The Ugly Duckling

Fang was used to a lot of different reactions when she went to pick Diana up from school. However, this was not one of them. Instead of tackling her with all the noise and force of a small avalanche, her little girl trudged past in complete silence with her head down. Diana didn't even look up when Fang reached out to take her schoolbag.

"How was your day, Diana?" If this were a cartoon, Fang was certain that miniature storm clouds would have gathered around her daughter's head.

"It was okay." Diana sniffled, and Fang paused mid-step. Something had made Diana sad, and she was going to find out what it was. Then she was going to kill it.

Out of the corner of her eye, Fang spotted Averia. The pink haired girl and Claire were going to spend the night at their friend Yuna's house. The three of them had a group assignment due in by the end of the week, and the sleepover was supposed to help them finish it. Knowing them, however, they would probably spend most of the night doing everything but the assignment.

"Averia." Fang waved her daughter over. "What happened to Diana? Did someone pick on her?"

"Of course not." Averia scowled. "As if I'd let that happen." Her gaze drifted toward Diana. The younger girl was sitting on a nearby bench, her knees pulled up to her chest. "We had school photos today."

"School photos?" Well, that would explain Lightning's frantic attempts to tame the jungle that was Diana's hair. But that still didn't make much sense. What was so bad about school photos?

"Just ask her, mommy." Averia looked back at Yuna and Claire. "I have to go now, okay? Yuna's dad is really busy." She took a few steps and then stopped. "I meant what I said earlier. If you ask Diana about the school photos, you'll understand."

Fang turned back to Diana. Her daughter hadn't moved at all since she'd climbed onto the bench. Considering how active Diana usually was, that wasn't a good sign at all. In a bid to cheer the girl up, Fang darted over and tossed Diana over her shoulder as she ran for the car. Most of the time, doing something like this would have elicited at least a giggle and some good-natured grumbling. Diana didn't make a sound. It was like carrying a sack of potatoes.

Inside the car, Fang turned off the radio in favour of the official Gary the Gorgonopsid soundtrack. It was the complete opposite of good music, but it was a parent's responsibility to look after their child, and she could put up with an overly optimistic gorgonopsid for Diana's sake. But even with Gary on, the atmosphere in the car was nothing short of horrible. It was like being at a funeral, which was the very opposite of what it was usually like to be around Diana.

Diana was Fang's little ray of hyper, sugar-loving sunshine. She wasn't supposed to be glum. Hands tightening around the steering wheel, Fang tried to sing along to the soundtrack. Hopefully, Diana would join her.

"Mommy, you're getting the words wrong."

Ouch. Diana had done an almost perfect imitation of Lighting, complete with scowl and scary voice.

It looked like there was no more use in beating around the bush.

"Diana," Fang said. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing." Diana looked out the window and scowled. "I'm fine."

"Oh." This was bad. Averia was supposed to be the quiet one. Fang no idea what to do with a Diana who acted more like a grumpy version of Lightning than herself. "Uh… Averia said you had your school photos taken today."

Nothing.

Then…

"It's not fair! It's not fair! IT'S NOT FAIR!"

Diana sudden shout was so loud that Fang almost swerved off the road. A chorus of honks greeted her as she struggled to straighten the car out. Phew. Not only was this Lightning's favourite car – the other one was in for routine maintenance – but if Fang got into a crash with one of the kids, Lightning would strangle her after making sure everyone was okay.

"What's not fair?" Fang turned off the main road and threaded her way along the quieter suburban roads that led to their house.

Diana's eyes burned with the fire of a thousand unappreciated suns. "I was the smallest in my class. They made us line up, so I know for sure that I was the smallest."

"That's doesn't sound too bad." Fang knew Diana could be a bit touchy about her size, but she'd never gotten this upset about it before. Maybe something else had happened.

"Yes, it is!" Snarling and waving one fist in the air, Diana would have looked threatening if she hadn't been so small and cute. "I was the smallest last year and all the years before that too, and I've done everything I'm supposed to. I go to bed early most nights, and I drink lots of milk. I don't even eat that much junk food, and I'm still small. It's. Not. Fair."

"Oh." To say that Fang was taken aback was an understatement. She didn't think being small was that big a deal, but then again, she'd never been short. For as long as she could remember, she'd always been at least average in height, and by the time puberty was done, she was one of the tallest women in the village. If anyone had experience being short, it was Vanille, and rather than complain, the red head seemed to delight in using that as excuse to make Fang do things for her.

