Author's note: This is an AU story which has no holy grail war, just people from the Fate universe living normal lives.
Meeting of Two
"I wish for this happiness to come true."
Diarmuid knew he was dreaming. All he saw was a vast ocean. Though he was standing in the middle of the waves, his body floated over the surface. He glanced down into the azure depths, wondering why he wasn't sinking.
The words he heard didn't come from his lips. They came from the horizon, or maybe the sky.
He thought that this sight was familiar, somehow. Like an old movie whose title he was trying to recall, he couldn't place the memory.
He couldn't respond to the mysterious voice because the water began to churn. The wetness curled up his ankles, past his torso, and submerged over him.
Diarmuid's eyes slid open. His body felt disconnected from his mind, like he wasn't really here.
He rubbed his face as he sat up in bed. The sheets, like his dream, tightly entangled his legs.
Over the past week this dream had occurred. This time the images were much more vivid than his previous encounters when he couldn't remember.
Looking around his room, Diarmuid hesitated between staying in the warm cocoon of his bed or getting up. Today was a free day. In the distance, a faint tune of a holiday carol caught his hearing. A young boy sang, his friends laughing along with him.
Christmas. Diarmuid smiled to himself. He wouldn't mind seeing the world of green trees and decorations in the city. Green was a color he most certainly favored, after all.
Diarmuid was strolling down the streets. He had almost turned right around after pulling open his front door and being greeted with the biting chill of frigid air. He convinced himself he needed the fresh weather to jog his haze.
He was near the shopping district when ahead of him on the path crouched a young lady and a dog. The Labrador's tail wagged happily as she petted the top of his head. The girl's blonde hair shook as she spoke low to it.
As Diarmuid approached, the woman noticed him. Her eyes met his. A zing lanced Diarmuid, short and fierce. He had no idea why.
The large dog barked when she abruptly stood. Her vision hadn't broken from his. Something akin to curiosity sparked in her look now. Diarmuid felt himself nearly swaying in her direction.
She took a small step forward, a tiny frown creasing her eyebrows.
"Hello," Diarmuid greeted her, ignoring her bordering severe stare. People had their reasons for regarding others in whatever way they wanted.
"Hi." Her voice was soft, unlike the slight hardness in her green eyes. Maybe she had a bad morning, too.
The dog turned to Diarmuid. Its big eyes met Diarmuid's. He started to say a hello when he was interrupted by a whine.
Diarmuid paused. Did this woman's dog take a liking to him? He wasn't the best judge of canines, considering he didn't have one.
The flipping tail swung faster. Louder barks followed.
"Don't be like that," the woman chided her companion, but the Labrador only kept yapping.
"Perhaps he's hungry-" Diarmuid began to suggest when the dog jumped and pawed at his legs. Diarmuid laughed before pushing down the feisty animal. The dog just pawed at him again and Diarmuid shooed the canine off.
"You should go." The woman made her own suggestion, looking ready to rumble.
Diarmuid opened his mouth to answer that he'd be glad to, already walking away, when the dog bounded after him a third time. Diarmuid nearly lost his balance. These antics were starting to grate on him.
"Run!" the blonde ordered, grabbing the dog to drag it away. The barks intensified and the dog's body twisted in her arms. She couldn't keep a hold and the furry mutt wiggled out of her grasp.
Diarmuid stayed his ground, now determined to calm it down.
"Didn't you hear me?" The woman planted herself between her pet and him, blocking Diarmuid from another doggy barrage.
"Yes, but-"
A long, keening howl interrupted them. Diarmuid was about to use his own low voice on the beast when a warm hand slipped into his. They ran, with Arturia leading a puzzled Diarmuid.
The patter of frantic legs behind them urged Diarmuid to keep up his pace with her. She moved swiftly, as if the wind swept a blade of grass.
A row of shops met his eyes and he pointed at the nearest one. She nodded and followed his direction when he tugged her arm.
His hand grabbed the door handle and twisted. Diarmuid flung open the door and swung her inside before slamming the door.
Panting, they peered out the window on the door. The dickens clawed at the door, downtrodden at not being let in.
The two people started laughing. Well, a sprint was one way to wake up.
"Why hi, lovebirds. Getting excited so early, are we?" A server with a shock of long blue hair tied back in a ponytail grinned at them.
Lovebirds? Diarmuid looked down to discover they were still holding hands. The woman understood this when he did and she let go. A dust of light pink lit her cheeks. Diarmuid felt heat rise to his face.
"N-No, we're not like that-"
"We just met-"
The man simply guffawed louder. "Man, what things I hear that make my day." His head shook in amusement. "Do you two want a table?"
