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[break]

"Eh...oh! Uhm, you too!"[break][break]

Of all the contestants she expected to run into here, jayden cross had been the last on her list. And frankly, just the sight of Michail turning and sticking his rear out at her is enough to inflict psychic damage.[break][break]

Though not much, to her surprise. Perhaps it's because of how serious his expression is— posed like this, he looks like he's about to take the most intense poop of his life.[break][break]

Still, it's with some reluctance that she skitters towards him to start the match. Her grin is a little reluctant as she juts out her hip and bumps it against her opponent, more like one might during a school dance than at a life-or-death butt battle.[break][break]

However, the real assault comes from Bella Luna, who blasts Michael with a cheeky water gun while her trainer backs up to avoid the blast.[break][break]

[break]

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Even though this is her third summer in Hoenn, Luka still isn't fully accustomed to the heat.[break][break]

Sure, the fall and winter months are balmy and pleasant. But summer? Sure, the sunshine is beautiful, and it's light reflected off the ocean waves is spectacular. However, it's offset by the sweat and oppressive buzzing of insects, and that horrible sticky feeling that comes with trying to pry oneself off a chair when it's a little too hot outside.[break][break]

And so, sick of feeling like she's about to melt into a little puddle of goo, Luka heads to the beach.[break][break]

Some of her Pokemon bound ahead of her on the sand, and she does her best to keep up with them. But her attention is quickly diverted by a sad little group huddled farther up the shore: a few Zigzagoon hiding from the sun under the poor shade provided by a palm tree. It seems silly that they're not in the water, but there must be some reason for it. Perhaps they're scared?[break][break]

Whatever the reason, she's honor-bound as a Ranger (just PR, sure, but who's splitting hairs?) to help. Up ahead her Vaporeon is playing around with her Lopunny, but Luka hastily waves them over.[break][break]

"Bella Luna! Can you help these cuties out, please?"[break][break]

At first her Vaporeon obliges, sending a little fountain of water over the Zigzagoon that has them yipping in appreciation. But then she turns and tries to blast her trainer with a jet— which would be fine, if someone else wasn't suddenly caught up in the crossfire as well![break][break]

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Luka has always taken wishes very seriously.[break][break]

From wishing on stars to the traditions of the tanabata festival, each wish is handled with the utmost seriousness. It's a contract made with the very heavens themselves after all— not a thing to be trifled with![break][break]

Luka fiddles with the sleeves of her yukata as she tries to figure out what to write. It's in her nature to use her wish for the sake of others, the sake of Hoenn as a whole— for anything besides herself.[break][break]

But perhaps she needs a little helping hand this time. Breaking off pieces of oneself and handing them out to others is easy until there's nothing left to give. But what could she ask for? To consider her own desires too much seems horribly self-serving, or perhaps it's just embarrassing.[break][break] And it's not easy to admit that what she wants most is love; a hand in hers and a body next to hers at night. If anyone were to see her writing that down, she might just die. And even when she'd had it with Remiel Calcifet, or thought she had, there was still something missing.[break][break]

In the end her wish is a simple one. The fact that she considers it selfish is heartbreaking.[break][break]

[break][break]

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"You did amazing, Amaretto! Let's keep it up this round, okay?"[break][break]

For a contest debut, it certainly is a good start for the little Eevee. Even though they're not at the front of the pack, Luka is absolutely thrilled with her partner's performance. What matters more than a win is a good learning experience— at this rate, her growing team of contest competitors will be unstoppable someday![break][break]

Of course, that doesn't mean they'll be content to just sit back and take second place. There's still a chance to take home the gold, even if they'll have to work extra hard for it.[break][break]

Rather than repeating their simple entrance, this time Amaretto bursts back onstage in a shower of light. For a moment, he seems to be flying across the stage on a giant star, but it's simply an illusion: his swift attack combined with another burst of speed, so fast that they move at the exact same rate. The effect lasts a few mere seconds, but it's enough to get all eyes back on the normal type and his partner, who emerges behind him with just as much pep and enthusiasm as before.[break][break]

"Contests push the limits of what Pokemon can do with a single move. We only have one which to make an impression..." Amaretto winks, with a little star to cheekily accompany it, "But that versatility is what makes a Pokemon like Eevee so cool!"[break][break]

