Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Panic immediately flooded his senses.

It was dark and his mind was sluggish, but even still he could recognize a Nohrian stronghold. The curtains were all drawn, the wood far too dark, the bed far too soft. The single candle burning on the nightstand could illuminate that much to his half-cracked eyelids.

He shot up and the adrenaline was enough to counteract the splitting feeling in his head, the aches in his shoulders, the soreness in his spine. His brain felt like someone took a cleaver straight down the middle, and then took the remaining bloodied halves and shook them around in a mixing bowl for a few hours.

He forced himself to his feet, stumbling slightly as the world shifted around him. His head felt like it was floating on air as he righted himself, and every bone in his ankles crackled as he stood up. His limbs felt stretched and his mind spun as he tried to make sense of why he felt too tall.

He took stock of himself and his surroundings quickly before moving again. He was fully clothed minus the shoes, but he wasn’t sure what he was wearing, exactly. He had a cloak wrapped around his shoulders that he’d never seen before, but which smelled like home. The rest of his outfit felt distinctly Nohrian though it looked nothing like anything he’d seen before. None of the clean lines and hard edges he’d come to associate with the soldiers who had trampled their way into his home. The pants and the shirt were loose and a little flowy, and, like the cloak, an unfamiliar yet homey scent clung to them.

The room itself was far too nice to be a dungeon, or even a barracks, but far too lived-in to be a guest room or the like. The table beside the bed was piled high with a dozen different books, neatly arranged so their spines were facing the same way. Beside them were scattered papers and pens covered in scribbles and scratches that he wasn’t even going to try to interpret. A lone chair stood beside the bed, and there was a thick blanket draped over the wooden back.

A general’s room, perhaps..? Dread poured into his stomach as he tried desperately to remember, but the only thing he got for his trouble was a headache. If it was a general then did… had he been..? He was a prince, and an omega, and that did not bode well for him. That he was still relatively unharmed was a miracle, but that just meant he needed to get out even more.

He took a tentative step forward and his socked toe immediately met with a small wooden object. It skidded across the floor and thunked to a halt when it hit the wall opposite to the bed. It looked like a child’s toy. A small wooden horse, not unlike the kind of things he and Sakura had played with when they were small. It looked well worn from where he was standing.

The foreboding feeling deepened. Children? Here? Were there no depths to which those scum wouldn’t sink?!

The aching pain flared to a burning sensation, starting at the back of his skull and threading its way through his synapses until even the nerves in his eyeballs felt like they should be melting. He’d fallen into the chasm on the border and then he’d… he’d… no, that wasn’t right. You couldn’t just fall into the chasm. He must have been picked up by a Nohrian patrol instead, but then why… why couldn’t he..?

The splitting feeling hit even more intensely. He needed to get out of here now before his captors came back. Whoever they were, they were stupid. They hadn’t even attempted to tie him down or incapacitate him. He needed to get out before they came back and realized he was awake. He drew the cloak tighter around his body and tiptoed to the door, poking his head out to check for extra guards.

Nothing. The hall on either side of the door was empty as far as he could see. What kind of operation were they running here? Not even a single guard to keep watch? Did they think he was that weak?!

After looking both ways one more time, Takumi bolted down the hallway to the right. Despite having never been here his bare feet padded over the fluffy rug with a certainty his brain couldn’t quite place. He wound his way through halls and stairways, counterintuitively going up rather than down, because it seemed right. There were no windows along these walls, not even small ones to let in light during the days, so they couldn’t have been above ground.

He turned a corner too quickly, too confidently, and smacked right into a haggard looking blond man. The man grabbed Takumi to steady him before he could fall backward onto his behind, both hands overly-familiarly on his hips and lingering far too long for his comfort.

“Takumi!”

He recoiled. How did this stranger know his name? He squinted, and while he looked somewhat familiar Takumi couldn’t quite place him. Unwashed blond bangs fell over exhausted, ruby-red eyes. He had the ghosts of age lines forming on his face; his brows held the creases from the furrows a little longer than usual. His eyes had massive bags under them, and there was a streak of dark ink along his left cheekbone.

Takumi ripped himself away from the man, yelping slightly as he tripped over his own feet. He’d been expecting him to resist, but he’d let Takumi go just as easily as he’d caught him. 

With a bit more distance Takumi finally clicked on where he’d seen the man before. He looked suspiciously like the second prince of Nohr, Prince Leo, but… no, it was definitely not him. Takumi had only seen him in person once, that fateful day on the border, but even he could tell this man was far too old to be the same person. Prince Leo was around his age, and the man standing before him had to be at least thirty.

