The Sapphire Dragon

Chapter 5

      Evening fell on the kingdom of dragons and Akira was not in the mood for food at the moment. Which is normal as it was nearing June 8th, a day where tragedy fell for Akira and her family. She held white chrysanthemums in her hands tightly. She had a lump in her throat. She knew this feeling all too well when June 8th was fast arriving.

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[I]      "Akira!" the king called. The tiny princess ran to her father happily. She squeaked, "Daddy! Daddy!" The two-year-old reached for her father to pick her up, which the king happily did.
[I]      "Hey," the king said, a sad smile forming on his face. "Daddy's gonna be laying down for a while and I don't know if I'll get up. But until then, I want you to promise me, you'll take care of mamas."
[I]      "Otay, daddy!" the little princess said happily. She was then hugged by her dad and of course, she wouldn't turn down a hug. What she didn't know was why he was crying.

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      Akira had tears forming in the corner of her eyes. She gently looked up and closed her eyes, holding the flowers to her chest.
      "I miss you, daddy…" she whispered. She waited for a breeze to pick up as she let go of the flowers. She watched them all fly away in different directions. The princess waited until the flowers were out of sight and walked back towards the palace.

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[CI]-June 7th-

      Akira woke up to the sound of birds chirping and the sun shining into her room. She sat up and looked outside. She sighed as she got out of bed and got ready for the day.

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      She skipped breakfast that day, which everyone in the palace thought was weird. Akira kept to herself mostly. But as she walked, she noticed decorations for a ball being set up in the ballroom.
      "What's going on here?" Akira asked.
      "The king is having a ball to celebrate the day his kingdom and his friend/rival Deku's kingdoms formed an alliance," a maid said, setting stuff up. Another one then added, "Yep. June 8th." Akira's neutral expression fell into a sad one.
      "O-oh," she muttered. The two maids noticed and one of them asked, "Princess? Are you alright?"
      "Y-yeah. I'm fine," Akira said. "I just… I need to go." And with that, she walked off.

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[IC]-June 8th-

      The ballroom was filled with people from all over the kingdoms - except for Akira's kingdom. Akira was standing by the food and watched as Katsuki mingled and talked with his main guards. Akira sighed and watched everyone dance, mingle, eat, and drink. She had worn a dress she brought herself - a dark blue sparkly ball gown with a light blue skirt with small white stars on it. She wore it to almost every nice occasion she attended.
      "Oh my gods! You look so gorgeous!" a female's voice said. Akira looked at the person who said it.
      "O-oh. Thank you," Akira replied. The girl and her friend snickered as the girl said, "Would be a real shame if someone spilt something on you." Akira nodded and said, "It would. My dad said this would be mine when I turned 18 and well here I am. It was one of the last things he gave to me." Just then, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. The girl grabbed the nearest cup of wine and poured it down the front of Akira's dress. Akira was horrified.
      "Oops!" the girl laughed. Akira's eyes filled with tears. She grabbed some napkins as the girls walked off, cackling like the witches they were. Akira tried to get the red wine out best she could but nothing worked. Akira gave up and walked outside to a balcony. She let the cool night breeze take her worries away. She looked down and tried to breathe.
       "Hey," a familiar voice said. Akira looked and sure enough, it was Katsuki. Katsuki grumbled, "You good?"
      "Uh, yeah. Totally," Akira lied with a sad smile. Katsuki raised an eyebrow at Akira and she sighed, "No…"
      "What's wrong?" the young king asked, standing by Akira. Akira started tearing up as she said, "I don't normally talk about this much but um…" She took a breath.
      "Today is the anniversary of my dad passing away…" Akira admitted. "He had a disease that wasn't exactly curable and I was only 2. He… When he was alive, he would get us flowers from the community garden in the village of my kingdom. But ever since he passed away, my mom and I came up with an idea of picking flowers from either our garden or the community garden and visiting his grave. But this is the first time I haven't gotten to do that and this year…" Akira started sobbing. She continued, "I'm not with her to help her grieve and vice versa…" As Akira sobbed, she was pulled into a hug by strong arms. She looked up and realized Katsuki had hugged her.
      "You're… You're fine," he said. "I… God damn it…  I'll help you. But this isn't gonna be a normal thing so don't get used to it." Akira smiled softly and hugged back tightly. She heard some cracks from Katsuki's back but she didn't really pay any mind to it.
      "Thank you…"