A/N: My first FFN fic. Enjoy!
Apart from the wind blowing across the dunes, Triet Desert was utterly silent. Sound carried easily across the sand, but nothing, not even insects, interrupted the night stillness. Kratos remained vigilant, watching for the first signs of danger. Anna was in no condition to move tonight, not after days of hard travelling conditions with no rest. Yuan had given his word that he would conceal the dimensional transfer as best he could, but he could not hide it for long. Mithos would quickly realize that Origin's seal had slipped away to Sylvarant with the Angelus Project again, and the forces of Cruxis would descend to begin their hunt anew.
A tiny wail began to emanate from somewhere behind Kratos. He turned and began to move swiftly toward the source, a nondescript canvas tent tucked between two large drifts. In front of the entrance stood Noishe, who looked at the tent with an air of grave concern, his massive ears erect and tail crooked. Noishe let out a soft whine as Kratos pushed aside the flap and entered the tent.
"Stay outside, Noishe. Stay on guard." Kratos ordered, and swept over to Anna. Pale and worn as she was, Anna was already cradling Lloyd in her arms, speaking to him softly . Lloyd sobbed inarticulately in fear, still suffering from the threat of a nightmare.
"Go back to sleep, Anna. You need to regain your strength. I'll care for him tonight." Kratos said, and took Lloyd from his wife's arms. Anna nodded gratefully and collapsed back onto her bedroll. Kratos paused to take a cloak to protect against the chill before he went outside. While the cold desert air meant nothing to him, his son was much more fragile. Outside the tent, Noishe thrust his nose under Kratos' arm, inspecting the crying boy closely. Kratos walked to the top of the nearest drift as Noishe followed, his eyes intent on Lloyd. Ever since his birth, Noishe had put special emphasis on Lloyd's welfare, something that Anna had found extremely amusing and caused her to dub Noishe 'Nursemaid Noishe'.
Kratos wrapped the cloak tightly around both himself and Lloyd, holding him so he could be warm and have a clear view of the sky. The moon of Tethe'alla was brilliant and full, and there were no clouds to obscure it or the dazzling multitude of stars around it.
"The moon is full, Lloyd. Can you see it?" Kratos said, looking skyward. "Luna's Pearl is whole once more. Soon it will be taken again by Shadow, until Undine and Aska demands its return." Kratos and Anna had quickly discovered the fastest way to calm Lloyd down or put him to sleep was to talk to him about any subject, calmly, clearly, and constantly. The old legends of the stars fit that criteria, being a subject Kratos could speak on at length.
Kratos continued his story, telling Lloyd how Undine had given the two largest pearls in the oceans to Luna as a gift, but lonely Shadow saw and coveted, bewitched by their and Luna's beauty. He stole them all away, causing Aska so much distress he could not fly and light up the world, until Undine showed Aska where they had been hidden. Shadow apologized and explained his plight, and Luna took pity on him and agreed to visit him regularly. Lloyd began to quiet quickly and Kratos continued telling tales of the constellations as he pointed them out, one by one. He told of The Great Orion Beast, Luna's Handmaidens, Guardian Rem, Ratatosk's Crest, Samier The Bright, The Grave of Sekundes, and Lorelei the Lost. He stopped when Lloyd's head began to droop, to stare upwards in silence.
No one living in Sylvarant nor Tethe'alla, apart from the elves, knew how the skies were broken in two. Familiar patterns and whole pieces were missing from their intended places, shattered and scattered across dimensions. It was something that disturbed Kratos, each time looked upon the stars. The heavens above had been desecrated, and he had aided in the act.
"See moon?" Lloyd's tiny voice interrupted Kratos' ruminations, making him look down at Lloyd in surprise. While Lloyd was fully capable of speaking as well as any three year old boy, he rarely did so outside of single words. Anna had assured him that Lloyd would speak when he had something to say, and pointedly brought up Kratos' own speech patterns as a template. Now Lloyd stared at his father with a wide-eyed solemnity. When he received no response, he tried again, lifting a chubby arm skywards. "See moon, daddy?"
Kratos' face softened. "Yes, Lloyd. I see it." He replied. Satisfied, Lloyd promptly fell into a deep sleep against Kratos' chest. Kratos wrapped the cloak tighter and stood still for a moment before returning to the tent. His son did not deserve the world he had been born into. The world that Anna loved and thought so beautiful was only half of what it truly was. He had helped to create the twisted system that had moved heaven and earth, in the name of preserving life and a single half-elf woman who believed that discrimination could be defeated, and so condemning thousands to worlds built upon lies.
After placing Lloyd in his sling, Kratos resumed his vigil, thinking. Tomorrow they would head north, to investigate rumors of a dwarf living alone aboveground. Before anything else could start, Kratos had to ensure Anna's safety and remove or nullify her Cruxis Crystal. Once the Cruxis Crystal was negated, he could focus on freeing the Great Seed and releasing Origin. The tasks ahead seemed insurmountable and led to certain death, which Kratos looked upon with grim determination. He had to atone, no matter what it took. He had to for his beloved, who deserved to see the beauty of the united world. He had to for his son, who deserved to grow up under the true sky. He had to for himself, to correct his mistakes and to share the world he knew with those he loved.
A/N: This ficlet was written for my dad, who used to take me stargazing when I was little. Kratos' and Lloyd's conversation is based off of one my father and I had when I was around Lloyd's age.