Title: Unexpected Realizations
Characters:
Innes, Vanessa, Tana, Forde
Theme: #22 Beautiful
Rating:
PG
Summary: Introspective Innes - because he's fun that way.
Disclaimer: Does not own, etc.
.-.-.-.-.-.
Somewhere in the far back of his mind, a thought has been working its way into fruition, forming a chain of questions all pointing towards one conclusion. It is a chain sure to send his mind hurtling down pathways he never knew existed. The thought – the initial thought - goes somewhat like this:
She really isn't a child any longer.
No. She isn't. No child would kill for him, risk death for him. And she has done this, more times than he wishes to accept. It makes no sense, to feel this hesitation, this fight against acceptance. She is a knight; it is her duty, the same as it is her sister's duty. Why should he naturally accept it of the older sibling and not of the younger, this inherent danger to knighthood? Why does he fight against it? After all...
She's an adult.
She's grown. The small girl in the training yard is now of a good height, short, hasty pigtails now a long, hasty braid. And not all the change has been physical, or so he thinks. After all, he would have noticed before, seen that strange mix of iron and insecurity, that unrelenting will. He would have noticed. He would have noticed because... because... No.
She has his attention more now than she ever has.
And, of course, this is perfectly reasonable, what with their newfound camaraderie on the battlefield. Obviously, he would notice a woman bent on protecting him at all costs, the knight attempting to protect both his life and his pride. The knight valuing both. The woman valuing both...
She's a woman grown.
And this, of course, is incredibly obvious. It's a simple fact of life: when girls are no longer children, they are women. Simple. Straightforward. Yet somehow catching him entirely by surprise. It makes no sense to feel as if he should still treat her as a child, but...
She needs to be protected.
From who, from what, he doesn't know. What he does know is this feeling close to his heart is strong, this overwhelming urge to carry a longbow and shoot every enemy archer down before they can do the same to her. Kill the archers, seize the ballista, and keep her safe. What he also knows is that his makes no sense whatsoever because...
She's strong.
She's amazingly strong. He's seen her heft javelins, skewer monsters, but that's not all. She's strong in every way she can be, it would seem. Physical prowess melding into mental strength and unconscious grace, there is something more to her, something there that is lacking in everyone else he has ever met. He cannot say what that something is, not until this chain of thoughts carries itself through to completion. Still, even before his mind unravels this string to the very end, he associates this something – this feeling – with certain things.
With how her hair clings to the grime on her face after a skirmish and how her absentminded attempts at wiping sweat from her brow only results in a dirtier forehead than before.
With how alive her eyes seem no matter the wound, no matter if he's the one bellowing for a healer or if he's the one in the dirt, looking up at the last thing – the last person – the last woman he'll ever see.
With how slim, how slight, how delicate she is when the armor is off, when the walls are down.
She's beautiful.
.-.-.-.
"Brother, what's wrong? You're scowling."
The prince changed his expression, looking at his sister with the simple message of "I don't know what you're talking about."
Tana sighed, looking strangely put out. "If you're sure..."
His look of denial continued until his sister left his side, leaving the parting message of "Well, if you won't talk with me, Eirika will." The scowl returned, Innes' gaze going back to the unsuspecting object of his significant ire.
Truth be told, Innes himself wasn't completely certain why he was so annoyed with the Renais knight. Of course, that man, the one named Forde, definitely deserved it. Talking to her like that... Actually flirting on the battlefield! Ephraim should have stricter discipline in his ranks.
Oddly, this thought failed to improve his mood, this subtle victory over his rival. Then what...?
Watching the Renais knight – Renais scoundrel, more like – Innes was perhaps the only one to notice that the other man went intentionally out of his way to whisper into the ear of a certain Frelian knight.
To notice the man's smile was no casual joking grin.
To notice the Frelian knight – his knight – turn red and drop her head, clearly awkward yet not moving away.
His mind immediately leapt for all the reasons why this was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. Why this shouldn't be happening. Why he should go and stop it. Why it was practically his duty to go and stop it. What he came up with was simple, horrifically simple:
Nothing.
No reason.
No violation he could call them on, fraternization between allied forces something that had never been forbidden. Yet that didn't stop it, didn't change its inherent wrongness. Without knowing what he had to correct, he felt the need to correct it all the same.
Watching the pair, watching Vanessa blush and smile hesitantly at a man who was inexplicably yet overwhelmingly wrong, his mind made a strange and sudden realization.
She really isn't a child any longer.