Final Fantasy XII - Even a Stray has Pride

Part I: Childhood's End - I can't choose

Uwielbinie Village, 686 (o. V.)

Several months had passed since the re-election of President Fördern at the head of the Republic. 'Democracy is the greatest gift that has been granted to our nation', he had said in his . Quickly after taking back his position, taking into account the now huge popular demands for Green Progress's ideology, he put in place a series of measures to facilitate the task for land workers. Greta Pfirsich quickly reacted, saying that he was stealing the ideas that almost made her win the election, for mere public image reasons. But that was pure politics, and I did not venture further into these matters.

After this difficult period, I managed to have a rest by not having to travel everyday to the capital. So I stayed at home in Uwielbinie, helping my mother with the farm, and reading the latest law books. Dalmasca and Nabradia laws were interesting too. Different from ours, but still interesting.

But at the beginning, the topic that most caught my attention was my friend's health. Cirla Drimer had been allowed to leave the hospital rapidly, but he had to hide his injury from his parents and basically from everyone. It was my mother who went to visit them, stating she just wanted to know how the medical checks went, and thanking the parents for allowing their children to share their law lessons with me. She told me he looked fine, so that reassured me a bit.

My relationship with Basch got quieter. He had been allowed to go to a new fencing club that opened in the village, and he was too happy spending his phenomenal energy there everyday instead of criticizing my manners or interests. He even invited me to join the club once or twice, but there was nothing to be done: I was way happier with books than sword in hand. According to Basch's own sayings, he was making quick progress, and was regularly selected to participate in national competitions. His trainings consisted in real fights – which frightened me, although they had protections – with one-handed swords and a shield, two-handed swords, or sometimes even other things like spears and ranged weapons, through monthly activities or meetings with other regional clubs. He appeared more confident every time he came back from one of these trainings, to the point that his personality changed. He was no more the village boy who spent his days looking for a silly thing to do or annoying someone. As a result, my mother was receiving fewer complaints from the neighbors, so she was surprised and relieved at the same time. But deep inside, she feared that Basch would take the same path as our father, and face the same fate, especially since he was young and still stubborn – people never completely change, do they. However, I tried to look at the positive side and I encouraged my brother to do what he loved more. And for some reason, it made me sincerely happy. In turn, Basch had also been very enthusiastic when Mom had showed us a job offer for a legal apprentice on the newspaper. He kept telling me I was the one and I had the guts to do it and what not. I chose to listen to him, went to the little company that was hiring, did the interview saying all I learnt from my little experience... and I got the job. Basch called me 'the brains of the family' and was convinced I would bring a ton of gil home someday. In the meantime, the job I was doing didn't pay much, but that was enough to make all the family happy.

At some point, months after Basch, I found the courage to go to Naria's farm. It was mostly to help her with the work, like the good old times. The first time I returned, she was busy writing something. Out of curiosity, I asked her what it was.

'If it isn't our legal apprentice!' she said with a big smile. 'I've been told of your new position by the boys in the village. How come you didn't come visit me earlier? I can't believe your job takes all of your time. Are you angry at me? Did I do something wrong during the campaign? Oh, I know; you've been sad all along because we lost. But don't worry Noah, Greta herself has overcome this, and she's more than ready to play her part anyway'.