Disclaimer: I own nothing involved in this story unless I invented it myself. This is written for fun, not for profit. All forms of feedfback eagerly accepted. Concrit is loved the most, but everything is welcome.
Fandom: Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal
Title: A Star of Ice
Romance: Merag x Kotori/Kotori x Merag
Word Count: 500||Status: One-shot
Genre: 500||Rated: G
Challenge: Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Flash Bingo, prompt #046, Merag
Summary: [one-shot, Yu-Gi-Oh Zexal Flash Bingo, #046, Merag; Merag x Kotori/Kotori x Merag, Snowbirdshipping, au: other] It would be easier to love a star than a slave to love her mistress and expect to get anything out of it.


Kotori knew better than to think of her mistress as anything other than the divine priestess, noblewoman, and warrior that she was. Much easier said than done, given how she spent most of her time in Merag's service. Ever since the Barian Empress chose her at the slave market, she'd lived by the ice priestess's side, attending to her needs in all ways.

Perhaps she couldn't help but fall in love with Her Majesty. She tried to tell herself that she didn't want to; that no mere human could ever compare to the glory and power that was a Barian. And not just a Barian, but one of their leaders, sister to the highest ranking of them all, Nasch. It would be easier to love a star than to ever expect Empress Merag to glance at her for anything other than giving orders.

There were Barians who used their human slaves for more than simple chores, of course. Everyone knew what Vector used Yuuma for. There were rumors that Mizael even had something going with a human as well, but no one could pin down anything about that.

Yet Kotori knew without a doubt that Merag would never do that. She belonged to Merag, and would obey her every whim. Those whims would never be anything more than the standard chores of a body slave.

Kotori couldn't entirely make up her mind if she liked that or not. Sometimes she thought one way, sometimes another. She wanted to choose her own lover, should she ever want one, but even with that, law and custom dictated that Merag could forbid her. So she kept her head down and her mouth shut and on those rare occasions when she talked to other humans around the castle, she simply said that she had no desire for another's company.

There were moments when she thought Merag looked at her with a bit more than curiosity in her eyes, but Kotori fought to avoid noticing those. Merag, she told herself, only wanted to make certain that her slave was content, because a content slave meant one that wouldn't give her mistress any problems. The last thing Kotori wanted to do was give Merag any kind of problems.

I can't love her. It's wrong. She owns me. That wouldn't make a difference if Merag wanted her, however, and for that very same reason: she owned Kotori. The collar around her neck, set with an ice-blue sapphire, made that plain to everyone.

Her mother had taught her that she was to serve her mistress faithfully in all things, and one day, her mistress would surely reward her with a suitable mate. Kotori didn't want a reward like that.

What she wanted, she finally admitted to herself in the dark of one night, was for Merag to call her to her bed for love, not lust. To want her, as Kotori wanted her.

She tried to ignore impossible dreams. But even a slave wished to touch a star.

The End