He processed all of that in a split second and, after weighing his options (and with the lack of hostile behavior on the part of this… general?), Takumi turned on his heel and bolted in the other direction.

“Takumi? Takumi!”

The way this man yelled his name tore at his heart, but he didn’t stop.

The general shocked out of his stunned stupor and gave chase. Heavy boots thudded along behind him, and despite the Nohrian’s tired face he didn’t have trouble keeping up. Takumi was quicker, but this man was familiar with the layout of the garrison and he had a height advantage. 

It was enough to overtake him eventually. The man grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back against his chest roughly.

“Takumi, what are you–”

“Get your hands off of me, scum!” He screamed, twisting in the man’s arms and kicking at his shins and knees. When the Nohrian let him go, again a little too easily, Takumi turned and spat in his face before he started running again…

… but he’d barely made it half way down the hall when something gave him pause. His blood ran cold.

At the end of the hallway there were two children, having just rounded the corner. The older one, who looked to be about eight, caught his attention especially. Her long, curled hair fell semi-loosely down to her mid back and it was… it was silver. It was his silver. The color stood starkly against her pretty pale pink dress.

Both of them peered at him, their creepy red eyes deep enough to match the man he was running from. Both of them were stuck fast like their feet had been frozen to the spot, eyes wide as saucers.

Then the younger one’s face erupted into a massive grin.

“Mom’s okay!” he shouted.

… Mom?!

Takumi twisted his head around to the blond, thinking he must have been wrong in assuming the man was an alpha, and was nearly bowled over as the little boy launched himself into his arms without warning.

Huh????????

The child cuddled close to his chest, both legs wrapped around his middle, arms around his neck, and his head resting on his shoulder and nuzzling his scent glands.

Takumi stood there stunned. He was terrified to drop him, unsettled by the overly familiar way he snuggled close and scented him, and far too encumbered to run while holding him. His knees felt like they were about to give out and his arms were shaking.

“Kiragi,” the red-eyed man said firmly, and Takumi needed to sit down. A Hoshidan name??? “I told you that your mother needed to rest.”

The little boy pouted cutely. “But daaaaaaad!”

“None of that.” The man grabbed up the boy from his arms and placed him back down on the ground. The boy huffed, but opted to cling to Takumi’s leg instead. The top of his head barely reached Takumi’s waist.

“How are you, do you feel sick? Does your head feel okay?” the red-eyed man brought the back of his hand to Takumi’s forehead to test temperature. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there when you woke up.”

And he recognized the scent on the cloak. It smelled like these three, who were now huddled around him and fussing over his well-being. The older child extricated the younger from his leg, finally, then turned to worry at the hem of his cloak. The blond man had a hand on him again, this time at his shoulder.

Takumi’s fingers moved to the back of his neck and, brushing what should have been soft skin, was met only with the jagged outline of raised, long since healed scar where an alpha had bit him.

The pain in his head reached a crescendo. Blackness tickled at the edges of his vision.

He dropped to his knees, arms around his lower legs in a huddled position, and screamed until his lungs gave out. He couldn’t breathe. He couldn’t think. The more he prodded his own mind for answers the more everything hurt. This was all wrong. Everything was wrong. He’d woken up in someone else’s body, in someone else’s life…

The red-eyed man was on his knees beside him in an instant. He stroked small circles over his back, humming reassurances and purring softly to try and calm him.

“I…” Takumi choked out between panicked, hyperventilating breaths. “I want… to go home…”

Chapter Text

The children huddled closer together. The younger hid his face behind his sister’s back, peeking out just enough for Takumi to catch one half of a fearful eye. The older one was shaking, tears welling up, but obviously trying to stay composed for the sake of the littlest one.

He’d calmed down enough to see that. Or he’d exhausted himself enough that he couldn’t even scream anymore.

He was still on the ground with his arms wrapped around his middle. His sweat soaked bangs stuck to his forehead and his throat was scratchy and hoarse, but his breathing had calmed to something more regular.

“Forrest,” the blond man said calmly. He hadn’t turned to look at the children, and his hands were still rubbing over Takumi’s shoulders and back in a soothing motion that he hated to admit did calm him down somewhat, but Takumi knew he must be talking to them. “Go find auntie Camilla. Take your brother with you. Behave yourselves and do as she says, okay?”

“W-what’s wrong with mama?” the older one asked.

The blond man shook his head. “I’m sure it’s nothing.”

