My take on Leona's thought of Dai, might be a bit OOC…Dragon Quest Dai no Daibouken isn't mine, neither are the characters.
Enjoy!
My Hero
As a little girl I grew up listening to my mother's stories of dashing heroes on white horses, galloping bravely across the battlefield to save the princess from the clutches of evil Demon Kings.
It was one of my favorites, I would often dream that one day a hero like the ones in mother's stories would come and rescue me, defeat the evil demon king and sweep me off to the sunset where we would live happily ever after…
My ideal hero back then would be tall and handsome and dashing and brave and tall and handsome and… you get the idea.
I, the tragic Princess of Papunika, trapped in the tallest tower by the evil Demon King. Patiently and hopefully waits for the brave Hero to appear on the horizon on his valiant stead, garbed in shining armor and the sword of justice gleaming in his hand. He would then brave through the Evil Demon King's army and minions until he comes face to face with the Evil Demon King himself. He would fight for me and emerge victorious against the Demon King. Oh how joyous! I would then run into his arms and reward him with a maiden's kiss. He would then sweep me up onto his stead as we rode together into the sunset…well; at least that's what I always dreamed it would be.
Until now, that is.
After father passed away and I was left to inherit the throne, I figured I had to give up such childish dreams…there's no such thing heroes, the closest thing to a hero that I acknowledged was Avan. He was real live Hero, thanks to his and his friends' efforts to take down the Demon King 15 years ago we were able to live in peace.
When I first met him, I had the image of the perfect and ideal hero stuck to my head. Imagined my surprise to find a man in a goofy noble hairstyle and even goofy glasses standing there instead of the dashing tall figure I envisioned, talk about a disappointment but once you got past the goofiness, I actually saw THE Hero before me. I was greatly taken by him. I was tempted to ask if he had rescued any princesses before but was too embarrassed to do so.
It would be a long while before I ever see him again since that day.
Then came rumors from Romos about a young hero appearing out of nowhere.
To say that I was curious was an understatement, so I jumped at the chance to see this 'hero' when Baron came to me with the suggestion to perform the magic ritual on Delmurin Island. Even King Shinana of Romos strongly recommended me to at least visit this 'Dai' person. According to the old king, he's quite the brave hero.
Hmm…
I really should've stopped thinking that my ideal hero exists anywhere.
Instead of the tall and mysterious and handsome hero of my dreams…I came face to face with a kid.
A literal kid hero who is even shorter than me.
Oh well.
At least he's kinda cute, so that's a plus I suppose.
Oh, don't get me wrong! I like him all the same. Sure he wasn't anywhere near tall, definitely not handsome in the way that it would make maiden swoon and…hmm, I guess there is an air of mystery to him. I mean, how did he end up on an island as remote as Delmurin anyway?
So far, I could see monsters everywhere, at least they weren't hostile and the one called Brass was even courteous. So how did a cute human kid like him end up living on a monster island? Yep, there's mystery right there. Plus, he's really cute and funny that I can't help but tease him a bit. I even gave him the Papunika Knife, much to my own surprise really.
I never would've guessed how that changed everything between us…
Dai might not be tall or handsome like the heroes I first dreamed of but…he was much, much better.
He had bravery in abundance, a heart pure as the whitest snow and big as the sky itself, mysterious powers not withstanding. For the first time in my life…I finally believed that I found my True Hero.
Despite the hopelessness of everything, despite how everything was dead set against him…he came running to my rescue.
Every single time…
He's no Mr. Perfect.
He's not Mr. Mysterious.
Certainly not tall.
But…I wouldn't change him for anything in the world.
No matter what the whole world said about him.
He's Dai.
He's My Dai.
My Hero.
So please Dai…wherever you might be, please don't forget me.
I'll wait for you to come and sweep me off my feet one more time.
I'll wait for you forever.
Come back Dai.
End
A/N: Hmm…not exactly what I had in mind when I thought about Leona but it just came out..I guess. Hopefully that wasn't too weird. This is just an outlook on Leona's thoughts of Dai from their first meeting and when Dai disappeared with the Black Core. I really hate that ending.