Harvestella Fan Fiction - Brakka x Ein/OC
Description: After getting badly hurt on a job out with Ella, Brakka is forced to stay at her house on Bird's Eye Brae to recover. That was his story, and he was sticking to it. And no matter how many times Shrika would tease him about it, no--it was not all part of some elaborate plan just to move in with Ella.
____________________________________________
Chapter Four (FINAL CHAPTER)
A week had gone by since Brakka returned to living at the inn in Argene. His shoulder was as good as new, and he rejoined his usual work of assisting the Order on missions. Today he was serving as a bodyguard for some priests who needed to travel through the Silent Cave to get to Shatolla.
"You okay, Brakka?" One of the priests asked, hesitantly looking at the mercenary's straight face.
"Fine." Brakka answered shortly.
"You seem... different." Another priest expressed his concern as they made their way through the cave.
Brakka sighed and closed his eyes. "How so...?"
The priestess with them frowned as she looked at him. "You just seem so... sad."
"I said I'm fine." Brakka snapped, frightening the priests and the priestess into silence.
He didn't understand why he felt so... off. This was how he used to always live, so why did it feel so... wrong? He only lived with Ella for a few weeks, that shouldn't have been long enough for him to completely adjust and forget how to function on his own. Sleeping on the floor of the inn's basement again felt different now. Brakka noticed the rocky, uneven flooring poking at his back when he laid on it now. He hardly got any sleep all week because of that, as well as it just being so eerily quiet. He missed the sound of Ella breathing softly beside him.
Brakka's stomach growled. He reached into his pouch and pulled out his favorite biscuit snack and took a bite.
What the...! Was this always so disgusting!?
Brakka felt like he nearly broke his teeth biting into that rock solid thing, and he balked in disgust when he tasted the mossy, rocky inside of the biscuit. He finally understood what Aria was talking about.
Had Ella's cooking ruined him?
Brakka spit out the biscuit and threw the rest away. He'd just continue the mission a little hungry, then. Whatever.
"So, Brakka, how's Ella?" The priestess hesitantly spoke up, trying to lighten the mood.
Brakka came to a sudden halt and grabbed his rifle, then swung it around to point at the priestess. She shrieked as he pulled the trigger and closed her eyes, waiting for death to come, but... it didn't.
The priestess hesitantly opened her eyes to see the smoking end of Brakka's rifle barrel. She slowly turned around and looked over her shoulder to see the deceased corpse of a Crawler on the ground that was trying to sneak up on her.
The priestess let out the breath she was holding as Brakka monotonously spoke. "I wouldn't know. I haven't seen her in a week."
"Oh..." The priestess squeaked. "I thought you two were living together, though?"
Brakka despondently looked down at the ground. "No. That was only temporary."
"And here I thought you two were just a couple that moved in together." One of the priests chuckled. "Guess I had it wrong."
"Yeah. You did." Brakka spoke flatly.
_________________________________________________
Ella stopped herself at the kitchen counter when she realized what she was doing.
It had been such a habit for her to brew a pot of coffee in the morning for Brakka, so she did it this morning without even realizing it...
She drank tea, not coffee, so this was going to waste.
Ella clutched her forehead, almost a little fatigued. "Why did I do that...?"
She shook her head to regain her bearings. She'd felt so off all week since Brakka left. She didn't think when she offered for him to stay for a few weeks that it would change her life so much, but it did... Ella caught herself stepping over the spot by the front door where Brakka usually left his boots, which she tripped over the first few days. Him leaving his boots out by the door used to annoy her, but now she sort of missed the damn tripping hazard. Ella let out a heavy sigh as she headed outside to do her farmwork for the day.
"Ugh, cheer up already, will you...?" Juno balked at Ella as she flew over to her. "Your attitude is depressing ME!"
"Huh?" Ella wearily looked up at the fire fairy. "What do you mean?"
Juno dropped her jaw in shock. "What do YOU mean, what do I mean!?" She flailed her arms about wildly. "You're so depressing right now that it's wearing all of us down!"
Ella met the eyes of the other three fairies awkwardly hanging behind Juno. She could tell they agreed with her, but just didn't want to say it out loud.
"I'm sorry..." Ella frowned. "I'm just not feeling like myself today."
"Cheer up, Ella..." The great water fairy flew around her head. "What's got you so down all of a sudden?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Juno scoffed. "She's clearly in love with that idiot, and she misses him!"
Ella gasped at Juno's crude remark, slapping her hand over her mouth. "Juno...!"
"What!?" The fire fairy threw her hands up in frustration. "It's true, isn't it?"
Ella somberly looked down at the ground and frowned. "I..."
"Are you going to tell him?" The earth fairy squealed with excitement.
Ella frowned, kicking at the dirt on the ground. "I don't know..."
"Aww, you should...!" The wind fairy cheerily hummed. "Love is just so wonderful..."
Ella shifted her weight to lean up against her shipping box. Should she tell him? Did she want to tell him...? The answer was both yes and no. Ella wanted nothing more than to run and jump into his arms, but part of her was scared he wouldn't return her feelings. She had felt that her love was unrequited and was afraid to tell him the truth about how she felt.
But if this was how she felt without him...
A single tear rolled down Ella's cheek, and the fairies all gasped.
