16
love, at once
It was an unusually hot spring day, when Lisanna first heard that beautiful voice. As she splashed her face with the brook's cool water, desperately hot and thirsty, she heard it. It sang an enchanting melody with lyrics Lisanna swore she knew, but could not place.
I know you, the voice sang. I walked with you, once upon a dream. Was the owner's voice a fairy? That must be why Lisanna's heart beat so madly, why she wanted to find the owner of the voice and – something, do something, anything. She didn't know.
I know you, the voice sang again. The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam. Lisanna decided. She stepped carefully away from the brook, tying her horse's bridle to a nearby tree branch. Offhandedly, she noticed that her riding cloak was gone from where she had hung it. Joking to herself, she thought that maybe the voice stole it.
She followed the sound of the melody until she came across a clearing. In the clearing, there was no fae. Just a girl, singing and dancing. And what a girl she was, too! With hair like sunbeams and movements with undeniable grace, Lisanna would not have been surprised if the girl was the grandchild of a goddess come down to earth. Barefoot and eyes closed, the girl stepped one-two-three, one-two-three, a rhythm Lisanna knew all too well from her royal lessons.
I could be her partner, Lisanna pined to herself. She dances without a partner and I know how to lead a waltz. But the blonde was unaware of her presence and she waltzed with her coat, as if it were a dance partner. A prince, or maybe a village boy, or a sailor. According to Lisanna's ladies-in-waiting, sailors were all the rage with women nowadays.
Lisanna wanted to simply watch and listen forever, but the girl didn't know she was there and Lisanna did not want to be a creep. Besides, she really needed her coat. It was expensive, made in the empire of Alvarez, which was renowned for its high-quality red dyes.
She stepped into the clearing, purposefully rustling some bushes to alert the girl. It didn't work.
"Excuse me," Lisanna said.
That did the trick. Halting mid-song, she spun to face her. Her feet moved like she was about to run and Lisanna cried: "Wait! No!"
The girl paused, eyes still wide.
"I need my coat." Lisanna pointed to the fabric bundled in her arms.
The girl blushed. "Sorry. I didn't realize it had an owner. I thought it had just been left there."
"I was by the brook with my horse."
"That's why I didn't see you!" She returned the coat and her fingers accidentally grazed Lisanna's skin. It brought nervous chills.
"I—what's your name?" Lisanna asked.
"Me?" Her speaking voice was as melodic as her song. "My name is Lucy."
"Nice to meet you. You have a pretty voice."
Lucy shyly laughed. "Thank you, but what is yours? I believe it is common courtesy to return a name, when I give mine."
"Oh!" It was her turn to blush. "It's Lisanna."
"Nice to meet you. Perhaps," Lucy smiled, almost daring. "now that I know your name, I can invite you to dance with me, dearest Lisanna. As payment, for scaring the lights out of me." At the dearest Lisanna and onwards, her voice deepened into a tease. Lisanna's heart almost stopped.
"I really wish I could," she said. "But I need to return to my sister. This was only supposed to be a short trip."
"Perhaps find me some other time?"
"I can't leave a lady waiting for her dance." Lucy giggled at that and watched her leave, her bright eyes following Lisanna's broad back.
-o-
Lisanna returned to the palace, sweat dripping down her back and face. She replayed the conversation with Lucy in her head. Part of her feels she should've stayed longer. After all, how was she supposed to find Lucy again? They agreed to meet up, but didn't give a location, a fact which Lisanna only realized as she approached the city gates.
"Your Highness," the guard at the second gate – Warren – called. Lisanna rode over to him. "Queen Mirajane asked after you. She'd like you to visit her in her study as soon as possible.
She nodded. Her plans to mope at not staying with Lucy longer flew away like a messenger pigeon.
She hopped off her horse, handing the reigns to Warren. "May you take him to the stables? Tell the stableboy he needs his hooves checked."
Warren bowed his assent and Lisanna made her way to her sister's study.
At her knock on her sister's door, Mirajane called a frazzled "Come in!" Entering the study, Lisanna saw her sister hunched over her ornate desk, covered in paperwork. Still, her sister stood up to kiss her on the cheek.
