A Tale of Two Sisters, Part Two - Over the Sea

[gonein30seconds]

Title: A Tale of Two Sisters, Part Two
Author: GoneIn30Seconds
Fandom(s): Hetalia: Axis Powers
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 3,647
Inspiration: She was merciful to the warlike knights, but she took away their lands and castles and made them take up honest trades. From the second chapter of Feminist Fairy Tales, "Princess Questa."
Warnings: Strong language and minor amounts of violence
Summary: Now on her own, Lovina finds herself a job - and someone to lean on while she's at it.


For many days Lovina walked the western road, scrupulously rationing her food, sheltering under trees at night, and hitching the occasional ride with traveling farmers and peddlers. The mysterious woman had been quite correct; the nearest city was a long ways off, and sometimes Lovina thought the road would never end. But the thought of her grandfather and her sister spurred her on, and finally she arrived in the city, which happened to be home to one of the country's largest ports.

Lovina immediately started looking for work, staring with a baker's shop near the city gates.

"Excuse me, sir," she said to the baker, "do you need anyone to help you in your shop?"

"Unfortunately, young lady, I have no money to pay a worker," said the baker. "But my cousin owns a seamstress shop farther in the city; perhaps she can help you."

"Grazie, signore," said Lovina, and she went to the place the baker had indicated to her.

The seamstress had no work for her either, however. "The times, what can I say," she said. "But my brother runs an inn near the docks; perhaps he can help you."

"Grazie, signora," said Lovina, and she followed the seamstress's directions to the inn.

Unfortunately, the innkeeper could not hire Lovina on. "I have a full staff already, and I cannot afford any more," said he. "My friend Abel, one of the ship captains, is looking for a cabin boy, but that is no position for a young lady."

Lovina went out and found a wig maker's shop.

"How much would you pay for some of my hair?" she asked.

The wig maker thought for a moment. "I think two silvers and a gold piece would be a fair price," he said, "but you have such lovely hair; are sure you want to part with it?"

Lovina nodded. "I need the money for my family, signore."

"Ah, I understand. The times and all." With that, the wig maker cut off Lovina's pretty brown hair, paid her the promised money, and wished her luck.

Lovina went back to the seamstress's shop.

"Good heavens, girl," said the seamstress, "whatever happened to your hair?"

"Never mind that," said Lovina. "How much for a shirt and a pair of pants?"

"About five silvers, why?"

"Madonna, my family is completely broke and the only job I can find is one they will only give to a boy and it could leave at any minute. So, please," Lovina said, putting her gold piece on the counter, "give me a shirt and a pair of pants."

The seamstress understood, and even let Lovina change into her new clothes in the back of the shop. Lovina thanked the seamstress and ran back to the inn at the docks.

"I heard one of the captains needs a cabin boy," she said to the innkeeper. "Is that true?"

"Yes it is, and fortunate you asked, my boy," said the innkeeper. "Abel and his crew are going to leave on the next tide. Come, I'll introduce you to him."

Abel, as it turned out, was the captain of a frigate from a country to the north. He originally wasn't too keen on hiring "Lovino," as she'd admitted to having no experience at sea, but he was a kind-hearted man, and seeing that she was desperate he finally said, "Well, I suppose I can give you a place. Follow me."

Lovina followed Abel into the galley, where she saw a man cleaning a pot and whistling as he did so.

"Antonio!" Abel shouted.

The man looked up, and Lovina was taken aback to see that he was rather handsome; he had curly brown hair, bright green eyes and a wide grin that seemed to light up the galley.

"Hola, capitán!" he said. "How can I help you?"

"Antonio, this is Lovino, the new cabin boy," said Abel. "Lovino, this is the ship's cook and doctor, Antonio."

Antonio stuck out his hand to Lovina. "Hola, Lovino. It's really nice to meet you!" His brow wrinkled. "Are you all right? You look a bit red."

"I-It's nothing," said Lovina. She took his hand and shook it, but couldn't quite meet his eyes.

"Now Lovino," said Abel, "when you aren't running errands for me, you will be helping Antonio in here. You are to listen to him and treat him with respect; is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," said Lovina.

"Good. Now, we'd all best get plenty of sleep tonight; we sail in the morning." And with that, Abel left, leaving Lovina and Antonio alone in the galley.

"Come on, I'll show you where we all sleep," said Antonio.

"Fine," Lovina replied.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Antonio asked as they walked. "You’re rather red."

"I'm fine!" Lovina said. "It's just the heat; that's all." She looked over and she saw that Antonio was grinning at her. "What are you so happy about?"

