Disclaimer: Don't own anything.

Author's Note: We're slowly nearing the end. I rewrote the beginning of this chapter about five different times because I couldn't decide how I wanted to present the situation.

I've been watching Red a lot lately. Love that movie. And I'm going to see West Side Story performed tonight with my family, so I'm real excited about that.

If you guys want something to happen with Lloyd as a kid or a baby, just let me know and I'll try and fit it in.

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A baby is an angel whose wings decrease as his legs increase. ~Author Unknown

-/-/

He's staring at her. Or rather, at her abdomen. "Where'd it go?"

Anna rolls her eyes. "I had you pegged as an intelligent man, Yuan."

There's a sudden darkness in Yuan's eyes that Anna doesn't like. It's the kind of darkness that she's come to associate with Martel. "…It…It wasn't a miscarriage, was it?"

Anna shook her head. "No, no, the kid's fine."

Yuan narrowed his eyes at her. "Did I lose track of time again?"

"No. It was premature."

"And you're telling me the kid's fine?"

"Yes."

"And you're okay?" His eyes rake over her, searching for any sign of illness or less-than-wellbeing.

"Yes, Yuan. Lloyd and I are just fine. He's spending some quality time with his father. I needed to get some air."

Yuan snorted. "Kid won't be fine after too long with Kratos. I'm going to say hi to him before he's corrupted."

Anna laughed. "Kratos or Lloyd?"

Yuan smirked at her. "Either one." He was three steps away before he turned back. "I nearly forgot." He kissed her cheek. "Congratulations to the new mother."

-/-/-/-

"So, my best friend has a son and I miss out." Kratos glanced up, both surprised and not surprised to see Yuan leaning on the pillar. "I'm sorry."

"You were busy helping the organization that's taken over the world. It happens.

Yuan walked closer to Kratos and the bundle of blankets in his arms. "Let me see him? I have a right as godfather, after all."

Kratos held out the bundle. Lloyd was light, but Yuan thinks it's because it's been a very long time since he's carried a newborn. The kid's all pink skin and chubby cheeks with a line of brown hair running down the top of his head. Lloyd shifted in Yuan's arms, but didn't wake.

Kratos watched his friend with his son. Yuan had a thing for kids. Kratos had never understood it, but he did. Perhaps it had to with growing up with three brothers. Maybe it was just something inherent to Yuan. Whatever it was, Yuan was subtly different as he held Lloyd.

"He looks like you."

"That's what Anna says. I don't see it."

"Personally, I think he's going to be a stubborn pain in the ass, just like his father, but that's just my opinion."

"So nice to know that you think so highly of me."

Yuan glances at Kratos. "How are you?"

Terrified that he would do something wrong. Unsure about what he was doing. Unable to believe that the child in Yuan's arms was his son. "Not bad."

"Uh-huh." Yuan said disbelievingly.

"I don't know how to work with children, Yuan. You know that."

"Yeah, I do." Yuan sat down beside Kratos, careful not to jostle Lloyd too much. "But I also think that you're not as bad at it as you think you are."

"And why do you think that?"

"Because I remember the weird kid who used to sit under the tree and read while the other kids played sports. And that weird kid was the one who was willing to break the law to teach another kid to read and write."

Kratos looks sideways at him. "You're being rather sentimental."

"I blame the kid."

"You would. How is the progress with Cruxis?"

"I planted some evidence against Pronyma. Yggdrasill's looking into her and Kvar both, so hopefully, the air will be clear soon."

"Kvar knows the location of the base. It won't stop him from looking."

"No, it won't. That's why I'm in the stages of fixing that problem."

"What stage are you at now?"

"Contemplative." Lloyd yawns and his eyes blink open. His eyes are red-tinted brown, like his father's. "Good morning, boyo."

Lloyd's chubby hand reached out and grasped a long strand of blue hair that had fallen out of the ponytail and tugged hard. Yuan glares sideways at Kratos, who's rubbing the back of his hand against his mouth, though the smile isn't quite erased. Yuan gently frees his hair and gives Lloyd one of his fingers as a substitute.

