Sisterhood (Chapter 3) - Final Fantasy V
Title: Sisterhood
Fandom: Final Fantasy V
Characters/Pairings: Lenna, Faris
Rating: G
Summary: Lenna brings the matter into the open.
The Chancellor hurried off to go make preparations for the party's overnight stay, with Bartz and Galuf following him in the hopes of finding where the kitchens were. Lenna was surprised that Faris lingered at her side. "What a fussbudget," the pirate remarked, visibly unimpressed. "Do you deal with that all the time while you're at home?"
Lenna sighed and shook her head. "That's not very fair," she said, looking Faris in the eye. "He has already lost my older sister and my mother. With Father still missing... I don't blame him for asking me to stay. If there wasn't so much at risk, I would stay."
"And if you didn't still need to find him." Faris didn't need to specify who she spoke of. If she was trying to hide her reaction to the talk of Lenna's family, she was doing a poor job of it, Lenna thought to herself. Faris seemed to realize it too, quickly taking an interest in the castle's decorations. "You've probably a lot to do around here, people to talk to. I'll just go and make sure those two dolts aren't about to burn the place down," she said, a little too quickly. Lenna watched her slouch off, noting that she seemed to be pausing to inspect her surroundings in a way that didn't suggest disorientation. She wished that Father were here. The Chancellor hadn't given any sign that he recognized Faris, quite the opposite really. He'd been rather taken aback by the sight of the other three; if Lenna tried to suggest that there was any connection between the royal family and a pirate captain, he would think she'd gone mad. But Father, surely, would see what Lenna saw.
...Of course. There was a person still here that Lenna could speak of this to. Heart racing, she hurried to the eastern tower.
Jenica was there when Lenna entered the library. Though the old woman had no more young princesses to raise, she remained as the caretaker of the kingdom's records and genealogies. "Your Highness!" she exclaimed, smiling warmly. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to greet you at the doors, but I did hear that you had come back." She rose from her chair and took Lenna's hands. "And that you've been traveling with a pack of strange vagabonds, although if you are they've not visited this part of the castle."
"It's good to see you again." Lenna laughed a little at the description of her new friends. "They aren't--well, they are strange when you first meet them, but they're good people. Truly, I would not have made it back here without them by my side."
"Then I shall trust your judgment of them, my lady."
Lenna let go of Jenica's hands. "We should sit down," she said softly. "There's something I'd like to talk about."
"I have no objections to sitting," Jenica said, sinking back down in her chair. Lenna pulled up one of her own at the reading table and sat, trying to dispel her sudden nervousness. But she couldn't help it. Nobody had spoken of the tragedy for years. To bring it up again and about such a person would sound fanciful and desperate--but Jenica had known Sarisa as a child, and she had raised Lenna through the years of the queen's illness. She had been as much mother as matron to the two of them.
Lenna took a deep breath, hands clasped in her lap. "I'm nearly certain that Faris is Princess Sarisa." The words seemed to ring inordinately loud in the library and for a long moment, Jenica did not respond except to give Lenna a long, searching look. Then she sighed and tilted her head back.
"My lady, I understand how difficult these times must be for you," she said, not unkindly. "With your father missing and your mother gone, you may soon be the last of your family. But Sarisa has been gone for these fifteen years now. We've never had any word of a sighting." She shook her head. "Even the King did not hope for her survival."
"I do know that," Lenna said. She hadn't expected a reaction anything other than skepticism. "But you've never known me to wish for her before, not since before I can remember." She had been just three years old, and while she could bring to mind vague images of a girl with purple hair, that was all there was. "But Father's men were searching for a little girl. Faris was taken in by pirates, raised to be a man, and to avoid royal soldiers too." That made Jenica look more thoughtful, Lenna saw. "But we've been traveling together for many weeks now. I see both Father and Mother in her features. And... she has our royal pendant."
Jenica eyes widened, but she looked far from convinced. "A pirate could get hold of that any number of ways... and," she went on, "do you mean to say that the princess became a rogue and a criminal?"
Lenna shook her head. It had troubled her too and she doubted the tale of their meeting would help her case at all, but she had seen that piracy wasn't all there was to Faris. "She has a good heart in spite of that," she insisted. Even though Faris didn't like to show it, she added in her head. "Moreover, she recognized Father when we saw him at the Wind Shrine. She hasn't said as much, but it's plain to see. For that matter, she walks around the castle itself like she knows it." Jenica was nodding as she listened to her liege lady, quietly waiting for her to continue. "There was a sea-dragon named Syldra she held a bond to as close as family..." She trailed off then, remembering how Faris had tried to leap into the whirlpool after her. "You know how dragons and Tycoons have always been drawn to one another."