With a soft yip, Amaretto begins the second part of their final round. A flurry of starts seems to burst from his illumina fur, a sparkling display that would be enough to dazzle an audience all on it's own. But this is no ordinary light show. The stars swoop and spin throughout the audience, so close that someone could reach up to touch one if they dared. However, they're just too fast![break][break]

With her Eevee directing them, the starts split into two groups. In a showcase of both speed and power, the first crashes into the second, swift stars tearing through the other group like paper and splitting them into smaller shapes.[break][break]

Finally, each group condenses, balling up into four smaller bunches onstage. Amaretto seems to focus inwards for a second, concentrating hard before each ball of energy explodes and bursts over the crowd in a series of starry fireworks, raining starstuff onto the enchanted audience.[break][break]

"There are endless possibilities out there— not just for me and Amaretto, but the rest of you as well! I hope our performance- and everyone else's- can inspire you all to explore the pontential that rests in each and every one of you!"

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Zamazenta stands before her, and she knows what she must do.[break][break]

They charge back into the fray together, just in time to aid the legendary dog in the end of the battle. Luka herself doesn't fight, but instead immediately starts to care for as many wounded as she's able to reach with her staff, realizing just as John Sullivan had that this might be her last opportunity to aid those that need it most.[break][break]

And while she notes the results of the battle, in truth it all means little to her. What matters instead is the promise that Calyrex had made to them, and the tragic realization that their time in this world has come to an end.[break][break]

Her heels tap against Spectrier's side, and the steed sends her flying across the ravaged battlefield towards Felix Gallagher. She's immensely relieved to see him still there, although his image seems subtly distorted somehow, as though she's looking at him through a pane of glass.[break][break]

"They won't let us stay," she realizes with a heartbroken pang. "We have to— we don't have any time! Come with me!"[break][break]

And she reaches for Felix's hand and pulls him onto her Spectrier, and urges them to carry the pair as fast as they're able. By the time they reach home the world is already starting to shimmer at the edges, but there's still time.[break][break]

There are countless people she'd like to say a proper goodbye to. jayden cross and Rhydia Ver, all the other friends she'd made over the years. But none of them matter more than the family she'd built here. When her children run out to meet her they at first seem excited and relieved; convinced, in the way children so easily are, that their parents are here to fix everything as the world unravels around them.[break][break]

And oh, how desperately Luka wishes she could.[break][break]

Lia and Oliver, her sun and moon. Her entire world. She scoops up her children and clings to them so tightly that they start to squirm with protest, but she doesn't let go. She pours all the love left in her breaking heart out onto them; words of affection and comfort laced with apologies.[break][break]

She's sorry for leaving them. She's sorry she can't be around to see them grow up, to become kings and queens in their own right. Perhaps it had been selfish for her to bring them into a world she was never meant to be a part of, but she can't bring herself to regret it.[break][break]

Her trembling arms pull Felix into their six-armed embrace, and the lips that find his taste like salt and longing and a hundred unfulfilled promises. She clings to him, to their children, as the edges of this reality start to blur and bleed into each other like watercolor paint.[break][break]

Eventually she tilts her chin to look at him, carving every line of his face into memory as though that might help her preserve it. "This dream is ending," she says, the heaviness of her heart reflected in her smile. "When we get back, can we start a new one?"[break][break]

---

[break]

The world unravels itself like an old sweater, and knits itself back into something new. Luka finds herself standing on the battlefield exactly where she'd left it, blinking in the dim light.[break][break]

"Felix?"[break][break]

His name is the first thing she utters when she's able to form words again. There's a weight to it— it feels important.[break][break]

But she doesn't know a Felix, does she?[break][break]

Or does she? She can't remember. Memory and reality tangles together at the back of her mind, forming a jumbled knot she can't see the beginning nor end of. She knows that she had been somewhere else, and that people had loved her there— she'd been a leader, of some kind. A princess?[break][break]

Clutched in her hands is a tiara, rose-gold flowers and precious gems molded into the shape of the crown that had been placed upon her at her first makeshift coronation. But trying to hold onto those memories is like keeping water cupped between her fingers; it all trickles out through the cracks.[break][break]

