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Dedication: To Ele-chan – My muse, my friend and my alpha-beta. Without you, The Fae would still be languishing on my hard drive. Cheers!
Story Disclaimer: The characters of this story belong to Naoko and her lawyers. This story is property of me, myself and I, also known as Ocianne. Do no sue; do not steal; do not make me repeat myself.
Come watch as their life's threads of the heroes of this age, as they begin to follow the pattern of the tapestry's weave...
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Added June 21, 2004
In an effort to allay the constant confusion about who is who, I've finally gotten around to putting up the name changes for the ten main characters.
Usagi – Iris Veraht.
Minako – Aislyn Aire
Ami – Tarai Rahn.
Rei – Kayamé Rahn
Makoto – Dyani Serden
Mamoru – Mikael Ingvarr
Kunzite – Kain Merin
Zoisite – Erik Serden
Jadeite – Jaeden Merin
Nephrite – Landon Kyrios
Other SM characters will be making cameos, but they'll be pointed out later, and most minor characters are original, not borrowed.
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Chapter One: Dolls
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It was a quiet, peaceful place. Birds sang their joyful chorus in the trees of Varon Forest, undisturbed by the small cottage sitting on its southern outskirts. A brook danced to its own private tune, gurgling over rocks as it meandered from the forest through the meadow behind the cottage.
Alazy plume of smoke uncurled from the brick chimney and dissipated in the zephyrs dancing about the welcoming structure. Though unneded because of its isolation, alow wooden fence surounded the small plot of land, leaving enough room for a garden and grovethat circled the entire cottage. On the house's front side a gate opened into a dirt walk, running between green grass and carefully tended flowers to the wooden front porch.
A middle-aged man, dressed in traveling clothes, exited the forest and walked swiftly through the meadow's wild grasses to the gate. Unlatching it, he entered and let it swing closed behind him with a loud 'bang!', then stood and waited.
"Papa, papa!"
A young girl's face appeared and then vanished in one of the two windows that faced the front walk. The front door burst open and she rushed toward him, her arms open wide. With a broad grin the man swept his daughter into the air just before she crashed into him,spinning her around as she laughed in childish glee. After a moment he set her on his shoulders, giving an exaggerated grunt.
"You're getting to big, Iris. Soon you'll be taller than me!"
Iris giggled as her father started up the dirt walk, still riding on his shoulders. "Momma says I'm growing too, but I can't tell, 'cept I've hit my head sometimes."
"There, you see? You'll be a beautiful, tall young woman before you know it. Have you been looking after you mother while I've been gone?"
She nodded, not taking into account that he couldn't see her. "Yes! And she's been teaching me all sorts of interesting things. But there's so much, Papa..." Iris sighed, running her hands through his unkempt brown hair. "I'm afraid I'll never learn it all!"
He chuckled softly, reaching up and smoothing her hair to comfort her. "It's all right not to know everything, so long as you're always willing to learn."
"Really?"
"Absolutely. But don't ever give up on knowing as much as you can."
"I won't, Papa. I promise." She paused for a moment as they mounted the two steps to the porch and entered the house, then whispered in her father's ear, "Did you bring me anything?"
Laughing, he plucked her from her perch and set her on the wooden floor inside. "A new record, making it inside the house before the question! Though as a matter of fact," he continued, reaching inside his coat and squatting beside her, "I did."
He pulled out an exquisitely made wooden doll,the face painted to match Iris' bright blue eyes and rosy mouth and the limbs jointed to give them movement. Rather than carved hair, real hair had been attached to the head: long, straight, pale white-blonde, identical to the young girl's own. A tiny wreath of blue flowers and a white summer dress completed the doll's ensemble. Iris squealed in delight when her father placed the doll in her hands, giving him an enormous hug and kiss.
"Oh!" exclaimed a new voice, as Iris' mother appeared in the room and saw the gift. "She looks just like you, Iris!"
Iris immediately turned and ran toward her mother, holding the doll aloft. "See what Papa gave me, Momma!"
"She's beautiful, dear," the woman said, giving Iris a peck on the forehead. "Why don't you play with her while I talk to your father?"
