Featuring another figment daily theme: "There are fairies in my garden!" A fantasy YumiKuri AU. Tallying my girlslove ships made me realize I had yet to write about them, after which the plot fell into my lap. Another one I had a blast writing! I'm considering doing more in this AU...
"What the hell?"
Ymir had today all planned out. She would collect some sage, some rosemary, make sure her plant family was fed and watered, get more water from that magic pond in the woods, and then she'd spend what time was left studying her intermediate spellbook.
But no. Instead the day had barely started, and something had already thrown off her schedule. Namely…
"Fairies. Why'd it have to be fairies?"
Aside from the usual garden pests such as aphids, slugs and so on, she'd dealt with gnomes before and even pixies. But not once in her life had she needed to deal with fairies. They were entirely different from pixies, and absolutely no one bothered to tell them apart these days. Ymir had only one book that thoroughly described their differences, and it was fifty years old. As far as she knew, their habits and physiology hadn't changed much, but still.
So there Ymir stood, watching two dozen fairies flit among the flowers, herbs, and berry bushes. She tried to recall if she'd added or changed anything in her garden; nothing came to mind. Were fairies attracted to magic? She had learned a few elemental skills recently…
Heaving a sigh, she went inside to go fetch her wand. When she came back out, what she saw nearly made her drop it. A girl in a white sundress was in her garden, wielding a net and scurrying around after the fairies.
"What the hell?"
"Please forgive me," the girl said, snagging a pair by the blueberry bush and just missing a pot full of herbs on the upswing. "I didn't think they'd wander so far from home."
"Watch the–" Ymir ran over to catch a tomato knocked from its vine. "Be careful with that damn thing!"
"I'm sorry, miss."
"First, I'm Ymir, not miss, and second, I– uh–"
Several things distracted her from finishing the sentence. The net, larger than it looked, was levitating thanks to the fairies within it. And the girl, not quite reaching Ymir's shoulder, was swiping blonde hair from her flushed face and looking at her with big, blue, earnestly apologetic eyes.
C-cute…
"It's fine," she said, scratching her neck as she looked down at the girl. "You cleaned them all up for me, so…"
A tiny smile appeared on the girl's face.
Damn it. She's really cute…
"Um." Ymir coughed and looked away. "How did you catch them all so fast, anyway?"
"It's not the first time I've had to." The girl's smile grew, though tinged with embarrassment. "It is the first time I found them on a witch's property, though."
"How did– oh." She looked at her hands; tomato in one, wand in the other. "Yeah, well. I wasn't gonna hurt them, really," she said, backpedaling. "Thought I could guide them someplace else, maybe. But then you showed up so I didn't have to do any– whoa!"
One foot hit the first step to her house, throwing her off balance; she flung her arms out, sending the tomato and wand sailing; she was falling straight back and couldn't stop–
But something stopped her. Hands on her shoulder, golden hair tickling her forehead.
"That was close," the girl sighed into her ear. "Are you okay?"
"…Yes?"
Ymir was on solid ground, the girl's hands no longer on her shoulders. She remembered to breathe. "But my wand," she exclaimed, glancing around.
"Here." The girl stood before her, wand and tomato in hand.
Ymir took them slowly, eyes wide. "I don't understand. How…?" Then her jaw dropped, and she pointed over the girls shoulder.
She's so cute I've gone insane.
A pair of gossamer, rainbow-tinged wings fluttered on the girl's back. "What?" she said, then gasped, hand flying to her mouth. "Oh, no, my wings came out again?" She turned away, hiding her face in her hands. "My aunt is going to kill me. In front of a witch, no less!"
Ymir, still processing, could only stare. The netful of fairies hovered by the girl, its glow dimmed slightly.
"You can… fly. You're a fricking fairy? You're a fairy!"
"I'm their queen," the girl said despairingly, voice muffled.
Ymir crumpled onto the front step, setting the tomato and wand next to her. "Okay. I've got a crush on a fairy queen. All right."
"What…?" The girl looked at her, sniffling.
"Nothing!" Panicked, Ymir grabbed her items and scrambled up. "Listen, come inside for a minute. I gotta put this damn tomato somewhere. Bring your, uh, entourage too."
Not waiting to be followed, she power-walked into the house, cursing under her breath.
When she reached the kitchen she placed the tomato on the windowsill at the sink, sighing heavily.
"I'm not ready to be a queen."
She jumped and spun around, bonking her hip on the sink. The girl had come in, taking like she hadn't stopped. Her wings had disappeared.
"You're quiet enough to be one," Ymir said, hand on her chest.
"My sister was next in line, but she fell in love with a human and abdicated the throne." She sighed. "So I had no choice. But I was still a princess! I was only just learning to keep track of my… cousins." Her shoulders and head drooped. The fairy net glittered next to her. "And I can barely do that."
Ymir looked around the room, the girl's sadness twisting her stomach. Spotting a bowl of strawberries on the counter, she brightened and took one, then stepped over and held it out. The girl raised her head, face quizzical.
"When I'm sad, I like to eat sweet things," Ymir said. "I just picked these yesterday."
The girl took the strawberry, giving a watery smile. She took a nibble, then promptly ate the rest, top and all. "Thank you!" she said, swiping at her eyes, her smile strengthening. "That's delicious. You grow them?"
Ymir nodded, smiling back and gesturing to the bowl. Her chest felt bubbly. "There's plenty more if you'd like some." When the girl moved to get another, Ymir held up a hand. "I haven't gotten your name yet."
Immediately the girl made a curtsy, dipping her head."I am Queen Historia of Fae," she murmured, looking up demurely.
Ymir fell to one knee in a blink.
"O-oh! Please…" Historia moved to her side, guiding a bewildered Ymir up by the arm. "You mustn't do that. If anything I should bow to you, since I've never met a witch."
"Please don't," she said faintly, finding the edge of the counter to grip. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me…" She shook her head; her eyes focused on Historia, who was blushing, and she felt her face instantly heat up.
Too cute!
"Well, I guess I can cross 'meeting the fairy queen' off my to-do list for today."
Historia laughed, and Ymir felt like fainting. "I'm glad my cousins ended up where they did. They let me meet you. Although," Historia scrunched up her forehead in thought, "I do wonder what brought them here. Most Lesser Fairies stay out of witches' gardens…"
"If you don't know, then I certainly have no idea," Ymir said with a shrug.
"Perhaps it's something to do with the Minor Lake. I was supposed to check on it today." Historia smiled. "That was before my cousins flew away. Would you like to come with me?"
She moved toward to door while she spoke; Ymir was already following, and the fairy net was following her, she noted with some confusion. "Sure! If you're sure it's all right."
"Of course. My cousins seem to like you already."
"But what does this Minor Lake have to do with fairies in my garden?" she asked as they walked down the steps and into the woods.
"Sometimes when the lake is disturbed, the fairies go far afield. I can't imagine what might have caused it this time, though. It's been calm lately."
Suddenly the route they were taking looked familiar. Ymir froze, realization sinking in. In those few seconds Historia was far along the path.
Ah, damn.
Taking a deep breath, a nervous smile settling onto her mouth, Ymir hurried to catch up. "Um, I think I might have an idea…"