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When Selena opens her eyes, she is no longer in Nohr. The cragged landscape has made way for miles of roots, crystal clear streams of water, and luscious leaves that almost glow when the moonlight filters through them. The scenery is starkly different from the country she had called home for the last two years, but Selena instantly knows where she is. She's at the base of the Mila Tree, where she had fought against countless enemies in a war long finished, under a different commander and with a different identity of her own.
She looks down, and the iridescent crystal ball that brought her to this land is no longer in her hands, long dissolved in a flash of light. This transition into another age she had just undergone is a permanent and irreversible one, and yet it is a decision she made on her own accord.
Despite her attire, Selena is not a Nohrian by birth. And even though her liege presented her with the opportunity to become one through her duties as a retainer, she never considered herself one to begin with. Now that she's back in her previous world, the identity Selena had created for herself over the last two years is a work of fiction again. She's no longer Selena, but now Severa once again. She's the girl who had perpetually lived in her mother's shadow, even long after her death. She's the girl who travelled twenty years into the past to save the world--one that will never be hers--from the dragon that destroyed the one she came from.
And now she's the girl who foolishly returned to a time that isn't her own for a girl who may not even be there.
Severa sighs, and looks at the massive tree, full of life, and yet devoid of any kind of humanity. "Whoop-de-doo," she mutters to herself. She doesn't even have someone she can complain to, because for the first time in ages, Severa is truly alone.
Anankos had told her the crystal orb would take her to the point in time she most desired; she just had to picture it in her mind. Instead, it took her to a place far away from Ylisse, far from her mother and father of this time, and certainly nowhere near where her person of interest would be. She bitterly thinks she shouldn't have trusted Anankos if she knew this would be the result.
Severa briefly wonders if she made the wrong decision. She wonders if she should have returned to her original future with Inigo, where Ylisse stands strong and flowers bloom at her parents' graves. Or maybe she should have remained in Nohr with Owain and his new family. She'd live a life of security as a royal retainer, find a husband who'd treat her right, and have a child of her own. And even if her life didn't play out the way she intended it to, Lady Camilla would always be there to shower love on her.
She gulps. There's no going back now, she thinks. She'll get through this, just as she got through several wars and a forsaken future. And she'll damn well find the person she sacrificed the rest of her future to find.
Severa thinks about what her next step should be. The most sensible course of action would be to return to town, find a place of refuge, and try to find out what events had conspired in the time she's been away. Instead her feet lead her in a different direction, along the Mila Tree's sturdy roots, and up to its peak.
As Severa stumbles along the path to the top of the tree, vainly trying to avoid wayward branches in the darkness, and cursing when she loses her step, memories flood back to her in a torrent. Just past the next turn in the path is where she struck down an invisible soldier, eyes glowing and aura menacing, in her first foray into Anankos' hidden world. Higher up the grand tree is where a Valmese pegasus knight nearly sent her hurtling to her doom, back when she was under Chrom's command. And when she looks to the highest point of the tree, where a shrine of peace and refuge awaits her, warmer memories plant their roots in Severa's mind.
---
It was atop the Mila Tree after a long day of battle where Severa realized she was madly in love with a person she would never be able to have.
Lying amidst the tree's overarching leaves, Severa watched the full moon alongside a princess who was fighting in a war she didn't deserve to be thrust into. Severa turned on her side and was met with weary, but not sullen eyes. The Brand in the princess' left eye indicated she was an Ylissean royal through and through, and the resilience she inherited from her father only served to validate it.
Lucina returned Severa's gaze with a smile, and clasped her outstretched hands with her own.
"It would be nice to return here one day," she had said, delicately squeezing Severa's hand, "Away from the confines of battle, in times of peace. In an age where we no longer need to worry about a Fell Dragon leaving a blight on this world."
"I..." Severa hesitated, "...I would like that." Her cheeks were flushed, but her heart was sunken because she knew the gesture was an empty one.
She was certain that after the Fell Dragon was long gone, Lucina would return to her rightful place on the throne. Maybe not as the Exalt herself, but always by her father's side, working tirelessly to maintain the peace she had fought so hard to establish. Lucina would become recognized as royalty, become known as an ambassador or a diplomat. She would have no reason to talk to Severa ever again as they were talking now, intimately and secretly in the comfort of the night.
"Then let's do it," Lucina said, voice quiet, "Let us come back here after the fighting has ended." Her eyes softened. "Just you and I."
Her lips only inches away, Severa could feel Lucina's breath on her face, and it made her shiver. She could have pressed her lips to hers, confirm her feelings to her commander and friend, under the moonlight when no one was watching. Instead, she kept her feelings hidden, convincing herself that it would never work out in the end.
