Note: This story contains spoilers for Final Fantasy XIV: Heavensward

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A smile better suits a hero.

 

The words echoed relentlessly within her mind. She lifted the mug to her lips, taking another sip of the strong potent drink. She knew that alcohol would’ve been the go to choice for drowning one sorrows, but even in her current state, she could not stomach even one mug of the bitter tasting liquid. So instead, she drank warm, comforting, unbelievably thick hot chocolate.

 

Six cups worth as of current counting.

 

Yet, no matter how many cups she downed, Haurchefant’s warm voice and smile, coupled with the sight of him laying bloodied and breathless, refused to leave her mind. She had spent the past week begging for it to go away.

 

But now she sat at the table, underneath a flickering candle flame. Silent.

 

“Enjoying the rare quiet?”

 

Leo looked up, spotting Alphinaud standing across her, wearing a small, faint smile on his lips. She turned back down to her pint, tightening her frown.

 

“Mind if I take a seat with you?” Alphinaud asked.

 

Leo’s response was by not giving one. Which he quickly took as consent.

 

“I… I know he meant a lot to you, Leo,” Alphinaud said, his voice having turned sombre and stern.

 

“...I was careless,” Leo finally spoke, her tone as chill as the Ishguardian frost. “I made a mistake and now I’ve lost a friend.”

 

“I do not think that is a fair assessment.”

 

Leo glanced upwards, locking an icy cold stare to Alphinaud’s direction. “Then what would be?”

 

“Perhaps… it’s all of ours. We all had a part to play in ensuring what happened… shouldn’t have happened at all.”

 

“Tsh.” Leo lifted her hand to wipe the tears from her eyes. She was shocked there were any tears left to cry at all, after the amount she had shed into her pillowcase the past few days. “Maybe you’re right. But that doesn’t change the fact that he’s gone.”

 

“You’re right. It does not. And I do not there is anything that can.”

 

Leo took another large gulp from her mug, emptying its contents and pushing it to join its other drained counterparts at the corner of the table. “If you’re here to cheer me up, you’re doing a horrible job.”

 

“I do not doubt that. Alisaie was always better than I at giving the whole ‘encouragement and pep talk’ affair. Truth be told, I, myself, am not fully aware as to what my goal is here. But, what I do know is how much my dear friend and fellow scion is hurting, and I couldn’t simply stand by and watch it all unfold.”

 

“Sorry to burst your bubble, Alphinaud. But you’re not going to be able to do much to ‘help’ me in any way,” said Leo, each word sharpened by her bitter tone.

 

“I understand that,” answered Alphinaud with his head lowered. “However, if there is anything I can do, you need but ask.”

 

“Alright. Alphinaud?”

 

“Yes?”

 

“Leave me alone.” Leo stood up, making sure to push her chair extra hard so as to echo the grating of its wooden legs against the floor. She turned away, caring little about what Alphinaud’s reaction was, and headed straight to her inn room.

 

Tears trailing down her trembling lips, which sat as an unmovable frown. 

 

A smile better suits a hero…

 

--------------

 

“Great… what now?” asked Lucia.

 

She, and the rest of Leo’s allies, were gathered in one of the castle rooms. Alphinaud sat at the main table, his head buried in his hands.

 

“Perhaps we should send another one of us to cheer her up. One that perhaps has better charisma than a rock.”

 

“Enough with the self-deprecation boy,” snapped Estinien. “That is something we do not need more of right now.”

 

“I doubt sending more individuals to pester the broken girl would be of much use, if at all.”

 

“Lucia is right,” added Aymeric. “With how Leo reacted to Alphinaud’s efforts, I dare say any other attempts from us will be met with an equally cold, if not colder, shoulder.”

 

“Well, we aren’t giving up on her!” shouted Alphinaud. “With all she’s done, we—”

 

Aymeric raised his hand to calm the passionate scion. “That thought had never even crossed my mind. With all Leo has done for Ishgard, giving up on her now would be dishonorable and abhorrent. We simply need to think of a way to get that girl back on her feet.”

 

“May I make a suggestion?”

