Happily Ever After

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a stable boy named Hanataro and a princess named Rukia. Princess Rukia was imprisoned and every day, Hanataro would come and sweep her jail cell.

One day as Hanataro was about to leave, princess Rukia told him to stay and keep her company. She told him wondrous stories about an exotic world where she stayed with a prince named Ichigo.

The stable boy asked Rukia whether she was scared. She calmly told him that she had to be brave so Ichigo wouldn't be worried.

Her words are happy, but her eyes were not. Hanataro asks Rukia to smile but she would not. She only would for Ichigo.

Sometimes, princess Rukia's stories are so wild that Hanataro doesn't know whether they were true or if she made them up. Nonetheless, Hanataro always listens because Rukia seems happier when she talks about Ichigo.

He wonders where this "Ichigo" is and why he doesn't come to save princess Rukia, because day after day, he watches her grow weaker and weaker.

The stable boy thinks that if prince Ichigo doesn't come save Rukia, he would somehow save her. But then, he probably won't succeed. He will never be good enough, strong enough, or brave enough to be her prince.

Every day, her eyes turn cloudier and cloudier. She is slipping away; Like water through his fingers. All she has to sustain herself are her memories.

Day after day, she waits in her lonely cell. She refuses to eat, she refuses to sleep. Hanataro tries to make her eat something, because he can see that she is withering up right in front of him. She refuses. All she says is, "He will come. All I need is him."

Hanataro wishes with all his heart that prince Ichigo will come for princess Rukia. He prays for a happy ending.