"I'm just going through some trade reports." Mira gestured to a seat in front of her desk for Lisanna to sit at. "Although I called you in to talk about King Jude's visit."
"Is this about my asking to wear a gown? Because I can wear my armor, if you'd like."
"Do you want to wear your knight's armor?"
"Definitely not."
"Then, no, I don't want you to wear the armor. King Jude will allow you to marry his daughter as the princess you are or not at all. I refuse to have a bigot as your father-in-law."
Mira glowered at the mere thought and Lisanna remembered why the knights and foreign diplomats were so afraid of her. Lisanna grabbed her sister's hand and squeezed. Mira smiled in return and continued: "Anyway, your marriage to his daughter is an important union that will benefit both of our nations. He needs our linen industry and we need his technology, especially the railroads."
"Will his daughter be coming with him?" Lisanna asked.
"Do you know the story of his daughter?"
"Most know it."
"Then, you know why she wouldn't come. She's still hidden away – I believe in our country, but dad's letters are so vague, I can't be certain."
"What's her name?"
"Lucy Heartfilia of Acalypha. If she looks anything like her mother, she'll be quite beautiful." Lisanna nodded, although she found it funny that her new friend and the lost princess have the same first name. Mira studied her.
"Lis," she said. "It's very important this marriage happens. There are reports that Alvarez is gearing up for war and if so, we need to be on good terms with all our neighbors. I can keep the other city-states interested, as long as I'm unmarried – all of them, except Acalypha.
"I know this is a lot of pressure, but for the good of Magnolia, we must have this new marriage approved. There cannot be any hesitation from you. Do you understand?"
"It is my duty to serve you."
Mira's smile was soft. "You are also my sister. Isn't there a duty to make me happy as well? Not just servitude?"
"My sister and my queen." Lisanna stood up. "Is it alright if I leave? I want to see if the stableboy actually checked my horse's hooves."
Mira nodded. Lisanna kissed her sister's cheek and left, unsure about the whole scenario.
-o-
Almost eighteen years before, three fairies brought a baby named Lucy to a cottage in Magnolia's old forests to hide. One fairy, the bearer of fire, the Salamander, left to guard the boundaries of the cottage from both humans and fae alike. Another fairy, the bearer of wind, the Sky Sorceress, was a medic; while she stayed throughout the baby's early childhood, as the girl aged, she left more and more. The last fairy, the bearer of iron, Black Steel, stayed and raised the child to adulthood.
Baby Lucy grew, would toddle, and then walk, and then run into her guardian's iron-pierced arms. Well-loved and well-spoiled, she explored every inch of the cottage, and then the cottage's clearing, and then the forest surrounding the clearing. Her guardians brought her books and toys and stationery, anything she wanted, all to occupy her. But there was one rule: never talk to strangers. On the rare trips to a small town nearby, she wore a special charmed cloak and a guardian always accompanied her.
Her guardians gave her anything she wished for that they could obtain, all except the one thing she truly wanted: more friends.
-o-
On another hot day, Lisanna returned to the brook. There, she saw a familiar freckled face, near a basket full of clothes and towels, wading in the creek.
"Lucy!" she called.
"Fancy seeing you here, Stranger." Lucy approached Lisanna's horse and Lisanna immediately flushed red. Lucy was dressed only in her white shift, soaked from the river water. Lisanna looked up to the branches and asked in a mildly strangled voice, "don't you think you should cover up?"
"We're both girls, aren't we? Gajeel said it was only improper in front of men."
Lisanna's chest tingled happily with Lucy's proper gendering of her, but gay panic tempered that joy, when Lucy lay a wet hand on Lisanna's thigh.
"It's not proper," Lisanna said, eyes still upward. "For me to see you like this."
"If you insist." Lucy's hand left her leg with only the wetness of the water as its goodbye. At the sound of Lucy's footsteps on the grass, Lisanna looked down and saw Lucy pick up her skirt and stays. Lucy saw her looking and smiled.
"Sorry for not being dressed appropriately. I promise I don't normally meet people in only a shift."
"It's not a problem." Lisanna hopped off her horse and knelt by the water to fill up her flask. "So," she asked, as Lucy tied her stays. "Why are you here?"
