A-Z of Melizabeth by Fullmetal Pyromaniac
N is for...
Night
Prompt by Guest
Ruby takes a week out of the usual schedule to bring you all this AU...
Elizabeth sighed.
Resting her head in her hand which was propped up by her elbow on the windowsill of her bedroom window.
She felt like crying, her father had never been this angry with her before. It had been the annual ball in the Lyones castle, and of course, since Elizabeth was eighteen she had to choose a suitor.
There was just one problem, she was already in love with someone.
Her father was a kind hearted man, he was always supportive of her and her sisters choices, but one thing was clear for his children- the kingdom must always come first.
The man Elizabeth loved, her father couldn't accept. Not only was he a commoner, but he was an ex-criminal. If anything happened to her father, of Margaret, or Veronica, the Lyones kingdom would be vulnerable to attacks unless it was paired with another region.
Her love did not own anything more than a tavern.
It didn't matter though, how much money or land a man owned, but for the kingdom it mattered. She couldn't just be selfish and marry for love if that meant her kingdom would suffer.
The stars twinkled in the night sky above Elizabeth, who sighed and closed her bedroom window. A single tear slipped down her face but Elizabeth wiped it away with her nightgown sleeve.
She'd have to apologise to her father tomorrow, no matter how much she wanted to live her own life, duty called to get married. Elizabeth lay down on her bed and closed her eyes, willing sleep to take her.
...
...
plink!
Elizabeth's eyes snapped open and she sat up.
plink!
Another noise came from the window. Elizabeth sat up and stared down just as another thing hit the glass.
plink!
It appeared to be a small pebble, and the person throwing stood beneath the window, grinning widely and getting ready to throw another. Elizabeth flung the window open and shouted down to her love before he could throw another stone.
"Meliodas!" She whisper-shouted to him, "What are you doing!?"
Meliodas grinned and threw a pebble up then caught it in his hand.
"What does it look like? I'm stealing you away" He held out his arms, "Come on, jump! I haven't dropped you yet!"
Elizabeth grinned and sat on the edge of her window, her legs dangling in the cool night air.
"Come on, hurry, you know I can see your panties from down here" Meliodas called out cheekily, Elizabeth turned a bright red and pushed away from the ledge. Pushing herself forwards and downwards with her arms outstretched.
The fall to Meliodas wasn't far, as she had felt the feeling of free falling quite a lot. It still gave her a thrill, her hair billowed out behind her, hitting her clothed back as she reached Meliodas' arms and hugged him as they both fell backwards onto the grass.
Elizabeth buried her face into his neck as they fell, then as they lay on the grass she placed a light kiss to his neck and felt him smile into hers.
"How did you know I'd be in my room?" She whispered, feeling Meliodas smirk.
"Please, it's a big party, that's not really your thing" he then frowned and pulled back, emerald eyes boring into her own. "You didn't make conversation from the window, something's wrong. You wanna tell me?"
Elizabeth shook her head, "Not here, can we go to the meadow?"
"I thought you'd ever ask"
*~*~N is for...~*~*
The meadow was as it sounded, a large field with grass and billions of flowers surrounded by a thick expance of trees. Elizabeth had discovered it almost ten years ago, after learning of her mother's death she had run away until she stumbled on a barely noticeable path that led her to the meadow.
There she had met a village boy, two years older than herself and upset over the death of his best friend. Together they had become unlikely friends, then during their later years, lovers.
That night, they lay in the field. Meliodas hadn't spoken in a while. Not after Elizabeth had told him the troubles she faced.
Turning to him, Elizabeth gazed, "Please..." She pleaded quietly "Say something. Anything"
"You're going to be married off" he stated, Elizabeth groaned silently.
"Don't say it like that, it's my choice to be married anyway" she sighed, Meliodas turned towards her, his eyes cold.
"You say that, but it doesn't seem to me like it is" She looked away.
"If it's for the greater good of the kingdom, then I'm happy" Elizabeth recited, as she had done teary eyed in front of her mirror hundreds of times. Meliodas placed fingers under her chin and gently made her look at him, his eyes were softer this time, almost understanding.