Whether or not it was a big deal to Fang, it was clearly a big deal to Diana, and Fang wasn't about to let her little girl stay upset. The Dia had the perfect story for this situation, although Fang might have to change it a little bit for Diana's case.

"How about I tell you a story when we get home?"

"I don't want to hear a story." Diana folded her arms over her chest and pouted. "I want to be taller."

"I think you might like this story." Fang grinned. Time to sell it. "It has a dragon in it."

"A dragon?" Diana did her best not to look curious. She failed miserably. "I guess I could listen for a bit."

"Good." Fang pulled into their driveway and hopped out of the car. The front door was open a few seconds later, and Diana marched past.

After Diana had put her schoolbag away – there was a hook for it near the front door so she wouldn't forget it each morning – she went straight up to her room. Fang waited on the living room couch, and it wasn't long before Diana came back with Mr Snaggles. The little girl curled up against Fang's side and clutched the plush toy to her chest. Diana liked to say that she was a big girl, but at time like this she needed the austere wisdom – and soft cuddliness – of her favourite plush toy.

"So, what's this story, mommy?" Diana asked.

"Before I tell you the story, Diana, I want to ask you something, and I want you to answer me honestly. It doesn't matter what you say, I want you to tell the truth. I promise I won't get mad."

Diana looked at Fang. Her mommy didn't get serious like this a lot. She better tell the truth. "Okay, I had some extra chocolate after dinner yesterday."

Fang winced. "That's not what I was going to ask you about."

"Oh." Diana looked at Mr Snaggles. The dragon looked as worried as she felt. "Can you not tell mom?"

"Don't worry, it'll be our secret." Fang grinned. "But can you tell me why it bothers you so much that you're small? You're still very young, you know."

"But I've always been the smallest!" Diana hugged Mr Snaggles closer. "You and mom are bigger than me, and even Claire and Averia are bigger than me!"

Sometimes – well, a lot of the time – Fang wondered what went on in her younger daughter's head. Of course, she and Lightning were bigger than Diana – they were adults. And of course, Averia and Claire were bigger than Diana too – they were three years older. By the time the girls reached their twenties, those three years wouldn't matter anymore, but for now, they mattered a lot. But she doubted that was what Diana wanted to hear right now.

"It's not fair." Diana huffed. "You're tall and cool and awesome and so is mom, and Averia gets to do all these awesome things that I can't do because I'm too small. I'm always going to get left behind because I'm always going to be small."

There was a grain of truth there. Averia was further along in some things that Diana wanted to learn, like how to use a sword or a spear, but that was only natural. Diana wasn't big enough or strong enough to do the same things as her older sister. But Diana was growing – as one of the people Diana frequently received piggybacks from, Fang could attest to that fact.

"I bet you and mom were born awesome," Diana grumbled. "I bet you weren't ever small like me. You were probably born really tall and strong and stuff."

"Really?" Fang's lips twitched. Diana had watched enough nature documentaries to realise that everything started small.

"Well, maybe you were little, but I bet you grew up really, really fast. I want to grow up fast too."

"No, you don't." The words came out before Fang could stop them and a good deal harsher than she'd intended. Diana had no way of realising how close to home her words hit. Fang had grown up fast. She'd had no choice with a war going on, and the absolute last thing she wanted was for her children to go through the same thing. The longer Diana could stay a child, the happier Fang would be.

"Look." Fang's voice softened. "Just because you're small now, it doesn't mean that you're going to be small forever. And even if you can't do all the awesome stuff you want to do now, it doesn't mean that you won't get to do it later." She paused. "Now, do you want to hear my story?"

Diana frowned. "You said it had a dragon in it." She waved Mr Snaggles at Fang as menacingly as she could. "So there better be a dragon in it."

"I promise there will be a dragon in it."

"Okay." Diana snuggled up to Fang. "What's the story called?"

"The ugly duckling."

The little girl glared up at Fang. "That doesn't sound like it will have a dragon in it, and I hope there aren't mean people in it, because it sounds like there will be."

"Well, there will be a few mean people in it, but it does have a happy ending." Fang pulled Diana up into her lap. Diana flailed for a moment and then relaxed as Fang ran one hand through her hair. Grumpy as she was, Diana still loved a cuddle.

