had died. Gratefully, the memorial was close to the house, so she could still hear the children if they called for her.
He was a dark figure, kneeling before a makeshift pillar of stones, a meaningless construction given meaning only by his mourning, his misery, his memories. Titania was carefully to step loudly on the fallen leaves to give him warning of her approach.
"Sir Greil?" she whispered. "May I join you?"
He gave a short, slow nod, the most infinitesimal incline of his head, and Titania understood. She sat down beside him on a patch of chilly grass. For a long time, neither of them spoke. It could have been minutes or hours; she would have guessed days if not for the lack of the sunrise. She was close enough to him to feel the pervasive warmth emanating from his body, so very strong, so very alive. But they were not touching. They were very still.
Light finally broke over mountains at their backs, cutting through the clouds like magic. The heat was welcome, but it was not as warm as Greil's presence.
Ike and Mist would wake soon. Titania rose shakily to her feet, her limbs stiff.
"I'll go watch the children," she said, turning away, though she longed not to leave.
To her surprise, she was barely around the corner when she heard his steady footsteps behind her. When they reached the children's room, she felt a hand close on her weary shoulders.
"Thank you," he murmured.
Then he opened the door, smiled at his bleary-eyed, yawning son, laughed warm and deep at his daughter's bedhead. Ike clung to his father's arm and waved at Titania, and Mist hurriedly ruffled her hair back into place. Watching them, Titania had never before known such a powerful mixture of love and loss, of joy and regret. But she noticed things, too, that soothed her. Seeing Greil with his eyes so tired but happy, she couldn't help but feel, more than anything, that she was at peace.