#buri tourakom

[ladylingua]

Alanna, Thayet, Buri

omg yes thank u for these

Fake Date: Buri

Genuinely I just feel like I would have a fun time, we could hang out and be snarky towards everything and do cool things together and then crack each other up by doing our best impressions of performative romance.

Slow Burn: Thayet

Honestly I could see Thayet in either fake dating or slow burn. But I can imagine being put off by her princessness at first, and then as we slowly get to know each other and find each other's hidden depths falling for each other.

Enemies to Lovers: Alanna

She's my absolute favorite and I love her so much...but that's because I see parts of myself in her so you know we would be fighting at first, too much personality in too small a space lmao. But hey, maybe as we each grow into ourselves and learn to accept ourselves we would come to appreciate the other as well

[onyourstageleft]

So I ended up here because of a Tamora Pierce post and you mentioned your thesis was about Tortall, and I was wondering if you were comfortable talking more about it, because I’d love to hear!!!!

(also I’m going to go through your Tamora Pierce tag later but I’ve already come across the idea of aro Raoul in one post and now I love it and need it)

I let this sit in my ask box for a few days bc I was genuinely so excited to talk about it that I wanted to dedicate some time to it okay YES I would love to tell you about my thesis!! I literally grew up reading and loving Tamora Pierce books and then I went into my English MA program and they started talking about thesis options and I was reading some criticism about colonialism in literature and it just kinda clicked, so my thesis title is "Cultures and Colonization in Tamora Pierce's Young Adult Novels" and it's pretty much what it says on the tin. I talk about indigenous populations (Bazhir and raka) and how they are treated differently both by the characters in the story and the narrative in general. I address Alanna/Jon as white saviors and then how Aly undoes some of that damage through her more respectful/less controlling relationship with the raka. I also talked about how the books work as a framework to interact respectfully with other cultures through Kel & the Yamani, and a discussion of slavery and the respect that Beka shows for enslaved people.

it's honestly been a while since I reread my whole thesis so there's probably more in there that I'm forgetting, BUT on the off chance that you wanna read the whole thing, I published it open access so you can just Google the title and it should take you to a download link for it. please ignore the typo of the repeated phrase at the end of the literal first paragraph of the whole thing it haunts me every day (I swear it wasn't there when I submitted it)

ALSO about the aro Raoul I totally think it's a good take with the exception of one of the most fantastic fanfics I've ever read - if you like fic and the idea of Raoul/Buri, please take a look at The Tourakom-Goldenlake System of Communication by Emnot on AO3. it's the first fic that led me into the AO3 waters (where the Tortall fandom is still going strong btw) and I reread it every few months

I'm publishing this ask mainly so I can find it later and remember what I said BUT if you wanna talk more about Tortall pls feel free to message me I could do this all day

[grapefruittwostep]

Buri Tourakom deserves more page time and that’s the hill I die on

[the-pontiac-bandit]

If you're still answering tortall prompts, how about Raoul + family?

wow why NOT write 2000 words of blatant, shameless fluff about families you make for yourself??? inspired by this quote from tammy: “[Raoul and Buri] have glorious sex under trees, in tents, in lakes…. In carriages. I think at some point they’ll probably adopt. By the time they’re attached Buri’s getting a little old to have any of her own. It’s not like there aren’t plenty of orphans around.”

As Raoul stretched out, trying to make himself comfortable in his too-hard, too-small desk chair, he savored the warm feeling filling his chest and threatening to spill out and take physical form in front of him. In the midst of the most head-spinning, headache-inducing, sleep-sapping, joy-filled week he’d ever experienced, he’d had precious little time to slow down and simply exist within his new reality. He thought to close his eyes, the better to feel everything, but they only stayed shut for a moment before they forced themselves back open. He couldn’t stop looking at the scene in front of him for long.

