Happy Valentines Day Everyone!

Here is an extra post for you all as a Valentines Day present for my lovely readers, haha!

Enjoy! And don't forget to vote and comment!

Love, Luckycharms <3



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Milo did a good job doing what Thea asked and she was more than grateful, allowing them to continue to focus on Rue, focusing on trying to make the best of what information they already had about him, but also planning what they were going to do when they arrived at the library.

When Thea and Milo finally arrived in Abureth Town close to noon, Thea was much more excited than she had anticipated, despite all that had happened. The fact that there was a relatively heavy snow sprinkling from the sky that day also relieved her a little too. Something about it felt... clean.

Unlike the capital, Abureth town was rather northern, so not only did winter hit the town a lot harder, but it was definitely more beautiful here than it was in the slushy, gloomier city. Though in general, Thea did love the city, when it came to winter, she knew it was much more beautiful in Abureth.

The first thing that the two did after getting off the train was head for a phone where Thea called her ecstatic parents to let them know that they had arrived safely. She also found out, to her dismay, that Theus wasn't even in Abureth this week. He had gone east, apparently for a repair request, and wouldn't be back for another few days. Though Thea was incredibly disappointed, she also wondered if maybe this was a good thing. One look at her face and he'd probably know something was wrong, and she certainly didn't want to worry him... not when her concerns were so fresh.

Then, after giving the General a call as promised to let him know that they were okay, the two headed straight for the Elorian State Public Library.

The library was gorgeous, built to reflect the architecture of Old Elore, bricks completely white and looking almost temple like, it was a shining beacon in the center of Abureth Town. It was tall and visible from most points of the town, Thea could even see it from her window in her bedroom, and it was the place that all students just loved to be at.

As they approached it, they had to walk through the small garden that sat in front of the building, some of the flowers still thriving despite the start of the snowfall. It was a beautiful and colorful garden which, in the height of spring and even both summer and fall, added the perfect amount of colour to the area. Plus, in the center of the garden was a large, glorious golden statue of an ancient Elorian queen.

Queen Saya... an Ancient Elorian Queen who advocated for the education of the poor and changed the Elorian society forever by actually fighting for what she knew was right.

Thea remembered walking by the library as a child during the Civil War, seeing the statue torn from its pedestal and knocked over by the State, but after the war it was repaired and put back up, looking as good as new.

Of course, she had battle scars, the areas where they needed to weld her back together still plainly visible... but that was alright. Now that was part of her history too, and frankly, it made her all the more interesting.

After Milo admired the statue for a moment while he spat out a ton of facts about the Queen that even Thea didn't know, the two made their way into the massive library.

After the librarian led the two straight to the newspaper room, a room with a controlled temperature and even special lighting to protect the documents, they were left alone and it was time to work.

Thea felt an excitement in her as, with gloves on, she went to the shelves where Thanina's newspapers were stored. The old newspapers were all bound together into large, dense tomes, bound by title and then by year and the sight of all of these books... these historical records... was enough to finally allow all of Thea's anxieties to slip her mind. As she ran her fingers along the spines of the books that carried the history of her people, she knew that this was enough to finally allow herself to fully focus on what was important. Rue.

"So, the Civil War started in November of 1942, and then the Crows took Thanina almost immediately after," Thea said. "We want to start looking right from there, right?"

Milo nodded. "Yes, we want to focus our attention on the beginning of the war, and then also on the State's Siege of Thanina, which was in 1946."

Thea grabbed the volume dated 1942 and Milo grabbed the 1946 one, the both of them heaving it over to the table that they were using. They had both decided to split their efforts, with Thea focusing on the newspapers from December 1942, which was when the Crows began occupying Thanina when the Civil War started, and Milo would do the same for 1946. If they had more time, they would proceed to the years in between, but for now, the focus would be those important ones. This would certainly be the best use of their time.

As the two usually were when they were working, they first worked silently on their own, with the plan of coming together and sharing notes when they went for lunch. This method worked best for them, allowing them to go at things on their own, using their own skills and own knowledge.

However, despite this, very early on Thea found herself spotting something she hadn't expected, though realizing at that moment that she should have absolutely expected it.

The Thanina Post, the main newspaper of the city that they were focusing on, had a section called "Selected Miscellany" at the bottom of the editorials, and in that section of one of the first newspapers Thea looked at... she spotted a poem.

