aurora
fai & sakura
( forever )
There was not a single flower in the garden as pretty as her. For although she was a mixture of them: her skin as soft and smooth as a cherry blossom, her eyes as green as grass, her lips as red and lovely as rose petals, she was a being made of china and clay.
With laughter in the air, as Sakura-chan twirled and waltzed in the garden built from their friendships, she plucked a single white rose from the bush. Glancing back, her eyes met Fai's, and she looked away again, cheeks imbued with a glow that wasn't there before, and a smile graced her face.
However, she could not but jump when the magician placed a hand on her shoulder and a sweet-scented flower in her hair, his breath tickling her ear as amusement softly swayed her heart to beat faster once more.
"Here's a rose, for Sakura-chan, and a kiss, also for Sakura-chan." Fai teased, his lips gently touching her forehead, her hand and the corner of her mouth. "Three's a charm, or so they say."
The blush that unfurled on the princess' skin was more than enough as a reward. As he smiled, his own face a little flushed than before.
"Then… here's a rose and a kiss… for Fai-san." Trembling, but eager to return the favour, she placed her own plucked rose in his ear, and her lips met his forehead when she stood on her tiptoes, his nose, and the opposite corner of his mouth.
Perhaps it was just the sun, but for a second, the magician's face bloomed into a rose garden, the princess' along with it.
It was a game they played, with feelings they dared not deny.
"It's beautiful, this garden of ours." She whispered, her dulcet voice sweet like honey, her arms around him; his arms embracing her tightly, never to let go ever again in their happily ever after.
"Yes, it really is." His voice murmured, lost in the moment as his lips met hers.
Their garden had bustled from a simple friendship, seeds that burst and began to grow, thawing away the cold frost of winter, and eventually blossomed a romance of sunlight skies, flowers that flourished in the rain, where feelings were unspoken, but very much known. And after everything that they had been through, under the zenith of the sun and the flowers that were scattered into the air, only those three words could be said.
"I love you."
Because no matter how many spells he could have cast, she would have fallen for him by her own destiny, and nothing could defy that. He had fallen with her, landing on a bed of roses, shaded in many different colours, her hand in his. Together they fell in love, without magic, without incantations, but nonetheless, the love that they shared was an enchantment, spellbound by the highest calibre.
"I love you too."
And in this garden, there was not a single flower that had bloomed as beautifully as her before his very eyes.
a/n. And so ends this anthology. It's been wonderful writing this, so thank you all for reviewing, alerting and favouriting. I loved every minute of it.