Buri lounged cross-legged on their bed, far more relaxed than he had been at any point this week. Kel sat next to her, her back straight and her long legs carefully hanging off one side so as not to get dust from the practice courts on their bedding. Both had just returned from a full morning of training, sweaty despite a change of clothes and coated in dust despite a thorough washing, courtesy of a long, hot summer that had refused to give them rain.

Between them was the baby.

His son, he reminded himself. He thought the words a few extra times, even mouthing them once, as he had a thousand times in the last five days, as if forming them on his lips might make them feel more real.

None of this felt real to him yet. He supposed most people had nine months to get used to the idea before seven pounds of screaming chaos turned their lives upside down. He’d had exactly fifty-three days—he’d counted on Tuesday—so he supposed he still had some catching up to do. His mind was still reeling from the conversation that had led them here, and he wasn’t sure yet that he’d ever catch up.

He’d been sitting in this chair and pretending to read reports while mostly thinking about his right knee, which had been bothering him despite Duke Baird’s best efforts. He wasn’t sure why he remembered so specifically, since his days were nearly as certain to contain aches and bruises as they were to contain a sunrise. Buri had returned from a meeting with Thayet and Onua, although really, the word meeting conferred far too much dignity on what was more likely a combination of trick riding and palace gossip. They’d settled into the evening routine they’d shared for nearly a decade, working in comfortable silence with candles lit between them.

“Do you want children?” she’d asked, breaking the quiet spell of paperwork that gripped their nights.

“I think it’s a little late for that,” he’d replied with a snort.

She’d thrown a pillow at him. He had caught it and thrown it back without even looking up from the thick stack of papers in his lap, with a rude hand gesture following behind.

“You know what I meant. Did you want children? Before?”

Something in her voice had shifted. He’d finally looked up to find her eyes already trained on him. Her face had been so unexpectedly earnest that he’d actually taken a pause, had slowed the speed of their consistently paced banter, to think.

“I suppose I hadn’t given it much thought. There were friends, and then there was drinking, and then there was the Own, and then there was you,” he’d told her with a shrug. “I do like children, but I’m perfectly happy where I am.”

She’d chewed on her lip for a moment. He remembered being surprised by that. After nearly thirty years of friendship, she rarely took the time to think before she spoke with him anymore.

“Spit it out.”

“Do you want children?”

“And we’re back to the start,” he’d said with a grin.

“I spat it out. Now you answer it.”

“Hypothetically, sure, I’d enjoy a child. Now can I ask why you’re asking at all?”

“I’ve been thinking,” she’d started. She’d paused for a moment, holding her breath as though she was trying to decide whether she should speak at all. And then she’d let it all spill out at once. “I’ve been thinking it might be nice to have one. A child, I mean.”

She’d held up a hand and made a face before Raoul could even begin to formulate a joke about her monthlies or her aching hips or what they might do to make that happen. “Not like that. Thayet was telling us today about homes they’re opening in Corus, for children without parents. We were thinking about the children we traveled with back in Sarain, when Alanna found us all those years ago. Gods, it was terrifying, having Thayet and an infant to protect, especially when Thayet was ready to throw her life away for the infant. And I started thinking—we have money, and safety, and love, and there are all these children who have none of those things, and—”

She’d been speaking faster and faster, but she’d cut herself off abruptly at the look on Raoul’s face. “Never mind, you can forget—”

Raoul had smiled back at her, straightening up in his chair and marking his spot in the report on his lap before putting it aside. “So you want a child.”

The weeks that followed had been ones filled with paperwork and inquiries at the palace records about the process of appointing a common-born heir to a noble house and at the magistrate’s about drawing up paperwork for adoption. There had been careful planning and hushed discussions with only their closest friends about the best way to proceed. Buri had insisted on an older child, maybe eight or nine, saying that the few diapers she’d changed on the road to Rachia were enough for a lifetime.

Instead, five days ago, Buri had entered their rooms carrying a squalling mess of blankets with an air of forced nonchalance that had told him immediately what she’d done. Instead of clarifying, or teasing her, or asking if it was the smallest eight-year-old he’d ever seen, he’d simply held his arms out. While Buri had supplied endless explanations about Thayet ambushing her with a baby, he’d stared at the squirming mess of baby in his lap, blankets already coming undone, absolutely entranced.  

