5 Things That Barely Apply to this Prince Charming

Disclaimer: If I owned Sailor Moon, Kingdom Hearts, Bleach, Naruto, or Twilight, I wouldn't have to worry about how I'm going to pay for college.

Note: This is based on a story by RadiantBeam under the same name, but I assure you that this isn't a copy.

Warning: This has Yuri, if you don't like that, then don't read my story.


I. Prince Charming was always a male

Chibi-Usa and Hotaru always believed that they would each meet their Prince Charming, and truthfully, in the back of their minds, they believed, though not whole-heartedly, that their Princes would be male.

After all, for Chibi-Usa, before Rei Hino confessed to Chibi-Usa's mother, Usagi Tsukino, her "father" was Mamoru Chiba, a "princely" figure who was not only the reincarnation of Prince Endymion, but he also donned the identity of the "princely" thief, Tuxedo Kamen. For Hotaru, to her, her "Haru-papa", while female, acted like a father figure, acted like a male, and acted like the perfect princely figure that Hotaru dreamed about.

Arashi isn't a man, despite having a male name, and if she is, neither girl can tell. Arashi is all female: with a slender body and a slim waist, long legs, and even longer hair that's often up in a long ponytail or tucked snugly beneath her beret or her favored beanie, all assure Chibi-Usa and Hotaru that she's a female. Arashi's skin, though marred with scars, is softer than a man's; her hands are smaller and slimmer. Her eyes are like a gentler, despite being like a raging ocean full of ice to anyone else. Her voice may have a male edge to its huskiness to the other senshi, but to Chibi-Usa and Hotaru, its feminine edge could never make her a man. Her choice of clothing tend to leave something to be desired, but even then, as much as Arashi wishes to deny it or tries to hide it, there's no hiding her curves, even in the boyish outfits she so commonly dons.

II. Prince Charming always saved the damsel in distress

Chibi-Usa nor Hotaru have ever been fans of being saved from anything, and firmly believe that they very well don't fit the role of damsels in distress; that has done nothing to change the fact that in tales of romance and love, there is always a general theme of the hero saving the heroine, or heroines in their case, and in their weaker moments, both girls will admit that yes, the thought of being saved by Prince Charming is a pleasant one.

Arashi can save Chibi-Usa and Hotaru. She certainly has the power to do so with ease, being a trained ex-shinobi and a Shinigami, with her powers that come with being Tri-Breed, jinjuriki, and the Catalyst, as well as being the wielder of the Zanpakuto Zen Shira Sakura, and despite not being a senshi; she can use their powers.

Ignoring the strength that comes with her status and past, she also has the will, drive, and determination; neither girl has ever doubted that, for their sake, Arashi would plunge into the darkest cave to slay the most ruthless dragon if it meant keeping the chibi Senshi of the Moon and the Senshi of Death and Rebirth safe and happy. At their weakest moments, both Chibi-Usa and Hotaru have longed for someone to save them, and Arashi does her best to fulfill that role, to live up to two preteen girls' fantasies.

That doesn't change the fact that sometimes, even the savior needs to be saved, and sometimes the worst enemy she faces are her own past, demons, and nightmares. The Prince Charming that Chibi-Usa and Hotaru grew up with always saved and rarely, if ever, needed to be saved himself, and he was perfectly content with his past or had accepted it.

Arashi might've only had to deal with her past for a little over a decade, but she's had to do things and deal with things that many, if not most, people don't, and having to cope with the pasts of Ventus, Sora, Roxas, and Altaria, pasts that span thousands of years, doesn't make it any easier on her, and having to accept those past along with her own, on her own, is a near impossible challenge.

Sometimes Arashi wakes up screaming, reaching for people that have long since died or that she has killed or trying to escape the ghosts of her pasts that only she can see. Sometimes she whimpers in her sleep, or gazes ahead, her eyes empty or full of pain, at nothing in a crowd, shutting others out. In those moments, it's Chibi-Usa and Hotaru who save her; it's Chibi-Usa and Hotaru who cradle her, both whispering sweet nothing, soothing words, into her ears; and it's Chibi-Usa and Hotaru who cling to her arms or reach out and give her hands a gentle squeeze, soft kisses to her lips or her cheek to bring her back. The small, tired, but gentle smile Arashi gives them is always enough, more than enough, than either girl could ever hope for.

Prince Charming protects his damsels, and Arashi fills the role accordingly when it suits her; but it's Chibi-Usa and Hotaru who save her, truly, and neither girl would trade for anything.

