Work Text:
Although it had been a little over a month since her return to the realm of the bears, Lulu still found herself unable to fully accept that these stars were the same- the same as before she left her home at the palace, the same as ones saw she during her time on the human side. The stars just seemed so different now. Back when she had lived in this very same palace as a young girl, they had always looked so fake to her, as if someone had hung sparkling baubles up there, like ornaments on a tree.
Had Ginko and Kureha danced together across those same stars during their journey? The notion only brought further comfort rather than jealousy. It seemed to Lulu that all the jealously had been washed clean from her long ago, leaving only a fresh white linen to blanket herself in.
The warm summer breeze meandering across the palace balcony slowly began to lure the princess into a dreamy doze…
"Lulu, Milne," Kumalia came to them one day, "It's time for you to return."
"Yes, Kumalia-sama!" Lulu bowed down, hand on her brother's back urging him to do the same.
The goddess smiled. "There's no need for that. You are friends with Kureha; that makes you my friend as well."
Lulu allowed herself to straighten and look upon the radiant being before her. To think that Kureha had dated a goddess before Ginko. It was no wonder Ginko had chosen someone that special over herself, Lulu thought. Good for them.
Though at first Lulu had thought that Milne and herself had somehow wound up in Heaven, Lulu soon began to suspect that the place was a sort of purgatory, though she didn't ask Kumalia for any details. What did it matter? She had her dear little brother back, her beloved was happy somewhere with a true love of her very own. Everything had been fine this way, but now Kumalia was suddenly asking them to leave.
"Before you go," Kumalia continued, "I’d be happy if you’d take these with you." The goddess materialized two golden, shimmering jars, which she presented to Lulu, before everything went white for a second time in recent memory…
To Lulu’s surprise, Ginko and Kureha had been returned to the bear country before she had. Freshly returned to Earth by the goddess, Lulu and Milne now stood at the door of the little pink cabin on the edge of the bear kingdom where the other two now resided.
“Big Sis, aren’t you going to knock?” asked Milne.
Lulu hesitated, fist hovering before the door. “...No, Milne, we shouldn’t bother these nice people,” Lulu smiled reassuringly, patting the little boy’s head. “Big Sis was just being silly.”
They returned to castle instead. It was the right thing to do; their parents deserved to know right away that Milne was alright after all.
The king and queen welcomed the siblings back with teary eyes and open arms. They asked few questions, for they understood that this was clearly a miracle from Kumalia herself.
And so, little Milne was the golden child once more, but that was fine with Lulu. She was happy to think that someday her brother would be king. After all, it wasn’t as if she would no longer be princess.
After moving back into her room, Lulu quickly found that not only had her parents not thrown out her things while she was missing, they seemed to have added more objects to her cluttered room, with the hopes that she would someday return.
Lulu soon fell into a routine of sorting things out, taking objects out of boxes, making trips into the village to donate.
One particular day, opening up the umpteenth jewelry box, she uncovered a large bee inside, shriveled, having perished trapped inside the box. After flushing the pest down the toilet (“Eww, eww, eww!”), and taking the jewels into town to donate, Lulu placed the two Promise Kisses that Kumalia had entrusted her with inside the little box instead.
On that very same evening, a storm brewed outside. Two cloaked figures came in from the rain.
Lulu stood speechless.
“Kumalia told us that you came back,” Kureha explained softly.
“We were waiting for you, gao,” added Ginko.
The two embraced the princess, their own damp clothing peppering dark splotches on the princess's elegant dress.
“I… I guess I forgot to come and visit you guys,“ Lulu laughed weakly, tears forming.
“We know you didn’t want to bother us,” Kureha soothed, squeezing tightly. “We know.”
“We missed you,” Ginko said, pulling back from the hug to look into Lulu’s face. Though her tone was level as always, her fuchsia eyes spoke gently, silently telling Lulu how sorry she was for everything, that Lulu was hurt for sake, that they had to be apart for so long.
The two returned nearly every night, this particular night no different, though Kureha and Ginko’s current visit was a longer one. The two had eventually fallen into a conversation about something that had happened before Lulu had been sent back. Whatever it was, it wasn’t any of her business. She considered changing the subject, as she would have done not long ago, but tonight, she quietly slipped outside instead.
Lulu was roused from her reverie by the sound of footsteps approaching where she lay cat-napping out on the balcony. She didn't even need to open her eyes to know that it was Kureha. Lulu could easily tell the difference between her and Ginko’s footsteps by now. Kureha’s feet fell more softly than Ginko’s; her pace slightly more brisk.
The footsteps stopped. There came a rustling, then a sigh.
Lulu cracked open one eye. Kureha had settled down on the cool patio stones next to her.
“Nice night, Kure-chin.”
“Mm. You can even see Ursa Major tonight,” Kureha pointed toward the sky.
Lulu opened her eyes fully. It was true, it was a night clear as glass with Polaris in full view, twinkling merrily just above the back of the bear. She began to trace a line in the air with her finger. “Merak…Dubhe…and Polaris,” she recited.
Kureha turned to face her, clearly impressed.
“What?” Lulu laughed, beginning to sound more like the Lulu Kureha remembered. “You didn’t expect the clever and amazing Lulu to know her stars?”
