Author's Note: This fic was a birthday gift for a friend who's very much into LonLissa. I remembered how she had been making speculations about possible derivations from the "bad" timeline in the current game timeline due to everything that changes in the end by defeating Grima. One of these speculations was that the children of this timeline might come out differently in one way or another in comparison to those from the future and yeah... I drove it to the most logical extreme.
I was trying to write slightly more humorous than usual, but I'm not really good at that, so it isn't all that funny I guess... ^^;
R . I . S . I . N . G . S . U . N .
He had seen everything. People dying right in front of him, people trying to kill him, things that were not even people. Undead creatures, dragons, rivers dyed red with blood. He had thought that trivial matters could not faze him anymore that much.
But what he had witnessed just now was something he had never imagined to happen.
While he had not been present during the birth as such, by law of Ylisse, respect for Lissa's privacy and the fact that he had still not fully overcome his discomfort about certain things connected to women, he had waited impatiently hours after hours before the door to the Princess's private chambers. The noises that had made their way through the thick doors and walls during what seemed like the whole night and that had continued to cease and come up again so often he could not even count it had managed to make him sick after a while, yet he had stayed on his position, only leaving it to stroll up and down the corridor.
Over time, several people from the palace had come by, nobody even trying to sleep, asking for Lissa's wellbeing, but he had not been able to tell them anything, as he had never even slightly peeked inside. In the end, a small group of people had gathered before the doors, all waiting together with Lon'qu for the happy end of Lissa's labour.
After hours and hours, the noises seemed to have disappeared for good, but it still took a while until the very end. New sounds rose and nobody could connect them to anything, except for Robin, who smiled and nodded, asking the others to be patient for another bit and then left to tend to her own child.
When one of the maids finally opened the doors to Lissa's rooms, Lon'qu could barely prevent himself from making a fool of himself in front of the palace staff by rushing right past the maids and into the bedroom. The discomfort the voices and noises has brought him, just like the unpleasant thoughts about the hows and ifs about the event of birth, had fallen off him at once, being replaced by a rush of adrenaline that numbed his mind almost as much.
The sight that awaited him in Lissa's bedroom was something he had never seen before.
Maids rushed around to tend to the princess and her child and cleaning up, although it seemed like they had done most of their work before letting in any visitors. Lissa was in bed, a small pack of fabric in her arms, visibly tired but shining bright all over her face. It seemed she had no even noticed her husband yet, she was completely captivated by her newborn child, whispering soft words that almost sounded like a little song.
Her brother, the Exalt, was the first to arrive at the scene after Lon'qu and as soon as he entered the room, the maids gathered around him and whispered something into his ear Lon'qu could not catch at all, but it was not meant for him to hear anyway. He only noticed Chrom's look of surprise.
Robin followed immediately after her husband, the infant but steadily growing Lucina in her arms.
Lissa still seemed to not have noticed anyone, until one of the maids came to her with a glass of water and a notice about her guests.
She looked up and smiled at everyone, radiating happiness like Lon'qu had never seen her before. It was incredible and the air in the room seemed to warm up by her brimming eyes. Suddenly the strange smell that hovered around did not bother him anymore.
He moved over to her bed, but only after a moment of hesitation and by Lissa's silent invitation. He would rather prefer some privacy now, but against his former expectations this was a rare thing in the palace and he had considered going back to a more simple life more than once, putting these plans to a halt as soon as Lissa had shown signs of pregnancy.
Seeing the baby, his own flesh and blood, was so different from looking at other children their comrades had gotten over the past months. The moment he laid eyes on the child, Lon'qu felt incredible pride, he finally understood Chrom and the other men that had already become fathers and how they seemed to be obsessed with their newborn children. He could see Lissa in this tiny face, her soft features had engraved themselves in every cell of the child and it had the same sunny radiance. He could see himself in the hair, brown as his, and surely more features that resembles his own would become visible over time.
The small bundle of fabric shifted and kicked ever so lightly and appeared to be awake rather than asleep, against Lon'qu's expectations. Lissa chuckled softly and lifted her newborn, the exhaustion from hours of labour slowly disappearing while her smile grew even more. From the corner of an eye, Lon'qu could see Chrom whispering to his wife, and she looked back and forth between Lissa's baby and the little Lucina in her arms, slightly surprised, but then more confident. She answered her husband, but Lon'qu could not understand what, nor did he want to know, it was not his concern.
His concern rather was next to him.
Lissa beamed at her child, lifting it high up.
