Chapter Text
It took more than four years for Takumi’s hair to grow back to its full, regal length. But Takumi was not one to just wait around for four years.
After settling down briefly in Nohr, he and Leo bounced around the three nations constantly; helping with war relief, subduing rebellion, visiting injured soldiers, the list went on. It certainly gave Takumi something to distract himself with, Leo found. Through all their travel and work, Takumi’s hair seemed to grow over night. Leo blinked, and it was already long enough to rest in a low ponytail at the nape of the other prince’s neck.
It was six months in that Takumi surprised him with a proposal.
“Leo…After what happened last year, I had this idea. This crazy idea that, maybe someday, we could get married.” The word took Leo aback, made his heartbeat flutter and pound like he’d just climbed a mountain, “A more logical part of me said it was impossible—we’re both princes. We have to marry and have children and play our part to our countries! It would never work out, I thought. But…” When Takumi procured two rings, Leo felt lightheaded. He, too, had to admit to entertaining the idea, but he didn’t think it would actually become a reality.
“But, when I thought of the future, I could only imagine one that I shared with you. There’s no other future for me, than at your side.” He said, lifting up the rings between them, “So please, will you accept this ring from me?”
Whatever Leo imagined his proposal to his future wife to be, it definitely wasn’t this. He had grown up expecting curt, pointed, only out of necessity. No emotion, just obligation. So, after hearing Takumi’s heartfelt confession, he couldn’t help the tears rising to his eyes.
“Of course I will,” he choked out, still in shock as Takumi slipped one of the rings on to his finger. It felt like it was always meant to be there.
The proposal and subsequent need to plan a wedding prompted their first of several returns to Hoshido. They were both, of course, welcomed with open arms, even more so after Takumi told his siblings of their engagement.
“That means,” Sakura had gasped, slamming her hands on the table, “We’re going to be related to them. I- I’m going to get more sisters!”
“You certainly have my blessing, then,” Ryoma said, trying to hide the tears in his eyes, “Nothing would please me more than to have our two families forever bound by blood.”
It culminated in a surprisingly small ceremony, with only their comrades from the war being invited. The only two new additions to the group were Hoshido and Nohr’s young crown princes, Shiro and Siegbert. The small attendance brought no less joy, though, and Leo could not keep his eyes off Takumi the whole day. Much to the Hoshidan’s pride, his hair had grown long enough to be braided again, and he wore a short, but elegant braid with his formal kimonos.
At 2 years, the couple had settled back down in Nohr for some time off the road. Many times Leo looked on, wistful, as Takumi handled the toddler Siegbert and newborn Velouria—Camilla’s daughter—with such natural talent and exuberance. He wished he could give that to his husband.
“You could adopt, you know,” Xander said one day, over tea, as they watched Takumi chase Siegbert around one of the castle courtyards, “Azura and Corrin were both adopted into Hoshido and Nohr, respectively. I don’t see any reason for you not to.”
It was how a small, shy two-year-old named Forrest came into their lives several months later. Takumi had been the one to approach the boy in Windmire’s orphanage—quite a large affair, Leo found out, and mostly funded by the crown. The long war had supplied no shortage of orphaned children.
“He just looked so much like you, I guess I couldn’t resist,” Takumi said, after papers were signed and the couple was riding back to Castle Krakenburg in a carriage. Forrest slept soundly against Takumi’s shoulder.
“Would you like to hold him?” Takumi offered, when he saw the way Leo was eyeing their new son uneasily, “You’ve never been around kids much, have you?”
“I never really had the chance,” Leo replied, moving closer to Takumi as Forrest was slowly and gently passed between them. The toddler mumbled softly as he resettled in Leo’s arms, but did not wake. “Elise was the last child born, so…” He trailed off, captivated by the little boy in his arms. Takumi was right—even at a young age, the boy’s soft features looks reminiscent of his own. He would make sure that, growing up, such soft features were not scorned by the world as his were. His little boy, no, their little boy, deserved much better than that.
Having such a wonderful first child led to Takumi wanting another, and who was Leo to deny him? Their second child came a year later, while they were on a tour of Hoshido. At Ryoma’s request, Takumi and Leo were surveying the rebuilding efforts three years on with a group of officials, and boosting morale in towns that now consisted of all three nationalities rather than just Hoshidan.
Forrest travelled with them, of course, and while Leo wasn’t sure if it was the ideal childhood he had envisioned, at least he and Takumi got the chance to see and raise their son every day. Forrest was certainly getting plenty of worldly experience, for being so young. He couldn’t imagine leaving the young boy alone back at Castle Krakenburg.
