Lizzie was always thrilled to spend time with her aunt and uncle. So, when she turned fourteen, she could not wait for summer. That summer, she was going to spend with only her aunt and uncle. She would be free to walk and run and read to her hearts content. Fitzwilliam Darcy hated summer. This year was no different. He was coming home from his first year of school to, what he was sure to be, another sad welcome. His eleven year old sister would try to lift his spirits. And fail. Then returning to her music room, she would let him ride and walk to his hearts desire. After he dealt with the property, of course.
Neither of the two expected their lives to change.

The First Year

Lizzie was spending her second day wondering her aunts family home. The woods were amazing, and she was already planing adventures where she would be the heroine. She imagined herself becoming her own version of an Amazon warrior. She would teach herself strength and power. She would teach herself things that her mother would never allow. Fighting! Yes, I will teach myself to fight so I will be able to save a knight from the clutches of the evil wizard. She picked up a stick and began to pretend it was Excalibur. She had never felt more like a child. She was fourteen, she shouldn't be playing like is. She hit a small tree and it snapped in half.
"I am Queen! I wield Excalibur! Camelot is safe!" She heard a clap behind her and spun around to see a boy, maybe a little older than she. His eyes were a deep brown with traces of gold and honey in them. His smile was brilliant and seemed to create a feeling that she wanted to smile as well. She had never noticed things like this when she met boys in Meryton, so why was he so different?
"My Queen." He bowed.
"Good sir." She lightly curtsied. Curse this panting.
"My name is Fitzwilliam." Fitzwilliam...
"Elizabeth. It is a pleasure to meet you, Fitz-"
"You may call me William. Or Will." William...
She smiled wider. "As long as you call me Lizzie." Only Jane and Papa call me Lizzie. What am I doing?
"May I ask, Queen Lizzie," he smirked, "as to where you learned your skills with a blade?"
If he is willing to play along... "It may surprise you, Sir William, that this is the first day that I have held a weapon."
He's smiling again. "Then, as a Knight of the Round Table, my I assist you in your training?"
"ELIZABETH!" She heard her aunt call.
"Tomorrow. Meet me here tomorrow."
"Mr. Darcy!" William turned to females voice.
"Tomorrow. My Queen." He bowed and she curtsied and she scurried back to the house.
Tomorrow. I will see William tomorrow.

William was walking through the woods that were bordering his family property when her heard beautiful laughter. He followed the noise and soon found a girl, maybe a few years younger than him, swinging a stick at a sapling like a sword.
"I am Queen! I wield Excalibur! Camelot is safe!" She called, and he couldn't help but start clapping. When she turned, he was surprised by the girl in front of him. She had dark chocolate hair and her eyes seemed to sparkle. They were a bright emerald green, with hints of dark green around her pupils and flecks of pure gold. When have you ever noticed girls eyes before?
"My Queen." He bowed. What was he doing? Surly he was too old for make believe. Surely she was too.
"Good sir." She was panting, but that seemed to make her eyes glow even more. Might as well introduce yourself.
"My name is Fitzwilliam." Gosh, I sound like my father. Better change that.
"Elizabeth. It is a pleasure to meet you, Fitz-"
"You may call me William. Or Will." He took a quick breath. Why was he so nervous. She flashed a brilliant smile for a second time and he took another sharp breath.
"As long as you call me Lizzie." Lizzie...
"May I ask, Queen Lizzie," he smirked, "as to where you learned your skills with a blade?" Where is all this coming from. She's just so friendly. And her eyes. Stop. Stop it now!
"It may surprise you, Sir William, that this is the first day that I have held a weapon." That doesn't surprise me. At all.
"Then, as a Knight of the Round Table, my I assist you in your training?" Please agree to this, otherwise I will look like a fool.
"ELIZABETH!" A woman's voice called her and her face dropped.
"Tomorrow. Meet me here tomorrow." He sighed. She wants to see me again.
"Mr. Darcy!" William turned to Mrs. Reynolds.
"Tomorrow. My Queen." He bowed and she curtsied and he ran back to Pemberley.
Tomorrow. I will see Lizzie tomorrow.

Lizzie stood with her aunt and uncle as their guests were arriving.
"Who is coming, Aunt?"
"Our neighbor."
"Oh..." Lizzie hadn't had a chance to tell her about the young man she met in the woods today. The door opened and Lizzie gasped.