 

All members of the room turned to the main door, whereupon Count Edmont de Fortemps was standing, cane and all. His eyes, surrounded by dark circles, betrayed the no-doubt sleepless night he was enduring. And his shoulders and posture, though still proper and formal, sagged as if a heavy weight had been placed upon his back.

 

Alphinaud didn’t need to guess as to why.

 

“Sir Edmont.” Aymeric stood to give the traditional bow, but a swift raise of Edmont’s hand stopped him immediately. 

 

“Save the formalities,” he said, stolling in with occasional drags of his feet. “I have heard that our honorary Fortemps knight is not doing too well?”

 

“That would be an understatement,” spoke Estinien.

 

Alphinaud sighed. “She hasn’t left The Forgotten Knight in almost a week. And on the rare occasion she does leave her room, it’s only to down more hot chocolate and snacks. She hasn’t eaten a proper meal either, no matter how much we encourage her to.”

 

“Not to mention the amount of crying the innkeep has relayed to us coming from her room. He, too, had tried to reach her, but she refuses to open her door. Very adamantly at that.”

 

Edmont shook his head. “I assume that she blames herself for my son’s passing?”

 

There was only silence in the room; the question answered by only a single, solemn nod from everyone within.

 

“Allow me to speak to her.”

 

“Are you certain, Count Edmont?”

 

“As certain as snow in Ishgard, Alphinaud. I think talking to her would do good.” He paused. “For the both of us.”

 

----------------

 

“Leo?” came Alphinaud’s muffled voice through the thick wooden doors.

 

Leo didn’t entertain his call with a reply. She huddled closer to her tear-soaked pillow and sobbed softly against it.

 

Suddenly, much to her dismay, there came the sound of keys being jingled at her door.

 

Followed by the screech of the heavy wood bearing upon its hinges as it swung open.

 

Leo turned, if only to acknowledge Alphinaud’s presence, hoping it would chase him away sooner. Yet, much to her surprise, and fear, he was accompanied by one other person.

 

“Hello, Leo,” spoke Count Edmont. 

 

A wave of nervousness and shame overwhelmed her instantly, and Leo was barely able to stifle the sobs that came with her next rush of despair.

 

Though she was not able to hold back the tears.

 

“You may leave us, Alphinaud.” 

 

Alphinaud did one of his courteous bows, before exiting the room and shutting the doors behind him.

 

The tapping of Count Edmont’s cane echoed off the four walls of her disheveled room as he walked. He found a seat at the stool of the glamour dresser, one of the only things in the room that had not been tossed, broken or shattered from Leo’s rage.

 

He stared straight at her, but Leo turned away. What had he come here to do? Scold her? Insult her? Berate her and beat her down himself? 

 

She wouldn’t blame him. She deserved every lashing she was about to get.

 

“It has felt like months since we last spoke, when it has only been a week.” Count Edmont’s voice was slow. Methodical. And… warm?

 

Leo kept her eyes to her crumpled bed sheet and her mouth closed shut.

 

“My friends and the other elders of the house told me that time passes faster when one grows older. Yet, I find it has been quite the opposite due to recent events. What feels like a century's worth of events, all condensed into barely a month. Quite a mystery wouldn’t you say?”

 

He was stalling, tossing a veil of mercy to shroud the elephant in the room; the topic that Leo knew he had come here to discuss. Her heart twisted and she didn’t know how long she could stay within the confines of her cell before she broke. What right had she to cry in the first place? She may have lost a friend.

 

But he had lost his son.

 

“I’m sorry,” Leo muttered in a broken whisper.

 

“Sorry?”

 

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I… I should’ve been faster. I should’ve been… aware. And… a-and—”

 

“Yes. We both should’ve been, and done, many things. Against my better judgement, I suppose, I should’ve forced him into the life of a house knight, just like my other sons.” Edmont tapped his cane upon the floor, turning his gaze to the floorboards beneath. “But that was not to be his role, nor where his happiness laid. His happiness laid in enduring the hardships in a desperate hope to find someone that could bring about the peace that sat out of Ishguard’s grasp for centuries. His happiness laid in protecting the ones that would risk their lives in protecting the innocents. To be the very hero he admired so much in the tales of old.”