Crows

Beautiful birds fly freely until the Hunters burn them down. Amber and ablaze, They try to remain in flight. It's useless. They fall down. In pain, the scorched creature crashes, broken, But they shake off the embers. Black and burnt, Still beautiful, though no longer the same. They fly again.

- Anonymous

She recognized the style. She recognized the voice. Quickly, she flipped through the pages, going to the editorials from other days, even grabbing the 1943 volume and flipping through that as well, and saw the pattern instantly. She looked up at Milo, who was already deeply absorbed in his own research. "Milo!" She called, and when his head snapped up, she continued. "Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays," she said, a smile growing on her face.

Milo looked confused. "What?"

"Rue... he didn't just pick up a pen to fight... he wrote and published his work!"

"In the paper?" Milo stood and rushed over to her.

Thea nodded, her heart racing.

He was just like her.

He wanted to write to fight... and he wanted to share his work in the papers. Sure he was writing poems and Thea wanted to publish articles... but they were the same nonetheless.

When Milo reached her, she flipped through the pages and showed him what she found. "There are certain days he missed, but for the most part, he's been publishing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays throughout the whole year!"

Milo's eyes widened as his brows rose high on his head. "We need to check the other years... surely he was writing well into the Siege as well..."

"And we've got to copy them all down..."

"Fifty-two weeks in a year... three times a week... that's about 156 poems a year, assuming he stuck to that schedule."

"And we have four years, not including 1942 because the poems only started in December of that year."

Milo thought for a moment, wheels turning in his head. "That's potentially over 600 poems."

"It can't be... that's insane!"

"We know Rue is someone who is both committed and persistent."

Thea certainly knew that was true.

However, despite the excitement in finding six hundred more poems they could use to find out more about this man, Milo removed his glasses and began to rub his eyes, looking worried. "We're going to have to come back... there's no way we'll be able to copy all that down today. We don't have enough time."

He was right. They didn't have time for that, but the more they copied down, the better... they could review plenty during the four hour trip back... and for the rest of Sunday, and even up until the moment before the meeting.

But they also needed to focus on the papers themselves... not just the poems. Milo needed to focus on the time of the Siege to see if they could find more information, like who was killed... maybe even the name of Rue's brother.

Milo was right.

They didn't have enough time. But as Thea began squeezing the bridge of her nose, she realized something. She looked at Milo with a smile. "I know what to do."







Within less than thirty minutes of Thea calling them from the payphone outside of the library, her parents, grandmother and her best friend Laila arrived. Thea was adamant about not wasting time, but the sight of them walking into the newspaper room made Thea ecstatic. She ran up to them, trying to embrace them all at once but failing miserably.

She had to hold back tears as her family and her best friend welcomed her home with kindness and warmth.

It felt good, and she didn't realize how much she needed this until they were all there in her arms.

The only person missing was Theus... and it wasn't really his fault, Thea found out quickly from her mother that Theus had been gone all week, well before Thea had told her family she was coming. And though she wished he was here, she focused more on hoping that whatever he was gone for was not Crow related. She hoped he was safe.

Besides, now wasn't the time to worry about that.

"Ma, Pa, Grams, Laila, this is Milo," Thea finally said when they had finished with the warm hugs and kisses. "He's my absolutely amazing, incredibly smart friend from the Capital."

Milo, who was standing from the moment her family entered, gave them a respectful nod. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Thea has told me so much."

"No need to be so respectful," Thea's grandmother said as she walked over to Milo, being her usual boisterous and kind self. "Thea has told us so much about you too, and anyone who treats our girl the way you do is family in our eyes."

Milo smiled kindly. "Thea is wonderful, I'm lucky to have her as a coworker and a friend."

Thea noticed her grandmother watching Milo intently before turning to Thea. "My goodness, what a handsome boy!"

Milo's blush covered his face almost instantly, embarrassed, as Thea laughed before the rest of her family introduced themselves.

Milo seemed surprised by all the warmth, though Thea was not. It was certainly very much like her family to treat Thea's good friends like family as well, it was one of the things she loved most about her family. Milo would get used to it, she was sure.

"Alright, let's not waste the time of these professionals," Thea's grandmother said, hands on her hips. "What are we doing? Copying poems I hear?"

Thea nodded, glad that her grandmother was getting ready to work. "It's nearly one," Thea said, looking down at her watch. "The library closes at eight today and we have potentially six hundred poems to copy down."

