King Leaf of Lenster.
Even as they placed the crown on his head and the crowds applauded loud enough to deafen a horse he still felt like he was dreaming. It seemed like forever until the cheers died down and the crowds dispersed and when Leaf finally had a moment alone he felt like collapsing.
"Where do I even begin?" He'd felt so confident during those final stretches of the war, telling Nanna he'd do everything in his power to bring his father's dream to light. Promising Altenna and Arion he would avenge not only their parents' deaths, but Trabant's as well; despite his hatred for the late king he could hardly begrudge Arion's love for his father or Altenna's nostalgic affection for the man who raised her.
Leaf closed his eyes. He'd started his journey as a nervous prince, full of self-hatred at his failure to complete Lenster's liberation and over the course of the war grown into the confident, self-assured man he'd been the day he avenged his parents. He'd come back to Lenster full of hope and determination, but the moment the crown was atop his head he felt like that scared little prince all over again.
"Can I do this?"
"Leaf?" Apparently he'd been so deep in thought he hadn't heard his wife approaching. She stood behind him, her eyes full of concern. "You left so suddenly, are you feeling well?"
"I'm fine, thank you," he said, a little more harshly than he'd meant to. "Sorry, Nanna, I'm just tired is all. It's been a long day." She smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"Well, come and sit with us, then. I'm not sure how much longer your sister's going to stay up waiting to talk to you," she said, and Leaf felt a little guilty for sneaking off alone. Altenna tired easily in her condition, and the last thing he wanted was to keep her up waiting for him. With a weak but genuine smile, he took Nanna's and followed her into the parlor.
"...so then Finn asks, what if it's a girl and suddenly the argument is over!" Arion laughed. "I'm sure you'd agree that Ethlin is a much prettier name than Heloise, Prince...I mean, King Leaf."
"Just Leaf is fine, Arion," Leaf said quietly; every instance of someone calling him that felt like throwing stones into a bucket dangling above a river. He forced a brighter smile and returned his attention to the conversation. "And at the risk of seeming biased, I couldn't agree more."
"I still think it's terribly sad that we'll never get to meet Lady Ethlin," Nanna said. "From the stories my father told us, she sounded like quite a woman."
"She was." Altenna closed a hand over her chest, fingers brushing against the gold necklace she wore. "From what little I remember of her, anyway. I was only three when..." She trailed off, shaking her head. Leaf laid his hand over hers, looking into her eyes.
"She and Father would be very proud if they could see you now, sister."
Arion smiled and placed a hand on his wife's swollen middle.
"Maybe we'll have triplets, then we can name each one after our fathers and your mother!" Altenna went pale and gave him a dirty look.
"If you even joke about that again, Arion..." she threatened, and Nanna giggled as she glanced wistfully at Leaf.
"I can't wait until we have children, can you?" At this, Leaf turned as pale as his sister and clutched his forehead. Children? He just barely managed to stifle a groan, being the ruler of an entire country would be hard enough without having to worry about producing heirs.
"I think I can wait just a little bit longer," he replied shakily. Nanna raised an eyebrow, but didn't seem to give his statement another moment's thought.
"We have plenty of time, of course," she said. "But oh, this is all so exciting, Leaf and I are the King and Queen of Lenster, Altenna's going to have a baby..."
"Delmud and Laylea are getting married," Leaf added, chuckling at the memory of Nanna's normally calm, laid back brother giving a dramatic marriage proposal to the sultry dancer during last night's banquet.
"Yes!" Nanna giggled. "Remember when we were just kids, Leaf? Did you ever imagine our lives would turn out like this?"
"At times," Leaf said. Suddenly, Altenna gave a huge yawn. "Sister?"
"Sorry," Altenna laughed sheepishly. Arion and Leaf each extended an arm to help her stand. Altenna groaned a bit as she leaned against her husband, cradling her stomach with both arms. "Just one more month," she muttered under her breath.
"Perhaps we retire for the night too, Leaf," Nanna said. "You really do seem like you could use the rest." Leaf nodded gratefully, and so the two couples said goodnight to each other and retired to their sleeping quarters.
Each servant who bid him igood night, King Leaf/i was another stone in the bucket.
Long after Nanna had fallen asleep, Leaf still lay awake, his words to Altenna running through his head. She and Father would be proud if they could see you now.
He slid out of bed and trudged over to the window, staring out at the blank night sky.
"Father, you were only king for a short time, but even in that short time you accomplished so much. Not just as king, but as a Warrior of Noba." He glanced at the Light Sword mounted above his dressing table, the marks of Noba and Baldo on its hilt winking at him in the dark of the room. Even minor blood is still holy blood, Levin had told him, and since then he'd taken as much pride as he could in just being a descendent of two crusaders even if he could never use their weapons.
"But what if having minor blood means I won't be as effective a ruler as you were?" he whispered, reaching out to trace Noba with a fingertip. "My dream has been to bring your dreams to fruition, I want to reunite the Thracia peninsula and create a better life for everyone. But what if I can't do it? Nanna and Finn swore they'd do all they could to help, but I don't want to rely on them too much."
He slid back into bed, careful not to disturb Nanna, and closed his eyes. He tried to bring himself back to the closing days of the war, when victory was just on the horizon and every dream seemed possible.
The next day, Leaf and Nanna awoke to find a letter from Finn. He'd left just before the sunrise and promised he would return as soon as possible, after he'd fulfilled "a promise made to someone else during the war" as he'd put it.
