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Anya trips and falls on soft grass.
The girl looks around to find herself in a forest. One look to the sky and it's actuallty nighttime. This is... not the best situation to be in. She had been to the woods surrounding the Briar household a couple of times, but that doesn't mean she knew it like the palm of her hand. She guessed it was the forest around the Briar household because she worked hard to be skipped next to Yor this time, so she must've been around here somewhere.
She moves to stand up and hears the terrifyingly close 'BAM' of a gun. She falls again to her knees and covers her head for useless protection, while turning her head to see the assailant.
"Do not move." The voice is familiar, but the ice cold tone in it is almost alien. "One wrong action and you're dead."
Anya makes a face and curses lowly.
"Come on, I wanted Mama." She whispers in gritted teeth. She had been tagging around Yor all day, just what the hell happened here?
"Don't speak either." He said louder and Anya flinches. "What is your rank?"
"..." Anya is thinking up a cover. So, this is the war and her father is a soldier and she skips in the goddamn front lines of all the places. She absolutely hates her father in the war. He doesn't look like her father at all.
"I made a question, woman!" He sounded annoyed now.
"I thought I couldn't speak." Anya said mockingly as if she wanted to play with fire today, because, again, Roland in particular always got on her nerves. Before he could actually shoot her, she said. "I don't have a rank. I'm not with the military."
"Bullshit." He said unalarmed as his finger was still dangerously close to the trigger. "Just spill the truth before I kill you."
"I swear I'm not with the military!" She said on the brink of panic. "I'm fleeing Ostania, ok? I just wanted to get to the Hugarian border..."
He scoffed.
"No one would be stupid enough to defect and end up in a conflict zone."
"Maybe I am stupid enough!" She felt her cheeks burn and this all sounded like a twisted way in which her father would pick on her lies and have her grounded. "Will you let me go now?"
"Of course, not." He said simply. "Take off the backpack and give it to me."
She furrowed her brow, wanting to look at him for good measure.
"What do you want my bag for?"
"I make the questions here, not you." He said frowning. God, can't this girl be just a little scared? Like a normal human?
A bit hesitantly, Anya takes off the backpack prepared to be her lifeline during the trip. Her eyes kept wondering back to the rifle. Too risky. She knew her father wasn't one to miss a shot.
She toss it as close to Roland as possible and he asks:
"Do you have any guns?"
"No." She sighs. She probably needed to get her hands in one for the next travels. "My father won't let me."
He raises an eyebrow.
"Yet, he lets you walk around a forest filled with enemy soldiers." He walks over to the bag and picks it up. "That's some parenting."
Anya grits her teeth, now sitting up and looking right at him.
"You don't get to talk shit about my father, brat." She says as Roland watches her unmoved. "He's a much better man than you in so many aspects. You can only wait until you get to be as amazing as him."
Roland clenches his fists. This girl was so damn annoying and he's honestly this close to get over the last of his morals and beat the shit out of a civilian woman.
"As if I would ever be like Ostanian scum like you." He says dragging the backpack with him to the tree he was slouching against.
Anya makes a face at his attitude, but lets it go. As always, teenage Twilight was an exercise of her patience.
"Give my stuff back." She complained as he started to open the backpack.
"No?" He said as if it was obvious. "You were supposed to be arrested, woman, but I'm deeming you too idiotic to be a threat to our country. Just go back to where you came from or keep walking until you reach Hugary, I don't care. I'm confiscating this, though."
"You have no use for any of it!" She made a move to stand up and get closer to him, but he pointed the rifle to her again and she stopped. "...Okay, no backpack. You can put that down, now. I'm still not leaving."
"What use you have in pestering me?" He said almost considering giving back her stuff now so she could disappear. The problem is that it was also too late to kill her because... he had already talked too much and it would really leave him with a bad taste in his mouth.
"I don't know, keeping myself company?" She shrugged. "I can keep watch while you sleep. You could really use it, you know. Your eyebags are horrendous."
