It's been far too long since I've updated this. Sorry.

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Leo gulped away a heavy lump in his throat as he dabbed a damp cloth to his injured hand, hissing and flinching every time the cool handkerchief made contact with his burning skin. Leo knew that his father wasn't happy with what happened in Izumo. Hence why this happened to his hand. But Leo DID silently wonder if he was at least a little happy with how he went about it. Peacefully instead of violently. Leo obviously knew that his Father didn't think like that, but he did wonder at times if he did have at least a tiny part of good inside of him.

Knock Knock Knock.

Leo groaned in agitation. This was the 7th person to knock on his door in the past hour ever since his confrontation with Camilla.

"Leeeeeeooooo? Please let me in!"

Elise...

"I won't tell anyone if you did anything bad, I promise!"

.... No. He couldn't let her in. Of all people to burden with his troubles, it could NOT be his little sister. He had to get out of this damned castle. Even if it was only a night, he just had to leave.

His eyes immediately drifted over and made contact with his balcony and the open window. That... THAT was his escape.

Holding his injured hand close to his chest, he crept over to a keepchest he kept hidden almost out of sight in the corner, being quick and quiet about opening the top. His eyes scanned back and forth rapidly, his left hand pulling through all the contents of the chest until his hand landed on a long, coiled up pile of rope.

"Leo, dear. Please, open the door. We just want to ask you what happened."

No, not Camilla too. Please please please, not her too.

Leo couldn't get distracted now. Grabbing the rope, he ran over to the balcony edge and dropped the rope to the floor, grabbing the end of it and trying to tie it to the balcony edge, which, fun fact, was a lot easier said than done with one hand.

"Leo. Open the door. Now."

Damn it, Xander too?!

Once Leo was sure enough that the knot was secure enough to hold his weight, he tossed the rope over the balcony's edge...

And the door quickly slammed open.

"Leo!"

Nothing.

The room was barren of the young blonde, with no trace of him left behind except a damp, bloodied handkerchief and a rope that was thrown over the balcony's edge.

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"HYAAH!"

With a loud cry and a swift flick of the reins, his battle companion let out a snort of slight protest before taking off into the sunset basked evening.

Once a good half an hour passed, Leo felt it was safe to stop. Pulling on the reins once again, both he and his horse let out a sigh of relief, with Leo climbing off his companion and taking slow steps towards a nearby river that flowed through the valleys slowly, not crashing against the banks too harshly, but also making its presence known among any who passed by.

Falling to his knees, he saw his horse begin drinking from the fresh water in his peripheral vision, and he felt guilty, only guessing how much pressure and exhaust he put his companion through in the past half hour. He gently grazed his fingers through his horse's mane, smiling in slight content as he saw the gentle, brown eyes of the beast blink at the touch.

The water looked soothing. Calm and gentle, the perfect rendition of innocence.

.... It reminded him of Corrin.

~"Leeeeeoooo! C'mon Leo, I got something to show you!"

"Sister! I can't run that fast! Please, wait for me!"

"Oop, I'm sorry Leo! C'mon, jump on my back! I'll carry you!"

"Ack! Sister, put me down!"

"There ya go! We're here now."

"But... but where is here, exactly?"

"It's the prettiest and largest river in aaaaaall of Nohr, Leo! Isn't it beautiful?"

"Well, yes but.... Why did you bring me here? Why here, of all times that Father let you outside?"

"Because Leo. Xander and Camilla showed me this place the last time I was let outside a few years ago before Elise could even walk, the sweetie. I made a mental note that I'd have to show you and her whenever I could, and since Elise is sick right now, I'm gonna have to handle just showing you! C'mon, let it be our special brother and sister moment, Leo!"

"Fine, fine! But I wanna head back soon, the wind here is chilly!"

"Oh, fine! We'll stay for just a few minutes, then I'll take you back."

"..."

"..."

"You know what I read in a famous Poet's book one time, Leo?"

"What's that?"

"I read a poem, a poem that was about the water's surface and what hid underneath, actually. It... It's an old one. One from the era when the first Kings and Queens of Hoshido and Nohr ruled supreme."

"Where did you even find a book like that?"

"In the library, duh."

"Right. How did it go?"

"Hmm, let me see if I can remember how it precisely went..."

"Though Murky and Ill I can be, Rippling and Clear I can also be seen;

Away from my edge, wars wage and battles rage, yet still I fall gracefully o'er the cliffsides ledge;

Cry and weep at my side, ne'er will I frown or weep alongside your broken and mayhaps fragile life;

Instead, I shall take your tears like my own and wash them away, like the ancient worries of yesterday;

Ne'er fret my child, for I may be seen violent and raging when skies wish to see me grow wild;

I swear, through all the wear and tear, I shall always take you and gift you the gift of life renew;

Be it under crystal skies or stormy blue."~

Leo's breath hitched as he violently shook his head.

Damned memories.

Gulping away the lump in his throat and blinking the tears away, he looked down at his hand that Garon had inflicted those wounds on earlier, grimacing as he saw the dried blood and blackened skin around the cuts. He heard his horse nibbling at the grass behind him, glad that at least his beast-like companion was finding serenity in this moment. How Garon even managed to get these six deep cuts on his palm and make them fit, he didn't know. But the damned things still hurt.

The cool, yet soothing feeling of hardened scales pressing firmly against his palm made him jump, but the familiar flash of (e/c) eyes brought a sense of ease to his form.

"Relax. I am no threat. I could feel your discomfort and heartbreak from a hundred miles away."

"(Y/n)..." Leo whimpered out, immediately looking away after he spoke.

Minutes passed, with the soothing pulse of her magic flowing through his hand and up to his shoulder, sending a slight chill up and down his spine. He didn't even have the courage to look her in the eye right now. He felt her magic ease up before it stopped completely before she pulled away, then he heard her heavy form fall into a laying position directly behind him. Her head lying directly next to his leg.

"... Do you wish to speak to me of your worries? I can practically see your distress, Leo."

"Not... not now... I just need silence and an escape..."

"Understood, Young Prince. I shall grant them to you."

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*Sigh* So fucking short. Again, I'm sorry.