FFIV: Once Upon A Time
Fandom: Final Fantasy IV
Pairing: None
Warnings: Angst
Rating: G
Summary: Stories Rydia's mother used to tell. Happy birthday, first_seventhe!
She doesn't remember the details right now. She remembers that of all the places in the world, her mother's lap was the safest, and with her mother's arms around her nothing bad could ever happen. She doesn't remember her mother's face, really, the mental image like a painting accidentally smeared before the paint dried. But she remembers the smell of her: magic and warm summer days and a hint of autumn on the way. She remembers her mother's voice, soft and sing-song as she told stories.
"Once upon a time," she'd whispered, and her face rubbed in little Rydia's hair and Rydia had cuddled close, warm and sleepy. "Once upon a time there was a princess, and there was a knight."
The knight did some very bad things. Rydia doesn't quite remember what anymore -- she knows that her mother said the princess vowed never to forgive him. Never to forget. The knight, though, was overcome with remorse. He tried to be her friend, and he followed the princess to the ends of the earth to protect her.
And in the end, the princess forgave him.
Rydia remembered that story, after her mother's death. Cecil lay in the bed at the inn, so close to her she could hear his soft breathing. He didn't snore like her father always had -- when she'd had a father. She lay awake most of the night, curled into a tight ball, her fists clenched and pressed tight into her stomach. She felt as if she was going to be sick, as if she was going to split open with the aching sadness.
"Will you at least let me protect you?" he'd asked.
She remembered her mother better then, though now she can hold no picture in her head. She remembers seeing her mother's face in her mind's eye, a smile and a nod -- and she decided then that Cecil would be her knight. That he would protect her and stay with her to atone for what he'd done. She'd have her own once upon a time, and even if she wasn't a princess, she was a summoner, and that was better.
When she laid eyes on Rosa, she realised she had a rival. She hadn't quite known how to fit that into her mother's fairytale, then -- though she knows now that her mother's fairytale was simple for a child to understand, and nothing would ever be as simple as that again.
Now she is all grown up, and leaving the land that has become her home, and the second mother she sort of had -- she isn't sure what to say to Asura when she leaves; she never found out how to say goodbye to her real mother, either, so it seems appropriate. She looks at Cecil and she knows she never had a knight of her own -- not really.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Kain asks, touching her arm lightly. She looks up at him.
"I... what?"
"Is there anything I can do?" he asks again, and he doesn't even seem amused that she has to ask again. She wonders for a moment if he could be her knight, thinks of the summer-autumn smell of her mother's clothes and her mother's stories that always had happy endings. And then she thinks of Rosa, and the way Kain's eyes linger on her.
"You aren't my knight, either," she says, quietly.
Kain frowns. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear -- "
"It doesn't matter," she says, and she shakes her head. "Just leave me alone."
He looks at her for a minute. She closes her eyes and thinks of her mother's arms around her.
Pairing: None
Warnings: Angst
Rating: G
Summary: Stories Rydia's mother used to tell. Happy birthday, first_seventhe!
She doesn't remember the details right now. She remembers that of all the places in the world, her mother's lap was the safest, and with her mother's arms around her nothing bad could ever happen. She doesn't remember her mother's face, really, the mental image like a painting accidentally smeared before the paint dried. But she remembers the smell of her: magic and warm summer days and a hint of autumn on the way. She remembers her mother's voice, soft and sing-song as she told stories.
"Once upon a time," she'd whispered, and her face rubbed in little Rydia's hair and Rydia had cuddled close, warm and sleepy. "Once upon a time there was a princess, and there was a knight."
The knight did some very bad things. Rydia doesn't quite remember what anymore -- she knows that her mother said the princess vowed never to forgive him. Never to forget. The knight, though, was overcome with remorse. He tried to be her friend, and he followed the princess to the ends of the earth to protect her.
And in the end, the princess forgave him.
Rydia remembered that story, after her mother's death. Cecil lay in the bed at the inn, so close to her she could hear his soft breathing. He didn't snore like her father always had -- when she'd had a father. She lay awake most of the night, curled into a tight ball, her fists clenched and pressed tight into her stomach. She felt as if she was going to be sick, as if she was going to split open with the aching sadness.
"Will you at least let me protect you?" he'd asked.
She remembered her mother better then, though now she can hold no picture in her head. She remembers seeing her mother's face in her mind's eye, a smile and a nod -- and she decided then that Cecil would be her knight. That he would protect her and stay with her to atone for what he'd done. She'd have her own once upon a time, and even if she wasn't a princess, she was a summoner, and that was better.
When she laid eyes on Rosa, she realised she had a rival. She hadn't quite known how to fit that into her mother's fairytale, then -- though she knows now that her mother's fairytale was simple for a child to understand, and nothing would ever be as simple as that again.
Now she is all grown up, and leaving the land that has become her home, and the second mother she sort of had -- she isn't sure what to say to Asura when she leaves; she never found out how to say goodbye to her real mother, either, so it seems appropriate. She looks at Cecil and she knows she never had a knight of her own -- not really.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Kain asks, touching her arm lightly. She looks up at him.
"I... what?"
"Is there anything I can do?" he asks again, and he doesn't even seem amused that she has to ask again. She wonders for a moment if he could be her knight, thinks of the summer-autumn smell of her mother's clothes and her mother's stories that always had happy endings. And then she thinks of Rosa, and the way Kain's eyes linger on her.
"You aren't my knight, either," she says, quietly.
Kain frowns. "I'm sorry, I didn't hear -- "
"It doesn't matter," she says, and she shakes her head. "Just leave me alone."
He looks at her for a minute. She closes her eyes and thinks of her mother's arms around her.