In the conflict now recorded as the Final Rose War, the great Estmarch Empire tore itself apart in the throes of a civil war that engulfed the Uralian continent. Despite the flames of battle being lit by the Empire's last King and Queen, it was their scion, Prince Kaito of House Shion, who decisively ended the conflict after uniting the major powers of Uralia against the coup of the fallen Emerald Dawn.
The Treaty of Roses, signed in the spring of 1919 in the neutral territory of Westheim, saw the beginning of the restoration of many former countries that fell to the previous monarchy. As the brief Uralian Alliance ended with the war's conclusion, many within the former Empire's borders found a long path in front of them to rebuilding their lives. For some it was simply returning to an old trade. For others, the experiences of war left their old livelihoods closed to them, leaving them to try and plot an uncertain future.
The entire world watched as a new King took the throne, waiting to see what would sprout from the seeds sewn by the youthful, determined ruler...
"Have you reached out to Aschenputtel yet?"
Miku stared out the sun window into the garden courtyard below, her eyes watching as a white dove alighted upon a rose bush. She folded her hands along her knee-length grey skirt, her fingers slightly flattening out the fabric of the black checkered vest she wore over a simple white blouse. She wasn't sure how to answer the question posed to her by the black-haired woman across from her. Dr. Sachiko Kobayashi had been recruited from Westheim for her expertise in handling ailments of the mind. Her crisp bronze-colored suit dress, magenta-scarf, and black rimmed glasses flaunted her credentials, but Miku had so far found the woman to be kind and humble... though very persistent.
She had her work cut out for her – Miku was not her only patient. She met with other former Cinderellas as well. Girls far more thoroughly broken than her.
Miku trusted the doctor. But that didn't mean she was entirely comfortable with talking about herself yet. Not when she still struggled to do the same with Kaito.
The psychiatrist pulled a pen out of the red flower in her black hair and rested it on the notepad in front of her. "Have you had a chance to notify them?" she tried again.
"I'm not sure what to tell them given the circumstances."
Miku was of course trying to be delicate – certain matters still concerned national security. The new King may be transitioning out of a position of absolute power, but his popularity did make him a visible target. Loathe though he was to restrict his movements after having a taste of freedom, Kaito quickly grasped that he needed to preserve himself while his new country was asserting itself.
"If he died before the elections took place..." Miku murmured.
"So you haven't decided whether you're his body guard or his partner."
The green haired girl resigned herself to being caught. "There's no judgement, Miku," Sachiko said calmly, "When we first met, you told me one of your goals was to let go of sheltering him. To you, returning to a normal life meant never looking over your shoulder again."
It was true. And she still wasn't there yet. Just three months since her discharge from the hospital and she still struggled with her paranoia returning in crowds, of staring into every face and searching for the next enemy.
"I had a nightmare again. About being in the ball. About not being able to save him."
"Did you try what we discussed?"
"Deep breathing exercises, affirmations... I didn't have to wake him up this time."
The doctor made a note and smiled proudly at her patient. "I'm glad. Your last nightmare was two weeks ago. You're making progress."
Progress.
Kaito bid his retainers wait outside the office as he opened the doors to the head surgeon's office, his white uniform shirt, blue pants, and favorite blue scarf making his persona unmistakable whether he was wearing a crown or not. A familiar voice greeted him from inside.
"Ah, my favorite patient, right on time! Shall I make you some coffee? I was about to have some myself!"
The purple haired doctor was alone for once, his white lab coat hung on the coat rack as he sat in purple shirt, loose tie, and black work slacks, his sleeves rolled up as a gentle spring breeze cooled the room around him.
"I'll have to take you up on that offer, doctor," the King said, "It's my experience your coffee is one of the few things you make that isn't lethal."
Gakupo rolled his eyes. "Rin," he muttered under his breath.
Of course Rin was already gone – she and her brother were planning their return trip to the country side, and Rin's services as a nurse were no longer necessary with so many of the injured from the war having been discharged.
"I was surprised when you called for me. I doubt it's another check-up," Kaito said as he took the warm mug from his friend.
"Well, there's a matter that only someone of your stature can help with."
Now Gakupo seemed to be getting as serious as he was when he was operating. "Hmmm... this is difficult to say... well, first off, I want you to know I am appreciative of you taking me into service during the war, and this fine position at the hospital. But I'm afraid the life of a war medic is not for me."
Understandable. Kaito had noticed the toll the battlefield's chaos had taken on the doctor's strictly held principles. "I understand. You're going to be hard to replace."
"Oh, I'm certain there's another upstart idiot in the university just waiting for the chance to impress someone," Gakupo said with a small smile.
"Are you intending to go back to the slums? If that's the case, I can ensure the damage to your old clinic is repaired-" Kaito began to offer before the doctor interrupted him.
"I appreciate the offer, but while I will miss my patients, I won't be returning to the slums. Or Vedunia, likely."
The seriousness had returned and piqued Kaito's curiosity. "Then where will you go next?"
Gakupo seemed to be staring out at some long-forgotten scene. "It's not unheard of for a medic to have to make a choice on who to save in a situation with limited resources," he began. "But during the war, I found myself basing that choice not injuries or lack of supplies, but on their allegiance. As a doctor, I always lived by the creed that all patients deserve the same access to care regardless of where they were born. But in war... I failed that."
"I let you run the hospital as you wished..." Kaito said, feeling guilty that he'd somehow caused this pain in a good friend.
"I appreciate it. Please don't be offended!"
Now Gakupo looked sheepish. "It's not really a matter of choices you made. It's just war, isn't it? I always thought I'd be the perfect field medic, but I never thought over how heavy that choice would weigh on me. That's why... well... how do I put this..."
He took a long sip of his coffee before making his proposal. "I'd like to form an organization that delivers medical care without regard for national allegiance, race, or religion. I'll devote my life to it if I have to, but I can't go back to a tiny practice again when I think I could heal even more people in places of unrest and danger."
So Gakupo wanted to found his own organization? The man that couldn't cook without causing fires, that napped for hours on end? Kaito was certainly aware of Gakupo's exceptional medical skills, but to manage the bureaucracy of something so grand?
