Warnings: fluff, affectionate acrobatics, my trademarked singular kiss.
Alexa Bliss loves Christmas. She loves the music, and the movies, and the food. She loves the snow, and the spirit, and the decorations, and that's why, as soon as the calendar rolls around to December first, Alexa's in her living room trimming her tree.
It's a traditional Fraser fir, about seven feet tall, with vivid green needles and a fresh pine scent that makes Alexa want to bury her face in its branches. The aroma fills the room, a homey warmth permeating her every breath, and she hums along mindlessly with Mariah on the radio. She wraps its emerald circumference in twinkling blue and pink lights, a glowing purple reflection bouncing off the silver tinsel while every nestled nook and cranny is filled with glittering ornaments. Some of them are from her childhood, some of them are from family and friends, but a great deal of them are courtesy of the Walt Disney Corporation, and Lilo soon joins Stitch on neighboring limbs.
When there's nothing left but empty boxes and all the candy canes have been hung, there's only one more thing that needs to be done.
The white five-pointed LED star in her hand needs to be placed on top of the tree.
Alexa eyes its peridot peak with scrunched brows, stretches and stretches until she's standing on just her toes, and still her goal remains slightly out of reach.
That's how Rhea finds her, focused and taut, poised between a second and third arabesque, and a devious plan springs to mind. She creeps closer, socked feet cushioned quiet by plush carpet, and she ducks down behind Alexa. She grabs her girlfriend by the thighs, carefully places her head between them, and Alexa's legs now dangle over her shoulders. She stands up quickly, a frightened little gasp of surprise escaping Alexa's lips, and she grips Rhea's hair for balance. "Rhea!"
"Don't worry, I've got you," Rhea assures her. "Put the star up."
With Rhea's height now added to her own, Alexa's in the perfect position to place the star on top of the tree. She's a little worried at first, but she knows Rhea's strong and steady, and her ring-rough hands keep an anchored hold on Alexa's slim thighs. She reaches out, connects the star to the already waiting cord, and she sets it delicately atop the tree's apex. The star's golden radiance gleams hazy like a halo, the malachite needles beneath it now shining like fiery topaz, and Alexa's fairy face is bathed in its gilt.
Rhea steps back so they can both more fully admire Alexa's handiwork and the tree is damn near postcard perfect. "She's magnificent," Alexa whispers, awe dripping from her every word. She runs her fingers through Rhea's hair, sleep messy strands like silk against her skin, and Alexa can feel Rhea shiver between her legs. "Thank you."
Rhea's hands shift from Alexa's thighs to her waist, and she pops Alexa up over her shoulders with ease once more. She gives Alexa a quick toss and twist like a figure skater's lift, and she catches Alexa again with just as much grace. Alexa's legs automatically lock around Rhea's torso, her arms twining around Rhea's neck, and a giddy giggle slips past her smiling lips.
Rhea leans in with a smile of her own to gently capture Alexa's mouth in a sweetly tender kiss. Alexa tastes of cinnamon hazelnut spice and childish Christmas wonder, and Rhea drinks it down like Santa's savored milk and cookies. "Anytime."
The Merling Princess Alexa Bliss has been missing for nearly two moon cycles. Her family is inconsolable, her friends devastated, the kingdom distraught, and with Alexa gone, the King has no remaining heirs. Alexa herself is an only child and having no children of her own; if she were to die, her family's line would end with her.
In the immediate hours after her disappearance, the King mobilized every mer-guard and mer-soldier in the city in an effort to find his daughter, but there were no witnesses, no clues, and no sign of the Princess.
It went on like that for three days and three nights, every able-bodied mer in the city searching for Alexa, but to no avail.
They extend the search beyond the city, to the farthest reaches of the realm, to every town and borough, and that's how Nikki finds herself on the outskirts of the territory. There are no colonies here, not another mer for miles, but the ruined remains of a human settlement rest here just on the edge of the trench. Most of the structures are uninhabitable, crumbling, and broken, but there is one tower that still stands tall and strong.
