As Sana Lightquiver walked down the finally cobbled streets of Withersden in the Kingdom of Fairys and Elves,she felt strange pleasant sensations in her core. She choked it up to the heavy use of magic in this kingdom. She was particularly uncomfortable in places like these because of the magic swirling in the air.
She supposed there was a reason she was so uncomfortable with such things. Asha had always thought it to be the ruling class of Allstead’s (their home kingdom’s) misunderstanding of magic as it related to the rest of the world around them. They also for what seemed like a good reason to Sana held certain beliefs about the creatures that arose from magic.
Asha for some reason felt baffled that she still felt that way after all the adventures they had gone on with each other over the last few months. Though Sana suspected that Asha thought well of her, and they agreed on most other things, she was sure this was where they diverged most often. Asha called the beliefs about magic that Sana held words like prejudice and bias. Sana called Asha’s belief in a more magic based or magic accepting society unrealistic and crude.
Still Sana couldn’t stop the tingling sensation in her gut or the feeling of warmth that came from the magic, as well as the plethora of different sentient magical creatures around her making merry with each other. As much as she wanted to push it away or deny it, she found herself (metaphorically) enchanted by this place, by this amazing comradery that in Allstead would be basically impossible. Young phoenixes sweep around her legs changing forms from human to fire bird then back with little issue. They had flame repellent flexible clothing that melded around them as they changed.
Hmm.. Must be where Asha gets this type of clothing Sana thought to herself.
She saw half transformed werewolfs taking to ancient shamans, talking to wizards. It was truly an odd place.
Finally as she was walking she saw the docks of the kingdom where she was to meet Asha. Asha saw her and waved with the biggest grin on her face that Sana had ever seen. Her friend wore the same type of suit as the phoenixes she had seen in the streets.
"Custom" Asha had said prior to getting it. Sana smiled at the quirky comment. As if they weren't all custom. Weren't they?
As she walked up to Asha, Sana nearly had a heart attack, when a mermaid spun out over the docks back into the water. It stopped her in her tracks. Asha ran up to her nonetheless still sporting her smile.
"Hello,princess," Asha said casually. Sana smiled, too, because it was more of a term of endearment, due to Sana losing her royal position. It had been months since that day, and Asha refused to do anything different, despite the confusion it had caused in all five kingdoms they had visited up to this point. This was no different as the sailor looked confused at both of them. He then said “I wasn’t aware we were in the presence of foreign royalty”.
Sana just shook her head at that. Honestly she never knew how to respond with words when it came to things like that. What could she say that would make sense? That her father hated her for what she had unwillingly become. That he had a deep seated hatred for werewolves such as herself due to a death happening prior to her turning.Her own great grandfather,nonethe less. That She hadn’t even formally adibcated before leaving, having to be denounced at a later date. What would make sense? What was crossing a social boundary? What was too personal? She didn’t know for sure. Fortunately, Asha seemed to know exactly what to say.
“My friend here lost her position as royalty after a huge difference of opinion, causing an amendable split between her family and herself” Asha started suredly and quickly.
Sana sucked in a quick breath. Not tecnically a lie was her first thought. But not the full truth either, was the thought that quickly followed behind, however.
She looked at the sailor worriedly,as he still looked on confused. Sana’s nerves got the best of her.
“It’s a sort of cute second name, she came up with for me, because she’s courting me”
Asha blushed brighter than Sana had seen at that. But before she could say anything, the sailor started nodding in understanding.
“I remember my first love, Ralicant oh if only we wern’t so different the situation would have sorted itself better, and he and I would be happy”
Sana gawked again at such an open admittance. Then Asha nudged her.
“It’s completely normal here, no one has to fake being someone they’re not” she whispered with a distinct hint of pride to her voice. In an instant she knew exactly what Asha meant open displays of feelings, especially ones involved with certain topics, which were almost unheard of in Allstead, especially among the men and royal folk. Sana had always believed that was for the right reasons. Now, however, a small pang of doubt hit her heart, and she realized how much that rule had impacted her over the course of her life. How much she had grown to loath it after her first turning where her emotions had only grown stronger. She shoved her feelings of doubt down, they were of no use to her at that moment. They were easy to dismiss.
But,as the sailor finished talking and Asha paid the fare, Sana wondered what other unanswered questions she had dismissed just as easily as that first one. Asha saw her worry,and…
“Don’t worry princess, we’ll be rolling in money this time next week, after we get that ghost murder” thankfully Asha had misinterpreted it completely.
Still seeing that the expression hadn’t changed Asha offered up to Sana “We’ll talk about whatever is bothering you once we get settled on the ship.”
So when they eventually did get settled and Sana explained how she felt, Asha listened intentionally.
Then she said “Do you want my advice, or did you just want my ear”
“Because if you wanted the first I can give you that, but I don’t think it’ll please you particularly”
“What’s the advice”, Sana asked, almost afraid of the answer.
“Our home kingdom had a great many problems, especially if you were out of the normal or what they considered outside of normal in any fashion” Sana looked confused.