"Start telling the story, mommy!"

"Calm down, calm down." Fang patted Diana on the head. "A long, long time ago, way before you were born, there was a beautiful lake in Gran Pulse. It had crystal clear water and beautiful waterlilies. All along the banks, there were lush, green trees and lots of flowers. Many animals lived in the lake and one of them was a mother duck."

"A duck?" Diana's eyes narrowed. "You said there would be a dragon. Duck's aren't cool at all. They're all… small and weak… they're like the opposite of a dragon."

"Hold your chocobos," Fang said. Diana tried to continue glaring, but eventually settled for using Fang's chest as a pillow. "Anyway, this mother duck had a dozen eggs waiting to hatch. Now, ducks are very protective of their eggs, so she watched them very closely. And it was a good thing too. There were some big fish in the lake that liked eggs, and there were even other birds that wanted to take them." She grinned. "There were even some gorgonpsids that wanted the eggs."

"I bet Gary wouldn't eat them. He's nice."

"Of course he is." Gary was also imaginary. "So the mother duck watched her eggs very carefully until one day, they started to hatch. All of them hatched except one, and all the ducklings that came out were pretty and cute and looked exactly like ducklings should. But the egg that didn't hatch was different."

"How was it different?" Diana asked. "Was it really a grenade?"

What the? Fang sighed. She might have to ask Lightning not to talk about work so much. True, the other woman censored out all the gory details, but they had to be doing something wrong if Diana compared eggs to grenades. "No, it wasn't a grenade. The egg was different because unlike all the other eggs, it was very big and it looked like it was made of metal."

"Cool, a metal egg!"

"The egg took such a long time to hatch that the mother duck began to worry. She loved all her perfect little ducklings, and she thought there might be something wrong with the last egg. Some of the other ducks told her that she should forget about the last egg, but the mother duck continued to watch over it. Finally, at long last, the day came when it hatched.

"But instead of another perfect little duckling, what came out of the egg was the biggest, strangest, ugliest duckling that the mother duck had ever seen. It had teeth instead of a beak, and it had scales instead of feathers. Even its wings were different, and it had sharp claws. The mother duck was very surprised, but she thought that maybe it was because of how long the duckling had been in its egg. Maybe the duckling would look more like a duckling after a while."

"That sounds like a weird duckling." Diana frowned. "What happened next? Were people mean to the duckling?"

"For a while, the mother duck tried to teach the ugly duckling how to live like a normal duckling. But the ugly duckling didn't like swimming in the lake, and it was big and clumsy and not cute at all. When the mother duck took her ducklings around, all the other animals were very mean to the ugly duckling."

"What did they do?" Diana asked. "And did the mother duck peck them for being mean?"

"The other ducks said the ugly duckling wasn't a duck at all. One of them said he was an eagle, and another one said he was a vulture. But a lot of them said they should kill him before he got big enough to eat them all."

"They can't do that!" Diana jerked up into a sitting position and nearly hit Fang's chin with the top of her head. "You can't kill people just because they look different!"

"No, you can't." Fang nodded. "But that wasn't all. The fish didn't think the ugly duckling was a duck either, because he didn't like the water and he couldn't quack like all the other ducklings. Instead, the ugly duckling could roar and the sound was loud and scary. So instead of making friends with him, all the other animals made fun of the ugly duckling's black scales and strange looking wings. Finally, even the mother duck stopped liking him because he was so different from all the other ducklings."

"That's not right." Diana grabbed Fang's arm. "His mommy should love him even if he looks weird!"

"Yes, she should." A grin crossed Fang's lips. "And your mom and I would love you no matter what you looked like, Diana."

"Even if I looked like a frog with two heads?"

Once again, Fang wondered at the mysteries of her daughter's mind. "Yes, even if you looked like a frog with two heads."

"What happened to the ugly duckling then, mommy?"

"The ugly duckling ran away. No one liked him and everyone was mean to him, so he didn't want to stay at the lake anymore. Eventually, he reached another lake. But this wasn't a nice lake like the one he had come from. It was in the middle of a swamp, and there were lots of monsters and scary things. But at least no one called him ugly, and it wasn't so bad if he didn't have friends, because no one there had friends either. He stayed there for a while, but no matter how much he tried, he couldn't stop himself from wanting to make friends."

