A/N: I know, not accepting women and all that is pretty clichéd. But hey, I really wanted to write a TerrAqua. Expect another TerrAqua from me, though this one will be in an AU a lot like modern earth.
By the by, this is my first even slightly romantic story. Go easy on me, k'? Enjoy.
Aqua knew one thing about her parentage. She could remember being told it by her grandfather when she was five, sitting on his withered knee.
"Aqua," he had petted her long blue hair. She had not cut it once, ever, and it fell like a blue river around her shoulders "Aqua... you're a clever girl. You've noticed you and Kairi are a little... different the some other children."
"Yeh!" Little Aqua chirped "They have mommies and daddies and we have you guys."
"Very true. Do you know why?"
"...No." Aqua admitted.
"Hm. Well, you see my wife and I, we had one child." Grandpa said.
Aqua knew this part "Kairi's mommie!"
"Good." Grandpa glanced over to the crib in with the tiny infant slept, peacefully for the moment. "Kairi's mother died bringing her into this world."
He didn't need to elaborate. Aqua had seen births. Grandma had experience as a midwife and sometimes women were brought to her to have their children. Aqua had watched once or twice from a safe distance.
Aqua had also seen deaths. A couple years ago, a man was brought back from a hunting trip gored by a bore. There had been a lot of blood, and Aqua had watched the man, who she had seen walking and breathing yesterday, just stop, despite the doctor's best efforts
Grandpa continued "Her father left her mother when he realized she was going to have Kairi. It was a terrible thing, one we can never forgive. That is why she has no mommie or daddie"
Aqua nodded gravely.
"Now, your parents... family friends. We had known one as a child of this village for a very long time. When they went off the join the guard- well! We were so proud. At the castle, there was a visiting diplomat, the second child of the king, who, being second, was not destined to have the throne. There, they fell in love and got married in secret, publicity you understand. Well, maybe you don't, but still.
"Eventually, they had you. Only a few months after your birth, the castle was attacked. They fought off the invaders eventually, but your parents were among the casualties. You were alone. Eventually, one of the guards recognized you and sent you to us."
"So... I'm a princess?" Aqua hazarded
"Not really," said her Grandpa. "Your parents got married in secret."
"Oh," Aqua looked crestfallen.
"But are to me." He hugged her.
"One day, I'm gonna grow up to be just like my parents." Aqua swore silently as she smiled up at her grandfather.
Now, ten years later she was for filling the promise.
Bag? Check.
Change of clothes? Check.
Knife? Check.
Food? Check.
Munny? Check.
Papers? Check.
Aqua took a deep breath and turned to the mirror. Her long blue hair reached the back of her knees, even done up by her sister in a tight braid and she was wearing a long black dress with a blue under dress showing through precisely cut holes.
It was new and itchy and Aqua hated it. Why couldn't she wear trousers like the boys? It would be much less... problematic.
But it wouldn't matter, not where she was going.
"Aqua honey! Your porridge is getting cold!"
"I know grandmum!"
Why was grandma letting her do this? It was illegal, punishable by imprisonment or death. It was... crazy!
But she had sworn, sworn to herself to follow in her parents footsteps, and a diplomat was out of the question
She was going to become a guard.
The breakfast table was very quiet. Even Kairi grasped how much gravity this event had.
After Aqua finished with her lumpy porridge (she could tell Grandma was trying to thin it out, just for her) she scrubbed the wooden bowl in the sink and, still silent, went upstairs to grab her packed bag.
When she came back down, the table cleared had been away but Grandma and Kairi were still sitting there.
A pang of guilt twanged in Aqua's stomach. She felt kind of bad about leaving 80 year old grandma with 10 year old Kairi, but with grandpa's death last year, there were no more wages coming in. They needed someone to support them, and that would be Aqua.
"Well," she said awkwardly. Aqua was bad at long goodbyes.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Grandma.
"Yes," despite everything she was leaving Aqua had never been so sure in her life. There were footsteps in the sand, and she was going to see where they led.
"Good," her Grandmother smiled "With determination like that, you'll become captain."
Aqua smiled too, but it was quickly wiped off her face with a sniffle for Kairi. "Why'd you have to go?" She bawled, and hugged Aqua.
Aqua hugged her back. The girl wasn't her sister, but she felt like she was. "First we're running out of money. I know you know that. Second, I want to follow in my father's footsteps. I want to be a guard."
"But women aren't allowed in the guards."
"I know."
She let go of Kairi and wiped away a tear. "I'd better get a head start if I want to get there by afternoon. Expect you first payment in a week. I love you all and hope to see you again"
"Not in the gallows," added her Grandmother
With a final smile, Aqua turned and left without a backwards glance.
Aqua glanced up at the sun. It was right at its zenith. Noon.
She was making good time. The castle would be there just when she made way over- oh my.
