Author's Notes
So, I said I wanted to commit another unforgivable sin of Fire Emblem! And this time, it's pairing Jaffar with someone other than Nino from FE7. Isn't that... wait, where are you going?! I haven't even started yet! STOP RUNNING AWAY!
The story takes place after Eliwood's army defeats Sonia, and Nino and Jaffar join the group permanently.
An Unlikely Pair
Chapter 1: Equals
"Jaffar, I think you need to widen out as a person," little Nino suggests, and before her companion and protector can respond, she explains, "we're a part of this army now. The people who we've worked with our entire lives are now our enemies. This is our family now. So we need to get to know these people..."
"No need," Jaffar gruffly answers, shaking his head at the small girl. "We should leave as soon as possible. We can manage ourselves."
"But we can't," Nino counters, and she stares at Jaffar with worry. "We'll never survive just the two of us, or at least not yet. Once the world is at peace, we can go off on our own. Just hold on, please... for me?"
Jaffar doesn't respond, but when Nino's eyes begin watering, he knows he has no choice. He's never had to answer to anyone except Lord Nergal... but since meeting and becoming friends with Nino, he finds that for some reason, he is inexplicably bound to her every whim, especially when she cries. He generally doesn't mind, but once in a while it can work against his favour, such as in this situation. Nevertheless, he knows Nino will never forgive him if he forces them to leave, so he simply sits on a log and nods in reluctance.
"Thank you! Everything will work out, I swear!" Nino promises, and after hugging Jaffar, she runs off towards Lyn's tent. "I'll be back in a few minutes!"
As Jaffar sulks on the log, Nino lightly shakes Lyn's tent and calls out a greeting. When she is granted access, she enters and finds Lyndis lying on her cot, simply resting. "Hello, Nino. What brings you here?"
"Hello Lyn!" Nino happily greets her. "I'd like to talk to you about something, if it's okay."
"Sure, I'm not busy right now."
Nino takes a deep breath before speaking. "You... said we were friends, right?"
"Of course we're friends," Lyn confirms, and she sits up on her cot in concern. Why is Nino asking her this? "Is something wrong?"
"Well, I was wondering if you could help me with something," Nino starts, and she bits her lip in nervousness. "You see, I'm trying to explain to Jaffar that he needs to make friends, but he's a bit hesitant... and shy, of course. Do you know someone who would be easy for him to talk to?"
Lyn leans on her hand as she thinks about who might be good for someone like Jaffar to converse with. Of course, he almost killed one of their own previously, and even though he was being manipulated and didn't know any better, that would still make many hesitant to talk to him.
So the big question is, who would associate with Jaffar and not feel intimidated by his presence?
Perhaps, the best person for Jaffar will be someone who won't let him get a word in edgewise.
"I have an idea," Lyn announces, and Nino sighs in relief. Maybe Jaffar will be just fine. "If you can just come with me, Nino; we'll go fetch her."
"H-her?" Nino stutters. The person Lyn thinks can get along with Jaffar is a girl? "Is that... a good idea?"
Lyn can sense Nino's unease, and she chuckles. "You say that Jaffar is a good person, right? If that's true, then the woman I'm thinking about will be just fine. Come now, let's go find her."
The two girls look everywhere in the camp for the woman in question, but she is nowhere to be found. Determined to find her, they continue searching, but to no avail. Eventually, they arrive back at Lyn's tent at a loss on what to do next. After a few minutes of conversation, they go over to the log where Jaffar was sulking before...
...and find that who they're looking for has been there the whole time.
"So, I was just being my usual, caring self, and Erky actually calls me self-centered!" Serra explains to Jaffar, completely unaware of the fact that her captive audience couldn't care less about her story. "Who does he think he is? After everything I've done for him..."
"Serra!" Lyn calls out, and Serra stops talking so that she can wave to Lyn in greetings. "I wanted to ask you for a favour... but I guess I don't really need to ask anymore, since you're already here. What's going on?"
"Well, if I can help, that's great!" Serra beams, happy to be useful. "I was walking by, just FUMING about what Erky said about me..."
An exasperated huff escapes from Jaffar's mouth, and it's not evident whether it was done purposefully or by accident. "I've heard this story... three times already..."
"How rude!" Serra interjects, completely losing her train of thought. "You were sulking on this log, and I TRIED to be nice by sitting with you and conversing..."
"But I've yet to speak..."
"Huh?" Serra interjects, cutting Jaffar off. She's surprised at the statement, evidenced by her widened eyes. "I'm sure you would have said SOMETHING at some point..."
Lyn rolls her eyes in amusement. Clearly Serra needed someone to complain to, and Jaffar was the closest victim; that's all there is to it. She started talking, and he couldn't respond because she never stopped talking.
"Either way, that's no issue," Serra says, standing up in confidence and holding out her hand in front of Jaffar. "I guess I should officially introduce myself, though. I'm Serra, everyone's favourite cleric! Stand in awe of my amazing-ness!"
"Is that a word?" Nino asks Lyn innocently, and Lyn shakes her head in amusement.
Meanwhile, Jaffar isn't making any move to accept Serra's handshake.
"Where are your manners?" Serra growls in annoyance. Who is this man that won't even accept a handshake? And from someone like her, no less?