But at the same time, he admired the purity of the ideal. He envied him even – Kaito was still trying to clean up his country after the entanglements of a war. Gakupo was already able to look forward.
"It may be difficult, but I'm certain we have money in the treasury to help you start..." he started to say.
The doctor waved his hand in embarrassment. "Ah, I appreciate your generosity, but again I must decline. To be an organization without national allegiance... well, I can't well ask for the King of Estmarch to fund it, now can I?"
At once the contradiction made sense to the King. "Of course... you can't have even the appearance of our backing or you'll just be another arm of Estmarch."
Somehow that didn't seem good enough. He couldn't just let Gakupo go without providing some aid. "Well, I can at least put you in contact with the university so you can recruit some doctors. They'll be from wealthy families, surely if you're able to get their children on board that will get some funding coming. Also likely someone who can help you with administration. And surely the same people that helped me find enough specialists to treat the Cinderellas can also help me find others across the continent that would be willing to help the less fortunate."
"Well! I knew you were a good sort. And smart! I put my little dream's future in your hands!"
Gakupo looked relieved to have a direction for his plan. "I'm sorry to part ways with you after you've done so much for us," Kaito said somberly, "But I feel better knowing you'll be working the same miracles for others that you've done for me."
Gakupo pulled out a little box with a pink ribbon on top. "Well, with that heavy business aside, let's at least part with some nice sweets, eh? Luka decided to try her hand at making macarons before she left!"
He pulled off the lid to the box and inside were a colorful assortment of the distinctive cookies stuffed with jam. "Is she going back to being a chef?" Kaito asked carefully.
"I don't think so," Gakupo said wistfully as he reached for a bright red one, "She has one last journey to complete, but she said she'll come fetch me from the Grunebene when she's done."
"Oh... so I've already missed my chance to see her off..."
Kaito felt a little disappointed, but he understood. Luka had her reasons. He'd offered her the same access to treatment that the captured Cinderellas were receiving. That Miku was receiving. But she'd turned him down.
Everyone who'd helped him had scattered. Meiko and Gumi to Nordland, Lily and now Luka to Sudland, and he was next to bid farewell to Rin and Len as they prepared to return to their parents in the Grunebene. Gakupo would be joining them as well.
Of course, it was good that they all had lives to return to. It meant he'd succeeded in his goals. But he still couldn't bury an increasing sense of loneliness as so many of the people he'd come to rely on during the chaos of the past months began to depart his life.
At least he still had Miku.
"Doctor, I don't believe I ever thanked you for saving my life so long ago."
It felt rather feeble, but if they were approaching their own separation, Kaito wanted to at least offer that much to the doctor that had quite unintentionally changed the fate of a continent. "I know, you said it was nothing, but I owe you my gratitude. None of this would have happened without you."
The last time this topic had come up Gakupo had struggled to handle the magnitude of what one surgery had meant in the pages of history, but now he seemed much more capable of grasping it. He raised his coffee cup with a small smile. "I hope that the chance I had to save your life leads to saving even more."
"I didn't expect to miss them this much," Miku sighed, her hands folded neatly along her stomach as she lay stretched out on the couch. In her mind she couldn't stop reliving her farewell to three people that had saved her life. Saved her heart. "I didn't know them that long, not really. I should be able to let them go. They have so much left for them."
"Miku, this is normal," Dr. Kobayashi reiterated, "It's healthy to experience feelings of grief for partings with people you loved."
Loved.
Did Miku love them? She didn't know what to make of that idea.
The doctor already seemed to understand her confusion. "Love doesn't have to be romantic," she explained calmly, "From everything you've told me, they showed you incredible kindness and understanding. They trusted you as much as you trusted them."
This was a form of love? "Then why does it feel empty?" Miku lamented.
The doctor could even explain this. "Because you feel their absence. If they felt this way about you, they're feeling it as well."
This was a form of love then. The absence.
Like... them...
"Maybe I just have trouble moving on... from everything."
"Because of your parents?"
Right to the quick. Miku shifted uncomfortably.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to be insensitive."
Miku didn't imagine ashes and burning up when she thought of her living friends. But she was starting to understand a certain fear that often gnawed at her, even now in peace time. A fear she still struggled to confront.
"If I can conquer this," she said quietly, "Then I'll finally be able to go back to Aschenputtel."
She had to face the rest of her past... and not crumble in front of it.
Len smiled as his sister remained glued to the view outside her window, watching the newly planted fields passing by the in the windows. Her orange flower-printed sun dress seemed to capture the bright mood of the fertile valley. He rested his arm along the window, his blue checked shirt picking up the soft blue in the sky. He no longer looked the part of a sophisticated city dweller, but a country boy all over again. Len wondered what the farmers were growing now. Even after a war, they still had to plow the earth to secure their futures.
"You know, when you think about it, giving Miku and Kaito our old car paid off," Rin laughed as she leaned up against the back window of the brand-new car they'd been given by the new King as a parting gift.
"Oh, because we seem to have traded up?" Gakupo said calmly with his eyes on the road, "I suppose this one is a lot more reliable."
"I can't wait until the trains are up and running again," Len said, "The view from the windows is breathtaking in the summer."
Finally, the car began to pull up a little dirt road and Rin grew quieter as she realized where she was going. Len tried to swallow a lump in his throat. Of course, he'd written home to his parents before they started their journey – and it was many nights of anxious insomnia before he received a reply.
They were alive. The farm was still there.
And they were waiting for their children to come home.
And now he had to try and figure out what he was supposed to say. Why he'd dropped all contact. What he'd done with the lost time.
What he'd done...
He expected Rin was feeling the same way. Having to explain to them where they'd really sent her without them collapsing into guilt. Trying not to tell them about the lives taken at her hands.
Len didn't even have the courage to ask as the farm house came into view. The red paint on the outside looked more worn than he remembered, but aside from the age... it looked just as he remembered it.
"Oh! Is that a pie in the window?" Gakupo said without a care in the world, "My goodness, Rin, what gracious hosts the farmers Kagamine are!"
The front door opened and... much like the house, his parents looked a little older and worn... but otherwise how he remembered them.