"I was looking for you."
"Actually?"
"Well, I'm also doing laundry. But I pick the location."
"I wanted to see you again, too."
Lucy's smile grew wider. "Why don't we talk as we do laundry?"
"I don't know how."
"To talk?" Lucy teased.
"To do laundry."
"Really? Do you have a maid help you do everything?"
Lisanna nodded.
"Well, company is half the fun, so you can just sit and enjoy my presence."
"I'll gladly enjoy your presence. Any day."
Lucy hummed happily in response and grabbed a towel from the pile of fabrics in her basket.
A couple hours later, full of conversation and song and each other's presence, they agreed to meet again, once a week, by the creek.
-o-
If the bugles were any indication, King Jude had arrived.
"Let's hope this goes well," Mira breathed from her throne in the center of the Main Hall. Elfman sat on Mira's right and Lisanna on her left, all three of the siblings bedecked in their finest clothes. Across Elfman's lap - representing the military might of their city-state - lay a sheathed sword, while a bouquet of flowers - carefully selected red dahlias, white lilies, and pink roses – lay on Lisanna's.
Lisanna fought the nervous urge to adjust the tiara sitting on her short hair. Part of her wishes she had Mira's long pearly hair, if only to hide her face behind the strands. Mira had put so much effort into cultivating this specific image of their nation, one of strength and unity and dignity. All that effort, in the hopes that King Jude would maintain their original political deal: a marriage union between the third child of Lisanna's father and Jude's first-born daughter. While the text of the original deal stated that Princess Lucy Heartfilia would marry the second-born prince of Magnolia, third child of the king and second sibling to the future-now-sitting Queen Mirajane, this prince does not exist and never did. Thus, her sister hoped to rewrite the marriage deal and unite their city-states, while still respecting their brother's vow to knighthood and his current betrothal.
The bugles sounded again. A messenger entered: "King Jude Heartfilia of Acalypha."
The king, a severe blond man dressed in the finest of royal suits, swept in. He strode until he was fifteen feet away from the base of Mira's throne and bowed at a forty-five degree angle. Mira bowed her head in return.
"Forgive me for not kneeling, Your Majesty," King Jude said. "I wish I could give the proper respect that a woman of your standing so highly deserves, but my knees are not what they once were."
"You are forgiven," Mira responded. Lisanna always was struck by how her sister's voice changed in the presence of formal company, steely and not sweet, not unless she wished to play those sappy men into a better trade deal. "It would not do for the Acalypha kingdom to lose their king as he knelt to another royal."
"All that we do is for the health of our nation."
"Indeed."
King Jude's eyes scanned from Mira's face to her side, first Elfman, then Lisanna. Lisanna had her head bowed in the proper gesture of modesty for a princess, a gesture she had yet to fully get into the habit of doing. The gesture had only recently become part of her vocabulary, due to her new role that was defined, in part, by her modesty. Yet, she wanted to watch the king and as she peered up through her eyelashes, his head tilted in observance of her. He took in her short silvery hair and strong jaw, the pearl earrings that dangled to the level of her pink lips, the silver necklace with amethyst that rested on her toned shoulders. Her hands twisted in the silk of her gown.
"Princess Lisanna," he said. Her siblings tensed at his call, Elfman shifting even further upright and Mira's jaw locking; all the same, Lisanna took that as permission to look him in the eye.
"Yes, Your Majesty?"
"It is my pleasure to finally meet you. May you and my daughter enjoy a long and peaceful union. May your marriage bring prosperity to our nations."
She heard her sister exhale in relief and Lisanna bowed her head at his words. "As the gods will it."
-o-
Holding her little girl, Queen Layla sang in the castle garden. Mournful, for she had asked for her daughter for so long and now, she had to give her away, just for her safety.
I know you, Layla sang. I walked with you once upon a dream.
The little girl shifted sleepily.
I know you, Layla sang again and the toddler grasped her finger. The gleam in your eyes is so familiar a gleam.
The figures appeared. Fire surrounded one, while the ozone emanated from another, and iron covered the last. Layla continued to hum.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty," the one who smelled of the sky said. "We fell behind arranging the cottage."
