Chapter Text
Tomorrow is going to be a fateful day for you. You almost wish that it wouldn’t come. Maybe that’s why you’re standing here in front of the Favor Tree, staring at its plentiful boughs instead of thinking of what to wish for. After all, as long as you’re here and the sun has yet to set, you can pretend that time hasn’t passed at all and that you still have all the time in the world to prepare for what’s likely going to be the biggest day of your life.
Tomorrow, someone is going to die.
Hopefully not you or your friends. Ideally, the one dying is going to be The King. With his death, the curse that is slowly freezing the country of Vaugarde in time would be cleared, and everything would be okay.
It’s okay! You know that you guys can do it! …But there’s still that little wiggling notion in the back of your brain telling you that you’ve bitten off more than you can chew. So here you stand.
“Isa!!!”
Now that is a familiar voice! Boy, are you glad to have something else to think about. You can’t help but grin as you turn to face them, and you bellow out: “Sif!!!!!”
“Isaaaaaaa!!!!!” Siffrin laughs, making what you can only guess are jazz hands underneath that darkless cloak of his. Even with that and the traveler’s hat obscuring most of his person, you’ve grown a bit of a sense of what he’s doing underneath. You found a little pride in that fact, even if you refused to admit it.
You decide to show them up a little, holding your hands up high and projecting your voice just a bit more as you laugh. “Siiiiiiiiiif!!!!!!!”
“Okay,” Sif struggles to find his words through all the giggling, “that’s enough.”
“Aw, boo.” You pout and kick the ground a little, but you find it hard to pretend to be upset around Sif, so you smile and set your hands against your hips. “Anyway, I was just looking at the Favor Tree! Isn’t this tree cool???”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Glad you agree,” you say, turning to admire the branches.
“One could say it’s a pretty…”
Ah, you know that tone of voice. The corners of your lips pull up just a little further as you glance back at the smug smirk spreading on his face.
“...TREE-mendous tree?”
Change, it’s so stupid! Like every good pun! Like THEIR good puns!!! You laugh uproariously, your body shaking with the movement. On instinct, you move to clap your hand on their shoulder in approval, but–
–wait! Sif doesn’t like being touched! You oughta remember this by now–nobody wears clothing this obscuring because they WANT to be touched!! Quickly, do something normal with your hands!
You, uh… you can’t think of anything. You just let the arm fall to your side and keep that silly grin on your face, hoping Siffrin doesn’t notice how weird that was, and you say “haa… that was funny” for good measure.
Siffrin just looks to the side, deep in thought. But like in a normal way. You did it! You saved the moment!!! …You think so, anyway. Maybe. If you keep thinking about it you know you’re gonna start doubting yourself, so you cast it out of your head just in time for the question they just asked.
“Clocktower, sleepover?” Their tone makes it feel more like a statement than a question. And yeah! No ifs, ands, or buts! You’d be stupid to say no.
“Huh, a sleepover? Crab yeah!” You smack your knuckles against each other for emphasis. “Doesn't the clocktower have only three beds though...? I'm guessing Bonbon and Mira will share, and m'dame Odile will take her own…”
Oooh, the delicious implications! You lean in a little with a big grin as you finish that thought. “Which means we'll share beds again, Sif! I got dibs on the left side!“
Sif just stares at you like a mischievous cat. "I'm actually sharing with Mira."
“What??? Are you??? But WHY?!?”
Nooooooo, you KNEW he noticed!!! You can feel tears stinging the back of your eyes at the thought of him realizing how weird you are–
-but you notice his face and immediately you’re feeling a mix of annoyance and amusement. “...You're smiling! You're messing with me, aren't you?” You roll your eyes and chuckle a little, relieved that he isn’t being serious. But just to make sure! “You should know this, Sif! I'll always be at your side, whether in battle or in bed!“
A beat passes. Siffrin’s mouth curls up into a grin aND YOU IMMEDIATELY REALIZE WHAT YOU JUST SAID–
YOU HIDE YOUR FACE IN YOUR HANDS YOU ALMOST GOT THROUGH THIS COMPLETELY NORMALLY! “...UM, Y-YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN!!!!!!!!”
Change, your face is burning up, and your body shakes like you’re about to burst into laughter at your own stupidity. You can’t believe you just said that. You two aren’t even dating! …Are you? No, no you’re not.
You peek at Siffrin from between your fingers and relax at his bemused expression, allowing your hands to return to your sides. It’s moments like this that make you wish you were dating; here you are making a complete fool of yourself and they just find the whole thing funny instead of mortifying like you do. It’s an important reminder that it’s… not that bad, you think. And it makes you want them so… so much. But you could never admit it.
It seems Siffrin knows that the conversation is lagging, as they take a few steps towards the Favor Tree and gesture at it, asking you what it is exactly.
“Oh? You don't know about the Favor Tree?” You cock your head for a moment. You’re not really used to having to explain this, but you get it! Sif’s not from Vaugarde, why would he know? “Well, it's just a random big tree. But when you're a believer of the House of Change, the biggest tree in a certain place is called a Favor Tree! It's like, it’s the tree with the most power, so you can ask it things? As a favor? Like, ‘Please help me pass my Defender exams!!!!!’ Which is like, a totally random example.”
Siffrin looks at you with a gaze that… said probably exactly what you thought it did. "Did you ask a mythical tree to help you pass your exams?"
