![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Challenge 030
Story title: Pauper to Princess
Author: Ingvild
Word count: 599
Rating and warnings: For everyone who isn’t bummed by AUs (canon divergence type).
Characters and/or pairing: Treize, Mariemaia
Summary: Mariemaia prepares to enter Treize’s world. AU where MM was sent to Treize when she was very young.
She was only six years old when her mother kissed her, hugged her and put her on a space shuttle heading for Earth. She was carrying a backpack with a deck of cards, an electronic book reader, a sandwich, a water bottle, some money and an envelope addressed to Treize Khushrenada.
She showed up at his mansion and looked up into the eyes of the stern-faced woman who answered the door. She merely handed over the envelope, and followed into the foyer where she sat down and waited. She split the deck of cards and shuffled as best as she could, before beginning her four hundred and twenty seventh game of solitaire since leaving her mother.
A shadow falling over her made her look up, and she stared at a tall, powerfully built man with eyes that she vaguely recognised from her own reflection. He held up the envelope, now open, and the letter she supposed must have been inside it.
“Do you know what this says?” he asked.
“It’s from my mother. It says that you’re my father, and contains a copy of the DNA-scans that prove it.”
“It also says that she doesn’t expect to live much longer.”
Pain lanced through her, and she dropped her eyes, staring in shock at her own hands. When had they started trembling?
“You didn’t know? She wanted a different life for you, but...”
“Grandfather won’t let her get away with that.” Strange, but tears were dripping down on her hands. When had she started crying?
The tall man dropped to his knee next to her, and pulled her into his arms. She cried until the shoulder of his uniform jacket was wet and she had no more tears to spend.
Two years later, she stood in front of the mirror in her room, staring at her reflection. For once, she wasn’t looking for traces of her parents in her own face, but rather, looking for herself in this strange new outfit.
“Do you like your dress?”
She turned to face her father. “It’s very cumbersome. I can’t move properly in it. Why can’t I wear a uniform like you?”
Treize chuckled. “Because you’re not a soldier, child. You’re a civilian.”
“But I saw in the family annals that House Khushrenada has family uniforms. Why don’t we use those anymore?”
“Because I have to show my allegiance to OZ and Romefeller, not cling to some antiquated expression of clan solidarity.” He paused, then added, “that dress costs enough to feed everyone on LX-77748 for three days.”
Mariemaia flinched. “Why did you give me something so ridiculously overprized?”
Treize put a heavy hand on her shoulder, and looked her straight into the eyes. “Because you’re my daughter, and this is the day when we present you to what’s left of the old world’s nobility. By putting you in a dress like this, I show that I consider you worth spending money on, and not someone who could be swept under a carpet. I have spent two years preparing you for this. You will impress them with how you carry yourself and how you speak. You will dazzle them with your charming exterior and your impressive intelligence. Today, you will silence all those voices who whisper that the Khushrenada line’s blood has been diluted by colonial blood of...lesser quality.”
Mariemaia stared at him. “Father...are you proud of me?”
“I could not be prouder. You are the best child I could ever ask for.” He favoured her with a rare, genuine smile. “Now let’s go out there and show everyone why I think so.”
Author: Ingvild
Word count: 599
Rating and warnings: For everyone who isn’t bummed by AUs (canon divergence type).
Characters and/or pairing: Treize, Mariemaia
Summary: Mariemaia prepares to enter Treize’s world. AU where MM was sent to Treize when she was very young.
She was only six years old when her mother kissed her, hugged her and put her on a space shuttle heading for Earth. She was carrying a backpack with a deck of cards, an electronic book reader, a sandwich, a water bottle, some money and an envelope addressed to Treize Khushrenada.
She showed up at his mansion and looked up into the eyes of the stern-faced woman who answered the door. She merely handed over the envelope, and followed into the foyer where she sat down and waited. She split the deck of cards and shuffled as best as she could, before beginning her four hundred and twenty seventh game of solitaire since leaving her mother.
A shadow falling over her made her look up, and she stared at a tall, powerfully built man with eyes that she vaguely recognised from her own reflection. He held up the envelope, now open, and the letter she supposed must have been inside it.
“Do you know what this says?” he asked.
“It’s from my mother. It says that you’re my father, and contains a copy of the DNA-scans that prove it.”
“It also says that she doesn’t expect to live much longer.”
Pain lanced through her, and she dropped her eyes, staring in shock at her own hands. When had they started trembling?
“You didn’t know? She wanted a different life for you, but...”
“Grandfather won’t let her get away with that.” Strange, but tears were dripping down on her hands. When had she started crying?
The tall man dropped to his knee next to her, and pulled her into his arms. She cried until the shoulder of his uniform jacket was wet and she had no more tears to spend.
Two years later, she stood in front of the mirror in her room, staring at her reflection. For once, she wasn’t looking for traces of her parents in her own face, but rather, looking for herself in this strange new outfit.
“Do you like your dress?”
She turned to face her father. “It’s very cumbersome. I can’t move properly in it. Why can’t I wear a uniform like you?”
Treize chuckled. “Because you’re not a soldier, child. You’re a civilian.”
“But I saw in the family annals that House Khushrenada has family uniforms. Why don’t we use those anymore?”
“Because I have to show my allegiance to OZ and Romefeller, not cling to some antiquated expression of clan solidarity.” He paused, then added, “that dress costs enough to feed everyone on LX-77748 for three days.”
Mariemaia flinched. “Why did you give me something so ridiculously overprized?”
Treize put a heavy hand on her shoulder, and looked her straight into the eyes. “Because you’re my daughter, and this is the day when we present you to what’s left of the old world’s nobility. By putting you in a dress like this, I show that I consider you worth spending money on, and not someone who could be swept under a carpet. I have spent two years preparing you for this. You will impress them with how you carry yourself and how you speak. You will dazzle them with your charming exterior and your impressive intelligence. Today, you will silence all those voices who whisper that the Khushrenada line’s blood has been diluted by colonial blood of...lesser quality.”
Mariemaia stared at him. “Father...are you proud of me?”
“I could not be prouder. You are the best child I could ever ask for.” He favoured her with a rare, genuine smile. “Now let’s go out there and show everyone why I think so.”
no subject