Different Kinds of Borrowers, Chapter 1
A 'Borrowers universe' crossover, picking up a year or so after the books left off...
"I… I'm sorry Peagreen, but… I just don't see you that way."
The flowers nearly dropped from his hand as Peagreen stared at Arrietty, who was shuffling her feet and forcing herself to look him in the eyes.
"… Oh."
"I'm really sorry! You're a wonderful person; you've done so much for me and my family, and I'll never forget it, but I can only see you as a friend. I never tried to make you think it was more than that."
His fingers were shaking, and he did drop the trio of budding blooms he had picked especially for her; they hit the ground with a plop, and Peagreen could almost hear his heart crack at the same time.
"Oh Peagreen, please don't hate me! It's not because of you – I could never think badly of you! But…."
"Wh-what then?" He said softly, the words wrenching free of him as he stumbled slightly on his limping leg, "Why can't you at least give me a chance? You were so quick with your answer; you didn't even need to think it over!"
Arrietty frowned and glanced quickly away, reaching to rub at her arm sub-consciously. How could she tell him that she had already prepared herself for situations like this – that she had made such decisions in her head long before he had ever approached her?
"It's not – I did think about it, a lot. Maybe it just seems simpler to me! I mean, haven't you thought about it? Really thought about it I mean. You like me, and I like you, but that doesn't mean we should get married! You've mentioned before how you dislike the outdoors, but I can't stay away from it! Being in a house all day, under the floorboards or in the walls… I can't live like that anymore Peagreen! And even in your birdhouses – that's not enough! They've still got four walls and a roof, and an expectation to come back every night. You would expect that Peagreen, I know you would. And if I was your wife, you'd be right to do so. But that's not me! Would you have me stay at home while you do the borrowing? I know it's hard for you sometimes, and I would want to help, but I don't think you'd want me to take over, and I just might! And Human Beans – I know what they're called Peagreen, so stop giving me that look – I'm not going to stay away from them completely. I promised not to talk to them, but… I still like to watch! I want to know more about them, and observe them, and… well, haven't you ever craved adventure Peagreen? That's what I get when I'm near them! And I can't be parted from it! I know you disapprove of me even considering going near them, but… I can't be stuck in a hole for the rest of my life! I can't… be the kind of borrower you want me to be."
Peagreen stared at Arrietty, whose face was flushed from her long rant, and his eyes hardened as he stared at her, fighting the pricking of tears as they fought their way to the surface.
"Seems you have thought a lot about this, but I don't think it was because of me."
Arrietty flinched, stunned and hoping he hadn't discovered her already.
"I think you've thought of all that many times: of being out in the wild, of not having to go inside every night, of talking to Human Beings… but you don't want to tell me the real reason why. But now I think I know the reason. I was too blinded by my affection for you to really think about it, but now it's clear: there's someone else who can offer you all of what you want. You never had to think of having that life with me."
Her eyes widened and her cheeks flushed slightly.
"I – I…."
"Ah, see? I've hit it right on the head. I should've known, really. It doesn't make much sense to me, but then I've never really understood Spiller. He never tried to court you like I did… I never saw him give you a flower, or a poem, or a painting… come to think of it, I've hardly ever seen him give you a smile!" His eyes misted over, remembering all of his valiant and romantic attempts to woo the young lady, making him wonder how it had turned out so wrong.
She was silent, and as he watched her it seemed her face clouded with memory, and finally she said "He gave me a raspberry…."
"… A raspberry? Really Arrietty, I don't think food from Spiller is the same as a romantic gesture -"
"But it was! It was more… it was to cheer me up after I left my first home. And then at Little Fordham - you know, the model village? - he gave me a Chrysalis… it grew into a beautiful butterfly, but it was huge; you should have seen us trying to get it out of our little house! Our little home… he found that for us you know. And our home before that with Aunt and Uncle… Oh Peagreen, he's given us our lives! Without him, we would have been captured by Beans, or lost in the woods, starving to death, or still living with Uncle Hendreary. We would have been lost forever in our own garden! I don't mean to compare, but I owe him my life!"
"You mean your family owes him. I haven't seen any sign that you mean more to him than any other member of your family. And he supports other Borrowers you know! He goes around in his boat and supplies people with goods, and then speeds off again as if he were never there. How are you so different? How do you know you mean anything to him?!"
Peagreen all but glared at Arrietty. He was trying to be harsh. He was normally a gentle soul, but he could be blunt when he felt he was in the right.
"… He talked to Miss Menzies."
This caught Peagreen by surprise.
"I know, because she wrote me a letter – Spiller delivered it. He can't write you see, or read. But he went one day, early in the morning, to Little Fordham while she was out setting up the little figures in the village, and he let her see him. She said she had never seen someone look so uncomfortable! But he didn't run – he held his ground, and told her he had a message from me. They talked for over an hour! She asked him so many questions, and he answered her best he could. She said he seemed so determined, even though she could tell he just wanted to leave. You know, it was probably the most he's ever talked to someone in one go in all his life. He did that for me. There was no other reason for it."