And that was all, for now. Jenica again didn't speak for some time; Lenna had to restrain herself from staring at her for an answer. "It sounds far-fetched, my lady," she said slowly, "but it's true, you've never been one for wild fancies." She met Lenna's eye. "I will need to meet her myself to say if you're right or not."
Lenna leaned back in her chair with a wide smile of relief. She hadn't realized how tense she'd been. "Thank you, Jenica."
Jenica waved her hand a little in dismissal. "Have you told her of your suspicions?"
Lenna shook her head. "No... not yet. I wanted to be certain, and there doesn't seem to have been a good time for it until now."
Jenica nodded. "Very well. My lady, I think it would be best if I did not seek her out right away," she said. "It's been so long since any of us saw Sarisa--there are things I must remember. It wouldn't be good if I met your friend and saw Sarisa only because I was expecting to."
The suggestion was... sensible. Not desirable, but sensible. Lenna nodded her agreement. "All right. Then we'll talk again tomorrow, before we depart for Walse."
***
Sleep that night seemed unwilling in coming. Lenna couldn't stop her heart from racing at the thought of talking to Faris, wondering if Jenica would see the same things shedid, the thought of a sister she had never known... She tried to make herself comfortable without success. In times past she had found a return to her own bed in the castle a welcome end to to a journey abroad. Now it felt wrong, perhaps because the journey was far from over. And the silence in the room felt lonely rather than peaceful now;She hadn't thought she would ever miss Galuf's loud snores.
With a sigh, Lenna rose and went to the window. She could see by the position of the moon that it had gone past midnight. Perhaps some fresh air would ease her fizzling nerves. Lenna padded barefoot to the parapet door. She could go out there without bothering any of the servants. Stepping outside onto the parapet, her breath caught in her throat as she saw it already occupied. "Faris?"
"Hm?" The pirate had been staring moodily out over the forest, but it went out of her face when she turned. "Ah, Lenna. It's late... you should be in bed."
"So should you... sister."
There it was. She hadn't meant to say it like that, but even without Jenica's opinion, Lenna knew. She knew she was right. And by the look on her face, Faris did as well. Feeling propelled by a powerful feeling she couldn't name she stepped forward. Faris even had her pendant out, the jewel shining against her tunic as the moonlight threw her Tycoon features into sharp relief. If there had been any doubt left in Lenna's mind it was gone now. "I'm right, aren't I? You're my older sister..."
But Faris shook her head violently. "Wh-what are you going on about? Me, your..." The very word seemed to stick in her throat. "That's daft!" She glared at Lenna in a way she never had before, even when she'd discovered them on her ship. Lenna took a step back.
"But..."
"Besides," Faris went on, suddenly blithe, "a buccaneer like me, really a prince--er, princess? 'Tis a bit much, that!" She tried to finish it off with a hearty laugh, but it fell flat, and she looked away with fists clenched. Lenna stood there stunned at her behavior; before she could say anything more, Faris had rushed off insided and slammed the door, leaving Lenna alone on the parapet.
"But..." She swallowed, staring at the space her sister had fled. "Your pendant...." All the words she'd prepared, the proofs she had offered to Jenica, sounded hollow now. What was the point if Faris refused to see it?
The next morning proved to be quiet after starting with a laugh at Bartz. Faris picked at her breakfast when normally she would wolf it down and Galuf's attempt to badger her into eating more prompted an angry rebuke rather than their usual good-natured bickering. She was also studiously not looking in Lenna's direction; Lenna tried to be forgiving. She didn't want to be angry at Faris. Maybe she'd been unfair to blurt it out the way she had--even if Faris did recognize the castle, it was a long step from deja vu to being told you were the lost princess of Tycoon.
...She didn't have to call it daft. Again Lenna told herself that it was simply Faris' way. She might have been slowly coming around to the same conclusion on her own, but that didn't mean she was ready to accept it. This was probably quite true, but Faris' words still hurt, as her silence did now.
It was a relief to leave the breakfast table and have another walk around the castle before packing to leave. That, Lenna noted, Faris seemed quite eager to do. Lenna decided to give her some space--to give herself some space of her own. Anyway, there was something she still needed to do. Bartz, Faris, and Galuf had explored the castle quite thoroughly yesterday. That had to be enough time. Lenna stepped into the library and found Jenica there waiting for her.
"My lady, good morning." Lenna nodded, waiting for her to continue. "I was about to come and see you myself. I did meet Faris." Her lips quirked in a slight smile; Lenna's heart leapt. "Just one conversation was all I needed to see the truth in your theory."
"Then..." Lenna wrapped her fingers around her pendant. "It's her. It's Sarisa."
Jenica nodded. "I hardly know what to think of it--and because of that, I will keep it to myself for now. But she is indeed your sister, the princess of Tycoon."
