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An shifts uncomfortably in bed. She officially gave up on trying to sleep. She feels so restless and so awake, sleep was out of the picture for her.
She has an early morning conference tomorrow, too, so she can't just stay awake, which made everything more frustrating.
Annoyed, An lies on her side. She's now facing her personal knight, whom she may or may not have a secret relationship with- which also might be considered treason on Mizuki's part since An's betrothed to the Shinonome prince from The Kingdom of Dawn- But , An wasn't really worried about that at the moment. She had taken extra precautions to make sure they weren't caught.
Moonlight from her bedroom window is cast onto Mizuki, making them look almost like an ethereal being. An can't help herself from admiring her partner. From their more obvious traits, like their long pink hair sprawled across the many pillows, to the smaller things, like their strong nose bridge and their long, elegant eyelashes.
She doubts anyone else would ever see one of her Kingdom's strongest knights in such a vulnerable place. She's almost proud that she's the only person who'd ever get to see Mizuki like this.
People look more innocent when they're sleeping , she thinks. Mizuki's face is relaxed and they look more youthful. If they were touched they would shatter. The burdens they carry when awake aren't weighing them down in their slumber .
An then sees something that she can't ignore.
Mizuki's scars.
An isn't the type to dwell on tiny details; she prefers to focus on the bigger picture, but it looks Mizuki changed that for the Crown Princess.
As An examined Mizuki's features, of course she was bound to notice a scar that ran down their neck and down to their collarbone.
It was normal for knights to bear scars; she remembered Taiga showing his scars off like they were medals to her once when she was little.
How hadn't she noticed before?
Mizuki has other scars littered around their face and neck. Without thought, An found her mind wandering as she ran her finger across the knight's scars, connecting them as if they were constellations. Their skin is cold and soft. Each scar carried a different story, which An found absolutely incredible.
She had only ever had one scar in her life, but it had healed years ago. Though the story was probably nothing compared to the literal novel Mizuki had on their skin.
An hums to herself. She wouldn't want to burden Mizuki by waking them up just because she can't sleep.
It’s a shame she failed at that, because in a matter of seconds, the knight’s eyes start to flutter open. “...Nggh…An?”
She quickly removes her hand from their face, letting out a nervous laugh. “Oh, um, hi, Mizuki.”
“Are you okay?”
“Mhmm, I couldn't sleep... sorry for waking you.”
“It’s alright. What’s keeping you awake tonight.?”
An lies on her back, looking at the ceiling. “The usual. I can’t help myself from being just a little anxious about what tomorrow might bring.” She doesn't normally find herself being so outward about her feelings, but she knows Mizuki will listen. They have always eased her worries, whether she voiced them aloud or kept them internal. She turns to Mizuki. “I was also busy looking at you.”
“I have been told that I am a sight for sore eyes, I don’t blame you.” Mizuki replies, they’re giving her their signature mischievous smile.
“By who?”
“Are you jealous?”
“M-mizuki!”
Mizuki giggles light heartedly. Looks like no one could escape their teasing, no matter what the time of day was. “Don’t worry. I only have eyes on you, Princess.” They tuck a lock of An’s hair behind her ear.
An was secretly thankful for this reassurance. Sometimes she worried Mizuki would leave and never come back to her. She hates herself for thinking that way. She knows Mizuki wouldn't leave her like that, but she can’t help worrying about it. Ever since she lost Nagi she had this lingering paranoia that she’d lose Mizuki too. She tried to keep those thoughts back of her brain, though. Mizuki was one of the few constants her her life and she feared they would get one to many scars one day and-
“Somethings wrong with you.” Mizuki states.
“That’s one way to say it.” She burrows her face into Mizuki’s shoulder.
“I’m here if you need to let something out, you know. It’s alright to rely on me sometimes.”
An sighs. “Mizuki, you have an awful amount of scars. Are they all from battle?”
“Yeah, most of them. Others are from stupid accidents.”
