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storypaint) wrote2010-06-15 10:47 am
storypaint) wrote2010-06-15 10:47 am
[Magic Knight Rayearth] Growth (Clef/Presea)
Title: Growth
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Length: 1880 words
Prompt: n/a
Pairing: Clef/Presea
Other: n/a
Excerpt: The first time that Presea confessed her love for Guru Clef, she was already a foot taller than him. Fourteen and awkwardly adolescent, she spent ten minutes standing outside the door to his office before she dared knock.
The first time that Presea confessed her love for Guru Clef, she was already a foot taller than him. Fourteen and awkwardly adolescent, she spent ten minutes standing outside the door to his office before she dared knock.
She became Pharle Perdana's apprentice when she was ten, leaving behind her mother and her tribe with hardly a look back, after the first few nights of homesickness. There was so much to learn, after all, minerals and metal and how to handle the forge. She was buried in work, the smell of ash and the taste of grit and the warm gold of a hot sword. She loved all of it, from the accidental burns to the accomplishment she felt setting her first jewels into a hilt.
And she was also fascinated by the people around the Pharle. Perdana had someone new through her forge at least once a day, people from all over the country. There were dark swordsmen from the Pillar's guard and skinny teenagers with the desire to help feed their families.
A somewhat frequent visitor was the Guru Clef. When Perdana had first mentioned that he was going to come by, Presea had formed a vague idea of a tall man in a flowing cloak, someone with a vibrant smile and magic constantly crackling around him. Perdana was larger than life, her attitude more than enough to compensate for the fact that her apprentice would soon outgrow her petite frame. Surely the Guru would be like this as well.
Instead, she'd mistaken the Guru for an apprentice and would have dragged him off to play had Perdana not recognized the look in her eyes and introduced them. The hand she'd outstretched familiarly fell to her side and she'd bowed in a rush, biting her lip and blushing heavily. The Guru had smiled just a little to put her at ease, and her flush of embarrassment had--
It had become something else.
When he came to visit, she always found excuses to hang around, so uncharacteristically quiet that Perdana teased her gently about it.
"She behaves so well when you're around, Guru Clef," the Pharle said cheerfully as she handed him a cup of tea. Even though he always seemed to be in a hurry, Perdana could usually convince him to pause for a few minutes. They seemed to be friends, as much as Clef had friends. Even though he rarely turned down her invitations, he was still often quiet and abrupt when he did speak. Presea's careful inquiries to Perdana had only made the other woman laugh. Just how he is, she'd said.
"I'm glad to be a good influence," he said, accepting the cup with a nod, and Presea went around for the rest of the day in a daze, bumping into cupboards and doorframes. Perdana chalked it up to adolescent clumsiness, at least out loud. It was clear to Presea at least that her mentor didn't consider Clef in "that way" at all (her loss), so she wouldn't think that Presea might.
And he might not think so either, which was why she was standing outside his door, heart thumping, waiting for him to answer. She'd delivered the knife to the appropriate party, just like Perdana had asked, but she had something else tucked in her pocket-- a small ring, twisted and a little heat-damaged, but not too bad for a first time welding on her own, in her opinion. People who were in love sometimes gave each other rings in Cephiran society, she'd heard, and she wanted to be prepared.
When the Guru answered the door, he seemed a little surprised at his visitor, but he didn't complain or ask her to come back later, instead stepping back in invitation. She stepped into his office with no small wonder, craning her neck around to take everything in. There were books and papers scattered everywhere, though somehow she got the impression of ordered chaos. Notes and to-do lists were stacked up on a desk not scaled for the Guru's height; when he settled himself back behind it, the maneuver required a little creativity, though he hardly seemed to recognize the difficulty, probably from the ease of long practice. She didn't realize she was gawking until he gestured at the two chairs in front of his desk. She chose one and slipped into it, blushing a little in embarrassment.
"What can I do for you, Apprentice Pharle?" he asked pleasantly. "Did Pharle Perdana send you with a message?"
She shook her head, ducking it and then looking up at him from underneath her eyelashes. She swallowed hard, fisting her hand around the ring and then said, her voice hardly shaking, "No, she didn't. This is just me."
He looked at her, expectant and curious.
