TWENTY-SIX – Her

20 Days Until The Wedding

"You should head off to bed, Ryu," Shirayuki softly spoke to the boy. The young prodigy had his eyes glued onto the book lying on the desk, but she could see discomfort every time he blinked. "You're tired and you need some rest."

"I'll be alright," the boy croaked tiredly, letting out a small yawn as he turned the page of his book. Beside him was a small plate with crumbs and a glass with stains of plum juice. Shirayuki had prepared him a dinner, knowing that he hadn't eaten much of his lunch due to grogginess. "Just this last chapter."

"That is chapter 18 and that's about 9 pages longer," Shirayuki pointed out, quickly grabbing the book from his reach and closing it with a finger on the page where he left off. Ryu looked up at Shirayuki, pure exhaustion practically bleeding from his eyes. He tried to plead, but no words to come out once Shirayuki spoke again. "Go to bed, Ryu."

"But…" Ryu groaned once more before dropping his head in defeat into his crossed arms. Shirayuki giggled, reaching over to grab a dried herb Ryu uses as a bookmark. She replaced her finger, thankfully, before placing the book down on Garak's table.

"He's something, ain't he?" Garak pointed out, taking a sip of the Roka tea that Shirayuki, Obi, and Ryu had created a bit ago. Shirayuki nodded, straightening up piles of books and papers that were always ornate on the old table. "Sometimes it scares me how unhealthy he is for someone who studies herbs and medicine."

"It's almost endearing though," Shirayuki hummed, halting to smile down at the sleeping prodigy on the table. She walked over to his side and slowly weaved a few fingers into his coarse, dark brown hair. "He's distracted by something he loves. It's just so fascinating to me."

"Don't you get the same when I give you assignments with new books or herbs?" Garak wondered, using a free hand to move back her sand-like hair from her front. Shirayuki smiled warmly at her words and nodded.

"I do," Shirayuki began quietly. "But his love remains solely in his studies, and this career. He adores it so much that his love can barely expand to other people. For me, my love doesn't just stay at my passion." Garak snickered lightly at this, having Shirayuki glance at her with a puzzled expression.

"I've noticed," Garak says simply as she downed the rest of her tea. Shirayuki had always known Garak had a knack for teasing others without making sense or making it difficult to comprehend. But Shirayuki had some idea as to what she had been implying. Or rather, who she was implying. And from that, Shirayuki felt her cheeks hit a bit.

"I'll carry him to his bed," Shirayuki quickly chimed as she took the back of his chair and pulled it out from under the table. She quickly grabbed his shoulders before he drooped down and hit his head against the table. With struggle, Shirayuki bent down to put one arm under the back of his knees and the other arm right behind his back. Then, with effort, she lifted the young boy from the chair. "Wow, he's sure got some weight in him for someone who barely eats."

"If only Obi were here," Garak began, having Shirayuki's heartbeat quicken as she held the boy. Her emerald eyes dulled a bit, and Garak took quick note of this in her head. It always intrigued her to see Shirayuki react when being reminded of Obi. "You miss him, don't you?"

"Just a bit," Shirayuki lies, her voice much lower as she looked down at the sleeping prodigy in her arms. Obi would be able to carry him with incredible ease, muttering him stories that Ryu couldn't hear through his unconsciousness. It always shocked Shirayuki every time she saw Obi interact with Ryu. It was like he was a completely different person with a familiarity that made Shirayuki know as fact that every Obi she sees is one person.

"He'll be back by tomorrow," Garak highlighted, having Shirayuki look over to see the pharmacist grin. "3 days is a promise, and I don't think he'll break it. Especially when it was a promise to you, Shirayuki."

Shirayuki nodded wistfully from Garak's words before paying her a goodnight and exiting her office. The only sound she could hear was the sound of the heels of her boots as she walked. She greeted a few guards she passed as she made her way over to the shared office and entered quietly. Without turning on the light, Shirayuki used her leg to move Ryu's stool to bend down. Cautiously as she could, she safely placed the boy into the bed he's made under his desk and covered him with his blanket.

