AN: To clear up the confusion, no, Colin is not related to Corin or King Lune at all. He is Cassandra's brother, whose father is a NOBLE of King Lune. They are in no way related. I just had no idea what to call Yuki's other love interest and Colin was the first name to come to mind. While it seems obvious how similar their names are, for some reason I didn't notice. Colin is two years older than Peter, so he is not Shasta.
Yuki glances around nervously as she leads Snowflake out of the stables. She had done her hair up in a simple half up, half down style with a hair chopstick Susan had gifted her. Peter said he liked her in simple things, so she took his advice.
"Oh, where is he?" she groans. "Peter was supposed to meet me here ten minutes ago!"
"Perhaps he overslept," Snowflake suggests, but they both knew Peter is always punctual. Tell him to meet at sunrise, he'll come 15 minutes early. Where can he be? He never forget his friendly dates with her.
Thirty minutes later, Yuki finds herself still waiting for Peter. By now, she is sitting on the grass, pouting while Snowflake tries to cheer her up.
"May I ask why the long face? It's hard to distinguish who is the horse here," a voice jokes, but it was a voice Yuki hated to hear.
"Shut up Colin," Yuki growls, still pouting.
"King Peter was supposed to meet the mistress this morning for some riding," Snowflake tells him, much to Yuki's displeasure.
"Was he?" Colin asks. "I hate to tell you this." He pauses a bit. "Well, actually I don't, but I just passed by King Peter and Lady Anabelle in the royal gardens. They seemed to be enjoying themselves." His words cause Snowflake to hide behind a tree while Yuki's eyes widen with fury.
"He what?!" gasps Yuki, jumping to her feet.
"Mistress! Please don't be rash!" begs Snowflake, running after her.
"That stupid block head owes me a day of horse riding and I'm going to get it!" Yuki shouts, stalking off in the direction of the garden. However when she sees Peter, her anger falters and fades into sadness. There in front of her was Peter picking a rose and giving it to Anabelle. He was smiling at her in a way Yuki never saw him smile before. They look like the perfect couple. Beautiful and sweet Lady Anabelle with High King Peter the Magnificent. The view is like a painting, but to Yuki it was knives to her heart. He was supposed to meet her this morning, not Lady Anabelle. He really must've forgotten about their bet the night before. The thought simply makes the feeling worse.
"Lady Yuki!" Colin calls from behind her, but stops when he notices her wet eyes.
"Mistress, are you alright?" Snowflake asks, rubbing her mistress' back with her nose.
"Sorry, Snowflake, we'll ride another day," apologizes Yuki and she begins walking to her room. Sniffing, she enters her room and sees her children on her bed laughing until they see her.
"Mama!" Kokoro cries, hopping to her feet. Seeing their mother cry, the rabbits run to her, but make sure to leave her a path to her bed. Sighing, Yuki falls onto her bed, hugging Wit as the other three surround her with concern.
"What happened?" Carrot asks as Yuki rubs her eyes, keeping the tears in.
"Is it that pretty lady papa was dancing with last night?" Wit asks. Yuki nods, but smiles at his cleverness. He is always the witty one...
"Papa can't leave mama like that!" cries Happy, glaring. However the glare on his innocent bunny face causes Yuki to giggle. "If mama's not happy, then Happy's not happy!"
"You're always Happy," Kokoro replies, not understanding it. Their innocence is enough for Yuki to stop crying.
"You know Peter and I are not really married right?" Yuki reminds them, causing them to frown.
"Well we're not really family either," retorts Carrot.
"But I'll always love you guys," states Yuki, making them smile again. "Thank you for cheering me up." At that moment, someone suddenly knocks on the door.
"Lady Yuki?" Without a doubt, that voice belongs to Colin, making Yuki sigh. "I came to check if you are alright." She trudges to the door and opens it, eyes still glossy as she looks up at him.
"Thank you for your concern, but I'm quite fine," Yuki answers quickly and attempts to shut the door, but Colin shoves his foot in at the perfect moment. Trying to lighten up the mood, he pretends as if she crushed his foot with the door.
"Ow, ow!" he fakes, making Kokoro giggle. "Lady Yuki, you've killed my foot! I believe a way to apologize is by letting me into your room!"
