A/N: I don't remember where this ship came from, but I do know that I thoroughly enjoy this ship very much. Like, a lot. Also, this is my first time posting any writings of this series, so I'm just slightly nervous... I guess...? I have yet to roll Medea Lily, but I do have Saber Lily. Maybe one day, I will get Medea Lily - I need healers. ;; I also apologize for any OOCness of the characters - I haven't written Saber Lily before, and I don't have a full grasp of Medea Lily's personality, so... :'3 Anyway, enjoy this little self-indulgence of mine! *flies off*
"Princess, are you alright?"
Medea Lily startles from her thoughts of strategies that would help her Master with the rest of the quest and she squeaks in surprise, clutches her staff tightly and closely against her chest as she turns to face the speaker. She relaxes once she sees that it's Saber Lily, then flushes red when she replays the words spoken to her in her head. Let it be known that Medea Lily is a romantic at heart and to hear someone like Saber Lily, a knight who'll become King Arthur in the future, call her princess, is something that every maiden far and wide would love to hear.
She swallows down her nerves and tries to calm her racing heart as she responds, "Y-yes, I'm quite alright. Um... Why do you ask?"
Saber Lily blinks, as though she wasn't expecting the question, but answers regardless with a smile and bright eyes that sparkle in a genuine way that makes Medea Lily's heart beat just a bit faster. "You look like you were in pain," she answers, and the sparkle dims a bit and the smile is soft now and - Medea Lily clutches her staff even more once she sees the concern and worry in emerald eyes that shine like the forests she used to see back in Colchis. It's a beautiful shade that Medea Lily didn't notice until now. "And cute princesses shouldn't be in pain, so it's a relief that you're alright."
Medea Lily nods and smiles widely. Saber Lily was a good person, a brilliant knight, and the Caster knows that the girl will go far as, not just a knight, but a king, maybe even be a better king than - WAIT. The words Saber Lily said finally hits her and Medea Lily feels herself flush an even darker red, to the point she can feel the warmth spread to her ears. Her grip on her staff loosens and it clatters onto the ground; her legs shake as she tries to get a grasp on herself and the situation because there was no way that Saber Lily just called me "cute" right? There's just no way, but she said it easily and with such conviction - does she find me cute?!
She's so lost in her thoughts that she doesn't realize that she's shaking so much to the point that she can't stand correctly. It's only when she feels arms around her waist that she snaps out of it and glances up-
-only to just blush harder than before at how close the knight in white was. There's a panicked concern in green eyes now, and Saber Lily's strong arms are around her waist in a secure grip and Medea Lily clutches her hands together against her chest as she realizes how flush their bodies are together.
"P-Princess, you're red?! A-are you sure you're alright?!" Saber Lily's voice is worried and Medea Lily tries to find her own voice, she really does, but her thoughts still whirl with the knight's previous words of "cute princess" and now they whirl at just how close the future king is to her. She finds that her hands move to hold onto the knight's shoulders as she tries desperately to gather herself to say something, tries to reassure the knight that she's fine and alright and - OH NO, why is her face getting closer what's going on, please don't come closer, even if this feels kind of nice...! Her eyes close instinctively once she realizes that Saber Lily was not stopping in her advance.
She feels a warmth on her forehead, then feels Saber Lily's breath, shaky and panicked, against her cheek. Medea Lily cracks open one eye and bites her tongue to keep herself from making any noises. Saber Lily's eyes were fierce and focused and, yet, they still held that kind concern and worry. Her forehead was against hers in a gentle manner and Medea Lily was able to register that the knight was trying to get her temperature. Which, honestly, she would have done the same if she saw someone turn completely red in front of her.
The Caster was still in the process of gathering herself back together when Saber Lily pulls back, her worry and concern becoming prominent as she shouts, "You're burning up, Princess!" And there's something in her eyes, in her tone, that Medea Lily can't focus on because she's still fangirling on the inside. So, when she feels Saber Lily's arms begin to move around her body, Medea Lily can't stop the shout that leaves her lips.
