Series: Suikoden V

Prompt: Rightful.

Summary: AU, He suddenly recalled she was supposed to be the one to inherit the throne.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you recognize.

Rating: T

Genre: Romance/Family

Pairings: Can be considered Prince Freyjadour Falenas x Haswar Falenas

Warnings: Incest - don't like, don't read. Flames will be ignored.

Author's Note: There's just too little Haswar stories, has she no fans? Review if you like it.

Lunas; the holy land lives true to its title. The air was cleaner and fresher than anywhere he'd been, even the beautiful town Lordlake. The Prince—not for long now—inhaled the air and relished as his body relaxed. He gazed out at the night sky and seeing the stars shine them on him, he recalled of the time when his parents had been alive and Lym had been here to cleanse herself.

It seemed like a lifetime ago; and he'd emerged from the timeline as a grown man, with many powerful allies and friends and a heralded hero. The soon-to-be first King of Falena—a short reign, until he found a wife and had a daughter who'd replace him as the next ruler of the Queendom—glanced up when he heard the crunching of feet approaching him.

At first, he assumed it was Lyon; in the darkness, he couldn't see well and his guard was up. The war may be over but that didn't mean there wasn't any haters out there.

"Prince?" The silver-haired boy, nearly a man now, blinked when he realized who it was and he relaxed. He nodded in acknowledgement at the older woman who smiled down gently at him. "Can't sleep? Do you want me to get you a cup of milk? It helps you sleep back when you're younger!"

The Prince stared blankly at his grand-cousin(?) and she blushed slightly when she noticed.

"Sorry," Haswar apologized, giggling and rubbing the back of her head sheepishly. "I kept forgetting that you're no longer a boy. You're a man now and soon-to-be king. You'll be ruling Falena, how do you feel about it?"

Haswar squinted and saw the boy's shoulder slumped. "Is something wrong?"

He shook his head, silent as he turned his back from the woman. Haswar stared at his back, concerned; she smiled nostalgically when she stepped closer, close enough to feel the boy's warmth, and realized that he was so much taller than her now. He used to be such an adorable squirt.

She placed her hand on his shoulder, lowering her voice to a whisper as she leaned in closer. "You know you can tell me anything," she prompted.

If possible, the Prince's shoulders slumped further. "I..." the first words he'd spoken other than monosyllables since he'd stepped foot in Lunas for the purification ceremony leaders of Falena had go through before him. "I... don't think I'll make a good King. I mean, when had there been a ruling King before in a Queendom?"

Haswar giggled, a musical lilt to it and it was soothing to the Prince's ears. "You'll be the first."

"Not funny," he muttered. "I'd ruled before but I never expected for Lym to give me her throne and authority. I don't want to be King. I want things the way it was before."

"Is it hard to rule as a leader of a country?" she asked curiously.

"Not that different from leading an army to war I guess," he shrugged and she winced at the destructive word that had taken her nearly everything from her—her parents and cousins, it was to her utmost relief Lym and Frey had made it out safely. "Just more politics involved."

"It's not that bad," she said. "But I guess I'll never know."

The Prince picked his head up from where he'd been staring intently into the sparkling river. He stared at Haswar's silver hair and silver-blue eyes so much like his own he was hit with the realization that she was the daughter of the elder queen and she was supposed to be the one to inherit the throne. Before he could say anything about the seeds of a brilliant idea in his mind, she spoke.

"I hope you marry soon," she was saying wistfully, stroking his head and leaned into her touch. "Or our bloodline will diminish and the Sun Rune would forever be left with no bearer."

"You'll be marrying too, right?"

Haswar smiled, unsure as to how she should feel about that. She was in her early thirties and that was already considered old in the eyes of society. "I sure hope I'll be able to."

"Marry me then," he said out of the blue and she was thrown. She blinked, furrowing her eyebrows, wondering had she heard him wrong. But he took her hands in his and pulled them both up from where they'd sat by the riverbed. "I need a queen to rule this kingdom."

She blinked. "But..."

"Don't you love me?" she blinked more, baffled and unable to respond so he continued. "Yeah, it may be a different kind of love now but... wouldn't it be able to grow into something... you know, more?"

He stared at her hopefully and she asked herself, would she be able to? She studied him closer, noting how his silver-blue eyes seemed to glow under the moonlight and how his silver bangs fell forward to frame his attractive face. She also noted how he was taller than her, the determined look in his eyes—the person standing before her was no boy, he was a warrior hardened by war but still so kind and passionate, how could she not fall in love? Hadn't it always been her dream since childhood to be swept off her feet by a prince?

And here he was, after so many years, but at least he was still here.

"Yes," she said, though concerned how the public society would react to this; they were still family after all and their age gap, nevermind the fact that she was older than him by many years. "Yes, I will marry you."

He smiled.

She had doubts in the first place when he proposed to her but as she ascended her rightful throne, no one objected and as he took her hands in his, she couldn't believe she had hesitated before. She was in the right place. She made the right choice, and she was happy.