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ciirceeFirstly:Happy anniversary, Arashi!
Thank you for all that you've given me--joy and hope and courage and friends. Thank you for pulling me and my family closer together as we sing along (badly! in bad Japanese!) with you. Thank you for loving me even though we'll never meet. More than anything my wish for all of you this year is your happiness--no matter how sunburnt or girl-kissed that might be. Be happy, Arashi! I love you!
I am SO that fan.
Moving on: This was my entry for HallowShoneen as well as a fic for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
tangiblewhimsy.
The Fairy Queen
Sho knelt on the golden floor of the fairy palace's throne room and wondered why he had been summoned before the King. The young prince had barely finished breakfast when the junior apprentices had rushed him, fetching him before he'd managed even one step in the direction of his lessons. Now, head bent in respectful submission, he could feel the king's eyes on him like a heavy weight. He bowed a little more.
"Sakurai," Johnny said with solemnity, "the official announcement will be at this evening's ball but I wanted to give you warning. You are no longer a junior apprentice to the throne."
The words made his breath catch with a painful hitch and his first instinct was to whip his head up and stare and plead. Instead he kept still. "If that is His Majesty's will," he said. His voice didn't even tremble, a feat he was proud of until Johnny laughed.
"You are being made Crown Prince, Sakurai Sho," said the king. "You will become the king of the fairies once your training is complete."
Sho caught his breath again and nearly choked on it. "Sire," he said and he didn't even care that his voice cracked on the word.
Johnny laughed kindly. "Robes have already been prepared for you for tonight's announcement. You're dismissed from your lessons today. Oh, and Sho? One more thing…"
"…and then he told me that I have to find a bride. I have to get married," Sho said. He got no reply but he didn't expect one. It wasn't like ladybugs could talk, after all. He continued to rub polish on the shell of the large ladybug and despair. "I don't even know any girls! What do I do, Spot?"
Spot didn't answer but continued to chew placidly on her aphids and mites.
Sho sighed. "As good a sounding board as you are, Spot, I think we're going to have to talk to the guys." He put away the polishing rag and when to get his saddle.
Truthfully, Sho did not need a saddle. He was rather too big to ride a ladybug, with his knees up by his ears as he sat. As a child he had begged and begged for a ladybug but his parents had always told him 'no'. When he'd been made a junior apprentice to the throne it had been his one request from King Johnny. Spot had become a confidant as well as a mount and he saw no reason to feel ridiculous riding her. So what if everybody else had a dragonfly? Sho had love.
Which reminded him of his current dilemma once again.
"Damn it," he sighed as he mounted his steed.
Sho had lived a bit of a sheltered life in the fairy court but that sheltered life had also given him his four greatest friends: Jun, Aiba, Nino, and Ohno. He never would have meet any of them without being a member of the court because the others were not fairies. They were members of the greater woodland court.
And as it happened, the first of his friends that Sho found was Nino. Nino was a rarity—a crossbreed between a woodland nymph and a hairy troll, the result of a love spell gone awry. He was small and delicate with the fox-like face of a nymph and he had an untidy mop of black hair that never behaved itself. Which was fitting since Nino never behaved himself either—the troll-born mischievousness, no doubt. "Nino!" Sho gasped Spot landed.
Nino looked up from shuffling petals in his hands. "Sho!" he mock-gasped in return.
"I'm in trouble!"
Nino put his petals in his pocket. "It's all right," he said, putting both hands on Sho's shoulders before sliding them down to hold his hands, "We'll get married today and tell everybody that the baby was born early."
"What?" said Sho. Then, "It's not that! C'mon, I need all of you guys to help me!" He twisted his wrist to take Nino's hand in his own. "It's seriously serious!" he said, dragging his friend over to his waiting ladybug.
The next friend Sho set off to find was Ohno, the gnome. Like all gnomes, Ohno was short and stocky with big, dark eyes. Like all gnomes, Ohno was picking mushrooms though he was munching idly as he worked. "Ohno," said Sho, landing Spot on top of a large toadstool. "Ohno, I'm in serious trouble."
