Soro-chan: I don't know anymore. Self esteem is something that is always constantly changing, constantly decreasing and increasing, and always influenced and talked upon. My self esteem for one, is actually quite low, though I know that having a high self esteem can lead through a great, successful, and healthy life... Even though I know that, I can't seem to bring it back up, knowing that it will still get pushed back down eventually, what with the crude environment around me and maybe even you too. Though I get through it all the time with help from my family. But what if family made it worse...?

This is just something to enjoy about that. Read on, minna-san! This was inspired by my English Honors teacher's lesson. It's pretty much based on it.

There's romance in the beginning, I assure you, but the ending is probably more categorized as... angst and tragedy, though it has fantasy themes.

The Garden

Summary: She finally collapsed at an old cherry blossom tree, tired from constantly running. She stared at the mirror in her hand that she had stolen form Kazuomi's drawer before she left. "Am I really that terrible of a sight? To be deserving of this...?"

Midori smiled as she walked along the Yo castle, enjoying the view as the beautiful gardens were blooming in the sunlight, the fresh fragrance of spring rising in the air. The birds chirped, the bees took and spread pollen, and she ate her lunch by the lilac pots under the cherry blossom tree.

"Oh, how lovely this day is," she sighed as she contentedly nibbled at the custard bun in her hand. "If only I had someone to share this with."

Tsumugu, having only visited the castle gardens for the first time to participate in a political meeting with his father, the King of Sei. The meeting was taking place at the castle of Yo, and he decided that, with the recommendations of the maids and servants, he would have lunch out by the lilac pots under the violet leaves of the cherry blossom tree they had so marvelously described.

His pork bun in hand and binoculars in the other, he stood around and gazed at the beautiful birds, the lovely flowers, and the several shapes and forms of the cumulus clouds in the brightest blue skies he had seen on a summer day.

"Ah, if only there was someone here to share this sight with," he sighed.

Midori flinched as she heard the carefree breathing behind the tree where she sat. 'Must be the wind,' she thought as she took another bite of bun. Tsumugu, also sitting down quietly, took a bite of his bun. Soon, they both finished their buns in peace.

"Delicious," they both said simultaneously. Shocking the other, the jumped t the sound of a different voice and turned to face each other, bumping their heads.

"Ow!" they exclaimed, stared at each other, and then laughed.

The two were introduced and very quickly became close friends. The two grew up and, since the Sei and Yo Kingdoms were so close by to each other, they saw each other several times a week, always spending time by the lilacs, the cherry blossom tree, and the lovely view as Summer and Autumn came. Years passed, the tree aged, and the lilacs were replaced with new pots.

One day, Tsumugu smiled and bent down on his knee, opening a bento box in front of her in all of her glory. The bento box, inside of the middle of the sweet tamago, was a beautiful diamond ring. "Midori, will you marry me?"

"Yes!" she cried, jumping into his arms and kissing.

The two were married soon and Sei and Yo were joined to form the Seiyo Kingdom. They always ate lunch by the newly potted lilacs under the old cherry blossom tree, they gazed at the various clouds in the brightest blue skies and watched the different species of birds.

Midori, on a warm summer afternoon, cooked up a large bento with a few of her maids and waited for Tsumugu by the tree. When Tsumugu arrived, he smiled. "Sorry, I had some extra princely duties today," he explained.

Midori only smiled. "Guess what?"

"What?"

She opened the bento box, which was on the ground because it was too big to carry, and there in big, decorative letters made of side dishes and rice said the three magic words of his entire life that made him want to kiss Midori three billion times.

Tsumugu, I'm pregnant!

It took them about three days to completely finish the lunch bento.

Midori had the child, and cradled the infant in her arms. "She's beautiful... I'm going to name her... Amu." The entire castle and village came to see the baby and to wish the baby a long, healthy life of joy. Many commented that she was beautiful.

"She's adorable!"

"Very cute!"

"A cute name for a cute baby is fitting!"

"She's lovely."

"A marvelous child you have, Miss."

All except one person.

"She's ugly," Tsumugu said, grunting and grimacing at the baby. "She has a crooked nose! A ugly face! A hunched back and pointy ears!"

"Oh nonsense," Midori cooed. "She's an angel bestowed on us from Heaven. Be a little more kind. She came from your genes."

"Still," Tsumugu said. "I don't like and will not accept this child."

"Well, I do like and shall accept her. I love her," Midori hmmphed and walked away with the child in her arms.

Days grew into weeks and weeks turned into months. Midori ate lunch by the potted lilacs under to old cherry blossom tree with Amu, who grew and grew into a pretty little four-year-old princess. By then, Midori and Tsumugu had been pronounced Queen and King, and the former royalties retired back into an old, extravagant villa by the beach shores, away from politics and other hindrances from their earlier life.

"Mama, why doesn't Papa ever eat with us when you ask him to?"

"He's just busy, dear."

"But he says stuff like... umm... I don't want to eat with her, I'll just eat inside the castle."

"Busy inside the castle, dear. Nothing more."

"If you say so, Mama."

Midori and Amu always had a great time outside in the beautiful gardens. Tsumugu, however, always ate lunch lonely and void of any nice view inside the castle. He always ate at his desk and sorted through papers boringly and such.

To be honest, he was really quite jealous of Amu. The little despicable child always spent time with Midori and never he. It was getting on his last nerves. He wanted to spend time with Midori again, to eat with her by the potted lilacs, to sit under the cherry tree and discussing the shape of the clouds and the species of birds. He longingly gazed at the dusty binoculars sitting in the edge of the corner of his desk.