"Did he make any friends?"

"No," Fang said. "He tried talking to some of the animals, but even they had never seen anyone like him, and when they saw his big teeth and claws they were afraid. You see, the ugly duckling had grown very big, and every day he grew bigger. It made him sad because ducks weren't supposed to be big, and other animals weren't supposed to be afraid of ducks.

"One day, some people came, and he tried to make friends with them. He tried his best to talk to them, but each time, he could only roar and make loud sounds. Finally, the people ran away, and when they came back, they had swords and spears."

"Oh no!" Diana grabbed Mr Snaggles tighter. "Did they hurt the ugly duckling?"

"They tried." Fang patted Diana on the back. "But the ugly duckling flew away using his big, weird looking wings. When he landed again, it was on a lonely, far away mountain where nobody else lived."

"That's sad." Diana sniffled. "You said this would have a happy ending, mommy. And there still isn't a dragon!"

"There will be," Fang replied. "The ugly duckling lived alone on that mountain for a long, long time, and he grew bigger and bigger, and his claws and teeth grew sharper and sharper. He got so scary looking that he was afraid to look at his own reflection, and he made sure to always close his eyes whenever he went down to the river to drink. He was worried that he'd grown so ugly that he could never make friends.

"One day, while he was on his mountain, the ugly duckling saw something amazing. Flying through the air were the most beautiful animals he'd ever seen. They had graceful wings and bodies made of bright metal that shone in the sun. They were faster than any bird and bigger, but there was nothing ugly about them. They were beautiful and proud, and everything the ugly duckling wished he could be. They were dragons!"

"Cool!" Diana nodded eagerly. "What happened then?"

"The ugly duckling wished he could be like the dragons because then people would like him, and he would make lots of friends. So he decided to follow them. He flew far behind them, so they wouldn't know he was there and drive him away. More than anything in the world he wanted to be like them, or at the very least, to meet them. He wanted it so much that he didn't care if they were mean to him or even if they killed him. He wanted to belong somewhere, and he'd tried everywhere else. The dragons were his last chance."

"Oh no."

Fang ran one hand through Diana's hair. It was a little spiky at the front, but otherwise, it was smooth and silky. "For a long, long time, the ugly duckling followed the dragons. He went through a lot of very bad things, but finally, he found the courage to try and talk to them. Hoping against hope, he flew faster and revealed himself to the dragons."

Diana tightened her hold on Fang's middle, Mr Snaggles tucked in between them. "Was he okay?"

"To his surprise, the dragons were not afraid. Instead, they bowed their heads in awe. The ugly duckling was scared because he didn't know why they were acting like that. Then he saw his reflection in the metal bodies of the dragons. Instead of the ugly, misshapen duckling he had been, he saw something else. He saw a black dragon with purple streaks and broad, graceful wings. He saw a black dragon bigger than all the others and with claws that gleamed orange in the sunlight. He wasn't ugly anymore – he was beautiful. And he wasn't a duckling – he was a dragon."

"Awesome!"

"After that, the dragon wasn't sad anymore. He had suffered a lot, but that only made him happier to finally find a place where he belonged. And from that day onward, everywhere he went, all the other animals praised him and looked up to him. He was the best dragon of them all."

Fang let the words sink in for a moment and then continued. "You see, Diana, you're a lot like that dragon."

"Are you saying I'm ugly?"

"No!"

"Then did I come from an egg?"

"No, well kind of… it's complicated." Fang shook her head. She absolutely refused to have The Talk with Diana right now. "Look, the point is, what you are now doesn't have to be what you are when you grow up. Remember, the dragon didn't start off beautiful and strong, and when he was young, no one thought he was good at all. You're young now, and there's lot of things you can't do, but when you grow up, you can do anything or be anything you want."

"Cool." Diana hugged Fang. "Could I even be a dragon?"

"Uh… no." Fang chuckled. "But there's no reason you can't be even taller than your sister when you grow up. And when you're older, I bet you'll be good enough to be an officer in the Guardian Corps, like your mom. I know it seems tough right now, but you have to be like the dragon. You have to keep going, and one day, you'll find a place in the world that's meant just for you, and then everything will make sense."

