Summary: The final part of the Battle of the Roses saga. Gray does his best to ensure the peace in England is everlasting.
Pairings: Natsu/Lucy, Gray/Juvia, Parental Natsu/Nashi, Parental Lucy/Nashi, implied Sisterly Ultear/Gray, implied Parental Ultear/Meredy, implied Erza/Jellal, Brotherly Natsu/Gray, Ur/Nash, and various other family and friendship feels.
Author's Note: HAPPY CHAPTER FIVE HUNDRED! Thank you all for the fantastic support and encouragement as well as the loyalty and patience so far. I hope you remain for another five hundred more. I still have lots and lots of ideas. Also thank you all very much for giving e over ELEVEN THOUSAND AND EIGHT HUNDRED REVIEWS!
Lucy and Natsu sped through the countryside eager to return home and see their child. Though Lucy was struggling to concentrate as the events of the day before repeated themselves in her mind….
Juvia had given birth to a little girl.
It had been five years since that final battle and since then the Queen of England had one lusty boy who was growing stronger and bigger every day, one still birth that made Lucy's heart pang with sorrow at the mere thought of it, and now this little girl.
Princess Tulia was a pale, delicate, thing with great, big, blue eyes like her mother's. Lucy thought she looked like a fairy and had to push aside a stab of jealousy that this was Gray's and Juvia's second living child.
And Lucy still only had Nashi.
Something Gray seemed highly aware of as he pulled Lucy aside during the festives for a quiet word.
"I have been thinking of our children's futures," he murmured quietly, "and how dangerously fragile they are."
"A maudlin topic for a celebration of life," Lucy teased him lightly, "you should be merry, Cousin, you have a daughter now."
"Yes, and I will cherish her," Gray vowed solemnly, "but she is a daughter of a royal family." Lucy stilled at that as she watched Gray with a neutral expression. She had a strong suspicion there was a political agenda at work but she did not dare indicate any emotion, negative or positive, until she knew what it was. Gray took her silence as consent to continue. "She will be forced to marry into a foreign country on the behalf of myself and her brother in order to make diplomatic relations and keep the peace. I have no other son if anything was to happen to Ur and there are still remnants of the old Lancastrian House sniffing around for a chance to snatch the throne once more. Like that Tudor cousin of ours in Brittany."
"I wouldn't worry too much," Lucy said soothingly as possible, "the remnants barely have a claim, your people love you and those who do not are simply too tired to fight, your son is strong, and both you and Juvia are young and able to have more children."
"No," Gray shook his head, "we live on a wheel of fortune. I could be dead tomorrow and my family cast down in the mud. Our country is still too divided for the red rose and the white rose."
"Then," Lucy said anxiously, she had hoped they had long put this nonsense behind them all, "what do you hope to do about it?"
"You are still considered Lancastrian by the people," Gray said quickly, "they still call out for the red rose when you ride by and-"
"I am loyal to you!" Lucy interrupted. "And to my husband. I am of the House of York."
"I know! I know!" Gray said hastily but reassuringly. "But they consider your daughter Lancastrian. Not York." Lucy blinked, unsure where this was going. "I need to unite the kingdom properly. Another marriage, one that no one can deny, between the House of York and the House of Lancaster. One where both houses will sit on the throne."
"You…." Lucy breathed out shakily as realisation finally sunk in, "you…..want to marry Nashi to Ur?"
They would not last two weeks before murdering each other.
She adored her daughter, she cared deeply for her nephew, but the two of them together were like Natsu and Gray but a hundred times worse. The last time the two of them were in the same room together it resulted in a full out wrestling match with Nashi trying to strangle the Prince of Wales with her scarf.
If Nashi had been anyone else she would have been locked in the Tower for Treason awaiting execution despite her age.
And then there was the fact that to be a Princess, to be a wife of a King, Nashi would have to be sent away for her education. She would be educated beside Ur, and Edward, and Tulia, and other companions handpicked by Gray in a palace, far, far, far away from Lucy.
It was bad enough Lucy had to leave Nashi behind to go to Court for long, never-ending, lengths of time, she didn't want to part with her daughter for good in a place she could not be confident to be safe.
