Petite Princess Yucie Fan Fiction ❯ 30 Kisses: Arc and Yucie ❯ If Only ( Chapter 2 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Title: “If Only”
Author: Wish Wielder
Pairing: Arc/Yucie
Fandom: Puchi Puri Yucie
Theme: #22 (cradle)
Disclaimer: “Puchi Puri Yucie” and all respective properties are © Gainax/Yucie Committee. Meg “tN!!” D. (Wish Wielder) does not, has never, nor will ever own “Puchi Puri Yucie.”

“If Only”

Gurenda sighed as she looked at the squalling brat in her arms. While she had gotten along with the kids in the kindergarten class fairly easily (albeit their initial tormenting of her), she couldn’t seem to do anything right around the four kids involved in their current curriculum. For some reason, Queen Erlsel had thought it would be a good idea to land them babysitting, and she actually meant babysitting, for once. Around the room, whether they were in cradles or the arms of a Puchi Puri, were four babies, none of them even over a year old.
“I still don’t see why we had to do this one,” she said in an agitated voice as the baby girl in her arms squirmed for the umpteenth time. “Go to sleep already!”
“Yes, one would be confused by this, as we have already spent time with Miss Rena’s kindergarten class,” Erumina said as she tickled the baby on the mat before her. Gurenda snorted, but for once she couldn’t argue with heaven’s princess. She had just pointed out her own point, after all.
“It’s not really that bad,” Kokoru said, a bead of sweat rolling down her head. “I think they’re cute.”
“Yeah, yeah,” Gurenda said, rolling her eyes. “They’d be cute if they listened. Go to sleep!”
Kokoru sighed as Gurenda continued to argue with the child in her arms. She turned back to her own charge, a boy of around seven months, who was sleeping peacefully in her arms. He had curled towards her instinctively, and the action had brought a small smile and an almost maternal feeling to the girl. She continued to rock the child back and forth as Gurenda argued with the girl she was watching, deciding it was best to ignore the demon’s actions.
“It’s almost hard to believe, but if not for this curse, these might be our kids,” she said. Erumina and Gurenda looked up then, almost shocked by her words. She had said them in a manner that lead the two to believe she really hadn’t paid any attention to what she was saying, as if they had been a thought that had unknowingly leaked out. Gurenda opened her mouth to say something to rebut this point, but she found she couldn’t at Kokoru’s wistful look. The girl seemed to almost be yearning for that to be the case… So, as any friend would do, Gurenda went along with it.
“Yeah,” she said, “we’d probably be married and everything! As it is, though, none of us are even close to finding a husband. Well, except for the brat, that is.”
Kokoru giggled before nodding. She glanced up before adding, “And you, if you count your froggy prince.”
“Hey!” Gurenda said, glaring at her. “I thought we were gonna forget that!”
Erumina shook her head, choosing to stay out of this particular battle. She glanced over at Yucie, who was sitting next to a cradle and peering into the wooden structure, and frowned. Yucie hadn’t even made an attempt to contradict Gurenda’s point, which was perfectly accurate. She didn’t even seem to be paying any attention to them, and her eyes held the same wistful look Kokoru’s had earlier. She was staring into the cradle with that soft, yearning expression, and Erumina somehow knew her thoughts had been along the same lines. Perhaps she was imagining what a family with the prince would be like? She doubted this was the case, but it seemed likely.
Her trance was broken a moment later, however, as Gurenda dragged her into the conversation.
“Oi, brat!” she called, giving Yucie a rather obnoxious smirk. “Do you think we’re right or what?”
“Sorry?” Yucie said, looking up. Her eyes were startled and scared, as if she had been caught doing something she had clearly been told was wrong. “What was the question again?”
Gurenda rolled her eyes, and Kokoru took over.
“Do you think, if not for this curse, we’d all be married with children of our own by now?” she asked. Yucie’s face turned a bright scarlet, and Erumina smiled secretively, realizing she had been right in her assumptions. No, she hadn’t been right - she had been dead on the money.
“U-um…why are you asking me? I don’t know,” Yucie stammered. “Why would I, anyway?”
“Well, you are the only one of us with someone who could actually be considered a boyfriend,” Gurenda said smugly. “You should know better than any of us how possible it is.”
