The last thing Reika remembered was a strong urgency to send the final ounce of her strength and will into the Phoenix to fight against the planet-sized abomination that used to be Emperor Pierrot. She could sense the other four Precure and the now humanoid Queen Candy doing the same.
Then a bright luminescence erupted from the magical avian, and like a chick emerging from its egg, a vision of Cure Happy emerged, so massive that Earth could have been a gem upon her necklace. The goddess-like version of Reika's friend floated toward the enraged shadow with a look of compassion, forgiveness, and even agape love.
Then everything—stars, planets, Precure, and Pierrot—disappeared into white light.
Something solid seemed to appear beneath her feet, but when Reika opened her eyes, a white void surrounded her and her friends. She instinctively glanced about, as did the others, but aside from the Precure (who were now back in their civilian clothes), there seemed to be nothing but the white. Even so, a happy calm settled on Reika's heart, and every trace of the despair Pierrot had tried to unleash on the Precure—even the thought of losing Candy and Pop forever—seemed to drift away like vapor.
"I wonder where we are?" Akane asked, but she too seemed undisturbed.
Candy sat in Miyuki's arms, back in her tiny fairy form. "It feels like we're in a friendly light," she said with a happy sigh, leaning back against Miyuki.
"Living light," Miyuki agreed, hugging her close.
"Precure!" Pop came bounding toward them from the white. "You did it! You did it!"
Candy sprung toward him with a happy squeal, and the two siblings embraced.
"But where are we?" Akane wondered again, looking around. "Where's Earth?"
They scanned the void, but strangely that euphoric peace did not leave Reika nor seemed to abandon the others.
"This feels like the Miracle Jewel's magic," Reika observed, touching her heart. It reminded her of the warmth and safety of the Mysterious Library as well.
"Full of peace," Yayoi sighed, closing her eyes as if she were drinking it in.
"And healing," Nao said, raising her hands to bask in it.
They might have stayed there for quite a while if Miyuki had not pointed in the distance. "Look."
A large shape started to materialize in the void.
"It looks like a person," Akane observed, squinting.
So it was. The figure stood as tall as a giant, much like the Queen Royale had in life; yet where the fairy queen had shone like the sun, this man seemed to have come from the moon. His lean face looked whiter than flour, which contrasted with the scintillating dark curls peeking out beneath a black skullcap and twining around his elongated elfin ears. A mammoth ruff encircled his lean neck, matching the loose white clothing hanging on his limber body, and a full-length cloak rippled behind him although there was no wind. Curiously, across his clothing he had tiny black spheres in a specific pattern: three down his milky front, another three in a vertical line above each cuff, another three above each ankle, a single sphere on the toe of each of his white slippers. Most striking, however, were his round yellow eyes which seemed like twin moons, and these gazed at the Precure with a look of sorrow and remorse.
Nao gasped. "Is that…?"
"Emperor Pierrot," Pop said in amazement, taking his sister's hand instinctively. However, after a moment he straightened, staring at the giant. "I think… I think you've purified him. Like you did to Wolf-runrun and the others."
Miyuki pressed her hands together. "That means he's good now, right?"
"Hopefully," Akane muttered.
However, Miyuki broke into a soft trot with Candy bounding close behind her. The others fell into step. Emperor Pierrot made no response as the girls and fairies advanced, but he lowered his gaze with a look that pricked at Reika's heart.
Then, amidst the white, Reika spotted another figure beginning to materialize. It caught her eye much quicker because instead of a predominately white costume, this one had traces of dark purple, and soon one could see the mass of variegated hair spread out around its head. It laid on its back, its long, skinny limbs unceremoniously sprawled about. Black eyes laid closed on a white half-mask.
Reika's breath hitched, surprising even herself. "Joker."
The last time she had seen him had been after the Precure had thwarted his final attempt to kill them. He had announced Pierrot's revival, and then Pierrot had absorbed him, reducing him to a puddle of black ink. Joker had died laughing, glad for the honor to help his master spread despair.
Reika scanned the unconscious jester as the Precure drew closer to the two clowns. Joker had always been a dangerous foe, only surpassed by Emperor Pierrot himself; Reika had never approached a battle against him lightly. Now, however, he looked helpless, almost like a defenseless child, and an unnatural pallor stretched across the exposed parts of his skin.
Was he even alive?
"Has Joker been purified too, do you think?" Yayoi whispered to Reika.
