Roots and Wings

Summary: Epic 2013. There are memories of her strewn all over the place. OneShot- Tara, Ronin.

Warning: Fluff from beginning to the end.

Set: Story-unrelated. Spoilers for the movie – of course.

Disclaimer: Standards apply.

A/N: Anyone else who found this movie absolutely adorable? Here's to my favorite pairing, and my favorite sister.

Title from: Gebt unseren Kindern Wurzeln und Flügel. Probably by J.W. von Goethe (nobody seems sure about that.)

There are memories of her strewn all over the place.

i.

"Tara? Tara! Where are you? Answer me!"

The aged primrose's face was pink with anger. Or perhaps she always had that lovely color, only today it stood out like a warning signal. Stemming her hands into her well-nourished hips, she tried to blink through the blinding sunlight that fell onto the garden paths.

"Oh, where has this naughty girl disappeared to again! It's all that rascal's fault, he is the instigator of all of their little escapades! Tara? Tara, love!"

From her hide-out in the crown of a sun-tanned birch sapling, Tara and Ronin, the two culprits, watched laughing as the poor matron marched along the garden paths. Calling out the Princess' name now and then, she almost stumbled over a grass seed and clutched at a fern in order to keep her balance. Ronin snickered.

"Look at old Lady Maya. She wouldn't find us even if we were right in front of her eyes."

"I could dance right on her nose and she wouldn't see us!" Tara agreed and clapped her hands in delight. "Look, now she lost her glasses!"

Really, the woman was mumbling to herself, searching for the fallen item in the grass. Since she was myopic, she barely saw anything.

"She'll step on them," Ronin prophesied. "Watch it…"

"No!" Tara waved her hand and a thin tendril of green flashed through the air, grabbing the glasses and carrying them safely out of danger. The root turned to deposit the glasses on the lady's nose – only it did so the wrong way round.

"Princess!" Lady Maya sounded more resigned than actually angry. "I know you are there. Come out, you haven't finished your homework for today!"

"But it's soooo boring," Tara called out before Ronin could tell her to be quiet. "Can't I finish it on a rainy day, Lady Maya?"

"Every time it rains you say you have to go outside to watch the forest grow!" Lady Maya had rearranged her glasses and took up her old position again: hands at her hips, a grim light in her eyes. Two children jumped to the ground without a sound. The girl was small and fragile, brown hair tied into a messy bun that was dissolving at the edges already. There was a smudge of dirt on her nose and her cheeks were flushed. The boy had sun-bleached, blonde hair and blue eyes that sparkled adventurously. "Ronin, you rascal, what did you tell her this time?"

"I? Nothing!" Most people caved when the little boy looked at them with those huge, innocent eyes, but Lady Maya was used to it and therefore immune.

"Nothing, of course! The day you are up to nothing is the day I will hand in my resignation as the Princess's handmaid! Now run off, I'm sure your mother will already be wondering where you are. And you, Princess, there is an embroidery that has your name on it! As the future queen of the forest you have to be capable of handling any type of handiwork!"

"But Lady Maya!" Tara protested. "I promise, I will…"

The rest of her sentence was cut short when Ronin whistled a short, melodious call and a tiny kingfisher shot past the lady so close her skirts ruffled. With a cry of indignation, Lady Maya held on to them tightly – that way she was unable to grab for the princess. Ronin, a hand outstretched, directed his mount towards the small path again and caught Tara's hand squarely in his. The girl whooped as she was slung over the back of the emerald bird, landed with an ease that spoke of lots of training, and waved at her tutor.

"I'll be back at sunset, Lady Maya, I promise!"

"Sunset!" The lady was speechless with rage. "But that's too late! The Boggins will get you, Ronin Jaybird, as sure as I'm standing here! And then you will be sorry that you ever saw the light of day!"

On the kingfisher, Tara was still laughing, her dark mane fluttering wildly. "That was amazing!"

Ronin grinned back at her. "So where are we going?"

"I want to see the Pond of the Water Lilies!"

"Then let's go!"

"Ronin?" The Princess leaned forward to look at her friend. "I don't know where the pond is."

The boy broke into contagious laughter. "Neither do I! But we'll find it, don't worry."