The car came to a stop and to Len's surprise, Rin eagerly pushed open the door. Without a word she darted into the waiting hug of her mother, joined soon by their father.
He watched in shock. The hugs felt so tight, and he was certain he heard them whispering a thousand "I love yous..." but they held their missing girl like her long disappearance was barely a trifle.
Like they always expected her to come home.
"I'm sure they're ready to see you as well, Len," Gakupo said, trying to give him a helpful nudge.
Len slid open the car door, trying to show even half as much confidence as Rin had. But the words didn't come even as he tried to force his feet to move. All this time and he had nothing to say?
His family's eyes turned his way and...
Were they smiling?!
Why?
Shouldn't they be angry or upset with him?! He'd run away! He didn't deserve a family!
There was a beckoning look to Rin's eyes. A nod of the head in their direction.
Like she was trying to tell him "It's okay."
Len finally managed to get his legs moving, approaching to join his parents and sister. He timidly reached forward.
The hug he found waiting for him in return made him feel like a child all over again.
And to his surprise, the only tears that fell were his own.
Miku could sense the nervous energy in Kaito as he paced around his beloved rose garden while one of his advisors read off another long list of bills and reparations. 'He's barely left the castle since the war ended...' she thought to herself.
Despite the castle having been used to stage a violent coup and then end a war, the construction crews had performed miracles in restoring it back to its historical grandeur. Which meant to Kaito, he was looking at the regular walls and décor that had been his life when he lived under his parents' harsh restrictions.
"The groundbreaking of the Estmarchian Senate is on the 14th, and you're to give a speech. I can have one prepared..."
"There's no need, I've already written one myself."
"In that case, we need you to sign off the Saint-Famille Memorial budget. Estmarch's contribution is expected to be quite large-"
"We'll make it work. The conquest of Sudland was the bloodiest of the Rose Wars, we must show our good faith to the new Republic. Set up a meeting for me with the treasury at once and we'll determine how much of the reconstruction budget we have left."
The advisor bid the King farewell to make the necessary arrangements and Kaito was finally free to join his beloved in a few moments of peace.
"I apologize..." he said, "I keep trying to set aside time for only us..."
"You're a King after a war. You have a lot of responsibility. You did want it."
Kaito rested wearily on the bench next to her. "I know, and I asked for as much as I could get!" he lamented, "I brought this strange freedom on myself. But... it is for the greater good now. Estmarch needs leadership to set everything right again."
The King closed his eyes. Miku calmly leaned into his side, taking in his warmth. Months ago, Miku would have felt anxious about showing affection so openly. But in the time since the war ended, with more time to spend with Kaito, she began to lose her fears of being his lover. Of being in love at all.
It was even starting to feel... natural.
"I still think back to when I tried to pledge myself to you... to only you..." he whispered, "I'd lost everything... except for Miku. But I couldn't do it in the end... and this is the result. You deserve better."
Miku's heart began to pound as she remembered the intensity of that moment. After the panic and fear, there had been those precious hours where they sat in an isolated mountain cabin away from the entire world. With only each other and their wild dreams of a simple future.
"Kaito," she ventured, and her breath almost caught in her throat. "The Fantasie is capable of making a journey, right?"
He looked to her curiously. "Yes, but... did you want to go somewhere?"
Maybe she was starting to get a few steps closer to her goal. Was she ready to try it Rin's way? Three steps at a time?
"Back then we spoke about the places we could go... you're a King now and a King has a great deal of work to do. Surely frivolous travel would be out of the question. But diplomatic missions are critical given your plans for Estmarch's future."
She saw a sparkle in her King's eyes. "I... I didn't want to force you to go until you were ready..." he said nervously, "But anywhere you want! I'll make the arrangements! The ocean, the Celestial Empire, the Union... wherever you want!"
Miku knew there was one place she had to be able to go first.
The place she'd been building up for months.
"We... we need to go to... to Aschenputtel."
"Aschenputtel?" Kaito said quizzically, "That's not too terribly far from the Westheim border..."
Miku hadn't had the nerve to tell Kaito what she'd learned about her family. He'd kindly left her personal belongings alone, meaning he never saw the letter. And every night before Miku slept she read that letter again and tried to think of what she would say, to explain the truth of the matter to Kaito, or to her family...
"I... I told you... the past I thought was true was a lie. Kaito... it's more than just that. My... my stepmother and stepsisters...they wrote me a letter and..."
Her voice began to catch in her throat as that fear rose up again that Kaito would reject her if he knew her truth. The tears began to roll out of her eyes as she built up her courage anyway.
"I made a promise to myself that when I knew you were safe, I would come back to you," Her voice stopped shaking as her nerves strengthened. "I've done that. But... when I left Westheim, Luka told me where I really came from. She sent me to find my stepfamily. And... and I found out... everything I thought I knew was a lie. They've been looking for me all this time, and I spent so long hating them for something that wasn't even true and... and..."
Suddenly Miku found herself swept up in a tender, powerful hug. "Miku, I told you. I trust you completely. Whatever happened to you... I love you."
She leaned into his embrace and relaxed into his arms.
"You don't have to go to Aschenputtel alone. I promise."
Luka stepped through the streets of Saint-Famille with purpose. With the coming of spring she'd forsaken her longer garments, allowing herself a simple black gown with short sleeves and a yellow bow tied around her neck. The silent grave of the family and life she'd once had rested under her footsteps. At last she stepped up to the front door of her old home. This time she wasn't planning for any strange attackers – the agenda she had was entirely personal.
"Are you okay with everything like this?"
Luka had to turn her head completely to be able to see Lily out of her good eye. The blonde woman was dressed in civilian's clothes, a thin black jacket over a long yellow dress. In on hand she carried a basket covered with a small white cloth. "With Saint-Famille as a memorial?" Luka answered, "I think it's best this way."
Nobody would feel right trying to build a new city on top of the site of such a horrible massacre.
That meant it was time for her to gather what she wanted from her home and leave the rest to history.
She pushed open the door and walked right past the old bakery and the kitchen – nostalgic though it was, she wasn't expecting old cooking utensils to be of any use. "I could ask the same of you, 'Commander,'" Luka asked of the blonde that followed her inside, "You've adamantly refused every attempt at authority anyone throws at you. I can't imagine you retiring to what's left of your family's estate though."
