Growing up

by Chiharu Tanaka

Here's a short drabble for Tales of Graces. Enjoy.

Sophie Lhant sat on the windowsill of her lovingly decorated bedroom on the second floor of the Lhant Manor, a soft sigh coming from her mouth. It had been a few months since the end of their Fodran adventure, and now everything was peaceful again - as it should be. Now in an adult form bestowed to her by Little Queen, she resumed her daily life in Lhant as usual - albeit the curious stares and the countless explanations by Asbel.

She had changed slightly after growing a few inches here and there. Firstly, her bedroom of which was previously decorated with pink wallpaper and stuffed toys everywhere (which reminded her of her little friend Lara) was toned down slightly - she had the wallpaper changed to a cream colour and only a few of Lara's toys remained on her cabinet. There was even a dressing table now, and all her comforters, pillows and cushions were changed to fit her new bedroom; mostly because of Cheria's newly-discovered passion of interior designing.

Secondly, she no longer wore her hair in pigtails. She had been wearing them that way for the past thousand years or so, and now that she looked more like an adult, she decided that she should dress like one as well. Asbel nearly cried his eyes out when Cheria returned with the bill after a shopping spree in Barona for new dresses (among other things) for Sophie to wear. She once suggested cutting her hair short like Pascal, but it only resulted from a panicked 'No!' from Cheria, who loved brushing her long hair every morning.

Thirdly, she had been rummaging through the library a lot in addition to her usual gardening. Her sense of curiosity had somewhat boomed thanks to her extra few inches, and Asbel felt like he's being bombarded with even more questions than before. This time, with questions even he didn't have the answer to - such as, "Asbel, why is the sky blue and not any other colour?" or the dreaded "Asbel, where do babies come from?". He answered her with the stork story, but when she remembered how Fermat's baby Sophia was born, he was tongue-tied and sent her away from his office with an excuse of "I've got a lot of paperwork to do."

However, when the choice of books in the manor library became too small for her, she began venturing out to Barona by herself. At first, Asbel was unhappy with this, but Cheria convinced him that she was a grown-up girl and that she could take care of herself. He made her promise to not venture into dark alleys and the like, even though it was pretty obvious that Sophie could take down five men with her hands tied behind her back.

In Barona, she would visit the common library at first, but it was too crowded and noisy so she tried going to the castle. Richard welcomed her with open arms, and she was free to use his library as she saw fit. She was there almost every day, pouring over books on literature, geography, science and even politics. Whenever Richard had the time, he would be in the library with her, reviewing his paperwork while answering Sophie's list of never-ending questions about the things she read. She enjoyed his company greatly, and Asbel was getting upset if Sophie preferred Richard over him. She assured him that this wasn't true - that she loved all her companions dearly.

Back at the windowsill, Sophie wondered if something else was changing inside her now that she was 'grown up'. Physically she felt as she did before - Fourier did some tests on her and told her and Cheria that she would not be having monthly 'periods' like other women - to which Sophie understood made Cheria very, very irritable when she gets it. But now, her heart was beating quickly as she out the window, to where Asbel and Richard were talking at the gardens.

"Sophie, lunch is ready," Cheria informed, as she opened the door to Sophie's bedroom.

"Mm," was Sophie's response.

Cheria, having lived with the girl for more than a year could sense that something was wrong. She tentatively approached the girl - who appeared her age, truth be told. "Sophie? Is something the matter?"

Sophie looked like she had just been snapped out of a daze, before turning to Cheria with her full attention. "I'm sorry, Cheria. Did you say something?"

"I said lunch was ready…" Cheria trailed off, before taking a seat next to her. "You've been looking awfully distracted lately," she said, a hand on Sophie's shoulder. "Is something wrong? You know you can always talk to me."

"It's not really a problem," Sophie confessed. "I…I have a question."

Cheria blinked a few times. It had been some time since Sophie had a serious question for her - ever since she had her daily trips to Barona, she and Asbel had been relieved from her curiosity. "Go on," she coaxed.

"I have this feeling, in my heart. It's uncomfortable, but comfortable at the same time. My heart is beating like crazy, like I'm about to go into battle; but it's not the same kind of feeling like when I'm facing Lambda. Because of that, I don't even feel like eating crablettes anymore. What's happening to me?"

Cheria's initial reaction to her question was one of surprise, worry even, because at first she thought some kind of medical problem had affected Sophie. But after a second thought, she suspected something far more benign was at hand. "I'm not sure yet, but can you tell me if you were…I don't know, looking at someone or thinking of someone when you get these feelings?"

Sophie looked up at the ceiling, pondering for a moment. "Yes," she answered. "I was thinking of Richard."

Cheria was already fighting her impulse to squeal, keeping her excitement behind a wide smile. "Sophie, I know exactly what's wrong with you."

"You do? What is it? Is it bad?"

"No, not at all! It's wonderful, Sophie - you have a crush on Richard!"

"A crush?" Now Sophie was confused. "Why would I want to crush Richard?"

Cheria shook her head. "No! That's not what I mean. I meant that you like Richard."

"Oh," she said. "But I like you and Asbel, and Pascal, and Hubert and Captain Malik. Does that mean I have a crush on all of you?"

"Oh dear, no," said Cheria, stroking her hair lightly. "When I say you have a crush on Richard, that means you like him a lot…probably the same way I like Asbel."

Sophie looked at her, and as understanding came, her cheeks flushed pink right to the tips of her ears. "You mean…"

Cheria was already at her threshold - she could contain it no longer. Wrapping her arms around Sophie, she gave an excited squeal of delight, and buried Sophie's head in her chest. "Oh Sophie, I didn't think you'd get any more adorable than this! Your first crush! You're growing up so fast!"

Sophie mumbled a reply, but it was incoherent as she was muffled against Cheria's dress. Cheria finally let go of her and she took in a deep breath. "You mustn't tell Asbel about this."

"Why?"

"Because!" Cheria almost yelled. "Because you don't tell your father about these things. These are girl topics."

"Oh…okay."

Cheria turned to the window and saw Asbel and Richard, still chatting animatedly like the best friends they were. A warm smile grew on her face, and the feeling of nostalgia came over her. "It's a secret, just between us, okay?" she said, extending her pinky finger.

"Okay," said Sophie, entwining her pinky with Cheria's and giving a firm shake.

"Great. Now let's go down to lunch. Richard will be joining us today!"

Sophie's face turned red again, and Cheria only laughed as she pulled the slightly reluctant girl out of her room. She was growing up indeed, but she had so much more to learn about the sweet things life had to offer.

My fingers are frozen because the library's AC is set to ARTIC. Hope you enjoyed it - the idea won't leave me alone. This is especially dedicated to maizy, who influenced us all with her wonderful Richard/Sophie fics.

And yes, I read this is Sophie's voice too.