Title: To Choose A Name
Characters: Aodh (OC), Kaien (OC)||Ship: Aodh x Kaien
Chapters: 1-1||Words: 1,000
Genre: Family||Rated: G
Challenges: Diversity Writing, GX, canon: B89, family genre
Notes: This takes placec in Juudai's past-life. Before he's born.
Summary: Every set of parents has to decide on their child's name. The parents of the future Haou are no exception.
Kaien pushed her hair back and tried not to think all that much about the fact she could no longer see her own toes. They were there, she knew for a fact, but glancing down no longer showed them. The heavy rise of her stomach interrupted her vision.
How are you doing in there? She wondered, resting one hand there. There wasn't a twitch, but she could feel the life there regardless. He was there. The pulse of life hummed strong.
Aodh settled her breakfast tray next to her and Kaien eyed it thoughtfully. So far she hadn't really had any of those cravings that she'd heard could be a consequence of her condition, and he brought her the breakfast that she enjoyed the most.
Her husband sat down on his chair, set on the other side of the fireplace, and examined his own breakfast before he cast a glance towards her.
"How are you feeling?"
The faintest hint of a smile twitched across her lips. "The same way I felt when you asked that when we got up – half an hour ago."
Aodh coughed politely. "I just wanted to be certain everything's still all right." His gaze brushed over her stomach as well. Even after seven months, neither of them could completely believe what would eventually happen.
They'd expected children at some point. Before they'd wed they'd discussed it often. While the throne of Kuragari didn't pass down in the hereditary sense, it would be best to have a child in case it took more time than usual for someone to pass the proper tests to ascend the throne. But to find out that the child she now carried would have that power?
She started eating, turning thoughts over in her head as she did. This was one time of day when matters of state weren't discussed. Meals were a time for family. So Aodh wasn't surprised when she finally spoke up.
"We need to pick a name. I know we have two months, but better to get it decided now."
Aodh sipped at his watered wine, head tilted back in thought. "You're right. What would you suggest?"
"I don't know yet," Kaien admitted. She'd not given the matter more than a few seconds of thought as of yet. Now she considered. "What about after my father? Drusus?" An excellent name, but no sooner did she speak it than she shook her head. "No. It doesn't feel right." A fine name for someone else. Not for the one she carried.
Aodh tapped his fingers on the marble table. "Erebus?" Then he also shook his head. Not what they wanted.
Other names were tossed about from one to the other. Otzal. Sunil. Alperen. Bayani. Katsuo. None of them clicked. None of them felt right in the way that they both knew it had to be. This was a special child. The name had to be perfect.
Kaien rose once she finished her breakfast and strolled to the wide window, staring at the garden that unfolded before her. She usually took a walk after breakfast and she enjoyed the way that the sun soaked into her. Her eyes fell to the morning shadows stretched outward, and another name presented itself. She turned back to Aodh.
"Do you remember a name from the old tongue?" It would not be a common name at all. But it would be a good name.
It would be the perfect name.
"What name?" There were few who spoke the old language these days. Sometimes it showed up in names, be it of people or of spirits and monsters. Even Kaien didn't speak it fluently, but she knew enough of the old names. She thought she remembered a story from her grandparents about an ancestor who carried it.
She tasted the name. It tasted very well indeed. "Juudai."
Aodh came over to stand beside her, hand slipping into hers. "Juudai. Prince Juudai of Kuragari." He hesitated for only a moment. "Haou of the Gentle Darkness."
Their child – the one with the power that had created the universe and life itself – the one who would protect all of the world from the evil of the Light of Ruin. The name tasted exactly like they both wanted: perfect.
Kaien raised one hand to open the garden door. She stopped at the sight of one of the guards. Aodh turned towards her at once. She spoke before he could ask – again – if anything was wrong.
"You haven't yet found a good purpose for the Elemental Heroes, have you?" The small group of warriors, twenty or so, arrived in the realm weeks earlier searching for work. Peace held for so long that there wasn't much work for a group of traveling warriors. They needed to settle down, like it or not.
Aodh shook his head. Then he smiled. "Bodyguards for our new little prince."
"Yes." Kaien agreed. It wasn't even mid-morning yet but they'd chosen a name for their child and the bodyguards they'd known that he would need.
"I'll speak to them about it," Aodh promised. "Now, are you ready for your walk?"
"Yes." Kaien raised one finger to his lips. "And you need to go take care of your business as well." He was the King. He had a great deal of work to do. She did as well, but her health came first. Heather, the Holy Elf healer, told them that frequently.
Aodh caught and kissed her fingers. "As you wish. I'll see you later."
He left to prepare for the proper start of his day. Kaien stepped outside, soaking in the sunlight – gift of the Light of Hope, so the tales said – and let her fingers trail in the shadows. Light and dark, existing in the proper harmony of life.
He'll need a special bodyguard too. One to protect him when even the Elemental Heroes can't, she decided. But such a bodyguard would be chosen later. For now, time to walk in the sun and the shade.
The End
Notes: All the suggested names are real names, found at Behind The Name, and have meanings to the effect of "dark" or "hero".