Georgiana sat in the study. "Must you see the Gardiners?"
"Yes, Georgie." He shifted his seat. "I know things haven't been easy, since mother and father..." He pinched his nose. "I'm sorry if I have been cold, the past few years, thats all."
"Its fine, William. I know you are trying. You were closer to both than I was."
Will sighed. She was just a child and didn't know that their father blamed her for their mothers death eleven years ago. And that when he died just a year ago, William felt all the burdens of parenthood, and being the mater of Pemberley in one blow. He left for diner and when he got out of the carriage when it arrived and went in through the opening doors.
William looked up, and couldn't believe his eyes.

Its him!
Its her!
"Mr. Darcy. It is a pleasure to see you again."
"Yes, Mr. Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner." He said sadly.
"We are very sorry for your loss. Ann was a dear friend of mine. And your father was a good friend of Mr. Gardiners." Mrs. Gardner said.
"Thank you." That was all Will intended to say on the matter.
"May I present my niece, Elizabeth Bennet." Elizabeth curtsied, never breaking eye contact with Will.
"Pleasure, Mr. Darcy." Will noticed her eyes were sparkling again.
"Miss Bennet." That doesn't feel natural. Mr. Darcy bowed.
I don't like that. "Miss Bennet is my older sister." Lizzie saw the discomfort on his face. They straightened.
"Oh. I'm sorry Miss Elizabeth." He corrected himself.
"Aunt, may I show Mr. Darcy the gardens before dinner?" She broke eye contact for the first time in the evening.
"I think thats fine, Elizabeth."
"Thank you. Would you like to follow me?" She asked sweetly.
"I would be happy to." He took a few steps and joined her side before the two began walking in sync with each other.
When they were in the gardens Lizzie started laughing. It was the same beautiful noise he heard in the woods earlier, and he joined. Lizzie swore it was one of the lovely sounds she had ever heard.
"Mr. Darcy, its-"
"Please, call me William. Or Will." He couldn't help but remember their earlier conversation.
"As long as you call me Lizzie." They laughed shared a brief silence as they walked through the garden. "My Aunt told me you had a sister."
"Yes. Georgianna. She just turned eleven." He smiled sweetly. "And you are the youngest?"
"No. I am the second eldest of five."
He stopped and stared and she took two more steps and turned to face him, smiling showing off her dimples. "FIVE?" He spluttered. She laughed and nodded and they started walking again.
"Jane, my elder sister by one year. Myself. Then Mary, Kitty, and Lydia. In that order separated by two years then one. I am two years Mary's senior."
"And may I ask your age?"
She blushed. "Only if you tell me yours."
He blushed in return. "I just turned 18."
"I am to turn 15 at the end of the summer." They turned the corner of the garden. She leaned down to pick up a stick in their path.
"Pray, where are my manners, you majesty." He bowed deeply again.
"I do wish you hadn't seen that." She turned bright red.
"May I inquire as to why?"
"Why, sir?"
"Why you were embracing the role as the warrior queen of Camelot?"
She laughed lightly. "I have just finished reading the story of King Arthur and his Knights. I enjoyed the tale greatly."
"So you enjoy reading?" Here eyes glowed even more.
"Oh yes sir. It is my favorite pass time."
"For me as well." They toured the gardens and talked of everything. Right before they returned into the house for dinner, Lizzie placed a delicate hand on his arm.
"Do not forget. Tomorrow, you are to help me with my swordsmanship."
"How could I possibly forget." He smiled teasingly. "My queen." And took two large strides into the house leaving Lizzie blushing bright red.

The summer passed and Lizzie became friends with Georgianna, or Georgie as she liked to be called. She had received a package from both she was not allowed to open until she was alone on her birthday. From Georgie, she received a journal, and on the first page, a list of all the places she could write to both herself and Will. She opened the card on the other box and in large, beautiful script MY QUEEN was written proudly.
She opened the box and there sat a small set of wooden charms in the shape of swords, a crown, a shield, and the letters E and W. she pulled them out of the box to find they were all attached with a long delicate chain. There was another note hidden on the bottom. "Made from Excalibur for your birthday, my friend." She slipped the necklace on and tucked it under her dress. At christmas, long letters of good wishes and stories were passed between the three of them and when William's birthday came around, Lizzie sent him a child's play sword. It seemed fitting. Lizzie stayed calm all through the year, keeping the Darcy siblings a secret from her family and friends, and when it came time for her to return to visit her Aunt and Uncle for the summer, Lizzie couldn't believe the carriage could travel any slower.