She remembers dark hair and eyes full of adoration. For a moment she thinks it might have been Remiel Calcifet, but that can't be right. But she remembers having loved and having been loved, and a deep sense of loss deep in her stomach that she can't quite comprehend.[break][break]

Dazed and confused but different somehow, changed in ways she hasn't yet realized, Luka stumbles back home and into the future she's yet to be a part of.[break][break]

---

[break]
- sadge[break]
- vaguely remembers that she was royalty back in galar[break]
- remembers Felix Gallagher at first but it starts to quickly fade, and she doesn't recognize him masked up back in reality[break]
- mistakingly wonders if she married Remiel Calcifet instead[break]
- forgets about jayden cross's rocket affiliation[break]
- keeps her tiara

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As the war rages on, bile rises in Luka’s stomach.[break][break]

She thought she’d be used to it by now, could stomach the suffering and loss that comes with living in a place like this. But it seems that some things never change, and her heart hadn’t managed to harden completely.[break][break]

Nevertheless, she persists. She grits her teeth and wipes blood off her cheek and keeps riding— Spectrier, at least, has no problems keeping pace with her husband.[break][break]

Felix Gallagher, jayden cross and mint frost fight together valiantly and while she’s more adept a battler now than she ever was in Hoenn, she still can’t stomach committing so much violence. Her role, as the Queen of Ballonlea and protector of its people, is far better suited to healing.[break][break]

And when Felix Gallagher's Iron Valiant falls, she's right there to help her husband. With just a touch of her staff, a revival blessing is granted to the paradox pokemon— a knight as stalwart as the man fighting alongside them.[break][break]

She descends upon other fallen troops like an angel, her Clefable’s life dew showering relief upon their wounded. But there is very little time to attend to them, and the revival blessing provided by her staff can only do so much. Some it heals, but others are too far gone and their life flickers out like a stub of candle.[break][break]

Behind her falls a man whose firstborn child she’d christened only a month ago. To her side she sees the body of a knight who’d stood valiantly by her side before Felix came into her life. All around her lie the bodies of those she’d sworn to defend as Queen, and their losses cut worse than teeth or claws— a kind of poison all its own.[break][break]

And as they charge closer and closer to the penultimate battle, the grief in her stomach boils over into anger. She feels it towards Necrozma and Eternatus both, and she knows that while others have chosen their sides, she could never bring herself to aid either of them.[break][break]

But sitting back on her haunches doesn’t feel right either.[break][break]

With a nudge of her heels, her Spectrier takes off at a gallop, carrying her closer and closer to the fighting. It’s a reckless, stupid idea to get between two titans, but if she can do even the smallest thing to try and end this war, it’ll be worth it.[break][break]

Sugar’s ribbon-like feelers stretch as long as they’re able to and glow a soft pink, as though blessing the war-torn battlefield with the first kiss of spring. They stretch towards Necrozma and Eternatus The aura they exude is calming and serene; out of place amongst all the chaos and strife around them.[break][break]


Her z-move might not be enough to quell the fighting for any significant amount of time, but it may be just enough to allow either side to take advantage and strike. To Luka, it matters not.[break][break]

Looking behind her, at Felix’s receding form, she smiles and presses on, charging towards Zamazenta and whatever lies beyond in the Slumbering Weld.[break][break]

---

[break]
- revives Felix Gallagher's iron valiant with revival blessing staff[break]
- chooses to abstain, however uses sylveon's z-move against eternatus AND necrozma[break]
- follows zamazenta into the slumbering weld

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The night before calamity strikes, her daughter comes to her in tears.[break][break]

"I h-had a nightmare," Lia stammers out between sniffles, clutching her ragdoll to her chest in a way she hadn't since she was very small. "There was all this- t-t-this light, and a skeleton, a-and suddenly you and papa weren't there anymore—"[break][break]

The words barely have the time to escape her before Felix is sweeping her in his arms and Luka is pulling the blankets aside. Felix gently nestles her into bed beside her mother and climbs in after her, the two consoling their child as best they can: Luka, all warmth and tender affection, and Felix with his quiet solicitude, his stern face now gentle.[break][break]