Letting out a warm sigh, Shirayuki reached over and planted a kiss on Ryu's forehead.

Light snores danced inside the office as she pulled his curtain and closed him away from her view. Now standing straight, Shirayuki slowly stepped towards the window by her desk and opened it. Her hands firmly held down on the window sill as she popped her head out to look up at the sky.

"Obi," she whispered to herself, looking at how bright the stars were tonight. "I hope you're seeing the stars tonight, because I am."

The dollops of fiery whites ornate the navy blue sky with its light. They were bigger, and much more brilliant than they usually are. They reminded her of the night before Obi had left for his trip. They were up on the roof together, staring at the sky like they'll never see it the same way ever again. And Shirayuki admitted with ease that she has never seen the sky the same since then, and that was only a night ago.

She hoped he hadn't gotten into trouble. Without her, Zen, Mitsuhide, and Kiki, she feared that Obi sauntered himself into a situation he wasn't completely down about and got himself in a rough spot. She worried so much over him, so much so that her heart throbbed every time her thoughts infected her with these sudden jolts of concern.

But Obi was slowly becoming something too big for Shirayuki to comprehend. It was the way the scar on his forehead made it easy to distinguish where his 'eyebrow' was when he raised it. It was the way he laughed so genuinely at silly jokes either he or Shirayuki made with one another. It was the way he eagerly helped her carry heavy boxes even though he knew well that she was very capable to do so on her own. It was the way he became the shoulder that she needed for the buckets of tears she never thought she'd ever emit. It was the way he brought her breakfast, and gave her dances, and climbed trees with her. It was the way he smiled, one with pure happiness and no mystery.

And damn, it was those cursed amber eyes that stabbed Shirayuki's heart with the sincerity and warmth that only appeared when she was before him.

The emerald eyes quickly diverted to the moon, seeing the thin, crescent object just sat in the sky. It was splotched with gray orbs, which were said to be called craters, or not-so-deep holes. She noticed how there was less darkness stealing the moons thunder. She would never have noticed these details had it not been for Obi. Now, she wanted to study the moon and the stars, everything that she could gather so she could tell him all about it.

"This moon is ours tonight, Obi," Shirayuki said gently, a happy smile playing at her lips. But, her brief happiness was suddenly stolen by the sound of grass being stepped on in the distance.

She tilted her head down and looked through to see one of the small spots of nature that was ornate in the castle. A wind came quick, one that didn't feel refreshing, but rather cold. This night randomly began turning ominous, and that was sending a few goosebumps up Shirayuki's arms. Pushing the window at its limit, she threw her legs out before hopping out of the window to land perfectly on her feet. Her hands were quick to hold onto Obi's scarf as she slowly began walking upon the patch of nature.

"Hello?" Shirayuki called out quietly, sensing someone's presence. She could feel them; feel an entity that didn't belong. She looked around, fear collecting in her stomach as she hoped to find a familiar body. Or even better, Obi. But there was a bad feeling brewing in the air, and Shirayuki feared that she had jumped herself right in the middle of it.

And, unfortunately, she was right.

Behind her was a strong force that grabbed her back by Obi's basil scarf. Shirayuki grunted, the scarf tightening around her neck as she felt her back touch a tough torso. She shoved her hands between the front of the scarf and her neck, hoping to choke her less as she gasped for air. Her heartbeat quickened as this mysterious body held her against her will. She then turned to glance at an unfamiliar face.

"Who are you?" Shirayuki barked, struggling to be released. But this mysterious figure used his other arm to wrap it around her waist to keep her firmly pressed against him. Shirayuki noticed he was entirely covered with some sort of black attire. Similar to one of a stereotypical night assassin.

"Just a visitor," the man said, attempting to make his sinister voice more kind. His grip on her was tough, having Shirayuki halt her struggling for a moment. "You have peculiar hair."