For a moment, Reika remembered several things—all the times Joker had kidnapped Candy; the evening Reika had faced Joker in a one-on-one fight in the Bad End Kingdom and his delight in her pain; the day he had trapped the Precure in the Ball of Neglect; the times Joker had personally tried to end Reika's life. However, looking upon that pathetic, unconscious form, something swelled inside her. As it had been with the former Bad End generals when they had confessed to the Precure why they had become evil, Reika felt a compassion toward Joker that pushed away the dark memories.
She changed direction from the other Precure and moved toward the fallen jester. She knelt and touched his neck, searching for a pulse before she had time to wonder if his biology worked the same as a human's. Fortunately, she found a faint but clear heartbeat beneath his cold skin. She gave his shoulder a gentle shake before she patted his cheek with light firmness to rouse him, but Joker did not respond.
"Is he…?" a male voice whispered, and Reika looked up to see the towering Pierrot staring down at them. Instead of a deep threatening baritone, Pierrot now had a soft, sorrowful tenor.
"He's alive," Reika replied.
The colossal man sighed with relief, touching his heart. "At least I… I didn't…" His face fell, and he closed his eyes. "How could I have done that? To a child?" He turned away, gazing at the never-ending white. "But then, I was ready to destroy every last child on your planet and even in my own kingdom, wasn't I? And for what?"
He drew in a deep breath and undid the clasp of his white cloak. He swung the long mantle off his shoulders, stepped closer to the two, and extended the garment to Reika.
"Please, keep him warm," he pleaded.
The cloak was as long as three quilts sewn together. Nao and Yayoi hurried forward to help Reika fold it a few times, and Emperor Pierrot retreated several elephantine paces as the girls draped the white fabric around the jester. Joker did not stir at all as Nao tucked her share of the folds beneath his limbs as if he were one of her younger siblings. Reika touched his neck again to make sure he had not slipped away, and a faucet of relief flowed through her when she found a slightly stronger pulse.
While the three busied themselves with their sudden patient, Miyuki gingerly approached the white clown, Candy riding in her arms. Compassion brimmed her pink eyes, and Candy sat up to give her late mother's long-standing foe a kind look.
"Emperor Pierrot," Miyuki said gently, "you told us you were born from the despair of humanity, didn't you?"
Pierrot did not look at her. "Well, it wasn't entirely untrue, Cure Happy," he said. "The monster you fought was the result of me taking all the despair of humanity into myself, which has existed since the first human ever grieved. But I'm several, several centuries younger than mankind itself."
"How did you get like that?"
The clown king sighed again and made a slow spin back to his gathered companions. His moon-like eyes swept over them.
"I wasn't born royalty," he began. "Before me, the Bad End Kingdom was ruled by Emperor Apophis the Uncreator. I don't know how much you know about the Civil War of Bad End, Your Majesty," he said, addressing the little blonde fairy. "It happened when your mother was still a princess. But the queen before her supplied aid to our resistance when Apophis tried to destroy our world for his own amusement. Your mother's sister fought alongside us too, a great sorceress and warrior, not unlike the Precure. When we defeated Apophis, we laid down the treaty for the First Peace between Bad End and Märchenland. And it turned out to be the last one as well."
Miyuki's eyes widened. "So, once upon a time, you were friends with the Märchenland fairies?"
"And the Queen?" Candy chimed in, staring up at Pierrot in wonder.
"More than that," Pierrot replied. He knelt slightly, and his yellow eyes stared right down at Candy's blue ones. "After the Bad End people gave me the crown, I took for myself an empress—your aunt, Columbine."
A collective cry arose among the Precure, but none of them matched the shriek of thunderstruck shock from the new queen.
"You're the Queen Royale's brother-in-law?" Candy gawked, looking as if that revelation were more astounding than all the other things they had encountered that day. "And you wanted to kill her?"
"And Candy?" Akane demanded. Despite the Miracle Jewel's calming influence, a little bit of fire appeared on her face. "Your niece?"
"Niece," Nao muttered near Reika, shaking her green head. "It's just one revelation after another today, isn't it?"
"I am... so sorry about that now," the emperor said, lying his palm against his forehead as if he were trying to clear his head of invisible spectres. "But I've had years to build up a blinding resentment toward anything involving my late wife, including her homeland. So, you can imagine how I wouldn't have much affection for her surviving relatives."
Pop, however, was the only one who didn't look the least bit surprised. The lion-like fairy folded his stubby arms. "I've read about that before," he said, frowning as he stared up from beside Akane's ankle at the emperor. Although Pop's voice remained civil, family loyalty and a big-brother protectiveness laced his expression. "Empress Columbine disappeared years ago, and you refused to give her sister any information about it. You cut off all communication to Märchenland until you attacked our kingdom. You're confirming that the empress is dead?"