The sergeant stared at her for long. The idea of sleeping in front of an Ostanian was so absurd he actually laughed.
"You make no sense." He said resuming checking the contents of her luggage.
Anya didn't have much to do, so she sat down again and watched awkwardly as he inspectioned her bag. It felt like a day with Donna Schlagg.
Roland also didn't have the right to be so imposing while looking like that. As far as Anya knew, he was around 17 or 18. She was actually older than him right now. To think about someone so young acting with so much hatred in his heart, it did make Anya uncomfortable.
The first thing he found were the maps, mostly from Ostanian territory. He studied them briefly before saying:
"These are surprisingly high quality. Where did you get them?"
She couldn't exactly say that cartography technology would advance in several years and make maps accessible, so she simply said:
"I have my means."
Of course she won't say it, Roland thought keeping the maps aside. Maybe they would be useful somehow.
The next two items were a pair of bags of peanuts.
"Is that all the food you have?" She nodded. He blinked unimpressed. "If you're going to run away you should plan accordingly."
"Food is scarce in these trying times, you know." Anya rolled eyes at the scolding. "You should try them. They taste much better than military rations."
Roland didn't disagree with that, opening the bag with the chocolate-flavored ones and stuffing himself with the foreign snack with no guilt attached. Food was food, after all.
"I was hoping you would chose the other." She made a slight pout. "My boyfriend gave me this one. I was saving for a special occasion."
"Does your boyfriend know you're fleeing the country?"
"Not really." She giggled now. "I'm a very secretive person."
At this point she was just messing with him, he was sure of it. It was the second family member she mentioned, at this point. If they're so close, what is she doing here alone? She should be grateful for having people care of her and actually stay at home instead of running around the woods.
Roland hoped to find any kind of passport or ID that could tell more about the stranger, but he wasn't lucky with that. What he did find was a notebook with crappy handwriting with notes from what he imagined was a lecture.
"Hey, this one is kinda of personal." She said slightly uneasy at him peeking into her classes' notes. She was majoring in History, after all. One could say it was stupid of her, a time traveler, to walk around with information like that. But to have a brief concept of what's going on around helped her to survive in different eras. It also didn't change anything in her current timeline if someone found out about the future.
It was still something she tried to avoid.
He didn't give her attention, frowning at how odd the dates were in the notebook.
"Why is it dated thirty years from now?" He didn't look up at her yet, finding himself immersed at the strange content of the pages. Wars he never heard of, a list of Westalian presidents that he also didn't know about...
"It's... a story set in the future. I'm a fiction writer." That was the first time she used that excuse and honestly, it sounded dumb as hell. "It's kind of embarrassing, so if you could give it back..."
Roland still didn't pay attention to her, eyes stuck on a line underlined in pink.
Treaty of Newston - ended the Great Westalian-Ostanian War in January 15th, 195x.
"A story..." He spoke to himself. "You write about the war?"
"...Yeah, sort of." She said cautiously, watching his reactions. "It's more like of what would happen after it's all over."
He keeps reading with that in mind and, to be honest, it doesn't sound like a storybook at all. One would guess there would be a hero somewhere saving the Ostanian land or wicked Westalian villain. There was nothing like that. Just a handful of political parties and several important dates and locations. The only thing mildly interesting was a post-it note at the top of the page saying "Homework for Tuesday - Research into the history of the last royal house".
What a weird book that stranger had.
"So, according to you, we'll have three more years of war." He actually puts down the notebook now to look at her curiously. "Who wins?"
"No one." She answers in a heartbeat. "The Eastern Federation and the United States interfere and force both sides into a cease-fire, stating the conflict has been extended for too long with no meaningful developments."
"You can't even write your homeland as the winner?" He asks with a raised eyebrow.
"It wouldn't be realistic." She shakes her head. "Ostania and Westalis are very equal in military power. If one of them could win, it would've happened much earlier. Both countries are also too proud to stop it on their own, so outsider influence might be needed..."
