6th: Star crossed, AquaScorpio
Summary: They had been meant to be and if necessary, she would fight the king to be with the man she loved. They were in love and – screw the rules – they would be together.
Dedication: For bee98 who voted for a AquaScorpio (Scorius?) one shot.
Aquarius the water bearer was no one to mess with. She was a celestial spirit with an attitude and since she was extremely strong, she could afford being bitchy every once in a while. Usually, she made rude comments on female mages who summoned her – especially when she believed them to be less attractive than herself – but right now, she was extremely angry and she took it out on the person who had brought this over her.
"Excuse me?" she hissed, glaring up at the celestial spirit king because he was the bastard who stood between her and her happiness and she just couldn't allow this. "You are telling me that I can't date Scorpio anymore? Does this have a reason?"
The king glared at her. "First of all: not in such a voice, young lady … and secondly, yes, this has a reason, Aquarius," he said darkly. "According to some of your fellow spirits, you are terribly moody lately and they fear that you might abandon your mage to go on dates with Scorpio."
"Layla-sama?" the mermaid shook her head. "I would never abandon Layla-sama! She is kind and she never used me like the master I had before her. To serve Layla-sama … it's the greatest honour a spirit can have in my eyes."
"Leo still said that your performance was slightly lacking since you started to date Scorpio…"
"He is just jealous that Scorpio and I have a relationship while he constantly fails to ask Aries out on a date!" the female spirit snapped. "Leo is so jealous that it nearly hurts me to think that he is supposed to be the leader of the Zodiac spirits and your favourite lieutenant!"
"Aquarius, you are using the wrong voice again," the king scolded. "Calm down, will you?"
"I am not even fucking mad yet, your highness!" she snapped. "Honestly, I consider this as an insult, your highness. I have been serving my owner with utter devotion so far – even until I started to go out with Scorpio, I didn't fail my master or my duty. I don't know where Leo's problem lies – it's probably because Aries turned him down or something like that. Anyway, why do you have to be so hard on me, your highness?"
"Aquarius, your issues with Leo do not interest me at all. You have been serving Layla-sama with greatest devotion so far, I admit this, but there are rules: celestial spirits of the same system are not supposed to date each other … and while I have been ignoring this so far, there were complaints about you and Scorpio. The Southern Crown even said that 'the damned zodiacs are favoured and can ignore the rules that go for everyone else' and I have to admit that she is right."
"Corona Australis wants to get me in trouble, king. She is probably jealous or something…"
"No, she isn't jealous, she is right there. I have told her that she cannot date Corona Borealis and she is therefore pretty aggravated that you were allowed to date Scorpio until now," the king said calmly. "Along with Leo's complaint, this made two reasons against you two dating."
"King," Scorpio interrupted calmly as he raised his head. "The rule that celestial spirits aren't allowed to date is foolish and indicates that we are just as old as the stars we come from. It means that we act old-fashioned. Aqua and I do not mean any disrespect-"
"Oh well, I do," she snapped.
"No, you don't. You are just upset and you don't know what you are saying," he said before he looked at the king again who was surprised at the fire spirits strangely calm and serious attitude. "As celestial spirits, we are as good as immortal and as you might know, eternity soon means loneliness. The Zodiac spirits are a close-knit group under Leo's lead. We are probably the most-summoned celestial spirits. I would have to ask crux to be sure of this but I am pretty sure that I am right. And because we are summoned this often, we see most of the human world … and we see a world were love is everywhere. We see a world were love surpasses boundaries and where love isn't bound by rules … we see things we want for ourselves." He looked down and bit his lip. "And especially combat spirits like Aqua, like Leo or the two Crowns … they see these things far too often to ignore their own feelings. And so I ask you to erase this rule, your highness. This rule has been leading to rivalry and hatred among us because some of us are allowed to date while others aren't. Those differences split us apart where we should be one."
Leo and Aries, the both other fire spirits, stood at the side and while they seemed to focus onto the ground to their feet, Scorpio felt their support and he knew why Leo supported him: because it was the lion's case as well.
"It's ridiculous if you ask me," Capricorn said as silence reigned. "Humans … they get stronger when they are in love. Like Aquarius-san, I am serving Layla-sama and since she fell in love, she has far more magical power than before … which means that she can call us for a longer time. And we aren't that different from humans, are we? Many of us have been formed after a human being after all and we are more like them than we would ever admit willingly."
"Capricorn-nii is right there," Virgo who stood next to the goat said. "We shouldn't punish others for there feelings. We should support them and lend them a hand when they seem to stray."
The king looked over the celestial spirits until he found the both Crowns, Corona Australis and Corona Borealis, who flanked the door as they held their swords with seemingly emotionless faces. "Borealis and Australis," he said darkly. "You were the ones who complained … because you were feeling like I am putting the celestial spirits of the Zodiac over the normal spirits. Yet you are both surprisingly silent during this whole meeting…"
The female Crown looked up. "We will accept whatever you in your wisdom will decide," she said smoothly as she brushed back a strand of her pink hair. "We are servants of you, your highness, and of our owner. Therefore we will accept your decision in all aspects."
"Corona and I prefer to watch," Borealis agreed with his partner constellation. "Whatever you decide will be alright with us, your highness. We will accept it – just like Corona said."
The other celestial spirits nodded quietly, waiting for the king to make a decision. The dating-issue had been troubling most of them at one point or another but until now, no celestial spirit had dared to speak up against the king. Well, trust Aquarius to do the unthinkable. As long as the water bearer believed that she and Scorpio had been meant to be, she would do everything to get the chance to be with him. And if there were any rules which spoke against their relationship, tough luck, she would fight everyone between her and her happiness. It didn't matter if it was the king or a normal celestial spirit. She wouldn't stop at anything – and this was known to everyone who waited for the decision.
"I see," the king said slowly as he looked at the twelve zodiac spirits. "Aquarius, you will have to face punishment for questioning my authority."
She looked down as she nodded slowly. "Of course, your highness," she whispered.
"…but I won't be the one who keeps you all apart," he went on and she looked up. "This has to be terrible … to love but to be forced to keep those feelings inside … everyone can date now. I trust you all not to ignore your duties because of this … and if anyone lets his master down because of a date, I will be very angry with whoever does something like this … and I will send Leo to deal with the problem. Am I understood?"
"Of course, your highness," the Southern Crown said with a sharp nod before the corners of her mouth curled upwards as she looked at her partner. "Borealis, let's go on a date later on, yes?"
Aquarius twirled around to the pink-haired woman and glared at her. "What the hell are you playing, Corona Australis?" she hissed. "First you complain about me and then you are the first to ask another one out! Are you fucking crazy, woman?"
"Oh, I wasn't even the first," the swordswoman said calmly. "The first was Cancer who asked Libra out … and you know that I couldn't let you have a boyfriend before I get one. See you later, Aquarius. Try to frown less, will you? You are getting wrinkles."
"I am killing her…" Aquarius swore. "I am fucking killing that bitch…"
Next up: 7th: Keys and Gates, NaLu
Summary: Sometimes, a dragon slayer had the key the stellar spirit mage needed.