Chapter 7
A week later, it seemed as if Rydia had been there always. She had met with the sewing women of the town three times; the new method of weaving was a little difficult, so they practiced together for good measure. The women were slowly turning out extremely soft yet durable cloth.
"And next time we meet, in three days, we're going to learn a special stitch that one of the women knows!" Rydia informed Edge excitedly as they stood at the top of a tower in the castle, overlooking the town. "She's been keeping it to herself for several years, it was a sort of family secret, but after working with all the others, she wants to share it so that all of Eblan can use it! Isn't that wonderful?"
"That is wonderful," Edge agreed with a giant smile. "You've united the women, and for that I can't thank you enough. The men have always been pretty united, you know, the whole fighting thing usually gets us together pretty quickly, and I've always known the women would work better as a unit too, but didn't know how to get them there. Guess it needed you and a woman's touch."
Rydia blushed at his praise. "You're doing quite well in the swords class, too," Edge went on. The class met five times a week, and was quite intense. "The boys have gotten used to you now, and you're almost surpassing some of them in your skills, although you hadn't had the basic training that they did."
"Well, I am a lot older than them, and have been fighting for half their lifetimes," Rydia pointed out.
"Still, it's not easy to experience any Ninja training," Edge said.
"You become such a different person when you're teaching the class, or even talking about being a Ninja," Rydia said thoughtfully.
Edge stopped in his tracks. "Different? In a bad way?"
"No, no," Rydia answered. "Just more, well, focused, I suppose. Intense. It's just such a change from your normal easygoing, joking attitude."
Edge relaxed. "Well, I take my Ninja heritage very seriously," he told her.
"And that's good," she said with a smile.
"As I have no time to work with you one-on-one in class, would you like some tutelage now?" he offered her, a wicked grin on his face.
"What's with the evil look?" she asked warily.
"I just think it'll be fun to fight you," he answered.
"Well, I won't turn down one-on-one tutoring from a true Ninja master," she said with a deep, exaggerated bow. "But I am wearing a dress." She only wore trousers to the class, trousers made specially for her by Therese.
"You'll be all right if you take off those high heels," Edge advised her. "It's not like you'd have the time to change during a real battle, anyway." He took two short blades from his belt. "I've only got two swords, so we can each take one," he said, offering it to her, palms up.
"Why don't you throw it at me like you do your students?" she asked, affronted, as she tossed her shoes aside. The stone floor of the tower was cold beneath her feet. It was a large area bordered by a protective wall, so there was no danger of falling off.
"You want me to throw the blade at you?" he said.
"Well, yes."
"They practiced for weeks last year with a stick," he informed her.
"Well, then, we'll have to practice," she replied. "Go get a stick."
Edge gave her a mildly offended look at being ordered around, but he retreated back into the tower and returned momentarily with a long, polished wooden stick bound with rags at one end. "This is the same weight as a medium blade," he told her, laying down his two short blades. "I'm going to spin it towards you, and you catch it. It doesn't matter where you catch it just yet. Just catch it."
"I can catch it wherever I -- oh!" she said as the stick came hurtling towards her unexpected, and she put up her arms to block her face. It hit her arms and clattered to the floor.
Edge laughed. "I'm going to aim it almost at your face," he informed her, rather belatedly, and went to pick up the stick. "You're supposed to sort of snappily grab it from right in front of you. Don't be afraid of it. Let's try again."
It took quite a while for Rydia to even be able to catch it, since Edge threw them towards her forcefully at enormous speed. But soon she was able to catch it consistently.
"Now, the natural desire is to catch it in the middle," Edge explained to her. "Of course, if this were a real blade, you'd be cutting yourself. So you have to start aiming towards the end."
"Should I try to catch it at the bound end?" she asked, as the bound end was obviously meant to represent the handle of a sword.
"Not just yet. Any end will do until you've got the hang of it," Edge answered, and spun it towards her.
After about half an hour of this, Rydia was thoroughly tired of catching sticks and said, "All right, let's work on this some other time. I just want to fight you now, especially for throwing sticks at me all afternoon!"
Edge laughed heartily and offered her a short blade, palms up, a slightly mocking look on his face. This time she took it, although she returned his look with an evil eye.
