Kingdoms and crowns - oxo - romance

"I've got you, we can stay like this as long as you like or you can stand up at any time. I want this to be as positive for you as possible."

Lukas just laid there, much calmer now that he had been doing this for a minute.

Fiel fell silent, enjoying the sun on his back and the cool water beneath him. Dragonflies flitted around them, sparkling in the light, and overhead birds sang lazily in the trees. Fiel took a breath, enjoying a moment of tranquility after a hectic few days acting like a perfect prince.

Lukas stood up, nearly losing his balance.

"Oh!" Fiel straightened as well, surprised. "Are you all right?"

Lukas grabbed Fiels arm to steady himself, “y-yeah I’m fine” he said after a moment.

"Are you sure?" Fiel helped him get his balance. "Do you want to keep going, or take a break for a bit?"

"keep going? I mean I think I am doing pretty well" He said smiling soflty.

"You are," Fiel admitted. "You seem to be a fast learner, actually. Would you like to learn an actual swimming stroke now?"

"uh sure?" Lukas shrugged.

"All right. Watch carefully." Fiel set off across the pond, pulling himself forward with one arm over the other and kicking rapidly with his legs, slicing through the water easily. After a few moments he stopped and turned back the way he'd come, this time swimming face up. "This one's a bit tricky, especially when you're figuring out how to breathe, but it's fast and efficient once you understand it." Standing, Fiel shook out his hair and motioned for Fiel to try. "Turn to the side with each arm stroke and pull in air. Let it out while your face is underwater. If you get the two mixed up, just stop and put your feet down. Even at the center of this pond, the water only comes up to your neck."

Lukas nodded and did as Fiel had shown him, he did pretty well until he got to the center, then he sort of panicked and went to stand but his foot slipped.

"Don't thrash around," Fiel called quickly, already swimming over. "Hold your breath and go still, you'll float upwards!" He reached Lukas and caught his arm, helping him find his footing.

Lukas held onto Fiel tightly, catching his breath.

"There. See? You're all right." Fiel waited patiently for him to calm down. "Do you want to try again? I'll stay closer this time"

Lukas just stood there, staring at the water.

Fiel paused, watching Lukas worriedly. "Lukas….look at me please. Are you sure you're all right?"

Lukas slowly looked up at Fiel his expression blank. Not saying a word he let go of him and took a step back.

"Lukas? What's wrong?" Fiel was a bit worried now. Perhaps he'd pushed Lukas too hard and moved them along too quickly.

Lukas fell over.

"Oh sh–" Fiel dove for him and grabbed him before his head could go underwater. Without wasting a second he pulled Lukas back to shore, laying him on the grassy back and frantically trying to figure out what was wrong.

Lukas was passed out, his breathing was uneven and he twitched randomly. He was having a flashback. Something he had thought had stopped.

Fiel had no idea what to do. If something happened to the prince while they were alone in the forest, there could be dire political consequences. But more importantly, Fiel wouldn't be able to live with himself if Lukas was hurt or traumatized all over again.
Fighting to stay calm, he closed his eyes and summoned his magic, using it to read Lukas's aura and search for a problem. Physically, he seemed fine, but his emotions were not, and something in his mind seemed to be going haywire. It was like some kind of overreactive fear response had shut Lukas down entirely.
"Lukas," he whispered helplessly. "Wake up! There's nothing wrong, you're safe—I promise!"

Lukas stopped shaking and slowly his breath evened out. He sat up quickly looking around panicking.

"Hey. Hey." Fiel took Lukas's shoulders and tried to catch his eye. "Lukas, can you hear me? It's okay. You're okay."

Lukas blinked and he relaxed and leaned agains Fiel, “I’m sorry” he mumbled.

Fiel hugged him, simply glad that Lukas was awake again. "No, I'm sorry. I went too fast. I should have been more careful and seen that you were getting overwhelmed. It's my fault this happened." He took a shaky breath. "It won't happen again, I promise."

“No…it’s not your fault..I got ahead of myself and” his voice broke, “I thought I saw him…” he whispered. Hugging Fiel tightly.

Fiel spoke very softly. "It must be so hard to always remember what happened. You were very brave to get this far today. But I think we should stop for now." He didn't let go of Lukas, still worried about him. "Has….has this happened to you before? This thing where you pass out?"

“Mhm, not in a few months…but at first it was all the time” he said sadly. He used to have flashbacks on a daily basis “but talking to…Well his stone…helps me.” He said softly, starting to cry.

(Me legit crying rn)