“Nagi used to always tell me that scars carry stories.” She whispers. “What are yours?”
Mizuki Inhales, deeply. Had she touched a sore subject? So, she quickly adds, “If you want to tell me, of course.”
“I’ll tell you.” They say sleepily, wrapping their arms around her. “Just let me think of one worth telling, first, alright?”
An nods and for a moment she thinks Mizuki fell back asleep.
“Alright. I think I thought of one that won’t keep you up any later.”
“They’re that bad?”
Mizuki only laughs in response. An tells them to be quiet because the two of them can’t risk being heard.
“Some of them, I guess. But I’m still living despite them aren’t I?”
An, frankly, does not find this funny.
“You’re the one who asked for stories so, you can’t get mad at me for being reckless or whatever you’re thinking right now. I’m simply doing my job.”
“Fair enough.”
Mizuki points to a scar on their cheek. “See this one? This one’s more recent than the others. I got it while sparring with one of the newest knights.”
“You must have been slacking off then, huh?”
“My my, you have such high expectations of my skills it seems.” An playfully rolls her eyes, Mizuki continues talking. “Anyways, I thought he was a complete newbie, so I was planning to go easy on him, you know?” Mizuki only sighs and begins to play with An’s hair to keep them self occupied while talking. “It turned out Touya had been mentoring this kid for a couple days prior and before I could even attempt to get a hit on him, it was too late.”
“And he cut you on the cheek?”
“Yeah. It was a pretty deep cut too.” They shrug. “I only have myself to blame for that one though, though.
“Did it hurt?”
“Well, yeah, obviously. Ever felt pain before, Princess?”
“Of course I have!” She defends. She had lived quite the sheltered life in the castle. “I fell out of a tall tree this one time when I was fourteen. I broke my arm.”
“You’re pathetic.” Mizuki teases.
“It hurt a lot!”
An looks up into Mizuki’s eyes. They’re still that same vivid pink color, shimmering with a hint of mischief. As they go through more stories, An is immersed into the life of a knight, which turns out to be almost the opposite of her own. It’s definitely piqued her interest. She likes listening to Mizuki talk. Their voice is energetic, it keeps her attention on them.
After another couple of stories, An suddenly brings her finger to the long scar Mizuki has on their neck that she had examined earlier. “How’d you get this one?"
The light leaves their eyes, and they stop fidgeting with her hair. “Oh, um…”
“Sorry. You don’t have to tell me.”
“You’re fine. I trust you with this story.”
“Mizuki, you don’t have to tell me if it upsets you. I’m not going to forgive myself if I force you to relive something you don’t want to.”
Mizuki smiles. “Thanks. An.” They look almost relieved. “I think you’re the nicest person I know.”
“Hah-? What does that have to do with anything?”
“I don’t think I’d be able to tell the story to anyone else, but being in your presence makes me feel safe and secure, I’m able to be honest with you- and I trust you more than anyone else. I wasn’t going to tell you because I felt obligated to, I could tell you because I love you.”
A pause. “An-why are you-hey, don’t cry!”
An smiles sheepishly at them. “No, no, Mizuki-I-that just made me really happy. You make me really happy.” She wipes her tears away. “I love you too. Promise me you’ll be more careful…you have a scary amount of stories on your skin.”
“Awh, you’re worried about me!”
“Isn’t it a given? If you got something worse than a scar you’d- I… I don’t know what I’d do with myself…” She caresses Mizuki’s cheek. “Just promise you won’t leave me, okay?”
“I’m not sure what you mean by that… but, I’m literally committing treason for this relationship so I don’t think you need to worry about me leaving. You worry too much.”
“Hm, maybe I do.”
An feels her eyes finally get heavy. She’s worried about a lot of things- Mizuki’s scars, losing another person she loves, potentially being caught in the middle of this treasonous act and the morning conference tomorrow, but maybe for now, she’ll let her worries subside as she lies in her knight’s arms, drifting into slumber.