A Friendly Jealousy

Summary: Diane and Elizabeth are best friends but when Elizabeth introduces Diane to her fiancée, Diane finds herself jealous of the man. Alternate Universe.

Extra Info: In this AU, the Goddess Clan is split into two halves, Liones and Camelot. Arthur is the leader of the Camelot half and Elizabeth's father, Baltra, is the leader of the Liones half.

Characters: Diane, Elizabeth, Arthur, Matrona, Baltra

Relationships: Elizabeth/Diane (Romance), Elizabeth/Arthur (One-Sided Romance), Matrona/Diane (Familial), Baltra/Elizabeth (Familial)

Genre: Romance, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, Family

God and Goddess were walking through the forest engaged in conversation. The two were betrothed to each other thanks to Elizabeth's father. Baltra had wanted to reunite the two halves of the Goddess Clan and the best way to do that was through marriage. Although both kings got along, there was no guarantee the same could be said for those who came after. Granted there was no guarantee even with marriage but both Baltra and Arthur agreed that this way the chance was considerably less likely.

Elizabeth was Baltra's youngest daughter and actually the closest in age to Arthur, that was not the reason she was chosen however. Elizabeth was chosen because both of her older sisters, Margaret and Veronica, were already in a relationship with someone else (Gilthunder and Griamore, respectively). Elizabeth had no such relationship with anyone and so marrying Arthur fell on her.

But that made it seem like Elizabeth didn't want to marry Arthur didn't it? Well, that was true. Elizabeth did like Arthur, he was a great guy, she just wasn't interested in him in that way. Not to mention she held an interest in someone else.

"Elizabeth!" A familiar voice called her name. She blinked, having been shocked out of her reverie, and looked up to find the source of the voice. Diane was stood at the entrance of a cave of a cliff, waving at her. Elizabeth gave her friend a big smile and waved back, summoning her wings Elizabeth took off the ground to fly over to the Giantess.

Taken aback by this Arthur stood blinking, he hadn't known Elizabeth had a friend in the Giant Clan. Shaking off the surprise, Arthur took off after his fiancee as the Giantess' gaze shifted to him.

"Elizabeth, who's that?" Diane asked the Goddess as she stopped having reached her destination, moving her gaze from Arthur back to her friend hovering just in front of her face.

"...Oh! This is Arthur Pendragon, he's the leader of the Camelot faction of the Goddess Clan." Elizabeth told her friend, gesturing over to Arthur who was still making his way over to them. "He's… also my… fiancée" Elizabeth told her friend hesitantly, she didn't want Diane to know about that but she had to tell her. Diane deserved to know, if only because the two were friends. This was probably one of the only times Elizabeth didn't hope Diane saw her as more than that because if Diane did, well, Elizabeth didn't want to think about how hurt Diane would be.

Diane's breath caught in her throat and she stared wide eyed at the Goddess in front of her. Fiancée? Elizabeth was getting married to that man? Diane didn't want that to happen. She didn't really know why, Elizabeth was her friend so her getting married to Arthur shouldn't bother her, right? But it did, it did bother her, it bothered her a lot and Diane didn't understand.

"Hey, it's nice to meet you. Diane right?" Arthur greeted the giantess once he got over to them, giving her a toothy grin.

Diane glared at him, staring down at him. Since he was flying, however she had to stand on her tiptoes to do so. "Yeah, that's me."

Arthur blinked and tilted his head, confused by the Giantesses attitude towards him. Why was she glaring at him? "I'm Arthur Pendragon and I-"

"I know who you are!" Diane interrupted him, a bite to her tone. Arthur backed up slightly, a little intimidated by the giantesses displeasure.

"Diane, would you like to hang out with us today? I'm sure Arthur would like to get to know you." Elizabeth interjected, drawing Diane's attention away from the confused god, much to his relief.

"Of course, I would love to hang out with you, Elizabeth." Diane told her, smiling at her friend. This was perfect! Not only could she be with Elizabeth, she'd be able to keep her from being alone with Arthur. Diane still wasn't sure why she cared so much but right at this moment she didn't really care, she'd try to figure it out later.