Nikki swims over to it as quickly and as quietly as she can, the only sound the rush of bubbles around her body, and once outside the entryway, she unsheathes her sword. She creeps inside, back to the wall as she scans the room, but the area is empty. It's also not very large, a few flicks of her tail from end to end, and other than a patch of jellies, there's nothing but a strange enclosed corridor. It seems to wind only deeper into the tower's height, spiraling up in a dizzying twist of claustrophobic circles, and Nikki just knows it's the path she must take.
So, that's what she does.
She enters the hall, follows it around and around as it takes her higher and higher, and at the top, she comes to a door. It's heavy, made of thick metal, but it slides open easily when she turns the handle. The interior is dark, illuminated only by the dozen or so lanternfish swirling about the room, but there's no mistaking the huddled form shivering in the shadow.
"Princess Alexa!" Nikki whisper-shouts, not wanting to alert anyone that might be lurking nearby. "Don’t be scared. Your father sent me."
She looks pale like she hasn't seen the sun since she's been gone, her usually vivid blue eyes sunken and dull and ringed by purple-black bruising. She barely moves as Nikki approaches, her head lolling on her neck, and there are more welts and bruises around her wrists. Her cuffs are attached to the wall, a length of eroded chain sitting bunched between Alexa and the stone, but the bracket holds true no matter how she tugs on it.
Alexa still hasn't said anything, still hasn't acknowledged Nikki outside of her blank, empty stare, but Nikki talks to her anyways.
"It's okay, now. I'm going to get you out of here. You're safe now, I promise."
She takes the chain in hand, hunts for a soft spot or a flaw, and when she finds it, she slips the tip of her sword into the link. Using the blade, she pins the chain to the floor, hammers the pommel once, twice with her fist, and at last, the force of the wedged edge pops the link open.
She frees Alexa from the wall with a little sound of triumph, and though she still wears the cuffs, the Princess is no longer a prisoner. She examines Alexa's wrists, which are raw and swollen, but there shouldn't be any lasting damage, and there are no signs of infection. "Are you hurt anywhere else, Princess?"
Alexa whines at the question, her eyes flicking to the curve of her tail, and that's when Nikki notices the deep gash running along Alexa's side. It's no longer bleeding, but it's still open and oozing and looks incredibly painful.
"Do you think you can swim?"
Alexa tries to flip her tail, but she's hardly able to flex the joint without crying out.
"Shh, shh, okay, it's okay," Nikki soothes, her hand hovering uselessly over the wound. "We're gonna figure it out."
Nikki considers the situation.
Alexa can't swim with her injury, and there is exactly zero chance that Nikki is going to leave Alexa behind so that only leaves one option.
Nikki is gonna have to carry her.
"Alright, here's what we're gonna do, Princess. I'm gonna turn around, and I want you to put your arms over my head and around my neck, okay?"
Alexa nods her understanding, and Nikki sheaths her now crinkled sword before giving Alexa her back. Her still chained hands come into Nikki's view in no time as Alexa follows Nikki's instructions, and once the Princess is in position, Nikki takes hold of her elbows. She looks back once, Alexa's eyes wide and terrified, and Nikki swears her Princess will never be this frightened again.
"Don't let go."
She rushes through the hall, swift and careful, and once they're out of the tower, Nikki feels like she can breathe again. The water is brighter here, lighter, and with one final glance at the gloom of what was once a royal prison, Nikki and Alexa glide away to safety.
It takes them two more days to reach the Kingdom's capital, and by the time they arrive, word of Alexa's return has beaten them there. For the next seven nights, there are feasts and festivities celebrating Alexa's healthy homecoming, and by the end of it, she almost looks normal. Her eyes are radiant again, twin lagoons of aqua diamonds, and the haze underneath them is gone. The wounds around her wrists are fading, and her tail has been poulticed and bandaged stitched by the best doctors around.
Yet there is still fear in her.
It's evident from the way she jumps at the slightest sound, obvious from the way she still shudders at the slightest touch, and the only person she seems at ease around is Nikki. The Princess refuses to leave her sight; day and night, hour after hour, she is glued to Nikki's side.
Nikki does everything that she can to make Alexa feel secure. She escorts the Princess around the castle, takes her meals with the Princess, guards the Princess’ chambers at night, and when the Princess wakes up screaming, Nikki is there to chase the nightmares away.