“W-what?!” Yucie screeched, her eyes shooting open in indignation. “I-I am not!”
“Yes, you are!” Gurenda said, smirking. “What do you think Arc is?”
“He’s just a friend!” Yucie said.
“Friends don’t go kissing friends, brat,” Gurenda said. “Admit it: you like him and he likes you, and if not for this curse you’d already be married and working on your first kid!”
Yucie looked away, a furious blush on her face. She knew Gurenda was right, but she would never admit it. After all, though Arc had promised to wait for her, she still didn’t think he could ever like her like that. It just wasn’t possible, and she didn’t want to torture herself with silly dreams about it.
While Gurenda began gloating over how she had been right, and while Erumina and Kokoru tried to quiet her before she woke the other babies, Yucie turned back to her slumbering charge and frowned.
Even if she didn’t like torturing herself, she couldn’t deny the fact that she really had been considering it, or the fact that she wanted it more than anything else in the world.
Arc knew he shouldn’t sneak out of the palace as often as he did, but he really couldn’t help it. He knew it made his mother worry, and he knew it really might not have been the safest thing for him to do, but sometimes it was just something that had to be done.
On this particular day, he had snuck out after a particularly long lecture on how he needed to ‘find a nice girl’ and ‘settle down.’ Now, being a prince, one would think he’d be used to these lectures. However, he wasn’t. Erlsel usually wasn’t one to nag on the point, but ever since he had taken his months-long journey…he just didn’t see why she needed to make such a big deal about it. Besides, he had someone in mind…he just had to wait a little longer before he could do anything about it.
He came to a halt outside a carpenter’s shop; standing just inside the door, perfectly visible from the street through the large window, was his ‘nice girl.’ Her steward was talking to the shop owner a short distance away over what looked like a chair, but she was standing in front of a baby’s cradle. A small smile was on her face, and she looked like she was a thousand miles away, lost in a memory. She was slowly rocking the cradle back and forth, and something about the picture just seemed…right, somehow. Curious as to why she was acting so strange, he entered the shop and walked over to her. She didn’t even notice him until he cleared his throat. She jumped and stared at him, surprise written over her face, before she looked back at the cradle.
“What’re you doing, Forehead?” he asked. She shrugged slightly, her gaze once again taking on that far-away expression.
“Nothing,” she said. “A chair broke, and Papa sent Cube and me to get a new one.”
“That explains why you’re here,” he said, “but it doesn’t say why you’re looking at cradles.”
He didn’t miss the light pink that flooded her cheeks, and it only made him more curious. Just what had she been thinking before he arrived? The nervous laugh made her more suspicious, and he quirked his brow at her.
“I-I’m not!” she said, a defensive clip to her tone. “I was just…it was…uh…pretty. Yeah, it’s a pretty cradle.”
“Uh-huh,” he said, obviously not convinced. She gave him a sheepish smile.
“A friend’s having a baby and I wanted to find her a good present?” she tried. He shook his head and poked her forehead.
“’Fess up, Yucie,” he said. “Why were you looking at cradles? I don’t see why you would need to.”
Her smile vanished as she looked away from him. She put a hand on the cradle and began rocking it again, her frown turning into a sad, almost watery smile. For a moment he thought she would cry, but she never did. She gave him a noncommittal shrug.
“I was just thinking about something Gurenda said yesterday,” she said, “at our babysitting job.”
“Babysitting? My mother has you girls babysitting?” he asked, his smirk returning. He saw so many ways he could rile her with that, but he knew, judging from her attitude, that today wouldn’t be a good day to torment her.
“Yeah,” she said. “It was fun, actually. The last time Kokoru and I were babysitting I had to babysit a pet, so it was fun getting to look after an actual baby.”
“So now you want one?” he asked, still slightly confused. Yucie gave another little shrug.
“Gurenda said that, if not for this curse, we’d all be married with kids by now,” she said. Her frown deepened, and her daydream was brought back to her. She shook it off, once again reminding herself it wasn’t good to dwell on those thoughts.
“Yucie?” he asked, concerned.