"I am." His hand slid to his pale neck. "Understand that when I took the crown, I was the furthest from Apophis as could be. Before the war, people regarded me as Pierrot the Sad Clown, who always got the worst lot. But once I had someone to fight for—when I had my Columbine—I discovered powers I didn't know I possessed. I dealt the finishing blow that ended Apophis and his tyranny, and I couldn't have done it without my Columbine." His yellow eyes closed. "And I couldn't have done it without Arlecchino."
Miyuki moved closer until she and Candy stood directly beneath Pierrot's miserable countenance. "Who's Arlecchino?" she asked gently.
He covered his eyes like a child blocking out a nightmare. "My best friend," he replied in a low voice, "back when I still believed in friendship. You might know him better as Harlequin."
Reika raised her head. "Harlequin?" That name sounded familiar, like something she had read out of a book on European history. She tried her best to recall the text, but the memory eluded her.
"Isn't that a Batman character?" Yayoi muttered, pushing back her blonde hair. No one answered her.
Pierrot shook his head at himself. "Believe me, once upon a time I held fast to the things you Precure fight for," he insisted, lowering his hands. "I would've given Harlequin and Columbine the last breath from my lungs to save their lives if I had to."
Miyuki nodded encouragingly. "So, what changed you?"
His moon-like eyes averted from them all, but a reluctant hand raised and pointed to the sleeping jester on the ground.
"Him," he whispered. His voice trembled a little. "At least… At least, I blamed him. For so long. But he was just an innocent child. And I just hated him—I hated him!" He jerked his head away, struggling with emotion.
Reika looked down at her patient with an uncomfortable expression. Joker had worked steadfastly to revive his king, and he always spoke Pierrot's name with deep respect. Did he know about the emperor's utter abhorrence toward him in all that time?
Perhaps he did—and perhaps that's why he fought so hard to please Emperor Pierrot. She felt a rush of compassion toward him at the thought. She realized then Yayoi and Nao had gotten back to their feet, but for some reason she could not fully explain, she did not try to move away from the purified clown boy.
"What did he do?" she asked quietly.
However, Pierrot shook his head. "Nothing at all. He did nothing to me. But I still punished him for another man's crime." His face contorted into a spasm of grief, but then he calmed himself. He gestured to the three girls still near the jester. "Remove his mask. He doesn't need it now. I'm not—I'm not angry anymore."
Reika hesitated, not sure if she should be the one to touch him. She looked from Pierrot to Joker, then to the upright Nao and Yayoi. Nao shrugged uncomfortably. Yayoi covered her mouth, staring at Joker with a mixture of apprehension and curiosity.
Reika finally leaned forward, gently gripping the edges. She slowly lifted the mask.
She stared.
She had suspected that Joker wore his mask due to some birth defect or a disfigurement; she had considered the possibility that it could be part of his magical biology. She even wondered if those void-like black eyes were empty sockets in his skull. However, as the calming light fell upon him, she saw only a normal, if elvish, face. Sweat-caked eyebrows which matched his violet bangs formed gentle curves on his wide forehead, and his black eyelashes laid against dark circles as if he normally did not sleep much. He had a tan line across his sharp cheekbones and thin nose, and the newly exposed skin looked sickly from the lack of sunshine. Other than that, though, he could have been a boy she saw around school.
Well, not quite, she thought, glancing at the mass of yellow, red, blue, and purple hair which might have been his natural pigment. He had pierced pointed ears which resembled Pierrot's, and his lips had slightly parted in his slumber, revealing a peek at his several sharp teeth.
Reika laid the mask to the side, and Emperor Pierrot snapped his milky fingers. She gave a quick jump as the half-mask instantly burst into a white flame which consumed it fully, leaving not even a flake of ash.
She recovered from the surprise and looked at the somber king. "What is Joker-san?" she asked. "What species, I mean. If it isn't too rude to ask."
"Half-breed," the white clown replied flatly. "His father was a dark sprite from the Bad End Kingdom; his mother, a fairy from Märchenland."
Pop leapt forward, scurrying closer to examine the jester. His exposed dewy black eye narrowed, and his mouth formed a grim line. No doubt he still remembered how Joker had tried to kill Candy while she was in the Miracle Jewel—along with all his other horrible deeds—but he also seemed willing to grant Joker an olive branch. A flicker of recognition crossed his furry face.
