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Haruka had always wanted to be a Princess. Most had called it a silly dream, but there was one who had supported her. Her dream, and that one person’s support had carried her farther than she ever thought possible.
Yet she still couldn’t call herself a Princess.
Yes, she was part of the Princess Precure. Yes, she had reached her ultimate potential in becoming a ‘Grande Princess’...but that didn’t make her a real Princess. She had asked Miss Shamour, she had done her own research, and she had even consulted Hope Kingdom’s Queen.
There were only two ways to be a true Princess. The first was to be born into the position, which was how Towa-chan counted as a Princess. She was the daughter of a King and Queen, and therefore, a Princess. Haruka was not born a Princess. Technically, you could also be adopted into the position, but Haruka knew her parents wouldn’t go for that.
The second way to be a Princess was to marry a Prince.
Lucky for Haruka, she was twenty one, and had been dating a Prince for three years.
Prince Kanata was the person who’d said that she could become a Princess all those years ago, the first person to really support her crazy dream. When she’d discovered he was a Prince, well, the possibility had entered her mind, but then a whole ton of crazy stuff had happened and…
Still, three years ago, he’d been the one to ask her out. At the time, she’d been unsure of whether or not to accept. She didn’t want to use him to accomplish her dream, he deserved more than that. Towa-chan had been the one to convince her to accept the invitation, the one who had helped her realize that she really did feel the same way toward Kanata that he did toward her.
Now, Towa-chan was helping convince her to actually go through with her foolish plan.
“Haruka-chan, we’ve spent so long planning it, you can’t pull out now!” Towa-chan said, clasping Haruka’s hands in hers.
“But- I mean- what if I mess up? Or- or flub my words? It’s not even traditional, oh he’s gonna hate it…” Haruka muttered to herself, pulling her hands away from her friend and resuming the pacing circle she’d been stuck in for almost an hour already.
“He’s not going to hate it,” Towa-chan sighed. “You know my brother, Haruka, as long as it’s you he’ll go along with anything.”
“Yeah, but, what if he wanted to do it?” She whined, fidgeting with her gloves.
“He’ll be ecstatic, and you know that. I wouldn’t be pushing you this hard if I didn’t know how he’d react, you know I wouldn’t do that to you.” Towa-chan grabbed her hands again. “Hey, hey, look at me. You’ve been spiraling forever now, if you don’t go soon, he’ll wonder where you are.”
“Oh crud- ”
“Get going! I’ll be close by in case you really need me. Plus, Minami-chan and Kirara are coming into town tonight too, aren’t they? Don’t you want to share the good news with them?” Towa-chan smiled at her, squeezing her hands. “You’re going to be fine, trust me.”
“I trust you, Towa-chan.” Haruka sighed, pulling away. “Fine, I’ll- I’m gonna go.”
“Good luck!”
Haruka waved, before hiking up her skirts and sprinting along the garden path. Miss Shamour would probably hum disapprovingly if she could see Haruka now, but Towa-chan was right, she was almost late.
She had arranged to meet Kanata in the castle gardens at sunset, so they could watch the dying sunlight play off of the ribbons of colored light that danced in the Hope Kingdom sky. It was the most romantic spot Haruka could think of, and she was sure he would appreciate it.
He was already waiting for her by the time she arrived. She felt her face flush as she came to a stop in front of him. Oh, she must be such a mess. Towa-chan had done her best to get her all dressed up for this, but anxiety and a run through the garden had done a number on her work.
“Good evening, Haruka.” Kanata smiled, a light blush playing across his own cheeks. Of course he didn’t mind her appearance, he had seen her in much worse states than this.
“I’m so sorry Kanata, I didn’t make you wait too long, did I?” Haruka said, trying to catch her breath.
“Believe it or not, you’re actually right on time,” He joked, stepping forward to pull a leaf out of her hair.
“A miracle!” She laughed, brushing some grass off her dress. She checked briefly to make sure that the object in her pocket hadn’t fallen out in her mad dash, allowing herself a tiny sigh of relief when she confirmed it was still there.
“ You’re a miracle, Haruka.” He said. Somehow, it didn’t sound cheesy when someone as elegant as Kanata said it.
“Glad you think so,” She sighed, adjusting her skirts so she could sit down on their picnic blanket with at least a little dignity.
“What a wonderful spot you’ve chosen… You’ve really come to know the Hope Kingdom well, haven’t you?” He smiled at her, and she felt her face glow. She puffed up her chest with pride. She did know Hope Kingdom well, she’d learned as much as she could about it- the land she was supposed to protect. The land she loved.
“This is the best place to watch the sunset in all of the castle grounds!” She said, She could say it with complete confidence as well, having spent enough sunsets here to know.
“Well- there is one spot better, but I don’t think you’ve been there yet,” He said, eyes twinkling mischievously.
“What? Where!?” Haruka huffed, finding herself indignant.
“Maybe I’ll show you tomorrow, I wouldn’t want to ruin your plans,” He nodded to the picnic basket she’d set out earlier.
“But- If there’s someplace better, we have to go there!” She said, If this wasn’t the best spot, then she couldn’t enact her actual plans here, it had to be perfect .
“Well, let’s see if we can get there! Though it might be a little difficult for you,” Kanata laughed, getting to his feet and offering her a hand.
“W-what? What do you mean by that?” Kanata was usually such a gentleman-
“I just mean that you might have a hard time climbing ladders in that dress of yours,” He nodded to her outfit, which had copious amounts of layers, and a hoop skirt that went beyond her feet. She needed platform shoes just to avoid tripping on it… even if she still did.
