Chrono Trigger belongs to Square, not to me
Shi-chan: It had been brewing for a while; I was just too busy playing FF4 to write it.
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When I Grow Up
By Shimegami-chan
w w w . shimegami . com / ichijouji
Once, when he was young, he told his mother he wanted to be a hero someday.
She chuckled and waved him along, telling him to go out and play with the other boys. Little Glenn obeyed, not because he was particularly inclined to be with the crass children who played by the well in the Forest, but because leaving the house gave him an excuse to see Cyrus.
The young boy was around far less now than Glenn was accustomed to. Cyrus had been Glenn's "big brother" since birth, as their houses were situated next door to each other in Truce Village, but recently Cyrus had left school to become a page in Guardia Castle. Since then, Glenn had not only been without his favorite playmate, but was subject to the jeers of the other children, who recognized that he was powerless against their bullying without Cyrus around.
Glenn ran through the forest, carefully to take the less-trodden path. The village boys often played by the main entrance, and he wished to avoid an encounter with them. Instead he picked his way through the heavy underbrush and emerged beside the reflecting pool. From here, the heavy castle doors were within sight.
Glenn bypassed the door guards with a smile and stole eagerly into the foyer of the castle, looking for the telltale brunette head of Cyrus in the throne room. Sure enough, the young page was just descending the stairs from the east wing of the castle. He looked clean-cut and fresh in a royal blue tunic and leather boots.
"Cyrus!" The green-haired boy waved frantically, finally catching the attention of the two guards patrolling the inside doors. They tensed and relaxed visibly, accustomed to the comings and goings of children whose parents worked within the castle.
Cyrus' head raised and he trotted down the steps to meet the excited child. "Glenn, you're back already?"
"Mother told me to go out and play," Glenn said very deliberately.
A smile twitched at the corner of Cyrus' mouth. "And is this playing? I'm working right now, you know."
"I know!" Glenn said excitedly. "But I had to come and tell you what I decided. In school today, we talked about what we wanted to be when we grew up."
"Mmhm." Cyrus gestured for Glenn to follow as he moved down the steps of the west tower.
"Well, I decided that when I grow up, I want to be a hero, like in the books. I'll save a princess and be Knighted."
Cyrus halted in mid-step. "That sounds interesting."
Little Glenn was, to his credit, very perceptive for his age. "You don't think it's a good idea, Cyrus?"
"Well...it's not a bad idea."
"But if Princess Leene was in trouble, you'd become a hero to save her, right? Even if you didn't want to?" Glenn already knew that Princess Leene, who was very pretty and very kind, would be the first person he'd rescue when he became a hero. He had thought about this a lot when the other children were telling Teacher about becoming merchants, butchers, farmers and so on. He had even drawn pictures of himself rescuing the Princess from a fierce dragon.
"I would do anything for the Princess," Cyrus affirmed. He turned and knelt, one knee resting a step above the other, and placed his hands on Glenn's shoulders. "It's not that. I just thought you wanted to be a scholar, not a Knight. Especially not with a war maybe coming on, because you'd have to hurt people."
Glenn deflated a little, as though his smile had been pricked with a pin. "Oh, I guess you could be right. I don't want to be in a war."
"It's a noble thing to want to save lives, kiddo. I just don't want you getting hurt, all right? Besides, you have a lot of time to decide what to do 'when you grow up'. Even I'm not that far yet."
"I understand."
"Good." Cyrus hugged his "little brother" and stood, leading him down to the basement. "Here, follow me, I'll show you the castle's kitchen, and you can come with me to ring the mealtime bell. Is that all right?"
"Yeah!" Glenn, excited at seeing a new part of the castle, forgot momentarily about his proclamation. The two boys sampled the beef jerky the maids brought them, and Glenn spent the rest of the afternoon in the castle, following Cyrus around as he did errands. He even caught a glimpse of the young Princess, who smiled sincerely and waved to the boys as she passed.
Later in the night, after his mother had tucked him in, Glenn crawled out of bed and took the pages he had drawn on in school, tearing them up. In the morning, he would maybe think of something new that he wanted to be, something that wouldn't make him have to fight in a war or hurt anybody. But he kept the one he had drawn of him saving Princess Leene, just in case, and tucked it under a floorboard, where it was promptly forgotten.