One day, they were camped outside a small border town that had just suffered a devastating attack from a roving group of bandits. Three villagers had been killed, last Leo heard. Takumi and some of their contingent were in town, speaking with villagers and doing what they could to help, but Leo had decided to spend most of the day with Forrest. Letting his son know that he was always there for him was very important to Leo—a luxury he had never had as a child.
Takumi found them lounging a little ways outside the town in a lush field of flowers. Leo was showing Forrest how to braid the plants together into bracelets and crowns—something Elise had taught him when they were young. He wasn’t nearly as good of a teacher as his sister, but three-year-old Forrest was enamored with the idea nonetheless.
“Leo!” Takumi exclaimed, anxiously pacing up to them. Leo spotted the bundle in his arms from across the field. The concern in his husband’s voice could only mean trouble, but of what kind Leo wasn’t sure.
“You seem troubled,” Leo said, stating the obvious as Takumi sat down in the grass across from him, bundle still carefully held in his arms.
Takumi opened his mouth to explain, but then hesitated, thinking over his words again. “Okay,” he finally said to Leo, “Just hear me out.” Leo propped his head up in his hand with a smile, motioning for the other prince to continue.
“So, as you know, three people were killed last night by the bandits,” he began, and Leo let his smile drop, nodding gravely. Forrest, frustrated with his current loop of flowers, turned his attention to Takumi, toddling over to sit on his father’s knee and listen as he spoke.
“Well, unfortunately, two of those people were parents. Their child slept through the attack, and was thankfully spared,” Takumi gently lifted the cover to the bundle he had been holding, revealing the face of a small child. Forrest’s interest was piqued, and he stood to inspect the baby more closely. Leo felt his heart wrench, face twisting in anguish. The child couldn’t have been more than a year old; he knew exactly where Takumi was going with this.
“But the rest of the village has lost too much in terms of stolen products and damaged property. They’re not sure if anyone can support him and give him the childhood he deserves!” Takumi said, passion and pleading lacing his voice, “Leo, I think we should take him in. I can’t bear the thought of him ending up on his own in a few years, having to fend for himself growing up.”
Leo bit his lip, considering their options. Logic said that this happened every day in their post-war world, but, in the end, his heart won out.
“Takumi...what would ever make you think that I would say no?” The grin that broke out on Takumi’s face was unforgettable, Leo thought, as his husband laughed in relief and leaned over to press a kiss to his lips. He passed the baby to Leo, Forrest following the swaddled child eagerly.
“You ready to be an older brother?” Leo asked his son—his older son, now—and Forrest nodded eagerly, fascinated with the smaller child. He likely didn’t even understand what that meant, Leo guessed, but it seemed that Forrest could surely tell the new baby was special in some way. “Did you find out his name?” Leo asked of Takumi.
“Kiragi,” Takumi answered, moving to sit next to Leo and gaze down at their new son, “He’s definitely Hoshidan. It makes me…really excited,” Takumi smiled, barely containing his happiness, “I can’t wait to teach him archery.”
“Already?” Leo said, laughing along with his husband, “Perhaps you can let him grow a little, hmm?”
---
Travelling with two young children was an even more daunting task, but the two managed for a few more months. When their lives settled down, Takumi expressed his own interest in settling in one place as a family.
“It’s been almost four years, you know,” Takumi mentioned one morning, as Leo fed Kiragi. He gazed out the window, staring with longing at the Hoshidan landscape, as he twisted his hair into a braid, “I was just wondering if you were interested in settling somewhere? Like here, maybe, in Hoshido?”
Leo wasn’t surprised by the sudden admission—anyone could have seen how eager and happy Takumi was about visiting Hoshido every chance they got. It was only natural that his husband would miss his homeland. Takumi took his silence as a negative, though, and started to say that they could live in Nohr, too, or Valla, but Leo stopped him with a raised hand.
“It’s fine,” Leo said, “Don’t get me wrong—I’ll miss Nohr. But I know how much you have missed your home these past years. If you feel this is your home, then I can make it mine, too.”
Ryoma, beaming with pride at his younger brother’s return, was more than happy to gift them a villa down the mountain from Castle Shirasagi. The tensions among the nobles from years ago had faded, and Takumi was welcomed back to the court with open arms. Courtiers looking to win his favor congratulated him left and right on his two young sons and on the honor he had brought to Hoshido from his efforts abroad.
