WARNING: CONTAINS BRIEF MENTION OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
Scene: Aria is the blood sister of Uhtred and Ragnar's adopted sister. This begins when Sven has just been prevented from killing Uhtred right after he lands back in Northumbria after being a slave. There are some other cute sibling moments with her Ragnar, and it includes a scene from season 2. Fluff with Finan. So much fluff with Finan.
Word Count: 2080
Aria dropped down from her horse and raced to her brother, Uhtred, who looked nothing like he had when they had last seen one another. He clung to her arms for a moment.
"It is Aria, Uhtred," she whispered, stroking his hair. "It is your sister."
She felt Ragnar kneel beside her, and he held them both until Aria could not hold him any longer as he wept. To see her once-strong brother on his knees in tears, she could not bear. Aria stood and looked over just as another slave put his sword to the slaver's neck and sliced through him, saying something that she could just barely hear over the wind.
The slave turned, stumbling slightly, and his eyes looked to Uhtred, and she watched as the two of them smiled at one another. They must have become brothers during their time together. She looked between them for a moment before the other man stumbled and collapsed to the ground, and she made her way over to him.
"Careful," she said, kneeling beside him and helping him to sit better on the grass.
She watched as he sat there for a moment, leaning against her, tears filling his eyes, but he did not speak, he simply closed his eyes.
"I will get you some water," she said, beginning to stand, but he stopped her.
"No, please," his rough and tired Irish accent surprised her. "Your touch is much gentler than the whips."
At that, Aria froze, looking into the deep brown eyes of the man she had never met before, and she tried to place a smile on her face, but the pain in her eyes only mirrored his own, and she soon looked away, looking around at the men clearing away the dead bodies, and Ragnar still holding her brother. She felt tears cloud her vision, and she blinked them back.
"I am so sorry," she whispered. "I am so sorry this has happened to you."
"It will only make me stronger," the man replied. "Do not worry, milady."
"Aria," she replied, wiping away her half-shed tears. "My name is Aria."
"Finan," he replied before turning away to cough.
Aria looked up to see her horse standing on the hill and she whistled, calling him to her, and she gently helped Finan to sit on his own as the horse approached. She stood and pulled her water pouch out from the saddlebag, and she returned to where Finan sat and helped him to drink.
Soon enough, he was well enough to stand, and so they moved to where Ragnar and the other soldiers were building a fire.
Hild and Aria made the soup quickly, and they passed it out quickly and quietly to the men before sitting themselves down around the fire. It was silent. The events from the day were sobering, and Aria kept looking to her brother's face, wanting him to look at her, but he had not once laid his eyes upon her face or looked her in the eyes.
"Halig," Uhtred's raspy voice finally spoke.
"He has been taken down, wrapped, and buried," Ragnar replied. "With shield and sword."
"You will say words for him, Hild?" Uhtred continued.
"I have. I will, always,"
"Northumbria is torn," Ragnar spoke, trying to fill the silence and catch Uhtred up to the present on what he had missed. "Aelfric did not come to Guthred's side. Erik and Sigefrid and Kjartan: they do what they please," Ragnar paused, looking to Aria and then to Hild as the silence continued. "You haven't asked how I come to be here."
Aria watched as Uhtred turned his head and looked at Ragnar.
"Alfred," Ragnar continued with a slight chuckle. "Alfred sent us. I believe the King of Wessex cares for you."
"You're Uhtred's brother," Finan's voice spoke up. It was a question, directed at Ragnar.
"I am," he said.
"You look nothing like each other," he said, causing Aria to smile to herself.
"No, but he looks very much like his sister," Ragnar said, nodding his head to where Aria sat. Aria gave a small smile, looking to her brother for support, but again he did not meet her eyes. She looked away again, instead meeting Finan's eyes as he studied her for a moment.
"Uhtred, you should eat," Hild spoke, trying to hand him a bowl of broth. He simply shook his head at her.
"Finan," she said, looking over at him.
"Oh, we will eat, lady," he said. "But our tummies are small, and our feet have barely touched dry land. It'll take a little time to find them."
"Are you his brother?" Ragnar asked suddenly, looking to Finan.
The two of them held eye contact for a moment before Finan responded.
"We are," he trailed off, trying to find the right words. "We are bound, I would say."
Aria looked down at her hands, her lips pursed as she took it all in. The past months had brought her and her brother nothing but pain and suffering and anger, and she could not handle it. She suddenly felt herself beginning to panic, her mind flashing back to the night that Aelfric had used her for his own pleasure, and she suddenly stood, violently, startling the others.
"I need to walk," she stammered, turning and leaving the fire, walking a ways away, trying to find her breath. The salty air filled her lungs as she suddenly fell to the ground, far enough from the campfire that she could not be heard, and she wept.
She wept for her brother, for Finan, for every slave on the ship, for Halig, for Gisela, for her family. She wept for them, but she also wept for herself. She was young, barely of age to marry, and yet she had completely lost her innocence, and she was terrified. She sat there for some time, her face buried in her hands until she heard someone approaching.
