Futari wa Precure Max Heart
Sanae's Story
It was a birthday present. She was young, and the world was at war, but it was so pretty, and so full of hope.
She didn't know what it was. Neither did her mother or father, but she carried it with her. A good luck charm. She was told that it had come from the stars. The meaning of the phrase had been lost in the past, it was a couple decades old, and had been through multiple owners by the time she received it, but it itself seemed new and beautiful, and almost futuristic.
It remained beautiful as the world shook around her young life.
And when its beauty wasn't enough, it spoke.
Spoke of hope, and never giving up.
The voice didn't speak often, she could count each time on her two hands, but it did without fail when she needed it most. Often times the voice sounded tired, as if it had just woken up, and had been up for too long all at once.
Once or twice the voice started talking, but not to her. It spoke of Pretty Cure, the legendary warriors. How they would come and return light to the world. The voice seemed so convinced that Sanae had to believe it too, and a few times found herself praying for the appearance of Pretty Cure.
But the voice fell asleep, resting for nearly 50 years. After Sanae married, she packed the charm away, safely. It crossed her mind to give it to a future child perhaps one day, but with the birth of her son, thoughts of it dissolved, until her son had a child of his own, a sweet baby girl they named Honoka. Only then did she think about it. She thought of how it's soothing blue fit so well with the peaceful baby.
Thoughts slipped away from it again, but not for as long as before. Sanae found herself gazing at it more often, and reminded of it as she saw herself as a child in Honoka. Her husband died a couple years later, and then a few more years later Sanae found herself looking after her granddaughter alone after her son and his wife went abroad for work.
Sanae knew that her treasure would be of interest to her son and daughter in law, but she never brought herself to bring it up. But as Honoka grew older Sanae found herself about to tell Honoka about the charm on multiple occasions before stopping herself.
Until one day, with Honoka a bright young woman, with a sparkle in her eye, the object disappeared. She asked Honoka about it, and Honoka nervously denied.
Curious. Honoka never lied or tried to hide anything from her. But Sanae didn't press, but she knew she had it. Sanae wondered if Honoka had fallen in love with the strange thing as well, and was more than willing to let her indulge in it.
But then she brought a friend over, someone completely unexpected, with a big mouth, and a cheerful disposition.
Even more curious was the charm Nagisa owned, an almost identical charm save the color, a bright pink, that somehow fit Nagisa. Sanae only caught a few glimpses early on, but as time went on she saw it more and more often and knew it to be stored in a pouch on Nagisa's school bag.
The same place Honoka stored hers. As time went on Honoka seemed to have forgotten the fact she stole it from the shed and didn't bother to hide it from her.
The house was sometimes filled with strange voices, including one familiar one, but she would usually find that no one was there.
She knew she shouldn't have listened in on her granddaughter, but she supposed as an old lady she could break a few rules.
She overheard a few things mentioned.
One of them was Pretty Cure.
The mysterious emissaries, warriors of light that the voice had mentioned, and Sanae understood.
Honoka and Nagisa were Pretty Cure. The charm fell into her ownership to pass it onto Honoka.
She didn't know much about Pretty Cure, but she knew more than she let on. She saw how Honoka kept her away from it. She saw how determined and strong they both grew. It hurt her when she saw their hearts aching from the fight, and she was comforted whenever she saw them wearing matching smiles of relief and pride.
She was fairly certain no one else had caught their subtle changes. No one else worried about what literal demons they may be fighting, but no one could be as proud as she was to know her granddaughter was a powerful, warrior of light.
And even if Honoka didn't know it, Sanae supported her any way she could.
The world was a big, mysterious place, and Sanae had to do her part, so Honoka could do hers.