You know what? You've been through enough. (undragons your wife)

Hello. I’d like to request morax x reader where reader is a former adeptus and also morax/zhongli’s wife (both in the past and present). xiao and ganyu being their children. a family fluff fic pls🙏 maybe they adopt hutao and qiqi as well:))

This is super cute! So I thought of this drabble where Adeptus!reader visits Liyue Harbor for the lantern right for the first time in a long time after waking up from a long slumber. So it's a very cute little family reunion.

Disclaimer: Reader is described with horns and a tail and is implied to be a dragon but it is only in a flashback and they lose all Adepti attributes.

I hope you like it!

Edit: I started writing and then I lost it and I may or may not have written a little too much~.

Lantern Rite Reunion.

Cw: ooc Xiao( just very awkward)

Fluff

found family reunion

Zhongli x reader pairing ( with Hu Tao, Xiao, Ganyu)

Sfw cut for length

503 years. This year would be 504 since you laid down every ounce of your strength to protect your home. Since you said goodbye to your husband, he carried you're almost limp body Into Your Den to Slumber to gain your strength slowly? You wonder if he still remembers your final words to him. " I will return in time to celebrate among the Golden Glow of the Xiao lanterns... that year will be the year of us... will you be there?" You asked. And your husband is carrying you in his arms. As his tail moves around him to wrap around yours, giving you comfort, those golden eyes growing soft as his heart, seeing his wife in such a state, though he had wished you had not made your decision to take part in the war, he will not let your sacrifice be in vain. Morax is leaning in close, his horns tapping against yours as his nose gently brushes against your face. Whispers his promise, " I will, I will wait centuries for you. However long it takes, I will be there, and every year, as I look at the lanterns shining brighter than the Stars and you are not in my arms, you will be the only one on my mind."

A memory that felt like a dream. A dream that you'd never forgotten.

The cool air blowing into your den and the warm sunlight made your eyes flutter. The barrier that kept the outside world did well, keeping you safe and secure as you slumbered for 500 years as you awoke. Your Adeptal space being untouched the sheets pillows and cushions of your nest with the mattress underneath still nice cool and clean. Guaranteeing you a sound slumber. Even as the walls and pillars of your small Temple of worship, your nest would remain untouched.

However you will no longer be needing it. Slowly you rise in the silk comfort of the sheets, stretching groggy from having just walked out but energized by the sealed opening, letting in the light as you look out of the comfort of your abode. From all these years of sleeping recovering from the war your wounds had healed, yet you are still weak. Your previous horns and tail were nowhere to be found when you stepped out of your nest. As you stepped forward you used your remaining Adeptel energy to seal your den. When you stepped out onto the grass of the outside world.

You took in the view in front of you. There were no bodies, no smoke, no vicious monsters, nor the Clashing of weapons, just the sound of the wind wrestling the grass and the leaves, and the fresh scent of the earth. You knew you'd be asleep for a long time and you were curious to see how much things changed, and, more importantly, you wanted to see him.

Zhongli seemed a little different today Hu tao being as clever and sharp as she was picked up on it almost immediately his dazed off look and it seem that something was on his mind. Well... something was always on his mind, but this time, he was unusually distracted. Gazing out at the people preparing the decorations and stalls for this year's Lantern Rite or becoming uncharacteristically quiet. She wanted to know, but she couldn't just ask. Zhongli would just be irritated and tell her off for being nosy. And besides whatever it was seems serious. Especially since she hadn't heard a word from him since yesterday besides an occasional sigh.

Around this time of year the funeral parlor it's not usually dealing with clients and mostly helping and participating in Lantern Rite. And she was boooored and combined with Zhongli s normal mysteriousness she had to know what was bothering him. Could It Be Love trouble? Judging by his look of longing in his eyes yet head in the clouds. She never thought Grandpa could get it... could it be a girlfriend? A boyfriend?!... maybe she reads too many drama novels.

She couldn't help it knowing some juicy action is around the corner was killing her she had to know! Creeping up behind him and almost startling him with her voice " Soooo Mr. Zhongli, whatcha doing for this year's Lantern Rite?"

Zhongli with that glazed overlooking his eyes just hummed continuing to drink his tea. He remained quiet until, "I'm going to watch it with someone important to me."

Hutao kept the straight face as she screamed with joy on the inside. "ooh~ is it a girlfriend~," she couldn't help it the look of irritation on his face was priceless. But the fact he did not answer the correct made her internally lose her mind. She has to meet this person. She has to meet the love interest of mysterious, smooth, talking, know-it-all Zhongli.

You were fascinated to see how the world had changed. Everything looked so peaceful, so quiet yet teaming with life. The golden leaves of the trees the next Sun casting It Shine over the Waters of Dihua Marsh. Occasionally finding broken down relics of old or traveling humans possibly traveling to and from the nation of the Wind. Instead of the rock where you and your husband had many fond memories in place of it was a building unfamiliar to you. Built over and using the rock as structure. Your heart hurts knowing that an essential piece of your memories when through such change to the fact you almost barely recognized it, but you knew it could not be helped. The memories have gazing out into the stars and holding each other close upon that rock still fresh in your mind as you make your way over to the building in the distance.

It had been a long time but he had not forgotten your face the person he fought alongside and just a few people who helped him ease the pain of his karmatic debt. You are gentle and kind loving yet Stern. You saw the yaksha's as your children as they always come to you with guidance opening up to you at their most vulnerable when a fellow member was lost or to help quell pain of their own debts.

Rex lapis it's not only optimistic about your circumstances but hopeful that you'll one day come back to him he however, the last yaksha who has witnessed his own friends slowly become insane and or die was less bright the moment he watched his Lord how far bring you to your den he knew that was your tomb. So upon hearing your voice and seeing you, it was almost as if you saw a ghost talking to the owner of the end. He appeared right in front of the two startling poor Mrs. Goldet. He thought his eyes are playing tricks on him he had to see get a closer look at the person standing right there in front of him and you who hadn't seen anyone familiar since the day you laid to rest your eyes sparkled as they whined; looking at not only one of the yakshas you loved so dearly but the youngest, and to you, your baby.

"Xiao!" You yelled as the Yaksha braced for impact as you wrapped your arms around him clenching his teeth Xiao felt the embarrassment already rising to his face. You really did have no shame with public displays of affection in front of people. But it was still his Lord's wife even though the Lord he knew no longer existed he'd rather die on the spot then be rude no matter how embarrassing you could be.

"M-my Leige! Please!" Xiao practically begged.

"Another one of your friends?" Mrs. Goldet Asked. She couldn't help with her smile all this time she knew the adeptus he had always been alone but now he surrounded by so many loved ones.

Xiao already in a tough situation stumbling over his words. Just recently he didn't even know you were alive but now here you are holding him again.

You were just happy to see a friendly face for so long. Finally letting go of the Poor Man you turn to the owner's wife "Are you friends with Xiao? He has trouble making friends thank you so much for being there with him!"

Xiao wished the embarrassment would end putting a hand to his face. As the two of you talked like gossiping mothers.

Untill

"now I just need to find Rex Lapis."

His eyes widen. As Mrs. Goldet looks at you with confusion.

"Oh? Did you not know...? Rex lapis is no longer here."

Your smile died the moment she said those words. No longer here, what was she talking about? Your eyebrows furrowed with worry, your heart practically stopped. You wanted to press her with more questions but Xiao had other ideas.

" Lantern Rite." He spoke up, hoping he could steer your attention. " it has been a long time since many people gather in Lyiue Harbor for lanterns. Perhaps you could see old friends again. Are you coming?"

You stayed silent for a moment glancing back at the woman you couldn't help but get the sinking feeling of what she said to you. Even as you had Xiao escort you to the city.

The wangsheng funeral parlor closed early that evening since the night of Lantern Rite drew closer.

Zhongli strolled the streets of Liyue, thinking that a walk might clear his head. However with a certain someone trailing behind him it was going to be very hard to gather his thoughts.

"Mr. Zhongli!" Hu Tao called out. " who's the lucky someone~."

The former archon sighed. He could already feel the migraine coming. "Ms. Hu tao, what are you talking about?"

" Don't play dumb with me, Mr. Ladies Man~ or perhaps Gentelmens man? How could you leave me in the dark like this?!"

Zhongli already had lots of things to worry about he already had things on his mind the director is not someone he wants to be dealing with right now but alas he knows Hu Tao... and he already let it slip something so juicy that she couldn't possibly resist. "Director, I failed to understand why the topic of me spending a holiday with somebody catches your interest."

Hu Tao finally catching up too her coworker rushes ahead of him only to turn around and continue walking with her back facing forward "But it is! Ah, My Zhongli it seems that it was only yesterday when I first hired you and now look at you, a person of your own they grow up so fast..." she said wiping an invisible tear from her eye.

" do they live around here?"

Questions questions... and he knew she wasn't going to stop until she had the information she wanted and he knew that he would only make himself more suspicious if he kept more from her... at the same time....

"er... No not exactly."

"Oh? Are they perhaps visiting? I have to say a person to catch your eye must be someone really special."

Zhongli kept his cool even with Hu Tao on her usual antics.

"yes. I suppose they are special to me anyway. I have not seen them in a long time. So I'm a little on edge."

Aww her poor heart. Peepaw hadn't seen his lover in a long time so he's nervous. She couldn't watch this poor man struggle with his inner thoughts and not lend a helping hand.

" Don't worry, Mr. Zhongli! I will help you get ready for your date tonight!!" She said with a cocky grin.

This did not help to ease his worries.

The city was all but a small town the last time you were here. But now as your shoes clacked against the paved roads and as you look around and all at the tall buildings as you let the Vigilant Yaksha practically pull you through the city. The lights lighting up the night and the bustling atmosphere the happy smiles and everyone's faces. But in the crowd of people you couldn't find your lover. Your heart shakes with anxiety as you feel they might release the lanterns and you might spend another year without him as you slumbering alone for 500 years.

While the two of you were in the city streets unbeknownst to you your lover was closer than you think. In a nearby shop with Hu Tao instead of his usual suit he was wearing something luxurious, yet traditional to Liyue fashion

" director if I may, this seems quite excessive." Zhongi said, making sure he stood still in the clothing. Usually he would be more adamant but his boss did agree to pay for this... even so how serious Hu Tao seem to be was making him worry... Zhongli was about to see his wife after 500 years... so much to say to them. So much time he could have spent. And the thought that plagued him most.

Would she even recognize him?

The Qixing had worked tirelessly tirelessly and made sure everything was in order. Emphasis on the tirelessly . Poor Ganyu who had been slaving away all day and most of the night...

this was unfair! this was Coco goat abuse but sadly, she was far too busy:

She had meetings with the vendors.

She had to check the schedules and be sure that everything will go off on time.

Make sure there are no problems with the lanterns.

Make sure no fishing boats or shipments come in tonight and reschedule them for tomorrow.

Schedule a meeting with Bubu Pharmacy and make sure they were prepared for tonight just in case accidents do happen- her schedule was all but free.

Ganyu wasn't even sure that she'll even see the lanterns herself this year, judging by how big this one will be.

And when she thought she was finally getting a break.

" hey Ganyu!" The scarily Familiar voice calls her name.

Hu tao with Mrs. Zhongli In toe who was a lot more well-dressed than he normally was.

"Ah, Hu Tao..." Ganyu sighed. " I apologize but I'm not sure if I'll have time to hang out tonight-"

" no Ganyu we need your help!" Hu Tao Cut Her Off pulling the sleeve of a very embarrassed looking employee. " they're about to release the lanterns but Zhongli is looking for his wife to reunite with her tonight!" Hu Tao practically shouted spilling everything to the Adepti. Ganyu's eyes widen her heart racing so many questions were in her mind. But asking Hu Tao will have to come later.

"O-oh ok. Mrs. Zhongli! Do you know what they look like?"

Zhongli unable to look her in the eyes answered. " yes I remember her as vividly as I did when I had to say goodbye."

Ganyu and Hu tao's Hearts squeezed at that listening to Zhongli give a description of you. About your charming smile and you're glowing features your gentle soft skin.

Xiao usually spend each Lantern Rite away from the crowd but you had insisted and wanting to find your husband. He stayed close to your side as he tried to find a Faraway yet clear spot to watch as they release the first Lantern they have spent all afternoon in the city looking.

"Are you well?" Xiao asked noticing you're deflated look. You have a lot of conflicting feelings. You knew you could just look for him tomorrow... however you are selfish wanting to spend this year's Lantern right with him even though there could be next year and the year before that-

"I am Xiao... Thank you." You forced yourself to say.

Xiao only recently had somebody in his life that he cared deeply so now he could sympathize with your longing to be with him. " We will find him." He reassured you.

Before you could open your mouth to speak Xiao's eyes darted behind you, those golden eyes widened as you felt a gentle tap on your shoulder.

When you turned it was like the world had stopped. Three people stood behind you but you cared little for the two girls beside the man you were looking at. In his gold and brown traditional clothing and his long hair it was almost as if you fell in love all over again. He was different he was human but you knew.

Zhongli I felt similarly seeing you in the crowd before the girls tugged him you his heartfelt lighter a nervousness he hadn't felt since he first laid his eyes upon you. Almost hesitants filters being but the two girls wouldn't let up practically dragging him toward you.

Silent he approached you. The glow of the lanterns highlighting his features as his eyes shined like Cor lapis. In that moment nothing mattered cheers of the crowd were drowned out the glow of the lanterns were blury as his hand caressed your cheek he whispered

"you're just as beautiful as the day I lost you."

In that moment you remembered what that woman said to you. You are not stupid not once did you believe that the god of contracts and one who withstood many countless battles could be killed so easily. And even so, you realize he is alive here, and real tears flow down your face.

That night, you and him were the only ones who didn't get to watch the lanterns, but you did spend it in each other's arms.

~~

Qi qi slept at night because it was past her bedtime

Caught in the Rain

Fluffvember Day 13: Caught in the Rain. Post 6.0. Agi and Estinien get caught in the rain in Radz-at-Han---their new home. SFW.

“Good evening!” Agnes said, waving goodbye to everyone at Mehryde’s Meyhane with a tipsy Estinien next to her giving a nod and grunt. My husband has his own very unique charm that I love! Once outside the meyhane, she squeezed Estinien’s hand at the aetheryte. “I had a good time, love.”

Placing his hand near the aetheryte, he nodded. “Good, good. But now, sweet girl,” there’s just the smallest hint of a slur in his words. He didn’t drink as much as he usually does. “you and Esme need to rest.” Ah yes, there it is. He’s worried about us. We’re fine, love! We’re fine!

With a pop, the two teleported to Kama.

“Fucking…it’s raining!” Estinien groaned and looked for cover. His wife however…

Agnes threw her hands in the air and spun in the rain.

“A-Agi, what on earth are you doing?!” Estinien’s eyes widened, and he reached for her. “Agi! Get out of the rain! You and Esme will catch your deaths!”

Agnes laughed and continued to twirl, the bottom of her knee-length dress creating a swirl of red. “No, we won’t! Besides, it’s so nice to feel the cool rain! I was so hot while eating supper.” What if I…YES! Grinning, she reached for Estinien’s hand and yanked him into the rain with her.

“Woman!” Her less than amused husband growled. “Now we’re both getting wet!” Before Estinien could say another word, Agnes grabbed his face and pulled it towards her, kissing him soundly. Perfect. Just like in all romance novels Mum and I read. Our very own little romantic moment, caught in the rain…

Agnes did not know how long they kissed, only knowing that they were both panting when it was done. Now blushing, Agnes gently brushed some of his wet bangs out of his eyes. “Hi.”

Estinien barked a laugh. “Hello. Can we please go home now, madam?”

His wife wrinkled her nose and giggled. “Yes, though you look quite handsome as a wet sheepdog, love.”

Rolling his eyes, he chuckled. “Aye, a very wet sheepdog who wants to bloody go inside and cuddle with my wife.” Ooooh he tapped my bum! That means he really means business as opposed to his usual pinch. All of a sudden, red aether swirled around him as he lifted Agnes, who squealed, in his arms. “My lady, we are going home!”

She lightly smacked his shoulder and laughed more. “Go on my grumpy sheepdog dragon, home!”

Birthday Wishes

Summary: Bucky wants to plan the best party ever for his young daughter

 Word Count: 2430

 Square Filled: Free Space

 Pairings: Singledad!Bucky x Female Reader/ Steve x Peggy

 Warnings: None really

 Written for @star-spangled-bingo

Ever since the mother to Bucky’s daughter passed away when she was a baby, he had been totally devoted to her and every year on her birthday, he went all out trying to make it the best one ever.

 About a month ago, Tony’s daughter Morgan had a mermaid themed party; complete with a woman dressed as a mermaid. Bucky’s daughter Rebecca had totally raved about it and with her own birthday coming up, he made a note to take one of the business cards with him.

...

 The moment Bucky walked into the building, he was in awe. The front of the store was full of costumes, dolls, plushies, pirate treasure chests, fairy wings and wands... every kind of fantasy item a child could possibly want and a lot of it looked handmade. Out the back, he could hear squealing and laughter. A party in progress, perhaps?

 “Good afternoon, welcome to Childhood Dreams. How may I help you?” the receptionist asked.

 “Hi. I’m looking to book a party? It’s for my daughter...”

 “I see. Well, before booking a party, you’ll need to make an appointment with Y/N. She likes to customise her parties to the client. She’s currently doing a performance but if you’re happy to wait, she’ll be done soon...”

 “I can wait...”

 “Great. Follow me please...”

 Bucky followed the receptionist into the back. There was a pirate party taking place with all the children dressed up as pirates. There were props and decorations keeping in tone with the theme and an incredible cake. On the stage up the front was the same woman who had played the part of the mermaid at Morgan’s party, this time she was a pirate, enacting a mighty swordfight with another actor. She really put her all into the performance.

 Bucky watched her for a moment before the receptionist pulled him along and guided him to an office along the side. The inside of the office was just as cheerful and childlike as the rest of the place. The desk was lined with small trinkets. Along the walls were various photographs of the woman in different costumes. A princess, a fairy, a friendly witch... there was a costume for every occasion. Bucky was in the middle of admiring them when the door opened and the subject from the photos stepped in.

 “You must be the gentleman wanting a party,” she smiled, taking off her hat and eye patch before sitting at her desk and encouraging him to take a seat. “I’m Y/N.”

 “Yes, that’s right. My name is Bucky and I’m looking to do a birthday party for my daughter Rebecca,” he said, getting his phone out to show her a picture.

 Y/N smiled at the photo of the little girl who was dressed as a princess.

 “Tell me about Rebecca. I take it she’s a princess fan?”

 Bucky’s face lit up as he spoke about his little girl. Everything that she loved about princesses and fairytales, down to her favourite colours, animals and mythical creatures.

 “I’m probably rambling now...”

 “No, no, I think it’s sweet to see a father so dedicated to his daughter. Let me show you a few of our packages,” she smiled.

 Y/N logged into her tablet to show him a few of the princess themed parties they offered. Bucky looked through the options before deciding on a fantasy type one with princesses, wizards and all things in that vein.

 “Will you be having the party here or elsewhere?”

 “I think home would be best... unless... here would be better? I don’t know...”

 “Some children feel more comfortable on home base and some like going out. It’s really up to you. My job is to give your child the best possible experience...”

 Bucky nodded slowly and thought.

 “She might like a party in her own backyard...”

 “That’s totally fine. I’ll need to visit ahead of time just so I can work on a setup. Now, will you be providing your own cake? If not, I can recommend an excellent bakery.”

 “A family friend agreed to make the cake,” Bucky replied.

 Y/N nodded and jotted down a few notes.

 “What about food?”

 “Yes, we’ll be making our own food too.”

 Y/N nodded again and wrote down a few more notes. After agreeing on a price, a date and time to meet, his address and the date of the party, Bucky started heading out the door.

 “One more thing...”

 Bucky turned to look at her.

 “I like to ask our clients how they found out about our business...”

 “A while ago, you threw a mermaid party for a friend of mine’s daughter. Rebecca couldn’t stop talking about it for days after that...”

 Y/N smiled fondly.

 “I see... well, I guess I’ll see you when I come to do my inspection. Goodbye, Bucky.”

 “Bye.”

 As Bucky left the office, he could feel his heart fluttering like it hadn’t done in a long time. Ever since his wife’s passing, Bucky hadn’t even looked at another woman. Well, he had looked but he had always been so busy taking care of Rebecca, he didn’t really have time to be pursuing women. Sure on occasion, he would go on a blind date now and then and Steve would babysit but that would be the extent of it. Bucky thought for sure his dating life was over but talking to Y/N just now... it gave him a lot of hope.

...

 Time went by and eventually the day arrived when you went to meet Bucky at his place. Bucky greeted you at the door with a smile and ushered you inside. Smiling, you looked around the place. Pictures of Bucky’s life lined the walls and shelves. Photos of him with friends but most of them were of his little girl. One thing you noticed was the lack of pictures of the girl’s mother. There were a few of her before having the child but not many after.

 “So, um... what do you need to see?”

 “You mentioned a backyard?” you said, referring back to the interview you had a few days ago.

 Bucky nodded and showed you the way. First, you scoped out the best place to conduct your performance then took out your measuring tape to size up the props you might need. As you worked, Bucky could see the gears turning in your head.

 “Do you go out to different locations a lot?” Bucky asked, trying to strike up a conversation.

 “Not a lot but it’s always fun when we do.”

 “How long have you been in business?”

 “It’s taken me about ten years to get it off the ground. It’s only been gaining popularity in the last year or so...”

 “Wait, so you own Childhood Dreams?”

 “Sure do. You see, I always believed childhood should be about fun and games before going onto the drudgery of adulthood. And I help out local business in the process. Most of the items available for purchase were made by local artists. I’m always willing to lend a hand when they need it. That’s why I ask about food. There’s a small bakery a few blocks from the building we’re located who does the most beautiful cakes...”

 You suddenly were interrupted by something brushing up against your leg. Looking down, you saw the most adorable white cat.

 “Why, hello there. Aren’t you a cutie?” you cooed, bending down to pat the snowy feline.

 “This is Alpine. Rebecca is just crazy about her. She’s been a really big help ever since...” Bucky paused, feeling a lump in his throat and tears well up in his eyes.

 Alpine trotted over to him and purred as he picked her up.

 “Sorry. It’s just... ever since my wife passed when Rebecca was a baby; I’ve wanted to give her the best life possible. I try to give equal amounts of time between her so she can look up to me and work so she has the best things in life...”

 You went over and gave him a hug.

 “You’re a good man, Bucky. I’ve been in this business long enough to tell the devoted parents from the off-standers. Just by spending a few minutes with you, I already know that you love your daughter and think the world of her. Just make sure you spend a few moments taking care of yourself, okay? It doesn’t have to be much, just enough so you feel good too.”

 Bucky gave you a soft smile, knowing that you were right. Everyone had told him as such but sometimes, it’s harder to take advice from the people closest to you.

