Chapter Text
Dahlia has spent his entire current life searching for a ghost of the maiden he swore to love for a lifetime, only to find her sitting quietly in the back row of a local church.
When he first saw Barbara, his heart nearly stopped. It's like something about the gentle slope of her shoulders and the radiance in her gaze was unmistakable, he immediately knew he recognized her.
'This is her, the girl I longed for all these years.' He concluded.
And so he had to get to know her again, and through doing so he learned that the modern world had not been so kind to her as it was in her previous incarnation. She was struggling to make ends meet, drowning in the high cost of living.
Seizing the chance to protect her once more, Dahlia offered to share an apartment and help cover her living expenses.
Of course, Barbara was cautious of this sudden generosity from a total stranger she met on a sunday, but her financial desperation eventually decided for her.
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And then they were roommates. Present day.
Months have passed since they first met, and Dahlia has always been the eccentric, overly clingy flirt of a best friend and roommate from Barbara's perspective.
She has no idea that every fantasy phrase he throws out or concerning amount of detailed castle descriptions he explains is part of his long standing mission to make her fall in love with him all over again.
Dahlia has been playing the long game, waiting for the day her soul would finally recognize his.
And today, the afternoon sun beams over a small kitchen window, casting a warm golden glow over their shared table.
It is far cry from the illustrious marble banquet halls they once roamed, but this cramped apartment still felt like a palace to him as long as she was in it.
"Fresh jam toast, coming right up." Dahlia announces, his tone warm and caring as he slides her a plate of freshly spread jam toast.
"Oh my, you shouldn't have, Dahlia~" Barbara sits at the kitchen island, smiling up at him, her feet kicking gently under her barstool without even realizing she was doing it.
"No really, I insist dear... the pleasure is all mine." He leans on the counter slightly towards her, his lips curved into his own charming smile.
Just from the way he looks at her, Barbara's heart flutters in her chest. 'My roommate's being extra fruity again this morning... no big deal...' She thinks quietly, and shifts her focus to her toast in order to distract herself from his beauty, maneuvering her knife and fork gracefully.
That is, until she chokes.
"Mmph-"
"Oh no, are you alright? Slow down or you're going to choke..." Dahlia's expression shifts to concern, his palm rushes to hold the side of her face.
Barbara disguises her awe with a stubborn look, then swallows. "I'm fine, really..." She sighs, and resumes cutting her toast, but a part of her feels guilty for resisting his care.
"Thank you for... worrying about me." She adds gently, her gaze softens to his. "Oh, and did I thank you for the toast already?"
"Anything for you, your highness."
He says quietly, referring to her as she was before.
"Your highness?" Barbara asks, her interest immediately piqued. "...Haha, are you reciting a book or something?" She suspects, raising an eyebrow.
He smirks, washing her now empty plate in the sink "Nothing~ Just admiring how you eat so delicately."
The memory lingers in his mind, how she used to be a princess who ate like one. Even to this day, he still finds her graceful manners endearing.
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Long before the life they're used to, there was a kingdom built on rigid bloodlines, and impossible expectations. Actually, there was two.
The Princess rests in her lavish bedchamber, wearing a golden crown. Her flowing gown ripples under her like water, but the dress really did weight her down.
She looks out at the high walls that kept her a prisoner in her own castle, with a view of an opposing kingdom she dares not to enter publicly, until a fluttering sound draws her to the windowsill.
A secret letter is brought to her by a white dove. 'The meadow where our kingdoms meet. Tonight, my princess.'
Barbara doesn't hesitate, and slips past the drowsy courtyard guards, making a run for it. When she reaches the meadow, she doesn't see the prince of their rival kingdom... she only sees her one true love, Dahlia.
"You made it." Dahlia smiles, stepping out from the shadows of a tree. His princely uniform suits him well, even while he's purposely ignoring his duties.
"I would cross oceans for you." Barbara hums, jumping into his arms.
They hold each other tightly under the early morning light, exchanging hushed whispers about the cruel reality weighing down on them. Their parents would never allow this.