"Oh, sorry, Lovino," said Antonio ruefully. "It's just that you're so cute when you blush like that!"

"Cute!?" Lovina yelled, ignoring the small flutter in her heart. "I am not fucking cute, you weird, smiley jerk bastard!" The instant she said it, she realized she was talking to the person who was more or less her boss, and was about to apologize - only to realize Antonio didn't seem like he was angry.

"All right, Lovi," he said. "I won't call you cute."

"Don't call me Lovi, jerk bastard!"

They set sail the next day, and Lovina's days were spent running errands for the captain, helping Antonio in the kitchen, and learning the ways of sailing from the rest of the crew. She came to like sailing, with the sun on her face and the smell of the sea, and the rough but good-natured men she worked with. She sang sea shanties with them as they cleaned the deck, drank with them when they were given leave to (although the first time that happened nearly ended with her falling over the side), and brought them their food during the day.

And then there was Antonio. Despite the fact that she continued to refer to him as "jerk bastard," he took her under his wing, teaching her about cooking, telling her stories of previous sea voyages, and teaching her his native language. On a couple of clear nights, he took her up on deck and told her how to navigate using only the stars. He loved to sing with her and the other sailors. Lovina, for her part, sometimes found him annoying, but she had to admit that his sunny disposition was infectious, and provided a nice balance to her worries about her grandfather and Felice.

For the first two weeks, the journey was calm. However, one day a foul storm hit, and the ship was tossed mightily about on the waves. The crew could barely keep her upright, and waves crashed over the prow of the ship, threatening to drag the crew overboard. Lovina was tying up the sails with the rest of the men when she remembered the sailcloth the woman had given her, and got an idea. She finished tying up the sail, but instead of climbing down with the other men, she got onto the rigging and started climbing higher.

"Lovino!" Of course, Antonio was the one who realized what she was doing first. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"I have an idea!" she said.

"Your idea is going to get you killed!" he yelled. "Get down from there!"

By then, however, Lovina had reached the crow's nest. She climbed into it and looked up.

Standing in the center of the storm was a great tiger, roaring with such ferocity that there was no doubt that he was the one causing the winds. Lovina knew what she had to do, and reached into her coat. It took a great deal of fumbling, but eventually she managed to open up her cameo locket and find the small piece of sailcloth. She twirled it over her head three times and - wonder of wonders! - it became a large bag. She held it in front of her and sang:

"Wind, wind, come to me,
Calm the water of
The raging sea.
Lead the cat into my sack
Before he strikes us
With the thunder-crack."

(I apologize profusely for my bad poetry. It was literally the only thing I could come up with.)

Instantly, the tiger and his winds were sucked towards Lovina and her bag. The tiger would not give in without a fight, however. Before he entered the bag, he swiped one of his great paws at Lovina, striking her in the side. She cried out in pain.

"Lovi!" Antonio yelled. "What happened? Are you hurt? Hold on, I'll come help you!"

The tiger made to return to the storm, but Lovina grabbed him and wrestled him to the floor. He pushed her off, but Lovina head-butted him into the side of the crow's nest, stunning him just long enough for her to stuff him into the sack and tie it closed. Instantly, the winds calmed and the storm clouds began to disperse, allowing a little bit of the sun to peak through. Breathing heavily, Lovina stood up - only to feel an absolutely excruciating pain in her side and an extraordinary lightness in her head. She clutched her side, and found it was covered with blood. Faintly, she heard someone calling her name, and she only just saw Antonio's terrified face before everything went white.

She came to some time later, to find herself in the ship's infirmary with Abel standing over her.

"Well, Lovino," said the captain, "it appears the crew and I owe you a great debt for what you did, reckless though it may have been."

"Don't worry about it, captain. I'll just get back to work and we can forget all about it." Lovina tried to sit up, but a sharp pain tore through her and she fell heavily back onto her cot.

"You will do no such thing," Abel said. "You can't even sit upright, much less walk or run. No, you shall stay here until your injuries heal fully. After what you have done for this ship, it is the least the crew and I can do for you."

"All right," Lovina said, "But the instant I'm well enough to walk, I'm getting back to work. My family needs the money."

"Quite. Although, you should really take that up with Antonio. He is the ship's doctor, after all."

Lovina realized, with a start, that there were tight bandages around her torso, and that the shirt she was wearing was much too big for her. Her heart beat faster, and her palms started to sweat. The feeling of panic only increased when she saw Antonio walk into the infirmary, looking angry for the first time since she'd met him.

