I was feeling angsty and recently became obsessed with Tales of Arcadia. Angst isn't my strong suit, but I gave it a shot. Read on, lovelies, and consider yourself warned.
I am not a wealthy Spanish director. I think.
~o0o~
Jim could never predict when he would see them, but to be honest, that was his favorite part. The sheer unpredictability of their visits meant that they were always a surprise, and always a joy. Each person - or troll- brought their own unique reprieve from seemingly endless days of training in the clearing. Not that he disliked the clearing! It was a very nice clearing, with nice grass and nice trees, and even a few nice rocks and stones. And Jim absolutely did not dislike training. He understood the importance of working to become the strongest Trollhunter, and would never shirk his burden. If he did not push himself constantly to become faster and more powerful, then he would risk leaving his family and friends exposed to Morgana and Gunmar and failing in his sacred duty. That was unacceptable, so Jim embraced his ceaseless regiment in his nice enough clearing.
But it was still great to see everyone once in a while, especially since they were too busy balancing other things to train with him now. In fact, he felt like the world was spinning around and everyone was so busy with their real lives and he was still just training! At least he still saw them, though. He had been told so many times that he would lose his friends as they got older and went their own ways, but it seemed that even as time passed they always made time for him.
Jim grinned as he completed a particularly challenging maneuver, flipping backward from a branch ten feet off the ground and catching both of his knives as they ricocheted off a stone in the middle of the clearing. He pumped his fist in the air and gave a holler of joy. But as he glanced around, his glee faded a little bit. If only Blinky or Tobes had seen that! They would have been so impressed.
Although he was making good progress in his training, it was rather lonely to work on his own and he desperately missed the companionship that he used to have with everyone. Sparring with trees didn't have the same dynamic, obviously, and the lack of banter made the clearing feel larger and more empty than it should be. Sighing, Jim spun his knives in his hands. At least he didn't have any distractions to keep him from training and doing his absolute best.
The next time he attempted the trick, his foot slipped as he ran up the tree and caused him to spin wonkily through his flip. He managed to catch one of his knives as they boomeranged back towards him, but the other knocked him completely off balance as his feet touched the ground and he ended up landing flat on his back next to the stone he had been practicing bouncing the knives off. It didn't particularly hurt, but Jim still huffed angrily as he looked up at the sky. Failure was unacceptable.
The blue sky grew dark as a shadow slid in front of his vision, and his anger disappeared instantly.
Shifting so that he was sitting straight up, he leaned back so he was leaning comfortably against the rock, one knee pulled up and arm casually draped over it. Giving his best Cheshire grin, he gave the beauty in front of him finger guns.
" Hola, mi amor. I hope you didn't see that." He winked, pleased with his perfect Spanish.
Claire gave a small smile, tucking a strand of white hair that was falling out of a clip behind her ear. He didn't think it had been very long, but her hair had grown quite a bit and brushed the top of her blue-sweater-clad shoulders. Jim gave another tiny smirk⦠that was his sweater. The strand of hair fell forward again, and he reached forward to tuck it behind her ear before withdrawing his hand before it could touch her. Claire left it dangling in front of her face before shifting so that she was kneeling in front of him comfortably.
"Hola, you silly boy. I missed you."
Jim's heart leaped into his chest and he felt himself blush profusely, his hand instinctively rubbing the back of his neck. They had been together for a while now, long enough that he had a hard time pinning down the exact length of time, but he couldn't help but feel like a perpetual teen with a puppy-love crush.
That's why Claire's visits were his favorite, they always filled him with the most joy, made him feel truly alive, even as he trained and trained and trained. Other people brought their own bit of spice to the clearing-Toby quite literally when he would regale him with stories of his latest Diablo Maximus breakfast burrito that would make him snort with laughter. And Blinky was meticulous about covering the tiny details about Hearthstone Trollmarket that Jim missed, like the way Bagdwella had lost control of the gnomes...again. Those stories made him slightly sad but reminded him of the importance of protecting Heartstone. So of course they made him feel things and were appreciated.
But Claire, and only Claire, made him feel warm and loved and could cause his heart to beat this fast.
Jim smiled again. "I missed you too, Claire."
Claire sighed, pressing one hand against her chest. "No, like you don't understand, Jim. I miss you so freaking much."
Jim gave a tiny laugh. "I missed you so freaking much too, Claire. I missed you like this much." He held his arms really far apart, even summoning Daylight to include in the length. "In fact, I actually missed you this much!" He stood up and stuck one foot out so that he was balancing on a single leg, stretched as tall as he could be.