"Six hundred," Laila scoffed.

"Potentially," Thea said. "Under the assumption that the writer wrote them every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from December 1942 to 1946... it may be less though, seeing he may not have stuck to that schedule for all those years... so let's get started."

Thea knew when these people, people she trusted more than most, showed up, they would be successful. And they were. They had copied down pretty much all of the poems by well before six in the evening, giving Thea and Milo plenty of extra time to review while Thea's parents went home to prepare dinner for all of them.

Thea's grandmother, the smartest woman that Thea knew, stayed back with them, helping them with reviewing the poem and adding her own notes in here and there while Laila, a successful office assistant, dated, reviewed and organized all that was copied down.

They somehow became the perfect makeshift team.

Thea's grandmother leaned back in her seat with a small smile on her face. "Listen to this one," she said to the group. "Written on August 10th, 1946... that's days before the siege happened... and it's titled Absence."

Thea pressed her pen, the one gifted to her by Aari, against her lip as she waited for her grandmother to read it.



Why is it that when you love someone, the Longing that comes with it is so painful? Why is it that people don't talk about The emptiness you feel when they are gone? Why is it that they tell you of kisses And racing hearts and promises and joy, But they leave out the truth of the fear and Inevitable sadness that awaits.



Thea's brows were high on her forehead as she turned to look at Milo, who looked equally as surprised.

"That one's sweet, isn't it?" Her grandmother asked. "Sweet and sad."

"Rue was in love with someone?" Milo asked, though it sounded more like a statement.

Thea was staring in disbelief.

There was a lover now too? Who was this person? And why wasn't there any reference to her at all in his notebook?

"Yeah," Laila added as she began to flip through her pile of papers. "I just wrote the date on another one... it was in December... a few months after the Siege... here." She handed that one over to Thea's grandmother, who proceeded to read it.

Can you imagine what it is like to Love a woman who is as free as a Bird with wings that could carry her anywhere? To love a woman who is as wise as One who has lived for a thousand odd years? To love a woman who is as brave as A soldier who has nothing left to lose?

Can you imagine what it is like to Know the best of the best in women... Only to lose her to the cruel, cold world.



Thea felt a tugging at her heart.

Rue was in love with someone... someone who he also lost in the Siege.

She wondered if the tugging was as she looked down at her pen, reflecting on the words. The feeling she felt was sympathy. She could, to some extent, relate.

To love someone and lose them.

Sure, she was a child... too young to even know or think that whatever it was she felt for Aaryan at the time was any kind of love. But she knew it was some kind of love. She never stopped thinking about him, and she knew she never would.

Could that have been the case if she hadn't loved him?

Well, whatever it was, Thea knew that this was just another thing that she could relate to Rue on. She didn't know if, when Rue said he lost her, that he lost her to death, or she just left him... but nevertheless, she could understand.

She could understand, but that understanding also came with the fact that she also knew damn well that once again, whatever pain he felt was a great multiple of her own. At least she wasn't trapped in a cage and could still write when she wanted to. At least her brother was still alive. At least she was a silly child when she loved the boy she loved and then lost him.

Rue was alone and trapped. His brother was murdered cruelly. And from what she could understand from his words in these poems, his real love brought him true pain.

Rue was like her but with a life where everything went wrong.

It made her sad.

"My love?" Thea's grandmother called.

Thea looked up and saw her grandmother, as well as Milo and Laila looking at Thea with concern. It was only at that moment that Thea felt the warm tears on her own cheeks.

She was crying?

Embarrassed and taken aback by her own foolishness, she used the sleeve of her turtleneck sweater to wipe her eyes, not caring about that black eye makeup that smudged off with it. "I... well, that's... that's embarrassing."

Milo smiled his usual warm smile as he moved his chair closer to her and put his hand on her arm. "You don't need to be embarrassed," he said, leaning close. "You've developed a relationship with him... it's alright to feel sad when he's feeling sad."

Her grandmother took her other hand, holding it tightly as Laila gave her friend a comforting smile. "I didn't realize you actually became close to the man," Laila said.

Thea hadn't told Laila all the details. She hadn't even really told her grandmother, seeing as she wasn't always sure what was fair game to say and what wasn't. "Yeah," Thea said. "He's kind of a jerk but I've grown fond of him... I find that I can really relate to him.... We're a lot alike."

"So these words mean more to you than they do to the rest of us," Thea's grandmother said.

