Work Text:
He remembered when his daughters were born. They still lived on the First then, which meant that all of the stranded Scions plus Ryne had clamored around Moonflower as soon as they could. Everyone wanted to see the kittens, and G’raha could still see the awe in their eyes and the hesitance in their movements as Moonflower offered to let them hold the babies. It had been joyful and tearful all at once; hope had overflowed them that day.
Today was not like that day.
His wife had left to go visit the First weeks before their third child was expected. “I’ll be back soon, Raha!” she promised, kissing him and causing their daughters to squeal, calling their parents gross. “Be good for Daddy, little flowers,” she laughed, kissing the tops of their heads. “Mommy will be back soon, and then I’ll read you a bedtime story, okay?”
Their daughters, Sunflower and Daffodil, nodded in unison and hugged her legs. “Yes, Mommy!” Then Sunflower patted her midsection. “Bye bye, baby!”
As soon as their mother left, they turned to him and immediately asked when she would return. G’raha promised it would only be a couple of days. They didn’t understand how long that really was, so asked several hours later when she would come home. The four-year-old girls cried for their mother that night, and were nearly inconsolable. He did his best, but he found himself grateful this would only be for another day.
Another day turned into a week.
He tried not to worry. He knew better than anyone else how the flow of time worked between the Source and the First. But when that week ended, he began fretting. The twins were fussy, and he was starting to think his hair was turning white again. Tataru and F’lhaminn took pity on him and let him slump into a chair in the Rising Stones while they watched over the girls. “I can’t do this by myself,” he moaned into his hands.
“Moonflower will be back,” a new voice said, and he looked up to see Alphinaud and Alisaie sit at the table with him. They were finally hitting their growth spurt, finally transitioning into adulthood. “And you’re not alone, G’raha, lest you forget we are here.”
“I would be a fool to forget that, Alphinaud,” he answered with a tired sigh. “But the twins—my twins—want their mother. There is nothing else that will satisfy them. And I don’t know why she isn’t home yet.”
He didn’t miss the way the elezen twins exchanged glances. “Is there really no way to contact the First?” Alisaie asked.
“Not as easily as it used to be,” he started, but stopped. He hadn’t ever entered a contract with Feo Ul, but perhaps it was still possible to call upon the Faerie King’s aid. It was the last option he had before he would have to undo all the wards around the Crystal Tower and try calling upon the mirror in the First. “Feo Ul, come to my aid!”
“Oh, my [ruby-eyed friend], what is it with you and our dear sapling and never calling on me?!” demanded Feo Ul’s voice. A burst of light and the pixie was staring at him angrily. “You two are so… so… so!”
“I beg your forgiveness, my friend,” he said, and held out his hands. Feo settled in them regally, but the frown hadn’t quite faded. “Fatherhood has made me a fool, I know.”
“Very well, very well… I will forgive you, especially since you pout at me so. Why do you call upon me so earnestly?”
“I’m worried about Moonflower. Please, tell me she’s coming home soon.” I need her, I need to know where she is. She needs to be here when our child is born.
Feo Ul’s wings dropped, which worried him and, he could see out of the corner of his eye, the Leveilleurs. “Our dear sapling… she is not well.”
His fingers went cold and he fell back in his chair. “Not well?” he echoed, feeling the blood drain from his face. “Feo—”
The Faerie King fluttered around his head. “She went into the rift over a day ago, but came right back, because she started going into labor.”
Alisaie gripped the arm of her chair; Alphinaud covered his sister’s hand. “Your Majesty,” he said, “did she need help coming back?”
The thought hadn’t even occurred to G’raha, but then again, his mind had gone blank as soon as Feo said she wasn’t well. When their small friend nodded, something else broke. He scrambled to his feet, wondering how fast it would take to get to the tower. “Feo, I need to go back there!”
“Sit down!” commanded the Faerie King, which forced him back into his seat. “You know as well as I do, my friend, that you cannot return to Norvrandt. Our beloved sapling will need a few more days before she can return home.”
“And the child?” Alisaie whispered, her knuckles white. “What about the baby?”
“A son, born only an hour ago.” At the and? look in his eyes, Feo Ul added, “The kitten is healthy, despite his alarming arrival.”
