Chapter Text
There hadn’t been a wedding in Castle Krakenburg since Lady Arete, and Leo had never seen it so bright. It had been dressed to the nines in pastel banners and extra softly glowing lights, turning the black military base into a strangely comfortable wedding hall. The castle – and the city itself – was buzzing with palpable excitement, welcoming to the joyous celebration of love between Prince Siegbert and his chosen wife, a feeling the city hadn’t witnessed for decades.
Almost ten years had passed since the reestablishment of the Vallite kingdom and the peace treaty between Hoshido and Nohr. It was followed by many years of tenuous peace, but Leo could tell that this particular celebration was going to be the final event to clear the heavy blanket of the war.
“Leo!” came the high-pitched voice of his youngest sister from beside his ear. He jumped in surprise, but felt his heart swell at the same time, for he hadn’t heard her voice in months.
“Elise!” he replies, cloak swirling as he turned around. She’s standing there in a combination of Hoshidan and Nohrian garb befitting the queen, and she throws her arms around him with little hesitation. Their embrace lasts long enough to dust pink into Leo’s cheeks, and he has to pry her little body off of him to separate. He won’t admit that he almost doesn’t want to let her go, but he’s so calmed by the grinning face framed with golden hair that it doesn’t matter.
They exchange pleasantries for a moment, the formality of royalty lost in their conversations about Nohr and Hoshido, their siblings and their partners, Sakura’s adjustment to Nohr, when finally Elise brings up the question Leo sees coming from a mile away.
“Where’s Forrest?” she asks, looking around the room as if his son may have walked in during their embrace.
“I’m not sure, I’m afraid,” replies Leo with a sigh, and Elise’s eyes narrow almost immediately.
“You’re not fighting again, are you?” she says with more force than he expects from her small body, and he chuckles and shakes his head.
“No, nothing like that; he’s been holed up in his studio for the past week, and I haven’t seen him even at mealtimes,” he explains, knitting his brow up thoughtfully. It had actually been more than a week, and though Leo was worried about his son, he didn’t want to pry. Forrest’s eyes had had heavy bags beneath them the last time they saw one another a few mornings ago, and Leo couldn’t tell whether it was just that he wasn’t wearing makeup or if they were indeed deeper than normal – his gut told him it was both.
“Well, I’ll have to visit him before dinner and drag him out of there,” laughs Elise with a bounce and a grin, and then she’s off, dragging him around to talk to his family-in-law from Hoshido.
Corrin and Camilla show up later and together in traditional Vallite armor, Azura trailing behind them. They all embrace him just as tightly as Elise, though with less vibration. But the warm feeling of excitement doesn’t last – with each of his siblings and friends that arrive, so too do their children, and with each child comes an icy sting of worry for his own.
For the rest of the evening, he catches glimpses of his comrades’ children looking through him, searching for their sweet-smelling, doe-eyed cousin. For Leo, a night that should be full of food, dancing, and drinks is sullen, discomfort twisting in his gut as he watches a servant take Forrest’s dinner off of the table.
**
“Forrest?” calls Leo softly, but with enough force that his son should hear him. There’s no response, so he raps on the door to the sewing room a little harder, and puts a little more edge to his voice.
“Yes, father?” he finally replies after the fourth time Leo knocks. Leo lets out a shuddering breath that he didn’t realize he’d been holding.
“Your cousin’s wedding is today; were you planning on making an appearance?” There’s no response again, and Leo worries he might have been too snarky. It doesn’t stop him, though. “As my son, you have an obligation to attend.”
“I’ll be there, Father.” Forrest’s voice is calculated and controlled. He’s not one for outbursts, but it still stabs Leo all the same.
“Ok…” Leo says quietly, removing his hand from the door handle, and sweeping back to the main hall to oversee the ceremony set up.
Sweat beads Xander’s forehead and Leo’s acutely aware that he’s never seen Xander look so stressed before; not even during his own wedding to young Sakura was he as nervous as he is now. Leo smiles.
“From the way you’re sweating, I’d think your wedding was today,” Leo teases, sweeping up behind his brother and clapping a hand on his shoulder. Neither of them wear armor, and will not wear armor for today’s ceremonies, but he can tell Xander feels almost naked without it.
