Uwielbinie Village, 686 (o. V.)

Several months had passed since the re-election of President Fördern at the head of the Republic. 'Democracy is the greatest gift that has been granted to our nation', he had said in his swearing-in speech. Quickly after taking back his position, taking into account the now huge popular demands for Green Progress's ideology, he put in place a series of measures to facilitate the task for land workers. Greta Pfirsich quickly reacted, saying that he was stealing the ideas that almost made her win the election, for mere public image reasons. But that was pure politics, and I did not venture further into these matters.

After this difficult period, I managed to have a rest by not having to travel everyday to the capital. So I stayed at home in Uwielbinie, helping my mother with the farm, and reading the latest law books. Dalmasca and Nabradia laws were interesting too. Different from ours, but still interesting.

But at the beginning, the topic that most caught my attention was my friend's health. Cirla Drimer had been allowed to leave the hospital rapidly, but he had to hide his injury from his parents and basically from everyone. It was my mother who went to visit them, stating she just wanted to know how the medical checks went, and thanking the parents for allowing their children to share their law lessons with me. She told me he looked fine, so that reassured me a bit.

My relationship with Basch got quieter. He had been allowed to go to a new fencing club that opened in the village, and he was too happy spending his phenomenal energy there everyday instead of criticizing my manners or interests. He even invited me to join the club once or twice, but there was nothing to be done: I was way happier with books than sword in hand. According to Basch's own sayings, he was making quick progress, and was regularly selected to participate in national competitions. His trainings consisted in real fights – which frightened me, although they had protections – with one-handed swords and a shield, two-handed swords, or sometimes even other things like spears and ranged weapons, through monthly activities or meetings with other regional clubs. He appeared more confident every time he came back from one of these trainings, to the point that his personality changed. He was no more the village boy who spent his days looking for a silly thing to do or annoying someone. As a result, my mother was receiving fewer complaints from the neighbors, so she was surprised and relieved at the same time. But deep inside, she feared that Basch would take the same path as our father, and face the same fate, especially since he was young and still stubborn – people never completely change, do they. However, I tried to look at the positive side and I encouraged my brother to do what he loved more. And for some reason, it made me sincerely happy. In turn, Basch had also been very enthusiastic when Mom had showed us a job offer for a legal apprentice on the newspaper. He kept telling me I was the one and I had the guts to do it and what not. I chose to listen to him, went to the little company that was hiring, did the interview saying all I learnt from my little experience… and I got the job. Basch called me 'the brains of the family' and was convinced I would bring a ton of gil home someday. In the meantime, the job I was doing didn't pay much, but that was enough to make all the family happy.

At some point, months after Basch, I found the courage to go to Naria's farm. It was mostly to help her with the work, like the good old times. The first time I returned, she was busy writing something. Out of curiosity, I asked her what it was.

'If it isn't our legal apprentice!' she said with a big smile. 'I've been told of your new position by the boys in the village. How come you didn't come visit me earlier? I can't believe your job takes all of your time. Are you angry at me? Did I do something wrong during the campaign? Oh, I know; you've been sad all along because we lost. But don't worry Noah, Greta herself has overcome this, and she's more than ready to play her part anyway'.

I tried to stop her never-ending tirade, but as always, it was useless. However, she suddenly stopped talking by herself. She raised her forefinger and opened her mouth, looking away, as if she just remembered something important.

'But you asked me something! Yes… what I am writing…'

She sat down at her little desk in the garden and considered her paper.

'This, Noah, is the farm's accounting. I'm trying to organize things better here. Look at this table: this column is the products, this one the number of sales, and this one the unit price, so here we have the total gil we earned for each product, and then we can work the big total out and decide what to do with this money! Is the table correct?'

I came closer and looked over her shoulder. The table had been properly done, and the figures were marked with a beautiful handwriting. I quickly made the calculations in my head and answered:

'It's all correct. You made huge progress since last time, Naria.'

She blushed and scratched the top of her head, rolling up her eyes. She was so cute when she acted like this!

We kept on seeing each other, more and more often, and in various places: near my home, at the central place of the village, or in her farm. My favorite place of all was a portion of her big garden, with a view on the forest. It was so peaceful and sitting there made all my sorrows vanish away.

One day, after finishing work early, I came to see her with a bouquet of flowers. It was not the first time I was doing this gesture, but I felt like each time it surprised her more.

'Oh, Noah! You shouldn't have! What beautiful roses! I love its composition! Thank you so much!'