"So I've heard." The two stood there in soon silence, having Shirayuki's brain pester her with thoughts she didn't need right now.

She expected this, surely. She expected some sort of harmful thing coming her way for either her hair or other reasons that she couldn't really comprehend. Why was it that right when Obi wasn't around, all the bad comes to hurt her? It's as though Obi has become her good luck charm, and Shirayuki was yearning for some fortune right about now.

I'm defenseless.

There's nothing I can do.

Is there?

She had hoped her questions would somehow reach Obi's mind. Shirayuki was desperate for his confident words and encouragement. All she wanted was one of his hugs, or a silly joke that allowed the two to share a laugh. She wanted him to take away this fear and replace it with happiness and humor and everything that comes with Obi.

'Why would someone want to hurt a wonderful person like you?'

Shirayuki's eyes widened from the replay in her mind, and it suddenly forced her to act faster.

"Why are you here?" Shirayuki asked, dissolving the silence between them.

"D'aw, I just figured to pay a visit to the Prince, of course," the man hummed, his grip clenching onto the scarf. "After imprisoning my father, I just wanted to come to express my immense gratitude for such an act."

Shirayuki widened her eyes. "Your father?"

"Yes, my father," the man began. "He was part of The Claw of the Sea Pirates, and Prince Zen had him locked away along with the rest of the clan."

"Oh."

"In fact," the man began eerily, having Shirayuki feel him bring his face close to the back of her head. She felt him take a whiff of her hair, having disturbance run down her spine in doing so. "They were caught because two kingdoms worked together to save a little redhead."

This was bad. This was very, very bad. Shirayuki felt her heart racing, her mind attempting to think of a plan. But it was this incredible fear that had been forcing her stiff while this man held her. Her hands were still struggling to keep her from choking, feeling the scarf push her hands into her neck. She had been yearning for air, as much as she could get while in this position. She tilted her head down, seeing if she could find anything useful from the grass. She then looked at Obi's scarf and widened her eyes. She then grinned.

"Little is a bit too condescending," Shirayuki began quietly. She slowly guided her left foot behind her right one. "Especially when you've just had the honor to meet the very redhead."

"Wait—"

Before the man could respond, Shirayuki moved her left foot firmly between his feet, and bent her leg. The heel of her boot quickly made contact with his crouch and a loud yelped deafened her. But she felt the scarf loosen, allowing her to quickly dash forward from the figure and began gasping desperately for air. Her hands held the scarf away from her neck, allowing her to breathe as the man held his crotch in pure displeasure.

"You're… rather bold, ain'tcha, Little Red?" The man groan, having Shirayuki see his eyes were just as black as his attire and the night. She kept panting but kept herself wary, her eyes studying the body a few feet away from her. "The fierce ones are always the most valuable."

"If that's a compliment, I'm going to kindly reject it," Shirayuki said, her teeth gritting with disturbance. "And if you think you're going to take me to sell me, you've got another thing coming."

He let out a bitter laugh. "Ah, but how're you to escape without one of your little Prince's to come and save you?" His hand went to his sheath and made a hissing noise as he revealed one of the pirates' swords she had seen when she was kidnapped. "Especially when you are defenseless, and I have a weapon."

"I wonder," Shirayuki teased, her voice quieting down as she tightly held onto the basil scarf. "I've been chased out of my hometown, kidnapped by a noble gone rogue, and almost got shot with an arrow. An incompetent man such as yourself doesn't frighten me, but what you might do to the kingdom does."

"Oh?" The man hummed, leering at the girl curiously. "So you would rather I take you than having me have a small talk with your beloved Prince?"

"You can try to, but if you manage to, then yes," Shirayuki began quietly. She knew this battle couldn't be won for herself, but she didn't want the Prince to get into any sort of trouble. After all, she owed Zen a lot for how much he's done for her.