"I don't worry," she told him as she wrapped her arms around his middle. "As long as you are there, I'm not afraid."

"You don't have to be," he promised her with all the seriousness of a little boy. "I will protect you! If only one Boggin comes close to you, I will cut him in half and feed him to the ants!"

"Liar, you don't even have a sword!"

"I'll have one, one day, you'll see!"

ii.

"You," she said and her finger landed squarely in his chest. "You."

Ronin swallowed. She did sound menacing, and her face did the rest to scare him appropriately. So he squared his shoulders and crossed his arms, and glared right back at her.

"What?"

"You!" Tara seemed too outraged to put into words what had her bristling with anger like that. She glared at him one last time and stomped her foot – she actually did – and then she exploded. "You went to Silvermoon Clearing without me yesterday!"

"So what?" He challenged. "You were busy anyway. I asked you, remember?"

"You asked me after you knew I was busy!"

He didn't have the sense to look appropriately sorry, no, idiot that he was glowered at her even more.

"My life does not evolve around yours, okay? So if I wanted to go to Silvermoon Clearing with a few of the guys and I did not take you…"

He broke off his sentence when he saw her face. It changed from fury to surprise to betrayal, all in the matter of seconds.

"… What?"

"You went to the Clearing without me so you could go with some guys?"

"So what?"

Anger pulsed through her so hotly she would not have wondered had she burst into flames.

"So you actually listen to that stuff Liam said some time ago? I didn't think you would!"

Ronin threw both his arms up in defeat. "So what if I wanted to spend my time with a few guys! Just in case you haven't noticed, you are a girl!"

"SO WHAT!" She screamed back. "And that means I'm not good enough to spend time with you?"

"It means you're a girl," he said, his eyes mere slits in his face. "And I like spending my time with guys now and then. If we take girls it's not as much fun as when it's only us."

"So you say I cannot fly a bird as good as any guy," she hissed. "I cannot track, I cannot imitate any animal call in the forest, I cannot run, jump and move as well as any of your guy friends, but it's boring when you're with me?"

"That's not what I meant and you know it! You don't get it-"

"Oh, I get it, I get it, don't worry!" Turning on her heel, she stalked away, a small, lithe figure with flowing hair and stiff shoulders. "I won't take any more of your precious time away!"

"Fine!" He shouted after her.

"Fine!" She echoed, not looking back.

"It's far cooler to spend time with Skye and the guys, anyway!"

"So then go and spend time with the cool guys!"

"I will!"

"I hate you!" She shrieked. "Go and get eaten by Boggins!"

In the end it was her who encountered the enemy. The Boggin was sick and weak with hunger and she probably would have been fine. The magpie that followed it was mean and strong, though, and when Ronin finally had managed to pull her onto his wildly dodging and weaving kingfisher they were both trembling with exhaustion and terror.

"Why didn't you use your magic?" He yelled at her as they sped through the forest.

"I was trying not to get killed!" Tara shouted back. "Try using it when you're running for your life!" And then, far more quiet: "Thanks."

He was quiet, then mumbled: "I'm sorry for what I said."

"Me too. Go out with the guys if you want to. I don't mind."

"It's not as much fun as it is with you."

A second of silence and both burst into laughter. Wiping away tears, Tara laid her head on Ronin's shoulder.

"You mean, it's fun being chased through the forest by a crazy magpie?"

He was still laughing, too. "Something like that."

"Well, let's not do it again."

"Deal."

"…

Ronin?"

"Hm?"

"It's getting dark."

"I know."

"Where are we going?"

"It's full moon tonight."

iii.

"Do you even know which side is the sharp side?"

Tara was eyeing him critically. It did not help at all. It did not help that he was exhausted and sweaty and that the training armor itched in six different places, that he was annoyed and tired and that she stood so damn, damn close. Ronin turned away and gathered up the training sword he had dropped a few seconds before.

"Of course I know which one is the sharpened side, thanks for that proof of your trust. Since this is a training weapon, though, none of the sides is sharpened. And if I had a tsurugi, both sides would be."

Following him across the small mountain terrace, she shook her head.

"What are you doing here, Ronin?"

He still did not look at her. "I'm training. What are you doing here?"