Aqua had stopped in the middle of the road, heedless of the traffic behind her. It was the first time she had seen the castle.
It was... big. Really big. The whole castle was made of some sort of purple porcelain-like stone with darker roofs, accented in gold and red. Huge spires brushed the sky and the massive gold drawbridge was down, connected to the towering wall with gargantuan gold chains. Beyond the drawbridge, a there was a huge waiting area where permits were checked, carts searched and people let into the city itself.
Aqua gulped. She was going to have to get through there before she could go to the guards barracks. Steeling herself, Aqua walked forward.
It was a short way to the drawbridge and Aqua went with the flow of the crowd. She was good at it, she realized, as they funneled over the bridge and under the golden arch.
Then everything slowed down. The huge purgatory, as Aqua had come to see it, was filled with bustling people, rattling carts, and stinking animals.
On the wall directly in front of her, there were six doorways, two huge ones in the center for carts and animals and two smaller ones on each side of people. Each small door was manned by two guards and the big ones were manned by four. Three doors seemed to be three "in" doors and three the "out." All the 'in' had huge line behind them.
Making a quick decision, Aqua got into the shortest line, the far left one, pulled her papers out of her backpack and waited nervously.
Almost 15 minutes had gone by before she finally reached the gate. By that time, Aqua was drenched in nervous sweat and her braid was coming undone, but she still managed to glare at the two pike-wielding guards whom she handed her paper too. One of them was not wearing his helmet in an I'm-too-cool-to-wear-my-helmet-cause-it'll-mess-up-my-fasonably-spikey-hair kinda way. Besides the standard issue pike, huge sword broadsword was strapped to his back. He gave Aqua a cocky smile before handing the paper to the other guard, who was wearing his helmet.
"Chaperone?" asked the helmetless guard.
"What?" answered Aqua.
"Ch-ap-er-one," he said, slowly, as if to a child "like, a man that's with you."
"I-" she was unaware she needed a chaperone. This was bad. "He's inside."
"Uh-huh. Haven't heard that one before."
"He is!" Aqua insisted, clinging to her lie.
"Sorry miss. Can't let you in because you haven't got a chaperone. I know it's dumb, but it's the rules."
"But-"
"Ma'am, I-"
"Let her in Zack," said the helmeted guard.
"What?" said Aqua and Zack together.
"I said let her in," the helmeted guard had a nice voice.
"Th- thank you," Aqua stuttered.
"Don't make me regret it," he handed her papers back to her.
"I won't," -comrade, she mentally added as she stepped through the doorway.
Glancing back at the helmeted guard, she noticed that beside the pike, he had a very strange sword strapped to his belt. The hilt was circular and the sheath betrayed a much wider blade then the sliver of earthen red blade poking out between the guard and the top of the sheath actually was. And was that... a chain attached to the hilt?
Aqua had no more time to observe it, because she was whisked away in the crowd.
Aqua was lost. There was no point in denying it. She has been walking around for hours, her feet were tired, and the sun was setting.
Aqua rounded the next corner and let out a groan. In front of her was the drawbridge, beginning to close for the night.
Biting her lip, Aqua sat down on the nearest available seat, the edge of a fountain. Running water helped her think better, she had found.
Twisting her braid so it wouldn't get wet, Aqua glanced to her right and saw a plaque reading;
To the heroes of the Unversed wars, may they rest in peace.
The Unversed wars. That was when her parents died. Aqua glanced up at the monument. There was a man in front, posed dynamically with his hand on the hilt of a sword, ready to pull it from its sheath. The hilt... it looked a lot like the hilt of the helmeted guard's sword. Was that just a popular fashion here?
Behind the man was a woman holding a baby. There was a small fountain on the top of her head that was posed just so that it made her long hair look like a rippling curtain of water.
Aqua squinted. The hand that was not holding the baby was hidden in her skirt but... was it holding a dagger? No, no woman holding a weapon would be put in the town square. It was just a trick of the light. But still, a master sculptor...
Aqua tore her eyes away from the statue just in time to see the pair of guards who had "welcomed" her to the city closing up their gate. Zack, the unhelmeted one, was complaining to the helmeted guard who, was shaking his head.
In the dispersing crowd, Aqua could just make out the words.
"Man, I hate gate duty," said Zack
"What are you going to do about it?" asked Helmet Head "Complain to Eraqus?"
"No! He'll assign me to sewer duty! I'm complaining to you."
"Pfft." The helmeted guard reached up and clicked the claps on his helmet. "What am I supposed to do about it?"
He took off his helmet. Messy, brown, shoulder length hair sprung into being and cobalt blue eyes rolled sarcastically.
Aqua was presently surprised.
"You should cut your hair," instructed Zack
"You're telling me?" He laughed, and punched his friend playfully in the shoulder. Then he saw Aqua and the smile slowly faded from his face.
"What?" Asked Zack then saw where his friend was looking "Oh."