He mulled over it, thinking that it might be a reasonable way of writing the conflict.
"Is there peace after the war ends?"
"Not really." Their definition of peace could be different, after all. A soldier could consider a formal cease-fire as peace. Anya who grew up amidst threats of terrorist attacks believed that so-called peace was too fragile. "Even after treaties are signed and handshakes are exchanged, there are still groups on both sides who want to be the true winner. There's always small trifles between both countries and it makes people live in a subtle but constant sense of uneasiness, fearing that something could happen."
"...You are so attentive to details." He commented, just partially impressed. "It's not a happy book at all, though. I don't know how can someone read and enjoy it."
She smiled at the impromptu criticism.
"It's still in progress, though." Just like real history, she added mentally. "Maybe one day it will have a true happy ending. One in which West and East can become friends."
The sargeant held himself back from an immediate "No way" as response. He definitely didn't believe Westalis and Ostania could stop being enemies. It would only be over when one of them rised to the top and wiped the opponent off the map.
Still, the partially confident, partially naive smile of the Ostanian girl sort of threw him off about saying the crude truth. She truly believed in peace. Did she grow up sheltered to not pay attention on what war made of her country? Or maybe Ostania was coping with it so well that youngsters were allowed to dream of a happy-go-lucky life in which both sides came to terms with their resolves? Roland doubted that, after all she was a defector. In the end, it seemed the girl in pink locks genuinely believe it all. He thought it was stupid. But he didn't have the heart to tell her so.
He puts the notebook back in her bag and zips it closed. He really didn't have real use for it now.
"You should leave now." He said standing up. "If you still want to reach-"
A 'bang' on the helmet, he falls to the ground and Anya screams.
The rest of the bullets follow. Ostanian infantry.
"Papa!" She calls desperately crawling as fast as possible to his side, the color draining from her face as she sees blood on his temple. "Roland! Roland, wake up!"
She shakes him up and he answers with a grunt. Anya almost laughs in relief, but they don't have time for that. There are bullets flying over their heads and it won't be long until the soldiers are at their feet.
"Roland, get up!" She pulls him into a sitting position of sorts, but he's still out of it mostly. "We have to go!"
Sounds are still muffled for the soldier and his sight is debilitated. Did he lose an eye? Or is it just the blood blocking his vision? He doesn't know, but the Ostanian girl has one of his arms around her shoulders and she's dragging him, practically a dead weight, across the forest with all her might while asking for directions.
"Where's your camp?!" She asks as they run. She would have much better chances at surviving if she left him behind. She didn't have to stick by his side, but she did.
...Did he hear right or she called him by his name? And for some reason called him 'Papa'?
Anya makes a wrong step in the dark and they both roll down a slide, with her giving a surprised yelp and him just grunting at the odd way his arm took the fall. Anya attempts to pull him back to his feet, but then just covers his mouth shut as she hears the sounds of boots on branches above them, the duo hidden behind a couple of bushes. She doesn't dare to move a muscle.
After what it felt like forever, she actually breaths properly and looks at the man on her lap. The side of his face is covered in blood and Anya is panicking.
"Roland, are you okay?!" She whispers hushedly, taking out the helmet to access the injury. It didn't look deep, considering she only had the moon as source of light. But what if he had some kind of brain damage? Or if he broke a bone in the way? God, she was so stupid, if this actually never happened in the real timeline Anya could've actually killed her father.
She can't hold out a sob escaping from her lips and that actually wakes the blonde up.
"Run... by yourself..." He manages to say. "I'm fine..."
"To hell you're fine, you got shot in the head!" She argues in a meek voice, making an effort to stand up and dragging him with her. "Get up, you need a doctor!"
"...Why are you helping me?" He asks actually making an effort to stand. Apparently his leg was hurt in some way, as moving it was painful. "I'm an enemy of your coun-"
"I'm your daughter!" She was tired, she was scared, so fuck the rules. "I'm from the future. That notebook? Everything that will actually happen after the war. Roland is not your real name. You lied your age to get admitted. You were born in Luwen, you lived in the streets after your mother died... I know everything from your past and your future. You're my father and you're not supposed to lose an eye in the war, so you need to get treated!"