Peagreen was shocked.
The very idea of conversing with a Being was something he could never understand and had openly condemned, but to think of Spiller doing it… he didn't think the other Borrower had ever even said 'hello' to him in the whole time since they'd met.
"And then…," Arrietty paused, wrapping her arms around herself as her eyes glistened, "Oh, and then he offered to take a letter back for me, and to bring another from me later… he actually offered to deliver letters for us, so that we could keep in touch without me breaking my promise…."
A few tears fell free of her eyes, and she wiped them away quickly with a laugh.
"I told Papa – I had to – and he wasn't too happy that Spiller had found a loop-hole in my promise, but… seeing as how Spiller knew how to be careful, and as long as I never told her where we were… he said he'd allow it."
She lifted her head to Peagreen and said "Can't you see? He went against everything he was just to satisfy my silly need to befriend Beans! I would never ask him to do that… I could never expect it of him, or of you! But he cared enough… in fact, I think he loved me enough to see how important this was to me, that it wasn't just a whim, and he put himself aside just to make me happy!"
Peagreen glared at the ground, digging in his heel and wishing she would stop.
"You offered me your heart Peagreen, and I'm very grateful that you'd trust me with it…"
He lifted his gaze cautiously, seeing her pleading face staring back at him.
"But Spiller offered his whole self. There's a bond we've built over time that I just can't ignore, and I don't want to either."
Her face was still pleading, begging him to understand, but he couldn't bear the look and soon turned away.
"I still think you're reading more than is really there. Who knows why Spiller does the things he does. He's not cruel, but he's cold – detached. He doesn't involve himself personally, Arrietty. It's all business to him. I think you'll see that one day. And then, perhaps… you'll think of me."
He turned and started limping away, crushing the flower buds beneath his polished shoes.
"You're wrong. Maybe he doesn't wear his heart on his sleeve, but he cares more than you notice."
Peagreen didn't bother to turn around, but with a last ache of his broken heart said softly, sincerely, "For your sake, I hope you're right."
*Author's Note:
Ever since I first watched "The Secret World of Arrietty" (Or "The Borrower Arrietty" or whatever you want to call it) I've become obsessed with borrowers.
The books, the miniseries, the movies, Cecile Corbel's music, all of it.
And because of that, all of the different versions have become enmeshed in my head. Some versions I love more than others (I like the books best) and there are some aspects of others I like as well, so for this I decided to do a big crossover (in a way) and combine all of my favorite 'borrowers' aspects in one world.
So here's the breakdown of how this is a 'crossover':
This follows the story-line of the books in events and setting, except for the introduction of Spiller, which happens as it did in the animated movie where they meet while still living under the house. So yeah, that cute stuff with Arrietty and Spiller on the kettle at the end happened, but they also spent time out in the wild in the boot like they did in the books. Oh, and I wrote this imagining Spiller and Arrietty as interpreted in the Ghibli movie. I just love the design of their hair. And I love Spiller being even more of a wild-child. However, unlike the animated movie, he can talk. He doesn't like to, but he can. He's plenty able to in the books and miniseries, he just doesn't have great grammar. And he'd rather not talk. So yeah, that's how I've chosen to portray him. Arrietty's pretty much a conglomeration of book, movie, and tv, since I don't think there are really any major discrepancies between versions.
Peagreen however is based solely off the book, since that's really the only version that has him (I'm not counting the reinterpretation of him as Arrietty's brother, which I think is hilarious considering) and Eggletina and her brothers are based pretty exclusively off the BBC miniseries, since it really explored their personalities and gave them a lot more to do than in the books where they're pretty much just background characters. The parents... meh, they're pretty much a combo of book and miniseries, since those versions are very close where it concerns them.
And... uh... sorry, but no Sho. I mean, he exists as the first boy Arrietty meets, but their relationship in this version is a lot more... innocent and platonic. They're friends. I mean, that's how I see it in the book, and that's how I like to see it in the animated movie, because... otherwise it just kinda creeps me out. Sorry. I'm not big on star-crossed, hopeless loves. And Sho freaked me out the entire movie. He's 12. (I liked him a lot more in the British dub where he actually sounded 12).
So anyways, if you've made it this far, thanks for giving this a read! I've got a lot more of it written, and hopefully more in the works! And it's got lots of Spiller and Arrietty fluff (which... actually become more 'steamy' than 'fluffy' pretty quickly), as well as another love story involving a certain artistic borrower (... for those of you who don't know, I'm referring to Peagreen. Honestly guys, read the books or this won't make a lick of sense! :P), so please stay tuned!
I'll try to make the next author's note a whole lot shorter!