"Think about it," Gray said urgently before the word 'no' could leave Lucy's lips, "the houses truly united on one throne, no more war, no more skirmishes, and your child, your only child, safe from heiress hunters who would steal her inheritance. She would be a Queen, not a Duchess, and your grandchildren would be Kings and Queens in their own right."
"Nashi is not even six," Lucy said numbly, "it is too soon to be thinking of such things."
"It's never too soon," Gray said bleakly, "the world could change like that," he snapped his fingers, "we have to prepare for the worst and their marriage could prevent that."
"I might have more children," Lucy said, though that felt like a lie even to her, she had only had one miscarriage in the last five years and she never seemed to conceive as quickly as she did in her first couple years of marriage. Her family line was petering out quickly. "Nashi might not be some great heiress that could bring a Dukedom as her dowry."
"Her name and blood is all she need," Gray argued, "she's a princess of Lancaster despite Natsu being her father. She could make peace."
"She's five!" Lucy snapped. "She's not marrying anyone! She's not being betrothed before she's out of her small clothes. You can betroth your children in the cradle for all I care but my baby is not leaving home anytime soon."
"Just think about it," Gray pleaded softly, "we may be at peace now but sooner or later someone will make an attempt. This war will never truly be over until someone of both houses unites the Kingdom."
"Tell me," Lucy said steadily, "what did Natsu say when you proposed this idea to him?"
"He told me to go fuck myself," Gray said honestly, "and that he wasn't signing his daughter away for another twenty years if he could help it."
"I think you will find," Lucy said sweetly, "that my answer is the same. Stop worrying Gray," she added much more gently, "your family is safe and well-guarded. Nothing is going to happen."
And with that she left Gray with a deep curtsey and false smile before she hunted her husband down and gave him a well-deserved kiss. It pleased her greatly that they were of the same mind in this matter.
Although she could understand where Gray was coming from – so many years of being hunted, of not being secure on his own throne, of people betraying him and unsuspecting threats appearing out of the shadows – she couldn't help but think he was being utterly rid-
THUMP!
Both Lucy's and Natsu's horses reared back and neighed loudly – Lucy too let out a shrill scream – as something threw itself out of a tree and onto Natsu. Tiny hands dug into Natsu's shoulders as little knees did the same to his waist and two gleaming orbs of brown mischief peered out from beneath a mess of blonde hair.
"Give me all of your money!" Nashi demanded. "Or I'll never give Papa back!"
"Nashi Dragneel!" Lucy hissed furiously. "Just what were you thinking when you threw yourself out of a tree?!"
"Surprise attack!" Nashi said cheerfully oblivious to the mini heart attack she had caused her mother. "I'm a bandit! Now give me the money or Papa gets it!"
"Oh no!" Natsu cried out melodramatically. "Quick Lucy! Pay up before the great bandit of Norfolk slits your beloved husband's throat!"
Nashi giggled as Lucy rolled her eyes and paid up with a small coin.
"Half a crown?!" Natsu yelped indignantly. "Is that all I'm worth to you?!"
"Nashi," Lucy said sternly as she ignored her husband, "you should not be jumping out of trees. It's dangerous!" she stressed. "What if you break your leg? Or worse?!"
"Papa will never let that happen," Nashi replied flippantly, "he will always catch me. Won't you Papa?"
"Of course not!" Natsu nuzzled Nashi's hair. "I would never let anything happen to you."
Lucy bit her tongue.
She did not want to encourage Nashi to continue jumping out of trees whether or not Natsu was there but at the same time she did not want to discourage Nashi's strong faith in Natsu. After all, Natsu really would never let anything happen to their child. He would do anything in his power to keep her safe.
So instead Lucy held out her arms and caught Nashi as her adventurous, brave, child took another leap from Natsu's horse to hers. Lucy held on tight as she breathed in her daughter's scent of lye soap, the forest, and dirt.
"I missed you Mama," Nashi murmured into her shoulder, "are you staying forever this time?"
Lucy winced slightly at that. It was a question Nashi asked regularly since she could talk. "No sweetheart," she replied softly, "but we are here for all of the summer!" she added brightly. "That's three whole months of fun!"
