Woohoo! Another contest entry, this time it's on a color for the Writer's Anonymous Forum Color Challenge. Hope you guys like it! My chosen color was ecru. Enjoy reading.

Princess Io

Simplicity, Simplicity, Simplicity

"Quite a beautiful selection you have chosen my dear." Reina, Naminé's soon to be mother-in-law said, smiling gently.

She nodded slowly at the saleswoman who assisted them throughout the store, and shooed her away with the flick of her wrist. Before exiting, the saleswoman bowed respectfully, and gave one last glance at Naminé.

She and Naminé kept contact through the reflection of the mirror, a silent conversation being exchanged between the two. The woman finally left, leaving Reina and Naminé to their privacy.

Still standing on the pedestal, Naminé played with the frills and hems that were sewn into the wedding gown. They appeared flawless, keeping her transfixed on the design. Each seem was tucked in the correct place, emphasizing her womanly curves.

"Tell me Naminé…" Reina started, standing from her current seat and approaching the girl. "Why did you choose ecru and not white for your dress?"

Naminé sighed, and smiled sadly, but the elder woman didn't notice her change of expression. "I chose this color, because ecru is different from white." She couldn't come up with any other reason than that, and decided to see what response awaited Mrs. Takamura.

Ecru; a shade of mystery and a color of all sorts of meanings. It was simple, yet complicated unlike white. Although bereft of other vibrant colors filled with personality. It's own name wasn't anything special, but harbored something different that separated it from other shades and hues.

The true reason why Naminé had chosen such a color, had reminded her of the roses her best friend Roxas had given her so many a year ago. They were white and represented devotion, how much he cared about her. He hadn't chosen red roses because the two already knew of their love they had for one another and didn't find it necessary to prove it through material items.

However, after that incident just one month before the original date of the wedding…

Naminé shook her head, attempting to rid of such horrid memories. That was the past, and surely Roxas wouldn't even desire to see her after what had occurred, let alone mention her name in a conversation. It wounded her heart further to think of such things, but maybe it was for the best for her to never see Roxas again either.

"Naminé? Naminé!"

"Sorry…just, thinking."

The London clock tower struck three, the sound of the gongs echoing throughout the lively town. Another memory entered Naminé's mind as she turned toward the direction of the clock.

"You know, I wanted to take you to the top of the London clock tower and tell you that I love you." Roxas asked, whispering in Naminé's sun kissed locks. The woman replied by snuggling further into his muscular chest, gaining warmth against the chilly breeze.

It felt so right, so perfect, so…everything but wrong. Yet it was wrong. They were wrong, and were not supposed to be together. She belonged with Hiro, in his embrace. But it wasn't the same to Naminé.

"Yes…" Was all the blonde could say; her throat felt restricted and prevented what she really wanted to tell Roxas.

Naminé and Reina walked side by side, discussing more wedding plans from catering businesses to the location of the reception. It excited Reina further knowing that her son was marrying a distinguished young lady; one that was intelligent, beautiful and most of all, pure.

"Pure…far from it Mrs. Takamura…" Naminé thought, casting her eyes upward, toward the careless clouds that drifted in the sky. Each one of them reminded her of Roxas, on that day he took her to a secluded area just to watch the clouds laze about until sundown.

If anything, Naminé described herself everything else but pure. Reina didn't know the true reason she had picked ecru for her dress. She did to look back on the last year and how much time has really passed. Ecru now means so much of her life, all twenty-two years of them.

But she wasn't allowed to regret it, her mistakes led to Roxas leaving and the two severing their once blooming relationship. Now she was to "tie the knot" with a man of structure, brilliance, and beyond mediocrity. Hiro was perfect, and she was not.

Naminé had become stained the night she said goodbye to Roxas, she felt alone and isolated. It was painful for both of them, but necessary because she was already committed to someone else. Kairi had told her to break the engagement off with Hiro and go to be with Roxas.

She shook her head wildly, tears erupting in the corner of her eyes. They slid down her cheeks lethargically, each passing second only making Naminé die more inside.

As much as she would want to leave Hiro, she felt obligated to marry him. Her friends begged to differ, not wanting to watch Naminé suffer another day without Roxas.

Maybe the two just weren't meant to be.

Everything had gone well, from middle school to senior year. It was wonderful to Naminé; so much she would do anything to relive those days. But that light she reached out towards had slipped away from her fingers before she even knew.

"Naminé? Are you alright?" Reina asked, shaking the girl by her shoulders.

Coming back to the present, Naminé smiled that sad grin again that day. "Yes Mrs. Takamura. I just hope that you liked that ecru wedding dress. I just didn't want to choose white; that's all." Her statement felt silly after she had said it, but it didn't matter to Hiro's mother.

Later that night, Naminé was alone with her thoughts in her bedroom. She wondered if whether or not Mrs. Takamura was upset she didn't get to bond with her as planned. An exasperated sigh escaped her lips, declaring how tiring the day has been.

Her mind was certainly dawdling the entire time, distracted by the past…but most of all that wretched color. Ecru; a shade of off-white, one that did not belong anywhere. It was torn away from purity and embraced by stains. There was nothing flawless about it, but every mistake could be seen behind even the most naïve of eyes.

Naminé was to wear that dress tomorrow, and to be wed to a pompous and innocent man, someone she didn't deserve. If only she could turn the hands of time…then she wouldn't be labeled the unforgiving color. It was too late to fix the damage she had brought upon others and she was destined to accept her fate. Forever.

She was to live a life in luxury, with the brightest of things, but it only made her more unhappy by just thinking about the new future that lie ahead of her. Naminé was simplicity, the color ecru, adjectives that weren't striking.

A word from the author…

Yay! Finally complete with my challenge. The color was ecru, if you didn't notice throughout the one-shot. Ecru is an off-white shade, and in my opinion, something impure and stained. I found Naminé this way because of how I portray her in my fanfiction.

Thanks for reading.