Iris obeyed, scampering to the corner of the cottage which held her small collection of toys. Her mother approached her father and kissed his cheek, his hand in hers.
"You spoil her, Aran. That doll must have cost a fortune!"
Aran smiled. "Guilty as charged, my dear, but just look at her. It was a small price to pay to see her so happy."
The couple stood together in silence for a moment, watching their daughter. At first glance her play seemed like a normal child's, but a second looked revealed a slight discoordination in her movements and that her eyes did not focus on the doll as she smoothed its hair and dress.
"Miki..."
"Yes, darling?"
"Sometimes I wish... why must she be blind?"
Leaning her head against his shoulder with a sigh, Miki avoided his eyes, which she knew would be full of sadness and regret. "You know why, Aran. Her differences, her blindness, come from being our child."
"I know, but there are still times where I wish I could do something," Aran said with a frown.
"You don't need to do anything. She knows her way around almost better than I do, and for now that's enough. She's happy regardless of whether or not she can see, and sometimes I think everything might turn out better this way."
"Perhaps." There was another short silence. "You've been teaching her?"
"Did she tell you? Yes, I am. When I think of all that she'll need to learn... but she loves to listen to me. You know, I don't think she'll ever lose her curiosity. It's too strong."
She smiled at him, and he squeezed her hand.
"I agree. But let's worry about the future when it comes. For the present," Aran said with a shameless smile, "I heard that a lovely young woman in these parts makes the best roast in the country."
Miki laughed, her curly blond hair dancing around her face as she shook her head at him, and went to make their dinner. "Welcome home, Aran."
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"The Lady Aislyn, sir."
Lord Shonin Aire glanced up from the papers on his desk to acknowledge the servant standing in the door of his study. Leaning back in his chair, he nodded and the servant retreated with a bow to allow a young girl, perhaps ten years old, enter.
"You wanted to see me, father?" she asked respectfully, looking at the floor.
"Come in, Aislyn, and close the door behind you."
Shutting the heavy oak door firmly, the girl walked to stand in front of his desk. He regarded her critically for a moment as she waited.
While her waist-length golden hair was plaited in the traditional braid for girls of noble birth, she let it hang free instead of wearing it coiled and pinned against the head like most. Also, though her ivory dress had been made of expensive cloth as befitted her station, it employed a simple design without the usual decorative laces and ruffles. Aislyn was a stubborn lass, that much was certain, unwilling to be influenced by her peers and elders. No, she followed her own path.
And that was why he loved her so.
"No hug for your dear father?" Aire asked abruptly, a twinkle appearing in his stern grey eyes. Aislyn's face lit up with a smile and she ran to him, climbing in his lap and linking her arms around his nick. Sighing happily, she snuggled down in his embrace.
"They don't let us do things like this at school, but I'm glad that you'll still hug me, father." She paused. "I don't like it there."
"I know, Aislyn, but I cannot go against the law, either to recall you from there or to train you as my successor. It took a great deal of effort to merely orchestrate your visit home."
"You can't do anything father?" she asked seriously, pulling back to gaze at his face. "They teach things there that don't agree with what you've told me."
"I know they do, and you must not let them know that I've taught you anything."
"I remember. But how can I know what's true, when you both teach me things and say that your way is right?"
Aire smiled fondly at his only child. "My little Aislyn, you must decide for yourself what you think is true. However, you have an advantage over your fellows — you have a second view to consider."
She nodded, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Will you tell me more then, father? I want to know the truth, so I'll have to know as much as I can from you before going back to school."
"Of course," Aire replied warmly. He leaned back in his chair and focused his eyes on some distant, unseen place. "Long ago, when the Creator first made the world, the Fae and humans lived together in peace..."
Settling herself on Aire's lap more comfortably, Aislyn lost herself in his words.
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AN: So. Now it begins. ::Laughs evilly::. You're in for a long story.
Review, please? ::Points down at button market 'submit review'::. I accept all types of feedback. Going by a tradition I've seen a few FF authors use, I'll be responding to all my reviewers in my closing notes of the next chapter. Don't you want to see your name here? ;)
See you next update.
Ocianne
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