"It's not enough!" Nashi pouted. "It's never enough! It's not fair!"
"I know," Lucy breathed out as she hugged her daughter tightly, "I know. But Nashi, life isn't fair."
It was tempting to accept Gray's offer right there and then and send Nashi to Eltham to be educated with her royal cousins. They may not live in one household but the immediate Royal Family did see each other on a much more regular basis than Lucy and Natsu got to see Nashi.
But then she blinked and took in the sight of her daughter.
Nashi was the very definition of scruffy. Her thick, bushy, blonde hair ran wild with leafs and twigs sticking out of it. There was dark marks all over her face, probably from soil or the tree barks, and there was a small cut on her lip that recently split open again and was bleeding ever so slightly. Nashi's plain, play, dress was ripped in several places, her stockings certainly needed darning, and there was at least six inches of mud stuck on the bottom of her shoes.
Aquarius was going to kill her later….but it didn't change the fact that Nashi was wild and free to be herself. Shoving her in a role so young would only kill the best bits about her – her spirit, her courage, her determination…
…and she was still so small!
Lucy spent her whole life being forced into one destiny after another by her father, by her relatives, by her King, and by evil men who thought they could use her. She was not going to do the same to her own child.
Not when there was a possibility of anything happening in the next few years.
Gray could find another future Queen of England.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Lady Ultear died not long after Nashi's sixth birthday.
It did not mean much to Nashi, who barely knew the cold, imposing, beautiful woman, but it meant a great deal to the Court. Nashi rarely went but she got to go for the funeral and found Court to be much bleaker and boring when everyone is wearing mourning colours and not having parties. She couldn't imagine why her Mama and Papa preferred this over their warm, little, castle in the country where everyone laughed and had fun day in and day out.
Everyone marched out in the drizzle to see Lady Ultear's coffin interned at Westminster Cathedral. She was not a real member of the Royal Family, she had no claim to the Plantagenet blood, and she certainly wasn't English, but Lady Ultear was the King's sister and she had done more for this Kingdom than any other.
She was getting the full Royal service.
The King led the procession with the Queen by his side. Between the cracks of other adults Nashi could see the Queen rub soothing circles against the King's knuckles as he clutched her hand tightly.
The chief mourner – Lady Meredy, followed.
Nashi had the vaguest memories of a skinny girl with a flat, monotone, vice when she was very, very little but now Lady Meredy blossomed into a beauty and Nashi had heard her parents discuss how Lady Ultear made her a very wealthy beauty before leaving her in Uncle Jellal's and Aunt Erza's care.
They followed next, with Cousin Edward between them, as they guarded Lady Meredy jealously. Nashi wished any ill-intentioned suitor the best of luck because they were likely to get their head cut off by Aunt Erza before Uncle Gray could have them committed to the Tower.
Lord Lyon and his wife also followed close behind and then Nashi's parents and herself with a whole Court walking behind them.
Ur as hidden at the front, somewhere beside his father.
Nashi didn't know Lady Ultear very well but she was a beloved Aunt to Ur and Ur must be utterly miserable, and not in the way Nashi could crow about.
The service drones on and Nashi finds herself desperate to escape as she squirmed against the stone hard bench. When the service is finally over and all the adults are milling around murmuring between one another, Nashi ducks away and slides up to Ur.
He looks extremely pale.
Like he's been sick or something.
"Are you all right?" she whispered.
"Not really," he mumbled back, "It's weird…I keep thinking Aunt Ultear will walk in and give that cool, aloof, stare before saying something earth-shattering."
"I'm sorry," Nashi murmured. Though she wasn't sure what she was sorry for, she hadn't done anything wrong, but she couldn't think what else to say. "Is there anything I can do?"
"Could you make my father smile again?" Ur asked sadly. "He's been so…lost without Aunt Ultear. If he could smile again then Mama wouldn't be so upset and then Tulia wouldn't cry so much and then everyone else could laugh again."
Nashi's heart and stomach did something weird simultaneously. Her heart did an odd little squeeze as her stomach fluttered uncomfortably. There was something….sweet, and nice, about Ur thinking about his family rather than himself.
Ur, Nashi thought to herself as she reached out to give his hand a comforting squeeze, wasn't so bad really when he wanted to be.
