Chapter Text
A field of grass and daisies in the middle of summer. Yet, somehow, the spot she was sitting on was just the perfect temperature for relaxation. A gentle breeze blew through her long, blonde, and pink hair, further cooling her down and protecting her from the summer heat.
Two boys came over to her – a blonde one similar to herself and a blue-haired boy that seemed…familiar. Both came bearing gifts for her. The blonde boy bent down and gently placed a flower crown made of daisies and dandelions on his sister’s head. Then the two boys sat down beside her, and the blue-haired boy started reading a book. She could vaguely make out that it was titled "Floriography". She took a dandelion that had seemingly appeared beside her and blew on it, making a wish that this moment could last forever.
It was peaceful. A dream you’d wish would never end.
The light came through her bedroom window, waking Saki up from her dream. Her first thought was about how nice that dream was, but then her mind began to wander.
Who was that boy in her dream?
As princess of the Sun Kingdom, Saki knew pretty much everyone in the kingdom. Yet, she couldn’t recognise the blue-haired boy she had just dreamed about. She knew plenty of people with blue hair, mostly entertainers who came to the castle, but his was an odd split between a darker shade and a lighter shade. She didn’t quite get a glimpse at his eye colour, but she could tell it was some sort of dull shade, maybe grey? She did, however, catch the fact that there was a mole under his left eye.
Maybe she should ask someone about this.
Determined to solve this mystery, Saki got up out of bed, put on her dress, and proceeded to walk out of her room, where she immediately met with the person she was looking for.
“Ah, good morning, Saki,” Her older brother, Tsuaksa, greeted her with a bow as she walked out of her bedroom. “Did you sleep well last night?”
“I did! Thanks for asking!” Saki smiled brightly, “Anyways, Onii-chan, I need to ask you something.”
“Go ahead.”
“I saw a boy in my dream last night-“
“Absolutely not!”
“…I was going to ask if he sounds familiar to you…”
“Oh, then please continue.”
Saki continued by explaining the features she could vaguely remember from her dream. She also told him about the actual dream, hoping that maybe it would point them in the right direction to identify this mysterious boy.
“I’m sorry, Saki,” Tsukasa sighed once his sister finished her explanation, “I don’t think I know anyone who fits that description.”
Saki dropped her shoulders. She was almost certain Tsukasa would be able to help her, given his connections to the knights, entertainers, nobles, and other royals from other kingdoms. If anyone would’ve been able to help her, it was him. She knew her brain couldn’t just generate a whole new person, so there had to be someone out there who could help her.
“However,” Tsukasa continued, "I don’t have any sort of training or meetings today that require my urgent presence. I could help you search through the archives if it would settle your worries.”
“Yeah, that’ll probably help,” Saki smiled, hope returning to her once again, “Thank you, Onii-chan. We’ll check after breakfast.”
“Sounds good to me.”
The archives of the Sun Kingdom’s library were massive. So massive, in fact, that Saki felt as though she had made a mistake agreeing to check them. Well, if it would aid her quest to identify that boy in her dream, then it had to be done.
Tsukasa got to work almost immediately. He figured that if they were looking for someone specifically around their age, then they would only need to check archives from the past twenty years, allowing room for the possibility of the person they were searching for being roughly two years older than Tsukasa. Once he pointed that out, he started looking through one side of the bookshelf while ordering Saki to check the other. This tactic made the task at least feel a little less daunting to Saki as she began searching through records to see if she could find who she was looking for.
“Saki!” Tsukasa called from the opposite side of the bookshelf, “What was your description again?”
“Blue hair, split down the middle into two different shades, and grey eyes with a mole under the left one,” Saki recalled the details of her dream. Now that she thought about it, it was kind of weird that she could remember those details so vividly so long after waking up.
