Eclipse

"Soleil? Do you have a moment?"

Soleil sits up on her bedroll, straightening up. It wouldn't do to look scared in front of her own father, now, would it? "For you, dad? Always."

Her father has a hearty chuckle as he slips inside her tent. "I'm glad to see I'll forever be the number one man in your heart." He comes to sit next to her. Though he doesn't stop smiling, his tone turns serious. "I wanted to tell you about me. Before... you know."

He doesn't spell it out, and she appreciates that. He doesn't need to. They both know it.

Their army is in shred. Hoshido is blazing forward, stronger than ever. Corrin has proved to be a better strategist than anyone could have expected.

Tomorrow is the day they're going to die.

"Here, give me your hand." He takes her wrist, and she feels something being slipped on her finger. Cold. Metal. Ring?

She looks down. The piece is of iron, too plain to be jewelry, but also too thin to be of help when grappling. Something is carved on the outer part, though if it's a script, it's not one Soleil recognizes.

"It belonged to my mother." her father says, and she perks up at the rare crumbs of her family history. "Back home, it's customary to offer a ring to someone when you ask for their hand in marriage. They're usually nicer than that, but..." He sighs, and for a second, he looks like he's looking far, far away, past the cloth of her tent and past the frontiers of Nohr. "My father was a commoner. Well, a thief, really. Taught me quite a few handy tricks," he flexes his hand, "but a bit lacking in money."

"I've never heard of such a custom." Soleil replies, reverently touching the ring. This, right there, is a piece of history. Her history. Her dancer grandmother whose very name she still ignores.

Her father smiles. "I come from far away."

"I gathered." The questions bubble up her throat, so many she could choke. Where are you from? How far is far? Do you have any siblings? How were your parents? What is your mother tongue like? But what she settles on, what she wants to know more than anything, is: "Why did you come to Nohr?"

Why, indeed? Her father is happy here- or at least, she likes to believe so- but she's not blind. She knows he's longing, at times, for familiar dishes and familiar customs. It's in the way his accent slips around Aunt Selena, it's in that clouded history he vaguely references around Uncle Odin, it's in the way he joins his hands and pray oh, Naga when he thinks no one can hear. Why would he leave? Why would he come here?

He stays silent a second too long, and she expects him to dodge the subject, as he always does when his past is brought up. "You know, when I was a kid, someone told me we always have two reasons to do something. The good reason, and the real reason."

That is a roundabout way to talk about it. But Soleil is willing to play along, because she can tell that her dad is trying, even if it hurts him to do so. "What was the good reason, then?"

"Someone asked for my help." He says. "He asked me to come to Nohr to find his child, and I couldn't just leave someone in need." His gaze goes down. "Not that I succeeded on that front."

She reaches out to squeeze his arm. This seems to bring him some comfort, at least.

"... You're not gonna ask for the real reason?"

"Would you tell me if I asked?" His quote unquote good reason already seemed so... raw. What else could he possibly be hiding? Be ashamed of? She doesn't want to pressure him if he isn't ready. Even if it means staying in the dark until the end.

"For you, Soleil? Always." He grins, echoing her earlier words. Then his voice drops, heavy like a confession. "You have no idea the things I would do for you."

"Thank you." She leans, then, to hug him. She feels him tensing up in his arms, taking a second to reciprocate.

"But it's okay. You can tell me another time." She tilts her head up and smiles at him. "Which means you have to live through tomorrow. We both will. Okay?"

It's a blatant lie and they both know it.

For the first time ever since he's come here, her father's smile softens into something genuine. "You truly are too good for this world, Soleil."

Slowly, he peels himself off her. He doesn't break all physical contacts as she expected, though. He takes her wrist and cradles her hand, tenderly, as if he were afraid to break it. "You're right, though." He leans forward to kiss her forehead. "You will live through this."

"Dad-?"

Something cold is suddenly shoved in her hand. Round. Smooth. A sphere of sorts.

Her father's features harden. "Find a woman named Olivia. She lives in Regna Ferox. You have to remember, this is important. Olivia. Regna Ferox. You understand?"

"Dad, I don't-" dread seizes her throat. She doesn't like that tone. She doesn't like those words. She tries to pull her arm away, but her father locks her in place, his hands covering her owns to force her fingers all around the sphere.

He smiles grows wide, wider than Soleil ever recalls seeing from him. Something shines at the corner of his eyes.

"I love you." He says, softly.

Then his hands press against her own, the sphere shatters in her palm, and Soleil is falling.