 “Can I get you anything to drink?” he offered.

 “Actually, I should get going. I’ve got a children’s charity event I need to get ready for. It’s been really nice seeing you again, Bucky. I guess the next time I see you will be for your daughter’s party.”

 “See you then,” Bucky smiled.

 He couldn’t wait for the party.

...

 Finally, the day of Rebecca’s birthday arrived. Bucky had spent the night before busily transforming his humble home into a castle fit for a princess. He wanted everything to be perfect for his little girl’s special day, buying the most glittery, ruffled princess dress for her to wear, complete with a sparkly tiara. Bucky himself hired a prince costume and even managed to obtain a kitty sized dragon costume for Alpine.

 Bucky spent the morning cooking, starting with a plate of pancakes for breakfast before moving onto the finishing touches on the food for the party. He had most of it prepared already but some of it needed heating.

 The first to arrive was Wanda with her twin boys who were both in costume. The boys instantly ran over to play with Rebecca while Wanda was left holding the cake she had made along with her purse and the present she had bought. Bucky rushed over to help her with the items and after exchanging greetings and pleasantries, she showed his the cake.

 It was everything Bucky could have ever hoped for and more. The cake was purple with ice cream cones decorated like castle turrets, topped with little princess and unicorn figurines and the words ‘Happy Birthday, Rebecca’ written in icing along with the age she was turning. Little pink flowers were piped along the sides.

 “Thank you so much, Wanda. Becca’s just going to love it.”

 “You’re welcome,” she smiled, giving him a hug.

 Soon after Wanda’s arrival was Steve and Peggy with their child followed by Tony, Pepper and Morgan, Sam with his kid and it wasn’t long before all the party guests had arrived. The adults all mingled while the children played together happily. Right on time, Y/N arrived with her scene partner in full costume. She was wearing a knight costume while her partner (whom she introduced as Phil) was dressed as an ‘evil’ wizard. Bucky settled the kids in front of the makeshift stage and let the performance begin.

 Y/N started by introducing herself as a knight dedicated to Princess Rebecca.

 “That’s me!” Rebecca squealed in delight, jumping to her feet and clapping.

 Y/N knelt down to be level with her, crossing her right arm over her chest in a salute.

 “I vow to protect you from the evils of the kingdom.”

 Suddenly, Phil jumped out of his hiding place.

 “Mwa-ha-ha! I am an evil wizard and I am here to change all the cakes into broccoli!”

 Bucky thought he was laying it on a little thick but there was a wave of horrified gasps from the kids.

 “Not so fast, evil wizard! We will defeat you! Kids, if I’m going to beat him, I’m going to need your help...”

 Y/N and Phil made an amazing pair. While Y/N encouraged the children and even a few of the parents to join in, Phil played off their reactions until he was ‘defeated’.

 “You win! I will change my evil ways and use my powers for good!” he dramatically cried.

 The children all cheered and clapped. The two actors took a bow and started to pack up as Bucky announced it was time for cake. The kids all raced over to where the cake was being brought out.

 “Would you two like to stay for cake?” Bucky offered.

 Phil looked at Y/N for permission, a hopeful glint in his eye.

 “Sure. We have some time before our next appointment,” she smiled. Phil gave a big, childlike grin.

 Once everyone had sung Happy Birthday to Rebecca and she had blown out the candles, the cake was served out. Steve approached Bucky.

 “Hey, man. How are you doing?”

 “A bit tired but seeing the smile on that little girl’s face makes it all worth it,” he softly sighed.

 Steve followed Bucky’s gaze to where Rebecca was talking animatedly to Y/N. He could tell the smile on her face was genuine and not just for show. This was a person who loved their job and loved children.

 “Is that the same Y/N you’ve been going on about all week?”

 “I haven’t been talking about her that much...”

 Steve gave him an incredulous look.

 “You know, it’s okay to like her. Why don’t you ask her out?”

 “What about Rebecca?”

 “Peggy and I can look after her while you go out on date. You deserve to be happy too...”

 Bucky thought about it for a while and headed over to Y/N and Rebecca.

 “Daddy, daddy! Y/N was the mermaid at Morgan’s party! She’s magical...” Rebecca was absolutely smitten with the woman.

 “I see... Can I talk Y/N alone for a minute? Then you can open presents,” he smiled.

 Rebecca giggled and hugged his leg before running off to play with her friends.

 “She’s a darling,” Y/N warmly smiled.

 “She is... Listen, Y/N... I was wondering... if you’re not busy tomorrow night... if maybe you’d like to have dinner with me...”

 “Like a date?”

 Bucky’s face flushed.

 “I mean, if you want it to be...”

 Y/N kissed his cheek.

 “I’d like that. How about 7:00 at the restaurant around the from the Childhood Dreams building. They do an amazing meal...”

 “Sounds perfect,” he smiled.

 This was one the best days of Bucky’s life. Not only did he pull off the perfect party for his daughter but he took a step back into the dating world with an incredible woman who somehow stole his heart.

Kabal × reader

Flowers for broken hearts

It's an angsty one boys

Ok, just for reference, this is gonna be a really weird timeline, and we're gonna pretend that revenent kabal was revived with Jax, but went straight back to the black dragons, ok? Ok.

Like normal, sexual scenes are implied but not explicit.

TW for violence.

----

You had always loved mornings, but honestly it was only because of the man you woke up next to each day. 

The birds were tweeting softly from outside the window, and you tried to stretch in the warm, early morning sun, only to find out that you were stuck. 

Your fiancé's warm body was curled around you loosely, still asleep. You smiled, he definitely deserved the rest, especially after last night. You snuggled into Kabal's bare chest, breathing in the scented remnants of the awful Axe cologne he still used. 

Kabal hummed at the movement, holding onto you a bit tighter and nuzzling into your hair. 

"Good 'morning, sunshine." He groggily spoke, rubbing your back up and down as you cuddled close to him. That early morning voice of his never failed to make your heart flutter.

"Good morning, handsome." Kabal smiled, kissing your head. You sighed, content in the warm bed. The fuzzy, happy feeling in your chest blooming as you pressed your face into his neck, lightly kissing his smooth skin. You could feel the rumble in his chest as he faintly chuckled, somehow pulling you even closer to him.

"Tryin' to get me going this early in the morning huh? Such a naughty girl…" You gasped, fake offended as you slapped his chest.

"Kabal!"

"What? You and I both know you find me irresistible-" You laughed, covering his mouth with your hand and pressing your forehead to his. 

"Oh, shut up! Stop being such a cocky bastard, or I might just stop kissing you all together!" You could feel his smile from underneath your fingers. Before you knew it he had flipped you over on the bed, your back pressed into the cushion as he leaned over you. His loose, long black hair falling around the two of you like a curtain.

"If that's the case, I guess I'll have to start stealing them from you, Dear~" The bubbling laughter in the room was infectious as Kabal pressed kisses to your forehead, nose, cheeks, eyelids, anywhere where he could get really. The fuzzy feeling bloomed once again, and for a moment you were reminded that this was indeed your happy place. You caught his face in your hands with some effort, and pulled him into a soft kiss. 

Kabal eagerly pressed into you, sliding one of his hands up your arm to gently lace with your own hand. What a wonderful way to wake up.

Unfortunately, the soft moment was cut short as His phone started to ring. Kabal broke this kiss for a moment, and heavily sighed. Pressing one last quick kiss to your lips before getting out of bed. You frown at the loss of contact, but didn't refrain from ogling his butt as he stood. 

"My eyes are up here, Babe." Kabal jokes, not even turning back to look at you as he picks up his phone, opening his dresser in the process and grabbing some pants.

"Stryker, whatcha got for me?" It felt like your heart sunk into your stomach upon hearing the name. It was supposed to be Kabal's off-day! The whole reason the two of you had moved to the country just outside of New York City was so Stryker would stop calling kabal into duty so randomly.

You knew how important this job was to Kabal, so you never protested when he did leave. You put up with him during the awful, random merc jobs that he had while working with the black dragon. You couldn't be mad at him for working an extra shift for the station every once in a while.

At least you don't have to worry about that Kano asshole and the black dragon showing up unannounced. You thought. At least there's that.

Kabal let out another heavy sigh as he hung up the phone, running around the room to gather his things in a hurry. He looked worried.

"Is everything alright?" Kabal shook his head as he threw a shirt on. Rushing over to press a kiss to your head.

"Something weird is going on in the city. He mentioned something about Outworld fusing with earthrealm… or something like that. Said I needed to get my ass over there right away." Kabal cupped your face in his hand, running his thumb along your cheekbones in a soothing manner as you frowned.

"Just come back in one piece, ok?" You tried not to let your voice waver as you spoke. Kabal chuckled, leaning down to give you a hug.

"I'll do my best, sweetheart." Your chest tightened as he let go of you to rush out the door.

"I love you." He turned around with a bright smile on his face.

"I love you too." And just like that, he was gone.

It kinda felt like he took your heart with him.

It's been a long time since Kabal walked out on you. It's been rough. The tears, the heartbreak. He hadn't contacted you. No voice-mail, no messages, nothing. You had started to wish that Stryker hadn't even told you that he was alive. But he did. And now all that's left to do is get over him.

That wasn't quite as easy as you thought it would be. 

"Hey kabal, I'm just...calling to check in on you. Call me back soon, alright?"

"It's me again. I know I've been calling your work phone a lot, but I'm really worried."

"Could you please, just- just pick up the phone? Just once? I miss you."

"Our wedding date is- was supposed to be next week. I...I won't be mad if you come back this late… just please, come home."

"It's… *hic* it's me again um… we um… went out tonight. They told me to give it a rest. Heh, but I know this line's still active! Stryker *hic* told me so. He wouldn't lie right?"

"..."

"I'm going to stop calling this phone soon. If you can hear this...I… *sigh* nevermind. This is useless. I'm sorry."

----

After Kabal left, you saved your money and quit your job. Turning the land around your home into a flower farm, you had already lost so much, why not give back to yourself? Your favorite hobby became your favorite job, and soon enough you had made enough money to build a little shop on the property just a little closer to the road. And my oh my, was business booming.

"Hey Mrs.Cameron! How've you been?" Mrs. Lissy Cameron and her wife were once your wedding planners, and then they became your #1 customers when you opened up shop. She smiled at you, and you carefully took the premade bouquet of flowers from her to ring it up on the register. 

"I've been wonderful! Sarah's been asking to come here all week, so I figured we might as well stop by on our way back home." Her wife scoffed, playfully swatting at her.

"Please, we both wanted to drop by. Lissy has been obsessed with your hyacinth bouquets since you did the floral arrangements for Janet's wedding." You giggled sweetly, telling them their total and carefully bagging their flowers. When you looked up to take Lissy's card however, the two of them looked worried.

"Is everything ok?" Sarah sighed at the question, reaching out to take your left hand. Your chest started to squeeze up. 

"You're wearing it again." You solemnly looked down at the ring on your finger. Letting out a curt, sad laugh. You hadn't noticed that you had put it on this morning. You were kinda on autopilot when you woke up after sleeping through your alarm, and had to rush to open up shop. It must've been simply out of habit. It had taken a while to stop wearing it, as it partly carried the hope that he would be back. But he wouldn't be, and you knew that. But every once in a while… 

"I hadn't even realized. Thanks for letting me know." They gave you a pitiful look as you slipped the ring off your finger and set it next to the register. Lissy gave you a soft smile when you finished ringing them up. 

"Hey, Sarah and I were going to get drinks tonight with a few friends. You could tag along if you'd like? I'm sure you'll meet some interesting people." Lissy wiggled her eyebrows at you, and you laughed when Sarah slapped her arm for it. Sarah turned and gave you a soft look.

"You don't have to Honey," She paused. "But it might be good for you to get out of the shop sometime. We barely even see you outside this place." You tried your best to smile at them, but it came out sorta lopsided.

"I'll think about it." Lissy gave your hand a reassuring pat, taking the flowers and waving goodbye as she and Sarah went out the door.

"Take it easy!" You smiled sadly at the words. 

"I'll try." 

----

Today had been the busiest day you've had in a while, but it felt worth it in the end as you closed up shop. The setting sun casting a warm glow through the many windows. Creating a perfect, calm setting to close everything up. You tidied the flowers that were left over from the day, replaced the water in the vases, even swept. 

You had gone out and turned on the sprinklers for the bushes and blooms outside, coming back inside to mop before you had to run back out again to turn it off and finally, finally turn in for the night. 

The water sloshed around as you set the bucket down to start mopping near the counter. When you stood, your eyes caught on the ring again. 

That stupid, beautiful, ring that never failed to put a damper on you mood. You slowly staggered toward it, gently picking it up in your hands to examine it.

It had always been the most beautiful piece of jewelry you owned, it was a shame that it wasn't used for some other couple. Preferably one that actually worked out in the end. As you traced the outline of it you started to wonder where Kabal was right now. Was he ok? Was he married so soon? Did he have kids? Or maybe he was just dead. You didn't know which one hurt worse.

You sighed. You couldn't keep doing this. You couldn't keep finding it, and thinking about him, and bringing the pain all back to the surface again. You just couldn't. You set the ring back down. Maybe you should take Lissy's offer up. Drink your woes away.

A noise caught your attention, kicking you out of your thoughts. A clay pot rolled across the floor as you looked up.

"Hello?" You called out. No response. You slowly grabbed the bat you kept underneath your counter, and started to creep over to the other end of the shop, walking through the giant, open doorway that separated the sunroom, where the flowers are kept, from the shop.

There didn't appear to be anyone there when you got over that way, and you sighed, relaxing for a second. You leaned down to pick up the pot.

"Gotcha!" Suddenly a pair of arms forcibly wrapped around you. You screamed, and one of the arms suddenly moved from your waist and clutched your throat.

"Keep it down, or I'll fucking kill you." Still panicked, you managed to wrench an arm out of the man's grip and sharply elbow him in the side. He groaned in pain, and the split second he loosened his grip was enough for you to break from his hold and slam the pot down in his head.

He yelped in pain this time. Holding his now bleeding head. You held the bat in both hands now, ready to swing again. 

"Get out of my shop! NOW!" You barked at him. He chuckled in a creepy, unhinged way. Smiling up at you with disgusting yellow teeth and spitting on the floor.

"I'll be damned if any of Kano's bitches tell me what to do!" You couldn't even process the words before he lunged at you again, you tried to dodge swiftly. Unfortunately, he was still able to grab one end of the bat. He used it to yank you closer and knock you to the ground. You desperately tried to push him off as he wrapped his cold, dirty hands around your throat, pushing all of his body weight there. 

You tried to kick at him, but he wouldn't budge. Your nails clawed deep into the skin of his wrist, and even lashing out at his face had no effect. Your eyes started to get teary as you struggled to breath. 

All you could feel was a rush of wind, and the man had been knocked off of you. He was launched into one of your tables of flowers, breaking it in half as he landed. You coughed, gasping for air. Thankful that you could breathe again. You felt so sore, but you still sat up, baffled by the events. 

A new man was standing in between you and the attacker. He was clothed head to toe in frightening, thick gear, fists clenched. You wouldn't have known who it was. Especially not with the mask on his face, but when your eyes settled on the hook swords on his back… 

It couldn't be… 

A scream interrupted your thoughts. The new man holding your attacker up by his neck. He was screaming for forgiveness, for a chance to run. You stood, and the masked man stiffened, dropping the other into the mess once again.

"You've got two minutes to run." The attacker didn't even spare a glance at you before trying to bolt out the front door, slamming into it hard before frantically popping the lock open.

The masked man hadn't looked at you, but you, however, couldn't take your eyes off of him. He started to walk away when you called out for him.

"Kabal?" Your voice broke. He didn't turn back. He kept walking. Fury started to build up in your chest. You stormed over to him, grabbing him by the sheaths on his back. 

"Where do you think you're going?! You come back for two fucking seconds and plan to leave just like that? Without an explanation? Fuck you!" Tears were running down your face now. He stops in his tracks, but doesn't turn around. He calls your name. 

"That guy's gotta grudge against the black dragons-understandably. 'Managed to hack into some old files. He's been hunting down family and friends and killing them on the spot. Had a few 'mercs quit on us Kano gave me the order to kill him." He pauses. "That's the only reason I came back." You didn't flinch at the info that he was back with the dragons, but It felt like your heart shattered a second time when he spoke the last few words. This fucking asshole. you refused to back down. 

"You know that's not the explanation I'm asking for." He didn't respond. But he didn't move either. You stepped in front of him. Looking straight into the eyes of his mask. Tears were still streaming down your face, your hands were shaking, you were so fucking mad, and sad, and destroyed. You almost wished he had been dead. 

"Kabal. Where. The. Fuck. have you been." He sighed, and you couldn't tell if he was making eye contact- or even trying to, through his mask.

"Don't worry about it." You were clenching your hands so hard your nails started to bite into the skin of your palm.

"I swear to God, Kabal. You fucking left me without so much as a note. You're going to tell me why!" 

"I don't have to tell you anything." He pushed past you forcefully, making his way to the door. For a moment you just stood there in shock. What was wrong with him?!

"Excuse me?!" He sighed, walking over to your counter.

"I'm not doing this with you today." You were bubbling with rage, not able to even swallow your sobs. Kabal had stopped at the register, frozen for a moment, and you took that chance to reach out and grab him by the shoulder, forcibly turning him around.

"In case you fucking forgot, our wedding was supposed to be two months after you disappeared on me. Do you know how much that Fucking hurt?! Do you have any idea how much it hurts now, you piece of shit! God just- at least just TELL me why!" Kabal stiffened, and you knew he was starting to become angry. Or maybe he was sad. You couldn't tell. No one spoke for a long moment as you tried to wait for him to respond. He didn't. 

Your watery, angry eyes were glaring at him, and he watched as you walked behind the counter. In a moment of uncontrollable anger, you snatched the ring up and forced it into his hands. His shoulders slumped immediately when he realized what it was.

"Get the fuck out of my shop." Your hands were shaking, your face was still flushed, eyes red from the tears, but you didn't look away from him. He started to call your name, but you interrupted him.

"GET OUT!" Your voice had gone hoarse. Kabal didn't budge. Slowly, very slowly, he reached up to his mask. As he took it off. Your guarded expression immediately faltered.

His face was horribly scarred. You sucked in a breath from pure horror for a second. Burn scars all over his face. You looked at his hands, his neck. He was scarred everywhere. His face twisted in disgust as he analyzed your face.

"You really wanted to know that bad, huh? I left you because I already knew what you would think, what you would say if I came home to you like this." You were almost in shock, tears running down once again as you gently reached over the counter to touch Kabal's face. He flinched for a moment, but let you touch him. 

"What happened?" Your voice shook, horror evident on your face. His face fell for a moment as you touched him, so terribly gently. He hard look in his eye softened.

"What does it matter? I'm horrific." You let out a sad, snarky laugh. Cupping his face with both your hands, caressing his cheekbones just as gently as he did yours the morning he left.

"Don't you remember the night you proposed?" He sucked in a breath, and your hands gently pushed his short hair out of his face before you reeled yourself in. You wouldn't touch him like this. It didn't matter why he left you, he still did it. But even then, your heart ached for him. Damn, you needed to see a therapist.

"I had quit the black dragon. I was asking what you thought of me joining the NYPD." 

"And?" Your voice broke as you struggled to maintain a strict tone.

"...and?" You nodded tearfully, sniffling from all the crying. Kabal kept going. "We talked about my tendency to join violent fields. I… I had asked you if you'd still love me if I came home with bruises every night, just like I had used to." His face started to shift. You already knew he remembered what you were about to say. That flicker of anger started up in your chest as you spoke bitter words.

"I told you that I'd love you no matter how many scars, or bullet holes, or bruises you came home with, as long as you were coming home." Kabal's realization left a devastated look on his face, and no matter how bitter you felt, you couldn't help but reach for his hand. He held your hand back limply.

"...I kinda fucked that one up. Didn't I?" You laughed, a pitiful, angry noise.

"You did." You stopped for a moment. "You did." You felt numb as the words fell into a whisper.

"-But no matter how fucking angry I am, I don't think that statement ever changed, Kabal." He ran his thumbs over your knuckles, avoiding eye contact with you by looking down at them.

"... You'd really still love me after all this? After all the scars, all the time…" You pressed your lips into a line, sighing before squeezing his hand. His eyes started to water as your own began to dry.

"I..." It was difficult to say this. It really was. But you wanted him back. You really did. You wanted to give him that second chance. You wanted those sleepy mornings and the pillow talk and the awful food he cooks. You missed him so fucking much.

"It's gonna take a while, and certainly some couple's therapy, but Kabal…" You held his cheek again, lifting his head to look at you. You looked into his eyes and bit back what you were originally going to say. Letting out a pitiful laugh at yourself before doing your best to wipe that look from his face. You didn't owe him anything, but you saw an opportunity and took it.

"... I wouldn't mind seeing that ass in the morning again." Kabal was taken off guard for a moment, and you felt triumphant. He erupted in wonderful, happy laughter. Pulling you close from across the counter and kissing your forehead.

"How could I say no to that?"

.

.

.

"Kabal, weren't you supposed to take care of that one guy?" 

"Shit."

♤| dragon ball shapeshifter au

storyline rundown

part two

tw: profanity !! a bit of gore and such

the story begins on kakarot's farm! he lives with his parents, bardock and gine, and his brother raditz.

kakarot takes his produce to the market to sell, talking to krillin who is a police officer watching over in case of robbery or stolen goods, with his wife 18 and his daughter marron.

he hangs out there and sells all his produce, making a whopping amount of money to give back to his mother to go towards their farm. so thats what he does.

later that night, raditz barged in through the door, huffing loudly and covered in purple blood. it had a reddish tint. gine and bardock jump to their feet, bardock still in his training gi and gine in her white shirt and some sweatpants. "raditz!? what happened?" bardock exclaimed, gine following up with "why are you covered in... purple blood!?" this caused kakarot to come out of his room in a rush, "h-h-holy s-shit! i didnt kill anyone i swear mom, mom, dad please, i wouldn't do that!" raditz panicked. "s-something tried to attack me! i didnt know what to do so i attacked back!!" he tries to wipe the blood off, it being on his face.

whatever happened, scared raditz enough to make him shake in fear and what seems to be regret despite it being to protect himself.

kakarot however, still was unsure what happened. his father said he would explain in the morning, the situation was too dire for kakarot to get involved - especially with the police.

in town, vegeta covered his bloodied chest, panting as he hid deep in an alleyway. "goddammit," he huffs, slicking his hair back to keep the human bangs out of his face. hes got a huge gash across his chest, thanks to that damned raditz he happened to work with. luckily, he was morphed into some other alien lifeform and not his original shift state. he slowly morphed into a bird, a finch, and flew off to him apartment. he always kept his window cracked just in case this were to happen. just his luck, we wont be able to eat and to heal he needs that energy for food or else hell be out asleep for awhile.

he decides calling off work, so thats what he does. what he doesnt expect is a man with a thick ass fucking tail and slicked back purple hair and red eyes to be reading a book, lounging like a king on his bed. "f... frieza!?" vegeta says, startled.