And I won a kiss on my left cheek. Life was not so bad.

She went indoors to place them in a vase and came back with a big smile.

'Why not sit in the garden next to the forest? I know you love this place', she suggested with a wink.

I followed her, smiling in turn.

She took my hand and… stopped halfway.

'I forgot something. I have to oversee Yango's doings!'

'Yango?'

By dint of spending time in the farm, I had begun to learn every worker's name, but this one was unknown to me. Or was it another of her chocobos?

'He's new here. He's in charge of taking care of Book today – an easy task, of course', she explained.

We began walking backwards to the farm.

'You know what?' she said in a cheerful tone. 'Now I don't only have one Book. I have many books, and I can read them! Back then, I didn't even know this could happen someday. I'm sure Mom would be proud of me. Oh, there he is! Yango!'

She was looking on her left and I turned my head towards the same direction. And there, into the chocobos pen, feeding Book with Gysahl greens was standing… a bangaa.

'Oh Ma'am Nareszcie! I been lookin afta Book but he ain't no fond of food today, I dunno why; I swear I haven't…'

'Have no fear, Yango', she said in a strange authoritarian tone, 'I haven't come here to scold you. You say he didn't eat much today? Let's see…'

She took the animal's head between her fingers and held it up in a professional way.

'He has been ill lately. You haven't forgotten what I told you this morning, have you?'

'No Ma'am!'

'Has the veterinary come today?'

'Yes Ma'am! He looked at all the animals then said he'd come back tomorrow!'

'Fine. Continue to feed Book with Gysahl greens, he must accept them sooner or later.'

'Yes Ma'am!'

I greeted him before we went away, then asked Naria:

'Why don't you ask him to call you by your name? This is ridiculous.'

She waited until we got far to answer with an evil laugh:

'Because it's funny!'

I sighed.

'It's his first day', she added. 'Let him struggle a little bit!'

We climbed up a wooden little hut, and sat over the thatch roof. The sun was beating down on us and we were wearing light clothes. Naria, in particular, had a yellow tank top dress with white flowers. Her blond hair was flowing down her shoulders, and the dress let appear her slender legs. Between us and the horizon, the wide forest stood fierce. A quiet breeze was shaking the pure air.

'Has Basch come to visit lately?' I asked, not certain I actually wanted the answer.

'Of course. Why, he was just here yesterday. Are you jealous?'

'N… No! Not at all!' I said, a bit upset. 'I was just wondering… what you were doing when you're together.'

'Umm… let me remember what we did yesterday…' she said, looking at the sky. 'A chocobo race in the morning, then an eating contest at lunch, and during all the afternoon he showed me his moves with an imaginary sword. Oh, he's certainly proud of himself! He was commenting every one of them, I couldn't even understand a bit. He told me he had a real sword now, were you aware?'

I was. The club had given Basch an actual weapon as a token of gratitude for his continuous presence and support for their activities. It was a Mythril Blade, a very rare beautiful sword that was commonplace in Dalmasca. But Basch told us he wasn't going to use it except 'when the time comes'. It was well hidden in the house – not that I'd dare to touch it anyway.

'Aye', I answered.

'He also told me he began to take on hunting quests with a team from the club, so he can sell loots from monsters and earn money on his side.'

I clapped hands:

'So there's where he got all his recent money from!'

Naria laughed.

'Yes. He told me he wanted to buy me a big gift, but he didn't tell me what it was. Basch has his secrets, even for me!'

'Heh. That's just words without consequences. He's certainly good at nonsense boasting.'

'Don't be rude again!' she said angrily. 'I thought you were good friends again.'

I sighed.

'He went to Waldgott all week long', she continued, 'he signs up on hunts in the tavern with his team and here they are chasing monsters in the forest. The reward may be good, but doesn't this scare you?'

'It sure does! It… I think it's useful to learn to wield a weapon, but I can't imagine myself doing it on a regular basis. It can hurt someone, or worse…'

I didn't want to sound like a coward.

'However, I think that it's good that Basch kinda found his path. He's happy the way he is.'

Naria smiled. She was always glad to hear a positive opinion on Basch from me and vice versa. I promised myself to say more of them in the future. After all, Basch was my brother; something told me one day I would forgive him everything. Life was not worth focusing on bad behaviors and mistakes.

'Do you remember our trip to Nabradia?' I said.

'How could I forget? It was the most beautiful of my life! Nabradia, the lovely kingdom with a king and a queen, and their lovely baby! Hrina told us about them.'

