Disclaimer: I do not own Bravely Defualt

So for those of you who don't really get what's going on here I highly advise that you finish the game, enjoy :)

"You're a boy why don't you stand up and act like one?"

I remember the first time I met her, this girl that starred down at me with her hands on her hips and a puffy look on her face. She wasn't amused by my presence and she didn't seem too happy to see me despite the fact that I had introduced myself as a loyal bodyguard in training. Granted I was very young when I did this.

I was very young when the little girl called "Edea Lee" put her foot on my forehead and gave me a shove, I feel backwards that day, all the way down the stairs leading to where her father and mother sits. I fell hard, each step hitting my back and sending ripples of pain throughout my entire body, I could have seriously gotten hurt.

When I finally hit the bottom I was absolutely livid. This was the girl that I would spend my entire life devoted to protected, this she beast who had just kicked me in the face because I was doing my duty by kneeling to her snotty feet.

"You brat!" I remember leaping up onto my feet and throwing myself up those steps she had just kicked me down. I threw myself at her and took a handful of her bleach blond wispy hair. Down we went in a flurry of limps and bickering. I ripped her a new one, we struggled and fought like savages. Biting, punching, scratching, and kicking.

We did it all until we were out of breath and panting on the floor next to each other. I couldn't believe what I had done, this was the girl that I had sworn to protect and yet here I had made her my enemy. This child who dared to put her feet on me.

"Ringabel was it?"

"Yes."

"Now that's more like."

And that's how I met Edea Lee.

"HEEEE-YAH!" The blunt of her force hit me like a brick wall. I had to brace myself as she leapt back from my block and ran at me again for a relentless assault. She was a flurry of fierce and hard hits that had me completely on the offensive.

This is what we did every day, we would practice and fight one another. Most days we were evenly matched but on other days I would get her due to her impatient nature. In all honesty, I wouldn't want to actually fight her on the battle field.

She's a fierce and wicked opponent.

"Ringabel." She whines when she's on the ground with my sword tip pressed against her pale white skin. I both love and hate seeing her like this. I hate thinking that someday another man's sword will be pressed against her skin and he won't hesitate to spill her precious red blood.

I love seeing her submit to me though. She's like a powerful cat, her body so well-toned and yet her face so beautiful. One moment she could charm you and the next moment she could slay you. Not only is she a fierce warrior, she's also a lovely conversationalist.

And that look, so precious, the way she tips her chin just so as if to defy me. She's telling me to do it, she wants to see if I have the guts to draw any amount of blood on her.

She knows that I could never do such a thing and it isn't merely because I'm sworn to protect her.

It's because she fascinates me to no end.

And that day came, all too soon. The night that I had been patrolling the hall like I always do, it had been a silent night like all nights were. I've never met anyone foolish enough to sneak into the Grand Marshal's castle.

Until that night.

As I neared Edea's room my heart sped up, it wasn't an unusual thing for of course I was excited to see the sleeping beauty. I've always made it a habit to check on her before going on with my way, the first time I had been so nervous and I was right to.

She had thrown a dagger at me thinking that I was some kind of intruder.

But that night, I had opened the door and seen it, the window ajar and a cloaked figure leering above her sleeping figure. He hadn't noticed me yet and I didn't give him the time to before I threw open the raced after him. By the time my fist hit his face with a deadly crack, his dagger had been drawn and ready.

His intentions were to kill Edea.

What a mistake this man made.

I beat him; oh did I ever beat this piece of trash until I was out of breath. I continuously threw punches at him, throwing my knees onto his elbows so that he couldn't defend himself. There was nothing he could do except for take my rage straight to his cloaked face.

And I would have killed him, if Edea had grabbed me around my shoulders and hauled me off of him, I managed to give his body a good kick before her screaming snapped me back into reality.

All I had seen was red.

"STOP, STOP IT RINGABEL HE'S DOWN!"

"Edea!" I snarled, I couldn't believe that she was trying to hold me back. This piece of shit was going to die if it's the last thing that I did.

Or at least, those were my thoughts until Edea hit the floor from my elbow hitting her shoulder. That was it for me, that's what made me come back to Earth and realize what a mess I was.

Here was a man who couldn't even move aside from basic hand twitches because I had beaten him that badly, and here was the girl I had sworn to protect with my life: on the floor because I had hurt her.

No, nothing was right about this picture.

I fell to my knees and that night and nearly cried for her. I could never hurt her; I could never betray her like this again. There was no way if she ever forgave me that I could continue to serve her like I use to.

"It's okay Ringabel." Her strong arms wrapped around me, her hair tickled the back of my neck as she buried her face into me and held me tight. It was her comforting me, and that didn't sit quite right with me.

"Edea…" I grabbed her arms and squeezed her until I couldn't breathe because her arms were strangling me, but I didn't care because here was the girl that I loved, comforting me. The girl that I had sworn to protect was here protecting me from myself of all people.

How messed up is that?

From the moment she entered the room I was captivated as were several others, it couldn't have been our fault, somewhere somehow this angel had fallen right on these stairs. Like a princess that we all knew she wasn't, the frisky blond came down the stairs in a flowing motion. Like a flower opening it's petals, her dress flared out around her in puffs of fabric and beauty.

Not like it really mattered to me, for everyday and every moment that I got to see her was as equally beautiful as this moment.

"Dance with me Ringabel!" She didn't even wait for me to respond, just stepped into my personal space and dragged me out onto the floor. People moved for us, the bodyguard and the princess. I clearly didn't have the status to be dancing with the grand marshal's beloved daughter and yet here I was.

My eyes were on her the entire time, to her beautiful eyes down to the very curve of her exposed collar bone. I couldn't imagine her being anywhere else except for her in my arms.

And that's when I stepped on her, distracted by her beauty of course.

"You're lucky that your swordsmanship is better than your dancing." Her giggles send shivers down my spine. In seconds she places my hand on her shoulder and takes the lead in the dance. I may not be able to dance like her but at least I can protect her, or at least that's what I told myself as we spun across the dance floor together.

"You look…lovely." I nearly choke on my own words. Normally I'm not so bold with her unless it's about her combat style. Her face loses all of its confidence and turns a color that I'm not use to, a bright cherry red. It's cute, I want to squeeze her cheeks but I can't for she looks down at her feet as if concentrating really hard on the dancing.

"Well…of course I do," She mumbles. "I wanted to dance with you…I had to look this part."

She could have come to me dressed in tattered rags and I would have gladly taken her into my arms but alas I couldn't tell her this.

After all, I am just her bodyguard.

Thank you so much for reading.