A/N: Slightly minor retcon ahead.

Rain Tree Crow - Blackwater

…

Once upon a time, there was a woman who could walk on air.

She could jump so high her fingertips touched the cotton clouds, and her lungs filled with ice-cold fire breathing of new life. Like a bird, soaring proud and free, bound and beholden to none... Now, here I stand, to walk just like plain folks. I do wish I could even walk. Can't leave bed without feeling wrong. Just plain wrong. By the moment my toes slipped out the warmest blankets, I felt cold and dizzy. My feet trembled soon as I stood up on my own. It began as a cough, and then I felt queasy, like a frog got inside my throat. It tasted awful, I had to get it out, and I ran away to the nearest bucket and...

Gosh, I feel so wrong. Everything I ate last night came out of me with no warning. I hate when that happens. One moment I'm feeling heavenly good, and later, I find myself throwing away a nasty substance I have no words to describe. Disgusting, repugnant, something I ate but I'm not quite sure... I was feeling fine. Okay. Alright. Why did I have to begin my day with a puke? Why?

Honestly, to be fair, it was not a bad start for a nice pleasant day. I woke up hearing the rain, as usual, but two passionate cries. By the window, I see two house sparrows upon a lemon's twig. The two of them together, building a nest, bond in flesh and spirit. It truly is the greatest responsibility to raise a child, to shape a young soul. Don't you think?

When you are born, I will take care of you and teach everything I know. About how to be a gentleman, a kind lady... I'll be waiting...

— ...Lenneth? It's me, Ezekiel. How are you feeling this morning? – But, right now, I don't feel like getting up of bed anymore. I feel awful, I didn't even want any visits, but he insisted on coming here to see me, in this dreadful state. – I brought you some herbal tea. Mom's recipe, it'll sure make you feel better.

— Thanks... – I replied, gently tossing aside Ezekiel's offer.

— You don't want it? – He asked, being kind while all I seemed to do was tell him to leave me alone. No, I don't need your help, I don't want to look so dreadful. Not in front of you... Of all people. – You need to eat or drink something, lady. Come on, you can't just lie there and waste away.

— Okay. – I said, or else Zack would keep on insisting. He looks down on me as if I was sick, and if I let myself believe I am... So I drank the tea, it tasted good. Bitter, but creamy.

— How is the baby doing? – He asked out of curiosity.

— It is fine. Everything is fine. – Except for my groggy voice, I can say everything is fine. My throat burns, as my lungs breath fresh mint air.

— Well, to be fair, I've seen you in better shape. – Is it time to chuckle, Sir Ezekiel Chardonnay? He does not think so after looking at me, and then he returns to laughing. It's not that I became a mockery to myself, but Zack has kept fond memories of a lost childhood.

He looked in my eyes to find a seven year old me who stared back at him. I mean, what else was there on that brown-furred boy that I have no saw in anyone else? He was crying back then because his friends, or fiends in this case, kept calling him by 'dormouse' because of his fur color. Dormouse here, dormouse there, it was not funny, but everyone laughed. Including me. To call someone by names was the least harm a child can do, but when it comes to keep pulling one down a mud puddle, to call them by other names that are nowhere meant to be funny or playful, to simply hit someone's face for being different... This I can't agree with.

An immigrant of Vube, Ezekiel was raised in poverty. He looked so miserable after they hit him on the cheek. He cried a lot but he did not so much as I came in front of him with a handkerchief. He told me to go away, that he hated to look weak in front of others, that he dreamt of becoming a Dragoon Knight one day so no one could bully him anymore...

— You're going to live, Lenna. I know I am no fool for doubting your strength and willpower. Besides, you're such a hard head when it comes to giving up easily, aren't ya? – Ezekiel said, his turning of making me feel better. He called me 'Len-nae-ty'; and so it remained Lenna for him. Sometimes people call each other by short names due how familiar they get to one another, like how I call my husband Bartholomew by simply Bart.

