Inigo was in the east wing's study at a desk looking over a set of papers, each one with musical notes and lyrics written on them illuminated by a flickering candle. It had been so long since he had looked at these older pieces, he nearly forgot about them entirely. He considered leaving them behind when they went to the future, but Owain was adamant that these songs and compositions needed to be persevered at all costs, and personally helped him transcribe some songs in smaller print so that they took up less pages for travelling. However, Owain had not personally seen these ones. His eyes were glassed over as he looked at Op. 3, whose lyrics he composed at a far different time in his life, where possibilities had seemed endless and the shining sun over Ylisstol shined every day. Or, so it seemed in hindsight, for it certainly never shined once Grima came to power. The edges of his manuscripts were still stained with the rains that fell nearly every day before they went back in time. Or, did they go parallel in time to a different dimension. It was hard to know with certainty.

As Inigo shuffled the papers, wiping his eyes to ensure no tears stained the parts of the manuscripts that mattered, he heard a shuffle outside the room. He rose out of his chair slowly, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. "Hello?" he called.

A moment passed before he saw who it was, a girl shorter than him with long red hair stepped into the doorway. Inigo squinted in the light that was still fading with the setting sun. "Severa?"

"Yes...hello," she said, her eyes rapidly shifting to different things in the room, pretty much everywhere except his eyes.

"Can I," he began, "help you with anything?"

Severa was now looking toward the ground, then at the desk that he was still standing beside. She saw the papers spread out, and noticed some musical notations. Finding her in, she found the courage to look a him directly. "What are you working on?" she said.

Inigo's eyes shifted the exposed manuscripts, and he tried to nonchalantly turn them over with his left hand. "Oh, nothing important."

Unfortunately, a stray paper separated from the rest, twirling in the still air above the desk. He reached out for it, but the air created by his waving hands only pushed the paper toward Severa, and it fell at her feet, the musical notes exposed.

"Don't look at that!" he said, sweat appearing by his temple. "I mean, that isn't mine, I was just holding it for Owain! I-"

He stopped as Severa picked up the paper and looked it over. She looked back at him, her eyes now displaying a scowl. "Holding them for Owain?" she said. "Why would Owain have a paper called 'Four Songs of Sorrow, Op. 11: Four Lyrical Compositions of Inigo, House of Ylisse?'"

Inigo's brain wracked itself against his skull trying to think of a coherent excuse. Finding none, he merely let out a sigh. "It's mine, alright," he said, "I used to compose music with Owain."

"Used to?" she replied. "When did you stop?"

Inigo shifted, rubbing the back of his head. "I didn't...stop...I'm just, kinda, between songs."

She looked at the paper again. The only song displayed was the first one, a piece called "Spring Sorrow" She looked at him again. "Inigo?" He looked up, and Severa, biting her lip a bit, stepped closer and handed him the paper. He took it reluctantly. "I," she began, "can't actually read music. But, I would like to know what it sounds like."

Inigo, having nothing to hide now, turned the papers on the desk over and put the page in its proper place. "I'm afraid I wrote that song when I was fairly young, I think ten years old. It's not very good."

Severa looked over at the piano, and idea coming to her. "Well, there's a piano over there. Lucina told me you used to play all the time. Maybe you could show me?"

"She told you that?!" Inigo said, his face flushing prominently now. "Ugh, well I have to tell you that I'm not the best player. Owain has always done better than me in that regard."

Severa crossed her arms. "Well, that's fine. All you would have to do was sing along."

"I'm afraid I'm not a good singer either, really it wouldn't be that impressive."

Severa's mouth seemed to twitch in anger, her trademark scowl reappearing. "Don't say that."

Inigo looked at her, confused. "Don't say what?"

"Don't say you're not a good singer. Don't put yourself down like that."

"I'm only saying what is true, Severa."

"Don't pretend you can't sing!" she nearly screamed.

Now it was Inigo's turn to scowl. "And how would you now that I can sing? How do you know I don't sound like a knife on a rusty piece of metal?"

"Because I've heard you!" she said, her face immediately wincing. Well, cat's out of the bag now.

"What?!" Inigo shouted, "When?! When could you have heard me sing?!"

"In the tunnels that had the water baths," she said, "You were singing a song about June after Owain left, and I heard it."

Inigo, covered his face with his hands, and fell back into his chair. He stayed like that a moment, before finally letting his hands sink into his lap. He looked at her, and she grabbed her arms as she often did as she looked back. "Your singing was beautiful," she said.

Inigo stayed motionless for a moment, and Severa walked over to the piano and uncovered the keys. "And I'd like to hear it again."

