As soon as all the fighting was over, Severa found herself sneaking off away from the others. She’d rather give herself the time to slow down for a while and relax than spend it around people. It was a leisure that wasn’t often an option, so she quickly took the oppurtunity. Besides, she reasoned with herself, most of her energy had been spent, and the last thing she wanted was to use more of it around others.

So she snuck away from everyone, trying to remain mostly unnoticed. Almost everyone was chatting with each other, already relaxed and lively after the day. It was easy enough to leave when everyone was already deep in their own conversations and thoughts. Distancing herself, she walked closer to the coast as she walked.

The most trouble she had was with Cynthia, who had noticed her trudging along in the sand away from the others. Characteristically, she begin to shout things about heroes that Severa only half understood. She only felt energy again when she noticed the girl strolling towards her, waving and laughing. Severa bolts off, ignoring Cynthia’s confused calls out to her.

She always was the best runner in the family, she thinks.

Severa runs a short distance before finally slowing down to turn around. The army was barely discernible, she could make all of them out if she looked hard enough. Fatigue rushed through her again as she realized how far away she ran, and she let herself sit on the sand. She sighs, and she hears mother’s own sigh in her voice. Were Sumia with her, she would have said it sounded just like Cordelia’s.

Drawing her knees up to her chest, Severa takes the seashell she picked up earlier from her pocket. She turns it over in her hands, inspecting it as she runs her thumbs over the ridges and bumps.

“She probably won’t even like it,” Severa mumbles, crossing her arms over her knees. She’s still holding the shell in her hands as she lowers her head. “Ugh.” Severa watches the shore from a distance as the waves crash against the sand. She began to absently count how many times a wave rolled in, watching them and forgetting all that’s happened in the day.

Her eyes quickly snap open, not even realizing she fell asleep. It didn’t look any darker, so she must have only dozed off. She closed her eyes, raising her arms to stretch, and opened them once her body had relaxed.

“Wow. You fell asleep really fast, Severa.” She jumped at that, and it was then that she had finally noticed Cynthia standing next to her. “Whoa, hey, jeez! Sorry, I didn’t think that would startle you,” she says with a quiet laugh.

“Whatever,” Severa mumbles, flipping some hair out of her face effortlessly before turning to her. “What do you want?”

“Nothing really,” Cynthia says, causing Severa to raise an eyebrow at the response. “No, really! I didn’t come over here for anything. Not even to ask you to play any kind of villain.”

“What is it then?” Severa questions, looking over Cynthia. She shuffles on her feet a bit, something that always makes Severa wary. It’s a habit she has always had and that alone has caused Cynthia to trip on several occasions. Since they went back in time, Severa couldn’t help but notice Sumia tends to do the same.

“Mother noticed you run off and got worried,” Cynthia starts, moving to sit on the ground next to Severa. “She actually thought it was me who upset you, and I was almost scolded for it until I told her I didn’t know why you ran.” She pauses, “Er, it wasn’t me that upset you, was it?”

“No—no, that’s not it.” Severa quickly responds, huffing before she continues, “I just wanted to be alone for a while. I was tired after that battle and I wanted some time to myself, y’know?”

“Oh. Well in that case I can—“ she looks towards the ground, picking up the shell that Severa had found earlier. “Hey, where’d this shell come from? I didn’t see any over on this part of the beach.”

“H-hey!” Severa grabbed the seashell away from Cynthia, yanking it out of her hand. “Don’t mess with this, with your luck, you’ll break it somehow. And I found it earlier before we fought those bandits. I thought— I thought it might make a nice soap dish for mother.”

“I thought you said you always said weren’t a mama’s girl?” Cynthia teased, smirking at Severa’s following defensive reaction.

“I’m— Of course I’m not!” Severa snapped, becoming flustered at Cynthia’s laughing.

“Then what about when you offered to help mother with chores even though you hate doing work? Or the time when you asked mama to help you be better with animals? Or when you— ow!”

“Knock that off,” Severa said, gritting her teeth through each syllable as she pulled on some of Cynthia’s hair.

“Ok, ok. I give. I give!” Cynthia said, laughing more through her grimace. “You can stop pulling on my hair now, Severa.”

Severa let go with a “hmph”, crossing her arms. Cynthia sat up again and looked around the beach. There really were no shells left around, the sand was almost entirely bare. She looks around the beach and Severa sighs again.

“Hey, Severa, look. Over there.” Severa leans backward so she can see what Cynthia is pointing at. Cordelia and Sumia were sitting some distance away together. From what she could make out, Cordelia was decorating Sumia’s lance with shells, and they were talking. “They look so happy don’t they?”

“Yeah,” Severa says, and she can’t help the smirk that makes its way on her face.