For their kingdoms have been at war since the beginning of time, there was once a relationship so powerful that it turned to spite, so the two kingdoms swore off inter-marrying their nations.
But as Dahlia leans down to capture her lips in a passionate kiss, the politics of their world fade into non-existence. They love each other too much to care about their crowns.
Until they were caught, of course.
"Seize them!"
The growing sound of armor clanks loudly as royal guards swarm the meadow. Swords wedge them apart, dragging Barbara back toward the palace while Dahlia is tugged away.
"If you ever look upon the princess again, boy, it will be the last sight you'll ever see." Diluc, Captain of the Darknights, threatens him, his flaming ponytail catching the wind.
"Sir Darknight, I order you to stop!" Barbara shouts.
Diluc doesn't budge, his tone remaining stern. "Your words hold no weight, princess. The king and queen have already given orders, you are strictly forbid to meet with the young prince of our enemies."
Barbara and Dahlia exchange sorrowful glances before being brought back to their respective chambers once again.
The days following their separation are an agonizing blur of aching longing and emotional suffocation.
Locked in her tower, Barbara couldn't eat, or sleep, her heart breaking more with every passing hour. Across the valley, Dahlia felt the exact same otherworldly pull. They couldn't survive without each other.
So, they chose to disobey.
One night, in heavy fog, they make a desperate run for freedom. Fleeing to their favorite place, the white rose garden right outside one of their palace borders.
When their eyes meet, a fleeting moment of pure hope shines between them. Dahlia reaches his hand out, his fingers just inches from hers. "We're going to make it, Barbara. We both knew to come here... we must escape for good-"
Suddenly a horrifying sound cuts through their moment. A sharp, iron blade tears through Dahlia's chest from behind.
Diluc and the Darknights were secretly waiting for the very moment they would cross the line again, to catch them both red handed. But the only ones red handed... are the ones whose swords drew the prince's blood.
Barbara's breath traps in her throat as she witnesses the terrifying spray of crimson stain the pristine white roses around them. Dahlia's eyes widen, a breathless gasp escaping his lips as he collapses on his knees.
"DAHLIA!!!" She screams out, rushing to his body on the ground.
He looks up at her one last time, his gaze growing dull and lifeless right in front of her. "Barbara..."
The sight of his impaled stomach... his last whisper of her name, they made her witness his murder, the trauma shatters her soul.
She cannot live in a world without him.
With a sudden, frantic desperation born from aching grief, Barbara snatches the bloody dagger from the belt of the nearest guard.
Before anyone can stop her, she presses the blade to her own chest, her eyes filled with tears lock onto Dahlia's unmoving form.
"Wait for me." she whispers into the darkness, and then, she drives the blade into her own heart.
Dahlia had died first, carrying only the memory of his love and the determination to find her again. He remembered, so he could protect her from the pain she had died to escape.
But the trauma of watching her love die, followed by her own violent end, was so agonizing that Barbara's soul chose to lock it away. Causing her to forget everything when she was reborn.
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Barbara doesn't remember the high stone walls that kept them apart, or the secret letters she received through the palace garden.
All she seems to think about is the lyrics to a new song she's writing.
"You're staring again..." Barbara deadpans, her cheeks flushing as she catches Dahlia across her desk. He's been stealing little glances at her the whole time.
Dahlia's heart skips a beat, and he spins around in his chair. "Maybe I am..." he teases lightly, trying to keep the heavy weight of his chest from showing in his voice. "I'm just waiting for you to realize that I'm the best roommate you'll ever have."
"Keep dreaming, drama queen~" Barbara laughs, the sound carries like a bright melody, the exact same laugh that used to echo through the royal rose gardens. She stands up, grabbing a tote bag from a corner of the room. "Come on, we're going to be late. You promised you'd walk with me to the botanical gardens today since I have that volunteering shift."
Dahlia smiles, a spark lighting up his eyes. 'Ah yes, the botanical gardens.'
