Spirit Animals One-Shots Vol. 1

Change (Reilin)

Meilin had always been taught that the smallest thing could change her entire life. Every decision she made, every person she met, every event she watched, every object she touched, everything she did and thought, could completely throw off the course of her entire existence.
At first she thought the concept was silly. Whenever her father told her this, she said, "How could this be true? It's not as if a doll could do such a thing."
"Well maybe that doll would inspire you to do or be something in the future," he'd responded calmly.
"I already know what I'll do in the future, though, father," she explained. "I'm going to be a General just like you! A fierce warrior feared and respected by all!"
And for the longest time, those plans didn't change. In fact, her dreams had been one of the constants in her life that never faded or showed any signs of leaving. Yet her father had never been wrong. Not once. And so, of course, he wasn't wrong about what he'd told her.
It had all started when Zhong was invaded during her Nectar Ceremony. A day Meilin would never forget. Much had changed that day. She'd gone from anxiously awaiting the biggest day of her life to losing her home and her father. But that hadn't been a small thing that had made a big change, it had been a huge event that took place.
Jhi was also a huge thing, both literally and figuratively. The gigantic panda's return was thought to be impossible until that day.
Though all that had changed her life to that point had been big, there was something small that changed her life over time. Only, it took ages for her to realize it.
Rollan.
When Meilin first saw Rollan, she saw a scruffy (but surprisingly good-looking) street urchin with nothing but a bird. An important bird at that, but nothing more. She'd thought of him as inferior. She considered him a poor nobody who'd gotten lucky.
Over the years that view of the older Amayan boy had changed drastically. She'd come to recognize him as generous, funny, kind, genuine, smart, and fun to be around. Most importantly, she had grown to see him as an equal.
After her father's death, she was an orphan, just like him. She better understood what it was like to have no family. No home. Nothing. Furthermore, he'd been there for her after her father's death, even after all the times she'd treated him like she was better than him. Always next to her to keep her company, trying to make her laugh, waking her up and just being there when she had nightmares...
She wished she'd understood how much he helped her sooner. By the time she started to realize how important he was to her, she was torn away from him by the Bile.
What hit her the hardest was how he reacted when he saw her again. Regardless of all the times she'd hurt him, whether she was under the Bile's influence or not, regardless of the fact she told the others to run so she wouldn't be a burden, regardless of all the awful things she'd said to him and how many times she had snapped at him for no reason, he never gave up on her. During the entire time she was imprisoned he had never given up on her. Never stopped missing her. And he forgave her.
That was when she knew she loved him. Even if she didn't admit to herself, she did. More than anyone in the world.
One boy had changed her whole life for the better. One boy had brought a light into her life she didn't know she needed. After only four years, she had come to need him more than anything on Erdas.
And then that light had been ripped away from her in seconds. Just like that, he was gone. Just like that, she would never get to hear one of his stupid puns, see that mischievous glint in his eye he got when he was about to do something crazy, feel his big, warm hands interlock with hers, smell the cinnamon rolls he was so obsessed with eating, or taste his awful attempts at cooking ever again. Just like that, he wouldn't be there to cheer her up when she was moody, which she almost always was. Just like that, he wouldn't be there to sit on her bed with her and tell her random stories when she had a particularly bad nightmare. Just like that, the only place she'd see that familiar, goofy, lopsided Rollan Smile was in her dreams and memories.
No more tutor jokes. No more training together. No more laughing together. No more sharing their victories or their losses. No more flirting and playing kissy-face but never actually confessing how they felt about each other. No more Rollan.
And that was a change Meilin hadn't been ready for. A change she would never have been ready for. A change she would've given anything to prevent.
For the first time, she fully understood what her father had meant when he said the smallest thing could change her life. One boy's presence had changed it more than she could ever have imagined, and his absence left a scar that ripped so deep into her heart it completely fell apart and shattered on the floor.
The best and worst things that had ever happened to her were caused by who might've once been the most insignificant person in the entire world.

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So this was a little rushed and I just wrote it, but it came from an idea I got a long time ago. I hope you enjoyed the Reilin angst =v=

In case you were wondering the story itself was a total of 932 words.