She was asleep. Raise was glad- the little girl had screamed her voice raw for hours after he and Iiro took her out of the hellhole that was Ala Mhigo. When she was done she could barely whimper, her ash-covered face stained with tears as Raise gently cleaned her off. She refused to eat at first, as well, but Iiro was forever patient with the little girl until she eventually gave in, suckling quietly on the makeshift bottle, sniffling and sobbing quietly until she fell asleep.
Raise had the child tucked in his arm, staring down at her as she slept peacefully. Now that she was clean of the grey ash and dirt, he could see her face clearly. She was an absolutely beautiful little girl, with soft brown hair that curled around her coffee-brown cheeks. He couldn’t help himself. He reached up to gently stroke her cheek with his calloused finger. She let out a huff of air and squirmed a bit before calming. His heart leapt in his chest at the movement.
“How’s she doing?” A voice called into the room softly, and Raise looked up at his little wife, pressing a finger to his lips to quiet her. Iiro nodded and slapped a hand over her mouth before walking up and crawling into bed next to Raise. She curled up into his side and looked down at the little girl. “Oh, good. She’s asleep. I was really worried, you know, I didn’t think babies had that much air in them.”
“Mm, yeah, it makes me realize that Adele was a really, really quiet baby,” Raise hummed, rocking the little girl gently as he gazed down at her.
It was really a spur of the moment decision. Fell had gone off to play hero and face off against his rival, Lord whatever-his-name- was (his Garlean boyfriend, but Fell hated it when Raise said that), leaving Iiro and Raise to do damage control with the Eorzean Alliance and the Domans. Raise had heard the crying over the din of war and couldn’t help but investigate. And there they found her, the little girl hid away in dirty blankets and a box in some dark alleyway. A desperate, final act by her parents, he hoped. After all, who could leave such a lovely little girl with the intent of leaving her there forever?
“What do we do now?” Iiro asked Raise as she reached up to gently adjust the blankets swaddling the girl. Raise shrugged.
“We try to find her parents, I guess,” Raise answered, turning his body so he could gently lay the baby next to him. She squirmed once more and let out a loud whimper, but that was quietly silenced when Raise place a large hand over her tummy, soothing her back to sleep. Iiro nodded.
“Well, I figured! But what do we do if we can’t find her parents?” He paused. In all the chaos, he hadn’t even thought of that possibility. Well, there were a few options. They could take her to an orphanage. There were plenty in the City-States, but he knew how bad they could get. They were already filled to the brim with orphans front the Calamity and were already having a hard time friend who they had. There was also the option of finding people who would adopt her. He could name three couples off hand who were trying for a child. He was sure he could convince them to adopt a little war refugee.
“Uh,” was his eloquent response, and Iiro sighed, leaning in and resting her head on his arm. The looked at the little girl for a bit. Raise reached up to brush a lock of hair from her eyes, hesitating when she reached up to grab his finger in her tiny hand. She let out a soft whimper before breathing out a soft, stuttered sigh and relaxing once more, bringing Raise’s finger to her mouth to softly gum at him. His chest filled with warmth at the action.
“Oh. Oh, no. That’s a crazy look you have on your face, Raise,” Iiro said, and it took Raise everything he had to turn his face away from the little girl to look at Iiro. She was staring up at him intensely. “I think I know what you’re thinking.”
“She’s cute, right?” Raise asked, and Iiro nodded. “If we can’t find her parents, I mean. WE could always. You know.”
“Mm, I know,” Iiro hummed, reaching over and placing a hand over his. “I was sort of thinking the same thing. We could always take her in. We wanted a kid eventually, right?”
“Yeah,” Raise said softly, watching as Iiro climbed over him and carefully laid herself next to the little girl. She pressed her lips on the girl’s head and closed her eyes, smiling. Raise had always thought Iiro was breathtakingly beautiful, but this? Seeing her there, with her lips pressed against a small, new life, Raise had never seen her more beautiful.
“So it’s decided, then,” Iiro said softly, her lips moving gently over the girl’s head. “If we can’t find her parents, we’ll take her. Sound good?”
“It sounds perfect to me,” Raise said, laying down carefully, making sure not to disrupt the little girl as she gnawed on his finger. He could feel little nubs under her gums- she must be teething soon, so perhaps she was older than he originally had thought she was.
“Well, for now, let’s think of a name,” Iiro said, looking up at Raise with glossy green eyes. The girl fussed again, crimson eyes cracking open as she looked around. Her eyes landed on Iiro, and then Raise, and she let out a loud whimper, gnawing on Raise’s hand more desperately as she worked herself up into a full fit once more. Iiro cooed gently at the little girl, rubbing her tummy to soothe her as she kicked her way out of the blanket. She calmed slightly at Iiro’s gently touch, her loud whimpers quieting slightly as she sniffled, her eyes watering with tears.
“There, there, little love. We’re here. Close your eyes,” Raise said softly, and the little girl let out one last whimper before her eyes grew heavy and she closed them, calming once more. He took the moment to adjust the blanket over her once more. “A name, a name... Well, you’re right, we just can’t keep calling her little girl for forever.”
“I like Melina,” Iiro said. “Melina Lelina.” Raise huffed out a laugh and she looked up at him, puffing her cheeks. “What? I think it’s cute!”
“It is cute,” Raise said quickly. “But she’s a Highlander. Wouldn’t it be weird to name her like a Lalafell?” Iiro thought for a moment and nodded.
“Well, how about Kiya?” She questioned, and Raise closed his eyes.
“That’s cute. I kind of like that. What do you think, my little love?” The baby didn’t answer. An idea occurred to Raise and he opened his eyes. “Hm. I keep calling her little love. How about... Amorette?” Iiro’s cheeks puffed out again.
“That’s an Elezen name!” she complained. There was a moment of silence as Iiro stared at her before finally saying, “Well, actually. I kind of like it. Amorette. It’s cute. It fits her.”
“Alright. So Amorette,” Raise muttered. “Iiro, are you sure about this? Adopting a kid is a big decision. A life long commitment.” Iiro nodded once, looking up at Raise.
“It would be hard for us to have kids,” she said softly. “I mean, I’ve never even seen a Lalafell marry an Elezen, let alone have a kid with one. And if we can’t have a kid, then... this is nice, too, don’t you think?” She reached up to cup Raise’s face in her tiny hand. “I want a family with you, Raisin. And I think it is a great start.” Raise’s heart swelled with love for this woman as he reached p with his free hand, taking her hand in his as he closed his eyes, kissing her palm softly.
“Yeah. This really is... kind of nice. A family. Our family.” He looked down at Amorette. A dark part of him hoped they wouldn’t find her parents. “For now... Welcome to the family, my little love. Amorette.”
