AN: Birthday gift for seventhe. All fun, no profit, Faris, Galuf, insecurity, family. It's all good!
Wind blew across the deck of the ship, and Faris let out a small sigh. She stared at the ocean blankly, straining her ears for any sounds of life. It was a futile effort; with the wind, water and fire crystals destroyed, it was as if the world itself had fallen silent. The sea was unnaturally calm, the air was heavy and still and even the fires in the engine room of Cid and Mid's miracle ship sputtered and flailed as if struggling for life.
She sighed and shook a stray lock of hair out of her face. The silence was unnerving, yes; but what she truly missed was not the sound of the water lapping the hull or the sight of seagulls riding the ocean breeze - she missed the raucous banter of her loyal subordinates. She missed the bawdy sea shanties they'd sing together and the heady scent and bitter flavor that would accompany whatever swill they'd managed to pick up at their last port of call. She missed laughing at their bawdy jokes, and she missed tasting the sea salt on the evening breeze, but most of all she missed the quiet evenings she'd spend on the deck, alone but for -
Faris' face hardened, and she allowed the images of the dark sea to fade from her mind's eye. Her countenance turned completely stony when she realized what the moment of distraction had cost her. A muscle in her eyelid twitched in time with the grip on her posterior.
"Ye best be hopin' that it's not yer hand I feel down there, my friend." She moved her head fractionally, her eyes narrowed into slits. Sometimes being a woman was a veritable pain in the ass. Particularly when those times involved hanging around certain other Warriors of Light.
"Oh! What is that doing there? I swear, sometimes I think these things have a mind of their own," Galuf said mildly, flexing his wrist and peering at his fingers, the picture of innocence.
"If I weren't certain yer teeth were already false, I'd knock 'em clean from that mouth o' yours," Faris replied. She smiled toothily at Galuf's wince and turned as the sound of an opening door brought her attention away from the old man.
" - said we should be looking out for a Crescent-shaped island," Bartz was busily explaining. "The couldn't tell us exactly where, but it's somewhere to the east of here." He paused, taking a moment to suck in a breath while holding the door open for his companion. Lenna followed him slowly, shooting the young man a delicate smile that caused whatever words he'd been spewing forth to abruptly stop in a flurry of blushes and half-stutters.
Faris turned away in disgust and crossed her arms.
"Something bothering you?" Galuf asked mildly, mirroring her pose and studying the darkened expanse of water before them. Without the wind and the water crystals to bolster it, the sea was as flat and motionless as a polished stone. Lenna's soft, high giggle at one of Bartz's half-formed sentences pierced the stillness from somewhere behind them, and Faris clenched her jaw.
"'Tis nothing to be concernin' the likes of ye," she ground out.
Galuf cleared his throat carefully, but refused to remove himself from her side. "You know," he began, and Faris let out a low hiss in reply.
"Mayhap I wasn't bein' clear, mate, but ye'll be wantin' to skedaddle 'fore I make ye."
Galuf only let out a loud bark in reply. "Nice try," he replied easily, though she did notice him touching his chest. Faris automatically shut her eyes against the flare of light that burned red against the backs of her closed eyelids. When she opened them, she saw that he was now dressed comfortably in loose black pants and a thinly-woven shirt, a few tattered straps of cloth wrapped around his bare hands. Well, there was no getting rid of him now. He'd be able to dodge any attempts to throw him overboard, and if she socked him he'd most likely just punch her back. And this time it would hurt.
"Coward," she grumbled under her breath, briefly considering donning her Berserker outfit to counter Galuf's obvious ploy. She let that idea slide as easily as it had come; it was bad enough that he was would feel up her ass when she was wearing her full-length jacket; she wasn't going to encourage his wandering hands - especially given the ambidexterity of Martial Artists - by changing into an outfit that lacked pants. "What do ye want of me?"
"Well now, there's a question with a million different and equally wonderful answers," Galuf replied cheerfully. He held up his hands in submission at Faris' death glare. "But I'm not here to satisfy my own desires," he added with a lift of one bushy white eyebrow. "I think the question is what do you want?"
Faris bit down on her sharp reply and scowled as she heard Lenna's tinkling laugh float over the deck from yet another one of Bartz's terrible jokes. She shuddered to think of how sheltered Lenna's castle life must have been if she found their companion's brand of humor to be even remotely amusing. She was certain that if Bartz was ever to become privy to the bawdy jokes she shared with her own crew that his hair would either fall out or turn as white as Galuf's own.
"You're jealous, aren't you?" Galuf observed archly.
Faris coughed.
"I'll admit, while Lenna does have a certain... hrm, shall we say, delicacy that you're lacking, Bartz is a strapping young man. I'm sure he could handle the both of you. And besides - you're not so bad to look at yourself." With a blithe smile, Galuf ignored Faris' incredulous stare and continued talking. "You seem like a real go-getting type of girl. I really don't understand your problem, quite frankly. If you want his attention that badly, just get on over there yourself steal it. Isn't that what pirates do?"
"Shut yer pie-hole, ye dirty old man!" Faris yelled, her face scarlet. Bartz and Lenna's conversation died abruptly at the outburst, and the two stared across the bow at them. Face still red, Faris showed them an angry scowl and knocked Galuf across the back of the head for good measure. Martial arts be damned, but he had that one coming.
"Well well well!" Galuf was chuckling, even as he rubbed at the knock he'd received. "I didn't realize you felt that strongly about it! So you're in love -"
Faris hit him again, effectively silencing him, a murderous look in her eyes. "I'm not in love with him, ye old bastard!"
