It was done.

Ike pulled his sword from Zelgius, watching the light of life fade from his eyes as he'd been forced to see it from his father's. It had been a hard-fought battle and the departed general had been a worthy adversary, but in the end he fell to Ike's superior skill and need for justice. He took off his soaked sweatband before looking for Soren, making sure he was okay and hopefully he would heal his wounds, and -

Ike puts two sandwiches in his bag, one for him and one for the boy under the tree. He hears commotion outside but doesn't worry about it because his daddy and mama can handle anything so he knows he's safe. When he leaves the house, he sees a lot of people on the ground who are all red, and Daddy is standing there with a crazed look in his eye and he's all red too. He's glowing purple fire.

Ike can't move, he's way too scared. The red - it's blood, like he gets from scrapes. It's everywhere. Everywhere.

Daddy snarls and kills someone else who comes near him. Ike spots Mama as she's running from the market, looking determined and scared. Good, Mama's here, everything will be okay Daddy would never -

And then Daddy swings his sword into Mama's stomach, clean through her, as she grabs her necklace from his hand.

The fire fades immediately, and the monster who replaced his daddy is confused for a split second before he looks - Ike doesn't have words for the way Daddy looks, like the world is ending, and he's trying to help Mama and there's blood everywhere and Daddy killed everyone and Daddy killed Mama and -

Someone is talking to him. He doesn't know who, he doesn't care. Someone is talking to Daddy too. Things are happening but Ike is lost, horrified, and -

Then it all goes black, and he forgets.

Ike was once more an adult, in the tower, standing over where Zelgius once was, with Yune. His face was wet - tears or sweat? Both, probably. He was breathing quickly, almost hyperventilating.

"That was… sad," she said.

Ike almost laughed at that extreme understatement. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry. … Can you still fight?"

Ike nodded. He was shaking. "I won't stop until I die," he assured her, serious. He had to walk away though, he had to sit and ponder these memories, deal with this now , there was no time to be traumatized! He walked to and stood at the edge of the platform, staring off into the abyss below.

No one approached him, except, of course, for the one he wanted to. Soren came to stand with him, quiet. He probably didn't know what to say. Ike sure didn't. "I was very angry with you for picking that fight without me," he finally murmured after minutes of silence. "I had plans to cuss you out in creative ways. It was going to be cathartic. But then you looked like you were having a nightmare, and all my anger fled."

He let out a shaky laugh. "Lucky me. I like sharing your tent, it would be a shame to get kicked out."

Soren chuckled too before gently taking Ike's hand. "I'm sorry you had to relive something so horrible."

Ike looked at him, and then, unbidden, saw a boy under a tree.

Oh. Oh.

"I'm not sorry," Ike blurted as it all started to clarify, the boy under the tree, "the timing wasn't the best but, Sephiran - he meant well, but it wasn't just that day he made me forget, it was everything that came before."

Soren looked shocked. "Oh."

"Yeah. Soren, I…"

There was no time to discuss it now. But in that moment it truly hit him just how much he needed Soren, and how Soren had needed him too, and… he'd thought he was in love before, but this… this was…

"Well, there's no time," Soren said awkwardly, tugging Ike's hand. "The others are waiting. You can, uh, process things on the walk up."

Ike's mind pushed the trauma to the side. It was horrible, yes, but old and avenged. Instead, he focused on this new feeling, this…

I'm gonna marry him, I'm gonna marry him, I'm gonna marry him, he thought, over and over again. He hoped he'd at least wait until he had a ring to propose.

He didn't.

Notes:

"After regaining his memories, Ike comes to finally understand just why Soren had trusted him so much and remained by his side through thick and thin. His sense of just how dear Soren is to him is renewed." - Tellius art book :)