#cause it broke the mood and didn't add anything meaningful to the plot

[justatinybunwriting]

Secret (rewrite)

Synopsis: A mysterious woman approaches Jac, who brings up a secret from her past that shakes her to her very core.

Note: this is a rewrite of a one-shot I first posted on Deviantart. This story foreshadows Jac's heritage as a hunter, which is a plot point I'll tap into later in the series.

"Jackie Newton? Is that really you?"

Jac's eyes shot open upon hearing that name. She turned around to see an older blonde haired woman with a large pink hat who was bent on walking towards her, much to Jac's dismay. The young woman failed to recognize her, which immediately caused all of the alarm bells in her head to sound off. Her legs wobbled as an unrelenting panic began to creep into the deep corridors of her mind.

Concurrently, Aiden stepped into the picnic area with an ice cream cone in each hand, one of which was appropriately sized for his much smaller friend. The Wile giant had arrived the moment the older woman walked up to Jac, and he thought nothing of the conversation at first. Just a friendly "how do you do" and all the casual chatter that was to be expected in a public park. That immediately changed, however, when Aiden sensed the the ever bubbling terror that radiated from his human friend. Which in turn caused him to respond with a deep, guttural snarl.

Jac had took notice of his low rumblings straight away, as did the stranger.

"Is that...? Oh god!"

The older woman backed up just as she was beginning to realize what she was potentially dealing with. A giant by themselves was threatening enough, but a Wile giant was a whole nother issue altogether.

"Aiden!" Jac shouted, as she put herself between the woman and the teeth baring giant. "It's alright! She's not here to cause trouble!"

"Wa-huh?"

Aiden paused just as he was leaning over the two humans, which caused the older lady to fall under the giant's shadow. She cowered immensely from the pressure of those enormous copper eyes that stared directly at her, as she folded herself into a ball behind the more defiant Jac.

"Uh, I thought...?" Aiden looked between the two several times. As he realized that he had caused the attention to shift towards him, he mellowed out instantly and stammered. "Oh! I'm sorry!! My bad."

"It's okay." Jac said as she patted the Wile giant on the hand that was firmly on the ground next to her. "You sensed my nervousness, and you were right to be worried about me! But I'm fine now, so try to relax!"

Aiden turned to the woman, and gulped nervously when he saw her flinch at the mere notion.

"Uh! I didn't mean to scare you... uhmm..."

The beta Wile figured that the best course of action was to back away as much as possible. He returned to the picnic mat several yards away, though he made sure to keep the two humans within his line of sight just in case. The older woman spent several minutes in a dumbfounded trance and took her time to get her bearings. Jac rolled her eyes but did offer to help the lady back on her feet, which helped to calm the latter down considerably.

"I... I can't believe you actually tamed that... that Wile giant..." The woman finally uttered.

"I don't really care for such a condescending word. He left of his own will." Jac spoke with a slight sternness in her tone.

"Still, it was really brave of you to stand up to him! He was quite ferocious."

Jac had to hold back laughter. "Aiden's the least ferocious Wile giant I've ever met! He wouldn't hurt a fly, quite literally."

That still failed to put all of the lady's fears to rest, though it may have been for the better. Knowing that there was a predatory giant that seemed to come to Jac's beck and call was enough to keep her from overstepping. And yet as the two began to talk once more, Jac's wariness never fully ceased. For the woman- who had revealed herself to be a retired tax collector from Petithiem- would bring up things from Jac's past that had made her substantially uncomfortable.

Aiden meanwhile could not retain his focus on anything else as the human's conversation continued. Perhaps most irritating for the inquisitive giant was the fact that, per Jac's request, the rest of their discussion took on the form of near whispers. Which made it difficult for the Wile giant to hear amidst the distraction of other outdoor noises. Though even then, Aiden's sharp hearing was able to pick up bits and pieces. This helped to fuel some of his anxieties however, but it was thankfully short lived. For just as sudden as she came, the woman had bid adieu to Jac and went on her way.

Jac slowly walked up to her giant friend with a heavy look in her eyes.

"How much of it did you hear?" She asked.

"Not that much." Aiden replied.

"What part did you hear?"

Aiden cleared his throat lightly as he lowered his palm to the ground, which Jac hopped aboard without question. "What was that lady's deal anyway?" He whispered instead. "She didn't even get your name right."

"She... she did."

Jac felt like she had no other choice but to explain at least the bullet points of what he had witnessed. As she was lifted up to his ear, Jac briefly gave him the rundown of her name, what it had connections with, and why the woman spoke to her the way she did. Jac made it very clear that the elder must never tell anyone else back in Petithiem where the former was today, in which the woman replied that she wasn't planning on returning to that "stuffy old port town" if she could help it anyway, so her "secret would be kept safe." Having the Wile giant around would insure that the older woman would make good on her promise.

Aiden took all of this in without saying a word. He wanted to, but he just couldn't find his voice after hearing this influx of eye-opening revelations. He was well aware of some of the heavier details from previous chance meetings, but it still brought a slight tear in his eye when he learned just how complicated and hard this was on his human friend.

After a few minutes of processing what just happened, Jac broke the silence.

"Promise me one thing. Please don't tell anyone what happened today. We'll take this to our graves if we have to."

"Of course." Aiden replied softly. "Another added to the pile. But... what about Richard?"

"Especially Richard!" Jac exclaimed, before she looked around and lowered her volume to a mere mumble once more. "He doesn't even recognize the dag... err..."

"I'm aware... But... but why though? Shouldn't he of all people need to know?"

"Please don't..." Jac was in the verge of tears for a brief second before she collected herself again. "I beg of you..."

Sensing the severity of the moment, Aiden quietly relented, speaking softly while gently wiping her eyes with the tip of his finger. "All right. I promise."

Relief washed over the tiny human as she fell back into the digits that were supporting her. As he brought her back up to the front of his face, Aiden smiled. Whether he agreed with Jac or not, he was much more inclined to respect her wishes if it meant that even a fraction of pressure could be lifted off her shoulders.

Now that the tension had passed, the Wile giant felt that a nice cold treat was the best thing they could have for this occasion. But as he looked back at the cones on the laid out picnic cloth, he sighed.

"The ice cream is probably a puddle by now. I could get you another."

"Mmmm, melted ice cream..." Jac mused, the thought of it made her relax even more. "Just what I needed today. But since you're offering... ehh, I don't mind seconds."

Aiden had to sigh again at that response. Not that he minded, of course.