Ylisse High (Fire Emblem: Awakening fanfic)

An Odd Wakeup Call

The first thing that I register when I wake up is that it is very, very quiet. Not an uncomfortable quiet, exactly, but rather a sort of peaceful one, which is a definite change of pace from the normal morning bustle that my father seems so fond of.

I pull on a pair of socks and head downstairs, rubbing the sleep from my eyes as I go. A sticky note with Dad's swooping writing sits on the table beside a plate loaded with toast and hard-boiled eggs.

"Becca,

A problem came up at work, so I had to leave early. Breakfast is on the table. Don't forget your notebooks, and have a great day!

-xoxo, Dad"

A mix of affection and irritation swells up in my stomach. This wasn't the first time I woke up to a note like this. Sticky notes have been plastered onto countless different tables for amost as long as I'm able to remember. It's not like  can blame him for anything, but sometimes, I really do want to stay his little mouse instead of his big girl.

I finish eating, get ready, and push off to the bus stop. Now that I've started to attach names to the faces, it's a lot less boring and--oh, I'll admit it, intimidating. I feel less like I have a brand on my face inviting everyone to judge and mock me.

I choose a seat in the back corner of the bus, sandwiching myself between the peppy, energetic chatter of Lissa and the so-close-to-shouting-he-might-as-well-go-the-other-two-decibals responses from Vaike. Although it's far from quiet, I find my blinks lengthening into pauses in conciousness, and I have to fight off the drowsiness. Though... maybe just two minutes wouldn't hurt...

Damn. I really should've listened and not read after Dad told me not to.

At the very least, my nodding off made my bus ride considerably shorter. Before I know it, I'm ploddign off the bus and into the school doors, trying to figure out how Vaike and Lissa's conversation turned from yesterday's homework to if Jell-O would want to be eaten if it had feelings.

I part from the group to grab something to wake me up fully from the vending machine. In the middle of a flight of stairs, the realization that I'm navigating the school as if I'd atttended it for the whole time hits, making me miss a step. My one foot dangles halfway off the ground it caught while the other one instictively swings forward to brace myself against...air. With a small cry, I fall onto the unfortunatte person in front of me, arms windmilling as I drop the majority of what I was holding.

"Oh man, I'm so sorry," I say, collecting up my belongings into an unwieldly pile in my arms. Once I have my small (and highly prone to avalanches) mountain all together, I lift my eyes to my unfortunate victim. "Wait a minute... Are you lost? This is the high school; the elementary building is across the road."

The girl pouts. "I'll have you know I'm going to be graduating this year!" she proclaims indignantly. Her tone only adds to my doubt, which was well backed from just her appearance. Brightly coloured clips struggle to hold chunks of pale hair away from a face that looks like for all the world to be one of a child, with big, wide eyes, a small mouth, and a look of newness into the world. The big eyes cast towards the ground momentarily. "But... I am lost."

"Alright," I say slowly. "Okay, um...."

"Nowi, " she supplements.

"Where are you trying to get to, Nowi?" I try to reel I'm the instictive kid voice I can feel creeping into my tone as I ask the question.

She looks at her hand quickly,  as if she didn't want me to see her doing it. I catch a flash of smeared ink on her palm as she brings it swiftly back to her side.

"You wrote it on your hand and it got washed off, didn't it?" My tone sounds like a question, but  it's a statement. She nods sheepishly.

"I didn't know the water bottle had that much dew on the outside..." she says, almost to herself. "Oh yeah! You asked where I was going!" she says, face brightening as soon as the subject changes. "I'm trying to get to Mr. O'Bama's class, I know that."

"Mr. O'Bama?" I try to think of where I've heard the name before. "Oh, right! He's on floor 1, room 120!"

"What? I was THAT close? Come on..." she says, drooping, and I can't help but wonder how many laps she made around the school before I found her.

By the time I've finished the thought, the childish near-gradute is a childish near-out-of-sight-graduate, trying her best to get her hand over the heads of her taller underclassmen. Figuring it's better not to even question how she managed to get over there so quickly, I wave back. She beams, and then, just as quickly as she appeared in my day, she disappears, not even her blaringly blonde head visible through countless jackets.

Well. That certainly woke me up.

I still would like something from the vending machine.

~~~

I'd like to say I took all this time meticulously writing and editing this, but everyone can probably tell that I wrote this in literally one day.