"What are you training for?"

"Haven't we been over this?"

"Indulge me." Her foot tapped, impatiently. Her arms were crossed.

Sighting, he sheathed his training weapon. It now hung at his side almost familiarly, as opposed to the first weeks of training in which the weight and the unfamiliar obstacle had made him stumble backwards and forwards more than once.

"I am training to become a Leaf Man."

"Why?"

"Because Leaf Men are needed."

"Why?"

"Because they protect the forest."

"Why?"

"Because it is your home."

"Why?"

"Because you live here."

"Why?"

"Because you will be the queen, and you will protect the forest?"

"Oh, and why?"

Snap.

"So children can live in peace, and flowers can bloom and trees can grow and wild animals and insects and birds can thrive, so the grass can be green and the summer winds warm? What the heck, Tara, are you really asking me this? What is it you want to hear?"

She glowered at him. "And why do I have to protect the forest?"

"Because it is your duty?"

Throwing her hands into the air, she laughed somewhat disgusted and turned on her heel. "Duty, duty! So it's my duty to protect the forest and your duty to protect me? Have you ever once thought about whether I really want to do what everyone says I must?"

Shell-shocked, he only noticed he had reached out for her shoulder and spun her around when she stood before him, close enough he could see the angry tears in her eyes. Almost panicky, he shook her.

"Don't say things like that! You love the forest, I know you do!"

"I…" She began, somewhat uncertain, and when she registered his shell-shocked expression her face changed back into the bright smile he knew so well. Only something was off. He just couldn't tell what it was. "Oh, Ronin, don't look so scared, I was joking! So you're on your way to becoming General, aren't you?"

Bewildered, he let his hand drop from her shoulders. "Well, I'm just a rookie right now …"

"You'd better get promoted fast!" She laughed. "I want to reward you a medal one day, don't let me wait too long!"

iv.

Two small conversations.

...

"Is it possible that men can be so, so damn stupid!" Tara wasn't sure whether she felt like crying or laughing, so she did both at the same time. "Yes, your majesty! Of course, your majesty! You should have heard him, Cat!"

Her friend patted her back soothingly. "Hush, sweetie. He's a man. And a soldier, as sad as it is. It is his duty to follow your orders."

"Why did he even become a soldier?" Like a child, she flung herself onto her bed. "He could have been anything, and then he goes and takes the dumbest, most dangerous position he can find in the entire forest!"

"Someone has to protect the forest – and you, as our queen," her friend reminded her of what she would rather have forgotten. "And he's good at what he does. Look at him – look at what he's achieved at his age already. They say he'll be promoted, soon, and he's only been a soldier for a short time. He's become quite a man."

"Bah!" Tara snorted. "If anything, he's become a total bore! No ride without a guard, no walk without at least two back-up plans, no fun, no laughter, please! It's so frustrating! He hasn't smiled for weeks!"

"Yes, he has," her friend contradicted her. "Last half-moon, around sundown. They say he twitched his lips far enough to be counted as a smile, at least."

"Who is they?"

"The handmaidens. They like to catalogue his expressions."

"They don't!" Shocked, Tara lifted her head from the pillows she had buried herself in. "Tell me they don't do that!"

"Why not?" Cat's voice took on a different tone. "He's so tall, and he has this handsome face! So expressive! And his hair is not white, it's only bleached from the sun. He looks so manly in his uniform – and his eyes!" She clutched her hands in front of her chest and rolled her own eyes, dramatically. "Have you seen his eyes? As deep as any river!" Her voice fell to a whisper. "To die for!"

"Shut UP!" A pillow hit her square in the face. Tara pointed at her accusingly. "Tell me it's a lie!"

"Of course it is, sweetie. But you think so, too, don't you?"

Blushing furiously, she hid her face again. "It's of no use," she moaned. "He's too busy being the perfect soldier to even notice I still exist. We used to have so much fun as children and now he's just duty, duty, duty all day long."

"I think he notices you very much. He just doesn't notice you the way you want him to."

"True," Tara said, not lifting her face. "Nothing new in that regard. What else can I do? He hasn't even realized after all this time. I don't need another general, I have a perfectly good one already!"