"Don't say more, Wendy," the iron fairy, Gajeel, said. "We can't let anybody know where Lucy may be hiding."
Layla frowned, but she did not disagree. Kyouka was dangerous and she did not want her daughter to sleep for a hundred years.
"May I hold her?" the fiery one, Natsu, asked. With his reedy question, Layla was struck by how young these fairies really were, children and teenagers by their kind's standards. Layla nodded and he dimmed his flames. Ever so gently, he held her daughter.
Locking eyes with Layla, he promised, "We'll keep her safe," and the three fairies disappeared.
-o-
After a month of meeting, Lucy and Lisanna kissed. It was … sudden. Lisanna didn't know what brought it on.
Or maybe, she did.
They'd been talking about poetry. Lucy's caretaker, Gajeel, had picked up a copy of love poems for her from a bookseller nearby and Lucy had brought it with her. They had alternated reading aloud the different poems per Lucy's request; while poetry was not Lisanna's favorite, Lucy had been so excited to have the new book that Lisanna wanted to entertain her joy.
Throughout Lisanna tried to stay focused when Lucy melodically recited or as Lucy's fingers tapped on her thigh or as her long hair brushed her cheek when she leant over Lisanna's shoulder to read along. She even tried to focus as Lucy's tapping shifted to an almost harsh grip on Lisanna's skirt; but when she looked into Lucy's dark brown eyes, her eyes were wide and filled with something Lisanna didn't want to name. Lucy's chest moved in shallow breaths. Her eyes darted down to her pink lips and up again.
Lisanna couldn't kiss her. The betrothal weighed on the back of her mind. But gods – she needed to do something, anything, to rid herself of the hungry ache in her chest.
Lisanna grabbed Lucy's right hand, gently unfolding the fingers from her skirt. Lucy stayed silent, eyes steady on Lisanna, as Lisanna lifted her hand up, examined the beautiful freckles, which dotted all over her body. But below the knuckles of her middle and ring finger were three freckles, slightly darker than her others, and there, on that Orion's Belt, Lisanna placed a kiss.
A flush tinged down the blonde's cheeks. Lucy's hand moved to hold Lisanna's cheek and her friend's thumb swiped just below her eyelashes.
"May I kiss you?" The whispered words fell from Lisanna's lips before she could think otherwise.
"Please," Lucy breathed. "Kiss me please."
And Lisanna did. The kiss was barely a kiss, more a pressing of lips and besides, Lucy smiled within a couple seconds, so that it became more teeth than lip. But Lucy's joy was palpable and affection overwhelmed Lisanna.
She pulled away from Lucy. Only an inch or two away, Lucy's breath brushed over her skin, as she whispered: "Again, Lis?"
So they did, deeper this time. Her hand threaded through sunshine strands. Her chest and hips pressed closer to Lucy's, so that they laid on the spring grass, and they stayed in that kiss, until the sky turned to dusk, which called Lisanna away.
-o-
Three days prior, King Jude had left with a solidified trade and marriage deal, albeit daughterless still. Joy and anxiety swirled within Lisanna, as she continued to meet Lucy in secret. Thus, with Jude's month-long visit having come to an end and her siblings distracted with a military parade, Lisanna visited their palace library in search of a portrait.
"A portrait of Queen Layla Heartfilia?" the librarian, Levy, asked. "We might have one from when your father was searching for brides, but I would need to double check."
"I don't mind waiting," Lisanna replied and so, she sat in the library's private room, alone with her thoughts, as Levy searched.
Her thoughts, as was typical the past couple weeks, turned to Lucy. She knew that she was not meant to marry Lucy – at least, not this Lucy. She was betrothed to Princess Lucy Heartfilia of Acalypha, the lost and tragic child of a dead queen, not Lucy the Laundress, who sang in the woods and lived in a small cottage with her guardian. Every time Lisanna met with Lucy, spoke with her, kissed her and wished to marry her, she betrayed her country, her sacred duty, and her sister.
In her desperation, she thought that maybe, if she could deduce what her future bride may look like, she could forget her current love's face.
"Here, Your Highness," Levy said. Lisanna turned to her. Levy stood in the doorframe, holding a small canvas covered in cloth. She handed the covered portrait to Lisanna. "If you look at the back, you can see it's labeled with her name."
