Warning : None
Disclaimer : Fanfiction. Spoke much enough?
He looked at her for the first time, the red of fire and the gold of sun spun into the fine strands of her hair, and he thinks...
It's been so long...
He wasn't exactly surprised. Nor was he exceptionally happy when she smiled at him. It wasn't the same person. This person's opinion of him or the fact that she's not a ghost of a woman who bore a grudge towards him doesn't matter. It's going to change.
Whatever is bound to happen...there will definitely be some changes...
It felt like Fate is playing with him. Or some God of divine irony up in the sky could've been laughing their heads off at this very moment. It was exactly like a century ago. It felt like the same day, with the same cast for this mock replay the world had graced him.
There's this woman with her face and her son...just without the necessary needs this time to protect what she must deem as the most precious. And then there's the son, wrought be some trickery in Fate's sleeve to be simply perfect for this role. But this time the play had changed.
Somewhere along the way, there must be another change in the script...
For while he had been softhearted and spared the boy with the same fiery-eyed protector decades ago... this time it just wouldn't do. This time he would make this boy fight.
He couldn't say he's sorry. To be honest, he didn't expect forgiveness at all. Forgiveness for the unrepentant was useless, after all.
But as he stood and offer his own neck on stake with the boy...he thought, and it felt like it was to some phantom as it felt like a tributary...an offering.
He wasn't begging for forgiveness, not really. Perhaps he'd want that, but he knew he didn't deserve any of it. He stood tall despite all and feigned ignorance, though. Because for all the merciless and heartless deeds he had done, he could still dare to hope for something out of this.
Leander Hastings was a calculating man who had lost everything he had, and he really didn't believe in pointless endeavors...but he still thought of an apology as he saw her boy fell to the ground and thought about how Fate had screwed with them. Of course, he didn't believe in forgiveness. But that didn't stop him for apologizing silently to what was to happen.
000
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