Claire didn't laugh and didn't look up at him. She gave a tiny sniff, and Jim quickly knelt down in front of her, letting Daylight turn to mist.
"No Claire, please don't cry." He looked at her carefully and frowned when he saw the bags beneath her eyes and the slightly pale tinge to her usually tanned skin. Her eyes glistened with tears, and one rolled down her cheek.
"I know, I know. I don't usually cry, but it's hard right now. Everything is so hard."
It absolutely killed Jim to see her like this, and as he reached to wipe a tear from her cheek, all he could do was murmur comfortingly as she started to sob.
"It'll get better, I promise. If anyone can make it through this, Claire, it's you. Mi amor es mucho fuerta."
Claire sniffed again, before wiping her face. Her brown eyes were puffy and red, but she didn't look any less beautiful. Slowly, her pout started to turn to a toothy growl and she stood up so quickly that Jim scrambled back into the stone.
"I don't understand, Jim! How could you be so freaking stupid?" It's been a while since she yelled at him, and so he just leaned against the stone and let her get it out of her system, not flinching as she screamed furious word after furious word at him.
"I'm sorry, Claire."
She continued to rage, and with a cry, she pulled the necklace from beneath her shirt and hurled it at him. The blue pendant, the size of his fist, hit the stone with a dry clank before dropping to the ground. He frowned and stared at it, but his eyes went back to his girlfriend as Claire slowly walked towards him before dropping to the ground right in front of him again, looking at the pendant with numb brown eyes.
"This was never supposed to be mine, you idiot boy."
"I know."
"You never should have taken that hit."
"I disagree."
"I'm going to fail you, and everyone in Trollmarket and Arcadia."
Jim just sighed and frowned at her. "No, you won't. There's a reason I love you, Claire Nunez. You could never fail me."
Claire slowly picked up the amulet. "I miss you, Jim."
This time, Jim was silent as she rubbed the metal between her fingers. His own fingers rubbed the spot on his armor where there's a circular dent as if something belongs there, and his vision began to blur slightly.
"I really freaking loved you, Jim Lake."
The words burned his heart, even as they filled him with joy.
"I really can't do this without you."
She already is.
"I need you."
She doesn't.
"I miss you."
And he missed her too, more than anything.
Claire didn't say anything more, just knelt on the ground in front of him and cried quietly. Jim tried to clutch her to him, even as the tears ran down his own cheeks, but Claire couldn't feel his warm comfort or hear his heartbeat against her ear. Part of him wondered why he bothered, but it also made him feel better to be so close to her, even if she didn't know it.
Eventually, Claire began to shift and he backed away as she hugged herself tightly for a few moments, looking like she was drawing strength from the blue sweater. Then, wiping her eyes, she re-clipped her hair with a single blue barrette and stood slowly. She looked down at him sadly, before smiling and nodding her head as if making a resolution.
"I'll make you proud."
Jim smiled as she picked up the amulet and tied it back around her neck. "I never doubted it for a moment."
Then Claire turned and walked back into the forest. Jim watched her back for a few moments before summoning Daylight. He swung it a few times experimentally while still sitting, and felt the blood return to his arms after sitting still for so long. The sun was starting to go down, but he didn't really feel tired so he glanced at the tree and contemplated attempting the trick yet again. After all, he couldn't quit training just because he felt a bit melancholy over Claire's visit and he was really close to mastering the maneuver.
Besides, Claire would come back sooner or later anyway.
Standing up, he backed up a few feet before throwing the knife at the stone in the center of the clearing while running for the tree. As he landed the flip, the knife ricocheted off the M and he caught it perfectly.
Maybe next time he would aim for the L. Or use both knives and try for the I and the A.
The stone glinted in the fading light as he threw the knives again and again. Here lies Jim Lake Jr. Son. Friend. Brother. Hero. May he find peace without the weight of the world on his back.
There were plenty of letters to aim for., and maybe soon someone would come to visit him again.
~o0o~
This story was greatly inspired by AwkwardHumanBeanThing's Miraculous Ladybug fic "A Flower for Every Visit". To be honest, I feel like I plagiarized a tiny bit it was so inspirational. Please, please, please go check it out!
This is a one-shot and is now complete. If you couldn't tell, Jim is dead and Claire is the new troll hunter. I'm not sure how he died, but it was definitely taking a hit for his friends as he does in the finale (except he doesn't live, obviously).
I would love to hear what y'all thought. How was my attempt at angst? Also, shameless self-promo, go check out my MLB stories.
XOXO Fred
