Chapter 1

"Good, Beatrix! Excellent!"

Four year old Beatrix smiled as her wooden sword clashed against her brother's. Her older brother Daniel talked to her.

"Good! Yes, you've got it!"

Beatrix kept parrying, her chestnut curls bouncing behind her. Her dress was all dirty and torn, but she didn't care. She kept parrying, grinning as she finally conquered her brother.

"Gotcha! Surrender at once!" she called, as he kneeled down at her tiny feet.

"You have defeated me again, Lady Beatrix! You truly are a great swordswoman."

Beatrix smiled a huge grin that practically filled up her round little face.

A call of "Daniel! Beatrix!" from a distance interrupted the siblings' interactions.

Daniel got back up from the ground.

"Come on Beatrix, let's get back home."

Beatrix looked up at him.

"Can I have a piggy-back ride?"

He grinned, laughing as her eyes made the "puppy dog look".

"Sure."

He picked her up again and placed her on his strong shoulders. She wrapped her tiny arms around his neck, and together, they went back home.

When the brother and sister reached their house, their mother Eleanor and nanny Louise were waiting for them.

"Where were you two? You've been gone for hours! I thought you had been taken by soldiers. And Beatrix, what happened to your dress?"

Their mother glanced at Daniel, who held the two wooden swords in his hands, then turned to Beatrix.

"Have you been sword-fighting again? Beatrix, a young lady does not fight with swords!"

Beatrix wanted to say something, but she knew better than to argue with her mother right now. Eleanor turned again, this time to glare at her son.

"Daniel, you're supposed to help Beatrix become a young lady, not some rugged commoner. Now you two go and get cleaned. Dinner is ready."

Daniel went off on his own to get ready, while Louise left to help Beatrix.

A few minutes later, Daniel and Beatrix came out, clean and tidy. They walked carefully to the dinner table, where their parents were already seated. They sat down quietly, just as they were taught. Some servants came out and brought them their food, and then they left again. Now, it was only the four of them: Charles, the father, a wealthy noble who owned the knight's arena in Treno; Eleanor, the mother, the lady and strict imposer of manners; Daniel, eighteen years old, who was training to be a knight; and Beatrix, four years old, who was in training for becoming a young lady. As dinner went on in small talk, Daniel finally decided to break the silence.

"Father…"

"Yes, what is it, my son?" his father replied.

"I'm…I've been drafted into the army."

Silence fell over the entire table. Daniel's father breathed in heavily, his silverware threatening to fall from his hand onto his plate.

"No, no. I cannot lose another child" Eleanor cried, as she placed a hand over her open mouth.

Daniel spoke, "There is nothing I can do. They want me to report to the general as soon as possible. I am sorry."

Beatrix was lost in all of the commotion. All that she could understand was that her brother was leaving, and that it made her mother upset. She stared down at her plate of food, all of a sudden not feeling hungry.

That night, after dinner, Daniel sat down with Beatrix.

"Beatrix?"

She looked up with her brown eyes into his.

"Yes, brother?"

Daniel hugged his little sister.

"I am going to be leaving soon, and I do not know if I will come back. You are so gifted with a sword and have learned so much from what little I have taught you, and that makes me proud".

Beatrix felt tears start to well up in her eyes, and she could see that there was some sadness in her brother's eyes.

"I don't want you to leave, Danny".

"I don't want to leave any of you behind. But I have to, Bea. But can you promise me something?"

"Yes…"

"Promise me that when you become a knight, that you protect and fight for the right cause".

He held out his pinky finger to her. They both knew the importance of a "pinky promise" and that this was a serious moment. She held out her much smaller pinky and joined it with his, and she started to cry as she blubbered out a promise.

"I promise, Danny. I'll be the strongest and bravest knight ever"

They both could not stop the tears from falling as he held her in a hug. She tightened her grip around his neck as he gently stroked her hair. After a few minutes, she fell asleep, exhausted from all the crying and hugging of her brother. Daniel placed a soft kiss on his sister's forehead, and then placed her in her bed. As he left her room, he could not get rid of the feeling that was forming….the fact that he might not see his beloved sister ever again.

A FEW MONTHS LATER

Five year old Beatrix fought alone. In the secret area of her home in Treno where she used to duel with her brother, she swung her sword alone. She had improved upon what her brother taught her in a few short lessons, and she was becoming better and better every day. But nobody in Treno fought with swords or weapons, only with words. Every day, her mother strived to make Beatrix into a proper woman, even though she was only five years old. Her father told her to follow in her mother's footsteps and to be well-mannered. However, during the night, Beatrix would go to the secret room and train against her shadow. Every night, she wished that her brother would come home from the war and fight with her again.

"He's going to come home, I know it", she whispered to herself.

She kept a smile on her face as she kept practicing.

Over the next few weeks and months, Beatrix waited for any sign of her brother. A letter saying where he was. A souvenir from the places she only dreamed of and read of in her books: Alexandria, Burmecia, Lindblum, the Chocobo Forest. The best would be him returning home, his belongings carried over his shoulder as he ran to the house to hug her and their family.

However, the sign that she received was one that neither she nor her family could bear.

A messenger from the ranks carried the announcement, stating that Daniel, her beloved brother Daniel, her best friend Daniel, was dead. He was killed in the war, shot by an arrow as he tried to protect a comrade.

Her father held her mother close as she wept, for she had lost another son in war, not from disease like the others she had had previously. Beatrix cried as well, knowing that she would not have another dueling partner. Her life was shattered.

She did not remember much about the funeral. Only that it was sunny and pleasant, much like her brother. One of his fellow soldiers gave her parents his sword "Save the Queen" and armor for safekeeping, as was custom for those who had fallen in battle. After the funeral, she watched as her father locked away his battle items.

Beatrix may not have remembered the funeral as much, but she did remember the promise that she made with Daniel before he left…that she would protect and fight for the right cause.

And she wanted to do just that.

Author's Note: I love Final Fantasy IX and felt that Beatrix would be an interesting character to give some background to. This section was really hard to write, as I don't like writing background stuff. I have so many ideas for later sections, but I'll get there eventually. Have a great day!