Galuf considered. "Well, if you were just looking for a short term fling -"
"I'd rather sleep with ye than that buffoon!" Faris spluttered, cutting him off. "At least ye'd know where to put it!"
"Oh, if that's the case, you should have said so sooner!" Galuf replied eagerly, reaching for the tie on his pants. Faris struck him once more, this time with her knee. When Galuf finally managed to right himself, wheezing heavily and leaning on the railing of the ship, he afforded her a cautious distance. "Well," he replied, his voice still a few octaves higher than normal, "if you're not in love with the boy, or lusting after him, then what exactly is your problem?"
Faris sighed; despite her best attempts to be prickly and her repeated physical assaults, Galuf hadn't actually left her side yet. Underneath it all, she knew he was worried about her; it brought a wry smile to her lips. Maybe sharing a little companionship with a friend wasn't necessarily a sign of weakness.
"Aye, ye had the right of it the first time. I suppose the green-eyed monster's been sharpenin' me tongue." She allowed herself a wary smile. "But don't be thinkin' that I'll be goin' all soft and girlie-like on ye now just for that. Least not 'till ye can keep yer sticky fingers to yerself."
Galuf stared at her for a moment, his expression unreadable. Then he spoke, very carefully: "You're in love with your sister." He squinted at her. "As loathe as I am to say this, I don't think that's particularly healthy, Faris."
Faris shut her eyes and inhaled sharply. When she was certain her head had cleared, she blinked and focused on Galuf's face. Crocking a finger, she beckoned to him; he leaned in, his eyes widening.
The crack of her fist hitting his jaw reverberated across the deck. Once again Bartz and Lenna looked up from their whispered conversation; Faris just shrugged at them as she shook out her hand. With an eye roll and a soft sigh respectively, Bartz and Lenna resumed their conversation, unperturbed.
A low groan came from the ground. "What the hell was that for?" Galuf mumbled, clambering to his feet.
"I'm not in love with Lenna," Faris ground out, trying to remind herself that they were friends. Seeing Galuf's look of complete bemusement, she sighed and allowed herself to slump over the railing. "I miss Syldra." She sent another aimless scowl out over the water.
Faris jerked in surprise as she felt a warm arm descend around her shoulder; the stiffness faded from her posture as it remained carefully still, rather than wandering into inappropriate territory as Galuf's hands were wont to do.
"I'm sure Lenna misses you as much as you miss her," Galuf said quietly.
"And why should that be? She has Bartz, her own personal hero," Faris sneered faintly. "The princess don't be needin' another bodyguard to trip over her."
"You're her family," Galuf replied, giving her shoulder a gentle squeeze. "No one else can ever take that place in her heart." He fell silent, his eyes growing misty and distant as he stared over the ocean, lost in his own thoughts.
"She don't need me," Faris answered, leaning in to the old man's embrace.
"Even if that were true," Galuf said after a moment's silence, "you need her."
Faris looked up, blinking suddenly at the unexpected burning behind her eyes. "But what... what if I can't be what she needs? I... I can't be a princess, Galuf," she said quietly. Bartz had left for the helm of the ship, and Lenna stood alone at the railing, the straight line of her back cutting a sharp image against the flat, dull horizon.
"Then don't be a princess," Galuf replied, releasing her shoulders and gently directing her towards Lenna. "Be a sister." He gave her back a gentle shove, and Faris stumbled, then brought herself to a stubborn halt. She stared at Lenna's back, feeling the lump grow in her throat.
"I just can't," she repeated, her voice cracking with uncertainty.
Galuf sighed. When he spoke, his voice was no longer gentle - it had turned hard and unyielding. Faris started; it was a King's voice. "You already know what it's like to lose a sister. Would you now put that burden on her shoulders as well?"
Faris' spine stiffened; sympathy and understanding were foreign emotions to her, but barked commands and sharp reprimands - these were familiar.
"You know that you're strong enough. Find it in yourself to do what you must." Galuf's voice was tinged with a note of sadness. "Take back your family - lest you lose them."
Straightening, Faris clenched her fists. She strode forward without a backwards glance; a few steps was all it took to place herself before Lenna's turned back. She opened her mouth and took a deep breath - paused, sweating - and then boldly reached out, her hand landing heavily on Lenna's delicate, exposed shoulder. A princess' shoulder. Faris' grip tightened as Lenna whirled in surprise; even caught off guard, she was the epitome of everything beautiful and soft and ethereal and so very, very painfully royal. Nothing at all like the salty sea dog that dared to mar that fairy-tale beauty, that perfect life with her touch.
Wincing internally, Faris steeled herself. Nothin' for it.
"Sister."
The moment of silence stretched into two as Lenna stared at her in obvious surprise, and Faris resisted the urge to twitch uncomfortably. A dull anger was beginning to fill her; curse that old fool, curse him putting these stupid ideas of love and family and precious things that were never meant to be hers into her head -
A feeling of warmth, a touch soft as silk and feather-light as a moth brushed over her fingertips. Faris' eyes were drawn instantly to the milk-white hand that now covered her own. Almost fearful, she looked up from that perfect hand.
The tension roiling in her breast was still there, but it was easing slightly as she soaked in the gentle, welcoming smile on Lenna's face.
"Sister," Lenna answered her, dipping her head in acknowledgement with an expression of quiet joy.
Faris' fingers flexed as a brash, crooked smile began to work its way onto her own face. Maybe she'd never be a princess after all. But this was a start.