“He’s tiny,” he’d commented. His voice sounded like it was coming from someone else’s body. The baby was only just too large for him to hold in one hand, although he’d never try to prove it. The fragility of the life sitting in his lap was overwhelming.

“His mother died yesterday. Childbed fever, caught too late to help. The priestesses at the Goddess’ Temple were worried he might need more than the homes could give.”

Raoul had nodded, only half listening. The baby’s eyes were screwed shut while he wailed. His fine hair was dark, his skin tanned like that of the Bazhir babies Raoul had seen in his year in the Great Southern Desert. One of the baby’s hands had broken free of its blanket. It had waved in the air, keeping pace with his cries, which were far louder than he’d have believed such a tiny body could produce. He’d intercepted the hand with one finger and then watched in wonder as the baby had grasped it.

“Does he have a name?”

“Pathom,” she’d answered definitively, before belatedly remembering that names were the sort of thing parents might choose together. “That is, if—”

“Pathom of Goldenlake,” he’d cut her off with a smile.

The days that followed had been a blur. Thayet had found a wet-nurse and supplied an endless stream of goods that they’d have never known a baby required. Alanna had ridden in from Pirate’s Swoop at full speed to pronounce in a gruff voice that the infant was in perfect health. Gary had gifted them a bassinet and more blankets than any human child could possibly need. Dom had found a way to convert a standard-issue burnoose into an excellent baby sling, while Evin had given them a congratulatory note from George, who complained that Alanna had left before he could finish writing, and a cheerful promise that he’d never touch a soiled diaper. Onua had given them a set of unimaginably soft stuffed ponies, perfect replicas of the horses that roamed the highlands of Sarain where she and Buri had learned to ride.

Kel, away on business with Second Company at the Gallan border, had to wait almost a full week to learn she had a new godsson. He’d met the company when they’d arrived back at the palace long past dark the night before. They’d groomed Hoshi and Sparrow together while he thanked the gods for perhaps the hundredth time that her “testy pony” had finally found his way out of the Own stables and into a pleasant retirement.

Finally, when the last of the men had trudged towards the barracks and a well-earned nights’ sleep, she’d turned to him.

“Well?”

“There’s someone important I want you to meet,” he’d said, shoving his hands in his pockets with a smile that was equal parts nervous and eager.

“Sir, I’ve already met your wife.”

Raoul had let out a hearty chuckle. “But you haven’t met my son.”

Kel had frozen. Her face fell back into perfect stillness, the way it did when her mind was working its fastest.

After a second that felt like an eternity, she replied, “Sir, I saw Buri five weeks ago. If you’re telling me you’ve managed to grow a baby since then—”

“We didn’t, but someone else did. We adopted him from the Temple after his mother died in childbirth.”

Understanding flashed in Kel’s eyes while her face broke into a rare broad grin. She’d wrapped her arms around him in a fast, tight hug accompanied by enthusiastic congratulations that had gone suddenly silent in surprise when he’d added, a wicked glint in his eyes, “You really should come by tomorrow to meet your godsson.”

Buri had intercepted Kel on the practice courts the following morning with the dual goals of keeping her own skills sharp and ensuring that Kel would not be too polite to visit. And so now, he watched as Kel bounced his son with the brisk certainty of someone who had held a baby a thousand times. He could hear her cooing quietly at Pathom, softening her consonants while she told him all about forest campaigns in hill country. He knew he should ask her to speak up—if she was going to give her report verbally, she could at least give it at a volume he could hear—but he found he wasn’t particularly interested in the intricacies of the Second’s bowstring supplies. Buri made eye contact with him behind Kel’s back, laughter in her eyes. Buri could laugh if she wanted, but he was taking notes on Kel’s tactics. He would have sworn this was the quietest he’d heard his son in the entirety of his hundred-and-twenty-odd hours in the palace.