"But that's highly inappropriate!" she shouts in horror, but Colin continues standing there, groaning and exaggerating his fake pain. "Fine! You can come in as long as you stop your horrendous acting!" Chuckling, Colin enters, no longer 'hurt'. Even though they are not alone in the room, Yuki feels that way because for some reason Colin's presence is all it takes for her to have butterflies.
"Who are you?" Wit questions, getting in attack mode. Carrot mirrors him from the side.
"It's okay, he's a friend," Yuki says, and Wit calms down, but Carrot remains on guard.
"He's pretty," Kokoro sighs, and squeals slightly when Colin picks her up.
"Well I see you are no longer hurt, so you can leave now," states Yuki coldly. She felt bad for treating him in such a way when he was concerned about her, but he made her feel too nervous. "Sorry, I'm just not in the mood right now. Please leave."
"I'm afraid I can't leave when you are so upset," replies Colin, sighing. Yuki reaches out for Kokoro, who jumps into her arms. "And you left so suddenly, Snowflake was quite worried too, so I took her back to the stables. However she is still sad since you two are supposed to be riding." Yuki frowns, feeling guilty. She abandoned her friend simply because a boy forgot her. Seeing her troubled face, Colin links her arm with his. "Tell you what, I volunteer to replace King Peter for your horse riding today." Before she can protest, Wit interrupts her.
"Mama, don't waste your time being sad," he urges. "Papa's having fun, so you should too."
"I wanna go too!" Happy chimes, hopping on her. Yuki giggles, agreeing. They were right. Peter and her are just friends, and she told Susan she would give up on him anyway. Sp why should she mope around while Peter probably doesn't even remember breaking his promise to her?
"So is that a yes, milady?" Colin asks, smirking. His smirk fades to a look of pain when Carrot sneakily bites his foot, giving him real pain.
"I still don't like you," Carrot hisses, thumping Colin.
"Hurry up!" Yuki laughs, rushing Colin as Snowflake gracefully glides across the field.
"Not all of us were made for riding!" gasps Colin, nearly falling off his horse.
"Mama's too good!" Carrot cackles. "Look at him!" The four bunnies, Snowflake, and Yuki turn to see poor Colin clinging onto Thunder's reigns for dear life.
"Of all the horses, you picked me," Thunder growls, approaching them. Yuki laughs so hard, she ends up falling off Snowflake. "Guardian, do you hate me? Why would you put me with such a horrible rider?"
"I beg to differ!" Colin yells, falling off as Thunder bucks him off. "I have a horrible horse." He stands up, but is kicked in the butt by Thunder. The sight causes Yuki to laugh even harder, rolling on the ground.
"I love you Thunder!" Carrot giggles. "I don't like him either."
"Are you okay?" asks Kokoro with genuine concern, looking at both Colin and Yuki.
"I think mama's lost it," Happy comments innocently as Wit shakes his head. When she finally calms down, Yuki stands up and wipes the tears from her eyes.
"You know, judging by how you look, I thought you'd-" Yuki's voice trails off, too embarrassed to continue. Colin crosses his arms and smirks while quirking an eyebrow.
"Oh? And what do I look like?" he pushes, leaning in closer. Snowflake quickly uses her tail to block the view from Kokoro and Happy as Thunder does so for Wit and Carrot.
"Y-you look like one of those p-perfect people so I-I thought y-you'd be good at e-everything," she stutters, blushing harder as he leans closer.
"So you think I'm perfect?" asks Colin, getting more smug by the second as Yuki gains more and more butterflies. "Hm, you think I'm good at everything. Well do you think I'd be good at sweeping you off your feet?" Colin's spicy scent floods her nose as he closes the gap. He slowly tilts her chin up and before she realizes it, Yuki begins leaning in too.
"Away from mama!" Carrot threatens, hopping onto Colin and scurries all over him, thumping him randomly. Quickly forgetting her lovestruck state from earlier, Yuki begins giggling at Colin again. Instead of being abused by Thunder this time, Colin is on the ground pleading for mercy against Carrot, who randomly bits him as he plows around. Once again, the horses and rabbits join Yuki in on the laughter.
"Heel boy, heel!" Wit shouts, thumping Carrot off.
"Thank you," Colin gasps, standing up. He stalks over to Yuki with a fake angry look on his face. He picks her up as a prince would a princess, but Yuki is far from a princess, causing her to squeal and hit his chest.