"ah hello my creation! lovely seeing you here, dont you think?" he throws the book off to the side, getting up and striding over to the bloodied vegeta. "aw looks like you got a paper cut." he jabs a finger into vegetas cut across his chest. vegeta groans in pain, a tentacle whipping around to hit frieza away into a safer distance, but the icejin blocks smoothly with his muscled tail.

from here:

wow!! you found out vegeta is a "creation" of friezas, but what exactly does that mean?

raditz gets taken in for questioning. he gets blamed for a murder that happened on the otherside of town, the law system being dumb sentenced him to 25 years in prision for a murder he didnt do

kakarot is confused, bardock telling him there arent any alien threats and it was a misunderstanding on the jury and judge's parts bc raditz was getting mugged and a murder far away happened at roughly the same time, and they were desperate to throw someone into jail.

this is a lie, to some extent. kakarot believes it, living happily thinking there are no threats

vegeta attacked raditz, needing food. shapeshifters need to eat hearts and lungs of animals as food

raditz is the one who cut him across the chest (thatd why he has a scar on his chest in the ref sheet)

kakarot has to bring crops and milk into a market farther into town sometime in the next week, it being an event ran by capsule corp, a company that produces a lot of housing and vehicles and being in business for 40 years being the anniversary that day.

vegeta is a mechanical manager, wearing fancy clothing that day since its technically a high spot in the ranks for capsule corp.

vegeta likes milk, surprisingly. it helps a lot when recovering damage, especially his species. this is when he meets kakarot

kakarot is running his stand with the crates of crops and glass jars of milk set out on display with their price, krillin with him

vegeta is annoyed he has to speak up to get the seller's attention so he grunts with an "ahem"

kakarot jumps, apologizing and asking what he wants to buy. vegeta gets his milk and some vegetables for someone he knows

"hey, whats with the fancy suit?"

"you dont know who i am?"

"no. should i?"

"i-? im vegeta! im manager of the mechanics in capsule corp!"

"oh. is the job hard?"

they conversate, as kakarot sells his produce happily listening as he was able to get the short man with a temper to talk about his job.

vegeta himself was caught off guard by this action but happily talks

this ends in kakarot running behing the stand's curtain and grabbing his business card so vegeta can have a discount on milk next time he decides to buy

vegeta takes the card walking off

the card has kakarots name and number on the back, a message saying "text me personally if you want extra, i dont mind taking some. you seem cool!"

vegeta is a bit ticked, but pockets the card

over time, vegeta and kakarot talk over text a bit, kakarot delivering him milk like an old time milk delivery boy

turns out he actually used to be one as a kid

turns out hes been into marial arts as well, a long time interest of vegetas

they bond over this, kakarot find himself growing a crush on vegeta

one time kakarot stops buy with a delivery unannounced, not knowing he typed the text but didnt send it. he knocks on vegetas apartment door, but no answer.

he checks to see if its unlocked, and it is so he lets himself in, just wanting to put the delivery on the counter and head out.

he doesnt expect to turn around and see a vegeta with a towel wrapped around his waist, tentacles coming out of his back, green eyes, and sharp ears, teeth, and claws. "K-KAKAROT!? WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?" he yells, surprised. he doesn't have bangs either

"why do you have tentacles?? why do you look different? why do you have that scar?"

vegeta is caught off guard, not sure if he should push kakarot out or tell him the truth. one way or another he knows the truth will spread, so he carefully debates his options

he tells kakarot the truth, hes a shapeshifter and hes insanely dangerous

kakarot is surprised dangerous aliens exist

he tells vegeta this, and deep down vegeta is mad kakarot is sheltered

little do they know as they conversate and bond, growing closer to each other kakarot finds out vegeta made a vow not to ever get in a relationship no matter how much he envied them, especially a human relationship, a certain someone is watching them and listening in, theyre keeping tabs on vegetas and kakarots feelings

trust issues amirite?

later that night, kakarot says his goodbye heading home, heart pounding. wow!!!! vegeta is... great. very great. kinda cute too, i mean what!?? no!!

kakarot rants to himself aloud in his room, window open to keep himself cool, about vegeta as he debates his feelings. he doesnt care if this seems out of character in his friends terms, all they see from him anyway is a dense fightcrazed guy with a dysfunctional relationship with an ex and his son. he realized vegeta doesnt see him like that, but, what DOES vegeta see him as?

he calls it a night

he wakes up to a "thwap, thwap, thwap" against his wooden floor

he sits up, looking around and seeing a short figure sitting at his desk.

"whos there?"

"ah, youre awake monkey! i have valuable information for you, about your lovely vegeta." the voice is squeaky

"and, who is telling me this?" kakarots interest is piqued, not seeing the mysterious figure as a threat, as of now at least

"oh-hohoho! im dr. cold! but please, call me frieza. doctor cold is my father's name."

"and what do you have to tell me about vegeta?"

"mmm, are you sure you want to know?" he gets up, beginning to pace

"theres a catch isnt there" kakarot realizes, serious

"oh! maybe you arent so dense afterall. yes, there iss monkey. its simple, deliever some of your left over crop to my facility tomorrow, i already left the address on a paper over on that... pitiful little desk of yours." frieza pauses. "vegeta will kill you if you arent careful. hes hungry, and he wants that heart. but... i think the poor creation wants it in more than one way. kill him before he kills you."

frieza hands kakarot a box cutter

"thats the only thing that will kill him. if you dont do it i expect that delivery tomorrow by midnight. if you dont show, and theres no news of him being dead, youll be a brilliant collection to my creations, monkey!" the man laughs in joy, clasping his hands together as his red eyes pierce through kakarot

kakarot reluctantly agrees, unsure how this will play out

PART TWO WILL BE MADE SOON!!!

anyway heres the part 1 of the rundown.

I’m so pumped to see the ficlets you decide to write!

Not to start OFF will Hill House right off the bat but...Nell says Shirley almost always picked up the phone for her in the past—would you consider writing one of those conversations where Shirley actually DID help Nell?

(We don’t get a lot of it in the show but Shirley’s relationship with Nell is kind of the one I relate the most to out of all of the siblings and so it’s always the one I wonder about the most)

The phone is ringing again.

The phone, it seems to Shirley Crain, never quite stops ringing these days. It’s Steven with excuses, or Theo to say she’ll be working late; it’s the rehab center with updates that make Shirley tired, or Dad trying to patch something too long broken to even find all the pieces. It’s people, mostly, strangers Shirley doesn’t know and can’t help letting in anyway--people who are aching with loss, adrift in their own shock, saying, “I don’t have much, but I want to do right by her--is this enough? Do you have packages that could...”

The phone is ringing, and Shirley is exhausted. A fifteen-hour shift, a headache that seems only to swell when she baits it with aspirin and cold water, a creeping guilt that never entirely fades when she catches sight her own reflection. 

It’s ringing. Still. Always. She closes her eyes, taps her fingers against the back of the phone case. Flips it over. 

Nell.

Of course. 

Shirley has never much believed in sixth sense magic--in Theo’s furtive need for gloves, or Nell and Luke with their “twin thing”, or Dad’s peculiar brand of talking to shadows--but she always seems able to tell when the call is coming from her youngest sister. There’s an extra vibrato in the ringtone, somehow, when Nell is calling. An extra tremble in Shirley’s hand as she lets her finger hover over the accept button.

Oh, might as well. Nell will only call again in an hour, or two days, or next week. Might as well see what’s on her mind.

“Hello?”

“Sorry,” Nell says instantly. “Sorry, it’s late.”

Shirley’s eyes slide to the computer monitor, to the white numbers announcing an accusatory 9:07. Shit. It is. “Honestly, I hadn’t even noticed.”

“Oh.” A beat. Nell had clearly been prepared for sharp words, had clearly been ready to shield herself in endless apologies until Shirley came back to a level she could approach. Am I like that? Shirley wonders with a wince. Do they need armor to make this call? 

“What’s up, Nellie?” Too casual. Too smooth. She sounds like she’s trying to play Theo’s role, all cool eyes and darting snark. “I’m--it’s good to hear your voice.”

It is. She misses Nell more than she truly knows what to do with--misses Nell’s easy smile, the way she leans forward into a conversation with hands clasped between her knees, the furtive little looks she sends across the room to whichever sibling is making the most sense that day. Nell’s choice to move across the country had been reasonable--at least to Nell--but to Shirley, it had felt like one more battle lost. One more sibling stepping over the line to Steve’s way of thinking. 

“Nell?” She thinks for a minute the line has gone dead, that Nell has abandoned whatever worried twitch sent her hand skittering for Shirley’s name in her contact list. “Are you...”

“Sorry,” Nell repeats. “Sorry, I had--it was a weird day. Do you have those? The ones where you just...really need to hear someone’s voice?”

Someone stable, she doesn’t say. Someone who isn’t hiding out in a nightclub, or warding off the urge for a needle, or pinning all the family trauma to a butterfly board with the biggest, sharpest knives he can find.

“Bad dreams again?” Shirley asks, and Nell exhales. Laughs. It’s shaky, that laugh--it sounds like Mom did, near the end of that summer, when she’d been all dressing gowns and pounding headaches. Shirley closes her eyes.

“No. I mean, yes. Yes, I guess. Always. But no. I think I just...you remember movie nights? I miss movie nights.”

Nell, always going back. Nell, always finding little ways to dig up the past. Sometimes, it’s like this: mundane, sweet, nostalgic. Sometimes, it’s harder to stomach. Shirley is grateful she's having this sort of night, the kind steeped in monotony. 

“What movie would you watch, if you could?” she asks. She leans back in her chair, lets her muscles slacken, lets Nell’s surprised giggle drag her over the line from exhausted mother, wife, businesswoman to sister. 

“This is stupid--I can never remember the name of it--the one that used to scare the pants off Luke? You remember?”

“Going to need to be much more specific than that,” Shirley says, smiling. Luke hadn’t found a movie he couldn’t run screaming from until he was almost twelve years old, and even then, it had been a matter of stiff upper lip above actual courage. 

“The one with the sea monster,” Nell says. “And the guy--the kid from those hockey movies--”

“Magic in the Water,” Shirley intones, remembering all at once a mock sleepover in Aunt Janet’s living room, sleeping bags spread across the floor. Theo, pretending she was too old to care about a baby movie; Luke, pretending he was too old to flip out whenever the screen got even remotely dark. 

“And Luke hated it so much, she agreed to switch movies halfway through,” Nell goes on. “And she put on--”

“The fucking NeverEnding Story,” Shirley finishes, laughing despite herself. 

“Luke just screaming when the luck-dragon shows up for the first time,” Nell says fondly. “And I’m trying to remind him that’s a good guy. That’s a good thing to have turning up. And Luke just goes--”

“Why,” Shirley recalls, “would you want a dragon in your house?” She waits for Nell’s giggles to die down, for Nell’s breath on the other end of the line to level out again. “So, which one would you put on right now?”

“Easy,” Nell says simply. “The Secret Garden.”

It’s so out of left field, so perfectly Nell that Shirley bursts into laughter again. She can hear Nell grinning, can picture her perfectly: dark hair curtaining a hopeful face, eyes bright as she leans across her table or into the comfort of her couch. Nell no-longer-Crain, with a ring on her finger and a house she’s made into a home miles and miles away from anything Shirley can touch. 

“I miss you, Nellie,” she says, shutting her eyes against a surprising well of emotion. “I really do.”

“Come out,” Nell says. “Next time you get a break, fly out and stay with us. Arthur would love to see you.”

Next time you get a break. Nell, dreaming again. Nell, believing with her whole heart that life is simple enough to allow for breaks, for impulse flights, for sisterly bonding time just because it’s needed. 

“You’re okay?” Shirley says, sidestepping the invitation for now. “You’re doing all right with all that sunshine?”

“Sure,” says Nell without missing a beat. Shirley imagines her smile dipping, the tension drawing back into her shoulders as she hunches smaller in her seat. “Sure. It’s great.”

It’s great, Shirley. I’m great, Shirley. I only call because my head is ringing with monsters too big to shut out even after twenty-odd years, Shirley. 

She isn’t Mom, Shirley thinks. She isn’t Mom, muttering to empty rooms, or Dad, all vacancies and no space to rent. She’s just Nell: a heart laid open, beating too hard, waiting for someone to patch her up again. And if that never happens? If no one ever learns quite how to stitch her shut?

She has Arthur, Shirley thinks, and there’s relief in the idea. Arthur and Nell, a closed circuit. Two people with all they could need in one house. Maybe there will be kids someday, or maybe they’ll sweep in at Christmas with expensive gifts and wild laughter, and it’ll all be--it’ll all just be--

Great, Shirley. I’m great. 

She hangs up gently on Nell’s soft goodbye, and wonders why it doesn’t quite feel like Nell was telling her the truth. 

Teddy Wants a Treehouse

(Or, the one where Harry has a minor bout of jealousy.)

When Andromeda Tonks asked Harry and Ginny Potter to watch 4-year-old Teddy for a week, the Potters accepted without hesitation. Andromeda had been playing a tug-of-war-like game with her last living sister, working to discover if Narcissa Malfoy still had traces of the person she had once known. It was decided—after a year of awkward silences, long-forgotten happy memories, and melancholy rememberings of what had been—that the two sisters would take a holiday. Maybe after being away from everything, they could find out one way or another.

At least, she hoped.

While she knew that her surrogate family would not become close friends of the Malfoys if she and Cissy were able to rebuild their relationship, they had respected her desire to try to work things out. It was decided that Ginny would watch Teddy during the days she wasn't in training, and on the days she had to travel to Holyhead, Harry would take Teddy to the childcare wing of the Ministry. Teddy had been before on just a handful of occasions but seemed to love it each time. 

Andromeda told Teddy of the arrangement a few days before she was due to leave for Italy, and he was ecstatic.

"I's gets to stay with Harry' n Ginny for a whole week?" He had asked excitedly in the middle of breakfast. Porridge smeared across his mouth, small clumps taking residence in between strands of shockingly turquoise hair.

He was as messy an eater as his mother had been clumsy. It brought a sad smile to Andromeda's face to think about it.

When Harry and Ginny came to pick Teddy up for the week, Andromeda couldn't tell whether godfather or godson was more excited.

Ginny had no trouble stating that it was Harry.

And as Harry looked up from blowing a raspberry on Teddy's stomach, the little boy still squealing with laughter, the look on the man's face proved that his wife was most definitely correct.

But neither Andromeda, Ginny, nor Harry expected Teddy to come down with dragon pox just two days into the week. Andromeda offered to come back early, but Harry promptly refused. He almost never took days off from work and had plenty of leave accrued to stay home with Teddy. Andromeda looked skeptical during their conversation over the Floo, but Harry assured her that if he could defeat dark wizards and live through three different killing curses, he could take care of his sick godson.

He'd call over to the Burrow and have Molly help, at the very least.

"Really, Andy, we'll be fine. Enjoy your time in Italy. Everything will be fine when you get back." Harry said. His knees were beginning to ache from having to crouch down by the fireplace. Reluctantly, and with many quickly given tips for treating dragon pox and reminders about what Teddy liked and disliked, Andromeda ended the connection. Harry stood up, rubbing his knees.

"Well, Ted, it isn't the week we had planned, but let's make the most of it, shall we?"

Teddy looked up from his place on the hearth rug and began to try scratching his irritated skin, foiled by the scratch-proof gloves he had been forced to wear.

"Itchy." Teddy said grumpily.

Harry managed to get an appointment at St. Mungo's that afternoon. Harry was happy to discover that while Teddy would be a little lethargic for the next couple of days, he would be back to his usual self and ready for all the things Harry had wanted to do before the week was up. The Healer gave Teddy a salve for the irritated skin, a potion to knock the dragon pox out altogether, and a lolly for his troubles. She also had the decency not to laugh when Harry took one as well.

Not an hour after Harry and Teddy returned to the house on the outskirts of Godric's Hollow, Molly Weasley arrived with an arsenal of sickness-beating supplies—enough soup to last a week, a salve she decided was much more effective than whatever rubbish they were passing out at St. Mungo's, and a fresh set of gloves for little hands that still tried to scratch at the pockmarks.

"Mrs. Weasley, I'm green! And itchy!" Teddy said as Molly bustled into the kitchen.        

"Well indeed, you are!" Molly replied as she poured bowls of soup for him and Harry. "But not to worry dear, we'll have you right as rain in no time. Eat up! You'll need your energy. You too, Harry, dear. You're looking quite thin. A good wind might blow you away."

Harry knew better than to waste his time protesting Molly taking care of the two of them, and after one sniff of the soup, he joined in with Teddy, eating hungrily.

"Thanks for bringing us soup, Molly. I really appreciate it. I was thinking that I'd have to order takeaway this evening."

Molly looked scandalized at the thought of a sick toddler eating takeaway. "Nonsense! I'll be sure to bring some more soup over tomorrow. It will make this little one start feeling a little more like himself." She gave Teddy a pat on the head and set the dishes to washing themselves with her wand.

Molly sat with Harry and Teddy at the dinner table for a while, going into exaggerated raptures as Teddy demonstrated his abilities to write his letters and numbers.

"How smart you are, Teddy! You'll be at Hogwarts before we know it."

Teddy looked at once proud and mildly embarrassed at the statement and looked to Harry for further approval. Harry smiled and ruffled Teddy's hair. After the dishes had been washed and dried, and the kitchen looked a bit cleaner than it had when Molly had arrived (though quickly she denied any additional spellwork and proceeded to change the subject), Molly stood to leave.

"Well, I must be off." She said as she double-checked her basket to make sure she had everything. "Arthur will be home soon, and I'll need to get dinner ready. Feel better, dear." Molly kissed Teddy on the top of his head and turned to hug Harry goodbye.

"I'll be around tomorrow to check on the both of you." She said as she grabbed a handful of Floo Powder.

"Thanks again for the soup, Molly. Teddy, what do you say?"

Teddy's little green face looked from Harry to Molly and then to the fireplace. "I want to go wif you to the Burrow! Can I?"

Neither Harry nor Molly had expected that response. A little surprised, Molly looked to Harry and saw him attempt to hide the slightly crestfallen look that passed over his face. Trying to avoid letting Harry know that she had seen it, she bent down to get a little closer to Teddy's eye level.

"You want to go to the Burrow with me?" Teddy nodded eagerly. "Well, Teddy, you know you're always welcome, but Victoire won't be there." She said, thinking that Teddy must have been missing his playmate. At this, Harry squatted down and placed a hand on Teddy's back.

"Is that why you want to go to the Burrow, Ted? You want to play with Vic?"

"I want to go see the treehouse. Harry doesn't have one." Teddy said matter of factly. Harry and Molly looked outside the sitting room window. There were several trees on the property, but as Teddy had mentioned, none of them held a treehouse.

"I don't, do I?" Harry rubbed Teddy's back, mulling things over in his head. "Molly, do you mind if Teddy and I come over and camp out in the treehouse today?"

Teddy gasped with excitement and threw his little arms around Harry's neck before looking back at Molly. "Please, Mrs. Weasley!"

Molly laughed. "Of course, you can. Arthur would love to see you both. How does treacle tart sound for pudding?"

"Excellent." Harry and Teddy replied. Molly chuckled to herself and straightened back up.

After Molly disappeared into the fireplace, Harry stood up and looked around. "Well, Ted, we'd better pack some things up for us to take to the Burrow. Go grab a few things, and I'll send a note to Ginny."

A few hours later, Harry and Teddy were sitting in the treehouse on a pallet of sleeping bags and pillows, reading the latest issue of Martin Migs the Mad Muggle. Teddy loved the silly stories and was sent into a giggling fit every couple of pages. He was right in the middle of one when they heard footsteps on the treehouse ladder.

"Looks like you two are having plenty of laughs without me. Did you save me any fun?"

"Ginny!" Teddy squealed as the redhead crawled over to them in the treehouse.

"Wotcher, Ted." She grinned before placing a kiss on his turquoise fringe. "Hello, love." She said as Harry leaned over to get a kiss of his own.

"How was training?" Harry asked, ignoring Teddy's groans of "yuck!" when the kiss lasted longer than Teddy preferred.

"It was good. Gwenog mostly had us go over some new approaches to next week's match. The Tornados' new beater is starting, and he's got a wicked aim."

"Can I go to the Quidditch match? I want to see the snitch!" Teddy asked as he crawled onto Ginny's lap. Harry beamed at Teddy's mention of the snitch and sent a smug look over to Ginny.

"We'll have to check with your Gran, Ted. But wouldn't you rather get more excited about the quaffle?" Ginny asked, glancing at Harry, whose mouth was now in a straight line.

"I like them both! But snitches are really fast and they get a bazillion points!"

"I suppose that to a four-year-old, 150 and a bazillion are quite close to the same thing." Harry said. "Nice try with the quaffle bit, though."

Ginny stuck out her tongue at him and then turned back to Teddy. "Is that your new issue of Martin Migs, Ted? Is it as funny as the last?"

After the rest of Martin Migs, a few dragon coloring pages, and one and a half rounds of Babbity Rabbity and the Cackling Stump, Teddy Lupin began to doze off. Ginny rubbed his back as Harry laid him down on the sleeping bag. "Poor kid. I remember when Ron and I had dragon pox. At least we had each other to play with."

"Yeah," Harry said as Ginny moved to sit on his lap. "When he mentioned that he wanted to come over, your mum thought that he wanted to play with Victoire."

"She also mentioned that you looked a little hurt when he said it."

Harry felt himself blushing subconsciously. "I had hoped that she didn't notice that . . ." He muttered under his breath. "I thought he was bored with me at first. Then he mentioned the treehouse, and I realized that it did seem a lot cooler than being cooped up in our sitting room all day."

"He adores you, Harry," Ginny said, pressing a kiss to his lips. "Believe it or not, even more than treehouses. And quaffles, apparently." She feigned a look of disbelief. 

Harry laughed. "Apparently."

Over the next few days, Teddy returned to his normal coloring and was ruled to be back in perfect health. Harry, still on cloud nine from spending the week with his godson, decided to stay home even on the days that Ginny didn't need to go to Holyhead and squeezed as many activities in as they could into their last two days together. They got ice cream at Florean Fortescue's, went to the joke shop to play with some of George's more toddler-friendly items, and went to the cinema in London. And then, almost too soon, Andromeda returned from Italy, and it was time for Teddy to go home.

The next weekend, Ginny awoke and instinctively backed closer to Harry, only to find that Harry wasn't there. She turned over and looked around where he should be lying and, confused, glanced around the room. She didn't hear any sounds of movement in the bath, and no sounds were coming from the kitchen. Getting out of bed, she pulled on her dressing gown and walked over to where they kept their calendar in the kitchen, but his work schedule showed that he didn't have to report to the Ministry today either.

