Forgiveness (by 雪 月な)
Series: HeartCatch Precure
Shipping: TsubomiXOlivier
Characters: Tsukikage Yuri, Baron Salamander, Hanasaki Tsubomi, Kurumi Erika, Myoudouin Itsuki and Olivier
Summary: forgiveness asked through a dance, will she say yes?
DISCLAIMER: This story is written by 雪 月な on Quotev, but she wants it to be posted here, so here we are.
(8 years after HeartCatch Precure takes place)
(Yuri's P.O.V)
Who knew that the once little werewolf we met in France would become such a grown up man now?
It was probably a side-effect from Baron's power, the side-effect being a growth spurt and Olivier growing very quickly.
Before we all knew it, he had also fallen for Tsubomi.
They dated for a while, and soon, decided to get married.
Where did they hold their wedding?
In France, Paris, the city of flowers.
And here we are now, in the church, watching Tsubomi go down the isle.
We're not going to that yet, let's talk about a few months back, when Tsubomi had announced her happy news.
(3 months back)
Since I took up botany during my college years, I eventually became a botanist like Kauruko once I graduated.
I was basically her assistant, also her apprentice again.
I was to inherit the botanical garden when she would pass, as she told me once I started to be her apprentice.
I have been at this role for nearly a year now.
Going to the other girls, Tsubomi, Erika and Itsuki have recently graduated as well, but I have had no contact with them in a long time.
Until one day when Kauruko told me to take a day off.
"I can't accept that, you'd be here all alone." I said, shaking my head.
The two of us were having tea and were sitting down at the table settled in the greenhouse.
"Yuri-chan, I'll be fine. And I have a reason for asking you to take a day off. Tsubomi spoke with me yesterday, she says she wants to talk to you. That goes for Erika-chan and Itsuki-chan as well." she said calmly.
"Tsubomi wants to talk to us? Whatever could be the matter?" I asked, curious.
"why don't you ask her? She was simply too happy the night she told me that I couldn't ask her why. I have a few guesses though." she replied.
I had a crooked smile on my face.
"if you say so, Kauruko-San. I shall see Tsubomi tomorrow like you asked." I said, and she nodded.
"have fun with your friends." she replied.
The next day, I met up with the others at the café like Tsubomi requested.
We saw her sitting at a table, waving to us happily, and went over to her.
"Yuri-San! It's been a while!" Tsubomi said, shaking my hand.
We exchanged hugs before sitting down.
"it has been. How are you girls?" I asked.
"we've been doing okay, I guess..." Itsuki replied.
I turned to face her.
Ever since we defeated Dune about 8 years ago already, she started to embrace her feminine nature once more and grew out her hair.
Right now if she had let it down from her ponytail, it would've reached down her back like mine.
"well I've been doing great! I plan to be the number one fashion designer in all of Japan!" Erika cried, pumping her fist in the air.
"that's nice. How about you, Tsubomi?" I asked.
"I took up both astronomy and botany during college, so I'll either be an astronomer or a botanist, maybe even both! You still remember my dream from 8 years ago, right?" she asked in reply.
"of course we do." I said softly.
I turned to Itsuki.
"how about you, Itsuki?" I asked.
She fiddled with her fingers.
"that's a secret..." she muttered.
I stared at her skeptically before going to the order of business here.
I cleared my throat.
"um, Tsubomi, if you don't mind me asking, that is, why did you call us all here?" I asked.
"oh, I knew you'd ask about that. The reason why is because of this." she replied, then held up her hand.
At first we didn't notice anything different, until we saw the ring glinting on her ring finger.
"Tsubomi! Are you-?" Erika trailed off, not knowing what to say.
"yes, it's true, I'm engaged, and to Olivier, no less." she replied happily.
We surrounded Tsubomi with hugs.
"omedetou!" Itsuki cried. "we're so proud of you!" Erika continued.
"I feel so happy for you, Tsubomi." I finished with a small smile.
"arigato, minna. But I kind of need all of your help, if you don't mind." she said, and Erika smiled.
"of course! Anything for our best friend! What is it you want us to do?" Erika asked, slinging her arm around Tsubomi's neck.
"well, I'd like one of you to be my wedding planner, if that's okay." Tsubomi replied.
"then you have your obvious option here!" Erika cried, pointing at me.
"you know, I'm going to be inviting all our other cure friends, so I think I'll pick one of them. I wanted to ask you, Yuri-San, if you'd be my maid of honor." Tsubomi replied.