But all of her good will vanished when the so called Prince reached out and yanked one of her braids – hard.
She shoved him back and he was about to push her back too when Edward – with his super sharp senses – suddenly turned round a shot them a terrifying warning glare that reminded them all too much of Aunt Erza.
They shivered in unison at that.
(They hold hands until Lady Mira points it out between drunken giggles at the wake later on and will spend the rest of their lives denying it every happened.)
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
The pain was overwhelming.
It felt like his throat was constricting with the intention to choke him with emotions. His eyes stung something fierce as he blinked back tears and the whole world around him spun as he tried to keep moving and doing something.
Natsu felt like he could drown in his very own despair which was probably nothing compared to the deep abyss of pain that Lucy felt right now.
Iggy, their baby boy, their second child carried to full term, their heir….was dead. He had never lived to begin with and came into the world pale and blue from the lack of air to his little lungs. Lord Igneel Dragneel, the Duke of Norfolk would never be.
And that killed him, it really did, but it was nothing compared to the next horrible bit of news they had received that day.
"I am sorry, Your Grace," the Physician said as gently as possible, but after a thorough examination of Her Grace, the Duchess, I can only come to the conclusion that she cannot conceive another healthy baby. The attempt could possibly kill her."
No more babies.
They had lost another child, one that they had thought they were going to keep, and now they can never make anymore.
Nashi was going to be their only child.
And that was fucking frightening.
His strong, bold, unbreakable little girl suddenly became the most fragile, precious, delicate thing. He wanted to wrap her up in wool and stash her somewhere safe where disease and injury couldn't reach her.
He kinda got what that stupid icy bastard meant about protecting their children's futures now.
Natsu oversaw the burial of Iggy on his own.
Lucy had not been able to get out of bed from both her Physician's orders and her own inability to do more than lay there and stare blankly at the ceiling. Nashi was forbidden and he knew Lady Aquarius kept her busy inside with her studies.
It was a warm spring afternoon but it felt like the coldest day in winter for Natsu as he watched the tiny box be dropped into the deep hole and dirt being shovelled over his son as if he was nothing but rubbish.
The Priest tried to reach out and comfort him but Natsu couldn't really remember what he had said. He just muttered the appropriate responses before he stumbled off back to his home where he could feel just as miserable there as he did that dingy, lonely, graveyard.
He went straight to Lucy as soon as he got home and found she still hadn't moved from her bed. Her eyes were blank as she stared up at the hangings of their bed.
She looked as if she was already dead.
It was enough to make Natsu want to vomit.
"Luce," he croaked out. She didn't even flinch in response and he scrambled onto the bed and reached out to shake her. "Luce, Luce, look at me, Luce," he begged.
She moved her head a fraction so that her big, blank, eyes would meet his and instantly something crumbled within her as the deepest of sorrow flooded her face.
It was better than that blank expression.
She now looked alive. Miserable, but alive.
"Natsu," she whispered, "our boy…?"
"Buried," Natsu said gruffly, "I picked a nice spot."
Tears welled up in Lucy's eyes. "I am so sorry," she said miserably, "I am so sorry."
"Oh Luce," he murmured as he cradled her into his arms, "you have nothing to be sorry for. These things just happens. No one knows why. Lisanna would say it's all God's plan."
Though why God felt it necessary to steal away his children, Natsu would never understand. It was something he planned to take up with the deity once he died.
"I cannot give you a son," Lucy said brokenly, "you will not have an heir."
"I have an heir!" Natsu said forcefully. "I have Nashi."
"It's not the same!"
"Like hell it is!"
He didn't understand the world's need for men to inherit. He grew up with Erza and Ultear, he knew better than anyone that a woman is just as strong, just as clever, and just as dangerous as any man. If not more.
He could raise Nashi with the knowledge of how to fight, how to lead, how to manage estates….well all right, not the last one because Lucy did that (proving his point perfectly) but the point is they could prepare Nashi to be a Duchess in her own right.
They didn't need any more children.
