I met someone with amazingly super cool fantasy AU headcanons for Vocaloids and this is based on that.

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"Oliver!"

Oh, great. It was the human giant again.

"Please come out. I need to talk to you."

Oliver pretended not to hear. He was resting inside his tree and didn't feel like taking on a human form for a person he couldn't care less about. Even if that person was Miss Ann's beau. Especially if that person was Miss Ann's beau.

He could sense Al standing near his tree, but he ignored him. If someone brought it up later, Oliver could act like he was sleeping and didn't notice anyone there.

"Oliver?"

Miss Ann's voice!

Oliver leapt out from his tree, detaching himself from the bark and sap and leaves and rearranging himself into the human shape that had become familiar in his years of service to the family.

"Miss Ann!" Unconsciously, he lifted a hand to check that his flower crown was still on his head. He didn't know what he'd do if he lost it. Each petal and stem of the weaved ring he had carefully preserved with his little magic, ensuring the blossoms would never wilt. It was much too precious for that.

"Hello, Oliver." Ann stood on the grass. A warm smile lit her beautiful face. She brushed back her loose blond hair and leaned down to Oliver's height. "I have a favor to ask, is that alright?"

"Of course!" Oliver beamed. "Anything."

"You see, a certain someone wants to talk to you." Ann tilted her head to the left with a meaningful glance. Al stood off to the side, halfway turned away and rubbing the base of his neck.

Oliver's smile tightened. "Oh."

"I know you're not that fond of him, but will you please hear him out? For me?"

Oliver debated against himself in his head. Technically he was older than every member of Ann's family, even her father, but around Al he felt like a speck. Al always treated Oliver like a little kid. Of course Oliver was little (his tree wasn't that big) but Al didn't have to point it out every time he visited. And he was so tall that Oliver felt like he had to shout for his words to carry up to this human giant's ears.

But if Ann wanted him to talk with Al, he would. He would never say no to her.

"Alright. I'll listen."

"Thank you." Ann pat him on the head, gently brushing back his soft curls. "It means a lot to me."

She placed her hand on Al's arm briefly and gave him an encouraging look, eyes sparkling, before strolling back to the house.

Al stepped towards Oliver and crouched down. Oliver took a step back. Even close to the ground, the man was still intimidating in size. Not that Oliver was intimidated. Being that tall just shouldn't be allowed for humans.

"I need to tell you something," Al said.

With those words, Oliver knew something was off. Normally, Al was annoyingly cheery around him. Always asking him to join in games or telling him jokes, trying to earn even a scrap of favor.

"What is it?" Oliver asked suspiciously. Now, the man seemed strangely serious.

"Look at this." Al rummaged in his coat pocket and handed a small black box to Oliver. It felt velvety in his hands. The box's tiny hinges creaked as Oliver carefully opened it.

"It's a ring," Oliver observed. A small, glimmering diamond set into a silver band with two tiny gemstones on either side. His brow furrowed as he looked at it.

"I'm going to propose to Ann tomorrow," Al said. "I'm going to ask her to marry me."

Oliver's confusion was replaced by a cold flood of dread. The ring in his hands suddenly seemed hot and heavy and dangerous.

"How could you?" His voice came out as a squeak. Tinier than those little gems on the ring. He threw the box down and yelled, forcing out the words as big as he could make them. "How could you?!"

"Oliver—"

"You've only known her for five years. I've known Miss Ann her whole life. Even before she was born! Why do you think you know her? You don't know her at all. When she was nine she said she never wanted to be married ever!"

Al put up his hands. "Woah, woah. I'm not forcing her to do this. People change, Oliver. Ann and I talked about it, and we agreed we want to be married." He picked up the small box and checked the ring before placing it back in his pocket. "We simply haven't made our engagement official as of now."

"If you really care about her at all, you would never make it official," Oliver accused. "You've basically just met her! What kind of doomed wedding are you planning? Have you even asked for her parents' blessing yet?"

"To be honest, I haven't."

"How incompetent can you be?" Oliver exclaimed. "You're going to ask her tomorrow and you haven't even told her parents?"

"I'm going to tonight," Al said calmly. "But first, I'm asking for your blessing."

Oliver started. "My blessing?"

"Oliver, I would love to know that you approve," said Al. "You're important to Ann and her family, and I understand she means a lot to you too. You definitely mean a lot to her. I know Ann would feel guilty if her marriage hurt your relationship. I want to make sure that doesn't happen."

