remember a martyr for a hero
she has self-control in every aspect of her life except her battles – luminous/aran.
"You have better control than that."
Aran does not look at him, and only continues to wrap her arms with bandages soaked in potions. "Perhaps I do," she says, voice mild.
It is not a gray matter of sometimes and maybes and perhaps – he knows she has better self-control, she knows it, the heavens and the earth knows it – it is a yes-or-no situation and the only answer is yes.
Yes, she has self control. And yet in battle she is like a monster gone berserk, golden pole arm flashing and spilling blood everywhere where a hero is needed. That is what she is to the people she rescues, standing over them dripping blood and shaking with wounds taking the strain on her body – a hero.
But the rest of them are heroes, too.
"You are a hero," he tells her, "not a martyr."
"I wasn't aware that there was a difference between the two."
"Aran," he says and she looks up at the sound of her name. "You do not need to protect the rest of us."
. . .
She is hurt again. In the final battle. And they have not even confronted the Black Mage yet.
He'd like nothing more to set her straight – she is a hero, yes, but that does not mean she can simply toss her life away – but there is no time for that, and he must confront the Black Mage. For Serenity, for Aurora, for Lucia.
And perhaps it is a blessing that she is injured, for she will not try her self-sacrifice with the Black Mage.
"Be careful," he tells her instead.
"Leave it to me," she flashes him a grim but determined smile. "I'll take care of these chumps."
And she does not say anything about being careful.
. . .
When they next meet she has lost almost all her memories. Nothing but fragments remain and regaining everything, they say, is impossible.
It's his fault.
They attribute her memory's loss to the curse of the Black Mage, but no one else has lost their memories. It is Aran, and Aran only who is left in the dark, unable to access her life before the curse. Who is to say that it was the Black Mage that was responsible?
No one.
And if he'd just stayed behind to make sure that she would truly be alright, maybe everything would have been different.
"Promise me you'll be careful in battle," he says instead. "You once had great self-control."
It's not a lie, not really.
Last oneshot for the Unusual Pairings Project. From now on they'll all be placed in one story, coming soon. Please be on the lookout for 'Apophenia'.
Thank you to everyone this summer.