#fun fact like other nods in their story i chose a lotus flower because of the odyssy

[sea-owl]

Ok so Penelope gets hanahaki. 

Let’s say this is post season two after Colin declares to the other gentlemen of the ton that he would never marry Penelope Featherington, and Penelope has her fight with Eloise. Just to sprinkle some extra heartbreak. 

It starts out as a cough. Penelope doesn’t think of it much first and associates it with the crying she’s been doing from the loss of her best friend and Colin’s public rejection of her. 

Slowly the cough began to take away small breaths from Penelope’s lungs. The doctors say she’s stressed and to rest. They say she’ll be better soon.  

A prickly feeling in Penelope’s stomach told her that it was just the beginning. 

It wasn’t until Penelope was visiting Romney Hall, months after the first cough, trying to right at least one of her wrongs, that she coughed up the first buds.

"You have hanahaki," Phillip informed her. "It's a rare, but fatal disease brought on by unrequited love and heartbreak. It starts out as a cough but then as time passes your lungs are filled with flowers, and you can no longer breathe."

Penelope could only stare down at the buds, still damp from the saliva that coated them.

Phillip recognized them as buttercups and carnations, both yellow.

Childish, rejection, and disappointment.

Penelope has never hated the color more.

"Is there any cure?" The red head asked. 

Phillip winced. 

“My lord, is there any cure?” Marina repeated the question. 

Phillip bit his lip but then eventually answers. “There is only three known cures. Have your love requited-”

Penelope shook her head. “Impossible. He proclaimed to the entire ton that he would never dream of courting me, not in his widest fantasies.”

“The other cures are to find a new love or have the roots surgically removed from your lungs. However, if successfully removed you will no longer feel love.”  

Penelope lets out a chocked laugh. “So, I die by either flowers or by the knife?” 

“You could find new love,” Marina suggested. 

Penelope doubted she could. “I have to find a husband this season.” 

Phillip had given Penelope leaves to make into tea that would slow down the disease. Penelope hoped it would by her the time she needed. She didn’t have high hopes though, and she needed to make sure everything was in order. 

She ignored the letters Colin sent during his travels, while she sent one after another Eloise. She didn’t want things to end the way they did. Eloise never answered a single one. 

Penelope’s success on the marriage mart was no better. Despite every attempt the only thing Penelope could show for her efforts were the whispers she got for Whistledown. 

Then Colin came home, and their lessons began. Penelope now had suitors, but she still coughed up the flowers, now coming up as full blooms with thorns on the stems. Zinnias, hyacinths, and chrysanthemums join the buttercups and carnations. All yellow with red blood painting the edges. Remembrance, jealousy, and slighted love. 

Whoever told Mama yellow was a happy color lied, Penelope thought as she hid the flowers. 

It pains her but she ends the column. Lady Whisteldown will die with her. 

Eloise storms into her room two days after she sends out her final column. “You ended Lady Whitseldown.”

Penelope nodded. She could feel a cough coming up, she refused to let anyone else see the flowers. 

“And now you’re going to let Cressida Cowper take the credit for it!”

“What-” Penelope was cut off by her coughs. Try as she might a few petals escape, along with a yellow petunia. Anger.

Eloise stared horrified. “What is that?”

Penelope gathers up the flowers. “I am dying Eloise. I have a disease that is slowly killing me, and the only cure is having me cut open to have them removed.” 

Eloise sits Penelope and they talk while Penelope drafts up one final column. 

He followed her. Colin Bridgerton followed her! Damn it! Now Penelope will never get this column out and all her hard work will be credited to Cressida Cowper. 

They fought about it in his carriage. Colin had ruined everything! Now Penelope will die with the person she hates the most will take another thing from her. 

Penelope loses her breath mid argument. A violent coughing fit overtakes her. The thorniest flower was crawling its way up Penelope’s throat. The floor of the carriage is littered with yellow flowers. Damn it, she forgot to drink her tea this morning. 

“Hanahaki,” Colin whispered. 

“You know of it?” 

Colin only watched the flowers. “What bloody idiot rejected you? Does he even know Penelope?”

“No, because he would never court me, much less marry me! He said so himself!” Penelope cried; she was so sick of this. She was tired, maybe this disease will hurry up to tonight if she doesn’t drink her tea when she gets home. “We’re not all lucky enough to be a Bridgerton and be gifted with a love match. Unlike you I am not meant to be loved.”

“I love you.” 

Before Penelope could question it, her breath is stolen in a whole new way. Colin captures her lips with his own. Her body going slack as he lays her against the bench. His hands trailing up her sides before finding the buttons on the back of her dress. He releases her lips, trailing kisses up her jaw before whispering in her ear.

“A kiss is meant for two you know.” 

“What?” Penelope asked dazed. 

One of Colin’s hands leaves Penelope’s back and takes her own hand. He squeezes her hand. “You are meant to be loved Penelope. I love you, and if I could steal your heart from that undeserving idiot so that you would love only me I would in a heartbeat.” 

“You love me?” Penelope whispered. 

