Title: "Her Favorite Time of Day"
Author/Artist: yukari_rin
Characters: Namikaze Minato and Kosuke
Fandom: Naruto
Rating: K
Word Count: 544
Notes: For the_lady_lamb. Kosuke is Minato and Shisui's child, and therefore very much an original character of mine that was vaguely created in an old roleplay I was in with fujiwara_san and Lamb, but this is not set in that RP's universe. The prince alluded to was also born in that RP, and is Shisui daughter by Itachi.
Disclaimer: Naruto and related properties belong to Masashi Kishimoto and related parties.
Kosuke's favorite part of the day is her bedtime. She will already be in bed, her blankets pulled up to her armpits, hands folded across her stomach as she waits for her Papa to come in and start the nightly tradition.
Minato knocks on her door and waits for her permission to enter and once it is granted, he steps into the room and turns off the overhead light in favor of the smaller bedside lamp. He makes sure she's tucked in securely and picks up the thick anthology of fairy tales. "Let's see.... where were we?" he asks, sliding onto the bed beside her in the space she has made for him in preparation for his visit.
She giggles and summarizes the previous night's story, flipping the pages to the proper spot. He lifts his arm and she snuggles against his side, luxuriating in his warmth and solidness. "Ah, yes," he smiles and begins tonight's story.
His voice is strong and clear, but soft and soon enough she is lost in the story, his voice narrating the images in her mind as she closes her eyes to see it better. Every now and then he'll lean down and kiss the top of Kosuke's head or rest his cheek on her silky black hair, small gestures that let her know she is loved.
All too soon the story will be over. Minato will hug her tight and kiss her forehead and she will scoot over into the center of her narrow mattress, curling into the fetal position. "Good night, my princess," he'll whisper.
"Good night, Papa," she'll reply with a yawn. He'll turn off the lamp and quietly leave the room, and within minutes she is wading into the waves of sleep.
She dreams vividly of the story, sometimes with slight alterations, but she is always a princess, and there is always a prince. Kosuke is always surprised at first that the prince is not blond-haired and blue-eyed like her father. He is the most wonderful man she knows, and she swears to herself that she will only fall in love with a man just like him. The prince in her dreams is not tall and muscular. He is small and lithe, with hair blacker than her mother's that moves at every motion of his head. His eyes are deep chocolate, and a strange, small smile plays on his lips.
He takes her to balls, slays dragons for her, champions over weaker suitors, and always saves her from any harm. Every night is an adventure in her dreams, and when she wakes in the morning to her mother she has trouble believing she's awake. The prince is similar to her mother in so many ways that it startles her. When she tells her parents about her dreams over breakfast she doesn't notice the way her papa's jaw tightens or how her mother busies herself with her food.
She doesn't yet.
But each dawn brings her closer to the day when she will finally meet her prince (or so her father likes to tease her, adding that he's not ready to give up his princess just yet), and once she does, maybe she will understand that fairy tales do not always have a happily ever after.