I do miss him. I miss his company, the way Bart looked more dead than a fish, yet somehow he showed signs of being alive.

— ...This is not life, Ezekiel. It's merely existence, a shadow of what was. – And to think otherwise would be the cruelest of deceptions. – Do you remember? I could jump until I reached the clouds, it was so easy...

— And now you have to take care of a baby, like a good mama. – My, Ezekiel is such a dunce! I threw a pillow at him out of rage. He does not understand what I'm going through, does he? – Hey! Calm down. It could be worse, Lenna. Think about how lucky you are by just being able to walk.

— To walk just like plain folks, you mean.

— Yes. Like plain healthy folks, I mean. – Ezekiel might talk and make matters worse at times, but I know he has good intentions while speaking. – Have you decided what the child's name will be?

— I thought about Luca if it's a boy. and Freya for a girl.

— Luca, Freya... Hmmm, those are good names. – Look at little Zack, all grown up. A Bahamut Knight, wearing a navy blue coat and helmet, with a scarf wrapped around his neck, covering half of the silver escutcheon above the chest. To think he was just a little boy when I saw him for the first time.

— So, how is your wife? – I asked. I didn't know a single thing about Zack, except what I've learned during my childhood to the days we've spent training as Dragoon Knights. He gave me that same look of always; always when I was there, dressed in red and white strands waving against the harsh wind.

— I don't have any. You know, this job is too much for me, as it would be for her too. – He said, looking away from me. The way he mentioned 'her'... Dragoon Knights have a tendency to marry each other.

So did Harland and Eleanor; father and mother. But as soon as we were born, mother stood with us, while father was sometimes there, and sometimes not. Now he ain't anywhere to be seen, besides that grave dug at the cemetery. He was a good person, like mother, like Zack too.

— No such cloud, squall, or lightning will hinder us from meeting each other, right Lenna? – Ezekiel looked outside the window.

— Nice scarf. – I said, as we both stood still. I don't ever recall Zack wearing that brown reddish on his neck. He even allowed my hand to touch his scarf as he approached to touch my forehead. He's worried that I might be burning on a fever, but really, I feel fine.

— Impressive, isn't it? – Ezekiel's scarf... It felt a bit raspy, like a carpet, or an unfinished knot, or so my hand told it so for me. It seemed as if he ripped, tore apart the skin of a lizard, yet I couldn't feel any scales belonging to that piece of scarf.

— Yes, it is. – I said, a little amused. It's been a long time, isn't it? To be really close to someone... Rarely, I would do it in training.

— This scarf was sewed from the dried intestines of 60,000 beetles and weevil's fibers. – Zack sure wants to tell me about it, with the look of a curious child I gave to him with my eyes. – It's said to repellish the flow of lightning sources by dispersing it in thin air, instead of my body as a whole. Heh, I wear this just in case I am hit by a lighting bolt.

— And does it really work? – I asked, as if any Burmecian aphrodisiac worked well, and also for the sake of those poor beetles, and weevils. It must have been quite an awful day for them. And for those maggots who had gotten boiled to become many of my cravats. I would like to wear them again.

— I'm not sure, but, you know, Frigg also wore one kind of same scarf, and at least, I feel more secure than before. – He said, as secure as it is to become a Dragoon Knight. One thing that I admire, coming from Zack, is that he fought so much to become what many tried to achieve into, and yet, many failed to do so. – And where's little Jack? I haven't seen him.

— Right here. – Jack said as he walked inside the bedroom. – Hi uncle Zack.

— Hello Jack. How are you doing?

— Doing fine. How's Lennie? – Jack looked at me, a bit concerned about something.

— I am fine. It's just a fever. – I said, but Jack's concern isn't gone.

— Just a fever, huh? Your mother is a very stubborn lady. – Ezekiel smiled. He sure looks worried, but not as much as he did before. – Let her and the baby rest for now. I am sure you can take care of yourself, Jack.

