Perspective

He really didn't mean to take her in as a second student; it just sort of... happened.

But she was so curious about the world. Something about Eirika drove her to try to understand it, and to take it into her arms and love it. Her wish for the world was as pure as the smile on her face. And though it bothered him to realize it, her wish was more honest than his.

She treasured a different world, and before he knew it, she was showing him humanity through her broad and liberal lens. The time had come for the teacher to be taught.

-o.o-

Eirika sat beneath a tree with him that evening, enjoying the cool shade and dappled shadows. She was still and pleasant and relaxed. Ever the gentle princess, with her soft hair moving in the breeze and her expression betraying only serenity, she spoke to him quietly.

"I practiced Valega last night, Master Saleh. It was an eye-opening experience... I have never felt anything quite like it." She smiled graciously. "I want to thank you for teaching me."

"I taught nothing," he said flatly, studying the horizon. "Valega is a personal affair, like a prayer."

"Maybe I'm doing it wrong, but it was not that way for me. How can it belong to only one person when it involves the entire world?"

A faint breeze danced around the leaves of their tree, soon diving and playing in his hair. "...You have strange ideas about Valega."

She looked somewhat troubled. "But when I tried it, I had difficulty practicing alone. I couldn't see how a person could contemplate human kind among flowers and trees and rivers."

The wise Master Saleh felt uncomfortable. That's always how he always did it.

"You are supposed to reflect on the world around you, and from knowing the immensity of life and creation, you balance your wishes with a better future. I find it hard to grasp the human heart when I'm not around people." She studied her hands, trying so desperately to cradle that world in those wounded fingertips. She could pray for peace when her brother was near, because she knew of the roughness in his heart; she could pray for strength in anindividual when Seth was by her side, because he was so thoughtlessly unselfish; and she could pray for forgiveness around Tana, because her proud brother was a frustration.

In order to understand humankind, one must understand the human. Eirika, with her gentle nature, had the ability to empathize with any soul.

Silently Saleh stared at Eirika.

She had profound eyes. This girl could comprehend people.

He looked away then, shaken and ashamed. He had been doing it wrong. Thinking of the earth, his anima magic, the wildlife. He would just pick and choose what to pray for; that wasn't a true wish.

She practiced in the company of others, looking into hearts and minds, reaching out to the world, understanding its pain, and healing. She seemed to be saying, I can love you, and you can love me, but it's another thing for you and I to love them, which is exactly what we must do.

That was Valega. And Saleh — detached companion, recluse, and unyielding teacher — lacked that basic connection.

"So," said the jaded sage remotely, "It is all a matter of perspective."

The End.

I think that at heart, Eirika is a humanist. This especially comes out in her B support with Ephraim, when he's like, "YARGH! War! Listen to the cries of battle!" and she's like, "Oh noes... I understand you, but do be careful and fight for the right reasons." Silly girl. I think she's too nice for her own good and it will become a great weakness one day. Hehehe.

Also, I was reading Saleh's comments about Valega in his supports, and I think that he isn't capable of "knowing the vastness of creation around him" because he's such a loner. So I wrote this story to (attempt to) show two different views. Besides, I like the idea of Valega.