"Let's practice the defensive moves we started out with in class," Edge said. "One hand behind your back at all times. Yah!" And he began to attack Rydia, she blocking his every move.
"Good! You paid attention," Edge said, grinning at her and putting his sword down. She smiled as if taking a break, then attacked him right back!
"Rydia!" Edge protested as he easily blocked her every attack. "This is ridiculous -- stop it -- " She persisted, laughing with every swing. "All right, that's it," he said, and with a flash of his blade, he coaxed her sword out of her hand. It flew spinning into the air and he caught it easily in his free hand.
"One hand behind your back at all times," Rydia warned him, then rushed forward, ready to pummel him with her fists. But one of her feet unexpectedly caught on a trailing edge of her dress and she stumbled.
Edge immediately tossed the blades behind him and tried to catch her as she fell towards him, but for once, he wasn't quick enough, and she fell on top of him. He lost his balance as well, and they were both on the stone, laughing, her on top of him.
"This is why women don't fight!" he teased her, pushing back a stray strand of her hair.
"No, this is why women shouldn't always have to wear dresses!" she answered, although not as boldly as she usually would. She was looking into his eyes, and she saw something there that she feared and yet welcomed.
There was a pause. Rydia swallowed. Edge's other hand came up to hold her head gently in his grasp.
"Rydia," Edge whispered, and somehow, their lips met for one brief second.
They both pulled away, surprised and yet not, and their eyes searched each others'. "I've never -- " she whispered.
"I know," he whispered back, and she bent her head down to receive his kiss once more. She closed her eyes and let the heady feelings wash over her as she felt his lips, strong but gentle, touching hers, so tender yet somehow so urgent. She felt something lightly flick the underside of her upper lip and realized with surprise and a good measure of delight that it must be his tongue.
Edge had difficulty controlling himself from rolling her over and kissing her a good deal more passionately. But he knew that she'd never kissed a man before, and he didn't want to scare her. So he concentrated instead of the full softness of her lips, so sweet and innocent, so wonderfully naïve.
What felt like only seconds later, Rydia pulled away with difficulty. She looked down at him in shock as if only then realizing what had happened. Without a further word, she got to her feet and ran down the steps.
"Rydia -- " Edge called, but she was gone. He sighed. She was obviously uncomfortable with what had happened, but they would get the chance to talk about it soon. After all, she was living in his castle.
~~~~~
He didn't see her for dinner that night, or at breakfast or lunch the next day. Obviously she was avoiding him; Edge guessed that she had eaten abysmally early, or perhaps even with Therese. However, she did show up dutifully to his swords class held that afternoon.
She was already standing in the back, behind his other students, when Edge strode into the class. He easily controlled his emotions at seeing her in view of his Ninja trainees, and commenced the class.
However, when the students filed out at the end, he stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm. "Can I talk to you?" he asked.
"Um -- of course," she said demurely, although she was obviously flustered.
"What happened yesterday -- " Edge began once he was sure his students were out of earshot.
"Was a mistake, and won't happen again," Rydia interrupted him quickly.
Edge let her finish. "I didn't think it was a mistake," he said quietly. Her eyes were still downcast, and she did not meet his gaze.
"I'm not like you," she said, just as quietly. "I haven't dated dozens of people and I never kissed anyone before yesterday. I won't be toyed with."
"Rydia, I would never toy with you!" Edge said, surprised and quite hurt that she would think such a thing of him. "I know what I've done in the past, but that's in the past. I haven't dated any women since we got back from the moon. Because all I could think about was -- " He trailed off with a loud gulp.
Rydia stood in silence.
"I fell in love with you," he finished in a whisper.
She looked up in shock. She had never dared to hope that those words would ever come out of his mouth. She had known he was fond of her, of course, but thought that she was just another woman to him, nothing of importance.
"You what?"
"I didn't kiss you to use you," Edge said. "You're something special."
"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly.
Edge chuckled. "Yes," he told her.
His heart pounded for thirty seconds as she stood, apparently lost in thought. He had never told any girl he'd been in love with her before. And he didn't know what he would do if Rydia didn't love him back.
She looked up shyly and whispered, "Can you kiss me again?"
Edge's heart soared to new heights. He bent and scooped her up in his arms and complied.
