Disclaimer: I am not Matsumoto-sensei, therefore I do not own "Yumeiro Pâtissière" or anything related to this manga, game and anime.
Author's Note: Do not ask me where I got this idea, because the answer you'll get is: "I had this sudden attack of plot bunnies while doing my Maths homework." Would you believe me? :D Also, a bit of warning: this fic will feature a dark!Henri.
"Thorny Devotion"
-Prologue-
~The Wheels of Fate that had Once Stopped~
Team François had been defeated by Team Ichigo, several months ago. Henri Lucas couldn't believe this glaring fact. To think that he was so sure that his best pupil would be perfectly able to defeat a bunch of kids! He was proven wrong. So wrong that he couldn't quite stomach it.
Henri wasn't pleased; not one bit. He was disappointed—and felt humiliated—at François, his star pupil.
Henri Lucas casually walked to his bed, deep in though, as he went through all the different possibilities on why François—of all people!—and her teammates lose. François had the ability; her skills were superior and, no doubt, she could easily win against those brats, be it at a competition or while asleep. Her recipe for the Dijonaise au Chocolat that was placed in the Court Pâtissier Museum was one of the many evidence of her skill.
Still, Henri thought, lying on his bed, the problem lies how it happened. Team François had the advantage since they are more experienced than Team Ichigo. Also, Team François consisted of the best students of St. Marie Academy. How could they have lost? Skills? No; compared to those children, they're better than them tenfold. Performance, perhaps?
As he kept on pondering too hard on this, he had missed the most obvious reason of all: Team Ichigo had put every emotion they felt towards making sweets and what they want the ones who would eat it smile. Love, care, enjoyment and various bright, heartfelt emotions flooded the sweets. They wanted everyone to feel the same as they do; they want everyone to see what they see; they want everyone to taste what bringing happiness means in their sweets.
The mere thought of it made Henri sneer in disgust. Who needs emotions when you have the knowledge? Only the weak relay on those idiotic things.
True to the fact that Henri was a prodigy. He was respected and looked upon by almost every pastry chefs in the world. He's one of the greatest, but he certainly lacked one thing: heart.
He didn't have the heart to make the others experience happiness through sweets; that's ridiculous! All you needed was skills and knowledge, nothing else. Emotions? They weren't necessary in accomplishing to become one of the top pastry chefs. They were, to him, almost non-existent.
Henri soon fell asleep after a long time's thinking. Only the weak and the foolish would relay on emotions.
He certainly wasn't one of them.
His Sweets Spirit shook its head, completely disagreeing with its Partner's way of thinking. If only Henri would look back to what he was before . . . Henri wasn't this kind of person to look down on people. It just wasn't like him!
The Spirit sighed dejectedly, floating above Henri's head. The Spirit didn't know how to handle him, anymore. In the past, its partner was much, much easier to handle and teach. Henri was an enthusiastic child until . . . until he finally reached his goal.
Glancing at its partner with disappointment, the Sweets Spirit flew to its own bed. If only Henri would see the world with those innocent eyes again. If only . . .
A blindingly bright, gold light engulfed around Henri's sleeping form. The Spirit gasped, covering its wide eyes with its arm, until the light faded away and . . .
. . . a younger version of Henri Lucas was seen sleeping.