"You're such a fool!" The man quickly lunged at her, the sword up in the air to strike down. Shirayuki felt her heart hammer in her chest as everything went slower. She watched the tip of the sword, trying to calculate the distance between her and it before they collided. Thinking quickly, she took off the scarf from her neck and backed up before placed the scarf in front of her.

The man chuckled before striking down upon the scarf. Shirayuki was wide-eyed with nerves as she felt something scratch the area right below her head. Wincing, she backed up again and looked down to the significant item cut in two. No, no, no! She clenched the two parts tightly, the wool tickling her small, soft hands as anger was beginning to pile up inside her. But she stupidly got distracted in her sadness to forget about the man. Diverting her attention once more, Shirayuki saw him beginning to strike once more and figured that this was it. She closed her eyes tightly, and waited for the impact.

Goodbye.

"NO!"

The strike never came through. Shirayuki heard grunts and flesh being torn into. Opening her emerald eyes, she widened to see the man down on the floor, with his weapon tossed far away from him. He had been grunting, pain evident in his face as he panted desperately for relief. But then Shirayuki's eyes guided themselves to the cause of this man's fall and found herself even more surprised.

"Z-Zen?" She whispered, seeing the familiar blue and white attire. But her eyes were quick to divert to see his very sword strike through the man's side. It was gruesome to hear his groans of pain and how squeamish the sounds were. A clean metal between exposed flesh, the scent of blood intoxicating the air. Shirayuki couldn't help but look away in disgust. "I… I um…"

"Shirayuki." She felt his footsteps near her, but she was too relieved to move. But she did falter when he quickly relieved the man of his sword in his body. Zen could see how stiff she was, how much fear collected in her. It was her life she was willing to lose, even if she didn't want to. Zen moved to where she was facing down, having her flinch when see his boots. That's when she realized how she addressed him and quickly looked up at the boy.

"I'm so sorry!" Shirayuki exclaimed. "I meant Prince Zen, Your Highness. I'm so sorry for disrespecting you like that."

Zen dismissed her words and offered her his hand. Shirayuki looked at it hesitantly, but he had just saved her. He wasn't a monster. He was a man with a heart, and right at that moment, she saw it. She saw it in his azure eyes the familiar stranger she met long ago. The man who hopped over a wall but fell from seeing an unfamiliar entity by the abandoned home. The man who just screamed confidence and kindness, with his heart completely given to his people and his kingdom. Shirayuki found herself taking his hand with a fair amount of ease.

"Ryu, please alarm guards nearby," Zen began, having Shirayuki widen her eyes to find the young boy by the open corridor. His aqua eyes stunned her with how scared he was, seeing his pupils practically shake with the light from the lit up torches. She watched as the young boy bolted down the corridor and chanted 'guards' as he did. Shirayuki slowly rose from the ground, both parts of the scarf now being occupied in her other hand. "Shirayuki, we're friends. It feels weird when you address me as 'Your Highness' or 'Prince Zen.'"

"I'm sorry," Shirayuki began quietly, her eyes diverted down to their hands in contact. There was nothing coming from it. No insane sparks, no jolts of happiness. Rather, it was just relief that Zen had come on time. "Thank you for saving me. You didn't have to."

"I wanted to, Shirayuki," Zen began with a gentle smile. "You are part of my kingdom and no one will get hurt under my reign. And with the way you were going to negotiate with this person, I was near close to exploding."

"Y-you heard all of that?" Shirayuki began, her cheeks tinting pink. She looked up to see Zen give her a gracious smile.

"To think you'd let yourself be kidnapped again to protect me is beyond me, Shirayuki," Zen said, shaking his head at her recklessness. "I can handle myself, and you know this. You were defenseless, and this man was one strike away from taking your life."

"I'm sorry…"

"You should have let him visited my quarters," Zen growled, his voice suddenly lowered to make this short talk into a scolding. "You can't try to protect me if you couldn't even protect yourself in this situation."

