Forget Yesterday
Hello! I'm not quite sure how I feel about either of these. Actually, I'm pretty sure I HATE the second one, but hey, an idea was an idea. It was a really neat idea in my head actually, I just don't believe it translated well on "paper". So um, read the second one at your own risk.
~.~.~
Title: Happy Birthday Euphie
Fic Duel Prompt: "Forget Yesterday"
Fandom: Code Geass
Pairing: Guilford/Cornelia, Euphie,
Rating: G
They say that time heals all wounds. Those who say that, however, have obviously never lost anyone as dear to her as Euphie was. And somehow the wounds seemed especially reluctant to heal whenever Cornelia went to visit her sister every year on her birthday.
Euphemia Li Britannia.
The grave marker was always so unfeeling, and the space around it was always bare. In a perfect world, Euphie would not have been immortalized in time as the massacre princess and people would have flocked to place flowers all over her final resting place. In fact, in a perfect world, Euphie would be picking the flowers herself- running around and holding hands with that Suzaku boy like all was right in the universe. But this wasn't a perfect world, and the past was a painful one filled with irreversible mistakes- irreversible misunderstandings.
She would have been 23 today; a full fledged adult and Britannia's kindest and fairest princess. Maybe if Euphie was still alive, Cornelia would not have renounced her title and name. Or perhaps they both would have renounced their titles together. Euphie never did have the heart for politics. She believed in equality regardless of birth or rank- something the rest of the world was just not ready for.
Just like Cornelia hadn't been ready to lose her baby sister.
Every year, she promised herself that she wasn't going to cry; and every year she failed. She closed her eyes, and the tears cascaded down her cheeks- blown off-course by the gentile breeze. It just wasn't fair. Why did it have to be Euphie? Why couldn't it have been her instead? Both of them- they had to go through so much more than any two people in this would should have to.
Something soft caressed her hand, and she startled a bit. Through the collected tears, Cornelia could see the pink blossom that had blown up against her skin, and her eyes widened. These flowers- She and Euphie had visited area eleven just to watch them bloom and fall from the trees in a pretty pink shower. They had been Euphie's favorite. They were as much a part of her as everything else in that land. The people would never know it or remember it, but Euphie loved Japan.
She laughed through her tears. "Are you trying to tell me something, Euphie?" No answer came, but the answer was clear enough to her without any voice. Cornelia knew Euphie's spirit enough to know what she would say if she could.
"You have your own life too, you know! Just because I've lost mine, doesn't mean you can't live yours."
And she knew enough to know that Euphie would have been right. So she carefully gathered up the flower, tucked it into a pocket where she knew she could keep it safe as a reminder, and wiped her tears. Cornelia promised herself that she wouldn't live in the past.
She would forget yesterday, but never the people she left there.
"Mommy!" The violet-haired woman turned around to face the little girl- her straight pink hair all tied back in a ponytail, and her grey eyes wide with child-like enthusiasm. She plopped down in the grass with a giggle, and her father took his place next to Cornelia, giving her an affectionate peck on the cheek and put an arm around her waist.
"Did you finish what you were working on, Mary?" She nodded enthusiastically and produced a crown of wildflowers from behind her back. The execution, Cornelia noted, could have used some work, but there was pride in her daughter's eyes. And that was something she would rather Mary possess than the skill to make a thousand perfect flower crowns.
"It's beautiful." The smile on all three of their faces only grew. Mary took this as her cue to place it neatly on the ground in front of Euphie's grave marker.
"Happy birthday, Auntie Euphie." The smile never left the child's face, and Cornelia couldn't help but wish that Euphie would have had the chance to meet her niece. They were so much alike in more ways than just appearance. When she was convinced that she had the flower crown just the way she wanted it, Mary turned around and leaned over to both her father and mother. "I bet I could beat you both back to the carriage."
Guilford leaned closer and gave his daughter a peck on the forehead. "Is that a challenge?" The little girl nodded vigorously and took off through the grass.
Cornelia and Guilford decided to give Mary a few second head start- stealing a kiss while she had her back from them. Then, as a habit left over from the days when she was his princess and he was her knight, he helped her to her feet, and they both took after her hand-in-hand laughing.
There was laughter from another person that no one could hear, as the spirit of a young girl sat on top of her marker playing with a crown of flowers while she watched her sister's family go about their daily lives. She placed the ring of blossoms on her head, and watched them fade into the distance.
"Thank you, Mary."
~.~.~
Title: For That One Always
Song: "City of Devils"- Yellowcard
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World/Tales of the Abyss
Pairing: Ash/Natalia, Luke/Tear, Emil/Marta
Rating: PG
Warning: Spoilers for both games.