Asha pressed her advantage “It’s like that in a great many kingdoms, and I don’t understand why it’s different here, however, if I may be so bold princess as to tell you why I think it’s hitting you now”
“You’ve always been in a position of assumed higher power, a blessed position so to speak” she pause then looking Sana straight in the eye she continued “You’ve never understood this any of this because you were always in a supposedly superior position, a supposedly infowlable one,and when you realized that wasn’t true that you and yours are as perfectly capable of becoming something on the outside of normal or even just being on the outside of normal to begin with, your worldview everything you thought you knew began to crumble”
After taking a breath Asha finished “That’s why now everything seems, and feels different, because you’re no longer traditionally perfect if you ever were to begin with, you might have technically been more human physically before, but mentally the opposite true”
“Basically you’re saying that all my doubts are because I’m becoming a better person, is that it?” Sana had never even thought that she had any way she needed to be better, at least not in ways of kindness or empathy.
“Yes that’s exactly what I’m saying, I’ve seen you become more confident, more emotional,the slightest bit more empathetic, and I think most importantly more yourself than you ever showed a possibility of before we met, just from what I’ve heard”
Asha laid down in her bunk and as she did she swore she heard Sana whisper something. Something that sounded a little bit like a thank you.
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As they got back from hunting a ghost that had been killing people on Omega Island, Asha looked at Sana who, except for necessity, had been strangely silent. She thought maybe she had been a bit too harsh in some respects. So she decided to take a calmer step back, and try to retreead the conversation.
“Princess” Asha spoke sofly evenly to the best of her ability at that moment.
“Yes, Asha” Sana answered even quiter almost as she hadn’t spoken at all.
“ I hope I didn’t come off as overly harsh when talking about royalty earlier” Asha started
“But, I find it hard to apologize, when well” she paused trying to get up the nerve to say it.
Sana just stared, as finally Asha let strength flow into her. “It’s hard to do that when no matter what I did I’d never be someone who fit into their perfect world”
“Because you’re a phoenix, or a sentient magical creature in general?’ Sana inquired
“Well both, and because I’m a woman who only ever liked others of my identity or similar to it”, Sana looked at her with a sudden sad understanding. “The elves and fairies kingdom have words for it, good ones like queer or gay, not like the ones we have in Allstead or other kingdoms that are only derogatory” Asha looked at the ground as she finished,but with a small hopeful smile, that showed a great vulnerability on her part to Sana.
“Asha, I don’t think less of you for what you said of royalty, or what you just told me especially because I have been mulling over some of this myself as soon as I transitioned into a werewolf, maybe even longer, of feeling like you don’t fit.” Sana sucked in a breath. An obvious nervous habit now that Asha examined the sound more closely. She wondered why until…
“The truth is I am, or I feel I am what the werewolves historically call the eclipse, not fully the sun or the moon but not distinct either” She paused sucked in another deep breath then continued “ That is not entirely one or the other identity or maybe none at all or maybe more or” Sana looked hopefully at Asha now
“This kingdom has a word for that too, though I don’t know how you’d react to being called nonbinary, so whatever you’re comfortable with, Sana '' Asha had a wide grin on her face matched only by Sana’s her dear friend's smile.
“Of course I have a million questions, but the most important one is how do you feel? '' Asha looked up into Sana’s bright eyes,and something clicked. They seemed happy, happier than Asha had even seen them, and she could tell this would be the start of something great. That right there was enough.
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“The end” said Sana marveling at how far they have come since that time as they stood up getting up from one of their adopted child's beds. They had read the story to both children a million times but neither them nor their Sana parent or their mother ever got tired of hearing it or reading it. It was their story after all. The story of how a phoenix changed a former royals life, and how they had changed her life, and how they changed each others through opening the doors to each others, and busting down each others walls. As they looked down at the sleeping peaceful children that they and Asha shared they had few regrets for that story, the next story, or any ones still to come.

Explanations:

1).I know, I know, I know, but queer meant this. But gay meant that. Was nonbinary even a term back then? Yes, Yes and I don’t know but its an alternate fantasy universe from ours. And bungling old terms is less preferable to me than just using ones I already know semi well enough to actually use with all that in mind, okay.
2) Out of left field a little Sana coming out, maybe even Asha’s coming out, definitely them getting together. Well Sana was a surprise to me too. The only original plan was for her/them to be gay to make her/them nonbinary is just the way the story ended up shaking out in my head. The getting together and Asha may not have been as obvious as it could but it was always the plan alot of it got lost in my rewrites of the original (especially) and 2nd story (yep even there), but it is what is and I’ll try to make the romance more compelling and understandable to readers in the last installment if I can. I’m not good at writing romance, especially knowing that it could be at the expense of my characters.
3) If you are curious about Sana, yes she/they use she/her/hers and they/them/theirs pronouns. I've just rushed the ending here and skimped a little in order to not confuse myself as I do in order to finish on time and get the explanations out. I could’ve been here 8 hours instead of 4 if I didn’t do that so sorry.