Where had he gone off to?

She noticed a cereal bowl and a used coffee mug in the sink, the tea kettle on the stove, and smiled. She hadn't been able to pick up his coffee habit in the mornings and could only tolerate the stuff when she was in dire straits. But Harry had been there and grabbed a bite to eat before he went to wherever he had gone off to and had gotten the kettle ready so that she could have tea when she woke up.

Ginny pondered this as she poured a cuppa and heard a tapping noise. She walked over to the window and saw her husband standing on a ladder by one of the sturdier trees in their yard, hammering at a set of wooden planks. Wrapping her dressing gown more securely around her, she walked outside to the tree.

"I was wondering where you had gone off to."

Harry looked down at her and grinned. "I wanted to get an early start and didn't want to wake you."

"I noticed," she said, sipping her tea and smiling at him as he went back to working on the boards. This was one of the few moments outside of their time with their friends or family that he didn't look so burdened. "What is it that you are doing, exactly?"

"Teddy wants a treehouse." He replied simply. "Could you pass me that instructions page? The one by your foot?"

Ginny picked up the instructions page and handed it to Harry. She watched as he tapped it with his wand and caused it to hover in front of him. He squinted at it briefly and picked the hammer up again. There was a sudden intake of breath, and he stuck the pad of his thumb instinctually in his mouth before looking at it.

"Splinter." He said at her concerned look. Ginny examined his thumb as she pulled his wand off of the boards and tapped twice on the small sliver of wood lodged in his hand. The splinter shot out and into the air as the skin healed itself.

"I'm pretty sure you could have gotten one that was already made." Ginny said as she placed his wand back on the planks of wood that harry was assembling. "Or done it with magic."

He shook his head. "Some things are better done by hand."

"Your hands are quite capable, from my personal experience." She smirked before taking one last sip of her tea, noticing that Harry looked quite pleased with himself at the statement.

Read the rest on ao3.

A Kings Touch

part Four

Reader is chosen to be Katsukis wife whos only purpose is to give him a son. He has lived for many many years and never once been given one forcing him to kill his wives and children. A curse has been put on him without his knowledge. And maybe you can finally break it.

Art by @knifeewifee 💞

The way into town was easy enough, just a little trip down the hill from the castle. It was a town you had never been to but you were not worried because after all, the King was with you. Maybe it was him you needed to worry about. Kirishima had given you a straw basket and some money along with some trade goods in case the money ran out. Katsuki was less than thrilled to accompany you but its not like he was going to be doing anything else besides sulking and breaking things in his castle.  The whole trip there he was silent walking in front of you, his cape swaying at the bottom with every step, he seemed to be in a rush.

   The town was little and mostly a trade market with stands full of merchants and traders looking for good people to haggle with. Everyone you and Katsuki passed bowed to him  , they all looked scared of the King , you even heard whispering from a few of them as you passed.

“He has a new wife.”

“That poor soul”

“Lets pray she gives him a son” 

“Rotten people..”

“My King?” you asked, catching up to him.

“Silence!” he turned and grabbed your arm staring you down.”get whatever you need and be quick about it , and get peppers too “ Katsuki let go of your arm grinding his teeth at you.

“Yes My King..do you ..do you mind getting some flour and dough..”

“Excuse me..?” he leaned down to your level with his hands on his hips smirking”are you telling me what to do ?”

“No My King, never… it will just be quicker if we split up..”

“tch. “ He stood up turning away from you not saying anything as he walked away.

You placed your hand over your chest to still your beating heart for a minute. “I need… peppers.. Rosemary..some meat.. I dont know if the kitchen is stocked.. Maybe get more than i need”  And so you started the shopping .

It was really fun for you actually. Meeting new people even if they were a little scared of you or asking a bunch of questions about you and the King. you answered with a warm smile and some reassurance, sure you were still thinking about the witch.. But the people needed to feel safe too.  Some people gave you extra goods out of fear and some gave you extra because you were so nice and gentle with them. The basket was becoming heavy and you still had more to do . Where was the King?

“I said it taste horrible!” 

You turned to your left hearing a rough voice and saw him yelling at a old woman who sold fruit. 

“Well..i”

“I should have you burned at the stake for this !”

“My King!” you hurried to him placing the basket by your feet and taking the fruit from him peeling it . “My King you dont eat the skin, here” you held up the fruit to him and he snatched it taking a bite, his expression quickly changed once he bit into it. “whatever, get a few” he turned away to look for a place to get peppers. You sighed bowing to the woman apologizing and she gave you a ton of the fruit out of fear.

 “Ugn.. heavy..” you picked the backset up with two hands and found a shady spot to sit under a tree to wait for the King.

 Katsuki returned to you with a sack ove his shoulder , he threw it down on the ground and sat down by you eating a pepper.

“My King is that all…?”

“Yes” another big bite. “Are we done? Im growing tired of these chores”

“ yes i just need to uhm get..dough”

“Well go get it” another bite

Slowly you got up leaving the King to dig into the sack for another pepper watching you make your way around the market. Not once had his previous wives asked him to accompany them when they went out, most of them ran off and Kirishima had to track them down and eat them. Or he would go himself and torture them till they were sobbing and apologizing over and over. But here you were, asking him to go with you to do Help work. He had to laugh.

He watched you scurry around looking for the dough for a few minutes, his eyes wandered to some kids nearby kicking a ball around for fun. He squeezed the pepper making the juices slip down his fingers to his wrist. “Rotten people.. Dont know how good they have it..” he said with a scowl on his face.

  Finally, you were able to find the baker and he happily gave you some dough for bread. You thanked him and felt happy, you had everything you needed and could finally get back to the castle.  You were halfway to Katsuki when the ball hit your leg. The kids ran over but stopped halfway when they saw it was you. Katsuki watched closely at the kids and you, he was ready to get up and interfere but his eyes got big and he sat back down.

  You kneeled down offering them the ball and the two kids shook their heads.

“The King will be mad!!”

“He will hurt us!!’

It was a little boy and girl, siblings maybe. 

 “I would never allow that little ones,”

“You.. you wouldn't?” asked the girl

“Never” 

“The King is scary” the boy said, loud enough for Katsuki to hear

 You set the ball down and held your hands out to them . “would you like to meet him properly? “

“Scared!!” yelled the girl

“He will eat us!!”

You tilted your head . “eat .. you?”

“The King can turn into a dragon and eat naughty children!!”

 “Well thats a new one.. I'm not familiar with that story” you sat down and the kids sat with you telling you all about this tale.

 Ah, they must think Katsuki can turn into a dragon like Kirishima. By now the kids were sitting on your lap telling you more silly tales and you couldn't help but giggle at these little folk tales, the stories you heard of King Katsuki were much more gruesome and deadly, probably because you were a candidate for his bride to be. 

Katsuki was fed up with what he had heard these two damn children say. He should call Kirishima right now and have him scare the living hell out of them, who the hell was making up these stories? Him eating children? The hell? Katsuki grabbed hold of the sack and the damn basket getting up going to you .

“Are you done?” he asked with bitterness on his tongue.

“Hes gonna eat us!!” they both yelled . the kids jumped off your lap and you quickly grabbed them and sat down behind them. 

“ sh sh.. Just say hello”

Katsuki raised an eyebrow at your actions and saw how terrified the kids looked. He rolled his eyes putting the sack and basket down , everyone gasped when he kneeled down. “Hello…” he said to them, not looking at them.

The little girl tugged her brother, “ hes not eating us?”

“I know!”

“I dont eat kids… they…..” he scratched his head glancing at you quickly then elsewhere. “They give me bad breath..”

The kids laughed very loudly and a few people nearby did too , he grinded his teeth together looking at you again to see you chuckling and saying goodbye to the kids, they grabbed their ball and ran off elsewhere . you turned to the King and he stood up grabbing the items again. 

“Castle. And not a word out of you the entire way” he ordered . You got up fixing your clothes and followed the King from behind with a smile on your face.

Meanwhile at the Castle , Kirishima was in the chained up room observing a Lunar Tear inside a glass case, all of its petals had fallen out and the flower had been dying, he smiled when he saw a single new petal grow out of the flower...

*

@marshmallow-witch​ @fukyouthink​

Illumi x Reader, Emperor AU Oneshot

A/N: Meh, possibly a little basic since it was hastily written, but I felt like writing something other than my main story! I’ll post on AO3 as well~ A baby dose of smut at the end, under 18 please do not interact. 

Also this isn’t proofread cuz yeah, so any mistakes please ignore lmfao

---

“Thank you, come again sir!” You said, in as cheerful a tone as you could muster, as you handed over an overflowing cup of assorted, chopped fruits to an older gentleman regular. Now that it was early summer and your family farm’s harvest had been abundant, you and your baby sister sold fruit daily in the small but bustling market of your village. Your stand was successful, owing to the freshness of the produce and the polite cheerfulness you and your sister exuded. 

“I’m surprised you’re still out here!” The old man warned you, steadying himself on his cane as he held the cup with his other hand.

“Of course I am! Who else would serve you your afternoon snack?” You joked, tapping the old man on the shoulder playfully.

He returned an edentulous smile. “Just be careful, young miss!’ He warned, turning to leave.

“Understood, uncle!”

I wonder why he was surprised to see me out here…, you thought but decided to dispel the thought immediately. The old man was a little kooky anyway.

Now that it seemed that the afternoon rush was starting to wane, you inspected your stores and realized you need to replenish. You moved to the back to start preparing more of the fruit, then waved your little sister over.

“Lily, we’re running out of watermelon. Can you be a dear and bring some more?” You whispered to the plucky nine-year-old. “Are you strong enough to carry it?”

“Of course sis!” She grinned and showed a fist. “I’ll be back in a flash!” 

With that, she ran off, down the hill to the farm to collect more fruit. While you were waiting, you continued to work on slicing peaches and mangoes, humming softly as you worked. It was warm outside, even warmer in the tiny shack, and sweat was collecting on your brow as you prepared the next few cups. Once you were done, you would take a short break to get some water, so you focused on your work.

That was until you heard the clip-clop and short whinny of a horse arriving outside the stand. Since Lily was still gone, you rinsed your hands clean with a small bucket of clear water, and went to the front to serve them. 

“Hello, and welcome!” You said, brightly, still drying your hands on the apron, until you looked up and saw not the wandering traveler on horseback as you expected, but a stunning man in the garb of an imperial guard reining in the most regal-looking horse you had ever seen. 

You began to shake, and the guard gave a disarming yet malicious grin as he sensed your fear. 

“I come on orders of the Emperor,” he announced, his voice loud and spirited, and leaned over the counter of the shack, both elbows now propping up his chin. You fell prostrate at the word Emperor, on the sun-baked dirt of the road, but the guard only laughed.

“Get up, I’m not the Emperor, no need for formalities.”

You shook your head, knowing that anyone who had his seal was effectively representing the sovereign and you were just a lowly village girl. What right did you have to hold your head up high?

“Stubborn, are you?” He mused. He entered the shack, which made your heart pound in terror, and nudged you with his boot, then knelt to your side.

“If you don’t get up, you’re disobeying a direct order, and that truly would be a cause for death,” he said. With that, you immediately got up and folded your arms before you, bowing slightly.

“Hello sir, how may I serve you today?” 

“That’s better,” he said, now leaving the shack and returning to the counter. 

“Serve me an assortment and a cup of water. I’m parched.” You nodded quickly, and went to the back to present him with these items. As he drank, you watched him shyly, having never seen someone from the empire this far in the outskirts.

While the guard was stunning, he was odd-looking: pale with hair an unnatural crimson, a slender, pointed face, and heavy-lidded amber eyes, reminiscent of a golden dragon. Even though he spoke in a sing-song voice, he seemed like he could breathe fire at any time. He noticed you watching, and placed the cup down forcefully before he started on the fruit. 

“Like what you see?” He teased. It was already hot in the shack, but now you were burning up. He continued to eat in quiet but ravenously, licking his lips to collect the juices running  watching you carefully as though making a grade in his head.

It turns out he was, because the next thing he said, shocked your entire system.

“It’s your lucky day, little flower. Today is the third wave of concubine selection, and I’ll be your ticket into the palace.”

You were dumbstruck. Concubine selection? Palace? No, what you did was sell fruit, take care of your sister and parents, and work on the farm. That was your existence, nothing less, nothing more. 

“Why do you look confused?” He repeated, in genuine surprise. “The town criers were all over the land and should have notified all the villages to offer up their women of marriageable age. Did they not make it this far?” He tapped his chin, idly, looking up as he thought. “Well, that’s at least five people who will need to be executed when I make it back.”

It suddenly occurred to you. That’s why the old man had been surprised that you were still out in the open. You should have been hidden. You had heard enough about the stories of women who entered the palace and failed concubine selection only to be made slaves immediately. It was awful. Why hadn’t you hidden? Why hadn’t you known? Why had you been out in the open where everyone could see?

Now it made sense that your mother had not come out today with the two of you. Why she had looked at you so forlornly in the morning as you headed out in the morning, and hugged you extra tightly... Now you were angry. It felt like a betrayal.

You had been quiet for long enough that the imperial guard had grown impatient.

“Let’s go~ I don’t have all day.”

“C-can I say goodbye to my family first?” You pleaded. “They’re just down that hill.”

He gave you a cruel smile. “If I see them, I’m formally required to cut them down for disobeying a royal decree in not registering you for the selection.” With this, he unsheathed the sword at his side, and swung twice in swift, sure strikes. “Which would be fun, I admit.”

You immediately dropped to your knees again in pleading for your family. 

“Don’t worry, I’m too lazy to go down there anyway. Plus, I’m late,” he said, re-sheathing his sword. “How about you grab some more of that fruit for the road?”

Finally mounted on the monster of a horse and holding onto the imperial guard’s waist (he had called himself Imperial Guard Hisoka Morow), you were whisked off to the palace. You looked back at your childhood home with tears in your eyes, knowing that unless you caught the eye of the Emperor or received the favor of a high-ranking concubine, you would never have the luxury of seeing your family again. Off in the distance, you could see Lily, running up the hill, a watermelon in hand, and your heart broke.

----

Your entry into the palace was a whirlwind. In seconds,  you were treated to more extravagance than you had ever had in your life - inspected by the imperial physicians for health and disease, bathed in milk and rose petals, and dressed in vibrant and soft silk more extravagant that you had ever seen in your life, under the supervision of Imperial Guard Hisoka who stood outside the preparation area, monitoring the transformation of ugly duckling into swan. 

You stepped out on shoes that were like stilts, unable to walk and unsteady, stabilized by Hisoka’s hand outstretched for you. Your ears still stung painfully from the multiple fresh piercings to accommodate the ornate jewelry now framing your face. 

“W-why are you so invested in me?” You asked Hisoka, who helped you a few steps before calling for a palace maid to accompany you. He walked by your side, hands behind his back, staring straight ahead as you continued to hobble. 

“You seem like you have potential, and it’s always good to have an ally in the harem.” He got closer as he whispered this last portion.

“If the emperor doesn’t want you, I’ll add you to my household. I’m quite impressed by how well you clean up.”

You couldn’t tell if it was fear or excitement that caused the flutter in your belly, but you almost stumbled, and Hisoka caught you. Looking at the hapless palace maid by your side, his eyes narrowed.

“You are well aware that a single scrape can cause her disqualification. If she falls, I will have you executed, so accompany her knowing that your life is at stake.” Hisoka threatened. The maid looked like she had aged ten years at once. You were afraid for her, and for yourself, now making sure to take every next step slowly and carefully. 

Hisoka grinned, likely relishing in the extreme power he had over others. 

“I’ll see you at the selection~” He sang cheerfully, as he trudged ahead, sword by his side. 

----

Emperor Zoldyck looked from his throne out at the women kneeling on one knee before him, with their attendants, hoping for a look in their direction. Uninterested as usual, the young man, sovereign over multiple nations through subjugation of his four younger siblings, sighed and called over his lead advisor and right hand man, Imperial Guard Hisoka. 

While he was uncreatively named the Treacherous Emperor for his upheaval of the kingdom after his father’s death, he was as beautiful as he was powerful, and so the noblewomen continued to dote on him. However, despite this, he had yet to select his consorts and had never taken a legitimate wife before ascending to power. There were rumors that he was in love with his favorite guard, and this was fueled by the fact that he was bold enough to sit on a throne on his left side rather than stand guard, crossing his legs and looking onto the crowd of women as well.

“I added a few to the selection by the way, your Majesty,” Hisoka whispered to the emperor to the side. “There were a few stragglers.”

The emperor shrugged impassively. “Point out those you found fascinating. I can’t be bothered with this.”

Hisoka’s eyes gleamed as he pointed straight at you, and two other women. Fear struck your heart.

“Rise,” the emperor said, beckoning. You stood up stick-straight from your spot, not having any home training, and stumbled forward, falling into the woman before you. Who fell into the woman before her. Who fell into the woman before her…

Hisoka started to laugh uncontrollably as you got up quickly, gathering your dress, and kicked off your shoes, prostrating yourself again before the Emperor, repeating “I deserve to die, I deserve to die, I deserve to die, I deserve to die.”

The two women who had gracefully made their way to the front smiled and snickered softly, regarding her. Hisoka had to stifle a laugh as well, but the emperor, hoping to establish a sense of order, then turned to look at the rest of his imperial guards.

“Drag those two out.”

The two women froze in fear, and just like that, were carried away, kicking and screaming.

Hisoka, surprised himself, held his laughter, and raised his eyebrows at the emperor. You continued to prostate yourself, crying for having disgraced yourself to the emperor. Exasperated, he rose and without regarding you, exited to his right side.

“The selection is concluded for today.”

And just like that, hundreds of people dispersed. 

Hisoka knelt beside you again, giving you an amused, sardonic look. “I knew you’d be entertaining.” He called your attendant back and ordered her to take you to the temporary lodging palace.

“Once you’re done, go to the office of punishment to receive 10 lashes for allowing her to fall,” Hisoka said to her to your and her dismay.

“It was my fault!” You pleaded.

“Yeah, but you may or may not become one of the Emperor’s precious things. So~” His smile widened. You felt the blood run cold, but accepted defeat. “Rendezvous at the same place tomorrow morning. You haven’t been eliminated yet.”

---

Sleep didn’t come easily to you, and by the time morning arrived, the palace maids had to work twice as hard to smooth out the fatigue on your face, as you made it to the selection again. 

This time, the hundreds of women had been split to a select fifty, and you were surprised that you were called. Also noticeably, this time you were closer to the front, rather than in the back, right corner as you had been in the middle. The goal was probably to decrease the number of obstacles you’d have to go through, to your embarrassment. On your way here, you’d already  heard the whispers:

She looks so country…

She can’t even walk in those heels, she was a walking casualty…

Not to mention, she got the other two unfairly punished!

You still continued to concentrate on your balance as selection continued and each woman was individually scrutinized, then it came up to your turn again. This time, your attendant, her butt probably still sore from the 10 merciless lashes given yesterday afternoon, was extremely careful helping you up as you stood before the Emperor. 

You avoided looking into his eyes.

“Greetings to you, your Royal Highness,” you said in a practiced manner, hoping to cover up your country accent.

“Passed.” he said in a calm, even voice. His voice was assuring and alluring but you were in a frenzy of emotions.

Passed? What does that mean, “passed”? 

Before you could figure out what passed meant, you were dragged away.

----

It was when Imperial Guard Hisoka came in congratulations, surrounded by a group of senior palace maids, the ones that worked in the central palace only, and two eunuchs, that you figured out what ‘passed’ meant. You were being favored.

Your heart pounded and thumped and cried the entire time you were dressed and prepared. 

Fear of not being good enough. Anxiety of what was to come. Anger of leaving your family. Determination to remain in the emperor’s favor. 

If you were to lose favor, it would be all over for you.

Stripped to your undergarments, made up, and wrapped up in a red quilt, you were carried over to the emperor’s personal quarters, where you knelt in your underwear until he pulled back the silk curtain.

“I am at your service, your Royal Highness,” you said with eyes lowered, hands clammy, face flushed, and heart screaming in your chest.

“Your accent… is entertaining. You may rise.” 

You rose to your feet, hiding your body with your hands in shame. You were so exposed, so vulnerable both physically and in terms of power dynamic. In the snap of his fingers, he could have you executed.

You looked up and finally paid attention to his face, and immediately fell in awe. He was really as beautiful as they said.

His hair was long, lustrous and soft looking, and he had soft features, and smooth skin like a child. But most beautiful of all were his large, doe-like eyes. Despite the fact that you knew he was known to be cruel and quick to dole out punishment, even back in the countryside where you were from, you couldn’t help but fall for these doe-like eyes. 

“What is your name?”

You said your name in a soft mumble, and he repeated it, trying the words on his lips.

“Well,” he said your name out loud again, “I’ve decided to start the harem with you.”

With that, he moved quickly as you were left to process. You let out a gasp as he lifted you up in his strong arms; you reflexively put your arms around his neck. He paused, and looked at your lips longingly before placing you on the royal bed. 

Once you were on your back, he climbed onto the bed, straddling you on both sides. Your whole body started to quiver as you pulled into yourself, but he placed one hand gently on your cheek.

“Relax.” With that he leaned in, his lips cold but soft as they pressed to yours. You felt your body be consumed entirely with that kiss and your body relaxed, your arms and legs laying uselessly by your sides. You don’t remember when your undergarments were removed, but the thin fabric had disappeared, possibly ripped away by him as he distracted you with his tongue exploring your mouth.

He was intoxicating. His kisses traveled from your lips, to your neck, to your collarbones, to  your nipples, abdomen and finally down into your core, where you arched in pleasure, adjusting to a sensation you’ve never yet experienced. His hands traveled gently up and down your thighs as his tongue ran circles, spirals, and figure eights around your clit, and his tongue pierced your warm center, making you moan unintelligibly in pleasure.

“Call me by my name,” he said, his voice about an octave lower as the palm of his hand worked your bud and the tips of fingers worked the sensitive nipple of your breasts.

“Y-your Highness!”

He gave himself two pumps before entering you slowly, giving you a moment to adjust and then thrusting himself forward to the hilt, then pausing, flipping his hair back to keep it out of his face as he hung over you, completely inside. 

You were letting out small, soft whimpers, as you tried to adjust to his size. It was uncomfortable but it hurt in a way that felt good. He didn’t move and you stayed where you were, and he continued to focus on looking at you straight in the eyes.

“No, call me Illumi.”

“Illu..mi,”  you complied, still breathless.

“Good,” he said, as he started to pick up speed. 

The moment seemed to last forever, as your euphoria continued to rise and rise, and he thrust harder and harder inside of you, as if he intended to make a royal descendant that very night. The room was filled with your whimpers and moans, and soon, he let out very soft groans as he finally reached his limit. Your coil snapped first and you released, your vagina seeming to milk him of all he had. Then his final thrust came, and he tipped over as well, filling you to overflow with his royal semen.

