Yep, here's another family piece, and one that is really dialogue heavy. What can I say? I love the potential for family fics for this game. The idea for this story came to me as I wondered what Nah's reaction would be if and when she learned that her father went through hardships similar to hers. I borrowed a few pages from their Future Past DLC dialogue as well, though I avoid quoting most of it verbatim. I know Nowi x Libra is rather uncommon in the fandom, but I really like them together, and as a family with Nah. I hope you all enjoy, and I hope I did Libra and Nah's characters justice.
If you've read my profile and wonder where On a Dragon Wing and a Prayer is. . . I'll get to that, I promise. Consider this story as practice for me to write Nah well.
Nah sat at attention on her cot in her tent, her father resting on a small nearby stool. Though it was not yet noon, the darkening clouds heralded the coming of a downpour. If this were any other day, Nah would have attempted to train or complete some other task before the rain came. Not so today, even with the plans she made with her mother. After some awkward discussions a week ago, she would finally learn more about her parents.
Perhaps she should not have been so brusque when she brought the subject up, as all it did was anger Libra. Nah was not used to being open about her feelings and her past. After all, her foster family would not have wanted to hear it. Even when she left that house and traveled to Ylisstol back in her future, she had not gotten close to any of the others, though she was on friendly terms with Lucina. It seemed that telling Libra of her life growing up moved him and she felt a sense of unburdening, similar though not as great as when she first met her parents. Back then, after the Shepherds found her, Nowi encouraged the blonde girl to cry. While she did not and still does not like to admit weakness, she allowed herself the luxury and with it much relief.
She was not sure what to anticipate, but her parents were the only human-and-manakete pair she knew about. There were times when she still lived with her foster family that she cursed her half-breed nature, but now especially, she recognized how extraordinary her parent were and held pride in being of the dragonkin. Though Nah still had much to learn about manaketes and their history, she did know that the two races historically had not gotten along. That, along with never having met her parents, was why she wanted to know what drew Nowi and Libra to each other and why they married.
Nowi initiating her and Libra's relationship by trying to get the feminine-voiced man to play with her was expected. What followed was not.
"It was after she discovered the scar on my neck that I told her of my childhood," Libra hesitated a bit as he recounted the story to his future daughter, but still he continued, "I don't enjoy speaking of my past, but even when I barely knew your mother, I found her easy to talk to. My parents left me at some manner of orphanage or boarding school when I was but a child."
"But if they were both alive, then why?" Nah asked with a frown.
The longhaired priest lowered his head, hesitating longer than he did before.
"Is something the matter, Father?" Nah asked, concern on her voice.
Libra quickly returned his gaze to the half-manakete and said, "I apologize, dear Nah. Your mother believes that I may find it easier to cope with my past if I were to tell others about it, and yet I still find it difficult."
Shifting on her cot, the girl said, "If it troubles you that much, you really don't have to tell me if you don't want."
Libra smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, my child, but I believe your mother is right. In spite of her frivolity and love of play, she is remarkably wise."
Nah nodded. She would have scoffed at that a week ago, but recently her mother had warned the girl that overusing dragonstones was dangerous for a someone as young as she was. While hiding the stone from her was childish, it amazed her how astute her mother was at noticing Nah's fatigue after training.
"In any case," Libra continued, "my mother and father abandoned me because they believed I was possessed by demons. They feared me and left me at that place."
"Father…" the blonde girl gasped, "But…what would make them think that?"
Libra shook his head, "I am not certain. Whatever their reasons, I grew up not knowing parental love and kept my distance from other people. While the teachings of Ylisse and eventually the priesthood saved me, I still opened up to no one. I trusted the gods, but not people. Instead, I feared them."
Nah said nothing, but the concern and sadness on her face deepened.
"Your mother was moved by my story, and she endeavored to help me find my heart. She seemed to take it literally at first, but she then introduced me to as many people as she could in camp. Well, perhaps 'pushed me to meet others' would be a more apt description, but I see now that I needed it."
"So then, Mother helped you to make friends," Nah stated, "It seems kind of strange. I haven't known you for very long, but you're usually so polite and kind."
"I was told by others as much in the past, but I still avoided getting close to people. Your mother, though…I couldn't help but admire her sprightly, gregarious nature. I feel I still have a long way to go, and my past will likely haunt me for the rest of my days. Even so, your mother's spirited disposition, kindness, and insight truly did find my heart and I allowed myself to trust. That admiration became affection, and that in turn grew to become love."
Nah's voice had a touch of awe in it as she asked, "And that's why you fell in love with her? Because she helped you?"