“Ah…”
“Do you still want to try and go there?” He smiled at her, and she knew that no matter what she ended up saying, they’d have a wonderful evening, but…
“Yeah, I still want to try!”
“That’s my girl!”
~break~
Kanata’s sunset spot happened to be the tip of the highest spire in the whole castle. Of course Haruka hadn’t been allowed up there before, even Kanata wasn’t allowed up there. There was only one access, a little trapdoor that only existed for cleaning and maintenance, accessible only via a rickety old ladder that Haruka would wager hadn’t been replaced in several decades.
They had to sneak past castle staff to get to their target point, with Kanata holding her hand and pulling her along, a stupid infectious grin on his face. Haruka silently apologized to Towa-chan as they went- she wasn’t really sure how she was supposed to stay close like this.
“This reminds me of when I was a little kid- I would take Towa up here between lessons, just little stolen moments of time…” He smiled gently, a vague look of sadness in his eyes that he always got when he spoke about their childhood. Haruka squeezed his hand, and offered him a smile. He loved his sister so much- it was one of the things that had made her fall for him.
“It sounds nice,”
“It was. I’m so glad I can share this with you too, now.”
“Yeah!”
Kanata was right about it being difficult to climb the ladders in her skirt, but she wasn’t a precure for nothing. If she could fight monsters in a frilly ensemble, she could climb a stupid ladder. Kanata exited first, offering a hand to help her out of the trapdoor. She smiled, taking the hand.
The view from the top was breathtaking. They were so close to the convergence of the light ribbons that the refraction was doing strange, beautiful things to the refraction. The sun was setting as well, filling her world with colorful hues of pink, amber and scarlet. This was better than the garden.
“Wow….” She breathed, twisting a little to see everything.
“You like it?” Kanata laughed. The wind was playing with his lavender hair, and his smile was brighter than the dying sun. Haruka smiled to herself. She had all this wonderful scenery to look at, and she still found her eyes wandering back to him.
“I love it,” She said, still just gazing at his face. His features softened, and he lowered himself to sit right next to her by the trapdoor.
“I haven’t been up here in years . I almost forgot how much I loved this place.” He sighed.
“I know I’ve only been up here once but, I don’t think I could ever forget…” She said, tearing her eyes away from him to look out over the kingdom all spread out beneath.
“Sorry about the picnic, I’m sure you worked hard on it,” He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.
“I’m the one that should be apologizing, I mean, now you don’t have any food…” She squeezed his hand again.
“I suppose we’ll just have to eat when we get down,” He shrugged, and she giggled.
This was so nice, just the two of them up here, the whole world expanding beneath their feet. Just her and her prince.
But she wasn’t a princess.
Not yet.
“Kanata- you’ve been…” Haruka took a deep breath. “You’ve been the best boyfriend I could ever ask for. You’re kind and attentive, you’re supportive to the end, and you never make me feel like less than I am.”
“Thank you, Haruka. You make me feel like the best version of myself as well… what brings this on?” He blinked, blushing.
“W-well, You’ve always supported my dream of becoming a princess, right?” She fidgeted a little, her free hand reaching into her pocket, the important object still there.
“Of course I have, and you’ve become a wonderful princess,” He smiled at her, his eyes glowing with such genuine care and pride that Haruka had to take a moment to recompose herself. Gosh, she loved him so much.
“I’ve become a wonderful princess precure ,” She said carefully, pulling the little box out of her skirt. “But I can only become a real princess …. Once I’ve married a prince.” She held the box up to him, flicking open the lid with a finger.
Inside was a ring with a carefully carved crystal in the shape of her flower, set in silver and gold with other colors stones surrounding it. It was beautiful, perfect , Haruka would say. She and Towa-chan had spent weeks designing it, and the castle blacksmiths had done an excellent job at bringing their ideas to life.
“Grand Prince Kanata, will you marry me?”
Kanata’s eyes blew wide, the most intense blush she’d ever seen from him spreading across his cheeks, turning his whole face the color of the sunset. He opened his mouth, paused, and tried again. Haruka stifled a giggle. She’d never seen him this speechless before.
“ Yes .” He finally managed, and Haruka thought she could see the last light of the day glinting off tears in the corners of his eyes.
Shaking with excitement and emotion, Haruka removed the ring of the box, and slid it onto his finger. The suns slipped behind the horizon as he held it up to the sky, illuminating the diamond with brilliant orange for a second before the day faded.
“Wow. wow .” He said, apparently unable to say anything else.
“Thank you, thank you oh Kanata thank you!” Haruka tackled him in a hug, careful not to send them off the edge of the roof. “I was so nervous! But Towa-chan assured me you’d agree, so… I’m sorry if you wanted to ask…”
“No no, Haruka, this was perfect.” Kanata said, cupping her cheek with the hand that had his new ring on it, the cold band sending an electric thrill through her bones. “I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”
She and Kanata had kissed many times before over the last three years, but this time felt different for some reason. Maybe it was the wind or the altitude, but Haruka had a feeling it was something else, something deeper.
He pulled away, laughing lightly into the wind.
“As much as I’d like to keep kissing you, We should probably head back inside, or risk rolling off the roof.” He said.
“Y-yeah, you’re probably right.”
As they descended the ladder and into the castle true, Haruka found herself leaning into her fiance’s side, just relishing the fact that he was .
She was going to be a princess… with the best prince charming she ever could have asked for.