"He's surprisingly big, for a premature baby."

"Shera said much the same thing and it got me working on a theory."

"Here we go."

"I think that the Cruxis Crystals in Anna's body along with my angelic blood made Lloyd develop faster than normal. Because look, he's perfectly healthy." A glance at Yuan. If the half-elf hadn't known him so well, he wouldn't have seen the nervousness there. "Right?"

"As far as I've seen, yes. Is he waking up every two hours?" Yuan doesn't remember very much of caring for the younger children in his village and hearing his mother's friends talk, but he's fairly certain that that was normal for a newborn.

Kratos grimaced faintly. "I've been designated as caregiver after bedtime."

"Let me guess, the argument was that you didn't need the sleep."

Kratos nodded and Yuan laughed. "And then when I argued that we should take turns, she said that this could go under the category of fussing."

"I thought she didn't like it when we fussed."

"I brought that up too. Then she pulled out the 'I carried him for eight months' card. I really can't argue with that."

"I can hear the corruption already." They both look up and Anna's there, smiling with her arms folded across her stomach. "Lloyd's going to be a fusser thanks to you two."

"I still don't understand why you have this complete objection against fussing." Yuan said. "I thought most women liked to be fussed over."

"Even if that's true, which I doubt, I'm not most women." Anna leaned over and Lloyd's eyes followed her movements. His hand released Yuan's finger and reached out to her. Yuan relinquished the child back to his mother.

Anna still has to remind herself of just how to hold a baby and she still panics quietly to Shera sometimes, but it's slowly getting better. And she hadn't dropped Lloyd yet, as one of her fears had been, so she couldn't be doing too bad a job.

Anna looked at Yuan. "It's not safe to go home yet, is it?"

Yuan shook his head. "No. I managed to get the technology back online, but I'm still working on something to get Kvar to forget about where the base is."
"To make him forget?" Anna knew that Yuan had worded it that way for a reason and she's reminded that these men in front of her—powerful, charming, fussing, sometimes arrogant men—weren't technically people anymore. (Anna, we're monsters…) She's seen them kill without remorse, and perhaps it isn't the worst thing they've ever done, but she knows that they're capable of terrible things. "Exactly what does that mean?"

"Right now, it's just a thought." Yuan began and it's at that moment that he really realizes just how far Anna has managed to worm her way into their lives. When they had first met, he wouldn't have beaten around the bush. He would have told her outright. He's not entirely sure why he's beating around the bush now—to spare her feelings, perhaps? But she didn't need that and he knew it—but he does it automatically. "…There is a branch of magic that's pretty obscure. It's magic of the mind, something that Mithos has gone deeper into study of."

"There's magic dealing with the mind? How does that work?"

"I don't know the specifics. I hardly know the basics, but if I can learn it, than I can make Kvar forget about where the base is."

"And that would make him look suspicious to Yggdrasill." Anna assumed, rocking her son.

"Exactly. It would clear the air for us to get back home."

"And we're sure we got every Desian that came out to the desert?"

"Every last one."
"Then this could work. But where will you learn the magic?"
"Hours upon hours of studying."

"The elves might have something on it." Kratos suggested.

"If they do, they won't admit it. It's a little too close to that line of evil magic. I'll ask the Storyteller. He doesn't care about things like that and he has access to all of the elves' records."

"And you two don't"

When Yuan looks at her, Anna can see an age old bitterness in his eyes. "The elves still don't like us, especially me."

"Why you?"

"No matter what else has changed, the elves' opinions on half-elves certainly hasn't."

Anna has never known this prejudice. She knows it existed, but in Sylvarant, it was much more subdued. If there was any discrimination, it was against the Desians. But she knew that the half-elves were blamed as a whole for them.

But the look in both of the men's eyes is one that knows the worst that people could do in the name of discrimination, that had experienced it and suddenly they seem ancient and life-tired.

"That's 'cause they're stuffy and stuck in their old ways. They'll come around."

"You really believe that?"

"Well, it's either they come around or the live with being pretentious pricks their whole…couple hundred years of life."

"Thousand." Kratos corrected quietly. "Full blooded elves can live to be a thousand years old."