III. Prince Charming always made verbal declarations of love

When they were younger, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru grew up on stories of men who saved princesses, men who made long, undying vows to their new loves to always love them and be by their sides for all eternity, no matter what. Those declarations were long and wordy, and looking back on them now, Chibi-Usa and Hotaru both realize that it's amazing that Prince Charming was never killed mid speech by the villain making his heartfelt confession; and despite knowing that, they had to admit that, at one time, the thought of being the target of such confession made their hearts race.

Arashi loves Chibi-Usa and Hotaru, more than she has loved anyone else; but due to her upbringing as a shinobi, she isn't smooth with words, can't always find the right one to express her feelings, but it's not like she doesn't try. Soft murmurs or whispers when she thinks Chibi-Usa and Hotaru are asleep, a gentle joke or laugh, a soft smile that she never gives anyone else.

There are other things, small things that no one else would bother to notice; waiting after school for them, despite the attention she brings because she's a twelve-year-old high school student who drives a 1973 Chevy Nova; a note written in her trademark slightly messy handwriting and left somewhere it will found, a tiny charm added to the pink-haired and raven-black-haired girl's bracelets when they aren't looking.

It isn't how Prince Charming would do things, and it's not really the powerful declaration of love that Chibi-Usa and Hotaru always imagined they'd live for.

It is, however, how Arashi does things, because for her, words aren't needed—they aren't enough. And even when they are, she struggles to show it somehow, someway, to her slightly younger, more idealistic lovers.

Chibi-Usa and Hotaru know this; they have always known this, right from the very beginning. It isn't what they imagined, not by a long shot.

It's so, so very much more.

IV. Prince Charming always had a perfect body

Chibi-Usa and Hotaru still remember how Prince Charming was always described in stories: he was tall, burly-faired-haired, with soft, gentle gazing eyes with a twinkle of heroism in them, gentle hands, perfectly tan skin, and a smile, smirk, and a smooth voice that would make many, if not most young ladies swoon and drop dead (which is sort of a problem, seeing as that defeats the purpose because the idiot was supposed to save them, not kill them). Despite fighting the villains and slaying the dragons and enduring all kinds of brutal training, his body was perfect and flawless, with no imperfections, scars or marks to speak of—of course, unless those scars or marks added to his overall attractiveness.

Arashi is as handsome as any Prince Charming, if not more in Chibi-Usa and Hotaru's opinion, but her body is far from perfect. She has scars, more scars than either girl can count. Despite being reincarnated into new body like the other senshi, many of the scars that were accumulated by Ventus, Sora, Roxas, and Altaria have traveled with her body, and have become hers to posses, as a reminder of their actions, her actions. For her, in a sense, she's had only one body for her whole life, all of her lives, and it's scarred, despite her fast healing, and an imperfect body even when she tries to hide with her clothes and bandages.

Chibi-Usa and Hotaru know about scars that they doubts that Arashi's sister, Michiru, and her Erin-papa, and her Haru-papa even know about, let alone know they exist. They know, for example, that Arashi has a thin, barely noticeable, almost invisible scar on her forehead, right on top of her mark of Neptune, despite not being a senshi, and it always bleeds, even if the cut is thin; that a long, harsh, jagged scar slashes its way down across her chest, from her right shoulder to her hip and is the result of a street fight that happened when she was on the street, against a man that was high on meth; the small, slightly faded scar over her heart is the result of when Chibi-Usa and Hotaru killed her under the influence of the Wiseman as the Dark Lady and Mistress 9 in order to gain her Pure Heart Crystal, and stayed with her even when she was restored and her Pure Heart Crystal was returned.

Arashi has scars that tell a story of the torture she suffered while living in her village before she, Erin, and Michiru left. Her back is littered with long-since healed whip marks that have turned into scars that she received for refusing to beat a fallen opponent or refusing to make a kill. Her father dished out every whipping, every beating on the shinobi of his village, from child to adult, no one was spared, not even his own children. Her older siblings, Michiru and Mamoru, might've taken the harshest punishment, but Arashi went through Hell compared.

But despite all of the scars telling stories of the pain she's endured, Arashi's scars also tell a story of war and sacrifice, a story of choice. They are a badge of love for her kingdom and her allies, a burden she carries for a duty that she's never ignored, no matter what.

Chibi-Usa and Hotaru love each and every one of Arashi's scars. During the day, both of them brush and kiss Arashi's forehead, right over the place where her mark of Neptune glows gently but brightly, despite not being a senshi. At night, when the three of them are alone, they kiss and soothe every scar that they can touch or reach on Arashi's body, making the young warrior gasp and squirm beneath them, whimpering and whining softly until she forgets the pain and agony that brought her those scars in the first place and can only remember the pleasure of them being relieved, the pleasure of them being loved.

