Suffering from the trauma of a war now over, an adult Roy finds himself reuniting with a figure from his childhood.
*:･ﾟ✧*
Five years. Five years after Roy had killed King Zephiel, and defeated the dragon Idunn. But even after he had finished his studies in Ostia and moved back to Pherae, the nightmares remained-and over and over again, he was forced to witness the death of his friends and soldiers. Forced to rewatch the tragedies of war. The blood. The screams. The smell of death. And though he would argue to himself as he lay awake at night, trying to convince himself it wasn't his fault, the memories lingered on. Haunting him. Hector, his father's best friend. Even his own best friend, Lilina, had been taken by the war. "It's not your fault. They died fighting for what was right... died trying to protect you..." The young man mutters restlessly, tossing and turning in his bed. "Oh gods, I'm sorry. I'm so... so sorry."
Quietly, Roy sits up to peer out his bedside window at the starry sky. It was a calm, peaceful night. Not one star was out of place, and the moon shone brightly upon the land, bursting through the many clouds. "If only it were possible to be at such peace as well," he sighs, looking up and asking the stars if his comrades had forgiven him for his mistakes. Nothing. Just the gentle breeze and the sound of his father, Eliwood, sleeping a few rooms over. For the breifest moment he wonders how it is that he can sleep so easily at night before climbing back into bed and shutting his eyes tight in a feeble attempt to block out the echoing screams of pain in his head. Then comes a vaguely familiar voice coming from the main hall downstairs, drowning them. It's a voice that he hasn't heard since he was a child.
"Let's go in the garden, you'll find something waiting, right there where you left it lying upside down... When you finally find it, you'll see how it's faded, the underside is lighter when you turn it around..."
"It can't be," Roy thinks, shifting to sit upright once more. Yet something draws him towards the voice, calling his name in the dark. Beckoning him. So downstairs he goes, making sure to step lightly so as not to wake anyone. "There's no way it's her."
"Everything stays, right where you left it..."
But there, standing in the main hall is someone he thought he'd never see again in his lifetime, dancing gracefully in the moonlight as they sing.
"Everything stays, but it still changes..."
"It... really is her," he whispers, watching quietly. But it couldn't be, could it? His mother, Ninian, had died a long while ago when he was just a boy. He hadn't even turned two yet. But... although the memories he had left of his mother were blurry, vague, and few, the young man would recognize her anywhere. Those striking yet kind eyes and pale blue hair; the very same portrayed in the painting that hung above the throne, gave it away. Besides, how many people could dance so gracefully? And who else knew that soft, gentle lullaby?
"Ever so slightly...daily and nightly..."
The song was coming to an end now. "In little ways..." Roy hums along, closing his eyes and finding peace settling in his heart. He had not heard this since... well, it seemed to be forever. He smiles, and despite his terribly hoarse voice, sings the last line in tandem with her. "But everything stays...~"
Hearing him, the dancer turns around, a loving expression coming across her face as she gazes upon him. "Roy?" She questions, taking a few steps forward. Yet it seems more as if she is gliding. Floating, even. "Is that you?... Ha, you look so much like your father now. In fact, I almost thought you were him."
"...Mother?" The now twenty-year-old asks, stepping out of the darkness and into the moonlit hallway. "Is it really you?"
"Unfortunately... yes and no. I'm simply a shadow of my former self: a ghost if you will. I came to visit you," she explains softly, her gentle glow emitting throughout the room. "I don't do this often... I just wanted to see my handsome son." She cups her son's cheek, and Roy finds himself turning pink with the compliment. "But never mind that. I'm surprised you still remember that lullaby," Ninian smiles. "It was a very long time ago after all. You were only a babe."
"It's one of my only memories of you," Roy answers quietly, trying not to pay any mind to the tears pricking at the corner of his eyes as he recalls the many stories Marcus had told him of his father and mother. "You... you left so early I couldn't make any more with you. I wish I could've made more."