That felt like a resetting machine in his head and body, so any sluggishness and pain he felt stopped just so he could stare at her in very wide open eyes of shock.
"...What?!" Was all he could ask.
"If you're not going to believe me at least move your legs!" She demanded and, thankfully, he obeyed adjusting his posture and walking a bit more properly with her support.
As they walked in the direction of the camp, he asked her about his real name. She answered and he knew it must have been the truth. All of it. They didn't spoke again, Roland's thoughts going wild at all the things he discovered that night. A daughter from the future came to see him. And saved his life. He felt like this was all a very strange dream he had after accepting drinking with his troop.
They reach the camp and the obvious reaction of the soldiers is to point guns at Anya as she had their man.
"She's a civilian from Gunthersdorf who was trying to find food in the woods." He explains and Anya listens quietly to the cover story. "She found me injured and helped me back. If possible, treat her to a cup of water and bread."
The men seem to buy that and Roland is taken to be treated and Anya is actually interrogated so they can confirm the truth. She makes a note to fake her best western accent and they don't seem to notice anything wrong. She plays into Roland's story: how she went past the curfew to find food for free in the forest, found him passed out and dragged him back to the camp. She actually had no idea of where Gunthersdorf was and prayed they wouldn't make her go back there on her own. She didn't have any documents on her and thankfully they didn't mind. She managed to get her water and bread as a prize.
No one told Anya to leave, so she expected to talk with her father one last time. They had arrived at night, but when the sun of dawn was peaked into the horizon, an officer asked her to follow him to speak with the sergeant.
The place smelled of antiseptic, but it wasn't the worst she had seen. Roland was the only one there besides the doctor in military clothes. His head was bandaged covering his eye and his arm and leg were also treated. She was glad he was fine.
"Good morning, ma'am." The doctor greeted politely. "We must thank you for helping Sargeant Spoofy out there. This little guy is a tough one, so you don't need to be worried."
"I'm not blind." The blonde was the one to say, almost reading her mind. "It's just swollen a bit. Needs a bit of rest."
"Oh." She sighs in relief. "I'm glad, then."
"Officer, can I have a moment with the lady?" He asks the doctor. "I wanted to thank her in private."
"Sure, sir." The man said closing his briefcase and walking out of the barrack with a quiet 'excuse me'.
It was just the two of them now, the awkward silence only broken by the soft sounds of the camp starting a new day around them.
"...I never got to ask your name." The man said a bit embarrassed.
"Anya." She answers, sitting on the stool besides the bed. "My name is Anya."
"Anya..." He tests the name, not really finding a problem with it. "Are you... Ostanian?"
"I am." She nodded slowly. "I've always lived in Berlint, with both of my parents. Technically I never left the country, but thanks to my powers, I visited Westalis several times with you." Sensing the questions coming, she continued. "Please, don't try to understand how I can travel. It's something even I don't fully comprehend."
He opens his mouth to argue, but gives up after all. As much as he was interested in the implications of going back and forth through time, she could simply not answer anything and he would have to deal with it.
"Do your parents know about it? Your powers?"
"No." She sighs, actually embarrassed. "I never told them and I still don't know how to do it."
"I see." He nodded. "No father would allow their child to travel to the middle of the war, to be honest."
She smiles a bit. That was also a reason she needed to be very ready for in the case she told the truth.
"I didn't mean to come to a frontline." She explained. "I was supposed to go to the countryside, to study a rural community's way of living during the war... But again, sometimes it doesn't go the way I want to. And that's how I ended up here."
"You saved me." He spoke softly, gratefulness clear in his voice. "I... I don't have enough words to thank you. So, thank you. And I'm sorry if I scared you or offended you in anyway."