"I'm in love with you," she said, and because she lifted her head to meet his eyes she saw the way his face fell, for just a second, before he recomposed himself.
"Apprentice Pharle," he began, "I'm not sure you understand... You're still very young..."
"I don't care that you're old!" she burst out, and when he lifted an eyebrow, "Older than me! I don't care. You're kind to me, and handsome, and I'm in love with you."
She was squeezing the ring in her palm so hard she thought that surely it would snap. She'd bleed all over his floor and he'd have to mend her hand again, like he had one of the first times they'd met and she'd broken a cup in her awkwardness. His hands wrapped around hers had been so warm.
"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head.
Before he could go on, she was up and running, bolting out of his office like a rabbit. Luckily, there was no one around, and she was out of the palace and some distance into the forest before she stopped, sobbing and breathing heavily. She took the long route home, and if Perdana wondered what had delayed her return, or why her eyes were red-rimmed, she chose not to ask.
*
The second time she said it, she thought for sure that he was going to die. Cephiro itself was crumbling, Pillar-less, their lives were falling down around them, but all she could see was his body crumpled on the floor, so small. She'd pushed her childish crush away after that unfortunate confession, and luckily enough he'd never mentioned it to anyone else, or even to her, again. She thought the feelings that she had for him would fade as she aged, but they hadn't really-- they'd simply changed as she had, as she got to know him. He wasn't just kind and handsome; he had quite a temper and a love for traditions that no one else remembered. He could be entirely too serious at times (admittedly, this was one of the times that seriousness was necessary), and sometimes his manner was rather imperious. But still-- he cared deeply for his students, loved to read the same books that Presea did, and had a dry humor that complimented her effervescence. She'd gotten to know him, really, and she still liked him.
Seeing him there made her pause, utterly. She found herself unable to move, unable to breathe, as Lafarga picked Clef up and checked his breathing. Heart in her throat and audience forgotten, she dropped to her knees and said, "Don't die. I love you."
There was a moment's considering silence from the rest of the group, but then Clef woke, his voice rasping about the road to the Pillar, and there were more important considerations. Caldina paused to rest a hand on Presea's shoulder, sharing a small smile in comfort, before they were off to do what could be done.
It might not have been much of a confession, with one of the parties unconscious, but it was the first time she'd allowed herself to say the words in twelve years.
*
The third time, after the country was safe and the world was reestablishing itself, along with its people, there was time for things to change. Everything was becoming different-- becoming better, hopefully.
This time, he said it first.
*
She found the ring a few years after that, reaching absently into a box of old clothes and nearly cutting her finger open on the rough place where the metal was welded together. She pulled it out curiously and lifted it to the light. There was a tiny "P" etched into the underside, but she would have recognized it anyway. She smiled, looking down into the box with a feeling of nostalgia, rather than loss. These were the old leather clothes she'd worn during her apprenticeship, burn-marked and much too small now. Her apprentice would be able to wear them, which was the reason for her search. She'd forgotten that she'd tucked the ring away with them when she was sixteen, after a growth spurt and a broken heart.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Clef asked, ducking his head in the door. She smiled and tossed the jewelry at him. He caught it, even in his surprise, turning the ring over in his fingers curiously.
"Do you remember this?" Presea asked. She shut the box and picked it up, resting it on her hip and walking over to him. He shook his head in puzzlement.
"Should I?"
She laughed. "It's probably better that you don't."
He looked down at the ring again, thoughtfully, and then glanced back up at her as he realized. "You were very young then," he said.
"I've always been very young compared to you," she teased, leaning down and plucking the ring from his fingers and tucking it into a pocket. She wasn't sure she wanted to throw it away, but maybe it could be reworked into part of something nicer, like the earrings she was planning to make for his birthday.
"It's not the same now," he said. He followed her out of the room and into the kitchen, where she set the box on the table. Her apprentice had gone to visit his mother today, soot on his cheek and pride in his heart, but when he came back, he'd have some thicker leathers to wear.
"It's not, really, is it?" Presea said, dipping down to eye level to kiss him softly. Clef brushed her cheek with his hand. The band adorning it was as simple as that first one had been, but much better made. She'd learned a lot in in the years between forging the first one and the second.
"But some things don't change," she continued, smiling vibrantly at him.
