A/N: Thanks for dah reviews so far. ;DD Since I have nothing to speak of, on with the flowing of words. xDD
The princess woke up to a knock on her door. She opened it only to be greeted by her father.
He frowned first thing when he saw her. "Royalty shouldn't sleep in."
Rima sighed and glanced at the clock. It was only 9:00 a.m., but arguing would get her nowhere. She wondered what he wanted. "Good morning, father. Sorry for sleeping in."
"It's fine. Anyway, I have good news. Your friends are coming to visit," Her father smiled. He hoped that they would encourage her to find a prince, so they could all settle down.
"Amu and Yaya?" Rima blinked. She was thrilled to hear that they could come, just because she didn't see them much, but they always made her feel a little left out because she was the odd ball without a prince.
Her dad just nodded happily. "And their wonderful princes."
"I suppose I'll just... Umm, get ready," Rima said, smiling quickly before shutting the door.
She let out a heavy sigh once the door closed. She started rummaging through her closet when the thought occurred to her that she had told Nagihiko that they would have fun today.
Rima always felt bad not being able to spend time with him. Amu and Yaya hadn't even met him yet. She was sure that they'd like him though. "I'll try to introduce them today." She had decided to herself.
After going through many clothes (mostly dresses), Rima had decided on a pink dress that had light pink ribbons clinging to each other all around the dress. It was very fluffy and elegant. She always wore nice clothes when her friends visited. For the finishing touch, she put on her trademark pink headband that had a long pink ribbon to the side.
The short princess waited by the window. She wanted to watch them arrive. She had thought of speaking to Nagihiko to help pass the time, but she was pretty sure he'd be asleep. She would never disturb him on purpose, even though she had the right to.
Finally hearing the knock at the door, Rima jumped up and ran to it, determined to beat any maids or servants who were going to answer it. She struggled to open the gigantic door, but got it open with the help of her father.
"Welcome," Her father greeted. "It's nice to see you all again."
"Rima-tan~! I missed you!" Yaya cried, hugging the short form of royalty.
"As did we," Amu said, laughing at Yaya's greeting.
Yaya was dressed in a white, elegant dress that was very poofy. She loved stuff that was poofy. Her hair was tied up in its usual pig-tails with golden ribbons.
Amu was dressed in a light blue dress that was extremely sparkly and fluffy. Her pink hair was tied up in a bun with a blue ribbon.
"It is nice to see you again," Tadase smiled kindly, always giving people warm greetings, no matter who they were.
Ikuto just nodded. To him, it seemed awkward when he visited Amu's friends. Especially one without a prince.
Rima smiled sweetly. What a nice smile, everyone would say. But sometimes, it felt like she had to force smiles. Even the natural ones. She felt like a liar and a stupid person to have to force smiles. Rima had everything a girl could ever want.. Except for a prince, but that was it. She always just told herself no one could be happy 100% of the time.
"Let's go to your room, Rima-tan!" Yaya suggested, grabbing the short girl by her arm.
"Sure," Rima agreed.
The three all went up to her room and flopped down on the bed. After catching up on the latest gossip about things and royalty, Amu got up and began going through Rima's closet. She always did this. Rima didn't know why, though. Maybe just curious?
Amu frowned at Rima's choice of clothing. "Why is it most of it pink, Rima?"
Rima shrugged. She was surprised Amu hadn't asked sooner. Sometimes she just felt like she needed to wear pink to feel pretty. To feel like she actually belonged in a kingdom with people serving her. Rima was tempted to ask Amu why her hair was pink.
"It's to keep all those boys interested, right... Rima~" Yaya smirked.
Rima blushed a light pink, similar to the shade of her room. "N-No! That's not it.. I don't really have a reason... I just like the color pink, that's all.."
"My wardrobe could never be all pink like this," Amu said, running her fingers across a pink silk dress.
Rima just looked down while Yaya got up to look at the rest of her clothes. Rima didn't mind her friends going through her things, she just felt like they didn't know her at all. If only they knew all the crap she was going through. Rima was pressured every day into being more like a princess, being more like her friends, and not treating people equally. She didn't feel like it was right. Kind of like living a lie, but it felt more like a fairy tale that didn't have a happy and or perfect ending. Nothing's perfect.
"Let's paint each other's nails," Amu said as she finished going through all of Rima's outfits.
"Yaya wants to go first!" Yaya squealed, holding out both of her hands. "Do you have white? 'Cuz it would go great with my dress."
Rima shook up a small container of white nail polish and then opened it. The smell burned her nose.
"I love the smell for some odd reason," Amu giggled.
Yaya nodded. "So do I!"
Rima was afraid to disagree. She had absolutely no confidence, which is something a princess should always have. It wasn't normal to be different in her eyes.
"I'll do her right hand first, and then you can do the left one, Rima," Amu said happily. She liked painting nails. Her nails were usually black, red, or something different.
Rima handed the nail polish to Amu. She wasn't a big fan of painting nails because sometimes she was shaky. Her hand would sometimes shake uncontrolablly. It wasn't normal for a princess like herself, Rima thought. She wasn't sure if it was just nervousness or some weird disease she had. Princesses shouldn't have diseases!
Amu quickly finished painting Yaya's right hand. "All done with this hand! Here 'ya go, Rima," She gave it to Rima.
Rima sighed softly and began painting her left hand. She always feared that they would say something, but they never did. Maybe just out of courtesy?
"You want yours pink, don't you Rima?" Amu joked, just taking a wild guess.
Rima knew it wasn't intended to make fun, but the words stung a bit. So she just faked a smile, like usual.
After all of them had finished with their now dry nails, they heard a knock at the door.
"Yeeeeeessss?" Yaya opened the door to see Ikuto and Tadase there. Tadase was smiling and Ikuto just looked plain uncomfortable. The only people he was comfortable with was Tadase and Amu.
"What is it?" Amu asked, smelling her fingernails to make sure they were dry.
Before Tadase could speak, Ikuto said, "It's time for dinner, apparently."
Tadase scowled at Ikuto.
Ikuto smiled innocently at him in response. (A/N: Was that a bit too... Takuto? XD I actually like that pairing. :3)
"Yay, finally~! Yaya was starving!" Yaya said excitedly (even though she had said nothing about being hungry before), running past them, grabbing Tadase's arm in the process and pulling him along.
Once they were all seated at the table eating, Rima began to feel very out of place. When she looked at everyone around her... Her father, her mother, Amu, Yaya, Tadase, and Ikuto... It was like she was the missing puzzle piece.
Rima's head began to hurt. She had the worst headaches. "Father, may I please be excused?" She finally asked, not being able to control herself. Her voice sounded scratchy.
Her father nodded, but was concerned.
Rima got up and went up to her room, not looking at anyone. As soon as she reached her room, she went in and made sure to shut her door quietly and lock it. Not being able to choke back the the tears any longer, she burst out and fell onto her bed.
"It's not fair! It's not fair how all of my friends get to have the best lives and get to be happy with the one they love!" Rima said, sobbing into her pillow. "I hate it! I just hate it!" She was unable to pull herself back together. Usually the tears would stop after a few minutes, but they just kept flowing as if they were endless.
Rima had been holding all of this back since her friends found princes. Ever since her father started pressuring her. Ever since she became royalty!
As she was on her bed, crying her eyes out, she couldn't help but think she'd feel a little better if Nagihiko was beside her, stroking her hair and telling her how everything would be all right
A/N: That was depressing. ._. I feel so deep! xD! Is that long enough for you, Sydney? XD ... REVIEW X3~