"Then it's even worse for them."

Yuan studied Anna. Being a mother hadn't changed her too much, not yet at any rate, but she seemed very…young just then. No, not young. Anna had very few illusions about the way the world worked and Yuan isn't sure she'd ever really been naïve. Optimistic, possibly. Idealistic…yes, that was the word. Anna was an idealist, a dreamer. Her practicality just didn't let it show very much.

And maybe that odd mix was what had attracted Kratos to her in the first place.

-/-/-/-

A wail that was becoming all too familiar was what woke him. Anna stirred in his arms. "He's hungry. I'll—"

"You need sleep."

Anna blinked blearily at him. "And you need rest."

"Less than you do. I'll get him."
"Fusser." Anna accused quietly, but didn't stop him as he rose from their bedroll. There were depressions in the cool stone that made up the interior of the Temple that they'd softened with some spare blankets that was being used as a cribs for the few infants that were here.

Kratos untangled his son from the blankets and picked him up, being careful to remember what Anna had told him the very first time he'd ever seen him.

"You're not gonna hold him?"

Kratos shook his head. "I'll drop him."

Anna rolled her eyes. "No, you won't."

"You don't know that."

A grin curled her lips. "Haven't you heard? Mothers know everything. Come here." He reluctantly obeyed and she held out the bundle of blankets that held their son. "Support the head, hold the body." She told him.

It was awkward for a moment and Kratos didn't dare breathe. Lloyd looked so fragile. And what if he forgot to keep his strength in check? Kratos could break him, easily. But Anna was smiling at him. "See, not so hard, is it?"

Support the head, hold the body, Kratos thought to himself. Lloyd gurgled and Kratos went to the communal cold box and fished out one of the bottles of milk that Shera made before bedding down for the night. She'd come back to the base after a market day and told them that apparently, Triet had found a way to powder their milk so it would last longer.

As the baby suckled on the bottle that Kratos held, the man murmured, "Always hungry. I wonder if this will keep up. It probably will if you're anything like your mother."

Kratos gently pulled the bottle away and put the baby over one shoulder to burp him, like Shera had showed them. Lloyd's hands tugged at his hair.

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

Kratos looked over. Anna was watching her boys with a fond smile. Her arms were crossed to ward off the slight chill.

"Of course not." He said as Anna walked closer, her hand coming up to stroke the wisps of hair on Lloyd's head. "Why are you awake? You should be sleeping."

"Couldn't go back to sleep for some reason. Besides, I wanted to make sure you didn't drop him." Her smile turned playful.

"Well, I had your assurances that I wouldn't."

"You still won't." Anna leaned against him, her eyes on their son's face. "I stand by what I said earlier, y'know."

"About what?"

"About you corrupting him. Look, I can see him turning stubborn before my eyes."

"Oh, I'm the stubborn one?"

Anna chuckled. "Absolutely." She kissed him gently. "And that's perfectly fine. He'll need a story to get him to sleep again."

"He doesn't even understand what we're saying."

"I don't think that matters. Besides, you have a good voice. It's nice just to listen to you talk sometimes."

"In other words, I have to tell the story."

"You tell them much better than I do. And you know more of them."

Kratos remembered reading books over and over until he had very nearly memorized them. He remembered sitting in half-elven temples simply to hear their sermons. He remembered sneaking into the great elven libraries with Yuan and marveling at them, at the way the sun shone through the arched windows and the thousands of texts.

"Anything specific you'd like to hear?"

"…The greatest story you know."

"The greatest one? That's difficult." Kratos thought about it for long moments before deciding on one. "Alright. There was once a man who fell in love with a woman, almost at first glance. He thought she was a goddess at first. She was fair, and just, and lovelier than all the stars in the sky. But she wished to correct all of the injustices in the world, and so they travelled together. For years, they helped small villages and towns. But one day, there was a terrible accident and she was killed. The man grieved and begged the gods to bring her back.

"They told him that she belonged to Death now and would not be brought back. He travelled across the world to Death's resting place and demanded that he bring her back.

