“Handful of Redemption” - Boy Sets Fire: Kratos and Lloyd

After four thousand years, Kratos had stopped believing in miracles.

He’d seen too much - had experienced too much lost. In the end, he thought that all was lost; that the only way for it was to back the winning horse and side with those that had the most power. There would be sacrifices. There would be fallen heroes chasing after lost ideals. But . . . there were no miracles. There was no hope. All was lost.

That is, until the day of the oracle. Until he happened upon Martel Temple and pivoted to find himself staring into a pair of brown eyes that were exactly like hers.

It turned out that Lloyd didn’t just have Anna’s eyes, either. He had her temper, her spirit. Like his mother, Lloyd was fiery, and believed in equality, and hoped for a peaceful world. Like his mother, Lloyd wasn’t cynical or jaded. He still believed in miracles, in the impossible. And, slowly but surely, Kratos felt his own ice begin to melt, and began to see what Lloyd saw.

All was not lost. There was still a way. Hope still existed and miracles could still happen, if one opened their eyes and saw them.

Kratos knew that he’d committed sins in the past. He knew that he’d done a lot of things that most would never forgive. But, his son forgave them. His son forgave Kratos’ sins, so long as Kratos was willing to try again - willing to leave Cruxis, to fight for what was right.

And Kratos found that he couldn’t quite say no to that. Even if he couldn’t stay in the New World, even if he had to go off on Derris-Kharlan . . . To have his jaded view softened into something realistic, but still slightly more idealistic . . . it was worth it.

Lloyd had offered him redemption, and Kratos took it.

And in another four thousand years, Kratos would be positive that he still would not regret that decision.