Lily ran one of her gloved hands along a mildewing wall, shaking her hand. "Being a useless noble sucking out a paycheck isn't the life I want," she muttered, "But they want me to build up the military again. Take my old Confedere and turn them into a peacekeeping force. I guess it's honest work, but is there really nobody else here that can?"
"You mean, you want them to find someone that isn't a LaFleur."
Now the former Commander seemed offended. "You don't have to put it like that!"
Luka stepped into the old bedroom one last time and opened her family trunk, pulling out the photo album she'd remembered. She still had the cookbook – Gakupo had insisted on returning something of such sentiment to her. She dug through to ensure there were no further precious mementos, but what possessions remained in the trunk were hardly in useable condition. They could remain part of history.
"I mean, it was useful being a LaFleur when I needed to build a resistance!" Lily continued, "That name got me into places I might not have gotten into otherwise. But they need to build a country without it. The Republic of Sudland has risen out of the ashes because of the endurance of her people, not because of a dead and buried pack of useless royals."
Luka took one last look at the bedroom before turning back to leave. A quick glance down the hall told her that the fire had completely consumed her old bedroom. There was nothing left for her there.
"We're done," she announced calmly. She'd already made her peace here. This was tying up loose ends.
Lily uncovered the basket, revealing freshly cut blue and yellow irises. Luka carefully plucked three from the basket. As the two exited the bakery, Luka turned and solemnly placed them at the broken stoop.
"The rest... we can put them at the square," she said quietly.
As the two women walked side by side, their dialog had ceased. The deathly quiet of the town and the weight of their hearts had ended any minor talks. Finally, the three approached what was clearly once a common gathering place, with a crumbling well at the center and the remains of mortar shells having blasted away much of the old red stones that once lined the street.
Together, the two women approached the well. Luka knew there would be no true "right" place for everyone in Saint-Famille. She didn't even know where the mass grave was that held their remains. This aged water source would have to suffice.
Lily held the basket out to her. "You should do this," she said quietly, "This was your home."
Luka reached out for the basket handle with one hand but moved to stop Lily from letting go. "These were your people as well as mine."
Lily appeared shocked at the gesture, but she acknowledged Luka. Together the two lost children of Sudland knelt and placed their offerings to the dead.
"Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité," Lily whispered quietly.
Luka had wondered if she would shed tears today, but none came. But she understood it wasn't because of her emptiness now – it was because she'd come to terms with the tragedy.
She left three flowers at the house – one for each of her parents, and one for her innocent childhood that died with the fire.
'Whatever I may be, this is who I am now.'
There was only the future left.
She looked over to her former comrade, who was quite the opposite – the tears flowed freely from her eyes. Luka questioned herself – should she speak comfort to her? But she decided to stay silent. Lily had carried years of her own pain into battle. She never had time to mourn her lost family, so quickly did she carry a banner for her country's freedom.
The Crown Princess of Sudland "died" the same way the daughter of two bakers "died" mere days apart.
Finally, the blonde cleared her eyes and stood up, turning her back on the well and marching forward to the city's exit. Finally, Luka had the words she'd meant to say sooner.
"The people of Sudland are asking for your aid because of your deeds. You could have fled the country and lived in comfort, but you sweated and bled for your people, just as everyone in the Confedere did."
She rose back to her feet, Lily's back still facing her as she continued. "You were not asked to protect Sudland because you are a LaFleur. You were asked to do so because you are Lily LaFleur."
Luka watched another hand cross in front of her face, then the Commander took several deep breaths. When she turned back to Luka, her face was closer to the confidence she was known for. "In that case, I suppose I can make a good show of it."
And together the two women turned their backs on Saint-Famille, heading for their own vehicle. "So you're supposed to join that boyfriend of yours again..."
"Yes. As a nurse."
To Luka, it seemed a natural course for her life. Just as Rin did, she would pay back death by saving life.
But unlike Rin, she would have a very different relationship with the doctor she intended to work for.
"I'll drive you out to the train station then. You should be in the Grunebene in a few days."
Lily offered her hand. "It was an honor serving with you, Luka Megurine."
The days leading up to the Aschenputtel trip were a nervous awakening for Miku. At once they moved too quickly, but also not quickly enough.
Her last sessions with Sachiko before she left had her confessing that she feared breaking down when she met her family again. What would she say to them? She didn't truly know if she still held any blame for what happened to her. Why hadn't her stepmother looked harder into the Godmothers?!
She vacillated between anger and unbearable grief. When the grief hit, she found herself at a loss of how to explain what the intervening years had been.
"My stepmother wanted to save me, but she damned me instead," she found herself whispering.
The stress began to invoke another round of her traumatic panic attacks. Reliving the urge to throw herself into fire. Sachiko had taught her how to ground herself in the midst of one, but as they increased in intensity, she also told her something comforting.
"Just go somewhere safe. It's okay to let it pass."
And in her worst moments, she'd find herself seeking a place to hide and cut herself off.
She kept fearing Kaito would judge her for these weaknesses. She'd been his bodyguard and now she was collapsing in front of him. But he never abandoned her.
No matter what Kingly duties called to him, he always sought her out. Sometimes she just needed to hear his voice. Sometimes she just needed to speak until she was weary. And sometimes all she wanted was his quiet touch. When he would hold her close for however long she needed until she felt safe again.
Even if he didn't entirely understand what was coming over her, he supported her.
She would ask why.
He would answer the same. "Because I love you."
But as the day finally arrived, Miku found herself approaching a strange calm. She read through the letter she'd stolen the same as she had every day since the peace began, and she began to imagine her way walking up that dirt path again. Staring into the shop windows as her stepsisters cleaned up for another day. Gazing into the garden where her parents' ashes lay.
Because of the words left behind for her.
You will always have a home in Aschenputtel.
Miku had never entirely forgiven Luka for the cruelty visited upon her. But her former mentor had given her a precious gift in an attempt to redeem herself.
The chance to have a family again.
