[unlike ochako, that wink doesn't kill her dead! Mostly because she is oblivious. But at least she isn't dead!]
Is it silly of me that I wondered? You remind me a lot of a boy I met once in a forest, Claude. He was really relaxed, and I never got to know him all that well... but when we met, he knew some things that seemed a little wild. I didn't learn until much later that he was a prince, and that he only pretended to be someone he wasn't to try and protect the people he loved, because there wasn't anything else he could do. He was determined from the start... but he spoke with a lot of confidence and thought, like you do.
[Her smile brightens a bit.]
You've gotta know better things that mine, though, silly. You're way older.
(He might have smiled just a little at her story, the air around him becoming particularly amused at something she just said. It's quiet, like someone in on an inside joke that she isn't a part of. It's funny how that works out!)
Once upon a time, in a faraway place, there was a young boy. This boy came from a despised lineage.
(That sure was an opener. He speaks calmly and lightly, his tone light and casual but tinged with a quiet sadness,)
In short, his mother was the daughter of the enemy. Because of his mixed blood, the boy was called weak and a coward. Most people around him hated him and treated him like an outsider. The boy didn't understand at first. After all, this land had been the only home he had ever known. But it made no difference to the others. Because he wasn't like them, they rejected him and called him names.
(And sometimes they did even more than that but he opts to leave that part out of his story. Hikaru doesn't need to know about the almost-accidents and the more blatant attempts on his life.)
But the boy knew better. He knew he wasn't weak or a coward because he was his mother's son and she was the strongest woman in the world. After all, she'd fallen in love with the enemy and decided to be with him. She could have stayed in her home and had a perfect life... but instead, she left it all behind and never looked back. Not everyone can do that. In fact, not a single one of the boy's enemies was brave enough to even consider it.
The boy was proud of his mother and would yell this at anyone that called him names but no one cared. It didn't matter if he tried to fight or explain himself... their minds were already made up.
[She remains quietly oblivious. She's just glad he's happy by the remark, even if she doesn't understand why.
Of course, she falls respectfully silent as he starts his story in return, letting him weave a tale of a boy born into a situation that he didn't quite deserve - a product of a love that was, for some reason, hated. There isn't quite empathy in how she watches him - prejudice, though she feels strongly about it, is still not something she knows well from experience. So while she can imagine the hurt that might come, should she were in that poor boy's position... a fear still rises at her own ignorance, quieting her further, letting her mind search his words and try not to decide for herself just quite yet.]
...He sounds like he was very brave. To stand up for what matters even when everyone around might despise him without any reason...
(Brave? Lonely? He doesn't specify. But it's difficult to know what loneliness is when it's all you've had.)
One day, a messenger from "the outside" arrived for his mother. There was trouble at home and they needed her to return. She refused. But the boy saw an opportunity. He spoke to his parents and told them he wanted to go. Of course, they worried about their son but they let him go under one condition: He could never say where he was from.
(What a political disaster that would have been. To find out that his mother, a Fodlan duchess, had run away to marry an Almyran. And not just any Almyran but--
He wonders for a moment if he should mention that particular part. Admittedly, this part doesn't make too much sense without the extra context but he figures there's just enough, Hikaru can at least figure out a part of it. Son of the enemy bad. Don't tell.)
The boy promised and like his mother before him, he ran away across the border and didn't look back.
He arrived in his mother's land and fell in love instantly. It was a beautiful place with so much to offer. He'd only been there for a moment and he was proud to call it his new home. He thought he'd escaped his troubles but what did he find? He was in the exact same position.
The people there thought the people from his faraway land were a bunch of beasts. They called them violent, dangerous, and evil. The boy had never told anyone his secret so of course, no one ever called him that.
... But he knew how they truly felt about him, even if they didn't realize it themselves.
She tries to imagine it... to imagine that perhaps the boy had been from Autozam, and his mother from Cefiro. They weren't quite enemies, but...
Would people in Autozam treat the boy as a foolish monster, because of his mother? Would those in Cefiro treat him as a traitor and a liar, because of his father? She remembers how Rafaga had spoken about Lantis, to Lantis, how Lantis had walked the castle walls with both nostalgia and an empty sense of belonging...
How his eyes were always so, so sad.]
...What did the boy do? Neither side were right in the way they treated the other, but...