The potential diners stared at each other. Diarmuid cleared his throat. "I'm Diarmuid. And you?"
"Arturia."
"I know we've just met, but would you like a coffee? As thanks for saving my life." Joke or not, the situation really could have been true. That hound had been after him like a bee chasing honey.
She breathed more easily, even smiling a bit. "Thanks. I am thirsty."
The blue-haired man turned out to be their waiter, smirking the whole way as they were guided to sit at a table.
Window view. Diarmuid nodded approvingly as he and her sat. Arturia liked the window too as she gazed at the frost of sprayed candy canes lining its edges.
They bought hot beverages and Lanny-that was who he cheerily introduced himself as-went to fetch their order.
Arturia said to Diarmuid, "I didn't think that mongrel would keep bothering you like that."
"You've had him for a while?" Diarmuid asked.
Arturia seemed sheepish. "Her. What I meant was I just came across her a few minutes before you showed."
"Her?" Diarmuid chewed his lip. Apparently, his appeal to the opposite gender didn't stop at humans. He was always dodging crazy ladies who wanted him. They acted much the same way as that excitable canine. Arturia hadn't, which was interesting.
He and Arturia made more observations about the mutt, Arturia taking some wicked delight in poking fun that Diarmuid was a dog lover when he really wasn't. Diarmuid took his own delight in claiming lions were unruly animals when Arturia expressed fondness for them.
Their orders came and Diarmuid eagerly sipped at his dark coffee. A cider was Arturia's choice.
Diarmuid watched her over the rim of his cup. Arturia was looking at him in a preoccupied way. Her expression was much like the one he saw from her on the street.
"Is something the matter?" he asked curiously.
"Hmm?" Arturia roused to attentiveness. "Sorry, I was thinking of a strange dream I had last night. I don't remember much of it besides the ocean."
Diarmuid tried not to gape. "Y-You weren't floating, were you?"
Arturia's green eyes lit. "Yes. How did you guess?"
Fighting the thudding of his heartbeat, Diarmuid shrugged coolly. Coincidences happened, that was all this was. "Lucky guess."
They didn't speak for a while. An awkward muteness settled, but he soon became distracted by her. Arturia kept anxiously glancing from her mug to Diarmuid, almost as if she wanted to ask him something.
"Do you have plans today?" Arturia finally worked up her nerve to ask.
"I was determining that on the way to breakfast, actually." The creeping flush on Arturia's face caused Diarmuid to deliberately set down his cup. "What about you?"
Her redness deepened and Diarmuid suddenly thought she was cuteness personified. He realized an identical pull drew him to her. He sat forward slightly and waited.
"I wondered if you would spend a while longer with me?"
Diarmuid had been on the verge of asking the same thing of her. "I'd be delighted."
They finished their meal. A small and rousing debate came when their receipt floated under their noses, with Diarmuid wanting to treat Arturia and she insisting to pay for her own drink. Diarmuid proudly won in the end. They discussed where to go next on their way out.
"Oh, 'scuse me. One more thing before you go." Lanny stopped them. His playful smile made Diarmuid quirk a suspecting brow.
Lanny pointed upward and his customers followed his sight. Tacked on the ceiling, a sprig of mistletoe wafted in the breeze of the nearby rotating fan.
Diarmuid and Arturia nervously watched each other. Diarmuid swore that Lanny was a troublemaker, through and through. But...
Glancing at her, then back at an expecting Lanny, Diarmuid made a choice.
He gripped Arturia's hand and bolted. Arturia sucked in a gasp at the sudden movement.
The frosty outdoor air stopped them after a few short paces. Arturia sighed in relief and Diarmuid couldn't help but join.
"Thanks for saving us from that kiss," Arturia told him.
"O-Of course." Diarmuid felt disappointed. He had started to think the idea wasn't so terrible, but if Arturia didn't want to, what else could he do?
Arturia leaned in and her misty breaths mingled with his. "But since nobody is around..."
At her intense stare, Diarmuid gulped. He was getting his wish after all?
"...I wouldn't mind. Would you?"
His eyes roamed to her lips, then to her shyly smiling face. No, he wouldn't mind doing this at all.
Back in the cafe, Lanny was tidying up the table the hasty lad and lass were at. He pocketed the money from their bill into his apron.
His fingers bumped a folded paper in the pocket. He found it in there at the start of his shift. The note scribbled in it was all the more amusing now and he had to read it again. He thumbed it open.
"I have a Christmas wish. I wish for this happiness to come true. Two people will come in holding hands, but don't know each other. Santa will make my wish come true by bringing them to you where they'll be happy."
He chuckled. Whoever gave him this was going to be a mystery he'd have to figure out.
- THE END -