Friend

Ethlyn - Gran 758

There was something you didn't quite realize about Alicia when you first met her and it was just how quiet her affection was. Or, so I thought I was learning. I could be completely wrong. I had been before. But there was the tea mix she had made me, personalized for both my tastes and health. There was how, despite her own discomfort, she was always with Deirdre whenever she needed it. And there was how she was sitting at the back table of the infirmary, sewing something while reading a book. A book that detailed common infant ailments and various ways to cure them. Next to it was another book about the changes a baby went through, and how to tell if something was amiss.

"Are you reading that because of Altena?" I asked finally, since I'd rudely just stood behind her to read over her shoulder. She had simply waited for me, still sewing. And sewing-sewing this time, not mending as she normally was. "That's so sweet~!"

"I simply need to know how best to take care of her if she comes down with something while you are out and about," she replied, deflecting the compliment. And the extra effort it was. I mean… she was often running around planning the wedding, on top of serving as the Chief Healer still. Sure, Aideen and I pulled shifts, but… "What brought you in here? Are you hurt?"

"No, I just wanted to see you!" I grinned and ignored the mildly confused look that flitted across her otherwise calm face. "Though, there is a question I've been wondering."

"Oh?"

"Yeah." Checking to make sure a space was clear, I lifted myself up to sit on the table. Yes, there was a chair, but chairs were boring. And I wanted to kick my legs a bit. Just because. "I was curious just how long you've been healing."

"I… hmm…" She paused in her sewing and closed her eyes, leaning back in her chair. The infirmary was quiet, quiet enough that in the distance, I could hear soldiers laughing. But they sounded so far away, like another world entirely. "Well, I have been an official healer since I was sixteen. You can't be an 'official' one until you're of age. But I've been studying since… oh, I think I was five or six."

"Really?" That surprised me. "You knew you wanted to be a healer that young?"

"Well, I knew I didn't want to be a cleric or whatever else the church taught little girls." She laughed softly, but there was a bitterness to it as well. "It's what the church does with most of the orphans in their care. They tell you to pick a path out of the options, and then they give you lessons. That way, when you grow up, you're thankful for the opportunities you were given and can conveniently donate your time and money back."

"Ah." Well, that was cynical. "Still, that's young."

"Children learn quickly." She went back to sewing, and I was curious about what it was. But I couldn't see much besides something lacy. "I was twelve when I first started shadowing a healer and tending to patients. That was a bit earlier than the norm, but I was ahead of the others in my year."

"Because you're gifted?"

"Hardly!" She laughed like I'd said a joke. I'd… actually been serious. "No, the others who started studying at the same time actually had friends and family to spend time with. Since I had neither on a regular basis, I simply studied ahead and studied more."

"...No friends at all?"

"No, none. Every time you shove strange children together, one of them is going to be deemed the odd one. The outsider. And that was me." She said it easily, like she had no quarrel with it, but I found it so sad. And I knew better than to trust what I saw when it came to Alicia's feelings. "Well, in hindsight, I was the odd one. For one thing, I wasn't allowed outside the church until I was five, and had to wear a hood until I was… eight or nine."

"Why?" I frowned, and that frown only deepened when she paused in her sewing long enough to point to her hair. Velthomer-red… "Your father was dead by then, right?"

"He died when I was around a year old, because he was a melodramatic hypocrite." Her voice hardened and her grip on the needle tightened. But then it all smoothed away, back to the calm she always wore. "However, a young child running around with that distinctive hair would've raise questions. Dangerous questions."

"I see…" I bit my lip, just… realizing what Sigurd had meant by 'similar backgrounds' when it came to her and Deirdre. Deirdre had told me a bit about her life prior, and it was so… I wasn't sure I would've survived such loneliness. "You know… Aideen joined the church a few years ago…"

"She joined the year after I moved out and into a home of my own. And the strange healer girl wasn't proper company for the Jungby princess. Another person in my age-group was her helper, since she started so late." Back to relaying things easily. But I supposed it was easy when it was all you knew. "Why were you wondering, by the way?"

"Just curious. You're very skilled, after all." And I half-remembered Sigurd being worried that she'd been lonely growing up because of that. "Well, it's their loss."

"Pardon?" She stopped sewing and tilted her head up to look at me. "Who are you talking about?"

"Those children. Not getting close to you was their loss. You're a wonderful friend, Alicia." I hopped off the table so that I could hug her. She just blinked owlishly at me, very confused by my words. "Also, since that got sadder than I'd intended, what exactly are you sewing?" Subject changes were very needed right now!

"Huh? Ah…" Alicia looked away sheepishly before holding it up. And I realized in an instance just what it was: a wedding veil. What I had thought was lace was really her carefully embroidering flowers. "In Verdane, it's apparently traditional for the Maid of Honor to make this for the bride, so…"

"It's so pretty…" It really was. Simple, simpler than I personally would've wanted for my wedding, but it would suit Deirdre's wedding dress perfectly. "I was wondering why Deirdre wasn't looking for veils. I thought Verdanite weddings just… didn't have their brides wearing them."

"No, they do, though they don't wear it past the ceremony." She looked at it and then hesitantly glanced at me. "Do you mind… helping a-?"

"I would love to!" After all, it was for Deirdre and, honestly, it was the first non-infirmary, non-healing thing Alicia had asked help with. And her relieved smile was probably the realest smile I'd seen her wear. "Here, I'll clean off the table." When I moved the books, I noticed that there were very subtle, yet noticeable, bookmarks at certain pages. Bookmarks with one-word notes to let her know what was there. "Friends help each other, after all~!"

It was a bit of a trial, learning how to be Alicia's friend, mostly because she had to learn what it was like to be a friend and to have friends. But I knew it was well worth the effort, and I'd keep going. Couldn't leave all the friend-making to Sigurd, after all! Now if only I could get her to drop the title with me… eh, baby steps.

Author's Notes: I'd planned for a different oneshot, and then this wouldn't leave me alone. Not really much else to say