"Death only laughed at him. 'And why should I?' he said. 'What is so great that you would get on your knees and beg for her?'

"The man replied, 'Only love, the truest love there is.'

"Death thought this was an interesting reply, and not one he had ever heard before. So he said, 'And you're willing to do anything?'

"The man replied, 'Yes. I would go to the very stars for her.'

"So Death acquiesced to his request and brought her back. But when he looked at her again, whole and alive and as lovely as ever, he had no memory of her. She was angry at Death for playing his cruel trick and demanded that he bring his memory back.

"But Death only said, 'He was willing to go to the stars and back for you. If you are willing to do the same for him, bring me back a star, for it is ever so dark here, and he may have his memory back.'

"The woman agreed to his deal and climbed the highest mountain. But when she reached up to take the star from the sky, she overbalanced and fell. When Death collected her, the man's memory was brought back. When he realized what he had done, he pleaded with the Great Fire to burn her name in his heart so he could never forget it, no matter what.

"The Great Fire agreed. The man never returned to Death to beg for her back, for he had learned his lesson. The dead stay dead. But after his many years passed and he was once again at Death's door, he looked at Death and asked, 'Is she here?'

"Death replied, 'Yes. She has been waiting these many long years for you.'

"And Death opened his door and allowed the man inside. The woman was there, as Death had said. And when she saw him, she approached him. 'Do you know who I am?' she asked.

"'He smiled at her and told her, 'How could I have ever forgotten you?'

"And Death had become so fond of them both, for he had spent so many years with the woman and had admired the man for his love, that he let them be together for all of eternity and granted them a place in the stars."

"Are they still there? In the stars?" Anna asked quietly so as not to wake Lloyd, who had fallen asleep sometime during Kratos' tale.

Kratos nodded and they walked outside, where it was a little warmer and dawn was little more than a dream on the horizon. He searched the skies before pointing, carefully cradling Lloyd with one arm. "There. Those two."

"Do they have names?"

"The Trietians call them Zhel and Zara. The Eternal Lovers."

"The story is from Triet?"

"From before Triet, but yes. Efreet was once called the Great Fire."

"Hm. It's a nice story. A little sad, but I like it. One day, you should write all these stories down so that both worlds can read them and remember a time Before."

"I used to have them all written down. I would write them as Yuan told me them."

"These stories are Yuan's?"

"For centuries, it was illegal for a half-elf to be taught how to read or write or to have any kind of education, so many of their traditions and legends were passed down orally. It's still very much like that."

"What happened to the ones you wrote down?"

"…They were destroyed in a fire."

"You should start writing them again. If we want to bring Cruxis down, we need pieces of the old world back. Literature included."

"Perhaps."

"And that's your favorite one out of all the stories you know?"

"No."

"But you think it's the greatest?"

Kratos thought about it. "No. I'm not sure what the greatest one is. Perhaps it hasn't been told yet."

"You know what I just thought of?"

"What?"

"Maybe Lloyd will be the one telling that story."

"Maybe." Kratos actually rather liked that thought.

-/-/-/-

"I thought of something last night." Yuan says a few mornings later. He can never stay very long, but he stays as long as he can every time.

"And what's that?" Kratos asked, splitting an orange.

"We've been going about this the wrong way."

"Going about what the wrong way?"
"Taking down Cruxis. We've been eating away at the edges of the organization and that's working, but that could take years. What if we went for the heart of the problem?"

"In what way?"

"The Eternal Sword. I'm a half-elf, I can wield it."

"And the pact with Origin?" Kratos reminded him quietly.

"Shit. I forgot." And Yuan isn't quite willing to kill Kratos for the pact. Perhaps a year or even two months ago, he would have, but now? When Kratos is managing to put a life together? "That plan's just gone down the drain."
"No, it hasn't. What if I found a way to use the Sword?"

"Kratos, you may have enough of my blood in you to use magic, but you don't have enough to be called a half-elf."

"That's not what I mean. There has to be some way for a human to wield the Eternal Sword."
"You were right next to me when Mithos asked Origin to forge it for him. You know the specifications. A human or full-blooded elf can't wield it."
"But there might be a way around it, even if it's just for a few minutes. That's all it would take anyway. I'll speak to Origin about it."