'Well, they just had a second baby. They named him Rasler.' I informed her.

'Awww! That is so cute! How did you know?'

'From the newspaper.'

'I wish these people peace and prosperity. They so much deserve it!'

To be honest, I didn't have more ideas for a conversation. I slid my hand through my hair in embarrassment.

'Haaa…' she suddenly said. 'I want to get married.'

It was not the first time she put that topic on the table but it surprised me nonetheless.

'Naria', I said. 'We're only fifteen years old.'

'How did you guess I was thinking of you?' she said, her cheeks turning red.

I opened my mouth then closed it, made random gestures and remained speechless.

'I've often thought of you as my husband', she added, looking below. 'We get along so well with each other, don't you think so?'

As a reply, I pulled her towards me and put my arms around her. Once again, it was not the first time I was doing so but I felt like the opportunity was fair enough.

'You're always so dreamy, Naria', I said.

'But tell me', she insisted, putting her head on my shoulder, 'have you ever thought we would make a nice couple, you and I?'

'I have', I simply answered, my eyes lost in the forest.

She had a little laugh.

'Yeah, we certainly would. But there is a problem…'

'Which one? You mean our age? We have plenty of time ahead to focus on this.'

'No…'

She pulled herself out of my arms and faced me with a miserable expression:

'It's… I feel the same towards Basch…'

Him again! Why did he have to sneak into all of our conversations, and even our wedding plans?

'I'm sorry…' she added. 'It's certainly not what you would have preferred to hear… But I can't help it!'

I shrugged.

'According to the Family Code, polygamous marriages are forbidden in Landis since 434.'

'This is not what I wanted to say… You know, since the beginning of our friendship, I really learnt to appreciate you for who you are: an intelligent and hard-working boy; I admired everything you had undertaken: from the law lessons with the Drimers to your incredible performance at the election, not to forget your help with the harvest and our dance at the feast. But on the other hand, I also discovered you had a twin brother, Basch, and that changed everything; it's like the beauty I was seeing had doubled, but in a different way. Basch is hot-headed and provocative, while you are good-tempered and shy. Basch is, however, a brave boy, who follows his heart and is true to himself, and last but not least he's open to everything and has many ideas to have fun. I… I love each of you in a proper and considerate way. And, as I told you, I want to get married.'

'Then what? You can't marry Basch and me at the same time! And even if that was possible, we would both refuse this upside-down situation, no doubt!' I said angrily.

Naria's romantic words didn't really deserve this harsh reply, but I couldn't stand that they were directed to my brother in addition to myself. That just didn't make sense!

'I know!' she exclaimed. 'But listen, for these thoughts are not easily spoken…'

I crossed my arms and obeyed. She lowered her look and seemed to search for words.

'I can't choose!'

I blinked. She continued:

'Asking me to choose between you two is like asking a newborn to choose between breathing and eating, between the moon and the sun, between a mother and a father! You need both to be able to enjoy the gift of life. I refuse to do such a distinction. Going for one would be to betray the other and throwing a friendship into eternal disgrace. No, I'll stay as I am, doubtful of how I will sort my life out, but I will never make a choice.'

There was a silence, then I lowered my eyes in turn and tried to understand. But there was nothing to understand. She would never be mine.

'If you're trying to tell me you like me as a friend, but prefer Basch as a lover, then it's okay, you can marry him in the future. I'll be happy for you two.'

'No!' she yelled. 'You just didn't get it, did you? I told you I bear love feelings for both of you – which is strange, I agree –, but will not choose who I will marry. At least not now.'

I sighed and hugged her once more.

'Your whole personality is strange, Naria', I said, 'but I guess your charm makes up for it.'

She turned, smiled and closed her eyes. I did the same soon and my mind, carried by the light breeze, entered a state of purity and harmony, where only good thoughts existed. I began to imagine a world, ten years later, where Naria would marry my brother Basch, because that was surely what was going to happen. And then, with a little bit of mischief, I would pretend to be him, which was not difficult since we were real twins. Only our haircut differed: rather long for me, short for Basch. But that wasn't a problem, I'd have whatever haircut he'd have at that time. And wear similar clothes. And then… And then… I would ring at the door, by the end of the day, waiting for her to open it. And then she'd open it. And then I would hold her in my arms, exactly as what I was doing at this moment. But then, I'd have more rights. Rights Basch himself could have granted me, naughty as he was, as some sort of mission to make fun of us both. I could draw my face closer to hers, feel the delicate countryside scent on her neck, dive my look into hers, and…

What was I thinking about?