"Great!" Elizabeth beamed and Arthur shifted slightly, uncomfortable with the situation. He didn't want to say anything because Diane was Elizabeth's best friend and he loved Elizabeth. He'd upset her if he said he didn't want Diane to hang out with them.

…

Diane, Elizabeth and Arthur stayed up in the cave pretty much all day. Arthur had asked when Elizabeth and Diane had met and that led to a conversation about Arthur's and Elizabeth's engagement. Elizabeth had said that the engagement was arranged and Diane felt a spark of hope she just didn't understand.

"Yeah but I do love Elizabeth. I'm really happy that we're getting married." Arthur commented, looking over at Elizabeth with affection in his eyes. Elizabeth blinked and gave him a small smile, hoping the wince she made had gone unnoticed. Diane on the other hand felt her chest tighten at the scene in front of her, the spark of hope she had felt gone and replaced with a sadness she had never felt before. Why was she feeling this way?

…

Diane released a sigh, her arms wrapped around her legs and her chin resting on top of them. After the sun started setting, Elizabeth and Arthur left to go home. Arthur had kissed Elizabeth goodbye and had headed towards Camelot causing that pain in her chest once more. After that Elizabeth said goodbye to her and Diane forced a smile saying a goodbye of her own. Once the goddess had left, Diane's shaky smile dropped and she moved to return to her own home.

"Is something wrong Diane?" Matrona asked, moving her gaze over to the giantess she saw as a daughter from her other children Zol and Dera playing with their father Zarpa in the lake.

"I-I don't know, Matrona. I just feel really upset right now." Diane told her, not moving from her position.

"Do you want to tell my why?" Matrona asked, she wasn't really sure what she could do, comforting wasn't really something she was good at but she did want to help and she'd heard that sometimes just taking helped people feel better.

"That's just the thing!" Diane yelled suddenly pounding the ground. If Matrona was less in control she probably would have jumped at the suddenness of the action. "I don't know what's wrong. Well I do but… I don't know why I feel this way."

"Go on." Matrona urged. Diane moved back to hugging her knees and hid her face in her arms.

"Elizabeth has a fiancee. It's just… it hurts." Diane continued, her hands clenching and her voice shaking. Matrona blinked at this, almost immediately catching onto what was going on. She was about to say something when Diane continued. Diane told Matrona everything that had happened and Matrona listened carefully trying to think of something to say or do.

"Diane, you're in love with her." Matrona told her, Diane's eyes had closed while she was telling Matrona what had happened but they snapped open at Matrona's words.

"What?!" Diane yelled falling back at what she had been told, her face hot at the thought. "In love with- but she's my friend! I can't be in love with her!"

"But you are, Diane." Matrona told her, bluntly. She really felt Diane needed to truly understand her feelings in order to feel better.

Diane's eyes widened as she realised something. She loved Elizabeth so, so much and Elizabeth… loved someone else. Tremors ran through her body as tears gathered in her eyes, a loud sob was released as Matrona picked her up and hugged her close.

…

Meanwhile Elizabeth was lying on her bed at her home. Thinking back to what Arthur had said, he loved her. Really, truly loved her. She hadn't known, she had kind of figured he was only marrying her to bring Liones and Camelot together like she was. She knew Arthur cared about her sure, it wasn't like they weren't friends but she didn't even think about the possibility of Camelot's leader being in love with her.

This was wrong. Arthur was in love with her and he likely thought she was in love with him. But she wasn't Elizabeth loved Diane, could she really keep doing this? Elizabeth just didn't know. On one hand this could be really good for the citizens of Liones and Camelot, not to mention this is what her family wanted but on the other staying in a relationship like this would only hurt both her and Arthur in the end.

There was also the possibility that her father wouldn't let her get out of this. Sure her father loved all his children and he wanted nothing more than for them to be happy. However he was the leader of Liones and the people came first. If he felt this would really be best for his people than as a leader he just couldn't let Elizabeth back out.