Oliver, who had heard the commotion and came to investigate, pokes his sleepy head around the door. Luka immediately shuffles to the side to make more room for him on the bed, and gestures for him to join them.[break][break]

At first he wants to protest. He's ten now, and too old to share a bed with his parents— or so he says. But the imploring look from his mother quickly melts away his reservations and soon he's clambering under the sheets as well, cuddling into his father's side while his mother strokes his hair.[break][break]

And for a while, her family's presence is so comforting and safe that she forgets about the looming danger, forgets that everything they've built might come crashing down tomororw. All that matters now is the three heartbeats that echo in time with her own, and the love that envelops them all in a cocoon.[break][break]

---

[break][break]

Later, when their children's breathing is slow and deep, Luka turns to her husband.[break][break]

"I'm never going to lose you."[break][break]

It's a promise he's made to her so many times before. In it, she had often seen the ghosts of his past, the regrets and mistakes that have turned him into the man she loves today. But over the years she had seen him come to truly mean it— the love between them hadn't come easily, but it's real. She has to believe in that, or she has nothing.[break][break]

"I don't know what will happen to us tomorrow," she continues, "But I love you, mon coeur. And no matter what...that won't ever change."[break][break]

She speaks in absolutes so easily, as if making her wishes aloud is enough to make them come true. And when he leans over to kiss her, it feels like he might actually try to grant it.[break][break]

---

[break][break]

Even so, she sleeps fitfully that night. Despite everything she's scared— terrified for Galar, for her kingdom, for the future of her children. If they're all truly destined to vanish once this is all over, what will happen to them? Lia and Oliver, her sun and moon. Would they survive without her?[break][break]

jayden cross's children are older and can guide them but they're still just that. Children. Bright and lovely, yes, but it's unfair to expect them to bear the weight their parents had carried.[break][break]

And above all, she'll miss them. Won't they miss her? She'd written them letters— it had started as one, then dozens, all sealed with wax and a kiss in a box at her bedside. She wrote one for Felix Gallagher as well, but this she keeps with her, tucked against her chest. If they do return to Hoenn, she wants him to have it, and to remember.[break][break]

But perhaps this doesn't have to be the end. Perhaps— and it's likely just wishful thinking— they still have a say in how their fates play out.[break][break]

---

[break][break]

Days before the solstice, she had met Jayden for a stroll in the winter-barren gardens.[break][break]

"You're not listening to me," she argues. "Maybe we heard him wrong. Maybe this isn't the end.

"Luka," he replies in a flat, even tone, "You've read the same stars I have."[break][break]

"Yes, but—"[break][break]

"You've seen the same signs."[break][break]

"I know, it's just..." She's quick to interject before Jayden can try talking sense into her again. "Maybe we'll still have a choice. Maybe we can choose to stay."[break][break]

She sees her fellow monarch stiffen beside her and presses on. "I would do it. It's not an easy life...but being here with Felix and the children...it still feels right."[break][break]

Emerald green irises seek his out, searching for the answer to a question she has yet to pose. For a moment she sees a spark of conflict in them, but she knows nothing about the conversation he'd had with Felix Gallagher long ago. "Would you?"[break][break]

---

[break][break]

When daybreak comes, her family is still nestled in bed together.[break][break]

It takes a long, long time for them to untangle. Luka is met with protests when she insists on dressing Oliver and brushing Lia's hair, but they eventually succumb to their mother's smothering affection. For a while it almost seems peaceful, as if the coming dread is nothing but a bad dream.[break][break]

But soon enough the sky splits open and unleashes hell.[break][break]

She's with jayden cross and Rhydia Ver when it happens. The three of them had spent the last fortnight preparing for this, readying the troops and preparing defenses. Her people are ready, and they swarm to join the queen they adore with a rallying cry upon their lips:[break][break]

"FOR BALLONLEA! FOR GALAR! FOR QUEEN LUKA AND QUEEN RHYDIA AND KING JAYDEN, WE FIGHT!"[break][break]

Luka turns to her fellow monarchs, the smile on her face wistful but determined. "As one," she echoes. Time may have hardened her but her eyes are still soft; while Jayden's stare is aflame, hers is the gentle promise of the rain that follows. Ready to heal, ready to protect, ready to save.[break][break]