Prince Charming may have a perfect and flawless body, but Arashi's scars tell a story of lives that have spanned eons, and Chibi-Usa and Hotaru both treasure how easily Arashi shares them with her.

V. Prince Charming always promised to stay forever

It's an ending, a finale, which Chibi-Usa and Hotaru are both all too familiar with. As a child, their stories and fairy tales always ended with a 'happily ever after', a promise between Prince Charming and his princess to live together forever, no matter what. This is how the stories of their childhoods, despite still being children—nearly teenagers, always ended, and it's something both girls themselves still hope for sometimes, a chance to live forever with their loved one until the day all three of them die.

Arashi is a Shinigami, a Tri-Breed, a jinjuriki, the Catalyst, and rouge shinobi wanted in her with a price on her head. She has dreams that let her see into the future or into the past, and she knows things that normal people don't know; she knows things that Chibi-Usa and Hotaru doubt that even Setsuna or Neo-Queen Serenity themselves know. That doesn't change the fact that in the end, there are things that can't be seen or known, outcomes that can't be predicted, things that just refused to be controlled. Forever is one of those things, and it's why Arashi can't promise them forever, not matter how much she wants to, no matter how desperately she wishes to, because she knows that in a moment, she could be captured and killed by the ANBU of her village, that she could fall in battle against a Hollow that's just a bit too hard to beat, that someone would kill her and use her powers as a jinjuriki or as the Catalyst for their own devious and twisted ends. And it's that fear, it's that knowledge that keep her from promising forever.

Chibi-Usa and Hotaru won't deny that that knowledge hurts, but they can live without the promise of forever. For them, the fact that Arashi can promise them now, is very much more than enough.

Forever is a hazy concept for Chibi-Usa and Hotaru, and despite having been reincarnated numerous times, it's a place and time so far away from where they are right now that even if they reach out, they know that they'll never be able to touch it or grasp it or catch it, bring it closer to them. Now is so much more clearer to them, much more real and tangible and catchable, something that they can hold onto and wake up to everyday, knowing that it'll be there when the world is just a bit too much to handle. Now for the three of them, consists of gently clasped hands and quiet (and small in Arashi's case) smiles when everyone stares (or shoots a death glare in Haru-papa's case, that promises pain worse than death if Arashi dares to harm Hotaru in any way, shape, form, or manner. In Usagi's case and Rei's case, it's a calm, collected stare that promises the same for Arashi if she dares to harm Chibi-Usa in the same way, but it's just a little more discreet), a tangled mass of arms and legs at night in bed after their passion, after their love, has put Haru-papa, Michi-nee-mama-chan, Erin-papa, and Setsuna-mama to shame; soft kisses and sweet nothings and gentle murmurs when it's just the three of them. Now is the moment when Arashi acts like Haru-papa and flirts and teases Chibi-Usa and Hotaru despite their audience or who's watching, earning blushes and smiles for her efforts. Now are times when Arashi forgets herself and leans in, gently kissing the corner of either Chibi-Usa or Hotaru's mouth to get the bit of sea-salt ice cream that's there and needs to be cleaned off.

For Prince Charming, forever is the best, and sometimes the only, thing he can offer his princess at the end of the story. For Arashi, Chibi-Usa, and Hotaru, now is all they can give each other, because Chibi-Usa's from Crystal Tokyo and she could go back at any time, and with Arashi being a Shinigami, she could be called away at anytime, and fall at anytime. Now is what they live for as the Coming of Crystal Tokyo inches closer and closer with each passing day, and one of those days, Chibi-Usa will have to go back, one of those days Arashi will be called up by the Seireitei to fight until Crystal Tokyo comes.

It scares Chibi-Usa and Hotaru, and sometimes even Arashi (not that she'd admit it), to know that one day they might wake up and Arashi will be gone, having been called up by the Seireitei to fight, or it might be the other way around with Chibi-Usa or Hotaru having to leave. Crystal Tokyo comes in the 3oth Century, they live in the 21st Century. The knowledge that they won't be able to see each other for nine centuries cuts deep, but the three of them are here now, they are together now. Arashi is here now, along with Chibi-Usa and Hotaru, and they will be together for as long as either one of them can stay, and that's all that matters.

Arashi is not Prince Charming, not by regular standards, but neither Chibi-Usa nor Hotaru would have her any other way. She's perfect to them despite her past, despite her imperfections, despite everything that she's done, despite everything that's happened to her. They look past that. They see a woman that would do anything to keep them safe, and she knows that they would do the same despite her protests.

These five things may just barely apply to Arashi, but even then, she's their Prince Charming.

THE END