Title: Choice
Fandom: Final
Fantasy IV
Characters:
Rosa.
Rated: K+
Notes: Written
for LJ community 30(undersore)fantasies
Becoming a white mage was not Rosa's first choice.
She bought an bow and several sets of Fabulian arrows from a merchant ship when she was thirteen, and after her daily etiquette lessons, she escaped into the forest to practice. After a year of practicing on makeshift targets on trees, she ventured further to practice on monsters. After two years of that, she approached General Bastiff and asked to join his army.
He looked down at her for a long time, his arms crossed over his barrel-shaped chest.
"I can shoot goblins between the eyes from thirty feet away, General," Rosa continued. "I know I could take care of myself in battle. No one would have to watch out for me. I wouldn't cause any trouble."
Bastiff heaved a sigh. "Archers are the lowliest of soldiers. Never more than peasants. You're a daughter of nobles, Rosa. You should be focused on finding a husband instead of spending time with soldiers." He put his hand on his shoulder. "If you give up now, I won't tell your parents what you've been doing."
On her way to her room, she broke her bow against the door frame.
---
Three years later, Rosa was sent into the infirmary to help heal the troops that had just returned. The general lay in one of the beds, already with two white mages flanking him while those with worse injuries lay in agony. One of the general's mages motioned for her to join them.
"Looks like you made the right decision," Bastiff said with a small smile.
She stood very still at the foot of his bed, staring down at him. "And it looks like your men would say i you /i made a wrong one. If you'll excuse me," she said as she walked away.
As she healed the bloodied stump of an amputee, she tried to remind herself of the good she had done and would do. That if she could not help in one way, she could help in another. Perhaps she was alive because she had not become a soldier.
But being a white mage would never be Rosa's first choice.