"Look at me and tell me that again"
Elizabeth opened her mouth, then closed it. Meliodas could always see through her anyway.
"I can't" she said, tears filling her eyes, "I don't want to get married to someone that I don't love" she admitted, "but gather hasn't been able to run the kingdom well enough for years, Margaret is ruling over her own kingdom with Gilthunder, and you know Veronica. It's more than likely that I'll be chosen to be ruler once father stands down. I need to make future plans for the kingdom now"
Meliodas was quiet, simply staring up at the stars.
"If I could" he said softly, "I'd ask you to marry me right now."
Elizabeth turned pink.
"I'd stand you up, get down on one knee and ask for your hand. I don't have a ring, but my extra savings could buy us cheap ones while I take extra shifts to get you a proper one. I could ask Ban to make the food for the wedding, King and Diane could make the flower arrangements, Gowther would be the planner, and Merlin would make your dress and a beautiful vial of perfume.
"After I'd proposed, I'd carry you back to the Boar Hat and straight to my bedroom where I'd lay you down and lie next to you, we wouldn't do anything, not yet. After that if you wanted you could start working at the Boar Hat. On our wedding night, we'd have our first time, I'd make it special.
"Then we'd start trying for a kid, and we'd be successful, we could have as many as we wanted. I'd teach them how to bartend, and you'd get mad at me for letting them handle alcohol. You'd teach them to read and their manners, I'd teach them to walk and say bad words- which you'd also get mad at me for.
"Eventually they'd leave, wanting their own adventure. You'd cry, of course, I don't think I would. I'd just be really proud. One would eventually take over the Boar Hat one day, when we're old. Then I don't think I'd want to die first, that'd make you cry and I could never do that, but I don't want to live without you either. So I think we'd both go to sleep one night, wrapped in each other and simply let go. The perfect end to the perfect life"
Elizabeth was almost sobbing at that point. Meliodas noticed this and rolled on his side towards her, kissing away the tears.
"I'm sorry Meliodas" Elizabeth cried, clutching his white shirt like a lifeline. "I'm sorry that I can't give you that. I'm so sorry"
"hey, hey, listen" he shushed her gently, "I'm not just going to let you go, maybe I'm not a prince or whatever but I don't think it matters. I think I could manage of run a kingdom" Meliodas took Elizabeths hands in his own.
"I'm not going to stop fighting. For us, for our marriage. I'll meet your father, buy a plot of land and become a baron or count or whatever, hell, I'll become a knight again. Technically I'm not a criminal anymore so I can apply for the training. I promise that one day I'll marry you Elizabeth"
Elizabeth placed her lips on Meliodas' in a sweet kiss, breaking away only when another sob choked her.
"What if you don't? What if I can't marry you Meliodas? What will we do then?"
"If I can't love you in this life, I'll find you in the next and fall in love with you all over again. And if that doesn't work, I'll run for eternity, I'll live a billion lives, I'll go through the pain of living if that means I can spend one lifetime with you"
"I'll do the same" Elizabeth promised shakily, "If I can't love you now, I'll search for you in the next life. I'll do that anyway, even if I can love you now. Meliodas, I love you so much"
Meliodas kissed her deeply and gently, "I love you too, Elizabeth, more than you could ever know"
And the two stayed there, kissing and holding each other until dawn. In their safe haven where no one could hurt them. No matter what happened, they loved each other, and that was all that mattered.
The End.
No A.N. today. Instead-
This story is dedicated to all those affected by the Berlin terrorist attack. Whether you witnessed the attack, you had a loved one hurt or killed in the attack, or you were injured by the attack yourself, I'm sorry, my condolences and love to everyone affected.
I'm sorry, I'm sorry for the horrible things that are happening right now, I'm so sorry. My cousins are currently staying in Germany and even though they weren't near the attack it's awful knowing that by one bit of bad luck they could have been taken away.
I'm sorry to those who have lost someone, anyone dear to them, in any terrorist attack.
Hope everyone's doing okay. See you next time,
-Ruby ❤️