Xelqua Rising || The Lost One AU

43. Offering

AN

No chapter in a week and then three chapters in four days... this is what happens when my work schedules me to work 7 days in a row and then gives me all my days off at once =.="

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Xelqua spread himself out on the grass outside, letting the braid he now had rest underneath of him. These past few years (or decades?) had gone by fast, and he had spent them just like the rest. His skills had improved, being able to do basic magic and fly as well as some of the others.  He could even recognize most Watcher's magical signatures, being able to feel their presence. But really, it had felt as though no time had passed at all.

"He has the brightest eyes." Xel swooned to Miesall, who was in his room.

"I can see that. You have taken much interest in this boy, haven't you?" The curly haired Watcher replied, not bothering to look up from his book. 

"Well, of course I have." Xel smiled. "I want to see what kind of life he leads. What great fate is ahead of him." He observed the baby reach for a rattle. It grasped in both hands and brought it towards himself. He began to shake it, and his body began to shake from giggles.  The action caused the Watcher to smile all the more.

"Careful there, Xel. You know that the child will suffer when he reaches adulthood. If you get attached, you will get hurt." Miesall warned, frowning.

"I know..." Xel sighed. "But I can't help myself. You know I'm curious."

"And curiosity killed the dog."

"It's... supposed to be cat, but I get what you mean. I'll keep that in mind."

Miesall only nodded as he began to write something in the already crammed margins of his book. Neither one spoke for some time, one enjoying a book, the other a child.

"You know... you are something of a godfather to that child I suppose, so it makes sense why you are attached to him."

"A— a father?" Xel blushed. "You're saying he's my child?!"

Miesall shook his curls. "A godfather, I said. What I meant was, you had a crucial role in his birth."

Xel considered this from where he laid. He had never thought that saving the boy would make him a godfather. He didn't particularly care for the title, but it was better than child-watcher he supposed.

—

As the baby grew to be a full hundred days old, the time came for his parents to present the baby. They dressed him in the finest clothing they could afford for him. It was the outfit his brother had worn when he was presented.

It was a green little suit. His mother placed a violet in his little pocket before kissing his forehead. "Today is the day, my dear little one." She spoke as the baby kicked off his shoes for the third time.

The mother let out a sigh as she picked up her baby and held onto his shoes with her fingers. Today was a day of great celebration; if her baby fussed, she'd just have to try putting the shoes on him later.

Together, the mother, the father, the baby and their older child— a toddler—made their way out of their small home. They walked out into the forest as the morning light only just began to paint the horizon orange. They traveled for a good hour or two until they came to the heart of the forest. There, a large curtain of vines dotted with white flowers greeted them.

The father turned to his wife and the two exchanged a nervously excited smile. He moved to give her a kiss on the cheek and then leaned down to kiss his sleeping baby on the forehead. The man then turned and squatted down so that he could see his older son eye-to-eye.