It had been a long time since he had seen people- too long for his proper reckoning. The two beings that appeared before him were one somewhere in the past. In a way, they still were- one with a broken body, and the other with a soul renouncing its claim to the realm of the living. It was as if nature and life itself were trying to force the two back into becoming the single person that they once were. Although, somewhere along the line, another soul had developed. It was not what was intended, but the best things in life were unexpected- as Lorelei had learned a long time ago.
Without a word, he searched their souls individually. Both lives were full of pain and suffering as his own had been. There was persecution and loss. Self-doubt plagued one, while feelings of betrayal haunted another. One had been abandoned by the world, while the other had never really been given a chance to live in it. The latter of the two was a story that struck too close to home to remain impartial.
“Well done.” He said to both of them, and neither found an appropriate response.
From the one with the shorter hair, the one whose body had begun to disappear, Lorelei was practically assaulted with feelings of loss. In the boy’s thoughts, he caught one face that was the source of all his sorrow. She was a beautiful young woman with long brown hair and piercing eyes. It struck a familiar chord with him, and she reminded him much of a woman he himself once knew long ago. The short-haired boy hated to be parted from her, and worried that his absence would cause her pain.
He loved her. Lorelei winced in the darkness.
From the dying man, he caught only one flicker of regret in his memories. His had kind but stern green eyes that exuded strength and demanded respect and waves of blonde hair that fluttered in the breeze of his memories. The long-haired child of sacred flame held only the regret of leaving her behind. The regret of breaking her heart. Even in death, he wished to protect this girl whom he had loved in life.
Lorelei believed he had an idea of how he could do that.
“Do you still wish to protect your princess, Ash?” The man looked at him with no visible change in his expression.
“My time to live is over. I can’t do that anymore.”
“But you can.” Only his eyes showed any change in emotion, but they betrayed both a skepticism and the tiniest bit of hope. “Ash, I have been here guarding this gate for a very long time. This passageway holds fast against another world that should never be allowed to touch our own, else the entire world as we know it could be destroyed. I too kept watch over this door for the sake of one person’s life.” Lorelei had hated humans once- hated them with a passion that could barely be contained. He had only protected them- given up his life as a mortal and bound himself for eternity to this place- for her. Even as a powerful immortal, he could not abandon his need to protect her.
“Leave your physical body to the other, and allow him to experience the life he was denied. Guard the gate. Let me finally find peace in whatever afterlife awaits me, and even if you cannot be with her, you can forever watch over her as I did.”
Lorelei knew this kind of love- it was a love that was great enough to realize that the person you love was better off without you there. He had known this type of love once, and he had known that while they would both have broken hearts for a time, that life was best for her while he was watching over her from afar. The young man had also known that in life.
The two of them looked at each other then, and it was if a deep animosity between the two of them slowly melted away. Not much, however, but just enough.
“Forever…”
“Yes.”
“Then…I accept. For Natalia‘s sake.”
Lorelei had not manifested himself in human form for more years than he could remember, but somehow the feeling was familiar and calming. He emerged from the shadows as blonde haired boy with green eyes and a slight build. No doubt that this caught both of the men off guard, but the long-haired one stepped forward nonetheless- shedding himself of the bonds of flesh. The other one flinched, wide-eyed, but did his best to remain calm in the situation.
Lorelei reached out a small hand, and Ash took it. And then he spoke to the entire world.
This is your new lord and protector. I am no more. This is your Lorelei. Your Ratatosk. Obey him and serve him well.
It was a draining feeling, but Ash seemed to glow against the darkness that they stood in. He had not felt so powerless in well over a thousand years, but unlike that time back then, Lorelei was not afraid. If anything, he felt relieved. With one last task to perform with all that was left of his own power, he turned to the other one who looked absolutely frightened by what he was beholding.
“That body is yours now, and finally Luke fon Fabre will be whole once again. Take it and return to the world and live your life.” Without another moment’s hesitation, Luke’s shade had begun to materialize into something more substantial than simple spirit. He looked like Ash, but at the same time, it wasn’t him at all. It was Luke, the way he was always meant to be.
“And Luke?”
“Yes?”
“Never let her go.” He nodded with a grateful smile upon his face. Lorelei smiled slightly as well. Entrusted to these two, the world was in good hands. He was not needed anymore to guard it. For the first time in thousands of years, it was no longer time for him to be Lorelei, or Ratatosk, or any of the many other names he had been called in his lengthy existence. It was time for him to pick up the mortal name that he had once enjoyed.
It was time for him to be free.
He saw her face- her hair up in flower clips like they always were and her beautiful smile as he always remembered it- and he could have sworn he heard her voice.