“From the planning I’ve had to do, I’d think my wedding was today, too,” Xander replies in his baritone, gruff and exhausted. “The kitchen is on track for preparing the feast, the florists have decorated the hall and the ballroom, but the defenses still haven’t been briefed in full and Camilla is slacking on her air patrols, and on top of it all Ryoma has been trying to pull me away since he arrived so I could tour him around the city.” Leo quirks an eyebrow and hides his smile behind his hand.
Siegbert enters into the hall and his face is splotched red, hair sweat-sticking to his forehead. Xander is immediately on even higher alert – which Leo wasn’t sure was possible – and he rushes over to his son, patting him down like the doting father he is. Siegbert’s eyes are brimming with tears, no doubt over the latest stress his own wedding has caused him. Xander makes an apologetic face at Leo, but he just smiles and waves him on, turning on his heel and clicking out of the hall.
Forrest has never needed Leo like Siegbert needed Xander, and watching Xander wipe his son’s tear and crack a smile on his face is like a knife twisting in his heart. He should be proud of his son’s independence, but the feelings of loneliness and paranoia bubble up in his throat nonetheless.
**
Leo is sure that his son would be the beauty of the ceremony, but as the wedding party sets the stage at the front of the coronation hall, Leo finds that his son is not in audience. There are dozens of noblewomen in the most gorgeous of dresses, many of them with Forrest’s beautiful and particular stitching. But he is not in any one of them. Even Corrin is in one of her nephew’s dresses, chatting happily with other nobles from Hoshido and Nohr alike… but no Forrest.
The proper response for Leo would be embarrassment, but all he feels is worry. His son wouldn’t have wanted to miss this event – he had been working on his dress for weeks just to prepare, and what if he had accidentally slept through it because of his exhaustion?
He pulls one of the maids aside and whispers in her ear, but when she comes back, breathing heavily just before the ceremony is to start, is a relief, but also worries him more.
“Milord,” she says, swallowing. “I checked Sir Forrest’s bed chambers and sewing studio and he was in neither. In addition, I checked bathing chambers and Lady Soleil’s quarters.” Leo quirks his eyebrows at the last statement, but the maid offers no more explanation.
“Anything?” he asks after a moment, but the maid shakes her head. He thanks her and she slips away just as the musicians begin to play.
“Leo,” Corrin whispers beside him, laying her hand gently on his. He looks at his sister, eyes wide, and realizes that he’s been rubbing his knuckles red and raw.
**
The musicians stop playing when the huge doors at the back of the hall open, and it seems like time has stopped. All of the guests are holding their breath, so Leo cranes his neck around to figure out why. Once he sees the bride, he’s struck in the same way everyone else is.
Siegbert’s soon-to-be wife steps in slowly as the musicians hastily pick up where they left off, and as beautiful as she is with her hair and makeup done, it’s the dress that’s the most striking. The white dress is immaculate, with the most intricate beadwork Leo has ever seen. The embroidery down on the skirt is beautiful, and when she marches past and Leo sees it up close, he recognizes the handiwork instantly.
The details, the beautiful beadwork, the stitches – every little detail and design is indicative of Forrest’s work, and Leo knows without a doubt that this piece of work is his greatest achievement. He finally understands why Forrest locked himself away for weeks on end, as Leo himself has done on so many other projects and studies. A sad smile calms him for a moment, but then he’s scanning the hall again, searching for some indication that his son made it to the ceremony. Leo searches for anything, eyes landing on every blonde beauty in the Nohrian kingdom, but he still finds nothing.
He could barely keep his attention on the ceremony, on the blushing faces of Siegbert and his bride as they said their vows in front of the entire Nohrian, Hoshidan, and Vallite kingdoms. He misses Corrin nudging him and so too misses the tear Xander tries to inconspicuously wipe from his eye as Sakura leans on his shoulder, sobbing quietly.
The entire court was grinning, and Nohr itself seemed to brighten in a way Leo had never experienced, but all he wishes is that Forrest were here to see it.