"Mother," Nanna whispered. Leaf wasn't surprised, he'd known of Princess Lachesis's disappearance for years and he'd had a feeling Finn wasn't just going to sit and wait for her to find her way back to Lenster. "Don't worry, Leaf, he'll be back. We won't be doing this alone for too long."
"Who said I was worried about that?" Leaf forced a smile. "I know we can. I mean...I promised we would, right? Just like Father wanted." But his voice shook on that last note and a dull pain was rising in the back of his eyes. "I-"
"King Leaf?" A servant's voice cut him off along with a knock at the door. "Breakfast is ready."
The last stone shattered the bucket and Leaf sank to his knees, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"We'll be down shortly," he said, barely able to hide the frustration in his voice. "I can't do this!" he cried once the servant had left. "I'll never be even half the king Father was, and I'll pass my own mediocrity down to our children!"
"Oh, Leaf..." Nanna knelt beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Is this about last night? I'm sorry I brought it up, I was just so happy for your sister and-"
"It's not your fault," Leaf sighed. "It didn't help, but I've been scared about everything since they put the crown on my head. All of a sudden it was King Leaf this and King Leaf that and the entire Lenster-Thracia peninsula's in my hands, Finn just up and left us without any warning and we're on our own and..." He swallowed, fighting back tears. "...I can't do this. I'm sorry, Nanna, I guess I'm no stronger than I was in the beginning...what would Father say if he could see me now, breaking down like this..."
There was silence for a moment before Nanna turned her gaze to meet his, her eyes filled with tears.
"I'm scared too, Leaf," she admitted. "I'm scared that if we make even one mistake the people will be calling for our heads on a plate. I'm scared that I won't be as much help to you as I want to be. And now that Father is headed for the desert I'm scared for him and Mother, what if he's too late?"
"Nanna..."
"But we can't do this to ourselves," she said. "We can't let fear get the best of us, not when we need to be strong more than ever!"
"How can you say that?" Leaf whispered. "How can you be so strong even when you're as terrified as I am?"
"Because of what you said to your sister last night." She placed a hand on his cheek. "Your mother and father would be very proud if they could see you now."
"Altenna doesn't have such a strong legacy to follow, though," Leaf mumbled. "My father was the greatest man who ever lived, all I want is to be even half as great as he was."
"Your father would be proud of you even if you only accomplished a quarter of what he did in his lifetime," Nanna gently admonished him. "As long as you gave it your all."
She was right, he realized, a bit of rational thought peeking through the clouds of anxiety. It didn't matter whether he was the most legendary king in all of Lenster's history as long as he did his best.
"But his dream," Leaf said. "Nanna, my father's dream was to see a united Thracia peninsula. I want to make it reality, but do you honestly think it's possible? Even with Arion and Altenna's help, we still have a long history of hatred and war to overcome."
"We can do it, Leaf," she said, taking his hands in her own. "And we won't be alone. Remember what Lady Edain said?"
"That those departed will never truly be gone as long as we keep them in our hearts," Leaf murmured, then gave her a watery smile. "...my father is here, Nanna." He stood, helping her up and showing her the hilt of his sword. Noba's insignia gleamed in the sunlight, and his smile widened. "And he'll always be here."
"And your mother," Nanna added. "And Sir Sigurd, and his comrades. And everyone the Liberation Army lost during the war. They're here, and they believe in us."
Leaf gently traced the hilt of his sword for a moment, then brought his hands back to hers.
"We have to try our best, then," he said. "For their sakes." He embraced her tightly, burying his face in her hair. "Nanna, thank you. I don't know where I'd be if you hadn't been here for me all these years."
"I'll always be here, Leaf," she whispered, returning his embrace.
The road ahead would be long and arduous, but at least now Leaf could face the future with the knowledge that he wasn't in this alone, and that he could bring his father's dream to light.
The river's current swept the stones downstream, and they were never seen again.
Author's Notes
A lot of this is based on my personal canon for Seisen no Keifu, which mixes elements from the Oosawa Mitsuki manga and the games with some original flavor. In this aforementioned personal canon, the substitute children are characters in their own right and even form romances with the default kids. Delmud/Laylea...I think it came to me in a daydream and I've liked the idea of it ever since. XD
The marks of Noba and Baldo on the Light Sword's hilt is just something I thought was a neat idea. I liked the idea of the minor-blooded characters having personal weapons inscribed with their bloodlines' marks (Leaf's Light Sword, Nanna's Earth Sword, Johan's Hero Axe, Tinny's Torron, etc).
I never did see any source for the official name of Trabant's wife, so I picked one out of a hat. I actually do not think Heloise is that ugly a name, in fact I think it's kinda pretty. But for the purpose of the fic, Arion doesn't.
I don't like Trabant. I understand his character is more complex than just the Evil Villain and appreciate the story making it so, but I still found him to be a douchebag. Sorry, Trabant fans. ^^; Deciding how Leaf felt about him was difficult; I can't see him deciding Trabant wasn't such a bad guy after all after what happened to his parents, but on the other hand he loves his sister and seems to respect Arion. And Trabant meant something to them (Arion more than Altenna, but still). Therefore, he despises the man himself but not the idea that he was important to Arion and Altenna.
According to his ending in Thracia 776, Finn leaves after seeing Leaf take the throne and it's assumed he went looking for Lachesis in the Yied desert. (Well, it doesn't mention Lachesis specifically, but I put two and two together. XD) I decided to incorporate it into the story as a catalyst to Leaf's meltdown and Nanna's admission of her own fears.