Lisanna flipped the portrait over and, sure enough, in careful cursive, was the name Lady Layla Felix. "I didn't know Layla wasn't a princess."
Levy pushed her reading glasses up the bridge of her nose to look at the lettering. "I heard that Queen Layla was a woman of low-standing among the nobility of her city. A small family with some land, but no considerable wealth. I believe it was her friendliness with the fae that granted her a higher status."
"Huh." Lisanna flipped the canvas again and pulled the cloth off to reveal the paint and saw Lucy the Laundress.
Queen Layla had Lucy's face: her blonde hair and deep brown eyes, her cheekbones, nose, and cupid's bow lips. Her braided bun was different than Lucy's loose tresses, as well as Layla's pink silks differing from Lucy's white and blue cottons. But, beyond their clothes and Lucy's more-freckled skin, the two could be twins. Except, Layla had been dead for over a decade and Lucy had no parents to speak of.
"Princess?" Levy asked. "Are you alright?"
No, Lisanna thought. I will not get my hopes up, just for them to be crushed. Her duty was to her country, she knew. Despite her confusion and hope and fear, she would not tell Lucy, simply say goodbye for at least a season.
She forced her face into a pleasant, lady-like smile. "Of course," she said, although the concern in Levy's brow did not disappear with the arrival of Lisanna's smile.
She stood up from her seat and smoothed the creases out of her skirt. She then covered Layla's portrait with the soft cloth and hoped Levy did not see the way her normally steady hands shook. "If my wife is to look anything like her mother," she added. "I will be the luckiest woman alive."
-o-
Kyouka disappeared from the foot of the altar. Once her evil words sank in, the silence disappeared and the audience's dismay roared through the cathedral. The three remaining fae did not speak though. Natsu, the only fairy left who had not given Lucy a gift, and his coal eyes stared at his brethren and then Queen and King Heartfilia.
Natsu approached Layla and the child in her arms, baptismal water still dripping from Lucy's wispy hair.
"I can't reverse Kyouka's gift," he said. "I'm not a healer. But I can still give her a gift. If you would accept it."
Layla nodded and Natsu raised his hand over the princess' head. The poor princess grabbed the fairy's finger, thinking he wanted to play wither her. He said: "When Lucy Heartfilia pricks her finger on the spindle, she will not die. Instead, she will fall into a sleep like death for one hundred years. Only love's kiss may break the spell."
-o-
Lucy lay over her, her head resting on Lisanna's chest. The beginnings of summer humidity stuck to their skin. Lucy had stripped down to her shift and Lisanna's riding blouse was unbuttoned, revealing the smooth planes of her stomach, which Lucy's fingers tapped absent mindedly on. Lisanna did not want to interrupt the calm, but wedding bells rang in her near future. Lisanna was not so mean, as to cheat on two women at the same time (even if she had her own hopes that the two women were the same).
"I need to tell you something," Lisanna whispered.
Her thumb scraped over Lucy's freckled shoulder and Lucy stirred on her chest. "Does it have to be now? It's so quiet."
"It's important." Lucy hummed an acknowledgement, the song from her voice otherworldly. "I'm serious," Lisanna repeated.
Lucy pushed herself onto her palms, her legs shifting so that she straddled Lisanna. Her eyes locked onto Lisanna in an unspoken question.
"I'm a princess," Lisanna said. "Of this country. I'm the second daughter, second in line for the throne of Magnolia, although if Mira eventually gets married and has kids that'll change."
"I've been sleeping with royalty?"
Lisanna nodded.
"Is there a reason why you're telling me this now? You're not planning on breaking this off, are you?" She stayed silent and Lucy knew her well enough to know what her face meant. "No way – you're leaving me?"
"I'm sorry."
Lucy's body was ramrod straight, except for the slight curve in her neck from her gaze at Lisanna below her. Her freckled hands traced the lines of Lisanna's ribs, tickling and memorizing as they went. Lisanna wanted to kiss the Orion's Belt on Lucy's hand one last time. She wished she did not have to kiss it one last time.
