Title: "The Girl on the Bridge"

Author: Wish Wielder

Fandom: Puchi Puri Yucie

Claim / Pairing / Character Focus: Arc/Yucie

Challenge: 101 Kisses

Theme / Prompt: #48 (Just Waiting)

Word Count: 1,327

Rating: K / G

Summary: Arc and Frederik share a talk about Yucie during the Candidates' concert.

Notes: Set during Ep21.

Disclaimer: "Puchi Puri Yucie" and all respective properties are © Takami Akai. Meg D. (Wish Wielder) does not, has never, nor will ever own "Puchi Puri Yucie".

"The Girl on the Bridge"

A smile quirked his lips as he watched the five girls on the stage, his attention mainly focusing on the night-haired girl in the pink dress. She twirled and swayed along with the others, her voice blending in the mix of perfect harmonies. Maybe he was biased, but it seemed to him that she stuck out just a little bit more than the others. Maybe it was because she stood in the center, or maybe it was because of that oversized forehead. Maybe it was because her smile was the brightest, or maybe it really was just because she had him wrapped around her perfect little finger.

He stood behind a tree a short distance from the stage; he could see and hear everything perfectly, though he was practically invisible to the crowds - unless they cared to look. He had seen her looking around before the show, peeking her head around to scan the audience, and he had known - or at least hoped - that she was looking for him. He had thought he had seen her eyes scan the crowd once more when they had walked out and started their song, but he attributed that to wishful thinking more than anything else. Why was he hiding, anyway? It's not like he didn't want her to see him. He was being supportive. Yeah, that was it.

It had absolutely nothing to do with the irrepressible need he had to see her again.

Nope, absolutely nothing at all.

Only a week had passed since the ball, and he had been fighting that need every single one of those seven days. He had found himself pacing his room on more than one occasion, dressed in his traveling clothes and ready to go to her, but he couldn't bring himself to leave. What would he say to her? Something stupid, probably. She was changing so fast, growing into the adult she so desperately wanted to become, and he was just standing beside her at a distance, watching in awe. She was catching up to him, he knew, and that thought made him smile; he wouldn't have to wait much longer.

"Please, wait for me!"

She had seemed so desperate that day, though he didn't know why. Did she really think he didn't remember her? Sure, she hadn't believed he was her idolized prince until Frederik had come to drag him home, but that didn't really matter. What had mattered to him was that she had come after him. She had fought against palace guards to keep him from leaving, all so she could ask him to wait for her.

Yes, he had been hoping for something a bit more, but that had been good enough. He had agreed, and though she didn't quite know it yet, that had really been his only option. But while she was asking him to wait so she could thank him for that day so long ago and share with him some feeling about something, he was just waiting for her. She had him under some sort of spell, and he honestly didn't mind.

"You didn't say she was one of them, highness."

He jumped and looked behind him, eyes shooting open as he saw Frederik grinning at him. He breathed a sigh of relief, rolling his eyes and looking back as the girls took their final bow. He opted to ignore his guard, choosing instead to watch her as she waved and laughed with her friends, taking a moment to revel in the cheers of the friends and acquaintances watching. Frederik sighed and walked up beside him, a soft smile twitching his lips as he spotted what - who - he was watching.

"Then again, you never really said who she was at all," the older man said.

"What are you blabbering about now, Frederik?" he asked, annoyed at the distraction. Frederik chuckled at him as he nodded towards her.

"The girl," he said. He turned towards him, eyes narrowed.

"There are five girls," he said, earning an exasperated sigh.

"The one you've been watching so intently this whole time. The one in the pink dress," Frederik said. The man looked back at the girls, the smile returning. "You never said she was a candidate for Platina Princess."

"I didn't know it mattered," he said, looking down. Why was Frederik so interested, anyway?

"To most it wouldn't, but I've known you your whole life, Prince Aero," Frederik said. "I would say you're like a son to me, but that seems too cliché. It matters to me who you marry."

"WHAT?!" he cried, whirling around to face him. He knew his eyes must be wide as saucers, and he was fairly sure his face had grown a good thousand degrees warmer at the statement. Yet Frederik just stood there, grinning at him in that Cheshire way of his.

"You act like you didn't know, Prince," Frederik said. He glared at him, turning back to see her jump on her blue-haired friend as the other two surrounded them, celebrating their success. For a moment, just a brief moment, he allowed his mind to wander enough to wonder what it would feel like if that was him she was hugging just then. "Prince Aero?"

"I never said anything about marrying her," he said stubbornly. Thought? Yes, but never said.

"But it's obvious," Frederik said, that grin growing ever so slightly. "Painfully so the night of the ball, when you convinced her to help you sneak out."

"I didn't need her help - I just needed…er…I just asked if she wanted to come along," he said quickly, hoping Frederik wouldn't notice the slip. The chuckle let him know that he had.

"I should have seen it the day we found you, but I'll admit that I was preoccupied at the time," Frederik said. "I was just glad we had finally caught you, but if I had been paying attention I would have noticed."

"Noticed what?" he asked bitterly, his eyes following her as she twirled around a corner of the back stage, laughing as she danced with that purple-haired friend of hers.

"How you looked at her," Frederik said, and his scowl deepened. "She was the girl on the bridge that day, was she not? The one you promised to wait for?"

"She is," he said, acknowledging the point.

"I still don't quite see why she wants you to wait years for her, but I guess this thanks must be important to her," Frederik said, and he glared at him.

"Yucie's seventeen," he said, voice clipped. "It won't take years. She's been cursed to not grow, and when she becomes the Platina Princess she'll be able to fix it."

"You seem quite confident that she'll be chosen," Frederik mused, and he had to surrender the scowl to that smile he had donned earlier.

"I know she will be," he said, "but I'd wait for her even if she wasn't."

"Which is why I know she'll be the one you marry," Frederik said, and he laughed as he realized he had just proven the man's point. He shook his head, grin growing as he placed a hand against the tree.

"Maybe," he said, nodding, "but that's really up to her."

"She's already told you as much," Frederik said, and he quirked a brow at him. Frederik laughed and waved him off, turning to leave. "Don't fault me for overhearing, highness, but as I said: it's as obvious with her as it is with you. She's a fine choice, Prince Aero."

"I know she is, Frederik," he said, and he nodded at the guard as he left him alone. He looked back at her, smiling as he saw her glance up the hill to his tree. He winked at her, blowing her a quick kiss before he turned and dashed past Frederik. 'She's the best choice, and that's exactly why I'll just wait right here until she's ready.'

A.n.: I was actually gonna do something on Arc's opinion about Yucie's cat costume, but it kinda turned into this. xD What can I say? I love Arc and Frederik and the relationship between the two, and I love poking into Arc's head even more. It was bound to happen eventually!