"He looks like someone I know," he murmured. "But who?" He looked toward the repentant king. "Was he like Wolf-runrun and the others? Did you recruit him?"
"He's lived his whole as my subject," Pierrot said dully, "and under my heel. He thought it was paradise, having known no other life than the misery I dealt him." He ran a hand over his black skull cap, and his dark curls sparkled as if studded with stars. "His real name is Peter. His mother named him after me—that is, my name means Little Peter in French. But I changed him to Joker before the boy could even comprehend the world around him."
"Peter…" Reika repeated, gazing at her erstwhile enemy. Such an earthly, innocent name for such an otherworldly sorcerer, it almost didn't seem to fit.
"The reason he probably looks familiar to you, young fairy, is because his mother"—Pierrot paused to exhale—"his mother was Columbine."
Pop started in the air. "Columbine?!" he demanded. "Columbine is his mother?"
"Was."
Miyuki's magenta eyes grew wide. "He's Candy's family too?"
Candy gaped. "Family?" She leapt from Miyuki's arms and made a dash to stand by Pop. Her blue eyes scanned her purified kidnapper's face. "His nose kinda looks like the queen's," she noted after a moment. "At least a little."
Reika stared at the sleeping boy. Joker, the giggling jester with his own circus tent, was the child of an empress?
"He's your son, Pierrot-sama?" she asked.
"No."
A cold, dead silence settled on everyone. Even Candy did not make a squeak, though she grabbed Pop's hand.
Pierrot stepped closer. Joker already towered over the Precure by at least two heads, but in the presence of the emperor, the jester seemed like a toddler.
"Do you understand now?" Pierrot whispered, looking at each of the Precure as if seeking both validation and atonement. "I had so much hope—my expecting queen was to give me our first child, after centuries of waiting. It was like being in those fairy tales when a childless king finally gets an heir. Imagine what it was like for me: the months of preparation, of dreaming both of him and the siblings to come after. When I first heard that boy's cries echoing through my palace, my heart felt like it could not contain its joy."
He clutched his chest and stopped to take deep breaths. His yellow eyes grew moist, and Reika felt a strange lump rise to her throat.
"Then I went to look upon my child," he continued huskily, caught between a growl and a sob, "and I saw Harlequin's 'perfect, pretty eyes' as she used to call them on the babe instead. My empress tried to pass my best friend's by-blow off for the crown prince and give him my throne. I couldn't—I couldn't take it." He hid his face in his ruff with one hand. His broad shoulders shook.
"Oh, Pierrot-sama," Miyuki murmured. After a moment of hesitation, she dared to reach above her head to pat the dangling fingers of his other hand; being the one to give him the purifying hug seemed to give her a boldness she wouldn't normally have shown.
"So, that's why you executed Columbine," Pop concluded in a monotone, but a hint of suppressed emotion tinged his voice. "And Harlequin too then?"
Pierrot nodded. "By Bad End laws, they had committed treason, and I gave them no royal pardon. But as to Joker—as to Peter... I have no excuse." He made a strangled noise. "I could've sent the boy to Märchenland to live with Columbine's sister. She would've cared for him, even if he was a misbegotten half-breed. But I didn't want him to know any true happiness after his father caused me to lose mine. So, his very beginning marked the start of his bad end."
Reika's throat tightened.
Pierrot buried his chalky face again. "I don't deserve to be purified," he moaned. "Every person Peter's ever hurt—every moment of sadism—was because of me. He did everything to get just a trace of my approval. When the Queen Royale sealed me away, he worked tirelessly to revive a man who despised him completely. Then when I had no more use for him, I absorbed him to boost my own power—the same way I absorbed his parents. Peter went to his death with thanksgivings on his lips, thinking it all an honor."
Reika's fingers clenched into fist, then uncurled. "He's not dead now," she said in a muted tone.
"But he would have been once he was completely a part of my being—" Pierrot stopped short as Joker uttered a soft sigh, stirring beneath the titanic cloak.
Everyone watched in silence as Joker's stylized hands appeared, exploring the makeshift blanket blindly. The hands then lifted to his bare face, and his purple eyebrows furrowed as his fingers searched for his mask. He jerked his head up in confusion, turning to the side, and he opened his eyes.
As his stare fell upon her, Reika thought she had never seen a pair of violet irises quite that shade before.
He blinked in surprise, and his jaw lowered, but he made no sound as he propped himself onto his skinny elbow.