“Marta…” His voice came in barely a whisper.
“Welcome back, Emil.”
~.~.~
Title: Happy Birthday Euphie
Fic Duel Prompt: "Forget Yesterday"
Fandom: Code Geass
Pairing: Guilford/Cornelia, Euphie,
Rating: G
They say that time heals all wounds. Those who say that, however, have obviously never lost anyone as dear to her as Euphie was. And somehow the wounds seemed especially reluctant to heal whenever Cornelia went to visit her sister every year on her birthday.
Euphemia Li Britannia.
The grave marker was always so unfeeling, and the space around it was always bare. In a perfect world, Euphie would not have been immortalized in time as the massacre princess and people would have flocked to place flowers all over her final resting place. In fact, in a perfect world, Euphie would be picking the flowers herself- running around and holding hands with that Suzaku boy like all was right in the universe. But this wasn't a perfect world, and the past was a painful one filled with irreversible mistakes- irreversible misunderstandings.
She would have been 23 today; a full fledged adult and Britannia's kindest and fairest princess. Maybe if Euphie was still alive, Cornelia would not have renounced her title and name. Or perhaps they both would have renounced their titles together. Euphie never did have the heart for politics. She believed in equality regardless of birth or rank- something the rest of the world was just not ready for.
Just like Cornelia hadn't been ready to lose her baby sister.
Every year, she promised herself that she wasn't going to cry; and every year she failed. She closed her eyes, and the tears cascaded down her cheeks- blown off-course by the gentile breeze. It just wasn't fair. Why did it have to be Euphie? Why couldn't it have been her instead? Both of them- they had to go through so much more than any two people in this would should have to.
Something soft caressed her hand, and she startled a bit. Through the collected tears, Cornelia could see the pink blossom that had blown up against her skin, and her eyes widened. These flowers- She and Euphie had visited area eleven just to watch them bloom and fall from the trees in a pretty pink shower. They had been Euphie's favorite. They were as much a part of her as everything else in that land. The people would never know it or remember it, but Euphie loved Japan.
She laughed through her tears. "Are you trying to tell me something, Euphie?" No answer came, but the answer was clear enough to her without any voice. Cornelia knew Euphie's spirit enough to know what she would say if she could.
"You have your own life too, you know! Just because I've lost mine, doesn't mean you can't live yours."
And she knew enough to know that Euphie would have been right. So she carefully gathered up the flower, tucked it into a pocket where she knew she could keep it safe as a reminder, and wiped her tears. Cornelia promised herself that she wouldn't live in the past.
She would forget yesterday, but never the people she left there.
"Mommy!" The violet-haired woman turned around to face the little girl- her straight pink hair all tied back in a ponytail, and her grey eyes wide with child-like enthusiasm. She plopped down in the grass with a giggle, and her father took his place next to Cornelia, giving her an affectionate peck on the cheek and put an arm around her waist.
"Did you finish what you were working on, Mary?" She nodded enthusiastically and produced a crown of wildflowers from behind her back. The execution, Cornelia noted, could have used some work, but there was pride in her daughter's eyes. And that was something she would rather Mary possess than the skill to make a thousand perfect flower crowns.
"It's beautiful." The smile on all three of their faces only grew. Mary took this as her cue to place it neatly on the ground in front of Euphie's grave marker.
"Happy birthday, Auntie Euphie." The smile never left the child's face, and Cornelia couldn't help but wish that Euphie would have had the chance to meet her niece. They were so much alike in more ways than just appearance. When she was convinced that she had the flower crown just the way she wanted it, Mary turned around and leaned over to both her father and mother. "I bet I could beat you both back to the carriage."
Guilford leaned closer and gave his daughter a peck on the forehead. "Is that a challenge?" The little girl nodded vigorously and took off through the grass.
Cornelia and Guilford decided to give Mary a few second head start- stealing a kiss while she had her back from them. Then, as a habit left over from the days when she was his princess and he was her knight, he helped her to her feet, and they both took after her hand-in-hand laughing.
There was laughter from another person that no one could hear, as the spirit of a young girl sat on top of her marker playing with a crown of flowers while she watched her sister's family go about their daily lives. She placed the ring of blossoms on her head, and watched them fade into the distance.
"Thank you, Mary."
~.~.~
Title: For That One Always
Song: "City of Devils"- Yellowcard
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the New World/Tales of the Abyss
Pairing: Ash/Natalia, Luke/Tear, Emil/Marta
Rating: PG
Warning: Spoilers for both games.
