Defoko hugged me and sobbed.
I held her head against my chest, stroking her purple hair.
"I'm not going to win, am I?" Defoko hiccups.
"No." I've never lied to her, and I'm not going to start now. "But I promise… I will keep you alive as long as Fate allows me."
Defoko nuzzled her face into my bosom – or lack of – causing me to blush.
I lift her face out of my chest.
"I have asthma," she sniffles, "I'll die the first day."
I grab her cheeks and look into her purple eyes. "Not while I'm alive." I rub the tears out of her eyes with a tissue on the table, and get up to the sink. I splash water in her face, leave it there for a minute, and then wiped it off with a fluffy orange towel. "Crying makes you look weak." I shook my finger in her face, making her giggle.
Her face wasn't red anymore.
"Can you tell me a story?" She said. "We still have five minutes."
A story? We're going to die and she wants to hear a story? But she's only twelve so…
"Once upon a time, there was a princess with a short purple pixie cut and indigo eyes."
Defoko laughed.
"Her name was Princess Uta Utatane, but she insisted that everyone call her Defoko. Not Princess Defoko, not Sire Defoko, and not Majesty Defoko; just plain old Defoko."
I sit down on the couch, and Defoko leans next to me.
"She disguised herself as a commoner and bought lots of things from the shopkeepers. One day, she saw a commoner, he had blonde hair and blue eyes. She thought it was funny that he had a ponytail in the back of his head."
Defoko laughed. "Len!" Her face was creased with laughter lines and she looked so young.
"So she went up to him and said, 'Now why do you have that silly looking ponytail in the back of your head?' The boy laughed, a really short laugh.
"'Because all of the girls will come after me if they knew I was a boy!' he said. The princess giggled. 'Would you like to come over for some tea… erm—'
"'Len.' The boy said. 'Yes, Len.' Defoko said."
Defoko started giggling.
"Len nodded and asked where he should meet her. 'At the castle, I live in the castle.' Defoko laughed at Len's astonished expression. 'See you there?' she asked.
"'Yes.' Said Len."
Defoko looked at her watch. Two minutes.
"Defoko waited hours for Len, but he didn't show. Perhaps he is a little late? She wondered.
"Finally, the boy did show. 'Tea?' he said. 'Give me the tea, Uta.'
"Defoko was appalled. 'My name is Defoko! Three syllables De-fo-ko!' Len sighed. 'Whatever. Just gimme the tea.' He looked like he was in a hurry to leave."
Defoko sighed.
"But Defoko didn't give him the tea. In fact, she gave him a slap in the face, a kick in the pants, and a tug in his hair."
Defoko looked like she was about to faint. She was laughing so hard.
"'Bow down to Your Princess!' Defoko yelled at Len. Suddenly, Defoko heard a voice that sounded like, 'Len? Your girlfriend Gumi is here!'
"'Who's that and how did she get in here?' Defoko sniped. As she said that, a girl in her underwear threw open the door, 'Gimme back my clothes!'"
Defoko had fallen off of the couch in laughter.
The last lines of the story were barely audible because I knew in my mind, that this would be the last happy moment with Defoko.
"And Defoko picked them both up…" my voice cracked. "…and threw them out the window." I barely say before the tears start rolling down my pale cheeks and onto the red velvet couch.
Who will enjoy watching our deaths?