They turned away and there was a whispered conversation. Thirty seconds later, Zack spun the other man around and forced him towards Aqua. He approached nervously.
"Umm... Ma'am. I... um... have to ask if you've met your chaperone yet?"
Aqua looked up at the man. He was... handsome, tan and muscular. The expression on his serious face was worried. Worried about her?
"Eh..." Aqua came back to reality. Maybe the truth was best. Or part of the truth. "I'm kinda lost."
"We can point you to any part of the city." He said helpfully.
"Really? Ok, I was looking for the guards barracks."
"What?" He chocked. Ok, she had come on too strong.
"My chaperone is a guard!" She said quickly. "He wanted to meet me there."
The man calmed down somewhat. "Ok. Actually, my friend and I were heading there now. Care to come with us?"
"Sure," Aqua stood and hefted her pack. "Less likely to get lost."
"Zack!" The man shouted "Come on!" He turned back to Aqua."I'm sorry, Ma'am, I didn't catch your name."
"Aqua."
"Terra. Shall we go?"
They set off.
The guard house was not as impressive as Aqua had believed. Actually, it was a tiny door in the palace wall which led to a long, low ceilinged room filled with bunk beds, few of which were occupied. On the other end of the room there was a staircase up, to the interior of the castle and down to the sewers, assumedly.
"Now, where is he?" Asked Zack.
"Coming?" Hazarded Aqua.
The boys looked at each other 'bad idea' mouthed Terra. Zack nodded.
"I- um" Aqua grasped for something to save her. With relief, she noticed a small door in the left wall. "In here?" She headed over to it.
"Hold on, that's-" Terra held up a hand to stop her, but it was too late. Aqua had already gone through the door.
Inside was a small, sparsely furnished room, with a section in the protected by a curtain, lit only by a few candles on a huge wooden desk in the middle of the room, full of haphazard piles of paper. Behind the desk was a middle aged man with black hair tied back in a pony tail, a mustache, goatee, and multiple scars cutting through his face. His steely grey eyes were hard, yet kind as well.
He looked up from his paperwork "Hello?"
"Erm... hello?" Aqua replied.
"May I ask who you are?"
"Aqua, sir." She saw the man had multiple metals attached to the breastplate of his armor. A high ranking officer? No, the highest, taking into account the personal office.
His brow furrowed "Aqua? Did I know y-"
"Sir, are you commander of the Guard?" She interrupted him.
"Yes, Commander Eraqus is my name. Why?"
Aqua took a deep breath, closed her eyes and said, all at once "SirIwanttojointhegaurd!"
The room was silent as the Commander stared at her
"Aqua. You must be aware there are no women allowed in the guard."
"I know sir." She hung her head. Why had she done that? It was so dumb. She should have waited, prepared, gone in disguise-
"You shall have to something about the hair then."
Her head snapped up "What?"
"Your hair. You'll have to cut it." He was smiling, his eyes sparkling. "And you'll have to do something about... the rest of you you." He gestured "and find a pair of trousers."
"You mean... you're letting me in the guard?"
He nodded. Aqua was lost for words.
"One more thing. Boys?"
There was a, un-manly squeak being the door, which opened to revel a very sheepish Zack and Terra. "Sir?"
"Get this girl some armor in her size, some trousers, a shirt, and a strip of cloth about... yea wide?" He held up his hands. "Oh, and say hello to your new comrade."
Aqua was still in shock.
She had done it. She had walked in the footsteps and joined the guard. And it had been so easy...
"Aqua." Eraqus's voice interrupted her thoughts. "Come with me." When he stood, Aqua noticed his sword had the same round hilt with the chain attached as Terra and the statue at the fountain. Ignoring this for now, she followed him dumbly to the back of the room, behind the curtained off section. It was a small living space, with bed, dresser, and wash table, complete with mirror.
"I'm going to go now. Cut your hair, and I'll come back when Terra and Zack have your clothes." He patted her on the shoulder before he left. "Welcome to the guard."
Aqua stared at the table's mirror. Most of her hair had fallen loose for the braid and the dust on the bottom made it look like a waterfall. She loosed the rest of the hair and glared at herself in the mirror. She looked so girly. That was going to have to change. Aqua had thought she was going to have time to prepare, time to study and learn.
Oh well.
Aqua reached into her pack and brought out her knife. Technically, it was illegal for women to carry weapons unless in times of total war. But she wasn't a woman anymore.
Aqua gathered up all her hair low behind her head and laid the knife to it.
The saddest thing was: she wasn't sad at all.
In fact, Aqua was grinning.
Snip.
A/N: So, boys and girls what say you? You like? You no like? Should I keep writing? Also, if you came here looking for TerrAqua, that will come later.
Also I would me VERY APERECIATIVE if someone could think of a male name for Aqua. I suck at that stuff.
R&R!
