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“They’re gone! They’re all gone!”
A cloaked figure cackled in front of Takumi, hopping from one foot to another in its delight. Takumi’s eyes widened as he took in the sight of his siblings’ bodies lying in a crumpled heap.
“Mmmph… Please…”
“One, two, three, four, five little bodies, all piled up around my feet! And look!” The figure grinned, revealing gleaming sharp fangs. “Here’s number 6!”
From behind its back, the figure pulled out yet another body, the sleek, blonde hair unmistakable in the way it shone under the moonlight.
“Le-o… no...”
“He’s gone too! Everyone you love is dead!” It chortled, waving Leo’s lifeless body around like a rag doll. “And now, all that’s left,” black eyes suddenly homed in on Takumi’s face, making the archer take an involuntary step back, “is you.”
“No…” Takumi felt his heart grow icy in his chest. He scrambled to his feet, trying in vain to escape the dark cloud rapidly descending upon him. “Please, no… no…”
“NO!” Takumi bolted up, harsh breaths accentuating the painful hammering of his heart. He shoved his blankets aside as he gasped for air, feeling like he was suffocating under the thin cotton sheets.
“Mmnh… Takumi?” On the other side of the tent, Ryoma stirred awake, blinking blearily through the thin darkness. “You alright?”
Takumi let out a shaky breath before he swallowed thickly, the lump in his throat refusing to budge. “I’m fine.”
Ryoma frowned, pushing himself up from his blankets to peer more closely at him. “Clearly not— you’re covered in sweat! Do you have a fever?” He reached out towards Takumi’s forehead, his grey eyes having lost all traces of their former sleepiness. “Should I go get Saku-”
Takumi flinched away from Ryoma’s touch, a flush of red creeping over his cheeks. “No! I’m fine. I just— I need some fresh air.” He scrambled to his feet and pushed sweaty silver hair out of his face, before shoving his feet roughly into a pair of sandals.
“Takumi—”
“No it’s— it’s fine . I’ll… be back. Just… just go back to sleep.” He quickly lifted the canvas flap and slipped out of the tent, leaving a rather bemused Ryoma in his wake.
The cool night air wrapped itself around Takumi’s sweaty body as he stepped outside, causing a shiver to run down his spine. He wrapped his arms around himself while he wove his way through the tents, doing his best to remain quiet and keep from waking everyone else.
The camp was silent, other than the soft snores emanating from tents he passed and the soothing, familiar sound of the crickets’ nightly songs. The distant rustle of the wind in the leaves filled Takumi’s ears, pulling a sigh from deep within his chest.
Nightmares unfortunately weren’t anything new in Takumi’s life: he’d been having them for as long as he could remember. They’d first started after his mother, Queen Ikona, had passed when he was young, though Takumi had noticed an increase in their frequency in recent months.
It wasn’t anything surprising though, considering everything they’d been through lately. It was a miracle in and of itself, after all, that they were all still alive and together. It was a miracle that Takumi hadn’t lost a single one of his siblings to the war. Well, not yet, at least.
Yet . Oh, how Takumi hated that word.
It reminded him that nothing was set in stone— that try as he might, he could never guarantee an outcome. No matter how hard he studied, no matter how meticulously he planned out each and every move the army made, there was simply no guarantee things would turn out fine.
Ryoma, Hinoka, Sakura, Azura, and Corrin, they were all alive today . They were alive and well, if a little worn down by the ongoing effects of the war. They were still by his side— Takumi wasn’t alone.
And yet… tomorrow could be different.
Tomorrow could bring more images to fuel his ever growing collection of nightmares. Tomorrow could bring the end to the first little bit of happiness Takumi had finally found in his life. The end to his first relationship, the first and only time Takumi had ever opened his heart to another.
After all, nothing was ever certain. He could be with him one moment, and gone in the next. Takumi could lose everyone he loved in the blink of an eye, and there was little he could do to stop it.
Takumi let out another deep sigh, pressing a clammy hand against his flushed face. Night had been his favorite part of the day when he’d been younger. He had always loved to gaze up into the night sky, marveling at the wide expanse of stars glimmering far above while first, his mother, then later, Queen Mikoto pointed constellations out for him.
But now, night served as little more than a bleak reminder of what Takumi both had lost and still stood to lose. He loathed the silence that fell over the camp at night; loathed the way the world seemed empty with everyone hidden away in their tents.
Takumi clenched his fists at his side, feeling hot tears pricking at the back of his eyes. He hated how lonely it was, and how much danger lurked around each corner in the shadows, and how—
“Takumi? What are you doing out here?”
“Huh?” Takumi raised his head to meet a pair of familiar maroon eyes peering at him through the moonlight. “L-Leo...?”
Leo frowned, his normally aloof expression replaced by one of genuine concern. “Are you okay? I thought I heard someone so I— Takumi! You’re shaking!”
Shaking?
Takumi glanced down at himself, noting belatedly that both his arms and legs were covered in goosebumps.
Oh.
He was cold— he hadn’t realized.
Leo hurried towards him, quickly pulling off his dressing gown and wrapping it around Takumi’s shivering body. “Why are you out here in your nightclothes?”
“I…”
“You’re going to catch a cold if you’re not careful and— hold on. Takumi… were you crying?” Leo stopped, placing both hands on Takumi’s shoulders to peer down at him. A long moment passed, during which Leo’s eyes searched Takumi’s, before the mage slowly reached up to cup Takumi’s cheeks. His expression softened when a lone tear slipped down Takumi's face, which he reached up to gently wipe away with his thumb. “...’kumi? Talk to me, love.”