"Partially. It was also because I found myself drawn to her nature. That and I learned she could relate to my past in some ways," Libra paused for a moment and then said, "I perhaps should let your mother tell you more about her own life."
The girl nodded. Her mind was reeling from all this revelation and as eager as she was to learn about her parents, she could wait for Nowi's story. Her mother did say she could relay her long life to Nah nightly.
"Weeks later, after we finally met everyone in camp, we determined that she succeeded in finding my heart. It was then that I proposed to her. I am still a little embarrassed that we had not even been courting properly, but I felt and still feel closer to her than to anyone else. Nowi was elated, professing her love for me and accepting my proposal."
All Nah could say was, "Oh Father…I…I had no idea." It was a redundant thing to say. How could she know about her father's past, her mother's insight and wish to help him, and the love that grew from there? On the surface, they quite possibly made the oddest couple in camp, the war monk who almost everyone assumed to be a woman at first glance and the thousand-year-old manakete who insisted on behaving like a child. Their story genuinely moved the young dragonkin; and made her feel incredibly guilty about her behavior from before.
Libra chuckled, "Is it that strange?"
"N-no! I didn't mean it in a bad way. It's just so incredibly touching, and romantic!"
The long-haired man smiled. There was a moment of silence before the expression left Libra and changed to a more focused one with a hint of melancholy.
"My dear Nah, though I am not your real father, I feel that I must apologize for leaving you in the future," Libra said.
Nah blinked. Where was this coming from? He had no reason to apologize to her.
"I know what it is like to be raised in an environment without the love of parents, or even friends. The last thing I ever wanted was for my own child to experience the same pain I did. I would like to believe that the future me was the same, and yet—"
"No, Father! You don't have to apologize to me. If anything, I should be the one saying sorry," Nah interrupted, sniffling.
It was the monk's turn to blink, "You? But why would you need to?"
"Because," she said, sniffling again and trying her best to hold back tears, "I was accusing you of rushing into marrying mother, made you tell me about your childhood, made you feel guilty about dying in the future, and I even thought earlier that you couldn't relate to the life I went through. I was really wrong about that. You probably understand it better than anyone," the blonde dragonkin sobbed a few times. She thought to herself how her childhood was somewhat easier than what her father went through. Her parents didn't call her a monster and abandon her, after all. "I'm terrible."
"Oh Nah…" Libra stood up, then walked over and embraced his daughter. Consolingly, he said, "you are most certainly not terrible. You did not have a means of knowing any of this prior to me telling you. There was no malice in any of your thoughts and inquiries."
"I guess," the girl said with a sniff, "and…I don't blame and never have blamed my parents for dying. I could never. Naga told me that my mother and father died for my sake and for the sake of the world. How could I hold that against them, or you?"
Libra let go of the half-manakete and smiled fondly. He then sat down next to her on the cot.
"Truly, Naga and the other gods are great, for in spite of the lack of a mother or father, you still grew good and gracious." He looked away slightly before continuing, "Even now, I fear I am not as selfless or benevolent as I can be because of my upbringing."
"Of course you are, Father," said Nah, pausing to use the handkerchief Libra gave her when she cried relaying her story to him. "I'm not exactly a saint, either. I could stand to be less blunt and snappy, to start with." She chuckled and Libra followed suite. Her father once said that she was so much like Nowi, but she took after him in several ways as well.
"Thank you, Father, for telling me about everything," she said, hugging the blonde monk from the side, "And thank you for accepting me so readily as your daughter. "
"Think nothing of it, my dear, "Libra said, wrapping an arm around the girl, "It is a bit unusual to meet your child before she is even born, but I am grateful to the gods for giving Nowi and me this opportunity."
A few moments later, Nah stood up from the cot. She said,
"I'm going to meet up with mother. She told me she would show me a way to train without having to use a dragonstone, though I don't know if we still can before the rain starts." The manakete was likely going to insist that she play a game or three with Nah before then, but after the long heart-to-heart with her father, she wanted to spend time with Nowi as well.
"Of course. I should be on my way as well," he said after he stood up and Nah made her way to the flap. Father and daughter bid goodbye before walking away from each other in opposite directions. She gave a quick prayer as she went to locate her mother, thanking Naga for the chance to meet and learn about her parents. She thought to herself that she should get back into longer prayer sessions to the Divine Dragon, perhaps along with her father. Although a hurried prayer prevented her from truly communing with Naga, she heard faint and gentle laughter and felt someone out of sight smile upon her.