Thea hesitated but then nodded slowly. "Yes," she said. "I just... I want to help him. I want to make sure we save his life and then get him out of that prison... he's wise and strong and a fighter and doesn't deserve to be cooped up in that cage. And I want everyone to read what he's written as well because he deserves that and because his words make sense."

Thea's grandmother nodded. "I don't know the man, but I can agree with what you say about his words," she said. "He's fair and thinks like a truly good person. He fights for equality and understanding against ignorance... not Elorains against Aiverians. This was never a race war to him, though he understood it was that for most people."

Thea nodded.

"He'd have made a good leader," she added.

She nodded again, knowing that she had considered that herself before. He certainly would have made a good leader.

Thea's grandmother then sighed, picking up one of the pages and staring at it. "Why don't we have these published?"

"I tried asking him, grams," Thea responded. "He just ignored me."

She snorted. "We don't need his permission to republish poems he released in a newspaper anonymously," she said. "As long as we're not making a profit off of it or taking credit for it, we'll be fine."

Milo chuckled, probably amused by the audacity of Thea's grandmother.

She shrugged. "To the general public, this man is considered dead. Any Crow captured by the state is as good as dead... it would be like republishing the work of a dead person."

"Grams!" Thea scoffed, realizing she was being serious, as Laila laughed.

"If he's ever released and wants to take credit then he can do so."

Thea shook her head, but despite the ethics behind it, she didn't really think her grandmother was entirely wrong. Besides, Rue didn't exactly explicitly say no.

"We could start small, here in Abureth. I could even have these sent to teachers to share with their students," she continued. "This would be a good resource for students... a good look into the mind of a man who was troubled by the thought of war, but looked at it from the unique lens of wanting to fight fire with water."

Schools. Thea thought. She liked the idea of that. "I'd have to get approval from General Killian–"

Her grandmother let out another loud snort. "I don't work for your General," she said. "I don't need his approval... I'm just a regular citizen who read a pretty poem in the archives and wanted to reshare them."

Milo was laughing as Thea looked at him in shock. "Well, she's not wrong," he said. "Of course, we would still need to report it."

"Go ahead," Thea's grandmother said, waving her hand. "Go tell your General. Tell him he can come talk to me if he needs to... I've been dying to meet him anyways."

Milo laughed some more as Thea continued to gawk.

"Grams, I'm sorry but you're going to get yourself shot," Laila said.

"I'd like to see the man try... I heard his eyelashes were pretty, so he can't be that tough."

Milo burst out laughing harder than ever before and Thea thought she would faint.

Great.

Not here too.







"Your grandmother... is something else," Niall said into the phone that Thea held against her ear. His voice was deep and sounded tired but the sound of it made Thea's heart race. She could imagine him sitting at his desk back in Achlis, massaging his temples with his thumb and index finger as he reflected on all that Thea told him.

It was just past eight thirty and though the newspapers had not provided them with the names and information they had hoped for, they had still done a remarkable job. With the help of Thea's family, they had not only copied years worth of Rue's poems, but they had also dated them and prepped them to be ready to take back to the Capital. Now, they were back at Thea's home, and while Milo made himself comfortable in the guestroom and got himself ready for dinner, Thea was in her father's study, using his phone in order to update the General on all they achieved.

She also decided not to keep her grandmother's antics from him... she rather he be prepared for what her grandmother was going to do then not know about it at all.

"And though I would prefer she hold off for a little while before doing whatever it is she wants, she isn't entirely wrong," he said. "She could share them if she wants."

"She won't get in trouble for it?"

"Not from me, no."

"But from others?"

He didn't respond instantly, but she heard his chair creak. She assumed he was leaning back in his chair, thinking. "I find it hard to imagine that the State would feel threatened by the republishing of some poems written by an anonymous individual about a decade ago... and even if they did, the best person to publish them would be your grandmother. She's a pivotal individual in your community, well respected and well known... it would be hard for the State to come after her quietly."

The thought of the State even considering to 'come after her' filled Thea with anxiety.

There was another pause, and then the General let out a short laugh. "Don't worry, Thea. I'll make sure nothing like that happens."

Now she chuckled. "Thanks."

"So, how is everything else? Your family? They must be thrilled to see you."

She smiled now. "Yes, they are, and I'm really happy to see them... I've been so busy that I've forgotten to miss home, and I guess I only realize how much I missed it now that I'm back."

