Too Many Years

by RedCoyote

Summary:

Falis lives the life of a queen.

Notes:

• For SamanthaRealynn.

“What the fuck is this crap?” Falis said after spitting out a hot mouthful of tea.

“You mean ‘what is this drink?’” Alita corrected her with a smile.

“Fine, oh kind and gentle maid, pray tell what is this beverage of… questionable taste?”

Alita could not help it as she started laughing. Falis smiled too.

“It is a medicinal tea.”

“I don’t feel sick,” Falis objected.

“You were out in the rain all day. Drink it all up. The queen needs to take care of her health.

You’re the queen. “Fine, but don’t expect me to like it!”

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

 

Falis was not sure when she realized. Maybe she had always known the truth in the depths of her soul. She sat on the throne listening to the petitions of the citizens.

They were never going to switch back to their own bodies.

 

Falis wore a white dress on the day of the wedding. She often wore white dresses, but this one was fancier than the others. It was even harder to move than normal.

“You can’t carry your sword at the ceremony,” Alita said with a sigh.

“It is the principle of the thing! Besides, he is a pompous idiot.”

“The royal line needs to continue. If you die without an heir then Kaito will become king.”

“I forgot about that idiot.”

“He’s your brother,” Alita looked away.

“Alita,” it was one of the first times Falis had used her real name in years, “no, he will always be your brother. I won’t take the last family you have away from you. The only reason I didn’t kill him is because of you.”

Alita looked up at her and smiled. “How about you can hide a knife as a compromise?”

“That sounds fair,” Falis said after consideration.

 

Falis hated the sight of her husband. She wanted to cut his hands off every time he touched her. Their first child was born exactly nine months after the wedding. It was a girl. All the people of the country thought the name she was given was just so touching.

She was named Milano because Falis couldn’t use Alita’s real name.

 

The day Alita gave birth to her son was one of the happiest days of Falis’s life. Unlike her, Alita had been able to marry a young man that she had fallen in love with. He was a knight that she had been enamored with since before they switched bodies.

Falis hated her husband, but loved her daughter. Yet, when she held the baby boy in her hands she privately swore that she would make sure that Alita’s bloodline would go back to where it belonged. She would make sure that this boy would not have to suffer because of the freak accident that had switched his mother’s body.

Alita named him Pete.

 

The plague came to Forland. One in every four people died. It was vicious in how it completely destroyed the body. There would be sores, coughing, delusions and death.

Falis did not care if she was infected. She threatened to kill the next person that tried to pull her away from Alita’s side. She held the other woman in her arms. Falis wept. Falis cried. Falis begged. Her friend, the person she thought of as HER queen could not leave her like this.

With ragged breaths Alita called for her father, Milano, Jodo, Kaito, for her son and for her husband. The name that she cried the most was Falis.

Every time Alita called to her Falis would tell her that she was still there and beg Alita not to go.

At dawn the bells rang out to announce another death.

 

Falis had no one else to help her rule anymore. Whenever she was about to lose her temper she would stop. She would think about that princess who had given everything to make sure the country would still have its princess all those years ago. The thought of shaming her memory made Falis feel ill in the pits of her stomach.

Every night Falis would go into a private room that only she had the key to. Everything she did wrong she would punish herself for. If she did everything right she would thank Alita for helping her in spirit. Either way she would talk out loud to an empty chair as if Alita sat in it. She would tell the empty chair everything and anything. It was her way of trying to make sure Alita knew what was happening to her kingdom from beyond the grave.

 

The day came when Milano and Pete married. The whole kingdom rejoiced for their queen and the prince consort. The two had fallen in love even without any interference from Falis.

Falis watched the ceremony with a detached smile, having abdicated the throne a month ago. The grey in her hair was not readily visible with all the blonde in it. She kept the seat next to her empty. Whenever someone tried to sit there she would say it was for her liege.

Everyone assumed the former queen had gone crazy. Really, it just meant Falis could say the truth without any risk.

 

It was dark outside. Half of the people were still celebrating the marriage of their new queen and her husband. The other half of the people were so tired from celebrating that they were in the deepest of sleeps.

Only Falis was outside at this dark hour.

She walked to a lone grave that was well tended. Flowers were growing in front of the headstone. Falis would never have imagined she’d have the patience to grow something from seeds, but just this one time she had.

She unsheathed her sword.

Falis may have worn the crown, but in her heart she was not the queen. She had been a bounty hunter on the inside before but even that had changed. No, she had become a knight. No one could see it but her. No one could know it since she wore the queen’s body. But she was a knight and she was Alita’s knight.

Both the child of Alita’s body and the child of Alita’s heart were taken care of. They would be happy and would rule this kingdom well together.

Falis had only one more duty left to do.

She smiled as she fell on her sword.

 

Gentle hands stroked the hair out of Falis’ face. Her head was resting somewhere warm and soft. She opened her eyes to see gentle red eyes staring down at her, framed in blonde hair.

“Alita, is that you?”

“It is.”

Falis could see the tips of dark purple hair at the edge of her vision. She sat up. Falis was not wearing a dress and she was not wearing the clothing of a bounty hunter. Instead she was wearing the clothing of a knight, but without all the heavy armor. Her sword was at her side.

They were together in a dark, black forest. The trees pressed in offensively close.

“Is this the afterlife?”

“Yes, I’ve been waiting for you.”

“What’s that noise?”

“I-I don’t know, but I have seen them eating other souls.”

Falis squeezed Alita’s hand. “They won’t touch your soul, my queen.”