"why me?" I asked. "would you? Please?" she pleaded.
I smiled.
"okay then, I shall. Thank you, Tsubomi." I replied.
"arigato, Yuri-San." she smiled.
We spent the next few hours talking about whom Tsubomi should choose to make her wedding planner.
We narrowed the choices down to either Minami or Karen.
After much consideration, Tsubomi asked Minami to be her wedding planner, and Minami couldn't have been any happier to accept this duty.
We spread the word out to the other cures, from Nagisa all the way up to Ruru
We assured Tsubomi that her wedding was going to be the best party (courtesy of Erika) we would ever throw for her.
(back to the present)
All of us watched as Tsubomi marched down the isle, hand in hand with her father and mother.
While she didn't seem fazed, Olivier was trying his best not to faint.
I couldn't blame him, nor can I blame any other groom.
Tsubomi was simply stunning in her wedding dress.
The gown had no sleeves, and the top part had white lace sewn into flowers.
The rest of the gown was mostly plain.
Tsubomi's skirt was layered twice, first layer a transparent white silk, second layer a white netting, and underneath these two layers, a plain skirt that went down to her feet, even covering them.
Joining both halves of the gown was a white flower belt, the centerpiece of the belt being a white Sakura, at it's sides were, a cyclamen, a peony and a lily.
There was only a single Sakura in the middle, while the other three flowers had doubles stitched on the other side.
Tsubomi wore white gloves that went up to her arm, not even reaching her shoulder yet.
She had her hair down, and we could all notice that her hairdresser had braided small flowers into her red hair.
She wore a silver tiara on her head, its centerpiece jewel being a pearl shaped into a heart.
Tsubomi held in her arms, a bouquet of white roses.
It was a happy moment for everyone when the two exchanged vows and were declaimed husband and wife.
That evening at their reception, all of us girls changed out of our dresses which we wore for the wedding.
Tonight I wore a shoulder-cut-off dress.
The dress had short sleeves that didn't cover my shoulder, but a bit past it down on my arm.
The sleeves were silver, but the rest of the dress was purple.
The dress was simple, yet comfortable.
I had on a sash for a belt, which was pinned off with a moon brooch.
My skirt was made out of silk, and thus, allowed me to roam free.
During the wedding, I had my hair down, and instead of my blue clip, I instead had flower clips in my hair.
Right now for the reception, I tied my hair up into a side bun.
I had tied the bun up on the left side of my head.
A few stray hairs hung down from the bun.
On the right side of my head, I clipped a moon barrette with a few stars accompanying it into my hair.
I won't look as impressive as the others, but I pulled off a nice look.
Once I arrived at the reception, I looked for the table where Erika and Itsuki sat and went over to them.
We talked for nearly the whole night, while Tsubomi and Olivier did their own stuff.
When dinner was over, they began their first dance.
Just a few minutes after they started, the host asked the others to join them on the dance floor.
I was feeling so happy watching the others join Tsubomi and Olivier I almost didn't notice the Baron staring at me.
I was so preoccupied earlier I didn't notice him at the wedding.
I ignored him.
Could you blame me?
He was the reason (well, one of them) why my father turned to the dark side and became Sabaark due to his mask.
He was also the reason why Olivier was a werewolf.
Even after all these years, I haven't forgiven him yet.
I wasn't planning on him to apologize though.
He walked up to me and held out his hand.
"may I have this dance?" he asked.
I looked from his hand to him.
"why should I take it? You know very well how much I despise you." I replied in a slightly annoyed tone.
"I know very well how much you despise me, but I have something to say, and I'd rather much talk about this on the dance floor. What do you say, Yuri?" he asked.
"either take it or leave it, it's your choice, Yuri-San." I heard Erika mutter before hearing her say ouch.
"let Yuri-San decide for herself." Itsuki whispered under her breath.
I sighed.
"fine, but just one dance, that's it." I said, placing my hand in his as I turned my head to not face him.
To my surprise, he grasped it gently, and lead me out onto the dance floor.
Now, I wasn't much of a dancer, but the Baron didn't seem to care much if I danced a lot or not.
"why did you ask me to dance with you? You know I hate you to my very core." I said in a low voice as to not be heard.
"after almost a year of traveling with Loup Garou, I have learned from my evil ways as you can see. I am no longer evil, you can sense that." he replied.