Ohno gazed up at him looking sleepy and slouchy. "Just marry Nino and pretend the baby came early," Ohno said, stuffing another mushroom in his mouth.
"That's what I told him," Nino called from his perch on Spot's back.
"Not that," Sho huffed.
"It's too early for trouble," Ohno said with a little pout.
Sho ignored it easily. "Come on; let's find the others."
Nino groped Ohno's ass instead of saying 'good morning'.
"Hi, Nino," said Ohno.
"I have a problem," Sho reminded them.
It was more cramped on Spot's back with both Nino and Ohno on board but Sho was in dire need of good counsel. That naturally led him to think of Jun, the elf. "Jun!" said Sho when they found him on the path to the pond. He landed Spot and scrambled off her back. "Jun!"
Jun and Sho were of a height, as elves and fairies often were. But where Sho had wings Jun had none and where Jun's ears were pointed Sho's were round. Jun's dark hair was also longer and had no need to part around a pair of antennae. "Yo," said Jun as Sho drew up beside him. "Hello, Satoshi," he said as Ohno ambled over. "Hi, Nino," he said as Nino draped himself over Sho's shoulders.
"I'm in trouble," Sho told Jun.
"I told him to marry Nino and say that baby came early," Ohno added helpfully.
"So did I," chimed in Nino.
"Oh god," said Jun hopelessly.
"It's not that," Sho protested. "It's serious trouble!"
"Then," said Jun, "let's go to Masaki's pond first and you can fill us in all at once."
"I love you best," said Sho with all of his heart.
Masaki's pond was small and shallow and had a fair covering of pond lilies and duckweed. It also had a thriving community of water sprites, tiny beings formed out of water and magic. They tended to skate on the surface of the pond when not swimming in its depths. By luck, Aiba was out skating.
"Sho!" Aiba called, waving wildly.
"Put some pants on!" Sho called back.
"Oops!" giggled Aiba.
Sho landed Spot and tethered her to a buttercup. "I've got a serious problem!"
"Can't you just marry Nino and pretend that baby is super early?" Aiba asked.
"It's NOT that kind of trouble!"
"Can't you just marry Nino?" Aiba asked at the end of Sho's story.
"What?" spluttered Sho.
"I'm out of here," said Nino, getting up and wandering back over to Spot, patting her nose.
"Seriously," said Ohno. "Can't you just marry Nino? King Johnny didn't say it had to be a girl, right?"
"But that—!" said Sho, flailing wildly.
"I agree with them," said Jun. "Just marry Nino."
"But—"
"Sho-chan," Aiba said, cupping Sho's face. His hands were wet but held the warmth of the summer sun that glittered on the water. "Sho-chan, just ask him." And he was so solemn and sincere that Sho could only nod in response.
"Nino?" Sho coughed nervously, "Nino, will you marry me?"
Nino looked at him, his eyes calculating. "Why?" he asked.
Sho blinked. "The guys thought you would?" he offered.
"Then no," said Nino and he stomped off in a huff.
"You asked him wrong," Ohno said, chewing on the edge of a float grass seed.
"Totally wrong," sighed Aiba.
Jun sighed and nodded.
"But you said to ask!" Sho protested vehemently.
"Ask again," said Jun. "And do better this time."
Sho found Nino sitting under the clover, shuffling his petals again. "Nino," he said, "I'm really sorry I asked you to marry me like that. I really don't know any girls and I really need some help."
Nino's shoulders hunched up around his ears. "Did you ever think that maybe there was somebody that I liked?" he asked. He threw his petals down and stalked off, his whole posture defensive.
"…somebody?" said Sho.
"He likes somebody," Sho reported to the other three. He threw himself down to sit on the bank of the pond, uncaring of the dirt, feeling hurt in a way he couldn't ever remember feeling before. He felt torn up inside, like somebody had scooped out his heart. "Nino has somebody that he likes."
