A Descriptor for People, Not Tea
[AN: Lizzie is aromantic and all of you can fight me if you disagree; unless I have portrayed aromanticism insensitively and in that case we can have a polite discussion.]
And the feeling was gone but the warmth remained.
Lizzie watched as Charming left and already the ecstatic, blissful, joyous feeling welling up in her chest was morphing into something else. It was becoming something plainer than the feeling of a crush or infatuation. It was becoming the feeling of satisfaction upon realising you have made another great friend.
For reasons Lizzie can't quite explain, this always happens. She sets her sights on someone pretty like any good princess should. She has to keep an eye out for someone who will make a good husband, a good king, and a good father. There are plenty of princes in the land but apparently, perfection is in shortage.
It's a good feeling for socially awkward Lizzie to realise that a successful social interaction has left her with a new friend, it's just not as satisfying as how she imagines realising she's fallen in love with someone would be like. Everyone at Ever After High is either secretly dating, no so secretly waiting, or holding out for a hero; their One True Love. Lizzie feels estranged from her friends, not because she's mad and Wonderlandian, but because, well...
Lizzie is perfectly content staying single. She doesn't yearn for a prince – or a princess for that matter. She's certain she doesn't feel odd affection for those of her gender. She just hasn't met the right prince yet. That's obviously the solution to this complex problem wherein she doesn't want someone but thanks to every influence surrounding her, she is left with this blank yearning for an empty canvas painted by the standards set by her cohort.
The idea of never having someone is a strangely attractive solution to this mind numbing conundrum of platonic versus romantic. She wouldn't mind having a partner, or just a friend, whom she shares an exclusive and intense bond with. Lizzie doesn't particularly want someone to share romantic feelings with.
Oh Grimm, Lizzie realises as she basks in the setting sun. She really doesn't want anyone. She doesn't really want a partner. She wants someone to rule Wonderland by but she doesn't need someone to rule her heart.
Wait a splinter-minute: what does this mean?
Lizzie is uncertain because it's unheard of as there is nobody who doesn't want someone special to tuck in next to. Lizzie is very content with a queen sized bed all to herself with crimson, silk sheets exactly the way she likes without compromise. A partner would be a waste of time, honestly, because there is so much give and take and Lizzie would much rather do it her way without risk of losing someone.
Lizzie's manicured hands curl into a fist as her heart skips a beat out of frustration. She's edging in closer to the answer to a question that's plagued her since her first few days of adolescence. She's known for a very long time that romance has no appeal to her but she's never found an explanation for it. It's a very Riddlish problem and she's finally getting closer to the answer.
She's against romance; not other people's romances, just her own. Is there a word for that? If not, there is now and as future Queen of Wonderland, her words are law therefore, for Lizzie, the word she is thinking of aromantic. "A" as in "anti" and "romance" as in "romance". Not to be confused with "aromatic" which is a descriptor for tea, not people.
Lizzie smiles maniacally and she even laughs a little; a coarse hooting noise. She's quaking in her high heels. This is amazing. She's finally come to terms with years' worth of internalised, negative emotions. It was terrifying but it was also liberating.
Aromantic. Yes. Nice. Very good. Astounding. Perfectly Wonderlanderful because who's heard of a Queen without a King? A princess without a maiden love? It was completely and utterly bonkers: the perfect shake-up to the old royal routine.
Lizzie knows exactly what she needs from life now. A royal advisor who can also be her best friend who also understands the intensity of the bond she desires.
Hm, that's going to need a word too... Lizzie realised with a blink and pursed lips.