Remembers When by veracity (scars challenge)

[veracity]

Title: Remembers When
Author: veracity
Rating: PG
Characters: Sora
Word Count: 538
Spoilers/Warning: The Storm/Eye
Summary: She knows – remembers – it every time it reflects in the mirror.
Disclaimer: I don't own a single character. If I did, my bank account would be more impressive.
Notes: I got the image of Sora in my mind, and well, she wouldn't leave. Not really how I imagined it would turn out, but well, it is what it is.


There’s a shallow scar that runs several inches along Sora’s hipbone. Few people know how it happened, but it’s been there for so long that no one notices it anymore. Not that a lot of people have been given the chance to view it, but gossip spreads quickly, especially when they’re trapped underground avoiding another culling.

She knows – remembers – it every time it reflects in the mirror. The Lanteans are kind enough, but she’s still a glorified prisoner and the scar becomes a touchstone. A way to remember the world, and people, she left behind during the attempted siege on Atlantis. She never doubts the choices, because someone needed to pay for her father’s death, and Teyla had been a friend, someone she trusted.

A little over a year later, she’s given the chance to go home and takes it. Only the world’s changed since then. Ladon’s the new leader, Cowin’s dead, Koyla’s gone, and everyone seems happier about the change. If a small group isn’t, well, that’s just the expected result of a “bloodless” coup. Being in Atlantis for so long, everything’s been spoken about quietly in corners, including the Genii-Lantean alliance, but it’s different seeing it firsthand.

Six months after arriving back, it’s apparent that she doesn’t belong to the Genii any longer. She’s a soldier. She’ll never be a wife that bakes for her husband, keeps his house, and her acting skills haven’t improved either. She trained for too long, and being away hadn’t changed basic instincts. When Ladon asks if she would like to be a liaison between the Genii and Nomarins, she takes the position immediately. The Nomarins hone fighting skills, survival instincts, and weapon use in order to pass the knowledge on to the generations after the cullings. Maybe the restless feeling will finally end with this group of people.

After a month among the Nomarians, she stops touching the scar. She feels comfortable here. They instruct on their ways of combat; she absorbs it all, incorporates everything she’s learned living among the Lanteans as well.

The last time she touched the scar, she remembered the incident vividly. The older boys were saying that girls couldn’t be real soldiers. At six, the idea offended her and when running after them, she stumbled and fell on a sharp stick, puncturing deeply. It had hurt but crying wasn’t option, so she had pulled it out and calmly walked back to the “house” that her family used when traders came to visit.

Her father found later in the day when she hadn’t returned for dinner. When he gently lifted her into his arms, she whimpered once. After that, she kept quiet because soldiers don’t cry or complain. They could withstand anything. It had been difficult staying silent when the doctor closed the wound. She’d been determined to show those arrogant bullies, even if they never knew. She would, and that counted, too.

Now she’s doing basic drills again and thinking that belonging is a nice change. Tyrus would have been proud of her. And most of the boys that had taunted her aren’t alive anymore. Sometimes girls made better soldiers. She’s proof of it, even if it took a little longer time to get there.

Comments

[saphanibaal.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is nice. I like little Sora's stoicism and older Sora's restlessness.

And, well... eee! SORA!

[veracity]

Thank you! They really dropped the ball in ignoring her. Especially, since you know, prisoner and all. The idea of her using a scar as a touchstone really appealed to me. Sora just kicks ass, in my opinion.