"Some…." Lucy said hesitatingly. "Some….men….they could….they could have this marriage annulled. I could retire to a nunnery and-"
"Fuck no!" Natsu snapped. "I don't want any other wife. Just you. We had dispensation, we have consummated, and we have a child. I don't need to get rid of you. I don't want to. You're stuck with me, until death."
Lucy smiled at that.
It was small, brief, and incredibly sad but it was a smile, and Natsu would take whatever he can get at this point.
He pushed her hair out of her face and pressed his own forehead against hers as he soaked in her very presence. They had not been in each other's company properly since she had gone into confinement six weeks ago and he was going to savour every second he had with her from now on.
The door creaked open and Natsu couldn't help but smile as he heard the floorboards creak under each deliberate, badly attempted at being quiet, step Nashi took towards the bed. There is a slight rustling sound and he opens his eyes to see Nashi standing on Lucy's side of the bed with a messy bundle of handpicked flowers.
Some were yanked by the very root and had dirt clinging to them.
"I brought you some flowers Mama," Nashi said quietly as she thrusted them at Lucy. Lucy, reluctantly, pulled away from Natsu and turned round to accept them. Natsu couldn't see her face but he imagined that she was smiling properly now because how could she not with such an endearing sight before her? "I hope you get better soon."
"Thank you sweeting," Lucy murmured as she accepted the flowers. She took a big, deep, sniff and sighed loudly. "They're beautiful," she said as she placed them on the bedside table, "but not as beautiful as you. You are a sight for sore eyes. I think you have grown since I last seen you."
"You saw me yesterday!"
"And I am sure you are a whole centimetre taller now," Lucy replied cheerfully. "Come here and lay with Mama and Papa," she said a little more sadly after a sombre beat of silence, "I have not held you for so long."
"I'm too big now!" Nashi protested. But she climbed onto the bed regardless and crawled to get into the small gap between Natsu and Lucy before she snuggled deeply. Her back was turned to Lucy as she gave Natsu a sheepish grin of her own. It faded into something sadder though after moments of unnatural silence in which Lucy spooned against Nashi and combed her fingers through Nashi's unruly locks. "I am sorry," Nashi mumbled, "Lady Aquarius said I shouldn't bother you but….I am sorry I am your only child."
Lucy tightened her hold on Nashi and Natsu reached out and gripped her shoulder as well.
"Don't be," he said sternly, "because we are not."
"Of course not!" Lucy agreed hastily. "As long as we have you, Nashi, we will never be sorry."
Nashi nibbled her bottom lip. "Really?" she asked sceptically. "Even though I am not a boy?"
"You don't need to be a boy," Natsu said firmly, "you are already special exactly the way you are."
"Our special baby," Lucy murmured in agreement.
She was their only child now.
And it hit him exactly how fragile her future was now. Ignoring the dangerous of childhood that might prevent her reaching adulthood, there was the fact she was a woman in a man's world, and a rich one to boot. One day Natsu and Lucy would be gone and Nashi would be at the mercy of some scoundrel.
Anything could happen to her.
He now understood Gray's insane need to secure the future of his family no matter what despite the fact they were at peace.
He looked up and met Lucy's own worried eyes as she blatantly shared his own thoughts and with a flick of his eyebrow he silently asked her the question he was thinking.
She hesitatingly bit her lip as she glanced down at Nashi. The steely glint of determination and decision entered Lucy's eyes as she looked back-up at him and nodded firmly.
They would now do anything to safeguard their only child's future…which meant they would sign that damn betrothal agreement.
Gray better be fucking happy about this.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Nashi is twelve years old.
She was more than twelve years old because now Nashi was a woman. It had been three whole months since she got her first blood and she was finally at Court as a proper Lady. These events all seemed to be leading up to something as her mother ordered fine new gowns and pulled out beautiful, expensive, jewels for Nashi to wear.
And when she finally arrived at Court for her first, real, official visit as a Lady and not as a child expected to keep the Royal children company, Nashi found out exactly what it was leading to.
They dressed her in so many layers that she felt like she was drowning in clothes. The heavy damask over dress weighed her down while her corset constricted her breathing. Her hair had been battled against and it lost to Aquarius, Virgo, and her mother's vicious attacks to be pulled into a neat, low, bun bundled into a glittering hairnet. To top it off, when she knelt down before her uncle, the King she was suddenly draped under a heavy cloak lined with ermine and a coronet firmly placed on her head. The heavy gold dug into her forehead.