I raised my head and saw only darkness.

'It's already night time! Sorry, I have to go!'

I jumped under the roof, leaving her sleepy head fall like an egg. She eventually woke up.

'Oh? So soon? What were we talking about?'

'It… It does not matter. And if I ever said something strange this afternoon, well… forget it.'

'It's alright! My regards to your mom! Come back soon!'

'Aye.'

And I fled like a thief.

Months later, the same thoughts were still inside my head. Thoughts of happiness, mixed with some sort of pride and maybe jealousy at the same time. I was pleased with my life as it was; my job, my family, my friends, yet I knew that in every matter, every domain, someone would be in a way better than me, and thus happier than me. That person was often Basch but not always. I met several people at work and in different parts of Landis who had smarter ideas, clearer perspectives. I learnt from them; I helped them too, and credit was not always given to me. But I learnt to be stronger, even more patient, and took bad experiences as lessons for the future. I kept seeing Naria, of course. She seemed to love taking shelter in my arms, or Basch's, whenever she felt down, had a problem with the farm, or when Greta Pfirsich had bad poll results in the newpapers. Naturally, I would have preferred she stayed only in my arms, but if she was also happy with Basch, then so be it. These two would certainly end up married anyway, as in my dream. I thought my mother was aware of the situation, and was rather amused by it.

These last days, she appeared different than usual. She wasn't able to do all the housework so Basch and I had to take shifts to clean the house and do extra tasks at our farm. As for the cooking, we weren't exactly gifted so thankfully Naria was there, once a day, to help us cook delicious dishes. Basch often tried to redo them, but the result was not always convincing. He had also taken care of the sales at Waldgott after the harvest – for what result, I did not know, but at least he'd brought the money. My mother never told us exactly what she had. But from what we could see, she was quickly exhausted. She could not run anymore – maybe from breathing difficulties? – and her voice could barely stand up to a long speech. Whenever she caught a cold – and opportunities were not few with the hard winter we were living that year – it seemed that it took her more time to recover. Fever lasted longer, and at times the coughing just would not cease. I had been seriously worried many times, and had to bring the village's doctor in the middle of the night; but in the end the worst signs always disappeared.

One day, after ensuring Mom was well, I decided, as I never stopped to do, to pay the Drimers a visit. I greeted the parents and went to the first floor, to the room where I used to study with my friends.

'Hi!' Little Margit said, waving at me.

'Hello. Where's Cirla?'

'Above your head.'

I turned backwards and raised my look. He was indeed at the top of a long wooden ladder, busy looking for something on a high shelf.

'Noah!' he said. 'You arrived just in time. We received the result from two weeks ago!'

'What are you talking about?' I asked, sitting on a chair.

'Well, remember that paper you wrote about property laws?'

'Yes, I brought you this one last time I came here. Is there a problem? Is something wrong in it?'

'On the contrary… Lemme just find it over here…'

He moved papers around on the shelf, again and again, then Margit exclaimed:

'It's that one!'

'No, this is my final exam of last year', her brother responded.

'No Cirla, I'm sure of it! Look! I can even recognize the ink!'

He sighed, took the pile of papers and handed it to me.

'This is indeed what I wrote.'

'The professor said it was primo to-the-days!' Cirla insisted as he walked down the ladder.

'Professor?'

'Yes!' Margit explained. 'Cirla gave your paper to our professor in Archades, claiming it's his. Since he doesn't see us as often as the Archadian mates, he didn't recognize Cirla's handwriting and believed him. We asked him to send this one to us in Landis, and that's what he kindly did. There are only praising remarks! Look!'

She was right. The professor, with a red ink, wrote at the top of the first page:

Made huge progress since the last session. Congratulations

And inside the essay, there were several comments like:

Very relevant

Well chosen words

Or:

Good research

'Well? Whaddaya say?' Cirla asked. 'The professor's pretty thick to have believed it was me!'

'And that's not all!' Margit added. 'There's also a letter!'

'A letter?'

'Yes', Cirla confirmed. 'But it ain't here. Our parents decided to keep it…'

'There were so proud of what was written there!' Margit exclaimed, visibly proud herself too.

'And what was written exactly?' I asked.

They exchanged an embarrassed look.

