"No."
Four faces looked at the princess in confusion.
"Why not?" Luka questioned her, hand still resting on her shoulder.
"I'd have a much better life if I could just be a normal girl." Miku lifted her chin defiantly.
"Miku-" The pink haired maid sighed softly, shaking her head.
"Please, Luka-san, don't make me go back there..."
"Miku, you have to..." Gumi's soft voice filled the silence. "You have your princess duties and stuff, right?"
Miku snapped her gaze on the girl's face and scoffed. "Have you ever had 'princess duties', Gumi?"
Gumi's father snorted, earning himself glares from the others. Gumi blushed, embarassed at his actions.
"W-well, no. But..." she hesitated as Miku watched her carefully. "But it's important, isn't it? Like, if you're not there, who takes charge after your dad?"
The princess clasped her hands in her lap, considering the words. Her duties were indeed important, but so was Gumi.
"I want to stay here with you..." her voice was barely audibe as tears began to fall down her cheeks.
"Miku-sama, in all honesty, I think..." Gumi hesitated, sighing loudly. "I think it's best that you just forget about me. In the grand scheme of things, I'm not important enough to be giving up everything for."
She didn't realise she was crying until she noticed a tissue box being held in front of her face by her now comforting father.
The princess observed the expressions of the people around her. She watched as Gumi sobbed into her dad's chest and saw the sympathetic and saddened looks on both Luka and Kaito's faces. She sat in silence until a soft voice now thick with tears and heartbreak murmured.
"Go."
Luka patted Miku's shoulder. "Maybe we should leave."
No longer willing to fight against it, Miku let herself be pulled from the bed by the maid and led to the door. Each step down the stairs felt heavier than the last as she felt her new found love quickly slipping away out of her reach. They reached the shop door, and she turned around for the final goodbye. Taking Gumi into her arms, she began gently crying, run her hands through her soft, messy green hair.
"I love you, Gumi," she whispered into the girls ear.
Gumi bit down on her lip and sniffed loudly. "Please don't make this any harder than it already is, Miku." she whispered back.
"Ths isn't the end though," the princess placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "Maybe we'll meet again someday."
Pulling away, she reluctantly followed Luka out onto the street, and risked looking back only to find that Gumi and her father had already turned away.
A/N: ahhh i had such a hard time with this chapter, like i didn't have a clue what to write. Eventually, after weeks of struggling, i just decided to write something i thought would fit with what happens next, so i apologise if it isn't very good :/