"…" said the other three.
"Oh," Ohno said after a minute. "Sho-chan doesn't know."
"You knew?" Sho demanded.
"The whole kingdom knows," Jun said, rolling his eyes. "He's pretty obvious about it.
"Who?" Sho wanted to know. He wanted to find that person and kick them solidly in the shin for some reason. "Who does he like? When did it start?"
Aiba giggled. "He's liked that person since the day he met you," he said but he would say no more and nor would the others no matter how much Sho tried to command the answer out of them.
Sho spent the day flying and was tired, a little sore, a lot miserable, and no closer to an answer than he had been in the morning. He was worrying about being late to the ball as he landed Spot in her stall in the stables and he nearly missed Nino completely.
He was so tired and Nino was in his formal robes and there was an announcement/engagement ball to attend after the fastest (and probably coldest) bath in the forest. "Who do you like?" he asked wearily.
Nino slapped a hand over his face and then peeked out between his fingers. "Do you honestly not know?" he asked.
"Nobody will tell me," Sho sighed as he climbed off Spot's back "And I don't like it."
"You," said Nino.
"Me what?" Sho asked, signaling to the stable-fairy to take care of Spot.
Nino's hands dropped to his sides. "I like you."
"…me?" Sho asked, automatically taking Nino's hand in his own.
Nino didn't look at him but nodded anyhow. And then he disentangled their hands. "That's why I won't marry you. You can marry Mao-chan. She likes you well enough."
Sho thought of Mao. She was a lovely fairy, smart and loyal and he worked with her closely in the library at the palace. He also had zero interest in her.
He took Nino's hand in his own again. "I want to marry Nino," he declared.
Nino looked at him.
And smiled.
"Want to pretend the baby came early?" Nino asked on a laugh.
And they did.
Thank you for all that you've given me--joy and hope and courage and friends. Thank you for pulling me and my family closer together as we sing along (badly! in bad Japanese!) with you. Thank you for loving me even though we'll never meet. More than anything my wish for all of you this year is your happiness--no matter how sunburnt or girl-kissed that might be. Be happy, Arashi! I love you!
I am SO that fan.
Moving on: This was my entry for HallowShoneen as well as a fic for
tangiblewhimsy. The Fairy Queen
Sho knelt on the golden floor of the fairy palace's throne room and wondered why he had been summoned before the King. The young prince had barely finished breakfast when the junior apprentices had rushed him, fetching him before he'd managed even one step in the direction of his lessons. Now, head bent in respectful submission, he could feel the king's eyes on him like a heavy weight. He bowed a little more.
"Sakurai," Johnny said with solemnity, "the official announcement will be at this evening's ball but I wanted to give you warning. You are no longer a junior apprentice to the throne."
The words made his breath catch with a painful hitch and his first instinct was to whip his head up and stare and plead. Instead he kept still. "If that is His Majesty's will," he said. His voice didn't even tremble, a feat he was proud of until Johnny laughed.
"You are being made Crown Prince, Sakurai Sho," said the king. "You will become the king of the fairies once your training is complete."
Sho caught his breath again and nearly choked on it. "Sire," he said and he didn't even care that his voice cracked on the word.
Johnny laughed kindly. "Robes have already been prepared for you for tonight's announcement. You're dismissed from your lessons today. Oh, and Sho? One more thing…"
"…and then he told me that I have to find a bride. I have to get married," Sho said. He got no reply but he didn't expect one. It wasn't like ladybugs could talk, after all. He continued to rub polish on the shell of the large ladybug and despair. "I don't even know any girls! What do I do, Spot?"
Spot didn't answer but continued to chew placidly on her aphids and mites.
Sho sighed. "As good a sounding board as you are, Spot, I think we're going to have to talk to the guys." He put away the polishing rag and when to get his saddle.