They regarded each other for a moment; Joker seemed a bit disoriented, and Reika calmly held his gaze. A grim sadness rippled through her as she peered into those long-hidden eyes, so much like his biological father's that the Emperor of Evil had punished him for it.
What would things have been like if you had been Pierrot's true son? she wondered. How would you have turned out if you had been his beloved crown prince and if you could have visited your aunt in Märchenland and played with Candy and Pop?
Finally, she ventured to ask, "How do you feel, Joker-san?"
His dazed eyes grew clearer and narrowed in study, and Reika saw not a trace of malice. She waited for him to get his bearings, but his stare only swept over her face as if trying to figure out why she was next to him.
Akane and Miyuki drew closer, giving Joker gentle looks that mirrored Reika's own, although the jester did not seem to notice. As the silence stretched, Nao coughed into her hand, and an odd look crossed Yayoi's round face. Reika tried to act as if this was the most natural thing in the world.
At last Joker asked, "Are we both dead, Cure Beauty?"
She shook her head, a small, sad smile tugging on her lips. "No, Joker-san."
He quirked a violet eyebrow. "Am I dead?"
"No, Joker-san."
He gave a wry scoff, starting to sit up. "Since when have you ever called me 'san,' Cure B—"
His voice quite died when he caught sight of the enormous pair of slippers near him. His head slowly raised to meet his emperor's face, and his violet eyes bulged with wonder, veneration and abject horror.
Joker bolted from beneath the white cloak and scrambled to his knees. His frantic hands scavenged the area around him. Candy and Pop had to leap away to avoid getting scratched by their newly discovered cousin's razor-sharp nails.
"Forgive me, Pierrot-sama! I don't mean to appear before you with my face uncovered—let me just find it—"
Reika felt a flood of pity for him as the jester crawled about on his hands and knees. "Joker-san, Pierrot-sama already destroyed—" she tried to say, but Joker seemed to be worlds away.
"Perfectly abominable," the jester murmured, flinging up the cloak to search beneath it. Reika was obliged to jump to her feet to avoid being hit by his thrashing arms. "So unprofessional and indecent. This is so unlike me. You have every right to be angry, Your Majesty."
Pierrot held up a hand. "Peter, please, you don't have to—"
"Sorry, sorry," Joker rambled, his voice beginning to sound like a violin string pulled too tight. He uttered a hysterical laugh. "Please, I meant no disrespect. I know! I'll just make myself a new one—" He raised a hand to snap his fingers.
"Joker!" Pierrot barked, taking on an authoritative tone that made the younger half-fairy jump and tremble. "I command you to stop."
Joker promptly threw himself against the white surface beneath them and plunked his forehead against it. "To hear is to obey, Pierrot-sama," he said with unadulterated reverence.
Pierrot stared down at the stiff, prostate jester. His mouth formed a thin line, but he could not stop the self-reproachful tremble of his lip. He lowered himself to his knees and laid his enormous fingertip against Joker's back.
"Oh, Peter. Forgive me."
With his pasty, pointed nose still pressed down, Joker shook his head. "There's nothing to forgive, Pierrot-sama."
Pierrot exhaled and sat back on his heels. "Peter, sit up."
Joker pushed himself to his knees. His eyebrows shot high when he spotted the other Precure and the two fairies. "Interesting," he murmured. He stared up at Pierrot in confusion. "Pardon me, Your Majesty, but if I may be bold enough to ask a question…?"
"You have my leave."
Joker cleared his throat. "Who won?"
"They did. We've both been purified by the Miracle Jewel, Peter." Pierrot glanced at Miyuki. "I suppose this means the Precure are no longer our enemies."
Joker touched his pointed chin, wearing a contemplative expression. "That explains why I no longer feel the urge to kill any of you," he said as if Pierrot had merely explained why the sky was blue. His eyes trailed to Reika. "What a new experience."
Pierrot emitted a low, rueful groan. "I truly made you into a tool of mass destruction, didn't I? You didn't deserve any of that, Peter." He shook his head. "I should have given you to the Queen Royale when I had the chance instead of rearing you into a monster."
Joker only dipped his head. "I would gladly go through all of it again, Pierrot-sama. I'm sure I would've been miserable with the fairies if you had handed me over. You've been more good to me than you're giving yourself credit."
"You're only saying that because you have no other basis of comparison than my despair. I see I must change that first. Somehow," he added, running his fingers through his shimmering line of black curls. "If only I could remember…"
Miyuki closed the distance between herself and the clown king's white knee. She gazed up at Pierrot with the same kind of altruism and understanding she had given him when she had performed the cleansing hug.