'The professor wants to meet the parents to talk about Cirla's future', Margit said. 'He seriously considers finding a position for him in the Empire. 'It will be very easy, considering your son's extraordinary and in demand abilities', he says!'

'But don't worry, I won't accept', her brother said. 'Not only because the work is not mine. I don't want to work with the Empire.'

'Neither do I', admitted Margit.

'It's been a while I've been considering being a lawyer', Cirla continued. 'Now with this new recognition the dream becomes closer and closer.'

'And I want to become a clerk in the Landisite juvenile court!' Margit proudly said again, jumping all around the room.

'I'm sure you will both attain your goals', I smiled.

'I'm not happy to be able to make it by such means', Cirla regretted. 'Maybe I don't deserve anything.'

'Don't say stupidities; you'd have made it anyway without me. And I'm glad I could help… in a way.'

'Ouch!' Margit bumped her head against a lower shelf. 'We're sorry. We should have asked your permission before showing your paper to the professor. But the temptation was too big! We really wanted to see his reaction, and we were not disappointed!'

'All this', Cirla concluded, 'is to tell you something. This guy in the Empire is not just any law teacher. He's actually the most respected and severe one in the Akademy, close to whom we call the Law God, Professor Vopiscus, the Akademy's Head. He shares many qualities with Vopiscus, including selectiveness. He doesn't just accept any work, especially if it's made by a stranger – you know how Archadians are. And yours… yours has amazed him. Can you believe that?'

'It's mean to the days!' his sister exclaimed.

'You can leave, Margit; this is a man to man discussion.'

As a reply, she stomped on his foot with her tongue out.

'Ouch!'

'Your turn!' she said with a vengeful tone. 'I, too, want to discuss about Noah's future.'

And both said, almost at the same time:

'Tell us, what do you want to become?'

I made a couple of paces backwards, not sure of what to reply.

'I… I don't know. I just do my day-to-day job and don't look forward to anything. Maybe an idea will come one day – certainly – but for now I don't promise myself to become anything particular.'

'How is your job going?' Margit asked, rolling her eyes.

'Fine, thanks.'

'How is Basch? We miss him!'

'He's alright, still busy hunting monsters. I'll try to bring him with me next time.'

Not at ease with questions, I tried to ask one myself:

'How about Doll? Any news?'

They look at each other in silence, their faces almost turned white. Then they burst out laughing.

'Have you forgotten her already?'

They finished laughing then Margit answered, wiping tears out of her eyes:

'Not at all. Why do you want him to forget her?'

'But… The incident the other day… The wound in the shoulder…'

'Bah, that's nothing', replied the long-haired boy. 'I recovered shortly after.'

'But… Weren't there more threats after this?'

'No.'

'So you stopped talking to her?'

'No.'

And the siblings laughed again. This time, I joined them.

'That is my brother', Margit said, pointing at him with one hand while playing with one of her cute brown curls with the other.

'I'll never stop talking to her; and even if she rejects me every time, I know that love always wins in the end. Even the Zodiac says we're flawlessly compatible! The threats of her family, of the whole Empire, I do not fear; for they are but particles of void into thin air. The truth is to be discovered to the eyes of all, very soon!', said the wannabe poet.

'He's crazy, isn't he?' his sister pursued.

I took a moment to examine him. He had changed again; behind his glasses I could see a definite and hopeful look – even if currently it was the lover's one. His face was at that moment the one of a handsome and lively young man. His dark hair was tied in a ponytail. He was even taller and still as elegant and well-mannered as in the Feast. And of course, he had the brains. That Archadian Doll had to be a complete fool not to fall in love with him at first sight.

'Uh… All I can say is: good luck. Well, I've gotta take a hike. Goodbye!'

I rushed towards home and thankfully saw Mom standing up, cooking the dinner and singing her favorite song. I randomly hugged her and took a law book to read for the evening. I thought about Basch; but then remembered I had left him in Waldgott, in a meeting with his clan. Meetings with Basch had to last long if we wanted him to understand everything.

But at least what I told my friends was true: he was alright. And I was not in conflict with him anymore. There's this messy setting with Naria, but the most important thing was that, unlike Cirla, the girl I loved knew my feelings and never rejected me. My mother, just like her, was my greatest support and her health appeared to not get worse anymore. I was so glad to have her. I was also glad to have my friends, and to live in such a cheerful village. I was a random worker at my job, but according to Cirla, I had a very promising future. I was curious of what life could bring to me after so many adventures.

Everything was under control by this end of year 687.