For You to Experience the World, a warrior nun fanfic

A/N: I don't own Warrior Nun nor the characters within. I just own the OC I created.

I don't know where this came from - I just started writing, so here you go. I hope you enjoy.

There was one young nun at the orphanage that Ava never forgot. Her eyes were dark, her voice soft and gentle, and the laughs Ava would pull from her with her smart-ass remarks would play in her mind over and over.

She wasn't one who kept Ava clean, or would feed her, that left up to Sister Francis, who would always frown and berate her for what her body couldn't control.

Instead, the young nun would spend hours reading to her, most often scripture but also the small books that would make their way into her room after she pestered for more enrichment. The nun's voice was soft, rolling with the Spanish or English words, more used to the Bible but still able to paint pictures in Ava's mind.

More than one night, Ava would drift off to sleep while closing her eyes to fully imagine the scenes illustrated to her, only to wake up with the bed sheets tucked up under her chin, the tingle of soft fingers gently pulling her hair away from her face and mouth making her cheeks warm, the nun having listened the one time Ava complained about her hair tickling her.

Her name was Sister Thérèse, and Ava wanted to tell her to run from the orphanage before she grew jaded, but also wanted her to stay, always. So she would bite her tongue and quip whatever came to mind, drinking in each laugh and shy smile.

And it wasn't long until Ava was fifteen, and in love for the first time.

She knew better than to voice it, instead aching for Sister Thérèse to visit, living for the few hours in the afternoon she would come to her room. Each laugh made her thrill, the smiles the nun would give her playing over and over in her dreams.

But, eventually, it was time for Sister Thérèse to leave, her vocation drawing her to the next orphanage. She told Ava this after closing the book she was reading on the second to last chapter, her smile small. She would be able to finish the book, but next week, she would be gone.

And before Ava could register her words, Thérèse was sitting forward. Her dark eyes met Ava's, the soft smile Ava classified as 'hers' making Ava's heart pound. "I wish for you to experience the world as you want to, Ava," Thérèse reached out, gently tucking Ava's hair behind her ear, "You have a beautiful soul, and the world would benefit from it just as much as you would." She cupped Ava's cheek, then pulled back, the book pulled up close to her chest as she stood.

And Sister Thérèse stood there as Ava sucked in a breath to finally respond, her dark eyes bright and a smile on her face as she answered Ava's machine-gunned questions and comments, so understanding and gentle it shattered Ava's heart all over again.

The young nun continued standing there until Ava's voice broke, her tears streaming down into her ears, then gently stepped forward to dot a tissue along her face. "You are strong, Ava," she whispered, dabbing under Ava's eyes as she bent over her, "And the Lord will watch over you."

"What if I don't want the Lord to watch over me," Ava gasped, voice breaking further, "Why can't you stay and keep being my friend?"

Sister Thérèse paused, and met her gaze. "Because the Lord has plans for us all, and I know He has plans for you."

And what she did not say, Ava saw clearly in her eyes.

She saw the regret in Sister Thérèse's eyes. The acknowledgment that Ava's life would be emptier without her, but that she hoped it would get better. That Ava was important, and would stay important after she left, and Ava wanted to believe her, but her heart was breaking and she could do nothing except suck in breaths and try not to cry as the nun moved back.

Sister Thérèse promised to be back the next day, and the next, to finish the book and wish her goodbye, and the young nun with the dark eyes and soft smile followed through.

Ava got to say goodbye, got to push through her breaking heart with a cavalier smile and a smart-ass remark that brought red to Sister Thérèse's face but also got her to laugh, one more time.

And suddenly Ava was fifteen, almost sixteen, and for the first time, her love turned into heartbreak.

But, slowly, Ava bounced back. Diego joined her in her room, and Ava decided she would live for him. She would live for him and Thérèse, and to spite Sister Francis.

Maybe Ava didn't believe in Him. But Sister Thérèse did, and maybe that was enough to last for a couple of years.

A couple of years, at least, until Sister Francis and life made Ava grow jaded and move further and further away from the earnest belief Sister Thérèse entrusted her with.

...

And maybe, just maybe, when Ava set eyes on Sister Beatrice in the Cat's Cradle, she was transported back there, in bed and listening to Sister Thérèse's voice roll over the Spanish words of the book in front of her, eyes dark and smile soft, Ava fifteen and in love for the first time, again.