“I guess I just hadn’t really thought about it before,” Kureha said with a tinge of guilt. Though she had just recently spent time amongst the stars, she hadn’t given much thought to their names, beyond a handful of the most famous. She also hadn’t had much time to wonder about Lulu’s hobbies.
“That’s alright. It’s not like it’s really a hobby of mine or anything,” Lulu reassured with a shrug. “Milne was into them for a while; you know how little kids are. He followed me around with a book on stars for an entire day, going on and on about it…” she recalled with a wry smile.
“Merak and…?” Kureha began to repeat, brows furrowed and arm outstretched, as she attempted to re-trace a path from Polaris.
“Dubhe,” Lulu supplied eagerly, turning her head to face Kureha once more as she took the other girl's hand into her own, guiding her as she traced. Kureha continued gazing up at the stars, the moonlight highlighting her features. During the brief time they had spent together in the human realm, Lulu hadn’t had much of a chance to really look at her, Kureha for Kureha’s sake, and not through the filter of Ginko’s mission, important as it was. Kureha was very pretty, every bit as pretty as Ginko if she were to be honest with herself. Kureha’s eyes, the same color as the night sky, glistened serenely as she wondered at the stars, her thick lashes fluttering shut every now and again.
“They’re the ‘Keepers’,” Lulu continued, her face warming despite the cool evening air, “they always stay lined up with Polaris; no matter where she travels in the sky, they always stay right with her.”
“Together,” the voice of Ginko reaffirmed from the doorway.
It suddenly occurred to Lulu that had Ginko had been likely giving her some time alone with Kureha.
“Lulu, Ginko has something she wants to tell you,” Kureha urged, propping herself up on her elbows, smiling encouragingly at Ginko.
Lulu sat up expectantly. “What is it, Ginko?”
“Lulu…” Ginko began, striding over to the other girl, face set with purpose.
She crouched down, straddling Lulu’s legs, reaching out to caress the other girl’s ginger hair, Lulu melting into the touch despite her surprise. Ginko’s hands traveled upward, undoing the ribbons securing Lulu’s frilled headpiece, allowing it flutter off the edge of the patio, before removing the crown from her own head. “You’re not my servant… you’re a princess, Lulu. Our princess.”
“Ginko, I…” Lulu was speechless as Ginko nestled the golden crown upon her head.
Ginko merely shook her head, gently pushing Lulu back to lay against the cool balcony stones once again, and this time, rather than stars, Lulu gazed into the face of Ginko. Ginko, the ‘Criminal Bear’, the girl who’s happiness meant so much to Lulu, that she had been willing to sacrifice everything. She'd still do the same again given even an inkling of a chance.
Ginko's dark eyebrows set earnestly above her eyes, vivid pink tourmaline in the moonlight. A pearly fang peeked out from her petite mouth as she licked her lips.
“Delicious smell…gao,” she mumbled onto Lulu’s lips before taking them with her own.
Lulu could feel Ginko’s fangs grazing her bottom lip, juxtaposed with the sensation of Ginko’s own soft lips, a spike of cinnamon in a sweet cake. For a moment Lulu wondered if still she was still daydreaming up in Heaven. If this wasn’t a dream, then she was certainty about to die for a second time.
Ginko released her from the kiss, Ginko’s retreating warmth and cool night air brushing past Lulu’s face, the shiver of her own body, confirming that she was indeed still flesh and blood, as Ginko sprinkled little kisses her and there down her throat.
Kureha, lying on her side watching with a fond smile, explained softly, “When we were traveling together, Ginko and I. It was amazing at first, but then, very quickly, we both started to feel sad. We called out to Kumalia and asked if she could bring you back to us. It meant that we had to leave the sky and live in the Bear Kingdom, but neither of us felt right without you, Lulu.”
While Ginko remained sprawled across Lulu, head now cuddling against her soft chest, Kureha propped up onto her elbows again, hesitating, face pink enough for it to be visible despite the darkness as she leaned over to kiss Lulu as well.
Her fangs were smaller than Ginko’s, having only just recently grown in, making for a different, softer, experience that still somehow set Lulu's insides to floating in much the same way.
Kureha pulled away, perhaps a little faster than Ginko had, cozying up against Lulu's side after.
“Ginko…Kure-chin, I-“
“It’s alright, we know,” Ginko assured her, reaching up to stroke her face once more.
“We love you too, Lulu,” Kureha added.
The three lay in comfortable silence for a time before it was time for the two non-royal bears to leave the palace.
“Are you sure you can’t stay the night, my darling Ginko, and... my other darling, Kure-chin?” Lulu asked, eyes glittering with joy to put Polaris to shame, looking from one girl to the other as she stood from the stone floor, dusting off her nightgown.
“I’m still a Criminal Bear,” Ginko reminded. “I don’t think the king and queen…”
Kureha placed a hand on Ginko’s shoulder, giving a little squeeze. “We’ll be back tomorrow night,” she promised.
Before they could climb down into the lawn, Lulu pulled the two into another hug. “Alright, but before you go, I have something for the both of you. Wait just a sec,” she said, releasing them, turning to go through the open door to her room. The jewelry box was open, though she had been sure that she had closed it tight. Two golden jars gleamed in the dark room.