As his son stared wide-eyed at his former squire, Raoul was reminded of a comment he’d heard as they’d left Turomot’s offices the other day with paperwork making Pathom officially their own. “Well, that feckless Goldenlake dolt’s managed to start a family, even if it was too late to do the thing properly,” the Lord of Genlith had muttered at their backs as they’d left. Buri had elbowed him and whispered a quick “Feckless? I’ll show him feckless,” but her heart wasn’t in it. Before she’d even finished the thought, her eyes were back on Pathom, squirming against her chest in the burnoose that bound him to her.

And now, Raoul watched his son, passed between his wife and the woman who had been like his daughter long before any papers said he was a father. Stuffed Saren ponies lined the shelf above an intricately carved bassinet filled with beautifully embroidered blankets. A protection charm had been pulled from Alanna’s packs to hang at the head, while twin leather circles bearing the insignias of the Riders and the Own, no doubt carefully cut by mischievous commanders from the saddle packs of some unprepared trainees, was secured carefully at the foot. Raoul had to smile for a moment at Genlith’s ignorance—he’d begun his family right on time.

[lttleblujay]

Raoul: You look pretty.

Buri: What!?

Raoul: I said you look PRETTY. You gonna fight me on that, Tourakom?

[elenothar]

Sending you multiples in case I accidentally doubled up, since this is so late :') - 8, 13, 15, 19 & 24!

A wizard is never late... ;) also, you only doubled up one!

8. shortest completed fic you wrote this year

That would be Bear With Me, the first of the bear saga, at just under 1k.

13. favorite writing song/artist/album of this year

I don't always listen to music while writing (depends on my mood and how loud everything else is being), but I've been listening to a lot of Zhou Shen this year.

15. something you learned this year

answered here (I should be able to think of something else but brain is being lazy...)

19. any new fics to start next year

Start, so not current WIPs.... hmm. On my list of ideas, I've got YOHE softness, 5 times Luo Fusheng had nightmares, and something undefined Shen Wei & Chu Shuzhi. There are others, but these are ones I'm more likely to actually get to with how present they are in my mind at the moment.

24. favorite fic you read this year

Ye gods, how is anyone able to choose? I'm going to offer one each for fandoms I've read in this year, and even that is less favourite and more this one is really good but there are so many other really good ones! (also, prepare for some honourable mentions because narrowing down the Guardian list proved nigh impossible.)

Lost Tomb Reboot: no god-fearing man, by emlof, which punches me right in the gut every time I read it

Tortall: The Tourakom-Goldenlake System of Communication, by Emnot, aka the Best Buri and Raoul fic

The Untamed/CQL: the sea / black water, by minqwi, whose Lan Xichen is just 👌

Guardian: Changes verse, by Branch, which is a truly stunning blending of canon and novel verses

Honourable mentions go to my shortlist, also featuring:

Only the plum trees, by marycrawford

Coming 'Round, by Eliza

The unofficial newsletter of Dragon City University (BioEng Dept), by frith in thorns

The Song You Gave Me, by rlyqueer

a language without an army, by nnozomi

10/10 WOULD MARRY, by aubreyli

... so there we are, with lots of cheating XD

[goodgrammaritan]

"You're an idealist, Kel. I've noticed that about you. See, I try to beat idealism out of the Rider trainees. It just ruins their ability to give a fair report. So long as there are nobles and commoners, the wealthy and the poor, those with power will be heard, and those without ignored. That's the world."

"I don't accept that," Kel said.

"I didn't say you should," Buri replied.

...

"The world is imperfect, Kel. But you do more than your share to set things right."

Buriram Tourakom and Keladry of Mindelan, Squire by Tamora Pierce

Kel does not accept an unfair world; she changes it.