Knock, knock

Elizabeth sat up at the sound of knocking on her door. "Elizabeth, can I come in?" her father asked her from the other side of the door, Elizabeth blinked wondering what he wanted but took a deep breath and gave him the okay to enter. Honestly Elizabeth didn't really want to see her father right now, with what was going through her mind and all but she couldn't exactly turn him away.

Baltra opened the door and walked over to his daughter he sat down on the edge of her bed and Elizabeth moved to sit beside him.

"Is there something you want to talk about father?" Elizabeth asked him, as the leader of Liones her father had a lot of work to do, he just didn't have much time to spend with his daughters. It was rare for him to come to her room.

"Yes. Is something bothering you? You seemed out of it earlier." Baltra asked her, Elizabeth froze. Should she tell her father what was wrong? Her father wouldn't force her to tell him but this might be her way out. Sure her father might make her marry Arthur anyway but there is a chance he'd cancel too, right?

But Elizabeth was frightened, she couldn't stop thinking about all the things that could go wrong. She may be forbidden from ever seeing Diane again, Arthur may get stuck in a relationship with someone who didn't love him (which would happen anyway if she didn't say anything but she felt it would be even more set in stone if her father said so), she may disappoint her father. There were an abundance of consequences that could come from this.

"Elizabeth, please tell me what's wrong. I can't help you if you don't." Her father told her, Elizabeth took a breath. She supposed she should tell him. She was being silly, her father would do everything in his power to help her.

"I… I love… Diane, father." silence followed my confession, I was already looking down at my hands digging into my lap but afraid of what I might see my eyes squeezed shut.

"...I see. Have you told Arthur?" Baltra asked his daughter, slightly surprised, he hadn't known she was in love with Diane. he supposed if that was the case he'd have to let his daughter brake off the engagement. As a father, he wanted his daughter to be happy and if this is what that took then so be it.

Elizabeth shook her head. "Then you should. He deserves to know about this." Elizabeth's eyes shot open, those weren't the words of someone about to make her marry anyway.

"Father, does that mean-?" Elizabeth looked up at him, hope shining in her eyes. She could be with Diane and not marrying her would be much better for Arthur in the long run.

"Yes. It means you can go and be with Diane but make sure to talk to Arthur first." Baltra told her, nodding his head. Elizabeth lit up and she darted forward to hug her father.

"Thank you so much father!" Elizabeth thanked him giving a small squeal of happiness. "But… what about the joining of Liones and Camelot?" Elizabeth asked him, pulling away from the hug and returning to her original position on the edge of the bed.

"I'm sure Liones and Camelot can manage being separated for a little while longer. After all the whole Liones family gets along with Arthur."

"Right!"

…

"I'm sorry, Arthur." Arthur's eyes were wide and Elizabeth looked at him in apology. She did feel bad for doing this but it would be better for both of them.

"No… no… don't be… It's alright." Arthur shook his head, he wanted to cry but he just couldn't Elizabeth was upset enough about this, his tears would make her feel even worse about something she had to do.

"But-" Elizabeth protested, she knew it wasn't alright. Tears were gathering in Arthur's eyes and his body was shaking. He was hurt, badly.

"You... can't help... the way you feel." Arthur told her, slowly. He wanted to make her feel better but the way he had spoken probably didn't help much. He had tried to make it clear and strong but no matter how hard he tried he just couldn't.

"I'm so sorry! I know you…" Elizabeth bowed down to him in another apology. She knew this was for the better but it didn't make it any less painful to hurt one of her closest friends like this.

"Yeah. That's why… I want you to be happy." Tears started falling down Arthur's cheeks but he forced himself to smile at her in reassurance.

"Thank you" Elizabeth knew she was defeated, Arthur was crying but he still smiled at her. Trying to reassure her that it was okay.

"Go see Diane and... don't worry about me, I'll be… just fine."

"...Alright… bye…"

Elizabeth's leave was hesitant, Arthur was crying. He'd just gotten his heart broken, of course he was. She didn't want to just leave him like that but… perhaps right now, Elizabeth's presence would end up making everything worse.