If he said something, he'd be in a lot of trouble no matter who he told... and he'd be breaking his promise to his most important person, right?
The boy realized he had no place to go. No matter where in the world he went, he would always be an outsider...
… So he decided he would destroy the boundaries between worlds. He would tear down every wall until there was no longer an "outside" or an "inside" and only one world to share. It wouldn't be easy, and the boy would have to hide who he was and take on great burdens to make it happen… but he believed in a world where no one would be hated for who they were.
To do that, he'd have to keep his secret a while longer. If he could convince people to give him a chance as he was, he would speak to them, get to know them, and change their hearts and minds one conversation at a time.
... What do you think of his dream? Crazy? Or brilliant?
[Ah. Empathy blossoms like a flower, an ideal clear and true, even if the reasons and methods struck different chords. But it's a topic she doesn't mind dwelling on, letting her silence sit very, very carefully.]
...I think it's beautiful. And I think, in the end, it would be a dream worth realizing. If his heart knew that the change would be needed, even if it would be enormous, even if it would take a long time.
But...
To do something all alone, to try and make a world of belonging... that's too big a goal for only one person to bear. To be together as one needs a heart that is willing to take the risk to show compassion where there's only been hatred, to speak their mind and let those they love truly make a choice. To do it one by one, to carry that responsibility, is noble.
But what happens to the boy if his burdens become so great, that he cannot run from them? Doesn't he just become like the girl praying on her own? With a heart of pure intention, but... with no one there to truly share the burden of their beautiful desires?
Is that world truly a beautiful thing, if it can't be made together?
(He's quiet, listening to her critique of his story. She's a bright girl and he knows it. They both know that these stories aren't made up and are, in fact, very real and close to their hearts. They aren't fooling anyone.)
You should have told me you knew this story already.
(He laughs,)
It took a while... but eventually the boy grew up and met someone.
(And and here... is where something happens. He can recall that person clearly and when he does, he's fill with so much hope and optimism for the future, he feels invincible. And yet something is missing. There's an ache in his heart and a twinge in his heart, a sense of longing and frustration.
Something is missing and when he recalls it... there's nothing. He can't grasp it. He can't make any sense of it at all.)
That person was... important. (They were certainly important,) Someone who befriended everyone honestly and fairly, regardless of who they were. There was no other intention or special reason... And he found himself wanting that person by his side.
(Why didn't she choose him? Why would she help him so much but not accept his offers? Did she... not believe in him? Not like him? What more could he do...? Ah, the more he thinks about it, the more conflicted he feels and he has to move on. He finds himself mumbling to himself,)
... I don't know why...
(...)
Sorry, I got distracted. You're right. Even if he's grown up, it seems like he's still a boy at heart. (A boy so used to being alone, he just doesn't know how to reach out to others.) But he's learning. Trying to grow.
If he wants to make a world where everyone can live together, freely and as they are without fear, then he'll eventually have to stop pushing people and start leading by example.
[It's an odd moment, to feel him suddenly stumble, to feel that careful wall he has built up now shifting enough to show more than just confidence and charisma and a clever mind. For a moment, he's not a leader, or a brother, or a trusted friend.
He is a boy, aching for the support of another... perhaps someone he though understood.
...
Her heart aches for him, for how he tries to pull that wall right back up. And she knows better than to take a hammer to it. So she'll give him a moment, still keeping her voice gentle.]
I know I'm still really young, Claude. There's a lot I still have to learn about the world, in ways I might not want. But... I still think anyone deserves the chance to try for something better, and to show what matters to them... without compromising who they are. To... make up their minds on their own, and to stick to those choices that truly matter. [It feels familiar, like perhaps someone had told her as much once... but she can't place it anymore.]
I know there's a lot I would never be able to do without my most precious people beside me. I... think I might have wanted to fall apart from being lonely, some days. So I...
I hope the boy, someday, could know it's okay to be brave. And it's okay to be afraid first... just like he told someone that you need to hurt to learn from mistakes. And that maybe, just like his special person that he wanted at his side... there might be more people out there who want nothing more than something truly fair for those around them.
Of course she would agree with him. That's just the sort of girl she is, isn't she? Bright, honest, sincere. The kind of person he wants to make his new world for so they can continue to shine and grow instead of dim and grow weary from the way the world currently is.)