He parted from you, and rolled beside you, not saying a word. He didn’t hold you, but existing, in the bed with him, somehow felt like enough. He was the emperor, it could be more transactional than that, but it wasn’t. He had held you, and had put his lips to yours. It was enough for now. You’d only be one of many.

But you were still curious.

“Why me?” 

“Why not you?”

You felt your face grow warm. It was as good an answer as any other. He was the emperor, he could do whatever he wanted. You wondered if you were done.

He got up and walked over to a chest, placed far away from the bed you’d both soiled with sweat and body fluid. You sat up, watching him, curious as to what he was doing. If he would leave, or have you escorted out.

He pulled out something small in his hand that you couldn’t see.

“Turn around,” he ordered.

You obeyed, and he knelt behind you on the bed, his fingers in your hair, affixing the top of your hair into a high bun, then securing it with whatever he had in hand. 

Before you finally drifted off to sleep, you took a peek at the mirror across the room to observe his handiwork; little did you know, he had placed a seal in your hair designating you as his - a single, round-capped yellow pin.

hello, hi, i am back? with a little treat (lol). here, have an excerpt of draconian (if you can tell it was supposed to be a harry potter fic... no you don’t)!!!! meet lucifer, a girl on a mission!!!!!

She's four when mom tells her— "You are cursed, mon amour."

 At first, she wonders it that why I remember hands crushing my throat until there’s nothing left to crush but just as quick comes the no, Lucius says those are just nightmares. So, she doesn’t understand, and when she asks mom what does that mean? mom doesn’t say, because mom likes to do things by halves. Grand-père says it’s because mom’s french, but she doesn’t understand that either. 

 When she goes and asks him what’s a curse? grand-père says, “Something bad that seldom happens to the bad people,” she doesn’t know what seldom means but she thinks she understands the rest of it, so she asks am I a curse? “Ah!” he belly laughs, “Luce, Lucy, my darling Lucifer,” he sings, “You, you are something good that seldom happens to the people at all!” Maybe it’s because he’s french and does things by halves too, or because he’s an adult and they speak in riddles like the sphinx in that story she always falls asleep in the middle of, but she doesn’t understand. 

 She seeks father next and finds him in the sunroom overlooking the gardens, a book in one hand and a glass of not-water in the other. He’s the one who told her what doing things by halves means and he always says the things he means like you look absolutely splendid, wife or Bérénice, my love, I’ve never hated anyone quite the way I hate your father so when she asks him why am I cursed? she’s surprised when he only answers with, “You spoke with your mother,” and needs prompting for more. At length (after three whys and two hows), he gives the drink a longing look, sighs a long breath, and relents, “You’ll find that most things happen for good or bad reasons. And, sometimes, they happen for no reason at all. Your… circumstances are no fault of your own, nor was it your mother’s before you or her mother’s before her.” He stops there, and she doesn’t understand anything. 

 Finally, she decides Lucius is the only one she can trust to answer all her questions. He’s not an adult and only half-french, that has to count for something. He’s in his room, lights off, sprawled over his bed, experimenting on a spell with the wand he prefers to call a sceptre because wand is an umbrella term for wooden magical conduit, damnit! There’s a bird-shaped golden light, winking in and out of existence near the ceiling. She chases it with her eyes until she trips over her own feet, breaking Lucius’ concentration and plunging the room in complete darkness. She hurries to the bed and burries half of herself in the cover and the other half in Lucius’ side. When she asks him what’s a curse? and am I a curse? and why am I cursed? he huffs a little laugh and whispers in a language she doesn’t know until the bird appears again. “A curse is a malignant spell— a bad one, meant to hurt whomever it is for,” he says quietly, “Yours is a blood one. It means you got it from mom, who got it from grand-mère, who got it from her own mother. It also means you are not the curse. It’s in you, not you, do you understand that?”

  She thinks she does. “What the curse?”

 “I don’t know, mom doesn’t like to talk about it, I think.”

 The bird flies around the room and bathes Lucius in gold and she wants to say sometimes, I remember dying and sometimes, I remember you being a bad person but most of all she wants to tell him when I remember you being a bad person, I'm never there to stop you. She swallows the tightening of her throat, bites down the wobble of her lip and blinks away the burn in her eyes instead. She keeps watching the bird, nestled next to her golden brother. 

*

 It happens in dreams. The remembering. When she dies, unknown yet familiar hands around her neck and a blurred face above her own, she thinks I know you. She wakes from these dreams sweaty, throat and heart aching, and a lingering why on her tongue. She even threw up once, and had to clean everything up without telling anyone. She hates these dreams, but she hates those about Lucius more. 

 He’s a bad person, doing bad things to good people, but worst of all, he’s a bad father. There’s a boy who looks like the both of them, dark hair and dark eyes in a pale face, crying alone at night in the room that is Lucius’ now, and having a hard time breathing sometimes, when no one’s looking. There’s also a little girl with bright green eyes, who always looks too serious and too frowny for all the baby fat on her face. She looks like her mother, who’s pretty and elegant and has a nice smile, when she does smile. She doesn’t remember their names, but she remembers their love for eachother. Gentle and quiet, like the afternoon she spends in grand-père’s private library where he reads and she draws. 

 While Lucius is never mean to this remembered family, he is never nice either. He always mutters to his wife that things aren’t working out as planned or this thorn needs to be removed from my side and other things she doesn’t understand but knows mean trouble. He mostly ignores the boy and the girl and when he doesn’t, he’s screaming about you are a Ciar and you do not grovel, you do not bow and you do not beg! From those dreams, she wakes with a start, when Lucius is hit with a fire spell she doesn’t know the name of. She cries herself back to sleep every time. 

*

  She meets (for the fourth time, but the first she won’t forget) mom’s side of the family on a bright summer day. Grand-père is here, as he always is everywhere, and speaks very animatedly to his gaggle of grandchildren. There’s ten, she counted! She doesn’t remember all of their names but knows half of them are french. When mom introduces aunt Céleste, my dearest sister, her brain itches. When aunt Céleste introduces her daughter, Olga, she feels like she’s missing something important. 

 She promptly forgets about it when she’s introduced to all her french-named cousins. Isaure and Isnel are twins, like uncle Auguste and uncle Damien, the latter of which is their father. She gets really confused when she meets Anastase and Anastasie, another pair of twins, but uncle Auguste’s. She mixes their names all afternoon. Then, uncle Auguste introduces her to his other children, Armantine, Aimée and Annick and she thinks weird names and oh, Annick is very pretty. Mom's dead sister’s son, Balthazar, is the youngest of them all. He doesn’t talk and doesn’t walk but he’s very cute. 

 Finally, she meets Olga’s brother, Stanislav. He’s not very nice. “Get away from me, demon.” Aunt Céleste gasps softly, Olga looks down, and his father, a very tall man with a very strange smile, grabs the back of his shirt, “What? Isn’t she just like mother and Olga? Isn’t she a—” His father’s very big hand covers his mouth and she’s left wondering am I a what? 

  She ponders the question while the adults give Stanislav a very secretive talk. She watches aunt Céleste and mom not being a part of it and looking very pale, Olga huddled in her mother’s side, looking equally meek, when it hits her. She gasps and runs to them, “Are we demons? Is that the curse? Why are we cursed? I don’t—”

 Mom hisses and very harshly says, “Not now.”

 “But—”

 “Lucifer.”

 “Mom.”

 “Lucifer.” 

 She goes to a corner of the room and pouts for all she’s worth. Lucius gives her soft looks from across the room and she spies Olga side-eyeing her from under aunt Céleste’s arm. She spends the rest of the day speaking gibberish with little Balthazar and admiring Annick from afar. 

 When they’re leaving and the adults are busy goodbye-ing, Olga hugs her quickly and whispers, “You don’t have to worry about anything for now. You haven’t had your first shift yet.” 

 On the drive home, when she’s interrupted every time she starts a what’s the cu— she burns holes in the back of mom’s head. Father gives her sympathetic looks through the rear-view mirror, and Lucius stares out the window, a funny look on his face. Grand-père, sat between the two of them, leans in after the fifth nudge. She whispers what’s the curse? followed by a what is a shift? 

 He smiles and his eyes shine when he looks at her, “Didn’t I tell you this story before? About the princess, the tower and the dragon?” She shakes her head. What’s a dragon?

 “Papa,” mom says, a sharp look on her face. 

 “Sorry, sorry,” he mumbles. Mom turns back around and talks to father about how Céleste doesn’t look well and her good-for-nothing husband should put a leash on Stanislav before muttering about insolent little— Grand-père leans back in again and murmurs, “Sometimes, the princess and the dragon are one and the same. And the tower, the princess built herself.”

 *

 That night, and many nights after that, she dreams about her french-named cousins. Anastase is never there, though. Not when Annick fires spells after spells at people begging her to stop! please, stop! or when Isaure and Isnel bow so low she’s afraid they’ll break their backs. He’s not there when Armantine sneaks in and out a dark street and Aimée spends her days locked into a dark room. He’s not there either, when Anastasie always looks over her shoulder, face drawn and a worried frown between her brows, or when she cries and rages this is your fault! this is your fault! yours yours yours at the mirror. 

 She sees Lucius sometimes, standing still behind Annick or by Armantine’s side or, worst of all, next to Isaure and Isnel, bowing so very low. But he never comforts Anastasie and he never comes for Aimée. 

 She doesn’t dream about Olga, nor aunt Céleste or mom or dad or grand-père or any adults she knows. She doesn’t dream about Stanislav. But sometimes, she’d dream about soft and toothy-smiled Balthazar. He’s pretty and way older, and she only knows it’s him because she hears a man’s voice says Balthazar when he’s inside a house or out in the gardens or in what looks like a castle or a museum or everywhere. A soft Balthazar, a wondering Balthazar, a sung Balthazar, every kind of Balthazar. And she likes those dreams best. 

  But she can never get it out of her head, how she's never in any of them.

*

   She’s in grand-père’s private library. He reads and she draws near the fireplace. A tower, a princess and, “What’s a dragon?” she asks.

  He looks up from his book, “Well. Picture a snake, but enormous. Bigger than this house. It has legs, sometimes two, sometimes four. But most extraordinary, it has wings! Ah! And it breathes fire! Can you believe that?”

 “Not really…”

 He laughs a little, “Well, well. You must, because these creatures do exist. They exist everywhere and are of every kind! They hoard everything they hold dear, be it riches, knowledge, stories, and even friends!”

 “What does it have to do with the princess and the tower?”

 He looks about the room suspiciously, as if to make sure mom wasn’t hiding in a corner, ready to jump in and hisses at them to stop talking about it! “This story has been told countless times, in countless ways. But what remains is this: in the highest tower of the biggest castle lives a princess. In this very same tower also lives a dragon who protects the princess from anyone who’d want to steal her away. Until the day it doesn’t, because someone, be it a prince or a witch, wants the princess for themselves and kills the dragon for it.” He sighs a long breath and looks into the fire, “Oftentimes, the princess is very happy to be free and marries the prince. But there’s those stories… the ones where the princess, mad with grief at the loss of her only friend, kills the prince in turn.”

 “I don’t like this story. Any version of it.”

 “Oh?”

 “Why does the princess have to be all alone in the tower and why does the dragon have to watch her and doesn’t she have a family and doesn’t it have one as well? And why does she have to marry the prince? That’s yucky. And didn’t you say the other day that the princess and the dragon are the same—”

 “That’s not exactly what I—”

 “Because then if the dragon dies the princess dies with it—”

 “Oh dear,” he conjures his small notebook and the pen that goes with it, “No metaphor for the children,” he writes,”I ought to know that by now…”

 “And what’s the curse?”

 “Ah.” He conjures all his things away and fidgets on his seat a bit. “Luce, Lucy, my darling Lucifer.” He looks at her for a long moment. Then, “You are the dragon.”

 She doesn’t know if he’s still talking in riddles but she doesn’t like it one bit so she screams and runs away to cry it off in her room. Minutes or hours later, a book appears on her bed. She thinks the cover reads draconian curses. 

*

 Now that she knows what a dragon is and what it looks like, she dreams about them, too. There’s one with Lucius sometimes, and he talks to it for long periods of time and the dragon never eats him. Then, she notices it’s because the dragon is shackled and has something like a muzzle around its mouth. Still, Lucius talks to it for hours and the dragon listens. 

*

 She hides the book under her bed and asks anyone who’ll listen to teach her how to read. She already has a tutor, Miss Maz, but it’s the summer and she hasn’t seen her for a while now. So, she sits in the sunroom with father and he reads out loud about po-li-tics and magical laws and she doesn’t understand half of what he’s saying, but her eyes follow diligently the finger he glides under the words. She asks mom to help her decipher the story books they read together before bed and it’s a long and hard process where she stumbles over every letter, but she’s getting better by the day. Lucius takes his role very seriously and says you can’t learn how to read if you don’t know how to write the words and after some serious thinking he gasps do you even know your alphabet? She discovers she’s right-handed and soon knows how to spell three letters words. Grand-père hands her a book called And There Was Fire and there’s the princess, the tower and the dragon. Mom finds her trying to read it once and throws the book right into the fireplace with a wave of her hand before storming out of the library. She’s ready to cry when grand-père flies it right back at her. It looks a little black on the cover and a little funny on the pages but she can still read it. She hoards the burnt book under the bed, with the one called draconian curses, and makes sure mom never finds out. 

*

  She has really bad dreams about her death again. Hands that crush and make a hurt so deep inside her chest she wakes and doesn’t know how to breathe anymore. On the fifteenth of August, she throws up again. She’s shaking and sweaty and she cries for a long time before sneaking into the bathroom and showering by herself. When everything is as clean as it should be, she crawls into Lucius’ room and into his bed. 

  She dreams about him and fire spells and shackled dragons. She dreams about Annick cursing people and Isnel and Isaure kissing someone’s feet. She dreams about Armantine going into a seedy looking shop and Aimée never being allowed out of her cage. She dreams about Anastasie looking longingly down from a window high above the ground. But she doesn’t dream about Anastase or Olga or Stanislav or any of the adults. She doesn’t dream about herself. 

 But she also dreams her favorite dreams. The ones about Balthazar and the boy who never ceases to call him. In of them Balthazar says I know how to end this and he smiles toothy and bright. In others he wonders was this all for nothing? and it’s sad because he is, too, but the voice is always there, comforting. I don’t care it says, or I’ll be with you until the very end, Balthazar and she wakes from those dreams with something a little bit looser in her heart. This’ll all be over soon. 

Hi there! I'd love to hear more about your SwSh Fantasy AU, specifically (if you're okay with talking about it) Alexis' cursed powers and how Naomi got trapped by Eternatus!

Hello @epicspheal , hope your having a good day/afternoon/night!

My SwSh Fantasy Au honestly was something that came up in my head and that I proceeded to ramble about it. The oy reason why it exists is because I am deeply in love with Lore Keeper Sonia and she deserves the world. But then it became more than that. It was still me rambling. Like. A lot. But I proud of my rambles.

Also, in typical SwSh Fantasy Au fashion, this is going to be incredible long! I like to ramble, sorry. Here we go!

So! Alexis' curse. That's a doozy. Your gonna need some total not just last minute world building for that! Just kidding, Alexis' curse, while not completely fleshed out, I have a basic idea about what the world is like. Besides, that's for Naomi( lol)

So: Just like the games, Alexis was the Hero of Unova. Unlike the game, there weren't dragons that chose him to be it's tamer....yet anyway. The story goes like this: Unova was under the tyrant rule of Ghetsis ( he can become tyrant in a fake universe lol), and just like every Greek myth, there's a prophecy that a young hero will slay him and free the land. And, just like every Greek myth or just myth in general, the man gets angry about it and goes on a witch hunt for whoever the prophecy is about and kill them. Problem is, the prophecy never said who, so he commits mass murder to find one person that he doesn't know the name of. Spoiler alert, he doesn't find them. Now, I'm just gonna fast forward, because this is a SwSh Fantasy Au not a Black and White Fantasy Au. Long story short, prince N meets A and E, rebellion led by their parents cause there badasses, everyone gets traumatized/ questions their life at some point, and Alexis is gifted the power of Zekrom cause he's the chosen one. Which is what Ghetsis uses against him as he dies; turn his gift into a curse.

Alexis curse is basically that he looks a bit more like Zekrom: his eyes are now red, he has sharp fangs, they're lightning marks that glow neon blue, and his arms and legs are charcoaled ( like, they are pitch black compared to the rest of his body). Canon Alexis had a scar over his right eye. Fantasy! Alexis has it way worse. It's not gone or anything, but it's, uh, bad.Does this make him look like a badass? Oh absolutely. But everyone knows that if one looks like a badass, they need a hug. Alexis' curse makes his powers near uncontrollable, and much more destructive than they were before: both to others and himself. If it wasn't for N and his top tier healing( which he learned from his sisters) Alexis would have been dead the minute he was cursed. He has to wear a magic pendant ( which doubles and looks like a compass....it's important, but I'm not gonna get to deep into it yet) to make sure his powers are manageable. The curse also reacts badly to severe negative emotions like stress. If you thought canon Alexis was in a bad headspace, you could only imagine how Fantasy! Alexis is like. Fortunately, he has lots of love and support, so it ain't to bad. Eventually, after many failed attempts at a curing the curse on their own, they eventually find one solution: to find Eternatus. The being that can take energy and magic substance away and make it its own. The problem is that this thing is incredible dangerous, and has tried to cause destruction once before.

They( Alexis Elliot and N)completely ignore this solution and decides to travel for a better idea( which is about a few years).....that is until they get a dream about a young girl, pleading for them to save her. A girl who claims to be their cousin, bearing the necklace of their mother and her twin brother. A girl named Naomi.

Naomi was always a mystery to an outsider. Mainly because no one knew she exists. Except Hop, but whenever he told anyone about, they would say that he has an active imagination, or some weird comments about " oh your thinking up a girl now?". He was 6. They both were actually, before she disappeared one day. There was no goodbye, no note, nothing. So you would imagine Hops surprise when he gets a dream( he's 15 now) about a prophecy of the wolves, which involves him and a girl his age named Naomi. The same Naomi he would play with when he was younger....

But this ain't about Hop, this is about Naomi. What happened to her?

So, as I said, Naomi is A and E's cousin. Her dad, Soul, is A and E's mom's, Jazz, twin brother. He left Unova for Galar to explore, only to have settled down with his wife and Naomi's mom, Cheyenne.

While Hop knew about the prophecy at the age of 15, Naomi, specifically her parents, was given this prophecy to begin with. They both knew how dangerous it was to be out in the open with a child of prophecy. Everyone knows that if one person knows a prophecy, another do as well, and that other person is usually the person who doesn't want that prophecy fulfilled. So, to protect their child, the couple moved and lived in the Slumbering Weald, right behind the castle. The pros of living in the Slumbering Wealds is that it's heavily protected by the Wolves of Galar, so they would be safe from any harm. The cons is that it's just you there. So when followers of Eternatus somehow find your location and attack your family and kidnap your six-year old daughters you can't really call for help.

Oof.

Yeah, at age six, Naomi was kidnapped by Eternatus followers, and have stayed captive since. Why haven't they killed her off? She doesn't know. All she knows is that no one knows she exist( Hop does, but she thinks he forgotten her. He hasn't), and that she had very little power ( Eternatus had been slowly weakening her in it's presence). But she has power, even if it's small. So, with the little power she has, she calls for help to anyone that will listen. She somehow find her cousins. How does she knows they're her cousins? They're twins, one of them is cursed, and they look exhausted even in the dream realm. They're her cousins.

And .....that's it! Again, this is just me throwing things on a wall and hope it sticks, so sorry if this doesn't make much sense!

I would have gone into Lore Keeper Sonia, Pirate Nessa, King Leon and Prince Hop and such, but I have them pinned, Part 9 and 10 respectively. I hope you enjoyed my overtly long explanations! Feel free to ask me more about it, if you want! :)

The House

In which reader and Fred embark on their marriage journey; beginning with a new home. 💕 Masterpost

Summary: Fred Weasley x Reader spend time together fixing up their new home Word Count: 3737 Note: This is the end of part one!!! I’m going to take a small break to focus on other requests and to plan out part two. Chapter 5 will be out on June 12!

As fast as you were in Romania, you were back in England. The sky still spinning a bit from the rush of portkey travel, you and Fred stood out front of the Burrow. Fred’s left eyebrow was cocked, lips pulled in a small ring together, eyes narrowed. It was a strange thing to see your childhood home as an adult, even stranger still to see it as a married adult. Every formative moment, memory, and lesson that gets one to their adult life is all culminated in one place and wrapped up with a neat little bow. Perhaps thinking of the last time he exited the Burrow: simply affianced, not yet tied to someone. Seeing your childhood home as one’s own parents did is a quizzical occurrence. Were they once perched outside just the same, ready to start a new life? With a clouded head Fred gave your hand a squeeze and started to lead you inside.

“Shall I carry you in like a proper bride?”

You giggled at your quirky husband. “I think that’s only for our own home, love?” You exchanged cheeky smiles and headed through the door to a crowd of Weasleys. 

Bombarded with pokes of ‘how was it?’, ‘did you see any dragons?’, and a whispered

only to Fred ‘get lucky?’ from George. You and Fred passed through with smiles of adoration and amusement, taking a moment to greet and answer each family member. You both quickly darted upstairs to the bedroom, formerly occupied by Fred and George. You were both still lagged, and you had to collect the rest of your belongings brought back from the wedding that didn’t come to Romania. You and Fred sat on his bed, sharing warm smiles.

He wrapped an arm around you and pulled you close, and you let your head rest on his chest. He placed a tender kiss on your forehead, “love you,” another kiss, “and now we’re married,” another, “and we went on our honeymoon,” another, more loving kiss, “and I can’t wait to start my real, adult life with you, y/n.”

“I love you too, Freddie,” you gazed up at him, placing a peck on his lips. “I can’t wait to show you what I’ve been up to.”

“I’d love to know what you mean, love.”

“You’ll see soon enough,” and with that you curled fully into his lap, pushing him to lay down so you could both nap.

***

You and Fred woke up a few hours later to a soft rapping at the door. It was Molly.

“Hello, dears. Sorry to bother, just letting you know that dinner will be ready in about twenty minutes.”

“Thank you, mum.” Fred croaked as he sat up and you stirred. Seemingly satisfied, the Weasley matriarch left the room.

“You look lovely when you wake up,” Fred smiled and blushed down at you.