Lucy's index finger traced up Lisanna's sternum to the base of her neck and back down again. "You know, when I was little," she said. "Gajeel used to call me princess. All the time. He's a big gruff man with long black hair and so many silver piercings, you'd think his skin was made of them, and the townspeople were so scared of him. But, when he'd see me, he'd say in a soft voice, 'There's the princess, how is she? Why don't you sing for us, Princess? Princess, why don't you go take your nap?'" Lucy swallowed, as tears brimmed in her eyes. "I wish it wasn't just a nickname, so I could actually marry you."
"You won't be alone. You'll still have your guardians and I'm sure Natsu would be happy to have you around more."
"Natsu isn't you though."
She exhaled shakily. "No, he's not."
Lucy lay her head over Lisanna's heart. She could feel Lucy's tears through the fabric, every shift of her cheek, every fluttered blink. "Do you think –" Her chest muffled Lucy's words.
"Hm?"
"Do you think this will be the last time I see you?
"There's a chance I won't get married."
"Really?"
"The king might pull my fiancée out of the marriage last minute." If his daughter isn't found, Lisanna didn't add. She wasn't sure how much information she should give, whether it'd be a betrayal of state secrets to reveal to her more-than-friend the inner workings of her betrothal.
"If your marriage is called off, can you come back to me?"
"Lu—"
"I just want one more meeting! To know for certain. Her voice lilted in a way that could sway even the hardest of hearts.
"Let's meet on the first of August them. Here, by the brook. I'll know by then."
Lucy nodded against her chest. She threaded her hands through Lucy's hair like those golden strands could save them, save her.
-o-
The day after the twentieth birthday of her fiancée, an unbearable heat woke Lisanna. A man sat at her tall bedroom window.
"Who are you?" she asked, searching for her iron dagger below her pillowcase. He was the oddest assassin she had ever seen.
"I'm Natsu," the man said. Her hands tightened on the hilt of the dagger. "You know, Natsu the Salamander, Fae of the Flame, Protector of Layla's daughter? I find it hard to believe Lucy never mentioned me once. I am her favorite."
"What are you doing at my window?" Natsu slid into the room and lit the candles with a wave. The flickering light revealed shaggy pink hair and scales over his cheeks and neck, which flickered like the candlelight.
"Lucy pricked her finger." He stood over her bed. Power radiated off of him, so that Lisanna felt as if she were trying to breath in a furnace. The dagger in her hand burned.
"Is she okay?"
"Not unless we defeat Kyouka and wake her up. That's why I'm here."
"To tell me to grieve?"
"To get your help!" The candleflame flared with his raised voice. Lisanna heard her ladies-in-waiting outside her door, unable to turn the metal handle. She couldn't stop sweating.
"I don't know how I can help you."
"You're trained as a knight, yeah? And you also know Lucy. She's come home smelling like you so many times now."
Natsu gave her a once over, black eyes sharp like obsidian. Hints of creases around his eyes suggested he was laughter-prone. But in that moment? There was no sign of the playful man from Lucy's stories.
"Yeah," he nodded to himself. "You'll do."
Natsu grabbed her hand, pulling her from her bed to the window ledge. Holding her tight, before Lisanna could think, he leaped out of it. She screamed and wings sprouted from his back. The fall transformed into flight.
-o-
At her daughter's baptism, along with all the associated royalty and nobility required for diplomacy, Queen Layla also invited three fairies: Gajeel, Wendy, and Natsu. She had given much to the fae and so, the fae went, so that they may gift much in return. Thus, after all the ceremony and the holy water anointed Lucy's head, the Acalyphan royals invited the three to the altar steps.
Wendy stepped forward first and lay a finger against the child's chest. While she looked the youngest and the most human of the three, the deep blue of her hair looked even bluer against the cloud-white of her skin. "Lucy," her small voice said. "I give you the gift of great beauty." And so, the child was blessed.
Gajeel stepped forward second and lay his hand on Lucy's head. Gray and black scales mixed with the silver piercings all over his body; a black mane hid most of his face. Yet, both Layla and Lucy smiled at his gruff voice. "Lucy, I give you an enchanting voice." And so, the gift was given.
Natsu stepped forward third. He would not touch baby Lucy, for he had yet to figure out how to control the fire, which burned under his red scales. He beamed brightly.