She joined Kaito as they boarded the great zeppelin Fantasie, no longer bound to its fate as a vessel of war but simply a vessel of travel.
"We'll be there in about two hours by air," Kaito said calmly.
"Thank you."
As she joined Kaito at the windows of the observation deck, she stole a peek at Kaito and found herself charmed by his wonderment as they cut through the fluffy clouds. 'That's right, before they didn't even let him fly in it...' she thought to herself.
No matter what kind of King Kaito was, he hadn't lost that innocent spark of wishing to see everything.
She rested her hand on top of his and the pair happily watched the world sail around them. From their vantage point, they tried to guess at the geography and point to the cities they'd travelled through. The slowly rebuilding Liesenfall, the industrial churn of the Rhune, the country keeps of Katzhagen and Jangenshatz...
Before Miku could properly identify Aschenputtel, the vessel began to land, finding a bare field to tie down at.
A simple black car awaited the King and his consort. Out of habit, Miku found herself checking for avenues of escape, examining the strangers that met her for any signs of ill will. Even in peace time she still found herself retreating to survival.
'I may never stop.'
Kaito was a King after all. Even a well-loved King had enemies.
She pulled closer to Kaito as the car drove through the familiar streets, the people of the city occasionally gawking at the vehicle as they began to realize exactly who was riding inside. Kaito had already used the excuse of an appointment with the Mayor to examine a countryside town to provide a reason for those who demanded to know too much.
She saw the familiar roof and the garden and finally broke the silence. "There. That's the house."
"Pull over here, please," Kaito requested.
The sight of the fancy royal car pulling up to the old shop drew out two of its inhabitants. Miku recognized her stepsisters from the day she'd quietly observed them. Haku was curiously stepping outside as the car came to a stop, Neru shouting to someone in the doorway.
"Do you want me to come with you?"
Kaito's honest question begged an answer.
"I'll tell you when it's time."
She didn't want to approach them with the King just yet.
Miku stepped out of the car and felt like she was dreaming. She didn't entirely recall what her panicked stepsisters were saying as they recognized the one they thought lost had finally returned. Haku flung herself around Miku, drawing her close and crying into her shoulders.
Maybe it was okay that she didn't know what to say.
Miku finally saw Neru leading the woman who sold her away stepping down the porch. She could see the lines of worry in her face, eyes in questioning disbelief.
Haku let Miku go so the poor woman could step up to her, touching her stepdaughter's face to confirm she was real.
"Miku... what happened? Where did you go?"
She studied the woman carefully. She remembered the letter written to her, the desperation that she receive it.
Perhaps for just this one person, she could spare the uncomfortable truth.
"Because of what happened, I was able to meet someone important. Someone who means everything to me. And because I was there when he needed me, I saved his life."
She beckoned for Kaito to step out of the car and the three members of her family gasped in shock to see the King of Estmarch approaching them. He bowed politely to them. "Then... then it wasn't all for nothing... you're safe and happy..."
The older woman's tears as she clutched her lost stepdaughter close made the lie by omission worthwhile. Miku could tell by looking at her sisters that they knew there was more to her story, but they kept her silence.
For the sake of their mother.
Miku's mother.
She was home.
The sound of doves cooing in the garden were the only other thing Miku could hear on the late spring day.
After the Aschenputtel trip was over, Kaito had observed a state of calm lifting over Miku's heart. Her strength seemed to return to her as the anxiety over confronting her past dissipated. Truth be told, he wasn't entirely sure what would happen when he met her family. Even if they were deceived, they'd still sold off one of their children!
But he followed Miku's lead and behaved respectfully.
Besides, as he was starting to learn, just his mere presence could transform an entire situation now.
By the time the trip was over, Miku had promised to visit regularly and Kaito had found himself inviting her stepfamily to come to Vedunia as well, their expenses fully paid.
And the trip had done the kingdom some good as well – his observations on the ground and his chat with the public officials of the town gave him some more insight as to where the strains in Estmarch's recovery had surfaced. He had already started drawing up plans when Miku had found him in his quarters pouring over papers.
"Where to next?"
Miku's unexpected question had caught him off-guard – wouldn't she want to rest?! But seeing her excited, seeing that burden lifted and her spirit returning, how could he say no?
How could he deny either of them their first chance to see more of the world outside Estmarch?
"Nordland."
"Oh... because of Meiko's first performance?"
Miku hadn't teased him in so long she caught him off guard, but it was entirely true. He already owed the King of Nordland a state visit, and early summer seemed ideal. But more importantly, he wanted a chance to support his former idol. Now his friend.
After the war ended, Meiko and Gumi had "mysteriously" surfaced in Westheim. To the eager press, Meiko revealed that she'd survived the coup with the help of her faithful photographer. And then promptly announced their elopement.
Naturally the news that the famously single performer was now happily married took any focus off of what she may have been up to in the war. Gorgeous photos of the two women enjoying the Westheim scenery had appeared even in the Estmarch press, with a very familiar byline.
But that was only news – he wanted to see them in person. They'd both sacrificed for his country when they could have left and returned to their old lives sooner. And of course he wanted to deliver his well-wishes for their happy union in person.
That also left a new problem for Kaito – the realization that being a King may have helped him make the arrangements, but as they prepared for the trip he realized it also prevented him from properly visiting a new country the way he wished to. "I'd love to see Nordland the way its people do," he lamented, "But I can't do that as a King. I suppose this is another sacrifice I've made for the greater good."
Miku seemed quiet when he spoke – was she also sad that their trip to Nordland would be like this? "Of course you don't have to spend time with me at political appointments!" he explained, trying to set her free to enjoy the country as a private citizen.
"I wouldn't enjoy a trip to Nordland alone. We promised to see it all together."
But a knowing smile appeared on her face. "I won't make any promises, but I think I can handle this."
And so when they arrived in Nordland, they were escorted off the Fantasie and taken to the massive estate of its leader, Windingham Palace. Once more he was behind safety and security. 'But it's not Vedunia,' he thought happily as he admired the art and architecture and especially the vibrant summer gardens while he and Miku were given a tour by the King himself. The welcome he received so soon after Estmarch's attack on Nordland while the Dawn were in power gave him hope that the swift end he brought to the war had prevented a permanent rift from forming.