"I don't want prayers, Hild," Aria spoke, sure that it was the kindly nun.
"I don't either," Ragnar's voice spoke as he sat beside her. "They've all gone to sleep, so I came to find you."
He outstretched his arms and allowed her to curl up in his embrace. He had always cared for her, even when she had been a young child, and now she was grown up, he still wanted to care for her.
"You've changed," he spoke gently. "These past months, waiting for our brother have shown me that," he said, stroking her hair gently. "What has happened to you, sister?"
Aria clenched her jaw, and she sat back out of his arms and looked him in the face before speaking.
"Aelfric," she said quietly. "When he was meeting with Guthred," she stumbled slightly before continuing to speak "He came to my bed chamber and..." she blinked back the hot tears that threatened to stain her face. "I woke and he had tied me down and-"
Ragnar did not need to hear anymore, that she knew. Aria chose instead to turn away from him, wiping her tears away.
"Why did you not tell me?" Ragnar whispered.
"I told Sihtric," Aria replied. "He was going to kill Aelfric himself, but I told him not to," she turned to Ragnar and sighed. "I have come to terms with what has happened to me, but it hurts to speak of. I will get my revenge, Ragnar, I promise you that," she paused. "But for now, I am tired, and I want to rest."
Ragnar nodded and began to stand, but Aria shook her head.
"Will you stay with me? I do not wish to be alone tonight," she whispered.
Ragnar sighed and nodded before laying down and holding Aria in his arms.
"I will always protect you, baby sister," he whispered. "Always."
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The next morning, Aria woke to find Ragnar had left, and the men had gathered and were speaking together at the campsite. She stood and made her way back, getting a handful of nods from the men before she saw Ragnar speaking with Steapa. She scanned the campsite for Uhtred, but he was not to be found.
"Where's Uhtred?" Aria asked, grabbing a little of the soup that Hild had made.
"Sleeping still, out in the field somewhere," Steapa told her as she sat beside him and ate. "The Irishman is the only other person staying with us, and I'm not sure where he's gone off to."
"Will we stay here?"
"We're giving them time to rest. We'll leave tomorrow," Steapa replied.
Aria nodded and finished her food before standing and stretching. She knew she was filthy, so she stood and stretched, making her way to Hild and informing her that she would be bathing in the nearby pond.
She left the campsite, a new dress in hand, and arrived at the stream, altogether very eager to feel clean again. She quickly removed her clothes and got into the cool water, scrubbing and scrubbing herself until she was pink and clean.
After, she dried off and placed on her new dress, tying the waist tight with a rope before turning back to the camp only to come face to face with a clean Finan, all dressed in a new shirt and trousers and shoes.
She jumped back, startled at his sudden appearance.
"You frightened me," she said, stepping backward. She began to stumble slightly and Finan reached out to grab her, but he was still too weak and the two of them toppled to the ground together, making Aria laugh.
"This dress was clean you know," she said, sitting upright and untangling herself from him.
"Was clean, milady," he said. "Was clean." He sat up beside her, clearly a little stronger from the day before, and Aria found herself close enough to be able to study his face, which she did not find unappealing. She took in the scars on his face, his chapped and bleeding lips, and his still-ragged hair and beard.
"You should cut that," she said gently.
"I would," Finan said sheepishly, "But I cannot cut my hair without my hand shaking. I tried," he said, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a pair of shears.
"Would you-" Aria trailed off, holding out her hand. "Would you like me to?"
Finan looked at her for a moment before nodding. The two of them adjusted so that Aria knelt in front of him. She began to trim his hair, slowly. It did not take her long to make it look neat, and she even helped him to tie it back from his face. Then, she began to work on his beard, trimming it slowly until it was short and neat. The whole time, she was focused, her fingers sometimes lightly touching his face as she worked.
Once she had finished, she wiped any stray hairs off his face and let them fall to the ground.
"Thank you," he said, taking her hand in his.
She could feel the callouses and scars that littered his hand as he held hers, and she turned his hand over, taking in the weathered and tired look about them.
"I should thank you," she said softly, looking back up at him. "You took care of my brother. That is all I could ever ask for."
"I would give your hand a kiss for your kindness, milady, but that would be rough," he joked, mentioning his chapped lips with a chuckle.
"Then let me dare to give you a kiss, Finan," Aria replied, finding herself drawn to him. She put his hand down lightly before reaching up and placing a soft kiss upon his cheek. She pulled back, lingering for a moment before standing.
"Come, we should return to the campsite," Aria spoke. "And you should sleep as much as possible to gain back your strength."
She offered her hand out to him to help him back up, and he took it, allowing her to help him to his feet. He was much more sturdy on his feet, and it was not long before they returned to the camp. Aria found herself speaking with Ragnar and Steapa for much of the day as Finan and Uhtred continued to sleep. She listening to their childhood stories until finally, the light had fallen again, and Finan and Uhtred joined the camp again.
Aria watched as Uhtred approached, Hild at his side, and for the first time, he looked at her.