A/N: We had another exchange a while back and I forgot to post my fic for it. It's based on this prompt.
otpprompt dot tumblr dot com post/138829375330/imagine-person-a-ties-a-forget-me-not-around
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There once lived a young flower seller who went by the name of Lisanna. Everyday she would grow and tend to her flowers before she sold them. Even though she had long been separated from her family and even though she made just enough money to scrape by, she did her best to remain happy for she believed that happiness was in the heart, not the circumstances.
The village that Lisanna lived in was a small one of not much consequence but every now and then a traveler would come along. Lisanna loved meeting travelers as they always had such interesting stories to tell. The travelers that came that day would prove no exception, but Lisanna didn't know that yet.
The young man and his Exceed had been traveling for so long they were no longer sure from where they came and they were very tired of being so rootless. By Fate, they happened to pass through the town Lisanna lived in and she saw the weariness in their eyes and how forced were their smiles.
She was moved by their ragged determination and so she selected from her collection of flowers a single thornless rose. It was beautiful and Lisanna had been sad the day she had picked it (though she knew it would fetch a handsome price) as she would have to give it away.
But she sensed the travelers needed it more than her so as they passed her stall she held it out to them.
"Here," said the flower seller with a kind smile. "You seem like you could use it. Take this rose as a welcoming gift to the village."
The young man looked over in surprise. He was not used to being offered a gift so freely, from the generosity of someone's heart as Lisanna was.
He took the rose and the thornless stem did not prick him. The man and his Exceed did not have much of an appreciation for flowers but they did have an appreciation for genuine acts of kindness which hold a unique sort of power.
So they each thanked the kind flower seller in turn, feeling surprised though pleasantly so.
And that ought to have been the end of it, but fortunately for the three of them, it was not.
The travelers, who had been named Natsu and Happy (one by his father and one by the other), stayed the night at the village's one, small inn for they did not feel like carrying on in their travels that day.
Lisanna sometimes went to the inn at the end of a day for some food and conversation and it so happened that she did on that day and at the very same time as Natsu and Happy were eating their dinner. Her eyes lit up with excitement as she saw them for she recognized them from earlier and knew it was likely they had a story to tell.
Which was just what she needed for it had been a slow day and she was starting to worry that she would not earn enough money to make ends meet. A story from a stranger would be just the thing she needed to cheer her up.
The travelers recognized her too and so they did not protest when she took a seat at their table as they might have done otherwise.
It was then that Lisanna learned that they did have interesting stories to tell but more importantly, she learned that the travelers were good people. The young man in particular interested her for despite his toughened outer facade, she found that he was in fact brave and loyal and good.
What the flower seller did not know was how much she had affected Natsu and Happy. For her open kindness took them by surprise and made it easy for them to let the weariness of their travels and their shields fall away.
The young man soon noticed she was beautiful though it was not her appearance that made her this way. Her beauty was instead in her friendly smiles, her honest laughter and her generous spirit.
By the end of the night, it felt as though they had known each other all their lives and the next morning the travelers had reached a decision: they did not want to leave.
Natsu had a feeling, you see, that if they were to ever find a place to put down roots, they would have to start here.
And it should come as no surprise to anyone but the people themselves what happened next.
The flower seller and the young man fell in love. Sometime during the endless stories and walks and conversations, it simply happened. It was unexpected as it was inevitable for Fate did not draw them together without a reason.
The travelers told tales of the places they had been. Lisanna was a skilled listener. She told them about the flowers and the plants and animals and all of the nearby nature she knew so well.
And while the three of them were very poor (for there are only so many jobs a young man can perform in so small a village), they had each other and they were happy.
One day, they were relaxing in the field where many of Lisanna's flowers grew. The sun was high in the clear blue sky and a gentle breeze blew through their hair and rustled the flowers. Daisies and daffodils and wildflowers and camellias and tulips and right beside them a beautiful patch of forget-me-nots. There was not a cloud in the sky or a worry in their heads for they had left them all behind in the village. All was well.
Lisanna sat up from where she was sprawled on the carpet of plants with a sigh of contentment to watch Natsu and Happy play with each other.
It was even to her surprise when she said. "I almost wish this moment could last forever." Though she spoke softly, her companions heard her. It seemed at some point during all the time they had spent together they had become in tune.
"Why would you wish that?" replied Natsu. "Then things could never get better."
"Yes," she agreed. "You're right and I don't wish that, but things could never get worse either."
For out in the village lurked all their troubles because despite their happiness there was not enough food, not enough money, not enough anything except for each other's company. That they had in spades. They were family.
Suddenly struck by inspiration, the flower seller said, "Let's make a promise to always be together."
"As in get married?" That was the way he'd always thought of marriage. A promise to be together forever and there was no one he would rather agree to that with than Lisanna.
She nodded.
The young man opened his mouth to agree but then paused as a thought struck him. "But we would need rings," he said. "And we can't afford them."
Lisanna saddened, knowing he was right, but then as before, her eyes lit up as an idea hit her.
From the patch of forget-me-nots, she picked a strand of the bright blue flowers and wound it around his ring finger. "Here," she said, tying it with a knot. "Until we can exchange it for a ring of gold. Would you do me now?"
She offered him her hand.
