I came to see her daddy for sit down man to man
It wasn't any secret I'd be asking for her hand
I guess that's why he left me waiting in the living room by myself
with at least a dozen pictures of her sitting on a shelf
I walked into her house, Nero had gone to get Neji so I could speak with him. There wasn't much question about why, I wanted his permission to ask Elinor to marry me. We were young, and I was nervous, but I felt like we were ready. I walked around the living room that we had played in as kids. I came across one particular shelf that had a bunch of pictures on it.
She was playing Cinderella
She was riding her first bike
Bouncing on the bed and looking for a pillow fight
Running through the sprinkler with a big popsicle grin
Dancing with her dad, looking up at him
In her eyes I'm Prince Charming
But to him I'm just some fella
riding in and stealing Cinderella
The first picture she was really young, and had Destiny's ninja gear on. There was another one of her on a bike, I could make out Eric in the background and I was probably on the bike that was in front…but I couldn't tell cause you could only see the wheels. There was another one of all three of us playing in the sprinkler in the backyard, we also had water guns. The next one that caught my eye was her dancing with Neji, I didn't recognize this one…it must have been while I was gone. There were some of more recent events as well. There was one of us at the park, it was a group photo with everyone in it. Then there were some of her with each of the boys and Katara. I shook my head, She saw something in each of us that no one else could find. She brought out the best of us, even when we didn't want her to.
I leaned in towards those pictures to get a better look at one
When I heard a voice behind me say "Now, ain't she something, son?"
I said "Yes, she quite a woman"
and he just stared at me
Then I realized that in his eyes she would always be
There was one other picture that was behind the others, I leaned in so I could see it more clearly. I realized it was our team picture from when we first became team 7… Eric was in the very front of the picture, Elinor and I were behind giving him neko ears and then Azash had his hands on our heads and was leaning down so his face was in the picture. We all had such stupid smiles on our faces…
"She's something special isn't she?" Neji asked as he walked up behind me.
"There's no one else like her," I replied turning to face him. "She's grown up quite a bit over the years." I added.
He looked at me a moment then his gaze returned to the pictures. "Indeed…" Was all he said. That's when I realized he didn't see her grown up. In his eyes she was still a child, and always would be.
Playing Cinderella
Riding her first bike
Bouncing on the bed and looking for a pillow fight
Running through the sprinkler with a big popsicle grin
Dancing with her dad, looking up at him
In her eyes I'm Prince Charming
But to him I'm just some fella
riding in and stealing Cinderella
"You know what I'm here to ask," I stated
He nodded. "Yes I know…Do you promise to look after her? Protect her even if it means risking your own life?"
I nodded. "Of course."
"And do you promise to do everything in your power to keep her happy?" He questioned.
"I do." I replied.
"Then I will not stop you from asking for her hand, and if she says yes then you will have my blessing." He stated.
"Thank you," was all I said, then we both turned to the door as we heard someone approaching it.
He slapped me on the shoulder
Then he called her in the room
When she threw her arms around him
That's when I could see it too
Elinor opened the door and walked in, she smiled at me and then turned to Neji. "Ada your home!" she exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around him in a hug. Suddenly I could see it, how the little girl who would leap into his arms when he returned home from missions was still there, she was just hidden beneath the surface.
She was Playing Cinderella
Riding her first bike
Bouncing on the bed and looking for a pillow fight
Running through the sprinkler with a big popsicle grin
Dancing with her dad, looking up at him
After she released him she came over and kissed me on the cheek. "Hey Haru,"
I smiled and kissed her forehead, "Hey." She didn't question my being over and she quickly fell into her typical routine around the house. She went and spoke to Destiny about something and then gave Nero a note from Katara. Neji had walked off a little before.
If he gives me a hard time
I can't blame the fella
I'm the one who's stealing Cinderella
As I watched her interact with her family I questioned if it was too early, that maybe it wasn't time. But then when she put everything else aside and came to sit on the couch at my side, her fingers enter-twining with mine and then fell asleep on my shoulder I remembered that we weren't children. And I believed we were ready, and if she wasn't she would tell me. She wasn't the kind to be quiet about her opinion. Besides, we had made the promise not to separate already…so this was just making it official.
~The End~
Authors notes:
Disclaimers. Stealing Cinderella belongs to Chuck Wicks. Haru, Nero and Katara are Aya's Characters. Elinor and Destiny belong to me and Neji belongs to Kishimoto. This song got stuck in my head and I just decided to write a story for it.