A/N: Thank you for checking out this piece! This will be a series of one-shots about Elaine watching over Ban since her death. Each chapter will be a different event in Ban's life. I'm going to do my best to write this in chronological order, so please see the chapter titles in case you have only read/watched to a certain part of the story. Comments, questions, and critiques are always welcomed.
.o0o.
The Fairy King's Forest
The entire world was fire, and pain. Elaine squeezed her eyes shut, biting the insides of her cheeks. Hot air blew across her fevered skin.
I didn't realize dying would hurt so much, she thought.
She thought about her brother, Harlequin, who was as powerful as he was reckless. She loved him intensely, even as he infuriated her. As angry as she was that he had left her for 700 years, alone with her terrible burden, she ached to think of how he would suffer when he learned she was dead.
But her thoughts only lingered on her brother for a short time before they strayed to Ban. He was the first human she had ever met that had a pure heart, and she found that remarkable. And he saw her—really saw her—not just her power or the secret she protected in the forest. He was silly and brash and imprudent; she found him utterly fascinating.
The heat began to subside, and she could hear the voices of the Fairies on the other side calling to her, but she resisted. Elaine kept her mind focused on Ban. He was so young compared to her; his human life was like a blink of an eye to her own. But she realized the Fairies wasted their time in the living world because they had lifetimes to live; Ban was intense and filled with an energy that was more exciting than all the millennia she spent among her own kind.
I want to stay, she thought. She understood this was a terrible thing, but she didn't care. In seven days, Ban had shown her that her life could be something other than protecting the forest.
"I want to stay!" she declared. The voices stopped, the wind stopped, and she opened her eyes.
She was floating above the burning forest, looking down at her own body. There was a hole through the center, and her skin, clothes, and hair were caked in blood and dirt. It was a surreal moment, seeing herself dead, but then her heart leapt.
Ban was still there, kneeling next to her. "Come on," he said, "at least let me finish."
"Ban?" she said, but of course he couldn't hear her. She floated down and stood next to him.
He was sitting on the burned ground, holding her body, her head back against his shoulder. He traced his fingers over hers, then over her arms, and down her cheeks. He brushed her hair back and smoothed it down. Elaine watched, fascinated, as he straightened what was left of her clothing and smoothed the smudges of dirt from her skin.
When he was finished fussing over her, he laid her body on the ground, folding her hands together over her abdomen. Then, he just sat next to her, unmoving. Elaine sat too, watching him. She expected him to cry, or to yell, or do something, anything but sit there with his head bowed. Hours went by, and she thought he had fallen asleep.
She crawled closer, and was surprised to see his eyes were open. He was looking at his hands, and Elaine noticed he had the seed she had given him clenched tightly in his fist. She wondered if he knew how important that little seed was, and wished she could speak to him some more about it.
"Ban," she whispered. He could not hear her voice saying his name, or feel when she placed her hands over his, or see that she was crying even if he was not.
For the first time in hundreds of years, Elaine was scared. What did humans do when one of them died? She was afraid that they sat just as Ban did now, until they withered away. Then, a second, more horrifying thought: what if they don't react like this at all, and there was something wrong with him?
"Ban?" she said louder. Her throat hurt saying his name. More hours slipped away. Suddenly he looked up, straight at her, and she gasped in shock. But then he was up on his feet, walking quickly away, and she realized she was wrong. Elaine hurried after him, following until he stopped at the edge of the cliff she had knocked him over so many times a week ago.
He reared his arm back, and Elaine realized what he was going to do. "No! No!" She grabbed his arm to stop him from throwing the seed, as useless as the act was. "Please don't!" she screamed.
Ban paused. Elaine wrapped her arms around him, sobbing, "Please, don't throw it away." To her relief, he looked at the seed in his palm, and then turned and stalked back to her lifeless body. He stored the seed in his pocket, and then carefully lifted her into his arms. Turning on his heel, he walked away from the remains of the forest.
Elaine watched him go. She looked back to where the Great Tree once stood, and spied the chalice that used to hold the fountain of youth crushed on the ground. Brushing away her tears, she spun and chased after Ban.
For days he walked, carrying her body and the seed, and Elaine followed. He barely slept or ate, only stopping for a few hours at a time when he was too exhausted to go on. Elaine would watch him sleep, amazed at the emotions she would see on his typically stoic face. They did not meet anyone on their journey.
After days of travelling, Ban eventually stopped and looked around. "This will do," he said, and his voice startled her. She looked around and realized they were in a forest, not unlike the Fairy King's forest that was gone. She had been so intent on watching him she had not even noticed their surroundings.
Ban laid her body down on a patch of soft moss. He took care to smooth her dress and frame her face with her hair. "I hid out here once, when I was a kid," he said. "Your forest reminded me a lot of it. There's nothing for miles, so I think it should be pretty safe here."
Elaine watched in shock as he stepped a few paces away, looking around. Then, he crouched down and dug a small hole with his hand. Ban took out the seed and dropped it inside before straightening and kicking the soil back on top. "There we go," he said, whistling and walking back over to her silent form. "I hope this place is okay."
Elaine put her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek. "It's perfect," she said.