You don't need to worry so much for the boy. There's more to the story. It's kind of an ongoing series, you could say. But there are people... people he's been able to meet over time. And maybe they haven't opened up to each other completely just yet... but it's only a matter of time now.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Is it silly of me that I wondered? You remind me a lot of a boy I met once in a forest, Claude. He was really relaxed, and I never got to know him all that well... but when we met, he knew some things that seemed a little wild. I didn't learn until much later that he was a prince, and that he only pretended to be someone he wasn't to try and protect the people he loved, because there wasn't anything else he could do. He was determined from the start... but he spoke with a lot of confidence and thought, like you do.
[Her smile brightens a bit.]
You've gotta know better things that mine, though, silly. You're way older.
no subject
(He might have smiled just a little at her story, the air around him becoming particularly amused at something she just said. It's quiet, like someone in on an inside joke that she isn't a part of. It's funny how that works out!)
Once upon a time, in a faraway place, there was a young boy. This boy came from a despised lineage.
(That sure was an opener. He speaks calmly and lightly, his tone light and casual but tinged with a quiet sadness,)
In short, his mother was the daughter of the enemy. Because of his mixed blood, the boy was called weak and a coward. Most people around him hated him and treated him like an outsider. The boy didn't understand at first. After all, this land had been the only home he had ever known. But it made no difference to the others. Because he wasn't like them, they rejected him and called him names.
(And sometimes they did even more than that but he opts to leave that part out of his story. Hikaru doesn't need to know about the almost-accidents and the more blatant attempts on his life.)
But the boy knew better. He knew he wasn't weak or a coward because he was his mother's son and she was the strongest woman in the world. After all, she'd fallen in love with the enemy and decided to be with him. She could have stayed in her home and had a perfect life... but instead, she left it all behind and never looked back. Not everyone can do that. In fact, not a single one of the boy's enemies was brave enough to even consider it.
The boy was proud of his mother and would yell this at anyone that called him names but no one cared. It didn't matter if he tried to fight or explain himself... their minds were already made up.
no subject
Of course, she falls respectfully silent as he starts his story in return, letting him weave a tale of a boy born into a situation that he didn't quite deserve - a product of a love that was, for some reason, hated. There isn't quite empathy in how she watches him - prejudice, though she feels strongly about it, is still not something she knows well from experience. So while she can imagine the hurt that might come, should she were in that poor boy's position... a fear still rises at her own ignorance, quieting her further, letting her mind search his words and try not to decide for herself just quite yet.]
...He sounds like he was very brave. To stand up for what matters even when everyone around might despise him without any reason...
He must have been lonely.
no subject
(Brave? Lonely? He doesn't specify. But it's difficult to know what loneliness is when it's all you've had.)
One day, a messenger from "the outside" arrived for his mother. There was trouble at home and they needed her to return. She refused. But the boy saw an opportunity. He spoke to his parents and told them he wanted to go. Of course, they worried about their son but they let him go under one condition: He could never say where he was from.
(What a political disaster that would have been. To find out that his mother, a Fodlan duchess, had run away to marry an Almyran. And not just any Almyran but--
He wonders for a moment if he should mention that particular part. Admittedly, this part doesn't make too much sense without the extra context but he figures there's just enough, Hikaru can at least figure out a part of it. Son of the enemy bad. Don't tell.)
The boy promised and like his mother before him, he ran away across the border and didn't look back.
He arrived in his mother's land and fell in love instantly. It was a beautiful place with so much to offer. He'd only been there for a moment and he was proud to call it his new home. He thought he'd escaped his troubles but what did he find? He was in the exact same position.
The people there thought the people from his faraway land were a bunch of beasts. They called them violent, dangerous, and evil. The boy had never told anyone his secret so of course, no one ever called him that.
... But he knew how they truly felt about him, even if they didn't realize it themselves.
no subject
She tries to imagine it... to imagine that perhaps the boy had been from Autozam, and his mother from Cefiro. They weren't quite enemies, but...
Would people in Autozam treat the boy as a foolish monster, because of his mother? Would those in Cefiro treat him as a traitor and a liar, because of his father? She remembers how Rafaga had spoken about Lantis, to Lantis, how Lantis had walked the castle walls with both nostalgia and an empty sense of belonging...