 

The Count’s words brought back stinging memories that embedded into her mind like the sting of hornets. And his tone, teetering on the verge of tears, only made the pang of regret worse.

 

“And he was happy to the end, was he not?” He raised his head, meeting Leo’s gaze.

 

The question forced Leo to remember her dear friend’s last moments; warm blood pooling upon her hands as she desperately tried to mend the wound, barely able to see past the tears that burned in her eyes. The sound of the desperate pleas from everyone around her and that sickly smell of burnt flesh and scarred metal. 

 

Her heart rate increased. Her breathing grew short. And she was moments from screaming out in agony, only to be brought back to reality by a warm hand upon her shoulder. Providing a moment of clarity where she remembered the smile on his face; a content grin of hope.

 

The satisfied smile of someone with no regrets.

 

“He… was,” Leo finally replied. “But I wish he still could be.”

 

“So do I. But history is not for us to rewrite, only for us to make.” Edmont sat upon the bed, right beside Leo. “And your tale is still far from over, my good friend.” 

 

“My tale has only ever been one of tragedy to those around me. I have already failed in protecting two dear friends. If you expect me to protect an entire nation...”

 

Edmont shook his head, much to Leo’s surprise. “I certainly do not expect you to. This nation is beyond that for one person’s efforts to protect. I would know. I grew up in Ishgard my entire life. And in the decades that have elapsed, the ratio of vile, nasty things far outweighs that of the good. As Count of one of the ruling houses in Ishgard, I had every power and resource to leave this broken place with my family. To carve a modest life away from the war-torn streets and sight of starving children. For each attempt I made to fix this place was like using a candle to melt the glaciers of Coerthas.”

 

“Then why didn’t you?”

 

“Why didn’t Ser Aymeric? Or Estinien? Why did you and Alphinaud seek to involve yourself in our affairs, instead of simply waiting in the comforts of my manor until you could head back to Eorzea in peace and never lay a hand on our problems?” Edmont smiled. One that resembled, to a both comforting and uneasy degree, like Hauchefaunt’s. “Because you, Alphinaud and everyone else I had mentioned have one thing that no amount of money could buy. A good heart. And good, honest hearts are in short supply.”

 

Leo lowered her head and shut her eyes. “T-thank you, sir, but I’m afraid we aren’t the change Ishgard and you are looking for. I… I really thought we could be that difference. But maybe the others were right. Maybe we aren’t the perfect saviors everyone keeps saying we are.”

 

“Bah!” Edmont’s sudden loud, dismissive voice snapped Leo’s attention back towards him. “If I had wanted perfect saviors, I would have asked the machinists at the Skysteel Manufactory to make them for me. No. What Ishgard needs is heroes that are flawed. Heroes that do not operate based upon statistics and emotionless choices. For these traits make these heroes different. It makes them people.” He gave one, harsh stomp of his cane. “The problem with Ishgard was never the dragons. It was the people desperately trying to remain unbending in the typhoon of change. A flawless record and pristine personality does not a hero make. Instead, it is the regrets and pain, tempered with empathy and the willingness to admit one's fault, learn and overcome them.” He stared at Leo; a stern look of ice cold resolve as he spoke his next words. “Never trust a perfect king to rule a city.”

 

“Haurchefant sure seemed like the perfect hero.”

 

“If he was perfect, he’d still be alive.”

 

The bluntness of Edmont’s words struck Leo silent. She stared back in a look that displayed both offensive and shock. 

 

“You are a machinist, are you not, Leo?”

 

“Y-yes?” Leo replied, still reeling from Edmont’s reply.

 

“Then tell me, would you trust a machinist who stands with the beauty and pristine clothing like that of a model? Or one that’s covered head to toe in grime and smells of crude oil and gun fluid?”

 

Leo retreated into her thoughts. He… has a point.

 

“Exactly. A man, king or knight, in shining armor is one who has never had his mettle truly tested,” Edmont explained. “Hauchefant was just that. A rambunctious young lad who placed his trust in whoever he could, for he refused to see naught but the good in all those that crossed his path. He was the greatest force of change I had seen for Ishgard, rivaled only by Ser Aymeric. He knew this, yet he put his life down for you without a moment’s hesitation. Why?”