He had decided he could be satisfied with this. Miku certainly seemed happy, even as she tried to stay largely out of the important conversations. Always keeping an ear to things without interrupting.
As the first day ended, the two were taken to their sleeping chamber. And to Kaito's surprise, he found that a royal escort had been arranged without his knowledge.
In front of the door were Meiko and Gumi, dressed down in working clothes. "It's about time you got here, your Highness. We're going to have a very busy day tomorrow."
One of the Nordland servants let out a gasp at Meiko's casual address of a visiting head of state.
But Kaito already understood what was happening and he glanced over to Miku. "Did you...?" he started to say.
"The King left Gumi and I with an open invitation for a favor when the war ended," Meiko said before Miku could talk, "For my 'meritorious service.' So I asked for a chance to meet the King of Estmarch."
To Kaito's great delight, a proper civilian disguise was provided for him and Miku. And nobody could complain about his security – he personally knew that between Miku, Meiko, and Gumi, nobody would get to him even if by some chance they recognized him.
Officially the King of Estmarch was sequestered in the castle handling complicated matters of state.
Unofficially, Kaito and his entourage had slipped out of the palace and his heart pounded at seeing the great Nordland capital in all of its glory. Streets pouring with people going about their day without a care in the world.
But Kaito had been fooled once already by simply taking appearances at face value. "How bad was the damage from the bombing?" he quietly inquired of Meiko.
"As the report said, casualties were low," she replied confidently, "So far the reconstruction efforts have made progress – most of what were hit in the first run were military targets, so they were far more prepared. Had the air strikes made it deeper into the capital though... it would have been innocent civilians instead. You would not have been given a warm welcome here if that were the case."
He could trust Meiko to be honest – friend or not.
His heart began to ease at seeing the energy of the people of Nordland as they moved on from their brief experience with the final Rose War. Soon the King was caught up in such innocent pleasures as a picturesque look at the tall bell tower nicknamed "Big Belford", a stroll through the glamorous shopping of High Street, a brisk walk through the massive royal menagerie of Nord Park. Compared to the orderly construction of his home city of Vedunia, the streets of Nordland's capital felt chaotic, as if they'd been built after blindfolding the bricklayers.
Experiencing all of it, the noise, the chaos, the energy... felt wonderful.
"Oh, Meiko," Miku eventually interrupted, "Given the heat, is there somewhere we can cool off? Somewhere with ice cream?"
Kaito began to blush furiously as his brunette tour guide laughed loudly. "But of course! I think I remember someone saying he liked strawberry, right?"
The snap of a camera lens reminded Kaito that his little trip was likely being documented. He hoped he wouldn't embarrass himself too much. "These photos are personal," the photographer said quietly when the King looked over to her with worry, "For myself. And for you."
So Gumi had finally picked up the habit of explaining herself.
"I think I'll use the colored fluid... hmm... yes, I would hate to lose all that blue..."
'Nobody ever told me he could be this cute when he eats something he likes,' Meiko thought to herself as Kaito happily partook of his simple treat while the two of them walked through the streets enjoying ice cream cones. His simple honest smile was far different from those he gave when he was more guarded and regal for the press and politicians.
'That's because it's the true King.'
She watched as Gumi seemed to be having a mental struggle over whether to take more pictures or eat her own ice cone, the sweet lime starting to melt over her hands. Meiko carefully dipped her hand out and grabbed the cone from her, allowing the photographer to dive forward and take even more photos.
The singer carefully observed the pig-tailed companion of the king as well. Miku had always carried so much guilt and sadness in her that it had been easy for Meiko to pity her. She was lucky that Kaito had been largely successful in minimizing the tales of the Cinderellas. For the sake of the women left behind, it was best that their assassinations remain unclaimed.
Finally the quartet found themselves on a bench near the river Temsey, Gumi finally having taken a long enough break from her photography to eat the ice cream. The single-minded focus of her wife could be exhausting for those that didn't know her, but for Meiko, it was one of the many things she loved about her.
To Meiko, Gumi finally being free to devote her life to photos made all the death she escaped worth it.
"Your concert is in three hours, right?" Kaito said as he stared up at the time displayed by Big Belford.
"Yea... they're used to me arriving kinda late though. I'm a pretty quick dresser."
Gumi seemed to be giving the both of them a strange look. Meiko by now could read her expressions – Gumi wasn't one for talking, but she gave her feelings away easily to those that knew her well. The photographer had made a silent observation about one of the three people on the bench, and now she was trying to figure out what to do with that information.
"Your hair, it's the same color as the water and sky," Gumi said matter-of-factly to Miku.
"Wait, what...ah!"
Suddenly the pig tailed girl found herself dragged off the bench and towards the edge of the river. "Did she want Miku's picture?!" Kaito asked in surprise.
"I... I guess she thought it will be awhile before she can have Miku be her model again."
That left just the two of them, and Meiko of course understood this was Gumi's true intent.
The photographer was far more of a romantic than even Meiko was.
"So... how are things going between you and Miku?" Meiko pried, "I thought by now something... well... something big might have happened. But there's nothing in the news aside from the two of you turning up in the countryside together."
Kaito seemed to have his eyes on Miku as Gumi struggled to get her to pose like a professional model, getting the girl to stand so the air from the water would blow her hair just right.
"Is it not working out?" Meiko asked more directly.
The King fervently shook his head in denial. "No! Miku's wonderful! I just... I..."
He still hadn't taken his gaze from the girl as she finally seemed to give in and smile for the photographer. "If I propose to Miku, I'm asking her to become Queen of Estmarch. I know how far she's come putting her life back together. To impose the chains of royalty on her now feels almost a cruelty. If being with me were to drown her heart in sadness again..."
So the King was now suddenly so self-sacrificing he'd sacrifice love? Meiko could certainly understand – the price of her own fame had restricted herself and Gumi in ways they hadn't liked. She was just lucky they were able to easily blend into crowds given their previous lives as spies. She could only imagine the magnitude of interest and scrutiny Miku would face as a Queen.