The skin prickled on the back of Takumi’s neck. He was lying. He didn’t know how he could tell, but he could tell.

But the little ones nodded confidently and scampered off, and Takumi was suddenly filled with dread. Was this man the general who had kidnapped him? What was he planning on doing to him now that innocent eyes couldn’t pry?

Suddenly he bristled at the touch on his back. He smacked at the blond’s hands, half expecting to be manhandled or hit in retaliation, but the blond simply dropped them back to his sides without protest.

“I want to go home,” he repeated again, more firmly this time.

“Where is home?” the man asked.

“Are you messing with me? Do you think I’m stupid or something?”

Takumi threw his arm wide, gesturing in a direction he hoped was vaguely east.

“Hoshido. Home. Surely you didn’t capture me and not realize who I am!”

“What’s the last thing you remember?” the blond asked, brow furrowing with increasing worry.

Takumi scoffed. What did he have to gain by playing dumb?

“The border? Our armies had a skirmish and I fell–” he stopped himself before he could complete the sentence. No, it was impossible, there was no way he’d actually fallen into the canyon. No one could fall into the Infinite Chasm and live. This was probably some dark mage mind trick to confuse him. “I don’t know what you scum did to capture me, but your cowardly tactics won’t win you this war.”

The man sucked in a sharp breath.

“I’m… sorry Ta- …Prince Takumi,” the man said, pulling himself to his feet. “But there’s been a misunderstanding. If you come with me I’ll explain everything.”

He held out his hand for Takumi to take, but he just eyed it suspiciously. This had to be some kind of trap. He hated that he actually believed, for a moment, that it wasn’t.

He ignored the extended hand and pushed himself to his feet, head screaming in agony with every flex of his muscles. His ankles cracked again, as well as his wrist, but it didn’t hurt. The byproduct of some magic restraint they’d used on him, perhaps?

“Fine.”

The blond led him back through the halls to the room he’d woken up in. He’d managed to run a surprising distance on his own, though he hadn’t realized it until just now.

“You might want to sit down for this.”

He did, at the desk because it was closest to the door in case he needed to make a hasty retreat.

And then this man told him the most ridiculous story he’d ever heard. Either he had the best poker face Takumi had ever seen, or he was being dead serious. He wasn’t sure which was worse.

“So you’re saying I did fall into the Bottomless Canyon, and worse, I’ve been possessed by some sort of mad god king since?”

The blond man nodded.

“... Why did you kidnap me just to tell me such a ridiculous story?” he demanded. He didn’t believe it. He couldn’t believe it. It was insane.

“Takumi, I haven’t kidnapped you. It’s been over ten years since Nohr and Hoshido have been at war.”

He crossed his arms over his chest, quirking a skeptical eyebrow. Ten years of peace? They could barely manage ten minutes. The last time they’d had “peace talks” with Nohr it had resulted in his father skewered with arrows.

“If you don’t believe me then just take a look.”

There was a mirror in the corner of the room, which he hadn’t noticed in his hasty escape. It was tucked away at the farthest end and there were several cloaks haphazardly hung over it, so it blended in well. The man gestured to it now, and despite everything Takumi found his curiosity getting the better of him.

He approached it cautiously, like a feral cat might approach a hand extended to them.

He didn’t like what he found.

He stared at himself in the full length mirror for a long, horrified second.

He was… old.

His gangly arms and scrawny frame were replaced with the lithe, trained figure of a man twice his age. His eyes and mouth were forming small, but still visible, wrinkles. He’d already investigated the scar on the back of his neck with his fingers, but he caught sight of it out of the corner of his eye when he turned his head from side to side. It seemed like it had lived in his skin for almost as many years as he’d been alive at this point, and it had healed so beautifully it would put any alpha to shame.

He spent some time with that mirror, trying to trick it into giving up its secrets. But when he lifted his arms the figure staring back lifted theirs too. When he cocked his head the mirror man cocked his right back. When he caught sight of another long healed scar as his shirt rode up his abdomen, he felt for it, and it was on his skin too.

“Those children..?” he asked tentatively, rubbing the scar he was all too familiar with, but hadn’t expected to see on his own body for a long time yet.

“They’re yours. Well, ours. I did put some effort in.”

He needed to sit down. He sat back down in the desk chair, body turned away from the treacherous mirror. He folded his arms on the desk and slumped over.

He eyed the reflection in the mirror warily from the corner of his eye, but he had to admit it was him. There was no shimmer of magic, no tell. And if he was older, that meant…

“You’re Prince Leo?”