“Oh hush,” you retorted, hitting him lightly with one of the pillows, earning a laugh from both of you. You stopped for a moment, noticing, and I mean truly and fully taking in, memorizing, and learning your husband. The cock of his head when he’s amused, the blush of his cheeks when you laugh, his wide and bright smile, and his wild red hair. He caught you staring, a glimmer in your eyes and a small smile that held all of the love in the world. He cupped your cheeks in your hand, all of the love and emotion being expressed without the need for words. Staring into each other’s eyes, the world seemed to fade away until only you and Fred were left. A large, vast galaxy completely devoid of substance and life save for you and your husband at the very center of it all. Leaving his forehead pressed to yours for a moment, the air changed. The room once filled with the spirit of fresh youthful spirit and ambition was now filled with the aura of adulthood. You had both grown and changed as people since your first meeting at Hogwarts, yet this intimate moment in Fred’s childhood bedroom felt just as special as your first time there: Christmas break of fifth year. He pressed his lips to yours, giving a soft hum. The only noise filling the rooms were your’s and Fred’s breathy kisses and light hums, and although you’d just been married and on honeymoon, it held all of the love either of you could produce. A sense of all-encompassing understanding. You were about to do this, and do it together. Adulthood, starting a beautiful new chapter together, a place you’d never been. You’d have a house together, eventually kids, and you’d both live out the future of your dreams with one and other at the centre. You finally separated, but the eye contact and mist of romance lingered as you made your way downstairs. 

***

The next day you and Fred were set to return home to your apartment to begin your first day alone as a married couple, or so Fred thought. You had both said goodbye to all of the remaining Weasley’s. Bill and Fleur had stayed in France for holiday during your honeymoon, and George and Angelina had already gone home, so all that remained were Harry and Ginny. You left the Burrow, luggage in hand, and Fred took out his wand to apparate you both to your shared apartment.

“Wait,” you stopped him, “I’ve got this one.” He gave you a puzzled look but put his wand away as you took yours out. You apparated yourself and Fred away from the Burrow, except you didn’t land at the apartment. You were in front of a rickety, old house. It had good bones, and once fixed up would be the perfect starter-home.

“What’s this, y/n?” Fred question, gripping your hand harder.

“Ours.”

“Pardon?”

“...surpise…”

“Oh, y/n!!” The pieces clicked together in his head as he wrapped both arms around your waist and lifted you off the ground and into a tight hug. “But… how!?”

“I’ve been saving for about a year, plus my mom’s wedding gift was the downpayment. This is all ours, Freddie.”

“I love you so much, y/n.” He went to pull you into a kiss when you reminded him:

“You can carry me in now” He picked you up in his arms as you handed him the key to the house. He unlocked it and nudged the door open with his foot. He took a deep breath before crossing the threshold.

“I finally got to bring my wife home,” he said with a thick, wavering voice as he put you down.

“Fred?” A tear rolled down his cheek as he looked down at you, so innocent and absolutely glowing.

“It’s real, y/n. We’re married, and we have a house. This is all so surreal, and I love it… I love you.”

“I love you too, Freddie. So, so much.” You pulled him into a deep kiss, picture perfect in the sunlight coming in through the open doorway of your new home. He brought in the bags and you took his hand to lead him through the house.

The home itself was quaint and lovely. Three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and two floors. It was perfect for a family looking to expand, and you got it for an amazing price given the condition it was in. The front doorway opened into a hallway with an open threshold to the left and open house beyond straight ahead. The opening to the left led into a small sitting room, which connected to the dining room that could also be accessed from going straight through the hallway. Popping out of the hallway one would be standing in the center of the house. To the left were the open dining room and kitchen, and the right was the living room space. Straight ahead were the old and peeling, yet gorgeous and ornate French doors that led into the backyard. Another hallway branched off of the house’s center, just to the right of the living room. The hallway led nowhere but two small sets of stairs. One led into the small basement, and the other upstairs to the bedrooms and bathrooms; it was a split-level. Fred was amazed by the house that he hadn’t even noticed the boxes everywhere until the end of the tour when he nearly tripped on one exiting the master bedroom. 

“Did you move our things already?” He cocked an eyebrow at you.

“‘Course not. It’s supplies for painting and such.”

“Well when do we start?”

“Right now!” Before Fred could process what was happening, Weasleys flooded in the front door, eager and ready.

They all lined up in the living room as you remained in the center space. “Alright everyone!” You exclaimed out to the bunch of Weasleys, plus two Potters, “There’s a lot to do but I know we can do it. Fred and I will do a lot over the coming months, but the big project can be done today with everyone’s help! George and Fred, you two need to redo the walls on the bedrooms, tear them out and put in new insulation and paneling. Ron and Hermione, you two are going to replace the wood flooring that needs it and put carpet in the bedrooms and sitting room. Mr. Weasley, Bill, Harry, and Ginny are going to do the siding and roofing outside. And finally, myself, Mrs. Weasley, Angelina, and Fleur are going to replace windows and redo the kitchen, plus the bathrooms if we have time.” Everyone was more than ready, all nodding and approval and heading to their workstations. Boxes were torn open and the construction began.

Everyone returned the next two weeks to finish the major projects, and you were all exhausted by the end. You and Fred had been sleeping on sleeping bags and pillows for the time, so not only had you been working hard but you weren’t getting proper sleep. Despite the troubles, the house looked like a new structure. Though not perfect, the roofing and siding were redone and no longer sagging and leaking. The bedrooms and bathrooms were completely gutted and redone, any damage erased. The hardwood floors were absolutely perfect and the carpeting in the bedrooms and sitting room brought a homey warmth to the space. The kitchen was sparkling, new, and most importantly functional. The windows were bright and crack-free, ready to be gazed out of on a long night. The house was now a home, and was ready to be moved into. There were still some small projects, but at least you’d have a bed. Rooms needed to be painted, the landscaping redone, light fixtures installed, and Fred wanted to build a gardening shed. Despite the laundry-list of tasks, the house was at least liveable.

*** One month later

You and Fred had fully moved in and unpacked. Dishes were in cupboards and clothes in drawers. Everything had a place, even if temporary. The furniture was still clustered in the center of their respective rooms, as the walls still needed paint. But with the move out of the way, you and Fred could focus on the house again. It was only after the move that you realized how small the apartment was. You needed a whole second couch set since the apartment had no sitting room, the same with a dining room set and two more bedroom sets. However, these were less urgent.

Fred stirred in bed, feeling you next to him. He sat up and looked around the room. While an odd configuration at the moment-with the dresser behind the bed and the bed next to the vanity all while in the middle of the room-but the walls yearned for paint. He stifled a yawn as you stirred and rose from the bed.

“Morning, love!” you grinned, extra peppy that morning. You bounded over to him, giving him a quick peck before leaping from the room, “Happy Birthday!! We have work to do!”

Fred gave a smirk and an airy laugh at his joyful wife. He had almost forgotten his birthday with everything going on. He stretched and followed after you. He found you in the living room, already popping the paint can.

“Woah… hold on a moment, love. Perhaps we have some tea? Maybe get our painting clothes on first?” He chuckled as he spoke, his cheeks blushing at his excited wife.

“I knowww,” you said, fake-pouting like a toddler. A smile spread across your face as you walked over to Fred. “I’m just so excited to finish the house and to be doing it with you and to have a project of our own. Oh! And to celebrate your birthday!! You’re twenty four!”

“I know, love,” he murmured as he snaked an arm around your waist, guiding you into the kitchen, “I love your excitement.” He placed a kiss on your forehead as you wormed around him to get the kettle started.

After tea and breakfast you and Fred got started on painting, which you both realized would be a daunting task. 

“Where shall we start, darling?” “I don’t knowww. There’s so much to do!! And we have to celebrate for you!” you groaned as you buried your face in your hands. Fred intertwined his fingers with your own, taking your hands off your face and holding them near your sides.

“You were so excited earlier!” he said with a grin. “You’ve redone our entire kitchen and both bathrooms, I know you can paint a few rooms.” You exchanged smiles as he continued, “And I don’t need a celebration or even a gift. This house and being here with you is much more than I could have ever asked for. We can have dinner with Georgie and Angelina if you’d really like.” Seeming satisfied, you gave him a kiss and trotted off paint.

Later that night you and Fred went over to George and Angelina’s place to celebrate the twins’ birthday. It was a lovely time, spent with everyone laughing and drinking. You and Fred were on a new air of energy when you arrived home, having not gone out in a while. You came into the house and immediately attacked Fred, body pressed against him in the hall as you kissed him.

He pushed you away just enough to talk, “Woah there, y/n. What’s gotten into you?” He was blushing and sporting a grin.

“It’s your birthday and I love you, so I wanna do something with you.”

“We don’t have to, love. It’s late.”

“I know but… this is important.”

He didn’t bother questioning what you meant as it was his turn to attack your lips. Inhibitions gone, you were both taken in the moment. Your top was discarded somewhere on the floor as he placed sloppy kisses down your neck. He wrapped  his hands around your bottom to pick you up and you wrapped your legs around his waist. He carried you into the bedroom, never stopping his attack on your neck and chest along the way. What followed was probably the best you had ever had.

***

Two weeks later all of the base coats and the ceilings were done. While this seems like a long time, it was just the two of you now and you were in no particular rush. Enjoying the cool April breeze, you had the French doors open and were painting the details on the door frame. Fred was-or at least you thought-up the hall painting the front door and hallway. You had decided on a rich, aqua blue for the front door. You wanted something less traditional, something to perfectly match the perfectly quirky couple. Fred snuck up on you from behind, and quite easily as you were so engrossed in carefully painting the small curlicues around the doorframe, each a different jewel-toned color.

He wrapped his hands around your waist and lifted you off the ladder.

“Fred!”, you shrieked as your husband behind you only laughed.

“Hi love,” he responded, giving you a kiss. “The door looks absolutely stunning, but I have an idea.”

You raised an eyebrow, worried that he’d want to scrap the gold background, jewel-toned accented door frame and return to the white it originally was. You breathed a sigh of relief as he finished his thought.

“A timeline of our relationship.”

You once again raised an eyebrow. You had understood the words he said, but not what he meant by them. “On the door frame?”, you questioned your husband towering above you.

“Yeah, but not super obvious. You know, just put the important dates in here and there along the curves, hidden so really have to be looking for it. We can start at the bottom corner and go around.”

“Freddie I love it!” You jumped up and brought him into a deep kiss, reveling in your husband’s creative genius. He giggled against your lips.

In a matter of moments you were both seated on the floor, small brushes in hand and a can of black paint between you. You had planned where each date would go, and how far up the door you wanted to go just yet. You shared stories and laughs as you went.

March 19, 1992: the day you met. You and Fred remembered the story told time and time again, sharing how you both felt the connection then.

June 26, 1993: when he asked you out. You both relished in the story, how Fred came up to you in the library so nervous and flustered just to ask you to Hogsmeade. You’d gone before, but his nervousness told you everything, and you’d said yes before he even finished his sentence.

December 25, 1993: your first Christmas at the Burrow. You remembered how excited Molly was to meet you and how loved you felt to receive a Weasley jumper.

February 14, 1994: you both said ‘I love you’ for the first time on your Valentine’s Day date.

June 26, 1996: when Fred gave you a promise ring for your third anniversary, and Hogwarts graduation. You still had the ring and went into your bedroom to find it, prompting many stories.

July 3, 1996: when you moved into your apartment together.

June 24, 2001: Fred proposed to you at the Burrow.

February 14, 2002: you and Fred were finally married.

February 20, 2002: you moved into your new house together.

You were in the middle of painting the first ‘I love you’ when Fred spoke from next to you. You were so entranced in painting you hadn’t thought it was real at first. 

“y/n,” he said quietly and slowly from beside you. You heard it that time, and you could hear the smirk in your husband's voice.

“Hmm?” you turned towards Fred, and as you did you felt the splatter of paint on your nose. Fred was cackling as you had a splotch of the paint in the center of your face.

“Oh this is war, Weasley!” You stood up and gave him a good swipe across the forehead. But before anything could continue, you had to stop for a moment. “Wait! Get away from the doors!”

After the reminder you and Fred continued, chasing each other around the center of the house and living room as you each tried to hit the other with paint. The eventful game ended with you and Fred collapsed on the floor, absolutely winded.

“Well that was fun,” Fred said between breaths from beside you.

“That it was,” you agreed, giving him a kiss and dragging him into the shower.

***

About three weeks later Fred woke up, but you weren’t next to him. The painting was done and the furniture was finally in its proper place, yet Fred didn’t know where you were. He sat up, very alert, and that’s when he heard it: your soft gagging and crying from the bathroom.

“Y/n!?” He called you, dashing down the hall. He found you crouched over the toilet, throwing up and softly crying; throwing up was your least favorite thing in the world.

“Y/n, what’s wrong?” His voice was soft and melodic, barely above a whisper. He crouched down behind you, grabbing your hair in one and rubbing your back with the other. “Is everything alright, y/n?”

“I don’t know,” you choked out, finally standing up. Fred held you around the waist in case you felt dizzy. “I just woke up and felt so dizzy and just… weird.”

Fred looked more concerned than you had ever seen him, but you assured him everything was okay. You got cleaned up and went back into the bed with Fred, just wanting to relax.

***

Later that afternoon, you were out in the garden. Fred watched quietly from the doors, not wanting to interrupt your peace. You had gotten the backyard cleaned up a couple months ago when the Weasleys were over, but the weather wasn’t right to plant until now. The May sunshine beat down on you as you worked in your spring dress and sunhat. You had a plan for the garden: lilac bushes on both sides, with carnations in the garden itself on the exterior and peachy pink roses in the center. You finished planting the last rose a few hours later when you called out to Fred, “You can stop staring at my arse and come out here, you know.”

“How’d you know I was there?”

“I always know, love.” You both giggled, sitting down in the grass. 

“The garden looks lovely, y/n. Of course not as lovely as you.”

“Thank you, Freddie. Though you are aware I’m sweaty and covered in soil right now?”

“Yes, but you always look gorgeous.” He gave you a quick kiss before standing up. “It’s almost dinner time, and besides I’ll burn if I stay out any longer. Coming inside?”

“In a moment, I just want to clean up a bit.” He gave you another kiss and helped you stand up before heading in the house. Another wave of dizziness and nausea came over you, and that’s when it hit you. All of the pieces came together as you bounded in the house to Fred. You found him in the kitchen and wrapped your arms around him from behind.

“What’s this for, love?” He giggled as he turned to face you.

You cupped his face in your hands and looked him right in the eyes, “I’m pregnant.”

Chapter 21: Life is Magic, Part 1

Just moments after Spike’s birth mother Jennesis’s spirit was sent back. Twilight got set to create another gum portal to get between the palace and the cave faster.

Malakhar: Mind if I come with? I’ll help getting Kubuya here

Twilight: Sure thing. Just follow me as soon as I’ve made the portal

Malakhar nods, then Twilight makes a portal back inside the palace. They then head over to where Malakhar and Kubuya’s shared room was. They open the door quietly in case Kubuya is still sleeping, and indeed she is. Malakhar leans in closer to Twilight’s ears to whisper.

Malakhar: I’ll go wake her, Be right back.

Twilight nods and Malakhar approaches the bed quietly. Malakhar gets to the side of the bed and lightly shakes his to-be wife in two days. Kubuya starts waking up but still a little groggy, she looks over and sees Malakhar there and smiles.

Kubuya: Oops, did I oversleep a bit, honey?

Malakhar chuckles

Malakhar: Kind of! But it was a long, fun night yesterday. So it’s understandable

Kubuya sits up, stretches her front hooves and yawns.

Kubuya: So what’s the plan for today, we’re still two days away from our wedding...

Malakhar: Believe it or not, Twilight’s just outside our room and she needs you to help out with something important.

Kubuya: Huh? Why does Twilight need me? What can I do that’d be so important?

Malakhar: You’ll see in a moment, just trust me and her that it’ll be something special.

Kubuya: Well… ok... if you and her truly think I can help with whatever it is. But I’m not sure I can think of anything else other then knowing how the city library organizes the books *giggles*

Kubuya follows Malakhar out of the room and as Malakhar states Kubuya finds Twilight waiting for her.

Twilight: Good morni… or well I guess... it’s already close to noon at this point. But regardless... hello Kubuya. Hope you had a good rest.

Kubuya: Same to you, Twilight.

Twilight: Now we just need to get Somnambula for what we’re doing next.

On Twilight’s suggestion once Starswirl spread the word to them, the Pillars of Equestria attended the ball and had their own fun if lowkey time together at their table. Most of the pillars choose to go back once it was all over, however Somnambula happened to be the only one to decide to stay a little while longer. Either through more affinity for Saddle Arabia, or perhaps as some respect for her friendship with Jinn to see the wedding of her friend’s descendent.

Twilight, Malakhar, and Kubuya eventually find Somnambula who is talking with Princess Luna.

Malakhar: Hm, I wonder what Princess Luna’s doing here.

Twilight: I’m not sure, but I wonder if we should have her along as well. You told me she saw Jinn before right?

Malakhar: I’m not sure she’ll be able to help summon Jinn, as I’m not sure meeting her once as a filly is criteria for the friendship requirements to summon Jinn from Spike’s dragon tear. But it couldn’t hurt to have her see it as well, she’ll probably go if she knows her sister is there too.

Twilight: Yeah, sounds like it’s at least a good idea for her to see our discovery too.

They approach closer and call out to the two.

Twilight: Hey Somnambula! Princess Luna!

They turn towards the voice and see Twilight walking along with the soon to be married Malakhar and Kubuya

Luna: Ah, Princess Twilight, Malakhar, and Kubuya. Hope you all had a good night at both the ball and a nice rest.

Twilight: We certainly did, but we need you and Somnambula to come with us. We have something you absolutely must see, I promise it will be worth going. Princess Luna, your sister is there too.

Somnambula: Oh you found something I might be interested in seeing?

Twilight: Very, you could say… I found a great source of hope.

Somnambula smiles

Somnambula: Well, I’m alway up to see something that can provide hope! Sure, I’ll come along.

Luna: I will come along, too. I trust you and my sister have found something of great interest.

With that Twilight, Malakhar, and Kubuya are now accompanied by Somnambula and Princess Luna back to the portal Twilight left originally, and they’re all soon back in the cave. 

((Story continues after the break))

Somnambula and Luna look around, Somnambula in particula thinking that they were going to see the very thing that Twilight was hinting at once they got past the portal looks a little confused.

Somnambula: Um, Princess Twilight. I’m not sure a huge dragon skeleton in the middle of the desert is really a source of hope…

Twilight: That’s not it, well technically it’s related to a little earlier. But look, I need both you and Kubuya to touch the dragon tear on Spike’s necklace.

Kubuya and Somnambula look at each other before shrugging and then heading in front of Spike to touch the Dragon’s Tear

Twilight: Now I need you both to think about Jinn. Imagine that inside your head, you’re talking to her, even if it sounds silly. If you could send a mentally-sent message to Jinn, what would it be?

Somnambula goes wide-eyed

Somnambula: Wait, are you saying you found a way to contact the deceased?!

Twilight: You... could say that…

Kubuya: Twilight… if this is true… this is the most amazing discovery in perhaps tens of thousands of years! In other words, one of those too good to be true kind of stuff…

Twilight: Just trust me on this, Kubuya. I wouldn’t have gone through the effort of finding you and Somnambula if I hadn’t seen how this works firsthoof. Even if you find it hard to believe, speak to the Dragon’s Tear through your mind, as if you got a chance to speak with Jinn. Of those I know personally, only you two can do this.

Both Kubuya and Somnambula think for a moment then about what they would say. They still have one of their the hooves on Spike’s necklace, they close their eyes, and in their heads say what they want to say.

Somnambula: (Jinn? If you can actually hear me… this is your friend Somnambula. I just want to say I miss you, and would do anything… to somehow see you again… I was in limbo for a very long time, and I never got to say goodbye… so I’d very much appreciate that, if it’s possible…)

Kubuya: (Erm… hello… Jinn? My name is Kubuya, i’m… a descendent of yours. I don’t know where you are, or if this even works. But supposedly, I can contact you like this… I have always been curious at what you were like. And I would love to see you for the first time… you mean so much to my family history and all of Saddle Arabia itself… it’d be an enlightening experience just to even see you, let alone being able to speak to you…)

Spike then puts his own hand over the Dragon’s Tear to activate it. The process can work with just pony thoughts, but it still needs a Dragon to sort of be a conduit to use the Dragon’s Tear and send whatever thoughts or desires a pony has. Soon the tear gem starts glowing just as it did when Spike unknowingly summoned his mother. Twilight smiles.

Twilight: Looks like it’s working!

Kubuya and Somnambula still rather confused about all this, just either keeps an eye on Spike’s glowing tear or looks around the cave for whatever this was supposed to do. Soon, another white energy comet comes down from the sky towards the inside of the cave. This time much smaller then the one of Jennesis’. Mostly because this is a pony spirit, it’s just naturally a smaller size. Once again it becomes a sphere that floats in front of the group. Somnambula, Kubuya, and Luna all awestruck at the sight. Luna looking at her sister as it appears, noticing Celestia has a smile watching what’s happening. Meaning obviously Celestia saw this already a little earlier.

The sphere soon shifts into the form of a pony, the clear shape of hooves, mane, and tail. The silhouette then makes way for some color and specific details, just like with Genesis the spirit is outlined by a white glow. Jinn herself is also white but thanks to the transparency of her spirit, it is dull enough to make out despite the white glow, her mane is round and very light blue, both the mane and tail end in a hook of a mane that sort of resemble the end of a genie tail on it’s own. Her actual pony tail also light blue and decently long, She even has her genie attire on. Her eyes are closed as she fades in, but once everything has settled. She opens her eyes to reveal the light purple shade of her eyes. She tilts her head and smiles in front of the group.

Somnambula can’t believe her eyes, Jinn was truly in front of her. Her tears welling up with joy, and despite the transparent look of Jinn’s body she couldn’t resist and decides to try to hug Jinn’s spirit.

Twilight: Wait! Somnambula you’ll just fall thro-

But to Twilight’s surprise, Somnambula actually does manage to get a hoof around Jinn’s neck to hug and sob joyful tears into Jinn’s shoulder. Her tears fall through Jinn’s spirit, but otherwise Somnambula is actually physically touching a spirit. Giving the rest of the group even if they were here when Jennesis was first summoned, a bit of another surprise. Meanwhile, Somnambula’s just having a joyous reunion.

Somnambula: Oh Jinn! I missed you so much! I can’t believe you’re actually here! As a spirit, but here nonetheless!

Jinn: It’s good to see you too, Namby!

Twilight: Whoa… you’re actually touching the spirit! I was so sure you were going to fall through…

Kubuya taps her hooves together a bit, and asks Jinn something.

Kubuya: May I… give Jinn a hug, too? We are family after all…

Somnambula lets go of Jinn and lets Kubuya give Jinn her own hug. Kubuya also manages to give her ancestor a hug. Twilight is kinda curious herself and sees if she can give a hug as well.

Twilight: So uh… can I give you a hug from one genie to another?

