Author: Yugi the Skanky Hobag
Rating: G
Pairing: Eirika/Saleh
Word Count: 695
Content Warnings: N/A
Summary: Valega: I can love you, and you can love me, but it's another thing for you and I to love them, which is exactly what we must do.
Reasons to Read: A perceptive take on an otherwise neglected pairing, providing insight into both the characters of Eirika and Saleh by examining their separate interpretations of Valega.
Excerpt: She looked somewhat troubled. "But when I tried it, I had difficulty practicing alone. I couldn't see how a person could contemplate human kind among flowers and trees and rivers."
The wise Master Saleh felt uncomfortable. That's always how he always did it.
"You are supposed to reflect on the world around you, and from knowing the immensity of life and creation, you balance your wishes with a better future. I find it hard to grasp the human heart when I'm not around people." She studied her hands, trying so desperately to cradle that world in those wounded fingertips. She could pray for peace when her brother was near, because she knew of the roughness in his heart; she could pray for strength in an individual when Seth was by her side, because he was so thoughtlessly unselfish; and she could pray for forgiveness around Tana, because her proud brother was a frustration.
In order to understand humankind, one must understand the human.