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The choice to move on had been far from an easy one to make. How could one truly move past the loss of their family, after all? Without any bodies to even bury, no way to say a final goodbye? It would remain an open, festering wound for everyone that chose to remain at the guild, even as it collapsed around them under the weight of its own anguish.
It was this gaping sense of loss that had spurred Alzack and Bisca into beginning their relationship in the first place. The previous times of danger for the guild hadn’t felt completely real before this one. Phantom Lord’s invasion was the result of a petty dispute between two guild masters; Laxus’s coup was… well it was Laxus (he was still family too, despite everything); when they were transformed into crystal and taken to Edolas, they hadn’t even been conscious of it. Besides which… all of those incidents had been caused by people. People were much easier to understand than a dragon who could obliterate an island with a single breath attack were.
No one else from the guild had been there to witness it, either. People that they loved, people that they had grown up with… just suddenly were gone? It didn’t feel real. But as the days wore on, and as the ones they missed did not come home… day after day, day after day.
The dim reality of it was enough to smother any bright soul.
If something like that could happen at any time, it was little wonder that both Alzack and Bisca found themselves much more inclined to finally tell each other how they felt. If they never did anything about these feelings that they had, then wouldn’t they ultimately have to face this regret once again?
As one year became two, however, both of them found themselves loathe to bring up the topic of marriage. It didn’t feel right, when so many of their family members wouldn’t be able to attend. Even though Alzack and Bisca themselves were very much in love with and wanted to spend the rest of their lives with each other. Must it have a name, or that title in particular?
But then, one spring day, when taking a walk with Alzack… Bisca realized something.
She wasn’t sure what had triggered it, precisely. The world was bright and full of birdsong. And the smell of fresh grass and rain hung in the air. Maybe it was the warmth of Alzack’s hand in hers, or the way the chill stained their ears and cheeks bright red.
Whatever it was… Bisca understood, then.
If it didn’t matter either way, then why not grab onto that little bit of happiness? If it was there, why not claim it for themselves anyway?
They owed it to themselves and to their missing family to be happy.
And so Bisca proposed, right then and there by the bank of the canal in the middle of the street on a spring day where hope felt new. She didn’t even have a ring prepared, just her heart on her sleeve and a song inside of her chest.
Then, flustered and breathless, and full to bursting with happiness… Alzack said yes.
They would carve out a bright sliver of joy all for themselves.
Together.