Jinn slightly giggles as if she knows something, but she outstretches her hooves as if to call Twilight to do so. Twilight approaches, and she decides to try a jump hug in confidence after seeing two previous hugs work. But instead of jumping into Jinn’s hooves… she falls through and faceplants on the floor. 

Jinn laughs, having known that was likely going to happen. Twilight a bit dazed but she gets back up.

Twilight: Hey… Why couldn’t I hug you, when Somnambula and Kubuya could?

Jinn: Hehe, sorry. Only those who are capable of summoning the spirit are actually able to physically touch them. Looks like we’re not related, and we never met when I was alive so…

Twilight: You knew that? Then why did you outstretch your hooves to anticipate a hug?!

Jinn: Just a little prank on my end *giggles*

Twilight: From the stories I hear about you, I never imagined you were the pranking type... I thought you were simply a benevolent genie that sort of responded in a sage-like way to everything.

Jinn: I may have tried to be a bit of a fuddy-duddy so I could be responsible with my wishes at first. But I eventually relaxed and allowed me to be myself what with some of the silly things we genies could do *Jinn spins her eyes* Some reason no history writers ever wanted to write about my sense of humor, my own book explaining about Genies I even had to tone the comedy down, unfortunately. *Jinn spits her tongue out*

Malakhar and Sultan Theandri suddenly get a little closer and just sort of kneel before Jinn.

Malakhar: Jinn… it is such an honor to meet you. Much of Saddle Arabia still reveres you greatly.

Sultan Theandri: Even as a Sultan, I feel to be unworthy in your presence Jinn. You are not just a legend here… you are THE legend here…

Jinn shakes her head and laughs a little

Jinn: Oh come now, yes, I’m the first genie. But you don’t have to kneel to me or say you’re unworthy in my presence as if I created the entire world. If there’s one thing that Anti-Genie regime was actually right about, we genies are ponies just like you. We were fellow friends, powerful friends with crazy amount of magical power yes, but friends nonetheless.

Both Malakhar and the Sultan sort of surprised at the adherence to modesty. Like Twilight they’ve always been led to believe some rather exaggerated view of Jinn as more omniscient and/or quite a level above everypony. Perhaps they just read too many books that sort of depicted her as some god.

Jinn: Guess, that’s just some sort of air about me I may have to keep dispelling, if I’m summoned here more in the future.

Princess Luna suddenly approaches.

Luna: I… remember you… I was a filly… lost in a forest… but after giving me 3 wishes… I ended up back home…

Jinn squints a bit given Luna is so large she is probably decently different from how she looked as a filly.

Jinn: Ah yes, you are the filly I helped out that one time aren’t you? You’ve sure gotten so much bigger!

Luna: I actually thought the time we met was only a dream. But I guess I was really lost?

Jinn: You were a pretty scared little filly, I sort of set things up to make you thought it was all a dream to sort of comfort you. Your sister didn’t even know you were gone for too long.

Celestia: If that is the case, thanks for helping out my sister when she got lost.

Jinn just smiles at the Alicorn sisters. Then Twilight finally starts speaking again to Jinn.

Twilight: So… Jinn… we spoke with the dragon Jennesis before you were summoned…

Jinn: So this is where she went from where we were, huh?

Jinn looks behind her.

Jinn: Wonder if that was a little awkward for her to be spawned where her skeleton is…

Twilight: Huh? Where you and Jennesis were?

Jinn: Yes, where we go when our souls have left our bodies AKA when we died.

Twilight: Well… I guess that works into getting into what my first question was going to be. Summoning you and Jennesis has proven without a doubt, some kind of afterlife exists in our world. Are you willing to tell us, what happens to the souls of the deceased?

Jinn’s general happy demeanor suddenly reaches a more serious expression that stares at Twilight. She said that she’s a pony that likes to have a little humor, but even she understands that there are times to give a serious look, given the stuff she’s about to say.

Jinn: Before I directly answer this question, I need to tell you some facts about the way our world works. Twilight, have you ever wondered why we ponies need to move the sun and moon every day?

Twilight: Huh? Well… I guess in my younger years I was curious. But I’ve just generally accepted that’s just the way it is. No specific reason why, it just is.

Jinn: There in fact is a reason for that, and not even the sun and moon princesses themselves know why.

Celestia and Luna go wide-eyed that Jinn is claiming there’s something about the Sun and Moon they don’t know.

Twilight: What?! How can Celestia and Luna not know everything about the sun and moon?!

Jinn: Simple! Nopony, not even the Alicorn sisters have been far enough up in space to see!

Twilight: Wait, that’s not true. Luna was sent to the moon!

Jinn: Ah, moon banishment… (Things must of really got serious between the two at one point to resort to that… looks like thankfully they’ve made up) That however doesn’t send a pony to the outside of the moon, they’re sent INSIDE the moon.

Twilight: …I guess that does make sense… the tale was Mare IN the moon… not ON the moon. But what exactly is up in space that we haven’t discovered? Don’t tell me that like… those crazy ponies who think the world is flat are actually right or something?

Even though Jinn has been serious, she can’t even stifle her laughter at the thought of Flat-Equestrians.

Jinn: AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAhahahahahaha. Sorry, sorry. I couldn’t help myself. That was just funny. No, those flat-equestrians have never been correct. There was a lot more of them during my early time as a genie, but even as far back as then most knew our world was round from as simple as Pegasi going pretty high up in the air in all corners of the world, and seeing the same round shape wherever we go

Twilight: Hehe, yeah. At this point they’re like a fringe group of less then a dozen ponies, mainly cutoff from much of the country.

Jinn: Hehehehehe, I guess I should actually back to explaining things, but just to say it. Yes, our world is round and has always been round.

Jinn tries to get back to her serious explanation but still kinda breaks composure every so often to laugh again.

Jinn: Alright then… as much as I laugh about the flat-equestrians, ahahaha. There is perhaps one thing in their theories ahehehe, that is just about near on-the-money. And thats the way our Sun and Moon act are quite strange. 

Going back to what I said, we ponies for some reason have to move them whether it’s a whole group of unicorns like the old days, or currently the Alicorn sisters. But do you know what would happen if Celestia and Luna just decided to like… not move the Sun or Moon for a full day? A week? Months? Or even years?

Twilight ponders for a moment in a scenario where Celestia and Luna just decided not to raise the sun and moon each day.

Twilight: I imagine our planet still rotates? But maybe a lot slower? In other words, day and night cycles would last several days or even weeks?

Jinn: Nope… the Sun and Moon would just never move at all!

Twilight goes wide-eyed with her mouth agape

Twilight: WHAT?!

Jinn: Yes, without our magic. Our Sun and Moon would just stay where they are on the sky. And what’s more, our planet does not rotate at all. This is also why Pegasi control the weather in most places without rotation… Clouds can’t quite get there by themselves without a rotating world.

And if the Sun and Moon does not move, nor does the planet rotate. It would result in half the world becoming a frozen wasteland. While the other side becomes a large desert if left like that for long enough. The only solid habitable areas would be the areas just between the two sides that would be under an eternal Twilight or Sunset essentially.

Twilight muses to herself for a moment

Twilight: Well, I guess I know what would be the result if I went with my own “Eternal” time of the day like Nightmare Moon did. *giggles* Though Jinn, if you spirits go up in space. Are you able to see if other planets in our universe are like this?

Jinn: We don’t know if it’s like this in other potential planets with life in our vast universe. This could be very well normal in the universe, or we could even be some strange anomaly. But either way, us spirits can plainly see our world where we go to.

Twilight: Then I suppose this is a good time as any to finally explain where the deceased go?

Jinn: Ok… so anyone who has ever lived on our planet that had an average, normal life or better all end up as where we are. All kinds of life: ponies, dragons, wild animals, and even the souls of plants end up there.

Jinn winks and leans in closer to Twilight

Jinn: However, the plant spirits aren’t exactly very talkative. *giggles*

But ahem… when someone... or something in the case of the plants… the spirit inhibiting the body out of our planet and stops and joins all the other spirits encircling our little space in the universe,we spirits flow around our planet and the Moon. We are entirely invisible to the living. But we are all there, most creatures and plants that have ever lived on the planet… Has been around us the entire time. Just invisible, and way, way, way, up in space that no pony alive has ever reached before.

Twilight: Fascinating… but does this shield made by the streams of life in all our history, have a purpose?

Jinn: Yes, we spirits protect our planet from the most dangerous objects in space reaching us. Whether that’s large meteorites, or stray solar flares that might heat up our planet, melting the ice caps, and flooding the planet.

Twilight: I see… now… I noticed you said MOST life that dies ends up up their in the soul shield up there… are there exceptions?

Jinn: Yeah… anyone who was evil or otherwise generally unhappy doesn’t go up there. Instead, their spirits become some sort of dark magic that cause havoc on the planet. And in some cases, damage our shield up there temporarily. An example of said dark magic… are the Windigoes. They’re actually formerly a type of extinct prehistoric horse closely related to our own prehistoric descendants but instead of working together and making up the core values that would later become our world’s friendship. The horses that would become the windigoes depended on hate, rage, and violence in a world ravaged by ice and snow.

In fact, you know when I said what would happen to the planet if the Sun and Moon never moved for a longtime? That was actually once the norm for our planet. And our prehistoric ancestors were at tribal war with these horses for their very survival in some of the deepest parts of the planet where only the moon shined. Our own land of Saddle Arabia, actually started because a few tribes that befriended each other decided to try move in to the warmer part of the planet to escape those prehistoric horses. Those horses had lots of fur and tougher-built bodies that gave them an advantage in a world of ice an snow, but it becomes a weakness when they tried to attack in the warmer areas of the planet. The side where the sun only shined came with it’s own dangers as well, but for many of the first settlers in the land that would become Saddle Arabia. It felt much safer, then the moon’s side of the planet.

The Windigoes are the most well-known example of the dark magic that came after the death of those who were evil. Though they may certainly be other examples even if it’s perhaps unknown what exactly was the evil that died that contributed to such areas, the Everfree forest for example may be such an area. The dark magic collected there may be why it’s one of the few places where clouds move on their own and often are bad news, such as uncontrolled thunderstorms.

While I’m not sure if many civilizations understood why, executing and/or otherwise killing threats ended up biting the land in the flank later. That’s actually why… perhaps subconsciously… our society tries to instead turn enemies into friends… or failing that, trapping them in a sort of permanent state of still technically living, but unable to die, such as being turned to stone or otherwise trapping them in places they’ll never return from.

But regardless, the more evil a threat was. The more consequences there were, if they died. Granted, with a dead villain of the magnitude that reforming isn’t an option. It was still better to contend with the consequences of killing them of it compared to what they were trying to do when they were alive. But the result of killing threats just got to a point it wasn’t advisable. As aside from their death unleashing consequential dark magic to fight, but often killing only made them martyrs if they had any followers and/or others that would be inspired by villainous acts. Some taking the acts of dark magic, as the result of the death of such villains as righteous retribution and a sign that the forces of nature was on their side.

The good news however, is the opposite is also true when it comes to the good. The more someone was a good and powerful hero, the more strength they provide our shield up there. And often said force of good inspires their own friends and family still living, to be strong forces of good that leaves the living prepared against the wreckage of dark magic. Size also matters as our shield would not nearly be as strong as it is now without dragons like Jennesis. The reason why she couldn’t be the one to explain what I’m telling you now even though she would be quite capable, is it’s actually somewhat of a risk for her to be down here, because when she came down it leaves a hole in the shield that even with all the life up there, we have to work overtime to try to make sure nothing dangerous comes through the hole. When you summon me, even if I’m a pretty strong force of good myself. It’s a much easier patch up, then a full grown dragon that lived a full life and found friendship.

Twilight just sits there trying to digest all this new information in her mind. She’s close to an epiphany, of what this all means.

Twilight: This is all amazing information… so villains that have died wreck havoc on the world in different ways… and those who are good or at least had normal lives patch up a shield that protects our planet. The good are actually rewarded for their service by continuing to protect our planet… and now we know Dragon Tears can allow us to contact the dead. Or at least, the dead that are personal friends, lovers, or family… I feel like I’m close to realizing something… but I think I may need to ask one more question before I really say it for absolute certain…

Jinn: Anything, shoot me with whatever ya got.

Twilight: What… exactly is a Dragon’s Tear? Why is it so powerful?

Jinn: Very good question, Twilight. I’m glad you asked that. As you’ve heard, the Dragon Tear’s often only come from dying dragons. Though not all dragons who died left one, it takes a dragon having found friendship within their lives to make it more likely they leave one. And also as I’ve told you, dragons who found friendship absolutely offer the most support up in the shield. But if they’ve left a tear, it meant they had so much excess soul magic, that some of it had to be left on the planet.

Twilight: I actually have a bit of an addendum about this… you see… Spike cried a Dragon’s tear. However, he’s still living because he managed to use it to save himself and my friends. Is there an explanation for that?

Jinn: …Oh wow, Spike had to been through a real emotional scene to have done that…

Yes… it’s technically possible for a dragon to drop a Dragon’s Tear and live. But… it has to be basically a near-death experience and the dragon has to have fast reflexes and amount of love for those he wishes to protect to just manage to use their own Dragon’s Tear to save others.

Twilight: And that’s basically what happened… I can give the details about what happened a little later… you may continue answering my Dragon’s Tear question.

Jinn: Right, but basically all I have left to say… is that the Dragon’s Tear contains excess soul magic of the Dragon that passed. Most of the soul magic is what makes up the Dragon’s spirit that heads up in the shield. But a Dragon’s Tear contains within it the power of a Dragon Spirit that can either be used to protect with powerful magic shields around the living and/or contact deceased spirits when used by a dragon

Twilight gasps, knowing that’s the reason why the main use of the tear was a shield that protected her friends and Spike himself from the blasts that Zathir made Twilight while hypnotized blast at them. Though she is also affixed on Jinn saying soul magic.

Twilight: Jinn… you mentioned soul magic… multiple times now in fact… Is every single spirit in the shield up there made of this same soul magic?

Jinn nods vertically to indicate a Yes

Twilight: Then… are our souls… magic?

Jinn: You are sooooo close to getting it! Think a little more broadly then souls…

Twilight: More… broadly… then souls…

Twilight suddenly perhaps expresses a gasp so loud it echoes throughout the cave.

Twilight: Magic is not just friendship and love, or even just our emotions whether good or bad… Magic also isn’t just the spells we cast… nor is it just the many magical artifacts and items that exist in our world… it’s... life… 

Life itself… is… Magic too!

UP NEXT: Chapter 22 - Life is Magic, Part 2

The Battle Between Love and Fire-

Ivar the Boneless × Reader

Chapter Sixteen: Fresh Air

Chapter Fifteen

Word Count 1.9k

Warnings: lots of fluff, slight angst but ends with more fluff

Today is like every other day in Kattegat. But this particular day is the first snowfall of the year. It is crazy to realize that you have been living this new life since spring. You have changed so much since you left Wessex. Your dragon's have grown and you have grown as a better person. You can be yourself, you can genuinely smile and not have to fear your father's bipolar behavior. You are now with child, Hvitserk's child, and you are on cloud nine. To be able to say that you will be a mother in nine month's time is still surreal to you. But in your heart, it feels so real and right. 

You walk to your dragon's feasting on their meals, and witness these amazing creatures. You fiddle with the wedding ring on your left hand and feel another besides it. You look down and see the dragon ring that your father gave you on your twentieth birthday. Your heart wrenches in your chest. When he gave this to you, he was acting like your father: kind and generous..full of love. Then you remember the day he banished you from your own home. Threatening to kill you for marrying a cripple. You look up at Neith, whose eyes are glossy from seeing your face fall with such sorrow. 

"I'm okay, dear one. Continue your meal." She looks back at you before eating, "I know, I love you so much." You take off your dragon ring and walk towards the closest source of running water. In your case, it is a little lake. You take one last look at it, and throw it into the lake. When you see it sink all of the way down towards the bottom, you feel a sense of yet another weight lifted off of your shoulders. That was the only thing left of your father's, besides your dragon's. But they are one of the greatest wonders of your life, besides the child in your belly. You audibly breathe loud and hard and you feel a pair of familiar hand wrap around your torso. 

Ivar "Hello, my sweet."

"Mmm-hi."

Ivar "You alright?"

"Oh yes. I am very happy." You turn around to face your husband.

Ivar "That is good to hear. Now that you are with child, I want you to be happy..always."

"I will, Ivar. Do not worry about me so much, yes?"

Ivar "Yes. I cannot help it. I am sorry. I just care about you so much. I want nothing but the best for you and our child."

"Ivar-"

Ivar "I know, I know..it is not mine. But I will treat him or her as such. I will love him or her as my own, you know that."

"I do. I am very lucky, and so is she." 

Ivar chuckles, "You are so certain that it is a daughter?"

"I am. All of my visions are of a daughter."

Ivar kisses your cheek, "That is wonderful. I am happy for my brother, Hvitserk. He always wanted to be a father, as myself. Our brother Ubbe, got blessed with many children. Some are not his own, but he claims them as his own. He is a wonderful father."

"I have witnessed that. Ubbe is very kind."

Ivar "Yes. But back to the topic at hand, I am happy for you and Hvitserk. I know that the circumstances are not as I would have hoped. Because I am a cripple, I cannot truly be a father. But you have given me that chance of loving a child, even if it is not my own. I am truly happy."

Your heart is so warm, so content. "Thank you, my beloved. I love you more than words could ever describe. I hope you never forget that."

Ivar "How could I?! I am the luckiest man to be married to such an incredible woman! A mother of dragon's, a mother of this miracle child! To be able to call you my wife, is my blessing."

"Oh Ivar. I am the lucky one. You have saved me from my past life. You have taken me away from there, and have given me this extraordinary life here in Kattegat. Where I can be happy, where my dragon's can be happy. For you, I am lucky and truly blessed by the gods."

His face lights up with pure joy and gratitude, "I love you, princess."

"And I love you, my king."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When you and Ivar return to the house, you see Hvitserk and Ubbe laughing away, enjoying a horn of ale. 

Ivar "Look at them, already drunk and it is not even mid-day."

You giggle and lean into his side, "Oh let that have their fun." Ivar chuckles and agrees. You walk over and sit next to your close and dear friend, Torvi. 

Torvi "There you are, where have you been?"

"Outside with my dragon's. I wanted to spend some time with them."

Torvi "I still cannot wrap my whole head around the fact that you have three dragon's. Especially given the fact that I did not know that they were real creatures until a few months ago."

You two laugh together, "Yes. It is hard to comprehend but they are real and my babies. I can still remember the day that they hatched. Now look at them, almost fully grown."

Torvi "Are you worried about your child being around them?"

"Oh not at all! They are trained very well: to be kind and gentle until given orders not to."

Torvi "That is wonderful. How is Ivar taking the news?"

"He is excited to be a father."

Torvi "That is good. I hope that he will treat it well."

"What do you mean?"

Torvi "Well before you, he was not the same man. Not the same king that you know. He would kill senselessly, he would torture and harm for the slightest reasons. So I hope that he will not return to that same behavior." Your heart kind of started to race. You have heard great stories of Ivar the Boneless, but never thought that many of them were truthful. But I guess they all were. 

"Oh I see. Well, I don't see him changing anytime soon. Especially not towards my child. He promises to be a good father."

Torvi "Yes. I hope that for you. You are a wonderful woman, and I am so lucky to call you my friend."

"Me too, Torvi. Thank you for the kind words."

Torvi "Of course."

…

Ivar joins his brother's at the table and starts to drink. He is a fun drunk, most days. Some days, he is a loud drunk and likes to make a ruckus. But you do not mind it. He is king after all, and needs some days to unwind. You watch him bond with his brother's and it is a nice thing to witness. It is crazy to you that you are living such a life. But you are feeling very lucky, especially on this day. 

Since you cannot drink, you cannot drink, you ask torvi if she wants to take the horses and go riding for a bit. To which she agrees. You walk over to the boys and tell them that you will be back by nightfall.

Hvitserk "Why are you leaving?"

"I want some fresh air. I cannot drink, Hvitserk."

Hvitserk "I know, but I do not want you to go."

"I will be back before you know it. I will be with Torvi and some guards. The dragon's will fly above us."

Hvitserk sighs, "Okay, be safe please."

"I will."

Ivar gets up and talks to Torvi, "Keep her safe, please."

Torvi "We will be safe, Ivar. We are strong women. We can take care of ourselves."

Ivar's jaw clenches, "Of course. You girl's have fun. My love, be back before nightfall, hmm?"

"Yes. Goodbye." 

Hvitserk watches you walk out of the doors.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You mount your black horse and begin to ride, alongside Torvi. Guards follow on all sides of you and Torvi: front, behind, left and right. 

"HOVER!" You scream out to your dragon's, and they fly high above you and your group. They do not fly too far ahead, strictly above as you commanded. You watch your beautiful creatures flying high and strong, with a proud smile on your face. 

Torvi "They are magnificent!" She shouted to you.

"Aren't they?"

Torvi "I am blown away. You are an incredible woman, Y/n."

"As are you, Torvi!"

You ride around Kattegat, aware of your surroundings. The trees barely have any leaves on them anymore. The sky is gray as the clouds form for another snow fall. The guard's holt for a moment, then continue. 

The leading man, "It is starting to get dark, my queen. Let's head back."

"Okay." You command your dragon's to turn around and stay above. You can tell that the guard's are rushing a bit, for what reason, you are uncertain.

Torvi "What is it?!"

Guard's "We see horse tracks that are not our own. It is time to head back." You and Torvi look at each other and realize that they were not kidding and clicked your tongues for your horses to start galloping. 

….

When you get back, your dragon's fall asleep and you and Torvi head inside. Hvitserk and Ivar have worried looks on their faces, as well as Ubbe. 

Torvi "What is the matter?"

Ubbe "We just got a little worried about you guys. How was the ride?"

"It was nice. We saw tracks that were not ours, so we headed back a little bit before nightfall."

Hvitserk walks up, "I told you that I did not want you to go. What if you got ambushed?"

"Hey, nothing happened. We are okay."

Ivar "Alright well, let's get you warm and some food in you, yes?"

"Okay."

Hvitserk's jaw clenches and his face scowls. He hates that no one knows that you are carrying his child, not Ivar's. He hates that he has to keep his love that he has for you, to himself. But he knows that it is for the greater good. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After you are done eating and telling Ivar about the ride, Ivar heads to bed early. His head was pounding from too much ale. You, however, are not so tired so you decide to sit with your dragon's by the village's fire. 

Hvitserk joins you after a short while.

Hvitserk "I was beyond worried, y'know."

"Why, tell me?"

Hvitserk "I had a vision of you and Torvi getting ambushed by men with cloaks covering their faces. I couldn't tell who they were or where they came from, all I could see was them taking out the guards, and you and Torvi-"

"That didn't happen, okay?"

Hvitserk "I know, but it almost did, Y/n. And what if it did, hmm? I could've lost you and our child."

"I am sorry. I just wanted some fresh air."