"At any rate," Abel said, "I should return to my duties. Get some rest, young man." With that, the captain turned and left.

Lovina's eyes followed the captain right up until the door closed on him, but she couldn't put off facing Antonio forever. She looked up at him.

"I can explain-"

"Lovi," Antonio said, grabbing her shoulders, "what the hell were you thinking?!"

Lovina blinked. "What?"

"Don't 'what' me! We were in the middle of a storm! There was a tiger! YOU COULD HAVE BEEN KILLED!" In the dim light, Lovina saw a tear run down his face. "Don't you know how scared I was, Lovi?"

Lovina was taken aback. It had never occurred to her that Antonio would be so worried. She knew he liked her, but so did the captain, and he hadn't been nearly this emotional. "I-Antonio, I'm sorry," she said, taking one of his hands and giving it a small squeeze. "I knew it would be dangerous, but I did it to save the crew. I didn't know you'd be so upset."

Antonio let go of her shoulders and sat next to her on the cot. "I know why you did it. I can't really be angry at you for trying to help the crew. But please, Lovi," he said, "promise me you won't ever do something that reckless again."

Lovina nodded. "Yeah, I think I can promise that."

Antonio breathed a sigh of relief and smiled. "Thank you." His smile faltered, however, and an awkward look came to his face "Sooo..."

Oh fuck, here is comes, thought Lovina. "Yeah?"

"You're a girl?"

"Yeah, yeah I am." She narrowed her eyes. "That isn't going to be a problem, is it?"

"No, no!" Antonio cried. "I was just surprised. Why would a beautiful young lady like you be doing rough work on a ship like this?"

Lovina blushed at the compliment. "It's a really long story."

"I'm willing to hear it."

So she told him everything: how her noble family had been driven to poverty, how they had managed to pull themselves up only to have nearly everything taken from them again, how she and Felice had decided to get jobs, how they'd met the woman at the crossroads, how they had parted ways, and how she had come to the city and looked for work.

"I was really fucking desperate, this was the first job with an opening and they only wanted boys. So I sold my hair to a wig maker, bought some men's clothes, and I'm sure you can figure out the rest," Lovina concluded.

"Oh Lovi, you poor thing," Antonio said. "I can't imagine what it must have been like for you."

"Really nerve-wracking, I can tell you that," she said with a sigh. She was really feeling quite fatigued. "Can I talk to you later? I'm kind of sleepy."

"Of course, Lovi," Antonio said. "I need to go make dinner for the crew anyway. Oh, but before I forget." He reached into his pocket and pulled out her locket, which was now tied to his boot lace. "We had to get rid of your coat, but I was able to save this." He tied the string around her neck. "There we go. Now, I'll let you get some rest." He stood up and walked to the door.

"Hey, Antonio," Lovina said.

"Yes, Lovi?"

Lovina smiled at him. "Thanks. For everything. You jerk bastard."

Antonio's usual grin lit up his face. "It was my pleasure, belladonna." And then he left the infirmary and shut the door.

Lovina held her locket and thought of Felice as she fell asleep.

She did not heal as quickly as she'd hoped. The tiger's claws had cut her deep, and Antonio had been forced to stitch her up to keep her from bleeding out. At first she could barely sit up, let alone stand, and walking was out of the question. But by and by she was eventually able to sit up without pain, and then stand and walk about with a crutch. In this way, she was able to run errands for Abel, check on the tiger in the bag (which they had thrown in the brig), and work in the kitchen with Antonio, even though she couldn't engage in the more strenuous activities of sailing.

The other sailors didn't seem to mind, however. They still made a point of including her in their songs and merriment, and expressed sympathy in the plight of her family, as Antonio had told them that she had taken up the sea life to support her sister and her ailing grandfather.

Lovina and Antonio, meanwhile, grew closer. He had watched over her diligently during her convalescence, and after she began working again he was often the first person to help her when she was faced with something beyond her physical ability. With him now knowing that she was a girl, suddenly she found that she could talk more freely to him than she had when they'd first met. She confided in him about her worries for her sister and her grandfather, about her garden back at home, and about her frustration with the queen.

"A few idiots piss her off and she fucks everyone over for revenge," Lovina told him as they washed the dinner dishes, three nights before they came into port. "Even if it was fair to punish all of the knights, she shouldn't have disbanded the entire frigging army!"