How his eyes were always so, so sad.]
...What did the boy do? Neither side were right in the way they treated the other, but...
If he said something, he'd be in a lot of trouble no matter who he told... and he'd be breaking his promise to his most important person, right?
no subject
The boy realized he had no place to go. No matter where in the world he went, he would always be an outsider...
… So he decided he would destroy the boundaries between worlds. He would tear down every wall until there was no longer an "outside" or an "inside" and only one world to share. It wouldn't be easy, and the boy would have to hide who he was and take on great burdens to make it happen… but he believed in a world where no one would be hated for who they were.
To do that, he'd have to keep his secret a while longer. If he could convince people to give him a chance as he was, he would speak to them, get to know them, and change their hearts and minds one conversation at a time.
... What do you think of his dream? Crazy? Or brilliant?
no subject
...I think it's beautiful. And I think, in the end, it would be a dream worth realizing. If his heart knew that the change would be needed, even if it would be enormous, even if it would take a long time.
But...
To do something all alone, to try and make a world of belonging... that's too big a goal for only one person to bear. To be together as one needs a heart that is willing to take the risk to show compassion where there's only been hatred, to speak their mind and let those they love truly make a choice. To do it one by one, to carry that responsibility, is noble.
But what happens to the boy if his burdens become so great, that he cannot run from them? Doesn't he just become like the girl praying on her own? With a heart of pure intention, but... with no one there to truly share the burden of their beautiful desires?
Is that world truly a beautiful thing, if it can't be made together?
no subject
You should have told me you knew this story already.
(He laughs,)
It took a while... but eventually the boy grew up and met someone.
(And and here... is where something happens. He can recall that person clearly and when he does, he's fill with so much hope and optimism for the future, he feels invincible. And yet something is missing. There's an ache in his heart and a twinge in his heart, a sense of longing and frustration.
Something is missing and when he recalls it... there's nothing. He can't grasp it. He can't make any sense of it at all.)
That person was... important. (They were certainly important,) Someone who befriended everyone honestly and fairly, regardless of who they were. There was no other intention or special reason... And he found himself wanting that person by his side.
(Why didn't she choose him? Why would she help him so much but not accept his offers? Did she... not believe in him? Not like him? What more could he do...? Ah, the more he thinks about it, the more conflicted he feels and he has to move on. He finds himself mumbling to himself,)
... I don't know why...
(...)
Sorry, I got distracted. You're right. Even if he's grown up, it seems like he's still a boy at heart. (A boy so used to being alone, he just doesn't know how to reach out to others.) But he's learning. Trying to grow.
If he wants to make a world where everyone can live together, freely and as they are without fear, then he'll eventually have to stop pushing people and start leading by example.
(By being more honest with others.)
no subject
He is a boy, aching for the support of another... perhaps someone he though understood.
...
Her heart aches for him, for how he tries to pull that wall right back up. And she knows better than to take a hammer to it. So she'll give him a moment, still keeping her voice gentle.]
I know I'm still really young, Claude. There's a lot I still have to learn about the world, in ways I might not want. But... I still think anyone deserves the chance to try for something better, and to show what matters to them... without compromising who they are. To... make up their minds on their own, and to stick to those choices that truly matter. [It feels familiar, like perhaps someone had told her as much once... but she can't place it anymore.]
I know there's a lot I would never be able to do without my most precious people beside me. I... think I might have wanted to fall apart from being lonely, some days. So I...
I hope the boy, someday, could know it's okay to be brave. And it's okay to be afraid first... just like he told someone that you need to hurt to learn from mistakes. And that maybe, just like his special person that he wanted at his side... there might be more people out there who want nothing more than something truly fair for those around them.
He just has to let them in someday.
no subject
Of course she would agree with him. That's just the sort of girl she is, isn't she? Bright, honest, sincere. The kind of person he wants to make his new world for so they can continue to shine and grow instead of dim and grow weary from the way the world currently is.)
You don't need to worry so much for the boy. There's more to the story. It's kind of an ongoing series, you could say. But there are people... people he's been able to meet over time. And maybe they haven't opened up to each other completely just yet... but it's only a matter of time now.
no subject
I'm glad.
[She'll take a moment to fold her hands to her chest and incline her head towards him.]
Thank you for your story, Nii-chan. I hope it turns into a happy one.