"M'sorry…" Shirayuki could not stress how sorry she was. She knew Zen could protect himself, but she didn't want him to be dealt with this dangerous man. She would rather give herself up then to let that happen. Not out of love, but out of pure respect for everything Zen has done for her. Shirayuki just can't help it sometimes.

"I know," Zen began softly, his eyebrows relaxing as he wiped his pursed lips away to replace it with a small smile. He let go of her hand, feeling the guards rush over from the vibrations in the ground. He didn't want them to get the wrong idea. "I'm sorry, too."

Shirayuki paused right then, looking into his azure eyes to find pure self-hatred in them. She wondered why before diverting her eyes to the guards rushing their way into the scene. They were quick to take the sword into their custody and begin to stand the man up to cuff him. He groaned in pain, obviously not wanting to be up to cause him more pain. Shirayuki couldn't help but frown before going up to the guards.

"I can fix that up for him," Shirayuki began firmly, hearing Zen snicker a bit behind her. He always knew how much of a kind girl she is, but to help the man who almost assassinated her was beyond everybody at the moment. "Let me do so please."

"But you're hurt, too, Shirayuki." Shirayuki turned to see little Ryu walk up to her with a first-aid kit. Shirayuki looked over and saw how pale the boy had been. His eyes were still wide with fear, and his breathing seemed a bit odd. His heart was probably racing from nerves, too.

"Oh this?" Shirayuki hummed, bringing her free hand under her head to feel the warm blood seep out of her gash. Doing this produced pain to jolt her, and she slightly winced. But she felt a scab attempting to form, having her shrug a bit as she looked down at her now bloody fingers. "I'll be alright, really."

"Sit down and tilt your head up." Ryu was quite straightforward and demanding, having Shirayuki smile softly at the boy before obliging. She felt his small hands hold her neck as he dabbed some alcohol on it for cleansing. She winced, of course, but it surely was not as painful as actually dying. She felt his hands shake immensely as he smeared a sticky medicinal paste onto a square bandage and stuck it right where her wound resided. "This should do it…"

"Thank you, Ryu," Shirayuki hummed, giving him a reassuring smile before she stood up again. She cleaned off her fingers with the tissue Ryu offered her and allowed her fingers to weave through his dark brown locks. "Were you the one who got Zen?"

"I heard you and the man outside of the window of our office," Ryu murmured. "So I quickly got up and dashed to the Prince's room to get him up."

"You could have alerted a guard, too," Shirayuki pointed out but Ryu shook his head.

"I knew that Zen would want to do it, so I asked him." Shirayuki was taken aback by the boy's words. She knew well that Ryu was aware of the entire situation and her and Zen were no longer lovers. But Ryu trusted Zen with Shirayuki after he stopped her from crying and saved her from bad situations many times. It would seem that Ryu does not hate the Prince over Shirayuki's sake, and she was glad for that.

"Thank you very much, Ryu," Shirayuki whispered graciously as the two watched the guards allow the convict to lean against the wall in pure pain. A few guards were sent to get a gurney so Shirayuki could mend the man before imprisoning him. So she asked Ryu to go check the wound properly so she could go exchange a few words with Zen.

"Hey," she greeted quietly, having Zen nod as she stood right beside him. "I hear Ryu rushed to your room first. I'm so sorry if he woke you up for this."

"Shirayuki, I will go to inexplicable lengths to protect you, even though the situation was completely changed," Zen began quietly. She could see him look away in displeasure as he had his arms crossed. His eyes traced over to see a few guards giving his sword a clean from the blood of the convict. "You are one of my herbalists, and I will never allow anyone to hurt any of my castle staff. To further, I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that you were killed or in any harm when I know damn well I could prevent it."

Shirayuki nodded in comprehension, watching as the young prodigy began cutting the assassins clothing to actually see the wound. He was still shaky right then, having her frown at the scared state of the boy. She then diverted her eyes over to the Prince, to see a trouble expression all over his face. His arms were crossed over his chest, but his hands clenched his forearms with some sort of annoyance ringing through. She didn't want to ask, so she remained quiet until Zen finally said the words that made them both freeze.