"General Redleaf's not the youngest anymore. And besides, what would you do? Marry Ronin?"

Silence answered her.

"Sweetie, I hate to tell you, but the forest needs you as its queen. Everything else has to step back, even your feelings."

"You're my friend. You're supposed to be on my side."

"Just because you don't want to hear it doesn't mean I'm not right. You know I love you, I'd hate to see you hurt. But Ronin… It doesn't really seem like an option to me, Tara. You shouldn't let it affect you any longer."

"It hurts bad enough as it is," the queen whispered. Then she lifted her head again. "Anyway. If I remember correctly, there was a meeting of the guilds today, and a certain soldier requested my royal presence."

"That's my girl," Cat said and squeezed her before she stood. "I'll get you some warm water. And after the meeting, let's forget about queens and soldiers and men and have a girl's night, just the two of us."

Tara smiled.

…

"To Skye, the lucky bastard!"

Echoing the toast uproariously and, in most cases, more than just slightly tipsy, the Leaf Men lifted their glasses and drowned the sweet root beer. The room was full of the scent of beer, food and people, too warm to continue wearing their formal armor. Besides, their duty was done for that day.

"Skye!" Someone boomed out. "How did you get that beauty of a girl to fall for you ugly bastard!"

"I tell you, he talked her into it!" Another burst of laughter followed the remark that had been thrown into the room. "Before she knew she was engaged to be married!"

Ronin felt the effect of the alcohol in his head: warm, relaxing, but not nearly enough to forget himself. Still, he was almost knocked over from his bar stool when an arm wrapped around his shoulders. Skye fell onto the next bar stool with a groan of appreciation and waved for the barman to refill his glass.

"Ronin, Ronin, Ronin," he grinned, his speech slightly slurred. Ronin, even slightly inebriated, was aware that Skye could down a few more root beers before he actually lost it. "So no more wild adventures any more, eh? No sneaking into Bogginses' camps? No taunting of mice? What a sad, sad prospect. I want to weep."

"Your last day as a free man, my friend. Now that you've finally become respectable and all…"

"Aye, and I drink to that!" Doing just so, he almost shattered Ronin's own glass with his and downed the drink. Ronin followed his example.

"So what about you?" Wiping the foam from his mouth, he turned to the vice general. "Still no woman that could make you want to settle down and have a family?"

"Doesn't seem so."

"You know," Skye started and his voice turned soft. "I wouldn't have thought I'd settle down like this one day. But Hanna's amazing. She's beautiful, she has a good hand with kids and she is an amazing cook. A woman like that who shares your dreams and your life – what else could you ask for?"

Ronin blinked conspiratorially. "Does Hanna have a sister, by any chance?"

Laughing loudly, Skye leaned on the bar. "The two of us as husband and brother-in-law – I don't think there is a woman in the world that would be able to stand it!" And suddenly, his voice went from boisterous and slurred to quiet and business-like. "Honestly, Ronin, what about her?"

"What about whom?" He tried to dodge but his tongue felt thick and slow.

"About her." Skye spoke with a conviction that seemed misplaced in his open, honest face. "Tara. Ronin, all those years…"

"Her Majesty for you, even if it's your stag night today." Ronin couldn't help the stiff note that crept into his voice. "And if you're implying that I have any feelings whatsoever for her besides the love and respect she deserves as my Queen and commander…"

"I'm not implying anything, Ronin. I know you love her. And you know what? She loves you, too."

"Don't," Ronin said and gripped his beer glass so tightly it almost shattered in his hands, "tell such outrageous lies."

"You know whom of us is lying?" His friend challenged him. "It's you. You're lying to yourself. You can see how she looks at you. Or, if you can't, you're completely blind."

"My sight is perfect, thank you." Ronin stood, stiffly. "My best wishes for your upcoming marriage, Skye. I'll see you then."

He tried to make a dash for the door but was stopped by a parade of inebriated men dancing around in a weird line, each one had his hands on the shoulders of the man in front of him. They were singing loudly and very, very unmelodious.

"Stop, you stupid bonehead," Skye said and grabbed his shoulder with an iron hand. "Forget it, Ronin, you are right. It's none of my business, she's our queen. Let me ask you something else."