“Ah, I had remembered blue hair and a mole, so this one isn’t the one we’re looking for…”
The rest of the search was spent in silence for the most part. Besides the sounds of books being moved and pages being flicked through, the library was almost completely silent. Neither sibling spoke to the other; instead, they focused on the (still somewhat daunting) task at hand. It was so quiet, in fact, that Saki was pretty sure she could hear Tsukasa’s breathing alongside her own, despite them being on opposite sides of the bookshelf.
“I’ve managed to pull a couple of records that may match your search,” Tsukasa said, peeking his head around the corner of the bookshelf. “I couldn’t find anyone that exactly matched your description, but I believe some of these may be worth a shot.”
“Oh! In that case, I’ll look at them once I finish here. I’m almost done…” Saki’s voice trailed off at the end of her sentence as she noticed something. One of the pages of the book she was reading had been ripped out, as though to erase someone’s existence from the archive. This was unusual, but Saki felt as though she could chalk it up to a page being added pre-emptively before someone miscarried or had a stillbirth.
Once she finished her side of the bookshelf, Saki sat down at a table where Tsukasa had placed a couple of books, each one open to a page of someone whom he believed matched her description. She carefully analysed each one, taking in every single detail that she could. Unfortunately, none of the people in the records Tsukasa had pulled matched her description. There was always something wrong – the mole under his eye being on the wrong side, a shade of blue or grey being wrong, even the shape of some of the facial features – there was always something Saki could tell was incorrect.
She slumped back in her chair, feeling as though her search had been fruitless. If the archives had nothing, how was she supposed to identify her mystery boy?
“Nothing?” Tsukasa questioned, placing a soothing hand on his sister’s shoulder.
“No, nothing at all,” Saki sighed, staring at the scattered books, “Sorry for making you come all this way to help me.”
“Nonsense! You know I would do anything to help my dearest younger sister! And don’t you worry, our search isn’t over just yet! Tomorrow, I’ll take you to see Rui. He may have some connections that might aid in our search.”
“You just want an excuse to see your boyfriend.” Saki chuckled, giving her brother a smirk. It was no secret that something was going on between Tsukasa and the sorcerer, mostly because subtlety wasn’t exactly the prince’s strong suit.
“He is not my boyfriend! Now, let’s get out of here before I have you exiled for blasphemy.”
“You can’t do that! You’re not even heir to the throne!” Saki laughed, acting dramatically as though Tsukasa would actually exile her, even if he had the power to do so.
“Don’t forget who made you heir, dear sister.”
The Moon Kingdom was always chilly, but especially so at night. Maybe it was the fact that he grew up in this climate, or the fact that he was used to a different kind of cold, but Prince Toya never seemed to mind it as he sat on his stone windowsill, looking out into the night with a book in hand.
As he sat there, he noticed a gardenia had appeared beside him. Accompanying it was a flash of ginger hair that belonged to one of the castle’s gardeners, who was clinging onto the edge for dear life. Toya sighed and put down his book. He was never sure how the gardener could stand doing this every night.
“Hello, Akito,” He greeted, slightly bending over to be a bit more level with the ginger, “Is it Shiraishi helping you out tonight? I heard she was supposed to be on duty.”
“Yep! It’s me, Toya! Hi!” A cheerful voice called from below.
“Quit moving, would ya?” The ginger above her snapped as he stamped one of his boots before turning to the prince and clearing his throat, “How are you tonight, my prince?”
“I’m well,” Toya nodded, chuckling at his lover and friend’s antics, “Another day filled with paperwork…and marriage proposals for when I turn eighteen next year.”
“Jeez, sounds like the old man really just wants to marry you off to some princess.”
“Yes, but don’t worry, I only have eyes for you, Akito.”
“Hey! Akito!” Shiraishi called up, “You’re getting kinda heavy! You almost done with Prince Charming?”
“Sh-shut up!” Akito stamped on her head again, “But I guess I should go.”
“Good night, Akito,” Toya bent over slightly to kiss the ginger on the head, making sure not to go too far or he’d trigger his own fear of heights.
“G’night, Toya.”