Her eyes flit towards the illusion of Zamazenta and she nods, a show of quiet respect. "Please lend us your aid," she asks of them. Then she turns to Felix Gallagher.[break][break]

"Take care of yourself." It seems silly to ask that of a man far more skilled in combat than she is, but she does so nonetheless. "And thank you, for everything." She leans in to kiss him, lips soft and sweet as a hand grazes her cheek like a warm spring breeze.[break][break]

"I love you."[break][break]

She hopes she isn't saying it for the last time.[break][break]

---

[break][break]

Their armies surge forth. Luka rides alongside jayden cross and mint frost and most importantly Felix Gallagher, her mount's ghostly hooves barely gracing the ground as they gallop onwards. Felix had always been her most stalwart guard, and he remains so to this day, so she follows him with Jayden towards the Dynamxed Rillaboom and it's swarming army.[break][break]

Unlike her many battles back in Hoenn, Luka knows now how to strategize. Ume's future sight attempts to catch a glimpse of the enemy's plans and what awaits them in the battle to come. The wave of psychic energy that follows is aimed towards the Toxtricity general and any poison fiends unfortunate enough to be in it's path.[break][break]

And Luka herself joins the fray as well. A staff meant for healing bodes ill upon creatures built of poison and decay; upon being purified one after another swiftly falls, nothing but a pile of sludge to be trampled on by the oncoming horde.[break]

[break]

---

[break]
- lots of fluff stuff dont mind me[break]
- the tragedy of it all tho...[break]
- anyways Musharna uses future sight against the toxtricity and poison horde on the rillaboom side! also attempts to like, look into the future lol[break]
- healing staff is 'purifying' a poison mon and destroying it[break]
- used salac x1

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[break][break]

"Thank you. It was harder this year to get supplies from Motostoke, but I'm just glad we could still make it happen."[break][break]

The queen smiles demurely and her hands finally still. They fold themselves politely behind her back. There's a wall between them that she doesn't know how to breach, though she's unsure if it's built on politeness or indifference.[break][break]

She casts her knight a sidelong glance, noting the serious line of his mouth and the way his eyes continuously dart about. To her, it seems silly to be on such high alert on a night like this. And it's a shame that Felix can't let go and enjoy the festivities like the rest of the populace.[break][break]

Although— can't he? He's her detail for the night, after all. Her smile becomes a little more sly as she gathers her skirts in her hands and begins to walk.[break][break]

"I'd like to have a look around," she declares, making her way to the center of the town square, where a large dance floor had been constructed. "You'll join me, yes?"[break][break]

---

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The next ten years go slowly.[break][break]

Luka is older and she is wiser but she is just as kind. Just as loving. Her naivete has long been snuffed out but that doesn't mean she won't hold on to hope, and it's that spark that keeps her city afloat even when times are the darkest.[break][break]

She knows that the changing times bring with them something ominous, but clings instead to the good they bring along as well. When the poison receeds and travel becomes easier, she establishes in Ballonlea a force almost akin to the rangers of her day. Good people with fine spirits and passion, able to traverse the lands to assist pokemon and civillians alike.[break][break]

The observatory unfurls it's secrets in time as well, and she spends hours pouring over the newfound constellations with Violet Fairbanks and absalom steel. John Sullivan's forest grows and she steals hours to go and visit, bringing flowers from her own garden to decorate his sculptures, almost like paying reverence to a grave.[break][break]

These friendships are old and comfortable now. But new acquaintances continue to surprise and delight her. When she meets Elisabeth Fiorelli's Lisette, albeit briefly, she hopes that the brightness in her eyes and warmth in her shy smile means that the old witch might have found her heart again.[break][break]

But most important of all of these is Felix Gallagher. Her knight in shining armor. Her husband. The one person that had turned the world inside out for her, and made a heaven out of hell.[break][break]

Their children grow and she can't imagine loving anything more than she loves them. My sun and moon, she calls them, a boy with his father's ebony hair and a girl with strawberry blonde curls that look gold under the light.[break][break]

