[Their bodies meet and his arms wrap around her, supporting his daughter against his body. The contact made him feel truly alive, his heart pounding against his ribs. She felt so light, the moment was so surreal, and he wondered if she's always been this small or if time hadn't been kind to her. No, she'd always been small. As he held her close his mind was swept back to the first time he'd held her, fresh to the world and wailing like a beast twenty times her size. Just when he'd thought he knew how to hold a child, what with Gladiolus and Prince Noctis, she came along and made him feel like a giant who might break this precious gift. Once again he felt she was a fragile gift that might blow away in the wind or shatter and reveal itself to be an illusion any moment.
But she wasn't, and Clarus couldn't help but hold her all that much tighter, cradling her close like it was their first meeting all over again.]
I'm sorry, Iris... I never wanted to leave you. There was no other way. I'm so sorry.
[As the words came forth, so too did the tears that had been building in his eyes. For his daughter and son to have a future, for anyone to have a future, Regis and Clarus and countless lives in Insomnia had become the calculated price. One they hadn't hesitated to pay.]
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But she wasn't, and Clarus couldn't help but hold her all that much tighter, cradling her close like it was their first meeting all over again.]
I'm sorry, Iris... I never wanted to leave you. There was no other way. I'm so sorry.
[As the words came forth, so too did the tears that had been building in his eyes. For his daughter and son to have a future, for anyone to have a future, Regis and Clarus and countless lives in Insomnia had become the calculated price. One they hadn't hesitated to pay.]