"Luckily," he said, with a quiet chuckle. They left the box and retired to their room.
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Length: 1880 words
Prompt: n/a
Pairing: Clef/Presea
Other: n/a
Excerpt: The first time that Presea confessed her love for Guru Clef, she was already a foot taller than him. Fourteen and awkwardly adolescent, she spent ten minutes standing outside the door to his office before she dared knock.
The first time that Presea confessed her love for Guru Clef, she was already a foot taller than him. Fourteen and awkwardly adolescent, she spent ten minutes standing outside the door to his office before she dared knock.
She became Pharle Perdana's apprentice when she was ten, leaving behind her mother and her tribe with hardly a look back, after the first few nights of homesickness. There was so much to learn, after all, minerals and metal and how to handle the forge. She was buried in work, the smell of ash and the taste of grit and the warm gold of a hot sword. She loved all of it, from the accidental burns to the accomplishment she felt setting her first jewels into a hilt.
And she was also fascinated by the people around the Pharle. Perdana had someone new through her forge at least once a day, people from all over the country. There were dark swordsmen from the Pillar's guard and skinny teenagers with the desire to help feed their families.
A somewhat frequent visitor was the Guru Clef. When Perdana had first mentioned that he was going to come by, Presea had formed a vague idea of a tall man in a flowing cloak, someone with a vibrant smile and magic constantly crackling around him. Perdana was larger than life, her attitude more than enough to compensate for the fact that her apprentice would soon outgrow her petite frame. Surely the Guru would be like this as well.
Instead, she'd mistaken the Guru for an apprentice and would have dragged him off to play had Perdana not recognized the look in her eyes and introduced them. The hand she'd outstretched familiarly fell to her side and she'd bowed in a rush, biting her lip and blushing heavily. The Guru had smiled just a little to put her at ease, and her flush of embarrassment had--
It had become something else.
When he came to visit, she always found excuses to hang around, so uncharacteristically quiet that Perdana teased her gently about it.
"She behaves so well when you're around, Guru Clef," the Pharle said cheerfully as she handed him a cup of tea. Even though he always seemed to be in a hurry, Perdana could usually convince him to pause for a few minutes. They seemed to be friends, as much as Clef had friends. Even though he rarely turned down her invitations, he was still often quiet and abrupt when he did speak. Presea's careful inquiries to Perdana had only made the other woman laugh. Just how he is, she'd said.
"I'm glad to be a good influence," he said, accepting the cup with a nod, and Presea went around for the rest of the day in a daze, bumping into cupboards and doorframes. Perdana chalked it up to adolescent clumsiness, at least out loud. It was clear to Presea at least that her mentor didn't consider Clef in "that way" at all (her loss), so she wouldn't think that Presea might.
And he might not think so either, which was why she was standing outside his door, heart thumping, waiting for him to answer. She'd delivered the knife to the appropriate party, just like Perdana had asked, but she had something else tucked in her pocket-- a small ring, twisted and a little heat-damaged, but not too bad for a first time welding on her own, in her opinion. People who were in love sometimes gave each other rings in Cephiran society, she'd heard, and she wanted to be prepared.
When the Guru answered the door, he seemed a little surprised at his visitor, but he didn't complain or ask her to come back later, instead stepping back in invitation. She stepped into his office with no small wonder, craning her neck around to take everything in. There were books and papers scattered everywhere, though somehow she got the impression of ordered chaos. Notes and to-do lists were stacked up on a desk not scaled for the Guru's height; when he settled himself back behind it, the maneuver required a little creativity, though he hardly seemed to recognize the difficulty, probably from the ease of long practice. She didn't realize she was gawking until he gestured at the two chairs in front of his desk. She chose one and slipped into it, blushing a little in embarrassment.
"What can I do for you, Apprentice Pharle?" he asked pleasantly. "Did Pharle Perdana send you with a message?"
She shook her head, ducking it and then looking up at him from underneath her eyelashes. She swallowed hard, fisting her hand around the ring and then said, her voice hardly shaking, "No, she didn't. This is just me."
He looked at her, expectant and curious.
"I'm in love with you," she said, and because she lifted her head to meet his eyes she saw the way his face fell, for just a second, before he recomposed himself.
