Homesick
"Eat up, before it gets cold."
Zel barely registered it when X'raehl pressed a small bowl into her hands, the scent of grilled fish and roasted popotoes fading into the backdrop. She sat moping in her tent, as the weather decided tonight was a great night to rain on some camping adventurers, and rain sometimes made her moody. X'raehl was in charge of dinner tonight, and had managed to cover the now dead campfire with a spare buckler someone had on hand, and keep it alive long enough to cook the simple meal. Canard had gone to his own tent, and the chocobos were huddled together nearby, so for now, it was just the two of them.
All it took was one bite before tears began to run down her cheeks. The food was good, but something about the popotoes reminded her too much of the popotoes she and her mother would roast in the hearth of their mountain home.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing...I just...I know this is what I wanted, to be out on adventures with you and enjoying the world but...but sometimes..." A fat tear plopped down onto Zel's fish. "I don't know why I'm sad. I talk with my sisters and write letters to Maman every week but...I don't want to go back to Coerthas but at the same time I kinda do..."
As she trailed off, the seeker scooted closer to her and wrapped arm around her, comforting, solid, and warm.
"Sounds to me like you're homesick."
"Homesick?" The conjurer looked puzzled. It was a word she had seen in stories, but was not a feeling she was familiar with.
"Aye, took you longer than I thought it would, no surprise all things considered, but it's something all adventurers feel, eventually." He gently took the bowl from her hands and set it down, so she wouldn't drop it. "At first, it's all fun and games, until something big happens, something so different from the safety of home that you just want to go back. You've weathered everything that's happened so far, but even the stoniest of us want to just go home sometimes. Though...for some, that home isn't even there anymore."
"It...really hurts a lot. The sadness." Zel whimpered.
"That's to be expected." He rested his head against hers and rubbed her shoulder reassuringly. "You don't have to be brave all the time, Zel. If you need to be sad, then sometimes you should just go where your emotions take you. You've earned a rest."
The conjurer sniffled and leaned into him.
"You can go back to being the unbreakable Warrior of Light tomorrow."
For the first time in a while, Zel let herself cry.
Written 2019/03/19
Posted 2024/03/06