Truthfully, Sho did not need a saddle. He was rather too big to ride a ladybug, with his knees up by his ears as he sat. As a child he had begged and begged for a ladybug but his parents had always told him 'no'. When he'd been made a junior apprentice to the throne it had been his one request from King Johnny. Spot had become a confidant as well as a mount and he saw no reason to feel ridiculous riding her. So what if everybody else had a dragonfly? Sho had love.
Which reminded him of his current dilemma once again.
"Damn it," he sighed as he mounted his steed.
Sho had lived a bit of a sheltered life in the fairy court but that sheltered life had also given him his four greatest friends: Jun, Aiba, Nino, and Ohno. He never would have meet any of them without being a member of the court because the others were not fairies. They were members of the greater woodland court.
And as it happened, the first of his friends that Sho found was Nino. Nino was a rarity—a crossbreed between a woodland nymph and a hairy troll, the result of a love spell gone awry. He was small and delicate with the fox-like face of a nymph and he had an untidy mop of black hair that never behaved itself. Which was fitting since Nino never behaved himself either—the troll-born mischievousness, no doubt. "Nino!" Sho gasped Spot landed.
Nino looked up from shuffling petals in his hands. "Sho!" he mock-gasped in return.
"I'm in trouble!"
Nino put his petals in his pocket. "It's all right," he said, putting both hands on Sho's shoulders before sliding them down to hold his hands, "We'll get married today and tell everybody that the baby was born early."
"What?" said Sho. Then, "It's not that! C'mon, I need all of you guys to help me!" He twisted his wrist to take Nino's hand in his own. "It's seriously serious!" he said, dragging his friend over to his waiting ladybug.
The next friend Sho set off to find was Ohno, the gnome. Like all gnomes, Ohno was short and stocky with big, dark eyes. Like all gnomes, Ohno was picking mushrooms though he was munching idly as he worked. "Ohno," said Sho, landing Spot on top of a large toadstool. "Ohno, I'm in serious trouble."
Ohno gazed up at him looking sleepy and slouchy. "Just marry Nino and pretend the baby came early," Ohno said, stuffing another mushroom in his mouth.
"That's what I told him," Nino called from his perch on Spot's back.
"Not that," Sho huffed.
"It's too early for trouble," Ohno said with a little pout.
Sho ignored it easily. "Come on; let's find the others."
Nino groped Ohno's ass instead of saying 'good morning'.
"Hi, Nino," said Ohno.
"I have a problem," Sho reminded them.
It was more cramped on Spot's back with both Nino and Ohno on board but Sho was in dire need of good counsel. That naturally led him to think of Jun, the elf. "Jun!" said Sho when they found him on the path to the pond. He landed Spot and scrambled off her back. "Jun!"
Jun and Sho were of a height, as elves and fairies often were. But where Sho had wings Jun had none and where Jun's ears were pointed Sho's were round. Jun's dark hair was also longer and had no need to part around a pair of antennae. "Yo," said Jun as Sho drew up beside him. "Hello, Satoshi," he said as Ohno ambled over. "Hi, Nino," he said as Nino draped himself over Sho's shoulders.
"I'm in trouble," Sho told Jun.
"I told him to marry Nino and say that baby came early," Ohno added helpfully.
"So did I," chimed in Nino.
"Oh god," said Jun hopelessly.
"It's not that," Sho protested. "It's serious trouble!"
"Then," said Jun, "let's go to Masaki's pond first and you can fill us in all at once."
"I love you best," said Sho with all of his heart.
Masaki's pond was small and shallow and had a fair covering of pond lilies and duckweed. It also had a thriving community of water sprites, tiny beings formed out of water and magic. They tended to skate on the surface of the pond when not swimming in its depths. By luck, Aiba was out skating.
"Sho!" Aiba called, waving wildly.
"Put some pants on!" Sho called back.
"Oops!" giggled Aiba.
Sho landed Spot and tethered her to a buttercup. "I've got a serious problem!"
"Can't you just marry Nino and pretend that baby is super early?" Aiba asked.