"You've both been given second chances today," she said kindly. She gestured to the kneeling jester. "Pierrot-sama, Joker-san seems ready to give you not just his forgiveness, but his friendship. That's a good place for both of you to start."
Joker bowed his head even further. "I'm not worthy to be the friend of Pierrot-sama," he said in a low voice.
Pierrot reached down and laid his hand atop Joker's colorful head, which fitted in the king's palm like a puppy's. "You've always been worthy, son."
Joker closed his eyes in embarrassment, but a genuine smile spread across his wide mouth.
With another gentle pat for the jester, Pierrot then got to his feet. The Precure and fairies gave him room as his massive limbs pushed himself up. Joker rose as well, watching the emperor with an expression of filial worship.
As Pierrot's cloak rose on its own and slipped around the monarch's shoulders, the clown's dark eyebrows shot up in a sudden thought. "Oh, yes," he murmured and fished his hand into an unseen pocket. He withdrew something pink which fitted between his thumb and forefinger. "I suppose I don't need this anymore."
He passed it to Miyuki, who uttered a cry of delight.
"Our story book!"
Pierrot nodded, and a small smile finally appeared on his lips. "May our paths cross again under pleasant circumstances, Precure. Adieu." The emperor then gestured in one direction. "Come along, Peter. Let's go home and start cleaning up what's left of the kingdom."
Reika had been watching the reconciliation between the two clowns in silence while an odd feeling poured from her heart. She found her voice and politely stepped forward. "The book gates will close now without the Miracle Jewel," she said. "Will you be able to find your way back?"
Joker's eyes slid toward her, and his kind smile widened in a wry fashion. "It's easy to access the Bad End Kingdom, Cure Beauty, even from Earth. It's Märchenland that's so elusive."
Pierrot grunted in agreement. "It's always easier to find despair than happiness," he explained. "As we say in the clown business, tragedy is easy; comedy is hard."
With that, the two clowns took their leave, advancing toward a point that Pierrot seemed to see. Joker had to float to keep up with the titanic king. After he had flown a few meters, he looked back at the Precure for a brief moment. He gave them a quick nod, which they returned, and he continued on with his master.
The calming white around the Precure began to shift and morph. Soon Joker and Pierrot could not be seen at all as lush green trees, blades of grass waving in the wind, and fluffy clouds in a deep-blue sky materialized around the girls.
The Precure grinned at each other—at least until they had to say goodbye to their fairy friends.
Life went on. Although they were no longer warriors of legend, the Precure remained just as close as before. For Reika, she had plenty to keep herself occupied, which in turn kept sad thoughts at bay. From her duties as Student Council President to her archery club to even practicing calligraphy with her grandfather, she remained too busy following her committed path to have any regrets.
Even so, at times, especially at night when everything was still and she waited for sleep to claim her, she wondered how Candy was doing as the new queen of Märchenland and how Pop was helping her cope with the separation. She would sometimes wonder what the Precure could have done differently that could have purified Emperor Pierrot while keeping the book gates open, but she would quiet those sorrows by being thankful that everyone she loved had survived the battle.
Occasionally—perhaps more often than she would have admitted to her friends—she wondered how Joker was doing in the Bad End Kingdom, whether he and Pierrot were able to keep their new friendship, and whether they were able to find the family they had each wanted. She wondered how Pierrot managed with repairing his kingdom and what Joker was doing to assist him. She hoped, as with the former Bad End generals, the once sadistic jester had found his happy ending after all.
A few months after their final fight, Reika, Nao, Akane and Yayoi waited on a street corner for Miyuki to meet up with them for a weekend outing.
"She's running late," Akane chuckled.
"Why don't we walk down the road a little?" Reika suggested kindly. "We might meet up with her, and she won't have to run as far."
Soon a lovely street stretched before them, leading to a sharp turn. On their left was a glistening lake while on their right laid rows of sakura trees in bloom.
"Oh, there she is!" Yayoi cried, concerned. "Why is she on the ground?"
The girls quickened their steps. Miyuki's back was toward them, and she was on her knees, huddled over something in her arms. On the other side of Miyuki's magenta pigtail, it was clear she was holding—
"Candy?!" they shrieked together and broke into a run.
The blonde fairy beamed at the girls as they neared, pushing herself out of Miyuki's fierce embrace to to raise her head.
"But how did you make it over here?!" Akane cried as she slowed on Miyuki's left.
Candy let out a squeal of delight as the girls gathered around her. "It was Cousin Joker's idea! He brought me back to you!" The fairy pointed joyfully to the sky.
