Disclaimer: Daja isn't mine, I am merely borrowing her.
Daja - Kissing the Wrong People: I was born a Trader. Unlike the kaqs, we don't shun those women who love other women, or the men who love other men, or even those people who can love both men and women. And yet I spent years thinking I was cold, because the kisses, the touches, that I shared with boys just seemed... wrong. Despite the openness in which I had been raised, despite the relationship I had seen between my foster-mothers, Lark and Rosethorn, I never considered the idea that it wasn't me, but the people I was kissing that made it wrong.
Then I went to Namorn with my foster-siblings. I didn't mind; I had liked Namorn last time, and I had some curiosity about the imperial court I'd heard so much about. I was not expecting to find something I had thought I couldn't have; love.
I met Rizu. I didn't understand the effect she had on me at first, until she kissed me for the first time. It felt as though the sun had come to life inside me. Everything was clear. Rizu showed me what love was, what it could be. Despite how things ended with us, my sister Tris made a good point. Rizu showed me that I deserved love; more, she showed me that I could love. I'll always be grateful to her for that.
I have had to get used to scorn, though. There are those who see my feelings as wrong, who think I am immoral. But then, those are the same people who think that mages in general have no morals, so I don't mind. Still... I have found myself in the situation of being attracted to women who aren't like me, and it has led to embarrassment and pain. I can live with it, though.
I wonder sometimes how my lost family would have reacted to my being a nisamohi. I think they would not have minded; as I have said, Traders are more open-minded than many of those who are not. My mother might have lamented that I would never have my own family, my own children; as I get older, I occasionally regret this myself. But if I choose to become a mother, I need not bear a child myself; there are orphans that I could adopt if I wanted to. And the family I have now, the family I found, accepts me and treats me just as they did before. So it doesn't matter, really. I am who and what I am, and that's that. I'm just glad that I know myself, glad that I've stopped kissing the wrong people.
A/N: That, my friends, is the closest I will ever get to writing slash. No offense; my mind just doesn't work towards that kind of romance.(I'm no homophobe, I say love is love. I simply don't read much of it, especially when it's not canon. I don't read sex scenes even if they're heterosexual. I just don't like it.) Daja's always been one of my favorite characters, and I wanted to write something on her. I think she came to grips with her Trader past and her current life long ago, so that was out. I was surprised when I found out she was a lesbian in Will of the Empress (I was even more shocked about Lark and Rosethorn; looks like those shippers were right after all...) but I thought it was an interesting thing for Tamora Pierce to do, and a good angle for a self-reflection, which is the whole idea behind this series. I hope you liked it. Next up is likely to be Alanna or Briar, unless I get a different inspiration, which is entirely possible with me. ;) Sorry about the long A/N!