"I still love you."

Shirayuki let out a shaky sigh, unable to formulate any sort of words to respond or counter his strong words. She couldn't trust them. Even though Zen has proven himself to be an honest person, she couldn't believe those words. They could be this sweet nothing to give her a sense of calm in her state of shock over what had just happened. Or, he could be trying to play with her feelings once more after those night affairs he began and ended himself. Either way, Shirayuki wanted nothing to do with those words in the situation he put them in.

"Save that love for Miss Elizabeth," Shirayuki began quietly, dismissing his feelings with a cold suggestion. She knew Zen understood why she was being this way, proving so with a gentle nod. Shirayuki returned a nod before tapping her hand upon his shoulder. "Thank you again. So much. I owe you."

With that, Shirayuki began walking over to Ryu to give him a hand. But before she could, her peripheral saw two guards joining the scene. One of them held a gurney that was soon to be placed and stretched open. Another held a small crate with bottles of medicine and herbs used for remedies. And right behind them appeared Garak, with a glass of alcohol. Nothing less from the lead pharmacist.

"Miss Garak!" Shirayuki began, rushing over to her as the guards kept going to set up the station. "What brings you out here? I figured you'd be asleep."

"Ah well, when there's trouble, I'm always sure to sleep with one eye open," Garak hummed, taking a sip of her poison as her eyes looked over at Ryu and his tampering with the man's wound. "That was quite the scare you gave everyone, huh?"

"Everyone knows already?" Shirayuki exclaimed, gob smacked by her words.

"Only us, but that's definitely going to spread by day," Garak explained with a curt smile. She then frowns when seeing Shirayuki clench onto the ripped scarf in her hand. "You really tried to protect yourself. That must've been horrid for you."

"It wasn't pleasant, that's for sure," Shirayuki stated with a shaky laugh. "But everything is alright now. Just a scratch was all he could give me before Zen came." Garak diverted her eyes towards the Prince, who was exchanging a few words with the other guard, likely over what to do with the convict after imprisonment.

"This wouldn't have happened," Garak began, cutting her sentence short knowing that Shirayuki could finish it herself. Shirayuki watched as Garak went over to the scene and greeted the injured man.

If Obi was here, nothing would have happened. She wouldn't have had to wake up Ryu to have him frantic and fearful. She wouldn't have had to get Zen up in order to save her like he always did. She wouldn't have had to waste medicine to mend the injury she received in trying to protect the Second Prince. She wouldn't have felt so scared and useless and forced herself to be submissive in order to do what she believed was right.

And, to top all those reasons, Shirayuki would never have had to use Obi's scarf in order to keep herself from getting killed.

She clenched tightly to the ripped scarf, feeling the threads undo themselves with the applied force. She felt uneasy, but not because of the ripped scarf. Shirayuki felt the same way she did when she first met Zen and led him to poison. With Obi as her guard, he has experienced all sorts of trouble just to save the girl. Oh had she not had those red locks or such an intriguing personality, would everyone around her be much safer. That scarf did a great deal to her, having her see the scarf as Obi.

And it was just like Shirayuki pushing Obi in front of her to save herself. At least, told to her by her own mind.

"Shirayuki." A voice called to her, but sound slowly became muffled. Shirayuki's vision bursts into splotches of basil green, like being trapped in a forest with such a solid color. Her body felt much lighter, like she was prepared to float into the air and enter the stars. But to her dismay, her body led her to failure, as well as the ground, hitting sense into her mind as she soon saw the sky again. The navy blue, the white freckles of stars, and the moon, shaped as though someone had taken a bite of it. "Shirayuki!"

I'm so sorry to cause so much trouble. I'm so sorry. Forgive me.

"Obi," she muttered, her last sight being the puzzling stars before her sight vanished and the last thing she could hear was her name being said. Over, and over, and over. Until everything went black, and sound was muted.