Hideo Kino brings them up well, his tutelage instrumental as they continue to grow. And jayden cross teaches them to fight alongside his heirs. When they come home with scraped knees and wide smiles from playing with their friends after hours, Luka doesn't have the heart to scold them.[break][break]

But the more precious something becomes, the more it hurts to lose.[break][break]

---

[break]

The meeting with her fellow royals is a much needed one. Isaac Merlo in particular is a sight for sore eyes; their pen-pal friendship has meant the world to her for this past decade. Seeing kyle lopez and Eva Morales again is also just as sweet, and though she doesn't know the other faces round the table as intimately, she greets them all as old friends.[break][break]

Their talks are good and useful and yet Luka feels restless throughout. There's something twisting uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach, the gnawing feeling that something is wrong. It's only late that night that she realizes the root of her fears is the pre-written ending to their tale. She hadn't thought of Calyrex's words as often over the years, but now they all come flooding back.[break][break]

Felix is already half asleep. He looks so peaceful and she doesn't want to startle him, but she leans in to kiss his cheek and hears a sleepy grunt in response. With a giggle— kittenish, like they had been when they first courted— she tucks her face into his chest.[break][break]

"I love you," she murmurs against him, a waterfall of curls splayed around them like rose petals.[break][break]

"I mean it. Truly" Suddenly serious, the Queen pushes herself up on her elbows and stares down at her husband, green eyes dark in the dim light. "I used to think that we, that this...it was all just so we wouldn't be lonely anymore. But it's not, is it? We made it real."[break][break]

She takes stock of the moment: Felix's hair falling into his tired eyes, his steady, gentle breathing, the soft reassurance that comes from knowing the children are safely asleep in their rooms across the hall. It's moments like these that she wishes she could bottle, trap them like fireflies in a jar and place them on her bedside table.[break][break]

"I don't want this to end," she confesses quietly. "Sometimes I wonder if this is really all just a dream, and that when I wake up, it'll slip right through my fingers like sand."[break][break]

Her breathing is shakier now and she curls back against him, taking comfort in his familiar scent and the warmth of his body against her. "I won't let that happen though," she murmurs as her eyes flutter closed. "I promise."[break][break]

[break]

---

[break]
- in ballonlea[break]
- establishes a ranger corps once the area becomes more hospitable[break]
- continues studying the stars and confers with the rest of the Galar royalty about their next moves[break]
- super duper grossly in love w Felix Gallagher[break]
- the kids grow, are taught by Hideo Kino and jayden cross[break]

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[break][break]

The dust settles in Ballonlea.[break][break]

In the aftermath, as Sugar celebrates delivering the finishing blow, Luka takes a moment to breathe.[break][break]


It turns out to be her last moment for quite some time.[break][break]


Before she has a chance to process everything that’s happened the cheering starts, and with it comes exaltation. A makeshift crown is placed upon her head, one woven from the few flowers that survive in Glimwood Tangle. At first Luka assumes it’s because of their victory tonight, but soon the chanting starts.[break][break]


“All hail the king and queens of Ballonlea!”[break][break]


And she, for a moment, is enchanted. Dazzled. It truly feels like a moment from a fairytale, something only envisioned in dreams.[break][break]


Her fellows understand the gravity of this situation far better than she. But for her this moment is wrapped in glittering tulle— it feels so bright and sweetly pink that she’d like to live in it forever, if she could.[break][break]

ONE MONTH LATER

[break][break]


The magic of being a real-life Cinderella starts to fade fast.[break][break]


Sometimes Luka is still caught up in the fantasy of being royalty, the idealistic wonder of it all. But most of the time she’s overwhelmed. The responsibility is far beyond the scope of what she’s used to and while her PR training helps make the transition seem smooth on the surface, underneath it’s anything but.[break][break]


It doesn’t help that she and her two fellow monarchs don’t exactly see eye to eye. Rhydia Ver is an almost antagonistic force and jayden cross is competent but cold. She gets along with the latter better but still can’t relate to his methods. For the first month she feels rather isolated from them, stumbling along on nothing but hope and a prayer. She tries to escape beyond the walls but her guard catches her quickly, and after several scoldings she eventually stops trying.[break][break]