This was no coincidence. Dahlia had intentionally suggested it weeks ago. He knew the garden conservatory had a grand glass greenhouse filled with white roses and stone fountains, it almost perfectly mirrors the private courtyard where they used to steal hidden kisses behind her family's backs.
It is the perfect place for phase two of his mission.
As they stepped out of the apartment and into the city air, Dahlia naturally slides into his usual spot on her left, shielding her from the street traffic just as a royal prince would protect her highness.
"You're doing it again...!" Barbara mumbles, looking up at him as they walk side by side.
"Doing what, dear?" He strides playfully.
"Being all... chivalrous." she says, adjusting the strap of her bag, trying to hide the fact that her heart's doing that annoying fluttering thing again. "It's funny, you always act like my henchman or something, and you literally held the apartment door open like you were expecting me to walk down a red carpet."
Dahlia lets out a soft, melancholic hum, looking ahead at the path. 'Because you deserve a red carpet. You deserve the world.'
"Just making sure my favorite roommate doesn't get run over by a rogue bicycle." he answers smoothly, offering her a playful wink. "A true gentleman always protects his lady."
Barbara matches his playfulness, rolling her eyes. 'There he goes again.' she inwardly sighs, trying to surpress a smile. 'It's getting harder to pretend this is normal platonic behavior...'
Her thoughts quickly dissipate when they reach the botanical gardens, and a sudden wave of deja vu washes over her. She stops in her tracks, staring at sight, her breath catches in her throat in a way she can't quite explain.
"It's... beautiful." She whispers, staring at the sight while Dahlia stares at her.
He holds his breath, his heart pounding from anticipation. 'Is she finally realizing? Can she remember?'
At the end of his earnest gaze, Barbara finally turns to him.
"It's really pretty here, Dahlia. For a moment, I just felt like I'd been here before. It's fascinating! Now let's go get things set up." She walks off.
"........"
Dahlia let out a deep sigh. As expected, it was a complete fail once again. What is he to do with this clueless princess?
He presses his hand to his forehead, wearing a bitter yet calm smile. "Yeah, you must think it's only pretty. Without knowing how I feel..."
"Huh? What did you just say?" Barbara pivots.
"It doesn't matter~ I just meant let's hurry up and earn some money before our princess's volunteer time." Dahlia winks slyly and takes the bag from her shoulder.
They settle down in one corner of the garden. Barbara takes out her street microphone and stand carefully, while Dahlia takes a portable electronic keyboard out of his bag and places it on the stand. The two often do a part-time busking together in the city.
"Are you ready, Dahlia?" Barbara asks, tapping her microphone.
"Anytime, my muse." Dahlia answers playfully, placing his fingers on the keys.
Even though she's used to them doing this all the time, something about the botanical garden or maybe even just the time of day causes her memory to wander.
As she sings into the mic, the image of a large flashes in her mind. And the sight of a faceless prince appears, where she can no longer see Dahlia standing with his keyboard.
"Dahlia...?" she gasps, her voice faltering into the microphone.
Before she can process the memories occurring in her head, her vision blurs, knees going weak as she collapses.
"Barbara!"
Dahlia drops his hands from the keys, his strained voice echoing through the park. His heart drops into his stomach, and in a fraction of a second, he catches her before she hits the ground, pulling her securely into his arms.
He's still the same prince who refuses to lose his princess a second time.
Within twenty minutes, Dahlia is pacing frantically in the hallway of the local hospital, his knuckles white as he grips his jacket.
The privacy curtain to Barbara's resting area finally slides open. Albedo, the head doctor with messy, ash-blonde hair and an intensely analytical gaze steps out, followed by a sweet nurse with green hair and glasses, Sucrose.
"How is she, Doctor Albedo?" Dahlia demands, stepping forward instantly, unable to hide how protective he is over Barbara. "Is she going to be alright?"
"Calm down, please." Sucrose says softly, trying to soothe him. "She's stable. Her vitals are perfectly normal, though her brain activity showed signs of temporary overexertion."
