Fire Emblem Drabbles: Angst Edition

Memory (Ike)

Ike closed the door behind him, silent tears running down his cheeks as he fought back a sob. Seeing his father...telling him goodbye...again...

You had voiced your concern, but he had brushed you and the other Heroes off, barely keeping his composure as he made his way to his room. Ike picked the flower from his hair, studying it. You had tucked it in his hair with a grin earlier, before any of this had happened. Before you encountered Greil.

Ike nearly crushed the blossom in his fist.

By no means was it an easy fight. Ike fighting another version of himself, Soren, Mist, his father even? Betraying the father he loved, breaking the contract to free him, and then pleading with him to stay? Making a promise he had no idea if it would be kept?

"Look how much you've grown without me," Greil had said. Remembering those words caused a fresh wave of tears to tremble in Ike's eyes, which already glistened a deep blue, but were now reddened from crying. He would cherish that moment forever, actually getting to talk to his father again.

When Ike had said goodbye, Greil embraced him, and for a moment Ike remembered his childhood. Though his father had led a group of mercenaries, Ike had never judged the fight for money, and still loved him with all his little heart could. He remembered every sparring session, every kind word, every last hug...

Maybe a walk would clear his head. Everyone had already gone to sleep except for the night watch, and what did they care for a Hero wandering the castle at night? Even if the other Heroes saw him, what did Ike care? Even Eir, the daughter of the goddess of death, would tremble if they saw the rage and sadness barely contained inside him.

Eir...why didn't she stop her mother? Truly, you had dedicated all your orbs to reunite Ike with his father, but your opportunity had soon disappeared, and after the contract had been broken and farewells said, Hel had appeared to collect Greil's soul. Ike had then been filled with a zealous anger, fighting the urge to spit in the goddess's face as she took his father away. Instead, he muttered one of Askr's most vile curses under his breath, causing any Askran soldiers near him to back away in shock, and perhaps fear. Eir had simply looked on as her mother had performed this deed, a single tear running down her cheek. Crocodile tears, Ike had thought, but now he knew better.

The entire army could feel his pain. Pretty much everyone there had lost a loved one, friend, or family member. Even you, separated from your family when you were summoned to Askr, didn't know what would happen when you returned home. And he pushed you away like a common fool.

Ike sprinted outside, boots pounding against stone flooring as he ran away from the castle, ran away from the panic that threatened to consume him. Heart pounding, he eventually stopped, chest heaving as he struggled to breath through the choked sobs escaping him. Pale moonlight illuminated his surroundings, and Ike froze as he recognized a scrap of fabric torn from his father's cape, golden under the night sky. He picked it up, clutching it to his chest as a gust of wind blew through the battlefield, a low wailing sound filling Ike's ears.

He swore it was still warm.

***

Midnight, not a sound from the pavement;
Has the moon lost her memory?
She is smiling alone;
In the lamplight, the withered leaves collect at my feet,
and the wind begins to moan.

A/N: Lyrics used are from Memory, a song by Andrew Lloyd Webber used in the musical Cats, based off of the book by T. S. Elliot. I do not own the song or the lyrics.