"It's okay." She shrugged it off. "I understand your way of thinking in this time, mostly."
Mostly, not completely. Anya didn't know every single detail about Twilight's life because she never got to skip to the key moments of it. She knew about his family dying because she had met him living in the streets and he told him so. She met him as a teenager avoiding the foster system and doing the impossible to get into the army earlier than he should. She understood his hatred towards Ostanians, but she never got to see how he changed that mindset. And as much as she tried, to accept the cold asshole by the name Roland Spoofy somehow became her father was just too much to swallow. Roland was everything Twilight fought against as her father and that's why they couldn't meet eye to eye.
But this Roland... He just found out about the future and about her, so of course she couldn't hate him. Excluding the desperate time in which she openly addressed him as her father, it was only now she could see a glimpse of Loid Forger in him.
They found themselves in silence again, but Anya can see him thinking deeply about what to say. How to say.
"I have so much I need to ask you..." The blonde said looking down, as if he was trying to elect the priorities.
Anya pressed her lips, expecting the rain of questions that in the end would be useless in changing the future so she always tried to avoid.
"Listen..."
"Can you tell me about your mother?" Roland interrupts her expectantly. "When did we meet? How is she like? What... What did she see in me? "
Anya is taken back by the topic. He wanted to know about Mama? Of all the things?
"You don't want to know about the war?" She echoes her thoughts. It was the most reasonable question, in her head. The one thing a soldier who's been struggling for years was dying to know. "About how to win, what were the Ostanian mistakes..."
"We talked enough about war." He said bitterly, clenching his fists. He knew enough, going by what Anya told him. But what actually mattered right now. "I just... I don't want to mess this up. For you... For us."
For my family, he thinks to himself and the idea feels like the most secret, most precious treasure he ever had. He would have a family. One day. He wouldn't die in the trenches like a nobody... He would actually have a meaningful and fulfilling life.
He looks at Anya from head to toe. She's a pretty girl, but he actually can't see much of him in her. Is she adopted? Or did she take after her mother? She is well-dressed and she seems educated, as well. To think someone like her could be fathered by him, who lived off trash for years, is so absurd, but it actually happened. At some point, he did something right and he wanted to know what.
He couldn't mess it up.
"...You could never mess it up." Anya said lowly and softly, her voice almost choking on emotions she thought she had overcome as she grew up. "You were perfect. For Mama, for me. There was not a single moment I wasn't thankful for being your daughter."
Roland feels something stuck in his throat and he's breathless for a moment.
"I was... Will I be a good father?"
"The best." She said without thinking. "You never hit me, you held me close, you sang me to sleep, you asked me about my day... Everything a father could do and more."
He looks at his own, calloused and bandaged hands that until now only knew how to kill, kill and kill. How could them even be able to hold a child? To treat them with care and warmth? To raise them into respectable people and not detestable war rats?
Anya is Ostanian. How can he look a Ostanian woman in the eye, after all the things he saw and did, and start a family?
"...I don't think I can do this." He muttered helpless.
"For god's sake, of course you can!" Anya now was crying, shaking his shoulders a bit and making him look right at her. She looked a bit annoyed by the fact someone was questioning her father's habilities. "You will do it, okay? Just stay on the right path and be true to your heart, it never failed you. Don't be afraid of making the wrong choices, because you already did all the right ones. I'm fine. We'll be fine. You just need to trust yourself... Papa."
That was all it needed for him to start to cry. His day had been so insane, from a strange girl talking about the future of the war to him almost dying in an ambush, but what made him cry was the promise that he would be a good father one day. Even when his examples weren't the best, he somehow managed to do a good job.
He couldn't tell if the tears were from joy or relief.
Anya pulled him for a hug and he accepted with more eagerness than he thought was possible. When was the last time he was embraced by someone? Right now, he was hugging his daughter, he was hugging a part of his family. A family he didn't know yet. But they depended on him for their future to be bright.
He couldn't wait. He just couldn't wait enough for the next time he met Anya.