"Wh-wh-wh-wh-what are you doing?!" And she squeaks when she feels her feet leave the ground. Her fingers curl into the fabric of Saber Lily's clothes as she averts her gaze away from Saber Lily's eyes to see what the knight was doing. And just when she thought she had gotten a hold of herself (a bit poorly), she loses all sense of self when she realizes that Saber Lily has her in the bridal style hold.
"I'll get you to Master, so don't worry, Princess!" Saber Lily assures and Medea Lily's words are all over the place as she tries to reassure the Saber that she was fine and that nothing was wrong besides Saber Lily's genuine personality that was causing Medea Lily confusion and panic.
I-i-i-is this a crush on a prince...?! was the only coherent thing that Medea Lily was able to find herself thinking out of all of the wild thoughts that swirl around her head as Saber Lily rushes back to the camp where their Master and the rest of Servants are.
~/~/~/~
"So you still don't understand why she was red?" Saber Alter asks in between each bite of her chicken sandwich. Saber Lily nods as she plays with her salad. This was probably the only time that she and her older version's dark half would be able to talk without the rest of the Arturia's around (particularly her older self).
Saber Lily sighs and rests her fork down; she raises her eyes and looks helplessly at Saber Alter. "Master says that she was fine, but she won't explain to me why the princess was so red like she was. And when I ask Mash, she says she doesn't know - but she was smiling!" Saber Lily shouts the last words, her cheeks puffing out as she continues as she crosses her arms in front of her. "I just feel like I'm missing something and no one wants to tell me anything about it."
Saber Alter watches her lighter side's younger self pout and sulk and takes another bite out of her sandwich. Normally, she wouldn't throw that much of a bone to people (besides Master), but she can find the amusement in this situation that Master and Mash had seen, as well. So, with that in mind, Saber Alter finishes the rest of her food and then folds her hands on the table top. The noise in the cafeteria seems to disappear once she gains Saber Lily's attention, who blinks in surprise at the sudden change of mood from Saber Alter.
"Normally I wouldn't point you in the right direction," she says it truthfully and Saber Lily flinches back and opens her mouth, but Saber Alter glares and the young Arturia closes her mouth and shrinks back as Saber Alter continues, "however you're inexperienced, so I'll give you some advice."
And the dark saber squints her eyes as Saber Lily light's up with a wide smile and gleaming eyes. Was I really this excitable as a young knight? Saber Alter thinks before she shakes her head. "Now, for the reason why that Caster was so red, is because you're a gallant knight."
Saber Alter said she was going to give advice, not a straight-forward answer.
The white saber blinks and straightens in her seat, then closes her eyes in concentration. Then she starts to mutter, "Because I'm a gallant knight is the reason she was so red, huh?"
The dark saber leans back and crosses her arms and watches her light's younger self think about her words carefully. Shouldn't be too difficult for her to figure out, Saber Alter thinks to herself, our era was high on the princesses and knights, after all.
It only takes a few more seconds before Saber Lily's eyes snap open and she raises her gaze to stare at her older self's dark half, a big smile on her lips.
"She's a princess and I'm the gallant knight, so she couldn't help but like me!" Saber Lily shouts in joy, a grin on her lips now that she finally figured everything out.
Saber Alter nods as a small smile appears on her lips. But then she starts in surprise when Saber Lily's face suddenly bursts into the brightest blush she's probably ever seen on anyone before. Before she could ask the young servant what was wrong, Saber Lily was already covering her face with her hands and letting out a muffled scream that sounds too close to a squeal.
"Uh..." Saber Alter's not sure how to respond at all to what she was doing, so she, instead, turns her head and tries to find someone that could take her place. Her eyes move until they spot a familiar mop of blonde hair that just showed up into the cafeteria next to a blonde-haired saint. The dark King Arthur takes a quick glance at young King Arthur, sees that she hasn't changed positions, and stands from her spot. She walks away and calls out to the messy hair of similar blonde hair to her lighter self.
"Mordred."
The Knight of Treachery halts in whatever conversation she was having with Jeanne, and turns to her, brow raised and a slight scowl on her face. Until she realizes who said her name and there's a wide grin on her lips and her green eyes glow brighter than normal. Saber Alter feels bad, honestly she does, but she ignores it and nudges her head in the direction of the saber in white.
