(Notes:

This is the prologue, the… placeholder, if you will, of a series that's been plaguing my imagination for almost a year now. I can't promise how far I'll get into this series before puttering out as I already have long-neglected multi-chaptered series before this that really deserve more of my attention, but I'll give it a shot. I hope to be a little more laid-back at this so I don't feel the pressure to update this. This is a future-setting ToS story that will have a lot of focus on the self-made offspring of the heroes we know and love, but it should also have a lot of heavy focus on the canon characters as well; I'd like this series as a whole to focus on family, honestly. I have something of a low opinion on fan-made characters anyway, though I'm usually more lenient if they're offspring of the existing characters. Never could understand that.

Anyway, there will be some parallel/alternative universes present in this series, so expect a loooooot of pairing possibilities; I hope my audience is of an open-mind. I'm even planning to write for pairings I outright can't stand, so. As this is a prologue, there is only Lloyd/Colette right now. Simple enough, right? If I start making chapters, I'll make notes beforehand what to expect… and what not to expect. So enjoy it, I guess!)

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"Look at him," Lloyd gasped, purely awed by the sight before him and his previously-laboring wife. "It's… it's amazing… to think we created this…"

Colette looked up briefly to smile upon Lloyd, but her attention quickly redirected itself back to the newest member of their family. "I couldn't have done it without you, Lloyd," she assured. "I'm glad we did this right… I'm so relieved he's so healthy and happy… we couldn't ask for a better moment than this, could we?"

"No way," he remarked. His tone was so soft and gentle compared to his former self that saved two worlds. And though it bore a strong sense of maturity, an inkling of the familiar Lloyd leaked at this moment; "I think we're the luckiest parents in the whole wide world right now… to overcome what we did, and still come out on top with a normal life and now a perfect son… it doesn't get any better, Colette."

"Mmhm," Colette agreed, nodding. She was still weary from her labor, yet still found the strength to hold her son in her arms. The baby had some bouts of crying after delivery, as expected, but it felt as if it took no time at all for the baby to settle down… and now he slept as if nothing had ever happened… as if he were still inside the womb, even.

"… What should we name him?" The former Chosen finally asked, as this question had surely been on her mind since the first day she thought she'd like to have a child.

Lloyd merely grinned and shook his head. "I already decided: you're going to name him, Colette. I know how you loved to give every dog we passed a name back in the day… hey, you still do that every time a stray shows up. I'm not about to take that away from you with our son." He smiled sheepishly. "Er, besides… I haven't been able to decide on anything by myself."

Colette felt so humbled by this honor that she could only whisper her appreciation to her husband… she wasted no further time as she once again focused on her baby, and concentrated. She'd done this so often before, but this time, she wanted to put her soul into this decision…

"… Rudy. Rudy Irving."

… After all, the child would have to live with this name for the rest of his life.

Lloyd approved, patting his newly named son on the head. "There we go; I knew I could count on you, Colette. … No middle name, though?"

"I'm leaving that to you," Colette said with a smirk. "It's only fair."

"Heh, yeah… I guess you're right," Lloyd conceded. "Well, I'll just go with the first thing that comes to mind… Dirk."

"Dirk?" Colette couldn't help but giggle. "After grandpa, really?"

"And he'll be proud to have it," the swordsman assured with utter confidence. "Rudy Dirk Irving…"

"Rudy D. Irving," Colette echoed… somewhat. "That sounds really cute, Lloyd. It's perfect."

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Lloyd agreed. He looked out the window of his house and into the night sky surrounding them in their new, combined world they called Aselia… the stars that made their nocturnal scenery…

'And I know you'd be proud of me, dad,' Lloyd thought out to the heavens, hoping it would reach his other father… the one who deigned to spend the rest of eternity on the abysmal Derris-Kharlan. 'I just wish you would see it for yourself one day… but I guess you knew what you'd be sacrificing going into your journey… didn't you?'

"Lloyd?"

"… Y-yes, Colette?"

Though exhausted, his wife glowed with excitement. "Let's get some sleep for now, alright? We've got a big life ahead of us, starting tomorrow… so let's all do our best together… as a family."

After a pause, Lloyd wholeheartedly nodded in acceptance to Colette's wishes. "We're gonna need that rest… whatever little we get," He once more looked down to Rudy and couldn't help but grin and say, "Welcome to Aselia, little guy… and welcome to the family."

'Kratos… wouldn't you have loved to meet your grandson?'

Nine years after the defeat of Mithos, and after the reformation of Aselia, there was peace and a time of the ordinary in terms of events that occurred for these heroes. Grandest of all was the birth of Rudy Irving, son of the two who arguably had the largest role in saving Sylvarant and Tethe'alla.

There were no more successors to the Irving/Brunel line as sixteen years passed by, totaling twenty-five years since the birth of the new Holy Kharlan Tree, now renamed the Yggdrasill. And within that quarter of a century, things began to turn for the stranger… and certainly not the better.

It was the beginning of a new tale… of father and son, mother and daughter, brother and sister and cousin and half-sibling… all together uniting in one common goal:

To preserve the peace they had rightfully achieved. No one, no matter what the reason, has the right to take it away.