Severa smiled back. "It's a promise," she lied.
---
Lucina disappeared two weeks after the demise of the Fell Dragon, quietly and seamlessly, off to lands unknown. She left no indication to her family, to the rest of the Shepherds, or any of her future comrades that she would be leaving them.
That is, everyone except for Severa.
She found a note slipped under the door to her quarters on the night of Lucina's departure, explaining her reasoning behind leaving, where she would be heading, and wishing Severa luck in her own endeavors. When Severa read the note, she felt many emotions: sadness, confusion, frustration, regret.
The one emotion she didn't feel, however, was anger.
Lucina told Severa she wanted her present self to receive all the love she deserved, and that could only happen with her absent from her life. Severa suspected that wasn't the entire truth. She imagined Lucina left because she didn’t want to be reminded of the fact that the love was from a family that wasn’t truly her family at the same time. She knew the feeling all too well; it was a harrowing reality hidden behind noble intentions.
So Severa didn't blame her when she left, despite the backlash she knew she would get from the rest of their comrades. When Chrom, or Lissa, or any of the other Shepherds asked her if she knew of Lucina's whereabouts, she kept her mouth silent. She acted as though she never learned of Lucina's motives in the first place, reasoning that it would make it easier to get over her crush that was never meant to be.
But two years and a journey to Nohr later, that original note was still at the back of her mind.
---
Severa takes a final, taxing step and makes it to the top of the Mila Tree. She is more winded then she'd like to admit, and when she gazes up at the moon, no longer blocked by layers of leaves and branches, the breath is knocked from her lungs. The moon is full, and it's as bright as it was on the night she made an empty promise to a princess whose whereabouts are now unknown.
Then she looks to the dormant shrine at the center of the tree, and she feels as if she's suffocating.
Lucina is sitting on the steps leading up to the shrine, arms around her knees, half-gazing up at the full moon. Her hair is short, above her shoulders, bluntly cut and uneven. She's holding a mask in the shape of a butterfly in her hands. But despite these meaningless details, Lucina looks just as she did two years prior, in her battle attire more suited for a warrior than a princess, and with her trusty Falchion by her side. She wears the same sense of regality and confidence that had left Severa yearning for something more.
Severa takes in a deep breath and exhales in a vain attempt to calm her nerves before she walks up to the figure from her past. It takes twenty-two steps to reach Lucina, and with each step, Severa feels her heart beat more erratically than before.
“Well look who it is,” she says after taking that last step, putting off an air of indifference. It doesn’t hide the tremors in her voice.
Lucina turns her head, and the wistfulness that previously marked her eyes is replaced with disbelief. “S-Severa?” she stammers.
It’s the first time Severa heard her true name called from someone other than Owain and Inigo in a long time, and it makes her return to her home-that's-not-really-a-home all too real.
Severa crosses her arms and lets out a weak attempt at a scoff. “That’s me, alright.”
It takes another moment for Lucina to regain her composure. She opens her lips, trying to find the right words to say, before lamely asking, “What are you doing here?"
“I…” Severa can’t bring herself to say the real reason she returned out loud, not to Lucina’s face, at least. “...I came back," she says, just as lamely. With the two of them alone in a foreign land, there’s no question as to the reason behind her return.
The air between them is uncomfortable; it makes Severa wish she had turned on her heel and scaled back down the tree, leaving Lucina to her solitude.
Lucina stands on her own two feet, seeing Severa face to face, but keeping her distance at the same time. She takes a deep breath, then gives her a forced, but cordial smile. “It’s good to see you again, Severa,” she says quietly. “It’s unbelievable to think we’re talking face to face, and in these circumstances nonetheless.” She pauses, and Severa swears that her eyes soften for a brief moment. “I never thought I’d see you again.”
“Yeah, well, I thought I’d never see you, either," Severa says in her haughty tone. She looks down to the butterfly mask at Lucina's side, then lowers her voice. "Not after you disappeared like that.”
Lucina doesn’t reply, dodging the question. “You must have travelled long and far,” she says, eyes trailing down to Severa’s markedly Nohrian--and unfamiliar--attire. “I pray you’re not too weary. I’m sure we can find accommodations for you if we travel back into town.”
Severa dismisses Lucina with a wave of the hand. “You look like you’ve been keeping busy yourself,” she notes.
Lucina looked the same from afar, but now that Severa is talking to her face to face, she sees small changes that indicate time really has passed since she left. Lucina's flowing red cape is tattered and coming apart at its tail end. She sees a new scar across Lucina's right temple, barely illuminated by the moonlight. Lucina's hands are nicked, and Severa is almost certain there are bruises underneath her layers of clothing. It looks as if she really did carry out everything she had planned to do, as she had outlined in her goodbye note.