"Take care of Lily."
And she leaves before she could be questioned by her son and Jeanne. Saber Alter knows how close Mordred is with Saber Lily, so things should be fine.
...Probably... But she's not going to let it bother her too much. After all, her lighter self's younger version should be fine on her own, including when she sees both Mordred and Jeanne walk over to the slowly dying of embarrassment Saber Lily.
~/~/~/~
Saber Lily breathes in deeply, then let's it out slowly. She's got this. She'll just do what Mordred and Jeanne said and it'll be fine. Everything will work out from there, or, at least, from what Jeanne said. Hopefully...
Swallowing, Saber Lily peers over the edge of the hallway to see Jeanne talking with Medea Lily about something that was making the Caster smile so brightly that Saber Lily almost lost her will to live from just how cute the young version of Medea was. The knight tries her best to ignore some of the curious, and not curious, glances that the staff and a few other servants kept throwing her way every time they passed by. (She figures Master talked a lot about that incident and she's starting to feel just a bit embarrassed about it now.)
To take her mind off her nerves, the young Arturia glances at her attire, makes sure the suit that she burrowed from Mordred is perfect, then glances at the flowers that she was able to get with a little help from Nursery Rhyme, Tamamo, and Marie. The whole plan was made by Mordred, with Jeanne deciding to help and, somehow or another, a few other servants joining into the fray and helping out, as well.
Saber Lily shuffles in her spot and peers over the edge of the hallway again. She sees that Medea Lily is still talking with Jeanne and notices the taller blonde glance over in her direction a few times during the conversation. Saber Lily knows that Jeanne is distracting the Caster and knows that she's just waiting for her, but it's hard for the future king to gather her nerves and show herself. And that includes seeing Medea Lily with such a bright and happy smile, one that she hadn't expected to see unless Master was around.
"Oi, Tiny Father!" a voice hisses behind her.
Saber Lily stiffens in surprise and turns behind her; she relaxes when she sees that it's her son...
...With the most annoyed expression she's seen since Gilgamesh tried to flirt with her older self when Mordred was around.
"U-uhm..." Saber Lily knows what it was that Mordred's annoyed with, but she just...can't muster the courage to even walk out and talk with Medea Lily, which includes her current attire and the Caster's present.
Mordred's scowl goes south and Saber Lily let's out a small squeak at the sudden dark look shown her way. The saber in white tries to find the right words to explain what was going on, but Mordred cuts in like she normally does - shoot first, asks questions later.
"Just get out there, Tiny Father!" Mordred shouts, her voice booming as she pushes Saber Lily out into the open. The younger Arturia holds the bouquet of flowers tighter so they wouldn't slip from her fingers. "Go and make her the future Queen of Britain!"
Saber Lily wonders if she can disown her son, even if she isn't her son in her timeline...
...Then she realizes that would be mean and rude and not very knight-like, nor king-like (or father-like), and decides to find a suitable punishment later for her son.
As the Saber straightens from the push, she realizes that it's quiet. She already knows what that means and she's just slightly afraid to look up.
"Oh? Hi, Arturia!"
However, Medea Lily's confused, yet excited, tone makes her look up. Both Jeanne and Medea Lily were looking at her. Medea Lily's face was bright red, yet the smile on her face is genuine, while Jeanne... She wasn't even staring at Saber Lily, but over at the area where Mordred was still hidden (not really), with a pointed look and it's probably the most severe look she's seen on the Saint.
After she gathers her barrings, Saber Lily greets the two. "H-hello, Medea... Jeanne..." She hopes that the nervousness in her voice isn't as obvious as she thinks it is. Saber Lily shifts on the spot when Medea Lily continues to stare at her and she fidgets, wonders what was going through the Caster's mind right at that moment.
"Um... Arturia?" Medea Lily asks and Saber Lily immediately turns her attention on the shorter girl, who starts in surprise at the sudden attention. Medea Lily then shakes her head and then tilts it with a small, friendly, smile. If a tad puzzled. "You're dressed rather fancy - what's the occasion? And..." Here, the Caster's face, which is already red, turns a brighter red as her gaze flickers downwards, towards the bouquet, then moves back.