G’raha let out a deep sigh of relief, and tears slipped out of his eyes. “Rahn.” That was the name they had chosen for a boy, when the twins were born, and they had kept the name in case they ever had a son. A song of joy. Then he lifted his hands to his eyes and wept. “How is he to return? Crossing the rift will not be that easy! That is why she needed to be here!” He wanted to hold his wife and son, but fate had not been kind.
Today was not like the day Sunflower and Daffodil were born. Today, he was far away from his wife. Today, his son was born a world away from him. Today, he needed to come up with a solution to bring his son home.
A slight weight settled on his head. “Do not despair, my dear [ruby-eyed friend]. You have already found a way to do this. It is just a matter of doing it again.”
He opened his eyes. “Feo, I am not the Crystal Exarch any longer. I do not wield the power of the Crystal Tower so easily.”
“But Rahn is only a babe,” Alphinaud said. “Surely it would require less power to call for him across the rift?”
He was prevented from answering by a cry of “Daddy!” and two pairs of feet came running up to him. “Daddy! Daddy, where’s Mommy?”
Seeing his daughters look at him so hopefully made him realize he needed to be a father in that moment, not falling to pieces. G’raha gathered them into his arms and held them close, taking a few deep breaths. “Daddy needs to help Mommy come home,” he answered. “I need you to behave for Uncle Alphinaud and Auntie Alisaie, okay?”
They blinked their blood-red eyes at him. “Yes, Daddy,” they promised.
“Promise me?”
“Promise!”
“That’s my girls.” He scratched their ears, relieved that they purred in response, and then turned to his friends. “It’s a lot to ask, but—”
“It’s nothing,” Alisaie interrupted. She had already taken hold of Daffodil’s hand. “Hurry up and get them home.”
G’raha paused at the entrance back to Seventh Heaven. Sunflower and Daffodil were watching him, and waved. Encouraged, he took off for the tower that he had closed up years before. Feo Ul rode on his shoulder as he climbed onto a chocobo and flew.
It was eerie, walking through the familiar halls that looked nothing like how he most recently remembered them. The tower was silent and dim, unlike the gleaming, bright spire he had inhabited. Still, he knew the way to the Ocular and pushed the door open. His mirror stood at the end, waiting for him to wake it. “All right, Feo, let’s see if this works,” he muttered, and put his hand to the crystal.
The mirror lit up instantly. So far, the tower was still responding to his command, which was promising. “Moonflower!” he shouted, desperate to find her. The crystal swirled, and he felt the pixie settling on his head. Finally, the image settled on her in bed, with Lyna and Ryne by her side. His breath caught in his throat when he spied the bundle in her arms, and his vision turned blurry. Rahn. Our song of joy. “Moonflower, can you hear me?”
She looked up. “Raha!” she called, startling the others. “Raha, please tell me I haven’t gone mad—”
“It’s me, my love,” he promised. “The Faerie King was kind enough to answer my call.”
“My lord?” Lyna asked hopefully, connecting the dots. The hope in her voice made his chest tighten. He hadn’t seen her in years, and he missed her.
“Hello, Lyna. I love you.” I’m sorry I never said it enough. They both pretended not to feel the prickle stinging their eyes.
“I’m sorry, Raha, I was trying to come home,” Moonflower began to explain.
He shushed her gently, not wanting to upset her. “It’s not your fault Rahn decided to come early.”
Speaking of their newest child, Moonflower shook her head. “I don’t know how he’ll come home, Raha. I’ve been thinking about it a lot the last few days. Even if I paid every ounce of attention on him when crossing the rift, it wouldn’t—I mean, you always seemed to make it sound like that would only work on souls.”
More time must have passed between calling on Feo Ul and arriving in the tower. “That’s true,” he agreed. “I will have to summon him here. If you carry him, then he will be safe. Try not to worry; the tower should be able to handle the command without me being a part of it.” He had joined the tower all those years ago because he needed to live long enough to save her, and because his body would need to be able to channel the Light into it. Using it to power his spell with his blood would be enough to bring Rahn home, Alphinaud was right.