She was remained as still as she could as the ceremonial sword tapped her shoulders, its cold steel grazing her skin.
"Arise," her uncle commanded her, "Lady Nashi, Countess of Surrey."
This, Nashi had been informed, was a very rare and unusual thing. The last woman to be granted a title and land in her own name had been Joan, the Fair Maid of Kent.
But Nashi was a rare thing too. She was a real Plantagenet princess and they were few and far between after the war.
Edward was next, with the most solemn and serious expression on his face. Nashi would have rolled her eyes but she could still feel half of the room's eyes on her and Aquarius had been very specific in what would happen if Nashi dishonoured her family name with her bad behaviour.
"Arise," her uncle ordered, "Lord Edward, Earl of Hereford."
And then it was stinky Ur's turn, and Nashi had to admit that he did look rather dashing in his best clothes, though she would never say it out loud. Wild horses would not be able to drag it out of her if anyone asked.
Her uncle finally declared Ur as the Prince of Wales, Duke of Cornwall, and Lord Admiral before he proudly clapped Ur's shoulder and stood him before him for all to see. Aunt Juvia beamed brightly beside him and Tulia stopped fidgeting to smile radiantly and wave at everyone.
"It is also a happy delight and my greatest honour," her uncle continued, "to announce the betrothal of my son, Prince Urey of Wales to the Lady Nashi, Countess of Surrey."
"WHAT?!"
Nashi was really glad to say that she wasn't the only one that shrieked that word. Uncle Gray seemed to press down on Ur's shoulder before he yelled out anything else and before Nashi could scream out how she would never marry that stupid, stinky, boy her own mother dug her nails into Nashi's shoulder. Nashi shot a glower up at her mother who stared back undaunted as she shook her head firmly.
There is a blur of activity, Uncle Gray announced an official betrothal ceremony at Westminster Abbey, they all moved the banquet hall, there was food, drink, Ur and Nashi were forced to dance with one another, Nashi may have stomped on his foot, and Edward may have had to play peacekeeper before another loud and public fight broke out between Nashi and Ur. Eventually, finally, she was ushered back into her room and that was when she finally exploded.
"I have to marry him?!" she shrieked. "That irritating, loathsome, pain in the backside?! Why?! How? How could you do this to me?!"
"Nashi," her mother said quietly, "sweeting….it's for the best."
"How is it for the best?!"
Her mother tried to explain it. About safeguarding Nashi, about securing her a family that would protect her, about healing the Kingdom, but all Nashi could hear was how she was going to marry her childhood nemesis and how it wasn't going to be for love. Financial gain, property, and politics, but no love.
"Sweeting," her mother pleaded, "it's not so horrible. You know Ur. You know his qualities, you know his flaws, it could be so much worse. You could be marrying a complete stranger."
"I don't want to marry a boy that pulls my hair and calls me names!" Nashi wailed. "He's mean!"
"He's barely twelve!" hr mother argued. "He'll outgrow it…. I hope," she added in a mutter, "Lord knows Gray and Natsu have yet to outgrow it."
"It's not fair!" Nashi mumbled miserably. "I wanted to marry for love. Like you and Papa."
Her mother bit her lip at that. "Nashi," she said helplessly, "sweeting….Papa and I were not in love when we married."
"WHAT?!"
"You have to understand," her mother said despairingly, "people rarely marry for love. It's not how the world works. The men in your live command you to marry where suits them and you have to make the best of it."
"So," Nashi said numbly, her whole world crashing around her ears, "you only married Papa because your Papa told you too?"
"No," her mother shook her head, "my Papa was dead then. Uncle Gray ordered my marriage. So your Papa could have land."
"Y-Y-You don't love each other?!"
"What?" her mother said disbelievingly. "Nashi!" she exclaimed. "Of course Papa and I love each other."
"But you just said-"
"We didn't know each other when our marriage was arranged," her mother interrupted, "we were friends by the time the wedding occurred, but love? That came later. It doesn't make our love any less true or real. It just didn't come first. The same could be for you, you are already friends with Ur, and you have plenty of time to find romantic love. Or failing that you would still have a strong foundation for a marriage and some affection."
