AN: So, guess what this one is about. ...No, it's about XR's thoughts as he watches Mira become queen. ;)
Yes, another straightforward one. But the subject matter is right there, I have to use it while I can. I'll be more inventive next time. Possibly. Hopefully. Maybe...
Meantime, enjoy!
82. Queen
Her Majesty.
Her Royal Highness.
Queen of Tangea.
No, no, that wasn't right, she was just Mira, just Mira…
Those other words didn't fit her at all, they just weren't her…
He guessed he'd just never made the connection before. Of course, he'd always known she was a princess, but he'd just never thought about what that ultimately meant. And she'd always seemed to want to distance herself from her status. She'd always insisted she be treated the same as every other ranger, hated it if someone called her "Princess." Heck, he'd even done it sometimes just to watch her get frustrated. But he'd never actually taken it seriously. It had all just been a joke.
But he wasn't laughing now, standing in the Tangean palace. She'd insisted that her team be present at her coronation… and this time there was really no one there to object. He'd initially been relieved that for once they wouldn't be treated as inferiors, wouldn't be excluded from something important in Mira's life; but standing there he'd started to wonder if it wouldn't have been easier to wait outside.
Because, as he watched her, realization sunk in that things would never be the same again. He was used to having her around, to seeing her every day. But now he was wondering how long it would be before he saw her again; if he'd even see her again at all. He had just assumed she'd always be there. He'd never known it any other way.
Even after her father died, he hadn't given much thought to how things would change. She'd been upset, of course, more upset than he'd ever seen her, and of course he'd tried to say comforting words (though admittedly Buzz and Booster did a better job of that). But it just hadn't registered even then what was going to happen. He'd just assumed this was just a temporary flux in the natural order of things and in a few days everything would be back to the way it always was.
Now, as he watched her, that just seemed foolish. Really, what had he been thinking? That she'd abdicate her throne? That she'd stay a space ranger, shirk her responsibilities to her people, just stay with him forever?
…Yeah, that sounded about right, actually.
But that was impossible, he thought as he stared up at her. Already she looked different; she seemed more serious, almost solemn. She wasn't a space ranger anymore. She wasn't just Mira. No, now she was Queen Mira. And with queens come kings and then come heirs… He shuddered inwardly. Heirs… he would never be able to give her those. He didn't stand a chance at being with her now. …Not that he'd had much of a chance before, but still… It had been possible. Sure it had. But not anymore. No, now there was no chance. She belonged to a different world now, one he could never be a part of. She'd never be his.
He stared intently at her, watching as they placed what seemed to him to be an overly-ornamental crown over her strangely-made-up hair.
Queen Mira.
He'd never get used to that.