Aiko Namika (aikonamika) wrote in no_true_pair, @ 2008-06-07 17:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | ! 2008 twelve characters challenge, author: aikonamika, crossover: fire emblem/gundam wing, pairing: mordecai/relena |
"Nothing Like the Sun", Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Gundam Wing
Title: Nothing Like the Sun
Author: Aiko Namika
Fandom: Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance/Gundam Wing
Characters: Mordecai, Relena, Caineghis, Ranulf, Dorothy
Rating: G
Warnings: None, really. It’s just a happy little fic.
Prompt/challenge you're answering: Mordecai and Relena with the title, "Nothing Like the Sun."
Author’s notes: Again, set in the FE9 universe. I seem to be able to blend everyone in there the easiest.
The ambassador to Gallia from Begnion was an elegant young woman with golden hair, dressed in the robes of a cleric, and guarded by a force of Pegasus Knights, Captained by a fierce-looking Falcon Knight with even paler hair that cascaded from beneath her helm.
Mordecai was in the welcoming party, as he’d spent so much time with the beorc in Ike’s group of mercenaries, and so it was hoped that he might be able to get along with them more easily than some of the other Gallians. He wasn’t sure just how effective he would be, because he had just been lucky enough to meet up with very kind beorcs, like Ike and his little sister Mist. Ranulf and Lethe were there for the same reason, and Muarim and his young ward Tormod were there as well, though the latter two were there to represent the laguz who had been enslaved by the Begnions, who should be freed by now.
Watching the woman walk toward them amongst her knights, he quailed inwardly and tried to keep his hands from shaking. Though Princess Elincia had been a very nice woman, and he had met a few good Begnions with the Mercenaries, who was to say that this Lady Relena would be an equally kind person? Her guard certainly looked as if she was about ready to bury her lance into anyone who so much as breathed wrong, and he made sure to ask Lethe not to be mean to her, because he didn’t want anyone to get into trouble.
The entourage walked through the light of the huge, open windows that the Gallians preferred, and the ambassador’s hair suddenly lit up as if from within, and he blinked in surprise. He’d only seen Reyson’s hair do that before, but she certainly was no heron, though she almost looked like she would have been one, if she’d been laguz. Then the Begnions were before them, and he remembered to stand straight and watch them carefully as he’d been told.
“Lady Relena, welcome to Gallia,” the King said as he stepped forward, his powerful, red-furred form nearly overwhelming her presence – but not quite. She was like Princess Elincia, or like Mist, in that she was delicate and pretty and acted quite different from the King instead of trying to match him, showing her strength in different ways. She curtseyed to the King, her guards bowing their heads, and then lifted blue eyes to look at the Lion.
“It is an honor to be here, in your presence. I would like to express my thanks for allowing me to come here as a representative of Begnion’s wishes to extend the hand of fellowship to all of Gallia,” she said, and Mordecai tried not to frown. This was why he didn’t like diplomats and nobles – beorc ones, at least. Why couldn’t they speak simply, in a way that everyone could understand? There wasn’t any sort of need to muddle things up with fancy words and gestures when a simple roar could express everything that was needed. But like Ike had said, beorc couldn’t understand roars, and so he would have to muddle along in their inexact language and hope that he understood everything.
“Mordecai,” and here he looked up, and realized that he’d missed over half of the conversation, but he knew what he was supposed to be doing anyway. “Ranulf. Would you please escort the Lady Relena and her guards to their quarters?” He nodded and stepped forward at the same time as the blue Cat, both of them bowing in the way that the Begnions could recognize as respect.
“Hrrn. I would be glad to, Majesty,” he said, and though Ranulf’s response was spunkier, it meant the same thing. Originally Lethe was supposed to accompany him, but she had enough trouble admitting that she liked the beorc of Ike’s mercenary company, that to expect her to behave around visiting Begnions was just asking for trouble. So instead they’d asked Ranulf, their little spy, to go with them. He was better at understanding their language and nuances anyway.
“Please, come right this way!” The Cat said, and Mordecai found himself walking on the other side of the Lady from her guard, while Ranulf stood next to the pale blond woman. They lead the way down the hallway toward the guest quarters, and Mordecai had to make sure that he wasn’t outpacing the beorcs, considering how much larger than them he was.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Mordecai,” the Lady said, and he nodded once, and wished that Ike was here to help. His friend had always seemed uncannily adept at getting along with people.
“I am glad to see you here, Lady,” he finally said. “Rrrn. I am sorry if I mess things up, but even now I am not very good at speaking your language.”
“Please, just call me Relena. I want to see if Begnion and Gallia can become friends and not merely uneasy allies, and the best way to do that is for me to makes friends here, don’t you think?” Her attitude and her smile reminded him a bit of Mist, and he wondered if this was what she would be like when she grew up. He didn’t smell any sort of deception or trickery on her either, which was another advantage they had over the beorcs, and it was enough to make him relax a bit.
“Rrelena,” he said, growling the R a bit as befit a proper name. It could almost be a laguz name, if she were not so obviously beorc – and definitely not like the Parentless, as he’d seen with Stefan. But that was another thing entirely, and one that he didn’t want to think about here. “You are a kind beorc, to think of things like that.”
“I hope so,” she said softly, and suddenly looked sad.
“What is wrong?”
“It’s just…I hope that I’m not the only one from Begnion who wants this alliance to go through. It would mean so much for both of our peoples, and the still-enslaved laguz could be freed, like Muarim was. He and his friend Tormod have a good idea in what they are doing, and I pray every day for them to succeed, and for my own efforts to bear fruit. I just don’t know if it will even happen in this lifetime – or at least, in my lifetime.” The way her guard glanced over as she spoke, and then turned back to Ranulf with a sigh told Mordecai that she’d probably said the same things before, and he frowned.
“Do not doubt. You are a kind beorc, as I said, and you are good with words. You will be able to talk people around to it. It means peace and happiness for everyone, so why would they not want this to happen?” Well, there were some beorcs that he just didn’t understand, but if everyone were as practical as laguz could be (and managed to set aside grudges, which the laguz had trouble with), then what was the problem with this alliance?
“Some people won’t be happy with the change from what they’ve always known,” Relena said, and then shook her head. “But you’re right. I can’t let a few doubters get in my way. I will bring this peace about, however I can,” she said, smiling up at him, and he smiled back.
“I am glad that you are confident again,” he stated as they arrived at the door to the ambassador’s quarters. “Here are your rooms,” he added awkwardly, and Ranulf took over again, escorting the women inside and making sure they were settled before the two of them left.
“So, how was she?” the Cat asked, and Mordecai growled his approval of the ambassador, forgoing the beorc language now that he could. She was kind, and brave, and if she occasionally doubted herself, then she just as quickly built her courage back up. Looking toward the setting sun through a window they were passing, he nodded, both to Ranulf and himself.
Maybe this peace wouldn’t be as difficult as he’d been scared it would be.
-fin-