A wistful half-grin. However, deep in his mother's eyes, he sees the same regret and guilt flickering there as she brushes a lock of hair from his eyes. "I wish I could've spent more time with you as well. But... I'm proud of you. I know it's been rough. It has been for all of us. Yet you've made it this far! We're all so very happy for you."
"Really?"
"Yes, of course," Ninian replies, dropping her hand from his face to take one of his hands into her own and give it a light squeeze. "Especially Lilina and Wolt."
Roy, too, smiles despite his heartache. "...I'm glad to hear it, Mother."
"But no more of that. I can see in you eyes that you want to speak of happier things. Now! You said you wished to make more memories with me, correct?" She questions, stepping back just a little. The future Marquess nods, though still a little flabbergasted by this ghost's appearance. "Well, then why don't you dance with me here, under the moonlight? Just to spend some time together. Mother and son."
"I..." Roy hesitates for a moment. He was terrible at dancing—Lilina and his teacher, Cecilia, had even said numerous times that he danced with 'two left feet.' It was rather embarrassing, and he didn't want to make a fool of himself in front of his own mother, whether she was a ghost or not. Yet this would most likely be his only chance, wouldn't it? What other opportunities would he have? "I accept," Roy answers reluctantly, "Though I should warn you... I'm horrible at it. Really."
His mother laughs. "Don't worry, I can help you. I've had years of practice to myself, after all."
"Al... Alright. I'll try, Mother," he replies at last, awkwardly taking his mother's hand and silently preparing himself for this moonlit dance.
*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧*
"There... now you're getting better at it," Ninian says. "You just need a little more patience and practice is all." She takes a couple of steps back, and peers out a window. Daylight was upon the horizon now-the sky, once dark and starry, was now golden and bright. The smile upon her face quickly disappears. "...I haven't much time to stay, Roy."
"Wh... What? Where are you going, Mother?" Roy questions, reaching out to her. She is fading now. Disappearing right before his very eyes. "Mother?"
"I'm going back where I belong, Roy. Where I should be," His mother finally answers, though softly. Just a whisper.
"B-But... you belong here! With Father and I, as a family!" Roy manages to stutter out. "Why... why do you have to go, Mother?"
"I'm dead, Roy. The dead cannot stay in the world of the living... not long, anyways. I'm glad I got to see you all grown up, however... your father must be so proud of you..." Ninian replies. A glimmering tear slips away and down her cheek. "I'm... I'm sorry, Roy. Say hello to your father for me, would you?"
Roy opens his mouth to protest more but soon decides against it. His mother was right. She couldn't stay here. It was time for her to ascend back into the afterlife. "Could you... at least sing it one last time before you go?" Ninian gives a sorrowful nod and smiles. It's a motherly sort of smile. As if to say "I love you" without speaking.
"Let's go in the garden, you'll find something waiting, right there where you left it laying upside down..."
Softly, the redhead hums along to the song, wishing that it could go on forever. That his mother could stay with him, even if for a day longer. That he could see the look of love in his Father's eyes that he had only heard so much about. ...That they could dance in the moonlight for a little bit longer.
"When you finally find it, you'll see how it's faded, the underside is lighter when you turn it around...everything stays, right where you left it... everything stays, but it still changes. Ever so slightly, daily and nightly, in little ways..."
Yet before Roy's mother can finish the song, she has faded entirely. Gone, never to be seen again until Roy's dying day. Timidly, Roy finishes the song for her. "...But everything stays...~" Then it falls eerily silent in the castle once more and Roy is alone again, left only with his own grief and tears. All these years without a mother, and when he sees her again, it's only for a night?
"...Roy? Is everything alright? I thought I heard voices last night," Roy's father, Eliwood, says groggily, having just awoken from his slumber. "I... I saw Mother. She... she was here, Father. I saw her... I swear it," The twenty-year-old Roy sniffles, wiping away his teardrops with his nightgown's sleeve. "It... it was her ghost." Stunned, disbelieving silence soon follows, and upon seeing that his father doesn't believe him, Roy solemnly leaves to go get dressed for the day.
What he does not know, though, is that downstairs in the throne room, his father stands thinking of the nights he had shared with his wife so long ago.