“Leo…I—”
A sharp buzzing filled Takumi’s ears, the sound ringing painfully through his head. The floor began to sway beneath his feet, causing bile to rise in the back of his throat. “I don’t…” was all Takumi managed before his knees gave out under him.
“Takumi!” Leo lunged forward, just barely managing to catch him in his arms. “Takumi, what’s wrong?” He cradled Takumi close to his chest as he slowly lowered the two of them down to the floor.
Takumi grasped at Leo’s night shirt, bunching the loose fitting material tightly in his fists. He buried his face into the soft material, trying his best to choke back the sobs erupting from deep within his chest.
An overwhelming flow of emotions was rushing out, breaking through the dam Takumi had so carefully constructed over all the years of his life. Never before had he fallen to pieces so spectacularly, or so openly. In fact, he could probably count on one hand the number of times he’d cried in front of others in the past five years, let alone sobbed like he was doing now.
“I can’t lose you, Leo. I can’t. I can’t ,” Takumi whispered, his voice hoarse and rough against the quiet of the night.
“Lose me?” Leo shook his head, using one hand to gently comb through Takumi’s sweat soaked hair. “You won’t. I’ll always be here, by your si—”
“We don’t know that!” Takumi pulled away from Leo’s grasp, shakily managing to push himself up with his arms.
“‘Kumi...”
Tears continued to drip down Takumi’s face, the salty taste filling his mouth as he choked out his words.
“I see you every night in my dreams. Again, and again, and again . My arrows don’t fly fast enough, and a Faceless slashes through your body. Or a bandit manages to sneak behind you, or a Stoneborn takes you out or something!” Takumi curled his hands into fists, weakly striking the ground between them. “I’m just… I’m always too late.”
“Takumi…”
“I’m too weak, too slow, too pathetic to ever protect anyone.”
“Takumi—”
“What… What could you want in someone like me? What could I ever possibly offer you other than pain and hurt that would make me worth your while—”
“Takumi!”
Leo leapt forward, both arms wrapping themselves around Takumi once more and holding him even tighter than before. He fell silent, the warmth of Leo’s arms pulling fresh tears to spill down his cheeks.
“You are enough.”
Tear-filled amber eyes rose to seek out Leo’s crimson ones, needing the reassurance, the love that only Leo’s heart could give.
“You work so hard, ‘kumi. Everyone can see that, especially me.”
Takumi shook his head, hands clenched so tightly that faint droplets of blood began to bead under his nails. “It’s not enough. So many people have died , or gotten hurt, or—”
“You. Are. Enough.” Leo took Takumi’s hands in his own, gently massaging them open before planting featherlight kisses across the palms. “I’ll tell you again and again, every single day if I have to. But you’re more than enough, ‘kumi. For me, and for Corrin and Hinoka, and Sakura and Azura, Camilla, Elise, Xander, Ryoma— everyone . But especially for me.”
Leo brought Takumi’s hand to his chest, pressing it lightly on the spot over his heart. “You’re worth every single second we spend worrying about you. You’re worth every pain we endure, every battle we fight to win this war. Because if it means I can spend just one more day, knowing you’re safe by my side, then I’d do anything.”
“Leo…I—”
“I know,” Leo murmured, pulling Takumi closer against his chest. “I know it’s hard, and I know it’s scary. Everyday we wake up, and I don’t know if we’ll live to see another day. I don’t know if I’ll get to watch another sunrise with you by my side— don’t know if I’ll get the chance to sit with you in a tent again, playing cards until we’re both laughing so hard we can’t breathe.”
“But…” Leo whispered, his voice growing so soft that Takumi had to strain to hear it. “What I do know, though, is that I’ve never once regretted meeting you.”
Takumi raised his head, peering up at Leo through blotchy, red rimmed eyes. “...Never?”
Leo shook his head. “Never. I don’t know when this might all end, and I don’t think I could even fathom the pain I might feel if I ever lost you.”
“The only thing I can say for sure that I know, is that I’ll never, ever regret loving you.” Leo pulled Takumi’s face up to meet his, pressing the two of them together into a soft, tender kiss. Takumi melted into Leo’s touch, his salty tears mixing with the soothing, familiar taste he’d come to know as Leo’s lips.
Leo pulled away too soon, causing a small noise of protest to escape Takumi’s chest. He laughed as he reached up to cup Takumi’s cheek, brushing his thumb gently over the tear soaked skin. “I’ll kiss you again later. For now, we should head back to bed— it’s late and cold.”
“Ah… do you want your robe back?”
“Nah, keep it on. As for going back to bed…” Leo stood suddenly. But before Takumi could even look up at his boyfriend, Leo swept Takumi up into his arms, eliciting a yelp from the archer.
“Leo! Put me down! I can walk back to my tent myself!”
“Nope! Your legs are probably all tired out and besides,” Leo lowered his voice again, “I asked Xander if he could go sleep in another tent tonight. I was going to ask you earlier to come cuddle, but you fell asleep before I could so I didn’t want to wake you.”
“...You’re ridiculous.”
“Anything for you, love.”
Takumi blushed, his cheeks painted with a rosy glow under the moonlight. “Sap.”
Leo laughed, the corners of his eyes crinkling in the way Takumi loved most. “You like me sappy.”
“Do not.”
“Do too.”
“Do not .”
“Yes, you do.”
“...I do.”
“See?” Leo teased. “Told you.”
“I hate you,” Takumi grumbled, burying his face in Leo’s chest.
“Hai, hai,” Leo said fondly as he began weaving his way through the tents. “I love you, ‘kumi.”
“...Love you too.”