"It's NOT that kind of trouble!"
"Can't you just marry Nino?" Aiba asked at the end of Sho's story.
"What?" spluttered Sho.
"I'm out of here," said Nino, getting up and wandering back over to Spot, patting her nose.
"Seriously," said Ohno. "Can't you just marry Nino? King Johnny didn't say it had to be a girl, right?"
"But that—!" said Sho, flailing wildly.
"I agree with them," said Jun. "Just marry Nino."
"But—"
"Sho-chan," Aiba said, cupping Sho's face. His hands were wet but held the warmth of the summer sun that glittered on the water. "Sho-chan, just ask him." And he was so solemn and sincere that Sho could only nod in response.
"Nino?" Sho coughed nervously, "Nino, will you marry me?"
Nino looked at him, his eyes calculating. "Why?" he asked.
Sho blinked. "The guys thought you would?" he offered.
"Then no," said Nino and he stomped off in a huff.
"You asked him wrong," Ohno said, chewing on the edge of a float grass seed.
"Totally wrong," sighed Aiba.
Jun sighed and nodded.
"But you said to ask!" Sho protested vehemently.
"Ask again," said Jun. "And do better this time."
Sho found Nino sitting under the clover, shuffling his petals again. "Nino," he said, "I'm really sorry I asked you to marry me like that. I really don't know any girls and I really need some help."
Nino's shoulders hunched up around his ears. "Did you ever think that maybe there was somebody that I liked?" he asked. He threw his petals down and stalked off, his whole posture defensive.
"…somebody?" said Sho.
"He likes somebody," Sho reported to the other three. He threw himself down to sit on the bank of the pond, uncaring of the dirt, feeling hurt in a way he couldn't ever remember feeling before. He felt torn up inside, like somebody had scooped out his heart. "Nino has somebody that he likes."
"…" said the other three.
"Oh," Ohno said after a minute. "Sho-chan doesn't know."
"You knew?" Sho demanded.
"The whole kingdom knows," Jun said, rolling his eyes. "He's pretty obvious about it.
"Who?" Sho wanted to know. He wanted to find that person and kick them solidly in the shin for some reason. "Who does he like? When did it start?"
Aiba giggled. "He's liked that person since the day he met you," he said but he would say no more and nor would the others no matter how much Sho tried to command the answer out of them.
Sho spent the day flying and was tired, a little sore, a lot miserable, and no closer to an answer than he had been in the morning. He was worrying about being late to the ball as he landed Spot in her stall in the stables and he nearly missed Nino completely.
He was so tired and Nino was in his formal robes and there was an announcement/engagement ball to attend after the fastest (and probably coldest) bath in the forest. "Who do you like?" he asked wearily.
Nino slapped a hand over his face and then peeked out between his fingers. "Do you honestly not know?" he asked.
"Nobody will tell me," Sho sighed as he climbed off Spot's back "And I don't like it."
"You," said Nino.
"Me what?" Sho asked, signaling to the stable-fairy to take care of Spot.
Nino's hands dropped to his sides. "I like you."
"…me?" Sho asked, automatically taking Nino's hand in his own.
Nino didn't look at him but nodded anyhow. And then he disentangled their hands. "That's why I won't marry you. You can marry Mao-chan. She likes you well enough."
Sho thought of Mao. She was a lovely fairy, smart and loyal and he worked with her closely in the library at the palace. He also had zero interest in her.
He took Nino's hand in his own again. "I want to marry Nino," he declared.
Nino looked at him.
And smiled.
"Want to pretend the baby came early?" Nino asked on a laugh.
And they did.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-04 12:06 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-05 02:16 pm (UTC)I love how Aiba continues to wage his war against pants in your fic. It makes my world brighter.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-05 07:28 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-02-17 10:02 pm (UTC)*giggles*
(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-01 05:12 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2010-03-01 05:20 pm (UTC)(Love the icon in connection with your message. I feel tacklehugloved.)