Inigo looked her up and down, looking for any insincerity or opportunity to mock him. Nevertheless, he stood up with an exasperated sigh. "If I say no, you won't give up will you?"

Severa then smirked. "No, if you say no, I'm going to tell everyone in camp that you can sing, and I'm going to set the expectations so high then when you finally do sing, they will be disappointed, even if it's the best you can do."

Inigo looked at her in horror. "You wouldn't!"

Severa gave a challenging grin. "Try me."

Inigo looked around, his fingers twiddling, before finally saying "Alright, alright. But, if I sing for you, you can never tell another soul."

"And why not?"

"Because a lot of my songs are personal, written for me and no one else. These ones especially. And even the ones that a wrote for the public, I'm...I'm just not ready to let everyone hear them. They're not polished, not extraordinary."

Severa thought about the lyrics to "June," and his hummed instrumental. "Yeah," she said, "I can see that. That June song's lyrics were a bit flowery."

Inigo had to grin at that. "Actually, those were Owain's lyrics."

Severa grinned even wider. "Owain writes poetry?"

"He's actually quite good at it. I've written instrumentals for many of his tracks."

Severa said nothing, merely waiting with a smirk, then nodding her head toward the piano. Inigo sighed again. "Just let me make sure we're alone," he said. He walked over to the door, looking up and down the hallway and seeing nobody, he closed the door to the study and walked over to the desk again. He grabbed the manuscript and walked over to the piano, placing the score on the music stand. Taking a deep breath, he began the opening notes to the opening song, "Spring Sorrow."

"All suddenly the wind comes soft,
And Spring is here again;
And the hawthorn quickens with buds of green
And my heart with buds of pain."

...

Inigo and Owain finally made it to the right hallway in the east wing, the old chateau truly a labyrinth in scope and size. They walked down the hallway to the study, where Owain said he had left Inigo not long after they caught Lucina spying. Owain, for his part, still looked rather nervous. "I'm telling you Lucina, perhaps we should-"

"Shh!" Lucina demanded. Owain was taken aback, before realizing that Lucina was taking more careful steps, and Owain heard the sound of piano music. Was Inigo practicing again already? When Lucina and Owain were at the door, both heard the sound of his voice, slightly muffled by the door, but no less majestic as it toyed with their eardrums.

"My heart all Winter lay so numb,
The Earth so dead and frore
That I never thought the Spring would come,
Or my heart wake any more."

"Is this one of yours?" Lucina asked. Owain merely shook his head. He had not heard this one before.

"But Winter's broken and Earth has woken
And the small birds cry again.
And the hawthorn hedge puts forth its buds,
And my heart puts forth its pain."

The music came to a stop, and Lucina, taking a breath as she reached for the handle, heard the sound of her brother's voice again. "So, how was it?"

Lucina and Owain's eyebrows rose as they heard a female voice respond, sounding constricted and choked. "It was amazing," she said simply.

"I'm glad you thought so. Personally, I always thought it was the weakest of the set."

"How did you come to write it?" Now the voice was clear to the eavesdroppers. 'Severa?!' they both thought.

Inigo paused for a moment. "It was right as the war was beginning to start. It was winter, and everything was dark and cold. I guess I was, and I know this sounds pretentious, just waiting for spring to come."

"Is that what all the songs are about? In this set I mean."

"No..." he said, shuffling though the manuscript. "I wrote 'Autumn Evening' after my mother passed, and I wrote 'A Land of Silence' and "Passing Dreams' right before we left for the past."

"Maybe I could, I don't know, hear the rest of the set?" Severa said hopefully.

"I...I can't. It's...too personal. Too soon."

"Perhaps some other songs then, some other time? Maybe something Owain wrote?"

"Yeah, that would be fine."

The sound of shuffling and movement, put both eavesdroppers on edge, thinking maybe this was their cue to leave, and after a silent conversation with their eyes, they agreed to do so.

Severa walked toward the door, pausing before she reached the handle. "Did it ever come?" she asked. He gave no reply. "The spring? Did it ever come?"

Inigo paused. "Yes."

"When?"

"When we came to this world. When I saw Lucina smile again."

Oh, that was something. Something Severa was far too tired emotionally to think about now, but it was something. "Goodnight, Inigo."

"Goodnight, Severa." She opened the door and took a step out.

"Severa?" he said.

She finally looked back at him, and his glassy eyes were offset by a small grin. "Thank you."

Severa couldn't stop herself from smiling back. "Yeah, whatever." She walked back down the hallway, not noticing the blue and blond-haired nobles hiding around a corner.