Hvitserk "I am not mad at you, just got scared that is all. I am glad that you are here and safe."

"Me too. I had a bad feeling at the end there, but you have forgotten that we had my dragon's with us, Hvitserk. All I would have had to say was one word and all of them would have been burned alive in seconds."

Hvitserk chuckles, "You are right. I did forget how badass you are. I shouldn't underestimate you, for that I am sorry."

"Don't apologize for caring. Thank you for caring about me and our child. We are lucky to have you."

Hvitserk "I love you, kitten."

"I love you too. Now let's not talk about what almost happened, and talk about our daughter, hmm?"

Hvitserk "That sounds lovely."

You and Hvitserk talk about your daughter and your visions of her and her growing up as a strong shield maiden. It was a perfect way to end the day.

@hvitserkmarcosource @ivarsgoddess @youbloodymadgenius @a-mess-of-fandoms @conaionaru @heavenly1927 @saldelys @ivarzeitgeist @herestherealproblem @jzr201 @kaitieskidmore1

international year of plant health

hi. i made a playlist of a snapshot of the stuff i’ve listened to this year if you’re looking for some recommendations! xoxo mae

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0VkfnggwpC1TEj2wsaHyZr?si=4JJd6Z-kRoCHuHypRtWK3g

1. little simz - might bang, might not 2. jean deaux - recipe! 3. logic - open mic\\aquarius iii 4. spittzwell - the lesson 5. ivy sole - kismet 6. vel the wonder - fine art 7. megan thee stallion - shots fired 8. kari faux - look at that 9. rico nasty - own it 10. flo milli - beef flomix 11. kodie shane - 2 many 12. kali uchis - ¡aquí yo mando! 13. tkay maidza - shook 14. bree runway - atm 15. yung baby tate - i am 16. almondmilkhunni - grapefruit 17. princess nokia - soul food y adobo 18. bosco - attention 19. kiana ledé - movin. 20. diamond white - secondhand 21. queen naija - i’m her 22. danileigh - mistreated 23. parisalexa - 2 optimistic 24. qveen herby - farewell 25. jhené aiko - p*$$y fairy (otw) 26. chloe x halle - forgive me 27. kehlani - water 28. umi - pretty girl hi! 29. rimon - i shine, u shine 30. disclosure - birthday 31. phora - cupid's curse 32. roy ayers - synchronize vibration 33. thundercat - unrequited love 34. thelonious coltrane - perfect timing 35. [ k s r ] - passion 36. alina baraz - more than enough 37. alayna - glowing 38. savannah cristina - self love 39. paloma ford - rain 40. nakala - she interlude ii 41. orion sun - lightning 42. jaz karis - hold you 43. cleo sol - when i'm in your arms 44. keiyaa - do yourself a favor 45. alicia keys - me x 7 46. yazmin lacey - morning matters 47. be steadwell - succulent 48. daniela andrade - k.l.f.g. 49. yung lean - dogboy 50. bladee - sun 51. blackwinterwells - algae 52. sullii - moonlight 53. misogi - heart chained 54. aminé - talk 55. tobi lou - lingo starr: drunken master 56. busta rhymes - look over your shoulder 57. 2 chainz - southside hov 58. atmosphere - the future is disgusting 59. meltycanon - moody blues 60. alfred. - sheeshfred 61. love-sadkid - ephemeral 62. jay squared - vision like you! 63. tuamie - you needed time you said 64. oatmello - blue 65. wun two - a noite 66. kuranes - calm 67. omaure - drama 68. dust and moonlight - sleeping or sinking 69. phlocalyst - image 70. ocha - r33 71. sugi.wa - love u 72. palm - memories of winter 73. goosetaf - tripwire 74. bryzone_ybp - the count 75. orancha - smoky banana 76. evil needle - midnight 77. eevee - romance 78. chief. - can't explain 79. ngyn - aerith 80. fujitsu - move on 81. meitei - nami 82. swum - breezy 83. chris mazuera - perspective 84. jinsang - maybe 85. tesk - cascades 86. saib - nautica 87. mf eistee - uprising 88. kaskade - when you’re dreaming 89. tatsuya maruyama - love you - lo-fi remix 90. towerz - before i gave in 91. baechulgi - abyss 92. underbelly - glitchwater 93. notsure - icecoffee 94. yutaka hirasaka - arise 95. akisai - ecossaise 96. nom tunes - missing piece 97. sweet dove - on the viewless wings 98. park bird - new place, same people 99. city girl - ji-eun's favorite 100. katie dey - loving 101. mary lattimore - sometimes he's in my dreams 102. teen daze - peaceful groove 103. pacific coliseum - turquoise 104. tycho - outer sunset 105. [.que] - glimmer 106. lights & motion - separated hearts 107. roger eno - celeste 108. talsounds - opening 109. alva noto - xerrox voyage 110. 36 - stasis sounds for long-distance space travel (stage 2) 111. stan forebee - bedscape 112. daniel avery - illusion of time 113. arbee - 2sum - charlie dreaming remix 114. okada takuro - waterfront (up-01) 115. gabriel ólafs - lóa - bing & ruth rework 116. warmth - the creek - mixed 117. rhucle - rev 118. com truise - surf 119. sarah davachi - still lives 120. gastón arévalo - sur les traces des explorateurs 121. peter bark - ascension 122. kara-lis coverdale - flutter 123. totally enormous extinct dinosaurs - brockley 124. green-house - peperomia seedling 125. four tet - green 126. morimoto naoki - aru 127. kaitlyn aurelia smith - remembering 128. dj python - te conocí 129. ocoeur - glow 130. christina vantzou - snow white 131. alonefold - strange rainbows 132. savoir adore - dancing temples 133. tengger - water 134. suzanne ciani - a sonic womb pt. 3 135. mogwai - major treat 136. this will destroy you - entrance 137. sleepmakeswaves - time wants a skeleton 138. elsa hewitt - rebird 139. ulla - i think my tears have become good 140. aether - she isn't here 141. zoe polanski - the last frontier 142. lyra pramuk - witness 143. ana roxanne - a study in vastness 144. julianna barwick - nod 145. the leaf library - about minerals 146. gia margaret - barely there 147. lucy gooch - my lights kiss your thoughts every moment 148. briana marela - forgiveness 149. loma - homing 150. mree - open arms 151. ellis - saturn return 152. alexia avina - fit into 153. fenne lily - to be a woman pt. 1 154. noble oak - evaporate 155. mint julep - blinded 156. rush week - best laid plans 157. mini trees - slip away 158. winter - bem no fundo 159. yumi zouma - cool for a second 160. laura veirs - burn too bright 161. terry vs. tori - keepsake box 162. castlebeat - shoulder 163. candace - still phase 164. tiny deaths - if i'm dreaming 165. lydia - heavy 166. caspian - nostalgist 167. nova one - lovable 168. corey flood - heaven or 169. hazel english - off my mind 170. bantug - dizzy 171. tops - colder & closer 172. the hidden shelf - miracles 173. ruru - 99 174. widowspeak - even true love 175. cheerleader - providence 176. wild nothing - blue wings 177. deradoorian - corsican shores 178. strfkr - second hand 179. mint field - contingencia 180. ringo deathstarr - god help the one's you love 181. no joy - dream rats 182. white poppy - orchid child 183. keeps - swiggum 184. flung - firstly zested 185. the bilinda butchers - rie 186. sipper - kid 187. radiator hospital - imposter syndrome 188. addy - equinox 189. boyo - dogma 190. alexandra savior - the archer 191. phoebe bridgers - chinese satellite 192. soccer mommy - circle the drain 193. routine - numb enough 194. quarter-life crisis - comfortable 195. madeline kenney - sucker 196. layne - linnea 197. wilsen - align 198. pynkie - you 199. bandanna - ghost home 200. waxahatchee - can’t do much 201. crisman - portrait 202. liza anne - i wanna be there 203. purr - gates of cool 204. honey cutt - hung up on me 205. the beths - out of sight 206. the ophelias - grand canyon 207. sjowgren - flip phones 208. haim - gasoline 209. thanya iyer - i forget to drink water (balance) 210. sad13 - good grief 211. porridge radio - give/take 212. lannds - not in a good way 213. katie von schleicher - wheel 214. hey cowboy! - detective farmer brown 215. tombo crush - pink 216. eliza moon - tell me / why'd you 217. anna mcclellan - raisin 218. this is the kit - this is what you did 219. snarls - walk in the woods 220. blushh - deal with it 221. long neck - cicada 222. chloe moriondo - ghost adventure spirit orb 223. momma - biohazard 224. varsity - runaway 225. land of talk - footnotes 226. bully - stuck in your head 227. diet cig - stare into the sun 228. expert timing - gravity 229. slow pulp - track 230. maddie jay - shakes 231. beabadoobee - together 232. luna aura - crash dive 233. sorry - perfect 234. torres - good grief 235. partner - honey 236. beauty queen - this time around 237. maggie lindemann - knife under my pillow 238. bryde - paper cups 239. mundy's bay - sleep away the summer 240. squirrel flower - red shoulder 241. mourn - stay there 242. dream wife - so when you gonna... 243. illuminati hotties - superiority complex (big noise) 244. l.a. witch - true believers 245. hinds - burn 246. beach bunny - cuffing season 247. suzie true - idk u 248. bacchae - hammer 249. peach kelli pop - stupid girl 250. oceanator - heartbeat 251. pins - read my lips 252. best coast - different light 253. muncie girls - take steps 254. kailee morgue - this is why i'm hot 255. beach slang - let it ride 256. silverstein - take what you give 257. new found glory - scarier than jason voorhees at a campfire 258. the lawrence arms - quiet storm 259. mikey erg - bon voyage 260. pet symmetry - had a name, don't remember it 261. thank you, i'm sorry - backpack life 262. ratboys - alien with a sleep mask on 263. joyce manor - leather jacket 264. jeff rosenstock - scram! 265. the aquabats! - aliens and monsters! 266. the used - the lighthouse 267. hidden hospitals - how amazing 268. dikembe - all got sick 269. time spent driving - trust no 1 270. the casket lottery - more blood 271. record setter - someplace 272. emma ruth rundle - out of existence 273. gulfer - blurry 274. options - don't mind 275. i love your lifestyle - stupid 276. orchards - stealing your sleep 277. no tongues for quiet people - lake house lake house 278. into it. over it. - hollow halos 279. mountains for clouds - full disclosure 280. joan of arc - destiny revision 281. no thank you - saturn return 282. the front bottoms - camouflage 283. ride your bike - make like a tom and cruise 284. dragon inn 3 - yer brothers 285. the goalie’s anxiety at the penalty kick - jars filled with rain 286. mansions - laser beams 287. waveform* - hello goodbye 288. owen - headphoned 289. cassino - tacoma 290. ajj - normalization blues 291. penelope scott - sweet hibiscus tea 292. angel olsen - (new love) cassette 293. trace mountains - fallin' rain 294. johanna warren - part of it 295. frances quinlan - lean 296. tomberlin - hours 297. samia - triptych 298. field medic - better way 299. adrianne lenker - my angel 300. jack m. senff - another day 301. lomelda - polyurethane 302. rosie carney - high and dry 303. brigid mae power - i had to keep my circle small 304. overcoats - new shoes 305. anna burch - not so bad 306. hop along, queen ansleis - the cactus 307. mandy moore - easy target 308. laura marling - held down 309. lisa loeb - doesn't it feel good 310. trixie mattel - gold 311. lilly hiatt - move 312. molly tuttle - sunflower, vol. 6 313. sarah jarosz - pay it no mind 314. katie heckel - help you mend 315. katie pruitt - my mind’s a ship (that’s going down) 316. in love with a ghost - trans rights 317. snail's house - imaginary express 318. isuka hino - dreamin' adventure!! 319. 4s4ki - nexus 320. lapix - loneliness 321. you - painter 322. aice room - dreary planet - yukiyanagi remix 323. zekk - oxygen 324. lu-i - loved happiness 325. synthion - volt switch 326. sanaas - polestar - junk remix 327. mameyudoufu - fluffy 328. awfuless - redemption 329. rejection - around you 330. toriena - getting into a pose 331. cosmo@bousoup - mow*mow*abduction!!! 332. yunosuke - ziqqurat 333. android52 - lovin', scratchin' 334. サクラsakura-lee - nobody else 335. desired - emotions 336. mikazuki bigwave - sakimashita bloomin'!! 337. skule toyama - smooth 338. adrianwave - goodbye 339. macross 82-99 - melt 340. cape coral - 707 hotline 341. 80kidz - heat 342. night tempo - baby 343. yaffle - lng, before 344. greyl - let me be with you 345. serph - palmtop tiger 346. happy kuru kuru - natsu no hi no labyrinth 347. couple n - earmie 348. airuei - magic sign 349. somunia - non player girl - nyankobrq 2p ver. 350. cosmicosmo - those that we once loved 351. maeshima soshi - the terminal 352. kijibato - 1room 353. yuc'e - ghost town 354. neko hacker - erased 355. jam2go - apotrope 356. mizuki ohkawa - cosmic cleft 357. singto conley - flora 358. 2tonedisco - shoelaces 359. cy8er - もしもしじゃぽん 360. nayuta - connect 361. t+pazolite - himitsu cult 362. milkoi - higher, higher, and then... 363. freezer - caramel rain (sanaas remix) 364. kotonohouse - pitter, patter 365. aika - superstar 366. yukiyanagi - love overdose 367. nanahira - twinkle password 368. ducky - hyper bloxxd 369. porter robinson - something comforting 370. moshimo - シンクロ 371. bish - スーパーヒーローミュージック 372. scenarioart - it's all right 373. base ball bear - ポラリス(c3 mix) 374. majiko - エスカルゴ 375. akaiko-en - ジャンキー 376. the peggies - weekend 377. lovely summer chan - more light 378. polkadot stingray - sp813 379. shishamo - フェイバリットボーイ 380. aimer - run riot 381. österreich - i'll take you everywhere 382. sora tob sakana - 夜間飛行 383. the shes gone - ふためぼれ 384. aimyon - marshmallow 385. cö shu nie - supercell 386. kensei ogata - violin case 387. せだい - yellownola 388. yonige - あかるいみらい 389. bearwear - i think 390. hitsujibungaku - ロックスター 391. cidergirl - 飛行船 392. room97 - faq 393. she's - ugly 394. bbhf - tokenai mahou 395. alisa takigawa - 夢 396. satomoka - glints 397. radwimps - shinsekai 398. pinoko - コリドー街 399. helsinki lambda club - you are my gravity 400. lucky kilimanjaro - 君とつづく 401. dish// - sauna song 402. zombie-chang - snooze 403. mizuki ohira - 無重力 404. みゆな - 歌おうよ 405. iri - come back to my city 406. aya a.k.a panda - i miss u 407. chelmico - disco (bad dance doesn't matter) 408. seiko oomori - 絶対彼女 409. yaeji - my imagination 상상 410. daoko - zukizuki 411. eill - night d 412. cifika - déjà vu 413. yeye - step in time 414. saevom - just like i dreamed then 415. cheeze - today's mood 416. stella jang - reality blue 417. younha - one day of twenty 418. jeong eun ji - whoo 419. fromm - aliens 420. crush - tip toe 421. heize - 1/1440 422. femm - level up 423. awich - poison 424. jessi - nunu nana 425. (g)i-dle - luv u 426. summer soul - tinder 427. taeyeon - worry free love 428. boa - l.o.v.e 429. fromis_9 - feel good (secret code) 430. faky - re:chase me 431. monsta x - night view 432. twice - up no more 433. loona - hide & seek 434. wjsn - pantomime 435. iz*one - fiesta 436. exid - ddd jpn ver. 437. gfriend - crème brûlée 438. april - lalalilala 439. weki meki - 100 facts (cool eng. ver.) 440. momoland - starry night 441. steve aoki - play it cool 442. bts - dynamite 443. sakurako ohara - shine on me 444. sumin - zaza♡ 445. onepixcel - lagrima 446. little glee monster - i feel the light 447. celeina ann - purikura 448. アイラヴミー - そのまんま勇者 449. okkyung lee - here we are (once again) 450. luca - lune 451. hakushi hasegawa - hikari no rock 452. haruka nakamura - your sonnet 453. itoko toma - shade 454. rina katahira - hoshizora* 455. ichiko aoba - easter lily 456. satoko shibata - 変な島 457. 角銅真実 - 6月の窓 458. 熊川みゆ - sixteen 459. 眉村ちあき - 緑のハイヒール 460. 竹内アンナ - striking gold 461. saucy dog - film 462. kaede - -ending- night blue 463. aseul - paradise 464. 박혜진 park hye jin - like this 465. charlotte is mine - road movie 466. plastic plastic - ฮัม - (hum) 467. clams - shiny rider 468. seventeen years old and berlin wall - no paradise 469. nuit - nightbirds 470. fulusu - ghost 471. rammells - sennengo 472. stargaze shelter - emulation (mode:totonee) 473. ヨルシカ - 昼鳶 474. nakamuraemi - 大人の言うことを聞け 475. kenshi yonezu - ひまわり 476. tk from ling tosite sigure - reframe 477. penguinrush - 色彩 478. lee jin ah - candy pianist 479. mei ehara - どち���にピントを 480. jizue - because 481. mouse on the keys - room 482. fox capture plan - stand my heroes - groove version 483. ryutist - girls 484. yeti let you notice - bouquet 485. tricot - 真っ黒 486. madison cunningham - giraffe 487. covet - atreyu 488. floral - maybe not one day 489. envy - eternal memories and reincarnation 490. baths - mikaela corridor 491. sufjan stevens - run away with me 492. fractures - feel 493. the 1975 - frail state of mind 494. dan mason ダン·メイソン - everytime i cry 495. brothertiger - cannonball 496. porches - rangerover - bonus track 497. tame impala - instant destiny 498. washed out - paralyzed 499. pink skies - portland 500. so below - bone 501. purity ring - silkspun 502. llll - breathless 503. slow magic - somewhere 504. kasbo - lune 505. cloudnone - let the music in 506. jody wisternoff - blue space 507. drama - hold on 508. satin jackets - meridian getaway 509. direct - opal 510. lane 8 - road 511. baile - jlm 512. yuni wa - starships 513. nora van elken - sakura 514. geotheory - the day i left you 515. yota - hazy paradise 516. spencer brown - chance on us 517. the avener - conscious shadows 518. kalbells - mothertime 519. bella boo - in love 520. kirara magic - neon 521. mija - digressions 522. cuushe - emergence 523. transviolet - rituals 524. keep shelly in athens - steady to go 525. young ejecta - ah ha 526. annie - in heaven 527. lany - good guys 528. dominic pierce - glad xoxo 529. tender - what you're missing 530. alice jemima - binge love you 531. kitty - baby pink 532. faye meana - like honey 533. lunadira - am i gonna die? 534. loony - white lie 535. justine skye - fav 536. wafia - good things 537. victoria monét - jaguar 538. malia civetz - love thing 539. keiynan lonsdale - i confess my love 540. deaton chris anthony - tuethday 541. kallitechnis - body&soul (ish d remix) 542. talitha. - ineedsomeone 543. keke palmer - thick 544. kesha - birthday suit 545. l.e.j - pas l'time 546. selena gomez - rare 547. the aces - daydream 548. jessie ware - mirage (don’t stop) 549. joan - try again 550. melanie c - blame it on me 551. astrid s - dance dance dance 552. little mix - holiday 553. justin bieber - yummy 554. ariana grande - positions 555. bea miller - feel something different 556. lady gaga - rain on me (with ariana grande) 557. raye - regardless 558. the weeknd - hardest to love 559. andrea valle - lovergirl 560. k/da - the baddest 561. allie x - susie save your love 562. terror jr - dinner plate 563. shawn wasabi - halo halo 564. benee - snail 565. sevdaliza - oh my god 566. gupi - modest 567. six impala - sweetsweetsweetlikebubblegum 568. charli xcx - i finally understand 569. golin - hanakotoba 570. shygirl - freak 571. madge - ethanol 572. arca - afterwards 573. kelly lee owens - re-wild 574. ari mason - pangaea 575. gabrielle aplin - dear happy 576. taylor swift - the 1 577. awfultune - buds 578. sneaks - scorpio on your side 579. izzy camina - kill your local indie softboy 580. mxmtoon - ok on your own 581. wens - giant bat 582. billie eilish - my future 583. tash - when you leave 584. fletcher - the one 585. silver sphere - ghosts! 586. tei shi - ok crazy 587. dounia - sucked all the fun 588. tatiana hazel - carmen sandiego 589. magdalena bay - killshot 590. kllo - insomnia 591. leisure suite - closer 592. morgan saint - i dreamt that i knew you 593. ayelle - got love 594. michi - escondida 595. lyrica anderson - lyfted 596. sasha sloan - lie 597. niki - plot twist 598. sarah reeves - heart first 599. salt cathedral - caviar 600. chelsea cutler - sad tonight 601. rituals of mine - heights 602. e^st - flight path 603. sara diamond - great together 604. phem - stfu 605. carlie hanson - daze inn 606. lauren aquilina - latest ghost 607. caroline rose - command z 608. misterwives - oxygen 609. ella vos - turbulence 610. austra - i am not waiting 611. triathalon - you 612. phoebe ryan - icimy 613. katzù oso - kiss u better 614. luwten - control 615. raveena - heartbeat 616. oohyo - 2020 617. oklou - another night 618. jouska - bring you back 619. fleur east - easy to love 620. soft glas - overbite 621. jaden - muted sunrise 622. snny - better to leave it 623. saint mela - alkaseltzer 624. mia gladstone - ego 625. helena deland - truth nugget 626. oh wonder - oceansize 627. steven padin - sashimi 628. kacey johansing - i try 629. treasureseason - spinning plate 630. landshapes - drama 631. tennis - matrimony ii 632. pomplamoose - morning waterbug 633. soko - being sad is not a crime 634. the big moon - barcelona 635. shamir - diet 636. knox fortune - static 637. carly rae jepsen - let's sort the whole thing out 638. real estate - the main thing 639. hayley williams - roses/lotus/violet/iris 640. nada surf - something i should do 641. bombay bicycle club - is it real 642. the seshen - faster than before 643. thao & the get down stay down - how could i 644. marla hansen - path 645. christine and the queens - la vita nuova 646. half waif - siren 647. malena zavala - ritmo de vida 648. bendik - himmelen 649. hanna järver - kalmar slott 650. frida sundemo - anything 651. kate nv - telefon 652. ambar lucid - questioning my mind 653. coco reilly - mirror 654. ghostly kisses - lydian 655. kacy hill - told me 656. lianne la havas - can't fight 657. donna missal - how does it feel 658. felivand - gone 659. jordana - divine 660. empress of - void 661. banoffee - ripe 662. vanessa carlton - i can't stay the same 663. fiona apple - heavy balloon 664. poppy - concrete 665. rina sawayama - stfu!