Title: Settle Down
Fandom: Tales of Symphonia
Pairing/Characters: Raine
Warning(s): Spoilers
Genre: Gen
She was sixteen and Genis was five when she decided they had been on the run for far too long, and it was time to settle down.
They had no money, of course, so she needed a job and a house, and a steady supply of food would be nice too; before they got those things, they needed a respectable reputation. She let her hair grow long and refused to cut Genis' when he whined about it getting in his eyes, wondering if that would be good enough to have them pass for humans.
Genis' hand firmly in hers, she was looking through the Help Wanted posters in Palmacosta - thinking that something with the Church would be best, since they would be the nicest if (that is, when) they found out - when she noticed the call for a schoolteacher in Iselia. While she knew nothing about teaching children, she knew a thing or two about…well, everything else. She tore the poster down, looked both ways to see if anyone else was showing interest, and tugged Genis toward the south exit of the city.
x x x
"Eighteen," she lied, hoping her mature features would give her story some weight.
"Eighteen, eh? Kinda young for a teacher." The mayor eyed her up and down - it hadn't been thirty seconds since the start of the interview, and she already hated him. "- But I don't have anyone better, and those kids won't teach themselves. You're hired."
"I'm…what?"
"Hired, I said. You'll start tomorrow morning, I'll let everyone know they have a place to leave their kids. There's an empty barn in the western part of town if you need a place to say."
As much as she hated him, his generosity shocked her. She was suddenly crushed by the weight of her implicit lie, and how it made her a worse person than him. She watched his back for a moment as he walked away before opening her mouth. "Wait, I'm-"
He turned. "You're what?"
"An Elf," she said, turning red, and pulled back her hair. "Genis is too."
He closed his mouth and raised his shoulders. "An Elf, you say."
"Yes, sir. One hundred percent Elf, rest assured. I appreciate your kindness in accepting me despite my race."
"I've got my eye on you," he grumbled, but left her and Genis alone in the schoolhouse nonetheless.
She was sixteen and Genis was five when she found them, through deception, a place to live and a reliable income. She could only hope that they would be able to hide themselves in her lie long enough for the both of them to truly settle down.