[alexandratherouxart]

#inktober2019 Day 20: Strong “Three nights a week your Lalasa closes her shop early," Buri told her after a sip from her cup. "She teaches city girls--commoners--holds, blows, and kicks that will help them to escape an attacker. She learned all that somewhere. And it does girls more good than your courting frostbite to shoot a bow you don't even like." Buriram Tourakom Tortall Series' . . . . . . #LiteraryLadies #BookBabes #fictionalfemmes #fanart #tamorapierce #tortall #buri #commanderburi #characterdesign https://www.instagram.com/p/B32awQInexO/?igshid=22t870u9g1i

[ao3feed-tamorapierce]

A Pleasant Outing

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2nSMktl

by imaginary_golux

Buri and Raoul have gotten snowed in at a hunting lodge, and thankfully one of them knows how to cook.

Beta by my Best Beloved, Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw.

Words: 499, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Tortall - Tamora Pierce

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, Buriram Tourakom

Relationships: Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak/Buriram Tourakom

Additional Tags: Cooking, Fluff, Snowed In

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2nSMktl

[incorrect-tortall-quotes]

I came here to drink milk and kick ass. And I’ve just finished my milk.

Buri Tourakom

[ladylingua]

After finishing GOT it suddenly came to me: any one of the Sand Snakes would make a great young Buri

(Actresses: Rosabell Laurenti Sellers, Keisha Castle-Hughes, Jessica Henwick)

[divaplava]

Fancast: Song of the Lioness, Quartet.

The K’miri are racially ambiguous in the series, but I imagine Thayet being of Turkish, Mongolian, Native American descent etc. Thayet’s lineage, I imagine, is a mixture of many. Where as I imagined Buriram as distinctly looking Mongolian.

What do you think?

[ao3feed-tamorapierce]

Family Bonds

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2An3kPx

by LadyLingua

"Any man who had Thayet in his life also had Buri, and any man who wasn’t stupid quickly saw that the more Buri approved of him, the easier his life would be. Buri, for her part, remained wary. She had long ago learned that men are never sweeter than when they desire something from you, and that no Player could ever rival a man when it came to pretending to be someone else. "

Jon and Buri's relationship through the years.

Words: 4192, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Tortall - Tamora Pierce, PIERCE Tamora - Works

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Characters: Buriram Tourakom, Jonathan of Conté

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2An3kPx

[ao3feed-tamorapierce]

Yule Be Surprised

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2ykJVgE

by imaginary_golux

Prompt 12: Hogwarts AU

Jonathan Conte is madly in love with Thayet jian Wilima. Thayet is just as head-over-heels for him. All Raoul and Buri want is to spend a few quiet hours with each other...if their best friends would just get their acts together already, and ask each other to the Yule Ball.

And who is Trebond going with, anyway?

Prompt and beta by my Best Beloved, Turn_of_the_Sonic_Screw.

Words: 1656, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Series: Part 23 of October Ficlet Challenge

Fandoms: Tortall - Tamora Pierce

Rating: General Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: F/M

Characters: Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, Buriram Tourakom, Jonathan of Conté, Thayet jian Wilima, Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau, George Cooper

Relationships: Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak/Buriram Tourakom, Jonathan of Conté/Thayet jian Wilima, Alanna of Pirate's Swoop and Olau/George Cooper

Additional Tags: Fluff, Banter, Getting Together, Awkward Flirting, Established Relationship, Alternate Universe - Hogwarts

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2ykJVgE

[ao3feed-tamorapierce]

The Morning After

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2xXLsK0

by chibideath

A private moment between Raoul and Buri after spending the night together for the first time. Takes place just after the opening excerpt from Chapter 14 of Protector of the Small: Squire, when the Lord of Stone Mountain bursts into Keladry of Mindelan’s chambers, threatening and blaming her for his son’s death in the Chamber of the Ordeal.