Usually he'd have a dark aura surrounding him, but now, I couldn't feel this aura.
"it's true, you have changed, but what is it you want from me?" I asked.
Baron twirled me around and brought me closer.
"I ask for forgiveness. I'm really sorry about what I did to you, your family, and your friends, Yuri." he replied.
Now I wasn't expecting an apology, neither him asking for forgiveness.
I was so shocked, I released myself from his grasp and walked away, leaving him alone on the dance floor.
I walked outside the restaurant and out into the night air.
I totally wasn't expecting an apology.
I thought I was alone when,
"Yuri-San?"
I turned around to see Iona.
"Iona, did you follow me out here?" I asked.
"no, I've actually been out here for quite a while." she replied.
There were some seats outside the restaurant, Iona must've been sitting there for a while.
"is everything okay?" Iona asked.
I walked over to where she was sitting and sat down beside her.
"Iona, has anyone you hated so much ever asked for your forgiveness and apologized to you?" I asked.
She smiled at me.
"that would be Hime. At first, I hated her to my very core. She was the one who released axia and put the lives of the residents of the blue sky kingdom and other precures at risk. I never forgave her at first for that. Why?" she asked.
I looked away from her to the floor.
"you have met Olivier's father, correct?" I asked.
"yeah, Baron Salamander was his name. But he and Olivier don't really look alike." she replied.
"that's because they aren't." I said, making her confused.
"why?" she asked.
I told her the whole story underneath Olivier and Baron Salamander's background.
"now Baron has changed, he no longer has the dragon inside him. He's asking for my forgiveness, what should I do? He was the very reason why my father became evil." I finished.
Iona looked at me worriedly.
I knew she knew how I felt, after all, she experienced this feeling too.
"you know, forgiving someone takes time, and a lot of courage too. I forgave Hime because I learned the truth of why she opened axia. But I didn't forgive her all at once, it took time before we became really close. I bet that can happen to you too." she said, and I looked back into the restaurant.
"you really think so?" I asked.
Iona squeezed my hands.
"you're the strongest out of all of us, Yuri-San, not counting Yukari-San and Akira-San yet, but, I know you'll find the courage and power, to forgive Salamander. Like I said, you don't need to forgive him right away, forgive him little by little." she replied.
"arigato, Iona." I said softly.
"no problem!" she replied.
"well, I guess I better get back inside. You should, too." I said, standing.
"I'm not really fond of parties and dancing. I'll stay here." she replied.
"if you say so. Well then, I'm going back in. See you later, Iona." I said, waving goodbye.
She waved back, and I headed back inside.
I walked back to my table and sat down.
"Yuri-San! Where'd you go off to? We saw you leave and-"
"I'm alright, I just needed some time to think. I'm okay now." I cut Itsuki and Erika off before they could finish their sentence.
"where's the Baron?" I asked.
"on the other side of the room. I think you upset him." Erika replied, pointing to the Baron, who sat across us, on the other side of the dance floor.
"I'll be right back, girls." I said, standing.
I headed over to the Baron.
Hopefully he isn't upset about me leaving him like that.
"Baron Salamander?" I asked.
"Y-Yuri!" he cried in surprise.
I smiled softly.
"I don't think we're quite finished yet." I said, and he shook his head.
"no no, its okay!" he said, but I placed my hand in his.
"we're not yet done." I whispered in a low and dangerous tone.
He was forced to stand.
I could be quite the menacing dragon myself if I wanted to.
We returned to our position on the dance floor, but since the music was for a slow dance, we had to change our positions.
"I'm sorry again, Yuri, I thought over it, it's okay if you don't forgive me." and I shook my head.
"no, it's not okay. If I don't forgive you, you might as well become evil again." I said, and he was confused.
"I'm really still not over the fact that you gave my father that mask, but it's been 8 years. I've gotten over it a little. I hope you don't mind, but it will take some time before I truly forgive you." I said, and he just stared at me.
"Yuri..." he trailed off.
"Baron Salamander, though it may be small only, you have my forgiveness." I said with a small smile.
We stopped dancing, and we changed our position.
I had my hands on the Baron's cheeks, and our foreheads were leaning against each other.
Though I've never seen him cry before, it made me smile.
"Yuri, arigato." he whispered.
"no problem, Baron."
A/N: okay, this wasn't supposed to support YuriXSalamander, but it depends on how you look at it...
雪 月な signing off! ^_^