She knows she's crossed the line the first time she wakes up tangled in Alexa's silken blonde locks, knows she's crossed a line when Alexa sighs in sleep, and snuggles closer, but Nikki doesn't move. She just buries her nose in Alexa's hair, kisses her forehead, and ignores the way her heart clutches as she does.
They finally catch the fiend who stole Alexa, some delusional mer that wanted to brainwash Alexa into marrying him. But his plans were thwarted by Nikki (and a few observant tavern girls).
Alexa cries when she hears the news, cries even harder when she hears the mer is dead, a fate dealt by his own hand at the prospect of facing execution, and Nikki holds Alexa tight as her tears join the salt of the sea.
There's another four nights of celebration and ceremony after that to mark the end of the Kingdom's darkest days, and at the end of it all, the King offers Alexa's hand to Nikki Cross - the brave Knight who saved his only daughter.
Nikki considers it, she really does. Alexa is beautiful, stunning, gorgeous, there's no denying it, but more than that, she's strong, and resilient, and kind, and Nikki loves her.
She can't accept, though, can't force Alexa to marry someone she doesn't want when that's exactly what that monster tried to do, and Nikki never wants to be that calculated or cruel.
She accepts an appointment as Captain of the Palace Guard instead, a post that requires her to reside in the castle, and instead of just being responsible for Alexa, she's now responsible for the entire Royal Family.
It takes her away from Alexa more than she'd like, a selfish part of her still wanting to bask in Alexa's attention, but the Princess has been... Different around her lately. Not rude or disrespectful, but somehow colder and more detached, like dealing with Nikki has become a mere formality and Nikki aches for their lost intimacy.
Still, Alexa is the Princess, the heir to the throne, and it isn't Nikki's place to question her. Maybe this is just a return to form for Alexa, after having finally recovered from such a traumatic experience, and Nikki tries to adjust to their new routine.
She checks that Alexa's room is clear, that the latch on the window is locked and intact, and when she determines that the room is empty save for themselves, she turns to leave.
"Goodnight, Princess."
She's across the room, her hand already on the door, when Alexa's voice halts her exit. "Did it mean so little to you?"
Nikki's grip tightens on the knob, her knuckles going white, and she tries to keep her tone steady as she replies. "What are you talking about, Princess?"
"The time we spent together, the moments we shared, did they mean nothing?"
Nikki still doesn't face Alexa, knows that if she does, she'll say too much, or not enough, and then her expression will give away the rest.
"It meant everything to me, Your Highness."
Alexa huffs in annoyance. "Then why won't you look at me, huh? Why won't you laugh with me, or sup with me, or touch me?" She says it all in a rush, one breath, one sentence, one question. "Why won't you love me?"
Nikki's response is ripped from her throat like a barbed hook, and Alexa's hurt becomes her own as she spills her guts onto the sandstone floor. "I do love you, Alexa. Don't you understand?"
"No, I don't understand! If you love me, why did you refuse my father's proposal?"
Nikki closes her eyes, squeezes them tight, and prays for the strength not to bash her forehead against the door. "I didn't accept your father's proposal because forcing you into a relationship, a marriage, would make me no different than him, and I can't, no, I refuse, to do that!" Nikki bangs her fist on the door, swirls around all passion and simmering fury at the thought of that man, that beast, and she goes on without thought or regard for her own pride. "You deserve to be happy and free, and when you get married, it should be to someone worthy of you, but most importantly, it should be your choice. I could never take that away." She kind of peters out towards the end there, running out of steam, and she trails off into a whisper.
"Oh, Nikki," Alexa murmurs. "Who do you think suggested the idea of marriage to my father?"
Nikki almost refuses to believe it, her mind simply rejecting all logic and common sense.
"Why?"
It's Alexa who swims closer now. Alexa who takes Nikki's stiff hands into her own and kisses the reddening knuckles. "Because I love you, Nikki, I want you, and I choose you. If you'll have me, of course."
Nikki's never heard something more absurd.
"There’s no one else for me."
Alexa's answering smile is blinding like the sun off the waves at dawn, and Nikki is dazzled by it. She's not sure how she could have gotten so lucky as to be the one Alexa is looking at like that, but she'll never take it for granted.
Nikki's got herself a princess, and she's not letting go.