It was high time he blew the dust off.

"Midori... I really want to spend time with you again," Tsumugu admitted softly.

"As do I... I miss having to spend the noon with you in the garden," Midori whispered as they hugged tightly.

"Then give Amu to her uncle to be taken care of. And we'll have all the time together."

"You're right..." Midori murmured as they kissed.

Amu was given into her uncle, Kazuomi's custody. He lived in the far side of the castle. Her new room was no longer her mother's, and her bed was no longer her mother's warm body and her pillow was not her mother's bosom. She instead had a straw mattress and a thin blanket made of sheep wool to keep her warm.

Midori and Tsumugu spent their times playing in the garden and eating together while Amu, who wasn't allowed to go outside anymore, had to play in the far back of the castle by the gates where thistles with thorns grew, where the stone walls covered the sun, skies, and clouds, and no bees and birds ever flew by. She would always play back there and get pricked and cut by the thorns, leaving scratches and scars all over her body.

Kazuomi, upon seeing this, would beat her severely because now he had to tend to her cuts and clean the blood. Amu learned that the louder she cried, the harder he hit, and so she began to keep silent during these harsh times that she had to endure.

Eventually, the castle and Midori and Tsumugu forgot about her, with everyone happy. Before, the castle and village was not happy when the couple started to divert because of the child. Now that the child was gone, all was peaceful and harmonious again. The King did a more efficient job with his duties and the Queen seemed so much more bright and optimistic. Everyone forgot except Kazuomi, who was stuck with the burden of feeding, teaching, and caring for the unwanted child.

One day, as a 16-year-old girl, Kazuomi struck her especially hard because she had tried to sneak out of the area where she was restrained since she was only four. She was caught red-handed and immediately, the old man picked up a club and began to hit her roughly.

"You're an ugly child!" he yelled. "Nothing but a phony slut!"

"I'm not a slut..." she whispered. Kazuomi, however, heard.

"Oh, you're going to be one now, you bitch!"

She lost herself that night. Herself, her dignity, her everything. The next day, she took the club and bashed him on the face several times in his sleep, killing him. Afraid to be prosecuted and then publicly executed by her own parents, she ran off.

Deep into the seemingly woods she went, the woods that barely separated the Sei and Yo castles. She finally collapsed at an old cherry blossom tree, tired from constantly running. She stared at the mirror in her hand that she had stolen from Kazuomi's drawer before she left. "Am I really that terrible of a sight? To be deserving of this...?"

Nature seemed to scream yes to her as she blacked out.

Midori and Tsumugu one morning found Kazuomi dead, informed by one of Kazuomi's servants. They postponed their usual lunch date and instead burned the old man's body into ashes and put it into a vase for a future funeral.

The next day, they went to the same garden to have their lunch.

There laid a young girl, scarred and scratched, sleeping under their tree. She was so ugly. 'So ugly,' Midori and Tsumugu thought.

"Please leave," Midori said. Tsumugu poked the ugly being awake with a twig. Amu woke up and saw the two people.

"Ah, forgive me... I thought I was in the woods. I must have been hallucinating..." Amu murmured as she stood up and rubbed her eyes. Then she realized who those two people were. She made a run for it.

"What was that about?" Midori asked.

"I don't know, but let's eat. That is, if after looking at that person, I still have my appetite," Tsumugu said as they sat down. Midori, though she didn't know it, heartlessly laughed.

There were no birds chirping, no bees around. The lilacs weren't their usual, vibrant color and the skies were dull and cloudless. Their bento didn't taste as good.

"Today is weird..." Tsumugu said.

"Perhaps tomorrow will be better," Midori said happily, like the optimistic person she is.

Amu had run far off into the woods. Upon the way, she found a beautiful, blue-leafed tree. It was beautiful and unlike anything she had ever seen before. One look and the tree had lulled her in, her hand softly raking the mystic bark.

"Get away from my tree." Amu turned around and found a blue-haired man standing there. Little did she know, it was supposed to be her fiancee from when she was four. Of course, once everyone forgot about her, they also forgot about the pre-engagement.

"I'm sorry," she murmured softly. Ikuto had no sympathy.

"Why is someone as ugly as you touching my precious tree?" he glared, roughly pushing her away. She fell to the ground with a thud.

"I... I-"

Ikuto took out his sword in one rapid, graceful movement as the blade slit her throat mid-sentence. Her blood spilled on the ground and she slumped to the dirt floor, lifeless. It was then that the blue petals of the tree began to swirl around the girl, and within minutes she was a beautiful, pink-haired girl. She had no scars, bruises, or blemishes.

She was the true Amu- the Amu she would have become in her mother's care. Her slit throat was still bleeding profusely. Ikuto stared in wonder.

The blue-leafed tree had turned into a hazy violet color, gradually ending at a slight, blooming pink. One word came to his mind, though he didn't know how.

"Amu."

Midori and Tsumugu one day were going out to the garden to eat lunch like usual. One look at the garden however, and they sank to their knees.

The cherry blossom tree was a blood-red color, shriveled and ugly. The potted lilacs were wilted and cracked. The garden seemed dull and lifeless. It was once so beautiful.. but how..?

The wind blew past Midori''s ears, whispering into it, and her eyes widened with the terror of realization as she began to sob on the ground.

"What's wrong, dear?" Tsumugu asked, worried. He patted her back and hugged her warmly before one word entered his ear. It was then that the world went quiet as Midori whispered.

"Amu."

Soro-chan: Not every fairytale has a happy ending! (: I have no idea how the ending came out like this, I don't even understand it myself. Hope you enjoyed!

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