“And she’s right,” she said. Her face had turned slightly sour, and he could again clearly see all the contempt she held for the curse. “If not for this stupid curse, I’d already be married, and I would probably even have a child instead of just being one.”
“Yucie…”
“I’m being stupid, I know,” she said, looking down, “but I can’t help but think about it. Because I still look like a child, I’m treated as one. No one would ever even look at me as a possible wife, and I can’t blame them. Who would want to marry a ten-year-old?”
“Yucie,” he said again, this time with an air of authority. She looked up at him with watery eyes, slightly surprised by his harsh, annoyed tone, and he regretted it - somewhat. He needed to make her understand, though. He stooped beside her and put a hand atop her head.
“If not for the curse,” he started, “you wouldn’t have become a Puchi Puri, and you wouldn’t have met me. Didn’t I tell you I’d wait for you, Yucie? I know you’ll become the Platina Princess, and then you’ll look as old as you truly are.”
He pulled her into a hug, startling her. He put his mouth next to her ear and whispered, “And I promise, Forehead, someday I’ll give you all the kids you want.”
He felt her arms wrap around his neck, and he let out a little breath he hadn’t known he had been holding. A voice in his head chanted ‘crisis averted,’ but he knew it really hadn’t been. No matter what he said, the thoughts would always linger at the back of her mind, haunting her. As unfair as it was, he really wanted to blame Gurenda for this mess, but he knew she had probably had those thoughts before Gurenda ever said anything. He gave her a gentle squeeze before he kissed her cheek and pulled away.
“Better now?” he asked. She smiled and nodded, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.
“Yeah,” she said. “I told you I was just being stupid.”
He smirked and tapped her nose, saying, “Hardly.”
“Lady Yucie? We can go now.” They turned to see Cube standing off to the side, a chair placed before him. He looked at Arc and smiled. “Hello, Mr. Arc. It’s good to see you again.”
Arc nodded at him before letting Yucie go. He jerked his head in Cube’s direction.
“You should get going now,” he said. “Don’t want Sir Gunberd worrying.”
She leaned forward and kissed his cheek, much to his surprise. She smiled and nodded at him, and he noticed it was a genuine smile, before running over to Cube. He watched as they left, and he couldn’t hide his grin.
The grin widened as he realized she had kissed him. She had kissed him. It was the first time she had done so, and even if it was just a peck on the cheek, he looked at it hopefully. Maybe she was finally easing up around him. He cast the cradle beside him a glance, and his smile softened. He had to admit: he had panicked slightly when she had told him why she had been looking at it, but he wasn’t sure why. He thought it was because she had been so troubled by it, but still…
He knew it wasn’t because he was scared of kids or didn’t want a family. Really, he hadn’t even thought much about it. Now that he did, he liked the idea. A quaint picture of an older-looking Yucie standing over a cradle holding a sleeping child came to his mind, and his grin widened slightly. Yeah, he really liked that idea.
“I take it you’re the one who’s captured Yucie’s heart,” the owner of the store said as he walked over. Arc looked up, startled out of his musings by the unexpected voice.
“Excuse me?” he asked. The owner laughed, a deep, boisterous sound that reminded Arc of a parental figure of sorts.
“You’re the one Yucie’s fallen for,” he said, giving him a toothy grin.
“I guess I am, yeah,” Arc replied, still unsure where the owner was going with this.
“That’s good,” the owner said. “What with her curse and all I didn’t think she’d ever find someone.”
“You know about the curse?” Arc asked, surprised. The owner gave another laugh before nodding.
“Aye,” he said, “I’ve known Yucie since she was in diapers. Gunberd and I are old friends - we joined the palace guard together, but I couldn’t stick with it like him. Needed a quieter life.”
The owner glanced at the cradle, a paternal smile on his face.
“She’ll make a good mother someday,” he said. Arc nodded and stood, his mental image from earlier returning and causing him to smile.
“Yeah,” he said, “she really will.”

owari

a.n.: I didn’t expect to have the next one done so fast, but what can I say? When the plot bunnies attack, they really attack. XD I can’t help but feel it’s a little too similar to my last theme, but I’m still happy with it. -nod-

Comments and constructive criticism welcomed. Please, don’t flame. If you can’t say your CC without flaming, don’t bother. Flames will be used to fuel Az’s bonfire for the yummy s’mores.