Fandom: Final Fantasy V
Characters/Pairings: Lenna, Faris
Rating: G
Summary: Lenna brings the matter into the open.
The Chancellor hurried off to go make preparations for the party's overnight stay, with Bartz and Galuf following him in the hopes of finding where the kitchens were. Lenna was surprised that Faris lingered at her side. "What a fussbudget," the pirate remarked, visibly unimpressed. "Do you deal with that all the time while you're at home?"
Lenna sighed and shook her head. "That's not very fair," she said, looking Faris in the eye. "He has already lost my older sister and my mother. With Father still missing... I don't blame him for asking me to stay. If there wasn't so much at risk, I would stay."
"And if you didn't still need to find him." Faris didn't need to specify who she spoke of. If she was trying to hide her reaction to the talk of Lenna's family, she was doing a poor job of it, Lenna thought to herself. Faris seemed to realize it too, quickly taking an interest in the castle's decorations. "You've probably a lot to do around here, people to talk to. I'll just go and make sure those two dolts aren't about to burn the place down," she said, a little too quickly. Lenna watched her slouch off, noting that she seemed to be pausing to inspect her surroundings in a way that didn't suggest disorientation. She wished that Father were here. The Chancellor hadn't given any sign that he recognized Faris, quite the opposite really. He'd been rather taken aback by the sight of the other three; if Lenna tried to suggest that there was any connection between the royal family and a pirate captain, he would think she'd gone mad. But Father, surely, would see what Lenna saw.
...Of course. There was a person still here that Lenna could speak of this to. Heart racing, she hurried to the eastern tower.
Jenica was there when Lenna entered the library. Though the old woman had no more young princesses to raise, she remained as the caretaker of the kingdom's records and genealogies. "Your Highness!" she exclaimed, smiling warmly. "I'm sorry I wasn't there to greet you at the doors, but I did hear that you had come back." She rose from her chair and took Lenna's hands. "And that you've been traveling with a pack of strange vagabonds, although if you are they've not visited this part of the castle."
"It's good to see you again." Lenna laughed a little at the description of her new friends. "They aren't--well, they are strange when you first meet them, but they're good people. Truly, I would not have made it back here without them by my side."
"Then I shall trust your judgment of them, my lady."
Lenna let go of Jenica's hands. "We should sit down," she said softly. "There's something I'd like to talk about."
"I have no objections to sitting," Jenica said, sinking back down in her chair. Lenna pulled up one of her own at the reading table and sat, trying to dispel her sudden nervousness. But she couldn't help it. Nobody had spoken of the tragedy for years. To bring it up again and about such a person would sound fanciful and desperate--but Jenica had known Sarisa as a child, and she had raised Lenna through the years of the queen's illness. She had been as much mother as matron to the two of them.
Lenna took a deep breath, hands clasped in her lap. "I'm nearly certain that Faris is Princess Sarisa." The words seemed to ring inordinately loud in the library and for a long moment, Jenica did not respond except to give Lenna a long, searching look. Then she sighed and tilted her head back.
"My lady, I understand how difficult these times must be for you," she said, not unkindly. "With your father missing and your mother gone, you may soon be the last of your family. But Sarisa has been gone for these fifteen years now. We've never had any word of a sighting." She shook her head. "Even the King did not hope for her survival."
"I do know that," Lenna said. She hadn't expected a reaction anything other than skepticism. "But you've never known me to wish for her before, not since before I can remember." She had been just three years old, and while she could bring to mind vague images of a girl with purple hair, that was all there was. "But Father's men were searching for a little girl. Faris was taken in by pirates, raised to be a man, and to avoid royal soldiers too." That made Jenica look more thoughtful, Lenna saw. "But we've been traveling together for many weeks now. I see both Father and Mother in her features. And... she has our royal pendant."
Jenica eyes widened, but she looked far from convinced. "A pirate could get hold of that any number of ways... and," she went on, "do you mean to say that the princess became a rogue and a criminal?"
Lenna shook her head. It had troubled her too and she doubted the tale of their meeting would help her case at all, but she had seen that piracy wasn't all there was to Faris. "She has a good heart in spite of that," she insisted. Even though Faris didn't like to show it, she added in her head. "Moreover, she recognized Father when we saw him at the Wind Shrine. She hasn't said as much, but it's plain to see. For that matter, she walks around the castle itself like she knows it." Jenica was nodding as she listened to her liege lady, quietly waiting for her to continue. "There was a sea-dragon named Syldra she held a bond to as close as family..." She trailed off then, remembering how Faris had tried to leap into the whirlpool after her. "You know how dragons and Tycoons have always been drawn to one another."