Before he could give his gift, another fairy appeared. Kyouka strode to the front of the cathedral, stopping at the foot of the altar. While the humans fell silent at the dark fairy's arrival, Natsu sent a wave of fire toward her. She cast it aside with a flick of the wrist.
Her voice horrifying and enchanting, Kyouka said: "Zeref sent me, Layla, as his representative. He is insulted that he did not receive an invitation."
"Fuck off," Natsu growled, the inhuman lilt in Kyouka's voice slipping into his own. Fire danced over the young fairy's shoulders.
Her head tilted and her lips hinted at a grin.
"Why can't Zeref give the little princess a gift, Salamander? Do you not trust your brother?" She extended her hand to Lucy. "Here is Zeref's gift: Lucy Heartfilia will grow up well-loved and mostly happy. But, on her twentieth birthday, she will prick her finger on a spindle and die." And so, Lucy was enchanted.
-o-
When they eventually landed, two fairies greeted them.
"This is the human you chose?" Gajeel said.
"Lucy likes her," Natsu replied.
"Here." Wendy offered Lisanna leather gladiator sandals and armor, as well as the underclothes for them. "Get dressed."
She put them on. They were so lightweight they felt like air. Wendy must've noticed the wonder on her face, for she said: "They're from our world. The armor will protect you from any magical harm and slow the effects of any injury."
"And my weapon? Was I supposed to bring my own sword?"
Gajeel scoffed. "Human weapons cannot defeat Kyouka. Use these." He handed her a sword and shield. "This sword can cut and pierce any hide and the shield will block anything that hits it."
Natsu stayed still, flames licking over his skin, the shape of deep red wings twisting over his back. He studied her, his head cocked to the side. "You're not giving me anything?" she said, half-joking.
He shook his head. "I'll be your bait. I can't strike Kyouka because of a treaty, but she will come out, if I show up. I can distract her."
"If there's a treaty –"
"All I care about is Lucy." His eyes glittered as he held out his hand. "We should go."
They flew, until they approached a tall stone tower, overgrown with roses. A figure stood before the tower clearing. Once they were closer, Natsu dropped Lisanna to the ground and she rolled into a crouch. A voice called from the clearing and Natsu, who had fallen to the ground beside her, bared his sharp teeth. He gestured with his head for Lisanna's course of action, before bursting through the bushes towards the figure they had seen flying above.
It was Kyouka. She laughed at the sight of him and then a tangle of fae-speech sung forth from her mouth. Natsu responded with his own music and it took all of Lisanna's effort to keep moving through the fog of fae-words. Her skills as a hunter kept her quiet, as she circled around the two of them. Natsu became more animated; the flames shifted from red to blue with heat. Kyouka, however, cloaked herself in night and might. A deep purple gown covered her body, but as Kyouka moved, Lisanna could see that the fairy was built for fighting. Tufts of feathers protruded from the sides of her head and her purple-gemmed crown. When she threw a magic blast at Natsu, large talons flashed.
Natsu threw his own flames to destroy her magic. The two continued that dance. The heat and smoke and sheer power made it difficult for Lisanna to understand, but still, she crawled closer to the fairy, until she was directly behind her.
Natsu yelled and Lisanna leapt into action. She slashed down Kyouka's back. She screeched and swiped towards her. She blocked the talons with the shield, which glowed and sparked at the hit.
Natsu's fire ate away at Kyouka's magic and Lisanna kept at the tango of swiping, then dodging or blocking. But, Kyouka flicked her hand at Lisanna and power consumed her. Her leather armor glowed, but she fell to her knees in pain. Under her skin, a dull hot ache began to form; she knew that, without Wendy's gifts, she would have died.
"Lis!" Natsu cried. Distantly, she realized he must have picked up that nickname from Lucy. Lisanna could barely think through the pain, but she heard Natsu yell and the heat around her from his fire grew hotter.
Glancing up, Natsu's wings were spread and the night sky blanketed behind him. Fury and power emanated from him and Kyouka taunted him, hands gesturing to the tower and Lisanna.
He flew higher and Kyouka's wings spread to follow him. A perfect opening. Lisanna stood and grabbed her burning hot sword.