A week later, it seemed as if Rydia had been there always. She had met with the sewing women of the town three times; the new method of weaving was a little difficult, so they practiced together for good measure. The women were slowly turning out extremely soft yet durable cloth.
"And next time we meet, in three days, we're going to learn a special stitch that one of the women knows!" Rydia informed Edge excitedly as they stood at the top of a tower in the castle, overlooking the town. "She's been keeping it to herself for several years, it was a sort of family secret, but after working with all the others, she wants to share it so that all of Eblan can use it! Isn't that wonderful?"
"That is wonderful," Edge agreed with a giant smile. "You've united the women, and for that I can't thank you enough. The men have always been pretty united, you know, the whole fighting thing usually gets us together pretty quickly, and I've always known the women would work better as a unit too, but didn't know how to get them there. Guess it needed you and a woman's touch."
Rydia blushed at his praise. "You're doing quite well in the swords class, too," Edge went on. The class met five times a week, and was quite intense. "The boys have gotten used to you now, and you're almost surpassing some of them in your skills, although you hadn't had the basic training that they did."
"Well, I am a lot older than them, and have been fighting for half their lifetimes," Rydia pointed out.
"Still, it's not easy to experience any Ninja training," Edge said.
"You become such a different person when you're teaching the class, or even talking about being a Ninja," Rydia said thoughtfully.
Edge stopped in his tracks. "Different? In a bad way?"
"No, no," Rydia answered. "Just more, well, focused, I suppose. Intense. It's just such a change from your normal easygoing, joking attitude."
Edge relaxed. "Well, I take my Ninja heritage very seriously," he told her.
"And that's good," she said with a smile.
"As I have no time to work with you one-on-one in class, would you like some tutelage now?" he offered her, a wicked grin on his face.
"What's with the evil look?" she asked warily.
"I just think it'll be fun to fight you," he answered.
"Well, I won't turn down one-on-one tutoring from a true Ninja master," she said with a deep, exaggerated bow. "But I am wearing a dress." She only wore trousers to the class, trousers made specially for her by Therese.
"You'll be all right if you take off those high heels," Edge advised her. "It's not like you'd have the time to change during a real battle, anyway." He took two short blades from his belt. "I've only got two swords, so we can each take one," he said, offering it to her, palms up.
"Why don't you throw it at me like you do your students?" she asked, affronted, as she tossed her shoes aside. The stone floor of the tower was cold beneath her feet. It was a large area bordered by a protective wall, so there was no danger of falling off.
"You want me to throw the blade at you?" he said.
"Well, yes."
"They practiced for weeks last year with a stick," he informed her.
"Well, then, we'll have to practice," she replied. "Go get a stick."
Edge gave her a mildly offended look at being ordered around, but he retreated back into the tower and returned momentarily with a long, polished wooden stick bound with rags at one end. "This is the same weight as a medium blade," he told her, laying down his two short blades. "I'm going to spin it towards you, and you catch it. It doesn't matter where you catch it just yet. Just catch it."
"I can catch it wherever I -- oh!" she said as the stick came hurtling towards her unexpected, and she put up her arms to block her face. It hit her arms and clattered to the floor.
Edge laughed. "I'm going to aim it almost at your face," he informed her, rather belatedly, and went to pick up the stick. "You're supposed to sort of snappily grab it from right in front of you. Don't be afraid of it. Let's try again."
It took quite a while for Rydia to even be able to catch it, since Edge threw them towards her forcefully at enormous speed. But soon she was able to catch it consistently.
"Now, the natural desire is to catch it in the middle," Edge explained to her. "Of course, if this were a real blade, you'd be cutting yourself. So you have to start aiming towards the end."
"Should I try to catch it at the bound end?" she asked, as the bound end was obviously meant to represent the handle of a sword.
"Not just yet. Any end will do until you've got the hang of it," Edge answered, and spun it towards her.
After about half an hour of this, Rydia was thoroughly tired of catching sticks and said, "All right, let's work on this some other time. I just want to fight you now, especially for throwing sticks at me all afternoon!"
Edge laughed heartily and offered her a short blade, palms up, a slightly mocking look on his face. This time she took it, although she returned his look with an evil eye.