“Things were never like this before.” Cynthia says. It was likely a passing thought, Severa thinks, but it’s not something she likes to dwell on. “Before everything was so—“ Severa curls her hands in the sand and she starts again.

“It’s just, I don’t know. It just feels like everything was worth it. Coming back in time, you know? After seeing our parents again, seeing everyone happy again. It’s just like something a hero would do!” she exclaims, bringing an eye roll from Severa.

“Of course you of all people would think of this as your typical game of heroes.” Severa says, but the words don’t have any real weight behind them.

“What? No I don’t!” Cynthia stands up suddenly, exaggeratedly pointing a finger down at Severa. “Once again the cynical ice queen tries to drag down our hero by twisting her words!”

“Oooh yeah. And you better run too, before I get angry and freeze the entire ocean. How would our hero deal with that, exactly, hmm?”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me.”

“…Fine. For now, I make a heroic retreat! But we will meet again, mark my words!” and with that, Cynthia runs back towards the others, not without tripping a few times, and Severa is left to herself again.

Her attention turns to the shell in her hand, turning it over a couple times before she holds it tightly and makes her way back to the others.

Later in the evening when the sun was close to setting, Frederick set the fire pit he and a couple others had put together. Some sat around chatting, others were eating, and some were playing not too far in the distance. She was especially able to hear Owain, Cynthia and Morgan yelling made-up moves and actions aloud.

Severa was sitting alone, thinking idly to herself about whatever came to mind. Still holding on to the shell, she had considered how she would give it to her mother but lost herself in her thoughts.

“Severa?” A hand brushed her shoulder and she jumped, tensing immediately at the sudden touch. “Ah, I’m sorry dear, I didn’t mean to scare you.” Cordelia said, sitting next to her on the ground.

“It’s fine mother,” Severa says with a quiet sigh.

The silence goes on for a few moments until Cordelia breaks it again, “Oh, where did you get that shell, Severa?”

“Huh?”

“The seashell. In your hands.” Cordelia says, reaching forward and poking it. “I was just wondering where you found it. It’s lovely.” She waits a moment for Severa to respond. When she doesn’t, she speaks again. “Are you alright? You look distracted.”

“I uh… No, mother, I’m fine.” Severa says, tearing herself away from her thoughts to look Cordelia in the eyes.

“I found the seashell along the beach somewhere, that is where you find shells, you know. And… I got it for you. You weren't supposed to see it yet, but… you needed a new soap dish, and, um… J-just take it, OK?” she sputters, shoving the seashell in Cordelia’s hands.

“Why, Severa, that’s so thoughtful of you! I would love to use this as a soap dish, thank you. But, are you sure you’re alright? You seem like you have something on your mind.”

“It’s nothing, mother. Really. You don’t have to worry about me.”

“That’s my job, Severa,”—Cordelia smiles as she speaks—“if I feel like something is wrong, I’m going to be worried. You are my daughter and I love and care for you immensely.”

“But I’m not your daughter.” she mumbles, and she immediately feels horrified the words came out of her mouth. Cordelia’s face tells her that she understands, too, and the feeling only settles deeper. She stands up abruptly to run, she knows Cordelia isn’t as fast as her, but Cordelia’s hand catches hers before she can.

“Severa, please don’t leave. Why don’t you sit with me a little longer?” Severa hesitates, but resigns and sits back down next to her. Cordelia raises her hand to run through Severa’s hair. She wants to push her away, wants to deny the comfort and affection she’s receiving, but she can’t bring herself to do so.

“Severa, I know that in the future you came from, I was no longer there for you. I left both of my daughters behind in a cruel world, and I can only imagine how hard it must have been.” She looks up to meet Severa’s eyes. “I failed as a mother once, and I’ll be damned if I let it happen again. You are my daughter, whether you’re of this time or not. That’s how I’ve felt since I’ve met you. Sumia feels the same as well. We both agreed that this time, we’ll be here for both of you no matter what.”

Severa can feel tears welling up in her eyes and she really wish they wouldn’t be. She becomes aware of everything at once, the Shepherds all having a good time, relaxed, happy, alive. She becomes aware mother is alive, right in front of her, promising her never to leave again. She becomes aware mama is alive as well, still doing flower fortunes just as she always had when she was young, always refusing to take a bad fortune.

She becomes aware of everything at once and can’t help herself when she leans against her mother, tears falling freely as a gentle hand held her head. The moment didn’t last long before a voice cut through the silence.

“Uh-oh! Looks like it’s time for a group hug!” Severa snapped her head up to see Sumia and Cynthia standing a little ways away. Cynthia started to walk forward, only to stumble and lose her balance. Sumia tried to catch her to keep her from falling, but all that did was cause both of them to fall to the ground. Cordelia smirked, Severa laughed through her tears as they both stood to help them up.

This may not have been the idea of family she had imagined when she was little, but it was her family all the same.