Diana's fists clenched. "But that's only a story. What if… what if…"

"Want to know a secret?" Fang asked. Diana nodded eagerly. "It isn't only a story. In fact, I know the dragon."

"You do? Who was it?"

"Bahamut."

"Wow…" The thought of Bahamut – the epitome of all things dragon and cool – not being born awesome was something Diana had never considered before. If Bahamut had started off all weird and strange, then maybe… maybe…

"You see, Diana? Things aren't so bad because you're small right now. One day, you'll be all grown up and every bit as awesome as you want to be." Fang lifted Diana up over her shoulder. "For now though, you're still my little girl."

"Put me down, mommy!" Diana giggled and kicked her legs. "Put me down!"

"Not going to!" Fang started toward the kitchen. "I'm going to go to the fridge and make you eat all the vegetables in it!"

A cry of horror burst from Diana's lips. "No!" She laughed. "Mommy, that's not fair!"

It was good to hear Diana laugh again. To protect that happiness, Fang would give almost anything. She would have to talk to Bahamut later though. The story she'd told was a twist of an old Dia story about a swan, not a dragon, but she was sure the Eidolon wouldn't mind once she explained. He had a soft spot for Diana.

X X X

Later that night, Lightning carried Diana up to her and Fang's bedroom. The little girl was already sound asleep, and she and Fang had decided that Diana could spent the night with them. It wouldn't be long now before the girls were too old to want to cuddle, and she wanted to savour all of these moments. Fang was already in bed, a wry smile on her lips as she watched Lightning put Diana in the middle of their bed.

"Did you have fun watching cartoons with her?"

"It wasn't like I had a choice." Lightning frowned. "Someone said they had some very important paperwork to do. Funny, I don't see any of it around."

"I finished five minutes ago." Fang put down the book she'd been reading.

"I'm sure you did." Lightning climbed into bed. "Diana told me about your little story today. That was a sweet thing you did."

Lightning loved this side of Fang. There were times when the other woman could across as a bit brash, even cocky. But when it came to the people she loved, Fang would always be willing to go out of her way to make them feel better. Admittedly, the story was a bit ridiculous, but it was exactly the kind of story that Diana would like and understand.

"Do you really think she'll be taller than Averia?" Lightning asked.

"Maybe." Fang grinned. "After all, she does take more after me than you, and I am taller than you."

"Not by that much."

"I'm still taller."

"Idiot." Lightning turned off the lights and pulled up the covers. Diana was cradled between her and Fang, and with a quiet murmur, the girl shifted to use Lightning's chest as a pillow –

"Ouch!"

Fang flipped the lights back on. "What?"

Lightning winced. "Diana poked me in the eye with her hair."

"Ah." Fang chuckled and turned the lights back off. "I guess that's why Averia complains all the time."

X X X

Fang was right. It took more than a decade, but when everything was said and done, Averia was almost the same height as Lightning, whereas Diana was the same height as Fang. And Claire? She took after one of her parents too – Snow. Much to both Diana and Averia's aggravation, Claire ended up the tallest out of all of them.

X X X

Author's Notes

As always, I neither own Final Fantasy, nor am I making any money off of this.

It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, I recently read the original version of the ugly duckling, and I couldn't resist putting together a story about it. Diana's reaction might seem a bit extreme, but children can – and do – obsess over the strangest things. Diana's height – or lack thereof – is simply the easiest thing for her to notice, so she latches onto it.

I've had a few questions about how the girls end up in the future, and I thought I'd throw a little bit of information out there. You can bet that Diana gave Averia some grief once she got taller, and that Avera knocked her back down to size (Lightning style) with a bonk over the head. In this regard I do sympathise with Averia – my youngest sibling is now taller than pretty much everyone else in the family. Oh well, that's how things work out sometimes.

For the people who've been asking, yes, I do plan on covering the story of Diana's birth. And, yes, it probably will turn out as strange as she is.

On an unrelated note, in the next month or so, I will be releasing three short stories on Amazon as eBooks (the term short story is deceptive, since they are each between 15,000 and 20,000 words long). One is a high fantasy, another is a darker fantasy, and the third is a paranormal Western. If you want to follow what's going on with those, I'll keep you updated on my blog and deviant art (see my profile for links – I've started a separate blog pertaining to original fiction and writing related stuff).

As always, I appreciated feedback. Reviews and comments are welcome.