"It's certainly like that sometimes," she could hear the smile in his voice. "And your brother? Did you get a chance to see him too?"

"No," Thea said, suddenly sounding a little sad. "My brother's actually not in town right now."

"Well, that's unfortunate timing," Niall said. "But what about you, how are you doing?"

Thea knew that though he wasn't being specific with that question, he was most certainly asking about the incident at the station. She was still not ready to talk about it, so she responded simply, "I'm fine, really... seeing my family helped a lot. I feel good."

Niall didn't respond right away, but when he did, Thea was filled with relief as he chose to drop it. "Good," he started. "Well, Thea, I won't keep you long then. Please, spend the rest of the night with your family. I'll be seeing you tomorrow anyway."

Thea smiled. "Sounds good, thank you, Niall."

"You don't need to be thanking me... and I know I've said this already but I'll say it again. You're doing amazing work. I couldn't be happier with your progress. Let Milo know that too."

Her heart felt light. "I'm happy to hear that, and I will!"

"Good," he said. "Have a good night, Thea."

"You too."

After hanging up, Thea kept her hand on the phone for a moment as she took a couple deep breaths. Suddenly however, the phone rang loudly again, making Thea jump. Thinking that it may have been the General, she picked it up quickly. "Hello?"

"Ma, I got your message, you said to hurry and call you?"

It was Theus, and the sound of his voice filled Thea with a kind of relief that she hadn't expected at all. "Brother?"

There was hesitation on the other end of the line before her brother continued. "Thea? You're home?"

"Yeah," she said, sounding a little breathless but thrilled. Is he coming home? Maybe she'd get a chance to see him after all.

"What happened? Are you okay?"

She realized right away how it might have seemed to him for her to suddenly be home again. "Yes, yes, I'm perfectly fine," she said, quickly. It wasn't exactly the truth, but she knew her issues weren't anywhere near where her brother's mind would possibly jump. "Milo and I came to Abureth to do research at the Public Library."

He was silent for a moment and Thea knew quite well that he was analyzing every piece of her voice and her words to figure out whether she was lying or not. Of course, the good news for Thea was that she was speaking to her over the phone... it was harder for him to figure her out over the phone. "Really Theus, I'm okay," she insisted when the silence went on longer than she would have liked.

"When are you leaving? I can be there for tomorrow noon, earliest if I leave right now–"

"No, no," Thea felt her heart warm up. "Don't rush... I have to head out first thing tomorrow. We've got an important meeting on Monday and I need to make sure we're prepared."

She heard Theus let out a breath. "Alright. How are things?"

Thea spoke to her brother for a little while longer, updating him on everything she could, at least until her mother called her to hurry up and join them for dinner. She couldn't stop herself from wishing that she could speak to him a little longer... but at the same time, she felt a rush of excitement at the thought of having a nice, home cooked dinner. It had certainly been a long time. So after saying goodbye to her brother and letting him know that she may potentially be back the week after, she hung up and headed to the kitchen for dinner.

Dinner was wonderful for both Thea and Milo, and once dinner was over, Milo headed up to the guest room and Thea spent some time chitchatting with her parents and grandmother before deciding that she too should head for bed. She and Milo would be leaving early in the morning, and her family was satisfied that at least she'd be coming back the weekend after.

Thea was in her room, removing her watch and getting ready to change and go to bed when her grandmother walked in. "Still not asleep yet, child?"

"Getting ready for it," Thea smiled warmly at the woman.

"It's so good to see you, my love," she suddenly said. "It is so good to see you here safe and sound and happy."

"I'm happy to see you too, Grams," Thea said before walking over and giving the older woman a kiss on the cheek. Thea then walked over to her vanity, grabbing her brush and getting herself ready for bed.

"So... tell me... what's going on with this Milo?" The woman asked as she took a seat on Thea's bed, her tone seemingly amused. "Can I expect to see some great grandchildren before I pass on?"

Thea looked at her grandmother with a scoff, though unsurprised by the question. Her grandmother was always asking for great-grandchildren, as if the grandchildren she had weren't enough. She had given up on asking Theus, seeing as his choices in life didn't really suit great grandbabies, so now Thea was her new victim. "Milo? He's just a friend, silly," Thea said. "A really good friend, and nothing more."

Thea's grandmother sighed.