When things get too overwhelming, she secludes herself. Steals away a few hours in the observatory whenever she’s able. Violet Fairbanks, samuel carter, and absalom steel become her companions there as she stares into the heavens and charts stars, wondering if there’s something written in them that might bring everyone home.[break][break]


mint frost is often around as well, but he’s far more hostile and her relentless cheerfulness doesn’t seem to help. She leaves him be instead, though he (and the rest of those dedicated to the stars) might find snacks and sweets left in her wake.[break][break]


And sometimes she merely wanders Glimwood Tangle for hours, tending to the plants there in hopes they might heal from the poison that inflicts them. In time a Queen's garden is erected, a not-so-secret place for her to find respite.[break][break]

She gets through it all by trying to convince herself this is all a bad dream. When that doesn't work, she resolves to find a way to escape and get back home, back to her friends and family and everyone else she holds dear.[break][break]

And when even that fails she lays in bed at night and feels the tears wetting her pillow, silent sobs anchoring her in place while she tries not to drown.[break][break]



[break][break]

In her first month, she did little right.[break][break]


But after a year passes things start to fall into place. It’s almost funny how routine makes the unusual seem so commonplace, how one can be dropped in from another world and find a home in the strangest of places.[break][break]


Luka wouldn’t call Ballonlea a home just yet. But as the days bleed into a year, it seems that it’ll become one whether she likes it or not.[break][break]


And though the days are uncertain and strange and sometimes even frightening, she preserves. Like it or not she’s become a light of hope for the people, and she couldn’t bear to let it be snuffed out. So even though it’s hard and even though she has no idea what she’s doing, Luka does the best she can.[break][break]


She often thinks about Remiel Calcifet and what he might have done. How he might rule. But she quickly grows frustrated with his cold line of thinking— one she sees so prevalent in jayden cross as well— and resolves to be different.[break][break]


jayden cross focuses on defending their borders and strengthening their middling forces, and Rhydia Ver ushers in a new age of art and culture. But Luka’s personal mantra is a simpler one:[break][break]


Have courage, and be kind.[break][break]


She spends her time with the townsfolk, hearing their grievances and doing her best to solve them. When she can, she’s thrilled. When she can’t, she’s heartbroken. But she soon learns that despite her best efforts, she can’t solve everything or save everyone.[break][break]


That doesn’t mean she won’t try.[break][break]


And in turn, the people adore her. The 'Rose of Ballonlea', they call her. The Angelic Queen. She wears flowers and ribbons in her hair and her dresses float after her, a sparkling swirl of pink tulle studded with jewels.[break][break]

She’s a benevolent queen; sweet and fair, always ready to offer a smile and a kind word. A blessing of healing should it be needed— though the serious cases she sends to John Sullivan, for he's far more competent than she is. And she worries for that boy, secluded in the woods as he is. Though his methods might go against her own position at times she can't bring herself to condemn him, and his forest home is surprisingly well stocked with food and supplies from a mysterious benefactor.[break][break]

Other relationships are forged as well, and some are tested. In Hideo Kino Luka finds a riding buddy, someone to whittle away afternoons with atop their Glastrier and Spectrier, respectively. In @isaac she finds a friend and a mentor as they exchange letters across borders. absalom steel and Violet Fairbanks become more than simply colleagues, though the former is far shyer, but her good cheer gets through to him eventually. She enjoys spending time in the observatory with them, whether to work or simply talk.[break][break]

But it's jayden cross that surprises her. Not with a new friendship, but with his betrayal. When she discovers him working late one night, guard down and defenses lowered, her small gasp of surprise gives her away.[break][break]

And when he turns to acknowledge the whisper of his name, her heart sinks.[break][break]

"I should have told you," he says. And she nods, numbly.[break][break]

But the pain isn't as bad as with Remiel Calcifet, perhaps because she'd never loved jayden cross quite the same way. Or maybe she's just used to it by now.[break][break]

"You know," she confesses in the aftermath, with the ghost of a laugh behind her lips, "For a moment there, I thought I almost loved you."[break][break]

It takes her a long time to trust him again. But as weeks turn into months it becomes clear that their time here is more than temporary, and faction lines matter less and less. Around her, she can see League and Rocket alike forging bridges where there had only been hate, and that in and of itself is a beautiful thing.[break][break]