"Ella, no...!" Juno chirped in surprise. "Don't cry!"
"I-I'm sorry..." Ella wiped at her eyes. "I'm just so torn on what to do..."
"You can talk to us, you know..." The earth fairy mused aloud.
Ella let out a heavy sigh. "What happens if I tell him how I feel, and he doesn't feel the same?"
"Well, I would imagine it would be very awkward and permanently ruin your friendship forever." Juno replied matter of fact.
"JUNO!" The other three fairies yelled at her.
"What!?" Juno rose her hands up defensively. "It's true...!"
"She's right..." Ella frowned, exhaling sharply. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of."
The water fairy flew over and tapped Ella's shoulder. "Don't fret, Ella. You have all the time in the world to decide."
Juno suddenly looked over at the front gate as she spoke. "So, uh... Ella. Hypothetically speaking, if you saw Brakka right now, what would you say to him?"
Ella huffed and massaged her temples. "What a great question..."
The wind fairy spun around in a circle excitedly. "Well, here's your chance!"
"WHAT!?" Ella leapt up immediately, completely startled. She tore her gaze away from the fairies and over to the front gate.
Sure enough, a familiar tall, dark, and handsome mercenary was coming right this way.
"Brakka...?" Ella hesitantly spoke as she looked at him. "What are you doing here?"
Brakka swiftly walked up to her and spoke in an even-tone, wearing a completely straight face. "You and your wily charms have completely ruined me, she-devil."
"Eh?" Ella blinked puzzlingly.
"How do you plan to take responsibility for what you've done?" He calmly asked as he stared at her longingly.
Ella cocked her head to the side in confusion. "I don't understand, what did I do?"
Brakka huffed sharply. "I can't sleep, I can't eat, I can't work without thinking about you..." He began to list off her offenses and counted them off on his fingers. "I can't sleep on the floor anymore. It's too quiet in my room for me to feel relaxed. My once favorite snack is now ruined for me because I apparently can only eat your cooking now. All anyone does at work is ask about you, because you're so damn popular for being your altruistic self..." He shook his head in disbelief. "What am I supposed to do with you?"
Ella was taken aback by his sudden declaration. "Brakka, what are you trying to say?"
Irritated, Brakka furrowed his brow and closed his eyes. "I can't believe I'm doing this." He took one step forward and grabbed Ella by the waist, pulling her to his side. With the other hand he tilted her chin up as he crashed his lips into hers.
Pleasantly surprised by the sudden kiss, Ella slowly closed her eyes as the fairies all awed at the scene unfolding before them. Brakka hungrily kissed her a few times before he pulled away to catch his breath.
He stared into her lavender eyes deeply. "That's what I'm trying to say."
Out of breath herself, Ella felt like her heart was going to burst from her chest at any moment. "I... we... what... huh?"
Brakka chuckled at her frazzled response. "Ella, I'm not a good person."
Ella's eyes snapped wide open as she glared at him in confusion. "What are you saying? That's not true."
"Yes, it is." Brakka sighed and looked away from her. "You should know better than anyone that I once threw away everything for the sake of revenge."
Ella's eyes softened as she shifted her weight. "I know..."
Brakka steeled himself as he continued. "Ever since Amadeus stole everything from me, it's all I've lived for."
Ella frowned. "But you've found new purpose now..."
Brakka sighed. "You're not listening." He turned away from her somberly. "I'll say it again. I'm not a decent man. I lived my entire life pursuing revenge. I can't live a normal life."
Those words cut through Brakka's self-doubt like a knife. He turned to look at Ella, surprised. "Ella..."
Ella chuckled nervously. "It's so strange to hear you call me by my name..."
Brakka curled his lips up into a wry smile. "I'm only going to say this once, so listen carefully."
Ella nodded her head. "I'm listening."
Brakka took in a deep breath to first calm his nerves. "You would be so much better off with someone else. Someone who could give you the normal life you want."
Ella frowned, "What if there is no one else?"
"Huh?" Now it was Brakka's turn to be surprised.
Gathering her nerves, Ella stepped closer to him and jabbed him in the chest with her finger. "What if I don't want a normal life?"
Brakka took a hesitant step back as Ella pushed forward.
"What if what I want... is you?"
Brakka's breath was stolen away by the intensity in her voice as she spoke those words. This was totally his moment to tell her how he felt, and even in this she managed to outshine him.
"Ella." Brakka spoke sternly as he placed his hands on her arms. "Despite everything I've said..." He gingerly looked down into her eyes and smiled. "Could you somehow find it in your heart to love me?"
Ella let out a nervous chuckle as tears streamed down her face. "Of course, you big dummy." She grabbed him by the collar and yanked him down to her level to steal a kiss.
Finally. Brakka got what he wanted. After all this time, he finally told her the truth, and she felt the same all along. Nothing could possibly ruin this--
"I feel like we should've had popcorn or something." Juno grunted in annoyance as she crossed her arms.
Brakka and Ella both laughed at the fairies' banter, then turned to look back at each other. It was so nice for Ella to see Brakka actually smile. It used to be such a rare occurrence, but now he smiled so much more.
"Now, that just leaves one more problem to solve." Ella looked up at him and smiled mischievously.
Brakka raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What...?"
"What are you going to tell Shrika?"