You snort a little at that, crossing your arms. “And I passed with flying colors, thank you very much!!! Well, I did study very hard, so it's not like the tree did much. But even a little bit helps!” You don’t know how much stock you put into the Favor Tree in general, really, but the thought of something out there hearing your plea and encouraging you from afar makes the process of doing things a little bit easier. ”You should ask the tree for a favor too! It's a big day tomorrow!”
Siffrin stares down the Favor Tree for a few long seconds, then turns to you. “It’s kind of like making a wish, right?”
“Yeah!”
“...Have you made your wish yet?”
You briefly consider lying for… some reason. Likely so they wouldn’t ask about why it was taking you so long, but that’s a stupid thing to think. “...No, I haven’t. It’s really hard to decide sometimes.”
“You wanna figure out some wishes together, then?”
You blink a few times, a little bit surprised. You almost tell him that wishes are a bit of a personal thing. But! You’ll get to spend some time with him if you do this! Calm before the storm, as it were. “You know what? Sure! We’ve got all day to figure something out.”
So the two of you trot closer to the Favor Tree, craning your necks to admire it before Sif wanders off towards one of its roots. So! A wish… What do you want? Well. Asking it to save Vaugarde seems like a solid choice. …Mostly because you can’t think of anything else right now.
You clap your hands three times above your head and voice your wish to the wind. But before you can put your arms down–
“...What are you doing???”
You look down at Sif, who seems to be in the middle of picking leaves. “I’m. Making a wish? Like I said I was??”
“That’s how you wish for things?”
“Yeah? This is how you make wishes in Vaugarde.” You’re starting to feel awkward again as you lower your hands.
“But… how’s the wish gonna know where to go?”
“What’dya mean?”
“Like, you just clap and shout. You’re just gonna lose the wish to the wind. It’s not protected at all.”
You narrow your eyes slightly and quirk an eyebrow. As annoyed as you are that Sif is questioning your methods, you’re really interested in learning his way. “So tell me how you do it, then.”
They nod, hurriedly scooping up two handfuls of leaves before returning to your side. They offer you the collection, looking dead serious. “First, you gotta find the leaf that fits you the most.”
You’re not sure what that means exactly, but you figure you’ll know when you see it. Hesitantly, you reach your hands out, noting how small Sif’s hands are in comparison to yours and immediately taking that thought and shoving it into the back of your head because you don’t want to think about how small he is in general and how you could perfectly scoop him up into your loving arms and–
–you grab a light leaf with your thumb and forefinger, turning it over to look at the ones underneath. There are jagged ones, smooth ones, tiny ones, huge ones, ones with holes… but none of them speak to you until…
“Oh! I like this one!”
You lift a leaf out of the pile by its stem, careful not to crinkle it. It's small, but shaped just like a heart! Like dead on, perfect proportions! You almost suspect someone Crafted it into existence and tossed it into the wind, hoping to make someone smile.
Siffrin squints and leans in, analyzing your choice with the intensity of someone trying to sew a needle in the dark. He nods in approval, then takes a long, spindly leaf himself and lets the rest flutter to the ground.
“Now that you have your leaf, you gotta… well, think of a wish. Then whisper it into the leaf and close it.”
You move to make the wish you were trying to make earlier, but Siffrin interrupts. “Uh. If you’re making the wish I think you are. I think the Favor Tree’s already on that?”
You tilt your head a bit. “...I guess a lotta people here have already wished for it, yeah.”
So that means you aren’t really obligated to wish for anything. So now that that’s made clear…
What do you want?
You stare at the leaf. There’s a lot of things you can ask for, but you’re not sure what you would even feel comfortable asking. It all feels like too much.
You dare to think about what you want to do after you guys save Vaugarde–bold of you to just assume that you guys were gonna pull this off but–you think about it and you imagine yourself at one of Jouvente’s top boutiques, holding a clothespin between your teeth as you’re taking someone’s measurements. They want to wear clothes made by you! Admire themselves in the mirror under layers of fabric lovingly stitched together by you!
And you can’t help but feel a little guilty about it. It’s a cute idea, but… like, you don’t really help people as a clothing designer. Maybe in some distant way, but not in the same way you do as a Defender.
…Then again, the Defenders are a bunch of cowards. The safety of Vaugarde hangs in the balance and you were the only one to step up! You don’t want to go back to them if this is how they conduct themselves.
So you’re back at square one.
You glance at Siffrin. He looks at you expectantly, but says nothing.
You’re not wishing to get with him. That would be even more selfish. You need to improve yourself first.
…That’s it. The thing you want. It’s…
…To be your best self. To become someone that you wouldn’t be ashamed of knowing. To be someone that Siffrin wouldn’t be ashamed of knowing.
You whisper into the leaf and close it. And when you turn to look at Siffrin, he’s doing the same. He turns to you, smiles, and tosses the leaf into the air. You follow suit, watching the wind carry your wishes into the sky until they disappear from view.
You say nothing for a while, but eventually…
“...Thanks. I think I needed that.”
Siffrin just nods in understanding.
“I’ll see you at the Clocktower later?”
He gives you a thumbs up, then hurries around the bend in the woods.
…You still don’t want to move, but you know that the moment has to end at some point. Plus your friends are waiting for you! As much as you want to stay here, you want to be with them even more. So you exhale, turn on your heels, and make your way out.
You’re not excited for what’s going to happen tomorrow, but you’re excited to tackle it together with the people you love.