"It was very unwise," agreed Antonio. "Her father made a lot of enemies with his wars. The Habsburg Imperium lost a valuable piece of territory thanks to him, and the archduchess wants it back. My own homeland, Aragón, entreated help from her when we were attacked by our enemies from Loegria, but she refused. She said that Víteliú would never go to war during her lifetime, even in aid to her allies."

Lovina gave a frustrated sigh and leaned into her hands. "She doesn't know what she is doing. I don't care if she lived with the peasantry for a couple of years; she has no idea what she's doing."

Antonio patted Lovina's shoulder. "There, there, mi tomatita. I know it must be very frustrating."

"It is." Lovina turned towards him and gave him a mock-glare. "And don't call me a tomato, jerk bastard."

They spent the rest of the evening talking about gardening. Antonio had told her many times that he had a garden back at home that he was very proud of, and he especially liked to brag about his tomatoes, which he claimed were the best in all of Aragón.

"Oh, come off it, Antonio," Lovina said as she washed a pot, "your tomatoes can't be that good."

"Oh, they can be, Lovina," he said, grinning like a fiend. "The king of Aragón himself has tasted my tomatoes and declared that there is not a better tomato gardener than me."

"Bullshit! You're making that up!"

"Am I?"

"Yes!" Lovina cried. "Why the fuck would the king of Aragón even be in your garden, much less eating your tomatoes?"

Antonio leaned forward, a mischievous glint in his eye. "I can prove it."

Lovina snorted. "How?"

"When we get into port, we'll be staying for the winter," he said. "That's plenty of time for me to show you my garden."

Lovina was stunned. "You...you would let me see your garden?"

Antonio's grin widened. "Do you want to see it?"

"YES-I mean," Lovina said, blushing hard, "it's the easiest way to prove that you're full of shit when it comes to the whole 'best tomatoes in Aragón' thing."

"Oh, of course," said Antonio, finishing the pot he was working on. "Well, that's the last of it. I'll dump the water; you can go to bed."

"Got it." Lovina stood up and propped her crutch under her arm, hobbling to the door. When she turned around to say goodnight, however, Antonio was looking at her with a strange expression.

He looked...nervous.

"Something wrong, Antonio?"

"I-ah, no, it's just that..." His face was glowing bright red as he fumbled over his words. After a few seconds, he stopped talking, walked over to her, took her free hand, and pressed his lips to the knuckles. Then he looked up at her, gauging her reaction.

Lovina opened her mouth, willing herself to swear at him, to say something, anything ...except she had no idea what to say. She hadn't really thought of romance at all in the last few months. Sure, she had had her fair share of male attention when her grandfather still had his lands and power. There were even a few that she'd felt some serious like for.

But that was in the past, and she knew it. At present, her biggest concern was providing financial support for her grandfather and sister, once she found her. In time, however, the financial situation would mellow out, and she would have time to think about love. And she knew that she could love Antonio; he had always been sweet and kind to her, he knew what she liked and could talk to her at length about it, and he knew the words that could soothe her when she was troubled.

Yes, Lovina decided, Antonio was a man she could definitely love. But not right now.

Antonio, meanwhile, was looking very abashed. "I'm sorry, Lovina," he said. "I didn't mean to upset you or overstep an-"

He stopped speaking abruptly when Lovina stood as tall as she could and kissed his cheek. She pulled back and looked him in the eye. "I'm not upset."

Antonio blinked a couple of times. "Lovi..."

"Listen, Antonio. I like you. I like you a lot. But my family needs to be my priority right now."

Antonio nodded sadly. "I know, Lovina."

"But it's not going to be like that forever," she said. "Eventually, with me and Felice and Grandpa all working, our money issues will get better and I'll be able to worry less about that and more about - well, other things." She smiled at him. "After I'm sure my family is going to be alright, I'll give you a chance."

He smiled back. "If a bit of waiting is what it will take, than I shall do it gladly. But even if we are to only be friends for the time being, I would still like to help you. I have a friend back at home who needs someone to help with her bakery. The captain’s sister, in fact."

"I'll think about it, but for right now, we should really get to bed."

"Very true," said Antonio. He picked up the wash basin and they both walked onto the deck. Lovina hobbled towards the forecastle while Antonio hefted the basin up and dumped the dirty water into the sea.

"Oh, and Antonio?" said Lovina.

"Yes?"

"I still say that the part about the king of Aragón was bullshit."

Antonio grinned. "You say that now, Lovi..."

Comments

[leocadia]

There is more to come.
This story was originally posted in the comments of the sporking but the story was left unfinished to my disappointment at the time.
I can only hope the story will be finished when it is finally posted here. :)