Chapter Six

The palace seemed to be buzzing with excitement as everyone was running left, right, in almost any direction. Apparently today was the day everything involving the coronation was being built, set up, or ran through depending on who's in and who's not in the actual ceremony. Arthur stood in the front of the castle just before you hit the gates, watching everyone get things ready. This wouldn't be the only day of course but it was a really good start. Yao was, of course, by him talking about what was going on. He was only half paying attention to his babble.

"This may seem extravagant but in all honesty this is probably the shortest coronation in history." he finished. That's the only thing that caught Arthur's attention. "Oh really. And why's that?" he asked, mildly curious. "Normally it's paired with the wedding but seeing our situation I felt that should be left for later." he said, as if there was nothing wrong in what he said. Arthur stood there with his mouth hanging open. "That would presume there would even BE a wedding, wouldn't you say?" he said with some venom in his voice.

Yao turned to look at him confused. "Why wouldn't there be?" he asked. Now, it was his turn to be surprised. He admits he was impressed by Arthur knowing certain things already but surely this was obvious. "Well, first off, we are both men. Second, weddings are meant for people who are in love with each other. I wouldn't call us a couple." he pointed out. Yao just shrugged and turned around.

"One does not matter while the other will be remedied over time. The King and Queen are seen as two halves of a whole. Gender should not affect that to much. And since the people chosen aren't based by bloodlines, not being able to have children shouldn't be an issue." he said. A crash was heard and Yao headed toward it, muttering in chinese before Arthur could even say anything else about it. He sighed and just went to walk around as things were being prepared.

He's never seen people so busy before. Everyone was so loud and lively. It made him long for the quiet homes he spent in with his sister. They usually were in the woods away from people. It was more peaceful that way. Thinking of that made him miss his sister even more and hope that she was alright. A little girl with dark brown hair and slightly tannish skin noticed him walking in their direction.

Her hair was tied in pigtails with red bows and her dress was blue. She couldn't be any older than six years old. She noticed his sad look and went up to him, handing him a flower. It was a yellow rose. "Mommy says, that yellow roses are given to your friends. Please don't be sad, smile. Want to be friends?" she asked, with an adorable smile on her face. She caught him off guard but he couldn't help but smile back. He took the rose and knelt down to pat her head.

"Why thank you, young lady. What are you doing here by yourself?" he asked her. She looked over at the tiny portion of flowers growing across the fencing. "Daddy brought me here. He came to see the preparations and mommy is at home. I wandered off because I wanted to see what everyone was doing." she said. She didn't seem afraid at all. Normally he would see a child her age crying because she got lost.

"Do you like flowers?" he asked her. A big goofy grin spread on her face. "Yup! I love them. Especially flowers that are... umm.. Tropical flowers." she said, thinking a little on what they were called. He found her adorable and forgot about the bad mood he was in before. She took him by the hand and pulled him over to the little flower patch and then laid back in the flowers. She waited for him to laid down too but he just sat down next to her. She tugged on his sleeve and had a little angry face. He smirked before laying down to look at the clouds.

It was a nice day out and the clouds glided past with the help of the gentle breeze. "Why are we laying down?" he asked her. She rolled her eyes. "Can't you see? We're looking at the flying bunnies, the faeries, the lions, and there's even an eagle!" she said pointing at the sky. He looked up but saw nothing but white fluffy clouds. There might have been an eagle but he seriously doubted it. He was started to think this child was slightly insane. He kept looking and looking but couldn't see anything. He frowned and shook his head.

"I'm sorry but I don't see anything." he told her. She frowned and looked at the sky again. "Why not? Alfred can see them." she commented. That name startled him. So, she knew Alfred? How could she know him when he's always in the castle. Her parent must come here often or might even work in the castle and she must tag along with them. It's so big, and she's so small, it's a wonder she hasn't gotten lost for days in this place.

Speaking of said person, right on cue Alfred came walking outside wondering why he could hear Yao screaming from the other side of the castle. The little girl immediately sat up and ran towards the taller blonde jumping up and down. "Alfred! Alfred! Wanna play?" she asked. She put her hands up so he could pick her up and walked over to where Arthur remained in the flower patch.

"Of course! Oh, hey Artie. Angelique got you too, huh." he said before setting the girl down in the middle of them and laying down himself. "Alfred, Arthur doesn't see them." she said, in a little sad voice. "Do you? Look, there's the flying bunny, and there's a lion over there." she pointed. He looked up and smiled before patting her head and looking over to Arthur.

"I can see them." he reassured. "Artie, just look at the clouds and don't think too much on it." he said, with a wink. He actually winked at him? A slight blush ran across Arthur's face before he coughed a little and looked back up. "I thought I told you to stop calling me that, git." he mutter but continued observing the clouds. He looked at them closely before realizing that some of the clouds slightly resembled what she was saying. She had a huge imagination but she wasn't outright lying about there being animals in the sky. It felt like they spent hours there pretending to find different shapes in the sky. Angelique stood up and looked over the two. She gave each a hug before saying her goodbye and leaving to go find her family.

"Do her parents work here?" Arthur asked after she was gone. Alfred shrugged and shook his head. "I don't know, I just know she's here sometimes and I found her one day crying because she didn't have anyone to play with. So, I played with her and she's been coming to me ever since." he finished This took Arthur by shock and he ended up wondering who the girl was.

Angelique ran across the building and into the arms of a very tall, long-blonde haired man who was wearing royal attire and a heart symbol on his face. He smiled adoringly at the girl and she giggled. "Daddy, I met the new queen." she said, in an excited tone. One of his eyebrows raised. "Oh? Is that where you ran off to? You know daddy was worried about you." he said, giving her a look. The little girl frowned and looked down guiltily before saying something. "I'm sorry, but I wanted to meet him." she said, a bit stubborn. He smiled and started caring her to the carriage. "Come, mon ami. We are going home now." he said. Angelique smiled and yawned before falling asleep in his arms. The man smiled as they road to the Kingdom of Hearts, knowing he would meet the King and Queen of Spades soon enough.