 

“He… he always thought we could be what finally starts an era of peace for Ishgard.”

 

“Yes, though not in battle. Not through your gun, your daggers or whatever other weapon you decide to bring to the fold.” Edmont leaned forward, placed his hands upon Leo’s shoulder and tilted her head up from her chin. “He had always thought you could bring peace through you. He saw a knight that wasn’t simply void of flaws, but one that could learn and grow from them. A hero that continued pushing forward despite all the pain they had endured. Haurchefant endured regret and sadness of which he had told no one, the one trait I hope you will not inherit from him. Yet, he placed upon that front, that mask for he knew better than most that if he were to despair and remain pessimistic, he would be but another drop of water in the ocean of Ishgard’s population. No, he knew Ishgard needed a positive force. Even if he was but one person. Even if he could affect not the entire world, but simply the boy, girl or person he would come across that day. He knew that—”

 

Leo’s eyes opened wide in realization. “A smile better suits a hero…”

 

Edmont smiled and gave one firm nod. “Tell me, did he misplace his trust?”

 

A surge of emotions rose from within her. The words and the realization together had broken apart a dam that she had built in her mind. She dove into Count Edmont’s arms, not concerned whether it would be inappropriate, and cried. 

 

Despite the fact that she had spent the last week shedding tears, this was the first time where her sobs gave her something she had not felt for the longest time.

 

Relief.

 

----------------------------

 

“The Sea of Clouds?”

 

“Aye. It would appear so, Lord Commander.”

 

“If my father is there, then we must give chase. Who knows what havoc he might wreck upon such a sacred place.”

 

“I agree,” Alphinaud said, standing from his seat.

 

Aymeric nodded in agreement. “However, we do have to address the elephant in the room.”

 

“And I have already thought of that as well. You can trust that she will be up for the fight, though perhaps it’d be best to give her a bit more time to recover. Lucia, I and any men you can spare will do a scouting mission to gather as much intel as we can. And, if the situation calls for it, we can still fight. As long as it’s not a primal, I dare say we are more than capable of dealing with a few adversaries of our own.”

 

Aymeric nodded. “A sound plan. You may rest easy in regards to Leo. She will receive the best care we are able to provide. After all, I do owe her my life, and it would not do well for the future ruler of Ishgard to pay back anything less in kind.”

 

Suddenly, the door to the planning room swung open. Everyone turned, their face lighting up the moment they spotted the person walking through the wooden doors.

 

“How about another plan?” said Leo. Her stained slops and torn tights had been replaced instead with a flowing blue dress, adorned with various trinkets. She reached down to her belt, sliding her newly outfitted gun from its holster. “We go together and we kill the Ascians and Thordan where they stand.” All the exhaustion and sadness in her tone had given way to a smile. It was tiny. Fractured. But he was thankful it was there at all.

 

“I am delighted to see you up and about again, Leo,” said Aymeric. “Though are you sure you are fit to travel so soon?”

 

“No,” answered Leo, much to everyone’s shock. She slid the gun from the holster and cocked it with force. “But every second we stand around as those monsters move closer to their plan, is a second closer to breaking the promise I made to Count Edmont.”

 

“Promise?”

 

“I promised him that I would do whatever it takes so no parent would ever feel what he did.”

 

A smile grew upon Alphinaud’s lips. “Then we have no time to waste.”

 

“Quite. The airship is waiting for you at the landing. Please, make haste. And do not hesitate to contact me for any needs.”

 

Those present gave an affirmative nod before racing off back through the door. However, just as Leo was about to cross the doorway, Aymeric’s voice echoed through the chambers.

 

“Leo!”

 

Her feet grinded to a halt and she turned her head back towards him.

 

“When this is all over, we shall have to have a drink of the finest hot chocolate I can lay my hands on. You, and all of your friends.”

 

Leo didn’t speak, and merely bowed her head in acknowledgement.

 

“And… a toast. To him.”

 

Her expression fell, but only for a second. The moment she had noticed her mouth daring to pull itself into a frown, she forced the smile back upon it.

 

“To him,” Leo said, speeding out the doors.

 

Her tears trailing past her trembling lips; barely held up in a faint smile.