Another coughing fit overtakes Penelope, worse than she has ever had before. The thorns coming up rip at her throat. Her chest is on fire, and she can’t breathe. Of course, right as her love might be requited the disease kills her. 

“Penelope!” Colin exclaimed as the red head hunched over on the floor of the carriage. 

Red, blue, and pink petals fall among the yellow flowers. Huh, Penelope hasn’t seen those before. 

Penelope gags and then vomits up a knotted mess of thorns and roots. Three flowers are attached, red primroses, blue forget me nots, and pink lotus flowers. 

Love. Remembrance. Rebirth

Penelope turns towards Colin. “I’m cured.” 

[wolfpawn]

Pride and Prejudice, Chapter 42

Story Summary - Based on an idea I had that I submitted to Imagine Loki. Imagine Loki was raised on Jotunheim as Laufey’s son after the war, but an agreement was then made that he would wed Odin’s daughter so Odin could secure the alliance of Jotunheim through the marriage. Loki, in turn, was raised to be king of Jotunheim, but how he views Asgard is far different from how Odin’s daughter is raised leading to a clash of cultures as well as uncertainty between the pair of betrothed youths.

Chapter Summary - Loki wakes with no memory of his mate's words to him before he fell asleep. They try to relax to allow him to get used to being home again after war but life is not really going to be so easy.

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Tags - @peppermint-j @damalseer @perpetual-fangirl @tinchentitri @inspired-snowflace @raphaelaisabella @alexakeyloveloki @caffiend-queen @devilbat @nonsensicalobsessions @skulliebythesea @majoringinlife @salempoe @lotus-eyedindiangoddess @rookienumber98 @ivytoh @agarwaeneth @rosierossette  @arch-venus25 @nessamaurice

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NOTES - So, we're stuck doing this crap where all the fun stuff is gone and shops are charging 5 times the rate for anything good, and even with that, it's taken me this long to write a chapter. Sorry, everyone.

Ella woke to the sensation of their fluids seeping from her. She had not felt it in a long time with Loki’s absence, causing it to feel somewhat peculiar for her. She thought about it for a moment, knowing the reason for it not staying in her body for long was that there was nowhere for it to go. It was rendered useless by an earlier coupling facilitating the need to create a child and now, the entrance to her womb was long sealed to ensure the safety of the little one growing within it.

She recalled the day she realised that she was carrying. She had simply planned to touch one of the wilting petals of the ice flowers Loki always ensured to have in his/their room as she passed it. It was dying anyway and she liked the sensation of them dissolving as she touched it. Only this time, it did not melt. She looked at the flora for a moment, still as it had been before and to her hand, where it was barely even damp from the petal. She walked over and touched it again, noting the soft, silken feel to it as she did. For a moment, she wondered if her seidr had caused her to be able to do it. More than once, she tried different spells to see if she could attempt to touch them, to no avail. When Laufey’s words of how Nal, Loki’s mother, could only touch them when she was carrying Loki, she found herself realising that in their more recreational matings, she and Loki had created a child. Something their initial attempts failed miserably at.

She had contemplated telling Loki but then Thor came rushing onto the realm telling them of the issues that had arisen and the need for Jotunheim to join the fray. That had caused her to say nothing. She did not want Loki to fret while he was fighting. She had let slip slightly that she worried that Býleistr was not on their side and should Loki be harmed, she fretted that as the child was Loki’s heir, who was formally recognised by his father as his own one, they would be immediately gotten rid of, especially if it was a boy. Having an Aesir mother to the future king of Jotunheim would be tolerated while Loki was alive as he would ensure the child had a Jotun upbringing and would ensure it would follow in his likeness as a ruler but there would be no way that the general Jotnar population. It would be as some accused previously, Odin seizing control of Jotunheim through his daughter. That, she knew, would never be allowed happen and fleeing with the child meant that for as long as it would live, she would need to be wary of the risk of it being harmed. Thankfully, that had not come to pass.

When Loki returned, she tried to tell him but he was weary, experiencing the first good night’s sleep in what she would wager was eight months. She did not try to stir him again to repeat her previous words, she had another eight months of carrying their child, her revelation could wait until he was more awake. She turned slightly to look at Loki resting beside her. She felt more comfortable in his room in his absence, his scent almost causing her to sleep and rest better while also seemingly keeping the feelings of nausea at bay. From the manner in which Loki had panicked at the thought of her leaving the bed, she felt he had missed her in some manner also. She stretched her legs slightly and gently removed herself from the bed, doing whatever she could to prevent the seed that was between her legs from staining it as she did so. She had not even made it to the bathroom door when she felt Loki’s eyes on her, telling her that as much as she tried, she had failed to leave the bed without waking him.

When she had cleaned herself and went back into the room, she frowned to see Loki standing close to the door that separated their front room and bed area. “Is everything alright?”

“Yes, I just ordered some food.” He watched as she changed into day attire with the assistance of her seidr. “That suits you.” It was genuine. He noted the design and gave a smile, noting that she had caused her clothes to mirror the designs of his markings, signifying her allegiance to him as her mate.