"What do you want?" Ronin glared at him, unable to stay angry for long.

Skye smiled, a huge smile that suddenly spread out over his face. "What do you think about becoming godfather?"

"What?" Everything else forgotten, Ronin stared down at his best friend. "You mean… Is Hanna… Is she, you mean… Really?"

The happiness in Skye's eyes was boundless when he nodded. "What do you say?"

Ronin hugged him, hard. "What do you think I say!"

v.

"Your Majesty," and Ronin was pretty sure he sounded very, very patient. "Please understand, you can't just go out there and have a picnic. It's the beginning of fall and your powers will weaken soon."

But, as usual, Tara barely even listened to him.

"We'll need a lot of food – what do you think how many honeydew cakes we will have to take? And are there still…"

Ronin listened as the Queen of the Forest continued to chatter on. Light filtered through the canopy of flower petals over her, her auburn hair shone like polished wood. Her face was sun-tanned and even, her lips like petals themselves, her eye-lashes long and beautiful. He could watch her all day, given the opportunity.

And then he gave himself a mental shove. Think, idiot. He was the leader of the Leaf Men. In his hands laid the protection of the queen. He was on duty every day, every hour and every minute.

"Ronin!"

Tara's voice made him startle. She stood before him, her nose merely millimeters from his. "I am talking to you, Ronin. Where are your thoughts?"

He'd stopped blushing long ago.

"I was thinking it was a bad idea. You'll be exposed for far too long."

"Ronin," she sighed and moved away again, gracefully and soundless. "How often do I have to tell you I can take care of myself?"

"As often as you want to and I still won't stop," he told her. "I'm here to protect you. You don't make it easier for me."

"Now wouldn't that be boring?" Tara asked a threesome of clover and laughed, a high-pitched, beautiful sound that rang through the warm evening air. "I don't want my loyal commander to die of boredom, wouldn't I! So what do you think, at dawn or at noon?"

Ronin sighed and knew he had lost. Once again.

"May I ask, Your Majesty, that you at least take an appropriate guard of Leaf Men?"

"Better, Ronin, even better than that." She smiled at him, blindingly. "I will take you."

vi.

Sometimes he wondered whether she teased him like that because she knew they could never be more than friends.

There was a decade that had passed since they have been children – a decade in their sense of time – and he has watched her throughout all of it. They started off as children, best friends and soul mates. They have progressed to the point where he knows what she will say, do or think before she even does it. Her mind is as familiar to him as his own is, and as if it wasn't enough her expressions are, too. She smiles, she frowns, she laughs, she is angry and annoyed and tired, and every single face of hers is more beautiful than anything else in the world. Precious. It is what she is to him, incredibly, earth-shatteringly, heart-breakingly precious. If he had to give his life for her, he would have done it without a single thought.

She called him boring, so many times. He could live with that. What he could not live with would be the sense of guilt if he lost her, so he molded himself into the person he thought would be able to protect her the most. Vice-general, general, her advisor and head-of-security – best sword fighter of her kingdom, most seasoned warrior. He would have gone to the ends of the earth had she asked him of it. And she told him to smile, over and over. Ronin had no idea where he had left his smile. It wasn't as if he had intentionally lost it somewhere. It rather felt like he had glimpsed a piece of reality one day, a flicker of what could happen to her if he did not prevent it, and his smile felt like a sacrifice not too big to give if it was for her. She smiled even brighter when she taunted him, so he did not mind at all. He remembered the girl she had been and the woman she had become.

So incredibly, incredibly beautiful.

vii.

Another conversation.

"I think, Ronin," Tara said and all the playfulness was gone from her voice suddenly. Ronin put down the quill carefully, sensing a change in something, and took two steps towards where she stood. The last warm daylight was casting beautiful shadows onto the leaves of ferns and flowers, drew patterns onto her dress and danced in her hair.

"What is it, Mylady?"

"I think," she repeated thoughtfully as she gazed into the canopy of leaves overhead, "I figured you out."

"What do you mean by that?"

She turned around and for a second he thought she looked sad. But her familiar smile was there when he blinked, full of joy and tenderness. He looked at her: dark hair, her even face and her beautiful eyes – and suddenly it was all there, right in front of him. He wondered how he had never seen it before: it was written on her face so clearly, shone from her eyes. He swallowed. "Tara…"

A light lit up her eyes. "Finally."