Even so... Meiko felt a little cruel with what she was about to say, but she needed to break the King's indecisiveness somehow.
"In that case, you should break up with her quickly."
Meiko glanced over to Kaito, who had turned several shades paler. He clearly hadn't expected this kind of blunt response. But she needed to give him one more little push and "tough love" seemed the best way to do it. "She has family to go back to now. She'll be known as a hero of Estmarch, but she can go back to a nice quiet life without you. If you're not planning on marrying her, it's not fair to keep her so visibly a part of your life. The kindest thing to do would be to-"
She saw that spark of anger in his eyes that she'd hoped to return as Kaito roared back to life. "I am NOT breaking up with Miku!" he shouted, "She is not something I would just discard like common trash!"
Meiko looked out to the docks, but fortunately Gumi seemed to have been smart enough to drag Miku too far to have heard the outburst. Kaito seemed to recover some of his composure, but his attitude had hardened. "If that's the way you feel, Kaito, then you can't wait forever. You have to be decisive about what she means to you," Meiko said sternly, "That's what you really wanted to ask me, right?"
His anger deflated and the King offered a simple nod. "I can't live without her," he whispered, "I just don't want her getting hurt ever again."
Meiko began to feel envious of Miku. 'If I didn't have Gumi in my life, this King would definitely be my second choice,' she thought with a smile.
"You have to trust that Miku is strong enough to make that choice now. If she's not ready, she'll tell you."
Kaito clutched at his knees, deep in thought. Meiko smirked as she saw her wife coming back with the oblivious possible Queen-to-Be. 'Meiko plays cupid,' she thought, 'Thanks to my little cherub firing the first arrow.'
"Where everything is happy, like the vault of the sky spreading widely..."
Meiko's concert was a star-studded affair, with everyone who was anyone in Nordland in attendance. Of course, Kaito appeared in his Kingly persona. Fortunately, it raised few questions – his appreciation for the music star had been famous even before the war. And Miku suspected he wanted to appear as a King to give her much needed support – how many singers could say that their return concert had such a famous guest?
"I sing the song which should have sung, I tell your thoughts to everybody with this song. Various feelings!"
Even though all eyes were on the singer in the sparkling red gown at center stage, Miku had noticed the stares in the concert hall at her presence in the box. What were they saying about her? She almost wished she still had her disguise so she could go back to being nothing... she didn't want to cause Kaito trouble, after all.
"Even if it's a bit of a place we can feel at ease, if we could find it maybe we can get strong!"
Then he slipped his hand in hers and all that fear vanished, especially when she saw the smile on his face.
He'd been so stressed as a King, Miku had wanted to find some way to give him that slice of freedom he'd been deprived of for so long. Kaito being happy seemed to be making her happier as well... as if his warmth was overpowering the cold anxiousness in her heart.
"Hope and love arises and grows. Everything in this world, enfolding them in their embrace!"
Such a strange fate to find the two of them watching Meiko singing of love all over again, as if a war hadn't happened. Somehow the resilient woman had shrugged it off and the life in her voice radiated her own strength. As if Meiko's ability to stand on a stage and sing for strangers was her own way of reclaiming her life.
"Shed tears, wounds that we closed in ourselves too... they will change into the shape of ourselves tomorrow..."
'We've all found our own ways to regain ourselves, haven't we?' Miku thought, 'Our own steps forward... as fast and as slow as we need...'
"A leading light - don't lose it... Solid feelings; cherished them and now I'm letting them go..."
As the concert ended, Kaito pulled Miku aside for some privacy. She wondered what had overcome him when he pulled a small box out of his pocket and fell to one knee.
"Miku... I want to live the rest of my life by your side. I can't imagine spending even a single day without your strength, your cleverness, your spirit. Will you marry me?"
Once Miku had wished for time to stop, so terrified was she of the future with a seemingly unchangeable fate. But she couldn't will time to cease, could she? She'd had to accept its perpetual flow... that she couldn't control the world, but she could control the events in front of her...
For a moment tears flowed, but for once it was because of happiness. She could imagine nothing more than spending the rest of her days with the person she'd fallen in love with that saved her heart from the cold void.
"Yes!"
"Where everything is happy, a view where everything is pure, like this iridescent shining brightly!"
Rin flopped onto the bed in her dorm room. "I think my head's going to explode if I read one more book tonight," she lamented.
Her roommate, a girl in an orange uniform, knee-length pleated skirt, and tall white stockings laughed. "That doesn't sound like the Rin I know!" the girl teased, "You were so eager to come in here and save the world after all!"
The white-bowed former nurse stuffed a pillow over her head. "I wasn't expecting this kind of a bombardment of reading! How did Gakupo of all people survive this, Seeyu?!"
A knock sounded on the dorm door. "You get it," Rin sighed.
Seeyu hopped off her bed, tossing her textbook casually to the bed as she opened the door. "Oh thank goodness, maybe you can talk some sense into her! She's suffering from academic overload!"
"What?! Rin?! Hoo boy, well, I brought the orange harvest by for her, maybe that will help?"
Rin tossed the pillow away and leapt from the bed. "Len! What are you DOING here?!" she asked in delight as she barreled towards her brother. In the time since he'd returned to the family farm he'd completely shed any traces of his formerly refined persona, appearing now as a simple farm boy and looking happier than ever.
Len smirked as he set the basket of oranges down and accepted the hug. "I'm handling produce deliveries and figured you'd appreciate a cut of the harvest from home..."
All her worries and anxieties seemed to melt away because now her brother was here...
"Under a far sky becomes limitless power, two feelings, hopes, and faith overlaying one another..."
In the chaos of the collapsing city, the white and green haired youth in the ponytail and green lab coat tried to maintain calm in his hospital. But Cloud City's slum district had taken heavy damage in the earthquake and patients kept pouring in as more and more were pulled from the wreckage. Official help from the northern provinces of the Celestial Empire could be days away thanks to the collapsed railroad tracks... he only hoped his call had been answered...
"Dr. Yuezheng, are you sure those people you called will really come?" asked his purple haired nurse, "You said they were foreigners, what would they care for us?"
Longya nervously watched the phone for any signs of their arrival. "Qingxian, they had access to air travel, I had to try something..."