Ella found herself blushing slightly. “Thank you.”

“Did you design that this morning?”

“No, I have been wearing items like this for the majority of the time you were gone.”

Loki was startled but proud of that statement. “Very good, I was not sure what you wished to have for breakfast, so I hope you have little issue with some of what I ordered.”

“I assume that you missed your favourite foods and ordered accordingly, meaning that there will be plenty for me to choose from...if you do not eat them all first.”

Loki could only smile at her playful and jovial tone. “I fear you have figured me out.”

“Even with a good portion of our marriage being apart, I think so.”

For a moment, Loki had to remember what that word meant. Marriage was something he heard with regularity in the talks with non-Jotnar through the time on the battlefield yet he rarely thought of the term when he thought of his own situation. To him, it seemed so sterile, too official in a manner referring to legality. It was a contract to most realms, he loathed the idea. Mates chose one another, in some manner and wishing to be together, to tend to one another. Most of the time, love was a factor, but even with regards to his mating with Ella, though it did not have a love like others had but there was mutual respect and understanding. He was happy with that much at the very least, long recalling the times where neither enjoyed the other’s company, both loathing the situation that was their life, they had developed a friendship which in turn became the situation they had now, something he thoroughly liked. She was not a mate he had wanted but she was one he knew was best for him and indeed, Jotunheim. She stood up for the realm time and again and indeed, seemingly acted as his mate should. Defending the name of the house and acting as he would have, demanding Býleistr’s return and such.

“That word does not sit well with you, does it? Or at least, I hope it’s that word that has you displeased and not some other part of my statement.”

Loki realised he had not kept his face neutral as she spoke those words. “No, it is that word.”

“You don’t like it?”

“It’s too formal, official.”

“I feel like I should be insulted.”

Loki shook his head. “It is a word based on agreements and trades, it has no place between mates, two beings that choose to be together.”

“If it were not for its official status, then we would not be together. It was not affection and a meeting of minds that caused us to come together. The fact we can bear one another now is merely lucky happenstance. It could so easily have been so different.”

“I almost caused it to be that you would not even be here,” Loki recalled his actions when they first were forced to be called mates and how his abysmal treatment of Ella affected her.

“That does not bear thinking about now,” She insisted. “All that matters now is building Jotunheim stronger than ever before, with new alliances and such to better the realm for all those yet to come.”

Loki inhaled deeply and felt a new thought enter his mind. “Yes, I recall us speaking some little on that. So many young to be born in the near future. We need to ensure Jotunheim is all it can be for them.” He nodded slightly. “It is hard to comprehend in some manner, thinking of those to come next. I have always seen us as the youth and future of Jotunheim, myself, my brothers and the few our age but now we must think of those younger than us and there will be so many.”

“It is somewhat clear that in less than a decade, there will be more born than since your own birth at this rate.” Ella agreed.

“It is startling but in the best possible way. Jotunheim will be more than it ever was.”

“It will make the sacrifices of the war worth it in the end.” Loki’s face grew weary at her words. Not knowing what to say, Ella placed her arm on his. “I know it is hard to process. I only suffered momentary scuffles but I have seen the effects of all of this before and it is not easy or quick to be dismissed.”

Loki, startled by her genuine concern, nodded slightly and sighed.

“We better eat. You must be hungry. I would imagine Light Elf food leaves a lot to be desired by way of flavour for a Jotunn.”

“It all tastes so starchy.”

“It is, especially when you’re not used to it.” Ella nodded, knowing well that the vegetable foods of Alfheim would have been like nothing Loki would have ever experienced before. “So enjoy some proper food again.” She urged.

*

Loki went back to sleep soon after eating, still tired and weary from everything, urging Ella to go with him. Her, in her understanding, thought it to be because he knew her seidr would alert them to intruders, allowing him to rest easy for a time, Loki simply because he had no idea as to why it made him feel uneasy to think of her not being close to him but exhausted, he chose to not question it, especially when she did as he silently requested.

It was well past noon and indeed a reasonable lunch hour when there was an almost apprehensive knock on the door to their rooms. Ella turned to look at it before seeing Loki’s eyes wide beside her. “It is alright, if there were someone trying to harm us, they would not wait at the door and knock.” She soothed. She went to get out of the bed when Loki grasped her arm tightly, causing her to look at him worriedly.

“No, I will go.” He rose from the bed, his arm forming an ice blade in his hand as he did so.

Ella rose from the bed slowly behind him and walked towards the door. When she felt the seal of her seidr on the door begin to break, she waited apprehensively. When she heard Arden’s voice, she was calmed for a moment but wondered what has caused him to come when he would know how exhausted everyone was.

“Ella?”

She jumped slightly at him calling her but rushed into the other room. “Is everything...the King…?”

“Father is fine,” Loki assured her, watching her as she visibly relaxed at such news. “But there is another issue.” She looked curiously at him, wondering what it could be as she noted him studying her expression. “Apparently, it has just been proclaimed in court that you have been cavorting with other males in my absence.”

Ella merely looked at him with confusion. “Excuse you?”