The blond man perked up at hearing his name fall from Takumi’s lips, but the joy faded again just as quickly.

Takumi slammed his head into his arms, the first words out of his mouth an incoherent, anguished cry for help.

“This cannot be real. I did not marry Prince Leo of Nohr. I did not have children with Prince Leo of Nohr! You’re Prince fucking Leo of Nohr!”

Prince Leo raised an amused eyebrow, the ghost of a smirk on his lips. “I am aware of that, yes. Would you like to make another obvious observation?”

“This is exactly what I’m talking about!”

He waved his hand in a haphazard gesture up and down Prince Leo’s body, and when the blond didn’t seem to get it Takumi let out a strained, exasperated noise.

“You’re… you’re infuriating!”

“Funny, I seem to remember our first meeting going something like this.”

“Then you should know I would never..! You have to be lying to me somehow! This is a joke! Why would I ever fall for you?”

“You’re doing wonders for my confidence right now, my love.”

“Argh! Why was I so stupid!”

They had barely met once, that day on the battlefield, but that was enough for him to know that they were never, ever going to be friends. Let alone this.

“Well I did save you from falling off a bridge into an endless void one time. That might have helped my chances.”

“You..!” He’d started an insult before what Leo said had time to fully process in his brain. The connection snapped into place mid sentence. “Wait, you did what now?”

“I was just getting to filling you in, if you’re done insulting me.”

The story only got more incredulous from there, but somehow the more Prince Leo explained, the easier Takumi found it to believe. He hated himself for that, but it wasn’t as if he had an alternative explanation.

He had been possessed. He fell into the canyon and Anankos the Silent Dragon (a dragon he’d never heard of), ruler of Valla (a country he’d never heard of), had wormed his way into Takumi’s mind and taken control. Even though they’d defeated him with the combined might of Nohr and Hoshido (something that had never happened before) and put him to rest, the influences of that possession had remained for years. Taking over Takumi’s mind intermittently at first, then with alarming frequency, until Prince Leo had discovered a way to remove it completely. Which had, apparently, involved wiping his memories of the last fifteen years or so.

Which meant he was thirty-three years old, Prince Leo was nearly thirty-four, they had been married for thirteen years, they had two sons named Forrest and Kiragi who were eight and five years old respectively, and Takumi had no idea what was going on.

“So what happens now?” Takumi demanded, still not entirely sure he could believe a word out of this man’s mouth. “And why can’t I remember any of this?”

Prince Leo let out a sigh. “To be honest, I’m not sure. Total memory loss was always a possibility, but I was so sure… ugh, It doesn't matter now. The best plan we had were these.”

He pulled out a bundle of papers from his bag and handed them over. They were envelopes, each with a number marked in the corner in the Hoshidan script.

He carefully unraveled the ribbon holding them all together and opened the first one. It was all written in Hoshidan script. His own handwriting.

Dear me,

If you’re reading this then the worst has come to pass. Please tell Leo we told him so.

He paused reading for a moment to laugh. Leo snatched the paper from his hands and skimmed the first line, then rolled his eyes.

“Yes, yes, love, you were right.” he said with as much sarcasm as he could muster. “It has been known to happen on occasion.”

“On occasion? How many occasions?” Despite himself, Takumi felt the strong urge to tease.

“None of your business!” Leo snapped, a blush creeping to his cheeks.

There was a long moment of silence.

“Isn’t it though?” Takumi asked again, barely containing a snicker.

Leo shoved the letter back into his hands.

“Just keep reading.”

I know what you’re probably thinking. “You married this jackass?” Believe me, if someone had told 17-year-old me that I would fall in love with Prince Leo of Nohr, I probably would have told them to get their head checked. But it’s true, I did. So… sorry about that. You might be stuck with him. But he’s a good man, I promise. An ass, but you can trust him. But I know you and I know you won’t believe that on your own, so I thought I should start this first letter off with this reassurance.

The rest of these letters are about our life. More of a diary really, but I hope you’ll find them useful in getting your bearings. There’s far too much to say and not nearly enough time or paper, so I trust Leo to fill in some of the gaps for you.

Good luck. Lead the rest of your life well, no matter what you do with it.

-Takumi

He folded the paper back up and set it aside, a strange sadness overtaking him. This was definitely no trick. This was his handwriting, his signature. It just wasn’t him anymore.

“I want to go home,” he repeated again. “To Hoshido. I need… I need to know what’s happening with my family.”

Prince Leo nodded solemnly. “I understand. I’ll make the preparations right away.”