And that was all, for now. Jenica again didn't speak for some time; Lenna had to restrain herself from staring at her for an answer. "It sounds far-fetched, my lady," she said slowly, "but it's true, you've never been one for wild fancies." She met Lenna's eye. "I will need to meet her myself to say if you're right or not."
Lenna leaned back in her chair with a wide smile of relief. She hadn't realized how tense she'd been. "Thank you, Jenica."
Jenica waved her hand a little in dismissal. "Have you told her of your suspicions?"
Lenna shook her head. "No... not yet. I wanted to be certain, and there doesn't seem to have been a good time for it until now."
Jenica nodded. "Very well. My lady, I think it would be best if I did not seek her out right away," she said. "It's been so long since any of us saw Sarisa--there are things I must remember. It wouldn't be good if I met your friend and saw Sarisa only because I was expecting to."
The suggestion was... sensible. Not desirable, but sensible. Lenna nodded her agreement. "All right. Then we'll talk again tomorrow, before we depart for Walse."
***
Sleep that night seemed unwilling in coming. Lenna couldn't stop her heart from racing at the thought of talking to Faris, wondering if Jenica would see the same things shedid, the thought of a sister she had never known... She tried to make herself comfortable without success. In times past she had found a return to her own bed in the castle a welcome end to to a journey abroad. Now it felt wrong, perhaps because the journey was far from over. And the silence in the room felt lonely rather than peaceful now;She hadn't thought she would ever miss Galuf's loud snores.
With a sigh, Lenna rose and went to the window. She could see by the position of the moon that it had gone past midnight. Perhaps some fresh air would ease her fizzling nerves. Lenna padded barefoot to the parapet door. She could go out there without bothering any of the servants. Stepping outside onto the parapet, her breath caught in her throat as she saw it already occupied. "Faris?"
"Hm?" The pirate had been staring moodily out over the forest, but it went out of her face when she turned. "Ah, Lenna. It's late... you should be in bed."
"So should you... sister."
There it was. She hadn't meant to say it like that, but even without Jenica's opinion, Lenna knew. She knew she was right. And by the look on her face, Faris did as well. Feeling propelled by a powerful feeling she couldn't name she stepped forward. Faris even had her pendant out, the jewel shining against her tunic as the moonlight threw her Tycoon features into sharp relief. If there had been any doubt left in Lenna's mind it was gone now. "I'm right, aren't I? You're my older sister..."
But Faris shook her head violently. "Wh-what are you going on about? Me, your..." The very word seemed to stick in her throat. "That's daft!" She glared at Lenna in a way she never had before, even when she'd discovered them on her ship. Lenna took a step back.
"But..."
"Besides," Faris went on, suddenly blithe, "a buccaneer like me, really a prince--er, princess? 'Tis a bit much, that!" She tried to finish it off with a hearty laugh, but it fell flat, and she looked away with fists clenched. Lenna stood there stunned at her behavior; before she could say anything more, Faris had rushed off insided and slammed the door, leaving Lenna alone on the parapet.
"But..." She swallowed, staring at the space her sister had fled. "Your pendant...." All the words she'd prepared, the proofs she had offered to Jenica, sounded hollow now. What was the point if Faris refused to see it?
The next morning proved to be quiet after starting with a laugh at Bartz. Faris picked at her breakfast when normally she would wolf it down and Galuf's attempt to badger her into eating more prompted an angry rebuke rather than their usual good-natured bickering. She was also studiously not looking in Lenna's direction; Lenna tried to be forgiving. She didn't want to be angry at Faris. Maybe she'd been unfair to blurt it out the way she had--even if Faris did recognize the castle, it was a long step from deja vu to being told you were the lost princess of Tycoon.
...She didn't have to call it daft. Again Lenna told herself that it was simply Faris' way. She might have been slowly coming around to the same conclusion on her own, but that didn't mean she was ready to accept it. This was probably quite true, but Faris' words still hurt, as her silence did now.
It was a relief to leave the breakfast table and have another walk around the castle before packing to leave. That, Lenna noted, Faris seemed quite eager to do. Lenna decided to give her some space--to give herself some space of her own. Anyway, there was something she still needed to do. Bartz, Faris, and Galuf had explored the castle quite thoroughly yesterday. That had to be enough time. Lenna stepped into the library and found Jenica there waiting for her.
"My lady, good morning." Lenna nodded, waiting for her to continue. "I was about to come and see you myself. I did meet Faris." Her lips quirked in a slight smile; Lenna's heart leapt. "Just one conversation was all I needed to see the truth in your theory."
"Then..." Lenna wrapped her fingers around her pendant. "It's her. It's Sarisa."
Jenica nodded. "I hardly know what to think of it--and because of that, I will keep it to myself for now. But she is indeed your sister, the princess of Tycoon."