It had been a long time since he had seen people- too long for his proper reckoning. The two beings that appeared before him were one somewhere in the past. In a way, they still were- one with a broken body, and the other with a soul renouncing its claim to the realm of the living. It was as if nature and life itself were trying to force the two back into becoming the single person that they once were. Although, somewhere along the line, another soul had developed. It was not what was intended, but the best things in life were unexpected- as Lorelei had learned a long time ago.
Without a word, he searched their souls individually. Both lives were full of pain and suffering as his own had been. There was persecution and loss. Self-doubt plagued one, while feelings of betrayal haunted another. One had been abandoned by the world, while the other had never really been given a chance to live in it. The latter of the two was a story that struck too close to home to remain impartial.
“Well done.” He said to both of them, and neither found an appropriate response.
From the one with the shorter hair, the one whose body had begun to disappear, Lorelei was practically assaulted with feelings of loss. In the boy’s thoughts, he caught one face that was the source of all his sorrow. She was a beautiful young woman with long brown hair and piercing eyes. It struck a familiar chord with him, and she reminded him much of a woman he himself once knew long ago. The short-haired boy hated to be parted from her, and worried that his absence would cause her pain.
He loved her. Lorelei winced in the darkness.
From the dying man, he caught only one flicker of regret in his memories. His had kind but stern green eyes that exuded strength and demanded respect and waves of blonde hair that fluttered in the breeze of his memories. The long-haired child of sacred flame held only the regret of leaving her behind. The regret of breaking her heart. Even in death, he wished to protect this girl whom he had loved in life.
Lorelei believed he had an idea of how he could do that.
“Do you still wish to protect your princess, Ash?” The man looked at him with no visible change in his expression.
“My time to live is over. I can’t do that anymore.”
“But you can.” Only his eyes showed any change in emotion, but they betrayed both a skepticism and the tiniest bit of hope. “Ash, I have been here guarding this gate for a very long time. This passageway holds fast against another world that should never be allowed to touch our own, else the entire world as we know it could be destroyed. I too kept watch over this door for the sake of one person’s life.” Lorelei had hated humans once- hated them with a passion that could barely be contained. He had only protected them- given up his life as a mortal and bound himself for eternity to this place- for her. Even as a powerful immortal, he could not abandon his need to protect her.
“Leave your physical body to the other, and allow him to experience the life he was denied. Guard the gate. Let me finally find peace in whatever afterlife awaits me, and even if you cannot be with her, you can forever watch over her as I did.”
Lorelei knew this kind of love- it was a love that was great enough to realize that the person you love was better off without you there. He had known this type of love once, and he had known that while they would both have broken hearts for a time, that life was best for her while he was watching over her from afar. The young man had also known that in life.
The two of them looked at each other then, and it was if a deep animosity between the two of them slowly melted away. Not much, however, but just enough.
“Forever…”
“Yes.”
“Then…I accept. For Natalia‘s sake.”
Lorelei had not manifested himself in human form for more years than he could remember, but somehow the feeling was familiar and calming. He emerged from the shadows as blonde haired boy with green eyes and a slight build. No doubt that this caught both of the men off guard, but the long-haired one stepped forward nonetheless- shedding himself of the bonds of flesh. The other one flinched, wide-eyed, but did his best to remain calm in the situation.
Lorelei reached out a small hand, and Ash took it. And then he spoke to the entire world.
This is your new lord and protector. I am no more. This is your Lorelei. Your Ratatosk. Obey him and serve him well.
It was a draining feeling, but Ash seemed to glow against the darkness that they stood in. He had not felt so powerless in well over a thousand years, but unlike that time back then, Lorelei was not afraid. If anything, he felt relieved. With one last task to perform with all that was left of his own power, he turned to the other one who looked absolutely frightened by what he was beholding.
“That body is yours now, and finally Luke fon Fabre will be whole once again. Take it and return to the world and live your life.” Without another moment’s hesitation, Luke’s shade had begun to materialize into something more substantial than simple spirit. He looked like Ash, but at the same time, it wasn’t him at all. It was Luke, the way he was always meant to be.
“And Luke?”
“Yes?”
“Never let her go.” He nodded with a grateful smile upon his face. Lorelei smiled slightly as well. Entrusted to these two, the world was in good hands. He was not needed anymore to guard it. For the first time in thousands of years, it was no longer time for him to be Lorelei, or Ratatosk, or any of the many other names he had been called in his lengthy existence. It was time for him to pick up the mortal name that he had once enjoyed.
It was time for him to be free.
He saw her face- her hair up in flower clips like they always were and her beautiful smile as he always remembered it- and he could have sworn he heard her voice.
“Marta…” His voice came in barely a whisper.
“Welcome back, Emil.”