— Of course! I won't disturb Lennie. – Jack saluted to Ezekiel.

— Very well. I must be going, wish I could stay a bit longer but you know, duty calls. Goodbye, have a nice day! – Ezekiel said, as he opened the window and jumped out of it.

— Goodbye. – Jack said and then he looked at me. – Hey Lennie, how's it going? Will you be fine?

— I will, Jack. – I said. There's something different in Jack's eyes, a kind of glimmer I haven't seen for a long while. The sparkle in his little green eyes soon as he opened them to see the world...

— Okay. Do not overstrain yourself. – Jack came on top of me and spoke to my belly. – And you are there! Yeah, I'm talking to you! If I'm going to have a brother you better obey the house's rules! This is your mother and she loves you and cares for you, do not dare to make her sad or else!...

— Jack, what are you doing? – I asked, feeling a bit uncomfortable but I also kind of wanted to laugh too. Jack looks so goofy this way.

— I am having a brother to brother talk. He must have fallen asleep, let me wake him up.

— Jack... You don't need to worry, I am fine. So do your brother. – I said while I caressed his little hair. He didn't avoid my hand this time.

— Yeah, yeah, just checking. I don't want to lose you too... Mom. – He said. How long has it been since Jack said that word?

I could feel a gut-wrenching pain in his voice, following the warmth of a hug. Jack and I were away from each other for so long, two strangers living at the same home. I haven't forgotten he is my child, he is all that I have. Unless Bart returns, which I'm not sure he will but I pray every day for him to come back safe and sound.

— So, Lennie... Uh, I'll be out for a while. Mind if I go buy something at the market? For you? – Jack asked.

— You don't need to. It's a fever, not a broken bone. I can walk out of this bed and do everyday's stuff if I want.

— You better rest. – Said Jack, checking my forehead. – I know it sucks to be in bed while everyone is running around, but hey, at least you're alive, right?

— Yes, I am alive.

— You and my brother, what a blessing.

— Brother, Jack? What if it's a sister? – It's a possibility. And then Jack gasped.

— Heck no! I am not ready to take care of a little girl!

— But you are already taking care of me...

— Am I? Oh, I see... All adults were children once. Hard to tell how one bright child turned into a boring adult.

— Do you find me boring, Jack?

— Yes! I mean, no! Uh... at times, but not right now. – Jack's tongue twisted while he spoke. He seemed afraid at first, but he gave me a frank look. – Yes, you are definitively boring, but you can be nice too.

— I see. – I said earlier that I wanted to get out of bed... You don't know how awful you feel until the disease is gone. Time passes down slowly whenever I feel sick.

— Get better soon. – Jack said, to which he took a little box out of his pocket and left it in the night drawer.

— What's this? – I opened it to see a nazar amulet. I had one when I was a kid, my mother said it protected us from the evil eye people often give to each other.

— A friend of mine gave it to me but I didn't want it, so I am giving it to you instead.

— Oh, thanks. – I said, looking at the amulet. I remember seeing a dry tree with a whole bunch of eyes like these. Both Burmecians and Cleyrans have a belief that the evil eye brings a curse for those who received it.

— Hope it works. – Jack looks so peaceful and innocent right now that I even forget he was a troublemaker. From breaking dishes to throwing rotten eggs at passersby... I know he's a good boy. A brat? Of course, but still a good boy. – Aight, see you later!

— Where are you going? – I asked as soon as Jack left the room in a discreet walk. I hope he's not up to any pranks.

— To Fratley's house. I can have lunch there if that's not a problem.

— Fine. You can go, but don't be too late. – As much as I appreciate a bit of silence, I can't stand the idea of being alone, or Jack getting in trouble.

— Later! – He said, running so fast downstairs and at these times, I want to yell 'do not run in the stairs, Jack!', but my voice is too weak, my body is fragile and all I want is to fall asleep and dream of cotton clouds surrounded by eiderdown skies.