Reika spun around with the others, and her already warm smile broadened just a little. Thirty feet above, Joker hung in the air, the curled toes on his high-heel boots grazing the pink blossoms of a sakura. He wore an amused look as he regarded them. Reika noticed at once that his complexion had evened out, and he seemed to have been in the sun recently.
Joker laid a modest hand upon his chest. "When I learned Her Majesty had spent several nights wishing on stars to return to you, I naturally offered my assistance."
"See, see?" Candy giggled up to him, sounding a little self-satisfied amidst her glee. "The stars granted my wish after all. They sent me my wonderful cousin to help! And you thought I was being silly."
"I never said I thought it was silly," replied Joker. He tossed his head to side playfully. "Out loud."
Miyuki climbed to her feet and all but scampered toward the tree to gaze up at the jester with a look of awe and tearful gratitude. "Joker-san, how did you do it without the book gates?"
Joker raised his arms in a theatrical shrug. "It's as I told you ladies before," he said, shaking his quad-colored head. "It's always been easier to get to the Bad End Kingdom than it is to get to Märchenland. Once Candy-sama told me her intentions, all I had to do was to take her through a quick detour to the Bad End Kingdom. Then a hop, skip, and a finger snap later, we came here."
"Cousin Joker is so smart!" Candy cheered. "That's why Emperor Pierrot made him ambassador to Märchenland!"
"Ambassador?" muttered Akane, rubbing her thumb against her forehead. Disbelief and mirth mingled on her face.
Reika smiled up at the jester. "Congratulations."
Joker gave her a bow of thanks.
"He has his own room in the palace too," Candy chirped. "And Cousin Joker is helping me learn more about my magic. Watch!" The fairy narrowed her blue eyes in concentration—then her stubby hand sliced through the air so quickly it made a snapping sound.
Before their eyes, a minuscule pink rosebud appeared in Candy's grasp.
"Wowww!" Miyuki gushed, and the others let out similar sounds of approval and amazement.
"I can't do a bi-i-ig flower yet, but I'll get there!" Candy declared. "Cousin Joker is a great teacher. He's smart like Reika!"
"Well then, that is a compliment," her floating cousin remarked with a soft chuckle. He folded his arms, and as he did, he descended through the pink branches (although Reika thought she saw a few part for him as if moved by an unseen force). He landed like a bird upon the lowest one and bowed. "Have fun, Your Majesty, and just whistle when you're ready to go home."
Candy raised her head. "Don't you want to play with us, Cousin Joker?"
He held up a polite palm. "I'll pass this time. You ladies enjoy your reunion while I enjoy the peace and quiet."
Miyuki's lip trembled, and she gazed up at Joker with moist eyes. She bowed deeply. "Thank you, Joker-san." Her voice broke a little. "Thank you for bringing Candy back."
The rest of the girls followed suit, dipping low.
"We all love her," Yayoi sniffed.
"We owe you big," said Nao.
"You ain't half bad after all," Akane quipped, giving him a thumbs up.
"I too am surprised by the sort of paths life puts me on," he replied calmly, but Reika thought he looked pleased at their appreciation. He then gestured toward the road. "Daylight's burning. You girls have your fun."
"I'll bring you back a snack!" Candy called to him over Miyuki's shoulder as the girls started off.
However, they had not gone fifty feet when Reika found herself looking back. Joker had hopped off the tree branch to lean against the trunk, and he watched the departing girls. It might have been just Reika's imagination, but she thought Joker eyed her in particular.
Perhaps, after all the times he's tried to kill us, he's wondering if we could really forgive him.
Reika stopped and spun back around. "I'll catch up to you all in a moment."
Nao slowed first. "Reika?"
However, Reika had already started down the road to the jester.
Joker straightened a little as she approached, but he folded his arms with a casual ease. "Hello, Cure Beauty," he greeted her with a broad grin that showed his pointed teeth. The spring breeze picked up, shaking the petals above and causing the filtered beams of light and shadow to dance across his youthful face.
Reika clasped her hands in front of her in her usual ladylike fashion and calmly met his violet eyes. They seemed more vibrant than the last time she had seen them this close—even peaceful.
"Hello, Joker-san," she smiled back. However, she then tapped her chin as a fresh thought occurred to her. "I'm sorry. Should it be 'kakka' now that you're an ambassador?" she asked respectfully.
