Title: Name
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia
Pairing/Characters: Lloyd, Colette
Warning(s): Spoilers out the wazoo.
Genre: Gen
Martel stands before them, every part the goddess he imagined her to be – tall, proud, and a little bit sad. She gestures towards the apparition of the Tree, then places her hand back over her heart.
"The Tree needs a name," she says, softly but firmly, her feet leaving the ground. Hovering there, she looks to Lloyd, who suddenly feels like she is looking straight through him.
The Tree needs a name. He can think of a lot of names – but names are usually tied to boys or girls, and he doesn't want the Tree to be either. It needs to be a name that can be anyone at any time. A last name, then. But should it be long? Complicated? Short and simple?
Colette touches his arm and he turns to her. She gives a little smile. "Go on, Lloyd. Give the Tree a name." He considers Colette but that doesn't seem right. Martel, then? Kratos? Yuan? Mithos?
His head turns to other places. He considers Iselia and Meltokio but the Tree withered first because Sylvarant and Tethe'alla fought each other, and he doesn't want to start another war by elevating one place over the other. Welgaia? Cruxis? Cruxis sounds good, but the name is tied to fear for so many. He turns back to Martel – the Church would like it, but what about the Tethe'allans who hate the Church? Then, what about –
The coldness in his stomach is a sign that he's found the right name. It's a name that means so little and means so much, homage to those who wept for a beautiful peaceful world, but foreign enough that few will grasp its full meaning. In time, it would mean more than either Mithos or Martel.
"The Tree's name," he says slowly, his ears catching the rising wind around him, "Is Yggdrasill."