"Then why didn't she tell me herself?" Oliver looked toward the house, where Ann had long disappeared inside.

"She knows that if she was the one to ask you, you would agree even if you didn't mean it."

Oliver knew that he would. If it was Ann asking, he wouldn't even show that he had doubts. It was hard enough disguising his hatred as mere dislike.

But in a way, even if it was through Al, it was still Ann asking. She wanted him to say yes. And he wanted to say yes. For her. However...

"I don't approve." Oliver stared at the ground and clenched his hands into fists. "Not of you. No matter what you do, you'll never be good enough for her."

"I know that," Al said softly.

Oliver looked up, surprised. He didn't expect Al to admit it. "Then why?"

Al's expression changed.

"I love her. Everything about her is dear to me. They way she hums when she's weeding. They way she talks to animals as if they were people. How she thinks everything is beautiful and wonderful and worth her time."

Oliver hugged himself. Al had gone someplace else. He stared off somewhere distant as he spoke about the one he adored, reflecting his love in the truest way possible.

"That soft expression when she watches the sunset. When she shares a secret and her eyes sparkle. Even her angry face when she puts her hands on her hips." He laughed to himself, likely lost in a memory. "I love all of her."

Oliver knew magic, and there was something like it crackling in every facet of this man's bearing.

"I know I'm not good enough for her. But I love her so much I am wholly prepared to dedicate myself to becoming a better person, someone who is worthy to be by her side. I want to be with her. I want to be there to be hers and have her to be mine forever."

Oliver felt the assertion strike him like a tangible force. He stumbled backward. Forever. Al said forever. Forever?!

Oliver felt heat rush into his face and he immediately sent it away, which caused him to feel sudden dizziness. Curse this stupid human form.

"Are you okay?" Al reached out a hand to steady him, but Oliver slapped it away.

"It's embarrassing!" he exclaimed. "Why would you say that?"

"Well—"

"Forever's a really..." Oliver glanced back at his tree. "A really long time."

There was understanding in Al's eyes, and compassion in his tone. "And I want to spend it with her."

What would Ann say if Oliver refused to give his blessing? Would she be sad? Angry? Disappointed with Oliver because he didn't understand? Of course he didn't understand! He couldn't. He wasn't human. This body he created was just a shell. His real self resided in his tree, and would always. Why did humans change so quickly? It seemed so obvious to them, yet he could barely fathom it.

"I may have spent less time with her than you have," said Al. "But I know I want to live the rest of my time by her side. And I'll spend it doing everything I can to make her the happiest woman in the world."

The happiest woman in the world. Why did she have to leave to be happy?

I don't want her to leave.

Oliver pressed his hand to the trunk of his tree. He knew Al lived far away, and he acted like it was a short journey to see Ann because he didn't want her to worry. But if they married and Ann went to live with him, Oliver would...

Oliver had to stay on the estate, near his tree. It was his life source. Even going up to the mountain strained his human form. But that didn't mean Ann had to stay here too. He remembered everything she had ever told him. Sure, when she was nine, weaving flowers into crowns at the base of his tree, she said she never wanted to be married. But when she was sixteen she shared her dreams of traveling the world. He knew he would have to say goodbye one way or another. She was never going to stay at home forever.

"Do you promise?" asked Oliver.

"I promise," Al said.

It was time to accept that. Oliver wasn't selfless enough to do it for himself, but at least this way Ann would be happy. After all, happiness for Ann, for all the members of her family, is what he had sworn to pursue the moment Ann's great grandfather had planted him in their garden.

And a member of the family is what Al would be when he placed that ring on Ann's finger.

Oliver carefully wiped his cheeks, stupid human form, took a deep breath, and turned around.

"You'll visit, right?"

Al smiled. "That goes without saying."

"Then, I guess..." Oliver trailed off. Al looked like a different person, somehow. Was this the first time Oliver had ever really looked him in the eyes? "You have my blessing."

Al let out a relieved breath. "Oliver—"

"On one condition," Oliver interrupted.

"Yes?"

Oliver shuffled his feet and tried to sound as menacing as possible. "Al."

"Yes...?"

"If you ever hurt her, I'll uproot myself and... and get you." It was a halfhearted threat, and Oliver let himself smile. Al wasn't the most perfect person for Ann, but he had the most potential to be.

Al chuckled, but his words were sincere. "The day I hurt Ann will be the day I die."