Tiamat's Memory (Commission)

This was written as a commission, based on Fate Grand Order Babylonia. It's an AU where Tiamat has decided to baby the world, and needs to find a human to learn how they treat their babies. No diaper content in this one. 

It was a quiet day on the river. A good day for fishing, if one knew their way around the local waters. With a good line and the proper bait, you could catch almost anything. 

A young man sat in his boat, watching his line carefully. There was nothing worse than missing the mark when he had a nibble. 

The reaction he got was hardly a nibble. Something twitched on the line, and when he jerked, it felt as though he was lifting a whale. Reeling cautiously, he tried to think what creature he could possibly have caught that lived in the river. 

From beneath the water, a figure rose, seven feet tall, with great curling horns sprouting from the head of what he could only think of as a beautiful woman. Water washed over her, revealing barely a scrap of clothing to maintain decency, hair that came down to her toes, and red, piercing eyes. 

She reached for him, and the fisherman could do nothing to get away. Once he was in her grasp, though, she didn’t seem to hurt him. She just pulled him close, pushing away the thin material covering her breast, guiding his head towards it. 

The fisherman was helpless and confused, and as she guided his mouth towards his lips, he instinctively began to suckle. 

As the goddess’s milk slipped down his throat, the fisherman’s memories began to flash through his mind. 

He remembered being small. A little child. Barely old enough to walk, or to speak his mind, relying on those around him to provide care. The feelings of helplessness made his thoughts grow claustrophobic, reminded of how weak he was, how juvenile, how incapable of protecting himself. 

Then, his thoughts flashed again, and he was even smaller. He couldn’t even crawl. He was a tiny thing, totally dependant on those around him. It was terrifying. To lose all his autonomy, to have it stripped away suddenly, forced to relive experiences he hadn’t even known he could remember- 

A figure in his mind approached, picking him up. He didn’t know if this was a memory, or a figment of his imagination, or some mix of the two, but as she lifted him up, cooing and kissing his forehead, he felt suddenly safe. 

These memories were too vague, too distant for him to remember details. Even the face of the person holding him was too unclear to be certain, and yet he still knew, as surely as he knew his own name. The comfort, the safety that she presented, that couldn’t be forgotten with any amount of time. 

And then his memories flashed again. Being a child, a little older, in time out for calling his sister names. The frustration, the shame, the slight annoyance at being caught. He was mad at his sister for tattling, and upset with himself for teasing her. 

His mind flashed once more. The taste of milk was still present at the back of his throat, but this time, he was no longer small. He was grown, and giving guidance to a friend’s child. Teaching them, without being callous or moving too quickly, ensuring that they understood what he was saying. When they were about to hurt themselves, pricking a finger on a fishhook or getting too close to the edge of the boat, he chastised them without being cruel.  

The goddess lowered him back into the boat, his thoughts all a blur. “So,” she mused aloud, tapping a finger on her lips. “That’s how you care for your little ones, then? You guide them, but you ensure they don’t leave the nest. Keeping them safe, above all else, even above their ability to learn through hardship?” 

She mused, as the fisherman tried to gather his thoughts and failed. They were too jumbled. In his mind, he was still a child, still an infant, still an adult trying to navigate a complicated world.

Covering her breast, Tiamat considered what she’d learned. It would be useful, even crucial, for her plans. She couldn’t care for the world if she didn’t know how to care for those younger and smaller than her, and now, she knew. 

Leaving the fisherman be, she sank back into the water.