Words: 1736, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Tortall - Tamora Pierce

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/M

Characters: Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak, Buriram Tourakom, Keladry of Mindelan

Relationships: Raoul of Goldenlake and Malorie's Peak/Buriram Tourakom

Additional Tags: Pillow Talk, Ethical Dilemmas

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2xXLsK0

[ladylingua]

Betrayal

Buri couldn't quite forgive Alanna for getting pregnant. Oh of course she knew in the mature, rational part of her mind that it wasn't about her, and that it was always going to happen (even if Alanna was slow to figure that bit out), and that George and Alanna deserved to live happily ever after together with umpteen million children if they wanted them. But she still couldn't help feeling betrayed.

She felt betrayed when Alanna was too ill to attend the morning drills that once had begun their friendship. She felt betrayed when Alanna's growing belly put an end to their afternoon horseback races. But most of all she felt betrayed when the day came that Thayet and Cythera began yet another inane discussion on the care and maintenance of babies, and when Buri looked up expecting Alanna's familiar disgusted eye roll she found only an expression of keen interest. It had been the two of them against the others, women who liked fighting and horses against women who thought of little except milk and dirty diapers, and now Alanna had deserted her for enemy territory. When Alanna actually asked Cythera her opinion on the best swaddling techniques Buri could have sworn she physically felt the blade in her back.

Although she tried to feign happiness for her friend, inside Buri thought of little Thom's birth much like she would a funeral for Alanna. Here lies late nights of drinking and cards, here lies the brawling, the singing of bawdy songs, here lies the adventuring, and the living with reckless wild abandon. Here lies all of the interests Buri and Alanna shared, alive no more.

She put off the obligatory visit to the Swoop for as long as manners allowed, before finally giving in to the inevitable. The fact that Alanna had unexpectedly given birth on the road gave Buri some extra time. Surely they need to get settled at the Swoop before receiving visitors, she said to herself, but it was soon getting to the point where Alanna would start to wonder. Even after everything, the thought of intentionally hurting Alanna made Buri's gut clench, and so she began to prepare for a week's stay at the coast. Thayet offered to travel with her, but Buri refused. Just the idea of having to watch Thayet and Alanna continue to bond over their mutual calling towards motherhood was sickening enough without having to experience it.

When she arrived at the Swoop on a sweltering August mid-morning Alanna was waiting by the stables. Buri felt another twinge of guilt, watching her friend eagerly bounce on her feet and wave at her. Then she noticed the little bundle in a sling around Alanna's chest, and her heart hardened again.

"Hello!" Alanna grinned at Buri as she dismounted, one arm outstretched. Buri leaned into her awkward hug, careful of the baby.

"How was the ride? Not too hot, I hope."

Buri shrugged. "It was fine". Hostlers took her horse from her before she could object, and footmen swarmed about, grabbing her bags and setting off towards the keep.

"I'm jealous. I've been itching for a ride, but right now just the notion of straddling a horse is still enough to make me shudder," Alanna's mouth twitched, inviting Buri to share in the crude joke, but Buri couldn't bring herself to forgive so easily. The bundle at Alanna's chest shifted, reminding Buri of why she had come all this way.

"So that's Thom, huh?"

Alanna's eyes lit up as she gently disentangled the infant from his sling. "Yes! This is my son." Her tone was full of wonder at the last word, as though she were still getting used to the idea. Alanna cradled the baby in her arms in such a way that it would be easy for Buri to reach over to take him, but Buri couldn't bring herself to move.

There was an awkward pause, and then Buri remembered how one was supposed to respond to seeing a new baby. "He's cute," she offered automatically.

"He takes after his Da. Well, I think he does, anyway."  Alanna's voice had a distinct note of pride in it, like she had purposely engineered this turn of events.

Buri examined the baby closer. All right, he actually was cute; for all that he still had a bit of a cone-head. His face was scrunched and wrinkled like all newborns, but there was definitely something of George in it, around the chin and the eyes. His pert little nose was all Alanna’s though, and Buri suspected his chubby cheeks came from her as well. He yawned suddenly, and Buri had to stifle the urge to reach a finger out to stroke his downy tuft of vibrantly red hair.