After all was said and done, Leo knew Takumi was simply overjoyed to share his homeland with his new family.
It was mid afternoon one day, and Leo knew that, by now, Kiragi should have been about done with his nap and eager to get up and play. At first, assimilating himself to a child’s schedule had been difficult; compared to Takumi and his natural talent around children, Leo knew next to nothing. But two years experience and two adopted children had taught him many skills, including how to handle the most rambunctious two-year-old he’d ever met.
“Kiragi, no!” He exclaimed upon opening the door to the son’s room, finding him scaling the bars of his crib.
“Why?” the boy asked, scandalized that he wasn’t allowed to do such a thing.
Leo heaved a long suffering sigh as he plucked Kiragi out of his crib and arranged him in his arms, “You’re going to hurt yourself, that’s why,” he said, to which Kiragi had no response but to bury his little fists into the front of Leo’s shirt for balance. “Did you sleep well?” Leo asked, pressing a kiss into the boy’s fine, light blonde hair.
“Do I get to play with daddy now?” Kiragi asked instead. Leo rolled his eyes with a smile and headed out of the room, walking towards where he had seen Takumi last.
“I suppose. You don’t want to play with me instead?”
“I wanna do ar-arch- archry!”
Leo couldn’t help but laugh. Takumi had only just begun teaching their son how to hold the smallest, lightest yumi available and already the boy was enamored, even if he had yet to fully pronounce the name of the activity.
“I’m sure he’d be happy to—Ah, Forrest, I didn’t see you there.” He was just about to round the corner that led to where Takumi sat on their porch when he caught sight of their older son. The boy was peeking around the corner at Takumi, looking hesitant. His father was seated on the edge of the porch, carefully brushing through his now fully regrown hair. Forrest jumped when his papa caught him, sticking his hands behind his back and averting his eyes bashfully. Leo crouched down to his level, releasing Kiragi so the little ball of energy could run down the hallway to greet his daddy himself.
“Something wrong?” Leo asked, running a hand over his son’s hair. It was getting longer every day; it had grown almost to his shoulders now. Down the hallway, Takumi’s elated shout of ‘Kiragi!’ signaled the boy reaching his father.
“I- I just…I had a secret…for daddy,” Leo couldn’t help but smile. Forrest was always so soft spoken, so careful with his words, “But, I’m scared to tell him!” Forrest exclaimed, as best he could in a whisper.
Leo put on a concerned expression, trying to show his son that he took his secret very seriously. “Would it help if you practiced on me first? I promise I won’t tell him before you.”
Forrest glanced back over his shoulder nervously, where Takumi was laughing and holding Kiragi up in the air. He looked back at his papa. “Okay,” he nodded, mustering up his confidence. Leo leant him an ear.
“I…I want to grow my hair long like daddy’s. It’s so…it’s so pretty!” Forrest whispered into his ear. Afterwards he backed up against the wall again, eagerly awaiting Leo’s response.
“Do you know what I think you should do?” Leo asked him.
“What?”
“I think you should go tell daddy your secret. I think he’d love to hear it.” Forrest’s eyes widened at the comment.
“Really? You think he would?” The boy asked, disbelieving. Leo stood back to his full height a placed a hand on his son’s shoulder, leading him around the corner.
“I know he would,” Leo said, nudging him forward. Takumi had noticed his husband and son’s presence, and turned around to face them.
Watching his son inch up towards him hesitantly, Takumi greeted him with no less vigor than usual. “Hey little guy! What’s up?” He asked, pulling Forrest into a one-armed hug when he got close enough. Forrest mumbled something to him—presumably that he had a secret to tell—but Leo couldn’t hear him from where he was standing. He watched as exaggerated shock spread over his husband’s face.
“A secret?” Takumi gasped, “And you want to tell me?” Forrest nodded vigorously, the small curls in his hair bouncing along with him. Takumi turned his head so just one ear was facing Forrest, and the boy cupped his hands to his father’s ear. A moment of silence followed, filled only by the wind and the distant sound of birds.
“Really?” Takumi exclaimed, his face this time lighting up with not-so-exaggerated joy, “Thank you! I- I think you would look beautiful with long hair, Forrest! It’s a great idea!” He scooped Forrest up in a hug, stepping off the porch and spinning him around in joy. As he spun, his hair fanned out behind him in an arc, and Leo, still watching from the hallway, felt peace settle over his heart and mind. Despite their pasts, and despite what the future may hold, he was so happy, so proud that he and Takumi had found bliss in one another.