"O-o-oh!" Saber Lily feels her face warm as her gaze trails back to the flowers in her hands before they snap back to the other female. "Th-this is, for, uh..." She's not sure what to respond with - she hadn't thought of the right words she wanted to use - and decides to go with actions instead of words. They worked really well with her older self and other versions of herself, right? So it should work just fine with her!
With that reassuring thought process, Saber Lily takes a deep breath, then puts on her determined face and walks forward. Medea Lily blinks in response and she tries to say something, but Saber Lily thrusts the bouquet of flowers forward and in front of the Caster's face. The energy and confidence that she managed to gather for herself dissipates as she feels the blush on her face burn more in her sudden nervousness.
"Th-th-these are for...for you... Princess..." Saber Lily mutters shyly. Even though she wants to look away and hide her embarrassment (because, really, a knight and future king shouldn't feel embarrassed about giving a cute princess a bouquet flowers), she forces herself to maintain her eye-contact. Medea Lily seems surprised, almost confused, before her face blows up with realization a blush that would put a tomato to shame.
"M-m-m-m-m-m-me?!" the Princess squeaks in the most adorable, surprised voice that practically makes Saber Lily's heart melt. Medea Lily's eyes snap between the flowers and the knight before, after a third bout, they land and stop on the future king of Britain. "These are f-f-f-for me?!"
Saber Lily can't trust her voice. Because it's gone like the rest of her confidence, so she nods her head to affirm the Medea Lily's questions.
Medea Lily's speechless, that much Saber Lily can see, and she, again, looks between the flowers and the knight. She probably would have continued to look at the two if it wasn't for Jeanne leaning close and giving Medea Lily a light nudge forward. Meada Lily looks at the Saint, then turns her attention back on the Saber, who fidgets nervously when she saw just how timid Meada Lily was being.
I'm going to die from cuteness... Saber Lily thinks. It only gets worse, however, when Medea Lily shyly raises her hands and gently grabs the bouquet from Saber Lily. The knight hands it to her and Medea Lily holds it against her chest with gentle care, with the most softest look that Sbaer Lily's seen.
Then Medea Lily closes her eyes and leans closer to the flowers as a giggle escapes her lips in a faint whisper.
...
...
Saber Lily found, at that time ,was cuteness being on par with an Archer class in terms of her weakness.
~/~/~/~
"Are you sure you're okay, Arturia," Medea Lily asks again and Saber Lily lets out a small, nervous laugh. Losing yourself to cuteness overload and fainting and then hitting your head against the wall was probably not one of the best ways to ask a girl out. But, as Saber Lily assures the Caster that she was fine, she couldn't help but enjoy the warmth coming from Medea Lily as she sits closely next to her, one of her hands on her temple as she uses her magic to heal any wounds or aches. The smile brightens, widens, when she sees that Medea Lily has yet to let go of the bouquet of flowers and, instead, has such a tight grip on them in such a careful manner, that Saber Lily's afraid she'll pass out again from how adorable and sweet the princess was.
"Oh, and..." Saber Lily raises her gaze from the flowers to the Caster, whose eyes stare at the ground. She shyly raises them, however, and the sweet smile that the knight has been seeing for a while shows itself, directed right towards her. "I'd love to go on a date with you...Arturia."
...
...
Saber Lily finds that, yes, her biggest weakness is not the Archer class, but the cuteness and sweetness of a certain Caster.
A/N: This ended up being longer than I anticipated. ^^; Whoops. Also, I don't have Saber Alter (I wish I did), but I do have Mordred and Jeanne D'Arc and, let me tell you, those two have saved my hind on multiple occasions, including with Camelot's release. I remember seeing something on Tumblr where Mordred just calls Saber Lily "Tiny Father" and I love that title so much that I have just been unconsciously been calling Saber Lily that whenever I write Mordred. I feel like, with this concept, I could go a bit more on it and bring in the rest of the Arturia's, maybe even Medea and Master and Mash, but, we'll see. Anyway, read, review, and have a fabulous rest of your day/night/morning! *waves*