"...we're not equals."
The words catch Serra off guard. "Huh?"
Nino watches the situation worriedly. Even though Jaffar was previously a member of the Four Fangs; one of the highest positions in the Black Fang; he was treated like a monster for the most part by all of the lower-ranked Fangs. It was only his other Four Fang members (and Nino herself) who treated him with any respect. Therefore, this led Jaffar to believe that he didn't deserve to be treated as someone worth respecting. It was not easy for Nino to find this out; it was only after she served him multiple cups of his favourite apple tea that his lips were loosened enough to reveal such information.
"In this army, everyone is an equal."
Serra whispers the words sweetly to Jaffar, and even sits on the log beside him while wearing a smile of extraordinary sincerity. The sudden change in demeanour is surprising to everyone, even Jaffar. "It doesn't matter if you're a mercenary, a general, a thief, a prince, or even a runaway vagabond. If you're part of this group, you're a comrade, viewed in the same way as everyone else." She extends her hand to Jaffar once more. "And nothing can change that."
Jaffar just stares, unsure of what to think of Serra's gesture of kindness. However, after much thought, he reluctantly shakes her hand, much to the surprise of Nino. "I honestly wasn't sure what he would do," she comments.
Lyn merely nods in acceptance, happy that the situation is turning out well. When the handshake is concluded, Serra now climbs up onto to Jaffar's back for no discernible reason. Understandably, Jaffar immediately drops her onto the ground, causing Serra to shriek and the other two girls to gasp.
"What was that for?" Serra cries out, slowly pulling herself up and dusting off her cleric's dress. "Now that we're friends, I needed you to carry me to back to the healer's tent because I don't feel like walking. You shouldn't have just DROPPED me on the ground like a sack of potatoes!"
"You said equals," Jaffar responds in complete seriousness. He clearly is not impressed with her reasoning, nor does he believe Serra when she says 'friends'.
"Well, maybe we'll eventually be friends. But first, now that you've completely dirtied my favourite dress, you MUST carry me back now, as way of apology." She pulls herself back into piggyback position on Jaffar's back. "I'll even forget this little incident entirely, because that's just how nice I am."
Of course you'll forget for now, Lyn thinks to herself, and she smirks. And then you'll bring it up the next day to attempt to guilt him.
This time, Jaffar doesn't drop the cleric on the ground, and instead glances at Lyn and Nino to hopefully provide him with a way to get out of this situation. Unfortunately for him, Lyn is still smiling to herself, and Nino looks as clueless as he does, so he has no choice but to comply. He sulks the entire way to the tent as Serra talks his ear off about something else her "Erky" did to her. Meanwhile, Nino and Lyn are following behind at a close distance.
"Maybe this was a bad idea," Nino confesses, and she looks at the ground in guilt. "I shouldn't have even said anything to him..."
"Actually, this could have gone a lot worse," Lyn admits, and she gives the small mage a smile. "I think they'll get along very well. Serra's acting like her normal self, and Jaffar doesn't seem to be making any move to try and get away. Maybe he's comfortable associating with someone so outspoken. He doesn't have to force himself to make conversation."
Nino glances at the talkative cleric and the silent assassin. Surprisingly, Jaffar doesn't seem uncomfortable with Serra's presence, and Serra clearly doesn't care who she's talking to as long as they don't run away from her.
"I think... you might be right," Nino agrees, and she gives the much taller woman a hug. "Thank you for being my friend. I finally believe that I belong somewhere after everything that's happened."
Lyn gawks slightly at the young girl's confession, but she quickly recovers and hugs Nino back. "You're welcome."
When the hug is finished, Nino glances back at Jaffar and Serra and says, "I wonder what will become of those two."
"Hopefully they don't try to kill each other in annoyance or something like that. That wouldn't be very good," Lyn chuckles, and Nino stares at Lyn in horror, not entirely sure if she's joking or not.
Author's Notes
Time for another multi-chapter fic, I guess, this time featuring Serra and Jaffar! Now, I know that pairing Jaffar with someone other than Nino is probably another one of those unforgivable sins of FE pairings, (since JaffarxNino is JUST SO CUTE and canon and why would Jaffar develop feelings for ANYONE other than Nino? INCONCEIVABLE) but I don't care. I have this idea, and I must write it. :p We need more variety in Fan Fiction!
I purposely picked Serra for this. If there's anyone who could draw out Jaffar other than Nino, it's her. Her personality is so infectious, plus she's very genuine, even when she's praising herself. Lyn was a purposeful pick as well. Lyn was the one who said that Nino and Jaffar were their friends in-game. But as I wrote this chapter, I realized just how much it will be to use her as a main character for the story. She has shown that she can tease people, and I hope to utilize that. :D On that matter, though, hopefully everyone is IN character!
It took me a long time to figure out whether I should make this a one-shot or a multi-chapter fic, and eventually I decided that the story shouldn't end here. However, I need to write my next chapter of A Glimmer of Hope before I update this story, so hopefully it's not a huge wait. Just a friendly reminder to PLEASE sign in and log into your account before leaving a review! Any encouragement or constructive criticism is welcomed! Although, I'd also like everyone's opinions on this pairing choice if possible as well. Do you think it works? Do you like it? I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts! See you soon, hopefully!