Perhaps a place like this is the only one where the sins of the past can be forgotten. At least, for the sake of their tenuous future, Luka is willing to try.[break][break]

[break][break]

After two years pass, the grief over never returning to Hoenn starts to fade. This is her life now, for better or worse. Luka has fully settled into her role by now, and though she'd never call herself a perfect monarch she does her best for her people. And they, in turn, seem to be doing as best they can under such dire circumstances.[break][break]

As an ambassador for the people, she throws her efforts into boosting morale. She establishes yearly festivals, cultural events, even hosts a far more simplefied version of a pokemon contest. Her efforts might seem silly to some, but others greatly appreciate the chance for revelry. Sunlight filters through the dark clouds of their existence, and for once the future actually seems brighter.[break][break]

The gardens have started to flourish under her care, as have the sick and injured in Ballonlea thanks to her efforts, and those of John Sullivan. It takes a village; Luka and her two fellow rulers cannot do this alone.[break][break]

Five years go by, and Luka is lonely.[break][break]

It’s cold at the top— she has friends and the love of her people, but it’s not the same as warm arms and the sound of a heartbeat against her cheek.[break][break]

“Let’s make a promise,” her best friend had once told her, and she had stuck out her pinky and nodded along. “If we’re not married by the time we’re thirty, we’ll get hitched.”[break][break]

Even though her old life feels more like a memory, she still remembers that promise. Time continues to march relentlessly on, but there’s no Sebastian here to fulfill his vow.[break][break]

jayden cross has fern delaney and she’s jealous, but not in the way she’d expected. Instead she’s simply envious that he’d come here with a lover and the work is already done for him. [break][break]

And then, one night, she meets Felix Gallagher.[break][break]

Of course, she'd already known him. He's a knight, and by far the best underneath jayden cross's command. But their relationship goes no deeper than that until he saves her life during one of Ballonlea's annual festivals.[break][break]

They both come out of the ordeal scarred but alive, and with something else as well. For soon afterwards Felix is assigned as her personal guard, and the two become inseperable.[break][break]

He's attentive and protective, as a knight should be. And Luka, desperate for companionship, clings to it. His stoicism becomes a point of charm, and she delights in chipping away at his exterior to get to know the man underneath. There's something inherently romantic about their dynamic as well: a Queen and her knight, a couple straight out of a fairy tale.[break][break]

She becomes enamored with him so quickly that it's almost alarming. It's because he's kind to her, she tells herself. Because even though his hands are built for violence, when they find hers they're gentle.[break][break]

Or perhaps, shameful as it is, she simply falls in love with the devotion he showers her with.[break][break]

But sometimes when he looks at her, it feels like he’s staring through her instead. When she speaks he startles, as though he’s expecting to hear a different voice.[break][break]

“I won’t lose you again,” he promises one night, and the naive part of her wants to think he’s talking about that day at the ball, when she’d nearly lost her life.[break][break]

But the Queen who’d lived through war and heartbreak and loss knows better.[break][break]

It’s not an easy thing to talk about, but Luka has to bring it before it drives her mad. Time has started to erode her previous attachments but they still exist, and she can't help but wonder if it's the same for him.[break][break]

And one night, wrapped up in the security of wool and silk, they finally talk. About who they were before. Who they’d loved and who they’d left behind. And it hurts— and she worries that at the end of it he'll admit that she's nothing but a placeholder, and she knows that worst of all, that wouldn't be enough for her to leave him.[break][break]

He doesn't say it in so many words, but she knows that there's still someone in his life he can't forget. Even so, she's the one who shares a bed with him. She's the one with a band of gold around her finger. And she's the one that will love him enough to make him love her.[break][break]

[break]

---

[break]
- in ballonlea[break]
- becomes a queen alongside Rhydia Ver and jayden cross and generally has a bad time of it until the end of the first year[break]
- slowly starts to pick things up, builds a life although she's very lonely[break]
- after 5 years starts building a connection w Felix Gallagher and they're quickly obsessed w each other[break]
- mawwiage and kids, the whole deal :3[break]
- will probs edit a lil but wanted to get Something out in the meantime!!

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