Nashi scowled.
She really couldn't call Ur a friend.
An annoying pain in the arse?
Yes.
But not a friend.
"Sweeting," her mother coaxed her into an embrace and stroked her hair, "it could be so much worse. Please. Give Ur a chance. It could be the beginning of something wonderful like it was for me and Papa."
"I suppose," Nashi grumbled, "I don't really have a choice, do I?"
And so she stood there in Westminster Abbey stuffed in another heavy, over the top, dress, as she promised that one day, soon (not too soon though!), that she would marry Ur. Ur looked as constipated as she felt as he shoved the promise ring on her finger.
And then the Archbishop bid them to kiss.
Nashi gagged and Ur turned a faint shade of green as he glanced back at his parents. Aunt Juvia made encouraging hand movements and Uncle Gray nodded approvingly which caused Ur to grimace. He then quickly leaned in and kissed her lips sloppily.
She promptly wiped her lips.
He did the same.
"Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!" they cried out in unison. "That was disgusting!"
Thankfully this just made everyone laugh and they didn't get into trouble…
….that is until Ur said something totally stupid and Nashi pushed him into the nearest puddle on their way out.
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Time goes by far too quickly.
Nashi moved to the royal household in Eltham palace and was educated with Ur, Tulia, Edward, Lady Gillian Redfox, and various other carefully chosen companions. There were many incidences where the children went out of the way to get into trouble, and Ur and Nashi fought like cats and dogs, but the fact it they all had an unbroken, peaceful childhood with no war to mar it.
There was an attempt to invade France at one point but Louis quietly paid Gray off to leave and Gray gleefully invested it into building better roads.
"The King of France," Gray laughed gleefully, "is paying the labourers of England for me!"
Ur gets sent away to Wales to learn his principality and Nashi comes home, a beautiful, young, lady. Lucy and Natsu cherish the moments with her both at Court, as she served as one of Juvia's Ladies in Waiting, and at home.
Then when Nashi is nineteen, at Lucy's firm existence as she tried to push the day further and further away, the big day arrives.
It was gloriously beautiful and over the top in its extravagance. Every noble came out to witness the ceremony, every man, woman, and child of every class stood out in the streets cheering them all on as they paraded the streets, and every single person remarked how handsome Ur looked, how beautiful Nashi looked, and what a gorgeous couple they made.
Lucy's smile felt plastered on and ached painfully as she watched the little baby she carried inside her, the tiny little life she had killed for, the little girl she taught to read, the young lady that she helped dress, was now going to be taken from her forever.
Gray stood up to call a toast. There was a little commotion as Erza and Juvia reminded him to put his shirt back on before he spoke.
"I would like to say a few words," he said loudly, "our country has been torn apart by the divide of red and white rose but today we begin to fill those cracks up with the marriage between the Prince and Princess of Wales. Today is the beginning of a new world, a better world, as you two create a whole new dynasty."
Ur and Nashi looked utterly mortified at that as they slumped low in their seats and covered their faces. The crowd all leered though Natsu scowled something fierce at the thought of his child founding a dynasty.
Lucy couldn't blame him.
She felt the same.
(Couldn't someone turn back time so Nashi could be a little girl again?)
"In honour of this," Gray continued, "I have commissioned a new family crest that I hope will remain with your family for centuries to come."
He clicked his fingers and some servants scurried forwards with something large and heavy and covered in red velvet. With a nod of approval from Gray they dramatically yanked the cloth of red velvet off to reveal a piece of beautiful stained glass.
A large red rose shimmered on the glass with a white rose at its very heart.
A rose that was red and white all at the same time.
They whole hall burst into applause so loud that the crockery on the tables rattled. The older generation had tears in their eyes at the promise this new symbol held while the younger generation was just simply drunk.
The party continued on merrily enough as everyone danced and Lucy is amused to see that Nashi and Ur were actually behaving nicely to one another and that they both blushed brightly as they were led to their bedchamber.