"And what's even better is that he and my friend Luana look like they have a thing and I think they'd be an adorable couple," Thea said as she brushed her hair with a smile. "It's one of those... opposites attract kind of situations... she's the raging fire and he's the calm sea... I kind of think they're perfect but they're both too shy to admit their feelings to each other."

"Well that's lovely and all, but I don't care about another woman's grandchild," she pushed. "I want to know about my own."

Thea laughed as she walked over to the bed, sitting herself down next to her grandmother. "Unfortunately I've got no news for you on that end."

"What about that Captain? Captain Brayne?"

Now Thea snorted. "Absolutely not."

"Why not? He was the perfect gentleman."

"A perfect gentleman who is certainly not interested in me," she said. Or anyone for that matter. It was rare that Thea saw Julian emote much at all. Even when they were all drinking, he was always so collected. Of course, she certainly thought he was wonderful and she liked him a lot... just not in that way.

Her grandmother sighed again, this time more loudly. "If only that stupid Aaryan didn't run off with the Crows. I might have had some great grandbabies by now."

"Grams!" Thea felt her cheeks warm, remembering that as a little girl, it was her grandmother who she came and told when Aaryan had kissed her. It was also her grandmother who she told that she had a big crush on the boy. Now she regretted that. "You can't talk like that... especially not about someone who is as good as dead. Besides, he had his reasons, you know that."

"I'm allowed to say whatever the hell I want," her grandmother said, making Thea roll her eyes, an audacious woman as always. "Really Thea, is there absolutely no one in the vast Capital who's piqued your interest? No one at all?"

"Grams, I'm there to work not play," Thea insisted, despite the image of the General infiltrating her mind. "Besides, why are you so interested?"

"I may be old but I'm still a woman," she said, smiling. "I like me some good gossip, especially when it has to do with my granddaughter's love life."

Thea rolled her eyes once more. "When I was talking to the General about your nonsense, he called you a 'well respected,' and 'pivotal individual' in our community, you know? I can't imagine how you managed to get an honor like that when you act like a teenager sometimes."

Her grandmother laughed now. "The General, huh?" she asked. "That's high praise coming from a man of his status."

"Sure is," she said. "And up until now I thought he was a good judge of character."

Thea's grandmother laughed some more, making Thea smirk as she got back up and walked back to the vanity, looking at herself in her mirror as she braided her hair.

"Is the man really that handsome?" her grandmother asked, pushing the topic more.

Thea was going to roll her eyes, but her cheeks began to burn and she focused her energy on hiding that. Besides, it was her entire fault that her grandmother was even asking this, seeing as Thea was the one who mentioned how handsome the General was over a few phone calls. "You've never seen a photograph of him?" Thea asked. "I'm sure you have, he's in the newspaper a lot."

"It's not the same as seeing him in person," she said. "Those photographs are all monochrome... there's no way I can see those green eyes that you think are framed with those pretty dark eyelashes."

Now Thea did roll her eyes as she turned to face her grandma. "Why does everyone think it's so strange that I said his lashes were pretty? It's the truth!"

"It's a little strange," her grandmother said. "Maybe you should do what your prisoner friend does and dabble in some poetry... usually people make comments on a person's eyes, or hair or lips... not their eyelashes."

Thea frowned. "I'm not going to comment on my boss's lips," she said, her cheeks burning more at the thought of that.

Her grandmother's eyes suddenly widened. "Huh?"

Thea hesitated.

"The General?" she grinned. "I mean I knew my baby would aim high but I never imagined that high!"

Thea grabbed a hair tie and threw it at her.

"He's much older, no?" She asked. "Well, I always liked older men too... you must get that from me."

"He's not that much older. Just like, five years."

"Really?" Her grandmother tilted her head. "See this is why photographs don't help... he looked much older in the one I saw. But oh well. Whatever the case, age doesn't matter when it comes to love... so long as no one is underage."

"Twenty-nine is not–" Thea cut herself off, realizing quickly what her grandmother was trying to do. "I am not in love with him!"

Her grandmother laughed loudly as Thea sighed, defeated. "Tell me, tell me, please!" she begged. "Entertain this old soul."

"Fine," Thea said as she sat back down next to her grandmother. "It's just a crush, that's all."

"More. Give me more."

Thea gave her grandmother a look of annoyance but then found herself smiling at the giddy look of excitement on the old woman's face. So, in order to entertain this 'old soul,' Thea did tell her about the General.