"Welcome to this world, my love. I promise it'll be a peaceful one."
Yes, a peaceful world. That was what they had fought so hard for, why everyone had risked their lives day after day. The dream had finally come true and the children would grow up in happiness.
And should anything disturb this peace, he would fight again. He would take up his sword without hesitation and strike down anyone presenting harm to the ones he loved.
Just as Lissa carefully wanted to hand her baby to Lon'qu, so that he could finally feel its softness and get to know his child, the doors flew open in a loud roar, a gust of fresh wind followed by a warrior.
Owain rushed in, followed by his cousins Lucina and Morgan. They had spent the time during Lissa's labour together, the silblings trying to distract him from the unusual nervousness he had displayed during the time his mother had been giving birth. A few times he had come to his mother's room, pacing around in silence while his father Lon'qu had watched him just as wordlessly. He had never stayed for long, however, and rather preferred to return to training swordplay with his cousins, or so Lon'qu had at least assumed.
"Finally, the time has come that marks the beginning of a legend, the coming of a hero! In this hot summer night, a light shines through the dark, enlightening the path to eternal freedom and peace!"
All eyes were on Owain while he recited a speech that, given his mind, could either have been practiced all day or he had made up spontaneously, one could never be sure. When he paused for a moment to catch his breath, confused looks flew between the attendees, Chrom whispered something in his Robin's ear again. As Lissa made a small surprised sound, Lon'qu's attention returned to his wife and child and he realized that the gust of wind Owain and his cousins had brought into the room had made the fabric cradle come off that Lissa's newborn had been enwrapped into and the child was stark naked as Lissa still held it up in the same raised position as before Owain had come in, presenting the clothless innocence to everyone present.
"Nature has once again demonstrated its beauty and power in the miracle of birth, just as a new day is born, so is a human life – it is a true miracle that one man is able to witness his own coming into existence, it is —-"
"It's a girl!"
Faint giggles around the room. The time-travelling children looked at each other in confusion.
It was only now that Lon'qu realized this child his wife had given birth to was of unexpected gender, the loss of its cloth had made it painfully obvious to him.
Owain had lost his thread.
"Wait, what?"
"Well…" Lissa turned her still naked baby around for everyone to see.
Lon'qu deducted that this seemed to be what everyone had been whispering about, although it did not explain why nobody had told him beforehand. But then again, this was a highly unusual situation, maybe even the first time in history something like this had happened. And what did it change anyway? This child was his child, the living proof of the bonds between himself and Lissa, it was beautiful and perfect no matter the gender.
Both Owain and Morgan had averted their eyes from the naked little girl, obviously slightly overstrained by the sudden presentation, earning some laughter from their parents.
"I guess we changed time enough to make something like this possible", Lucina mused. "It's not a way towards 'our' future anymore, but a completely new history."
Her mother nodded in approval, Owain, however, was not amused.
"The great hero is gone! I'm lost in history!"
"I wouldn't say so", Robin continued her daughter's thoughts from before, "since we did learn that time tries to get back to its original path somehow. Sooner or later, you will be born into this time, I'm sure, Owain."
Robin and Lucina were probably right, Lon'qu knew that. It was impossible that he would never get to see his son grow up, the one that had risked everything to come back in time to save his parents and friends and everyone he loved. This would not be happening.
And by the time he would be born, Lon'qu was sure, the world would be a peaceful place. This was what they had all worked so hard for and what they would continue to work for in any possible way. Never should any of them witness even a percent of the horrors their alternate selfs had been going through, ever.
"Hmm, but one tiny problem remains…" Lissa said while wrapping her daughter up in her blankets again. Chrom raised a questioning eyebrow.
"We were all so sure this child would be Owain that we've never thought of another name… How are we going to call her?" She turned her gaze towards her husband.
She was right, nobody had ever expected everything to turn out like this. Getting a child that was not a boy had been out of the question the whole time. But surely they would be able to find a name that was worthy of the little Princess that now lay in his arms, sleeping soundly to gather the energy needed to grow up steadily.
As Lissa moved to have a look out of the window, greeting the rising sun just as it seemed to greet the newborn life, painting the sky and clouds in pastel colors, Lon'qu followed her gaze towards the dawn.
As time went by and their child grew up, Lon'qu and Lissa decided to move out of the Ylissean palace again, journeying towards Lon'qu's old profession in Ferox. Still, the Ylissean populace came to love the little girl, the princess's daughter that was soon known throughout the Halidom as the girl of the rising sun, Azia.