She thrust the blessed sword through Kyouka's back.
-o-
Lisanna approached the tower, not with triumph, but with tense anticipation. Natsu stood behind her, his flames duller, but just as impatient as he was before the battle with Kyouka.
She pushed the door open. It swung open easily and the two crept up the steep staircase. Where Kyouka's magic had pierced through her armor, her body pulsed with an intense ache. It slowed her down with each step.
Eventually, they reached a wooden door. "Here," Natsu said. "I can smell her."
She pushed the door open and there, Lucy lay, golden hair spread over the pillow. While at first, she seemed in a calm sleep, Lisanna remembered their lazy picnics. In the afternoon heat, Lucy would sprawl out, shift and hum and snore through her quiet naps. On the bed, Lucy did not turn. She lay flat on her back, her fingers interlocked, like a body in a casket.
She approached the bed. Her burned fingers traced over Lucy's warm forehead. Maybe, if she just –
"Shaking her won't wake her," Natsu said, sullen. "Only true love's kiss can wake her up or she'll sleep for a hundred years."
Lisanna protested – true love? – but Natsu interrupted her.
"Don't bother denying it. You're the only human I've ever smelled on her. And she was happy when she was with you." Natsu tilted his head. "Fae don't love how humans do. But while I may not know how to love like you do, I don't see how that isn't love."
She looked down at Lucy's face, her long eyelashes flush against her freckled cheeks. Could Lisanna survive the rest of her life without looking at those brown eyes again? She actually had a chance now of marrying Lucy. Would she seriously give that up? Light as a feather, Lisanna kissed Lucy, the way she did when Lucy slept too long on her coat and dusk fast approached.
Lucy did not stir.
Lisanna kissed her again and still, not a muscle twitched.
Natsu, who sat on the other side of her bed, didn't bother to hide his disappointment. It mirrored her own.
Lisanna found Lucy's right hand. How many times had she kissed Lucy's knuckles? How many times had she listened to Lucy's playful songs? How could that last mournful meeting have been their last? Lisanna wanted to pull on her black clothes and grieve.
Lisanna kissed that Orion's belt of freckles on Lucy's hand. "Sleep well, Princess. May we walk together in your dreams."
Lisanna walked away; her goodbyes had been said. But, as she opened the heavy wooden door, behind her she heard a soft exhale.
"Lis?" She turned and Lucy sat upright in the bed, hand in Natsu's and utterly confused. "What're you doing here?"
"I—" Tears brimmed in her eyes. "You're awake."
"Am I not supposed to be?" She looked around, taking in the unfamiliar room.
"Did I-?" she asked Natsu.
"You pricked your finger, yeah. Lis helped me save you. She's gonna take you back to your dad."
"How would Lis know my dad?"
Natsu shrugged. "She's the one you're supposed to marry. I wasn't, uh, up to date on treaty arrangements."
"But what does that mean?"
Lucy was flustered and confused and Lisanna couldn't help it. She laughed and cried in relief. "We don't need to meet by the brook anymore."
-o-
When Lisanna was a princess still called a prince, days before the baptism, her family visited Acalypha. She did not know much about the Heartfilia's, just that they had a giant cathedral and a large palace garden and that her parents considered them very important.
But, during a dinner, she wandered over to a humming Queen Layla, who sat with a little girl on her lap. Bundled in blankets, her blonde hair wrapped in a bonnet, the girl's face could barely be seen, but her chubby hand reached out to Lisanna.
Layla laughed like a bell and turned her daughter, so that Lisanna could see her face. As she looked at Lucy Heartfilia, Lisanna thought to herself that she was the prettiest thing she'd ever seen.
.
.
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author's note: beyond the general changes brought by an au, you'll notice two major character changes i did: lisanna is a transwoman in this and lucy has freckles! i saw a post on tumblr about how they thought lucy should have freckles and i ! love that! so i did it here :))
let me know your thoughts, whether it be praise or constructive criticism in the comments :)) while i'm sure that this is a given, any transphobia or homophobia will be deleted. beyond that, i genuinely really appreciate comments! even just a couple heart emojis really makes me happy :,))