"Let's practice the defensive moves we started out with in class," Edge said. "One hand behind your back at all times. Yah!" And he began to attack Rydia, she blocking his every move.
"Good! You paid attention," Edge said, grinning at her and putting his sword down. She smiled as if taking a break, then attacked him right back!
"Rydia!" Edge protested as he easily blocked her every attack. "This is ridiculous -- stop it -- " She persisted, laughing with every swing. "All right, that's it," he said, and with a flash of his blade, he coaxed her sword out of her hand. It flew spinning into the air and he caught it easily in his free hand.
"One hand behind your back at all times," Rydia warned him, then rushed forward, ready to pummel him with her fists. But one of her feet unexpectedly caught on a trailing edge of her dress and she stumbled.
Edge immediately tossed the blades behind him and tried to catch her as she fell towards him, but for once, he wasn't quick enough, and she fell on top of him. He lost his balance as well, and they were both on the stone, laughing, her on top of him.
"This is why women don't fight!" he teased her, pushing back a stray strand of her hair.
"No, this is why women shouldn't always have to wear dresses!" she answered, although not as boldly as she usually would. She was looking into his eyes, and she saw something there that she feared and yet welcomed.
There was a pause. Rydia swallowed. Edge's other hand came up to hold her head gently in his grasp.
"Rydia," Edge whispered, and somehow, their lips met for one brief second.
They both pulled away, surprised and yet not, and their eyes searched each others'. "I've never -- " she whispered.
"I know," he whispered back, and she bent her head down to receive his kiss once more. She closed her eyes and let the heady feelings wash over her as she felt his lips, strong but gentle, touching hers, so tender yet somehow so urgent. She felt something lightly flick the underside of her upper lip and realized with surprise and a good measure of delight that it must be his tongue.
Edge had difficulty controlling himself from rolling her over and kissing her a good deal more passionately. But he knew that she'd never kissed a man before, and he didn't want to scare her. So he concentrated instead of the full softness of her lips, so sweet and innocent, so wonderfully naïve.
What felt like only seconds later, Rydia pulled away with difficulty. She looked down at him in shock as if only then realizing what had happened. Without a further word, she got to her feet and ran down the steps.
"Rydia -- " Edge called, but she was gone. He sighed. She was obviously uncomfortable with what had happened, but they would get the chance to talk about it soon. After all, she was living in his castle.
~~~~~
He didn't see her for dinner that night, or at breakfast or lunch the next day. Obviously she was avoiding him; Edge guessed that she had eaten abysmally early, or perhaps even with Therese. However, she did show up dutifully to his swords class held that afternoon.
She was already standing in the back, behind his other students, when Edge strode into the class. He easily controlled his emotions at seeing her in view of his Ninja trainees, and commenced the class.
However, when the students filed out at the end, he stopped her with a gentle hand on her arm. "Can I talk to you?" he asked.
"Um -- of course," she said demurely, although she was obviously flustered.
"What happened yesterday -- " Edge began once he was sure his students were out of earshot.
"Was a mistake, and won't happen again," Rydia interrupted him quickly.
Edge let her finish. "I didn't think it was a mistake," he said quietly. Her eyes were still downcast, and she did not meet his gaze.
"I'm not like you," she said, just as quietly. "I haven't dated dozens of people and I never kissed anyone before yesterday. I won't be toyed with."
"Rydia, I would never toy with you!" Edge said, surprised and quite hurt that she would think such a thing of him. "I know what I've done in the past, but that's in the past. I haven't dated any women since we got back from the moon. Because all I could think about was -- " He trailed off with a loud gulp.
Rydia stood in silence.
"I fell in love with you," he finished in a whisper.
She looked up in shock. She had never dared to hope that those words would ever come out of his mouth. She had known he was fond of her, of course, but thought that she was just another woman to him, nothing of importance.
"You what?"
"I didn't kiss you to use you," Edge said. "You're something special."
"Are you sure?" she asked hesitantly.
Edge chuckled. "Yes," he told her.
His heart pounded for thirty seconds as she stood, apparently lost in thought. He had never told any girl he'd been in love with her before. And he didn't know what he would do if Rydia didn't love him back.
She looked up shyly and whispered, "Can you kiss me again?"
Edge's heart soared to new heights. He bent and scooped her up in his arms and complied.