She knew there was a whole bevy of questions one was supposed to ask new mothers, things about how the labor went and how well he was sleeping through the night, but Buri couldn’t remember what exactly she was supposed to say, and she never really understood why she was supposed to be interested in the answers anyways, so instead she shifted uncomfortably on her feet, silent.

“Right! Well you didn’t come all this way to stay in the stables, so why don’t I show you to your room?” Alanna tried to smile, but the expression on her face was more akin to slightly hurt bewilderment than joy. Buri made an effort to place a smile on her own face as she nodded in agreement, and without speaking they headed up towards the castle.

The rest of the day passed easier than Buri expected. At least she managed to feign enough enthusiasm that the pinched, worried look that Alanna wore had faded. Buri had always liked the Swoop, and between Myles and Eleni, who were also visiting, and the various villagers and servants she knew, there were plenty of people to act as buffers between Buri and her old friend. It helped that Alanna was easier to deceive than usual, distracted and exhausted as she was by the babe.

Which is why Buri was so surprised the following dawn, when she entered the section of the courtyard used for weapons practice only to find Alanna stretching, ready for their morning drill routine like nothing had changed.

“Oh, thank the gods you’re here. I was afraid you were going to take today off. I’ve been looking forward to finally practicing with someone who won’t treat me like glass.” Alanna smiled up at Buri. She was wearing loose, full breeches and an over-sized man’s shirt that Buri suspected belonged to George. Sensing Buri’s stare Alanna said dryly, “I’m trying to hide from everyone how fat I still am, but I’m not sure it’s very effective”.

Buri smiled at this, and walked to the corner to grab them each a staff. She thought that they were finally alone now, but as she drew nearer she noticed the basket settled in the shade by the weapons rack. Thom was tucked inside, fast asleep, his little mouth gently suckling the air. Buri grabbed two staffs and quickly turned her back on him. She walked over to Alanna, handing her one so they could finally return to their routine.

Alanna reacted more slowly than before, but she had the same determination as ever. She moved through the various blocks and strikes, her form nearly perfect, even if she began showing signs of the exertion much earlier than she used to. As they settled into an easy rhythm, Buri could almost forget how much everything had changed. Little Thom might not have happened at all. This relaxing chain of thought was rudely interrupted by a horrible piercing cry from the basket in the corner.

Immediately Alanna dropped her stave, and rushed over to scoop up the squalling infant, cooing softly to him. Buri sighed, and followed her.

As she drew near she could begin to make out what Alanna was saying. In a sweet, lovingly sing-song voice Alanna was murmuring "Why are you crying, you little shit? Such an asshole, yes you are! Yes you are!"

For a moment Buri froze, then to her complete surprise she burst out in hysterical laughter.

"What?" Alanna cried, indignant.

Buri struggled to get her words out in between giggles, "Who talks to a baby that way? What is wrong with you?"

"It's not like he knows!" Alanna's face flushed with embarrassment, but amusement flashed in her violet eyes. "Besides, he is kind of a little asshole. Screaming at me, pawing my breasts, demanding constant attention. I would never let any other man treat me like he does." She looked adoringly down at her son, and her voice went up an octave as she said, "You're my little demon, yes you are. Mama's little monster."

Buri could only shake her head. Maybe she's still salvageable after all, Buri thought, wiping away tears of mirth. Feeling her heart lighten she reached out, offering to hold her adopted nephew for the first time.

--

Author’s Note: I wrote this in a burst at 3am, so please, PLEASE let me know about any OOC stuff, grammar issues, spelling mistakes, factual errors, etc.

Also I would be remiss if I didn’t link to this fic again. I had no intention of copying or using another’s ideas, and I think mine stands on it's own all right, but after finishing it I realized the theme is very similar (a friend struggles to reconcile past-Alanna with this new-Alanna) and they both end with weapons practice, so I figured I ought to say: If you liked mine (or even just the idea behind it) go read this one now! It’s much more beautifully written, and 1000% worth the read.

ETA: Now on FF.net