Knux2511: They need more screen time... like this couple next.

Title: Fate

Couple: Karen/Subaru

Enjoy the story.

Karen was the Princess of the Antarctic Ocean. She had better things to do than pine over a love lost, right? Wrong.

The purple princess had just finished another stack of paperwork and had pushed all politics aside for a while, to muse over someone she had once met. Yes, despite it being so long ago, she still remembered it like it was yesterday. Back when she was just eighteen, when the problem with the Ancient Mikeru was still taking precedence over her duties as princess, she had once met him.

The memory was vivid — the handsome blonde researcher that greeted her with a charming smile when she arrived to examine the scene of the melting Antarctic herself. Her heart fluttered strangely, making her faintly wonder if she was alright. Her face seemed to burn, and she barely even noticed until the charming man — who she soon learnt to be named Subaru — asked her if she was sick. Face red in embarrassment and with that strange feeling, she denied, flustered.

Her heart once again soared as he spoke to her. Her voice was soft, face still red as she told him her name in what was barely an embarrassing squeak. Once more, she felt that strange warmth erupt in her as he gave her a charming smile and complimented her name's beauty. Her heart fluttering confused her briefly until she finally pinned down a diagnose two hours later.

Infatuation. Oh yes, Karen was in love.

She spent time with him over the next few days, Subaru busy with his own research while Karen took every chance, no matter how reluctant, to take to the ocean and search for the source of the sudden melting. Unfortunately, each time she tried, it came up blank. Nothing, absolutely nothing was working. She just couldn't find it. But she knew who could, and the princess called for help.

Karen spent the next few days waiting for their response, keeping herself occupied with helping Subaru with his research. The man told her a lot about what was going on, though much she already knew. And just like her, the researcher was puzzled as to why the temperature had suddenly spiked in the Antarctic. The day before the other three princesses arrived, Karen excused herself to go and examine the largest iceberg in the Antarctic.

"It's melting," she had said to herself with a heavy sigh.

"Does it have a special significance, Karen?" Subaru then proceeded to ask as he came up from behind, starling the princess.

"S-Subaru!" the purple princess had exclaimed, taken by surprise. Slowly, Karen nodded. "It does. This one is known as the 'Guardian of the Antarctic'," she explained absently. "It watches over the entire pole, looming like a protective guardian. That's why it's called that."

The man had nodded, features betraying deep thought. "Fascinating," he noted, taking a step closer to it. "Thank you, Karen."

Her face burned, and the princess then smiled shyly. "Subaru..."

The tender moment had been interrupted as the iceberg cracked and broke, sending tremors through ground and throwing both off balance. "Ah!" The mermaid took a step back, her boot slipping on the smooth ice, sending her reeling back, almost falling onto the ground. Before she did, she was caught and steadied.

Subaru had guided her back onto her feet, and after a short pause, tucked a strand of dark purple hair behind her ear.

Karen's red face had kept its colour and she gave him a shy smile, feeling the familiar fluttering of her heart whenever he was close. Subaru...

The Antarctic Princess wished, now that they were apart, that the Fates would allow her a chance to see him again.

Subaru Carraford was the lead researcher of his student team in Britain. He had more important things to do than thinking of a lovely girl he had been smitten with, yes? Wrong.

The blonde man had just finished typing up the last few paragraphs to conclude his report on the climate change epidemic and was checking it over before he sent it to his superiors, when a line in the last sentence struck something within him. A conclusion on the melting poles, making the memory resurface in his mind like it had only been yesterday. Back when he was researching the strange melting in the South Pole, he had met her.

It was oddly fresh in his mind, the particular memory — the beautiful girl who he greeted upon her arrival. Initially he had assumed she was a newcomer to the team, but later he learnt that the girl, along with her three rather... eccentric friends, were from another research department. When he had first spoken with her, he knew he was smitten. Her voice had a lovely cadence as she spoke to him, and he could barely get himself together to reply.

Then her face had gotten red, and he instantly found himself starting to worry. The purple-haired girl — Karen, he remembered her name as — quickly denied and told him she was simply unused to the cold yet. His heart fluttered, and concerned, he quickly steered her inside the temporary quarters for the duration of the research being done.

Oh yes, Subaru was thoroughly smitten.

He remembered a couple other occasions with her. Clear as day, he remembered the familiarity in her voice that sometimes made him doubt if she was truly a newcomer to the Antarctic. He remembered her talking about the Guardian of the Antarctic, and the wonder he had at her deep knowledge of the area. He had always liked intelligent girls, and that only solidified his crush on her.

Subaru spent his time researching, collecting samples, making notes, writing reports. Karen was always there to help, offering to go and measure the temperature, draw up the data he had collected, copy some notes she herself had made. And she was always asking questions, eager to learn and share what they knew with each other. Just like him, though, she was clueless about what the real reason behind the temperature spike was.

He remembered their last interaction best, their last conversation from before he left. He had finished packing, and before he left, he spoke to her.

"Karen," he had called to her as he headed towards the ship that would take him back to Britain.

"Ah, Subaru!" she had exclaimed. Karen looked at him. "You're leaving so soon?"

The blonde had nodded. "I'm afraid so. My team needs me for another research expedition." He chuckled sheepishly. "Hey, if you wouldn't mind... how about you leave me your number and email?"

"My..." Karen then looked flustered, for some reason, and she shook her head. "Sorry, I, um, lost my phone the week before I arrived and I forgot my email password."

Subaru's hopes of contacting her again had been dashed, and the man nodded, a bit disappointed. "I see..." A call from the ship in heavily accented Scottish English made him turn to affirm the call, and he turned once more to Karen. "Sorry, Karen. I have to go. I hope we'll meet again n the future."

Her face had coloured, and she nodded. "Y-yeah..."

Another shout by his friend, and he had finally turned away. "I'll see you, Karen!"

The researcher wished, now that they were apart, that fate would give him a chance to see her again.

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