“In a way,” Lucina simply says.
"So are you gonna tell me about it, or what?" Severa asks, maintaining her distance.
Lucina's eyes widen, but then she lightly laughs. "I'm glad to see things are still the same between us," she says. Severa can't tell if it's the truth or not.
Lucina tells Severa about her travels, from Plegia to Valm, then back again, trying to uphold her father’s--her true, long-deceased father's--legacy by helping the people who need it the most. She worked day and night to protect civilians of unfamiliar countries from violence and corruption, with only a handful of displays of gratitude to show for it. And when her spirits experienced a momentary relapse, she would travel back to Ylisse, watching her country flourish from the shadows.
“Sounds like a good way to torture yourself,” Severa says absent-mindedly.
“Yes. It was lonely,” Lucina admits. She looks away from Severa, taking a deep breath, before speaking again. “To be frank, it’s lonely even now.”
Lucina doesn't wait for Severa to reply because she immediately turns the conversation in a different direction. "But enough about me," she says, "Let's head into town and talk over a proper meal. You can tell me all about your travels, and I can help you send you on your way."
Severa's stomach sinks. With Lucina's new words, she can already see how the events will unfold. They’ll be friendly with each other for the night, maybe into the next day, before Lucina is off to her next destination, and Severa is travelling on her own path, as well. They'll say their goodbyes before Severa can tell Lucina what's been at the back of her mind since she left for Nohr. Her return to the past will be in vain if she can't say the words she needs to say.
Severa grabs Lucina’s hand. "Let's stay here," she says quietly, but with determination.
"All the way up here?" Lucina asks. Her voice begins to falter.
Severa remembers how peaceful she felt during her first night atop the Mila Tree with Lucina by her side. She remembers how her hands burned when Lucina grazed them with the tips of her fingers, and she remembers how warmth spread through her body when Lucina looked at her with honest eyes and whispered words of affection in her ears. She remembers a connection she never acted on, and because of this foolish regret, there's only one thing Severa can think in this moment:
She wants it for real.
"Yes, you heard me right the first time," Severa says. She gulps, and feels her cheeks turn red. "We... we made a promise to come back here, you know."
Lucina inhales sharply and her body stiffens. "You remember," she says weakly. "I... I didn't think you would."
Severa wants to smack Lucina for having that little faith in her, but she knows there's something that will have an even bigger impact.
“I never stopped thinking about you," Severa says, unable to control the flood of words rushing from her mouth. "I was off fighting a war for a country you’ve never even heard of, and trying to discover myself and yet, I couldn’t stop thinking about you. I couldn't stop thinking about how you're doing, or if you've done anything reckless, or..." She stops herself before she can embarrass herself any further. "It’s so dumb, it’s the stupidest thing, and I couldn’t help it.”
Lucina looks startled. But then she intertwines Severa's hands with her own and raises them to her chest. “Me, too,” she whispers. “Your image has always burned brightly at the back of my mind." She looks at Severa with sincere eyes and smiles. "I could never forget a woman like you.”
Severa snorts, but that can't hide the smile creeping up on her face. She hugs Lucina, and Lucina accepts her with open arms. Severa buries her face in Lucina's shoulders, and Lucina squeezes her even tighter. If only for a brief moment, all of Severa’s insecurities about her decision to return, her current feelings, and her future disappear into thin air.
Severa takes the plunge and kisses her. When Lucina returns it, all smiles, all Severa can do is sigh in relief and hide the heat on her face the best she can.
“I missed you, Severa,” Lucina whispers, wrapping her into an embrace once again, breath warm on Severa's ear.
“I missed you too, you goof.” Severa says, unable to control the grin on her face. She gives Lucina another squeeze. “Two years later, and you still haven’t changed a bit. I'm honestly in awe.”
Lucina laughs. "I don't know whether to take that as a compliment or not."
With Lucina by her side, Severa can truly appreciate how beautiful the Mila Tree looks at night, moonlight striking every single leaf, flower, and branch, illuminating them in a brilliant blue. Morning will come in a few short hours, bringing with it a whole host of realities Severa will need to face when the time comes. But for now, she’ll make good on her promise to Lucina from two years ago and enjoy the scenery and their company, hand in hers. Because for the first time in a long while, Severa feels like she has nothing to worry about.
“I have so much to tell you,” she says. “It’ll blow whatever you’ve been up to out of the water.”
Lucina lightly chuckles. “I’d love to hear all about it,” she says. “We have all night, after all.”
Severa smiles. They do have all night, and she's going to make the most of it, because after what seemed like an eternity, Lucina is finally by her side.
And this time, she isn't going to let her go.