…

Diane was lying against Matrona, her family around her. Matrona rubbed her shoulder in comfort, while Zol and Dera patted her leg trying to comfort their older sister. Zarpa had gone to get a wild boar for breakfast, it was Diane's favourite.

Zarpa came back with the boar and began to cook it nearby the huddled up family. As soon as it was cooked, Zarpa brought the meat over to Diane and held it up for her to take. Diane gave him a small smile and took the meat beginning to slowly eat it. Zarpa gave her comforting smile before he moved to cook breakfast for the rest of his family.

"Diane! Diane! Diane!" A familiar voice yelled, eagerly. Diane's eyes widened and she pushed up slightly, looking in the direction the voice had come from, seeing a spec in the distance rushing towards them.

"Elizabeth?" Diane asked. What was Elizabeth here for? Not that she wasn't happy she was. Elizabeth may have inadvertently broken her heart but she was still undeniably happy to see her. She guessed that was what it meant to love someone.

"Are you going to see her, Diane?" Matrona asked her, if Diane wanted to see Elizabeth then she wouldn't do anything but if she didn't then Matrona would just go tell Elizabeth that Diane was busy and would come to her when she could.

"...Yes." Diane pushed herself up from the ground and began walking over to Elizabeth. She paused briefly trying to erase any evidence of being upset. She didn't want Elizabeth to know about it.

…

"Diane! Dia- have you been crying?" ELizabeth asked Diane upon reaching her and noticing her red eyes. Diane's attempts to erase the evidence and worked out so well.

"Yeah… but I'm okay now, really." Diane told her, giving her friend what she hoped was a convincing smile.

"If you're sure." Elizabeth didn't look convinced but she knew Diane wouldn't give in easily. She'd just have to do something to cheer her up. "Let's hang out today, Diane. Just the two of us."

Diane blinked and nodded in agreement. Elizabeth was already onto her, if she refused then she might find out that she was the reason behind Daine's tears. Besides Diane wanted to hang out with Elizabeth.

Elizabeth gave her a smile "Great, I have a surprise for you later. I hope you like it." Elizabeth blushed and Diane tilted her head. What was the surprise? And why was Elizabeth blushing?

…

As night fell, Elizabeth encouraged Diane to move through the forest. Diane didn't have anything against that, she really wanted to know what the surprise was. Especially since it had made Elizabeth blush, Diane knew she shouldn't get her hopes but still… she couldn't help it.

They eventually came to a clearing where a bunch of little lights danced over the water. It was really beautiful. Diane stood in awe art the sight and Elizabeth watched her reaction with a smile on her face.

"Diane, what you see here is called the Dance of Love. Those lights you see are actually creatures. They dance like this once every year with the one they love." Elizabeth told Diane, moving her gaze from the Giantess to the dance. Diane looked at her with a blush on her face. Was this…?

"Why did you…?" Diane asked, her hopes growing even higher. One did not normally take someone they saw as a friend to an event like this.

"I… love you, Diane." Elizabeth confessed, turning to Diane once more. They looked at each other, both blushing as Diane's purple eyes widened. This was really happening! Elizabeth loved her back! She was elated, to the point where ELizabeth's fiancée didn't even cross her mind.

Diane's eyes shined and she smiled at the goddess in front of her. Tears started streaming down her cheeks and she wiped them away. Elizabeth felt that Diane's sheer happiness was a good sign, her own smile turned from nervous to happy. Diane almost certainly returned her feelings if she was so happy she started crying.

"I love you too, Elizabeth." Diane hugged Elizabeth to her cheek after wiping away her tears. Elizabeth laughed and placed a soft kiss to her cheek.

Before anyone asks, yes Diane did remember Arthur later and asked her about. Elizabeth told her what happened and once Diane went home she told her family that she and Elizabeth were together now, making sure to mention that Elizabeth had broken up with her fiancée.

I'm not sure how I feel about this oneshot, I suppose it's decent but I don't think it quite has the feeling it should have. If anyone agrees can you tell me?