Albedo nods, adjusting his coat as he reviews her charts. "Physically, she's just exhausted. However, neurologically it appears she experienced a sudden, massive surge. It's almost like a... relapse. Deeply buried cognitive pathways suddenly firing all at once. Did she experience any sudden trauma or shock before fainting?"
"We were just playing music..." Dahlia says quietly, surpressing his anxiousness. Despite how much he wanted her to remember their past, part of him fears the consequences. In fact, even he doesn't know why he's the only one who remembers their past life, and why she didn't.
Through the hallway, a high-strung female rushes in while practically yelling with someone on the phone.
"My SISTER just got into the hospital! No, LISA, I am taking off today!!" Jean slams her phone into her bag, having a sisterly panic.
She reaches up and tightens her usual usual high ponytail, still wearing her work clothes. The moment she heard her little sister had been admitted to the ER, everything else was second priority.
Her sharp blue eyes lock onto Dahlia standing beside them, she then grabs Albedo's shoulders and shakes him aggressively. "What happened?? Is she okay?!"
"Ah, please behave miss! Your sister fainted, but is alive and well!" Sucrose assures her, prying her hands off the doctor and leading her to the side to explain the situation.
"Ahem" Albedo coughs, turning to face Dahlia. "Anyway, she's awake now. A bit disoriented and doesn't quite understand what caused the blackout, but she is clear to go home once she rests for a bit. Keep her stress levels low."
"Thank you-" Dahlia nods, already moving past them.
He slides behind the hospital curtain, immediately shutting it completely behind him to cut off the noises of the emergency room.
Barbara is sitting up in the hospital bed, weak and pale. She blinks up at him, a deep lingering confusion clouding her blue eyes.
"Dahlia...? What happened? The doctor said I had a... a memory surge? But I don't remember hitting my head."
"You didn't," Dahlia mumbles, his chest aching at how exhausted she looks. He moves to the edge of her bed, his instincts as her past partner overriding everything else.
He gently takes her hand, his thumb tracing over her her knuckles to soothe her. "You just fainted in the park. You scared me to death, Barbie."
"I'm sorry..." she whispers, looking down at their joined hands. Her throat tightens, "Dahlia... when I was singing, I saw something. I saw a palace. And I saw... a prince, playing a massive piano, But his face was a blur."
She looks up, desperate and confused. "Why did it feel so real? Why did it feel like I've known him for hundreds of years? I... miss him..."
"Him....?" Dahlia's breath hitches, is he seriously getting jealous of himself? Maybe a little, the way she talks about it as if it's someone else and not her roommate sitting right in front of her.
Unable to hold back months of restraint and years longing any more, he leans over the bed. His hand lifts her up, his fingers tangling gently in her hair as he pulls her close.
Now that it's just them, no one to forbid their love behind the safety of the closed curtain, Dahlia presses his lips to hers.
His kiss is deep, overflowing with a desperate kind of tenderness and everything he could not yet say. He kisses her in the way that proves he was always there, waiting for only her.
His forehead leans against hers after the kiss, and Barbara is completely breathless, her cheeks flushed, the same longing fills her heart as it did from the prince in her vision.
"The one you long for is me, my princess." Dahlia whispers against her lips, his voice heavy from emotion. "And I've been waiting a whole new life just to have you back."
From his words, Barbara sees her family's palace. She feels the heavy, suffocating weight of her royal gown. She hears the harsh echoes of her parents forbidding her from ever seeing him again.
And then, the worst memory of all hits.
The absolute terror of the night they were torn apart, the agony of screaming his name as she was forced to watch him die. It was the trauma of that moment that forced her soul to lock the memory away.
Until now, all from the everlasting devotion he couldn't keep away from her.
"D-Dahlia..." Barbara gasps, her voice trembling with fear, her eyes filling with sudden tears.
The ancient grief, the horrific memory of his death, and the overwhelming chance to see him again. Shaking from head to toe, she latches on to him, burying her face into his chest and gripping the fabric of his shirt tightly.