"Put me down!" she protests, hitting him with her fists. He didn't want to admit it, but Yuki did hurt him with her little fists. Under normal conditions it might've felt like feathers being thrown at him. But with her training in the army, it felt like boulders. He finally obeys her and drops her to her feet. "Don't do that again! Who knows what people would think if they saw us like that!"
"I don't mind if they think I like you because I do," Colin states calmly, making Yuki's heart beat faster.
"And don't say that so casually!" she groans, getting back on Snowflake. "I thank you for making me forget this morning, but please don't push my limits."
"You blame me for being too forward, but I blame you for being irresistible," counters Colin, but Yuki was far from amused. However it did make her tingle every time he implied him fancying her. Never had anyone taken such an interest in her and it made her feel special that someone as handsome as Colin would pursue her, but he probably does this to many girls much more beautiful than her. Rolling her eyes, Yuki puts the rabbits on her saddle.
"Good bye, Colin," Yuki repeats and begins leaving on Snowflake. But Colin quickly gets on Thunder and blocks their way. "What?"
"Fine, I'll stop being so forward with you," he pleads, begging her to not leave with his eyes. "I'll wait for you to be more comfortable before I act like that again."
"Thank you," Yuki whispers, but it was enough for him to hear. She looks down, too embarrassed to look at him in the eyes.
"Come on, why don't we start your first magic lesson?" he asks. "It'll give me a change to regain my dignity."
"You lost it when you screamed from Carrot's attacks," Wit states bluntly, causing the girls to giggle. Colin shoots him an annoyed glare.
"Yeah, it's still on the ground," Carrot adds, smirking. This causes Yuki to laugh more as Kokoro takes pity on him and jumps over to him and Thunder.
"I want to see mama do magic," Kokoro chimes, saving Colin from more embarrassment.
"But-" Yuki starts, but is cut off by Colin.
"Is the Guardian scared of going out of her comfort zone?" he taunts.
"Let's go!" Yuki looks at Colin with a smirk. "I bet I can beat you back!" Yuki shouts over the wind, rushing right past him.
"I win!" Yuki cheers, turning Snowflake around, but she doesn't see anyone behind her. "Colin? Kokoro?"
"Boo," a low voice whispers, causing her to shriek. Snowflake bucks, sending Yuki down.
"Mistress!" gasps Snowflake. "I'm terribly sorry! Are you alright?" Yuki groans a yes and the two look behind them to see Colin removing the magic wings from Thunder.
"Mama! Are those?!" asks Happy, wide eyed.
"Papa's got competition now," Wit mumbles.
"Tch, show off," grumles Carrot, jumping into Yuki's arms.
"You gave him wings?!" she gasps, not believing her eyes.
"Well I knew I wouldn't beat you on the ground, so I did what I do best, magic," Colin states casually, facing her with a smirk. He would never forget this moment, the very first time he impresses her. Of course he'd keep finding new things to impress her with, but the first moments are special.
"You cheated!" complains Yuki, pouting and turning away.
"Technically you never laid out rules, just said you bet you can beat me back," the brunette retorts, smirking more when Yuki opens her mouth to counter. However when she realizes he is right, her mouth just remains open with no words coming out. "Close it, dearest, you'll catch dryad petals." Colin turns to take Kokoro out of her saddle.
"Mama did you see?! I was flying!" Kokoro cheers. Colin looks at her with relief, if she likes him this much, Kokoro will definitely be able to help him in his quest for Yuki's heart.
"Well then would you like to fly again?" he asks her, who in turn nods happily. "Okay, everyone stand back." Everyone does as he says and Colin concentrates on little Kokoro. After a few seconds, light creates wings on her back, giving her temporary wings.
"I'm flying, I'm flying!" she cheers, gliding through the sky.
"Wow! That's amazing!" Happy says in awe.
"Kokoro be careful!" Yuki warns cautiously. "Get her down! She could get hurt!"
"Well you definitely sound like a mother," Colin chuckles, but obeys her wish and lowers Kokoro to Yuki before taking away the wings.
"Can you teach me to do that?" Yuki asks hopefully. Maybe she can make ice wings for battle. Then again, if she can then the White Witch would have too.
"I don't think so," apologizes Colin. "Like I said when I first met you, you don't have magic. Your use with the wand will be quite limited. Get your wand." Shrugging, Yuki slips out the ice wand from her saddle's hidden compartment. "It was there the whole time?!" She laughs at his shocked expression. He was almost cute, almost.