"Apprentice Pharle," he began, "I'm not sure you understand... You're still very young..."
"I don't care that you're old!" she burst out, and when he lifted an eyebrow, "Older than me! I don't care. You're kind to me, and handsome, and I'm in love with you."
She was squeezing the ring in her palm so hard she thought that surely it would snap. She'd bleed all over his floor and he'd have to mend her hand again, like he had one of the first times they'd met and she'd broken a cup in her awkwardness. His hands wrapped around hers had been so warm.
"I'm sorry," he said, shaking his head.
Before he could go on, she was up and running, bolting out of his office like a rabbit. Luckily, there was no one around, and she was out of the palace and some distance into the forest before she stopped, sobbing and breathing heavily. She took the long route home, and if Perdana wondered what had delayed her return, or why her eyes were red-rimmed, she chose not to ask.
*
The second time she said it, she thought for sure that he was going to die. Cephiro itself was crumbling, Pillar-less, their lives were falling down around them, but all she could see was his body crumpled on the floor, so small. She'd pushed her childish crush away after that unfortunate confession, and luckily enough he'd never mentioned it to anyone else, or even to her, again. She thought the feelings that she had for him would fade as she aged, but they hadn't really-- they'd simply changed as she had, as she got to know him. He wasn't just kind and handsome; he had quite a temper and a love for traditions that no one else remembered. He could be entirely too serious at times (admittedly, this was one of the times that seriousness was necessary), and sometimes his manner was rather imperious. But still-- he cared deeply for his students, loved to read the same books that Presea did, and had a dry humor that complimented her effervescence. She'd gotten to know him, really, and she still liked him.
Seeing him there made her pause, utterly. She found herself unable to move, unable to breathe, as Lafarga picked Clef up and checked his breathing. Heart in her throat and audience forgotten, she dropped to her knees and said, "Don't die. I love you."
There was a moment's considering silence from the rest of the group, but then Clef woke, his voice rasping about the road to the Pillar, and there were more important considerations. Caldina paused to rest a hand on Presea's shoulder, sharing a small smile in comfort, before they were off to do what could be done.
It might not have been much of a confession, with one of the parties unconscious, but it was the first time she'd allowed herself to say the words in twelve years.
*
The third time, after the country was safe and the world was reestablishing itself, along with its people, there was time for things to change. Everything was becoming different-- becoming better, hopefully.
This time, he said it first.
*
She found the ring a few years after that, reaching absently into a box of old clothes and nearly cutting her finger open on the rough place where the metal was welded together. She pulled it out curiously and lifted it to the light. There was a tiny "P" etched into the underside, but she would have recognized it anyway. She smiled, looking down into the box with a feeling of nostalgia, rather than loss. These were the old leather clothes she'd worn during her apprenticeship, burn-marked and much too small now. Her apprentice would be able to wear them, which was the reason for her search. She'd forgotten that she'd tucked the ring away with them when she was sixteen, after a growth spurt and a broken heart.
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Clef asked, ducking his head in the door. She smiled and tossed the jewelry at him. He caught it, even in his surprise, turning the ring over in his fingers curiously.
"Do you remember this?" Presea asked. She shut the box and picked it up, resting it on her hip and walking over to him. He shook his head in puzzlement.
"Should I?"
She laughed. "It's probably better that you don't."
He looked down at the ring again, thoughtfully, and then glanced back up at her as he realized. "You were very young then," he said.
"I've always been very young compared to you," she teased, leaning down and plucking the ring from his fingers and tucking it into a pocket. She wasn't sure she wanted to throw it away, but maybe it could be reworked into part of something nicer, like the earrings she was planning to make for his birthday.
"It's not the same now," he said. He followed her out of the room and into the kitchen, where she set the box on the table. Her apprentice had gone to visit his mother today, soot on his cheek and pride in his heart, but when he came back, he'd have some thicker leathers to wear.
"It's not, really, is it?" Presea said, dipping down to eye level to kiss him softly. Clef brushed her cheek with his hand. The band adorning it was as simple as that first one had been, but much better made. She'd learned a lot in in the years between forging the first one and the second.
"But some things don't change," she continued, smiling vibrantly at him.
"Luckily," he said, with a quiet chuckle. They left the box and retired to their room.