He hummed a laugh. "Hmm, hmm, hmm. First 'san,' now 'kakka.' I wonder what you'll call me next." He dipped his head in his courtly way, albeit now free of mean-spirited irony. "But I did try to destroy your species on more than one occasion, so you can just call me plain ol' Joker as before, Cure Beauty."
Reika gave her head a empathetic shake. "That's all in the past now, Joker-san."
Joker lifted his eyes to the sky in a lighthearted way. "You and the fairies are all so quick to forgive. Before I would've thought you were idiots, but now... well, I'm still getting used to it."
She was not surprised by such a confession, but even so her heart felt a tinge of sympathy for him. "How are you enjoying Märchenland?"
"How? How?" he repeated, running his talon-like fingernails through his vibrant hair. "It's certainly a change going from Pierrot-sama's court to the palace of my dear little cousin." For a brief moment, a cloud covered his sharp face, and his eyes seemed to fill with what looked like homesickness, but he recovered his relaxed mien with a smile. "But I'm doing a great work for Pierrot-sama," he continued. "He's trusting me to represent him in a foreign land, and that's a great honor, no?"
"One of the greatest," agreed Reika.
"And Wolf-runrun-san and the other ex-generals are good company, I suppose," he added thoughtfully. "They understand this 'reformed from villainy' stuff too, and they know how to balance their happy endings without getting too sugary about it. They invite me to play cards with them now. They never did that back in the Bad End Kingdom." He gave a slight giggle. "And the cell-phone service is phenomenal," he joked.
She gave him a kind look. "Then are you happy?"
"Hmmm," he answered, glancing at the flowery branches above him. "I suppose the little Märchenland marshmallows are starting to grow on me," he quipped. "And Pop-san is good for an intelligent conversation or two, and Candy-sama has her charms." He lowered his gaze again to meet hers. "Perhaps I am happy, Cure Beauty. How droll."
Reika's heart fluttered slightly with friendly warmth, and she bowed her head. "I already thanked you once, but I'll do it again," she said. "I'm glad you were there for Candy's happy ending. Everything is that much sweeter with her here, and you made that possible, Joker-san."
"Me, helping with a happy ending? It really did take a Miracle Jewel to make that happen." He gave her a wink.
She covered her mouth as a soft giggle of her own arose.
He raised an eyebrow. "I think that is the first time I've made you laugh, Cure Beauty," he remarked. "Someday, I shall have to do it again."
"Now that we can be friends, I shall welcome it," she returned.
His eyes glittered, and he pushed himself off the trunk to his full height. In her low-heel blue boots, Reika only came up to the red belt around his chest. Where his stature had (sometimes) intimidated her during a fight, now there was something pleasant about it, though she could not explain what it was.
"So, friend to friend," he said, "do you have any advice for a political leader, Madame Student Council President?"
Reika felt a little awkward. "Oh, I couldn't possibly give you anything helpful on such a great scale, Joker-san," she murmured.
"Nonsense," he said breezily. "Even when we were enemies, I thought of you as something like an intellectual equal—and that's saying a lot, I might add. Any advice from you is sure to be useful."
Reika lowered her eyes, feeling her cheeks warm. "I suppose… At least, the first thing I can think of right now," she clarified, "is just try to put the needs of others before your own."
"You think that'll work?"
"You've already done that with Pierrot-sama all these years," she pointed out. "Just try it with the other people who need you."
He considered it. "I suppose it makes sense." He then bowed. "Thank you, Cure Beauty. I wouldn't want to take up any more of your time."
Reika smiled. "See you in a few hours then."
"Oh, you will," he grinned, lifting his head again to give her a wink.
Reika did not know why her face pinked again, but she gave him one last serene smile before she turned and made her way back to the waiting Precure.
THE END
Joker = Peter - Did you know that when Old Maid is played with a joker card, the game is sometimes called "Black Peter"? In fact, in some countries Old Maid is referred to as Black Peter. And Joker's first appearance in the show is during a game of Old Maid, haha! As such, I had been playing with the idea of Joker's real name being Peter for another fic, but when I remembered that Pierrot means "Little Peter" in French, I wanted to use that here. :)
"I absorbed him to boost my own power—the same way I absorbed his parents" - This is my personal headcanon to explain why Pierrot has Harlequin's diamonds on his design, in-universe. (Doylist explanation: the show's designers thought it was cool.) I mean, Pierrot's signature detail is having the spheres on his costume; he's not supposed to have Harlequin's motley pattern. But if Emperor Pierrot absorbed Harlequin in revenge for stealing his wife in the Smile Precure universe, maybe the diamonds were added to Pierrot's appearance as a result.