"Origin has been dormant ever since…" Since Martel died and everything went to hell, but Yuan can't say the words.

"He'll wake up for me."

-/-/-/-

There's a voice murmuring at the edges of his awareness. It's familiar, but like that of an old song in which you can remember the melody but not the words. What is the voice saying? It's the same thing, over and over, like a litany or a child's rhyme.

"…In….Gin…Rigin…"

He knows these words. It's his name. That's what someone was repeating.

"Origin."

The King of Summon Spirits appeared at his altar, deep within the labyrinth of his forest. He knows the person standing in front of his altar immediately. "Kratos Aurion."

The red-tinted eyes look up. "Welcome back."

"Why did you awaken me?"
"I seek your knowledge."

"To misuse it again? To twist the worlds into more pieces of your abomination?"

"No, the exact opposite!"

There is a fire that had been stirred to life in the embers of Kratos' spirit. Something had given him hope once more. "Why should I believe you?"

"Because I have just as much reason to want to topple Mithos as you. I don't want my son to grow up in these twisted worlds. I want him to grow him up in the world as it was, as it should be."

A son. Kratos Aurion had a son. And a lover too, logically. Yes, that would make a man like Kratos have his hope again. But the wings on Kratos' back shimmer in the sunlight, casting exotic shadows across the forest floor, reminding Origin of what Kratos was now, of what he had agreed to all those millennia ago.

"I cannot believe you."

"I only have two questions to ask of you. No favors."

Origin studied the man before him, the one who had regressed to much the man he used to be before Martel's death. "I shall hear you out your questions."

"Is there a way for a human to wield the Eternal Sword?"
"Yes."

"What is it?"

"There is a mineral that the dwarves mine. It is known as Aionis. Should you ingest it, you should be able to wield it."
"Ingest a rock?"

"Yes. But Aionis is very rare and no dwarf will show you where it is mined or kept, if you can find any dwarf not under Cruxis."

"That shouldn't be a problem. And how exactly does that enable me to use the Eternal Sword?"

His curiosity hasn't lessened. Kratos is still a man who valued learning, the same man who had asked Origin for tales of old, for history. "It is a dwarven art and they keep it very secret."

"They would." Kratos muttered. "Thank you for this, Origin. I know it couldn't have been easy for you to do."

"Use this knowledge for the right reasons, Kratos Aurion. I do not wish to see the pain that Mithos has inflicted anymore."

"You and me both, old friend." Kratos sighed. "You and me both."

-/-/-/-

"How was your visit?" Anna asks as soon as Kratos' feet touch the ground.

"I wouldn't call it good, but…I think it was worth it."

"Origin talked to you?"

"Mm. He seemed tired." Anna can tell from the inflection in his voice that it was life-tired. How did Summon Spirits get life-tired?

"Just like everyone these days." Lloyd reached for his father, who took him in arms. "He missed you, by the way."

"You really think he recognizes me?"

"Everyone recognizes their own father. Wouldn't you?"

Kratos doesn't think he can ever forget his. "I think so."

Anna follows Lloyd's gaze, which was one the gently glowing blue feathers. "Did I ever tell you that I used to worry about him?"

"It was fairly obvious."
"No, I mean, I used to worry that all the flying we did while I was pregnant would...change him somehow. Or that your angel blood would."

Kratos' heart thudded in his chest. How had he not thought of that? "Perhaps he'll just dream of flying."

Anna smiled. "Who wouldn't?"

They were dreamers. It was probably a prerequisite to be a Renegade. You needed to be able to dream strong and dream big. Would Lloyd dream of soaring through the clouds the same way that Anna had once dreamed of a world outside her cell, of wide open fields and fresh air? Would he dream of seeing the world from a bird's point of view like his father dreamed of peace? Perhaps that's all the world was made of was dreams.

-/-/-/-

For in dreams, we enter a world that is entirely our own. Let him swim in the deepest ocean or glide over the highest cloud.

-Albus Dumbledore (Prisoner of Azkaban)