WoOoHOOOoo! I finaly am able to update this fic! (That's because I found this chapter quite fun to write lol) Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon or Sleeping Beauty.
Sleeping Kari
Chapter 2: First Impressions
By: Koumiko
15 years and 364 days later...
The 3 fairies took Princess Hikari and decided to rear her with no magic. They hid their magic wands and made their fairy wings invisible so they looked like normal, middle aged humans. It was the day before the Princess' birthday, and the fairies were all in preparation for Hikari's trip back to the palace, where she would celebrate her 16th birthday.
Princess Hikari had grown into a beautiful, graceful and kind young woman. She had fullfilled all the gifts that Mimi and Sora and bestowed on her at her Christening. Her long, brown hair was tied back with a pink bow in a low ponytail, revealing her reddish-brown, soulful eyes. She was outside in a forest clearing, where many colorful wildflowers grew. While she smelled and picked the flowers, she sang, song birds chirping along as they flew beside her. They were her only friends. Mimi, Sora and Miyako were also her friends, but they were more motherly. They cared more for her personal needs than how she felt in her heart. She could only open up to her bird friends, who seemed to understand her.
"You know, I wonder how love feels like." Hikari said, holding our her finger, one of the songbirds landing on her finger. The other landed on her shoulder. They chirped. "Miyako always tells me stories of Princesses meeting their Prince. But I'm no Princess. I'm just ordinary Kari. No one would love me."
Princess Hikari did not know about her royal blood, of her three guardians who are actually fairies, and of men. She only knew of them through stories told to her by Miyako.
"I wonder how men even look like. Or sound like," Kari continued. "Or dress like." She chuckled. She slowly lowered herself and lay down on the flower patch, staring up at the sky with her bright eyes. The songbirds flew and perched on her arms which were spread wide. "If I met one, I'm quite sure I wouldn't fall in love. I mean, you can't just decide you want to marry someone within a few seconds of meeting him. I've always wondered why Princesses always fall for the Prince Charming and marry them right away. Are they that charming?" The birds seemed to shrug.
Not too far away, a Prince called Takeru was riding on his white stallion through the forest. He felt the castle was too suffocating and decided to get some fresh air with his horse. His father was imposing on him that he should marry a Princess soon. For any young Prince that would be forced to marry in an arranged marriage, he acted like any normal person. Angry, confused, and unsure. He rode on his horse thinking.
He reached the clearing and saw a body lying in the middle of the flower patch. At first he thought it was a corpse. As he approached it, he heard voices coming from it. Dismounting from his horse, he ran to a boulder and hid, trying to see who this person was.
Kari heard a horse's neigh. She stopped talking to the songbirds and lifted her head, just enough to see over the flowers. A white stallion was tied to a tree, grazing. She scanned the area near the horse to see who the owner was. No one was there. Kari decided to get up and walked to a nearby lake, the songbirds following her.
Prince Takeru had never seen that girl before. He decided to follow her and introduce himself. He reached the lake, and found another boulder to hide behind. He heard the girl singing to herself on the other side of the boulder, humming a tune.
"Okay, please make sure there's no one watching," He heard her say. He tried to sneak a peek to see who she was talking with. Before he could see anything, two angry white birds started pecking at him and he yelled out in pain.
There was a disturbance behind Kari, who was getting ready to take a bath. She was about to take her clothing off but heard the song birds chirping angrily and shouts from someone behind the rock. She turned around and saw a person being attacked by the birds. She screamed.
"PEEPER!!!!!!!!!!!" She luckily still had her clothes on, and she ran around the boulder that concealed her. She picked up a flat stone from the lakeshore and threw it as hard as she could at the pervert.
"OW! Please stop that!"
Kari stopped, and so did the songbirds, seeing that Kari calmed down. The pervert had his arms covering his blonde head protectively. Blood covered his shirt where the birds had pecked at him. He lifted his head, his blue eyes sparkling, near tears.
"Please tell your birds to stop." He whispered. Kari ran up to him and pulled down his arms. Her instinct was to say "So this is what a man looks like." But she held her tongue in politeness.
"Oh my goodness! I'm sorry!" She looked at his face, seeing how much damage was done by the songbirds. She led him towards the lake. "Please, let me clean up your wounds. It's all my fault. Sit here." She helped him sit next to the water, and she rolled up his shirt sleeves and splashed them with the cool, crystal clear water. Kari was now about to cry too.
"Just to clear my name, I didn't peep." Takeru said, head bowed as he let Kari wash his arm with her gentle, delicate hands. She was shaking slightly. "I didn't see anything. Except stars after your birds attacked me." Kari still didn't smile after his attempted humor. She was so guilty. Takeru took his arm from her hands and wiped a tear that trickled down her rosy cheek.
"Aw, don't cry." He said, turning her head to face him. "You should smile. That was funny." He saw her brown eyes for the first time, but only for a split second before Kari quickly shifted her eyes back to his wounds.
"I'm sorry," Kari didn't know how to address this stranger. Why is he so... so... charming
"I'm Prince Takeru. Call me TK." He said. Kari gasped. A Prince? No way. What were the chances? Kari stopped for a moment.
Nope. I have not fallen in love with him. I guess it takes a Princess to do that.
Kari finished washing his wounds and tore enough of her dress to make bandages for every single one of the peck wounds.
"Ah, I feel much better now, Thank you, -- Miss, uh.." TK didn't know what her name was.
"My name is Kari." Kari said, bowing her head politely.
"Please, don't bow. We're not in a palace. Can we be friends?" TK said, holding out his hand.
"Well -- I've never been friends with a boy or Prince before. How do I become your friend?" TK laughed at Kari's innocence.
"Just be yourself. Here, lets start by naming your songbirds." TK said, taking her hand and leading her toward the two birds that were flying and singing nearby at the flower field. They lay down on the grass, watching the birds fly around them. "We'll make them a symbol of our friendship."
"What do you want to name them?" Kari asked.
"Well, how about Strike and Blitz?" Kari finally laughed.
"You're just calling them that because they attacked you. I like Melody and Aria."
"Pfft."
"What?"
"Nothing. Just name them that then. They are your birds, so you should get to choose."
"Are you sure, TK?"
"Yeah."
"Really?"
"Ask me again and they will be Strike and Blitz."
"TK!"
"Just Kidding!" They laughed.
"I must get going now, Princess Kari." TK stood up, holding his hand out to Kari.
"Princess?" Kari wondered.
"Well, if you get to call me TK so that we're equal from your view, I want to call you Princess so that we're equal from my view." He explained. "You look like a Princess to me." Kari took his hand and stood, blushing.
"Until next time, Princess." TK bowed, and still holding Kari's hand, he kissed it, then looked at Kari, smiling. Kari bowed, embarrassed. With that, TK mounted his horse and rode out into the forest to his Kingdom.
"Father!" Takeru burst through the doors of their palace in the Kingdom of Dreams.
"What is it, Crown Prince?" Takeru's father sat up taller on his chair in surprise from Takeru's sudden entrance.
"I know who I want to marry." Takeru bowed down on one knee before the King.
"Who is it, my son?" The King spoke, lifting his son with jewel studded rings on his fingers.
"A girl named Princess Kari."
Hehehhe. Please Review!
xoxo Koumiko