"Who's the idiot that would leave it out in the open?" Wit asks rhetorically.
"Colin," Carrot answers.
"Smart girl," he chuckles. "And rude rabbit." Carrot huffs and points his nose away, causing Colin to frown. If her 'son' keeps seeing him this way, he might influence Yuki's decision on him.
"Well then what do you think you can teach me?" she asks. "I already know how to make walls."
"The way I learned was through drastic measures," Colin explains. "So the only way I teach is by using drastic measures."
"And what does that mean?" Yuki asks, fear evident in her voice. By the superior tone he had, it didn't sound good, or safe. She mentally hits herself, realizing she's been asking him so many questions.
"It means," Colin pauses and makes an ice dome to surround them, blocking the bunnies out, "that you will learn with life threatening situations."
"Life threatening?!" she screeches in horror. "What are you doing?! Am I supposed to fight you?! This isn't fair!"
"Don't worry, this is just a protection spell to make sure nothing outside gets destroyed," chuckles Colin. "They can see and hear us just fine."
"Mama!" Happy cries.
"Don't worry, he won't hurt her, he likes her too much," Kokoro chimes enthusiastically.
"Let's hope papa won't overreact," Wit groans. Back inside the dome, Colin continues with a different spell. Yuki shakes with fear as he brings forth a golem.
"Please don't tell me I'm fighting that," she begs, making him chuckle.
"Okay, I won't," he complies, but she lets out a yelp when the golem slams down on her.
"I thought you said I won't be fighting that?!" she growls, jumping out of the way as the fist comes down again. Colin laughs loudly as Yuki scrambles around like a cat, dodging every punch.
"No, I said I won't tell you that you're fighting him," Colin grins, making her wish she would golem punch him to death. "Here's your first lesson, take him down. Only magic is allowed, your sword is not allowed."
"How am I supposed to take him down if I don't know how to use the wand's magic?!" retorts Yuki, tiring out quickly.
"That's what the golem is for," he explains. "The golem will push you beyond your limits, that is when your most powerful magic comes out. Magic is about emotions. Use them to take him down." He looks at the sweat on Yuki. "And I suggest you do it quick before he scrambles you." She lets out a loud, frustrated yell. How dare he put her life in danger?! Glaring at him, Yuki feels as if a force is coming from her and before she knows it, she uses her wand to blast ice at Colin. Even though it looked powerful to her, he watches calmly and clears away the blast with a basic fire shield, smirking. Why did he have to smirk so damn much?!
"Stop smirking!" she shouts, losing focus and gets knocked away by the golem.
"That anger is perfect, now just direct it at the golem," he commands, not moving a muscle. She tries to stand up, but is quickly swatted down by the golem's fist. He continuously knocks her around, to the point where even Colin began to feel irritated. "Are you even being serious about this?! It shouldn't be too hard! Take him down!"
"Easy for you to say! You aren't the ping pong ball!" Yuki shrieks over the golem's roar.
"A what?!" he asks, exasperated. "Just tune out everything else and focus on your anger! Think of something that made you really angry, as if you were wronged! Use that feeling and channel it into the wand." Nodding, Yuki closes her eyes and attempt to numb herself to the pain the golem is dealing. She thinks back to England, where she was bullied. Those ignorant girls who always asked if she was Chinese. Then those times when the teachers saw her getting bullied but didn't do anything except snicker at her embarrassment. She remembers back to how much she wanted to yell and scream at them. Then she thinks to how useless and worthless they made her feel. She had to become better than them, to show them they were all beneath her. She tried to treat them with respect. Yet they always walked over her as if she was dirt under their shoes.
The anger slowly generates into the wand and Yuki gasps, seeing it blast a gigantic shard at the golem. She feels quite proud of herself for casting a strong attack, but unfortunately it misses.
"That's good enough," Colin says, and waves the golem away. Yuki falls to the ground with a thud. He walks over to where she is on the ground and rubbing her head, offering his hand. "I'll be honest, I can't tell if you're my best or worst student. All my beginners are able to take down the golem, but I've never seen anyone cast a nice blast on the first hand."
"I take it as a failure," she mumbles. "I couldn't take him down."
"True, even the most powerful spells are useless if they miss," he chuckles. Colin takes down the ice dome and when it is fully down, they turn to see a smiling Anabelle and Peter next to her. However she could not read Peter's expression as she read Anabelle's.