"Dr. Yuezheng! The foreigners, they're here!"
Longya felt relief at the sight of his other head doctor, the ashen blonde Dr. Luo, followed by the very foreign looking purple-haired doctor. "You called the Hospital without Borders, and we're here!" he said, saluting, "I'm Gakupo Kamui and..."
A pink-haired woman with an eye patch in a very covered up uniform walked in with him. "This is my head nurse, Luka Megurine."
"How many others came with you?" Longya asked nervously.
"I'd say we have enough to staff another hospital," Gakupo explained, "If you need us to get another surgery up and running, we'll do it as soon as you tell us."
"He's... surprisingly polite..." Luo whispered to Longya, "Usually those foreigners like to give orders."
Longya coughed. "He's a medical professional and respects the common mission."
To Gakupo, he said "I need some relief for my own staff first, they've been working to exhaustion. When they've had time to rest we can expand the network."
"At once! Come now, my dear, let's save lives!"
The purple haired doctor followed Dr. Luo out of the tent, and Longya thought he caught the glimpse of what foreigners normally wore as signs of marriage rituals on the nurse's left hand...
"Where everything is happy, a place where everything is pure, like the vault of sky spreads widely..."
The last time Miku had been fitted for a white gown it had been against her will. But today... it was for her wedding day.
She stared at her image in the mirror and for once seeing herself in white lace and silk gave her confidence and not fear.
She even dared to find herself looking beautiful.
"My lady, you look stunning," the tailor said, "But have you come up with the shoes you'll wear with it?"
She thought back to two strange mementos she'd refused to dispose of. Perhaps she was crazy, but when she looked at the reunited glass slippers, the only remnant of the night the war began... she couldn't see them representing the deadly fairy tale trap or the woman that so horribly abused her.
Now she thought of those slippers as a memory of the night she met the person she loved and chose to free them both.
She would wear them one last time.
"Hope and love arises and grows, everything in the world enfolding them in their embrace..."
Kaito could barely focus on the traditional marriage ceremony being read to him in the Vedunia National Cathedral as he stared into Miku's eyes. The white dress looked stunning of course, along with the glittering traditional marriage jewels she wore.
But what struck him as he looked into her eyes was what was missing.
"Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," he said without hesitation.
When he'd first met her, he'd been able to see that sadness deep inside of her. He'd tried so hard to overpower it, but just loving Miku wasn't enough back then.
"Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, as long as you both shall live?"
"I do," she whispered.
"Then I now pronounce you King Kaito and Queen Miku of House Shion. May Estmarch's peace smile upon you both."
Kaito was fairly certain he'd been asked to kiss his new wife, but neither seemed eager to wait as he drew her into a tight embrace and kissed her.
To Kaito... it seemed like that terrible sadness inside of Miku had fled. That she'd finally broken its power over her on her own.
The bells of the cathedral rang out as the ceremony ended. Kaito and Miku parted and began their departure from the Church. To his great fortune, everyone he'd invited had made it. His uncle Naoto. Commander Lily LaFleur of the Sudlandian Defensive Force. The wild snapping of the camera lens was of course Gumi acting as his official wedding photographer – largely because he was certain she would just do it anyway. Meiko stood by her side, having earlier promised Kaito to debut a new song at their wedding reception. Rin and Len, having taken time from their school and jobs and even having brought their parents into Vedunia. Gakupo and Luka, having used the excuse of needing to return to Vedunia for recruitment and financing lest their new medical order run out of resources too soon.
And Miku's stepfamily.
It all seemed right. Somehow the most horrifying experience of his life had turned into one of hope.
He led Miku through the shower of rice as she tossed her bouquet in the air... never seeing who actually caught it as she and her husband proceeded to join their white limousine and drive back to the castle...
Miku waved out the back window, her heart light and free. Time seemed to rush so quickly now, but she no longer feared the moments ahead. She didn't need to stay in just one moment to be with Kaito forever.
She had every moment until the end of their days.
The bells of the clocktower rang out the hour that her new life officially began.
THE END
A/N:
So first off, the song is kaya and Shu-tP's "Various Feelings" So you can go look it up if you need to.
Well then, this is the longest a fanfic has taken me to write, but I hope the wait was worth it to everyone that stuck it out this long. I have never been more satisfied to write "THE END" as I was here. It's been a hell of a time for my personal life during the entire process – I changed countries *three times* before it was over and had a number of personal setbacks as well.
And of all the things that would happen, by chance I visited London in real life for just a few brief hours and Kaito's observations of it are mixed with my own. I mean I really only saw a sliver of the city but if you've ever been there, it really is laid out like a drunk person built it.
This chapter was probably the one that was trickiest to write because I didn't entirely know where to leave things. My personal politics has me pretty much done with monarchy but having Kaito just abdicate and form a democracy that magically worked seemed almost as naïve as a King that actually cares about people. But more and more I realized that Estmarch's political status was never the story – the story was about Kaito and Miku and what kind of world would exist to put Miku in a place where she would try to kill him on their first meeting. To me, having Kaito just abdicate felt weak after so much of the story was about him stepping up to fix the problems of his family. This story was about people taking charge and breaking out of the roles prescribed for them, and for Kaito to give up the throne after everyone had tried to keep him away from it because he wouldn't be a corrupt person felt anticlimactic.
I broke out of my pattern of titling completely – "until the end of their days" is a more traditional version of the much more commonly known "happily ever after after" and it seemed appropriate. I can't well use the Cendrillon or Adolescence lyrics after the last chapter's song fic, can I? But simply "Happily ever after" seemed a little too strong – "til the end of their days" seems more in keeping with the story's approach to the march of time.
And so I send this story off, with the promise that yes, I am working on another story but won't commit to a release until I'm far enough ahead. This story was always a lot of flying by the seat of my pants and I think it shows – I get good reviews, but I think it's my roughest release. But I appreciate that people enjoyed it all the same. Struggling for it was worth it. I am satisfied with what came together, if not happy with the chaos of writing it.
Thank you, every one of you that read it, whether you commented or not. You're why I still do this.
Art Source: 落水小烏鴉 on Pixiv.