"Don't leave me-" she sobs, her voice breaking into frantic muffled pleas against his neck.
"Please, please don't let them take you away again. Dahlia... I remember. I saw them kill you... I saw your blood... the life draining from your face... please stay with me! Don't die, please don't leave me alone again..."
Dahlia's eyes widen, his entire body freezes.
The whole time, he carried the heavy weight of their past. But he never could understand how his one and only love could just... forget him.
But it all makes sense now, her amnesia was a shield against the horrific trauma of watching him die. All he could remember that night was the immense pain of a fatal wound, watching her slowly fade away from him, the fear of never being able to return to her. But he never had to watch his lover die slowly in front of him, he can only imagine how horrible of a sight for her it was.
Hearing her voice recount that awful night, feeling her entire body shudder with the terror of the nightmare, he feels overwhelming heartbreak and underneath that, profound relief.
Dahlia wraps his arms securely around her, pulling her tight against his chest. His hand cradles the back of her head, pressing her as close as possible to let her feel the steady, rhythmic beating of his heart.
"I'm here, Barbara. I'm right here, and I'm alive." Dahlia chokes out, his own eyes filling with unshed tears as he rocks her gently. He presses a warm, lingering kiss into her hair, his voice dropping into a deep, unwavering vow.
"I'm never letting you go again. No one is going to hurt me, and no one is going to tear us apart in this life. I promise you. You're safe with me, I've got you, my princess."
Behind the thin hospital curtain, hidden from the rest of the modern world, Barbara clitches her living prince, finally letting the lifetime of subconscious grief melt away in the safety of his arms.
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Back at their familiar apartment, now like their own private world where nothing can hurt them.
Dahlia never let go of her hand for a single second during the ride home. The moment the front door clicked shut behind them, the weight of the outside world finally vanished.
No royal guards, no strict expectations, and no tragic endings here. Just the two of them.
Dahlia immediately set his mind to care of her. He gently guides Barbara to the couch, wrapping her in their fluffiest oversized blanket.
Hurrying to the kitchen to brew a fresh pot of her favorite herbal tea, he brings it over alongside a small plate of fresh fruit.
"Here you go, my princess," Dahlia whispers softly, setting the tray down on the coffee table It's almost like the playful teasing roommate was now a thing of the past.
Barbara looks up from beneath the blanket. Her eyes are still slightly weary from crying, but seeing him there with her, gazing at her with that familiar devotion, her heart fills with a resolution.
"Thank you, Dahlia..." she whispers back, and hugs the pillow beside her. Dahlia can't but want to replace that pillow, so he slides onto the couch, and Barbara immediately curls into his side, abandoning the tiny pillow and resting her head against his chest.
She closes her eyes, listening to the steady beat of his heart... the most beautiful sound in the world to her. It's proof that he's alive, and hers again.
Dahlia wraps his arms securely around her, pulling her close and resting his chin on top of her head. "You don't have to be afraid anymore, Barbara." he speaks into her hair, his hand gently petting her shoulder over the blanket. "We made it... we're finally free. And you remember me..."
"My prince..." Barbara hums softly, a tear of pure happiness slipping down her cheek. She reaches up, her fingers tangling with his. "I can't believe you waited for me all this time, only for me to not remember... you played a flirty roommate for months just to make me fall for you again."
Dahlia let out a low, melodic laugh, playing with her hair. "Hey, it worked, didn't it? As your loyal prince, I must always keep you safe. Besides, I would have waited a thousand more lifetimes just to have you back in my arms."
Barbara looks up at him, her gaze full of a love. "You don't have to wait any longer... I'm never leaving your side as long as long as we live!"
Dahlia leans down to her, pressing a soft lingering kiss to her lips.
They lost their kingdoms, their titles, and their riches to the cruelties of the past. But sitting together in this sunlit modern apartment, this was a different kind of luxury.
They have each other, a love that is their choice, and this time, they can finally live happily ever after.
The end.🤍