She told her how the General's overall professionalism was really what was most attractive about him, but she also liked how he seemingly trusted her judgment even after she had given him enough reason not to. She liked that he cared so deeply about the people who worked for him and though he kept up his professionalism, he still managed to have a close bond with these very people.

And most importantly, she liked that she could trust him.

But when Thea was done explaining the more reasonable reasons for why she found him so appealing, she satisfied her grandmother's interest by adding in all the more... silly reasons for why she found him attractive.

Like the fact that he was rather quiet and brooding nearly all the time, he was certainly a man who always had a lot on his mind... the way he stared at you, often without breaking eye contact, when you spoke... and the fact that though the smoking was probably the worst thing about him, there certainly was something rather sexy about the thought of a brooding man with plenty of thoughts on his mind, sitting on a piano bench with his fingers on the keys, in a smoky room and a cigarette hanging lazily between his lips.

Top buttons of his shirt unbuttoned as well.

Yes, that was certainly a nice image.

Her grandmother agreed wholeheartedly.

"And his arms," Thea said with a sigh. "He's got really nice arms... you know, lean and toned."

"Really?" her grandmother questioned, trying to imagine it. "I suppose he would have the physique of a soldier... guns are heavy, you know?"

Thea chuckled, not bothering to ask how her grandmother would know what holding a gun would feel like. Thea's brother may have been a Crow, but he never allowed her to touch his rifle... or go anywhere close to it, for that matter. "He's got the shoulders of a soldier as well."

"Mmm."

Thea looked at her grandmother with a grin before bursting out laughing. "Grams, from the sound of that it looks like you may be interested! A little too interested!"

"I mean I'm sure I'd pose quite the threat to you if I were to meet him, you know how some men are around older women, but I would never do that to my beloved granddaughter."

Thea laughed, feeling a little free and pretty much forgetting all the events of this morning, but then she gave her grandmother a smile. "I know we're having a lot of fun, but I really need to go to bed."

Her grandmother sighed. "I know, I know," she stood before leaning over and kissing Thea on the forehead. "I'm so happy and proud of you, my love," her grandmother said as she held Thea's face in her hands. "But I can't pretend that I don't miss these silly antics of ours."

Thea chuckled, placing her hands over her grandmothers. "I miss them too."

Right after saying goodnight, as her grandmother made her way to the door, Thea suddenly remembered something. "Grams," she called, making the older woman turn to face her. "I wanted to ask if you knew a song..."

"What song?"

Thea knew it was a longshot, but she decided to give it a try anyways. "The General plays it on the piano... it goes like..." she began humming it.

Thea was a horrible singer, and her humming was just as bad, however thankfully, her much more musically inclined grandmother picked up on it immediately and took over, humming the rest of it and very quickly adding words to it in Old Elorian.

She knew it.

It was a little different to what the General had played, but clearly the General had added himself into his version. Despite that though, it was most certainly the same song. "That's it," Thea said.

"It's an Old Elorian lullaby," she said. "Very old... I would even say it's from my mother's time. We hear it less and less in the towns and the cities, but a lot of the poorer areas that still speak Old Elorian most certainly would be singing this song."

Thea nodded. That made sense.

The General's mother was from one of the poorest areas in Elore. It would make sense that maybe she taught this lullaby to him.

"What's it called?" Thea asked.

"The Little Crow," her grandmother responded.

Thea hesitated, suddenly reminded of Kinny in Danyo... that man had called her a Little Crow. Though she didn't understand what he meant by that, somehow it stuck with her... maybe because she didn't like being called a Crow. "What is the song about?"

"It's about a young crow who saw a beautiful white swan and wanted to be her," her grandmother sang the words and though Thea could only barely understand, she tried to keep up, trying to translate in her head as her grandmother sang.

It was a beautiful song, and as her grandmother said, it told the story of a Little Crow who longed to be a beautiful swan. The other birds laughed at him and called him too ugly and dumb, with a caw that was too terrifying and feathers too dark to ever be anything like the swan. And the teasing hurt the Little Crow, making him long to be something else even more.

So the Little Crow went after the swan, crashing into the water and only realizing at that moment that his feathers were not meant to allow him to swim. He struggled in the water and nearly drowned until his mother came and saved him, carrying him back home to his family.

And then she told the Little Crow that no matter what, what's most important is that you have to love yourself and trust that you are enough. You must not let the words of those who wish harm on you to affect you. You have to love every part of you, including those parts that others may tease you for– let it be the sound of your voice or the colour of your feathers, you must love yourself.