He accepted. He picked a new strand of forget-me-nots and tied it tight around her finger.
The pair were betrothed and married in that field and when she asked him if he remembered what forget-me-nots stood for she was surprised to hear him answer correctly.
"True love."
And so they wore their forget-me-not rings. Though the intent of one day replacing them with gold remained.
Surprisingly the rings did not wilt or fade but instead remained as vibrant and fresh as they had been on the day they were first picked.
Unbeknownst to them, the forget-me-nots they had picked were no ordinary flowers. They were Everlasting Forget-Me-Nots, a magical breed of flower which remain eternal and can only be picked by true lovers.
And though they were happy for some time, there came a day when they truly had nothing but their family and their flowers.
The flowers were not selling, Natsu could not find jobs to do, and ends would not meet. They stuck it out as long as they could but eventually it was decided that Natsu and Happy must look for work in another village.
The family did not want to be separated but they feared they had no other choice. There was no more work to be found where they were and it would be too dangerous for them all to leave.
The flower seller at first insisted on coming with them, but Natsu replied that while there was still business in the village it would be safer if she stayed in case things did not work out in the next village.
In truth, he cared too much for her to allow her to join them on the journey because he knew trying to build a life in a new village would not be easy and he wished to spare her the struggle.
Natsu promised that he would send Happy for her when it was time.
And so with heavy hearts, they parted ways.
The forget-me-not rings remained as beautiful and true as the day they were picked even as time wore on and Lisanna did not receive word from her family.
But she still had faith.
She continued to tend to her flowers and sell them, scraping by with just enough to survive and she waited.
And waited.
With each passing day, she missed them more and grew more concerned for their wellbeing.
The flower seller resolved that if she had not received a message in a week she would go after them.
The first day passed and she received no word.
The second day passed and there was not a sign.
The third day passed and it remained the same.
Then on the sixth day, a familiar winged figure appeared on the horizon.
Lisanna had never been so happy to see the Exceed. She ran and met him at the edge of the village and the two embraced.
The news Happy brought her was music to her ears.
"Lisanna!" said the Exceed joyfully. "It is time now! We have a new home and Natsu has a job and you can come live with us! All will be well! I will show you the way."
The flower seller set about packing at once and left the next day at Dawn with Happy as her guide.
Though the trek was long and dangerous, they did not give up and with each step Lisanna felt more steady than she had since before the separation. There is a quiet reassurance in knowing that you are working towards your destination and that if you just keep moving you will make it there eventually.
Such a reassurance came over the flower seller and the Exceed which was fortunate as the path was not a pleasant one. It had started out nice enough, green and fresh, but it soon passed into a dark forest. This was not the forest of your childhood that you could play in for hours, listening to the sounds of the inhabitants and breathing in the fresh woodsy scent. This was the forest of your nightmares. The one monsters chased you through, always right on your tail but never within sight.
But soon enough they passed through it, as it always the way. Strangely, looking back on the forest, it did not appear quite so menacing.
Next, they entered a large rolling plain. It was dry and sparse but would not be unpleasant to look at were it not for the multitudes of beggars that populated it.
Their ragged and careworn appearances reminded Lisanna of Natsu and Happy as she had first met them and they tugged at her heartstrings, but she had no money to give them.
Instead she gave them the only things she had: the flowers she had brought with her. She had hoped to sell them once they reached town but it seemed plain to her these people needed them more.
Lilies and roses and chrysanthemums. Camellias and violets and orchids. The flower seller gave them all away from the goodness of her heart.
But as they drew nearer and nearer to their destination, she began to run out of flowers until all she had left was the ring of forget-me-nots on her finger.
"There it is!" The Exceed cried, pointing to the village coming into view. "We're almost home!"
Their new home was in sight, but one more beggar, a wrinkled old woman, stood between them and their destination.
"Please spare some money for a poor old woman," she begged.
"But I have none," Lisanna said, truly sorry. "I do not even have my flowers anymore. All I have is my family and my love for them."
"What of the flowers on your finger?" The old woman asked.
"Oh," said Lisanna, touching it lightly. She had worn the ring for so long it had become almost a part of her and she did not want to give it up, but she knew that it was not the ring itself that was so special but the memories and love it carried. Those were things that could not be given up.
"This is my wedding ring," said the flower seller slowly. "It symbolizes the love my husband and I share, but that is something I carry in my heart and show with every touch. I do not need a ring to love. I need only him. So I have decided you may have it, in the hopes that it will remind you to love."
With a gentle touch, she slid the ring off her finger and offered it to the old beggar woman.
The old woman took it and smiled, a very knowing smile. "You possess a spirit of kindness and generosity rarely seen. You would be willing to give up anything to help another and so… you have earned your ring."
The old woman handed it back.
Surprised and confused, Lisanna accepted.
The moment her fingers touched the ring, a wave of shining gold spread forth across it and when Lisanna slid it back onto her finger, it was a band of radiant golden forget-me-nots.
In the village, waiting impatiently for his family's return, Natsu saw the band on his finger had done the same.
The flower seller and the Exceed hurriedly thanked the old woman and sped into the village.
There in their new home, the three embraced, happy to be together and certain that all would be well.
And it was.
So the flower seller, the young man, and the Exceed lived happily ever after, in love and contentment.