When Moonflower began getting to her feet, Ryne protested. “Are you sure this is a good idea to do right now?”
“The healer cleared me to leave,” the Warrior of Darkness answered. “I want to go home.”
The ginger-haired young woman looked troubled. “Very well… I will follow you to the tower then, just… just to make sure.”
Lyna said nothing, but she followed after as well. They left the ward and walked to the tower. It was night there, meaning few people were about, and they entered into the Ocular with little incident. As soon as they were there, he could see them more clearly in the mirror, and he could tell they saw him too. He smiled and once more pretended he didn’t see Lyna try to hold back tears.
“Let me see him,” he requested. “It will make the summoning easier.”
Carefully, his wife began to unwrap their son, and then lifted her cradled arms when she was finished. “Raha, this is Rahn.”
Rahn’s eyes hadn’t opened yet, but his hair was a more faded red than his sisters’ red-violet. He wasn’t as small as G’raha thought he would be, considering that he was somewhat early, but that was a relief. His father thought he might see parts of his parents in him already, but there would be time to search later, when he was holding him in his arms.
Our song of joy.
“He’s perfect,” he breathed, touching the mirror.
“He is,” Moonflower agreed happily, wrapping him back up. “I think he looks like you.”
“You’re just saying that,” he laughed. “Now, are you ready? Follow the pull from my summoning.”
She nodded decisively. “I’m ready.”
“Take care,” said Ryne, stepping back.
“Goodbye, my lord,” said Lyna. She, too, took a step back, but stayed in his line of sight.
Feo disappeared from his head and he steadied himself. He tapped his staff to the ground and began drawing upon the limitless energy of the Crystal Tower. “Let expanse contract, eon become instant,” he chanted, focusing on his son. “Throw wide the gates that we may pass!”
Moonflower stepped into the mirror, holding tight to Rahn, a determined expression on her face. He waited anxiously, hoping his spell had worked. He had felt far more confident to send Sunflower and Daffodil to the Source with Moonflower when he was still the Crystal Exarch. “Please let this work,” he prayed. “Please.”
Tense seconds passed, and then Moonflower stepped out of the mirror on his side, a precious bundle still in her arms. “Raha,” she cried the moment she laid eyes on him.
“My love.” He dropped his staff to embrace her. “You had us so worried!” She barely had a moment to breathe before they were kissing desperately through tears and relieved laughter. Then he felt tiny limbs squirm, which made him release her. “And you… welcome home, Rahn,” he breathed, and took his son into his arms. “Your sisters will be so excited to meet you.”
“Thank you, Feo Ul.” Moonflower cupped the pixie in her palms. “Thank you for helping us again.”
“Just be sure that you make use of me, dear sapling. I can’t help you if you don’t call!” The miniature Faerie King swirled around them again, and then disappeared in a burst of light.
Husband and wife took a moment to center themselves. “Well,” Moonflower said at last, “I’ve certainly learned my lesson. Don’t go visit anywhere when I’m that far along.”
G’raha inclined his head. “We didn’t expect him to appear now, but yes, perhaps next time you should stay here.” He held her hand and led them out of the tower. “Come on, everyone’s waiting at the Rising Stones.”
Moonflower smiled, and that smile widened when their daughters saw her. “Mommy!” they shouted, jumping to their feet and running toward them. “Mommy! Mommy!”
“Hello, dear kittens,” she said, kissing their hair. “Have you been good?”
“Yes,” they chorused.
Their mother looked over their heads to the Leveilleur twins. Brother and sister nodded, although both looked a bit less put-together than when he’d left them. “Oh, good,” she said, and then picked up the girls. “I’m so sorry I was away, little buds. Mommy had to go find you a new brother.”
“A new brother? Where?” Sunflower asked, then spotted Rahn in G’raha’s arms.
“I wanna see him!” Daffodil demanded, and together the two of them squirmed until they were set back down to the ground.
G’raha crouched next to them, sensing Alphinaud and Alisaie being joined by some of the other Scions. “This is your new brother, Rahn.”
As the girls squealed over their brother and the Scions clamored to see him, G’raha reflected over the last several days. No, today was not like that day four years ago. Today was its own adventure.