Lucy squirmed at the thought of her baby being deflowered and Natsu really didn't look all that pleased either but she glanced at Nashi, her lively, wild, free-spirited, girl and saw a beautiful, glowing, woman who stared up her husband in a way only a woman in love would.
And he stared back just as adoringly.
She reached out and clutched Natsu's hand, "she's in safe hands," she murmured, "Nashi is going to be all right."
"Of course she is," Natsu grinned as he squeezed her hand back, "she's half you."
FTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFTFT
Gray is dead.
He went out fishing one morning with Natsu and came back soaked to the bone because he and Natsu got into one of their stupid, childish, fights, and they pushed each other out of the boat. Gray then, suddenly, dramatically, takes ill with a chill that turns into a fully blown out fever.
Within days he is suddenly dead and the whole world suddenly changes.
Juvia is, obviously, devastated.
Her whole world has shattered and she seemed to close up into herself. Her eyes were permanently red from constant crying and she hides under a black veil as she drapes herself into mourning clothes.
Lucy is pretty sure if it wasn't for the fact Ur needed her so badly to smooth the transition from prince to king, Juvia would have locked herself up into a nunnery and never come out again.
The days after Gray's death are the most hectic as they all try to keep government running, plan a funeral for a king, get the new king into London, and start planning a coronation.
All on top of actually grieving for the man they all loved so dearly.
"I keep thinking that stupid snow cone is going to waltz in, strip off his clothes, and be a freaking pain in the ass," Natsu confessed despairingly, "I never thought I would miss him so much."
"I know, I know," Lucy murmured soothingly as she rubbed his back comfortingly, "I miss him too."
Ur and Nashi suffer the most change.
They have gone from being a Prince and Princess without a care in the world to King and Queen with a whole nation dependent on them over night.
Nashi seems to bloom under the pressure though. Her back straightens, her head is held up high, and her whole being seems to glow radiantly as she suddenly becomes the most beautiful, radiant, glorious woman in the whole of Christendom.
Her sudden glow might have something to do with the slight swell of her belly and Lucy's finds her breath catching in her throat at the thought of a grandchild to dote on.
Lucy felt Natsu's hand slide into hers, his natural heat branding her skin, his callouses brushing against her delicate skin, as he squeezed her hand tight. He could barely take his awe-filled eyes off of their daughter and Lucy felt exactly the same as Nashi, in her silks and ermine, knelt beside Ur before the Archbishop of Canterbury.
There has never been a Queen of England that was crowned beside her husband before.
The young royal couple made their vows solemnly before God and Lucy was eerily reminded of their wedding only a few scant years before. They anointed with the holy oil before they stand up entirely in sync with one another and sink bank down in their matching thrones.
The Archbishop crowns Ur first, of course, but soon enough the matching, smaller, crown of the Queen Consort is placed over Nashi's thick, bushy hair and pressed against her brow. If the extra weight bothered her, Nashi didn't show it as she continued to hold her head up high and proud as she accepted her own sceptre and orb.
"I present to you," the Archbishop called out to the hall, his thin, croaky, voice wavering, "King Urey of England, the first of his name, and his Queen, Nashi. Long live the King and Queen!"
"Long live the King and Queen!" the hall bellowed back. The voices ranging from young to old, from male to female, from York to Lancaster, echoed throughout the room and bounced off of the stone walls. "Long live the King and Queen! Long live the King and Queen! Long live the King and Queen!"
Lucy stared up at her daughter whose face was now bathed in the red and white light caused by the sun shining through the glass-stained windows of the cathedral. The red and white rose of a new, united, dynasty that Gray had commissioned on Ur and Nashi's wedding down gleamed brightly and auspiciously behind her daughter and son in law.
Lucy felt tears of joy and relief burn in her eyes as a grin as wide and bright as Natsu's happiest and most maniacal grins split across her face. "LONG LIVE THE KING AND QUEEN!" she yelled on the top of her lungs. "LONG LIVE THE KING AND QUEEN!"
Because starting today, forevermore, the battle between the red and white rose was actually over. They were finally, truly, at peace. They were no longer a divided kingdom with two different royal families.
They were a united kingdom under a united rose that was both red and white.
And it was because of Nashi.
Natsu did say that their baby would do the impossible.