Ronin stood, rooted to the spot. She bridged the steps between them in his stead; put her hands onto his chest.

"Did it really take you so long to notice it?" She asked softly.

Gazing down into her eyes, he was unable to say or do anything. Where her hands touched his chest plate, his skin underneath burned. Seeing his expression, she laughed. "Ronin, my best soldier and trusted general, the man who reads my thoughts and never failed me even once – and you really did not know?"

"Know what?" He asked, his voice hoarse. Her eyes were so dark they seemed black and he could not look away.

"That I love you, of course."

"Tara…"

"No." She leaned forward, placed a finger on his lips. Shivering, he closed his eyes. "Listen, Ronin. We've been together for almost our entire lives anyway. It won't change anything. You don't have to change. You will forever be my one trusted general, stiff, boring, without a smile. I love you, regardless."

Her smile was so bright it blotted out the dying sun. He kissed her hand which still was on his lips, and then, because she blushed, and because she was so beautiful, he kissed her, too.

viii.

It is a scenario he forgot to plan for.

He never even imagined she would die before him. He was the one who would have died before he let her die, after all.

ix.

"Ronin, what does the Silvermoon Clearing look like?"

Ronin kneeled down as to be on the young queen's height and felt his joint ache. Getting old, huh. Oh, how Tara would laugh at him. Silvermoon Clearing? Well, if this doesn't bring back memories. She'd looked even more fragile than usual in the light of the moon. Even more beautiful.

"Why do you ask, Mylady?"

The girl smiled; a wide, toothy smile. It was different from Tara's and still it managed to encompass in it the world and his heart in one single motion.

"I dreamed of it tonight. It looked soooo cool!"

"You did?" It made him smile: her open, honest face, the childish seriousness she carried like a second skin. She was so different, so unlike the girl he still remembered. "Then, there should be an excursion next full moon, don't you think?"

Her face, if possible, lit up even more. "Wow! Queen Tara went there often, too, didn't she? I want to visit all her favorite places!"

Ronin stood and put his hand on her soft hair. "You will, Mylady, one day."

"Promise?"

"I promise."

She ran off, whooping, calling out for her best friend.

"Seth! Seth! Ronin promised to go to Silvermoon Clearing with us! Wait until you see…"

Her voice dropped away slowly.

Ronin imagined Tara's smile. Ronin, Ronin, getting soft at your old age?

"It's your fault," he told her. "You made me soft."

I'm sorry, Ronin, he could still hear Nod's voice. The boy had sounded so shocked then, so utterly devastated, it had been no comparison to the emptiness he had felt right then. She was your… Yes, he had wanted to scream. Yes, say it, say it, what did you want to say? She was my what? Perhaps it would have helped. What was Tara to him? His childhood friend, his closest confidant, his first love, his queen, his only love? His soul mate? How could you describe the indescribable?

You always were soft. On the inside, despite your hard shell. My strong, gentle warrior.

"A softie, you mean. Thank you."

Bell-like laughter, and she blinked at him from the curtains of light that shone through the open roofs of her palace.

You're doing well, Ronin.

"But you're not here anymore."

It wasn't exactly true.

x.

She was everywhere.

The air carried her sweet scent, the wind sang with her voice. Sometimes he imagined he could taste her lips on his – soft, sweet, firm, just like everything she had been. He felt her touch when he rode the winds, when his bird glided through the currents. Her hand on his shoulder, the brush of her fingers against his hand. Tara was there, all around him, in the air and water and sunlight. On most of the days, it was enough.

What's with this glum face? Smile for me, Ronin, if you love me. And I know you do.

Ronin sighed quietly and leaned back against the stem of the lean birch tree that had once been a sapling.

Do you remember…

"Of course."

Ronin.

"Yes?"

Say it. You never said it before.

"Say what?"

You know what I mean, Ronin.

He'd never told her before. Suddenly, it was easy, as easy as breathing. He saw her face, her lips, her eyes and her smile. So alive, so beautiful.

"I love you."

Tara's laughter pearled through the evening air, clear as crystal.