Her Heart is Human
A Breath of Fire Fanfiction
By BG-57
Chapter 1
Sunlight streamed through an open window illuminating the face of a young boy of about twelve, sound asleep. His brown hair fell over his eyes, hiding them. The narrow cot was in the center of the attic so the eaves fell sharply off either side of him.
"Alan get up!" called a woman's voice from below.
Alan groggily sat up and yawned, opening his green eyes. He climbed out of the cot, keeping to the center of the room so he didn't bump his head against the sloping ceiling. After opening the small trunk near the foot of the cot he took out some clothes and changed into a tunic and shorts with a leather belt and then put on small boots with brass buckles. He climbed down the ladder into the ground floor.
The ladder led down into the kitchen at the front of the house. A tall woman with auburn hair in a bun was busy at the stove, her back to him. She was dressed in a dark gray tunic, black skirt and a red shawl. Alan took a seat at the square table. The kitchen was sparely furnished, with only a wood stove, sink, a table and two chairs. A curtain hung across the back of the room, separating the kitchen from his mother's bedroom.
"Did you sleep well last night?" asked his mother without turning around.
"Yeah," he said, stifling another yawn.
She ladled porridge from the pot on the stove into two bowls and set them on the table. Alan's mother looked in her thirties, with bright blue eyes and a careworn face. She ruffled his hair.
"Hey you sleepyhead."
"Mom, don't do that!" he said testily.
She smiled and sat down across from him. She folded her hands and he followed suit.
"Gracious Tyr, bless this meal and our family," she said.
"And bless our Dad," added Alan quickly.
He looked up earnestly.
"Mom, any word from Dad?" he asked.
She looked vaguely sad and shook her head.
"He said in his last letter he was heading for Tunlan," she said softly, "He was going to buy a recorder for you there."
Alan nodded and played moodily with his porridge.
"What's he selling?" he asked eventually.
"Oh, books I think," she said sighing quietly in anticipation of his next question.
"When is he coming back?" he asked.
"A few weeks, maybe a month," she replied.
They ate in silence. Alan knew why his father was away so much, but it didn't dull the aching sense of unfairness he felt. All the other children in the village of Carmen had fathers who lived there all the time.
"When do you need to go?" asked his mother.
"Doc said to be there by eight," he said setting down his empty bowl.
They both got up and she kissed him on the forehead.
"Get going then," she said.
He nodded and ran out the door. A few minutes later he ran back in. She wordlessly handed him a pair of books tied by a string.
"Thanks!" he yelled as he ran outside again.