She reminded him, of course, that change is good. Changing yourself for the better is good... but trying to be someone you are not, allowing the words of others to mean more than they do, and forgetting yourself in the process will only cause you to drown.

A song with a moral... a perfect children's lullaby.

She also supposed it would be a good song for an Elorian child living in an Aiverian world as well. Or, in the General's case, a half-blood child living in either an Aiverian world, or an Elorian world.

But, what was at the forefront of her mind was the fact that Kinny had called her a Little Crow. Was he referring to this lullaby? Was he calling her that because he thought she was trying to be someone else, or because she didn't love herself? Or maybe he was referring to both.

Whatever the case, the thought upset her a little.

"It certainly is quite interesting that your General is fond of this song," her grandmother said. "Though I suppose it makes sense... it would make sense for an Elorian mother to sing a song like this to her mixed child. I'm sure he was teased a lot."

Thea nodded slowly. She hadn't told her grandmother about the General's past... though she loved and trusted her grandmother, it wasn't her story to tell. But her grandmother was right.

It would make sense that his mother would sing such a song to him.

After a moment, Thea looked at her grandmother with a frown. "Someone I dealt with called me a Little Crow... I had no idea that this was what he may have been referring to."

"It's a common archetype used among Elorians who come from small villages... especially closer to the East."

Danyo was certainly in the East.

"And it's not always meant to be an insult, love," her grandmother clarified. "Which I presume you feel, judging by the expression on your face."

"Really?"

Her grandmother chuckled. "Crows have been used as a representation of Elorians for centuries," she said. "But a lot of you young folk have associated being called a Crow as an insult or an attack, seeing that it's got this new association with the Rebels as well as how popular it was for Aiverians to call us that with a negative intonation."

That was true, Thea knew.

As soon as the conflict between the Aiverians and the Elorians began, this caricature of the black eyed, black haired Elorians being the same as a disgusting, scavenging black crow with its shrill, frightening caw and a need to eat roadkill and carcasses while wanting nothing but shiny things was created.

That's what a Crow was before Rhys came and chose to take the name back.

Rhys, a man who had originally wanted to simply be a history teacher, knew what the crow meant to the Elorian culture before the Aiverian propaganda smeared it. So he took it back. He called his rebels the Elorian Crows and allowed the true history behind that association to be reborn.

"To our people, crows are the most clever of the birds, the smartest. They are free and strong and care deeply for the ones they love and mourn those they lose," her grandmother continued, "they eat the dead and scavenge, yes, but that is the circle of life, and this act helps keep our earth clean... and for this very reason and many more, our people have always associated crows with change... transformation."

Yes.

That was why Rhys called his rebels the Crows... they were meant to represent what the Elorians thought of crows... but most importantly, they were supposed to represent change.

Thea looked up at her grandmother.

"And that is why a Little Crow is not necessarily an insult," the old woman smiled. "In Old Elorian it simply means someone who is not yet grown, someone who hasn't transformed so to speak. Maybe even someone who is still a little naive."

"Naive..." she repeated. She hated that word, and somehow she found that she's been hearing herself be called that more and more since she started working in Achlis.

"Well, yes... or maybe a better way to describe it is that a Little Crow is someone who has childlike air to them... someone who doesn't see the world the same way most others do. They are hopeful and optimistic when most people would say they shouldn't be. And people who don't understand may just call them naive."

That was certainly a nicer way to put it... but being called childlike still wasn't exactly the best thing in the world.

What was it that Kinny had said to her... You're one of us, so you're a Crow. A Little Crow, but still a Crow nonetheless.

So maybe he really wasn't trying to insult her after all. Maybe he was just trying to tell her that she had yet to understand things... that she had not yet transformed.

But he was wrong... right? Thea understood... didn't she?

"And trust me, Love... most people your age are still Little Crows at heart," her grandmother winked at her. "Frankly, some people my age still are too."

Thea chuckled.

Though she didn't like to be called naive... she did wonder now whether or not she had undergone this transformation that her grandmother spoke of. She couldn't really think of anything like that, not that she knew exactly what this transformation really even meant... besides... with the event of this morning, somehow even after all the years that had passed and the effort she put into trying to grow, she felt like she hadn't changed at all.

So maybe, despite everything, Kinny was right after all.

Maybe she really was still a Little Crow.