[Sharing Knife fic] The Worth of Water

[shimotsuki]

A Sharing Knife fic for the 2012 Ficathon at bujold_fic. Spoilers for Passage (Book 3).

The Worth of Water (1040 words, PG | Passage)
Berry considers what the river found in Alder, and what it found in Whit.

[For a prompt by katyhasclogs, which I won't repeat here because it's also spoilery for books 3 and 4 -- and some of my f-list may still be reading the series

Comments

[imhilien]

Nicely written. :)

It does make you think how Alder might have turned out anyway if he had stayed...

[shimotsuki]

Thank you!

I found it a bit puzzling that Berry would say yes to Whit so very soon after finding out about Alder, so this was sort of an attempt to give that aspect of the series a little more backstory.

[katyscarlett76]

Oh I loved this!You've captured the tone and their voices so well it feels like a moment right out of canon.

In the book it does feel like a little sudden that Berry accepts Whit (even though I kind of shipped it from the beginning ;) but seen this way it makes perfect sense. I really liked Berry's musings about the kind of man Alder would have turned out to be without the river bandits and how she balances that with the man Whit has turned out to be, the effect of the river on both of them. It's interesting to think about that.

[shimotsuki]

I'm glad you thought the tone was a good match for canon! I was a little afraid I might be pouring on the 'rural talk' a bit too thick, heh.

As people commenting on AO3 and people commenting in the TSK dicussion posts have pointed out, this series is full of people hooking up awfully fast. ;) But I still think Berry needed a little more backstory, since she (unlike Fawn and Dag, or you-know-who in Book 4) has actually just lost her previous love interest...

[gilpin25]

Oh, very nice! Especially Berry thinking that the river reveals who a man really is, and what he's capable of, and so the girl who understands the water and a boat much better than most, comes to realize that the one man she allowed to comfort her during the journey was Whit. What I liked most about the Berry and Whit relationship is that we see him mature enough to be the staunch support Berry needs, sensitive enough not to approach her full-on for himself. You've echoed that here as she appreciates what he's quietly done and realizes what it's come to mean to her.

Lovely - and it really does fill in that gap in the book when Berry goes quickly from grief and anger to accepting him.

[shimotsuki]

Thanks so much! I wanted to work with the characterization of Berry that we see in the books, where she is both very savvy and very independent, and still make sense of the lightning speed with which she agrees to marry Whit after finding out that she is no longer betrothed. (Although as various people, present company included, have been pointing out, their pace was practically glacial compared to some others, heh.)

I think waiting for Berry, and figuring out how to be what she needs at any given time without driving her off, goes a long way toward helping Whit grow up. I do like these characters. :)