Finding Fate
Author: OceanOfHell
Rating: R
Summary: What happened if Terra had not joined the party after the statues destroyed the world of balance? Would a relationship ever develop between her and her handsome prince? (most definitely a lemon, but not enough to make it rated NC-17).
r & r please
Prologue ~ Beginnings (Terra)
All she could remember was darkness. After the balance of the statues had been broken, the Returners were torn apart, along with their airship. Her body had washed up on the beach, she was barely alive, but yet she lived.
Duane and Katarin found her battered body. The couple had been trying to take care of a small band of children, but they were fighting a losing battle. One of the children came running over to Katarin crying about how she had discovered a sand monster. She and Duane rushed to Terra's side to find that it was human. The brown-haired man bent over to pick up the small body to take it back to Mobliz.
As they reached the town, they called off the dogs and hurried to their home. He placed her into a tub in the room that he shared with Katarin. Leaving Katarin to take care of Terra, he went back to the surface to retrieve water to clean her body.
He left the bucket outside of the room and tapped on the door to let Katarin know that he had water to clean her with. Her blue eyes were filled with fear as she quickly took the water back in the room and shut the door. Katarin had not yet removed the girl's clothes, but placed the water onto the fire to warm it. She took the clothes off the sand-encrusted girl and poured the warm water over her bruised body. Once her body was cleansed, it revealed that she had not sustained a lot of damage, just bruises all over her body. Wrapping her in some extra clothes that she had, Katarin gently picked up the small, frail body and carried it over to the bed. Making sure she was covered and warm, she returned to the tub and started washing the clothes, which had, amazingly, suffered no damage, other than being waterlogged.
For the next couple days, Duane and Katarin took turns keeping a vigil on the resting woman. Duane was resting with Katarin in his arms next to the fire when the sea green eyes opened up to the world for the first time in awhile. They blinked in confusion as she gently sat up in bed. Katarin, who had grown aware of the movement in the bed in front of them before Duane did, jumped up out of his arms and flew to the bed.
"Are you okay?" Katarin breathed.
Terra nodded. "I… I think."
Duane had forced himself off the floor and over to the bed. "We found you on the beach… well, actually, the children did. It looked like you took quite a beating."
Her eyes spread wide in recognition. "My friends! Edgar! The airship…" she trailed off.
Katarin sat on the bed and hugged the shaking woman. "It's okay, you're safe. I'm sorry, but you were the only person that we found."
"Terra," she stated flatly.
Duane and Katarin looked at her quizzically. "Who's Terra?"
"My name. M..me."
Katarin smiled, "I'm Katarin, and this is Duane."
Duane picked up the folded pile of clothes on the floor next to the bed and handed them to Terra. "Here, we kept these in case you wanted them. They're still in good condition."
Terra forced a smile and pulled the clothes out of his hands and held them to her protectively. Silently, Duane and Katarin stole out of the room so that Terra could dress in peace. She pulled on her shirt, pants and boots, almost expecting to pull a weapon off of the belt wrapped around her thin waist to go fighting again.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Weeks passed before Terra ever really got the hang of taking care of the children. They loved her, and she loved them in return. The little children knew that she would protect them from anything, she would give her life so that they would be safe.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Terra had grown to become the 'mother' of everybody who had survived the destruction. At night she would read to the children, and make sure they were all tucked in safely in the beds. She even grew to be a mentor of Duane and Katarin, they young couple did not know much about being in the real world, and Terra helped them cope with the children.
When she was alone, she would reflect on her past. When she was under the power of the slave crown, she was only able to remember her name. Now, horrible memories of what Kefka and Emperor Gestahl did came flushing back into her head. However the memories of her friends quickly overtook the pain she felt and she would silently become depressed because that was all that it was: memories.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
The destruction of the world of balance had released a giant green creature named Phunbaba. The first time that he visited, Terra quickly destroyed him, sending him running away with his tail between his legs. However, never having seen this monster before, she did not know that a near-death experience for him increased his power and he would revisit the little town, each time a little stronger.
The next last time that he visited, Celes and Sabin had shown up on the doorstep hoping that Terra was willing to come with them and defeat Kefka once and for all. This time, Terra was bound and determined to destroy this annoying beast, but fate had it in for her this time. Phunbaba's last defeat had given him a new strength: he was able to protect himself from Terra's spells, which was all that she had. She was quickly crushed and her two friends came running to the rescue, sending Phunbaba running.
She was devastated by her loss and refused to join her friends in their battle claiming that she could not fight anymore.
*AN: That was a quick overview of what happened once the Airship had been destroyed, the next chapter is the same way, except for the other half of our couple: Edgar.
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